Last Pan Standing

Packing up the kitchen is traumatic. Even after I cooked our last meal, the cookware remained in the kitchen. And last night, we still sat around the dining room table eating leftovers warmed up in one of the All-Clad saucepans. You know, since I refuse to have a microwave.

But now all the cookware is packed. All but for the cast iron skillets.

They are my babies. And they get packed last. These mighty pans may even get to ride in the front of the cab with me. I haven’t figured that part out yet. I’ve also kept two cocktail mixing spoons out of the box. Don’t laugh: with their long handles they are quite a versatile tool. As our last remaining metal utensil, they may help to scramble one or two last eggs later today.

I’m not letting go of cooking. You can pry my pans from my cold dead hands. But speaking of not letting go, there is someone else I want to tell you about. And I am pretty sure he’s been writing since before I was born. Now he is blogging. Actually he’s been doing that for awhile too. And really, the only thing that his blog needs is you.

Bill Dowd and I don’t always see eye to eye. Maybe that’s why I’m not on his blog roll. But maybe it’s just because I have never asked. Or perhaps I was on there once upon a time, and after I became persona non grata on Table Hopping, the FLB was removed.

I have no idea. But these are trivial matters.

Here’s the thing. The Capital Region is bigger than it looks. If you are willing to drive 45 minutes for a special dinner, your choices of restaurants is immense. Keeping tabs on the ins and outs of these kitchens can be a full time job. And for a while that job was being done admirably by the Times Union’s senior writer Steve Barnes on his Table Hopping blog.

Recently, not so much. And even if there is an occasional good story, the comments get mired down in some nasty infighting between readers. Part of me wonders if some restaurants are shying away from sharing their news on the blog as a result of its commenters.

Dowd’s blog, Notes on Napkins, recently has been doing an incredible job of succeeding where Table Hopping has failed.

If you read Table Hopping, you might not know the Capital City Gastropub is getting a makeover. There were also three notable closings in Troy’s CityStation that were covered by Notes on Napkins but not in the TU’s most well-read food blog. And he has a great piece on what’s been going on with Sarah Fish and what’s up her sleeve.

There are a few places where Dowd falls off the mark. He laments that the Capital Region doesn’t have a Signature Dish of its own, when in fact it has several. None of which were mentioned in his post. And, amazingly, this error of omission wasn’t commented upon.

Because here’s the thing. He may have readers, but he does not have commenters.

Man, his blog could really be great if some of you were to pop over there and engage in the same thoughtful, respectful, insightful conversations that occasionally spring up on the FLB. As I will invariably be focusing less on the Capital Region in the days to come, I’m hoping that some of your energy and enthusiasm for our emerging culinary scene can be channeled over there.

It’s a great opportunity to engage with the news on local eateries without the drama of the TU. And the fact that it’s written by a former TU food critic who simply refuses to stop writing, gives it a unique sense of perspective into the area.

I may not always agree with Mr. Dowd, both now and his observations from the past, but I totally respect what he’s doing, and I hope you check him out.

Now, I’ve got to pack like the wind.