TAPrice

Ye Olde College Inn relocated to nicer, fancier digs after the storm. I hadn't noticed any work done on the original location, and there weren't any rumors of a return to the old spot. Still, it was a little shocking today to drive down Carrollton and see that the original restaurant has been demolished. I didn't have my camera with me, but at this point there really isn't anything to see.

Pyewacket, How does food styling for movies and television differ from the work on ads? I assume that no one cares if authentic food is used on a movie set. Are tricks and such more likely to be used in this situations?

I'm not sure about the status of Hoshi, the place in the International House. Last time I talked to Boswell, it sounded like Hoshi was taking a back seat to some other projects both in New Orleans and elsewhere.

No. Ashley said Thursday through Sunday.

Behold, the first snowball of the season. I went with Nectar Cream.

Hansen's is open. I just drove by and confirmed it with my own eyes. I was, unfortunately, too stuffed from lunch to stop in and order a Sno Bliz. Perhaps tomorrow.

That all looks so glamorous. Exactly how unglamorous are the journalism and book awards? I've never been, but I've always imagined that the day before awards ceremony for writers would be like the low-key Oscar awards for technical merit.

It's less a specific quest than a general quandary. With many options for fish sauce, soy sauce, chili sauce--you name it--it's hard to find good criteria to make a decision. Suzy's suggestion of buying the most expensive sounds like good advice.

Has anyone of Tre Wilcox's stature ever been on the show? A twice-nominated James Beard rising star strikes me as someone far more accomplished than the typical contestant. I wonder why Bravo doesn't mention this fact in the bio they posted? And I wonder why someone at his level of national exposure would want to be on the show?

I'm lucky enough to live near an enormous Asian supermarket. I can't even begin to identify half the items on sale. And the things I can identify, I often have no idea which version to buy. Take fish sauce, for example. I've just about finished off a big bottle and it's time to stock up again. Last time, I bought Swarm of Crabs Brand. Why Swarm of Crabs? Well, it's made in Vietnam and I mainly use it to cook Vietnamese food. But honestly, among the more than a dozen options at the store, I got this bottle because the name was cool and the picture of swarming crabs was cute. There has got to be a better way to make decisions in the future. I don't want to just pick a particular brand based on the pretty package, but I don't have much else to go on. I even have a copy of The Asian Grocery Store Demystifed by Linda Bladholm, but none of her recommended brands are among the many options at my store. How do you choose a brand at the Asian grocery store?

Does this have anything to do with philosophy? I'm sure it's just the result of big companies realizing that "organic" products command a higher price.

Nothing better than a good, cargrilled oyster. I usually cook mine on an old Chrysler New Yorker. Plenty of room for lots of oysters in that big, old roadhog. ← What great is, if you've got the right rig, you can use the exhaust pipe for smoked oysters.

I recently tasted a dark chocolate flavored with thyme. I thought the combination was fabulous. Now, maybe this match is obvious and old hat to the big city folks, but I found it to be something of a revelation. What other savory flavors work well with chocolate? Earl Grey tea and cayenne are pretty common by this point. Is there a history behind such pairing, or is this a recent innovation?

That last photo makes Bayless look like an evil genius about to take over the world. Great photos. What is going on with the foie cotton candy? Are they wrapping cotton candy around chunks of foie? What flavor is the cotton candy?

Drago's should have a new location open soon at the downtown Hilton. I'm looking forward to easier access to the cargrilled oysters.

That's a lovely looking paella. How did you cook it? Any problem with overcooked shrimp?

I do wonder if there were other people after that space and these are the last contenders standing. PJ's is no longer a local company. It was a bought by an Atlanta-based group a few years ago.

More choice quotes from the full article. Starbucks is itching to compete with Cafe du Monde: Some French Quarter merchants are convinced that Starbucks will be a great draw for tourists. That strikes me as just dumb. Really dumb. If Ms. Lewis is so convinced that Starbucks will stay through thick and thin, maybe she can explain why they were so slow to reopen after the storm in unflooded areas with lots of traffic.

Congrats to Donald Link for winning Best Chef in the South. Alas, Cochon was beat out by some guy named Robuchon for best new restaurant.

Scott Boswell is in competition with Starbucks to nab a key spot on Jackson Square in the French Quarter. Here is a brief item from the Picayune. I'll update the link when the paper posts a full story. Starbuck's big donation to Leah Chase made me feel better about the organization than I had before. It's worth remembering, though, that it was locally owned companies that returned soon after the storm. The big corporation, especially Starbucks, left their locations vacant for months in area that weren't even flooded.

A story in yesterday's Picayune about the World Trade Center, that behemouth at the foot of Canal Street, had this interesting paragraph: This sounds like good news for New Orleans. Let's hope it happens.

Apparently he does (or did) want to be anonymous, according to this NYT article. Or maybe he didn't care. I can't tell from this somewhat careless article. Sitting for a photo in the New York Times certainly won't help him remain undercover.

An excellent idea, but my house is an urban area with a tiny yard. I'm going to have to keep my fires safely within a grill.

A wok ring could be an excellent solution. My pan is made of thin steel.

Here is my concern. I've got a thin paella pan that I picked up ages ago in Valencia. If I build a fire in the grill, insert the cast iron grates, and place the paella pan on top of the grates, then I'll have the very hot cast iron grates in direct contact with the pan. This seems like a sure recipe for scorched rice. Rogelio's photos show the pan suspended above the flames. I wonder if I need to rig up the barbecue grill so that the pan can hang a few inches above the flames without using the grates.