Feast | 416 West Main Street | Charlottesville, VA 22903
(434) 244-7800
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Feast - Charlottesville
You can really do a lot worse for lunch (and pay a lot more) than a baguette from the Albemarle Baking Company and a nice piece of triple cream French cheese -- a Délice de Bourgogne or a St. André, or even a small piece of properly-well-aged Bucheron, possibly supplemented by a bowl or a cup of extremely tasty soup -- from Feast, at 416 W Main Street in Charlottesville. Feast offers some elegant and very tasty charcuterie, including a slender little Italian salami with fennel. Feast has a truly wonderful selection of interesting cheeses including Grayson, an outstanding red mold Taleggio-like offering from the Meadow Creek Dairy (located down in Grayson County near Mt. Rogers (which I haven't climbed yet) and a wonderful hand-dipped ricotta that seems way too good for lasagne. If the ricotta survives the trip home, you might try dishing it up in dollops next to a great red-sauced pasta. The terrific Albemarle Baking Company baguettes are properly crispy outside and yet tender within. Snag one or two as you walk in the door, especially if it's well after lunch time, or they might be gone by the time you reach the register. Adding a bowl of soup from Feast's kitchen, which also offers tasty sandwiches and salads, might be all most people will need for lunch. With a bottle of Pellegrino from the cooler, you'll be very happy. Feast is a great place for an easy, no pressure, no problems lunch. You can find the menu online at http://www.feastvirginia.com/cafe.pdf. But my advice is just walk in -- Feast is on Main Street behind Orzo -- sample some cheese and olive oil, wander around, see what the kitchen's specials are, eat something and ... go home very happy. Thank you, Feast! Thank you very much indeed!
Feast | 416 West Main Street | Charlottesville, VA 22903
(434) 244-7800
Feast | 416 West Main Street | Charlottesville, VA 22903
(434) 244-7800
Downtown Thai - Charlottesville
Jessie Jane and I went out for early dinner Tuesday evening, March 27 at Downtown Thai (at 111 Water Street just off Charlottesville's Downtown Mall, catty-corner across from the ever-popular Mono Loco). Jessie Jane and I found the food terrific. I was a bit doubtful, at first, because when we first walked in there was literally no one else eating in the well-appointed modern dining room , but hey! The Vegetarian Spring Roll -- freshly prepared, all ingredients fresh, the skin supple -- was great! The Tom Yum soup with shrimp was the best I ever ate in a restaurant, and far, far better than a rather mediocre offering I worked my way through most unwillingly at Tara Thai in Short Pump not so very long ago. And the Pad Thai Tofu was ... one of the best Pad Thais I've ever eaten. Tasty, tasty, tasty! And we finished with dessert -- Sticky Rice with Mango! (the rice was tinted light green) a great finale -- the mango slices were fresh and the sticky rice, also, seemed very freshly prepared. Exactly the right texture ... And delicious! Dinner for two did not seem expensive. My main question would be -- why wasn't the place filled up with happy people eating great Thai food??? Does Downtown Thai need a happy hour tradition? Should they try welcoming diners with a small pot of tea and maybe an ever-varying amuse-gueule (on the house) to help lure more customers? Maybe they just need a little more effective advertising? A takeout window? Our meal seemed relatively mild in chili heat -- which I thought a plus. But possibly that doesn't appeal to the legions of Thai-fire-tiger-eaters? Would selling spring rolls from a cart on the Mall be feasible? Or even -- offering samples from a tray? during the busy lunch hour?
Byrd Mill Old Tyme Grits - Terrific!
From Virginia -- these stoneground grits, available in yellow or white -- are terrific! The grains are larger and taste better than the ordinary fine ground grits you may be used to. Legend has it that young Patrick Henry visited the mill often at its original site, bringing corn, wheat and buckwheat from his father's nearby plantation. Byrd Mill's original location burned untimely in 1968 and the company is now located in Ashland, Virginia. Change your mind about grits! -- try these next time you see them on the shelf. Available at Martin's in the Richmond area, or online at $7.90 for a 5 lb. bag (plus shipping, I reckon) or $3.45 for a 12 oz. package. Making up your mind between white or yellow grits might be your only problem. You can find Byrd Mill Old Tyme Grits and other products online at www.byrdmill.com.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Szegediner Goulash -- Again?
