Young & Hungry, by Todd Kliman

[morela]

Here's "Greetings From Rehoboth"again since the link expires tomorrow (can't paste full text)...

"Like Blue Moon, the Back Porch Cafe has a relaxed, unforced quality that surely has something to do with having been around for a while. Among the handful of sit-down, full-service restaurants that are open for lunch—I also like the always reliable Dogfish Head, for its craft-brewed beers and smartly conceived sandwiches, and Jake’s Seafood, for its fried clams and

oysters—the Back Porch is the one that lends itself best to whiling away the afternoon. "

...

"If I hadn’t tried the soft-shell po’ boy at the Seafood Shack, I might not register a peep of complaint at Nage’s. That po’ boy at the Shack, however, is not only the single best soft-shell sandwich I’ve eaten, it may also be the single best thing I’ve put in my mouth in years of going to Rehoboth. The soft-shells, brought in fresh from Crisfield, Md., are unusually plump and sweet, their meat firm and white like lump crab. The Shack doesn’t fry them but instead sautées them in butter and a few pinches of Old Bay. Although it could easily get away with serving up a single crab for the price, $10.95, it squeezes two of the suckers side by side onto a crusty French roll, the bright orange claws dangling from the bread like arms hanging out the windows of a pickup on a hot summer day. "

Here's "Buns and Fishes", a column about Washington's fish house eatin' tradition...

And finally, a piece on The Slow Food Film Festival, which I reluctantly missed, but even so, it's a truly interesting read...and funny too.

Slow Food is doing something great everywhere.

See:

http://www.slowfood.com/

I've fallen behind with my cheerleading this week. I started "trying" at work again to celebrate the fall of Riggs Bank.

[morela]

Kliman Rocks on with his review of Le Paradou today...

"A la Recherche du Temps Perdu"

And if you get your hands on a hardcopy, take a moment to admire Max Kornell's illustration. Is that John Waters and Jay Leno?

Today you get to talk, people. I'm busy eating cashews and packing my bags.

Onward!

Edited July 22, 2004 by morela (log)

[DonRocks]

"But with the decidedly nonretro prices Cam insists on charging, he’s inevitably inviting comparisons with the likes of Citronelle, Maestro, and Laboratorio del Galileo, and the fact remains that Le Paradou is too frequently underwhelming to be regarded in their company"

[morela]

Can I help a little?

Here's Todd's column on Poste

Reasons to see Robert Weland and to read Todd Kliman:

"His tightly focused summer menu—nine apps, nine entrees, lots of seasonal touches—might appear, in this context, to be the product of top-down instigation, but it also makes a lot of practical sense. And a place still in search of itself could do worse than to rebuild around a chef who has made simplicity his be-all, end-all. Each dish seems to have been conceived with the idea of communicating a single idea—a single flavor, a single texture—as though Weland has taken it upon himself to solve the identity problem one plate at a time.

Edited July 29, 2004 by morela (log)

[morela]

Kliman's back this week!

A gratifying piece on James Tan's funky-fresh business plan.

"Grace Under Fire"

"To say that Uni is not the place to order up plate after plate of salmon, yellowtail, and tuna nigiri, or to load up on sashimi, is not to say that Tan’s fish isn’t fresh and firm. And I applaud him for delivering some very good mackerel even in the heart of the off-season. But, on balance, it’s better to save the urge for raw fish in its pristine form for those places where freshness is the be-all, end-all—and command prices that reflect that priority."

[morela]

Here's this week's column:

"Catch and Carry"

Someone certainly knows how to make the best of a sick day.

Glad you're feeling better, Todd.

[morela]

Here's Kliman on a place in my very own neighborhood, that I've never even heard of...

"Cafe Society"

Hey, what's the name of that place named after a town in the province of Chieti that also has a cafe? I keep forgetting.

[morela]

As usual, entertaining and gracefully crafted into one bite,

here's Todd Kliman this week on Galileo.

If you want to catch up on some of the previous weeks, here's a link to the archive:

https://secure.washingtoncitypaper.com/cgi-...tartsearch2.bat

<I have let this escape me a bit, partly due to the fact that the links expire so quickly>

[morela]

I've been away for a while, chasing rabbits, preparing for a race.

