467 replies to this topic

[Sthitch]

As a transplanted Louisiana gal let me interpret that menu for you. They serve boiled crawfish and sides. And beer.

Having never been there I can't tell you whether it's good or not, but a lot of very good places in Louisiana serve boiled crawfish and sides. And beer.

Not crawfish etouffee, not crawfish bisque, not crawfish pie, not crawfish monica, not crawfish balls.

Just boiled crawfish and sides. And beer.

Looks authentic to me.

Seems that they serve most of those, but not with crawfish. My issue is that you have to really look to find crawfish on the menu. Now it might be different in the restaurant, but by looking at the menu online it looks more like a shrimp and chicken joint to me.

[goodeats]

Cajun cooking is not New Orleans cooking. Nor is Bayou cooking. Nor is boiled crawfish. You could call it Cajun, you could call it South Louisiana, but you'd never call it New Orleans style, which is Creole. Think Galatoire's. Or maybe you've never been to Galatoire's? You should . . . .

Admittedly and honestly, I have not been to New Orleans. It is on my list of places to travel. I just felt that, based on observation, there was this mad rush to open these types of places like there was this mad rush to open frozen yogurt places and then cupcake places, then food trucks and well, now this. When will there be a mad rush to open dim sum or ramen places?

Ilaine - you are definitely correct that if they are excellent, then that will be fantastic.

[DanielK]

Seems that they serve most of those, but not with crawfish. My issue is that you have to really look to find crawfish on the menu. Now it might be different in the restaurant, but by looking at the menu online it looks more like a shrimp and chicken joint to me.

I think the menu is just poorly designed. The very top of the menu lists the crawfish (Pick a Seasoning, Pick a Spice Level) - and that's the only entree. The remaining 90% of the menu is sides and drinks.

[jparrott]

YYR, Ilaine.

[ktmoomau]

I think the menu is just poorly designed. The very top of the menu lists the crawfish (Pick a Seasoning, Pick a Spice Level) - and that's the only entree. The remaining 90% of the menu is sides and drinks.

So is this the restaurant Kilman was excited about then???

[Ilaine]

I think the menu is just poorly designed. The very top of the menu lists the crawfish (Pick a Seasoning, Pick a Spice Level) - and that's the only entree. The remaining 90% of the menu is sides and drinks.

Right. They serve boiled crawfish. You can have it your way. You can have boiled crawfish mild, medium, spicy, or extra spicy, with "Lousina" style sauce, juicy cajun sauce, garlic butter, lemon pepper, or hot n juicy special sauce.

Your traditional corn-on-the-cob-and-red-potato-in-its-jacket-boiled-with-the-crawfish comes gratis with a two pound order, everything else is a la carte. Sausage is likely to have been boiled with the crawfish as well.

Everything else is an appetizer or a side order.

Looks authentic. It's like going to a crab shack. At a crab shack, you get boiled crabs.

Except that they don't serve Abita?

[Ilaine]

So is this the restaurant Kilman was excited about then???

Can you link the Kliman review? Because my mouth is watering . . . .

Do I feel a $20 Tuesday coming on? Do you need someone to show you how to suck the heads and squeeze the tips?

[leleboo]

Can you link the Kliman review? Because my mouth is watering . . . .

Do I feel a $20 Tuesday coming on? Do you need someone to show you how to suck the heads and squeeze the tips?

Start here for discussion (note, not a link out).

[Ericandblueboy]

Not a food but a word commonly used by people to describe food related activities - passionate. Everyone so damn passionate - it makes me ill.

[porcupine]

Any dessert served with something frozen on the side. Pastry chefs: your ice cream/sorbet/yogurt may be exceptional, but it doesn't necessarily follow that the other desserts are made better by the addition of a little quenelle of something frozen.

Recently I was at a restuarant where every single dessert was accompanied by sorbert or ice cream. Trite.

[Dave Pressley]

Any dessert served with something frozen on the side. Pastry chefs: your ice cream/sorbet/yogurt may be exceptional, but it doesn't necessarily follow that the other desserts are made better by the addition of a little quenelle of something frozen.

Recently I was at a restuarant where every single dessert was accompanied by sorbert or ice cream. Trite.

Unlike.

There are plenty of things on dessert menus that can be considered trite I guess. Creme brulee, molten chocolate cake and sorbet/gelato are at the top (bottom?) of my personal "trite" list for desserts...but they are extremely popular dessert choices and must remain on the menu to please the general dining audience. Trite or not, they're not going away anytime soon.

If you don't like sorbet/gelato/ice cream, let it melt on the plate.

[porcupine]

Unlike.

