tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-579277223676561905.post8293119929860701293..comments2023-07-01T03:46:37.412-07:00Comments on Hard Sleeper: Foodie CentralBarbarohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04038516078498541056noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-579277223676561905.post-11301044773565934142011-02-19T19:39:56.444-08:002011-02-19T19:39:56.444-08:00Thanks for stopping by, Chad. Though visiting Chi...Thanks for stopping by, Chad. Though visiting China has a way of spoiling a fellow for anything stateside, I had a surprisingly good dinner at a local restaurant recently. It was about the only "live" business left in a darkened strip mall; it was a bit dusty, and they served cocktails even the waitress couldn't decipher. Somehow these all seem to be good signs in a Chinese restaurant.Barbarohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04038516078498541056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-579277223676561905.post-90438193395510151712011-02-12T07:56:13.329-08:002011-02-12T07:56:13.329-08:00I read this the other day while waiting for my Chi...I read this the other day while waiting for my Chinese food order. Despite my lack of gastronomy, it was like an e-appetizer.Chad Woodyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08852674870506731426noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-579277223676561905.post-25360678432947611932011-02-08T16:21:42.937-08:002011-02-08T16:21:42.937-08:00Thanks for visiting, Shakti. But my honest respon...Thanks for visiting, Shakti. But my honest response is, why mess up perfectly good olive oil with lemon juice? If such a thing exists in Spain, Italy, France, etc., I never saw it.<br /><br />Graceful and Banjo, thanks for your comments too. I doubt ham salad-egg salad exists outside the NYC area, or even a single deli. Part of the reason Zingerman's generates such enthusiasm is that "Midwestern deli" is otherwise an oxymoron.<br /><br />Glad to hear possibilities for "broader discussions." I've traditionally kept this blog food-free precisely for fear such a topic wouldn't allow for more than minutiae.<br /><br />The success of this post might just inspire me to go whole hog, almost literally. Stay tuned for adventures in fermentation...Barbarohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04038516078498541056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-579277223676561905.post-74335704723853752862011-02-08T07:21:48.656-08:002011-02-08T07:21:48.656-08:00Zingerman's has the best lemon-infused olive o...Zingerman's has the best lemon-infused olive oil in the world. I'm just saying...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05348334000371517236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-579277223676561905.post-43846521389352274622011-02-08T06:43:29.251-08:002011-02-08T06:43:29.251-08:00Bravo! What a good angle to take on Z’s or others...Bravo! What a good angle to take on Z’s or others like it, in combining excellence and pretentious excess. (I do like Z’s, but have to wonder about the Holy Grail a lot of folks attach to it).<br /><br />You have some gems of sentences, as usual. Here are my favorites, but I ask you also to consider substituting the words “poem(s)” or “poetry” or “literary criticism” where you have, for example, “food” or “eating.” <br /><br />Maybe I’m forcing it, but I think we’re into a broader discussion about . . . dilettante-ism? honesty? self-importance? Part of the beauty of your topic is that you can be as serious or as light as you want about it, at least most of the time. <br /><br />So, at the risk of overstaying my welcome, here are my faves and/or some provocative sentences that reach beyond Zingerman’s and the food world: <br /><br />I don't want to have to choose.<br /><br />Everything is extraordinarily good, and extraordinarily complicated.<br /><br />Talking about food becomes more important than eating it.<br /><br />She was knowledgeable enough, but the process became more a war of vocabularies and predilections--her book-sanctioned terminology vs. my casual one . . . .<br /><br />Zingerman's must not be judged for itself, but for how far askance it dares to look at the mainstream American food world.<br /><br />. . . there's plenty of fuss on offer at Potbelly too, yet it leads only to mediocrity and monotony. [where you have Potbelly, substitute lit magazines or writers conferences]<br /><br />Yes, right here in Michigan, we have a thing or two to teach New York and San Francisco about eating.Banjo52https://www.blogger.com/profile/04342397136888422440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-579277223676561905.post-17577705064498066272011-02-07T05:30:03.214-08:002011-02-07T05:30:03.214-08:00Potbelly Sandwich Works? Seriously? That sounds ...Potbelly Sandwich Works? Seriously? That sounds like it belongs at the Springfield Squidport. Either chain stores don't even realize they're caricatures of themselves...or they do so deliberately and somehow think that's a good thing?! What I want to know is, do they serve ham salad and egg salad on rye with lettuce and tomato at Zingerman's? Your terminological argument with the goat cheesemonger is at least authentic: that's exactly why I can never get the kind of goat cheese I want in France. Do they play that same bakery jargon game at Zingerman's too? ;-) For a future post, you could just change the title, substitute Italian foods at random, and recycle this as a review of Eataly, which seems to suffer from the same cheesy name and too much of a good thing syndromes. Presumably in the good old days, real food would have been the rule, not the exception, in most little shops, so there would have been no need for these overwhelming "real food" megastores springing up today...Graceful Spacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04972295003581557470noreply@blogger.com