The moratorium’s definition of a fast food business is any stand-alone restaurant that dispenses food, to stay or to go, and that has “a limited menu, items prepared in advance or prepared or heated quickly, no table orders, and food served in disposable wrapping or containers.”The linked NYT article focuses on the way the definition includes "places of more culinary interest," like those with "cooks from Mexico and Central America making lamb barbacoa and pupusas" and those that make "a high-quality hot dog from cattle raised on pasture, served with fresh grilled onions on top."
The "high-quality hot dog" woman whines: “Our policy makers abhor nuance and the subtle but distinct qualities that differentiate fast food from food that can be served fast.”
As if the law isn't already ridiculously vague and hard to apply! You think it would be better with more "nuance" about where your pulverized cow once grazed and whether your onions were ever frozen?
The article does eventually get around to quoting someone sensible, Joe R. Hicks, a radio talk show host:
“The crime in all of this is that people are sitting around meddling into the very minutiae of what people are putting in their mouths,” he said.Almost.
He argues that the ban assumes the 500,000 people who live in South Los Angeles are intellectually incapable of deciding what to eat.
“It’s insulting, and you could almost infer a racial insult out of the interference,” he said.
ADDED: For breakfast:
... three fried-egg sandwiches loaded with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise... two cups of coffee, a five-egg omelet, a bowl of grits, three slices of French toast topped with powdered sugar and three chocolate-chip pancakes.
That's what Michael Phelps eats.
Posts
177 comments:
This is the very definition of paternalistic liberal idiocy. The result will be fewer jobs in South LA and longer lines at the existing fast-food joints. Way to protect the underprivileged!
"This is the very definition of paternalistic liberal idiocy."
Indeed, and explained in a delightful manner
here.
You have to look no further than this situation to see that working-class people sense liberals are not on their side any more.
I went to Whole Foods the other day, but not for arugula. I need a roll of TP. I asked the cashier to direct me to the right aisle. When I returned to pay for my items, she remarked, "Didn't you find the toilet paper?".
I replied that they cost the earth. 4 rolls for almost $10. Are they kidding me?
The cashier lady, who was black, said "Yeah, those things are just for rich white people".
Should make for an interesting black market.
Whole Foods CEO John Mackey is an anti-union libertarian. LOL!
The linked NYT article focuses on the way the definition includes "places of more culinary interest," like those with "cooks from Mexico and Central America making lamb barbacoa and pupusas" and those that make "a high-quality hot dog from cattle raised on pasture, served with fresh grilled onions on top."
Free range fucking hot dogs! You can see that it's as much about sheer snobbery than anything else. A little ethnic fast food place is perfectly acceptable -- even desirable. But McDonalds, oh the horror. The elitism is blatant, and the same attitude that drives a lot of people to hate Wal-Mart.
"Hello, I am from the government and I am here to . . . here to . . . Is that a McDonald's bag? What do you have in your mouth? Spit that out right now! As I was saying, I am from the government and I am here to help you."
Trey
In my neighborhood there is a Godiva choclatier and a French bakery that uses real butter in the preparation of its pastries. There is also a Coldstone franchise with lines out the door. These places are truly evil, especially the bakery. I hope this is the beginning of a trend, and they ban luxury foods in affluent neighborhoods....I have too much character and self discipline to be tempted by Gucci tassel foods like Godiva, but using real butter is such a low, dishonest trick. The French are so despicable...I have never met a bakery I didn't like, but a person of good character can walk past most of them. But the way that butter taste lingers in the mouth. Such places must be regulated in contemplation of banishment.
This is typical. Liberals will try to save you with data. Studies show yada, yada, yada...They are much better at spending your money (living your life) than you are.
What do you have in your mouth? Spit that out right now.
Along with PC police we need food police .
This is a job for.........the UN!!
But, you, personally, never blog fast-food, or chain, restaurants.
I'd think you'd be pleased since you never seem to patronize those sorts of establishments anyway.
At least, not on this blog.
Re Whole Foods toilet paper: It's not just expensive. It's bad toilet paper. I buy it sometimes to save a trip to a less aesthetically pleasing store, but the paper is terrible.
I bought dishwasher detergent at WF once, and it left a white film on everything. It just didn't work. I had to throw it out. I'm sure it was more expensive too, but the annoying thing was that it was terrible.
Yes, here in Miss Bloomberg's Nanny Daycare (once called New York City), restaurants that cater to the lower sorts (as 18th century food writer Hannah Glasse called them) have to print the caloric content of their foods on the menu.
Because, without instruction and guidance and a firm hand, the lower sorts will remain but coarse savages.
Mind you, Restaurant Daniel will certainly not be affected by these little rules. And the cute little correct ethnic places, rather like the Hameau de la Reine where Marie Antoinette played at being a peasant, will also not be imposed upon, lest anything inauthentic ruin the experience for more enlightened patrons.
Repulsive. When's the revolution?
At what point is someone or a group going to say enough and challenge these ridiculous and insipid laws in court. At what point is the public going to get fed up with the very few determining the public good; in this case evil. At what point is some restaurant going to say enough, violate these dangerous laws, and challenge them.
Whose fault is it if people get sagging guts, bulging thighs, and triple bar stool asses? Next they will be telling us that we can no longer cook, we must subsist on raw vegetables, and meat, poultry, and fish will be forbidden. We will all have to look like wraiths or POWs and AIDS victims.
It appears that Russian/Chinese political action is alive and well in the United States. What next, National Guard tanks rolling down the streets to blow up fast food joints? Our police forces arresting citizens for making food choices? How about making the consumption of fast food a felony?
People get a clue. Unless you have a congenital or medical condition, the reason you are obese is staring at you in the mirror. The reason your kids are obese is staring at you in the mirror. You make poor, unintelligent choices and you suffer the consequences.
We are losing our freedoms and our freedom of choice to a few misguided paternalistic evil souls. And these people have the nerve to call other leaders despots!
Gertrude Stein was right. A liberal is a person who had an unhappy childhood.
In my neck of the urban jungle we call WF Whole Paycheck.
Get your hands off my donut you filthy bureaucrat!
Nope. No liberal fascism here.
I buy it sometimes to save a trip to a less aesthetically pleasing store,
Wow, Ann. If I'm being honest with myself, I also tend to hang out in places which are more "aesthetically pleasing" -- e.g., I'd much rather go to Van Dyke Café on Lincoln Rd than hang around Dunkin Donuts.
But then, unlike Obama, I AM conscious I'm a snob. Are you too?
but the paper is terrible.
That's also why I didn't buy it. I could tell from just looking at it, that it was a piece of crap, so to speak.
Godiva chocolatier has always struck me as the epitome of snobbery (I grew up on plebian See's Candies), so I chuckle every time I think about it being just another division of mass producer Campbell's Soup.
"But, you, personally, never blog fast-food, or chain, restaurants. I'd think you'd be pleased since you never seem to patronize those sorts of establishments anyway. At least, not on this blog."
Let's make a list of things I "never seem to" do because I never blog about it.
"I buy it sometimes to save a trip to a less aesthetically pleasing store, but the paper is terrible."
I find Whole Foods quite aesthetically unpleasing, mostly because the people who shop there are generally aesthetically unpleasing. There's something really off-putting about watching hipsters buying groceries and people in haut coture dashikis grazing at those nasty salad bars like overdressed ungulates. Of course, the Wisconsin stores are probably very different than the New York ones.
Anyway, I prefer Fairway, they have better produce.
