July 13, 2017

Trump and Macron will dine "at Le Jules Verne, the elite, blue-lobster-serving restaurant... something of a surprise, considering Mr. Trump’s fondness for ketchup-doused steak and cheeseburgers rather than gourmet foods."

Sniffs the NYT.

Let's look into the future and read Macron's diary entry:
Recently I took a United States President to dinner. Insensitively, I led him into a gourmet restaurant. Suddenly I saw his face freeze up as he was confronted with dishes like homard bleu and ingredients like tomate and olives noires. I quickly asked him if he wanted to go somewhere else and he anxiously nodded yes and we ate at McDonald's.
Thank you NYT for setting up the opportunity to find something to say about that paragraph so many people have already made fun of — that David Brooks thing:
Recently I took a friend with only a high school degree to lunch. Insensitively, I led her into a gourmet sandwich shop. Suddenly I saw her face freeze up as she was confronted with sandwiches named “Padrino” and “Pomodoro” and ingredients like soppressata, capicollo and a striata baguette. I quickly asked her if she wanted to go somewhere else and she anxiously nodded yes and we ate Mexican.
As I said yesterday:
I've been meaning to write about that sandwich.

As Warren Zevon famously said: "Enjoy every sandwich."

The trick is to figure out how to enjoy it when a lot of other people have already written about it.

I need an angle.
So thanks, NYT. Thanks for the lob. Thanks for the lobster.

338 comments:

1 – 200 of 338   Newer›   Newest»
CStanley said...

Haha...as soon as I read the headline I knew where you were going with it but still enjoyed the laugh.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

That pig! Impeach him!

Fernandinande said...

ketchup-doused steak ???

And all this time I thought Trump ate raw - but fresh! - road-kill.

Original Mike said...

Trump puts ketchup on steak? Can I have my vote back?

Nonapod said...

It's weird. It's thanks to places like the NYT that I know Trump's apparent eating habbits, something I could give a @#%$ about. Of course, I don't trust the NYT at all when the subject happens to be Trump. Truthfully I don't really trust them much on almost any subject, but especially Trump.

Clearly they're just feeding their readership what they want here "See, look how gauche our president is". Of course all this just further confirms what non readers think about the NYT and their readership (that they're just a bunch of arrogant snobs who despise folk like them). And the divide continues to widen.

Dagwood said...

Well played, Ann.

rhhardin said...

Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman took ketchup packets to a fancy restaurant, which is always a good move.

MikeR said...

Huh. My mother takes me out to a gourmet restaurant sometimes; there's absolutely no question that I enjoy ordinary foods more. Maybe lots of people do. This gourmet restaurant refuses to cook meat more than medium. I try to get them to make it medium, twice.

Unknown said...

i am hoping that trumps's justice dept put the kabosh on the amazon-whole fees deal. too much gourmet and moral preening in one company

chuck said...

> Sniffs the NYT.

The NYT has had a runny nose for some time now. They should take themselves to the vet and get it checked.

Big Mike said...

Of course, I don't trust the NYT at all when the subject happens to be Trump. Truthfully I don't really trust them much on almost any subject, but especially Trump.

@Nonapod, +1

MaxedOutMama said...

Is it the humidity? I am enjoying this unusually snarky larking very much. You have a good eye/ear for such moments of absurdity.

rhhardin said...

The best sandwich is what's called a sloppy joe in northern NJ. Ham, swiss, cole slaw, thousand island dressing, in a triple-decker neatly made.

harrogate said...

He's a billionaire and this is how his supporters and detractors alike talk about him.

God how he's fooled almost everyone. Aren't any of you, for example, sometimes just a little embarrassed? I'd ask the NYT the same question but to channel the guy from TOP GUN, my question would be Inverted.

Nyamujal said...

"Recently I took a friend with only a high school degree to lunch. Insensitively, I led her into a gourmet sandwich shop. Suddenly I saw her face freeze up as she was confronted with sandwiches named “Padrino” and “Pomodoro” and ingredients like soppressata, capicollo and a striata baguette. I quickly asked her if she wanted to go somewhere else and she anxiously nodded yes and we ate Mexican."

I don't know what soppressata, capicollo and a striata are either. And ya'll say I'm a part of the liberal elite...:-(

rhhardin said...

For hamburgers, Don's Drive-in in Livingston NJ.

Ohio has nothing.

tcrosse said...

Nixon put ketchup on cottage cheese, and look what happened to him.

Richard Dillman said...

I suggest that Trump take Macron to Jimmy Johns or Red Robin when he comes the U.S. David Brooks should accompany them.

rhhardin said...

Though apparently Olga, the counter waitress, has retired. Who knows who's running Don's Drive-in now.

tcrosse said...

I don't know what soppressata, capicollo and a striata are either. And ya'll say I'm a part of the liberal elite.

Italian peasant food made trendy by snooty WASPS.

Fernandinande said...

As essentially a petit bourgeous agrarian prole and villeinous serfer, I was not sophisticated enough to appreciate French food and usually ate at the Chinese place in Nice.

Bob Ellison said...

Nyamujal, it's spelled "y'all".

Ralph L said...

I'd like a poll to see how many here know what all those Eyetalian foods are.
Is there a matching game template?

I've never heard of any of them except baguette.

madAsHell said...

considering Mr. Trump’s fondness for ketchup-doused steak and cheeseburgers rather than gourmet foods.

How in the world do they know what he eats? Isn't this just more fake news?

rhhardin said...

The Summit (NJ) Diner came under new management, but it used to have the biggest portions of everything ever served anywhere.

Unknown said...

when I was in paris I was surprised by the amount of gourmet foods available considering they lack air conditioning most everywhere

Bob Ellison said...

How in the world do they know what he eats?

Good question. One would have to suspect a mole in the Secret Service or the White House cooking staff.

Rosenstein, call Mueller. This should be on his to-do list.

Ralph L said...

Rhhardin, where's the bacon in that sandwich?

rhhardin said...

Bacon would have the wrong texture for a sloppy joe.

rehajm said...

I had to look up the blue lobster thing. I'm accustomed to the Maine Lobster where a blue one is extraordinarily rare, I had a thought that Jules Verne had turned into the type of place that served endangered species. Thankfully it's the common Euro lobster.

It wasn't that long ago NYT would have contracted a runny nose because their GOP target was too comfortable in a place like Le Jules Verne.

John henry said...

I have a similar problem when people invite me to Starbucks. Starbucks seems to purvey everything coffee flavored except actual coffee.

All I ever want is a hot cup of plain, black, coffee. Not espresso, not made with a machine. Just standard Bunn-O-Matic is fine for me. (Or K-Cup)I like Dunkin Donuts, Waffle House, Perkins, Dennys, McDonalds and even most gas station coffee.

I've never been able to figure out how to order a cup of coffee in Starbucks and tend to get a bottle of water or juice whenever I can't get out of going.

John Henry

Gk1 said...

IMPEACH!

rhhardin said...

Just ask for hot water and bring a packet of Sanka.

Seeing Red said...

Fancy salami. Maybe she didn't want a salami sandwich or tomato bread?

I wouldn't either. I eat salami sandwiches at home, preferably Iscar Mayer.

Etienne said...

My wife and I both love 7 course meals.

That's the advantage of a high class Chef-run restaurant.

The food just keeps coming. Little masterpieces I call them.

