Chef/Writer Spencer
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Posts posted by Chef/Writer Spencer
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My sous chef's wife(who's from Michuacon, Mex) makes the greatest pozole. Hominy, roasted tomato base, long stewed pork shoulder and their bones, etc. She serves it with cabbage, raw onion, homemade tortilla, Mexican oregano. I like it with chipotle puree and queso fresco. It's the bomb. Pardon the sixteen something slang.
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Hey Johnathon,
I'm a Memphian...not proud of it...but if you want to organize an eGullet group for your pilgrimmage to Memphis I'd be glad to lead the tour.
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Tonights blunder was a lady asking for the scallops without the bacon, and finding 3 tiny pieces of bacon in her dish.She made no mention of our mistake, just left them on the side of the plate.For some reason this mistake really pissed me off, and i gave the chef who had prepared it a few choice words.
The lady was not at all put out by our mistake, but as i believe the reason she asked for no bacon was possibly on relgious grounds, i went ape shit.Tomorrow we had a guest with a severe nut allergy, so a mistake like tonights could be very bad indeed.The chef in question has learnt a lesson tonight. Knowing chefs...he probably meant to leave that bacon on there as some kind of territorial pissing...
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It just defies reason that he's making this hullabaloo about the New York thing but not uttering a peep about Las Vegas. And is he really going to pull a Vongrichten and open up two restaurants within the space of a year. I still say NOT.
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Soooooo.....Were the rumors true? Did Keller open up a spot in Vegas?
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"Nice snatch!"
Are we allowed to say that on eGullet?
I don't know, but if he was referring to you, let me welcome you to eGullet.
Totally awesome Bux.
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Chef/Writer Spencer ~
I have another idea for you to consider. This may harken back to your chef skills and your frustration at not getting to use the finer/fancier latest techniques etc.
Why not teach groups of foodies the latest and greatest things? In your spare time? There are so many ways to try this. You could do workshops based on your favorite cuisines and charge attendees for reimbursement of costs on materials etc....demos or small group hands on sessions.
Then donate the food to charities and nursing homes. All those places eating yucky institutional food. This idea would go down well in general with potential participants, surely.
I was in a nursing home for physical rehab. Those poor folks could stand a good meal. Food is life.
Just an odd ball idea thrown out for you like a spare catnip mouse!
Interesting idea. How would I get the thing started? I enjoy when people think for me...
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Once, when I first became a chef and I thought I hung the moon (and drank William Wycliff box-o-wine on the line) I hurled a martini glass against the wall in the kitchen, shards embedding themselves all over the contents of my steamtable. Instead of doing the honorable thing and recooking everything I served the stuff to a twenty top of Russian Jewish ladies--friends of the owners, long story. Anyhow, wouldn't you know it that 8 out of 20 found large pieces, small pieces and every thing in between in their blini with mushroom sauce. I was a man without a country...or so I thought at the time. I was upset. You know that feeling you get right before you go to jail, or you get when someone just told you your parent died? That cold water, I'm goin' to hell feelin'? Yeah, that one. That was me.
Luckily, they left with to go boxes full of glassy food and didn't press the issue. I thought I was going down this time.
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Date Plate would be a great fit for say perhaps The Playboy Channel
if i turned on the Playboy channel and saw that i'd immediately pull up my pants and call the cable company demanding a refund.
I just about fell out of my desk chair when I read that.
well of course if it were to go to the playboy channel the girls would have to dress accordingly. but hell, most of the girls i've seen on the show would be shoe-in for centerfolds.
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I have so many picky eater friends that I don't know where to start.......
There's the one that won't eat celery. I had made tuna salad sandwiches in pita pockets for a picnic party and she took all the tuna salad out of the pita pockets and proceeded to pick every piece of celery out of it before returning the salad to the pita. Leaving a pile of celery bits on her plate.
There's the one that can't order anything as it is listed on the menu. Every dish had to be special ordered...."can I have the veal but with the polenta that comes with the pork and the asparagus that comes with the chicken?" It only got worse when she went on the Atkins diet. And she used to work in a kitchen!
A co-worker of my husbands was complaining that she hated going to dinner with her inlaws because her mother-in-law wouldn't order until she knew what every one else was having. She couldn't understand it. When I mentioned that we do the same thing, so that we are sure to get tastes of lots of different menu selections she was mortified! "I would never taste something anyone else ordered" she says. Then we went to a restaurant with she and her spouse and I found out why. Her spouse had "food allergies" and ordered everything plain, without sauce. She had food dislikes and ordered everything without onions, garlic, "weird" ingredients etc.
