ideas

Mutliple Location Eateries?

Is it possible for a restaurant to have multiple locations and not be a "chain"?

Chain restaurants draw us back again and again with a slew of happy chemicals and comfort foods. They bludgeon our taste buds with singular, powerful spicing: American restaurants slather with mayonnaise, aioli or cheddar; Mexican, douse with cumin; Italian, bury in oregano; southern, saturate with salt.  All addictive, but not in the way of truly good food.

But there are a few exceptions and I demand a new name for their fresh ingredients, complex flavoring, and irresistible specialties. Multi-location eateries? Affiliates?

I nominate a few tasty restaurants with, uh, multiple locations for my new category:

J.Alexanders. Never has a chicken sandwich tasted so gourmet, so enticing.  Coupled with yummy fresh veggies – I particularly like the spaghetti squash – or a potato of choice (including French-style pommes frites or decadent smashed potatoes). Yum. So, yum. And, that’s not even the best part. Carrot cake that is unlike any carrot cake you’ve ever sampled. Singularly rich, plus, warm, spicy, melty perfection. Possibly the best restaurant dessert I have ever sampled…

Columbus friends, try it in Crossroads on 7550 Vantage; Chicago-friends, in Old Town at 1832 N. Clybourn.

Abuelos. Omigod – did I really say that I had the best TexMex ever in a completely cheesy Midwestern mall?? What can I say, they go where the people are. Abuelos is … heavenly. Fresh enchiladas with no heavy cumin aftertaste. Spicy salsa with undertones of jalapeño and coffee. Fresh meats, seafoods – high quality cheeses; decadent tortillas and unexpected specialties.

Columbus friends, this requires a soul-deadening trip to Easton – but it is so worth it. Texas friends, I think the location in Arlington is the closest.

I’m kind of a food slut, huh?

Reefer News

My political diatribe has been interrupted by a Bob report. Regularly scheduled rants will resume tomorrow.

First up: A classic fear-mongering propaganda film is slated to be the feel good remake of the year. In 1936, Reefer Madness portrayed average teenagers turning into addicts, serial killer and brazen hussies after just a few tokes. The cult classic has been remade by Showtime as a big brassy musical, premiering this April.

But, wait, there’s more: The latest pot-assault by the ONDCP is a study warning that moderate to heavy marijuana smoking slows blood flow to the brain, even weeks after smoking. Researchers say the findings may help explain the problems with memory and thinking found in previous studies of chronic marijuana users.

The problem? The small print. Moderate marijuana usage is 70 joints/week (that’s the actual measurement) and heavy is 350 joints. Wait, wait, in case you’re having memory problems of your own, allow me to do the math: that’s 10 to 50 joints per day.

Surely, even Tommy Chong couldn’t smoke that much (yeah, yeah – I double-dog dare you, brother).

The Curious Incident of the Fetching Cat and Dog Ketchup

Two curious pet notes for today's post.

The first is personal:  Bug - my youngest and most enthusiastic cat - has taken to fetching. He brings either a milk-jug ring or his fish-on-a-stick toy to the nearest human, spits it at said human and waits for the toss. Once the toy is thrown, he tears after it and promptly returns it. This will go on until you either kick him out of the room or distract him with food. Somehow, I have raised a puppy-kitten.

The second is anything but: Iams is spending an estimated 40 million dollars on the launch of a new product: Iams Savory Sauce, a line of three "canine condiments" to be added to dogs' meals.

This is basically pet ketchup and has raised such a groundswell of interest that it's taking to television, veterinary conferences, even yesterday's Stuart Elliot feature.

"[A]bout half the pet-food dollars are spent by what we call pet-passionate people," Jeffrey P. Ansell, president of Iams, in Dayton, Ohio explains, "who think of pets as family and want more than just great nutrition."

"Many people are looking to create an 'exciting feeding experience' for the pet, a lip-smacking, tail-wagging effect," Mr. Ansell says, "and that is exactly what Iams Savory Sauce is intended to provide." "We see a real opportunity here," he adds.

omigod.

Holy Meatballs

I couldn’t share this recipe until today because if Sister or Clay knew there were gourmet meatballs stuffed with fresh mozzarella, accompanied by yummy sauce … well, they would have gone to great expense and exhaustion to be here by dinner.

Not that I kept them all to myself – AmyJoy and Daniel (“Do these have cheese in them?!?!”) came over for dinner. It’s actually a huge week for visiting … lunch with Jenn on Sunday; dinner last night; Eriks in town for lunch today; tons of family events starting tomorrow…) But, anyway, onto the recipe – these are truly delicious:

Extra-virgin olive oil
¾ medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
parsley
1 cup milk
4 thick slices white bread, crust removed
3 pounds ground sirloin or beef
1 pound ground pork
1 egg
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
1/2 pound mozzarella cheese, cut into 10 (1-inch) cubes

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Heat 3 tablespoons oil in skillet over medium heat; cook the onions, garlic, and parsley until softened, about 10 minutes. Scrape out onto a plate and allow the mixture to cool; set the pan aside. Pour the milk over the bread into a medium bowl and let it soak while the onions are cooling. Combine the meats in a large bowl and add the egg and Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper. Squeeze the excess milk from the bread and add the bread to the bowl along with the cooled onion mixture. Using your hands, gently combine all the ingredients until they are thoroughly mixed. Divide mixture into 10 pieces and form them into patties. Place a mozzarella cube onto each patty and bring up the sides around the cheese to form a ball completely enclosing the cube.
Heat the remaining oil in the skillet over medium heat and brown the meatballs on all sides, about 10 minutes. Put them into the oven and bake until the meatballs are cooked through, about 30 - 40 minutes.