There are plenty of things on dessert menus that can be considered trite I guess. Creme brulee, molten chocolate cake and sorbet/gelato are at the top (bottom?) of my personal "trite" list for desserts...but they are extremely popular dessert choices and must remain on the menu to please the general dining audience. Trite or not, they're not going away anytime soon.

If you don't like sorbet/gelato/ice cream, let it melt on the plate.

I was wondering if you'd see that post.

trite: "lacking in freshness or effectiveness because of constant use or excessive repetition" (dictionary.com). Seems to me to fit the definition. But triteness is in the eye of the beholder. It's all in good fun, anyway.

If I don't want sorbet on my lemon meringue pie (for example), I'm perfectly capable of asking for it to be left off.

[DPop]

Do you need someone to show you how to suck the heads and squeeze the tips?

Color me shocked that Don or Landrum has not made a lewd joke about this post yet

[Dave Pressley]

I was wondering if you'd see that post.

trite: "lacking in freshness or effectiveness because of constant use or excessive repetition" (dictionary.com). Seems to me to fit the definition. But triteness is in the eye of the beholder. It's all in good fun, anyway.

If I don't want sorbet on my lemon meringue pie (for example), I'm perfectly capable of asking for it to be left off.

Fair enough!

[DonRocks]

I can't take it anymore.

ANY internet food writer that puts something in the form:

"Blah blah blah with blah blah blah? Yes, please."

OMFG please fucking learn to fucking write! This may have been cute the first five trillion times it was done; no longer.

[Heather]

Hear, hear!

I would be perfectly happy to never, ever see "NOM" or any of its variants again. Ever. LOL-speak was amusing for about 15 minutes back in 2007.

[DPop]

Gastropubs

[DC Deb]

Non-candy described as lollipops, like lamb chops or meat on a stick. Can't they just call those skewers?

[thatguy2009]

I'm officially declaring bacon used in conjunction with desserts both trite and just plain gross. There are minor exceptions, but not many.

So bacon-chocolate lollipops trite squared or double trite?

[Heather]

Not just bacon. I can't face another dish featuring pork. I'm ready for some lighter food.

[pizza man]

I'd like to say any salad featuring vegetables (beets in particular), nuts, and greek yogurt.

[goodeats]

Oh dear.

[Sthitch]

Not just bacon. I can't face another dish featuring pork. I'm ready for some lighter food.

So I take it you will not be partaking in the plethora of plenary porcine patio parties.

[hillvalley]

Lobster rolls

[Mark Slater]

Lobster rolls

Bad lobster rolls are trite. Good ones, never.

[squidsdc]

Bad lobster rolls are trite. Good ones, never.

"like"
You practically took the words right out of my mouth!

[pizza man]

Not just bacon. I can't face another dish featuring pork. I'm ready for some lighter food.

Blasphemer!

[Anna Blume]

I love most of the foods represented below. However, everywhere I go, it seems one of the following is under construction, about to open or in planning stages:

• Frozen yogurt shops or any yogurt-based thing in a cup
• Neopolitan or New Haven-style pizza (sigh on latter; Pete's was novel once)
• Burger place
• Farmers markets

Did I leave anything out? I don't see cupcake joints as a current trend anymore. However, I wish new enterprises weren't so lacking in vision or originality. Doesn't even have to be visionary. Give me something practical, but lacking. It's trite but true to say we're still a thriving metropolitan area without a decent deli and with few choices for good baked goods. None of the breakfast places you find in any college town. How come Italian-style coffee is everywhere, but we don't have real, neighborhood Italian-style bars with all the simple, filling amenities they offer in the morning and at lunchtime? Japanese-style vending machines in food deserts that supply hormone-free milk and inexpensive bags of fresh carrots. Why isn't high-quality ramen a trend? I am longing for falafel or bibimbap to become trite.

[Sthitch]

Japanese-style vending machines in food deserts that supply hormone-free milk and inexpensive bags of fresh carrots.

Screw the rabbit food, I want the true Japanese innovation, a beer vending machine, installed in my neighborhood.

[DonRocks]

A lot of chefs will disagree with this, but here goes anyway ...

Benton's ham is becoming trite (in a very esoteric sort of way).

Mainly because I think I've probably had ten dishes recently with "Benton's ham," and if you added up the total weight of the ham in all ten dishes you'd get about an ounce.

I could see this as a dish at Minibar: Thought of Benton's Ham, where you eat a kernel of rice and are instructed to think about Benton's ham while you do.

[zoramargolis]

A lot of chefs will disagree with this, but here goes anyway ...

Benton's ham is becoming trite (in a very esoteric sort of way).

