TAPrice

You've got to wonder if the producers mainly picked Clay for the drama he would interject.

I predict Tre and Hung will cruise to the finals while the others will be desperately trying not to lose. I didn't watch season 1 (no cable at the time), but a handful of these chefs already make the season 2 finalist look like amateurs. Was there this much talent in season 1? Is Bravo recruiting stronger chefs? Or has the show become so high profile that good chefs, experienced chefs are will to sign up?

Agreed. In the end, these are the rules of the Times. Even dumb or silly rules at work have to be followed, and I would think this goes double for an editor. That doesn't necessarily mean that breaking one of the Times internal rules has larger implications. If nothing else, this whole small incident caused me to reread Eurotrash's takedown on the original infamous review (linked to on the Gawker comments). It "made my teeth want to vomit" is a turn of phrase that deserves to be preserved.

I'm coming around to Fat Guy's way of thinking. It does seem absurd that a blurb for a book published 7 years ago would have any real impact or importance for the author today. Journalists sometimes look silly in their extreme ethics, and it can be a disservice to the reader. Would we have been better off not knowing about Wells' book? My wife clerked for a federal judge. He recuses himself when one of his clerks argues before him, but after the clerk has been gone for two years he no longer recuses himself. Should book reviewers be holding themselves to a higher standard than people who truly do make life and death decisions?

I was surprised to see that, since it seems like exactly the mistake that got her in trouble before. If I'm remembering correctly, the Times book section tightened its rules recently due to questions about reviews of staff written books (does someone else remember the details?). Personally, I don't see the incident as a major problem, but the rules are the rules. No matter the ethics of this particular situation, the Times decided to impose a uniform policy. Do you think these kinds of ethical conflicts are more common in food writing? Is the food world more cozy than other groups?

Let me see if I've got this straight. You mean starting with roux, add the aromatics, and then add shrimp, chicken, etc. along with the water? That way you made a stock as you cook, right?

I got word that Wayne Baquet's Li'l Dizzy's Café will add a second location in the CBD. It opens next week and will be in the Whitney Hotel on Poydras. In case you don't know, the Baquet family has been running restaurants in New Orleans for decades. I think Li'l Dizzy's is the family's 13th restaurant. Guess this makes fourteen. The gumbo is killer. The fried chicken can be amazing. The sides are, well, often not as good. Too many canned items, although mac and cheese is great. There is something about this place that just makes me happy. Do other people have that reaction? There might be better food elsewhere, but rarely do you find a better atmosphere. I hope they can recreate that part on Poydras.

That photo was even scarier than one the NYT ran. So you're saying these pickles are more than just a joke? They might actually have some culinary uses?

The Daily News reports that a tell-all book about the dining room at Per Se will soon hit the stores. A choice quote: From the article, this looks to be mainly dish on celebrity dining habits. Honestly, not all that exciting. Has a relatively young restaurant ever before generated a book like this? What do you bet waiters will soon be signing non-disclosure agreements?

New York magazine has an interesting article on how various businesses (from drug dealers to Goldman Sachs) turn a profit. Two restaurants, a diner and Nobu are covered. The Diner: Nobu:

A recent thread about the ubiquity of salads with nuts, cheese and dried fruit got me wondering where these menu cliches come from? How do certain dishes (raspberry vinaigrette, flourless chocolate cake) spread across the whole nation? Are chefs getting these ideas from the mainstream press? Cookbooks? Professional publications? Or does everyone get the same good idea at once?

Doc, the salad with hard boiled egg hasn't made it down South, but I'm sure it will be all the rage in a few years. Could the fruit, nut and cheese salad be designed for the dieter? Maybe the Caesar wasn't substantial enough to work as an entree? Just throwing out ideas here.

