russ parsons

that would be great. i'm happy to pay whatever shipping, etc. is necessary!

does anyone have any good online sources for this? amazon says not in stock. there is one source on deal-time, but it gets a really poor rating. i'd dearly love a copy.

i think it's important to remember that that story was addressing one very narrow segment of the los angeles restaurant scene, the hipster places. it is almost a given that food is never a consideration at any of them, so i don't see much point in gnashing our teeth over it. that said, i do think the la fine dining selection lacks choice, when compared to the bay area or new york. but i don't think there's anyplace in the us--or maybe the world--that can compete with us when it comes to the depth and diversity of our ethnic restaurants. that's where la's true dining treasures are. (speaking only for myself)

i've got this one too and it does everything i ask of it. of course, i'm not a baker, so the 1/4 ounce is fine for me.

one of the all-time stupid names (right up there with meritage for a red wine blend) ... and, by the way, a completely botched marketing campaign. i think it was originally called "aspAration" becaues they thought it LOOKed somewhat like asparagus. which really tells you a lot about what a lot of produce marketers know about produce. broccolini is a much better name. hey, guess what i found: here's a short piece from 1998 when it was introduced: If a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, you hope the same is true for asparation. It's a new hybrid vegetable still in its first year of commercial production that tastes like a mild, sweet broccoli; looks a little like tiny broccoli florets growing on long, thin stems (which don't need to be peeled to be edible); and is called asparation because some people say it tastes something like a cross between asparagus and broccoli. All of which makes it a real winner of a vegetable stuck with a pretty lame name. Asparation? It sounds like broccoli that wants to be something else. At least it escaped its first proposed name: asparbroc. In reality, asparation isn't that close to asparagus in taste, though with its long, edible stems it could be said that there's a slight physical resemblance. And there is a move afoot to change the name of asparation to broccolini, which seems to reflect its nature better. We've also seen it sold as baby broccoli. Whatever you choose to call it, it was developed three years ago by Sakata Seeds, a Japanese company with an American arm based in Northern California. It is a cross between broccoli and gai lan, sometimes called Chinese broccoli or Chinese kale. Indeed, it could more accurately be called baby Chinese broccoli. It also shares some flavor characteristics of rapini or Italian broccoli. Raw, the vegetable has a tender crunch and a sweet broccoli taste with only a little of the Chinese vegetable's usual mustard-like character. Cooked--either steamed or blanched briefly--the flavor becomes even milder and sweeter. "I've only tasted it cooked; Japanese don't eat raw broccoli," says Hideto Kaneka, marketing manager for Sakata Seed America. "Even in the research stage we only tasted it after it was boiled." It is good tossed in salads and--briefly sauteed in olive oil with garlic and red pepper flakes--in pastas or as a side dish. After two years of seed trials, it is licensed to be grown in this country by Mann Packing in Salinas and Sanbon LLC in El Centro. It is not yet widely available. Mann, the largest grower of broccoli in the country, hasn't even started shipping its yet; the company is expected to roll it out this fall. You can find it--broccolini, asparation, whatever--at some Gelson's, Bristol Farms, Safeway and Lucky markets. It's also beginning to show up as baby broccoli at some area farmers markets, though with longer, less-trimmed stems than the bunches we've seen in supermarkets. Be sure to taste this before you buy it; the ones we've sampled have ranged from tough and bitter to tender and sweet. Asparation is more difficult to farm than broccoli; it takes a lot of hand care. Early in the growing season, the central bloom of every plant has to be pinched off to allow the leggy side shoots to grow. It also takes repeated pickings, unlike broccoli. Because of that, asparation will probably never become a staple vegetable. It will probably always be sold at a premium. In fact, Mann is trying to go the radicchio route in introducing the vegetable. Its marketers have already begun to work with some chefs and with the Culinary Institute of America. This summer they'll start supplying some restaurant accounts. In October or November, they'll roll it out for retail. "Radicchio started at white-tablecloth restaurants and now it's available all over America," says Mann's Laurie Coster. Things have been going well, she says. "The response has been so fantastic our biggest challenge now is keeping people patient."

