ThatGrrl

The Cuban steak is also VERY good! C & O is one of my favorite late night places for drinks. The downstairs (basement, really, although it's actually at street level, due to the hill on which the restaurant is located) has pretty much the latest last call in town. Very cozy in winter. GOOD solid pours, too. Lethal, if you've been out drinking prior. They also were just noted for their late night menu in the "C-Ville Weekly's" Best of Charlottesville issue.

One of my favorite moments, as well. Good LORD did K-Grease show his colors there. That's just all kinds of ass, to start making what are essentially threats all wrapped up in theoretical demands for "motivation." Jeeze, how about doing a decent job, just because you have pride in your work? Right decision, to go with Heather, but I'll also say that my respect for Virginia has grown. With some training, she has a lot more potential than I was willing to admit.

"Cow" has been getting a pretty good workout this season, too.

Short description of the Aug. 21 Beruit episode in the NY Post, for those who have signed up for reading privileges over there. The short version is that the first half hour will cover the footage Tony went over to gather: food, nightlife, etc. The second half hour will be what happened when it all started to go wrong.

I'll buy that Virginia arguably has the best palate. I have my own thoughts regarding why or how she won the construction worker taste test, but I do think she does a decent job of creating recipes. Naturally, I'll also grant that she managed to spot the quality issue at the pass, last night. However, she's got two huge strikes against her which come up constantly on the line, and which will affect her as head chef: she's easily overwhelmed and seems to have difficulty keeping track of things. When the pressure goes up, she deflates; she doesn't rise to meet the challenge. That's the main difference I see between Heather's abilities and Virginia's abilities. Heather may break down later (and WOW does Virginia break down later), but when actually in the thick of things, she does try to turn it up. Heather did sort of overdo it, out of the gate on expediting, last night. But I certainly trust Heather to handle the pressure, more than Virginia.

I'm thinking odds are good for that. I can't imagine why else she's still there. I did get some rather inappropriate entertainment out of K-Grease's little parting shot. My jaw seriously dropped. Sure. It was mainly sour grapes. But I certainly enjoyed watching that war of words!

I'm the queen of buying things I want to use, but never quite getting around to it. mini-muffin tin (great plans for making my mom's pecan tart recipe) immersion blender (seemed like a better idea for soups, than the processor) spring-form pan (cheesecakes, natch; but not yet, apparently) mandolin (used once and forgotten) I'm all for regional swap meets. That's an excellent idea!

I remember traveling with a professor and 12 other students from my college in a classics seminar through Greece and Italy, about 20 years ago. Seemed as if we could never really be sure when we would get a meal, so we all stocked our backpacks with the necessities: fruit, cookies, crackers, bottled water and nutella. Nutella was the greatest. Shortbread cookies went well with it. You could slice an apple to dip in it. If you didn't want your "base" to be so sweet, you could use the crackers to dip in it. Ah, memories...

And Gordon Ramsey will be screaming four-letter words at his "Hell's Kitchen" charges, as they try to feed the lunch rush with their own personal twist on the American hot dog, with a visit to the corn field's of Iowa as the the "reward." "Awww. Sara, ya' dumb cow. He asked for relish! Not f*cking onions!"

Hey, I even think that the word cute is offensive! But then, I'm a 42 year old chick who has lived her whole life being called "cute," largely due to being slight in stature. Small does not equal cute, people! Puppies, kittens and bunny rabbits. THOSE are cute. Not anyone over the age of about 12. But that's my own personal issue. Nevermind! I like your "would they punch you in the face?" test, Andrew. In that sense, I certainly agree that "trekkie" really isn't offensive. Or, at least, neither I nor my trekkie friends take offense. It's just a way of identifying with a group. Great. Talk about an over-share. My name is ThatGrrl and I'm a cute trekkie.

