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rconnelly

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Everything posted by rconnelly

  1. Good advice, nevertheless. Still, I'm wondering if anyone out there has any advice on food writing specifically. Thoughts on how to start? Subjects to avoid? How do you communicate your love and in-depth knowledge of food to an audience without boring or alienating them? ← Develop a thick skin. Criticism happens. It can be a great learning tool.
  2. It'v small and can almost be read in one sitting. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, even though her I loved her others. Reading Julie * Julia - truly enjoying it - don't want it to end.
  3. I want to thank all of you who replied. I cut and pasted several of your thought, sent them to my boss and WOW! the category was changed to Modern Cuisine - still not perfect but much better and at least up to date. Now if I could only get him to rereview places we haven't done in years I'd be a happy camper.
  4. I agree that "she made her point loud and clear." And a large part of her point may not have insulted her "intended" customer base, but it definitely insulted a large percentage of her potential customer base. I think this, as a general rule of thumb, may be true. However, I don't think it is likely to be the case with respect to people who might be customers at a raw vegan restaurant. This kind of thing is preaching to the choir, really. A "regular" lacto-ovo cooked food vegetarian restaurant might have concerns about turning off the curious. But it's not like hamburger-eaters are ever going to make up a percentage of this restaurant's clientele lerge enough to even measure, never mind worry about turning off. If anything, bashing back at a banquet-eating, bacon-scarfing nonbeliever is likely to attract vegetarians or dilletantes... much in the same way that fire-and-brimstone preachers may turn off most people, but still manage to increase their flocks. ← I think she should just eat a little meat and she'll calm down a bit. I find that the lack of certain proteins (i.e.those found in a yummy, greasy hamburger) in a diet tend to make people very cross. Having said that and having had my fair share of owners who don't agree with my reviews, I think that for her to demand that the review be taken down is a bit ridiculous. Better to learn to laugh it off. The folks who eat this way will read and think the writer is messed up and the ones who don't more than likely will never eat there any way.
  5. There are 2 Guero's now. The original on South 12th and the newer one on Oracle Road. Not really sure but I can see the Oracle site be more amenable to mariachi on Sunday. It's bigger and brighter.
  6. Great photos. You really captured the vibe. the only thing missing is the tejano music blaring overhead.
  7. Wish I could help. I don't remember the place, but I'll do a little detective work.
  8. This analogy between "modern art" and nouvelle cuisine works. Art produced now is called "contemporary" and the word "modern" has a very specific meaning and refers to a particular historical period, just like nouvelle cuisine does. I don't think we'd call anything we'd brand as nouvelle cuisine "contemporary." ← again thanks, I'll use these points to fortify my side.
  9. thanks! I like the 70's and 80's mention, my boss called it a term that went out of fashion in the 90's!
  10. My editor and are are having an email discussion regardign the term nouvelle cuisine. We are getting ready for our annual "Best of" issue and nouvelle cuisine is one of the titles. I've argued for years that we chould change it to anything but NC because there is no such thing anymore. He says that people seem to know what it means by the choices they make so why change it. Can anyone help me with some great reasons why we should dump the term and use something else?
  11. the parents should be tried for abuse. No four or eight or even twelve year old has the maturity to critique or cook meals. Yeah, it is fun to help in the kitchen, but really now, this is beyond ridiculous. I love kids but not when they are mini-adults. UGH!
