ferdlisky

Well, I hope she keeps writing, if she does move. I haven't made my way through this whole thread, but I'm one of those people who really like Amanda Hesser's food writing. Some of my favorite articles that have run recently in the NYT food section have been by her. She has an informed but (IMHO) unpretentious view of food, and I really respond to her passion for the subject. I'm not a fan of her reviewing, but I feel that she was just given an assignment that wasn't suitable to her talents. I really miss her features since she has been reviewing!

An article in the Chicago Daily Herald Suburban Living section claims that the author lost weight, felt better eating McDonald's every day. Disses French cuisine. Shill or honest truth? You be the judge. McDonalds corporate offices are in suburban Chicago. Coincidence?

mags, agree with you right down the line. I'm also puzzled by the anti-American cooking feeling that seems to be pervasive here. Because Flay presented in a cast iron skillet that is bad???? American flavors are not as good as Sakai's French inflected Asian flavors??? I'm not even an American and it's bugging me! It seems so knee jerk, and dare I say it, a little insecure...

I'm fascinated by the anti-Flay position many people have taken. Is this based on his show? The food at his restaurant?

Chris Cognac, correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the Morimoto/Batali episode filmed first, Sakai/Flay second, and Puck last? But that said, I just watched the first two and was really disappointed in the floor guy. More commentary would have been great. However, I think Alton did a very good job.

I know someone who knows someone (yeah, kinda pathetic) who was a judge on that episode and who said the Shark's Fin was the best dish Sakai did, so I don't think there was anything PC going on. Apparantly, Flay's food was incredible, and Sakai overcooked the fish in one of the courses (the fourth?). Also, no one could figure out just why you would make trout ice cream. apparantly it didn't taste like trout... tasted like vanilla. Which begsthe question: Why?

One of my favorite ways to serve grilled fish is with a salsa of some kind. Either purchased or home made. I live near a wonderful Mexican restaurant that serves a tomatillo/avocado salsa with its grilled fish. it's to die for. I used to make a fab. grilled tuna--can't remember where I got the recipe, although you don't really need a recipe to make it. Just rub tuna steaks with chile powder, grill until as done as you like. Make a salsa of corn/sun-dried tomato/black bean/cilantro/spritz of lime juice. By the way, lots of great recipes for grilled fish on Epicurious.com.

Bruni may very well do a great job as critic, but I wouldn't invoke RW Apple. Am I alone in not particularly liking his work? I've had a couple of situations where I've done some independent research on things he's written about only to find that his articles were not very well informed.

I think this appeared today: A restaurant review in the Dining section last Wednesday about Spice Market, on West 13th Street in Manhattan, awarded it three stars. The writer was Amanda Hesser, The Times's interim restaurant critic. Last May, before her assignment to that post, Ms. Hesser published a book, "Cooking for Mr. Latte," that was praised in a jacket blurb by the restaurateur Jean-Georges Vongerichten, who later opened Spice Market. He wrote: "Amanda Hesser's charming personality shines as the reader experiences the life and loves of a New York City gourmet. `Cooking for Mr. Latte' is perfectly seasoned with sensuality and superb recipes." The review should have disclosed that background.

Nope. NYers just don't get LA food.

Isn't the whole point in having Sandra Lee do this on tv that the rest of us are spared? I mean, why have ritual sacrifice if others have to suffer? I just want to see what the stuff tastes like. Surely it couldn't be as vile as it all sounds.

OK, anyone game for the Semi Homemade Challenge? I'm actually going to... gulp... cook her recipes for a few days. Please, please, don't let me go there alone.

I couldn't disagree more. I think it just gets better and better, partly because there's such a diverse representation of topics. It's lively, interesting, well-written. It seems to me that Russ is so good as a writer, he's actually doing better stuff now than when he was the editor and probably didn't have time to do the kind of great stories he does so well. I look forward to it every week now and am seldom disappointed. I thought their Thanksgiving section was particularly good. I also read the NY Times and think the LA Times section blows it out of the water. It doesn't seem to have as strong a vision and cohesive a feel as the LAT section. Agree re David Karp, but isn't he writing for Gourmet now? And I haven't really noticed much on trendy Westside restaurants. Were you thinking of a particular article or place? Personally, I like having restaurant reviews in the food section. Makes sense to me...

Week-in, week-out, I think the LA Times publishes the best food section in the country. But Michalene Busico, not Russ Parsons, is the section's editor. Ditto. The LA Times food section just gets better and better.

On the biscuit front, I suspect it's the American biscuit, not the Kiwi one (cookie). Mat and Ted Lee are the authors, they're American, and writing for an American audience.