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

Hiatus.

I was toying with the idea of deleting this blog but my mom talked me out of it. Thanx Mom. But it will be on hiatus until I have time to devote to it. After all, I am working vigorously on Gusto Examiner, my long-overdue mini magazine, for which I had written a review of Tangö. Buuut, I was just hired to work full-time in the kitchen and have thus completely lost any and all objectivity and anonymity. So I can't publish the review, but if any are interested I can certainly email a copy to you.

Good eating and cooking forever,
~ty

Aglio-Centric.

Even though I live right i Aiea I rarely ever go to the local Safeway--the Beretania and new Kapahulu ones dispel any need for it! But last night, I needed a cold Perrier and dropped in, and to my surprise saw a spanking new building with the logo "PAESANO" on it. Looks like the Assaggio guys are expanding. Anyone know anything about it?

Acid.

Ruth Reichl, my journalistic idol, made a concerted effort to find some redemption for any slip-ups she experienced--this forgiving mindset drew me instantly to her style. Unless everything was completely awful, she made it a point to bring some light to darkness, keeping a relatively light tone. Barely into her tenure as restaurant reviewer at the New York Times in 1993, Reichl was quickly coined "the most powerful critic in the country."

Flash forward 15 years, zip across the states and the Pacific, and land on Honolulu, where the local paper has decided to allow their guest critic to acerbically vocalize her unfair judgments to the world. In fact, Ms. Kam of the Star-Bulletin shares this habit regularly, and her words are likewise a pain to read through.

This week, the Advertiser visits Tangö and lays it on bluntly and harshly. Having said that Chef Streng's sushi are "pretty much what you'd get at Aloha Sushi," Ms. Griffith continues the assault by calling his moi "'wedding banquet food,'" which, by the way, can be very good if catered by the right people--and Mr. Streng should know, having been celebrated Exec. Chef of the Prince for years. Bouillabaisse is "ho-hum" and cedar-smoked steak "undistinguished." She does, however, enjoy the lamb and desserts. Whoopee. After such an attack, kind words are just an afterthought.

Constructive criticism takes a certain kind of eloquence, an unfortunate rarity anywhere, and in Hawaii is only found in the talents of John Heckathorn and Kawehi Haug. With dining out becoming a real pastime, local papers need to take responsibility enough to provide readers with qualified food journalists. Amen?

Keiki

How can restaurants cater to kids' palates while providing parent-approved nutritional cuisine? In the gradual--but sure--awareness of juvenile obesity, parents and chefs alike are more concerned with how children are eating when the parentals bring them along. Deep-fried finger food with the option of a little salad just isn't enough.

I want to know what to you constitutes a great childrens' menu. Leave me your thoughts!

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.

Work where you (should) like to shop!

I see...I see...a glimmer of hope for the island's culinary future! Never mind that the ill-conceived Cassis is now closed, but Whole Foods is on its way to opening soon the first location, and they've just posted all available jobs on their website here. Much to my dismay, however, 99% of the listings are for full-time positions. Oh well.

tremors.

I stood in line, heart racing with excitement, hands trembling uncontrollably. Two feet in front of me sat Nancy Oakes and Pam Mazzola, chefs of San Francisco's acclaimed Boulevard Restaurant, and they were about to sign my copy of their cookbook.

Halekulani and the Hale 'Aina 'Ohana put together a magnificent event yesterday, a sumptuous brunch featuring the chefs' famous modern Californian-Mediterranean cuisine. Braised chestnut soup with duck confit, shaved hearts of palm and cucumber with truffles, mussels stuffed with panzanella, roasted steak with creamy morel-Madeira sauce, bacon-wrapped duck breast stuffed with apples, five wondrous desserts including a homemade vanilla bean ice cream and shortbread sandwich...what on earth was I supposed to do with myself? Get DRUNK. Drunk with pleasure, I mean, not unlike the first time I ate at Chef Mavro.

The only person I recognized was food writer Joan Namkoong, but I met several fellow foodies, such as a fanatic Punahou school teacher, a former student dean at Chaminade, a Cincinnati-based dietician, and a local private chef. Were any of you there? I've never tried any recreational drugs, but after yesterday, I think I know what it feels like to be on uppers. (And not have the unpleasant after-effect of crashing.)   

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.

HAPPY 2008!!

"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...