Has anyone else noticed that Ben & Jerry's always gets a free pass from the food nannies? The calorie count per serving is up to 300% more than regular ice cream, the fat content is off-the-chart, not to mention the sugar content. Now that they are no longer the leftist paradise they once were, this will probably change.
Of course, the Wisconsin stores are probably very different than the New York ones.
I can't speak about the WF in NYC, but you pretty much nailed the description of the shoppers here in SoBe.
I went there on my birthday last week, dressed to the nines with a Vera Wang pantsuit, my Hermès Kelly bag, and Day-Date Rolex on my wrist. In fairness though, South Beach is like that. The Walgreens on Lincoln Road looks like a fashion show at night.
Palladian said, "I find Whole Foods quite aesthetically unpleasing, mostly because the people who shop there are generally aesthetically unpleasing. There's something really off-putting about watching hipsters buying groceries and people in haut coture dashikis grazing at those nasty salad bars like overdressed ungulates. Of course, the Wisconsin stores are probably very different than the New York ones."
Exactly. I didn't like the NY stores either. Especially since they had a big holding pen that you waited in before advancing to a cash register line. Didn't want to be there. In Wisconsin, you have to wait for 1 person ahead of you, usually, at most. And it tends to be a nonhipster. People tend to wear jeans and T-shirts.
That's what Michael Phelps eats.
I found out last night that Mrs. Phelps is a Middle School principal in Baltimore.
I wonder how she feels about proposed public school bans on trans-fat and sugary foods like chocolate chips?
BTW, the LA ban is scary enough, but Mississippi has done them one better:
Mississippi, the fattest state in the Union, introduced a bill last Friday that would ban some restaurants from serving anyone with a BMI over 30.
The bill, HB 282, is sparking uproar. Two of the bill's sponsors did have careers related to healthcare prior to becoming lawmakers. Regardless, many are wondering now if this bill, despite its intentions to make Mississippians healthier, does so at the detriment of the big three: life, liberty, and the pursuit of Big Macs. Has Mississippi's State House crossed over the line? Should you be required by law to weigh in before the menu arrives?
The Whole Foods in my neighborhood doesn't fit the "type" I'm seeing here. There's working class, hipsters, black folks, white folks, rich GOP uptowners, soccer moms, college students -- and I bet none of them are buying the toilet paper or "green" house products.
I buy most of my veggies and fruits there; the prices are equal to or lower than other local markets, save for the exotic stuff that I don't buy anyway. So are the eggs and dairy (I buy the locally produced, family farm brand).
But it's worth my time to go to the locally owned chain for everything else. They have the best sausages and meats -- don't even try to imagine what Whole Food "boudin" or "andouille" tastes like.
To get on topic, this reminds me of the efforts in the eighties and early nineties to ban liquor and cigarette ads in poor neighborhoods. It's no more effective than the Drug War that every administration signs onto.
That's what Michael Phelps eats.
That must explain it.
VB - how can that happen? The Mississippi legislature isn't full of liberals! Can, gasp, conservatives be guilty of nanny politics, too? My god, my brain's gonna 'splode!
any stand-alone restaurant that dispenses food, to stay or to go, and that has “a limited menu..."
There goes the banana stand...now I've got NOTHING to fall back on...DAMN!
Not the ban, of course.
(And, yeah, someone had to do it. Why not me?)
The same folks that will be checking our tire inflation can make spot checks for fast food--this will be a piece of cake--BTW, does this ban apply to the little roadside taquerias? Or are those places of culinary interest--Eliminating those will be very hard on a lot of latinos in the area.
Isn't it outrageous to limit only the restaurants that cater to poor people?
Actually its outrageous to limit any individual's choice to eat at the restaraunt of their choice regardless of their economic status.
Then again it would appear that the only individual choice that liberals are in favor of is killing unborn children.
Ben & Jerry's was always awful. Two words for you: guar gum. Or carageenan, or whatever the hell they use to thicken their product. Who cares about the calories if it tastes like a mouthful of lard? Feh.
What's worse, since Breyer's was bought out by the Dutch, they now use something called tara gum, which is equally vile. My favorite brand of ice cream, ruined!
If NYC wanted to pass a law against ice cream with any ingredients but milk, cream, sugar, (egg yolks maybe) and natural flavor, I would have to vote for that.
But this anti-fast-food trip they're on? Nonsense, obviously. I suppose pushcarts will be first and the coffee-and-a-roll New York breakfast will become a memory?
a bill last Friday that would ban some restaurants from serving anyone with a BMI over 30.
Soon they will be hunting guys like me for sport...not very sporting though as I get winded easily
Two of the bill's sponsors did have careers related to healthcare prior to becoming lawmakers. ...
Has Mississippi's State House crossed over the line? ...
Fatheads.
Can, gasp, conservatives be guilty of nanny politics, too?
Nonono. Representative W. T. Mayhall, Jr. is an old white dude.
When Liberals do it, Beth, it's for your own good. When Republicans do it, it's because they're racist, savvy?
Maybe everyone in South Central LA should be forced to begin smoking again.
Jan Perry has set herself up for life. Any restaurant owner who wants an exemption will have to come to her; I'm sure an invite to her next fundraiser will follow the successful resolution of their problem. An organic supermarket will be "encouraged" to open there with government subsidies (they can spend some of that on Kevlar vests). She will be the Calorie Czarina.
Totalitarianism sounds so good on paper. Then you inject humans into the equation.
The Mississippi fat person food ban bill is dead.
There were a couple of people I used to work with who, when we were going out for a working lunch, would suggest these impractical (not enough table space), ethnic Mom-and-Pop restaurants. They always made a big show of chatting up the owners or the help, calling them by first name like they were pals, etc. They did NOT do this when we went places where the owners were white. It was transparent. It was also very important to them to eat with chopsticks, correct others' pronunciation and the like. Nice people otherwise--but food was a way for them to appear sophisticated, wordly, and superior.
One day I ran out to get a coconut cream pie shake from Sonic, and you would've thought I'd said I was going to eat some dog shit from the way they reacted.
Ben & Jerry's doesn't taste good? News to me.
calling them by first name like they were pals
I wonder.... "pals" or lesser beings, as in "servants"?
When Republicans do it, it's because they're racist, savvy?
VB, their smokescreen is working. When the GOP does it, there's a contractor involved somewhere. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain--they don't mind being called racist as long as you don't notice where the money's going.
But seriously, there's only one truth here that matters to me: thank God for the Mississippi Legislature because they're the only thing that makes ours look just a bit less evil and incompetent.
One more thing: in the South, conservative and liberal don't always neatly match to GOP and Democrat. Most of our elected Democrats are conservative; a few from the New Orleans area are liberal, but even they would be centrist compared with liberals from the rest of the country.
Same deal down here in Florida, Beth. Senator Bob Graham was a DINO.
But since you insisted on the importance of political affiliation in this matter, I just thought I'd clarify that.
The Bill was defeated by the way. In LA, a RINO governor signed the trans-fatty Bill into effect.
"That's what Michael Phelps eats." So we have a definition of Fast food!
Nichevo, I have two words of Breyers relief for you: Turkey Hill
Check the labels, though, they have some recipes with guar gum, others with all natural ingredients. Yum!
Whole Foods Market requirements for store locations:
* 200,000 people or more in a 20 minute drive time
* 40,000–75,000 Square Feet
* Large number of college-educated residents
* Abundant parking available for our exclusive use
* Stand alone preferred, would consider complementary
* Easy access from roadways, lighted intersection
* Excellent visibility, directly off of the street
* Must be located in a high traffic area (foot and/or vehicle)
More on Whole Foods Market demographics:
Whole Foods' target customer in the UK is similar to its target shopper at home in the U.S. College educated, and post undergraduate degree-holders, are key. Upper income is a key demographic as well. Additionally, ethical consumers, "greens" and health conscious shoppers round out Whole Foods' key variables when looking for neighborhoods to locate it new United Kingdom stores in.
