The Best Show on TV
Originally posted at Edible TV on July 28, 2008.
With all respect to Good Eats and Smallville, I now have a new favorite show. You see a few months ago I was given some advanced copies of the new season of a food/travel show from the HD network MOJO. MOJO is a network geared towards affluent males 18 – 35 and they have churned out some very innovative programming like Beer Nutz and Three Sheets. The latter features comedian and TV host Zane Lamprey traveling the globe getting drunk.Their shows are beautifully shot and their approaches are novel. And nowhere is the MOJO style better represented than in After Hours with Daniel. World renowned chef Daniel Boulud has long had a history of traveling to various cities visiting with old friends in the food industry and then throwing lavish after-hours dinner parties in their restaurants. MOJO sends a camera crew along to capture the fun.
After Hours is the best “food porn” on TV. On one episode Boulud shows up at Susan Spicer’s Bayona in New Orleans with a freshly killed goose – head, feet, and feathers still intact. On another he makes a dish using baby eels and then cons everyone at the table into trying a few of the little critters live. The guest lists are impressive, too. Sissy Biggers (whose web site features a vid of her eating the live eels), Eve Salvail (model, actress), and others from the entertainment world mingle with world class athletes, food writers, and chefs like Norman Van Aken.
The cameras capture a real experience – this is a genuine dinner party where many of the attendees are strangers or with only mild familiarity. The dialog is fun and unscripted and the food is absolutely mind boggling. The settings aren’t bad either as it is shot in some of the hottest eateries in cities like New York, LA, New Orleans, and Miami.
I now have a new food fantasy to add to my list. Somewhere between being a judge on Iron Chef: America and trying the tasting menu at El Bulli lies joining Daniel and gang for dinner, after hours of course. Season one of After Hours with Daniel is available on DVD and you can now download individual episodes from season two.
Tailgate Season is Upon Us
Football season is just around the corner so I will start giving you some suggestions and what not to make your tailgate experience as cool as possible. I did a series for Current Magazine last year about tailgating in the SEC and I will revisit some of those articles to make sure you know where to go to get a bite to eat when following your team around. I will also offer up the occassional recipe for your dining needs.
How about we start with a healthy Meatball sub that doesn’t taste healthy?
Let My Salsa Be: Salmonella Taints Serrano Chilies
First you attacked my ‘maters, then my cilantro (my favorite herb), and then my jalapenos. I decided to use canned tomatoes and grow my own cilantro. As for the japs, I like serrano chilies just as much, so there. Or so I thought, then I read the latest from the FDA and your little salmonella bomb has hit them, too. OK, Al Qaeda, now it’s personal. I’m growing my own chilies as well. Thank you AeroGarden! But remember Al Qaeda, the next time I catch you walking through my neighborhood, your getting an old fashioned Alabama butt whoopin’.
Serrano peppers from Mexico farm have salmonella, FDA Says
WASHINGTON — The salmonella strain linked to a nationwide outbreak has been found in irrigation water and a serrano pepper at a Mexican farm, federal health officials said today.
Dr. David Acheson, the Food and Drug Administration’s food safety chief, called the finding a key breakthrough in the case, as did another health official.
“We have a smoking gun, it appears,” said Dr. Lonnie King who directs the center for foodborne illnesses at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Acheson said the farm is in Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Previously, the FDA had traced a contaminated jalapeno pepper to a farm in another part of Mexico.
Acheson and other officials were grilled at a congressional hearing about why the investigation originally focused on tomatoes.
The officials insisted that tomatoes still cannot be ruled out and that it is quite possible that the outbreak was caused by several different kinds of contaminated produce.
The outbreak has sickened more than 1,300 people since April.
Tomatoes had been the prime suspect in the nationwide outbreak for weeks. But last week, the FDA said only jalapeno peppers grown in Mexico were implicated in the nationwide salmonella outbreak. The FDA said then it had found the same strain of salmonella responsible for the outbreak on a single Mexican-grown jalapeno in a south Texas produce warehouse.
If it turns out the tainted irrigation water was also used on tomatoes, it could provide some of the evidence that federal authorities are looking for to back their original focus on the fruit.
Bennigan’s shuts down 800 locations
From the Chicago Sun Times:
‘I’M GOING TO MISS THIS PLACE’ | Employees, customers of national chain stunned after company closes restaurants, files for bankruptcy
Bennigan’s restaurants throughout the nation were closed Tuesday, surprising employees and customers.
The Irish themed chain and its sister company Steak & Ale on Tuesday filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in the Eastern District of Texas.
(STNG)
The chain’s parent, Plano, Texas-based Metromedia Restaurant Group, seeks to liquidate its assets and shut down, citing $550 million in assets and about $150 million in debt.
It’s not the end for all Bennigan’s stores though. Independent franchisees will continue to operate some restaurants.
Bennigan’s has about 300 Irish-theme locations, with about 80 to 100 franchisees.
In June, privately-held Metromedia Restaurant said it had no plans to file for bankruptcy.
Stores, including two on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, had notices posted on the closures Tuesday.
