Pigs In A Blanket

-A.J.

I recently received Anthony Bourdain’s – Appetites: A Cookbook.

There are some funny bits and some smart bits. And some stuff about his kid. In the “Party 101” chapter Bourdain shares some ideas from his catering background. What caught me was this:

…All that being said, the single most important lesson I learned over the course of many years, and many, many parties, is this humbling but inescapable fact: that no matter what you serve, no matter how beautifully presented, strikingly garnished, exotic in flavor, or expensive … what everybody wants, what they will be all over like a swarm, every time, is commerically made freezer-case-sourced pigs in fucking blankets. It doesn’t matter who your guests are. They will eat them, and they will love them. Whether this involves post-ironic posturing or just straightforward enthusiasm, they will love them just the same.

Well, I had to try that out.. didn’t I?

Grainy cell phone pic taken at a friend's house. — Grainy cell phone pic taken at a friend’s house.

[A few minutes out of the oven and about 25% have been eaten.]

The was a lot more food than there were people, but most of the pigs in a blanket were consumed anyway. Bourdain is probably 100% right, even adjusting for a home environment.

I’ll need to try this “test” again on a bigger, unsuspecting crowd and see how it shakes out.

Thanks to SeattleAuthor and spouse for the book.

Amazon link here.

Are There Free Refills With That?

By Iron Chef Leftovers

This conversation was supposedly overheard at Le Bernadin recently:

As my boyfriend and I are finishing a celebratory dinner at Le Bernardin, on West 55th Street, a couple in their 50s wearing festive sweaters sits down at the next table.
Waitress (to the couple): “Can I offer you a drink before dinner?”
Woman: “I’ll have an unsweetened iced tea.”
Waitress: “O.K.”
Woman: “Do you have free refills?”
Waitress: “Uh, I’m not sure. I’ll have to check.”
Woman: “Check, and if you do, then I’ll take it with ice. If you don’t have free refills, I’ll have it with the ice on the side.”
Waitress: “Got it.”

I am making an assumption here that we are talking about the dining room at Le Bernadin and not the lounge. If you are unfamiliar with Le Bernadin, it is a restaurant in NYC belonging to Bourdain-pal Eric Ripert and has 3 Michelin Star and 4 stars from the NY Times, oh and is considered to be the #19 restaurant in the world.

The menu is basically a bunch of fix priced offerings: between $124 and $194 per person, excluding tax, tip and beverages, depending on the options you choose (there is no al a carte menu). I find it hilarious that someone that is dropping a minimum of $160 per person is worried about a $5 glass of iced tea, if it is event that much. Some people just really confuse me.

How to Soften the Blow of a Bad Review

By Iron Chef Leftovers

I have never met Guy Fieri, but I really don’t like the guy who Anthony Bourdain once called “The Poochie of Food Network.” I have never been to any of his restaurants, so I can’t comment on if they are any good, but he recently opened a 500 seat monstrosity in Times Square in NYC. It seems that the place is terrible and has met with many bad reviews, including one recently from the NY Times writer Peter Wells (you can read that here – he actually gave the place 0 stars).

Eater.com, it all its wisdom, took some of the worst criticisms from Wells and in a shout out to Fieri’s feelings and in an attempt to soften the blow, added them to pictures of kittens. There is brilliance in this – I am going to have to remember this the next time I write a negative review on something. I highly recommend reading the review first then going here to see all the pictures, but here are two of my favorites: