Pet Peeve

My pet peeve is nothing new; I’ve read many articles and commentary on this subject. However, recent experiences have led me to vent and I beg your indulgence as I rant.

With the proliferation of smart phones it seems that everyone is a food photographer. It’s not unusual to be out and seeing fellow dinners taking pictures with their phones.  There are times and places to do so but people seem to find it difficult to make the distinction of when it’s appropriate.

Taking a photo in your local burger barn, foodie marketplace, or busy diner is probably going to be okay. Doing so in a fine dining establishment, to me, is not.

I recently dined at L’espalier and experienced a wonderful ten course tasting menu.  Each course was beautifully presented, some quite dramatically.  The Island Creek Oyster topped with an uni foam floated on a blue underlit bed of seaweed and liquid nitrogen vapor.  My poor words cannot describe the beauty of this dish but imagine trying to capture it with a camera phone.  One of my dining companions tried, and failed.

Later in the meal, a less dramatic but equally beautiful dish was subjected to not one, not two, but five attempts at capture.  And while that was bad enough, there was an extremely bright flash accompanying each attempt.  It was annoying to me and it was annoying to other diners in the room – I saw the looks they didn’t try to hide from us. And despite comments to the contrary, she bullishly continued on, ultimately never getting the photo she wanted.

I admit that when I got my first smart phone I was enamored with capturing each and every dining moment on a whim. And with subsequent phones, sharing them on social networks made it so much more compelling.  But then I noticed my reaction to other diners doing the same thing. Everyone was so engrossed with capturing the moment digitally, the pure enjoyment of the food escaped us. It seemed we forgot the reason we were there in the first place – to enjoy the food and to enjoy the company of our fellow diners.

Do I sound like a snob?  Probably. Will this little rant change behavior? Probably not. But it’s a pet peeve – not life or death.

Eating the eye ... one day

I like to eat, there’s no doubt about that. Just looking at me will confirm that notion. Generally speaking I’m willing to try most things, but I’m not an adventure eater on the scale of Anthony Bourdain or Andrew Zimmern.  I’m not going to eat something purely for shock value. I can recognize when something is challenging or new but don’t come back at me and say, “I can’t believe you put THAT in your mouth!” like I’m some sort of gastronomic freak.

Having said that, I have difficulty with people who are closed minded about their foods. I’m even less tolerant of those who impose their food phobias on the rest of us by, say, dictating where we can eat and what we can eat in their presence. (Allergies are a completely different matter.)

So I choose my dining companions carefully and pair my meals with my companions carefully. One of my most memorable meals was with the person I’ve deemed my foodie soul mate. With the exception of a few, rather minor, palate disagreements, we are perfectly matched. This particular meal was at my favorite restaurant, Craigie on Main. Over the years we’ve come to find out that we are not just known by the restaurant staff, but we are infamous. Much to my embarrassment I’ve been greeted a number of times to the exclamation of, “oh that was YOU!”  To give you an idea of how we earned this moniker, we chose to have the ten course tasting menu and added the Confit and Roasted Milk-Fed Pig’s Head. And if that wasn’t enough, we threw in a side order of bone marrow to boot.

The meal was fabulous but we knew we were in trouble when they brought the second table to hold the pig’s head and its accoutrements. For those unhappy with facing a whole fish in a Chinese restaurant, the sight of a pig’s head will send you running. All we saw was perfectly crisped skin; succulent flesh; and wonderful, pork deliciousness. I will say, however, that what I thought was a fairly advanced view on eating nose-to-tail was challenged at times.  The cheeks were beautiful, no problems there, and no problems with the actual pig’s jowls, but seeing the teeth and jaw bone gave me pause.  Then moving up to the ear and seeing the ear canal, again gave me pause. Note I said, “gave me pause,” but did not say, “made me stop.”

The one thing I did stop at was the pig’s eye. Reassurance from the restaurant staff that it was delicious wasn’t quite enough for me to get past my mental block. Watching my companion bravely take it on and seeing his reaction only confirmed that I’d made the right decision. We’ve since gone back and had the pig’s head (sans ten course tasting menu) and I again deferred to him, allowing him to savor the eye. That I can’t stomach the thought of eating the eye bothers me just enough that I know I’m going to just do it one day. In the range of risky, adventurous behavior, this one is pretty minor. It’s just a matter of time …

My kind of celebrity

My friends give me a hard time because I don't keep up much on popular culture.  I can't tell one Kardashian from another and quite frankly, I don't care. Food nerd that I am, my kind of celebrity is of the chef variety.

In December I ate at The Bazaar, José Andrés' fabulous restaurant in LA. One of the more memorable meals I've ever eaten. There are no words for the perfect bite of the Not your everyday Caprésé salad. And the Eggplant tempura with honey yogurt foam was a delicious surprise.

But I have to say the real highlight of the night was seeing José Andrés in the restaurant.  If I could (if I had the guts) I would have asked to take a picture with him. I don't think my dining companion really understood my excitement but that's okay. In a city full of celebrities, I saw the one that really mattered to me.

Christmas 2011 Menu

Hosted my first Christmas dinner away from home with friends instead of family. Here's the menu:

Braised Short Ribs with Whole Grain Mustard (from Thomas Keller)
Garlic and Parmesan Mashed Potatoes
Maple-Roast Parsnips (from Nigella Lawson)
Parmesan and Thyme Rolls
Sticky Toffee Pudding (from Troquet restaurant in Boston)


It was fun crafting a holiday menu on my own.  The short ribs were a bit of a process but worth the time and effort.  I wasn't a big fan of the rolls but everyone else liked them. The rest of the menu was relatively easy to make.  By far the sticky toffee pudding was the big hit of the night.  Lovely way to end the meal.  All and all I'd make this menu again, even the rolls.

Happy holidays!

Butternut Squash Velvet

After watching an episode of Jacques Pépin's More Fast Food My Way, I was inspired to make his Butternut Squash Velvet soup. So easy, so simple, highlights the beautiful flavor of butternut squash. Two changes I made - I replaced half the olive oil with bacon fat to give it the smokey flavor without adding the texture of bacon and I didn't add the heavy cream at the end because the soup didn't need it. I highly recommend this recipe. It's perfect for dinner with a simple salad and some bread or as an elegant starter.

Friends & Food

In the heat of the summer I've rediscovered cooking. And the reason is, I've made a friend in the building who loves food as much as I do. In a way we've created our own little co-op - she has a car and takes me grocery shopping and I cook. And it's not a one-way street as she does her share of cooking too.

We've developed a lovely cameraderie where she'll come down to my apartment and we'll spend an hour or two pouring over my cookbooks and magazines looking for new recipes to try. Or I'll get a text message saying, "shall I bring some of this down for you to try?" After a long day of work and an hour-long commute, there's nothing more welcoming than a smile and a spontaneous meal with a friend.

One ritual we've developed is making a weekly batch of the Olive Oil Granola I mentioned in a previous post. It is absolutely delicious and we can't get enough of it. Although, since we're both trying to learn the lesson of quality over quantity, we limit ourselves and try to share the bounty with other friends.

Not all our attempts are as successful as the granola but ultimately it's about our friendship and it's only enhanced by food.

More blog envy

I just discovered La Tartine Gourmande - another beautiful blog with gorgeous photos.