*Sauerkraut Goulash*
From Jean Anderson’s book,
Falling off the Bone
*Serves 6*
¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter
1 large Spanish, Bermuda, or Vidalia onion,
moderately finely chopped
1 pound boneless beef chuck, trimmed
of excess fat and cut in 1½-inch cubes
1 pound boneless pork shoulder, trimmed of excess fat
and cut in 1½-inchcubes
1 pound boneless veal shoulder, cut in 1½-inch cubes
(Jean substituted 1 pound sliced,
sauteed mushrooms for the veal)
3 tablespoons Hungarian sweet rose paprika blended with
¼ cup warm water, ½ teaspoons salt,
and ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¾ cup water or beef broth
2 cups sauerkraut (preferably fresh), rinsed well
and wrung fairly dry in a tea towel
1 cup sour cream, at room temperature
1. Melt butter in a large heavy nonreactive Dutch oven over moderately high heat and as soon as it froths and subsides, add onion and sauté, stirring often, until limp and golden—6 to 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, lift to a large bowl and reserve.
2. Brown meat in Dutch oven in three batches in order listed, allowing about10 minutes per batch and lifting each to bowl as it browns.
3. Return onion and meats to pot along with accumulated juices, paprika mixture, and water, and bring to a boil. Adjust heat so mixture barely ripples, cover, and simmer very slowly until meats are tender—about 2 hours.
Note: Check pot occasionally and if mixture threatens to scorch, add a little more water, turn heat to lowest point, and slide a diffuser underneath pot.
4. Mix in sauerkraut, cover, and simmer 10 minutes, then smooth in sour cream and bring just to serving temperature—3 to 5 minutes. Do not boil or sour cream may curdle. Taste for salt and pepper and adjust as needed.
5. Serve hot with buttered poppy-seed noodles or boiled and peeled redskin, fingerling, or Yukon gold potatoes.
From Jean Anderson’s book,
Falling off the Bone
*Serves 6*
¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter
1 large Spanish, Bermuda, or Vidalia onion,
moderately finely chopped
1 pound boneless beef chuck, trimmed
of excess fat and cut in 1½-inch cubes
1 pound boneless pork shoulder, trimmed of excess fat
and cut in 1½-inchcubes
1 pound boneless veal shoulder, cut in 1½-inch cubes
(Jean substituted 1 pound sliced,
sauteed mushrooms for the veal)
3 tablespoons Hungarian sweet rose paprika blended with
¼ cup warm water, ½ teaspoons salt,
and ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¾ cup water or beef broth
2 cups sauerkraut (preferably fresh), rinsed well
and wrung fairly dry in a tea towel
1 cup sour cream, at room temperature
1. Melt butter in a large heavy nonreactive Dutch oven over moderately high heat and as soon as it froths and subsides, add onion and sauté, stirring often, until limp and golden—6 to 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, lift to a large bowl and reserve.
2. Brown meat in Dutch oven in three batches in order listed, allowing about10 minutes per batch and lifting each to bowl as it browns.
3. Return onion and meats to pot along with accumulated juices, paprika mixture, and water, and bring to a boil. Adjust heat so mixture barely ripples, cover, and simmer very slowly until meats are tender—about 2 hours.
Note: Check pot occasionally and if mixture threatens to scorch, add a little more water, turn heat to lowest point, and slide a diffuser underneath pot.
4. Mix in sauerkraut, cover, and simmer 10 minutes, then smooth in sour cream and bring just to serving temperature—3 to 5 minutes. Do not boil or sour cream may curdle. Taste for salt and pepper and adjust as needed.
