<![CDATA[Grist - Comment Feed for A great chef pimps his name for industrial food]]> Grist Comment Feed en Comment #1 by caniscandida http://www.grist.org/article/say-it-aint-so-mario/ Wed, 04 Apr 2007 16:15:56 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/say-it-aint-so-mario/1 Mario, fatti buono!

Well, Tom, you seem never to want to drop by our place when you are in NYC: so is it any wonder you end up in the dining room of someone who has a reservation in the lower circles of Inferno?

(And remember, Dante encased the evilest sinners in ice. ... )

Mario Batali always struck me as a pompous macho jerk.  And Emeril is worse.  If they have really inspired people to be creative in the kitchen, well, good.  But frankly, I find them repulsive.

Lidia Bastianic is much more my style.

And Michael Colameco, antico amico mio.

And your concluding paragraph, your challenge, not just to Mario but to all of them, is magnificent.  Benedicaci il Signore, may we all learn something about how we can do better, in the kitchen, in the market, and everywhere.

Chickens are our cousins! So are other sensitive animals! Enough is enough! No more factory farms!

]]> Mario, fatti buono!

Well, Tom, you seem never to want to drop by our place when you are in NYC: so is it any wonder you end up in the dining room of someone who has a reservation in the lower circles of Inferno?

(And remember, Dante encased the evilest sinners in ice. ... )

Mario Batali always struck me as a pompous macho jerk.  And Emeril is worse.  If they have really inspired people to be creative in the kitchen, well, good.  But frankly, I find them repulsive.

Lidia Bastianic is much more my style.

And Michael Colameco, antico amico mio.

And your concluding paragraph, your challenge, not just to Mario but to all of them, is magnificent.  Benedicaci il Signore, may we all learn something about how we can do better, in the kitchen, in the market, and everywhere.

Chickens are our cousins! So are other sensitive animals! Enough is enough! No more factory farms!

]]> Comment #2 by Christine Gardner http://www.grist.org/article/say-it-aint-so-mario/ Wed, 04 Apr 2007 22:30:09 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/say-it-aint-so-mario/2 Good food and disappointment

I felt the same way when I saw Rick Bayless -- chef and organic advocate, who decided to keep his restaurant in Chicago rather than branch out-- shilling Whoppers on TV. Are you kidding me?

If you can't trust famous chefs, who can you trust?

]]> Good food and disappointment

I felt the same way when I saw Rick Bayless -- chef and organic advocate, who decided to keep his restaurant in Chicago rather than branch out-- shilling Whoppers on TV. Are you kidding me?

If you can't trust famous chefs, who can you trust?

]]> Comment #3 by Tom Philpott http://www.grist.org/article/say-it-aint-so-mario/ Wed, 04 Apr 2007 22:36:05 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/say-it-aint-so-mario/3 Bayless and BK

Yeah, that was devastating. Another great chef, and a smart guy.

Victual Reality

]]> Bayless and BK

Yeah, that was devastating. Another great chef, and a smart guy.

Victual Reality

]]> Comment #4 by Delay And Deny http://www.grist.org/article/say-it-aint-so-mario/ Thu, 05 Apr 2007 02:51:55 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/say-it-aint-so-mario/4 Cheffing Is Not Extensible

The bottom line is that certain professions, in fact most, aren't extensible to mass marketing.  They tend to lose the thing that made them appealing in the first place...which is great.   What we really need are not "super star" chefs -- but chefs.  Local restaurateurs who can supply the populace in local cafes with good high quality food.

It should be something between a "frozen dinner" and 5-star dining.

The Texeme Construct offers international text memetics construction and textcasting services. http://www.you-read-it-here-first.com

]]> Cheffing Is Not Extensible

The bottom line is that certain professions, in fact most, aren't extensible to mass marketing.  They tend to lose the thing that made them appealing in the first place...which is great.   What we really need are not "super star" chefs -- but chefs.  Local restaurateurs who can supply the populace in local cafes with good high quality food.

It should be something between a "frozen dinner" and 5-star dining.

The Texeme Construct offers international text memetics construction and textcasting services. http://www.you-read-it-here-first.com

]]> Comment #5 by akbeancounter http://www.grist.org/article/say-it-aint-so-mario/ Thu, 05 Apr 2007 04:30:39 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/say-it-aint-so-mario/5 Non-Extensible Cheffery

The bottom line is that certain professions, in fact most, aren't extensible to mass marketing.  They tend to lose the thing that made them appealing in the first place...which is great.

Indeed.  As Alton Brown stated in Feasting on Asphalt, once the owner gets too far removed from the restaurant's daily operations, bad things happen.  I'm sure Emiril's a great chef and a swell guy, but am I really getting the Emiril experience by going to some restaurant in Orlando with his name on it?  When was the last time he stopped by?

Fortunately, in any town possessing more than one traffic signal, there's usually a dedicated culinary figure to be found.  They're not on television, and they'll never have their own custom-branded knife set, but they love what they do, and they're darn good at it.

Taking accounting to the extreme since 2004.

]]> Non-Extensible Cheffery

The bottom line is that certain professions, in fact most, aren't extensible to mass marketing.  They tend to lose the thing that made them appealing in the first place...which is great.

Indeed.  As Alton Brown stated in Feasting on Asphalt, once the owner gets too far removed from the restaurant's daily operations, bad things happen.  I'm sure Emiril's a great chef and a swell guy, but am I really getting the Emiril experience by going to some restaurant in Orlando with his name on it?  When was the last time he stopped by?

