moosnsqrl

Finally someone who understands our pain! It is just really hard to like it here having lived in somewhere as wonderful as Ann Arbor. We are trying to embrace the prairie though and take advantage of our surroundings. We like to go down to the Amish area about a half hour South of Champaign. Back on topic - I just double-checked - the Wednesday Champaign market is the one I mentioned above - in a parking lot at the western edge of town. So it's not helping the downtown area, though that area is actually very much up-and-coming. ← I guess it's moved farther out - it was near the [probably by now razed] round "high-rise" apartment building not far from downtown - can't remember the name of it - but certainly not in the 'burbs. Ah, what memories .

Is she taking lessions from the Dan Rather School of Exemplary Descriptives? how is a wine as dusky as an English fog? When did a Rhone with a bit of polish remind one of Eliza Doolittle? She just cracks me up. I have no idea of what she is describing or she means. ← She just returned from a wine writers' workshop. With any luck it will wear off over time.

I totally agree. It is ruder to foist unwanted food or drink upon someone - whatever the reason. For god's sake, I know people who would practically hurl if asked to eat a tomato! It may sound odd to you or I but it's no less valid for them. I don't as a rule care for sweets and it really puts me off to have someone yammer away about how 'one tiny bite' won't hurt me. No, thank you, I don't care for any. That is not rude. Insisting that someone eat something they have politely declined, however, is. And the argument that you eat something to be polite or to make someone else feel better is quite often the root cause of any of a variety of eating disorders.

Ever the champion of the underdog, I'm going to side with you on this one. I don't find it unusual at all to go to a restaurant and not find anything that 'grabs' me on the menu. I would order a cup of tea or a glass of wine if it were an option, and just enjoy the conversation. If you don't want to eat anything, why does ordering food, not eating it and wasting it seem more polite? Plus you are risking having the server ask if there is something wrong with your food and then what do you say? "No, I didn't want it anyway but ordered it to be polite?" And some places would then remove it from the bill, thinking there was something wrong, so you've added to their waste and overhead. I've been in a bunch of situations with co-workers, too, where they'll settle on the lowest common denominator trying to please everyone. If I go along and have some tea and visit with them, celebrating whatever it is we're celebrating, that's the whole point. Why on earth would I order food and not touch it? If it were an event honoring me and I got to pick the restaurant, and I decided on somewhere that served [what to them was] bizarre food, do you think they would order something "just to be polite"? "Aw, here, just try a bite of my ____ - a little won't hurt you!" Wouldn't happen, so why should I pretend order at a plastic food place. And before you think I'm snobby or feel sorry for my poor co-workers, they are the same people who carry on and on whenever a guest-worker from another country dares to microwave something that smells "weird" to them to the point of embarrassing the poor guy enough that he feels uncomfortable bringing lunch to the office. It's happened many, many times.

KC Media Digest for week of March 1-7, 2007 The Kansas City Star Food Section Gail Borelli in praise of parchment. Jill Silva features cabbage in a wintertime chopped salad in Eating for Life. The always-informative Doug Frost discusses ports and other fortified wines. Lauren Chapin reviews a collection of sustainable recipes in The Oldways Table. An area 10-year-old is the subject of Janet Majure's Come Into My Kitchen. Here is this week's Food Calendar. Business Section Joyce Smith files various reports on retail and restaurants - click here, here, here and here. Preview Section Lauren Chapin reviews 39th Street favorite Room 39 and, in Good & Cheap, visits the Liberty location of Mavi, the Cascone family's growing fast-casual concept. Lastly, if you're going to see the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit, Pierpont's is offering a special "Taste of the Holy Land" menu. The Pitch Charles Ferruzza and friends find lots of sizzle in the food at Swizzle Bistro. And in My Big Fat Mouth we hear some parting words from long-time 39th Street restaurateur Tommy Macaluso. Good luck, Signore, whatever you do. KC Magazine's G.E. Fellrath tried the new Briarcliff Village location of Piropos and (apparently after considerable expense) could recommend only the view and the wine. Lawrence Journal-World Terry Rombeck reports on a new pan-Asian entry to the Lawrence market; it's not your father's Campus Hideaway Roll Cafe. Recipes for soups and a dip from Jayni's Kitchen are offered. If you have Sunflower Cablevision, enjoy the show at these times: A new show airs at 6:30 p.m. each Tuesday. The show also is broadcast at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday; 9 a.m., 5:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. Wednesday; 9:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. Thursday; 10 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. Friday; 9:30 a.m. Saturday; 10:30 p.m. Sunday; and 10 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. Monday. On KCUR 89.3 FM The Food Critics join Walt Bodine and Kelley Weiss tomorrow morning at 10. To listen live, go to their website. On 710 KCMO (AM) From Jasper's Kitchen, with Jasper Mirabile, 11am-noon Saturday. Go here and click Listen Live.