5. Serve hot with buttered poppy-seed noodles or boiled and peeled redskin, fingerling, or Yukon gold potatoes.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Waterman's Surfside Grille: ..................................A Lackluster Fish Taco
Little Red and I have had a few reasonably decent meals at Waterman's Surfside Grille at Fifth Street on Atlantic Avenue in Virginia Beach. Some of the booths near the window have a good view of the beach. There's an outdoor porch if you want salt air. The service has been reasonably fast and reasonably attentive. The place is usually full of the beachy set. The bar can be noisy at night. Waterman's gift shop has a few interesting items. Waterman's Valet Parking service works well for people who have not already parked their cars.
Although we could not consider them to be in the "extraordinary" category, we have enjoyed Waterman's Crab Cakes, their Crab Dip, and their She Crab Soup, though traces of She Crab in the soup were so few and far between it might easily have come from a canned or a frozen base. We had a passable salad there once. On a recent visit (for lunch on October 3, 2011) We did not enjoy their Crab Cake Sandwich or their French Fries -- the fries arrived tepid and a bit soggy, and the "crab cake" in the Crab Cake Sandwich was not up to the usual level of a Crab Cake at Waterman's. It appeared to be rather a small half round lump of crab meat and maybe even some "filling" that had been breaded and deep fried. So fuggedaboudt the Crab Cake Sandwich at Watermans -- would be my opinion.
What I would recommend at Waterman's Grill is a single Crab Cake (forget the fries -- ask for a vegetable or a small salad instead) -- coupled with a bowl of She Crab Soup. The Crab Cake can then be tumbled into the She Crab Soup and eaten very happily using the soup as a sauce. This ran over fifteen dollars, but at least I was happy with the meal.
My first questions would be: no bread? no crackers? is there nothing that the chef wants to show off in the amuse-gueule category? Not even on a slow night? Maybe they don't have a chef?
I don't remember seeing any exotic or at least interesting hot sauce on the table -- no Cholula, for example -- and it's worth noting that we haven't tried anything on the steak and ribs side of the menu. Maybe that's where Waterman's strength really lies? -- on the beef grill pork smoke side of the menu? They do a bang up business, however, the restrooms are reasonably clean, and the view of the beach was amusing.
Waterman's Fish Tacos, however, were terrible. Alas!
We ordered a Crab Dip and Fish Tacos with blackened tuna. The tacos themselves were wheat tacos, and they had not been warmed up on a grill. They were filled with unremarkable lumps of blackened tuna, some not cooked pink enough to suit Little Red. One chunk was way underdone. The slaw shreds inside the taco were unadorned and a bit stale. The weird black container of ranch dressing -- not very good ranch dressing at that! -- added nothing we could like, and the weird black container full of lackluster fresh salsa would inspire anyone to opine that you should: GET YOUR FISH TACOS SOMEWHERE ELSE.
I say: Send the Waterman's chef to Baja. Or San Diego. Or even to Taco Loco in Laguna Beach. Some research might be helpful. Or you might, alternatively, bump up the price to a point where you could put a much better than average fish taco on the menu-- with a few sides and decent salsas, maybe even some guacamole. After all, many of us fondly remember the fish tacos we have eaten on the West Coast. Wahoo's Fish Taco, for example -- you might go back to Wahoo's fairly often. But my opinion is you'll never order Fish Tacos a second time at Waterman's Surfside Grille.
My opinion is that a restaurant as busy as Waterman's can't really afford to serve any menu item that isn't at least in the pretty darn good category. Probably Waterman's will never manage to put a Shrimp Risotto on the menu -- that would require some real talent in the kitchen. Overall, I think Waterman's just an ordinary caliber steaks and chops and seafood restaurant with a great location, passable service and good valet parking.