The accompanying meat sauce is a little more spontaneous … not so much a recipe as a what’s-on-hand… but, of course, the schtuff in a a jar always does in a pinch.

Snowmen Joy

Look at these – look at these! My far-flung aunt and uncle send a Christmas surprise every year, but being as distant as we are, the gifts we exchange probably tend toward the generic - a guess at what someone might like. But, this year – THESE! Holy turtles, soft, pose-able snowmen in excellent cranberry and sage outfits. Could I like a Christmas decoration more???

Honestly, Secret Santa

Still looking for a little something to wrap up for your office’s compulsory Secret Santa exchange? May I suggest…'

Fire-roasted tomatoe bisque

Easy and unbelievably delicious... possibly a good antidote to the very cold, rainy nastiness outside.

4 T butter
Finely chop:
-1/2 onion (spanish)
-1 carrot
-1 celery rib
-2 garlic cloves

3 T flour
4 c chicken stock
2 (14.5 oz) fire-roasted tomatoes (I buy Muir Glen - organic aisle)
3 T tomato paste
2 t sugar
1/4 - 1/2 c heavy cream (to taste)
salt and pepper

Melt 2 T of the butter in a sauce pan. Add the fresh veggies, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in flour over low heat. Add the stock, tomatoes, paste and sugar. Bring to a boil. Then cook over moderate heat for 15 mins or until the veggies are tender.

In a blender (or with other handy device), puree 1/2 to 3/4 of the soup (depending on how many crunchies you prefer) until smooth. Return all soup to the sauce pan, add the cream, cook until just heated. Season with salt and pepper, swirl in the remaining butter, serve.

Great with french bread and gouda cheese ...

Why Lexus Hates You

How are you dealing with holiday expectations? Have you been saving up for a new DVD player or a cashmere sweater?

Loser. All the successful kids have saved up for a Lexus or two. Apparently they have so much money laying around that their spouse doesn't even notice the $30K or $40K missing from checking (surely, they wouldn't do something as plebian as finance).

Obviously, I am not the target audience. In fact, the target audience likely scores a holiday bonus larger than my annual income … or, perhaps doesn’t work at all.

The target audience “knows”:

• A certain amount of money (and the right doctors) can buy happiness
• Love is properly displayed via indulgent, absurdly expensive gifts
• It’s essential to have the newest everything
• When people see “me” in a Lexus, they’ll envy my accomplishment
• My spouse will always love me if we just have enough stuff…

The losers driving the same old Camry to the after-holiday sales “know”:

• Our credit card balances are too high to even “price” happiness
• Love is properly displayed via indulgent, absurdly caloric holiday meals
• A car –any car—is infinitely more convenient than the bus
• “I’m” awfully busy talking on my cell phone, programming the XM radio and checking my makeup – no time or interest in other cars
• The more stuff you own; the more it owns you

In another season of holiday layoffs, in a country with a vast rich-poor gap, at a time of year when most people are scraping together what they can to deliver a happy holiday to everyone on their lists…

Well, let’s just say even soap operas don’t cast characters as haughty or story lines as arrogant as these Lexus commercials.

Meanwhile, CBS and NBC rejected the God is Still Speaking advertisement produced by the United Church of Christ, on the grounds that the ad is too "controversial". The ad in question shows gruff "bouncers" working the line in front of a church, picking who can and can't come in. Fade to second scene, which shows smiling children, minorities, an elderly couple, and (gasp) two women standing next to each other, one with her hand on the other's shoulder. No matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here, the narrator intones.

The stations have rejected the value or “not being bigoted” in favor of the value of copious consumption in a holiday season that is supposed to be about giving … and, I don’t think luxury cars are quite what was intended…

This is Bush’s world – we are only consumers in it.

Oh, and you want to dress up the Camry for the holiday, here's where you buy those monster bows.

The Evils of Walmart

Although I certainly have my share of character flaws, there are two destructive foibles that I have happily missed – due mostly to a lack of interest, but, perhaps, maybe some inner resolve (ok, no, really – just lack of interest)

1. Drinking soda. Foul tasting stuff that makes my teeth feel dirty and sticky all day and my stomach feel all puffy with carbonation – not exactly a compelling source of caffeine.

2. Shopping at Walmart. Statistics show that some 89% of us admit to shopping at Walmart each year – despite the obvious ethical questions such consumer choices raise. Lucky for me a dedication to Target (not much better, I’m sure) and general inability to comparison shop have kept me Walton-free for years.

So, it is with a clean conscience that I submit: Why is Walmart evil: A philosophical romp by one Umbra Fisk:

Consider this: If Wal-Mart, the country's largest employer, offers unlivable wages and shoddy benefit packages, a giant group of employed people -- Wal-Mart workers -- are struggling to make ends meet. (It's a strange feedback cycle, to tout your own low prices while expanding the numbers of the working poor.) In California, Wal-Mart is exacerbating rather than easing health care and welfare burdens on individuals and taxpayers. A study [PDF] out of the University of California at Berkeley found that California Wal-Mart employees earned significantly lower wages than average large retail employees in the state, and employee families used higher proportions of public welfare programs.

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Happy Thanksgiving

On this the day of our Thanksgiving, I suggest we give thanks to that wonderful creation that has truly made our decadent, indulgent meals possible:

To America's cows and butter churners, I raise a toast - to your flaky pie crusts, sticky stuffing, perfectly browned turkeys, syrupy sweet potatoes, the rich icing you add to a warm dinner roll, and your unashamed, monstrous fat content! We thank you -