NewYorkTexan

Congratulations on winning the James Beard award. Anyone who reads your newsletter or your posts realizes that this will is only the first of what will many awards you will win. I was impressed with the level of detail you included about the Salt Lick considering I did not see you taking any notes. You did forget to mention one thing. Despite large crowd, it was easy to find you. 1) you were nice enough to wait by the front entrance 2) amongst the sea of pick-up trucks, SUVs, and gun toting parking lot attendants, you were the only one wearing “fish pants”.

Steven – Have you thought about a career with the Austin Tourism Bureau? It is always nice to see a yankee have a true appreciation for Texas Barbeque. Based on your review of Smitty’s, I have to go there. I have always been loyal to the brother that owns Kreuz’s Market and have not been to Smitty’s since they took over the original Kreuz location a few years ago. I find it impressive that that same pit has been producing great barbeque since 1900. The secret to the popularity of Iron Works is its location, downtown next to the convention center and near several office towers. On good days, they serve the best beef ribs in Central Texas. Did you eat anything else at Robbie’s Cajun Kitchen? They have only been open for a few weeks and I do not know anyone that has been there yet. I have forwarded your post to Virginia Wood, a food writer at the Austin Chronicle. She is by far the most talented food writer/critic in Austin and hopefully she will become a contributor to egullet.

I have found Whole Foods to be wildly inconsistent as a chain. They have grown very quickly over the past few years, though both acquisitions and organic growth (no pun intended). Even in Austin, where they are headquartered, you see stark differences between their downtown store and a newer store in the ‘burbs. The older downtown store has a stronger emphasis on organic foods, vitamins and supplements, health foods, etc. The newer store has more shelf spaced dedicated to gourmet items, wines, artisinal cheeses and prepared foods. It is a telling sign on Whole Foods future that they recently announced they are closing the downtown store and will replace it with a new 80,000 sq/ft store and an overall strategy to grow to 400 stores ( they currently have 131 stores). An article about their global growth plans. Whole Foods future plans

Great post as usual but two pictures of Momo and none of Jennifer Diaz???? Can we assume that you took the beauty pageant picture?

What an engaging post. The Four Seasons chain is extremely pet friendly. They have a section on the room service menu dedicated for their guests with four legs. Perfect if Momo gets a craving for a organic wheat and parsley biscuit at three in the morning. If you think breakfast in the hotel is expensive (always a pet peeve of mine, but that is a whole new thread), wait to you see their room service prices for the pet menu.

In case anyone missed this from the NYTimes, Blue Smoke by Asimov I am personally fascinated by a restaurant that has smoked baloney and foie gras on the same menu. Ruby--did you look at the wine list? Meyer made a big deal of trying to put together a bbq friendly wine list. Was he successful?

Krispy Kreme makes my list. They offer a seasonal donut that is often very good. The current donut du jour is New York cheesecake, which is excellent. The pumpkin pie donut was not a successful experiment! I refuse to try any new products at McDonalds. Several years ago, they first introduced the McRib. The commercials made it look so good that I tried it. It was the most vile fast food product ever created.

Tom, Where does your inspiration for new dishes come from? Can you share some details into your creative process for developing new recipes? Thanks and look forward to reading Welcome to my Kitchen

If you are driving through Tucson AZ, go to El Charro Café and order the air-dried carne secca. Along the central coast of California, here are some random thoughts: Hitching post in Casmalia, CA near Santa Maria. It is always crowded and a little touristy. Their steaks are excellent and they have a surprisingly good house pinot noir. Do NOT go to Andersons, a restaurant that claims to have created split pea soup. I wish they spent some of their advertising budget to buy quality ingredients. If you drive up route 1, you will see billboards for them about every 2 miles. Visit some of the farmers markets along the central coast. My mouth still waters when I think about some of the fresh strawberries I used to buy there. I believe April is when Santa Maria has their annual Strawberry festival. The central coast has a huge agricultural base and cities like Santa Maria still are primarily farming towns. That is changing as many retirees are starting to call Santa Maria home (my wife’s grandmother included). The Santa Maria Inn is a neat place to stay that has some character and fairly reasonable. It is one of the oldest hotels on the central coast. Ask for a room in the new tower, the rooms are much larger. Solvang is a waste of time. In Oceano, CA (between Santa Maria and Pismo Beach) there is the Great American Melodrama a fun somewhat campy production held in charming theater. It is has some vaudeville aspects, but is a fun way to spend an evening. You must plan on visiting some of the wineries in the Santa Ynez Valley. Below are some helpful links. http://santaynezvalleyvisit.com/html/wineries.html http://www.hiddenwineries.com/CA/sb/imgs/sb_map.jpg http://www.hiddenwineries.com/CA/sb/wineries.html Santa Maria Tri-Tip is a must experience. I believe the local Elks club (or one of those groups) holds a tri-tip barbeque every Wednesday. This is the best authentic bbq tri-tip you will find. If your schedule does not coincide with the weekly town bbq, Jocko’s Steak House is suppose to have excellent BBQ as well. Interesting background ion the Santa Maria Tri-Tip. http://www.santamaria.com/SantaMaria/BBQ.html Just outside of Santa Maria in the one-intersection town of Orcutt, you will find Jack's Restaurant and Bakery (156 S. Broadway). Great breakfasts. Their specialty is a raisin bread french toast made with bread that is baked in house. You receive a whole loaf per order. If you want something lighter, they have very good 4 egg omelettes. The portion are so huge that it is not possible to leave there hungry. If you leave Jack’s hungry after ordering their french toast, I will pay for your breakfast! Feel free to say hi to Jack, he used to play in the NFL and has a great sense of humor. The wine cask restaurant in Santa Barbara should definitely be on your list to visit. I think keep thing of other suggestions....

