Wow, this one is 37 years old, from 1971. And I remember it well.
Commercial of the Week — Nostalgia Edition
February 29, 2008
5 Comments | 
General, Video | Tagged: Food, Food commercials, McDonalds, Nostalgia | 
Permalink
Posted by Varmint
Crab Cakes — Part II
February 27, 2008A few months ago I wrote about the way I make crab cakes. It was a fairly traditional recipe using breadcrumbs, egg, and a little mayo as the binder.
That was the way I used to make crab cakes, because after last night’s experiment, I’m not going back. What did I do differently? I used a binder of scallop/shrimp mousse. Let me explain.
I first heard of using a seafood mousse as a binder in cakes last year in a discussion on eGullet. But I really didn’t think about this again until yesterday, when I had lunch with a chef friend, and our discussion focused on why so many places serve lousy crab cakes. She suggested for a binder using a mousse made mostly of scallops, with a bit of egg and cream added to help emulsify it all. She said that when the mousse cooks, it almost fades into the crab, so you end up with a crab cake that is almost all lumps of luscious crab meat, without any noticeable binder. Read the rest of this entry »
11 Comments | Cooking, Family and Food, General, Recipes | Tagged: Crab cakes, Food, Recipe, Scallops, Seafood mousse, Shrimp | Permalink
Posted by Varmint
Raleigh Restaurants Open on Sundays and Mondays
February 26, 2008
Mrs. Varmint and I were at a political fundraiser last night and although the food was quite tasty, there really wasn’t enough of it. We had a babysitter, so why not go out to dinner? But then we realized that it was Monday — one of the nights, along with Sundays — when the chef might have the night off.
So I realized I should put together a list of places that are open on Sundays and Mondays in Raleigh and the eastern part of Cary. This will be an ongoing process, and I’m looking to y’all to help me with this list, which I’ll update whenever someone lets me know of another place that’s open on Sunday or Monday. I’ll probably even put a static link to this list on a sidebar. The list comes after the break. Read the rest of this entry »
14 Comments | Cary, General, Raleigh, Restaurants | Tagged: Cary, Hours, Raleigh, Restaurants | Permalink
Posted by Varmint
Frustrating Dining Note: Kanki Edition
February 25, 2008My son wanted to go to Kanki for his birthday dinner, which is a pretty normal request for a teenager. So I called the Crabtree Mall location and made reservations for the 9 of us, including additional friends and family. The woman on the other line informed me that they would not seat us until all 9 of us were there, and if our group was not fully assembled within 15 minutes of our slotted time, we’d lose our reservation. Ouch! But I understand, as Kanki is busy and their method of cooking really does require everyone to be seated at once. I can accept that.
So, at our reservation time, we’re missing one person, but he shows up 5 minutes later. I then go to the hostess’ desk and inform her, “Reservations for McCord, please. Our entire party is here” Her response? She looks at her reservations list, looks up at me, and then hands me The Beeper. “It’ll be a few minutes, sir, while we find you a table.”
Huh? Excuse me? There’s a bunch of walk-ins with beepers around me. There are a handful of tables available. And now we just take our place in the queue and wait our turn? Of course, my 7 year old says, “But I thought we had reservations, Daddy?” It’s here where I try not to act like a complete jerk that I can sometimes be. I tell my kids that we’ll just have to wait and acting rudely will only make it worse. And then we wait, as other large groups with beepers (and they were walk-ins) are seated before us. We only had to wait ten minutes or so before we were led to our table, but this situation truly perplexed us. Were these actual reservations, or was this just a method to be placed in line with all the walk-ins? I know how reservations work at regular restaurants, but this seemed to be different, and could just be chalked up to the entire hibachi system.
As for our dinner? Everyone had a great time, as we probably had the best hibachi chef ever. So, the reservation snafu was forgotten and forgiven. Except for me.
7 Comments | Raleigh, Restaurants | Tagged: Dining, Kanki, Reservations | Permalink
Posted by Varmint
Raleigh Locopops is Open
February 23, 2008
The Raleigh branch of Locopops opened yesterday, and I’m one happy Varmint! As I wrote some time ago, Locopops is located at the old Weatherman’s Jewelers on Hillsborough Street, right next to Red Hot & Blue. I had the opportunity to chat with co-owner Connie Semans, and she’s very excited about the new shop. And after having a Cardamom Latte paleta, so am I!!!
Locopops
1908 Hillsborough St., Raleigh
Open Daily from 12-6
3 Comments | Best Of the Triangle, Family and Food, Raleigh, Restaurants | Tagged: LocoPops, Popsicles, Raleigh | Permalink
Posted by Varmint
Politically Incorrect Food Ad of the Week
February 22, 2008I really don’t have anything to say about this, other than, Oh my.