Although we could not consider them to be in the "extraordinary" category, we have enjoyed Waterman's Crab Cakes, their Crab Dip, and their She Crab Soup, though traces of She Crab in the soup were so few and far between it might easily have come from a canned or a frozen base. We had a passable salad there once. On a recent visit (for lunch on October 3, 2011) We did not enjoy their Crab Cake Sandwich or their French Fries -- the fries arrived tepid and a bit soggy, and the "crab cake" in the Crab Cake Sandwich was not up to the usual level of a Crab Cake at Waterman's. It appeared to be rather a small half round lump of crab meat and maybe even some "filling" that had been breaded and deep fried. So fuggedaboudt the Crab Cake Sandwich at Watermans -- would be my opinion.
What I would recommend at Waterman's Grill is a single Crab Cake (forget the fries -- ask for a vegetable or a small salad instead) -- coupled with a bowl of She Crab Soup. The Crab Cake can then be tumbled into the She Crab Soup and eaten very happily using the soup as a sauce. This ran over fifteen dollars, but at least I was happy with the meal.
My first questions would be: no bread? no crackers? is there nothing that the chef wants to show off in the amuse-gueule category? Not even on a slow night? Maybe they don't have a chef?
I don't remember seeing any exotic or at least interesting hot sauce on the table -- no Cholula, for example -- and it's worth noting that we haven't tried anything on the steak and ribs side of the menu. Maybe that's where Waterman's strength really lies? -- on the beef grill pork smoke side of the menu? They do a bang up business, however, the restrooms are reasonably clean, and the view of the beach was amusing.
Waterman's Fish Tacos, however, were terrible. Alas!
We ordered a Crab Dip and Fish Tacos with blackened tuna. The tacos themselves were wheat tacos, and they had not been warmed up on a grill. They were filled with unremarkable lumps of blackened tuna, some not cooked pink enough to suit Little Red. One chunk was way underdone. The slaw shreds inside the taco were unadorned and a bit stale. The weird black container of ranch dressing -- not very good ranch dressing at that! -- added nothing we could like, and the weird black container full of lackluster fresh salsa would inspire anyone to opine that you should: GET YOUR FISH TACOS SOMEWHERE ELSE.
I say: Send the Waterman's chef to Baja. Or San Diego. Or even to Taco Loco in Laguna Beach. Some research might be helpful. Or you might, alternatively, bump up the price to a point where you could put a much better than average fish taco on the menu-- with a few sides and decent salsas, maybe even some guacamole. After all, many of us fondly remember the fish tacos we have eaten on the West Coast. Wahoo's Fish Taco, for example -- you might go back to Wahoo's fairly often. But my opinion is you'll never order Fish Tacos a second time at Waterman's Surfside Grille.
My opinion is that a restaurant as busy as Waterman's can't really afford to serve any menu item that isn't at least in the pretty darn good category. Probably Waterman's will never manage to put a Shrimp Risotto on the menu -- that would require some real talent in the kitchen. Overall, I think Waterman's just an ordinary caliber steaks and chops and seafood restaurant with a great location, passable service and good valet parking.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Virginia Restaurants -- and a few General Thoughts on Why Restaurants Aren't Better
Ah, The Smoky Pig! in Ashland ... how fondly I remember it. And the building is still there. Could I buy it?
Carl's, however, in Fredericksburg, seems to have declined -- though on a recent visit there were more than a hundred people waiting in line or congregating on the cement slab in front of the joint -- perhaps Carl's has declined because it is now required to use "ice cream mix" -- rather than Carl's original legendary handmade formula that included grain alcohol. They have to use "ice cream mix" because they don't have a pasteurizer on the premises. I would have to rate Holy Cow! -- in Redhook, NY -- as a better product, and you get rather a lot more for your money.
On the other hand, Carl's is on the National Register of Historic Places, they're still using the same antique soft-serve machines they have always used, it's a local tradition, and I will always stop there every time I pass by Fredericksburg. Holy Cow's a bit more modern ... and a bit less fun. Menu's better, though -- or at least it has more choices. And more flavors.