Let's make a list of things I "never seem to" do because I never blog about it.
OK.
I should probably use your blog search feature to check and make sure you haven't covered these but I can't be arsked.
* You never blog about hang gliding. It's a wonderful sport, I tell you wot. Utterly non-competitive. A complete thrill at every level or proficiency, from the very first hour on the hill when you actually get to touch the giant kite, insert the struts or batts into the wing of the trainer right up to expert level when you step off the edge of a hill too steep to survive comfortably on foot and feel the thermals pull you upward. It can make you bring your flight-dreams right into the real world and that alone is an amazing thing. Why don't you ever blog about that?
* You never blog about skiing. What's up with that? Don't all white people ski? Especially white people in the North? Do you have something against getting out in the snow? Afraid of chair lifts? Dislike the cold? What? Fashion on the slope is fabulous! Especially in Aspen, Vail, and now Durango.
* You never blog about engine repair. Nor ever even issue useful maintenance advice.
* You've not once reminded us to get our teeth cleaned. That's easy to put off, you know.
* I don't get a single clue about mixing popular drinks from your blog.
* Clearing the dog run. What does one do with all that poo? Does it go out with the regular trash? Is it tossed in the compost? Brought inside and flushed like human poo?
* You've never mentioned Jaffa Cakes. Now here's an egregious omission. Does this Whole Foods you mention carry chocolate covered orange flavored wafers?
You've never blogged about clever places to put extra keys to ensure you don't accidentally lock yourself out.
* Hats.
* Visits to aquarium shops.
* You've never blogged about the Butterfly Pavilion.
* You seem to have no interest in hummingbirds.
* Chupacabra
* Pet grooming, diet, health, exercise, training, communication, fashion.
* Sailboats, tuna or salmon fishing.
* Sasquatch.
* Desmond TuTu
"calling them by first name like they were pals"
Hey I do that all the time! But they call me by my first name and teach me all the cool curse words in the language of their people. Eventually they call me by my nickname: "fat loud stupid white guy."
Mortimer Brenzy agrees with them on that point.
Whole Foods' target customer in the UK is similar to its target shopper at home in the U.S.
I rarely listen to Rush Limbaugh, but the other day I tuned in. Coincidentally, he was talking about how there is a backlash against "Green toffs" in the UK.
Unlike in the US, where eco-maniacs were raised to the middle-classes by education, like Obama, in the UK, the most outspoken Greenies were born into the aristocracy or from the very moneyed.
A blistering extract:
Toffs whose fathers were hard-nosed capitalists have turned into eco-warriors these days. Leading green Lord Peter Melchett’s fortune was made by his father, Alfred Mond, at Imperial Chemicals Industries; ecologist Tory Zac Goldsmith inherited his £300million from dad James Goldsmith’s Bovril sales. To the sons and daughters of the capitalist elite, nothing is more distasteful than the mass market that made them wealthy.
Instead of celebrating the trickle down of consumer goods, the elite are repulsed by it. They cannot bear to see hoi polloi driving cars like them, or shopping in their shops. They erect elaborate consumer rituals to mark themselves apart from the herd - but to their dismay, the herd keeps cracking the code. In days gone past, the sheer awkward coldness of an art gallery or music recital would have been enough to keep it exclusive, but no longer. Even their costly organic food has been sucked up by Tesco and Morrisons.
Thanks, seppo, TH is OK. You have to get the Philadelphia Style or else it's gum hell again. Edy's is also supposed to have a pure ice cream line but I haven't seen it.
Not only did Breyers go to the dark side on gums, they are also screwing with the flavors somehow. I remember the vanilla beans used to be black, not sawdust-colored.
Yes, knox, B&J's has nice flavors. But it's all about the mouthfeel. Any simp can crumble Skor bars into the mix, that's not the point. The point is for you to think you are eating delicious vanilla ice cream and not delicious vanilla-flavored petrochemicals.
Compare any equivalent BJ and Haagen-Dazs flavors, for example, and tell me you don't notice a different texture.
I leave the yammering about how X gum or whatever is bad for you to others - I speak only of aesthetics.
Oh, and why the hell are we talking about fast food and fisheyes when Russia has invaded Georgia and shows no sign of leaving?
I mean, the Breyers atrocity is certainly more significant in itself but Georgia probably affects more people (though they are mostly in Europe and so perhaps should not count as people), so it should get attention too. Unless AA wants to remedy the paucity of blogging on her sex life, that's what I'd like to hear more about.
Let's make a list of things I "never seem to" do because I never blog about it.
1. Teach the Law
2. Watch TV sitcoms.
3. Date
4. Eat scrapple.
5. Defecate
Unless AA wants to remedy the paucity of blogging on her sex life
I'm surprised Chip didn't mention that in his otherwise hilarious post!
Obviously, Ann won't blog about her sex life, if indeed it exists. Her sons read the blog!
Can anything be so discomfitting as having one's mother recount her sexcapades?
It reminds me of hearing Anderson Cooper reading his mother's (Gloria Vanderbilt) graphic biography, where she described one lover as the "Nijinsky of Cunnilingus".
I'd faint on the spot.
Cheers,
Victoria
My co-workers at FRB were food elitists too, at least they thought they were. When I got to pick the restaurant that everybody else had to at least try, you should have heard the objections. They were unrelentingly critical. I chose one of my favorite hole-in-the-wall family-owned restaurants with oversized family-produced art on the walls and a corner air-conditioner that had never been dusted. Their house specialty was what they called a wet burrito. Nobody ever saw anything like it. The sauce was runny! The place was muy authentico but they considered it declasse, to mix language. I learned about the place because one of my Spanish professors took a portion of our class there. My co-workers made a program out of never letting me live that one down. I was discouraged. They didn't know what they were talking about. I pointed out you had to get there early if you hoped to get a seat. But that argumentum numerantium was useless on them. They sniffed haughtily.
Then.
The next time someone else chose a Mexican restaurant we went to a nearby place called The Armadillo, a Tex-Mex sort of place that appealed to Yuppies muy muy no authentico. They reveled in the so-called aesthetics, as you put it.
They were bastards, these co-workers. Being with these people all day and allowing their haute to get all on me put me off the idea of working with people altogether.
Wow. Sirens again. Boy, are those things loud.
Guar gum, carageenan, and xanthan gum are all natural products. No petrochemicals involved. You may not like the mouthfeel, but that's no reason to vilify these substances. In my experience, xanthan-thickened sauces are difficult to distinguish from those thickened with corn starch.
You want to talk about the Georgian situation, there are plenty of places to do that.
Victoria: thank you! Sometimes I think I'm the only person left who doesn't want to hear about other people's intimate relationships.
As to the original topic of this post: isn't federalism great? We can all sit back and see how this great LA social engineering experiment works out. Sucks for the people living in LA, though.
"Oh, and why the hell are we talking about fast food and fisheyes when Russia has invaded Georgia and shows no sign of leaving?"
Listen, the Russians can have Georgia. What ahs Georgia ever contributed to the world except a disasterous President cunm peanut farmer, peanuts and peanut butter; soon to be banned by the California NKDV.
Let them have Georgia!
Randy said...
Has anyone else noticed that Ben & Jerry's always gets a free pass from the food nannies?
