Andrew Fenton
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Posts posted by Andrew Fenton
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I also go to Dairy Queen. I like Blizzards. A lot.
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This piece is, in its own way, brilliant--holding the Olive Garden "experience" up to the eyes of the Hazans, who are unusually rigorous in their insistence on authenticity.
What's more, it's balanced, and you come away with some real appreciation of what's wrong and right about Olive Garden.
I wish more food journalism was this good--and this from what used to be called "McPaper."
I agree on the quality of the article. It's easy to just shit all over OG (if this thread goes on for any length, we'll see plenty of that); harder, and more interesting, to take and evaluate them at face value.
In particular, I'm oddly impressed by this final paragraph:
But Marcella has questions. "There are 60,000 recipes in Italy. Why do they have to invent new ones like Lobster Spaghetti?" Olive Garden must "guide and teach" its customers, she says, delighting them with surprises rather than giving in to the tried-and-true.How... deeply uncynical on Marcella's part. But it's a good question: how would OG do if it emphasized authentic Italian recipes?
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So I went back to Sammy's last Thursday. Had a similar experience to last time: the ribs were okay to pretty good. The rest of the food was so-so; ditto the service (lots of staff standing around, and apparently only one hard-working guy actually waiting tables). Turns out the happy hour is only at the bar, but we really wanted to sit outside, so we bagged on the cheap drinks. That was okay; the view of the river is terrific. And on Thursday nights, the women's beach volleyball league has its games: also a great view.
Then I read Craig LaBan's review, from Sunday:
When we informed our waiter that a slice of our smoked bologna appetizer appeared to have been bitten into (yes, there were teeth marks) before it was brought to our table, he blanched and threw up his hands: "I didn't do it!"A manager generously offered to remove half of the $6 charge from our check, all the while denying the bite existed despite the physical evidence. Classy.
That seems like the sort of anecdote that can kill a restaurant...
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Typo in that URL... try this
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The money I spent on the KA meat grinder/sausage-stuffer attachment was one of the two or three best investments I've ever made in kitchen equipment. Seriously.
Word to that! I bought my KA grinder/stuffer about six months ago, and it's been seriously groovy. Definitely worth every penny.
As to the pre-ground meat. I'd avoid it: grinding your own is really easy and fast, you have more control over the product, and it's cheaper. I've only bought ground hamburger once since I got the grinder, and have been very happy about that. So I'd say that a grinder/stuffer is exactly what you should be looking for.
I've never seen soy casings, but would be interested in trying them. Usually I just use hog casings, but I have friends who don't dig on swine, and I'd like to be able to share chicken sausage with them...
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Not crab cake. Way too high class for a Philadelphia Surf 'n Turf. It's a fish cake that is mashed into the hot dog.
Gaaah! You're right, of course; my aristocratic upbringing made me make that slip.
I'm going to go hang my head in shame now.
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The supermarket in the town where I went to college had a policy of "if it scans for more than the listed price, it's free". It was common knowledge among us college kids that almonds would scan for more, but for some reason, the supermarket folks never fixed the price.
So every time I went shopping, I picked up a package of free almonds. I ate a lot of almonds for a couple of years there...
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I ate at Lacroix back in May and thought it was wonderful. The food was as good as any I've had in Philadelphia, very creative and exciting. Decor is beautiful and I was impressed by the knowledgable, low-key service. My sense is that it's cheaper than the Bec (but on the other hand, I wasn't paying.)
Since it sounds like y'all want to do it up in a big way, that's what I recommend. But I kind of like Rich's idea. Maybe you could reserve the deck at the back of the Moshulu for the two of you? That'd be pretty damn romantic, unless it rains...
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John's Hot Sausages (Grilled Hot Sausage, Egg, Peppers and Onions)
Where's John's Hot Sausages?
Delaware Ave, north of Spring Garden. Of course, the other thing to get there would have to be the surf n' turf special.
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Robert Heinlein is one of the most recognized and prolific science fiction authors. Grok is a concept from his novel Stranger in a Strange Land. Grok cannot be defined, you have to read the book.
But in the real world, people use "grok" to mean "understand" or "get".
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There are tons and tons of places that are good, cheap, and filled with locals. What are you in the mood for? Philadelphia specialties? Sandwich-type places? More upscale dining? Ethnic?
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ahh..carmina burana...i'd imagine the church in germany would have been a tad diff tho'...
Just to bring this back to food, I'll mention that the restaurant outside the abbey at Benediktbeuern (aka the "Burana" of Carmina Burana ) serves awesome food even today. In particular, their dumplings (which in most South German restaurants are heavy and nasty) are delicate and tasty. Made with leftover pretzels, I think. I could be a monk there, no problem.
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John, I can tell you for a fact that the hot dogs we were running were not Dietz & Watson but more like Smith & Wesson...
That is one hell of a story. (But then, if there's a bad beef sphincter story, I haven't heard it.)
Fabulous.
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How is it different than Baba Ghanouj? I thought it was the same thing.
EDIT: Prime difference appears to be absence of Tehini, which is common to middle eastern preparations of the dish.
I've also seen it made with walnuts, which I don't think you'll ever see in baba ganoush.
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Lose? Never, for I am the invincible TITANIUM CHEF!
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I think I'll only go if I can challenge the chef and win a free meal.
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and the use of non-english words for foods that have a perfectly good english word all set up already and ready to use is a bit strange as well. probably done for the same reasons.
I know I always get mad when I hear people say "beef" or "pork" instead of "cow" or "pig". Damn you, William the Conqueror, and all your pretentious followers!
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I really like pine nuts. Funny how you never see those in a snack-nut form; I'd love them.
Don't like peanuts much, at least as a snack, though I do like them when they've been butterfied.
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Yah, that "rule of thumb" etymology is pretty well confirmed as bogus.
There's a similar bogus etymology for "picnic", which claims a nasty racist origin for the word.
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For the record, I have tried dozens of biscuit recipes before finally settling on the Basic Rolled Biscuits (buttermilk variant) recipe from Joy of Cooking.
In the past, this has been the basis for my go-to biscuit recipe; I tweak it by rolling and folding the dough a few times, which seems to make them flakier.
Recently, though, I've been using the biscuit recipe in the current Cooks Illustrated (called "Mile-High Biscuits" or something like that). It's a completely different biscuit style (softer, taller and cakier), which is a nice change. I think it could be tweaked, using some of this thread's suggestions, especially using part cake flour. Will give that a try...
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Inveterate foodie Richard Pawlak
Veteran inveterate foodie Richard Pawlak
Extroverted veteran inveterate foodie Richard Pawlak
Extroverted veteran inveterate foodie Richard Pawlak (who likes his vittles)
Massive congratulations, Rich! That's great news, and I'm very psyched for you.
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What ever happened to BONING the damn chicken?
hee hee hee
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Having been an English major I notice these things but it is the context, not the grammer that makes the posts interesting to me.
Don't you mean grammar?
"Grammer" is obsolete, but a real variant, sorta like "clew" for "clue". Somebody's showing off...
Chain Invasion
in Pennsylvania: Dining
Posted
Here is a link to an opinion piece on this topic, from Monday's Inquirer.