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From Serious Eats

Hunters Were the First Locavores

Hunters need to push a new public image based on deeper traditions: we are stewards of the land, hunting on ground that we know and love, collecting indigenous, environmentally sustainable food for ourselves and our families.

I'm from Wisconsin and nearly everyone I grew up with hunted. This is what hunters have been saying for years. They don't need a public image, they need media organs like the Times to stop pushing the stereotype that they are all red-neck gun nuts.

From Serious Eats

Slice Gets a Redesign

How can a site about pizza have nothing about Chicago?

From Serious Eats

What's Next—Requiring Hair Nets to Pour a Beer?

We warned you when they came for the smokers that food would be next! The nanny state is coming for you.

From Serious Eats

The Future of the Jewish Deli

As all the old, modest buildings are replaced with shining towers and the people who have been here for generations and who defined this place are priced out of their neighborhoods, pretty soon there will be nothing left of the NY we know.

Those "modest" buildings replace other buildings and the people who have been here for generations replaced other people who had been there for generations.

People who lament for economic hardship and crime to preserve some silly ideal, that very likely never existed, are just as bad, if not worse, than the "white elites" who "prey" on the culture. You'd rather people suffer so you can enjoy some kitsch culture.

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From Serious Eats

Hunters Were the First Locavores

Hunters need to push a new public image based on deeper traditions: we are stewards of the land, hunting on ground that we know and love, collecting indigenous, environmentally sustainable food for ourselves and our families.

I'm from Wisconsin and nearly everyone I grew up with hunted. This is what hunters have been saying for years. They don't need a public image, they need media organs like the Times to stop pushing the stereotype that they are all red-neck gun nuts.

From Serious Eats

Slice Gets a Redesign

How can a site about pizza have nothing about Chicago?

From Serious Eats

What's Next—Requiring Hair Nets to Pour a Beer?

We warned you when they came for the smokers that food would be next! The nanny state is coming for you.

From Serious Eats

The Future of the Jewish Deli

As all the old, modest buildings are replaced with shining towers and the people who have been here for generations and who defined this place are priced out of their neighborhoods, pretty soon there will be nothing left of the NY we know.

Those "modest" buildings replace other buildings and the people who have been here for generations replaced other people who had been there for generations.

People who lament for economic hardship and crime to preserve some silly ideal, that very likely never existed, are just as bad, if not worse, than the "white elites" who "prey" on the culture. You'd rather people suffer so you can enjoy some kitsch culture.

From Serious Eats

How to Make Fancy-pants Restaurants Cheaper: One Critic's Radical Ideas

if I am meeting meeting my wife for a special-occasion dinner, I don't want to wait an hour and a half for a table.

I completely agree, but I can't tell you how many times I've had reservations and still had to wait 20 minutes for my table to be ready.

From Serious Eats

Pasta Strike in Italy

While rising food prices are a grave concern, especially to the poor, going on "strike" is silly and shows a lack of economic understanding.

It is not as if Barilla et al. are just raising their prices to screw people. They are raising their prices because their costs are going up. They can not simply cut their costs because people are on strike.

We are all going to regret all this biofuel nonsense, when it turns out that "global warming" was as much of a threat as "global cooling" of the '60s or the "population bomb" on the 70s.

From Serious Eats

Fightin' Words on Vodka

I think it is pretty amusing that someone who writes for an advertising trade publication would be up in arms over this.

There are many, many products where is little discernible difference in quality.

People who are buying Grey Goose are not buying vodka, they are buying status and image. And that is exactly what that ad is selling.

This is nothing new or remarkable.

From Slice

A 24-Hour Search for the Best Pizza in America

"Best Pizza in America" and no mention of Chicago?

Does anyone expect this to be taken seriously?

From Slice

Papa John's Invades Neighborhood Pizzeria's Turf

I love the ignorant postal worker: "Papa John's is just generic. Why are they coming here? Greed? I don't know."

Why do you think Johnny's or Scotti's are open? Why do you go to work? People are so economically illiterate it amazes me.

And Adam Kuban is absolutely correct.


Papa John's is fairly pricey. As long as Johnny's and Scotti's offer a superior prodcut they have nothing to worry about.

From Serious Eats

Man Bites Dog: Serious Critic Reviews a Chain Restaurant

I'm sorry, but The Cheesecake Factory is not a "decent restaurant." I've eaten at several locations through out the country (normally when Christmas shopping at the mall) and I've never had anything there that was not a complete and utter disappointment.

From Talk

Milkshake: make mine______

I'll kill for a good vanilla malt!

From Serious Eats

Coca-Cola Redesigns Packaging

Also, I am glad Coke is back to the red, the ribbon, and the script. Coca-Cola is an American icon.

From Serious Eats

Coca-Cola Redesigns Packaging

If Coke is "just" sweetened water, then what are beer, wine or coffee? If you don't care for soda (or pop depending on where you are) that is fine, but lets not act childish.