Bad Lieutenant said...

harrogate said...
He's a billionaire and this is how his supporters and detractors alike talk about him.

God how he's fooled almost everyone. Aren't any of you, for example, sometimes just a little embarrassed? I'd ask the NYT the same question but to channel the guy from TOP GUN, my question would be Inverted.

7/13/17, 9:59 AM


And columnists and speakers of the day called Abraham Lincoln such names as "the Original Gorilla." We're not ashamed of President Trump, we're ashamed of you, our erstwhile compatriots, and of the soi-disant elites who seem to think that they are in charge!

John henry said...

I ate at Le Cirque once. About $700 for 5.

I do not recommend it. Food was fine, what there was of it. There was not enough, including soup, main course and dessert, to make an appetizer in most places. At those prices a snooty wait staff is to be expected and they did not disappoint.

My son and I stopped at McDonalds to fill up on the way back to the hotel. They weren't snooty with us, either.

John Henry

Seeing Red said...

Oscar.


Michael said...

Ketchup on steak is less of a crime than thinking that it is. Hilarious snobbery in the age where our billionaires wear black tee shirts every day. The arrogance of it! Steak is not some extra special treat, folks, especially not to people who could afford to eat it at every meal. The critics sneer but put ketchup on hot dogs, a gastronomic faux pas far far worse than ketchup on steak. Oh, and waiter, I want my Smith snd Wollensky bone in ribeye extra well done.

Thorley Winston said...

Recently I took a friend with only a high school degree to lunch. Insensitively, I led her into a gourmet sandwich shop. Suddenly I saw her face freeze up as she was confronted with sandwiches named “Padrino” and “Pomodoro” and ingredients like soppressata, capicollo and a striata baguette.

Aren’t many of those the same ingredients that Subway is featuring in their commercial for their new Italian sub? I wasn’t aware that they were now considered a “gourmet sandwich shop.” I suppose next Brooks will be writing about how he took his friend out for “high end steak” and she was confused by which Happy Meal to order.



Infinite Monkeys said...

What makes a gourmet sandwich "gourmet" besides the price?

I'm not a big fan of getting sandwiches at restaurants. I can usually make better ones myself. I would have probably preferred something else too.

Dave from Minnesota said...

I recall when Obama went to Philly and instead of the customary (and for a politician, a good photo op) cheesesteak, he ordered a sandwich made with $100 a pound ham. Oh, and the ham was from a foreign nation.

Imagine if a white Republican had done that. I would have condemned the Republican for being an out-of-touch elitist.

Trump may be a goofy billionaire, but his somewhat blue-collar queens background does show up.

Hagar said...

In my youth, I was partial to a 12-oz. KC-strip, medium rare, with baked potato and a sprig of parsley for a vegetable.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Elites need to lie about sandwiches.

Seeing Red said...

And I'm sure the prices for fancy salami and tomato bread were outrageous.

When I was in NYC a few years ago, $15 pound for tomato basil mozzarella salad. Dean and DeLuca.

rehajm said...

All I ever want is a hot cup of plain, black, coffee

At Starbucks a 12oz regular black coffee is a Grande Pike.

Swede said...

David Brooks is incapable of writing or speaking without sounding like a complete twat.

rhhardin said...

Paris was all old and run down. The Germans had nice new cities.

John henry said...

RH HArdin,

Ohio has Waffle House which is more than Wisconsin can say. Though you do have Culvers. My 2 favorite fast foods.

My wife and I are going to South Carolina for 4 days. I'll bet we eat at Waffle House 5-6 times.

I already know what I want and am salivating like Pavlov's dog: 4 eggs easy on top of hashbrowns smothered, covered, diced, chunked and whatever else. Side of raisin toast and a couple cups of coffee.

And some people accuse me of being a philistine with a Naugahyde palette

John Henry

Nonapod said...

@John - I'm with you. I think Starbucks default coffee is something called Pike Place Roast. Basically if you just say "I'd like a medium coffee" without specifying anything else, that's what you're going to get. Personally I don't like it, it's way too harsh.

Gk1 said...

I am still fascinated by that photo of trump eating a big mac, fries and a small bottle of diet coke while flying in his personal jet during the campaign. If I can recollect correctly the media sniffed that it had to be a staged/phony appeal to middle america. I guess he can't win either way, eh?

Dave from Minnesota said...

Recently I took a friend with only a high school degree to lunch. Insensitively, I led her into a gourmet sandwich shop. Suddenly I saw her face freeze up as she was confronted with sandwiches named “Padrino” and “Pomodoro” and ingredients like soppressata, capicollo and a striata baguette.

I have an MBA and I do the same thing when in a place like that. I've learned to go to their online menu first, see what is there...google the choices if I don't know what they are.

But like Governor Walker, I usually make a simple sandwich at home and bring it to work.

n.n said...

How very PC. Progressive Condescension. Trump reelected in 2020.

Dave from Minnesota said...

Remember when John Kerry went into a commoners restaurant, ordered food, took it on the bus, and threw it away?

John henry said...

Blogger rehajm said...


At Starbucks a 12oz regular black coffee is a Grande Pike.

Thanks but I have been told a dozen times how to get a cup of regular black coffee. Americano, Pike Place, several other things. I don't recall hearing Grand Pike before.

None of them have ever worked for me. And when I ask how to order a cup of plain black coffee the barista (what a pretentious name) gives me a lecture that leaves me knowing less than at the end than at the beginning. And I wind up with a bottle of water.

No, if I want coffee, I'll just go somewhere else.

John Henry

Dave from Minnesota said...

My wife and I both love 7 course meals.

Me too:

Beer
Salad
Meat
Beer
Beer
Beer
Beer

Seeing Red said...

I went to a 24 hour Wal-Mart on vacay in West Virginia. They even carried prosciutto.

Mr. Crease of his Pants needs to get put more.

Dave from Minnesota said...

Starbucks: "I'll have a large light roast" That's how to order there for people like me.

Seeing Red said...

Out or bent more!

John henry said...

I thought Macron hated President Trump?

And now they're dating?

John Henry

rehajm said...

This gourmet restaurant refuses to cook meat more than medium.

To me anything cooked past medium is sacrilege but I've never understood a high end chef refusing a customer request. Seems like a great chef should view 'well done' a challenge. I know a few who do.

rehajm said...

I think you're either Dunkin' or Starbucks, never both.

harrogate said...

Bad Lietenant swings from his heels and misses Bad Lieutenantly

tim in vermont said...

I put ketchup on a hot dog just to find out how many New Yorkers are around.

I saw a picture of Trump eating at Jean Georges, so I am thinking he won't tie a napkin around his neck and rest his hands on the table with a fork in one, knife in the other pointing up, but if he did, that would be great!

Fuck these guys, Trump was elected to shake things up.

Carter Wood said...

Jules Verne, Journey to the Center of the Earth, 1864: "Hunger, prolonged, is temporary madness! The brain is at work without its required food, and the most fantastic notions fill the mind. Hitherto I had never known what hunger really meant. I was likely to understand it now."

What a good passage for a plaque welcoming patrons.

traditionalguy said...

You never know. We pit stopped at an exit with only a Burger King. To buy something, I asked for a Whopper. And it was the best food we had that day. Something about flame broiling.

Bob Ellison said...

To me anything cooked past medium is sacrilege but I've never understood a high end chef refusing a customer request.