that is a great recipe. it's an adaptation of the one from the back of the Golden Pheasant brand bag--added cheese. that's nothing against sara, certainly. in fact, i did a piece on this in 1997, trying to track down the source. as i recall, i'd heard about it from paula wolfert, who had heard about it from michelle anna jordan, who, as i recall, had gotten it off the bag. i think we've all done our twists on it. it's a great recipe with one drawback--it doesn't scale up easily and the polenta is so good it barely makes enough for 3.

on the other hand, maybe not. one of the big pushes on campus now is sustainable dining, believe it or not. i spoke at a small farm conference at the cia-napa a couple of years ago and the colleges were out in force. dining is one of the big perks that draws students and it appears some colleges are willing to spend a little money on it.

uh, sandy, isn't that a bit like saying anybody can cook but someone who knows how will do a better job because the food will taste good? two things that i think are critical: it's called "food writing" not "possessing food knowledge." the whole point of the profession is to be able to transmit information to other people. in this we are different from academia because our writings are judged on how clearly we do this. and it's called "food writing" not "restaurant writing." i really do find it appalling how many people who claim to be fascinated by food really seem to only be interested in it when it is served to them. it's a big wide food world out there folks, and restaurants are only one small (but admittedly glamorous--and fun) slice of it.

far be it from me to dispute michael ruhlman, wet behind the ears though he may be. but i still argue that the restaurant is but one venue for food and that we have a sufficiency of writers who cover that aspect. i think carolyn is absolutely right--get a little experience on a farm, or dairy, or behind the counter at a good wine shop or cheese store. learn to cut up meat for god's sake, or fillet fish. something besides work a saute station. and a couple of corrections, i have only been doing this for 30 years (it just seems like 50 to my readers). and, in fact, i do have some line experience, though just part-time--when i was young and crazy about food, i worked lunch shifts and dinner prep three days a week for a year at a friend's restaurant (in addition to my newspaper job). it was great experience--we did our own butchering (from primal cuts), sausage-making and baking. still, i don't think it was as critical to my career as being a general news reporter and learning how to cover a story.

i have to disagree with this. restaurant cooking has very little to do with home cooking, which is what most food writers write about. in fact, in general, i think one of the biggest shortcomings of food writing today is an overemphasis on a select group of professional chefs. there is a much bigger world out there. now if you're talking about restaurant criticism, which is a slightly different field, then perhaps i can see the benefits of a little time on the line.

i'm asked this question all the time and i have to confess that my answer varies with the wind. the simple truth is that none of the best food writers i know came to their position by the same route. everyone's got a different story and each is valid. i guess if there was a constant, it would be the obvious: write as much as you can; read as much as you can; eat as much as you can; and, perhaps most important, care as much as you can--there is no such thing as "just another story." practically speaking, j-school is not the ultimate answer, but it is a strong possibility. i confess that i hardly took any j courses after my freshman year, but i was lucky enough to be working full time for the local paper by then. reporting skills are more and more scarce and more and more essential--possibly even more so than culinary training (you don't have to have good knife skills to write a good story; you do have to know how to structure a news lead). we have a gracious plenty (and more) of people who can write beautiful sentences about the scent of a tangerine peel drying on a radiator. what food writing needs more of is writers who can explain to their readers the major shifts that are occuring in farms, markets and kitchens. this is not to say that culinary training is not necessary--if you have the writing and reporting skills, a little formal training can lift you to the next level. i hardly see that cia is necessary, though, and i think this is borne out by the many interns i've worked with from the various culinary schools. life as a writer is much different than life on the line--both in terms of technique and attitude.