From Serious Eats

The Best Hot Dogs

Perhaps I was a bit too snarky. I guess what I should have said, it that it isn't surprising that people have a default of 'what things should taste like'.

It reminds me of when Cook's Illustrated did a blind taste test of mayonnaise:

Tasters consistently praised Hellmann's and Kraft because they tasted like "what mayonnaise should taste like." Paul Rozin, a noted food psychologist from the University of Pennsylvania, wasn't surprised by our findings. "A blind taste test isn't blind to your past," he said. "The participants" first exposure to a food will usually become their standard to judge all others against. In the case of mayonnaise, many people grew up eating Hellmann's and Kraft. People like familiar tastes."
Mayonnaise Taste Test—Archived-Taste Tests-Cook's Illustrated 3/2003

So it doesn't shock me that, even in a blind taste test, people who grew up eating Nathan's, think that is what a hot dog should taste like.


Your survey is still very detailed and a very enjoyable read.

From Serious Eats

The Best Hot Dogs

Wow, people from New York/New Jersey think Nathan's are the best hot dogs... shocking... Next you'll tell me they think New York style pizza is better than Chicago style pizza!

From Slice

A 24-Hour Search for the Best Pizza in America

@Philly53. It's not NY style but the pies at Marcello's in The Short North don't suck:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pauliegee/sets/72157605122755729/

So you haven't found anyplace in NYC that you like as much as Mack and Manco?

Ciao,

Paulie Gee

From Slice

A 24-Hour Search for the Best Pizza in America

@Philly53: What about the M&M Pizza makes it your favorite?

Damn, never heard of it. Is it open off-season or only during summer? Thanks!

From Slice

A 24-Hour Search for the Best Pizza in America

I've had pizza all over the country and the best, by far, is Mack & Manco Pizza in Ocean City, NJ. Pepe's in New Haven, CT is very good but Mack & Manco is the best in the country. Anyone know of a good Philly/New York style pizza in Columbus, OH ????

From Serious Eats

America's Best Hot Dog Town: Cast Your Vote

Take away the condiments and fancy buns and one hot dog stands alone, the Kogel Vienna from Flint, Michigan period.

From Serious Eats

America's Best Hot Dog Town: Cast Your Vote

D.
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND

New York System weiners can't be beat. Onions, mustard, celery salt, topped with meat sauce on a steamed bun. Don't forget about that delicious "snap"!

From Serious Eats

America's Best Hot Dog Town: Cast Your Vote

I'm sure if you like bland tomatoes, plain yellow mustard, and raw onion, etc etc... then Chicago dogs are fine. I personally don't like drowning a good beef hotdog with all those condiments. Give me a delectable grilled Hebrew National topped with a slightly spicy mustard and some homemade relish...absolute perfection! If you go this route with a Vienna dog, you will soon realize where it pales in comparison to the much superior Hebrew National dog. Sauerkraut can also be a good option, but it's an acquired taste. I find tomatoes and yellow mustard to be a clash of flavors in any situation. Long live Hebrew National, king of the hotdogs!!!!

From Serious Eats

The Best Hot Dogs

VIENNA BEEF!!!!!!!
Anyone from Chicago knows a true Chicago style dog requires Vienna Beef Franks . Drag it through the garden.

From Serious Eats

Man Bites Dog: Serious Critic Reviews a Chain Restaurant

I have to say, I like Cracker Barrel Breakfast. Their "mama's french toast" is the best french toast I have ever had and that what keep's my hubs and I going back. The lunch and dinner menu is mediocre, but I say definitely head back for the french toast, and then see how you feel.

From Serious Eats

Man Bites Dog: Serious Critic Reviews a Chain Restaurant

Jeez, Cheesecake factory and Applebees....Americanized famous dishes in unreasonable portions. Though I must say, if you articulate your distaste and dissapointment in a letter witten to the owners (via the corporate website) you can definitely score some free food vouchers. I wrote a letter to Carraba's explaining that I am a Philadelphia native living in Savannah, GA, and that I wish hey could raise the bar from salty shrimp (delicious, local versions of hich can be found in the river) and Subway loafs of bread. I got a 50 dollar voucher and a personal tour from the kind chef at Carrabas. All I wanted was for them to think about raising th bar.

From Serious Eats

Hunters Were the First Locavores

I had some thoughts on the piece, and the reaction, that are a bit bulky for this space, but they are here:
http://thegurglingcod.typepad.com/thegurglingcod/2007/12/bullet-points.html

From Serious Eats

Hunters Were the First Locavores

That's true... I've found deer that were hunted purely for their racks and the scavengers enjoyed them. However, for others it turns into an addiction
Even for those who once were an admirable hunter.