I will say that the vanilla might be the only thing at Carl's I'd eat again. The chocolate is just the vanilla with Hershey's syrup added -- terrible! -- and the strawberry I never did like. The ingredients listed on the hardpack at Carl's are chemically frightenin -- but that's just ice cream mix for you!
In Charlottesville, The Riverside has (a) moved up on High Street (years ago) (which location was sold by "Buster" to Carroll Shifflett, a cousin to D.S. Shifflett and Trudy Shifflett, whom I used to know when they worked at J.W. Sieg, the Budweiser distributors) .... and meanwhile (b) "Buster" moved way up Rt. 29 near Hollymead to open The Riverside North in I forget what little shopping center; just about impossible to find; both are now primarily table service locations. The High Street shop was full of children and women the night I visited, and there were several (although thank God soundless) large flat screen tvs on the wall over the bar. I could not rate either one as much worth a visit.
Other than an excellent pizza I had at the Nordstrom Cafe in Short Pump on July 19, 2012, the last pizza I had worth eating in Richmond was at a Sicilian joint on Broad Street most of the way down to MCV; at least they cooked the pies then let them cool and reheated them slice by slice with stuff added, which is the proper way to do it if you want the crust to stay crispy until your slice is finished. Christian's Pizza (no relation), in Charlottesville, is also good and uses basically the same re-cooking technique. My children both think the Vita Nuova has better pizza -- certainly it's pretty good. The fried chicken had gone down at 7-Day (known to most newcomers as Foods of All Nations) -- or they weren't particular about carrying over the wing I ate from the day before; thus, it was unpalatably stale and dry. I hear The Wayside Takeout is still good, though it is presure-fried -- not skillet-fried and thus can't be quite so good as chicken fried in shortening (lard, preferably) with bacon drippings added for additional flavor. Or at least a mixture of lard and crisco. Alas, it has been closed since forever while they "re-educate the roads Fry's Spring. Eppy's, in Charlottesville, seemed reasonably good -- if one is in the neighborhood. It showed signs of promise and reasonably high food culture. And who doesn't love dumplings? Downtown Thai seemed good enough to revisit.
Answering my friend Ed Haile's question: Restaurants all taste the same because they mostly all use processed food. High rent is often a contributing factor; when the rent is too high it's difficult to make money; in a commercial location, because the rent and the percentage rent can make the profit margins very thin indeed. Or nonexistent.
Laving out all fast food palaces, would it make sense to sort out some of the grades of overall restaurant quality as follows:
Wonderful - worth a long drive
Terrific - worth a short drive
Pretty Good - consider if in the area
Good - adequate for locals, can be very popular
Fair - Visitors should maybe skip it, but it may be popular with budget conscious locals
Poor -
Terrible
The main question is always -- did you get what you paid for? Did you pay a reasonable price?
Keeping in mind that, going down the scale maybe some 5 percent of potential customers are able to distinguish between wonderful and terrific, 10 percent can distinguish between terrific and pretty good, maybe 30 percent can distinguish between good and pretty good, so maybe half of the potential audience will be quite happy with "good" grade, and many people will find something to like on the menu even at a restaurant I would rate only fair, poor or terrible:
So pursuit of the higher realms of culinary achievement in a commercial restaurant is likely to be a cost-INeffective hobby, with success much constrained by the rent.
Charlie Brown's is a pretty good steak house -- maybe a terrific steak house. For a chain, I mean. Certainly the lamb chops are terrific, the Caesar salad is pasasble, and the salad bar seems popular and above average for fresh.
Since most people can't tell the difference between terrific food and only fair food, the decor is an important factor in the impression most minds will take away.
The last Chinese restaurant I actually enjoyed fairly often was Full Kee on Horespen Road in Richmond. At least you could get a decent bowl of congee and pretty good dim sum, including braised chicken feet, on Saturday and Sunday. And the duck and the roast pork were both good. It's not quite worth a drive down from Tappahannock, and please note that I haven't been there since 1996. But it was a little more like the real Chinese food you might find in a big city Chinatown than the usual gamut from General T'so's Chicken to Chow Mein and Moo Shu Pork.