They have a history of always contributing time, money, and publicity to all of the so called proper causes, such as releasing a cop killer (Wesley Cook) from prison. Since they were bought out by Unilever, however, they have had a lower so called "socially responsible" profile.
Then again it would appear that the only individual choice that liberals are in favor of is killing unborn children.
In that same vein, I seem to remember during the abortion debates years ago, women claiming that it was their bodies and no one could tell them what to do with their bodies. It was considered a privacy issue.
This is the same argument we need to stop these insidious, evil, and despotic people. It is my body and I can put whatever the hell I want into it. Keep your filthy paws out of my mouth.
"... three fried-egg sandwiches loaded with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise... two cups of coffee, a five-egg omelet, a bowl of grits, three slices of French toast topped with powdered sugar and three chocolate-chip pancakes."
Holy fucking hell!
He can turn Olympic victory into celebrity endorsements for chocolate-chip pancakes.
Chocolate-chip is hyphenated now?
Soon it will be chocolatechip.
English tends over time to contract.
The law should have been that there is a tax incentive for the restaurants they do want. Then, a few of those restaurants would pop up, politicians and police will get their graft, and the neighborhood would get what it wants.
Let's make a list of things I "never seem to" do because I never blog about it.
Go on a date.
Eat dates. Or raisins.
If the restaurant ban in LA is to fight obesity, why not instead require the restaurants to be 5 miles from anywhere, requiring a walk? Or put them on the top of 10 story buildings with no elevators. That'll burn calories.
it sometimes to save a trip to a less aesthetically pleasing store
I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a less attractive store (from the outside) than WF on University Ave. I will say that when my rich cousin from Newton MA was scouting out places to move to, they checked out Madison and were amazed by the politeness of the people at the WF Deli counter here, all quietly waiting their turn in line. Apparently that doesn't happen in suburban Boston. (They chose Seattle over Madison).
It's a long walk from my house to WF, but I do it occasionally. Not gonna happen when they move 5 or 6 blocks west to Hilldale.
In LA, a RINO governor signed the trans-fatty Bill into effect.
Weirdly, when asked what is his favorite restaurant, Jindal said McDonalds. WTF?? Not any of the stellar Creole or Cajun or fine dining establishments that the state is known for, but Mickey D's. And, after presumably enjoying a QP with C and some fries for lunch, he still signs that bill. There's a little cognitive dissonance going on in Bobby's head.
Here's an example of how the liberal LA City Council has unsuccessfully micro-managed another thorny problem (with our tax dollars): Back in the Life.
I'm sure they will solve the obesity "crisis" with equal aplomb.
Palladian made mention of "overdressed ungulates".
...(sound of me looking for my dictionary).
And, after presumably enjoying a QP with C and some fries for lunch, he still signs that bill
Jindal signed a bill banning trans-fats?
Come on, trans-fats are just oil. The food outcome isn't much different if you use something else.
Now, politicians who want to make themselves useful should ban anything but real sugar in Coca Cola.
If I know the poor, and I do, those wiley bastards will sabotage the ban by invading good neighborhoods, my neighborhood! to eat the evil fast food, forcing me to camouflage myself when I go to eat the evil fast food: no more tux for me when I dress for Burger King, only wife beaters from here on in.
It's a damn shame.
The letter W was burned out on the electric sign of Whole Foods on 1st and University, the epicenter of grocery snobbery and a veritable food heaven on Earth, resulting in the the illuminated words "hole Foods" at night. Ha ha ha. I experienced momentary confusion every time I saw it even though I knew what was inside. I hoped they would never fix it.
Beth, I checked around and can find no references to Jindal signing a trans-fat ban bill. Then I noticed the quote you were referencing. The governor in question there was Schwarzenegger not Jindal.
I bought dishwasher detergent at WF once, and it left a white film on everything. It just didn't work.
Tom's of Maine started with a non-phosphate liquid laundry detergent. They've edited the story on their web site, but I've read that they quickly switched from laundry detergent to toothpaste because the laundry detergent didn't actually get anything clean.
Unlike in the US, where eco-maniacs were raised to the middle-classes by education, like Obama, in the UK, the most outspoken Greenies were born into the aristocracy or from the very moneyed.
Well, we do have Bobby Kennedy and Al Gore at the forefront of our green movement. I'd guess they're both working off some rich-kid-guilt while enjoying their carbon credits and the lavish lifestyles that necessitate them.
In general I think, people have started to detect that the emperor has no clothes and that environmentalism, at least how it's sold to us today, is an insidious mixture of elitism, anti-capitalism, and anti-US animus.
RFK Jr that is.
I'm wrong - we had a trans-fat labeling thing proposed at one point but I don't think it went anywhere. So, I responded to VB without realizing she meant Arnold, not Bobby.
But still, McDonalds? WTF?
Come on, Beth. Saying that McDonalds is your favorite restaurant is your favorite restaurant is a stroke of genius for any politician. But that they could reinforce their American values through such symbolism in every answer. The fact that his parents are from South Asia only makes it gravy.
He didn't say it for you and the fact that a person of your leftish and, really, rather superficial political outlook doesn't get it isn't surprising.
But still, McDonalds? WTF?
I agree! Pandering, I guess, but still... WTF?
Come on, Seven, almost no one above the age of 15 would say McDonalds was their favorite restaurant.
I love how when politicians say something that elitists don't agree with, it's pandering. What about when they say things you agree with?
One day, go to another country and get sick of the local food, then go to the city and see a McDonalds or, better, a KFC. You'll be surprised just how incredibly delicious the food really is.
Isn't Al Gore working off his guilt over zinc mining?
All we need now is a modern-day Hogarth to publish a couple of prints comparing Burger Lane to Arugula Alley.
But still, McDonalds? WTF?
Worked for Bill, Beth.
Look, I only go to Mickey D's when they have that McRib sandwich, which admittedly looks like it's made of Frankenstein's rejected parts. However, it is DELICIOUS. Their breakfasts are yummers, too.
What I don't get is this odium the Left have for McDonalds.
McDonald's didn't invent fast food. Ya'll think a croque monsieur is less fatty? In Brazil, Bahiana ladies sell street food which clog your arteries on the spot.
The thing all of these, from McDonalds to the squatting ladies in market stalls, have in common is that it's cheap food done fast, and is very tasty. IOW, it's peasant food. There, I said it.
Liberals go ga-ga over foreign peasant food, but when it comes to their own, they yank the food from poor people's mouths.
You may think it's elitist to think of working-class Americans as peasants, but I think it's even more elitist to talk down to them, and tell them what they should or should not eat.
What kills me about the Left is that they hate trans-fat and sugar, but they would legalise pot in a trice, if they could.
For heaven's sake, Seven, no one thus far is saying McDonald's is tres terrible, they're saying it is damned silly to pretend that McDonald's is his favorite restaurant.
(For the record: I never liked KFC, never had a decent meal in one and earnestly hope to never eat in one again as long as I live.)
I would expect Jindal to say his favorite restaurant was Popeye's. Love that Chicken at Popeye's.
""Let's make a list of things I "never seem to" do because I never blog about it.""
Oh, I see. Althouse secretly slips off to McDonalds etc. in between blogging about the more edgy, quirky establishments that make better grist for the type of idiosyncratic posts she aims for.
You know.... all those covert trips to chain stores and generic fast-food establishments, that readers will never hear about, because it just eccentric, or flamboyant enough for such a hip blog as this.
MadisonMan, I don't know if Popeye's is Louisiana-owned anymore, but yes, that would be better!
I had Popeye's for dinner last night, with red beans for the side dish. Spicy and good.