As to whether one can be a professional (as in a chef or one possessing a culinary school education) and still be a foodie, I'm thinking the answer is yes. To me, the term refers to a certain attitude about food. Some foodies are not chefs or culinary school educated. Probably most of them, based on sheer number. More people seek out the excitement of new, varied and suprelative food experiences than are formally trained in food preparation. Some chefs are not foodies. The joyless chef, who sees his job as merely a means to a paycheck, is not a foodie. If you do not enjoy your relationship with food, you aren't a foodie. At least, not in my opinion (for what it's worth). Some chefs are both. In fact, they have sought out a career in food because of the depth of their love for all things food-related. I'd throw Tony Bourdain into this category. Also, mark me as another who had no idea that the term could be used to imply an aspect of snobbishness or elitism. I associate it far more with a certain childish wonder and excitement about food, than the idea of setting oneself apart from or above anything. Quite to the contrary, I see foodies as people ever seeking to make new connections, with the enjoyment of food as a driving force behind it all.

Hasn't been my experience. But then, I tend to order less-cheesy items to begin with. Could come down to any variety of differing factors, here. Which of the three restaurant locations you choose. What you order. How you order it (granted, you should not have to specify "hold the cheese, almost entirely"). I often order a chicken chimichanga, but not fried. Never had a problem with them cheesing the heck out of that. May well be that eatvancouver and I are both right. Order the wrong thing (or, from the gist of the post, any of a number of wrong items) and you get the cheesy mess. Just hasn't been my personal experience.

Guess I was merely trying to draw a distinction between say, a Santa Fe-style or other Mexican-ish type of menu. If you have to pick a category, that's what it comes close to. Sounds as if I've had better experiences at Guad's, than you have. I'm not saying that I'd go out of my way to find it, were I in from out of town. It certainly isn't in my top 10, by comparison to other restaurants here. But, given that I live close enough to walk to it, it is a solid performer for what it is. Just my experience. YMMV.

Here is the page they are going to use for the discussion. I think The Post probably requires registration, as do most major papers, these days. They are already accepting questions, if you have a one, but can't take time to attend the discussion. They will leave the full transcript posted, after the discussion.

Oh, me too, Sugarella. [*rubbing hands expectently*] Not that I know anything at all, but I always presumed that things were pretty much set up as you suspect, Holly Moore. That everyone is getting a free meal, but they've been told to have the same expectations they would have paying for a meal in any fine dining establishment. If your meal is, oh, HOURS late, please do speak up. The more loudly and colorfully, the better to get your mug on television. And the rest takes care of itself! As Jon Stewart says on "The Daily Show": People do likes to be on the teevee.

Definitely. Alton is the king of "this is how you do it, and why" on "Good Eats." I absolutely love when he has characters act out what happens with the various food molecules! His "I Came For the Food" cookbook is the same way.

I still like Guad's, quite a bit. It's very casual. Good value. Hardly fine dining, but a very solid performer. Excellent, authentic Mexican food. Best in town, for its category, in my book. Although, I still prefer the margaritas at Continental Divide! But that's a different style of food, over there. For good, traditional Mexican, Guad's is my favorite.

The restaurant has been under new management for at least a year now. Sigh. Part of a growing local trend: Dave Matthew's (yes, THAT Dave) manager, Coran Capshaw, bought it to add to his stable of restaurants. The menu changed. Some of the better items, like the pulled pork Cuban sandwich, are gone. Portions on remaining menu items stayed the same, while prices increased. Gone are the cloth napkins, in with the heavy paper napkins. I used to eat there, and do not anymore. And I only live a block away! It's a small restaurant to begin with. The idea of waiting to eat there, knowing what the place used to be, irks. I would not characterize it as Cuban, anymore; the original version was kind of cutting it close, to begin with, anyway. But it's definitely not Cuban, these days. I'd skip it, were I you. As for any true Cuban fare in C-ville, if there is any, I am unaware of it.

