Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

mmm ... i'm decidedly not a fan of mr. chodorow, and don't pretend to understand his motivation in undertaking this project.

i will say, however, that i'm glad he's doing it. i am a restaurant owner; have been in the biz since i was a kid. when the chod says that "The restaurant business is one of the most difficult businesses in the world", i've gotta speak up. it really is extraordinarily difficult; hard to hear from such a puffed-up egomaniac as himself, but true, nonetheless.

restaurant criticism in NYC is about the great gaping maw of the publicity machine, and operates on roughly the same dynamic as that of the "popular" high school clique.

who's hot? who's got the best press agent? who can charge so much money that they can make their customers feel that they're the kings of the world?

so much utter bullshit - i've had employees of the local rags tell me, to my face, that they wouldn't have time to eat, could i just give them a quick rundown on what the restaurant was about. it's incredibly galling, to work so hard, to use all of one's experience and energy to deal with this really tough business, only to find that the bullshit artists who call themselves "restaurant critics" are barely willing to get out of bed to submit their worthless drivel to their editors. and no, i am not making this up.

i can't even continue writing this post, as i'm becoming apoplectic at the very thought of it.

as for Mr. K's observation that "When you read reviews from regular diners, you often get a true picture of what your dining experience will turn out to be" - well, yes and no. the explosion of the blogosphere has allowed any number of entitled, spoiled persons to spew all sort of vitriol at any target that might suit their particular ill-temper du jour.

good god people, i'm FEEDING you! i can say that the feedback that i get from my customers, is, in the main,heart-warmingly positive, even effusive. however, now and again i'll read something so nasty, so out of left-field, and so unwarranted that i just want to cry.

sure, it's my problem that i'm thinskinned: NYC's not an easy place.

enough of me for now. if i compose myself i'll write more later - but for now i have to make a cake and a pie. gee whiz.

oh, and BTW, i'm an unabashed fangirl of your big kahuna.

potato pierogen and mushroom/kraut pierogen, boiled, not fried, slathered in butter and sour cream, covered with onion sauteed/steamed to translucency (at least 1/2 of the entire weight of the dish in onion), black pepper, and fleur de sel. to die - and, of course, one would die if one did that all the time, but, just once in a while ...

oh, and i agree with meowises, "such great entries ..."

just reading what ya'll have written makes me feel warm and happy.

viva the kitchen!

bobblehead removal list:
ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner, and her name is sandra lee. oh, dear god, please make it stop. what's next, sandra? an quick and EZ method for a weekday supper using road-kill (it's right there, you don't even have to go to the supermarket!) slathered in cheez-whiz (just pop that jar open and pour) and topped with durkee fried onion rings? sandra lee, when vaudeville becomes burlesque.

bobblehead #2 -RR. please, fellow posters, don't take offense at my language, as i only wish to share with you that, when she pops up on the television, i reflexively yell "STFU, and go away". i don't say "die, already" - i just think it..

other than those two, i just let it ride.

i enjoy and respect alton brown, rick bayless, jamie oliver. these three gentlemen are enthusiastic and informative.

ah, whatever. for a good view of where we're all going to end up as the dumbing down of america continues apace, rent "idiocracy". it''ll make you laugh, it might make you cry, but i promise you that RR is not in it.

thanks to lia for the link to the bourdain post - he said it all.

R.I.P. Julia Child, you sweet, dignified, wonderful woman.

Ditto BAGEL HOLE on 7th Ave at 12 st. in Park Slope. Best in the entire city.

First of all I have to recover from laughing sooo hard at the remarks from:
Nance- re: Sandra Lee on the Kwanzaa cake (topping in with corn nuts) please tell me your joking, I don't know if you or Sandra's Kwazaa cake recipe want to kill ME. rotfl.
Jensings- your comment also made me roll off the couch, well put.
Alssa- same as above
Thanks y'all for a very good laugh.