The Georgetown Vietnam would probably still be worth a long drive (if it is still there), but alas that means driving into DC, which is now Hellish for at least an hour when approached from any direction near's I could make out. It may have gone down, but I doubt it. And the place in Chinatown with two front doors (was one of them red?) and a double stoop was always better than just pretty good -- made me want to learn Chinese just so I could read the menu.. In Charlottesville, the Vietnamese place in McIntyre Plaza -- at the old Christian's location -- would not rate a return visit from me, though four of the five people I at with thought some of it was "pretty good."
Many people are like my friend David M., who had sinus problems that eliminated most of his sense of smell (and thus, most nuances of taste); others are more like my friend David Breeden, who didn't care much where he ate as long as (a) his wife Elizabeth was happy (she couldn't cook any better than Sis Coles -- and neither one of them could make a pan of ... rice, for example), (b) he could get a few drinks and (c) his wallet wasn't noticeably lighter going out the door.
Remember that it is possible to get a fair reputation as a pretty good home cook by being able to repeat the same six or seven dishes endlessly at dinner parties and serving a drinkable wine with dinner.
A big problem for restaurants is that most of the meat is pre-processed and portion controlled these days. The bigger problem, however iis that the beef is no longer hung long enough to develop any flavor or any tenderness -- unless it is dry-aged prime, which costs the earth. They used to hang ribs and loins and even sometimes chucks and rounds (from the legs) at Foods of All Nations, but now they can no longer get meat to hang. Tri-Tip is scarcely available on the East Coast, even up here in Yankee-land.
Even worse is the problem of tasteless vegetables; they've all been grown on land heavily anointed with pesticide and herbicide, so unless they are Certified Organic you are eating poison with your tasteless lettuce and your apples have been sprayed 28 times before harvest.
The best onion rings I ever ate were at the Ironmen Inn in Iowa City. My first job when I came in every night as a line cook was to make three huge bus pans full of partially cooked rings -- no pieces! -- fried to light golden brown. Someone else had made the batter earlier that day. Then they were finished to the right degree of done by the order. My second job was making at least a half gallon of Bearnaise sauce -- from scratch, with real butter. It went on the Steak Albert. Then I'd cut steaks and filet mignon awhile and run the trimmings through a grinder that actually chopped meat without making it taste like hamburger -- kind of a big robot-coupe. I might eat one of those or maybe a few of the larger trimming pieces grilled, with toast and Bearnaise sauce, and I might fry a few onion rings for myself just to be sure they were tasty enough to serve tonight ... no leftovers allowed! -- and after that I'd eat an apple to calm things down. Some people can resist Bearnaise sauce, but I never could. And then I'd start making cooked sauces: a seafood flavored veloute, a good brown sauce made from beef stock .... chicken gravy ... and after a while the rush would begin.
Carl's, however, in Fredericksburg, seems to have declined -- though on a recent visit there were more than a hundred people waiting in line or congregating on the cement slab in front of the joint -- perhaps Carl's has declined because it is now required to use "ice cream mix" -- rather than Carl's original legendary handmade formula that included grain alcohol. They have to use "ice cream mix" because they don't have a pasteurizer on the premises. I would have to rate Holy Cow! -- in Redhook, NY -- as a better product, and you get rather a lot more for your money.
On the other hand, Carl's is on the National Register of Historic Places, they're still using the same antique soft-serve machines they have always used, it's a local tradition, and I will always stop there every time I pass by Fredericksburg. Holy Cow's a bit more modern ... and a bit less fun. Menu's better, though -- or at least it has more choices. And more flavors.
I will say that the vanilla might be the only thing at Carl's I'd eat again. The chocolate is just the vanilla with Hershey's syrup added -- terrible! -- and the strawberry I never did like. The ingredients listed on the hardpack at Carl's are chemically frightenin -- but that's just ice cream mix for you!
