. t h e k c c f o o d i e .

B & M

So sorry for the long delay--this semester has been a real challenge. But I'm not paying for this site to bitch about my life. I pay to bitch about food. But this time, I'll graciously let someone else do it for me. The New York Times' Frank Bruni, one of my culinary journalistic idols, has posted a delicious entry on his blog about "The Peeves of Others" dealing with the kinds of chafing and sadly inevitable idiosyncrasies of restaurants. Scroll down to read comments too; unsurprisingly, hard, cold butter makes a lot of people mad.

...And not to brag or anything, but when I wait on occasion at Sabrina's, rarely do I do anything particularly annoying. You won't hear "Hey guys!" or "All done?" from me!

Anyone been to Tangö? I have fallen deeply in love with it.

Eating mammal Xerox.

Well, this is simply delicious! The F.D.A. has issued its long-awaited statement declaring cloned meat products safe to eat. Sooo...I expect to be seeing meat and milk from clones of farm animals soon on market shelves? Here we are again, at that touchy subject of genes and food. If it were up to me--alas, it is not--banning GMO produce and foodstuffs would not be out of the question. Why is modern society so desperate to play God?

Of course, my conservative Judeo-Christian perspective does not apply nor appeal to everyone. I personally would rather wait for late spring for the best tomatoes and not even have to think about those grainy, hard, cold, perfect greenhouse blobs that have been blasted with ripening ethylene gas. That's just me, eh? I love heirloom tomatoes in all their imperfect glory.

So, then, why are farmers hankering to get more junk to us consumers? Ahhh, the price and labor issue. Imagine not having to wait around for cows to "come into heat." Imagine only having to deal with set bovine age groups, not individual units needing personal care. THEN imagine the farm demand for beef and such suddenly so much lower, the farm's labor cost so much lower, and therefore the retail price so much lower! Happy America! Or not. Or just not happy Ty. At least North Shore Cattle Company will be getting more business from me. And say hello to Whole Foods.

"Menus as Literature"

First, I would like to express my relief of a cancer-free Grant Achatz. The doctors at the University of Chicago Medical Center have assured Achatz his sense of taste remains as sharp as it ever did before. And thank God.

Earlier this week the NYTimes' Frank Bruni makes an excellent point: why do some restaurants feel so compelled to make their menus into novellas? I've never come across such excessiveness as this, but please, I would love to know if any of you out there have been subjected to painfully long menu descriptions.

Anyone have news on Jean-Marie Josselin's upcoming Kapahulu restaurant? It seems the media has left us high and dry since October...

Religion, snails, and utter nonsense.

In relation to foodstuffs, Judaism makes Christianity seem boring--the Jewish culture is full of delicious food specific to its religion, like matzo balls and of course the wonderful latkes, but Christians have nothing. Sometimes I think of converting to Judaism, which would be nearly impossible, but you might have the same fleeting thought after reading this article containing a recipe for crispy dessert wraps, whose ingredients led me to believe it's like some sort of cheesecake wonton. Sounds good!

Damn my love for Christmas decorations. Otherwise I would be at today's Slow Food Green Market Gift Fair, where used restaurant equipment, china, linens, and cookbooks are being sold. But I promised my grandpa I'd help string up the lights on his house. Nothing trumps my love for food, but Christmas only comes once...and I already have a lot of nice white china and would have nowhere to put more! For those interested and lucky enough to go, the sale is at the Church of the Crossroads near Varsity Theater from 11:30 am to 4 pm. Well...have fun...*sniff*

Maybe it's just me, but does it seem like some restaurant critics here don't take themselves seriously? John Heckathorn always does a great job, maybe because he's alloted an entire month to do his reviews. Only occasionally does the Advertiser drive me nuts, like this week with their takeout salad ratings, but Nadine Kam rarely fails to disappoint. How many "vacations" does she take in a year? In the space restrictions for her reviews, I would think she might get right to the point about the food, giving herself time to elaborate. But the first half is a personal dissertation or reflection. And I don't want to hear that she's too full for dessert, because if Kam were revisiting a restaurant several times to be fair, dessert would not always be merely an afterthought. Why do I love Frank Bruni (NY Times) and Michael Bauer (SF Chronicle) and Meredith Brody (SF Weekly) so much, and even Kawehi Haug (Hon. Weekly)? Because they're reviewing. They are not reporting. They are giving the reader a sense of involvement, using eloquent sensory writing to make it seem as though you were having a conversation with them during the meal. THIS, my friends, is reviewing. Jonathan Gold of LA Weekly should know--he recently won a bloody Pulitzer Prize for his writing.