It probably would help to look at page 2 of this forum. :confused: When did the South become so popular.

We are planning a trip to NC this May and would love to hear some BBQ suggestions for state overall. I will be driving between the Triad area/Charlotte/Asheville. There has gotta be some great BBQ along the way…right? If there are other hidden gems besides BBQ joints please share as well. A few restaurants that I have good things about, but have not finished researching include…... Any thoughts on these? Lo Spiedo Noble-Greensboro Little Richard’s-High Point Mountain Smoke House-Asheville Gabrielle’s at Richmond Hill Pewter Rose Bistro-Charlotte

adding to the list: Cooking Light

There is a new man-made stone product, Silestone, that claims to offer all of the attributes of granite counters, but is 20% cheaper than granite and is easier to install. It is offered in approximately 40 colors. I put in tile counters when I moved into my house four years ago. It was the best value of the acceptable options. I found out the hard way I need counters that are heat and stain resistant. They have several cleaners on the market that do a great job of cleaning white or light colored grout.

The part that is most disturbing is the additional charge for a crust on the meat. One of the motivations for going to a steak house is the fine crust that can only be produced in a professional kitchen. Why would they charge a supplemental charge to properly cook the steak? Unless they are referring to a peppercorn crust, I find that additional charge offensive.

I have been to Boulevard once and had an ok meal. The only memorable course was dessert. I had one of the finest crème brule I have every had. It was worth the trip for the dessert alone.

While the warning labels were amusing, they actually were relevant to the original topic. They demonstrate the extremes that companies feel obligated to go to as protection against frivolous lawsuits. The warning labels often prove to be a weak defense, but the lawyers insist they appear. Do warning labels ever protect consumers against their own stupidity? On a different but related topic, One of the results of McDonalds losing the lawsuit is they serve their coffee at a lower temperature. I am sure there is a lawyer that has or will look to sue McDonalds based on the diminished enjoyment of their beverage which is now served below the optimal temperature.

Today I was emailed a list of "actual" warning labels from consumer products. I have not verified if they actually appear on the products listed. On a Sear's hairdryer: ...Do not use while sleeping. On a bag of Fritos: ...You could be a winner! No purchase necessary. Details inside. (the shoplifter special?) On a bar of Dial soap: "Directions: Use like regular soap." On some Swanson frozen dinners: "Serving suggestion: Defrost." (but, it's "just" a suggestion.) On Tesco's Tiramisu dessert (printed on bottom): "Do not turn upside down." (well...duh, a bit late, huh!) On Marks & Spencer Bread Pudding: "Product will be hot after heating." On packaging for a Rowenta iron: "Do not iron clothes on body." On Boot's Children Cough Medicine: "Do not drive a car or operate machinery after taking this medication." (We could do a lot to reduce the rate of construction accidents if we could just get those 5-year-olds with head-colds off those forklifts.) On Nytol Sleep Aid: "Warning: May cause drowsiness." (and...I'm taking this because???....) On most brands of Christmas lights: "For indoor or outdoor use only." (as opposed to...what?) On a Japanese food processor: "Not to be used for the other use." > (now, somebody out there, help me on this. I'm a bit curious.) On Sainsbury's peanuts: "Warning: contains nuts." On an American Airlines packet of nuts: "Instructions: Open packet, eat nuts." On a child's superman costume: "Wearing of this garment does not enable you to fly." (I don't blame the company. I blame the parents for this one.) On a Swedish chainsaw: "Do not attempt to stop chain with your hands or genitals." (Oh my ... was there a lot of this happening somewhere?)