Awww. They're really sweethearts, if you get to know them. But they do know how to cop a 'tude, in public. Most of the ones I know became DEA, after serving in the military. I try not to think about all the interesting ways in which they probably know how to kill me, and dispose of the evidence. But you're right. They are well-fed. And they can rattle off the names of ALL the best, 24-hour diners.

Chris, you might have better luck going with your gut, and trying to hook up with some Secret Service folks in DC. The DEA special agents I know (and yes, it's like the FBI; they're ALL "special") run and hide whenever there are cameras around. Heck, the ones I know all claim to work for "the Justice Department" as paper-pushers. Anything to avoid actually admitting in public that they are DEA. Part of the job involves doing everything you can to maintain your anonymity. I've known some of the guys to get MIGHTY vocal with local television stations, for showing agents on screen. It might be possible that you could find some of the instructors at Quantico (right next to DC; it's the training site for DEA and FBI), for whom field work isn't really an option; those would be the type that might actually be able to help you out.

I heartily agree. To borrow a phrase from the show, we're left trying to single out the best of the worst. My money is on Heather, but I truly wish there were better options.

From WebMD: "8 Glasses A Day" Advice Not Right for All Looks like it can be a very individual thing. Which makes sense, to me. I'm a small-boned person, just over 5 ft. tall with proportionally low weight. "8 glasses a day" ends up being a much larger percentage of my total body mass, compared to someone larger than myself. However, for even me, I'd be drinking at least that much (probably much more), if I had a job requiring me to be outside during this heat wave. It apparently comes down to who you are, what you're doing and what your intake of other fluids/fluid-containing foods happen to be. Agreed, that you can use increased water intake to give that "full" feeling, while attempting to avoid higher calorie foods. But as for what you have to drink, 8 glasses a day doesn't necessarily fit all.

Thanks, racheld! I try to keep up my image. Actually, I went for a number of years with Marlo's trademark "flip" haircut, hence the nickname. The cut is gone, but the name remains. And the go go boots only come out of retirement at Halloween. Heh. What I would GIVE for an exhaust fan for my kitchen, in addition to the standard, obviously inadequate for the purposes, over-the-stove one. Anyone who designs a southern apartment with a second floor kitchen should be forced to cook in it, during the summer.

I live in a two-story apartment, with an upstairs kitchen. So I come home each day to a sweltering kitchen a good ten degrees warmer than the thermostat, HELPFULLY located on the first floor, would indicate. But I'll be damned if I'm going to pay for cooling the entire vacant apartment, all day, just to have a livable temp upstairs, when I come home. Sucks, regardless. Particularly when my fair city of Charlottesville, VA is clocking in at 97 degrees at 5 in the afternoon (105, heat index). Much obliged to all the no-cook options. I find that I crave cold, leftovers I'd normally heat. And not the usual options, such as pizza. Odd stuff. Like leftover Thai food. Weird, but there you go.

I'd echo Blue Ridge's recommendations, if anyone is heading this direction soon. I live on the Charlottesville downtown pedestrian mall and eat out quite a bit. I prefer Zocalo over Oxo, as well. Zocalo specializes in South American cuisine and has a fairly good array of wines from that region. Fix a mean mojito, too. The tuna tartar appetizer is really excellent. I would certainly avoid Mas at the high traffic times. Dinner on Friday or Saturday night. The service drops from bad to atrocious, besides having to wait eons for a table. Wish the food weren't so good. I sort of hate letting them get away with their smug, lackidaisical service. The dates in apple-smoked bacon are something I always order, no matter what. Continental Divide is one of my very favorites. It is small, however. Prepare to wait, if you arrive during prime time. I often eat at the bar, where you can eat the same menu served in the booths. Friendly service in both places. Excellent margaritas with a huge list of tequilas to choose from, if you'd like to personalize your drink. Menu is Santa Fe-style. Love the chicken enchilada, served with a plate of rice and beans, with a pumpkin muffin on the side. The Divide is located on West Main Street, within walking distance (at least for me) of the downtown mall.