The Birdcage! "Are you afraid of my Guatemalan-ness?" ← We routinely refer to aspirin as "pirin tablets" around our house because of this hysterical film.

I would add to that the availability of tax incentives used to spur new development. Around KC it's referred to as TIF (Tax Increment Financing) which is leveraged by developers, in addition to the impressive traffic numbers. It's a hot issue in these parts at the moment, since the original intent was more to encourage redevelopment in blighted areas but now the dollars are finding their way into fairly exclusive, clearly *not* blighted areas.

I think that the proximity to Detroit helps Ann Arbor a lot. They get people with money from the suburbs eating at their restaurants, not just the locals and students. There is also better availability of ingredients (especially in the winter). I think one of the hardest things about living here is the lack of good produce during the winter, and anywhere other than the Farmer's Market, joining a CSA, or having a great garden in the summer. Champaign is just so isolated in the middle of a cornfield, and there are comparatively few people who know good food. Most people who are looking for a good dining experience head up to Chicago for the night. Champaign doesn't have a downtown Farmer's Market - there is something in a parking lot at the edge of town in the middle of the week (I've never been). Urbana has a Saturday farmer's market in the parking lot of their moribund downtown shopping center. Interestingly, Champaign's downtown area is further along in its redevelopment than Urbana's. ← My deepest sympathy. We moved in the opposite direction (Chambana first, then A2) and I doubt a week ever passed when one of us didn't comment on the non-existence of good food in "the cornfield swamp" (not to be unkind but facts are facts). I think the lack of a metropolitan area, coupled with the general "middle of nowhere" ambiance has held Chambana back. People go to school in Ann Arbor and seem to want to stick around for the natural beauty, among other things. I didn't meet all that many U of I alumni when we lived in Champaign. There was a Wednesday morning version of the Saturday farmer's market in Champaign back then. It was smaller than the Saturday market and not all of the farmers were there but those who were also participated in the Saturday one. It wasn't highly publicized and I found out quite accidentally about it. Is it possibly still there and you haven't stumbled upon it? I don't know how long you've been living there so no offense intended - I'm sure if you're on this forum you have a nose for such things.

Ah, yes, but does it fit in your purse?

I carry a small set of salt & pepper mills at all times. I don't care for the metallic taste of common table salt and fresh pepper is always preferable to what is found on most tables. I do not bother to grind salt for cooking because, as FG mentioned, there's no point as it is going to dissolve anyway. But please don't try to tell me the mill I carry is "stupid." I guess it is in that it is inanimate and unable to reason but I'm happy to tote its ignorant self around 24/7 to enhance my enjoyment of whatever food comes my way. And I've never known anyone at the table with me to turn down the offer of freshly ground sea salt, either.

Since we usually find ourselves on one coast or another with some regularity, we've not eaten sushi in KC on any regular basis for years. So I'm asking for some fresh information. Our old standby when we DID partake regularly was Jun's and that is still a sentimental favorite, so I would be particularly interested in any recent visits there. I recall UE extolling the virtues of somewhere in the rather extreme SErn quadrant of the metro but that's geographically less desirable than something on the Kansas City or mid/downtown. I know Nara has some sushi but seems to be more about the scene. The SO's favorite is uni so bonus points for anywhere that does a brisk business in it.

I wondered about the WF/WO thing, too. When Wild Goats took over Clearly Nature's Own the community had a collective (hormone-free) cow and to allay the backlash they 'promised' not to close that old store to build a big, fancy one. They were poised to break that promise most certainly when they built the space that now houses World Market. But they never got the doors open before a moratorium on expansion was declared and little CNO was saved once again. The Roeland Park location never seems to have any cars in the lot but that could change with the whole Mission Center redevelopment, so I would take a 'wait and see' on that if I were WF's management. The existing WF is far enough away from the south WO so I doubt they're competing unduly. As for the northland, it does seem like there is some room for them up around Zona Rosa. I have been curious how Green Acres is doing in Briarcliffe but my first two visits there were so frustrating I decided to give them some time to get their act together before going back. And while we're w-a-y OT for a TJ's thread (), I will give WF some credit for listening to Michael Pollan and others and addressing their virtual abandonment of "local" products. It's not going to be fixed overnight but they are working with farmers in the areas where they have stores, having workshops and disseminating info on what steps they need to take to become a supplier so we'll see how that all turns out.

Your honesty is refreshing.

How about "Not Spaghetti, Linguini" ← Sounds like Felix being pedantic in The Odd Couple?? ← Nice One! I thought I was going to go for the green and brown sandwiches. ← "It's either very new cheese or very old meat."