THERE he is!

Remember the kid Eric Sakai who ran the kitchen of Diamond Head Grill earlier this year, transforming it into an Italian food lover's paradise, then left "citing differences" with management? Well, he's up in Santa Rosa, CA as the latest staff addition to rustic Cafe Saint Rose, where the clientele and employers will both be better suited to him. Good Luck Eric!

"Boys with toys"? I love it.

Readers of this blog would be aware of my admiration towards women running kitchens. My own mother, however, is actually dismayed by females who have climbed corporate ladders and such because they end up not taking care of their families. The fact is, most women in such high positions don't bother with having families at all--a smart move, unless the man in their lives (if they have one) are willing to reverse roles. Frequent readers should also know my general disdain for molecular gastronomy, so obviously I was tickled by Chef Sara Jenkins' comment: "Boys with toys." Here's a nice long interview from NYMagazine with seven local chefs...enjoy!

Rich people gotta pay, too

If you are an Italian foodie like me, an alcoholic, or one of the blessed who finds time to read all the way through the New York Times, Arrigo Cipriani and his son Giuseppe, owners of Harry's Bar in Venice (among other numerous locations), where the elegant Bellini cocktail was created, have plead guilty to $3.5 mil in tax evasion since '98 and have agreed to pay a total of $10 mil "in restitution and penalties." What angers me is not their crime, which isn't a particularly uncommon one, but the nerve of Arrigo to slay the Cipriani name. Maybe some will agree with me when I say the Cipriani companies have become, as we young people call it, a sell-out, that they've forgone integrity and the original vision in favor of making as much mula as possible. Arrigo's father Giuseppe (who shares the same name as his grandson) was a generous but humble bartender who happened upon an affluent and equally generous American--Harry--and together they created the Venetian landmark Harry's Bar. But now, honesty is lost in a sea of greed, not to mention $10 minestrone and $14 Bellinis. And I find it hilarious that the NYC location has won an award from NYMagazine as one the top "Overrated Restaurants."

Don't you die on us...

Don't panic. Don't panic. OK, maybe there is need for panic. I'm not much for "guy food," as you may recall, but I certainly respect Grant Achatz, and if he loses his battle against cancer, I shall be very sad, as will many devotees of his Chicago restaurant Alinea. His diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma is not uncommon, especially in fair-skinned Caucasians. Caught early, it's completely curable, but in the advanced stage, which Achatz has, it may cause disfigurement, and what worries me more is his cancer is in the mouth, making it easier for the cells to spread to other areas. Hopefully treatment is successful and we can look forward to good news ahead. Here's today's Chicago Sun-Times with the article.

Thinning out the herd, so to speak...

My early pubescence was spent as a balloon, with folds of cottage cheese weighing me down by 160-ish pounds, only 20 pounds less than I am now. Looking back, I have right to blame a bit of that on the advertisements I took into my greedy little eyes sitting in front of the telly. Of course, I'd beg my poor mother for goodies in the supermarket, and she'd grudgingly oblige.

Maybe the next generation will be better off--McDonald's has taken a step to improve advertising to kids 12 and under by offering healthier menu items like low-fat milk and white meat McNuggets (which, in my opinion, are still morsels of artificially stabilized protein). Nevertheless, better something than nothing, I suppose.            

Tough Cookies

The Best Movie Ever Made--a.k.a. "Ratatouille"--touched on several issues the culinary world faces, one of which was women in the kitchen, via Colette. I'm really enraged by the disrespect females are forced to endure; this enforces my belief that gender equality is far from established. Kate in the upcoming "No Reservations" speaks truth when she says, "I've worked hard to get here" (although I'm more used to Catherine Zeta-Jones in roles such as the ravishing partner in crime of Zorro), and women certainly work hard to climb the kitchen ladder. In all honesty, though, I would prefer women than men alongside me any day. Here's a good article on this topic.