Randy -- I told you why he said it. It was a reinforcement of American values, an important thing for any politician, particularly a South Asian-looking one in Louisiana.
If I had to choose one restaurant to patronize for the rest of my life, it would almost certainly be KFC, McDonalds, or Taco Johns.
What about you, Randy? French Laundry? Charlie Trotter's? Something in Vail, perhaps?
Many of the people who post here think I'm on the left, and I confess I rarely have dinner at McDonalds, and my kids really disklike McDonalds. (I'll get a McMuffin a couple times a year) I didn't eat at McDonalds growing up, either, preferring Burger King (which was more convenient to my parents' house).
However, for fast food, we can tell you where the closest Culver's is in just about any state you're in (talk about fattening food! Butterburgers! Custard!). And if we see a Tim Horton's on a trip, well, we're stopping.
VB, I like their fish sandwich.
But you're missing my point: Louisiana is known for its food. It's not elitist to be aghast at him saying McDonald's. He could have said he liked the boudin at the gas station on the corner of Evangeline Parkway and College Drive in Lafayette. He could have named a diner down in the CBD near the Capitol building. I'm not all WTF that he didn't name Galatoire's or some upscale place, just that here in the land of amazing food and transcendent cooks, he comes up with a fricking national chain. It's like they asked him his favorite sports team and he says the Packers or something besides the Saints, or LSU Tigers.
You people only like Popeye's because it's not as big. Don't want anything that the masses enjoy.
I bet you constantly have to shift indie-rock bands.
No Whole Foods stores anywhere near me, although we are eagerly awaiting a Trader Joe's in the next town over. TWO BUCK CHUCK!!
Seriously, the food police and the overreaching control that the elites want to subject us to is becoming more and more apparent and people resent it.
California has banned the sale of transfats in the grocery store, so Crisco has changed their recipe to accomodate and I will no longer be able to use it in making my southern fried chicken. That's ok because I'm stocking up and Beth has promised to send me some if I run out.
Seriously, this whole control from the top down thing is terrible. They want to tell us what kind of light bulbs to use. Calif is discussing remote controlling the thermostats in our homes, for our own good of course. What ingredients we can use in our home cooking. What kind of cars we must drive and how many miles we are allowed to drive without being penalized with over usage fees.
It never ends. People need to be able to make their own choices. Bad or good.
Oh, and....buy your toilet paper at Costco. Its cheap and good quality.
Whenever I'm in NOLA, I stop at the Popeye's on Canal. It's not the same without Maison Blanche or D H Holmes nearby, but the spicy chicken is just so good. The spicy chicken at Popeye's up here is just so bland.
If I had to choose one restaurant to patronize for the rest of my life, it would almost certainly be KFC, McDonalds, or Taco Johns.
Checkers/Rally's for me. In the UK, we had Wimpy's, which I loved, but I've been told it's almost dead.
(I hate Tex-Mex)
"VB, I like their fish sandwich."
Cut it out Beth. Don't give me an opening like that. I have work to do this afternoon and can't post fifty jokes again. Jeeez.
TWO BUCK CHUCK!!
On sale for $3 in Madison!
No, Seven, it would be a hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant. Much more variety, thank you very much. As to McDonald's, I have no problem eating there although I prefer In 'n Out and Carl's, Jr. for fast food burgers. I grew up with them. KFC wasn't around when I was growing up and I never acquired a taste for anything they offered once they came around.
Beth -- I just don't think that Brousseeax's Andouille Kitchen captures the Americanness that McDonalds captures. Maybe there is a certain Louisiana-ness that he missed. I don't know. I know that in Missouri, it's a big deal that politicians whether you say "Missour-EE" or "Mizz-ur-AH." Either way, you will offend. The elitists get offended by the "AH." The common folk get offended by the "EE." Guess which way most politicians choose to go.
Speaking of WTF: what deep-digging journalist asked the question? Yeah, man, that matters. When you get a question like that, you are supposed to reinforce your values. This is 101 stuff.
Ooh, Beth, I forgot the Fish sandwich.
I'm not all WTF that he didn't name Galatoire's or some upscale place, just that here in the land of amazing food and transcendent cooks, he comes up with a fricking national chain.
Incidentally, I will soon review Julia Reed's new book The House on First Street: My New Orleans Story, where she mentions Galatoire's every other page.
If Jindal could've gone local and didn't, naming instead an easily recognisable NATIONAL chain, it should tell you something.
Maybe he has national ambitions one day, you know?
Who knows from Galatoire's in Nebraska? Everyone knows McDonalds.
Cheers,
Victoria
That's ok because I'm stocking up and Beth has promised to send me some if I run out.
Absolutely - I'll buy you a case down at Sam's Club. I have an Elite membership there.
And then there's the other reason Jindal said his favourite restaurant is Mickey Ds.
Because it just is.
VB, I like their fish sandwich.
lol! That's always been my favorite!
Ice cream? You can't beat this
Maybe he has national ambitions one day, you know?
Bingo! VB wins.
It's not elitist to be aghast at him saying McDonald's.
It's not elitist to not like McDonald's food but it *is* elitist to be aghast at someone else liking McDonald's food.
See the difference?
Trooper, that one was just for you.
Madisonman,
People do confuse flavor with spiciness, especially when talking about Cajun and Creole food, but even so, Popeye's should be spicy, if you order the spicy chicken and not the mild.
We moved here when I was 14, coming from Texas. The first time we picked up Popeyes for dinner, we had no idea what we were in for. A lifetime of KFC and mom's own fried chicken had not prepared us.
Culvers recently opened here in Arizona. It blows everyone else away. I'll also second the yumminess of Carl's Jr, but have to ding In-n-Out because of their tasteless (although fresh cut) fries. Burgers and shakes are terrific there, though.
I don't think Crisco changed their formula all that much. They're just using math to do their dirty work: if it's less than half a gram per serving, they can legally say "0 grams trans fat!". Go ahead and check the label, you'll see that it still has hydrogenated oils.
maguro -- again, pay attention. I eat McDonalds. The guy is governor of Louisiana -- I'm aghast he named a fast food chain instead of something local, in a state known for its cuisine. See the difference? Stop processing everything in terms of elitism and politics for chrissake.
This is a lot of navel gazing over an insignificant topic.
Come on, trans-fats are just oil. The food outcome isn't much different if you use something else. Says Seven, who obviously isn't a cook. Wanna bet!
Chocolate chip cookies made with good old fashiond Crisco are completely different from those made with butter, margarine or a combination.
"Cookies are made primarily with butter, margarine or shortening. Fats play a major role in the spread of a cookie--whether a cookie keeps its shape or flattens in the oven. Shortening and margarine are stable, and will help cookies keep their original unbaked shapes. Butter melts at a much lower temperature than other solid fats--it melts at body temperature, resulting in a “melt-in-your-mouth” burst of flavor. Cookies made with butter tend to spread out."
The food outcome is much different depending on the type of fat you use. I use lard in my pie crusts. Half butter half hydrogenated oil (Crisco) in my cookies. The non transfat Crisco sucks for cooking.
DBQ: Gee, thanks for the reminder. Can't get Umpqua around here. :-( Glad to hear it's still as good as ever.
Joan: have to ding In-n-Out because of their tasteless (although fresh cut) fries.
I agree with that. Unfortunate. (Carl's, Jr's fries used to be even worse).
Maybe Jindal really likes french fries. You have to give credit to McDonalds for their french fries, if nothing else.
Beth -- I disagree. If Joe Lieberman or Harry Reid said it, you'd still be all aghast.
Chocolate chip cookies made with good old fashiond Crisco are completely different from those made with butter, margarine or a combination.
