The First Local Tastemaker Nominations
What does it take to be a tastemaker?
It takes a vision. It takes knowing what you think is good and sticking by your guns to bring that goodness to the people. It takes dedication, because it can take time to bring consumers over to your side of the fence. It takes guts to work towards a goal that’s out of the mainstream mindset. It takes integrity. It takes chutzpah.
Tastemakers are important to a community. They push it to strive to be a better place to live. They challenge the status quo. They inspire others to take up the cause. They improve the quality of life.
These people don’t do it for fame or fortune. They do it because they are compelled to do it. They do it the hard way, because that’s the only way that it can be done. And in the end, there is often little reward.
That’s why I wanted to start trying to recognize these individuals in our midst. The first post every month will be open for nominations. Then I’ll highlight the tastemaker of the month prominently on every page of the blog, until its time for the next person to claim the spotlight.
Today it begins. The first round of nominations. So I’ll kick it off with some thought starters.
Funday: Trick or Treat
This is Halloween. Tomorrow isn’t Halloween. Hopefully this year we can take care of all the revelry in just one day instead of needing most of the week. If you like to dress up in costumes at work, you can do that today. If you like to dress up in costumes at parties, you can do that today too, as late as you like, since Saturday’s a holiday.
Saturday is also the Fifth Annual Tour de Cider Donut. But if you don’t already have your ticket, it’s likely too late. Sales close at noon on Friday. Results from the tour will be posted early next week, so those who will be sleeping off tonight’s festivities tomorrow will be spared the hard work of eating a day’s worth of calories in donut form before noon.
For those who are wondering, we’ve got our candy. I did manage to avoid the PGPR. You know what’s extra insidious about an undesirable ingredient that’s only four letters long? It’s really hard to see it on the back of the package, even if you’re looking closely. Although it could just mean I’m in dire need of reading glasses.
Regardless, this holiday is all about strangers knocking on your door, and you giving them what they want. Well I’m going to do that with the blog today. Because you’ll never guess who showed up on my doorstep looking for candy.
Tricky Treats
Life is hard. Vices make it better.
My life is easier than most. I’m very very lucky. But that doesn’t mean it’s without countless daily struggles. And sometimes after a battle over homework, or an unexpectedly difficult trip to the shoe store, it feels good to sit down with a cocktail.
I don’t begrudge people their vices. If cigarettes make it better, so be it. You want to bury your feelings under an avalanche of food at The Cheesecake Factory, go right ahead. Roll a joint. Pop a pill. Run a marathon. It’s your body. Your rules.
Last week TC Paris hosted a one year anniversary party for their Saratoga shop. It was my first time in this new space. I shudder to think how much fat, sugar, carbs and calories I consumed in the form of mini eclairs, mini Paris-Brest, slices of chocolate cake with salted caramel buttercream, prosciutto and cheese sandwiches, and cheese and jam canapés. Chef Paul sent me off with a few treats to go including his toffee, a bag of duchilly hazelnuts, and a couple of black olive sablé cookies.
Dammit, I’m an adult. If I want to gorge on fat and sweets, that’s my right. Kids only get a handful of days each year when this kind of self-destructive binge eating is acceptable. One of them is coming up on Friday.
I have no problem with sugar. Candy is dandy. But these days it’s more tricky.
The 5th Annual Tour de Donut
The Tour de Donut has been a rite of fall since 2010. That was when Stanford Steph encouraged me to lead a group of eaters out into the wilderness in order to sample some of the better apple cider donuts in the region. Our goal was to find the very best.
While the inaugural turn out was modest, the event was even more fun that I had expected. Hanging out with a bunch of like-minded strangers, eating donut after donut after donut, and discussing the properties of each one, is just not something you get to experience every day.
Not only did I decide to continue the Tour de Donut, but that event was the catalyst that spawned several other regional food tours over the years. The Tour de Donut even continued in my absence last year thanks to Steph stepping up and volunteering to lead the group.
This year I’ve let things slip. I’m out of my regular rhythms. So instead of going on tour in September, this year we’re going on Saturday. Amazingly, that’s already November 1. I can’t believe it. As a result, the tour is going to be just a little bit different than it has been in years past.
But I think it’s going to make a lot of people happy.
Smarter Restaurant Philanthropy
Restaurants have it tough. I’ve heard it said that owning a restaurant is a great way to turn a large fortune into a small one. It’s a brutal business.
