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Osnav

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Posts posted by Osnav

  1. It only gets better. Catch Mark Caro's column in today's (4/7/05) Tribune. Charlie is going to "open a can of whup-ass". Check it out.

    T.B. you're quoted and the article references eGullet.

    ...and the beat goes on.

    P.S. I hadn't finished the article when I posted the above. So I left out noting that they quoted Bux, too.

    Bux's point of this being more about Chef vs. Chef civility rather than the foie argument was well made; but the article, of course, played on the foie debate because it is more sensational.

  2. I think there are a couple of threads here. The foie gras debate and the chef debate. I am inclined to agree with Ronnie S. that the most alarming thing was Charlie's lashing out and calling everybody an idiot and other names.

    I could care less about his position on foie gras; but I just got this impression of mean-spiritedness. It made me uncomfortable.

    As to the article being written by the entertainment editor, why not. He probably has as good of journalistic credentials and anyone else. And it's not like he was reviewing food or anything. Besides, if we have to wait around for Phil V. to criticize ANYONE in Chicago it's going to be too long of a wait.

  3. I'm with most of comments so far. What's wrong with Free taste treats. If they don't appeal to you try this: "No thanks."

    But, hey. not every article can be Pulitzer material. Remember these quys have to crank out something or they don't get paid. If most of his reviews are good, I personally don't read his reviews, then give him the benefit of an off day.

    osnav

  4. Well well, it seems they are human after all and not robots being fed by some wireless uplink from a central database.

    I never thought I’d live to see the day.

    Perhaps after years of holding their tongues and being relegated to having their edges clipped as to fit into the square hole so that the surface can be smooth and free of cracks,

    we are beginning to witness some assertion of individuality not in accordance with the unwritten laws of the non-disclosure agreement ridden world that has been created around them.

    That in conjunction with the convenient pointing out of new “trends” in recent articles in the food media may possibly signal the beginning of the breakdown of the old system?

    I suppose that will remain to be seen.

    There may even come a day when someone in a white toque will not automatically command respect by simply wearing such a garment – regardless of whether they can toast bread or not – though I doubt I will live to see that.

    As for Foie Gras, both arguments can be made on equal footing I suppose… but what is more important to look at is why it is so crucial an ingredient to those who wish to keep it.

    It’s one of the “crutch” ingredients, like caviar – one of those elusive and therefore seemingly extravagant ingredients that most people feel as though they could not prepare even if they could find it, a magic wand in the bag of tricks that by it’s very appearance can justify the high price tag of a meal in the mind of a diner.

    Do not be fooled - that is a huge part of this… money and class distinction. I would venture to guess much more than just about any other element involved on the “for it”side - and who knows what ulterior motive lurks within certain parts of the “against it” side.

    Interesting to say the least.

    BTW, for those of us who would like to order Foie Gras for their home since you can’t get it at your local grocery store – you can buy it here:

    http://earthy.com/e_d_gran_viandes.htm?EDI...67b6349be7dc19e

    For those of us that would not like to buy it…. then we shouldn't.

    Nice piece. I really like your quote.

  5. Rick Tramonto and Gale Gand used to work at Trotter's for a while.  Although I have no facts to base my forthcoming idea on, I personally belive that Tru came upon the Chicago dining scene after Trotter opened the doors for refined innovative cuisine in a notorious meat and potatoes town.  Perhaps, Trotter has always had a little disdain towards Tramonto for opening a very similiar restaurant such as his, a little copy cat work.  Just a thought.

    That could be part of it. Also, Charlie hasn't gotten much "ink" recently in Chicago. Everything has been Grant Achatz or Homaro Cantu and now Rick T.s new Osteria...

    This is the first time I've seen Charlie's name in the paper in quite awhile.

  6. OK--I have a confession:

    I have never liked missionaries. Practice your religion and go to Heaven. Don't try to convert me from my religion. It's none of your fucking business!

    You don't want to eat/serve foie gras? Great! Don't do it.

    Don't want to drop that lobster in the boiling water (after reading last year's Gourmet article on lobsters)? No problem.

    Likewise, cute little lambs & baby cows.

    You say you don't want to eat bunny tacos? Okay by me.