Yes! It is true. Crisco-made cookies are chewier, too. I'm sure you know that hordes of mothers, like mine and every other mom in our tight-knit neighborhood, made cookies with Crisco and not butter or margarine because it was so much cheaper than the other two. I only discovered the truth when, as an adult, I followed the package directions and ended up with flat, crispy cookies. I called my mom and asked, "What did I do wrong?" and she answered "We couldn't afford butter."
I could eat vast quantities of anything as a kid and not gain a pound too.
Weight gain starts around age 40, when fortunately the desire for chocolate chip french toast has pretty much disappeared and IHOP is a dim memory.
I don't really feel corrected here. Butter and Crisco are different things. What we are talking about with trans-fats is what kind of oil -- what liquid essence of what -- gets dumped in large vats and fry cookers.
Beth said...
VB, I like their fish sandwich.
Actually the feminists are trying to ban the fish sandwich.
the feminists are trying to ban the fish sandwich.
Bet you Camille Paglia wouldn't. ;)
I don't really feel corrected here. Butter and Crisco are different things. What we are talking about with trans-fats is what kind of oil -- what liquid essence of what -- gets dumped in large vats and fry cookers.
Reaaaaly? No difference? Cook your french fries in olive oil or peanut oil or corn oil or Cottolene a now defunct oil and tell me there isn't a difference.
The reason the McDonald's fries were so very very good when they first started and why they kind of suck now: "The taste of a french fry is largely determined by the cooking oil. For decades McDonald's cooked its french fries in a mixture of about seven percent cottonseed oil and 93 percent beef tallow. The mixture gave the fries their unique flavor --"
Maybe you can't taste the difference but believe me the rest of us can.
"I never liked KFC, never had a decent meal in one and earnestly hope to never eat in one again as long as I live."
Really? I lean a little green so I'm not entirely happy with the fact, but I love KFC.
Early in our relationship my now fiance picked me up in a borrowed pickup truck, stopped by KFC and got a bucket of chicken and all the fixings, then we drove on to see Iron Man at the drive-in.
I knew I had found the woman for me at that moment.
I've never gotten the fish-vagina thing.
Seven Machos, you obviously never saw the documentary, Uncle Saddam.
HUSSEIN: It's preferable to bathe twice a day, but at least once a day. And when the male bathes once a day, the female should bathe twice a day.
SOLER: Do you know why Saddam thinks that the woman should shower twice a day? Because, according to Saddam Hussein, he thinks that the smell of the woman is more noticeable than (the smell of) men.
...Saddam clearly never hit Gold's Gym in life.
Once a year around Thanksgiving I make a special trip to Whole Foods in La Jolla near where I work to score some bulk porcini mushrooms. I always dread the experience because of the hip and trendy people I always encounter there.
I much prefer Trader Joe's nearer home in Oceanside
Here's to $2 Chuck!
But Beth, Governor Spitzer said his favorite whore came from Jersey. Let's not be so parochial.
The scent isn't fish.
Dust Bunny Queen,
Many connoisseurs and gourmets are using duck or goose fat or a portion of duck or goose fat to oil to make fries. It is said to give them a much better flavor.
Blogger Joan said...
Guar gum, carageenan, and xanthan gum are all natural products. No petrochemicals involved. You may not like the mouthfeel, but that's no reason to vilify these substances.
Uh, yes, dear, that is exactly the reason to vilify them. (Like, duh!)
When I first tasted the new Breyer's with tara gum I thought the spoon had soap residue on it. I tried it with a fresh spoon - still d'oh! Then I read the label. Never again.
I don't say they ARE petrochemicals. But I don't think it could have been worse if they used Vaseline or 3-in-1.
In my experience, xanthan-thickened sauces are difficult to distinguish from those thickened with corn starch.
I try not to eat that kind of stuff in general. But you can't expect too much from TV dinners, unless it's Marie Callender's. I certainly wouldn't like to eat an ice cream made with corn starch!
BTW - someone above - by 'aesthetic' I meant of course 'taste'. I don't care if a restaurant is shabby or chic, I tend to prefer the former esp. in Chinese.
I don't care if a restaurant is shabby or chic, I tend to prefer the former esp. in Chinese.
I much prefer the latter, but I have a passion for greasy spoons.
There's nothing so authentically American as a real roadside diner, with meatloaf specials, brawny truckers getting a top-up of Maxwell House, and waitresses who call you 'hun' the moment you walk in.
That's my idea of restaurant heaven.
Paddy: I'm old enough to remember watching "I've Got a Secret" when Harland Sanders was one of the guests. He'd just sold his recipe and local franchise operation for a million or two. It was quite some time before KFC showed up in our area. There was a delivery franchise called Chicken Delight, and another selling broasted chicken. Both were drier products than KFC. Also, my mom hated the muss and fuss involved in frying chicken, so she rarely made it.
As to their fixin's: I love mashed potatoes but KFC's aren't worth lifting a fork for IMO.
I much prefer the latter, but I have a passion for greasy spoons.
WRT Chinese restaurants, the inverse relationship between the quality of the food and the quality of the decor was almost guaranteed but things are changing, I hear.
Prince Charles, the guy with the airfoil ears, wanted to ban McDonalds. He has his own line of organics. Apparently he doesn't much care about the insalubrious effects of his own brand of fish and chips or of patsies in quantity.
Frischetta's makes a pretty good pizza, for store bought.
Vicky loves to go slumming.
But never forget: she's not one of them.
Chip Ahoy wrote:
Prince Charles, the guy with the airfoil ears, wanted to ban McDonalds. He has his own line of organics.
Which are sold at the Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle gift shops........my God, Queen Victoria must be spinning in her grave.
Chip, he's the poster child of these so-called Green Toffs. Ugh.
I wrote a post about him called "Upchuck", where I called him an Edwardian hippy.
Like many Boomers who lean Left politically, he wants to recapture some weird time in the past, which simultaneously was progressive socially, but gave Mother Earth her dues. He actually built an entire model village called Poundbury. Creepsville.
P.S.: I heard on NPR that the equivalents of Green Toffs in the US are called Crunchy Conservatives (heh), except for the fact that they're usually farm folk, far removed from the elite world of Phillips Andover, etc.
I actually think Dubya MIGHT qualify as a Crunchy Conservative, though, since he's very much into natural foods, and living close to the land.
Cheers,
Victoria
Re: corn starch -- Nichevo, what, you never eat Chinese food? What do you think they thicken their sauces with?
I can't recall ever eating a TV dinner -- they were too expensive when I was a kid, and I'm too repulsed by them as an adult. I don't know why people want to replicate the school lunch experience in their own homes.
"...waitresses who call you 'hun' the moment you walk in."
And grab their coats and leave with you when you ask if they take carry out orders.
dbq: interruptible air conditioning service -- in exchange for lower rates -- is an old idea. Nevada Power offered it from 1980 to 1995 when they lobbied to discontinue it. Radio receivers could periodically cut off residential air conditioners on hot afternoons to reduce power consumption. Participating customers received credits for allowing their air conditioning to be shut off 10 minutes each half hour on afternoons between June and September. But Nevada Power lost money because over time the receivers broke down, no longer shutting off the power. So consumers got continuous air conditioning at lower rates than their neighbors.
Currently Detroit Edison offers "Interruptible Space Conditioning" to their central air customers who sign up for it. Edison can cut power to your central air unit up to a half-hour every hour, but no more than 8 hours cumulative blackout out of every 24.
Chip skirts the ban, hacks the social-engineering system and makes his own fast food.