Check out either the New Orleans Cooking Experience or Savvy Gourmet. The New Orleans Cooking Experience is more demo than hands on. I attended a class taught by Frank Brigtsen. The class of 10 sat around the counter sipping wine and watching Frank cook a three-course meal. He was a great instructor. After the demo, we went to the living room to eat the meal that Frank prepared. I understand that Brigtsen's classes sell out quickly, but there are plenty of other well-known chefs and instructors. The setting, inside the House on Bayou Road, is pretty spectacular. I haven't attended a class at Savvy Gourmet, but I understand that they offer both demos from local chefs and more hands-on classes. Savvy Gourmet hosts lots of interesting events, so you should check the calendar for other culinary activities. There is another place in the French Quarter that used to offer cooking classes, but I don't know much about them or whether they've returned since the storm.

I was talking with a local artisanal gelato maker. They make everything from scratch, using no pre-mixed bases or off-the-shelf flavors. She told me certain tricks to identify who uses fresh ingredients and who uses flavor pastes. For example, look at the banana flavor. A grey color means that real bananas were used, while a bright yellow means prepackaged flavors. Preprinted, professional labels at an independent gelateria would also be a sign of premade flavors. Any other ways to identifying gelaterias crafting their flavors from scratch? Sure, I could just ask, but that would be too easy? And does it matter? Do fresh ingredients always taste better than flavors created in a factory?

There are certainly many areas of Uptown with plenty bars and restaurants within walking distance. Don't overlook Mid-City, particularly around the Fair Grounds. A very funky neighborhood with good eats like Liuzza's by the Track, Lola's and Parkway Bakery. Honestly, there aren't too many places in town where you can't easily stumble to a bar.

Actual improvement or utter hype? I'm skeptical. Has anyone actually tasted these birds? Done a side by side comparison? Even Bruni implies that it may all be bull: Emphasis added.

Portfolio magazine ran a profile of "menu engineer" Gregg Rapp. He earns $200,000 a year tweaking menus: What other tricks do restaurants use when putting together a menu? And is there some reason that no one wants to print dollar signs next to prices?

According to this article in Portfolio, Condé Nast's new business magazine, small plates generate higher profit margins: The advantages to bottom line include: upselling the number of items, efficient use of product, and higher alcohol tabs. For you restaurateurs, do you find that small plates bring in more bucks? The article focuses almost exclusively on the profits, which isn't a surprise from a business magazine. Are restaurants making the decision to serve small plates based on these factors? Does this explain the trend, or it just an added benefit of the small plate craze?

In "New Grub Street" the Columbia Journalism Review looks at the rise of ethics in contemporary food writing:

I use beer to baste chicken that I slow cook on the smoker. Even Coors would probably do for that. Black beans cooked with a can a beer are excellent, although I normally use a darker brew.

Do service animals ever misbehave? Do they ever growl or snap at people? Would a restaurant owner have the right to kick out a misbehaving service animal?

The AP also ran a story about this last January: The full article can be found here.

Where do you get fish and seafood in New Orleans? I often shop at the Big Fisherman, although the selection tends to be small. The Crescent City Farmers market has always been a reliable source for shrimp, and recently they added a vendor who often has fresh black drum. A few months ago I discovered the Westwego shrimp lot. The prices were cheaper than anything I'd seen elsewhere, and I'm pretty sure that I could have struck an even better bargain that I did. Where else are people buying seafood and fish? I raised this question recently at a party. One friend suggested "that guy who parks his truck in the empty lot on Claiborne Avenue that's across from the gas station and just before I-10." I've never seen this guy, and I'm not 100% sure where he's parking. Everyone else at the party, however, seemed to know exactly where this guy parked his truck. IN fact, they'd all bought shrimp from him before. He can't be the only guy in a truck with shrimp.

All this talk of bad food dredged up a memory from my childhood. One weekend I stayed over at a friend's house. The dad was a heart doctor, so I guess the family ate no fat. All I remember is that served me something they called bacon. It had the right shape, but it was pink and soft. At the time, I just knew that is wasn't real food.

Happy day! Happy day! I'm going to get myself some fried chicken this week.