Anyway, Here's Kliman's column on Restaurant Eve:

"The Three Faces of Eve"

Todd, if you're out there, I just want to say that I truly appreciate the candidness in this piece (and all of your columns).

Can you further discuss this one a bit?

A while back in your chat on egullet, you touched a bit on the "neighborhood restaurant," which you have in part defined Eve as. (someone can link)

Back then you said:

"The neighborhood restaurant, I think, is, in a lot of ways, a kind of fiction... "

"What you're seeing now is a lot of places trying to huddle under the umbrella of a "neighborhood restaurant" but which aren't, in fact, neighborhood restaurants. So, really, it's a kind of safe harbor for the owner and chef, too."

Okay so that makes sense, the question I have now is about the adaptation or convergence of a "neighborhood restaurant" into a destination restaurant. Wouldn't most places with professional, warm service, a sure hand at the stove and competitive prices become a destination restaurant (when destination is 10 minutes on GW Parkway) by default or do you think it's a business model or on the verge of a 'concept' in itself? What about a place like Ray's the Steaks?

What is it about Eve that makes it a real neighborhood restaurant and one that works? Is it about being simple and elegant? Is about having a front room and being in an old town with tightly-aligned row houses/town homes?

This is interesting, and I'd like to hear more of your take on this from the sociological standpoint. Todd?

[Todd Kliman]

I've been away for a while, chasing rabbits, preparing for a race.

Anyway, Here's Kliman's column on Restaurant Eve:

"The Three Faces of Eve"

Todd, if you're out there, I just want to say that I truly appreciate the candidness in this piece (and all of your columns).

Can you further discuss this one a bit?

A while back in your chat  on egullet, you touched a bit on the "neighborhood restaurant," which you have in part defined Eve as.  (someone can link)

Back then you said:

"The neighborhood restaurant, I think, is, in a lot of ways, a kind of fiction... "

"What you're seeing now is a lot of places trying to huddle under the umbrella of a "neighborhood restaurant" but which aren't, in fact, neighborhood restaurants. So, really, it's a kind of safe harbor for the owner and chef, too."

Okay so that makes sense,  the question I have now  is about the adaptation or convergence of a "neighborhood restaurant" into a destination restaurant.  Wouldn't most places with professional, warm service, a sure hand at the stove and competitive prices become a destination restaurant (when destination is 10 minutes on GW Parkway) by default or do you think it's a business model or on the verge of a 'concept' in itself? What about  a place like Ray's the Steaks?

What is it about Eve that makes it a real neighborhood restaurant and one that works?  Is it about being simple and elegant?  Is about having a front room and being in an old town with tightly-aligned row houses/town homes?

This is interesting, and I'd  like to hear more of your take on this from the sociological standpoint.  Todd?

←

I'm defining a destination restaurant as a temple of gastronomy, a place you go to worship at the altar of the chef.

Being good, and personable, doesn't make a place a destination restaurant; it makes it a worthy place to go a few times a year, if you can afford it. Destination restaurants are those places that, unless you're a pro and you've got a job to do, you hit at most a couple of times a year. Citronelle, Maestro, the Inn.

Eve is trying to do what a lot of places are trying to do these days. Actually, I had a line in a column a few weeks back, on Bistro des Celestines -- something to the effect of "it used to be that good restaurants were happy with your business a few times a year; nowadays they want to see you a few times a week."

What's different, here, is that Eve is not content simply to be a casual drop by. It's got ambition. It wants to be your special occasion place too. It wants to be considered among, or near, the T of G someday. We'll see. It's got a long, long ways to go.

As I wrote this week, I like Eve as a bistro. I think it does very well by itself as a bistro.

