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An Admission of sorts
They (the infamous they) say that the first step in dealing with a problem is to admit that you have one. So, this entry.
“My God!” you must be thinking, “what problem is this that Jeremy feels the need to announce on his blog for all the world to see?” It must be horrible; I might be traumatized; Maybe I should get a hanky, just in case. Could it have something to do with the bursty nature of his blog posts? (hat tip, Marcia.) So, here we go, deep breath.
I have become a food snob.
::GASP::
Yes, I know, horrifying. What does this mean? How can I live with it? Can I only eat expensive food produced by pompous chefs wearing funny hats? Must I speak with a bad french accent? No. But it does mean I want my food to be, put simply, good. With very specific definitions of good. I’ve developed a set of guidelines or maybe inequalities that I try to follow:
- Local is better than trucked in from half way around the world
- Things I could (in theory) grow/produce myself is better than something that requires a chemistry set. (Not sure how Wylie Dufresne fits in here)
- Single instance restaurants are better than chains
- Passion for food matters
- Presentation matters
- Taste matters
- Outstanding service matters
- Respect your food, it is more than just what gets shoved into your pie whole
So, what brought me to this point? I blame many things. First of all, experiencing food by great chefs who also live by those standards: Chef Everett at The Blue Talon, Chef Power at The Fat Canary, Chef Kennedy at Dudley’s Farmhouse Grill in Williamsburg; Mas Tapas in Charlottesville; Craft in New York City; Marmalade in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Visiting great local restaurants everywhere: Pierce’s Pit BBQ here in town, The Shake Shack in New York City, cubbyhole pizza places in Florence. Food television and books (aka food porn) have certainly contributed; Alton Brown, Anthony Bourdain, Iron Chef, Top Chef. Tiffany certainly gets some credit too; it is invaluable to have someone who shares the same passions with you. It would be very hard to do this by myself, and would look more like an addiction than a healthy passion.
What does it mean for daily life? Chain restaurants are basically out, certainly for dinner. I try to buy “real” foods as much a possible. I savor food for foods sake when I eat; I try to taste food the same way I taste wine. When travel opportunities present themselves, I almost always start by searching for great local restaurants if the destination is fixed, or I look for a great new restaurant I want to try and use that to pick a destination. Restaurants with tasting menus get first billing. What is that I hear? Tasting menu? You don’t know what that is? Oh, sweet goodness.
Tasting menus are the chef’s equivalent of saying “mine is bigger than his.” They are multicourse meals (6-17, yes 17) where the chef and kitchen shows you, the diner, why they are the shit. Each course is rarely larger than a single bite (maybe two) that have been created to be a perfect bite of flavor, texture, presentation, smell, everything. Very often paired per course by just the right wine, it is, well, about the most decadent way to experience food. You almost always get very attentive service with explanations of each item and ingredient and why they should go perfectly with each other and the chosen wine. Often times the chef will come out and say hi and thank you. I can explain it in no other way than it is an amazing experience.
It filters into cooking at home as well. I don’t do it nearly as often I should, but when I do, I try to pay special attention to the food I buy, the food I cook, how I prepare it. I don’t have to be fancy in my food, but I try to put the same love and caring into it that I want when I eat a chef-prepared meal. And on occasion, cooking something fancy is just plain fun.
So, there you have it. I’m a food snob. I have a “problem” and I love it. It is a problem I would wish on everyone I know; you will enjoy life more. (And probably be healthier for it.)
Now if only I could could get a gig as a travel food photographer…
I wrote this on Sunday, January 31, 2010 and it is grouped with Food, Travel. You could read or write Comments (1)
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Blue Talon Photo Shoot
So just about a week after my first ever semi-professional photo shoot, I got to do it again, this time at the Blue Talon Bistro. What fun!
We actually did it over two nights this time since Chef was not at the restaurant on Monday (yes, everyone just refers to the chef as Chef). After we did the shots of the dining room on monday, the kitchen treated us to a full dinner which was quite amazing (including wine). Food just kept coming out to eat; I was quite stuffed and was slow to want to move around even the next morning. This is what makes doing restaurant shoots worth it. Tiffany and I spent the whole time chatting it up with the bartender, who is an up and coming graphics designer.
On tuesday , we worked in the kitchen. The Talon’s kitchen is much more of a “working” kitchen as opposed to the Fat Canary’s “show” kitchen. They both get the job done, but the Talon’s does not have a lot of extra room to stand in and the lines of sight are not there, making this much more challenging. But the light was much better and that made taking the shots easier.
