Missing a Rant or Two

Having been a tad busy with work, family and the like, I haven't had my chance to rant recently. So here goes.

As a kid, there appeared to be few "chain" restaurants out there. Yeah, we had McDonald's White Castle, Wetson's and the like but we didn’t refer to then as "chains." Rather, they were "fast food." We had a great number of single owner, mom and pop and family operated restaurants. Food prices at the time ran from $4 to $15 for a decent entree of pasta, veal, pork or steak. Things were prepared by chefs and cooks of every nationality under the sun. The food, by and large, was uniformly terrific. What happened to these restaurants? Did the "mid-priced” chains run them all out? I think so. You know the ones we are talking about: Applebees, Chilis, Olive Garden, Carrabbas, TGIF Fridays and such---owned by huge multinational corporations that appear to weather any financial storm by reducing quality and quantity so the "numbers work." They contract with a "chef-celebrity" and pretend it is quality food prepared by the chef-celebutant. I think these places are terrible on many levels. The old lady known as Mama who cooked at one of my favorites in the Bronx, Louis', would never dream of such. If the price of Broccoli Rabe was too high, she didn't serve it.  If the clams didn's smell right, she didn't buy them. She didn't stretch, cut corners, or worse yet, cheat. Now we have "production managers" and "food assemblers" and kids putting themselves through school serving a prepackaged, prefrozen, self declared culinary masterpiece.  These are not chefs and cooks at these monolithic chains where the food is literally factory made, cryo-vaced and sent in frozen from every corner of the world to these so called "family and neighborhood restaurants.” Their staff have degrees in management and accountancy rather than in the culinary arts. We settle on this as food??? Why? They are literally numbing our taste buds with flavorless, boring food. Do some good: Take a stand. As Nancy Reagan would say: JUST SAY NO! Avoid them at all costs. Let them know that we don't settle for a pasta and vongole, where the pasta had never been in the same room with a live clam; that they can’t sell essence of polpo. I want a big ol' piece of octopus in a fra diavolo.

I tried to explain this to a few not too bright folk the other day and apparently, liking to be led around by the nose by those more blinded than them, they suggested that "not everyone can eat at expensive restaurants." Clearly these folk missed the point: A well run family, chef owned restaurant can and usually is less expensive than these chains. These restaurants do nothing more contribute to the “dumbing” of America's culinary education and expectations. Think about the last time you had a memorable meal (or an inexpensive one) at one of these chains??? Go ahead it’s a Brave New World out there----find a privately owned restaurant and you'll be pleasantly surprised.

More Mis-labeled Food

Although I am desperately trying not to have this blog turn into a food critic's page, such is becoming more difficult.  Another rant.  If  a chef is going to change the main ingredient of a traditional dish, PLEASE tell your customers.

With the arrival of fall, one of my favorite dishes, ossobuco alla milanese, makes a greater and grander appearance on menus. My wife and I headed to a local establishment, the Chop House,  for a weekday night out dinner.  There it was on the menu:  ossobuco.  A cool crisp fall evening just cried out for braised veal with a sultry gremolata. Had to go there. What was on my plate when served was not veal ossobuco, but rather pork ossobuco. In other words,   braised fresh ham hock---not a veal shank.  I would not say  I was disappointed but surprised that I had no warning that that chef opted to go with pork rather than veal and not inform this guests. (Then a horrific thought:  Perhaps  Tennesseans think ossobuco is supposed to be made with pork????) Should I inform them that traditional ossobuco is made with veal????? Is this another reason why Tennessee is certainly a "different" kind of place, if you know what I mean.  BTW the dish was terrific but not as expected.

A few days later, having theatre tickets, we headed out to Nashville for an early dinner and a show. Tried a restaurant we had yet to venture into,  The Bound'ry.  Again, on the menu was my yearned for ossobuco.  Karen, our supremely professional server, looked at me like I was nuts when I asked if it was veal rather than pork ossobuco. "Veal, of course, with a fork placed right in the marrow for your convenience" she responded.  Embarrassed  I had to inform her that we recently were surprised with a pork hock rather than a veal shank and once bitten twice shy. Chefs should learn quickly that changing a dishes ingredients is fine and they should not limit their creativity---just let us know before we order. Labeling is really, really important in my opinion.  By the way, the Bound'ry is, in our opinion, one of the best restaurants in Nashville.