As for Eve being a neighborhood restaurant, it's funny. Strictly speaking, I don't consider it to be a neighborhood restaurant. For one thing, it's too expensive, too refined, too too. Franklin's Restaurant and Brewpub is a neighborhood restaurant. A relaxed place you can slip into like a warm bath and be comforted by -- even on those nights when it's off. You don't have to wonder where the owner is -- he's making the rounds, in his old wool sweater and ponytail (hey, Mike!) The customers are familiar, the staff knows even before you do that you're here for the Bombshell Blond microbrew, a cheeseburger with bacon, and a side of the beer-battered, Old Bay-dusted onion rings, and when you're a no-show for weeks on end you hear about it when you finally return.

Eve isn't that. But look at what it does have going for it -- there's warmth, there's (legitimate) charm, there's an attentive, caring staff, all the owners are present and accounted for. What's more, it gives you a very real sense that it's not just in a neighborhood but of it, too. Combine all that with the good bistro cooking and what you have is a place that comes about as close as any place at those prices can to being a neighborhood restaurant.

[morela]

{Todd, thanks for addressing my questions and expanding so thoroughly. I may engage you further on this today or soon down the road.}

For everyone to enjoy, here is today's column "Quote of the Day,"

a really fun piece on the chef's spin on traditional dishes (and comfort foods), and how a gender sample differ in their views and execution. Read it. The column offers a subtle hypothesis about how the man chef and his female counterpart go about exerting their trendiness and exercising their gruffness, which is why I would like to engage not just Kliman, but everyone in a little discussion on the matter.

Psychology of Gender

No really, though, let's not limit it to these chef or their "quote-unquote dishes".

What differences do we see in many of the women chefs in this city (compared to men, I guess) and their apparent philosophies? We cannot make generalizations. I just want to get views and feedback I think we have a unique collection of women chef in this city that stand out for reasons other than their gender...and I am all for intelligent conversation. Anyone care to join me (Kliman?), Rocks, female chefs? Man chef?

And here is my favorite part of the whole piece:

Besides, a little quoting goes a long, long way. “Shit, I’ll tell you what,” Clark says. “If I were going to put a lobster on my menu, I’d never call it macaroni and cheese. I’d call it lobster.”

Edited October 21, 2004 by morela (log)

[DonRocks]

Psychology of Gender

No really, though, let's not limit it to these chef or their "quote-unquote dishes". 

What differences do we see in many of the women chefs in this city (compared to men, I guess) and their apparent philosophies? 

←

I think a lot of people here could name five female chefs in Washington, but only a few could name ten. The basal group (basil group?) has tended to avoid flashy food games, at least up until now. Why?

Possible answers:

1) Male chefs drive motorcycles and skydive and compare penis sizes.

2) There is a residual collective lack-of-confidence among the female chefs which has yet to achieve resolution.

3) The female chefs are more confident in themselves, and don't feel the need to show off.

4) The sample size we're talking about is too small to be meaningful.

Gender aside, I happen to be starving as I type this, and what I want more than anything in the world right now is a Todd Gray veal chop with real macaroni and cheese (doesn't that sound good?)

[iamthestretch]

And here is my favorite part of the whole piece:

Besides, a little quoting goes a long, long way. “Shit, I’ll tell you what,” Clark says. “If I were going to put a lobster on my menu, I’d never call it macaroni and cheese. I’d call it lobster.”

←

I imagine one of the best things about working for an alternative paper is that when you get a killer quote like that, you can use it. All of it.

Brings to mind a true story. A friend of mine, some years ago, was reporting on a very contentious congressional committee meeting, at which a highly controversial bill was approved and sent off to the House floor by the narrowest of margins. After the final vote, he rushed to collar the bill's main opponent, a heavy hitter who had sunk a lot of time, effort and political capital into trying to derail it. The conversation went like this:

"Congressman Y -- Tom X from the Daily Hardscrabble, what do you think of the way it went in there?"

"What do I think? I think we just fucked the American people!"

"I'm sorry, Congressman, I can't print that. I work for a family newspaper."

"Yeah? Well, then write that I think we just fucked the American family, too!"

I believe the final story simply noted that Congressman Y had "expressed disappointment and concern at the measure's potential effects on the economy and consumers."

[frogprince]

Psychology of Gender

No really, though, let's not limit it to these chef or their "quote-unquote dishes". 