Another friend won't eat vegatables except canned green beans. In fact, she really won't eat much except Hamburger Helper kinds of things. For some reason she wants to join my book group which is made up of foodies that work in restaurants. At our meetings we cook food that is represented in the books we read. It should be interesting to see how she deals with those meals.
My grandmother was very old school when it comes to restaurants, low tips, treats people poorly, that sort of thing. She took my cousin and I to a nice seafood restaurant whose chef was the son of a friend of hers. She kept dropping the chefs name and being just generally rude and ornery. They had mussels in a thai curry sauce as an appetizer and my grandmother wanted to order it. I was afraid it would be too spicy for her so I asked the waiter how spicy it was. He replied not spicy at all. Of course it came and it was inedible. You just know he told the kitchen to "kick it up a notch"!
Another friend treats wait people like dirt. We were at a wedding where a friend of mine was working the reception. Wait staff were walking around with trays of satays and after a few minutes my group of friends had accumulated a few used skewers. She motioned for my friend to come over then handed all the used skewers to her. I was so embarrased!
Lauren
"Peta pockets for a picnic party" say it ten times fast.
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Did anyone see this last night?
The woman was a vegetarian and she didn't tell the two guys. They made her scallops and halibut and she wouldn't touch either of them. In fact, I don't think she ate more than 4 bites of both meals. Bizzare, why have someone on a food show who doesn't like food
? I did not see it but it sounds pretty bad!!! I mean if she is a vegetarian the poor two guys should be told that instead of wasting a perfect protein filled meal on her.
FM
Ah come on, the tension was a beautiful thing. As cocky as they were talking about their food in the beginning it was only fitting that they both got smeared at the end. I'm glad they didn't inform those two yutzes of her vegetarianism.
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vegetarians don't like food?
on another note, it was the first time i saw this show. it wasn't horrible. there are plenty of worse shows out there, some on tvfn.
Date Plate would be a great fit for say perhaps The Playboy Channel. I watched it last night for the first time. Jesus, the only saving grace was watching those two hunks of meat preparing fish dishes when all along the chick was telling the host that she didn't eat fish. Talk about egg on your face. I'm waiting for a Date Plate that pits homeless guys against each other for the hand of Paula Deen.
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And not to forget charmoula!
Yummmm, charmoula!! Redolent of garlic, cilantro, and the spices of warm climates!
Yemenite z'houg is wonderful as well . . .
Redolent=Banishment.....
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because you can EAT the stems and seeds...always a plus...
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The succession of quotes above just made me dizzy. ^
As for your piece on TFL Spencer, I totally loved it. Great style. It reminds me of Bourdain, for sure. No nonsense, and not afraid to throw a few "fucks" in the mix for flavour. Good job! And God, how I must get to that restaurant like.. yesterday.
Thanks Pixel. I'm almost afraid it's too Bourdain though.
Not "too Bourdain" at all, C/W Spencer. You have a similar style, true; your syntax, however, is distinctive enough to prevent you from creating over-Bourdained prose.
Well, I think so . . .
Xan,
Thank you for that. I've got more...chapters I've composed to be put into my book under the title The Food Fighter Stories and Admissions of a Bridge Burning Chef. I'd be glad to ship a couple of those off if you're interested....God, I feel like such a whore...
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you can eat the stems and everything.
stems AND seeds.
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The succession of quotes above just made me dizzy. ^
As for your piece on TFL Spencer, I totally loved it. Great style. It reminds me of Bourdain, for sure. No nonsense, and not afraid to throw a few "fucks" in the mix for flavour. Good job! And God, how I must get to that restaurant like.. yesterday.
Thanks Pixel. I'm almost afraid it's too Bourdain though.
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Kind of off the subject of humor in food writing but....What do you guys think about Eric "Fast Food Nation" Schlosser's style. I bet he's a majorly creepy dude.
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I have yet to write for money.
Really? Just out of curiosity, do you submit articles to websites, etc? It's not a bad place to start. Not always easy to come by, because of the fact that much content on the Internet is free, many websites feel that paying writers is unnecessary. (yeah, really) No wonder there's so much crap written online!
But I digress... If you want to write for money, it can mean starting out with some freebies, just to get clips, but it may be worth it to you in the end. Thing is, I am not sure how many QUALITY online food publications there are. There are the obvious ones like Gourmet, etc, but their first born is really print. Web is used as promo for them. Toss something out there and see what sticks.
