NYTimes Articles on Food, Drink, Culinary Culture 2013–

[Adam George]

We want Venue Two to be food led. We love food, but are not experts in the professional side of it.

Drinks will be much more simple at Venue Two and hopefully we can find a nice [gastro] pub to take over, they will be tavern drinks like toddies and flips and Collinses. We will do away with our whimsical bullshit there.

Regarding Boston's (I'm sorry, I don't know your name) post; we worked out very quickly that since we are not in a cocktail city anymore, we can no longer make drinks for ourselves. Some of our drinks are purposely balanced toward the sweeter side (I'm talking boozy, old fashioned style drinks, here) and you know, it makes the medicine go down.

We can't have a menu of super serious cynar led brown drinks and make money (interesting note, we have just put a tequila, Beetroot, cynar, chocolate, and port drink on and it's banging) but we can make those drinks for our Bartending friends who want something different.

[brinza]

Dunno. I've usually had the classic and am happy to try a twist, particularly one an unsinkable template like the Negroni. I really don't want to order a regular Negroni out. I want something that I don't make at home all the time.

I wrestle with this all the time.  I go out and think "I want something that I can't or rarely make at home."  The problem is that as we learn to make more things at home or keep ingredients for more things, this subset steadily shrinks.  I'm often of the mind that, "There are a lot of drinks that I love, and I only ever to seem to drink them at home, because I could never get them out before.  Now in this New Enlightenment, I can get these when I'm out, so why don't I?  Like the quote KD1191 posted, "Sometimes you just don't want to do the dishes!" sometimes I just want the experience of being in a comfortable, relaxing bar and enjoying one of my favorites that I didn't have to make myself.  Another thing I do is order an easy drink that just requires an ingredient that I have been out of for while.  For example, if I haven't had any Drambuie for a while, I'm ordering Rusty Nails with no hesitation.

[rotuts]

I grew up reading Sunset, indeed Menlo Park is one town N. of where that was.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/10/dining/time-inc-sells-sunset-magazines-test-kitchens-and-gardens.html?ref=dining&_r=0

 

lots of Patios, Lots of Grilling, Lots of Gardens, and lots of Outdoor Food.

 

Ive visited the MP enclave many times.  after leaving CA i subscribed for many years.

 

I managed to get them to send me the N.Ca edition, as far away as Boston.

 

it was a unique place.

Edited December 17, 2014 by rotuts (log)

[Shel_B]

I didn't know that Sunset was owned by Time, Inc.  What a shame that they've lost their campus.  It doesn't bode well for the future of the magazine.  Hope I'm wrong.  California, and the west in general, have had a long relationship with Sunset ... mine goes back 40 years, and I still read the magazine every month.

[rotuts]

My mother subscribed since the mid '50s

 

for the gardening section

 

I remember those from the mid 50s

 

it became a very robust publication.  

 

energy costs from the mid '70s, w a massive postal rate hike slimmed it down.

 

I unfortunately stopped my subscription when they would no longer send me the N.Ca Tome

 

maybe early '90s

 

and then the Internet Came, and made most magazines and now newspapers Dinosaurs.

 

if anybody lives 'near' Menlo Park, contact them

 

I bet they are going to have some spectacular final tours and OpenHouse (s)

 

that's what they were about.

 

My mother used to call them from time to time, gardening you see, and they were always very nice.

 

after all, this was back in the day of the Toll Call, unless the area in question was right next to your

 

'zone'  which is was.  my mother rarely called father than that.

 

 

Edited December 17, 2014 by rotuts (log)

[Smithy]

My mother never subscribed (too expensive) but I grew up fascinated by that magazine, even before I became interested in cooking.  I still have, and occasionally refer to, their "Easy Basics for Good Cooking"  cookbook that that helped launch me into cooking without fear.  My sister's earliest excursions into what we considered gourmet cookery back in the day came from their magazines,and I'm pretty sure I still have some old clippings of theirs.

 

It's difficult to imagine the magazine continuing.  What a shame that Time thought it necessary to sell that lovely property.

[rotuts]

77 Million or so.

 

when the sky is falling, grab what you can.

[Shel_B]

77 Million or so.

 

when the sky is falling, grab what you can.

 

What sky is falling?  I'm not clear about what your comment means.

[rotuts]

physical publications in our current Era are very close to be dead

 

like the Dino's before them

 

therefore, the Top most Top at Time need their bonus-es.

 

not complicated.

[IowaDee]

The latest edition of Sunset arrived today.  I grew up with it and became a subscriber over 40 years ago.  I made sure it followed me to Iowa.  It is a much valued tie to my home state.  Growing up in the Venice area, I get the southern edition. 

We vislted the Sunset offices in Menlo Park several years ago.  Beautiful building and grounds.

 

I have lots and lots of their cookbooks and still buy them whenever I see them at sales.  There is always someone thrilled to have one as a gift.  A find their recipes are more fool proof than any other publication.  

 

I would hate to see the magazine fold.  It has deep roots in the West.

[Toliver]

My parents subscribed for a while when I was a kid. I think my dad liked it for the recipes and for their explorations of the back country of Southern California. He always enjoyed the proverbial Sunday Drive (back when gas was so inexpensive) and sometimes used the magazine as his guide. The Sunday trips used to scare the hell out of me as my father wasn't the best driver in the world. A lot of times we would find ourselves on a two lane road high up in the mountains east of San Diego with semi trucks screaming past us coming from the opposite direction on one side of us and a drop of a thousand or so feet on the other side of us.   

