The Almost-Order

My husband says that when we go out to eat, more often than not, I’m a better orderer than he is. I’m pretty proud of that. We’re both fairly adventurous eaters (bar a horrific sea scallop sushi experience that had me gagging and spitting a half-chewed wad of nastiness into a linen napkin only to beg my sister to dispose of it in the restaurant bathroom because I couldn’t bear to look at it again). So, aside from raw scallops, we’re good on the “try anything” food front.

Restaurant ordering can be tricky; the only exception for me is in places touting specialties. In my experience, if a place has the gumption to brag about something they do really well, chances are they do. These are the sorts of restaurants where the meals that boast a sign outside like “our chicken is the shit” (true story in Costa Rica-we did eat at a restaurant with that very sign out front and it was the aforementioned, shit).

Recently though I’ve gotten off my menu game and tried things I normally wouldn’t have ordered, but they’ve become the most memorable things about the meal. Making me almost ashamed to keep touting myself as the official best orderer in my house (even though it’s still ringing true).

These could be the family style night out with friends where you’re forced out of your food rut and experience all sorts of goodness at the table that you never would’ve allowed on your plate (I’m talking to you Parish BBQ Shrimp).

My favorite almost-order was an accident (they almost always are) when our waiter screwed my meal up more than once and heard me under my breath trying to convince my husband to order the coconut cake for dessert. My husband’s chocolate obsession won out, but the waiter made good by bringing us both. That cake I write all about here, and let me tell you my memory of its deliciousness has not wavered.

Because those almost-orders, much like life, really are the seven layers of frosting on the heavenly coconut cake.

Better than the Ice Cream Man

With the holiday season behind us sometimes it’s nice just to have a little something made without heavy cream in the form of a casserole dish; something portable. Now seems like as good of a time as any to talk about one of most current food trends … the food cart.

When I was young this just meant an overpriced bomb pop served by some creepy dude that was likely counting back change to kiddos stoned. But, now, as an adult, it means goodness in a portable wrapper-burritos, fish tacos, pizza, falafel, Korean … mmmm burritos.

And I’m not talking fast food, here, but the carts and trucks that are the lifeline to a city. Some of this popularity is in fact what’s in the container, the other, is the score of finding the truck (a Twitter account helps) while they tussle with permitting. Here’s a look at some of the most buzz-worthy trucks cruising the streets beyond the bomb pop.

So here’s to the New Year and a new decade of eating diverse (local) foods. And for all of you readers in cities with the tasty food cart, be sure you post your favorites. Stay hungry my friends, stay hungry.

BBQ Island
Dessert Truck
Farm 255
Green Truck
Hellava Falafel
Jay Jay’s Good Food Truck
Kogi
Moya Taco * This is rumored to be gone by Chowhound, but i do not have confirmation. I had to list in the hopes that Moya is still alive and kicking; if not, a big tear.
On the Fly
Rickshaw Dumplings
Roli Roti
Skillet
Taquria Star
The Mighty Cone
The Sweets Truck

Salted Caramel Ice Cream

There’s really no polite way to put this, so I’ll just come right out with it–my Grandma Mary (my paternal grandmother) was a terrible cook. Rotten. During my teenage years, my grandparents moved to the same town as us, and that meant holiday dinners at their house. Without fail, the Tuesday or so before Thanksgiving Thursday, my dad would look at his watch and declare, “Well, mom just put the green beans on the burner.” Green bean soup, we called it. And in all honestly, it was the only thing edible on the holiday table.

In her defense, there were a couple of recipes she did exceptionally well, which make me think of her memory whenever I make them. One is for caramel ice cream. It’s taken from a recipe passed down to her by her own mother, Fey, my great-grandmother known as Gram.

You might find it funny to be posting a recipe for ice cream in November. But let me tell you, you’ll think nothing of it when you’ve got a great heaping spoonful of this Salted Caramel Ice Cream sitting on top of a piping hot slice of pecan pie in a couple of weeks. No sir. The salt was my addition, as I think salt and caramel go together like ebony and ivory. Sweet harmony.
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Dynamic Dish

I don’t like food & drink reviews. Don’t enjoy reading them, or writing them. It’s all so subjective, I think, unless you have a really remarkable palate. I tend to gravitate towards much bigger picture trend pieces focusing on what the rest of the country is doing. Right now though, there’s a marriage of sorts with those two notions that is happening right in my own backyard.

Dynamic Dish is a restaurant in Atlanta owned and operated by David Sweeney. His philosophy in the kitchen is so on par with this national food movement (see Food, Inc; read Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser’s books, if you haven’t already) where David is taking great care with the ideological food choices he makes not only with his restaurant, but in his life. His story connects everything from the land to the body (and every dot in between).

David only uses what he needs and certainly didn’t open Dynamic Dish as ginormous restaurant complete with a bored hostess standing around wearing a headset handing you a vibrating pager with blinking red lights to inform you your table’s ready. This is a quiet space, serving simple food that allows fresh, local ingredients to be the voice.

I do hope you enjoy my conversation with David as much as I did having it and stick with the length of the interview. I found myself hesitant to censor this piece by shortening it, he speaks so well about so much. We cover everything from the local food moment to the comparison of food as an outfit when used in peak season – sexy! Bon appetit! Oh, I should mention, they (Bon Appetit) know a good thing when they see it too, as they featured Dynamic Dish earlier this year. Here’s to feeding our mind, body, and soul…for many years to come.

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We All Scream, Howdy Hazelnut

Summer is the season for ice cream. Since I only recently unearthed my old-fashioned ice-cream maker; I thought I’d start slow this year by making a classic ice cream flavor.