Thanks for the tips. In fact, I've been PMing my French Laundry piece to all takers. Fat Guy's looking at it today and giving me his opinion (rather intimidating to tell you the truth). For the most part, the feedback received has been encouraging. I'm hoping someone has the fortitude to see my potential on this website and make the right connection for me. In reality though, if I don't write for money it won't devastate me. It's a great escape. When it becomes another grind is when I bow out. I'd love to get The French Laundry piece published and go from there. But I think I'll need to condense and edit before I ship it off to the rags. Thanks.
Hmmmm. French Laundry... Doesn't sound very foody.... May I have a look?
The French Laundry doesn't sound very foodie? I'm confused. If you'd like the piece--which I'd be more than happy to pawn off on all unsuspecting takers--PM me your email address and when I get home tonight I'll email it to you. Thank.s
Forgive my ignorance. I just don't know what French Laundry refers to. I just got my brain back from the repair shop yesterday and it seems the reinstallation didn't go as planned!
A virgin French Laundrian. WOW! You've got to get up to speed my good friend. Plug that name into a search engine and explore the unknown. It's the best restaurant in the world some say. Check it out....
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I have yet to write for money.
Really? Just out of curiosity, do you submit articles to websites, etc? It's not a bad place to start. Not always easy to come by, because of the fact that much content on the Internet is free, many websites feel that paying writers is unnecessary. (yeah, really) No wonder there's so much crap written online!
But I digress... If you want to write for money, it can mean starting out with some freebies, just to get clips, but it may be worth it to you in the end. Thing is, I am not sure how many QUALITY online food publications there are. There are the obvious ones like Gourmet, etc, but their first born is really print. Web is used as promo for them. Toss something out there and see what sticks.
Thanks for the tips. In fact, I've been PMing my French Laundry piece to all takers. Fat Guy's looking at it today and giving me his opinion (rather intimidating to tell you the truth). For the most part, the feedback received has been encouraging. I'm hoping someone has the fortitude to see my potential on this website and make the right connection for me. In reality though, if I don't write for money it won't devastate me. It's a great escape. When it becomes another grind is when I bow out. I'd love to get The French Laundry piece published and go from there. But I think I'll need to condense and edit before I ship it off to the rags. Thanks.
Hmmmm. French Laundry... Doesn't sound very foody.... May I have a look?
The French Laundry doesn't sound very foodie? I'm confused. If you'd like the piece--which I'd be more than happy to pawn off on all unsuspecting takers--PM me your email address and when I get home tonight I'll email it to you. Thank.s
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I have yet to write for money.
Really? Just out of curiosity, do you submit articles to websites, etc? It's not a bad place to start. Not always easy to come by, because of the fact that much content on the Internet is free, many websites feel that paying writers is unnecessary. (yeah, really) No wonder there's so much crap written online!
But I digress... If you want to write for money, it can mean starting out with some freebies, just to get clips, but it may be worth it to you in the end. Thing is, I am not sure how many QUALITY online food publications there are. There are the obvious ones like Gourmet, etc, but their first born is really print. Web is used as promo for them. Toss something out there and see what sticks.
Thanks for the tips. In fact, I've been PMing my French Laundry piece to all takers. Fat Guy's looking at it today and giving me his opinion (rather intimidating to tell you the truth). For the most part, the feedback received has been encouraging. I'm hoping someone has the fortitude to see my potential on this website and make the right connection for me. In reality though, if I don't write for money it won't devastate me. It's a great escape. When it becomes another grind is when I bow out. I'd love to get The French Laundry piece published and go from there. But I think I'll need to condense and edit before I ship it off to the rags. Thanks.
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I could give a shit about the buffet.
Couldn't give a shit. Sorry, I love ya, but it's a pet peeve of mine. The madness must stop.
Hey Pix, love ya too but uh, I've been slangin' "could" give a shit for as long as I can remember. Maybe you could be my copy editor though.
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I have yet to write for money.
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but the corporate types who pay my bills are telling me to worry more about the appearance of my buffets than the substance of my plates.
Because in restaurants, appearance is more important that taste.
(Sorry.)
Well my plates have appearance and taste. I'm eschewing buffets here. Those botulism ridden bastians of Americana. They're right. I could give a shit about the buffet. It's a dumping ground, a means of controlling my food costs by schleping leftovers and bits and pieces off on the members of this club. If by not giving a shit about my buffet presentation that makes me a candidate for least likely to reach the Beard House then so be it.
Lavender
in Cooking
Posted
I brine cornish hens overnight with k. salt, and water. Then marinate for about three hours in lavender, lemon juice and zest, thyme and plenty of garlic. Grill that and leave the back door open and you've got instant customers.