In Charlottesville, The Riverside has (a) moved up on High Street (years ago) (which location was sold by "Buster" to Carroll Shifflett, a cousin to D.S. Shifflett and Trudy Shifflett, whom I used to know when they worked at J.W. Sieg, the Budweiser distributors) .... and meanwhile (b) "Buster" moved way up Rt. 29 near Hollymead to open The Riverside North in I forget what little shopping center; just about impossible to find; both are now primarily table service locations. The High Street shop was full of children and women the night I visited, and there were several (although thank God soundless) large flat screen tvs on the wall over the bar. I could not rate either one as much worth a visit.
Other than an excellent pizza I had at the Nordstrom Cafe in Short Pump on July 19, 2012, the last pizza I had worth eating in Richmond was at a Sicilian joint on Broad Street most of the way down to MCV; at least they cooked the pies then let them cool and reheated them slice by slice with stuff added, which is the proper way to do it if you want the crust to stay crispy until your slice is finished. Christian's Pizza (no relation), in Charlottesville, is also good and uses basically the same re-cooking technique. My children both think the Vita Nuova has better pizza -- certainly it's pretty good. The fried chicken had gone down at 7-Day (known to most newcomers as Foods of All Nations) -- or they weren't particular about carrying over the wing I ate from the day before; thus, it was unpalatably stale and dry. I hear The Wayside Takeout is still good, though it is presure-fried -- not skillet-fried and thus can't be quite so good as chicken fried in shortening (lard, preferably) with bacon drippings added for additional flavor. Or at least a mixture of lard and crisco. Alas, it has been closed since forever while they "re-educate the roads Fry's Spring. Eppy's, in Charlottesville, seemed reasonably good -- if one is in the neighborhood. It showed signs of promise and reasonably high food culture. And who doesn't love dumplings? Downtown Thai seemed good enough to revisit.
Answering my friend Ed Haile's question: Restaurants all taste the same because they mostly all use processed food. High rent is often a contributing factor; when the rent is too high it's difficult to make money; in a commercial location, because the rent and the percentage rent can make the profit margins very thin indeed. Or nonexistent.
Laving out all fast food palaces, would it make sense to sort out some of the grades of overall restaurant quality as follows:
Wonderful - worth a long drive
Terrific - worth a short drive
Pretty Good - consider if in the area
Good - adequate for locals, can be very popular
Fair - Visitors should maybe skip it, but it may be popular with budget conscious locals
Poor -
Terrible
The main question is always -- did you get what you paid for? Did you pay a reasonable price?
Keeping in mind that, going down the scale maybe some 5 percent of potential customers are able to distinguish between wonderful and terrific, 10 percent can distinguish between terrific and pretty good, maybe 30 percent can distinguish between good and pretty good, so maybe half of the potential audience will be quite happy with "good" grade, and many people will find something to like on the menu even at a restaurant I would rate only fair, poor or terrible:
So pursuit of the higher realms of culinary achievement in a commercial restaurant is likely to be a cost-INeffective hobby, with success much constrained by the rent.
Charlie Brown's is a pretty good steak house -- maybe a terrific steak house. For a chain, I mean. Certainly the lamb chops are terrific, the Caesar salad is pasasble, and the salad bar seems popular and above average for fresh.
Since most people can't tell the difference between terrific food and only fair food, the decor is an important factor in the impression most minds will take away.
The last Chinese restaurant I actually enjoyed fairly often was Full Kee on Horespen Road in Richmond. At least you could get a decent bowl of congee and pretty good dim sum, including braised chicken feet, on Saturday and Sunday. And the duck and the roast pork were both good. It's not quite worth a drive down from Tappahannock, and please note that I haven't been there since 1996. But it was a little more like the real Chinese food you might find in a big city Chinatown than the usual gamut from General T'so's Chicken to Chow Mein and Moo Shu Pork.