  12. This is what gets me: the Bravo editors knew who won before the first episode aired: they had months to tweak the editing to ensure that the winner was a surprise, but a pleasant one. And instead, what they ended up creating was some random schmuck that no one really cared about. Stefan was the "clear favorite," Carla the "Dark Horse," and, oh yeah, there was some other guy, too. What was his name? Of course I agree that within the context of the last episode it seems clear that Hosea deserved the win: the others simply screwed themselves with bad decisions. That doesn't explain to me how Bravo could have assembled and edited the season so poorly: I don't think anyone is "angry" about this choice, like many were when Ilan won; it's clear Hosea won fair and square here. The question is, why didn't they make him a more compelling winner? ← There wasn't much to work with with Hosea. So, what the editors did was shift focus and create a villain in Stefan to take the attention off Hosea winning. From the internet clips and interviews, Stefan was a confident but great guy- he helped shuck Carla's oysters for her in New Orleans, etc.. But, by making him this uber-villain whom the viewers hated, his loss in the finals would create a sense of relief that anybody but Stefan won. The editing wasn't so much about building up Hosea as it was tearing down Stefan. ← i don't think that is true at all.
  13. I read an interview with the casting director where he stated that Jamie tried out for every season. I wonder why she wasn't picked in the earlier seasons. If it was because she was weaker than the contestants they picked for the previous seasons, it would say a lot considering that she was one of the strongest of season 5. ← I know people keep saying Jamie was great but i thought she was pretty one note okay maybe two notes. She made creamed stuff a couple of times and used scallops in one way or another on every show. she may be good but she doesn't have much creativity.
  14. Then I guess you consider his restaurants on par with Macaroni grill and Olive Garden? Tom Colicchio is the main reason Top Chef has any culinary credibility or relevance. ← Exactly!
  15. Poor or brilliant, depending on one's viewpoint. If the idea was to give the impression that all five were still in the running, they succeeded. ← Oh well, I guess I've been naive enough to think that if a judge/judges present glowing comments on a contestant's food, they actually mean it. May be it's just me, but to tell someone to their face and on national television, how much you adored their dish and how much they nailed it only to later state on your blog how the dish tasted like sterno is not just misleading or poor editing, it's LYING and unnecessarily hurtful as well, in my book. Oh Tom, how so very tacky. ← I'm sure they told him - at least that's how I read it on the blog (now that i can get on Bravo again.)
  16. Yeah, but I don't think anyone could be really adept at pairing food with wine without deep experience. The range of flavor possibilities is too vast. ← Pairing wine and food and cooking wine and food are two separate isssues. I'm a great cook. i love a good wine. But to say I know how to a certain wine with a certain food, I wouldn't even try. I drink what I like....
  17. That's a bit of stretch. I would equate that with looking at pictures and descriptions of a great meal vs actually eating one in the restaurant. ← What I meant was - just because she doesn't drink socially it doesn't mean she doesn't taste wine or has never tasted wine.
  18. I too was sad to see him go, but somehow I think he'l be one of those chefs we see around. He has immense personality and a great public persona. just because she doesn't drink that doesn't mean she does know wine. I'm sure she has plenty of knowledge about how wine works. You can enjoy wine without being a drinker.
  19. try the new jazKitchen on Oracle. They were fab when I reviewed them it the fall, but the chef has left and I don't know if that changed anything. But it is worth a try. Reservations are a must. Terra Cotta has closed. Feast is always fun. And for casual Mexican with a modern twist Zivaz on Broadway.
  20. The Bravo site says "Finale, Part 1." If two chefs are eliminated tonight, that would leave us with a mano à mano next week. ← thaks oakapple. All of a sudden today I am unable to access the Bravo website from work as it is considered "streaming media!"
  21. Ooooo! A double elimination tonight and an extended episode (although they say final episode will it really be over tonihgt?)
  22. Am I nuts, or was it the other way around, with Tom saying he prefers the game birds rarer? ← you are correct.
  23. I agree, anyone can cook a roast chicken, but it takes a fine hand and years of practice to do it right. I also agree that Leah looked relieved. Ever since her little tete-a-tete with Hosea, she's had that deer in a headlights look about her. I think she realized she is the caliber of chef that the others are. I hope hosea goes next. He seems to always have an excuse as to why something didn't work and it is never his fault - "They ecpected me to do fish well beause I'm a seafood chef, but i'd never cooked that dish before." Well, duh! Go Fabio! Go Carla1 and begrudgingly Go Stefan!
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