Kent Wang

I've added this recipe to RecipeGullet.

May 26, 2006 Austin Chronicle Food-o-file by Virginia B. Wood News about town. "BOBaritaville. At least 25 area restaurants, bars, and hotels will participate in the margarita competition, and a panel of judges (including some Chronicle Food writers) will select the best margarita in Austin through blind taste-tests." Austin Chronicle Not Too Peachy by Virginia B. Wood Bad news about Central Texas peaches. Austin-American Statesman Second bananas by Kitty Crider Interviews with sous chefs from Four Seasons, Driskill and Hudson's. "Sure these sous chefs play around, but in the kitchen, they're a serious part of their restaurants' successes. Meet three Austinites who hold that No. 2 spot at top local restaurants and who make time to have fun as well." This thread is for food media DIGEST entries. If you want to discuss one of these news items, please start a separate discussion thread. ←

The Austin-American Statesman:

Dale Rice says Salt Lick is now opening in Las Vegas. It may not be good Central Texas barbecue but I'm betting it'll be better than the competition there.

This is only a description of the Volpi product and not of all genoa salame. The Vismara, for example, is by no means lean at all. I'm still uncertain what classifies as a genoa salame. Wow! I'm going to have to go to there next time I'm in SF. There is a noticeable difference with the really big macro producers like Boar's Head, Applegate Farms, etc. Especially with salume, lower-end products often have an unmistakeable off-flavor. I'm not sure if it's from the preservatives but I'd venture that as a guess. The Applegate Farms prosciutto ($10/lb), for example, has an unpalatable pine and hickory taste and lacks the buttery smoothness of San Daniele's product ($20/lb). At half the price, I sometimes buy it to make asparagus or shrimp wrapped in prosciutto but I would not think of eating by itself. I love homemade products too but charcuterie seems to me to be one of those things that might benefit from the proper smoking, curing, etc. facilities that a large factory would be able to afford. What is it about the homemade charcuterie that you've had that you find to be objectively superior? Can you attribute the difference to any technique employed by the household that differs from factory processes? Good advice. Perhaps the ultimate solution is to have a meat slicer at home!

Japanese crab cake Serves 25 as Appetizer. See the brainstorming thread. 1 lb crab meat 4 T tempura batter (substitute cake flour) 3 T Kewpie-brand sweet mayo 3 T furikake seasoning (substitute seasoning of your choice) 4 T wakame seaweed, reconstituted 1 egg 1 tsp baking powder 1 c panko (substitute conventional bread crumbs) 1. Mix first seven ingredients and half of the panko together. Reserve remaining panko for dredging. 2. Optional: refrigerate for an hour so ingredients will adhere together. 3. Form cakes with hands, dredge in panko, fry. Keywords: Crab, Appetizer, Seafood, Japanese, Hors d'oeuvre ( RG1720 )

Both by P. G. Molinari & Sons ($15/lb). Coppa (left): smokey, buttery, moderate salt, black pepper finish. Hot coppa: intense, lingering, chile-based heat overwhelms mellow, smokey notes. A thread about coppa.

Quite a coincidence that I stopped by the deli today to pick up two coppas by Molinari. Coppa (left): smokey, buttery, moderate salt, black pepper finish. Hot coppa: intense, lingering, chile-based heat overwhelms mellow, smokey notes.

Do you think breaking out an unlabeled eye dropper to add a strange-colored liquid to your drink won't look highly suspicious?

Is Berkshire really the best? It certainly seems to be the most popular at the upper end of supermarket pork but the best pork that I've ever tasted, which I buy from the farmer's market, is definitely not Berkshire -- the guy I asked couldn't recall the name but knew it wasn't Berkshire. Is breed all that important or is it more about the feed and the way it's raised?

I went today. I got the antipasti platter ($15) which included bruschetta, cheeses, salami and cured meats. A really generous quantity for $15 though most of the meats, especially the salami was sub-par. My friends had very large, tasty salads which I recall being fairly cheap. Mandola's is definitely a good value for mid-level Italian. The charcuterie section is not nearly as good as Central Market's, nearly all Citterio brand products. Not like Citterio doesn't make any good charcuterie just that I'd like to be able to buy San Daniele, Zerto and Vismara products too.

I'm very excited! I hope this makes Grapevine step up their game.

You wouldn't happen to be related to P. G. Molinari & Sons?

I would also be interested in more information. I know my deli carries a copa and a hot copa. Some Googling shows that there is also a sweet copa.

I'm kicking myself for forgetting about this while I was in Shanghai. We went to the famed Nan Xiang Restaurant in the Temple of the City God. The crowd there was huge on a Friday at 1pm with over fifty people queued up at the take out window. These xiao long bao were some of the worst I've had. They were way too small, the skin was too thick and lacked any transparency whatsoever and most importantly the meat was way too dry with no soup in them! That's not a xiao long bao, that's just a steamed dumpling. Fortunately, the little shop near my Grandma's house had some pretty good xiao long bao. I had them nearly every day for breakfast.