I agree on both counts. My pet peeve is salt. Some restaurants don't even put salt on the table. It's presumed to be an insult to the woke chef to want to season your food. If you ask for salt, they'll bring it. They must know that a fair quantity of their customers either (1) want salt but are afraid to look like rubes, so don't ask for it, and won't come back, or (2) want salt and ask for it and are a little pissed that they had to ask.

Why not go to (3), where you just put the damn salt on the table in the first place, and let the customer decide? It's not as though putting it there is an insult to your guest.

Karen said...

I just finished the Daily Mail article about Melania's visit to Paris and the Children's Hospital. It was so refreshing to read a news article that just states the facts and doesn't fill it up with opinion and innuendo. The New York Times is completely off the beam. Has it always been as bad as this?

Sebastian said...

"David Brooks is incapable of writing or speaking without sounding like a complete twat." Even when he means to self-critically expose his insensitive condescension--which is quite a feat.

Etienne said...

Infinite Monkeys said...What makes a gourmet sandwich "gourmet" besides the price?

Quality components.

It starts with a bread that cooked fresh with stone ground flour, and ends with components that are NOT available in grocery stores.

If you can buy the components in a grocery store, it's called a "Deli" sandwich. Just mass produced garbage, put in a sack...

CJ said...

People who only shop at Walmart have access to almost any kind of food you'd find at a Whole Foods - you maybe can't get Humboldt Farm cheese at Walmart but you can get nice cheese or nice meats. ("ooh, Eyetalian meats, honey, look, how exotic" - how David Brooks imagines his "friends" with only HS degrees might say as they glide around on their motorized scooters).

Ralph L said...

Who else was shocked that OJ went to McDonalds before murdering his ex wife?

Ralph L said...

In a Bentley.

rhhardin said...

Loose lips sink ships.

Do not discuss bus schedules or sandwiches.

Ralph L said...

Time for lunch on the East Coast

Mark O said...

This thread should be limited to those who ever dined at Lutece.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

Trump puts ketchup on steak? Can I have my vote back?

Yeah, I understand the sentiment. A friend of mine told me about an incident in his youth, his Dad had some people over and was grilling some steaks. He asked everyone how they wanted theirs and someone asked for it well done. His dad told her that he would be glad to make her a hamburger, but he refused to ruin a good steak.

Anyway, Trump builds and runs world class hotels, I don't think he's going to be all that intimidated.

Dave from Minnesota said...

Meats....there is a difference between the lowest priced meats and better ones. Fillers, nitrates, other preservatives, sodium.

Ann Althouse said...

I don't know about you, but I have to admit that I kind of look down on people who use the word "gourmet" to refer to a restaurant or to food. I'll accept it as a noun to refer to someone who's very far along in his appreciation for a wide variety of well-made foods, but as an adjective, I consider it rather embarrassing. If my friend were "leading" me into a sandwich place and called it "gourmet," I would look down on him. He might misread my reaction and think I'm not comfortable around overachieving sandwich-making. But I might have a more refined taste in preferring fewer, fresher ingredients and not all that (literal) phony-baloney.

Etienne said...

John said...I ate at Le Cirque once.... Food was fine, what there was of it. There was not enough...

The reason the water is there, is not to wash your fingers, it's to drink. You have to drink the whole glass of water.

This fills the stomach half-way. Then to this, you keep adding food from each course.

Finally, you can't take it anymore, pay your bill, and leave.

If you don't drink the water, you will need a whopper or big mac to take the place of the water.

Ann Althouse said...

"His dad told her that he would be glad to make her a hamburger, but he refused to ruin a good steak."

That's terrible etiquette!

Ann Althouse said...

As a matter of taste, treating another person like that is much worse than overcooking steak.

(But it's possible that your father said it with great charm, which is the ketchup that makes rude remarks palatable.)

Bay Area Guy said...

Ketchup on steak is rather gauche.

However, A-1 on steak is pretty good.

Maybe, CNN can do an investigative piece on why this sinister double-standard exists. Perhaps, it is a Russian plot to destabilize Heinz.

Myself, I'm tempted to fly to France, dine at Le Jules Verne restaurant just to order the double-bacon cheeseburger and Budweiser -- if they have it.

Gahrie said...

I have put ketchup on both hot dogs and steak..so there!

I happen to like the taste of ketchup and mustard combined (2/3 ketchup and 1/3 mustard) and always put it on hotdogs and fries; often on hamburgers; and rarely on steak. I sometimes use A-1 sauce on steak. Which is best ordered medium rare.

HT said...

Poor DB. I have no idea what those ingredients are. He thought he was in a no-win situation, with toxic assumptions. It works both ways. He might have been similarly patronized walking into a place that that person ate at a lot. She would have just told her people about it as opposed to several thousand in an article.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

"Italian peasant food made trendy by snooty WASPS"

Good point. Amazing how much trendy cuisine is originally prole stodge gleaned from the margins. A quality steak doused in ketchup is, in the big historical food picture, a luxury item.

Charlie Eklund said...

The Jules Verne is a decent place to grab a bite and you can't beat the view, since it is located half-way or so up the Eiffel Tower.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I do like Horse Doovers.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

(But it's possible that your father said it with great charm, which is the ketchup that makes rude remarks palatable.)

He was my friends dad, and he was an a**hole.

Bob Ellison said...

Many moons ago, I had a group of friends over for dinner, and served grilled steaks. I queried and wrote down how each guest wanted it done, and tried my best. All but one was OK with the result. That one wanted well-done, and her steak was still slightly pink. I put it back on the grill for maybe another six minutes per side, and gave it back to her. Still not good.

I didn't know what to do, so I put it in the microwave for a while. It's interesting about steak: if you beam it, the pink stays pink, even though it might be at 220 degrees. So she still refused it. I gave up at that point.

The lessons I learned were: don't beam a steak, and don't serve steak to people who don't know how to eat one.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

The dad, not my friend.

clint said...

Seeing Red said...
"I went to a 24 hour Wal-Mart on vacay in West Virginia. They even carried prosciutto.

Mr. Crease of his Pants needs to get put more."

But that's the whole point. Now that the flyover rubes know what prosciutto is, the elites have to eat capricolla and sopressata. Why even my browser's spellchecker doesn't recognize those!

Ron Winkleheimer said...

I put it back on the grill for maybe another six minutes per side, and gave it back to her. Still not good.

She wanted it burnt. Alton Brown says for the best grilled steak you should cook it on the actual coals.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=alton+brown+girll+steak+coals&view=detail&mid=E214AE68C49726F95D84E214AE68C49726F95D84&FORM=VIRE

Gahrie said...

I am firmly of the opinion that everyone is entitled to their own taste in food.

I prefer my steak medium rare, but I really don't care if you like yours well done.

I think being a snob is stupid, but being a food snob is the height of stupidity. If you need to feel better than me to feel good about yourself, than go right ahead...but I'm laughing at you.

DanTheMan said...

>high school degree

Degree??? I've never heard it called that, but rather a 'high school diploma'.

Bob Ellison said...

Ron Winkleheimer, I heard some chef recently, maybe on NPR, say firmly that almost all of the taste of cooked beef comes from the burnt outside. That seems correct to me, but the texture of burnt steak, burnt all the way through, is awful. Dry and way too chewy, but not enough fun as beef jerky. The mouth-feel is another entity.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

Dry and way too chewy, but not enough fun as beef jerky. The mouth-feel is another entity.