    What about those chickens that never see the light of day? And if you would see the way modern pig farming is conducted; you probably would swear off that, too.

    This is all okay by me.

    And if it's okay with you, I would like to make my own choices, too.

    Thank you.

  7. Mea culpa, mea culpa.

    Well now that I've outed myself, I suppose my personal record was four hours.

    But that was a long, long time ago.  Needless to say, my boyfriend (at the time) and I are no longer talking.  (We broke up due to other reasons but being late to my birthday dinner no less was the straw that broke the camel's back.)

    Soba

    Soba

    I don't get it. You can read a calendar (52 days left before Star Wars..." but you can't read a watch and know how many hours & minutes left before your dinner reservation?

  8. 1968 Lawrence, KS.

    I was living with two ex-Nam vets and we were taking a class called History of World War II. It consisted of and hour and a half of film every Thur. It was held in a huge (capacity 1,000) auditorium and we sat in the back drinking every period.

    My friends would smuggle in 3-4 Falstaffs in their field jackets and I always smuggled in a bottle of KC's finest called "Barcelona Sweet Red". It cost $.62 per bottle, which was $.30 cheaper that a six pack of Falstaff.

    I was doing it for economic reasons, but my friends gave me continuous grief about my "wine drinking".

    Today I've refined my wine selection somewhat, and I have never gone back to the Falstaff; even though the Falstaff now costs about 10% of what my wine now costs.

    rikkitikki

  9. Your question reminds me of my nephew who asked me who the Beatles were.

    It is a generational thing.

    To many of my generation Julia invented food. To me, Julia took the simple act of fueling my body three times a day and turned it into something interesting and enjoyable.

    Julia is of my time, you will find your own muse no better nor worse than Julia.

    One thing you owe it to yourself to do though, is to READ. Food has a long and glorious history. It is filled with wonderful characters that have created the steps that have led to our current day situation.

    From Marco Polo bringing back pasta to Venice, or the Spanish taking potatoes and tomatoes back to Europe; the history of food is fascinating. Every generation builds upon the previous. To understand where cuisine is today you have to look at the past.

    Julia brought us from the Eisenhower/Swanson's TV Diners to the French's love of cooking and food. She taught us to enjoy food.

    That's enough.

    rikkitikki

  10. In general, we all seem to agree that FoodNet is basically a dumbing-down process with a few shows and chefs we like (whether it be Alton, Sara, Mario, or whomever).

    With Sara's departure, which doesn't bother me as much as it bothers some of you, there is a suspicion that the dumbing-down will be accelerated. And that is probably true.

    It's too bad. Because they have an opportunity to make everyone happy. Why couldn't they put on a couple of shows dedicated to the "foodies" of the world (us). They could air them at not primetime hours (we're desperate enough to watch them at 2AM) and they could then delivery multiple markets to their advertizers.

    But then, I have always been a "glass half full" type of guy.

    ri

  11. I do understand where you're coming from, and agree that complexity is not equal to creativity. And in order to win, you must not only take risks, but succeed with them.

    I've thought more about Mario's dishes, and while I do see the risk in "tampering" with a favorite, there are still two issues that stick in my mind. First was that I viewed the buffalo wing and the meatball sandwich/sausage and peppers as very similar - upscale renditions of homestyle fare. I'm sure they were both excellent, but to me, it looked like a bit of repetition. I know others may see it differently, and I'm sure the judges did.

    The other is a very subjective judgement call: I had a pretty good idea of what each of Mario's dishes would taste like. What differentiates Iron Chef from just another timed cooking contest for me is the "whoa" factor in the results, the "I never would of thought of that", the "now where did THAT idea come from", the "I have no idea what that would be like but I'll bet it would be different". And it really surprised me that from the descriptions and the pictures was how well I was able to form a mental picture of the taste profile of the results.

    I freely admit that profile might be dead wrong, but the fact that I was able to form it was a novel experience.

    This is why I was surprised with the scoring results. I had expected that Campbell would win the creative use score, they'd be about tied on plating, and Mario would take the taste points hands down, and the battle. I hope this explains a little more how my own reasoning went - I think we're all in agreement on the battle, just discussing the finer details :-).

    Marcia.

    Looks like we we've arrived at 7 blind men describing the elephant here. So let this blind man jump in with his two cents:

    I thought the scoring was about right.