Mainly because I think I've probably had ten dishes recently with "Benton's ham," and if you added up the total weight of the ham in all ten dishes you'd get about an ounce.

Well, I don't eat in restaurants too often, so I haven't been forced to eat way too many dishes with little bits of Benton's ham. But I just had my first taste (at home) of Benton's bacon--which he makes for Bev Eggleston, presumably with Bev's pork. And it was gob-smackingly good. The best bacon I've tasted in years. J. and I instantaneously had a simultaneous sense memory of our early married years in Vermont, where we used to get local cob-smoked bacon at a small smokehouse a few miles up the road from us. I agree that it is possible to have too much of a good thing, but in your case perhaps the problem is not that many local chefs recognize the wonderfulness of Benton's ham, but that you ought to cook more meals for yourself, at home, where you can include only those ingredients you want.

[darkstar965]

Well, I don't eat in restaurants too often, so I haven't been forced to eat way too many dishes with little bits of Benton's ham. But I just had my first taste (at home) of Benton's bacon--which he makes for Bev Eggleston, presumably with Bev's pork. And it was gob-smackingly good. The best bacon I've tasted in years. J. and I instantaneously had a simultaneous sense memory of our early married years in Vermont, where we used to get local cob-smoked bacon at a small smokehouse a few miles up the road from us. I agree that it is possible to have too much of a good thing, but in your case perhaps the problem is not that many local chefs recognize the wonderfulness of Benton's ham, but that you ought to cook more meals for yourself, at home, where you can include only those ingredients you want.

Seasonal Pantry on 14th is doing (and retailing) house-cured bacon. We took some home after a dinner there and enjoyed it in a "small smokehouse" sort of way.

[ad.mich]

J. and I instantaneously had a simultaneous sense memory of our early married years in Vermont, where we used to get local cob-smoked bacon at a small smokehouse a few miles up the road from us.

As someone who lived and worked near the Benton's smokehouse in Madisonville, TN, I'm completely and fully in the tank for anything Alan Benton cranks out. That being said, his hams and (especially) the smoked bacon aren't exactly subtle. My issue is with chefs that aren't treating it like a real ingredient and instead just flop it around as part of the cult of MOAR BACON that is so hip right now. A big hunk of Benton's is great in between something like Bayou Bakery biscuit, but if you're trying to compose an actual dish? Well, everything else is going to get buried.

(really though, if you can get to that smokehouse, it's worth a stop. they sell lots of other things besides ham and bacon, including some particularly good sausage)

[zoramargolis]

A big hunk of Benton's is great in between something like Bayou Bakery biscuit, but if you're trying to compose an actual dish? Well, everything else is going to get buried.

The bacon I got from Bev Eggleston, made for him by Benton's, was thin-sliced, not thick. As it cooked the fat turned translucent enough to see the pan through it, before returning to opaque as it became crisp. It shattered as I chewed, but still was juicy, a remarkable feat. And the flavor was mouth-filling, a concentrated blast of smoke and pork. I had it with a bite of fried Aracuna egg and toast. And I think that is the way you want to eat that kind of bacon, not in a multi-ingredient dish. Well, I did save the rendered fat from the pan, and plan to use it as a base for some beans. I haven't had the ham, but would love to taste it, along with anything else that comes out of Benton's smokehouse.

[ad.mich]

The bacon I got from Bev Eggleston, made for him by Benton's, was thin-sliced, not thick.

That's interesting, because their 'normal' bacon is anything but thin. Maybe eight slices to a pound?

This actually spurred me to call the smokehouse this afternoon. Whlie the website only shows the thicker country ham (whole ones and steak/biscuit slices) options, you can still order the "Tennesse Prosciutto" over the phone.. $6 for 4 ounces. The thick smoked bacon is $6 a pound. The sausage isn't cooked so it isn't available for shipping.

Talking to them on the phone is delightful.

[Heather]

Burgers. So over it. $5 burgers, $10 burgers, especially $15 burgers. Over the cutesy clever names and ridiculous toppings.

[zoramargolis]

That's interesting, because their 'normal' bacon is anything but thin. Maybe eight slices to a pound?

yesterday at Dupont, the eco-friendly Benton bacon selection included both thin, thick, sweet, peppered and jowl. I bought one package of thin-sliced, and one thick-sliced. I tried the jowl bacon and decided I preferred the belly.

[DonRocks]

Quick Serve restaurants (i.e., anything where you walk in, stand in line for ordering at the counter, and are directed through the menu by "steps" (Step 1: choose your bread! Step 2: choose your meat! ....) are trite.

And annoying, and not as good as their defenders might think.

