KrazzyJoe

Zimmer has always seemed more like a tourist than a traveller to me. He seems to make every meal he eats and culture he experiences into a novelty. I always expect to hear fart noises and bike horns. He would fit in a lot better on morning zoo radio.

I think Ferran Adria would be the first person to make that same sweeping generalization, though. It's a comment about the soulless majority and a jab at the traditional experience. This is reflected in the best high-end restaurants. The evolution in the food and the surroundings in the past five years alone, let alone ten and twenty, shows this. The experience Tony was probably talking about is the same kind that Ferran was cooking in before he left. This was expressed in Decoding Ferran Adria, really. It's a big part of the main metaphor. The truffle or the pear. Ferran and his team (and many of his peers) were getting tired of using truffles, foie, and white tablecloths as crutches. In fact, his "two-faced" attitude was the central theme of the entire Ferran episode. Questioning what the difference was between making great ham or even simply cooking something and making spaghetti out of cans and pastaless ravioli. It's understandable to see it as two faced and it is easily interpretable as at least contradictory. But I'd say it's more paradoxical than contradictory, and only if you take it more absolutely than it should and apply it to an absolute science of which cooking and eating is not. Most of the superstar innovator chefs today seem to share this view, even if it is in some ways directly contradictory to what they're doing. They bring things that aren't part of the traditional, stick up your ass experience and put it in that context. A shared focus seems to be the obsession and acknowledgement of the importance of homemade food, your mother and grandmother's food, and simplicity of ingredients. Good ingredients "not screwed up". Not overshadowing good ingredients. Look at Marco's obsession with mother nature as the true artist. And the Chef's job being to simply not fuck it up. Look at the one place Ferran takes Bourdain to eat. One of his favorite places to eat, one of his favorite eating experiences. And it's just a tiny shop, a dude with a grill and fresh seafood prepared without pomp or exaggeration.

Not that it's in any way unexpected or interesting, but look what Tony was reading in Indonesia. Caught this in the recent compilation/rerun episode of No Reservations on street food. Sitting on a lake reading Heat waiting for lakeside pancakes...Jesus Christ. Few things sound better Lakeside pancakes...it's got a ring to it.

My back fat will be in on Friday! I'm driving two hours to Portland than two hours back to get it Lardo, here I come

Hello eGullet faithful! I'm going to attempt some lardo asap. I am going for the brine method found in this thread My question is: minimum 3 months? Is longer better or is there a sweet spot where it is the right taste and texture? How can you tell? Thankyou!

Incanto was also recommended by someone else, I will certainly try to get down there. It looks fantastic!

Hello! I'm glad to finally be a part of this after doing quite a bit of browsing and enjoying other people's tips and some hilarious writing. I'm going down to the Coachella festival in Indio, California this coming weekend to see Rage Against the Machine, Placebo, Willie Nelson, Manu Chao, Infected Mushroom, and a long list of other great acts. The music will be great, that's guaranteed. Now, I'd like some advice on food. I'm not rich (but I do have a fair amount of cash stored for the food on this trip) and I'm planning on spending a day or two in San Francisco, primarily for the food. Though if you have any suggestions of a place I should visit, that is much appreciated as well! From these forums, it seems Clement is a great place to hang out in - and my Psych professor recommended quite a few places that are located in that area. In particular, I look forward to Mai's at 316 Clement. Other recommendations include the Maharani for Indian, Ton Kiank for ginger crab, Shanghai's for chinese, and the Samurai for sushi in Mill Valley. Also, some Ethiopean place I don't have the name of yet. I'm a fan of new and interesting things and I'm more than up for some of the nasty bits. I'd also really enjoy an area or market where there is a lot of local, fresh brilliance going around in small portions to check out. I'd like to know your opinions on a good place to have some oysters? So, in closing: I'm up for absolutely anything interesting or just plain amazing, I like plain things done well too. Obsession foods like really amazing pizza etc. Anything like really good sushi or really good anything, I'd love to hear some absolute musts I'm also looking for any recommendations in the areas of Indio or Orange County Also, a late night spot in San Fran would be amazing. We're probably going to be coming in at first in the wee hours of the morning fairly hungry. This is my first time in the area since I was a kid, so I am very unfamiliar with city. Thanks!