FED's Profile
Keller and Aduriz's Controversial Comments
i'm not saying the issue is silly or forgotten, i'm saying the way people discussed it was silly and superficial. Seems to me the whole thing kind of went away after the paper demonstrating that sheep imported into britain from new zealand actually had a lower carbon footprint than homegrown (efficiency of feed). And i'm saying that unless one is really willing to take the time to understand the subjects, one is prone to put one's foot in one's mouth when making public statements about things that are only half-understood. Most chefs I know are far too busy running restaurants to do the homework necessary -- even if they had the background to understand them.
Keller and Aduriz's Controversial Comments
I'm talking about the underlying issues. it's very easy to say "yay small farmers!", "yay clean food!, "yay sustainability!". It's when you drill down into the actual details of what those things mean and what it would take to get there that the going gets really tricky. I would offer as evidence the now-largely forgotten silliness about food miles and carbon footprint. And, to an extent, organics. Complicated issues don't make good bumper stickers.
Keller and Aduriz's Controversial Comments
I understand what you're saying. but I also think that the issues that so often seem simple and black-and-white are really much more complex the more you study them. and if you don't have the time or the inclination to really do the homework, you're dong more of a public service by being quiet rather than fogging the argument with more possible misinformation. i understand this may be a foreign concept on the internet ;)
Celebration of Craig Claiborne.-NYT
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-thomas-mcnamee-20120520,0,4240373.story
Keller and Aduriz's Controversial Comments
that's not my read. I think what Keller is saying is that it's the responsibility of a restaurateur to provide the best food possible, not to lecture his customers about how righteous they are. Others (hello ms. waters) may disagree.
Great BBQ in Long Beach???
i'm not crazy about johnny rebs' bbq. it's good but not great. but their fried chicken and catfish are as good as any i've ever had. and their sides are great, too. and, yes, their breakfast. a couple times a winter i have to go by and have biscuits and sausage gravy. mmmmmm.
Where to buy Farro?
i've found it at bristol, but cheapest is at whole foods (how often does that happen?), in the bulk foods area.
Thomas Keller Does American Express Commercial
FTFY: "When he decided to become a god he signed a social contract to never facilitate corporate hegemony."
also totally kidding.
Long Beach Eats
i think enriques probably (certainly) has better food, but i do love the atmosphere at lola's. probably the friendliest restaurant in long beach. and that green salsa is amazing. i've had good food at congregation ale house and pretty good food at Beechwood BBQ. kings fish house is on a slide and has been for a while ... too bad. 555 is still pretty good for steaks. bake 'n' broil for lunch or a casual family dinner (it's a coffee shop). also baba ghanouj on atlantic in bixby knolls is really good.
Jongewaard's Bake N Broil
i dont' know. i eat there pretty regularly and the burger always seems pretty great to me. less than $10 and you get a great non-fastfood burger, some fries (or onion rings) and a slice of homemade pie. can't beat it.
Jongewaard's Bake N Broil
both are terrific, as are the carrot cake and the german chocolate cake. personally, i prefer the red velvet in cupcake form, as it achieves the perfect ratio of frosting to cake. and let's not get started on the pies.
Chefs' cookbook ghost writers
"I like the definition of a ghostwriter as an uncredited co-writer, but am surprised by what follows, that sometimes ghostwriters sometimes are credited! No wonder we're all confused. If the job description varies and the level of credit varies, what the heck is a ghostwriter? "
definitions tend to be soft these days for lots of things. and frustrating if you're looking for specificity. What is a "chef"? for that matter, what is a "Dairy Queen"? (mmmm soft-serve).
Chefs' cookbook ghost writers
believe me, i'm not saying that it was a perfect piece, by any means. and without going back and rereading it (which i am loathe to do despite the fact that i'm writing critically about it), it probably would have benefited from a graf that said "there is no typical job description for ghost writer, it can vary from someone polishing recipes and prose to someone turning a couple of pages of notes into a full book".
as far as credit is concerned, it may seem obvious that a ghostwriter is only an uncredited co-writer, but i know many people who are ghostwriters and in some cases they may be uncredited, in others they may get full credit, in still others they may be credited in the acknowledgements. just as there is no set definition of ghost writer, there is no set definition of what constitutes adequate credit (outside of the contract that the writer -- voluntarily -- signs).
Chefs' cookbook ghost writers
actually, by my reading anyway, moskin didn't say that as a general statement but said that in extreme examples. now, it may have been interpreted that way by others who still seem to have the notion that a chef writes every word in their books and cooks every dish in their restaurant. what ms. paltrow describes is exactly what most professionals would consider a ghostwriter. that doesn't imply that the dishes aren't hers, but the technical work of making the dishes replicable to the public is not hers (except to the extent that she hired the person who did it). "ghost writer" is not a legal term and I know people who have worked the entire gamut, from credited co-writer to uncredited puller-together-of-rough-notes. i think the one thing that they would all agree on is that it was not their book, it was somebody else's and they were helping realize that person's vision out of respect and for money in varying ratios.