What makes it even more brutal in the Capital Region are the demands local charities put on our eating places. This is, after all, a small town with a lot of restaurants. The last thing an owner wants to do is to piss off well-connected regulars. As it turns out, many of those regulars are also involved with philanthropy.
Signing on to attend one of these wine and food events isn’t that bad. Restaurants can get suppliers to donate food and take it as a write off. It gets the chefs out of the kitchen for a few hours and puts them face to face with an adoring public. It’s good exposure for the restaurant, as it helps to keep their name fresh in consumers mind. Plus it provides an opportunity to entice prospective guests with a taste of the restaurant’s food.
Participating restaurant come off as being generous. Generous is the opposite of cheap. And in this town, “cheap” is like the worst possible thing imaginable.
The problem is that it’s never just one event. These things go on all the time. And a chef could be away from the kitchen several nights in one week just covering these affairs. Affairs which never truly do a good job at putting the restaurant’s food in the best light. Affairs which effectively replace a dining out occasion for those in attendance. Affairs which may not be geographically proximate to the restaurant and may draw a lot of people who will never consider making a reservation.
I need to dig more deeply into all of this, and I hope to in the near future. For now, I’m pleased to report that one restaurant group seems to have found a better way.
Small, Cheap & Unique
Perhaps a few people today will help these words break out of the echo chamber.
The growing readership of the FLB is humbling. I’m amazed that the site has hundreds of subscribers and that thousands come to these pages regularly to read my thoughts on food. But even regular readers don’t read every post every day. So it’s very possible that one of you reading this right now has no knowledge of the Capital Region’s culinary treasures.
I’m amazed at how many people I meet from Albany, whose families have lived in the region for generations, know nothing about its culinary heritage. Some have never tried a Capital Region Fish Fry, our signature mini dogs, or the idiosyncratic mozzarella sticks with melba sauce.
Perhaps it’s foolish, but given how much I and others have written about some of the region’s more exciting ethnic restaurants, I assume that most people are at least aware of their existence. But like the region’s edible oddities, far too many of our residents have never heard of them.
Take, for example, a recent question posted by a reader of the Table Hopping food blog.
Unburdening: Waste Not Want Not
Yesterday’s post reminded me that I was delinquent in finishing my series on unburdening the family meal. Since I undertook this challenge in September, we’ve covered a lot of ground, and I’ve posed solutions to many of the problems posed in the North Carolina State University study.
Problem: The “ideal meal” is hard to pull off.
Solution: There is no shame in simple one pot meals.
Problem: Healthier lean meats are expensive.
Solution: Cheaper fatty meats are delicious, just use less.
Problem: Fresh veggies can rot if not used quickly.
Solution: Frozen veggies are an awesome alternative.
Problem: Cooking takes a long time.
Solution: It gets faster with practice. Have realistic expectations.
Problem: The kids may reject new foods and cause chaos at the table.
Solution: Try a battle-tested approach that prevents conflict.
There were plenty of other problems identified in the study that I can’t solve. It’s hard to get around not having a clean, safe place for meal preparation. It’s hard to cook if you don’t have access to a pot or a stove.
Perhaps there are some good tips and tricks for preparing delicious food in a microwave, but I’m not equipped to provide those. Still, I found one last problem to solve, and that’s what to do with leftovers if the kids reject the meal and take the cereal option.
Judging for Good
Fasting is good for the soul. It sucks for the body, but it’s a powerful reminder about the physical effects of hunger. I recently went through this and the headaches, fatigue, and irritability were all very real. It was sobering to reflect on how many people go without food on a daily basis. Not just in faraway places, but here in America and in our very own communities.
Ever since I was young, I’ve been a believer in supporting charities that help fight hunger, because there’s not much one can accomplish on an empty stomach.
Without a doubt, I am very lucky to be able to do what I do. My grandmother, who lived through The Great Depression, couldn’t understand why I was so irate at the dismal state of my cappuccino. So I drew her a diagram of how this drink is supposed to be fundamentally different than the latte I was served. It was no use. She thought that I should be glad just to have coffee.
But later this week, I will have the chance to put my fastidious observations on food to good use. As crazy as it seems, I’ll be judging a culinary competition at a fundraiser for The Food Pantries for the Capital District. I suspect it’s going to be awesome, and here’s why.
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