How so? Do you mean because it is not gentlemanly ie good ie refined? ← Since Stephen attributed the bias against adding white sugar to savoy items to elitists/food snobs, it amused me to think that "refined sugar" was rather, well, unrefined. I'm afraid my word geekiness is often more amusing to me than to others.

KC Media Digest for week of February 22 - February 28, 2007 The Kansas City Star Food Section Jill Silva features one of my favorite humble comfort foods, polenta in Eating for Life. Lauren Chapin offers this paean to the peppadew; and reviews a new self-published book by a local wine purveyor Matt Nevinger. And, while you're at the bookstore rounding out your collection on wine, Doug Frost recommends this one. It was like pulling teeth but Janet Majure got a local periodontist to share his recipe for seafood strudel. Here is this week's Food Calendar. In Business Newly signed tenants for Power & Light District are Maker's Mark and Howl at the Moon, Joyce Smith reports. Also, say goodbye to Annedore's but hello to a new, more minimalist Cafe when the new addition to the Nelson opens in June. For other miscellaneous items, click here. Elsewhere Hearne Christopher reports on the long-rumored outdoor music venue adjacent to the Crossroads' pizza hotspot Grinders. Preview Section Lauren Chapin makes a whistlestop at The Harvey House in Good & Cheap. The Pitch Charles Ferruzza and Company visit Wil Jenny's, the the four-month-old entry to the restaurant-heavy 135th Street Corridor. And in My Big Fat Mouth he bids a not-all-fond farewell to Stephenson's Apple Farm. Ingram's Magazine Doug Worgul launches a new feature with a little history of KC 'cue. Tastebud Magazine I had despaired of finding new online content for a time, but the January 2007 edition is available in pdf format now. Lawrence Journal-World Gwen Mellinger reminds us to spring forward early this year, and get a head start on your vegetable garden with the extra hours of daylight. On 710 KCMO (AM) From Jasper's Kitchen, with Jasper Mirabile, 11am-noon Saturday. Go here and click Listen Live. <><><><><> Media Digest Notes... Updates from some area media outlets, which do not 'go to press' before we do, will be edited into each week's post as they become available. Please do not reply on this thread. For discussion of any stories which are linked here, please feel free to start a new thread or contact the forum host or digester who will be happy to do it for you. <><><><><>

I think it must be more regional, FG. I'm not aware of that stigma, although for health reasons and because there is so much of it in processed foods, most people I know tend to use something other than refined (white) sugar. Turbinado or something less refined (I think there's another thread going on about alternative sweeteners even as we speak). So "refined sugar" has joined "jumbo shrimp" in the list of food-related oxymorons, it seems.

Jackals/hyenas w/kraut (hot dogs)

I'm a little surprised to see Valentino up there. I had a great experience there - servers and the room are wonderful - but the food was just good, not stellar. Perhaps we mis-ordered. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad and I couldn't point out flaws or anything, it just didn't wow me to the extent I expected to see it #2 in a city the size of Los Angeles. Maybe I need to try it again.

The Bucket residence . . . the lady of the house speaking! Keeping Up Appearances. When my S.O. is being a slob I call him Onslow

maftoul, I started another thread when I discovered that they *finally* have a way to request new locations online. There's a link to the request form in the first post on it. Edited for economy.

Yes, sorry, I confirmed it in a rely to petite chou above. Those are indeed some of Second Leftenant Hardcastle's favorites.

My all-time favorite comes from Babbo: 2-Minute Calamari, Sicilian Lifeguard Style Although the name is a bit of an exercise in poetic license, the flavors are typical of the area and it's good stuff, done simply and quickly. ETA: not meaning to ignore your preference for slow methods - but you don't need a grill to do this one!

So, if I send you $5008 will you throw-in a free pot with my thousand pounds of beans? All of this bean talk has made me hungry and eager to experiment. I've also (somewhat humbly) finally figured out why I suffered so many bean failures at a previous residence. I was the laughing stock of a group of musicians who routinely came over on Sundays to pick and grin. Regardless of my best intentions, the beans were akin to bullets time after time. I finally gave up and served something else (going against tradition). Now I know it was the well water and not me, after years of living in shame.

I'll answer on behalf of UE (if I may be so presumptuous). The nearest TJ's are in suburban St. Louis, which is at the extreme eastern edge of Missouri, so the answer is that we're an entire state away (~250 miles). Yes, you were spoiled in A2! WF, TJ's, Village Corner, Big 10 Party Shop, Merchant of Vino. . . And I'll echo some of the previous comments about the dumbed-down version of TJ's the midwest seems to get. A mere shadow of those in CA. But I'd still be happy to get one here.