Goodies First

Dec 28

The World Beyond New York

Thanks to the we-live-in-The-Shire NY1 segment, “The World Beyond New York,” I’m reminded that life happens outside of New York City. And sometimes this life involves eating and people writing about it. Said eating and writing is just done a little differently. For one, chain restaurants are treated just like any other restaurant.

I’m not sure if that is because there are fewer restaurants to write about (even as a chain-booster, the volume of openings here, notable and otherwise, demand more of my attention) or if they’re just well-liked. Time to dial down the snark and let the earnestness envelop you. That's what I plan to do in 2011.

“Well, kiddies, prepare to have your mind blown at The Old Spaghetti Factory, a chain restaurant with one of the most interesting butter-and-cheese pastas out there.” [Toronto Star]

A reader wants to know how to make Olive Garden’s Stuffed Mushrooms, Chicken Marsala and Zabaglione, and the paper delivers in spades. [Augusta Chronicle]

Open Table has determined the top 50 US restaurants of 2010 based on customer reviews. Of course you’ll find Daniel and The French Laundry…and The Melting Pot in Myrtle Beach. [Open Table]

Just because I write for Metromix New York doesn’t mean I have insight into their Des Moines coverage. Bonefish Grill (one of my favorite chains) made their 33 “can’t miss” restaurants of 2010. [Metromix Des Moines]

“I've always loved the Southwestern Eggrolls from Chili's so I hunted down copycat recipes and began experimenting.” The result is Chicken Tex-Mex Wontons. [Charleston Gazette]

“New places I can't wait to try: Capital Grille at the Garden State Plaza, part of a national chain I enjoyed in Philadelphia…and DelMonico, the Cedar Grove steakhouse from Village Gourmet owner Bob Wong and some guy named James Gandolfini.” My internal response: Garden State Plaza is a fine mall and already houses Napa Valley Grill, no E. But Capital Grille? I work down the street from one and it has never enticed, maybe because the financial district is already steaky. Commenter response: “OMG Your making me hungry. lol.” Oops, said I wasn’t going to snark. [NorthJersey.com]

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Dec 28

Chain Links: Muy Nuclear

Pizza Hut and Burger King will soon be opening in Cambodia, and it has street vendors worried. Already present KFC, the first international chain to enter the country, could be the reason that one vendor used to sell 80-90 chickens per day and now sells half that. [Phenom Penh Post via QSRweb]

I’m not familiar with the mouthful of a business, Nestle Toll House Café by Chip, but Saudi Arabia soon will be. [QSRweb]

Wing Zone opened their first international location in Panama and will be expanding to the Bahamas, Mexico and Japan. Sadly, nuclear, on the sauce list, is simply translated as muy picante. [QSR]

There are still countries in the world untouched by McDonald’s. Zimbabwe is one of them. They’re certainly not without fast food, though—I spy hot dogs, pizza and fried chicken. [The Zimbabwean]

Siam Reap KFC photo from saopaulo1/waymarking.com

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Dec 27

Some Things Never Change

We seem to have resolved the McDonald’s burgers don’t rot mystery. Now I’m wondering if American cheese slices ever go bad. These red, green and blue Kraft “Diverticolors” still look as bright and plastic-y as they did when I bought them in Oaxaca over Thanksgiving last year.

Granted, I’ve kept them refrigerated for the past 13 months (the beauty of owning two fridges is that neglected food– jars of halo halo toppings, shrimp-pastey sambals, half-decade-old Smucker’s butterscotch sauce –can be kept apart from good food) but that’s a good amount of time past their April 2010 expiration date. I suspect they won’t ever mold. As to a change in flavor? I’m just not adventurous enough to find out.

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Dec 27

Blizzard+Cabin Fever=Hawaiian Dreaming

Just last night, which happened to be Christmas, Hawaii randomly came up and not just because we had just been at Painkiller (the only group in the entire place!). One friend has expressed interest in moving there, but hasn’t visited said she didn’t like Polynesian food (because I’m a nit-picky doubter, I would be surprised if she has ever been presented with poke, poi or lau lau. And to be fair, my only experience with the cuisine were a few childhood meals–one, where I grossed out other kids by eating octopus tentacles and goopy, mauve, pounded taro from the buffet table, which was I thought was the point of putting food out to eat–with various Hawaiian friends of the family).

I’d like to go one day, if only because it feels like such an ‘80s American fantasy honeymoon destination. My issue has always been that if I’m going to travel that far (oh, I just realized it’s only ten hours, no longer a flight than going to Buenos Aires) and spend that kind of money, I’d rather just go to SE Asia.

But now that I know about Makitti, a Hello Kitty-themed Japanese seafood buffet in Honolulu, my tune has changed a bit.

Also, if this blizzard clears up, I plan on checking out L&L tomorrow since it’s near my office. Do you think Hawaii would be too much of a stretch to use for Fast Food International?

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Dec 21

But Will There Be Beggar’s Purses?

Finally. As much as I disparage false nostalgia in music and fashion, I have been waiting for the ‘80s to show up in cuisine, even if only for a night (and far more highbrow than my first-hand experiences). Vinegar Hill House will viewing the decade through the lens of American Psycho for New Year's Eve.

My suburban take would feature Cajun blackened redfish, Southwestern something, quiche, wine coolers, goat cheese, raspberry vinaigrette, taco salads in giant fried tortillas—and obviously, bread bowls. Odd how sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, sushi and pesto never went away.

