tommy:eats

Green chile: cheeseburgers

Once again I found myself emailing iamnotachef about food instead of posting on this blog about food.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not under the impression that there's a collective minion out there who are hanging on my every word, but every now and again I feel the tinge of responsibility to actually keep this blog going, rather than just shutting it down completely or let it sit out there dormant.  For today, my choice is to keep it going with another post.

I emailed iamnotachef a few mornings back telling him that I've been really into making green chile stuffs, which are way better than ketchup.  About 10 minutes later, he's got this post about how mustard is the "new ketchup".  OK, well, first off, he shamelessly stole my idea.  Second, he's wrong:  green chile stuff is the new ketchup.

In-N-Out Burger: Eh, I'm not convinced

Here on the east coast, we don't have In-N-Out burger.  So we discuss it on food blogs and Chowhound poetically, fantasizing, lusting,... remembering.  I'm guilty of the same.  I had my first (and until recently, only) In-N-Out experience about 4 years ago in Las Vegas.  You know what Las Vegas is.  I don't have to link to Wikipedia.

<remembering fondly>Twas a hung-over afternoon in Vegas, and I knew there was only one thing to do:  call a taxi and have the driver bring me to In-N-Out burger.  About an hour and 50 dollars later, I devoured a double in my hotel room, thinking it was pretty gosh darned good.</remembering fondly>

Fast forward a few years and I remember it as one of the best burgers in my life.  Complaining that we don't have one around here. 

A Little Slice of New Haven: Pizza, New Haven, CT

I'd like to start by saying that puns are the lowest form of humor, and I'm not above them.  The flogging-worthy title of this post should not escape anyone's criticism.

A recent trip to Newport, RI, sent us right through what is purported to be the pizza capital of New England.   Yay for me.

New Haven, CT, is conveniently located right off of Interstate 95.  Easy off, easy on.  This fact pretty much answered the question of "where are we stopping to eat on the way to Newport" as well as "where are we stopping to eat on the way back from Newport." 

After some extensive googling we  determined that there are many other options, and the dividing lines are clearly drawn.  Everyone has their favorite and thinks their not-favorite "isn't as good as it used to be."  Oh for eff's sake.  We settled on Modern Apizza on the way up, and Frank Pepe's on the way back.

First the way up...

Fascinating moment in service at Federal Grill: Allentown, PA

I ordered myself a glass of (red) Zinfandel from Renwood to go with my burger.  It was a modest pour at the modest price of 7 dollars, and in a decent glass.

Server: How is the [red] wine?

Me: [Elated] Very good.  And it's chilled.  That's wonderful!

S: That's the only red wine we chill.

M: [Perplexed, but not necessarily surprised] Why don't you chill all of them?

S: Red wine isn't supposed to be chilled.

M: [Defeated already and knowing it]: Sure it is.

S: [Adamant] No it's not.

M: [Requesting logical explanation] Why do you chill this (red) one then?

S: [Not providing, to my mind, logical explanation] Because that's the only one that's required to be chilled.

I'm not sure at what temperature the Federal Grill is serving their non-Zinfandel reds, and I'm not interested in finding out.  I'll stick to the Zin.

As I always try to stress, it's my opinion that a lack of wine education isn't the fault of young servers, but rather it's a management/training issue.   In the case of Federal Grill, they actually do have a wine education program for their servers, and the servers taste and discuss all of their wines.  I think that's fantastic, and more restaurants should take their lead.  Hell, there's no doubt in my mind that this young server knows more about wine and food than I did at her age, and I bet a lot of that has to do with the fine job that the management is doing with this program. 

BUT, and here's the rub, red wine isn't meant to be served warm or room temperature, and the fact of the matter is that it always tastes better somewhere in the 60's...preferably the low 60's.  Wine that is too cold will lose all nuance and nose (and taste).  Red wine served at "room temperature" (in my house that's about 71 degrees) tends to be too "hot" (a blast of alcohol in the nose) and just not all that pleasant to drink in general.  The reality is that restaurants serve, and people drink, white wine much too cold and red wine much too warm.  I'm guessing the three top reasons for this are 1) ignorance, 2) cost, and 3) cost.

Methinks that this concept is lost not only on the general public, but on people in the wine industry as well.  So, it might take some time for everyone to come around.  I'll wait (I gots no choice).  Until then I'll continue to order reds with a bucket of ice while attempting to change the world one server and one restaurant at a time.

On to the burger...