I'm a medium rare person myself.

Original Mike said...

"The lessons I learned were: don't beam a steak, and don't serve steak to people who don't know how to eat one."

The lesson I would have taken away is, "I need a better friend."

Bob Ellison said...

RW, me, too. If the cook knows how to do medium rare, it's the best.

Dave from Minnesota said...

"Italian peasant food made trendy by snooty WASPS"

There is a new chain/franchise with a location nearby. The signage says [whatever the name is}, and then "Italian Street Food".

Really not sure what that means. Is it like the fat guy with the hotdog stand downtown?

tim in vermont said...

Ordered a hamburger once for my daughter at Maxim's in Paris, they chopped up a steak with a knife, one of the best burgers I ever tasted. Yes I had to try it, we all had a bite.

tcrosse said...

Back to Brooks: How come Italian peasant food is high class, but Mexican or Chinese peasant food is not ? Isn't this just a bit... racist ?
BTW, Lobster used to be poor peoples' food.

MountainMan said...

I read an article in Delta's Sky Magazine years ago which asked a list of celebrities what one item they would never travel without. For Dan Rather, it was a bottle of Tabasco. He said it would make anything taste good.

urbane legend said...

Bob Ellison said...

Nyamujal, it's spelled "y'all".

Thank you. I don't understand why so many have trouble with that. It is pronounced "yawl".

tcrosse said...

The signage says [whatever the name is}, and then "Italian Street Food".

Is it road-kill ?

Ron Winkleheimer said...

Personally, my opinion is that if you want me to burn your steak, I will burn your steak. I would even give you A1 Sauce, if I had any in the house. I was going to provide the steak anyway. You should enjoy it.

Ralph L said...

So she still refused it.
That's bad etiquette too--maybe worse, regardless of charm, because of your extra trouble.

buwaya said...

"Recently I took a visiting banker acquaintance from New York, a top fellow with a Harvard MBA, to lunch. Insensitively, on our way back from tony Tali Beach I led our party, traveling in convoy, to a carinderia (informal restaurant) in a Batangas provincial town (we needed gas anyway). Suddenly I saw his face freeze up as he was confronted with dinuguan, dried fish, bagoong, and horror of horrors, some of our lot ordered balut from a passing vendor. I quickly asked him if he wanted to go somewhere else and he anxiously nodded yes and we ate at the nearest Jollibee (ubiquitous local incarnation of the McDonalds theme)."

The scenario above is extremely common in my experience.

I think Brooks misunderstands culture shock. He assumes he is sophisticated, so he is immune. I am certain I could shock him without trying very hard.

Hagar said...

"Italian peasant food made trendy by snooty WASPS"

French cuisine is said to have its origins in the Hundred Years War, when the English "Goddams" requisitioned and ate all the good stuff, leaving the French to eat snails and frogs and perhaps celebrate by cooking the daylights out of a super-annuated old hen or rooster.

rehajm said...

No, if I want coffee, I'll just go somewhere else.

Whether you can't order because you're a bit slow or you're basking in your own rejection of pretentiousness I suspect Starbucks won't miss you much either way.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

The NYT and the rest of urban libtards are such snotty hypocrites.

Just because a person "prefers" or likes a certain type of food ....aka Steak well done with ketchup (gag!) doesn't mean that they don't know about or cannot appreciate other types of cooking. I'm pretty sure that Trump has eaten at more than just a Cracker Barrel restaurant in his life.

Just another instance of "them" looking down on the "proles" and trying to make themselves out to be superior.

@ Ron Winkleheimer

Our solution to the BBQ conundrum and people who like well done, or more done, meat is to do a BIG Tri Tip roast. The thin end will be well done, while the thicker end will be rare and everything in the middle from well to medium to medium rare. Everyone gets to pick their level of done-ness.

Ron Winkleheimer said...


I heard some chef recently, maybe on NPR, say firmly that almost all of the taste of cooked beef comes from the burnt outside.

https://exploratorium.edu/cooking/meat/INT-what-makes-flavor.html

buwaya said...

"How come Italian peasant food is high class, but Mexican or Chinese peasant food is not ? Isn't this just a bit... racist ? "

Chinese peasant food can be high class - its just a matter of presentation and pricing. BTW, all Chinese food is peasant food. Social class among Chinese is not culturally determined, unless they have been very westernized.

Some people are trying to make Mexican classy. Its got possibilities in that direction, but it remains to be seen.

Ralph L said...

almost all of the taste of cooked beef comes from the burnt outside.
That's explains why tenderloin and prime rib are traditionally served with horseradish or other fun stuff. Also the salt etc are on the outside.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

Our solution to the BBQ conundrum and people who like well done, or more done, meat is to do a BIG Tri Tip roast.

Mmm, going to have to try that the next time I have a BBQ, or the flank steak right on the coals.

Michael said...

For business I eat out a lot at high end restaurants but on my own i love Waffle House: 2 eggs over easy, hash browns, sausage, whole wheat toast, pecan waffle. Does not get any better. Tonight in Los Angeles I will est at The Grilk on the Alley. I will eat the lamb. No ketchup.

Gahrie said...

BTW, Lobster used to be poor peoples' food.

Yep...they used to feed it to people in prison who complained about it.

Ironically(?) chicken used to be rich people's food.

Bay Area Guy said...

This country was founded on two fundamental enduring principles: war and beef.

So, if these snooty Frenchmen and their 5th column allies in the NYT starting getting uppity about our preferred dining cuisine, we might have to go full Andrew Jackson on them.

tim in vermont said...

Just another instance of "them" looking down on the "proles" and trying to make themselves out to be superior.

And they can't figure out why the proles like and trust him.

Hagar said...

When playing cowboy on a cattle ranch for a time n my youth, I was amused by watching a family council being called to pick out a prime steer, which was brought back to the barn and fattened on milk and grain and other good stuff, then trucked to town to the butchers to be killed and hung to cure before being cut up into prime steaks and other cuts and frozen.
All that, and then they would cook it well done and then some, which kind of ruined the meat for me, but that is what they wanted.
But then it occurred to me that it really was not that long ago that the REA brought electric power and refrigeration to the Sandhills.

Gahrie said...

Tonight in Los Angeles

Did you ever eat at Ships? I used to love that place....plenty of 3am bullshit sessions there when I was at USC.

TestTube said...

It is essential to the Elite that its cultural markers are important to the non-elite.

Better if the non-elite aspire to adopt those cultural markers, but essential that they at least think they are important.

This is how the elite differentiates themselves as elite. Their cultural markers are the ones that people pay attention to -- favorably or unfavorably, doesn't much matter.

So, as an example, it is necessary that the non-elite give Rothko consideration. Even if it is unfavorable, as in "Rothko painted junk and was off his rocker" -- at least they are thinking about Rothko. Rothko is significant. Much better than not knowing, or caring about Rothko.

Thus, the elite constantly interject random cultural markers into the national discussion. Rothko had an exhibit in Houston, but more importantly, was referenced in the popular movie "Antman", and on a television reality show. Which marker, or even whether it is high or low culture, is unimportant. What is important is that the marker is interjected.

So blue lobster is the latest cultural marker. You never heard of blue lobster before? Nor have I (and food is something that is very important to me). But now blue lobster is in our heads, tied to elitism. We can aspire to eat blue lobster, or sneer at blue lobster. But we are thinking about blue lobster.

