As you know 2009 created significant hurdles for those of us in the food writing world. Where despite the claims from others that all food writers have "loads of disposable income", we gotta tell ya times were tough. But we pressed on, dedicated to giving you your daily read.
Meal of the Year
Peter: Lunch at Galatoire's - twice. First, on the day I passed the bar exam. Triple B's baby brother was gracious enough to wait in line for us starting at 6:30; there were already three people ahead of him when he got there. Second, for the annual post-Thanksgiving luncheon with Rene, Legend, The Pope, and the women folk who are so kind to put up with us. This year was my first after a three-time self imposed prohibition due to law school finals. My penalty? Waiting in line for the table.
Annoying Trend We Wish Would DisappearPeter: Serving my steak/lamb/fish/protein-of-choice on top of my starch. I wish this was only a trend, but unfortunately it's been around for quite some time now and shows no sign of disappearing. I ordered steak and mashed potatoes, not steak with mashed potatoes. I take separate bites of my food. Why? Because I happen to enjoy different textures. If I want to smear a bit of grits on my pork tenderloin, then I am perfectly capable of performing such task on my own.
Rene: Every new cocktail having an either long and cryptic name (i.e. Ol Doc McGillicuddy's Fire Alarm) or ending in "-tini." For example, the Ritz-Carlton has a cocktail they created to go along with the stylish trumpeting of Jeremy Davenport. Cashing in on the evocative and longed for martini culture of the Rat Pack, they decided to name this drink the Davenportini. A horrible name for sure; especially when you consider the best name for this drink would have been The Davenport. Simple, direct, classic, sort of British sounding, and elegant. So please, bartenders stop naming drinks as if they belong on a TGI Friday's menu.
Blog Character of the Year
The Folk Singer had this award locked up for most of the year. However, in December things took a treasonous turn for her. If we were still giving out the most disappointing character of the year, she would be a shoe in. As it stands today, she is a shoe out. So by default the award goes to Donnie Boy Riguez. Donnie Boy, your intrepid, inspiring and amusing comments made no one laugh.
Chef of the YearPeter: Anthony Bourdain. Why? Because I met him, and the man truly loves New Orleans.
Rene: Aaron Burgau of Patois. Burgau has taken the bounty of Louisiana foods and married them harmoniously with a stylish, comfortable neighborhood bistro without the frou frou preaching found elsewhere. Plus, he is a HUGE Saints fan and thus likely a Bud Man.
Best New Restaurant:
And finally the Jon Gosselin Award for "Failing to Finish What You Started" goes to...
Peter and his Challenge. More on that tomorrow.
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7 comments:
I'm going to channel my inner Kanye and interrupt Donnie Boy's acceptance speech, but everyone knows The Pope is the best blog character of the year.
And Rene, everyone knows your favorite chef is Scott Boswell. If there is any doubt, just check the number of times you've tweeted "@ChefScottB" in 2009.
Your snarky comments portend an abrupt halt to your measly blog before the real end of the decade. Like the ancient Greeks I, too, decry the use of "0" when counting years. "How can nothing be something?" unless, of course, that something is a fine Poor Boy sandwich provided by a timely, solvent advertiser.
And boom goes the dynamite!
I hate the "intellectual" discussion of what is or isn't a decade based upon the amazing discovery that the new millennium didn't start until 2001 because there was no "year zero."
In this current society we live in, we tend to group time according to the "tens" place. (See. the 60s, 70s, 80s). 1990 wasn't apart of the 1980s. And you can't convince me otherwise.
A decade is any ten year period of time. 2000-2009 was ten years. Therefore 2000-2009 was a decade.
By the way, great blog. I'm sure each of the creators is far better at this blog than they are at their real jobs.
I ate at Domenica on Christmas eve - the food was great, and our waiter was nice, but the service was pretty bad. They needed about ten more folks bussing tables. Dirty dishes everywhere on tables that were probably too small to begin with. Eating at Commanders a few days later only heightened the differences, and the meals didn't have much of a difference in cost.
To me, this is a huge flaw with Besh's restaurants, and I'm a BIG Besh fan. For the price you pay at Domenica, the service just is not up to par.
Finally I'm here to accept. I don't have much to offer besides certain judo moves. And let's not get started on Jackie Chan portraying Mr. Miyagi next summer. That's a bigger disappointment than me being honored for anything.
that pizza looks divinneeeeee
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