A sign at the Bennigan’s at 145 S. Weber Road in the Country Aire Plaza in Bolingbrook read, “I regret to inform you that Benningan’s is no longer part of your community,” one Sun-Times reader reported.” Another note on the door said:
“To all our employees: I must say this is the hardest thing we have ever had to do. It’s not only a job we are losing but a family we have here is not replaceable. Thank you for all the hard work, total dedication and commitment to making this place amazing. Love, Jen, Ronda and Jonathon.”
Managers of Bennigan’s restaurants in Calumet City, Deerfield and North Michigan Avenue told Newsradio 780 that they were told this morning of the restaurants’ closings, and one manager said the shutdown is nationwide.
Contributing: Francine Knowles, business reporter; wire reports
Is That a Braciola in Your Pocket . . .
Recently while reading the Bob Spitz book, the Saucier’s Apprentice (W.W. Norton, 2008), Spitz repeatedly mentioned a dish called Braciola. But he never went into detail what it was other than a very common dish in Italy. The problem was I live in a part of the country with very few Italians so my knowledge of Italian food growing up was lasagna and spaghetti. Ironically, neither are that common in Italy where they tend to eat dishes like Braciola more often. So I went to wikipedia and looked it up:
Braciola (plural braciole) is the name of an Italian dish. Braciole are simple thin slices of beef pan fried in their juice, or in a light amount of olive oil. It is, probably, one of the simplest dishes in Italian cooking; served with a green salad or boiled potatoes
In Italian American cuisine, braciole (the word is commonly pronounced /bra’zhul/ from the Sicilian pronunciation) is the name given to thin slices of meat (typically pork, chicken, or beef, but even swordfish) that are rolled with cheese and bread crumbs and fried; the bread crumbs are often left off, and the braciole are cooked along with meatballs and Italian sausage in Sunday gravy. They can be served with tomato sauce, or even plain. There exist many variations on the recipe. Changing the type of cheese and adding assorted vegetables (such as eggplant) can drastically change the taste. Braciole are not eaten as a main dish, but as a side dish at dinner, or in a sandwich at lunch.
What are known as braciole in the United States is named involtini in original Italian cuisine. Involtini are thin slices of beef (or pork, or chicken) rolled with a filling of the Parmesan cheese, eggs to give consistency and whatever additional ingredients (other cheeses, ham, bread crumbs, mushroom, onions, sausage, etc.) are available. Involtino (singular) originates from the word “voltare” (to turn), as in the action or rolling the meat around the filling (as in rolling a sheet of paper for storage). One involtino is held together by a wooden toothpick, and the dish is usually served (in various sauces: red, white, etc.) as a second course. When cooked in tomato sauce, the sauce itself is used to toss the pasta for the first course, giving a consistent taste to the whole meal.
The word is also used in Italian-American slang as a reference to the male reproductive organ. An example of this usage is in The Sopranos episode “Second Opinion”.
Retrieved from “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braciola“
Whole Foods-Wild Oats Merger Halted
Court overturns ruling that allowed Whole Foods-Wild Oats merger
Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times
The ruling comes almost a year after Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods purchased the 110-store Wild Oats chain for $565 million and brings up questions as to whether it would be possible to unwind the merger so long after the fact.
When the two companies announced plans to merge in early 2007, the Federal Trade Commission moved to block the deal, arguing that it would give Whole Foods too much of the market for natural and organic foods and could raise prices for shoppers.
The federal district court ruled against the agency, saying it had not made a case for delaying the merger.
But a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington said that was the wrong decision and sent the case back to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for further consideration.
The ruling was a surprise to antitrust experts, said Mike Cowie, a former FTC assistant commissioner, who is now a partner at the Howrey law firm in Washington.
“This is an extraordinary situation for both the district court and the FTC,” Cowie said. “No one can be sure about what happens now.” It’s very difficult in cases such as this to “unscramble the eggs,” he said.
Whole Foods, for example, could be forced to divest a number of stores to a buyer that would be willing to operate them as an independent business, he said. That’s happened with companies in the software industry and other sectors. And the precedent was acknowledged in the court’s opinion.
“The courts have the power to grant relief on the FTC’s complaint, despite the merger’s having taken place, and the case is therefore not moot,” Judge Janice Rogers Brown, a former member of the California Supreme Court, wrote in the 2-1 appellate court decision.
Specifically the three-judge panel said the lower court erred when it ruled that the FTC’s definition of what constituted the market for natural and organic foods was too narrow. The FTC wanted a preliminary injunction to stop the takeover while it argued its position in court.
“The court should have taken whatever time it needed to consider the FTC’s evidence fully,” Brown wrote.
The FTC agreed. “We are pleased by today’s decision of the appeals court in the Whole Foods matter and are looking forward to future proceedings before the district court, leading to a full trial on the merits before the commission,” Jeffrey Schmidt, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, said Tuesday.
Whole Foods said it was “disappointed with this decision as customers” and employees “have already received many benefits from this merger.” The company’s shares closed at $22.39 on Tuesday, up 36 cents.