What differences do we see in many of the women chefs in this city (compared to men, I guess) and their apparent philosophies?  We cannot make generalizations. I just want to get views and feedback I think we have a unique collection of women chef in this city that stand out for reasons other than their gender...and I am all for intelligent conversation.  Anyone care to join me (Kliman?), Rocks, female chefs?  Man chef?

whilst not trained in pyschology or gender studies, reading this brought the following OBSERVATION (an observation mind you, NOT a judgement) to my mind:

who has bells and whistles in their restaurants?

minibar, maestro, the inn, laboratorio, citronelle, signatures, nectar... (who else? tasting room at eve?)

who doesnt have the sound and fury of gastronomic giddiness?

colorado kitchen, buck's, cashion's, 15 ria, coppi's (and the old vigorelli), nora... (who else? with women?)

so what am i trying to say? 'tis an interesting observation, i feel, to find the milieu of quotes, flashiness, presentation, etc to be solidly populated by men. THIS IS NOT A CRITIQUE. i happen to adore nectar though i cant speak for any of the others. and naturally examples abound of simple honest grandma (maybe this is the key: i cook the way granny/ma did...?) cooking places that feature a male as the chef and/or owner. (a certain steak establishment in virginia to name but one)

obviously this will all become a moot point when someone more educated and traveled and better fed than i adds their list of radical, avant-garde restaurants with a woman at the helm but in dc at least... the men play with their food. (and DELICIOUSLY too i hasten to add; dont take this as annoyance or critique. please?)

[Nadya]

Hmm... this IS an interesting subject...but after racking my brain, I am just not prepared to embrace any really sweeping statements on the differences in taste and presentation by male vs. female chefs. Honestly, I think it is all a matter of individual experience, talent and mood of whoever is commanding the kitchen. It all comes from how knowledgeable, how playful, how creative, how traditionalist and however else they are - not from whether their chef jackets bulge out in the chest area or not.

[HOOLIGAN]

obviously this will all become a moot point when someone more educated and traveled and better fed than i adds their list of radical, avant-garde restaurants with a woman at the helm but in dc at least... the men play with their food. (and DELICIOUSLY too i hasten to add; dont take this as annoyance or critique. please?)

←

Three talented ladies pop into my mind; Anne-Sophie Pic, Helen Darroze, and Elena Arzark. Of course they reside in different countries but they could school damn near all of DC's best regardless of gender.

[Meshe at Eve]

What's different, here, is that Eve is not content simply to be a casual drop by. It's got ambition. It wants to be your special occasion place too. It wants to be considered among, or near, the T of G someday. We'll see. It's got a long, long ways to go.

___________________________

Mr. Kliman, my friend...I am shocked!...always I am reading..now I must post.

"Long, Long way to go?..Dig if you will..THIS PICTURE..

Give me 3,000,000 to design a restaurant, (Does not always equal good taste though.....)

Give me 1,000,000 for kitchen equipment (I just HAVE to have that foamer!)

Give me 100,000 to spend on opening wine inventory, (Or maybe I'll just LIST the wine..)

Give me 100,000 to spend on China, Glass and Silver (If it breaks..I'll buy more)

Give me 20,000 for opening food costs (Caviar, foie gras..the usual)

Give me a staff of 30 (Just kitchen alone)

Let me buy all my egyptian linen..(NOT the dreaded rental linen...you all know what i mean)

Let the broker worry about the insurance.

Let the accountants worry about the taxes,

Let HR hire my 'line' employees...(Upper management will be relocated from a town-fabulous)

Oh..Cook some really fantastic food too.

.....INC. (At the end of my paycheck)

Now!!...if that aint a 4 star restaurant..!!!!!!!!

The real costs now have to be factored in.

Mortgage everything you own,

Borrow everything you can,

Take on a city singlehandedly,

Hire sincere, honest people,

Banish the word NO.

Hire waiters without restaurant experience,

Be Proud of waiters with no experience.

Pay for all mangement insurance,

Thank managers for faith, and accepting low pay,

HEART, SWEAT and more Sweat..mix in Soul.