Earlier this year, I was somewhat ill, and actually went to Baja Fresh twice in a week for convenience purposes. And you know what? Damn, it (the Baja Burrito with steak which I ordered both times) was so tasty to me. And yet, it's all nothing but a bunch of crap. Never the twain shell meat.

[Escoffier]

As someone who lived and worked near the Benton's smokehouse in Madisonville, TN, I'm completely and fully in the tank for anything Alan Benton cranks out.
(really though, if you can get to that smokehouse, it's worth a stop. they sell lots of other things besides ham and bacon, including some particularly good sausage)

Hmm, I'm going to be within an hour of Benton's next week. This may call for a (okay, another) road trip. Anybody have recommendations for something that will have to last through one week of refrigeration and a 10 hour car trip?

[mdt]

Wasn't there some discussion (too lazy to do a more than cursory search) talk about the word artisanal? Well here is Artisanal Pencil Sharpening! YHGTBFKM!

[SeanMike]

That site is a comedic work often referred to by John Hodgman. It doesn't mean he doesn't do it, but it's one of those "serious" ironic comedy type things.

At least, that's how I've parsed it since it came into light...

[thistle]

Very Portlandia-artisanal/nom/meh/farm to table, & people that bitch about service, which is an intangible (hey, have you ever waited a table in your life?) & I don't think bacon is trite....

[DonRocks]

Pour-overs, though barely known to the general public, are trite.

Not to say that they aren't worthy, but trite in a similar way to bacon, organic, and cocktails.

Okay, not trite; trending.

---

When Domino's began serving artisan pizzas for $7.99, the misuse of the word artisan became trite.

---

And, just to keep us all honest, Merriam-Webster defines "trite" as "hackneyed or boring from much use : not fresh or original."

[porcupine]

Why isn't high-quality ramen a trend?

It seems to be getting there.
Warm cookies and milk for dessert in danger of becoming trite.
It seems pie is becoming the Next Big Thing, though I can't imagine pie ever being trite.

[DonRocks]

So, is Neapolitan pizza becoming the new beet salad with goat cheese, platter of sliders, or dessert with bacon in it?

I sure hope so - bring it on! DC is going to have to be renamed Little Naples if this keeps up.

[Anna Blume]

So, is Neapolitan pizza becoming the new beet salad with goat cheese, platter of sliders, or dessert with bacon in it?

I sure hope so - bring it on! DC is going to have to be renamed Little Naples if this keeps up.

See my post of over a year ago, above, Don. Is calling Neapolitan-style pizza trite starting to become trite?

[porcupine]

(*) Tom's latest pet peeve is the use of "veggies" - I'd like to throw "space" in the ring as well. What's a better word, "location?" Using "space" in a conversation among non-restaurant people is sort of like saying "deuce" for a two-top table for two.

Nonsense. The word "space" is used in this way by anyone having anything to do with interiors: decorators, designers, architects, construction companies, tradesmen...

[DonRocks]

Nonsense. The word "space" is used in this way by anyone having anything to do with interiors: decorators, designers, architects, construction companies, tradesmen...

The way you say it, it doesn't sound trite. I just don't like saying, "in the old Blah-Blah Space." [(Don't forget to double, um, "space" after replying to quoted text btw. )]

[DonRocks]

They [shishito peppers] have gone from being relatively unknown to almost trite rather quickly.

The adjective "blistered" pushes them strongly into the trite category.

[jayandstacey]

The way you say it, it doesn't sound trite. I just don't like saying, "in the old Blah-Blah Space." [(Don't forget to double, um, "space" after replying to quoted text btw. )]

So what would you say? If you're trying to convey familiarity of location...I think "space" does it best. Anyone could say "5344 XYZ Blvd" but few would be able to conjure the image of the place. We don't live in a place where we can often refer meaningfully to the name of the building (with some exceptions like the Old Post Office.)

I suppose one could say "in the old blah-blah location." But to me, location is generally bigger - like a neighborhood or a shopping center. "Space" is very bounded to me - an indication that it will be behind the same front door, between the same walls. And assuming I knew the old place, I can immediately and uniquely identify where the new place is.

So I think it may not be perfect but I can't think of better - and it passes (for me) the main criteria for language, which is "did it accurately convey the meaning?"

Having said all that, I can see where the use of the word "space" could be replaced by many other such words, and in 30 years it might be considered a very dated way to talk - an indication that at some point prior, it became trite as it fell from popular usage. We might instead say "where blah-blah sat" or "in blah-blahs spot" or "in the blah-blah containment" or some other phrase we can't predict. I'm just not sure we're in triteville yet- are we? Are you?