The company said it was evaluating its legal options and it noted that “the decision acknowledges that neither the court nor the FTC has found the merger to be unlawful. . . . We await the U.S. District Court’s response so this issue can be resolved.”
Most of the time, the FTC would not pursue a case such as this because the bar becomes very high once a merger has closed, said Ronald Wick, an antitrust expert and partner at the law firm of Baker Hostetler in Washington. Federal regulators typically don’t want to put a lot of time and money into it if they believe they have little chance to win, he said.
Previously, the FTC said it was continuing its appeal because Whole Foods continued to operate many stores under the Wild Oats name, making it easier to reverse at least part of the deal.
Whole Foods, however, has now rebranded most of the Wild Oats stores, sold 35 more and closed 12. There are still 15 that use the Wild Oats name but Whole Foods said they would be converted in the coming weeks.
The buyers of the stores that were sold off could not be compelled to return them to Whole Foods to fold into a reconstituted Wild Oats, Wick said.
Other factors also have changed since the deal has closed. In Southern California, for example, the competition in the natural and organic foods market is increasing.
Two small organic and natural food chains, Sprouts Farmers Markets and Henry’s Farmers Market — the 35-store former Wild Oats unit sold by Whole Foods — are adding stores, thus diluting Whole Foods’ market concentration.
And traditional grocers and retailers including Safeway Inc., which operates as Vons in Southern California, and retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. continue to expand their selection of organic goods.
Eat This Not That by David Zinczenko
I found this about the new healthy eating book Eat This Not That by David Zinczenko at the I Crave Books blog.
This little book caught my attention because I’ve been trying to eat healthier lately and this simple format (no mention of the dreaded d word) appealed to me. After reading through it (and finding out I’ve been ordering the totally wrong thing at Jimmy John’s) I think I might have to buy it (and I don’t buy a lot of books).
For a small book (it’s a square format – I think to make it easier to take with you) there’s a lot of information packed inside. In addition to the “Eat this, not that” choices for many restaurants, there’s an “Eat this, not that” section for holiday meals and for at the grocery store. Each page also has a “did you know” fact, and sprinkled throughout are “guilty pleasures” (for example, on your burger have a few pieces of bacon, just skip the cheese – as bacon as less fat and sodium) and “Weapons of Mass Destruction” which are those innocent sounding things on the menu that are chocked full of calories or fat.
This is quite the informative book and I would recommend it to everyone.
Wannabe TV Chef Blog Nominated . . .
wTVc Blog has been nominated for a Blogger’s Choice Award under the category of “Best Food Blog.” Don’t believe me? Then where did we get this nifty button thingy?
If you like the site and feel it is deserving of some attention then click on the button and vote for it. If you don’t care for it or find it a bore vote for it anyway. I mean, it’s not like every puppy in Wisconsin will drowned or Christmas will be canceled because of it. Geesh! Don’t be such a wet blanket, dad.
Thoughts on the New Minimum Wage
For those who do not know, the federal minimum wage recently went up to $6.55/hr and will increase to $7.25 this time next year. Great, that’s fine. However, the server minimum wage remains the same $2.13/hour that it has been since 1991. First, there is no moral justification for paying servers less than any other profession. The whole, “they make their money from tips” thing just doesn’t wash. Not unless the government is going to pass a law that says if you don’t tip 20% regardless of service then you spend a night in the poky. And a law like that is just as crazy as a law that says CEO’s, salesmen, and retail manager’s can receive bonuses that are separate from their salary, but servers have to chose one or the other.
Servers should make the same minimum as any other proffession and then tipping can go back to being what is was supposed to be, a bonus for a job well done. As the law stands now not tipping is against the law, however the government punishes the victim rather than the offender. You see server’s still have to pay taxes on tips even if they don’t get them. And in today’s economy they are not getting any. The restaurant server is an endangered species in America.
Chili’s Patron Kills Manager
Please think of this story the next time you stiff a server or cuss out an assistant manager because you got ID’d:
© 2008 The Associated Press
HOUSTON — A manager at a Chili’s restaurant was making sure a female employee made it to her car safely when he was shot dead by a man authorities say was a patron who had left and then returned.
Harris County Sheriff’s Department investigators said Michael Ryan Hare had been drinking at the restaurant’s bar when he made repeated, unwanted advances toward an employee.
Investigators said a rejected Hare left the restaurant but then returned at about 11:20 p.m. Thursday and fired several rounds at manager Luis Monroy. The man fled as the 32-year-old Monroy lay dead in the restaurant’s parking lot.
Hare, 24, was charged with murder Friday. Bond was set at $50,000 and he remained in Harris County Jail on Saturday night. He’s scheduled to appear in court Monday. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney.
About 20 minutes after the shootings, Hare returned to the restaurant and was identified as the gunman by witnesses, Lt. John Denholm told the Houston Chronicle.
Denholm said that when investigators asked Hare why he shot Monroy, he responded: “It was easy. It was easy.”
He also told investigators that a friend encouraged him to return to the restaurant to tell authorities what he had done, Denholm said.
Hare’s record includes a 2004 marijuana possession conviction and a 2002 robbery charge that was later dismissed.
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