Now who I like:
Alton - becuz he is silly and informative, I like that.
Emeril- becuz of due respect, but he needs to (or has) retire, his "bam" has gotten a little too old.
Ina- like her soft spoken demure and her recipes seem very good, but did she make a pact with the devil? Read her bio eveything thing she did she is successful at... hmmmmmm. That nervous laugh does get to me though.
Tyler- tried some of his stuff....really good.
Sara Moulton- like her alot, she is so relaxed, I like her cooking, she teaches, and she covers UP!! I miss her.
Cat Cora-total professional, she is very pretty but like all chefs ( iam one myself) cover's UP!! She wears a chef coat. I like her demure and professional knowledge.
Anthony Bourdain- Love his shows, they tell the real shit that goes on in cultures.
Mario- real authentic chef. Love his shows and his foods. Wll miss him too.
Duff-I like but other then his oux and Mary Alice many of his workers seem liike there on drugs.
Guy- I like him. his show makes me sick becuz my city has very few diner, drive-ins and dives anymore( I live in Seattle). His other show I only saw a few times, but I liked what he made so far. He's funny.
Symon- I like him. He's professional and his giggles crack me up. I like his food.
Flay- His actual shows bore me to sleep but I do respect his success and I 'm sure his food is good. I hear good reviews about his restaurants.
Ming Tsi- I miss him, he too is a Pro. and I loved his show. I made a dish of his for Mother's Day once and it turned out great but man, I almost had to hop a plane to Asia to get some of the ingreds. for it.

Now for my dislikes:
Paula Deen- I like her home program (she's somewhat mellow) but the shit she makes.......
Paula's party- That is enough to make my ears bleed. Is she drunk on that show? She is flirting, forgetting what they are doing she is hamming it up. Nooooooooo!!
Robin What her name- Boring.
Giada- I liked her pogram when it first aired, but now it is a joke. Yes that phoney accent, the Farrah Fawcett smile, yes the low cut shirts. Shit she is making Italian food (maybe), she should be professional and wear a chef coat. You get shit all over yourself making Italian food. It's food food porn.
Sandra Lee- Ah wtf is she doing on FN? Yes she has a concept for making things go easy in the kitchen, yes someone above wrote that some chefs use canned this and that for fresh and its true, and that is good, but she can at least come through with some dishes that are homemade 100% for the times one has day off or special occasions ect. Anyone can open a box or packet and just add shit to it, but I thought the FN was to educate people how to make real dishes.
Bobblehead aka Rach Ray- She is over the top of WHAT???? Yes I play a game with my boyfriend, everytime 30 mins. airs we get beers ready and when she says her imfamous words "EVOO, sammies, delish, garbage bowl, awesome, eyeball it, giggles, ect., we take a drink. Guaranteed your tipsy (if not drunk) in 30 minutes. FN needs to restructure what their goal is really quick. Do they want the true chefs that really show people methods, ideas of real cooking or do they want to have circus acts like they are airing?

Rachael, Guy and SLoP should be BANNED. Every Rachael recipe I've tried has come out like s**t.

I love just about everyone else on the FN.

I watch Food Network much more for technique and principles than recipes. Travel shows and food competitions are time-wasting. How about healthful cooking, vegetarian recipes, dairy substitutes, ethnic cooking other than Italian, bread baking? I can't eat pork or shellfish, or mix dairy and meat. How about cooking with those limitations.

FAVORITES: Alton Brown. More time and less clowning, please.
Giada. Reasonable recipes; fewer distractions (2), please. Maybe her body is too small.
Robin Miller. I respect her as a wife and mother. Realistic recipes. A nice lady.

WORST
Paula Dean, Ina Garten are toxic. Rachael Ray has too much TV and commercial exposure. Why does every one of her recipes have to contain cheese and pork? Emeril is generally boring, but occasionally he shows an excellent technique. His "Live" show is dreadful. Sandra Lee: I just turn off the sound and watch. I don't care what she's doing.

Wow...who spelunked the archives to find this gem of a thread!!!

There are very few shows remaining on TVFN worth watching if you are amongst those with tastebuds. TVFN has switched its target to the Cool Whip Contingent instead of sticking with hardcore foodies (such as us).

Ina Garten, Michael Chiarello, Alton Brown and Giada DeLaurentis are the last holdouts doing valuable cooking instruction at TVFN. The rest is fluff and nonsense - i.e. Unwrapped and The Secret Life Of... One exception might be the "challenge" shows which, depending on your interests can be intriguing.

The absolute worst hack on TVFN is without a doubt Sandra Lee. Her show is nothing about cooking. She assembles boxes of this with cans of that, pours in a little envelope of "soup" powder and calls it cooking. After attending one of Shamdra's Junkfests, I imagine her guests go out for dinner. If they can drive.