But the online recipes I found with herb (lavender and basil) and heat (jalapeno and ginger) additions were really over the top.  I’m a fairly straight-forward gal when it comes to the cream…not totally plain vanilla by any stretch, but a combo of vanilla and chocolate taken up a notch by something crunchy is my number one choice.

This recipe for French Vanilla with Toasted Hazelnuts & Nutella Ice Cream (or as I like to call it, Howdy Hazelnut) is a sort of rip from the Hazelnut Chip served at the almighty Graeter’s (alas, this flavor is no longer on its seasonal menu). It’s a stretch to say my version even comes close to competing with this Cincy institution’s pint, but, it’ll do on a sweaty, summer day when you’re dying for a cone.

Sweet (cold) dreams.
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Orangette

Just before I started danapop, I was working as a publicist, mostly doing press surrounding restaurant openings. In the course of that work, I discovered a fantastic food blog called Orangette – written by Molly Wizenberg – and it got me…the way she writes about food is extraordinary.

And then, I read Ms. Wizenberg’s (a.k.a. Orangette) book A Homemade Life and found out there were quite a few eerie parallels in our lives. We both lost our fathers suddenly while in our early twenties, both got engaged to the loves of our lives after about a year of dating, twins run in her family as they do in mine (her mother is a twin, I’m a twin), she was raised in Oklahoma City – my parents grew up there and met during high school, married and settled there before my dad joined the Army. It’s sort of uncanny.

So I look at the arrival of Orangette in my life as a turning point; the point where I took the jump. And for that I’ll always be grateful to her – for showing me that it could be as simple as just writing what you want and being true to who you are. I got a chance to interview Molly in between her book tour stops. The Q&A follows…

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Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger

Food trends can take on mythical qualities. They are the place where a child’s simple pop rocks suddenly find themselves serving as a key ingredient in a high-end restaurant’s signature dessert.

While I am not exactly qualified to predict or analyze such trends, I am however, a consumer, and I know what I notice. If 2008 was the year of the pig, the cow is handily pushing it aside to take center stage in 2009. Specifically, the burger… lately, everywhere I turn its burgers, burgers, and more burgers. From gourmet ones made from Kobe beef, to mini versions overtaking appetizer menus (don’t let the word slider fool you) to Padma selling (out) greasy Carl’s Jr. versions.

Now, the hamburger concept isn’t new (it originated in the late 18th century), but the gourmet craze is. Here’s the flipping truth about burgers and the dining outposts that have put them on the trend map. But, chew slowly my friend, as yesterday’s tapas makes way for today’s gastropub.
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Guest Blogger | Emily Gold

I’m off to Seattle and Vancouver this week.  My friend, Emily Gold, has graciously agreed to man the danapop post in my absence. I cannot think of anyone more qualified to write this week’s food & drink. You can continue to follow Emily on her blogspot. While you’re there, check out a piece I posted on her site about Atlanta life.

Business resumes as usual next week. And I assure you, I’ll return loaded with stories and posts…bi-annual family vacation…enough said. You can also follow my travels on twitter @ danapops.

xoox,
dp

So Many Teas, So Little Time

Tea has been on my mind lately. Not only because I have a cup nearly every morning and every afternoon, but because it’s one of those food products that has been around for ages yet quietly flies under the radar. Tea is a single-origin product, expressing the terroir of a region. Just as with wine grapes, there is a certain romance at envisioning tea grown on Lover’s Leap Estate, at an altitude of so many feet, lovingly picked by hand, and spread on huge screens to dry beneath the Indian sun. A vision, I know, but surely one you’d want to drink every morning.

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Derby Days

This past winter my husband and I became obsessed with the Animal Planet show: Jockeys – a documentary/reality program following the lives of seven jockeys at the Santa Anita racetrack in Arcadia, California. Both the visuals and the storyline were fascinating. Plus, I can openly admit I have a crush on Mike Smith despite the high probability that I’m taller than him.

So to honor Jockeys and the Run for the Roses at Churchill Down’s tomorrow, this week’s food & drink is Kentucky Derby inspired…complete with two Southern favorites – mint juleps and derby pie. First, derby pie – one of my favorite desserts,  it combines chocolate and nuts (I’d eat those two things in combo with anything) in a flaky crust.

And then there’s the mint julep. Both of my sisters make nice ones from when they attended college in the Blue Grass State – so dignified sounding, but I assure you, they likely were sipping the juleps out of plastic Solo cups instead of the traditional monogrammed silver tumbler. What truck drivers they are; honestly, I can’t take them anywhere.

I often daydream about what I’d name a horse if I ever had one, whether or not he or she was derby material – Magellan’s Map, Bordeaux Binge and Piñata are solid contenders. No question, if I ever win the lottery, I’m buying a horse. It’s on the list just after the in-ground swimming pool and my own in-home Pilates studio.

For now, my money is on Dunkirk.
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Say My Name, Say My Name

name⋅sake [neym-seyk]  noun
1. a person named after another.
2. a person having the same name as another.

I recently attended a work event where they served a number of  California reds from a winery called Angeline. I have a good friend named Angeline and so I became giddy at the idea of hosting a party where I’d pair my guests with their namesake wine – or show up at the next party with a semi-original hostess gift.

Do you have a namesake wine? I do – and of course in typical “Dana” fashion, cheap, it’s not – Dean and Deluca tout it for $295 a bottle…not exactly economy friendly…eek! But perhaps, someday, it will be “I just gave birth – bring me that bottle or else” or “The Simon & Schuster book deal just came through with an embarrassingly large advance” friendly.

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