Chefs' cookbook ghost writers
i think sometimes readers take a too-romantic view of the publishing process. or maybe the people inside it don't take it romantically enough. basically, it's a mechanical job. it's work. and in the case of ghostwriting, it's work for hire. you agree up front that you'll help write this person's book by a certain time and for a certain fee. once the book is turned in, your involvement is ended. it would be nice if every ghost (and recipe tester for that matter) were acknowledged in some way in the text, but it would be nice if the rest of the world was nice, too. and for anyone who might think this is a new thing, i dig this up on the google machine: http://articles.latimes.com/1992-09-24/food/fo-1039_1_ghost-writer
Chefs' cookbook ghost writers
it's a silly controversy as far as i'm concerned. cooking and running a restaurant is one area of expertise; writing and turning dish ideas into fully developed recipes is another. There are very few people who have both of them (Judy Rodgers comes to mind). personally, i'd rather buy a book knowing that the recipes worked, even if they had been "honed" by someone other than the chef himself. i don't really see what the controversy is about.
Meyer lemons still in season?
they're starting to get soft, but they're still around.
Jonathan Gold to L.A. Times - again!
i think there were probably regional differences as to when supermarket ads/food sections ran ... but almost all of them were either wednesday or thursday. IIRC, there was a slight preponderance of Thursday at one time, but i could be wrong. now, of course, the question isn't which they they run, but whether they survive at all.
LA's Oldest Still-Thriving Restaurants
impressive list! should we make a separate sort of non-chain restaurants that have been in the same location the whole time? for example, i believe philipe moved once back in the teens or 20s. i'm pretty sure canter's did. is knott's still open? the original one?
Jonathan Gold to L.A. Times - again!
as i understand it from reading other reports, the move from wednesday to thursday was to accommodate a change in printing presses. also, i seem to recall that until it moved to wednesdays 10 years or so ago, it had always been on thursdays back into the 1960s.
First Artichokes Grown in U.S.?
i think the guesses of Italian immigrants are right. as i understand it, in california they started as a backyard plant in san francisco, then moved to castroville sometime in the teens or 20s. here's a piece i found on them.
http://articles.latimes.com/1995-03-09/food/fo-40390_1_california-artichoke
Lyle Lovett, Texas, and Bayless.
i know i'm getting to this late, but still have to correct this. bayless lived for many years in los angeles and has visited often, well before he ever thought of consulting for a restaurant here. and i think his point was more along the lines of having one restaurant that demonstrated the diversity of mexico's regional cuisines on a fairly high level, rather than a simple "better than you." but one thing i've learned over the years: americans are incredibly provincial about mexican food. having lived in texas, new mexico, arizona and southern california, each claims to have the true mexican food and none knows much at all about other place's foods. i remember having friends from texas vacation in mexico and come back saying "the food was good, but it wasn't mexican."
2 dinners in Long Beach
i've heard good things about the new beachwood barbecue, but haven't been there. there's a pakistani place on second or third where the record store used to be that's ok. if you haven't been to berlin in the east village you might like it (same building as FINGERPRINTS!). breakfast and lunch there's omelet inn. i used to recommend king's fish house, but last couple meals have just been ok. and if you like steak, there's 555.
Anyone foraging or interested in foraging in the LA area? + Wild Fennel in So Cal
i thought i remembered an older one and here it is:
http://articles.latimes.com/2002/oct/30/food/fo-calcook30
What book about food or cooking would you love to find but haven't?
carol field already did it: In Nonna's Kitchen
Asian Market that steams dungeness crab??
crab seems to be expensive this year. 99 ranch christmas eve and they were 7.99 -- highest i can ever remember. probably cheaper now. they'll steam them for you, too.
Anyone foraging or interested in foraging in the LA area? + Wild Fennel in So Cal
the wild sages are not the same as culinary sage and their flavors are very intense. use cautiously. wild fennel is indeed all over the place. use the fronds and the seeds. the bulbs tend to be skinny and tough.
Long Beach convention center
there's also a new beechwood barbecue that's opened up in that area, though i haven't eaten there yet. michael's is quite a schlep from the convention center, btw. closer (though not as fancy) would be some of the places on retro row on Fourth Street. I'm very partial to Lola's. and Number 9 Noodle is good, too. more in the funky casual vein.
Enrique's - Long Beach (Late Lunch Yesterday)
their sabana steak is good ... thin grilled steak under a big salad with lots of radishes, etc.
Italian Pine Nuts in L.A.?
yup, me too. i use the tj pine nuts all the time and have never had a problem.