Fortunately, in any town possessing more than one traffic signal, there's usually a dedicated culinary figure to be found.  They're not on television, and they'll never have their own custom-branded knife set, but they love what they do, and they're darn good at it.

Taking accounting to the extreme since 2004.

]]> Comment #6 by Samuel Fromartz http://www.grist.org/article/say-it-aint-so-mario/ Fri, 06 Apr 2007 00:19:39 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/say-it-aint-so-mario/6 What about Wulfgang?

Not that I'm about to run and buy Mario Batali's frozen meals (two of his cookbooks serve me just fine, thank you) but consider the reach of Wulfgang Puck's decision to up the ante on humane treatment. He made the Times editorial page.

Here's a guy who is both high and low - his little cafe restaurants frankly are just one notch above Micky D's - but that reach has given him influence and he's using it.

You can go mainstream, get big and do great things, or just line your pockets. Tom wants Batali to step up. So do I, but that doesn't preclude pimping in the freezer case.

By the way, has anyone tried his frozen stuff?

Rick Bayless' Frontera salsas are pretty tasty, especially as marinades for meat or fish on the grill. I'm in Chicago next week and will likely stop in for a meal at the sellout's palace.

Samuel Fromartz Author Organic Inc.

]]> What about Wulfgang?

Not that I'm about to run and buy Mario Batali's frozen meals (two of his cookbooks serve me just fine, thank you) but consider the reach of Wulfgang Puck's decision to up the ante on humane treatment. He made the Times editorial page.

Here's a guy who is both high and low - his little cafe restaurants frankly are just one notch above Micky D's - but that reach has given him influence and he's using it.

You can go mainstream, get big and do great things, or just line your pockets. Tom wants Batali to step up. So do I, but that doesn't preclude pimping in the freezer case.

By the way, has anyone tried his frozen stuff?

Rick Bayless' Frontera salsas are pretty tasty, especially as marinades for meat or fish on the grill. I'm in Chicago next week and will likely stop in for a meal at the sellout's palace.

Samuel Fromartz Author Organic Inc.

]]> Comment #7 by Tom Philpott http://www.grist.org/article/say-it-aint-so-mario/ Fri, 06 Apr 2007 01:11:31 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/say-it-aint-so-mario/7 True enough, Sam...

... but as I said in the post, addressing Mario: "I'll stop chiding you about this sad deal as soon as you bring your considerable talent and fame to bear on the great food issue of our time: the environmental, social, and public-health ruin served up as a matter of course by our industrial food system."

And i will stop chiding him (I've haven't uttered a peep about Puck's awful airport canteens.)

But why would anyone try frozen pasta dinners, Mario's or anyone else's? How much energy does it take to make a pasta dish, freeze it, keep it frozen while it ships all around the nation, etc., etc.? And what tricks of food-laboratory sorcery would it require to give it any semblance of acceptable texture?

Meanwhile, factory-made pasta is convenience food par excellence. In the 20 minutes to takes to boil the water and cook the pasta, you can grate cheese, saute a little garlic and chile pepper in olive oil, toast a few walnuts, chop some parsley, and toss it all together, and have a meal that's cheaper, more delicious, and less environmentally heavy than Mario's TV dinners.

Victual Reality

]]> True enough, Sam...

... but as I said in the post, addressing Mario: "I'll stop chiding you about this sad deal as soon as you bring your considerable talent and fame to bear on the great food issue of our time: the environmental, social, and public-health ruin served up as a matter of course by our industrial food system."

And i will stop chiding him (I've haven't uttered a peep about Puck's awful airport canteens.)

But why would anyone try frozen pasta dinners, Mario's or anyone else's? How much energy does it take to make a pasta dish, freeze it, keep it frozen while it ships all around the nation, etc., etc.? And what tricks of food-laboratory sorcery would it require to give it any semblance of acceptable texture?

Meanwhile, factory-made pasta is convenience food par excellence. In the 20 minutes to takes to boil the water and cook the pasta, you can grate cheese, saute a little garlic and chile pepper in olive oil, toast a few walnuts, chop some parsley, and toss it all together, and have a meal that's cheaper, more delicious, and less environmentally heavy than Mario's TV dinners.

Victual Reality

]]> Comment #8 by gmunger http://www.grist.org/article/say-it-aint-so-mario/ Fri, 06 Apr 2007 01:22:12 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/say-it-aint-so-mario/8 What we really need...

What we really need are not "super star" chefs -- but chefs.  Local restaurateurs who can supply the populace in local cafes with good high quality food.

What we really need is an end to the American obsession with celebrity. May I suggest turning off the television as a giant leap forward.

Let's not forget that there ARE thousands, if not tens of thousands of non-celebrity chefs working hard in local establishments to provide good high quality food, often creatively or, dare I say artfully. Skip the celebrity feeding frenzies and support your local eateries, especially those that support, even better focus on locally grown food.

Who's your farmer?

]]> What we really need...

What we really need are not "super star" chefs -- but chefs.  Local restaurateurs who can supply the populace in local cafes with good high quality food.

What we really need is an end to the American obsession with celebrity. May I suggest turning off the television as a giant leap forward.

Let's not forget that there ARE thousands, if not tens of thousands of non-celebrity chefs working hard in local establishments to provide good high quality food, often creatively or, dare I say artfully. Skip the celebrity feeding frenzies and support your local eateries, especially those that support, even better focus on locally grown food.

Who's your farmer?

]]>