Great topic. My weakness is fluffernutter sandwiches (peanut butter and marshmallow cream). This is where it gets bad..............we named our second dog fluffernutter. The older dog is of course named marshmallow. (Edited by NewYorkTexan at 8:24 am on Jan. 15, 2002)

There is a fundamental difference between the two, not just semantics. A restaurateur that has more than one property is quite different than a large chain restaurant. There are capital and management limitations to how large a restaurateur can grow before it become a chain establishment. I am not sure where that line exists when an establishment becomes a chain. Is it when they reach a certain number of locations, become publicly traded or ??????? Almost all of the best known chains started as single restaurants and morphed into chains somewhere along their history. Still, I do not think you can call a chef with several restaurants a chain. When discussing chain restaurants, there are really two defining attributes to examine, scale and price points. You can almost chart this, if one was so inclined. As a chain increased in scale, quality almost inevitably decreases. I am not talking a direct correlation, but close. National or global chain with hundreds or thousands of locations will focus on uniformity and profitability, not product quality. This is not all bad as there is some comfort knowing that the McDonald's french fries will taste the same in Wyoming as they will in Chicago. The down side is the McRib will taste the same as well (one of the worst things I every tasted). Many regional chains still owned by the founder often refuse to expand beyond their region for fear of diluting the quality of the product. As one moves up in prices, quality will usually rise accordingly. It is inappropriate to compare Morton's of Chicago with Steak and Ale. To be fair, comparisons should be grouped together, mid-priced italian restaurants, high-end steak houses, fast food chains, etc. You can also group them by menu price points, say best meal for two under โ. When I refered to suburban chain restaurants, I meant, but did not clearly state, I was talking about mid-priced chains.

In simplest and broadest terms, the difference lies in the management........are they cooks or business people. Individual or family run restaurants that have multiple locations are privately held and have a limited number of restaurants or a limited geographic foot print. This smaller scale is critical, it allows the owner to have a more hands-on role. Their presence has a significant impact on the quality of the service and food. This holds true from barbeque joints in the south to Ducasse's restaurants. After all, it probably was the owner or founder's devotion to quality them gave them the reputation to expand in the first place. The ultimate focus is on the customer experience, driven by the owners passion for the food. There is also a degree of accountability associated with having an actual owner/chef. Even at a chain like Wolfgang Puck, I would assume that he takes an interest (even if it is small) in the food being served at a restaurant with his name on the door. His chain is also one of the better options at airports, but that is for another thread. I classify chain restaurants as those with many locations that cover a large geographic area. As part of a public company (I am not distinguishing between publicly traded companies and those owned by a private investment fund like a LBO) the ultimate focus is ROI. There is a need to institutionalize every detail of its operations, stripping away local character. The senior management makes their decisions based on numbers, market research data and net margins. Some of the brightest marketing people I know used to have senior roles at PepsiCo/Tricon. You could have substituted widgets for tacos and they probably would not have missed a beat if the profits were still there. Chain restaurants are often accused of having no soul, it just the lack of passion for food by management. There are many area of grays between the two groups. Morton's Steak House is a publicly traded chain restaurant, yet it is far superior to most individuals owned restaurants. In many smaller cities, Morton's or Ruth's Crist is the best place in town. Restaurant Associates is another example that is hard to stereotype.

There is a difference between a chain restaurant and a restaurant with several locations. I am sure Ducasse would be thrilled to hear he was included in the overall discussion of chain restaurants, On pricing, Houston's falls into a unique place between the Fridays/Bennigans/outbacks and the high-end steak chains, two people can easily spend ๛ dollars on a meal. They aspire to be more like the top tier chains (Morton's, Sullivan's,etc) but have institutional short comings that prevent that. Most notably is the service, the caliber of their help is the same as the lower end of the chain restaurant spectrum. The kitchen is wildly inconsistent, I have had perfectly cooked pork chops and I have been served what I assume was the cooks shoe. The last two cities I have lived in have had a Houston's with 10 minutes of my home. I have stopped going to them because for a modest premium, I could get a better meal with superior wine selection at a good steak house. I am sure there are other chain restaurants that have similar prices and ambiance to Houston's, but I do not know of any. I do not know much about Outbacks, I went once and had an awful experience and never went back. Are they any good?

I would think the best bet would be any of their grilled dishes. Most Houston's feature a mequite wood grill. Usually a large pile of fire wood is stacked by the door to hammer that point home. Funny, I never think of Houston's as a typical chain. Both the quality and prices are a little higher than most, such as olive garden, outback, steak and ale, etc.

That could be a nice idea for next years gifts. Do they do a packaging job of packaging the gift baskets? You mentioned you have ordered several times from them so I assume good customer service, right?

Do not forget about Dr. Browns cream soda! It is sweet, but not as sweet as the black cherry. A perfect companion to the saltiness of a good pastrami sandwich.

I did not go into fine dining restaurants because it seemed that Simon was more interested in casual regional/ethnic suggestions. I have been to Mansion on Turtle Creek about 6 times (always for business) over the past 4 years, and each time I left wondering if I missed something. It is the type of restaurant that you leave without specific complaints, but nothing to rave about either. I suspect that they are relying a little too much on their past glory and the "house specialties" that Dean Fearing made famous. I am sure that most of the hotel guests instead on seeing the taco soup and lobster tacos on the menu; both dishes are good but not exciting. The dinning room is pretty and the one brunch I had there was nice. If I had to recommend one southwestern fine dining restaurant in Dallas it would be Star Canyon. Even though Stephen Pyles has left, they still do the best job of highlighting regional cuisine and culture. The menu is more exciting than the Mansion, but their kitchen is not as consistent.