The Foodie Thread

Oh, ok. Take pictures.

 

That lollipopped chicken looks amazing. Saw Batali make something similar on an old Iron Chef the other day. Love the idea of a "gourmet" wing. The smoked oyster looks awesome, too. Should be a fun night.

 

I'll drag down this thread a bit by talking condiments.

Actually, salad dressing.

When I was a kid, my mom made all the family salads with Green Goddess. Loved the stuff. Years ago, though, I stopped seeing it in the store. Figured it had been discontinued. Wept a little.

Anyway, fast-forward a couple decades and I'm out recently with the wife and my mom at a really nice waterfront restaurant. Turns out, they offer a special salad ith Green Goddess. Our waiter then proceeds to tell us the history of it. Not that fascinating, but who fucking cares. I found my baby again.

Well, my mom, being a mom, goes back home and tracks down the stuff. They still make it. I'm pleased. Even better, my mom sends us two bottles of the stuff with our latest baby-related package. I still love the stuff, but I'm not even the biggest fan in the house.

It's the anti-ketchup; it makes EVERYTHING taste better. It brings people together.

Anyway, back to pretentious meatballs and shit.

 

There's an Italian slur to be had in that last line, but I can't come up with it.

 

I generally dislike the "foodies" label. Bunch of overly pretentious people taking pics of their plates and posting them on Twitter. But YF, I know what you mean.

And places like Ruth Chris's or Mortons don't attract foodies. They attract the corporate crowd who have more money than brains. Price has no relation to quality.

Here's a link to an astonishingly good "nose to tail" resto here in Toronto. They make their own charcuterie. That includes smoking their own bacon and making their own sausages--pork and lamb.

http://thebeastrestaurant.com/

Prices are reasonable and can best be described as casual elegant.

 

You're looking for foodies among sports journalists? Might as well try to get folks in Bel Air to write a how-to on dumpster diving.


(One time, the good chef with the Carolina Hurricanes tried serving salmon cakes as a pregame meal. As the then-AP sports editor for North Carolina succinctly put it, "we're sportswriters. Simple sh_t." Whalercanes staff got the message and things improved in a hurry.)

 

This guy was a chef at a top restaurant:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Butcher-Larder/150638594982815#!/pages/The-Butcher-Larder/150638594982815?sk=info

He would butcher his own animals.

He's now opened his own butcher shop. He makes charcuterie, sausage, and Pâtés/terrines.

He does one hot sandwich & one cold sandwich every day.

He's supplying a bunch of restaurants & doing well.

He also does demos/classes.

This was the least graphic photo of one I could find:

 

Oh, and in addition to YGBFKM making fun of me, I was counting on your participation when I started the thread.

 

Sam, I actually know a LOT of foodies in our field. Something with all the travel and all that, people look for the best, most unique meals they can.

 

"Foodie" doesn't necessarily mean expensive either.

Fresh, local, seasonal, sustainable are the big things right now.

Also, lots of Chefs doing their own thing casual places with food as the focus, not 5 star elegance and stuffy service.

I know I've mentioned it before, but we have craft brewers, distillers, coffee roasters, etc. springing up.

One of the cool things Goose Island does is a weekly "Chef Collaboration" beer. A local chef will spend a day with the brewer coming up with their own brew, usually using fresh, seasonal ingredients.

 

Food trucks are the other new, big thing here.

I know LA & New York have 'em. Any other cities on the Food Truck kick?

I hit the Tamale truck for luch today for the first time. He was out of everything but chicken, but it was really good.

Served by a guy in a Mexican wrestler's mask. And they have Mexi-Coke -- made with real sugar.

 

I didn't say expensive, YF.

I think we have a truck or two in Atlanta, but I don't work on that side of 75 so I don't know.


Yep: http://www.atlantastreetfood.com/