Is there a difference between couscous and Tabouleh?
I like making my tabouleh with couscous and shredded zucchini, now overly abundant, and shredded carrots. Very quick and easy. Alas, my first planting of cilantro has bolted and I'm still waiting on the next one.
Traditional tabouleh made with cracked wheat or bulghur.
Trooper, that would be your EX governor, right? Maybe if he'd gone for home-grown strange he might still be in the mansion.
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
-- C.S. Lewis
"Effin' liberal fascists"
-- Pogo
The scent isn't fish.
Camille Paglia covers it somewhere; it's a chemical in common with herring.
Jokes assume tuna, which isn't at all right.
The obvious solution is to use high-energy vegetable concentrates produced from "high-energy plankton." A much more nutritious and palatable offering than the fast food varieties, but it is in plentiful supply: Soylent Green™.
And yes, Beth, both Democrats and Republicans can be -and often are- liberal fascists.
Few Republicans are conservatives anymore; like Arnie and Guiliani they're RINOs.
This may not be a textbook case of "paternalistic liberal idiocy."
The wonks from city planning are attaching the wrong reasoning to a smart zoning restructuring.
The majority policy reasoning is that this is health enforcement for poor people, can you say lawsuit? The reasoning stinks of class bias and heavy-handed government.
From a zoning standpoint, this makes good sense to increase the general value of the area. The area in question is 'super-saturated' with fast food restaurants and there are no grocery stores within walking distance of the district. Most zoning committees would place the same restrictions if the town center was covered in fast food restaurants and the demand for land out priced the placement of a grocery store. The restriction on construction of fast food restaurants should lower the premium price for commercial space and encourage other business/grocery stores to come in and fill the demand.
A closer look at the density shows that up to 20 fast food restaurants per quarter mile commercially zoned space. So the zoning restriction limits the building of new fast food restaurants in an area with up to 20 fast food restaurants occupying a quarter mile. Is that a real problem?
The official reasoning is wrong and subject to a lawsuit; however, the underlying and zoning reasoning makes for better city planning.
Seven Machos said...
The scent isn't fish.
It’s just a comedy convention. Like the fact that Polish people are all dumb and liberals are loyal Americans.
It’s so ludicrous that it always makes you smile.
Seven Machos said...
I love how when politicians say something that elitists don't agree with, it's pandering. What about when they say things you agree with?
It is called pimping.
So the zoning restriction limits the building of new fast food restaurants in an area with up to 20 fast food restaurants occupying a quarter mile. Is that a real problem?
I have to say that this situation would never happen in Miami-Dade County.
I had a black friend who lived in the much-feared Liberty City (our Harlem).
She once plaintively asked me, "Why doesn't Starbucks open up a store in our neighbourhood? Black people drink coffee, too."
I told her I perceive the problem as economic, as much as racial, which was her ONLY explanation.
I sayWhen bad things happen in black communities, buildings are set ablaze or looted.
Then you have city activists of both colours concerned with the "gentrification" of lower-income areas.
How can corporations win facing this mindset?
P.S.: I mentioned to her not to worry. Poor folks in trailer parks also don't get fancy Starbucks either. She hadn't realised that...
Cheers,
Victoria
No, I eat lots of Chinese food. Happily I live in NYC so there are real Chinese restaurants available.
However, sure, lots of corn starch...but you're saying that something made from insects is price competitive with a box of good ol' Argo?
I've never gotten the fish-vagina thing.
You must be holding your breath.
Of course, the absolute best food in LA is the wonderful, often run down looking, Mexican food stands. Order and eat outside. Almost always a better bet than any chain fast food around.
As long as the city council doesn't pass a law against those, LA is going to be just fine.
Hoosier daddy said: "You must be holding your breath"
You mean didn't inhale
Paddy O (VB will love this one):
Lots of those great mobile taquerias moved into the New Orleans area along with the Latino guys looking for work after Katrina. The neighboring conservative Jefferson Parish council banned them -- the hue and cry blamed racism but some also looked to a well-heeled restaurant lobby in that parish. Meanwhile, us liberals here in New Orleans welcomed them with open arms. And mouths - real Mexican food is good stuff.
Again, corn starch: but you're saying that something made from insects is price competitive with a box of good ol' Argo?
No, I'm saying the mouthfeel of a cornstarch-thickened sauce is remarkably like one thickened with xanthan gum. Plus, I can eat xanthan-thickened sauces without spiking my blood sugar.
Okay, Joan, I was just talking about ice cream. You want to make stir fry with the stuff, that's another story. I don't say these gums should be banned from the Earth.
Probably as a blood sugar issue person you don't need ice cream anyway ;>
Doesn't Jindal have small children?
Besides being a way not to offend all of the lovely and interesting and fabulous restaurants who didn't get named (since he named none of them), it might be that he really does appreciate McDonald's. I know that I do. Not because I prefer a double cheeseburger for a dollar but because my children prefer it and it's a dollar. And the fries are the best.
I went to Carl's Jr. yesterday for lunch and it was good, but it was also expensive and the portions (at least the burgers) were too big for young kids. But it was just my husband and I so the price and the portions were right.
Usually, though, he and I go to Vietnamese places of which Albuquerque has a surprising abundance. The food is great at every one I've been to and the prices rival fast food places. Problem is that only two of the four kids like the food.
ricpic,
What will the authorities do if they find miscreants munching on french fries right over the line in say, West LA?
And vb, speaking of greasy spoons, have you been to Dotties?
Patca, no I haven't! But I am always on the lookout for new diner suggestions, so thanks so much.
Here in South Florida we have diners which range from the very fancy like Gables Diner to Picnic's, which is so old-school pot'o'coffee type, it doesn't have a website.
Cheers,
Victoria
Whole Foods is too far away for regular shopping. There is a small chain of gourmet grocery stores that has one close by. I like going there for some items.
We'll be doing the Costco/Trader Joe's run this weekend. I wish Trader Joe's was closer. Their own brands of stuff: great!
It is three buck Chuck now... But still worth more than that.
There's a Popeye's about 4-1/2 blocks from my house. Across the major road from there is Wendy's, Panera bread, and Jimano's pizza. Chili's, Panda Express, Dunkin Donuts, and Applebee's are also within walking distance. A bit farther to Brown's Chicken, McDonald's, and Arby's. A bit further from Arby's (and across the train tracks) will soon be Little Cesar's, Jimmy John's, and Starbucks. Oh, and the WalMart has a Subway in it.
Wow, that's a lot of food within a half a mile to a mile of my house. I didn't even go the other way down the main road where there's Burger King, KFC, Taco Bell, Long John Silver's/A&W Rootbeer, Pizza Hut and Dairy Queen, not mention all the taquerias in town.
Kim -- Sounds like somebody in your neighborhood better pass a law fast limiting your choices.
Seven,
If I walk that will burn up some calories. But I can't walk a lot because of a bad leg and back.
Oh, I forgot about Buffalo Wild Wings. That's between Applebee's and Mickey D's... Hollywood Video is almost next door. My son and I will walk up on Tuesday for new DVD releases and 40¢ wings...
Panda Express is amazing, at least the ones around here -- they use the freshest vegetables. It's so nice that my kids have finally grown out of the finicky phase and we have more eating out options.
Carl's Jr's portions are perfect for a growing 11-year-old boy, believe me. When the kids were younger, I could get one kid's meal and split it between my two youngest. The burgers are huge!
You know, you can get some very good quality meals at fast food places (or you can get fries). As a parent, I have a huge appreciation for national fast food chains -- they make travelling with the kiddos a little bit easier.