7 Comments | General | Tagged: Advertisements, Coffee, Food | Permalink
Posted by Varmint
Yancy’s Files for Bankruptcy; Sign of Things to Come Downtown?
February 20, 2008
Downtown Raleigh has taken its first major hit since the opening of Fayetteville Street. Yancy’s, the restaurant and jazz club that some say is one of the keystones to the downtown revival, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday according to the Triangle Business Journal. Pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 11, Yancy’s will remain open while it works to reorganize and resolve its debt load. However, this is a sad moment, as this particular establishment is all-too-obviously struggling. At over 10,000 square feet, I wonder if the space was too large. And although co-owner Harvey Yancey is an iconic figure in the Raleigh food and music scene, he has had difficulties at his prior places.
I hope Yancy’s makes it. I suspect that this may be a sign that the bad economy is affecting our restaurant scene, but if you want to make sure that we have a good place for jazz and food, you better haul your butt to Yancy’s, or it’ll be gone soon.
7 Comments | General, Raleigh, Restaurants | Tagged: Bankruptcy, Downtown Raleigh, Fayetteville Street, Food, Yancy's | Permalink
Posted by Varmint
Best Food Website Ever! (Er, Best Aggregator of Food News!)
February 19, 2008I really don’t know how I’ve not discovered this website before: Coldmud. This website has all the stupid stories of food phobias, bad actors, and idiotic policies. They have everything, including a link to a video of how to open a beer bottle with a chainsaw (talk about useful information!). I am incredibly humbled by this site’s thoroughness.
But who has time to sort through all of this wonderful information everyday? I promise you, the faithful readers of VarmintBites, that I will post only the best of the best from Coldmud. Today, I present to you the sad and tragic tale of Mariah, a girl who has not just a dislike of pickles, but a complete, incapacitating phobia. I’m talking ax murderer afraid. Now why she hasn’t received any major psychoanalysis about this fear beats the hell out of me, but the girl needs help. Of course, this could be one big act, but she’s pretty damn convincing. Witness for yourselves, as this is really, truly sad:
4 Comments | General, Video | Tagged: Food, Television, Coldmud, Food phobias, Pickles | Permalink
Posted by Varmint
My Morning With an Artisanal Baker
February 18, 2008
My watch’s alarm chirped at me at 4:15. It was time for me to get my sorry butt out of bed, shower, and make the 15 minute drive to Cary’s La Farm Bakery. I kept asking myself why the hell I had asked to spend a few hours in this award-winning artisanal bakery. Of course, by the time I arrived at 4:50, Philippe Comte had been there for nearly five hours. That’s the life of an apprentice baker, who has come to the US from his home in Paris to learn from a baking master such as Lionel Vatinet. For me, I was just some “journalist” who wanted to spend a few hours with my hands in the dough.
It was February 14 — Valentine’s Day — but I had totally forgotten about that until I arrived to see Philippe pull a dozen loaves of heart-shaped baguettes out of the oven. That would be the theme of my visit with La Farm, as heart-shaped objects ruled the day. Cookies, tarts, bread and more were being made for the lovers of the world — OK, maybe just the lovers of Cary.
Lionel Vatinet has traveled the world, first to learn to make bread, and then to teach others the secrets of the craft, and then, nearly 10 years ago, to open his own bakery with his then girlfriend and now wife, Missy. There was nothing magical about Cary, as Lionel wanted to set up shop in California, but Missy had some family in North Carolina and wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle. So due to the lack of any firm roots, we here in the Triangle ended up being the beneficiaries of their new home. Read the rest of this entry »
9 Comments | Best Of the Triangle, Cary, Photos, Video, chefs | Tagged: Bakery, Baking, Bread, Cary, Food, La Farm Bakery | Permalink
Posted by Varmint
James Beard Award Pre-Candidates
February 16, 2008
Ballots for the 2008 James Beard Awards have been sent to the judges, and there are a number of Triangle chefs and restaurants on this very long list. Just being on the ballot is an honor (OK, the founder of the Chipotle chain is there, so maybe not such an honor), although these have rarely been leaked to the public before.
Here are the locals who received a mention:
Best Chef: Southeast
Scott Howell, Nana’s
Andrea Reusing, Lantern
Chip Smith, Bonne Soiree
Rising Star Chef of the Year
Jeremy Sabo, South
Outstanding Restaurant
Magnolia Grill
Best New Restaurant
Watt’s Grocery
3 Comments | Best Of the Triangle, Chapel Hill, Durham, General, Raleigh, Restaurants, chefs | Tagged: Food, James Beard Awards, RTP, Triangle | Permalink
Posted by Varmint
Love, Food and Compatibility
February 15, 2008
I saw two different articles on Wednesday talking about how couples deal with incompatibility between their diets. In some instances, the differences are due to medical reasons, such as an inability to eat gluten. Sometimes, it’s a philosophical difference, such as a vegetarian married to a meat eater (the best example was Bill Niman being married to a vegetarian). Finally, there’s differences in taste, such as when one spouse hates spicy food and the other loves it.
