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Supermarket vs. Farmers Market

May 14, 2013

Last Friday I was on a great panel with chef Ric Orlando, Rebekah Rice from Nine Mile Farm and Sharon DiLorenzo from Capital District Community Gardens. We could have talked about food for hours.

Actually, I’m looking forward to making it out to Rebekah’s farm one of these days and bringing back some of her eggs.

For me the panel was an exercise in restraint. I have something to say on just about everything. But I also wanted to allow other panelists a chance to speak. For the most part I think I was pretty good at hitting the issues I felt most strongly about. However, there was one where the moderator moved the conversation forward before I had a chance to weigh in.

It was one helluva question.

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This Week’s To Do List

May 13, 2013

Man, I hate nature.

Yesterday, instead of heading down to Washington Park and trying some diminutive sandwiches on All Good Bakers’ rolls from the Slidin’ Dirty truck, I spent the day doing projects around the house for Mrs. Fussy. She said that it was the best Mother’s Day ever.

Some of those projects involved yard work. And the most physically demanding part of the yard work was removing the vines that were growing among the hedges. Man those things are great at surviving. You cut them and they grow back. You pull them out, and they scatter thousands of seeds everywhere. It’s a stunning design.

At least I didn’t have to tackle this task in the grueling heat.

This week is starting off a bit cooler than it has been, and I’m going to take advantage of that fact today and tomorrow. It’s actually a busy week for me so I may not be able to take advantage of some of the other things going on this week. But maybe you can.

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The Worst Mother’s Day Present Ever

May 12, 2013
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Do you know what it feels like when I get served breakfast in bed? Go ahead. Take a guess.

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The Capital Region’s Good Side

May 10, 2013

Today I get to talk about food in front of an audience. These things are always a lot of fun. I love talking about food. Except today I’m not doing it alone, I’ll be on a panel.

The audience will be the members of a regional leadership program that’s organized by the Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber the Chamber of Schenectady County. And the other members of the panel are chef Ric Orlando, Rebekah Rice from Nine Mile Farm and Sharon DiLorenzo from Capital District Community Gardens.

Presumably the farmers and gardeners will be talking about the great bounty that surrounds us. Ric can speak to how he uses these locally grown foods in his restaurant. And me? Part of what I’m going to have to mention is the tragedy that more places don’t do the same. But the session is about the good life in the region. And believe it or not, after all of these years sniffing around for good things to eat in the region, I’ve come up with a rather substantial list of things to be happy about.

Who would have thunk it.

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Committed

May 9, 2013

There are plenty of things that can make a restaurant noteworthy. For the most part I tend to focus on the food and its ingredients. Which isn’t to say that I devalue other criteria.

Truth be told, I’ve given up the quest for good service a long time ago. These days my expectations are quite low for service. I’ll note from which side things are served and which side they are removed. I’ll notice the direction of elbows. And I’ll cringe at each iteration of, “Hello, my name is _____ and I’ll be your server.”

One of the things that can make a restaurant special is its connection to the past. And this can take a few forms. This can be your own personal past, or a deeply connected past in the region.

Yesterday the focus was on how some restaurants must have the menu flexibility to adjust to the changing daily availability of the most delicious seasonal ingredients. Today I thought it was important to consider those restaurants where changing anything on the menu would be akin to repainting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

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The Hard Way: Menus

May 8, 2013

Running even an unspectacular restaurant is hard work. But the places that rise to the top of the industry do it by going the extra mile. Instead of cutting corners, they add thoughtful touches. Instead of doing things the easy way, they do it the hard way. And in the end, it’s the hard way that makes them better.

There are so many examples of how this plays out in practice. And some of these themes have already been touched upon at one point or another in the history of the FLB. However, yesterday on Table Hopping there was a discussion about how often would you like to see the menu change at your favorite restaurant.

Steve Barnes acknowledged that his favorite local spots tend to change their menu quarterly. To his credit, Steve pushed for monthly changing menus, but allowed the restaurants an out citing workload, expense, printing and training.

Still, he got it wrong.

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More than Monsanto

May 7, 2013

Remember how I just said that I was going to keep the posts on the FLB light throughout the summer?

Well the outpouring of support yesterday convinced me otherwise. I was really touched by everyone who came out of the woodwork to wish the Fussies luck in our new adventures. But we’re not leaving yet. Plus we are totally coming back.

And of course there will be a tour before I leave. She doesn’t know it yet, but I may also have Jessica R. try to pull of an additional tour in absentia of the Profussor. However, I may need to buy her a couple of beers first.

But we’ll talk more about that soon once I get a few things straightened out. For now though I’m going to switch gears and move on to a more serious rant. It’s one that usually makes Mrs. Fussy roll her eyes. However, I think even she will come around on today’s tirade about the most dreaded name in GMOs: Monsanto.

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