I must add that Whole Foods sells one product that blows the competition out of the water: Tonic Water. I've never had better Tonic than from WF. Made with real cane sugar!
I remembered this about 30 minutes ago when I made a gin and tonic.
I want to add about Whole Foods that, per capita, the hottest women shop there. So what if a lot of them are hipsters?
Also, try Hi-ball at Whole foods. It's tonic water with a good deal of caffeine, delicious with or without gin.
PatCA said...
ricpic,
What will the authorities do if they find miscreants munching on french fries right over the line in say, West LA?
Seeing that it is California, they will be arrested, tried, convicted, and sent to prison. California, the state where living is a crime.
MadisonMan said...
I must add that Whole Foods sells one product that blows the competition out of the water: Tonic Water. I've never had better Tonic than from WF. Made with real cane sugar!
But is it made with real Quinine?
Seven Machos said...
I want to add about Whole Foods that, per capita, the hottest women shop there. So what if a lot of them are hipsters?
The women who shop at the Whole foods near me look like emaciated, wrinkled, frizzy haired, bad skin, and poorly dressed envirowhackos. Those are the ones under forty. Not a good looker in the bunch.
Synova, just curious: how old are the ones who like Vietnamese? Our 10-year-old nephew is visiting next week and I thought we'd take him to our favorite Vietnamese place, but I wonder if he'll go for it.
And there's a Bug Cafe at the Insectarium -- surely a 10-year-old will want to crunch on some fried grasshoppers?
Whenever I'm in NOLA, I stop at the Popeye's on Canal. It's not the same without Maison Blanche or D H Holmes nearby, but the spicy chicken is just so good. The spicy chicken at Popeye's up here is just so bland.
MM, I've been to Popeye's on Canal a few times. The food was great, but the service suuuuucked.
But as good as Popeye's is, I have a weak spot for Al Copeland's other venture: Copeland's of New Orleans. It's not by any means fast food, but it's superb. I was sorry to see that the St. Charles/Napoleon location in NO never reopened after Katrina, but I found one on the West Bank that was still there. And now we have one again in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, after a few years of being deprived. It's an hour away, but I still go there once a month.
And Joan, I agree that Panda Express is amazing.
This article made me want to eat at McDonald's.
And I don't even like McDonald's.
You guys didn't help. I had to go out and get something.
I went for Pollo Loco instead. It's overpriced but it's not bad.
Maybe it's the California thing, but I don't do well on the deep-fried stuff. (My mom's fried chicken is...shallow fried?) I do KFC about once a decade and usually regret it.
And Popeye's out here is just a KFC knockoff. First time I had it was in Austin--which I guess is even weak compared to NOLA--but it's bland, bland, bland here.
One of the cruelest things ever to happen here was the popularity of Cajun food ca. 1990 or so. Got me all hooked on it, and then when the fad passed, all the Cajun places closed down. Bummer, man.
Let's see...
We have commercials for Sonic out here which are intriguing but the nearest one is 50-60 miles away.
We have a few Rally's, but not in my neighborhood, and when I've had them the food seems hugely greasy.
McDonald's fries are not good anymore. Not since I was a kid. We used to go to In 'n' Out for the burgers and then to McD's for the fries. But these days In 'n' Out's fries have gotten very good! At least around here.
Groceries-wise. Yeah, TJ's is great. My mom used to take me to Gelson's as a kid, and I'm still spoiled, and prefer shopping there. Until Whole Foods came around there wasn't another store that could give Gelson's a run for it's money on the most outlandishly priced exotic items.
As for the hot chicks--I can't think of a grocery store around here where there aren't plenty of them. Different income levels, nationalities, and styles, but I can see why I've heard so many recommendations about picking up dates at the market. (Still, I can't imagine that not being creepy.)
I must add that Whole Foods sells one product that blows the competition out of the water: Tonic Water. I've never had better Tonic than from WF. Made with real cane sugar!
MM, thanks for the tip. G&T's are my fave. I read somewhere it's an old man's drink. Oh well... I figure, give it a few years and it'll be the next "cosmo".
There was an article in the New York Daily News today about the big box stores like Costco and Trader Joe's and Sam's Club and drug store chains like CVS destroying the local supermarkets in New York City. These giants come in and sell in bulk and a lot of people go and buy there. But they don't take food stamps and require a car to transport the stuff back to your house. There are a lot of people, especailly poor and elderly people who can't go to these giant stores. The local supermarket on Court St closed and the space became a CVS pharmacy. Now all the little old ladies have no where to shop. The kids that got their first jobs there have no place to get after school jobs.
Personally this doesn't effect me. I only buy one thing in every store anyway. Meat in the butcher. Bread in the bakery. Pastry in the pastry store. Vegtables in the vegtable store. But a lot of people where hurt by the closing. Luckily in Carroll Gardens there are still two supermarkets even though they are about ten blocks away. But in a lot of poorer areas that's not the case. It is becoming an increasing problem.
My Trader Joe's is a tiny store. We didn't go into the one at Fisherman's Wharf in SF, but I assumed it would be the same size as my Trader Joe's. I like the "intimacy" factor of the smaller store that I get at my Trader Joe's.
Trader's is about 1/2 mile from the the nearest Costco which is about 20 miles from my house. We generally do that trip at most quarterly. So I stock up a bit at Trader Joe's but not a huge amount. 3 buck chuck for sure, some of their frozen stuff (gnocchi, risotto, asparagus spears) and some of their shelf stable stuff. They have a great 6 compartment cloth bag for wine bottles. Only a buck. I use them for knitting and crocheting work too.
I love that we have a Panda within my walking distance. Our's is a stand-alone shop that was a Boston Market and a flower shop once upon a time. It has a drive thru, but as a walker, I go in the front door. You get to see all the food that way too.
Kev, there's another Copeland's in Elmwood, on Clearview Parkway, that re-opened just a few months ago. Google maps should find it for you. While you look that up, you and I can share a moment of silence for the passing of big Al Copeland this year. I'll miss his garish Christmas light displays. Whole oilfields were sacrificed for the entertainment of New Orleans' children.
He was a legendary, over-the-top character, a real bootstraps guy, and he lived big:
"Al Copeland took joy in shaking things up. After the famous war of words with author Anne Rice, he threw garlic from his converted boat during the Mardi Gras parades.
Another public battle was over tomatoes. The late Johnny Becnel was well known for the kickoff to the Creole tomato season, showing up at the French Market annually to auction off the first Plaquemines Parish Creoles of the year. Al Copeland and Paul Prudhomme duked it out at the auction, ending up at an astonishing $10,000 for the first case, then as gentlemen, split it. The money went to Becnel’s workers, who tended the crop and the tomatoes to Copeland’s Restaurants and K-Paul’s."
Here's his obit from the local paper; it's a good read.
Trader Joe's is very much a different kind of place.
Around here, if you work at Trader Joe's, you're a mini-celebrity. (So, too, with Gelson's, actually.) I don't know if it's a corporate policy, but the TJ's staff actually interacts with shoppers like they're fellow human beings.
I know, for example, when a new product comes in, the staff gets to try it out. And so sometimes you have them raving about a new product, and it's very sincere. (They'll also say when they don't care for something.) Or they've come up with the ideas for the samples (recipes, combinations, etc.). Turnover's relatively low, too, so you get to know people.
It really changes the shopping experience.
I'm sure that (and the prices) is why that last supermarket strike was so deadly for the big chains. People started shopping elsewhere and liked it. They can't open TJ's fast enough around here, but I haven't seen a big chain open a new store for 20 years. (I've seen 'em close, though.)
Post a Comment