Oh..Cook some fantastic food,

Come home sleepily, to gentle children.

Smile in bed for not ripping anyone off!

Mr. Kliman!!...humbly, I say..we are not looking to be 'considered' Tof G someday..IN MY EYES..We ARE top of the game...WE HAVE our 4th star. (We just going for it...on a Technicality!)

Thank you for your honest posting..It reminded me off who we are. BE WELL. Meshe at Eve.

[landrumm2000]

I second that.

You are already there.

[DonRocks]

Trend Spotting

When angry restaurant owners lash out against one of their best friends (Todd Kliman), this is symptomatic of a larger problem.

And there's a reason for this: for too long, here on eGullet, and also on Tom's chats, people have unfairly complained about a napkin being folded wrong in an otherwise great meal, and have damaged the morale of professionals whose only intent was to please them.

Here's the buzz that I'm getting from restaurant owners all over town: 'want to be taken seriously? Sign your real name to your negative comments, or shut up.' Why? Because it seems that one negative comment in a posting - no matter how relatively insignificant - has more effect on the psyche of a restaurant professional than twenty pages of positive postings from fifty people. I'm not sure why this is, but I am sure that people who anonymously "go negative" should be aware of this, and use the power of the internet wisely.

Regards,

Don Rockwell.

[fero style]

Here's the buzz that I'm getting from restaurant owners all over town: 'want to be taken seriously? Sign your real name to your negative comments, or shut up.'

Don Rockwell.

←

I agree ,

Don `Rocks`

[Mark Sommelier]

Trend Spotting

When angry restaurant owners lash out against one of their best friends (Todd Kliman), this is symptomatic of a larger problem.

And there's a reason for this:  for too long, here on eGullet, and also on Tom's chats, people have unfairly complained about a napkin being folded wrong in an otherwise great meal, and have damaged the morale of professionals whose only intent was to please them.

Here's the buzz that I'm getting from restaurant owners all over town:  'want to be taken seriously?  Sign your real name to your negative comments, or shut up.'  Why?  Because it seems that one negative comment in a posting - no matter how relatively insignificant - has more effect on the psyche of a restaurant professional than twenty pages of positive postings from fifty people.  I'm not sure why this is, but I am sure that people who anonymously "go negative" should be aware of this, and use the power of the internet wisely.

Regards,

Don Rockwell.

←

But, Rocks. It wouldn't be the internet if people couldn't post anonymously. On the internet, everyone can be a critic. This is why most chefs I know don't care about eGullet and the other food websites like it. The cartoon that started it all

Mark Slater

Edited October 28, 2004 by Mark Sommelier (log)

[bilrus]

I agree that the anonymous sniping that does go on sometimes is annoying and serves no purpose. I seldom pay attention to the random negativity here and Chowhound or the Post chats. Only when the same comments and criticisms come up on a consistent basis do I start to believe that there might be something to them.

That said, I'm not sure the responsibility of eGullet members is to be mindful of the psyches of the chefs or staff of restaurants, but to the other members or people who might be reading these posts and looking for advice on what is good and bad.

I think about my comments recently about Eve, a place that has gotten an enormous amount of love on this board. I had a less than successful meal there and I posted about it. I had specific criticisms that I discussed and I praised where I thought it was appropriate. I can't think of many reports (all made with my name at the bottom) I've made on eGullet that didn't include at least some aspect of a meal that I thought was a little off. This includes places like Maestro and The French Laundry.

The bottom line though is that if you've got a citicism, back it up with details. And don't be afraid to let people know who you are.

And if you are a chef or restaurateur, don't focus on the negative, but also don't ignore or dismiss criticism. No restaurant is above reproach.

Edited October 28, 2004 by bilrus (log)

[DCMark]

Are we that anonymous here? It may take a bit of effort, but most of us have met each other. Egullet is way less anonymous than Tom's chat.

[Steve Klc]

This is why most chefs I know don't care about eGullet and the other food websites like it.

Interesting comment this, on several levels.

