flapjack willy

My heart goes out to you. MB is without question a culinary wasteland. I am in the wholesale food business and know the real story about what the restaurants buy and what the locals and tourists are willing to eat. More imported shrimp and sub-choice beef are sold in MB than in any other market I can think of. Be careful.

I have seen it sold as Grouper/Basa at the wholesale leveluntil recently, when the USDA forced the removal of the Grouper name.

Interesting remark about the demise of Southern Foods. I worked for them for awhile and feel it won't be long. I now represent another cpompany that frankly, does a much better job on center of the plate. You sound like a industry insider and I assume that you have figured out how to play with the likes of Sysco and US. By the way, there are plenty of companies in our marketplace who carry many of the brands or like brands that SF did.

Chef Swartz, I must say I agree with your last post. Who do you have in mind to topple the king?

Niman Ranch packs a full cut pork shank both skin-on and skin-off. The skin-off is fresh and the skin-on is frozen. Fowlers should be able to special order it for you.

starlu?

Jinmyo, my most sincere and heartfelt apologies. I was not in any way trying to be rude or negative about your posts, quite the opposite. I have been reading them for years and have allways enjoyed them. I was trying to pay you a back-handed compliment for such elaborate preps. Lets try again. WT

Come on, do you really eat like that every day? Is that all you do is cook?

The Fairview at the Washington Duke Inn? Bistro 607? Le Residence?

Most of the above is good but the best chef I ever worked for in a place where taste was more important than food cost would allways drop two or three chick lobsters, whole into the gringder along with a good measure of bodies, grind it all up and make a killer stock

It's old school bit I think it looks neat! Years ago, we would flute them when we were ready for service but not quite open yet. It was a way to stay loose and show off to the other cooks, best way to handle them is to gently poach them in white wine or acidulated water to hold for service. Regarding the 750 potatoes fashioned into Disney-like mushrooms, my guess is they come from Vietnam. Strange as that may sound, I offer for sale at the wholesale level a complete line of absolutely amazing vegtable side dishes and enteees that are hand made and frozen in Vietnam. I'm talking a salmon filet with a carrot fishnet layed over the filet, little carved vegtables made into small animals etc. Believe it or not they are not that exspensive but not a big seller.

Gosh, where do I start? Maybe with the father and son team I hired to wash dishes, not knowing that they had just arrived in the US via the Mariel boat lift that Jimmy Carter started. You know the time Castro emptied his prisions and mental hospitals. I have long since forgotten their names but now fondly remember the way they liked to steal food from my kitchen. They would wait until we were really busy at which point they would trot back to the meat locker , grab pork chops( ignoring the beef tenderloin) and without any wrap, thrust them down into their groin area. When caught, they would smile and ask if I would like them back. I kept them around because nobody could or would wash dishes like they did. More stories to follow.

Ruthie's salmon crepes made with chees whiz and canned salmon. Yes she knew I was a chef so she watched every move I made, even when I spit it into my napkin, it was so revolting.

I know this may sound strange, but I will not eat food that someone else has prepared unless it is in a restaurant. If folks send or bring food over to the house or we are invited to a party I will not eat.

Thank you so much for the quick reply. Now I need to find some plans for the walls, ceiling etc. Any ideas?