Doing the Minimum

A few notes, just so you know I’m still around.

Fooku is still going. Though we’ve had some good entries, overall, they don’t seem quite as inspired as last year. For that reason, I’m going to keep the contest running for a while. If you get a chance, take a look at last year’s finalists.
________________________________

Wolfgang Puck has banned foie gras from his restaurants’ menus. The San Francisco Chronicle reports “The high-profile Los Angeles restaurateur’s San Francisco outpost, Postrio, served its last “Trio of Hudson Valley Foie Gras” appetizer Saturday night. The French-style superfattened duck liver had already vanished from the menu at his Spago in Palo Alto.”

“The directive will extend to the rest of Puck’s large food company, including his 82 casual cafes and his packaged food business.”

Now I’m not going to weigh into the foie gras debate at this point. We’ve covered that many times. What really has been bothering me is that people consider Puck a chef. Maybe it’s because there was a period this last weekend, where I couldn’t do much more than crawl across the living room. This happened to be at the same time the Food Channel was running a series of “chef” biographies, and I was too damn sick to dig between the couch cushions to find the remote. I just dozed, listening to endless breathless accounts of the ascent of Rachel Ray, Bobby Flay, and Emeril to stardom.

You will undoubtedly be disappointed to hear that I must have watched six of them. Fused with bits and pieces of dreams, at one point I could swear Flay was dancing across a cutting board with ice skates, making a perfect julienne of carrots with the oh-so-sharp blades. Anyway, I came across with the realization that not one of them were really chefs. Cooks yes, but mostly just lucky people that can unblinkingly dish out the pablum we seem so desperate to eat with our nightly dinners. There’s a big damn difference between a cook and a chef.

Mario Batali would be the big exception to this generalization. I think the man is insane (in kind of a good way), but a damn good cook.
________________________________

So many food blogs are coming on the scene, it’s hard to keep up. Every so often, one catches my eye, and last week I discovered Culinate. I’ve probably seen it before, but I didn’t realize Portland’s own Liz Crain was doing a regular column for them. She’s doing a good job coming up with interesting articles every week, and the site is worth adding to your bookmarks. Last week she wrote “Current trends in food blogs”, talking about the advantages blogs have over traditional print media. Even if she hadn’t quoted me, I would have probably linked to her here.
________________________________

The Washington Post ran an article last week called “A Scorching Response to a Food Critic”. Restaurateur Roberto Donna has taken exception to a review with Washingtonian magazine dining editor Todd Kliman. Now he’s started a blog to critique local restaurant critics. Stop me if you’ve heard this before.

Now Donna is rounding up his fellow chefs for a blog on inaccuracies in local food reviews — much like New York’s Kobe Club owner Jeffrey Chodorow, who has vowed to start blogging about New York Times food critic Frank Bruni’s reviews.

The thing that strikes me about this story, is that Donna is upset with the “factual mistakes about his finances and the food”. He claims that some information about a past bankruptcy was wrong, and a few minor statements about preparation of the food was incorrect – for example, the review noted incorrectly that an item was roasted, when in fact, it had been grilled. Like most chefs backed against the ropes, Roberto Donna seems to be flailing blindly, rather than admitting there may be an issue in the kitchen, and fixing the food. Instead, he’s plastering bumper stickers all over town saying “Don’t Believe the Washingtonian”. Sad.

When every critic in town is saying your food sucks, wouldn’t all that energy be better spent on the restaurant? Fix the damn food, and quit blaming the critics.

Here’s a link to the article.
________________________________

The subject of sustainable seafood has been popping up in the comments here lately. Now a new web site tracking such things has been put together by a group of University of Washington students.

Titled Seattle’s Sustainable Seafood, the site, courses.washington.edu/seafood/, aims to connect Earth-friendly eaters with Seattle restaurants serving local seafood caught in ways that maintain fish populations over time.

“We’re trying to give the public a choice,” said Meegan Corcoran, one of 17 students in the sustainable fisheries class, “if they would like a restaurant in Seattle that serves local seafood that is fished sustainably.”

Fisheries are considered sustainable if the species, despite the fishing, is on the increase or stable, Corcoran said.

The site allows consumers to select a section of town and see what’s offered. Or, they can pick a kind of fish and find out which restaurants serve it, and how they prepare it.

The site also offers information on catch rates, how much accidental “bycatch” is involved for particular species, fishing regulations and sea creatures’ reproduction habits.

You can read the whole article on the Seattle PI website.
________________________________

Overheard while walking into Whole Foods last week: “I just love the P.F. Chang’s here. It’s so much more gourmet than the one in Hillsboro!
________________________________

A few local restaurant notes:

Pok Pok will be closed from April 15-April 29 for repairs and upgrades. During this time, we will be replacing the kitchen floor, doing some plumbing work, installing air conditioning and expanding our seating.

After we reopen at the beginning of May, we will be able to accommodate parties of 6 or more by reservation. My hope is to have this available upon reopening, but it may take a little while longer depending on how quickly the work goes. We will also start doing private parties as soon as the space is available and organization permits. The basement dining room will continue to be first come first served, no reservations.

As soon as weather allows (consistently), we will have outdoor seating with table service, including alcohol (no reservations). At that point, the shack will become to-go only for the summer season.

Hours of operation will remain the same for the time being.

Please look for updates by going to pokpokpdx.com, which will get a face lift and the ability for me to make changes easily without having to get the web guy to process every little piece of content. This should be online in some form in a week or so.
Thank for your patronage! ok, andy.

VQ is looking to add some “youthful energy” to their Portland landmark. I’ve been posting other job openings here, so I’ll keep adding more as I get them. They are looking for “an experienced front of the house restaurant manager to run the operations of a busy downtown landmark. The Veritable Quandary, (VQ), is a unique environment, seeking a unique manager. Eclectic fine dining in a casual setting, the VQ has a loyal following of customers who come for the creative and fresh menus combined with the historic feel of old Portland.

We are seeking a high energy, professional restaurant manager with over 5 years of experience managing staff and providing a high level of customer service. If you are interested in being considered, please send your resume to vqpdx@yahoo.com.”