Some selected pics from Shenzhen from my Miscellaneous China food photos thread. Geoduck clams. Sea urchins. Water beetles. Yes, they are meant to be eaten. Baby octopus. Live squid. Also check out [Hong Kong] The seafood of Lamma island.

This is how I feel. Though sometimes it's hard to make an accurate assessment of the quality of service after one has had a number of drinks.

I went to Coopers Pit Bar-B-Q in Mason yesterday. I have heard from a number of people that the original in Mason is much better than the better-known one in Llano. Austin Chronicle has a short bio of the Cooper dynasty. Unlike many restaurants, Cooper's keeps the meat in the pits until they're served. They even have goat. Really excellent crust on the brisket, very thick and crispy, even better than Louie Mueller's. The sausage was mediocre. Pork ribs. Lackluster but not as dry as Mueller's. Beef ribs. Overall, I felt that Cooper's edges out Louie Mueller's as my favorite barbecue restaurant -- though there are many more that I have yet to visit. The Muellers use only salt and pepper in their rub while Cooper's uses "a bunch of stuff", according to the staff, in addition to salt and pepper -- I'd venture that there was some cayenne pepper in there. Cooper's also dips all their meat in a thin, vinegary dipping sauce immediately beforing serving. This was a very thin sauce -- almost as thin as water -- not a thick sauce like a standard barbecue sauce. The flavor contributed by the sauce is barely perceptible except for the added acidity which I felt nicely complements the greasiness of the meat. The difference is more a matter of preference one as a purist might prefer Muellers' style; I personally prefer Cooper's.

I was thinking of putting it in my bag to take to a party.

Micro-green salad Greens: pre-made "Asian mix" micro-greens Extras: marinated roasted tomatoes, goat cheese Vinaigrette: blood orange vinegar, shallot, EVOO

It should reseal better than screwcap right? I'm not certain but I've always been afraid to leave a resealed screwcap bottle on its side in case of leakage.

I'd love to see pictures or hear about how these restaurants handle their immense size. Can you imagine the size of the kitchen? How specialized is each station? Do they have several guy that only do one dish?

This sounds just like the guns in Judge Dredd. Definitely would be a cool idea.

After seeing the massive multi-floor, thousand-plus seat restaurants in China I wonder which restaurant holds the record? I suppose there are multiple ways to measure it, by square footage or by number of seats.

http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Aw...tPoll?Year=2006 The single most influential publication in the Austin food scene is here! Though more accurate than any other "Best Of" guides for the city it's still important to take the Readers Poll with a grain of salt as the ability of a restaurant to get out the vote is sometimes just as important as the quality of the food. I tend to agree with the Critics Picks more but ever since last year the categories no longer match the Readers Poll and are more just arbitrary selections of restaurants they want to mention. My commentary: Readers French Fries - Hyde Park Bar & Grill. Agreed. Thick slices dipped in buttermilk -- as if fries weren't unhealthy enough! Readers Dim Sum - Tie: Tien Hong, T&S Seafood. Runner-up - Marco Polo Restaurant. T&S is best for classic Cantonese dim sum. Tien Hong is not quite as good and nearly all their dishes are ground shrimp-based, a little repetitive. Looks like the readers have forgetten about Pao's which serves a very distinct Northern-style dim sum, my second favorite after T&S. Readers Chips & Hot Sauce - Chuy's. Runner-up - Trudy's. Honorable Mention - El Chile Cafe y Cantina, Maudie's, Hula Hut. Whenever Chuy's or Trudy's win anything you can bet it's because they have a huge customer base and not because they serve good food. El Chile and Vivo deserve to win this. Readers Wild-Game Dish - Hudson's on the Bend. Runner-up - Ranch 616. No question about Hudson's but Ranch 616? The only "wild game" -- I suppose "exotic protein" is more accurate -- they have are frog legs and they do a poor job with them. Go to a Chinese restaurant for proper frog legs. Readers Chinese - Chinatown. Runner-up - P.F. Chang's China Bistro. Honorable Mention - Din Ho Chinese BBQ, Suzi's Chinese Kitchen. Maybe this can be considered a good guide to American Chinese, otherwise Din Ho is the only one in this list that does authentic Chinese. Critics Best Cannoli This Side of Little Italy - Home Slice Pizza. I haven't been to Home Slice but Asti's chocolate cannoli deserves a category of its own. Critics Best New Laid-Back Oyster Bar - Quality Seafood. Excellent value for Gulf oysters: $6.95 a dozen. Critics Best Pies and Cobblers - R.O.'s Outpost BBQ. Best chicken fried steak, too. Critics Best Late-Night Barbecue - Sam's BBQ. With John Mueller's moved to Bastrop it's the best barbecue in city limits, no matter what time of day. There are a number of names that I don't recognize that have picqued my interest. Has anyone been? Readers Other Ethnic - Boomerang's (Australian), Elsi's Restaurant (Salvadoran), Tino's Greek Cafe. Critics Best Pairing of Small Plates and Spirits - 219 West. Critics Best Unheralded Ethnic Food - Macedonian Cuisine at Kebab Palace.