Same with Padrino and Pomodoro” and soppressata, capicollo and a striata baguette. Bread, salami, and tomatoes -- but now elevated to become cultural markers, about which we are supposed to have an opinion.


Hagar said...

In coastal Norway in past centuries farm servants had it in their "contracts" that the landlord could not feed them salmon more than twice a week.

Karen said...

Re David Brooks, doesn't he realize the damage he has done to his friend with the high school degree? He has exposed her lack of confidence in being unable to ask the necessary questions to feel comfortable in ordering. Oh, and then there's that little thing about saying she has only a high school degree and that somehow that means that she is not prepared for life at least in his circle. What do you do then about Steve Jobs and Bill Gates who I am quite sure run in a more rarified circle than David Brooks? They both have only high school degrees or maybe by now they have some sort of honorary degree, but a person who has initiative and savvy and a high school degree can go anywhere in this country and be anything.

clint said...

Bob Ellison-

For future reference, if you ever again get an order for a well-done steak... the trick is to butterfly the steak. (Cut it in half the long way so that you get two steaks that are half the thickness. If you want to be fancy, you leave them connected at one edge and fold it out like a butterfly, but it's not mandatory.) It will cook to shoe-leather doneness in about the same time it takes to get the other steaks nicely medium rare. As you discovered, short of popping it in the oven until everyone else is done eating, there's no good way to cook a nice thick steak to well-done.

Anonymous said...

Nonapod: Clearly they're just feeding their readership what they want here "See, look how gauche our president is". Of course all this just further confirms what non readers think about the NYT and their readership (that they're just a bunch of arrogant snobs who despise folk like them).

To be fair to NYT readers, some of us "deplorables" out here arrogantly look down on them. Per Thackeray's defintion of "snob", though - "one who meanly admires mean things" - I'll leave the "snob" part to them.

The quote in the headline of this post is indicative of nothing but an irredeemably vulgar writer catering to irredeemably vulgar readers. I have yet to see or hear anything from Trump that approaches the level of vulgarity displayed here. But they are snobs, so they wouldn't understand why it's so vulgar.


Nyamujal: And ya'll say I'm a part of the liberal elite...:-(

Nobody thinks you're part of any elite, lol. There are other words to describe the people who dutifully parrot whatever views the organs of the "liberal elite" are putting out, but "elite" isn't one of them.

YoungHegelian said...

@Michael,

i love Waffle House: 2 eggs over easy, hash browns, sausage, whole wheat toast, pecan waffle.

You, sir, are describing the All Star breakfast plate, which is what I always order at WH. It is not only tasty, it is also one of the best values available at a restaurant anywhere today. It costs so much more to order the components of an All Star a la carte that it's silly to even try.

I, too, upgrade the waffle to the pecan model, but my hash browns MUST HAVE ONIONS, & my eggs are scrambled hard & dry.

We've discussed before how many WH aficionados there are on this board. We're not Althouse Hillbillies. We're Althouse Rednecks.

JohnAnnArbor said...

Some people can appreciate both fine food and "common" food.

I once saw Martha Stewart do a detailed segment on county-fair corn dogs.

traditionalguy said...

Really high end French Restaurants owned and operated by French chefs was always worth what it costs, including the wine parings. But they all went out of business after 2008. High end now is Fish Restaurants , always popular with the rich immigrants, and Steak Houses always popular with the rich Americans.

Kevin said...

These people who are so opposed to Trump putting catsup on his steak exhibited no such objection to Obama eating dog.

Or frankly, other people eating dog at all. It seems that these issues aren't on any sort of principle but go back and forth so always to have the right people doing the right things and the wrong people doing the wrong.

I think I'll file their sentiments in the appropriate bin.

Breezy said...

@Dave at 10:25 -- :) lol

Left Bank of the Charles said...

"Not to mention possess the right attitudes about David Foster Wallace" - I see that you didn't mention that.

Kevin said...

Maybe David Brooks' friend was simply in shock that people would pay those NYC prices FOR A SANDWICH.

Bruce Hayden said...

"People who only shop at Walmart have access to almost any kind of food you'd find at a Whole Foods - you maybe can't get Humboldt Farm cheese at Walmart but you can get nice cheese or nice meats. ("ooh, Eyetalian meats, honey, look, how exotic" - how David Brooks imagines his "friends" with only HS degrees might say as they glide around on their motorized scooters)."

We have a Walmart a couple blocks from our new house in AZ, and were pleasantly surprised at what we could get there. Avocados were consistently better than from Safeway, and comparable to Fry's (Krogers). Found ourselves shopping almost like the New Yorkers and Parisians who lack modern supermarkets, buying fresh every day. Because of the convenience, we would drop by Walmart almost daily, Fry's maybe once a week for the few things that we couldn't get at Walmart, and either Costco or Sam's Club once a month for bulk purchases and canned meat and fish. Now, of course, in NW MT, we are maybe 2 hours away from the nearest Walmart and Safeway in 4 directions, Costco and Cabala's in 3 directions.

For me, the difference between Walmart, Safeway, and maybe Whole Foods is more a class thing than the food that we usually buy ("usually", because I don't do trendy very well, which means that, for me, Whole Foods is a waste of time, money, and real estate, even when I lived in Austin and had their original store close). You just don't see all the morbidly obese driving the motorized shopping carts around Whole Foods as you do at Walmart. Rather, much of their clientele is fashionably lean, fit and well dressed. Or the large number of tattoos. Large extended families (often buying junk food - likely with food stamps). Etc.

Fred Drinkwater said...

2015: Mostly disappointed by French (Rhone-Alp, Paris) and Italian (Florence, Venice) food.
2017: Amazed at the consistent very high quality of food in Greece (except Athens).
So good that my wife and I both instantly answered the airport security griller (hah!) in Geneva, who asked what was memorable about our trip, with "The food!" .

Anonymous said...

tcrosse: Italian peasant food made trendy by snooty WASPS.

Enough with the WASP-bashing. These days WASPs probably make up, at best, a shrinking minority of silly status-signaling snoots. (If they ever had a monopoly on it in the first place.)

Karen said...

Based on this article, 12 things that Donald Trump demands of his food, it's a fair bit that he doesn't care one whit about cultural markers.
http://www.eatthis.com/donald-trump-eating-habits?utm_source=Taboola&utm_medium=cpc

Dust Bunny Queen said...

I like my steaks rare. Char on the steak! No way.

When my husband and I first started dating (a bazillion years ago) he asked me how I liked my steak and I said RARE. He didn't believe me. I guess because none of his other girlfriends liked rare, so he cooked my steak medium. Not medium rare. But medium. Asked how I liked the steak and being the blunt honest person that I am, I told him. He (jokingly) never let me live it down that I didn't like his steak. To this day I say....."What! you want me to lie to you and eat overdone steak for the rest of my life!?!? You asked....I answered. Get over it."

We also went around about salting the food or adding condiments to dishes without tasting first. If I made a fish dish with a special lemon, wine, garlic sauce, I don't appreciate you slathering on tarter sauce all over it BEFORE tasting the dish. If you want tarter sauce after...be my guest. If it needs salt or pepper AFTER you taste...fine. Taste first! If you want something cooked a different way, just tell me and I will make it the way YOU like it.