There’s no doubt that couples who are incompatible culinarily can still be quite compatible in their personal lives. Exhibit A: Mrs. Varmint and me. I am an unabashed foodie. I will go out of my way to try new restaurants or to get involved in a different type of food experience (hell, I spent a few hours before dawn yesterday kneading dough at an artisanal bakery — story to come!). I love all kinds of food and frankly, arrogantly don’t understand why some people dislike certain things. And, of course, I love to cook, and I think I do it reasonably well. Read the rest of this entry »
4 Comments | Family and Food, General | Tagged: Compatibility, Cooking, Diet, Food, Love | Permalink
Posted by Varmint
Commercial of the Week — Wouldn’t Work Today Edition
February 15, 2008This is an interesting commercial that promotes two different products in one ad. Now I know that pushing a breakfast cereal with a juice/beverage isn’t all that unusual, but something tells me that there might not be 5 kids in the country today who would go for this combination.
2 Comments | General, Video | Tagged: Commercials, Food, Food commercials, Television, Videos | Permalink
Posted by Varmint
Birria, I Just Ate at a Place with Birria*
February 13, 2008
When I grabbed my newspaper this morning, I was pissed, because once again, the carrier failed to double bag it, and as it slid across my driveway, lots of tears in the bag resulted in the rain turning the N&O into a soggy mess. But still, knowing it was Wednesday, I pulled the wet sections apart, went to the Life section, and started reading. As y’all know, I now look forward to Wednesday’s food section. After reading a wonderful article about a traditional French method of cooking mussels, I went to Greg Cox’s section on new restaurant openings. Greg gets all the best tips, and he certainly had one for me today.
Muy Pronto Fonda y Birrieria Jalisco opened just last Friday in the Paddington Square complex off of Wake Forest Road near the Sam’s Club. They’re so new that they apologized for not having their English menu ready. Frankly, I didn’t know what a birrieria was, but I do now — they serve birria, silly. Oh, what’s birria? It’s heaven on a rainy day, that’s what. It’s an aromatic stew made with chunks of goat (yes, tender, flavorful cabrito), with a rich broth of dried peppers and tomatoes. Read the rest of this entry »
8 Comments | General, Raleigh, Restaurants | Tagged: Birria, Birrieria, Birrieria Jalisco, Cabrito, Food, Goat, Mexican Food, Raleigh | Permalink
Posted by Varmint
Chefs, Businesses and Their Restaurants
February 12, 2008
Over the past year or two, we in the Triangle have experienced a mini-boom in the number of chef-owned restaurants. Poole’s, Watt’s Grocery, Piedmont, Rue Cler, Bonne Soiree, and others. To the foodies of the world (and I include myself in that group), one gets a great buzz to eat at a chef-owned restaurant in the first few days after it’s opened. Chef-owned establishments are considered ultra-hip, and I even try to get to know the chefs, because that just makes me hip, too. Heh.
But when a new restaurant opens that isn’t owned by a chef, it just doesn’t get the same press. And I’m as guilty as anyone in that regard. I really started to understand my own bias when it came to Herons restaurant in the Umstead Hotel. I found myself unenthusiastic because Herons was, well, a hotel restaurant. And with The Mint just opening in downtown Raleigh, I certainly didn’t welcome it with much enthusiasm and even told some friends that I really didn’t have much interest in trying it. Was that lack of fervor due to its size, its controversial connections with the city of Raleigh, the menu, or because it seemed to be a place owned by a faceless investment group rather than a known chef? Would I have given as much attention to The Pit if it were just Greg Hatem’s company opening it, without the involvement of Ed Mitchell? Read the rest of this entry »
23 Comments | Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham, General, Raleigh, Restaurants, chefs | Tagged: Chef-owned restaurants, chefs, Food, Restaurants | Permalink
Posted by Varmint
Commercial of the Week — Grant Wood Edition
February 8, 2008Check out this very annoying commercial for Country Corn Flakes, whatever the hell they are. This is one of those songs where my mind truly did its job and suppressed all memory of it. Until now. I now recall this painful commercial, and now that this song is stuck in my head for all eternity, accompanied by horrible nightmares and night sweats, I thought it was my civic duty to share it with you, the fine readers of VarmintBites.
Interestingly, a little internet research led me to Harvard historian Steven Biel’s book on the cultural impact of Grant Wood’s American Gothic, the painting upon which this commercial was based. This apparently was one of the highest rated and longest running commercials of all time. The song was actually based on the chords from “You Are My Sunshine.” The most brilliant part of the commercial is toward the end when the woman looks directly at the camera for the first time, with these pleading eyes, singing, “Please buy our cornflakes.”