[rotuts]

Sunset had something for everyone !

[Shel_B]

Sunset had something for everyone !

 

It still does ...

[rotuts]

who knew !

 

my library and many in its system get Sunset

 

pick up 1/2 doz just now

 

can't say what Ed. it is, maybe they only have one now

 

much slimmer than days of Yore !

[IowaDee]

Nope still has regional issues.   The magazine varies is thickness month by month.  January is always on the skinny side.  I guess, like lots of us, it feels the need to diet after the holidays.   Enjoy!

[cstefan]

I haven't looked at a physical copy of Sunset in years. I really should peruse the copies at the library.

My dad subscribed for years and he owned many of their books on cooking, gardening, and home improvement.

Sad to see them sell their HQ. I hope the content doesn't suffer with the move. I also hope Sunset is able to re-invent itself successfully for the new-media era.

[rotuts]

this today:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/06/business/geoffrey-zakarian-offers-some-tips-to-mcdonalds.html?ref=business&_r=0

 

Im interested in these fast food and fast-casual restaurants as a category.

 

mid article they say :

 

'Shake shack uses 100% all natural angus beef.  no hormones and no antibiotics ever'   I thought they used grass fed.

 

McD:  '100% ground beef

 

Shack Shack  1/4 pound :  520 cals  26 gms fat

 

McD:  490 cals 30 grams fat.

 

they discuss 'healthy' vs any burger.

[Anna N]

So I tend to think that one cannot make a healthy meal of burger, fries and a soda that is worth eating. It's an indulgence meal to be enjoyed at the most once a month. And I mean enjoyed with abandon. So that, far from attempting to reduce the calories, fat and sodium in such a meal, those who want to promote health should turn their thoughts to limiting visits. This of course would do nothing for the bottom line of fast food businesses and so I won't hold my breath waiting for an ad campaign that turns away from nutritional numbers to number of visits to promote the improved health of a nation. Mind you the $22 hamburger might do it!

McDonald's to me has completely lost its way. Used to be an opportunity to get a fast cheap meal. It is no longer fast and it is no longer cheap and those were the only things that I ever thought it had going for it.

[rotuts]

Speed to the Hungry is what they sell.

 

and a flavor profile that is designed to have little to do with 'beef' flavor..

its about all that other stuff in that that's not beef.

 

Julia Child Her Self, back in Her day, thought the 'Pomme Frites' were excellent

 

 

Beef tallow ?

 

ive done my own burgers on the gill many many different ways.  sometimes home aging 'chuck steak' and using the

 

Cuisinart for the chop-chill-chop etc

 

delicious they were.

 

this is about speed.  I have yet to go to Chipotle's, but there is one in my near by Maul.

 

Im a serious student of the Carnita's Burrito.

 

I do like following 'fast-food' and designer fast food both in the WSJ and NYTimes as an economic entitiy

 

That business is far more complex than I can imagine.

Edited February 6, 2015 by rotuts (log)

[Norm Matthews]

100% ground beef does not mean 100% ground meat.  Lots of parts of beef aren't meat.

 

I like McD's hamburgers except they don't taste like beef to me.

[rotuts]

Sooooooooooooo

 

New Pick-ish  

 

Not so Slim-ey ?

 

its the M.R. talking

 

howevef

 

James B

 

who had his Stunning Column Back Then

 

pre Murddok

 

" Smart Money "

 

is now at the NYT

 

I sure hope he looks into Carrnitas  Burritos

 

just sayomg

 

Butp

[SylviaLovegren]

I love burgers, fries and shakes.  Many years ago I decided to finally try a McD's, after refusing to eat there for years.   I'd tried Burger King and found their food to be very meh at best, and Wendy's not that bad for fast food but still not great.  So, finally, McD's.  The burger didn't taste like beef and had a weird, dead, preserved flavor and a bad smell.  One bite and that got thrown out.  The "chocolate" shake tasted like salt and thickener, so that got thrown out.  The fries didn't taste like fries, but their soft, greasy saltiness was kind of fun, so I ate those. 

 

Years ago a contractor friend was doing work on our house.  He'd get a McD's burger every day for lunch.  One day, I said I'd pick up lunch for him and thought I'd give him a treat:  there was a place in town that did real burgers, hand-formed delicious beef, grilled over an open flame, on a homemade bun, nice chunky hand-cut fries on the side.  He ate it, but asked me to get him a "real" burger from McD's next time because that one I'd brought didn't taste right. 

[scubadoo97]

This post and responses to it have been moved from Cooking axiom or not? On pressing burgers while they cook.


 

While you'll lose some small amount of juice and fat by pressing, it's not going to be substantial unless you're pressing way too hard. The bigger issue is that pressing on burgers doesn't do anything helpful for you and will only harm the texture of the burger by making it more dense. Unless you're making smash burgers, don't press on them; it doesn't help and it can only hurt the end product. If you're having problems with the burger making contact with a pan or griddle, you're not using enough fat to fry them. Add some tallow, butter, or oil to the pan and resist the urge to press down.

LOve smash burgers.

Edited April 18, 2015 by Mjx
Note added. (log)

[rotuts]

the RBS has been covered here in detail

 

here is today's NYTimes take:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/15/dining/a-roast-beef-sandwich-the-way-the-deli-makes-it.html?ref=dining&_r=0

[Doofa]

May I ask, what is a "smash burger" I have only had experience of UK burgers and they are just too hideous to mention.