When someone likes their food a certain way, that is their prerogative. Food can be very personal. However, give the dish a chance before adulterating it.

YoungHegelian said...

And speaking of food, being in IT, there's always some Chines/Koreans/Indians on any sizable team. We all decided that we'd go Chinese & let our Chinese co-worker pick the place. As we were driving there I asked him if he missed the quality of the food back home in China. He said "Actually, the food is better here, because all the top Chinese chefs learn their trade at slave wages in China, get good at it, & then come to the West were they can earn far more money". Made sense to me.

I've also been told by the owner of a Vietnamese pho restaurant that the pho is better here than in Vietnam because it's so much easier to get the beef cuts & "parts" to make the broth. In Vietnam, the chef will often have to cut back on the beef for the broth because he either can't find or afford it. Here, that was never a problem.

Bay Area Guy said...

When Macron comes over for his next visit to the US, President Trump should definitely take him to the Cracker Barrel or, perhaps, Waffle House.

A Tommy's Chili-Burger in LA might be nice too.

MountainMan said...

Well I can see among the comments there are people here who do not understand the difference between "barbecue" and "grilling." Cooking a steak on a gas or charcoal grill is "grilling", not "barbecue." Barbecue is a meat, usually pork - but sometimes chicken, and in Texas, usually beef - that has been seasoned and then smoked in a smoker for hours using a wood like hickory (or, in Texas, mesquite. When done, the pork is then hand pulled and served with a spicy sauce, usually unique to the restaurant, but following a generally regional flavor, and maybe on a plate or on a large bun. In Texas, the finished brisket may be either served on a platter or bun and can be sliced or chopped. The spicy rubs used on the meat, the smoking method, and the sauce recipe is different across the South and Midwest, where this type of cooking prevails. A NC sauce is vinegary, while in SC it is mustard based, and for most of the rest of the South is tomato based, with varying degrees of sweetness and hotness.

If you don't know this you don't know much about food in the flyover states, especially the South. In my 40 years of hosting business dinners in TN or TX with "Yankees" from the NE or the West Coast we had a lot of fun at our company introducing this to the elites who were completely clueless about one of American's biggest culinary traditions. Catered barbecue pork or beef, different sauces, and wonderful side dishes - baked beans, cole slaw, potato salad, fried okra, cheese grits, black-eye peas - were a standard lunch or dinner buffet.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

Yeah, I'm sure a simple guy like Trump, who has spent considerable time traveling to exotic locales with rich elites, will undoubtedly embarrass himself when it comes to ordering dinner at a French restaurant. That requires special skills that few outside the NYT sphere of influence posess

roesch/voltaire said...

i believe Trump's friend Jim used to eat there before he decide he wasn't going to visit the City of Lights because Paris is no longer Paris.

cubanbob said...

My wife likes her steaks very well done with ketchup. She usually doesn't finish her steak and wants me to finish it. One of the things I'm looking forward to when we go to Paris is to eat at the Jules Verne at the Eiffel Tower. I see a problem.

tim in vermont said...

I can't wait for the picture of Trump with a napkin over his head eating ortolan.

YoungHegelian said...

@Bay Area Guy,

Under the Bush II administration, when PM Sarkozy & his entourage came over to the US, they went with the Bushes to Kennebunkport where they had a cook out on the beach. You know what the Frogs requested? Hamburgers & hot dogs, I shit you not.

I guess when you want to go native, go native.

Balfegor said...

Re: buwaya:

"How come Italian peasant food is high class, but Mexican or Chinese peasant food is not ? Isn't this just a bit... racist ? "

Chinese peasant food can be high class - its just a matter of presentation and pricing. BTW, all Chinese food is peasant food. Social class among Chinese is not culturally determined, unless they have been very westernized


Peasant food is the best food. In Korea, I find "high class" food derived from the royal cuisine bland and often somewhat unappetizing. Guejeolpan (the one served in the fancy dish with nine compartments) is terribly pretty, but I've never known the taste to live up to the presentation. The common everyday food, on the other hand -- jjigae and jeon and bibimbap -- is wonderful.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

there are people here who do not understand the difference between "barbecue" and "grilling."

I understand that quite well. When I am cooking a pork butt or picnic ham for 8-12 hours in my smoker, getting it to 210-220 degrees so that it can be pulled (none of that sliced pork nonsense for me, thank you very much,) I am barbequing. When I cook something on my grill like a steak or pork chop, I am grilling. Chicken can be a little ambivalent. When I do a whole chicken on the grill, I think of it as BBQ, but if I cut it up, thus speeding up the cooking time, it is grilling.

How do you feel about white sauce?

Ron Winkleheimer said...

Oh, and what style of BBQ do you prefer. I'm a bit of a South Carolina fan myself, but you don't see that much in bama.

YoungHegelian said...

@Ron,

How do you feel about white sauce?

An Alabama specialty. But only on chicken or turkey. Lord, no, not on pork ribs.

Last Friday I smoked up 2 chickens & 3 Boston Butts with a North Carolina rub & sauce. The guests on Saturday devoured an astounding amount of it.

Dave from Minnesota said...

MountainMan, I am planning a trip to Mississippi for this fall. I have been studying the Mississippi BBQ Trail web site.

Bruce Hayden said...

"When playing cowboy on a cattle ranch for a time n my youth, I was amused by watching a family council being called to pick out a prime steer, which was brought back to the barn and fattened on milk and grain and other good stuff, then trucked to town to the butchers to be killed and hung to cure before being cut up into prime steaks and other cuts and frozen.

All that, and then they would cook it well done and then some, which kind of ruined the meat for me, but that is what they wanted."

I mentioned above the problems with living in rural MT, a couple hours away from big box stores, but the flip side is meat. We don't buy beef, elk, or bison in AZ. We haul enough down for the winter. I will put the meat that we take for granted here up against what you get in the best restaurants in NYC. Grain fed, raised 5-6 miles down river by a guy who includes it in a deal every year that includes harvesting the hay and alfalfa. Don't need the famous French sauces to cover rotten meat that helped make Paris famous for dining, since the meat is so good, you usually don't want to ruin it with such. (Plus, of course, the insane number of calories, the cholesterol, etc you get with those sauces).

Infinite Monkeys said...

It starts with a bread that cooked fresh with stone ground flour, and ends with components that are NOT available in grocery stores.

If you can buy the components in a grocery store, it's called a "Deli" sandwich. Just mass produced garbage, put in a sack...


I make my own bread and the fillings depend, usually, on what I have leftover from other meals. I think it's tasty. I have no reason to put it in a sack when I'm eating at home.

If I were to use cold cuts, I doubt my taste buds are refined enough to tell between soppressata and finocchiona or any other salami.

Bay Area Guy said...

You guys are making me hungry with this thread. So, for lunch, I'm fixin' to go to Everett & Jones BBQ in Downtown Oakland, on Broadway St.

And, I can assure you, they don't serve no Marinated sea bream, with courgette and lime.

YoungHegelian said...

Bay Area Guy,

And, I can assure you, they don't serve no Marinated sea bream, with courgette and lime.

Well, they shore do at Billy Ray Bob's Rib Shack in Eufala, Alabama! Just make sure you get it Tuesday through Saturday, because that's when Dee-Dee makes it, & she's just the best. The replacement chef on the other days just don't have that magic touch with the bream**

**Yes, this all made up out of whole cloth.

bleh said...