The Georgetown Vietnam would probably still be worth a long drive (if it is still there), but alas that means driving into DC, which is now Hellish for at least an hour when approached from any direction near's I could make out. It may have gone down, but I doubt it. And the place in Chinatown with two front doors (was one of them red?) and a double stoop was always better than just pretty good -- made me want to learn Chinese just so I could read the menu.. In Charlottesville, the Vietnamese place in McIntyre Plaza -- at the old Christian's location -- would not rate a return visit from me, though four of the five people I at with thought some of it was "pretty good."
Many people are like my friend David M., who had sinus problems that eliminated most of his sense of smell (and thus, most nuances of taste); others are more like my friend David Breeden, who didn't care much where he ate as long as (a) his wife Elizabeth was happy (she couldn't cook any better than Sis Coles -- and neither one of them could make a pan of ... rice, for example), (b) he could get a few drinks and (c) his wallet wasn't noticeably lighter going out the door.
Remember that it is possible to get a fair reputation as a pretty good home cook by being able to repeat the same six or seven dishes endlessly at dinner parties and serving a drinkable wine with dinner.
A big problem for restaurants is that most of the meat is pre-processed and portion controlled these days. The bigger problem, however iis that the beef is no longer hung long enough to develop any flavor or any tenderness -- unless it is dry-aged prime, which costs the earth. They used to hang ribs and loins and even sometimes chucks and rounds (from the legs) at Foods of All Nations, but now they can no longer get meat to hang. Tri-Tip is scarcely available on the East Coast, even up here in Yankee-land.
Even worse is the problem of tasteless vegetables; they've all been grown on land heavily anointed with pesticide and herbicide, so unless they are Certified Organic you are eating poison with your tasteless lettuce and your apples have been sprayed 28 times before harvest.
The best onion rings I ever ate were at the Ironmen Inn in Iowa City. My first job when I came in every night as a line cook was to make three huge bus pans full of partially cooked rings -- no pieces! -- fried to light golden brown. Someone else had made the batter earlier that day. Then they were finished to the right degree of done by the order. My second job was making at least a half gallon of Bearnaise sauce -- from scratch, with real butter. It went on the Steak Albert. Then I'd cut steaks and filet mignon awhile and run the trimmings through a grinder that actually chopped meat without making it taste like hamburger -- kind of a big robot-coupe. I might eat one of those or maybe a few of the larger trimming pieces grilled, with toast and Bearnaise sauce, and I might fry a few onion rings for myself just to be sure they were tasty enough to serve tonight ... no leftovers allowed! -- and after that I'd eat an apple to calm things down. Some people can resist Bearnaise sauce, but I never could. And then I'd start making cooked sauces: a seafood flavored veloute, a good brown sauce made from beef stock .... chicken gravy ... and after a while the rush would begin.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Them Little Blue Berries
Them little blue berries!
Huckleberries? Blueberries?
Wild berries, in any case. And purely delicious.
Even if it is a bit of work to pick a handful.
A certain Meadow at the top of the mountain just now is full of them.
Leave some for the bears!
Watch out for snakes!
And give a cheer for Holley Cantine! as you pass by his field!
Does anyone else ever wonder why the Tibetans can't find it in their hearts to run some goats or some sheep in the Meadow -- and keep the brush whacked down a bit.
The McDaniels used to run cows there, after all.
Before long the Meadow will revert to forest.
It's well on the way.
Huckleberries? Blueberries?
Wild berries, in any case. And purely delicious.
Even if it is a bit of work to pick a handful.
A certain Meadow at the top of the mountain just now is full of them.
Leave some for the bears!
Watch out for snakes!
And give a cheer for Holley Cantine! as you pass by his field!
Does anyone else ever wonder why the Tibetans can't find it in their hearts to run some goats or some sheep in the Meadow -- and keep the brush whacked down a bit.
The McDaniels used to run cows there, after all.
Before long the Meadow will revert to forest.
It's well on the way.
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