Journal Entry Back
Second Iowa Man Pleads Guilty in Federal Court to Poaching Trophy Deer and Elk in Iowa and Colorado
Midwest Region, December 29, 2003

http://www.fws.gov/arsnew/regmap.cfm?arskey=11103

From Serious Eats

Hunters Were the First Locavores

I'm not recommending it, but one way to look at leaving meat in the field is "feeding scavengers a little early".

From Serious Eats

Hunters Were the First Locavores

Meat left in the field is more efficiently utilized, (and more appreciated), than the meat processed and eaten by humans.

From Serious Eats

Slice Gets a Redesign

Thanks, Max! If we've made you hungry, our job is done.

@SAMiller: Maybe our job isn't done. When I started Slice, it was decidedly New York–centric, so Chicago wasn't part of the plan. But after so many years of same ol' same ol', I'm ready to branch out. I'd like to add a Chicago contributor. Know anyone? If so, get in touch: adam@sliceny.com

From Serious Eats

What's Next—Requiring Hair Nets to Pour a Beer?

i've heard about this - it's insane? is it OK to put fruit wedges on glasses? klg19 raises an interesting point. seems like a bit of a double standard.

From Serious Eats

What's Next—Requiring Hair Nets to Pour a Beer?

maxwellh-

not drinking it works pretty well..

don't even get me started on lemons invading my delicious german hefeweizens. arrrgghhhh!

From Serious Eats

What's Next—Requiring Hair Nets to Pour a Beer?

An enterprising entrepreneur should work on a bar robot, à la an auto-assembly line machine, that can mix drinks. Between pours, it could dip its "hands" in boiling water for sterilization before lime-ing a drink.

From Serious Eats

What's Next—Requiring Hair Nets to Pour a Beer?

I saw this on the news this morning, and was truly shocked. I spent 15 years as a bartender here in NYC, and I can tell you right now that if I'd had to stop for protective handgear everytime I garnished a drink, no one would ever have gotten served.

There must be some sort of flaw in this logic, though. After all, the chefs in the kitchen of the restaurants where these bars are located are not, for the most part, wearing latex gloves. So, where does the line get drawn?

From Serious Eats

The Future of the Jewish Deli

Reading about all these delis is making me hungry. But for me delis are about something more than food: they're about nostalgia. Normally, I find all nostalgia corrosive and to be avoided, but nostalia for the deli is irresistable and not all that bad for you--like a pastrami sandwich once every other month: it won't kill you. So, to indulge... Ed's recent musings about delis past reminded me of the Strathmore Deli on Northern Blvd (I think) in Manhasset on Long Island. My parents liked it because they knew the owner who had worked (or partly owned?) the Turnpike Deli in Forrest Hills (which was a GREAT deli). The owner (I wish I could remember his name) was married to the woman who worked the cash register. There were numbers on her arms. "From the camps," my parents informed me quietly. At the time, it didn't seem out-of-the-ordinary for me to meet a Holocaust survivor. This was the Sixties and WWII was more recent history for my teenage self than the War in Vietnam is for today's young people. ...These are odd images to indulge when discussing delis, but my memories do point to the uniquely Jewish (and perhaps vanishing) sense of community one felt in a local deli when I was growing up. Everything felt famliar and family-like...in the good and bad sense of those phrases. I loved the food, of course, but the experience of going to the deli, was about much more than food. But honestly, I could go on for hours (or paragraphs)...so intense are the memories evoked by Ed's piece.

From Serious Eats

America's Best Hot Dog Town: Cast Your Vote

I second the opinion on Hot Doug's. Absolutely a must stop place, especially when they have the French Fries cooked in duck fat. *Sorry, I'm salivating on my keyboard*. Rabbit hot dogs with blueberrys and creme fraiche. Worth the wait.

From Serious Eats

America's Best Hot Dog Town: Cast Your Vote

Next time you're in Katz's get a pastrami sandwich AND a hot dog. Just take half the pastrami sandwich home.

From Serious Eats

America's Best Hot Dog Town: Cast Your Vote

Pink's hot dog in LA is, by far, the best hot dog I've ever eaten. I was in Kat'z last night but I didn't try their dogs. They looked tempting but that pastrami is too hard to forgo.

From Serious Eats

America's Best Hot Dog Town: Cast Your Vote

Dude!

Thanks for recognizing Lafayette and Athens Coney Island restaurants in downtown Detroit, but, really, you can't disqualify the D because we dress up our dogs with chili sauce, onions and mustard.

It's not fair. Thousands of the dogs we serve up at the hundred of Coney Island restaurants in Coney Detroit are home-grown Koegel's and Dearborn dogs.

It is just wrong to kick us to the curb because we embellish our dogs. There is hardly anyone who doesn's add a slash of mustard or a slide of pickle.

Our Coneys are so popular that in upstate New York and parts of Ontario, similar concoctions are called "Michigans." There is one loud, proud vote for Detroit's dogs.

Coney Detroit

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