As the Trumps and the Macrons surveyed Napoleon’s tomb, the French president playfully tapped his wife on her rear end.

I'm sure the same language would have been used if Trump did the same to Melania.

Mr. Trump loves the trappings of the presidency, whether in the United States or in another country. That includes occupying the most prestigious seats at the Bastille Day ceremony, a pomp-filled parade steeped in military tradition and hardware.

What kind of reporting is this? She claims to know was Trump "loves" about the presidency. Does his "love" for the "trappings" make him different from his predecessors? Did Obama refuse "prestigious seats" at events like the Bastille Day parade? Would any US president not be offered such an honor? Very bizarre, in my opinion. I thought Maggie Halberman was supposed to be the best of the Trump reporters.

Barry Dauphin said...

Didn't Obama take Medvedev to Five Guys?

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Mountain Man: Barbecue is a meat, usually pork - but sometimes chicken, and in Texas, usually beef - that has been seasoned and then smoked in a smoker for hours using a wood like hickory

Not necessarily true. Perhaps in Texas, but not everywhere. You are talking about smoked meat which can be done also over coals and doesn't require a "smoker". Grilled is directly over the hot coals, however you can also cook a steak or other meats by indirect heat (coals on the sides of the bbq and can be smoked by adding damp chips to the coals and covering the BBQ. That is how I do my tri tip roasts. Santa Maria style rub. Indirect heat. Certainly NOT over the coals. Sometimes smoked. Cooked at a lower temp (250) until medium rare in the middle portion. NO bbq sauce while cooking. Belch!

Source: we had a smoked foods deli and wholesale business for several years and our smoked trout won awards in a west coast competition in Seattle for best 'hot' smoked fish (as opposed to cold smoked). Our smoked buffalo roasts were very popular.

Agreed on the differences in BBQ sauces. I'm particularly fond of Tennessee style and have a good recipe for a Peach BBQ sauce which is awesome on a slow roasted pork shoulder. We can agree to disagree about BBQ terms as it is really all in the taste.

Yay Food!!

bleh said...

I wish people would make up their mind on Trump. On the one hand, he's obsessed with opulence and garish displays of wealth. On the other hand, he loves ketchup on his steak and cheeseburgers. Both can be true, but the truth of the former contradicts the notion that Trump would feel out of place in a fancy Parisian restaurant where blue lobster is served. Trump is a billionaire. He may be tacky and have no taste, but I guarantee he's perfectly at home in the finest Michelin-starred restaurants.

Ralph L said...

A NC [bbq] sauce is vinegary
Only in the eastern half. In Charlotte, and west of say, Greensboro, it's tomato-based. blueeh
The meat is chopped.

In the South, pork was higher class than beef or poultry.

tim in vermont said...

Did he demand marble columns? That seems like it might be over the top!

grackle said...

He asked everyone how they wanted theirs and someone asked for it well done. His dad told her that he would be glad to make her a hamburger, but he refused to ruin a good steak.

This is the point where I would realize that dad’s “hospitality” was a sham and that I was in the presence of an asshole, a condition I would immediately rectify AFTER(with great charm) I told him what he could do with his steak. I have better things to do than stand around forcing a smile after being insulted.

Bob Ellison said...

Oh, man, now I have to go to the butcher and fire up the smoker just to hope to catch up with y'all. It's like a marathon!

Anonymous said...

Bay Area Guy: You guys are making me hungry with this thread.

Speaking of which, wild Texas boar started showing up at our very un-SWPLy local grocery chain's meat counter recently. Hopefully yours, too.

I have the fondest childhood taste memories of wild pig roasts in Florida, but hadn't had that pleasure in decades. Now wild boar ragout (prepared with all-American duck fat) is a winter Sunday-dinner staple for us. Served (and cooked) With your preferred robust red wine, it's heaven.

tim in vermont said...

but I guarantee he's perfectly at home in the finest Michelin-starred restaurants.

Literally! Jean-Georges is in his building!

SDaly said...

The Jules Verne isn't very elite. It's a decent place that is popular with tourists because it is in the Eiffel Tower.

0_0 said...

Was Dan Rather a snake-eater?

Anyway, how many of you Brooks-tier snots horrified at the thought of a "burnt" steak will eat raw steak or chicken? Because that is what eating undercooked steak can be like.
Ordering in a restaurant that isn't the Texas Roadhouse is tricky. One can get extra rare, rare, medium rare, medium... and then it goes straight to hockey puck.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

Life is good. Had a BLT with good, thick cut bacon and home grown tomatoes with a side of Chilton County Peaches for lunch. Going to be caramelizing a big bunch of Vidalia Onions tonight for the freezer to use to make just about anything better.

Lipperman said...

From @SimonMaloy

Recently I took a friend of mine with a giant nail in her skull to lunch. We went to a fancy bistro with exotic menu items: chlorine tablets, noodle floats, extendable nets, and the like. It dawned on me that we were actually in a pool supply store, and there was no friend; the nail, it turns out, was in my skull. It was a parable of cultural decline.

Static Ping said...

I think the primary discomfort of their meeting will be Trump trying to understand the concept of marrying a significantly older woman. Compare and contrast Trump, who has married three times to young attractive women, to Macron, who stole away his married old-enough-to-be-his-mother teacher and sticks by her. It will be an epic collision of relationship dysfunction.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

in the presence of an asshole

Oh yeah, that was the point of the anecdote.

Jael (Gone Windwalking) said...

... oh, gentle breath

Balfegor said...

0_0:

Anyway, how many of you Brooks-tier snots horrified at the thought of a "burnt" steak will eat raw steak or chicken? Because that is what eating undercooked steak can be like.

I do. Raw steak is yukhoe, and can be quite good -- wikipedia tells me it was banned in Japan ~2011, though, so I haven't eaten it recently (I did notice it had disappeared from the menus . . .). So I have raw horse instead. Raw chicken is more unusual, but I do like sasami rare in the center.

I wouldn't eat it in the US, though. Our food supply chain isn't set up for that kind of food, so it wouldn't be safe.

MountainMan said...

@Ron - "How do you feel about white sauce?" Not a fan, really. I have lived in 3 states - GA, TN, and TX - so I have grown up with tomato-based sauces, which I prefer. My wife, for some reason, also likes the SC mustard sauce. I don't care for it either.

What style do I prefer? I like East TN the best, that is mostly what I have eaten the past 40 years. Smoked pulled pork with a good tomato based sauce, on a large seeded bun, with potato salad and baked beans. My favorite place for this is Phil's Dream Pit, on I-26, near Kingsport, TN. There is a great story behind the name, as there is with most good family-owned BBQ joints.

Another great place, and something quite different, is The Ridgewood, in Bluff City, TN, just off US Hwy 11E, between Johnson City and Bristol. Roadfood.com rated this one of the best in the country. It is unique, nothing else like how they prepare the meant.

I also like TX beef brisket, but only in TX. My favorite there would be at Bodacious, in Longview, TX. Great chopped brisket and a good sauce, but very limited sides. Texas Monthly has an online guide to the top 50 barbecue joints in TX.

I didn't mention ribs but the all-time best ribs I have ever had are at The Country Tavern, on TX Hwy 31, between Kilgore and Tyler, just south of I-20. Well worth the stop if you are ever in that area. Trying to get my wife to retire so we can go back to TX to take a 2-week driving tour. This will be one of my first stops.