let's make sure we're not getting into more black-and-white here. there are some very good farmers who are organic and the organic movement overall has affected the way lots of non-organic farmers operate, both by proving that it can be done and by proving there is an incentive for doing it. but organic is not an answer in and of itself. read julie guthman's very good critique of california's organic movement, "agrarian dreams." it's important to realize that what a lot of us think we mean when we say "organic" is not necessarily the full picture. there are 2,000 acre industrial farms that grow organically.

and also that there is not a black-and-white separation between "pure" organic farming and "evil" chemical farming. there is a huge gray area that involves the responsible use of chemicals when they are absolutely necessary. i think it is a real shame that "organic" has come to be shorthand for what i prefer to call "artisanal" farming. most of the best farmers i know--the ones who grow the best produce--are either non-organic (but barely) or are very upfront about being organic only for the financial incentive that comes with the label.

i spent new years stranded in a house on the mendocino coast with a lot of good friends and cases and cases of wine. we drank some american sparkler, a LOT of champagne, and some really good prosecco. i'd hate to say one was "better" than the other. more like apples, pears and asian pears. personally, if there's a better wine buy than roederer estate, i'd like to know what it is.

the absolute best pastry crust i've found is in the bouchon book. i'm a really bad pastry guy, but this one always turns out perfect.

i don't have nearly the experience with asian cuisines of many on the gullet, but it is important to make fried rice with cooked, chilled rice because the cooling sets the starch on the exterior, so the rice will retain its shape. for the same reason, when you're making steamed rice, always let it cool for 10 minutes or so before stirring in the butter, etc., to keep the kernels from breaking apart. just felt like being a wonk for a minute.

crisper drawer? that's what they're designed for. small, tight-sealing spaces that increase humidity (or, rather, decrease its loss).

while i really, really hate that kind of journalism, i suppose you could say that anything that gets someone who is afraid of wine to try it might be a good thing. maybe. but surely there has to be a more honest way to do it.

and it's true nature is best revealed by its common fisherman's nickname: "slime sole".

that was a good article, but in a hurried reading, a couple of things occurred to me (maybe my misreadings): first, you should cook the vegetable base before you add the rice. this doesn't mean the vegetable garnish, but the onions, garlic, shallots, the flavoring soffrito. second, while it certainly isn't necessary to stir the rice constantly (that's culinary mythmaking), it is necessary to stir it occasionally and very roughly. that helps free some of the starch from the rice to thicken the stock. third (and in my opinion, one of the most important): the final addition of butter and cheese should be made off heat and should be stirred in very vigorously, to emulsify the fat into the thickened stock.

i'm a big barolo fan who has been priced out of the market. i did the same thing several years ago. picked up a bunch of '78 gattinara from travaglini at about $12 a bottle (probably $30 inflation-adjusted). the gattinara was a very, very tough wine that took years, maybe decades to come around. i opened the last bottle a couple of years ago and while i wouldn't say it was exactly barolo-like, it had softened into a very nice wine.

actually, the australian one is called snake river ranch, the american one snake river farms. they are related corporate-ly, but actually don't have that much to do with each other. when i was reporting the piece and trying to get the difference, i talked to several people at srf that didn't know the other existed.

awesome pictures. what great beef. for the record, tfl and per se use snake river ranch, which is the australian branch of snake river farms. where do you get your wagyu? i ordered a prime rib from uptown meats, it was snake river farms, it was great, but the marbling was not close to what you have pictured (or, to be honest, what i have seen on some of their other meat). i don't know whether that's a function of that particular muscle, or if it was just not as good.

sorry, forgot that. montage is the name of a high-end spa in laguna beach.

pdc is a pretty reputable place, but wait staff are not always well-informed as to the ins and outs of arcane food details. i had not heard that anyone was serving japanese beef in la and i do think i might have heard about it. furthermore, unless you paid well over $100 for the steak, i'd be highly skeptical. i'm pretty sure that it was american kobe. which is very good meat, by the way. i had an american kobe ... wagyu ... whatever ... prime rib for christmas dinner last night (ordered online from uptown meats) and it was very, very good.