    Plating: I thought Campbell seemed really heavy handed in his presentations. Large smears of this and that, some untidiness in some presentations, and overall it was just not visually appealing to me.

    Creativity: Most of what Campbell did was certainly more "experimental" than Mario; but it didn't work for me. I agree with what one of the judges said to Campbell about one of his dishes: "What has the cheese (the featured ingredient) got to do with this dish?" Campbell admitted that the cheese was more of an accent than a central ingredient (my paraphrasing). I thought this lost him any chance he had.

    As someone else mentioned earlier in the discussion, I thought it was apparent that Mario was going to win, and win big, early on in the broadcast.

    ri

  12. There was a great difference in style here. Mario's dishes seemed almost traditional, even staid next to Campbell's. At the same time, most of them spoke to me of their taste. I found them far more appealing. Campbell's dishes may well have been satisfying, but they didn't send that message to me. They reminded my of why I've disliked fusion cooking. I didn't find a sense of structure or discipline. At the same time, there are a number of very creative avant garde chefs whose food I very much enjoy eating. I'm not sure their dishes would have shown up well on TV or seemed appealing from either pictures or descriptions.

    What's more interesting from the media perspective, is that interest in the show seems to be falling off here. Is it the challenger or just that some members have had enough? It's my very personal and perhaps prejudiced opinion that the most talented chefs to appear on the Iron Chef America are yet to come. Those are Alex Lee who's a friend, and the chef who's assisting him who is even closer to me. Both of these men have cooked dishes not on the menu for me at Daniel and I've seen them in action and know some of the people who have worked with and under them. When I say they are chefs' chefs, some of you will suspect I'm guided by my relationship, while some of the pros will nod accordingly.

    I am not at all suprised that interest in the show is not very high. I really thought the concept would not translate well. In ICJ what entertained me was the crazy translating, the inept judges, and the exotic ingredients. ICA has no translating, judges that take this way to seriously, and the ingredients have been pretty mundane.

    Couple this with chefs whose main purposes are to enhance and progress their images, careers, and dollars and you have a pretty wishy washy show.

    ICA has just turned into a speed cooking exhibition with judging as a five minute afterthought.

    To make the IC concept work, they need to get more interesting ingredients, eliminate the 5 dish requirement, and allow more time for the chefs to elaborate on their dishes and why they are making them.

    At least that would help keep me as a viewer.

    ri

  13. what did you think about tonight's show? To me it was very clear that Mario will and should win. I enjoy all the shows in which Mario competes, they are usually pretty energetic and fun.

    Elie

    I thought this was IronMan at its best. Mario created diverse and interesting dishes. In particular, the figs "brulee" in marscapone made my mouth water. He incorportated the main ingredient, cheeses, into his created dishes perfectly. Too often, the designated ingredient is merely used as an accent to some dish the chefs come up with.

    ri

  14. When the Orange on Clark first opened, it was very, very good - one of the best breakfast places I've been to. The menu used to change almost weekly and most of the stuff on there was great (esp. the puff pastry). Been back less and less recently - I still like it, but (apart from the pancake flight) the menu seems to be the same every time, and has been for the last couple of years. Takes the fun out of it a bit. Plus the food is just a bit more boring.

    Had no idea that Dale Levitski was the chef when I first started going though - that explains a lot.

    I haven't' tried Orange yet, but the idea of a "breakfast" place opening at 8AM seems awfullly weird to me.

  15. Lou Malnati's and the ORIGINAL Uno location. Everything else is just an imitation.

    I'm not much of a fan of the Chicago deep dish pizza. I did recently run into a great pie at Pizza D.O.C. They also have a simple salad of celery and granny smith apples with parmesan shavings and lemon juice that is killer.

  16. Tony vs. Bobby

    Now there's a match. Maybe they could make it a three-way and add JAMIE.

    Get all the pretty boys together and have them compete in swimsuits.

    The main difference between the PBS food shows and the Food Network shows is that the PBS shows are about food. The Food Network is all about personality. Give me Jaque, Charlie Trotter, Rick Bayless, and the Cooks Illus. show anytime. As far as I am concerned the only shows on the Food Network that interest me in the least bit are Mario and Alton.

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