The coastal elites have no idea what they are missing.

Jael (Gone Windwalking) said...

rhhardin said...

“Julia Roberts ... took ketchup packets to a fancy restaurant, which is always a good move.”

I’d like to take Julia’s ketchup packets with me and squeeze ‘em to death, or life, or anywhere else in between, which is always a good move.

johns said...

at Jules Verne, Trump can choose "Roasted free-range chicken, toasted chickpeas, sorrel" instead of the blue lobster. Le Jules Verne is mainly an expensive tourist trap on the Eiffel Tower, like the 95th in Chicago or 71 Above in Los Angeles.

Ralph L said...

eat raw steak or chicken
At a Korean restaurant, I had chicken Tempura that was raw. Well, that's what they served me, didn't eat it. The family friend across from me had Steak Tartar and loved it (she ate slabs of rare beef at 6 y.o.). They also served Sushi.

Bay Area Guy said...

Le Jules Verne? What kinda fancy-schmancy French restaurant is called, Le Jules Verne, located in the Eiffel Tower?

It sounds like the French equivalent of Bubba Gumps at Universal Studios in Los Angeles. And you can get lobster there too.

MountainMan said...

DBQ - You are correct. I have smoked ribs on my old Weber kettle grill, pushing the coals to the side, putting the ribs in a stand-up rack with my own home-made rub, and periodically putting wet hickory chips on the coals. But my wife hates ribs so I don't make them often. Plus, we have too may good BBQ joints within 15-20 min of the house, so not usually worth my time to go to the trouble.

Todd said...

rhhardin said... [hush]​[hide comment]
The best sandwich is what's called a sloppy joe in northern NJ. Ham, swiss, cole slaw, thousand island dressing, in a triple-decker neatly made.

7/13/17, 9:59 AM


Don't know about that but I do occasionally like a good Monte Cristo sandwich, just don't forget the jam...

johns said...

190 Euros for a 5-course meal. And the inspiring quote from Alain Ducasse says "more than a restaurant, it is a place of dreams and memories."
I hope they have valet parking.

Known Unknown said...

"Ohio has nothing."

Just had a burger here. It was pretty amazing.

Francisco D said...

YoungHegelian wrote: "Under the Bush II administration, when PM Sarkozy & his entourage came over to the US, they went with the Bushes to Kennebunkport where they had a cook out on the beach. You know what the Frogs requested? Hamburgers & hot dogs."

I would have insisted on Mabels - two pound and a half lobsters that melt in your mouth - $19.95. The plastic red and white tablecloths would give the French delegation a taste of how well the common man can eat in America.

David said...

White Privilege. Sovereign Privilege. Wealth Privilege.

The merely affluent but unconnected have to reserve months in advance for Jules Verne. People plan trips around it.

I have never eaten there. People I know who have say it is wonderful, not like the "tower" restaurants in NY, LA etc.

Without doubt they have the location of all locations.

There is only one way in and out of Jules Verne, and it's by elevator. Were I a terrorist, I would be licking my chops at the moment.

Known Unknown said...

"But my wife hates ribs"

I do believe this is grounds for divorce.

Unknown said...

So I live in a turkey growing area, and the big plant is down the road.

They have come up with a marinated turkey steak recipe to grill that is out of this world. It's the turkey companies most popular product and they have a hard time keeping it in stock.

Every time I grill it, it's amazing how much meat I grill for so few people... and then it's doubly amazing how little is left over.

--Vance

Jael (Gone Windwalking) said...

"Ohio has nothing."

Young's Jersey Dairy.

There, you can get a Bull Shake.

Todd said...

John said...
I have a similar problem when people invite me to Starbucks. Starbucks seems to purvey everything coffee flavored except actual coffee.

All I ever want is a hot cup of plain, black, coffee. Not espresso, not made with a machine. Just standard Bunn-O-Matic is fine for me. (Or K-Cup)I like Dunkin Donuts, Waffle House, Perkins, Dennys, McDonalds and even most gas station coffee.

John Henry

7/13/17, 10:10 AM


If you do K-cups and have not tried them, consider giving "Peet's Sumatra Dark Roast" a try. We like it so much we signed up for auto-delivery from their web site.

Known Unknown said...

I'm easy to please. I like pulled pork, pulled chicken and brisket. Smoked turkey too. I like it dry rub, in KC-style sauce, NC-style sauce, Alabama-style sauce, SC-style sauce, Texas style or another other BBQ sauce you can probably come up with. Sometimes I get crazy and mix sauces.

David said...

Known Unknown:

The Hamburger Inn looks fabulous. And gets great reviews. The prices are quite low. Apparently the New Minimum Wage has not arrive there yet.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Trump is a billionaire native New Yorker and was a high profile Manhattan developer for many years. The idea that he's never dined in a fancy restaurant before and would behave like Jed Clampett in such a setting is ridiculous. I used to read Spy magazine in the '80's and they mocked Trump a great deal, but I don't recall them ever going on about what a fool he made of himself at the dinner table.

But then Dubya was treated as if he just emerged from Bumfuck, Texas too, although he was an Ivy League grad and a descendant of the East Coast WASP Establishment. I somehow think he knows not to drink from the finger bowl too.

Known Unknown said...

"Young's Jersey Dairy."

A beacon of honesty in hippie, dippy Yellow Springs.

Known Unknown said...

"The Hamburger Inn looks fabulous. And gets great reviews."

It's a total greasy spoon. No tables or booths, just counter service.

Unknown said...

Speaking of food, one of my favorite moments about food is from Terry Pratchett. One of his books has a New Orleans style swamp city, with "to die for" cuisine.

Legend has it, says Mr. Pratchett, that the cuisine developed during a time when all the residents could do was go drag a net through the swamp and cook anything that didn't wriggle out of the net (and several things that did!).

I wonder how much truth there is to that for New Orleans cooking....

--Vance

johns said...

What's with NYT saying Le Jules Verne is "elite"? I bet the clientele is Pomona, not Brentwood.

Todd said...

Michael said...
Ketchup on steak is less of a crime than thinking that it is. Hilarious snobbery in the age where our billionaires wear black tee shirts every day. The arrogance of it! Steak is not some extra special treat, folks, especially not to people who could afford to eat it at every meal. The critics sneer but put ketchup on hot dogs, a gastronomic faux pas far far worse than ketchup on steak. Oh, and waiter, I want my Smith snd Wollensky bone in ribeye extra well done.

7/13/17, 10:15 AM


This is the crime! One that should carry a penalty of "no steaks for you, one year!"

David said...

"I put it back on the grill for maybe another six minutes per side, and gave it back to her. Still not good."

At that point in my house she would have been grilling her own bleeping steak. You are more polite and patient than me.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

DBQ on BBQ - I love it.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

And I think that high school grad who is intimidated by fancy sandwiches is Brooks' imaginary friend.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

will eat raw steak or chicken

People do eat raw steak, its called steak tartare. Never cared for it myself.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/steak-tartare-recipe-1961510

Steak just isn't as likely to be carrying harmful bacteria as chicken or pork. And these days people are starting to say that pork isn't as dangerous as it once was and eating it a little pink is permissible. Not sure I would go that far.

I remember watching a food show with my wife and mother-in-law. They were making sushi. She was flabbergasted, even more so when I told her that I used to eat it. She asked, 'don't they cook it even a little bit?"

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