Click on the video at your own risk. And by the way, this is the ad for Country Corn Flakes made with rice!
2 Comments | Video | Tagged: Advertisements, Breakfast, Cereal, Corn Flakes, Country Corn Flakes, Food, Food commercials | Permalink
Posted by Varmint
Cocktail of the Week: Juniperotivo
February 8, 2008
My buddy Sam Kinsey turned me onto this gin-based cocktail with the funny name, the Juniperotivo. These were a huge hit at my dinner party a couple of weekends ago, and even if you don’t like gin, you should give this sweet and sour cocktail a try. It has two ingredients that may be somewhat hard to get in some locations, but you won’t have a problem in the Triangle. The name of the cocktail comes from its primary ingredient, Junipero gin, which is made by the same company that brings us Anchor Steam beer. As I’ve said before, I love this stuff, and it’s available in our ABC stores. Junipero is very herbaceous, with a particularly strong backbone of juniper (duh!). The other ingredient, which is even more essential than the Junipero, is pomegranate molasses. This thick, dark elixir can be found at Middle Eastern markets. Neomonde actually has several different varieties. I can’t recommend one over the other, but they’re quite inexpensive (and really tasty).
So give this drink a try. It’s sophisticated, but very accessible, and when you serve it to your guests, they’ll rightly think you’re a mixology guru.
1 Comment | Cocktails, General, Recipes | Tagged: Cocktail, Gin, Junipero, Juniperotivo, Pomegranate | Permalink
Posted by Varmint
Ed Mitchell Featured in N&O
February 6, 2008Andrea Weigl has a great in-depth story on The Pit’s Ed Mitchell in today’s News & Observer. Weigl pulls no punches, digging into Mitchell’s background, his lawsuit with the bank that foreclosed on his Wilson barbecue restaurant, and his ultimate conviction for tax evasion. Ed Mitchell, like all of us, is a flawed human being. He has made a number of mistakes and lost control of the industry built around his “Pitmaster” persona. But give him credit: he landed on his feet, found a solid business partner in Greg Hatem, and has put together an incredible barbecue restaurant. In some ways, Mitchell’s failings make him a much more intriguing character, and when you get right down to it, a little notoriety probably ain’t too bad for business. Frankly, I like Ed Mitchell — he’s got a personality that will win you over the moment you talk to him. You may feel like you’re talking to a snake oil salesman, but Mitchell ultimately convinces you that not only should you buy that snake oil, but it really does the body good. He’s a salesman. He’s a personality. He’s a barbecue icon. While you’re at it, check out the multimedia presentation on Mitchell on the N&O’s website. Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment | Barbecue, Best Of the Triangle, Food writing, General, Raleigh, Restaurants, Southern food, chefs | Tagged: Andre Weigl, Barbecue, Ed Mitchell, Food writing, Greg Hatem, New & Observer, The Pit | Permalink
Posted by Varmint
UNC-Duke Basketball, Food and Managers
February 5, 2008
The beauty of having your own blog is that you get to make the rules, so you don’t necessarily have to stay totally on topic. Thus, on the day before the first Duke-UNC basketball game of the year, I’ll show my true colors.
I was a manager with the UNC basketball team from 1981-1985. I spent the first two years primarily with the junior varsity team. There were six of us JV managers, and we were essentially in competition for one varsity spot. We had to hustle out on the floor to wipe up sweat after a player fell. We had to set up the locker rooms before the varsity games. We kneeled behind the benches, usually right behind the coaches’ seats. We wiped the sweat of their chairs after time-outs. I even got on TV a lot, noticing at one point the camera was on me (well, actually, Dean Smith, but I was right behind him). I waved and said “Hi, Mom.” I got called up to Coach Smith’s office the next day, with him telling me, “I’m glad you love your Mom, Dean, but we don’t do that here.” Ouch. Read the rest of this entry »
10 Comments | Events, Food writing, General | Tagged: Basketball, Dean Smith, Duke, Food, Managers, Roy Williams, UNC | Permalink
Posted by Varmint
Herons’ Chef Bids Adieu
February 4, 2008Well, just after I wrote about how much I love Herons, I learned that their chef, Phil Evans, has parted ways with the restaurant. I have no other details, but his departure has been confirmed. That’s a darn shame, and it will be interesting to hear what happens in the kitchen during this transitional period.
1 Comment | Cary, General, Restaurants, chefs | Tagged: Cary, Food, Herons, Hotel, Phil Evans, The Umstead | Permalink
Posted by Varmint
Pancakes? Crepes? Breakfast!
February 2, 2008Another gem that I got from Bob Del Grosso (Bob, I really need to get your sources). This is a very clever and fun video on making pancakes. OK, I think they’re actually making crepes, but you know how those Brits are. . .
1 Comment | Cooking, Video | Tagged: Crepes, Food, Pancakes, Video | Permalink
Posted by Varmint
