“Why don’t you open a deli like the ones in New York?”
I get asked this question all the time. And it’s a good one. I LOVE New York delis.
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The Best of the Wurst
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ITALY, SICILIAN STYLE
My partner, Pete, just got back from visiting in-laws in Sicily and I was reminded of my visits to the island and how I enjoyed being there. I write this now because if any of you are contemplating a trip to Italy, this is an ideal time to take in Sicily: The tourists are gone and the weather is perfect.
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Spiking Isn’t Just for Drinks
I have a lot of respect for chain restaurants. I also have a lot of envy, too – because they have such a big advantage over us independents, particularly in advertising.
You can’t get through the day without being bombarded on TV with countless commercials. And some are pretty good. “Crabfest” at Red Lobster, Olive Garden’s “When you’re here, you’re family,” even the “Grand Slam” ads from Denny’s.
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The Piece of Cod that Passes All Understanding
It’s said that fish and chips originated in northern England during the mid-1800s, when Spanish Jews first brought fried fish to the British Isles and, coincidentally, deep-fried potato became an established food item.
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PARMIGIANO REGGIANO… CUT THE CHEESE
Back in the early 1980s when Pete and I were preparing to open Pronto Ristorante, we figured it would be a good idea to learn more about Italian cuisine. So we signed up for an “Italian immersion cooking school” taught by the legendary Marcella Hazan in Bologna, Italy.
Every day, we would start out bright and early by going to the central market, where under Marcella’s guidance we would select the best seasonal produce, cheese and meats for the daily meal, and finally head off to the pasta maker.
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ME & BARTON G
I know, I know – I just posted about how I’m not a fan of fancy restaurants – too hoity-toity, pretentious and expensive.
But there’s one restaurant – an expensive one – that I can’t get enough of.
And the food isn’t even that great.
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DURANT’S: A PHOENIX CLASSIC
As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, I’m not a huge fan of fancy Michelin 3 star-type restaurants. I admire them, but I not only chafe at the cost, I find most of them a little too precious and full of themselves. Plus, dinner takes too long and my butt gets sore.
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I’M A BRESSE MAN
The food world is full of connoisseurs – steak fans, oyster mavens, cheese authorities, whisky and wine snobs, even soup Nazis. But have you ever once met a chicken aficionado?
For a long time, I felt there really wasn’t a whole lot of difference between one roasted chicken and another. They all seemed pretty good to me – kind of like pizza (“The worst pizza I’ve ever had was pretty darn good.”).
Occasionally I tried roasting a better bird – organic, pasture-raised, “walking about” birds, etc. They were twice the price and marginally better than the garden variety supermarket industrial chicken.
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CHINA BLUES
I’ve always loved Chinese restaurants – from our neighborhood take-out operations to the high-end, red-lacquered palaces in New York and San Francisco. I remember my first trips to Hong Kong and Shanghai, and how thrilling they were.
But more often than not, Chinese food is a disappointment. Maybe because so many Chinese restaurants dumb it down for the non-Chinese. It may also owe to the public’s belief that no matter how good the ingredients are, and how much skill goes into their preparation, prices should match those of the little takeout place down the street. Faced with a clientele that simply won’t pay for quality, the restaurants serve up an inferior product by necessity.
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MY REAL PASSION? DATABASE MANAGEMENT
Long, long ago – before I got into the restaurant business — I was a commercial interior designer who traveled frequently to New York. Even then, dining out was a passion.
I can recall the beauty of Andree Soltner’s dishes at Lutece. I remember the thrill of eating at La Cote Basque, La Caravelle and Gino Robusti and Bruno Caravaggi’s spectacular Quo Vadis. In the mid-‘80s, when Jonathan Waxman opened Jams in New York, his stunning and thoughtful combinations of sweet and savory, soft and crunchy, blew me away.
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