In addition to local food discussion, show me another "food website" Mark that also has anything remotely like the eGCI or any special feature in print or online with the depth and originality of our Alinea project subforum with Grant Achatz and his team here:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showforum=163

Grant, a Beard award-winner, gets it. In time, others will.

Next month, do you know who's in the eGullet.org "house" for several days of very public discussion, on a level I haven't seen conducted anywhere else, in any language? That's right, Ferran Adria, who has probably been on the receiving end of more hackneyed commentary on eGullet than any other chef in the world. He "cares" about eGullet, he gets it. In time, others will. Oh, and that .org thing, that's the real deal, that means we're publicly and privately accountable now, that we're continuing to evolve into a diverse culinary not-for-profit service organization--a 501( c )3--that also means, for anyone who cares to read around more, that we've moved way way past any of those "food websites" you may be talking about.

Still, your statement rings partially true for me even though we don't have the same circle of chef friends, but maybe it's a little more accurate to say local chefs:

1) aren't willing to admit publicly yet that they care about eGullet;

2) haven't figured out yet how to process that one dumb comment from that one anonymous twentysomething which rankles their ego, and which they vastly over-emphasize the importance of; or

3) haven't realized that they have a responsibility to join in this process somehow, that this is a "community" not just a series of isolated anonymous folks. This is where Don's comment of user anonymity holds sway for our future--because that responsibility cuts both ways. Many diners are still under-aware, and many chefs and restaurateurs are still stuck in an adversarial or protective mode--rather than realizing this is a community which needs their voice, which already has the voice of some of their colleagues. But we don't only need the voice of an outsider, not just for a few days of a Q&A, and not just to dash off an "editorial reply" or publicist's comment as you'd find in a Sietsema online chat. That kind of response is appropriate there, it's less appropriate here.

We're entering the next phase of eGullet.org here in DC, when more of the chefs around town realize this has been their public community all along, too, that many of their peers nationally are already here, that we have an international reach beyond the confines of the Beltway and that we all have a responsibility to raise public awareness ourselves--not grumble privately or anonymously after the fact--and instead of contacting people privately, communicating their dissatisfaction via backchannels or grumbling that "eGullet" should do something about it--as if "eGullet" was somehow their watchdog--they'll realize that if they care, the opportunity to do something about it, to raise awareness and effect change, is right here before them.

If Todd doesn't realize it yet, he won't continue to get a free pass as a food writer or critic either, as he largely has to date as the new kid on the critical block with serious wordsmithing skills. No matter how talented a writer, if he lets the typical agenda of the free weekly papers creep in, if he politicizes his prose or passes an unfair moral or value judgment about food off on us, he'll come under scrutiny like any other food pro around town. Stuff gets in print in ways it shouldn't, just like dishes go out of our kitchens sometimes we'd like to take back upon reflection. Todd will be compared fairly and at times unfairly to Tom Sietsema, yet Todd isn't a critic like Tom and doesn't visit the restaurants he writes about 3+ times like Sietsema does; I hope, and I bet you he hopes, his positions will be discussed, praised, or challenged very publicly and very quickly after he's written something--that comes with the territory and it comes with being a member of this community. And at times the public dissatisfaction might be shared by other members--right out in the open for all to see and for all to make up their own minds about. That's because intelligent people can disagree, respectfully.

It may be a slow process, but it's inevitable foodies and food lovers of all persuasions will gather here in greater numbers. Some food pros have already realized there's something special going on here, just as some food writers have. We're all richer because of the interplay and diversity. It'll continue to be this unique, evolving mix.

[Tweaked]

I think over the last couple months with the introduction of the chef chats there has been a new synergy between the chefs and us the food patrons. Case in point is Gillian Clark, who a lot of us had a preconceived idea about based upon various Tom Sietsema chats, other postings, Da Sto, etc. However, when she came to the board and we had a very intelligent discussion with her, followed by the eGullet dinner at her restaurant, I think we develop a new undertanding and appreciation for her and her restaurant. I think we can all safely call her a Friend of eGullet

I hope that the other chefs, as well as us talking with the others chefs, have experienced the same.

In my mind that is one of the greatest powers of this eGullet forum.