Five on Food: Articles from the Wednesday Dining Pages
Posted by melissamccart on February 14, 2007
1) Defending the Midwest Palate. San Francisco Chronicle. In his original review of Out the Door, the new restaurant in way out mall-ville opened by Charles Phan of Slanted Door, Michae Bauer wrote that people in the midwest don’t like food that’s “different or exotic.” Here, he observes that “truth lies in stereotypes,” particularly in the “flyover states:”
Stereotypes are terrible things, but at times they have a basis in truth. I am from the Midwest, and I go back to Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri at least once a year. Having dined extensively on both coasts and in the Midwest, I can tell you firsthand there is a difference.
I know there is some great dining in Chicago — and I’ve had a great meal at Bluestem in Kansas City. There are some individuals with very sophisticated palates, but there isn’t a critical mass to sustain chefs and restaurateurs who have a focused, unique style.
2) Here’s the Times’ Valentines’ Day stuff. And its article parallel to Erin’s. And Red Velvet Cake as the blonde bombshell.
Please let it be February 15th. Make the sappy holiday go away. I’d rather read about the next Gruner Veltiner, or one of the most accomplished wine collectors in the world, or beans and bacon dishes for a cold day.
3) The Boss’s Wife Raises the Stakes for Dinner. Washington Post. The Post debuts its monthly column that chronicles rescues of the chef-on-call, David Hagedorn.
4) “What’s Your Dish?” Chicago Tribune. The paper calls for home cooks’ recipes and stories. (For Year of the Pig, they also review four new Chinese cookbooks.)
5) Catfish Corner Casts a Line for some Serious Good Eatin. Seattle Post-Intelligencer. In a city where there’s so much good fish, one family banks on the lowly catfish.