Photo of Quilted Giraffe's beggar's purses and truffles from Insatiable Critic

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Dec 20

Barrel of Fun

There are days when I feel like I know a lot of things, and other when everything is completely new to me. KFC Party Barrels supposedly being synonymous with Christmas in Japan falls into that latter category.

The Financial Times reports:

“Through one of the most successful advertising campaigns, which started in 1974, KFC Japan has made eating its chicken meals at Christmas a national custom. This happens on December 23, 24 and 25, but particularly Christmas eve. Sales for the three days are equal to half normal monthly sales, the company says."

And indeed, there is a whole Japanese KFC holiday microsite. The Party Barrel appears to include eight pieces of fried chicken or four pieces with six soy garlic chicken tenders, a “Caesar salad” topped with bacon and grated cheese, a chocolate-hazelnut mousse cake sprinkled with gold dust and a commemorative plate for ¥3880, which is about $46. Extravagant.

McDonald’s is trying to get a piece of that action with their iCon'BOX. And even MOS Burger, known for their namesake foodstuff, is selling Christmas fried chicken. It’s hard to compete with that chocolate cake, though.

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Dec 19

Kindred Spirits

Oh dear…I’ve lived this scenario, but it was Olive Garden and Belle and Sebastian.

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Dec 19

Green Is Good

Baking hasn’t really been my thing for years (I’m not sure if I’ve lost interest or if my kitchens have shrunk impractically) but I couldn’t really say no to the Serious Eats Cookie Swap.

All I knew is that I wanted something unnaturally green. And pandan paste to the rescue. I imagined that these semi-invented cookies that I dubbed Spicy Pandan Cashew White Chocolate would be spicy and limey from the Trader Joe’s flavored cashews and feared they’d be cloyingly pandan’d from the artificial paste, but all of these seasonings somehow disappeared during the baking process.

I tried combatting this by sprinkling after the fact with a sugar-cayenne blend and putting defrosted pandan leaves in the bag I transported the cookies in to perfume them. They weren’t perfect, but they grew on me. Most importantly, they were very green.

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Dec 18

Arepas Are Not Tortillas

Photo from Venezolana de Television

Like Angry Birds and Glee, Wikileaks is one of those unavoidable topics that I try to know as little about as possible—until now. Because, arepas?

We have the popular Caracas Arepa Bar mini-chain, but apparently in Caracas, Hugo Chavez opened a chain, Arepera Socialista, last year. A perfect target for an American diplomat to monitor.

“On a January 8 visit, EmbOffs witnessed a long line of people waiting to get into the restaurant but surprisingly rapid service. Inside, one wall was dominated by a quote in large red lettering from Simon Bolivar: ‘The best system of government is that which produces the greatest happiness.’”

And lest you think Venezuela lack food bloggers (doesn’t it feel like the US and Asia kind of dominate the genre? Or maybe that’s my own bias.) El Gourmet Urbano was on the beat soon after the cafe opened. Other than the trash bags hanging off the sides of the cans rather than being inside, the verdict was positive.

I went looking for more socialist restaurants, but communism seems to be more popular.

Instead, you can look at more food blogs from Venezuela:
Tomásnomás
Diario de una comensal caraqueña que se aburría
Fogones de Venezeula
Milsabores
El Fogon Creativo

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Dec 12

Joe Beef

Attempts at artisanalizing the McRib wind me up a little. Yet, when it comes to cross-cultural fast food interpretations using foie gras, I’m completely open. There was no way I wasn’t ordering the Foie Gras Double Down, four very important words scrawled in chalk at the bottom of the appetizer list on Joe Beef’s wall-sized blackboard menu. Our server started explaining what a Double Down was (KFC had recently stopped selling the controversial sandwich in Canada) and I appreciated her assumption that I wouldn’t be familiar with the monstrous creation.

Two slices of foie gras are breaded in a light flaky crust, deep-fried, of course, and surround meaty slabs of bacon candied in maple syrup. I did not detect any cheese, though I’m fairly certain that was mentioned in the description. As if you would need an additional layer—this is the kind of dish the food police should fret over, not the chaste 540-calorie fried chicken as buns served at KFC, and exemplifies the Joe Beef approach to food in a tidy foil-wrapped bundle. Shared, the fork-and-knife snack is still a hefty dose of creamy fat and salty-sweet chew. Maybe that pork belly McRib isn’t so bad after all.

My venison and spaetzle was no less hearty, but a touch more traditional. Seeing my first snowfall of the season and excited by finally being able to crack out my parka, I was going wintery and filling all the way.

We first experienced venison as an amuse. Not the first meat I would think of to carpaccio, but the pink flesh was very tender and contrasted well with the sharper raw shallots and dollop of mustardy mascarpone—oh, and shaved truffles.

Not pictured is the rack of pork ribs. Full of game meat, I didn’t sample them, but James had to because he’s been dabbling with a baby-sized Bradley (a Canadian brand, of course) smoker. We were shown the built-from-scratch smoker in the back yard by co-chef/owner David McMillan. Impressive for sure, as was the bowl of vanilla soft serve topped with a burgundy wine reduction and shaved black truffles. Decadent, and once again merging disparate styles.

From start-to-finish, we got the full Montreal welcome. It was more than enough to drop my old Au Pied de Cochon grudge because I’m mature that way now.

Joe Beef * 2491 Rue Notre-Dame Ouest, Montreal, Canada

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The World Beyond New York

Chain Links: Muy Nuclear

Some Things Never Change

Blizzard+Cabin Fever=Hawaiian Dreaming

But Will There Be Beggar’s Purses?

Barrel of Fun

Kindred Spirits

Green Is Good

Arepas Are Not Tortillas

Joe Beef

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