I was amazed at the difference in the attitudes between the two restaurants. I realized that a chef, like that at the Fat Canary, who is comfortable having a kitchen that is wide open to the dining room clearly has a more outgoing and gregarious attitude. This attitude carries over to his staff and the feeling in his kitchen. The Talon has a more traditional kitchen, and while everyone was very nice, they were also much more serious and interested in getting work done. You can even get a taste of the difference with the servers and others outside the kitchen.
So much fun; I hope I can get to do this more.
I wrote this on Wednesday, May 20, 2009 and it is grouped with Food, Photos. You could read or write Comments
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Fat Canary Photo Shoot
It has been a bit since I posted. I keep having ideas of things to post, but just never get the energy up to do so. My friend Michael has started posting again on his blog, Madking’s Musings, about all kinds of techie stuff. I love reading the entries and often want to make a response, but haven’t yet done so. Nor will this post correct the lack.
Nope, today is just a quick note about a great thing I did this past Sunday. After a great mother’s day weekend with Tiffany’s family (and yes, I called my mom too), I got invited to help with a photo-shoot for The Fat Canary in Williamsburg. I have never really done an “official” photo-shoot before, so this was new. We had a list of types of shots we wanted and the “feel” we were going for. The idea being to capture the neighborly, friendly aspect of the restaurant, which I can attest to as it is one of my favorites in town.
We spent over an hour trying not to get run over by the wait staff and trying not to annoy them too much as we took their pictures doing their work. The kitchen staff seemed to enjoy the attention (for the most part) and was very chatty while we watched them work. The general darkness of the inside gave me a new appreciation for my el-cheapo 50mm prime lens and makes we want to look at getting one of the slightly better ones.
I think what I enjoyed most is that given the event was a “sanctioned” one I did not feel awkward taking pictures of people. It is something I feel generally uncomfortable with while I am in public or just hanging around with friends. But in this instance, it really worked and I am proud of the shots I got. I think I was able to really capture the emotions of the people working at the restaurant.
I’m looking forward to doing more of these in the future.
I wrote this on Wednesday, May 13, 2009 and it is grouped with Food, General, Photos. You could read or write Comments
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Muffin Method – Banana Bread
Before I headed out of town last week, I looked at the three bananas I had sitting on the counter and wondered what to do with them. I realized they were already past their prime and would be goners by the time I got back. Then I had a thought; BREAD!; BANANA BREAD! So I tossed them in the refrigerator so they would not be fuzzy when I got back.
You know I hold Alton Brown in very high regard, so I pulled out his second tome, I’m Just Here for More Food. Pages 98-99, Banana Bread. Muffin Method, here I come.
I wrote this on Sunday, November 25, 2007 and it is grouped with Food, Photos. You could read or write Comments (1)
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Ravioli with Zucchini, Mushrooms, and other stuff
Today was a hard day. It isn’t worth getting into now. It will work itself out over time, but for the purpose of this entry, let us just say I had considerable motivation to have a nice dinner. There was also a very strong motivation to just order something, and have it delivered, but I knew it would be more restful to make something myself. I didn’t think to take pictures until I was mostly done, so you get to see more of the end product than the process.
I wrote this on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 and it is grouped with Food, Photos. You could read or write Comments
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Anchovy Tomato Garlic Pasta – A Tour
A month or so back, Brianne sent me a link from the New York Times for a video by Mark Bittman that showed him cooking what looked to be a wonderful anchovy, tomato, garlic pasta. The comment was made: “This recipe with garlic, olive oil and anchovies (do I even like anchovies??) actually seems really yummy.” My memory of anchovies was the same kind he describes in the video, those cans that had the somewhat fun looking, but never the less boring little keys that you used to open them. My dad used to get them all the time and would eat them raw. Not exactly appetizing to my 8 year-old mind. Yet events conspired to change this opinion.
Yesterday at work, I saw that one of my coworkers had brought in a bucket of (not anchovies) Roma tomatoes. I picked up a few of them thinking I would make something with them. Then at the grocery store on the way home, I saw oil-packed anchovies. “Hmm”, I said, “I could make that recipe.” So I bought them, and I did. I hope you enjoy the chronicle below.
I wrote this on Tuesday, July 24, 2007 and it is grouped with Food, General. You could read or write Comments