Mark my words sweet potato fries will be soon be taking over as the next big thing. Unfortunately, it is not because people enjoy them. Rather giant food processor ConAgra is spending billions to make it happen. As this Wall Street Journal article points out, ConAgra is "reengineering" the sweet potato so it can be mass produced and consumed. This is example of the mess our food chain is in and how companies create and market the food we eat.
The gist of the article is since the sweet potato does not grow uniformly and the taste varies, it is hard to mass market the sweet potato. Food manufactures want uniformity across every thing they serve. No matter where you go it must taste the same and is engineered to please the taste of the majority. Further, the funny shape is inefficient since some of the potato is unused and food manufactures can't have that.
Here is what happens. ConAgra food scientists engineer the sweet potato to grow like a brick at the exact sweetness and taste that consumers favor. They play around with the genes of the potato and even patent this new potato. ConAgra will then launch a mega millions marketing campaign about the nutritiousness of sweet potatoes, the taste, etc. Bam. A new billion dollar market is created.
I do not have a problem with some company trying to create and grow a market. It is up to us know what we eat. I wrote about this topic last year in a post about Cargill. These companies create food and you should know about it. They spend millions on research and science. It gets to a point where you are no longer eating food, but some concoction a scientist created in a lab. The WSJ called them breeders. I want my food from a farmer not a breeder. This is food after all.
I make sweet potato fries all the time. It takes 15 minutes and the funny shape doesn't matter to me when I make or eat them. When the sweet potato craze arrives, ignore the mass produced fries. Instead, go to the farmer's market, buy a sweet potato and make them yourself.
May 22, 2010
Melograno BYOB
Last night I went to Melograno with two friends who bought a house in the 'burbs and are moving out of Center City next weekend. It turned out to be a great choice for a bittersweet dinner party (of three people, plus two bottles of wine).
Bradd and I went to the BYOB last summer for our first anniversary but hadn't been back since. The menu looked different to me - I recall it being dimensionally smaller and with more pages, but I don't know if that translated to more options. I recognized what I ate last time right away, mainly because the girl at the table next to us had the same thing and, man, did it smell good. It's called Pappardelle Al Ragu di Cinghiale, or "braised wild boar bolognese made with fresh tomatoes & rosemary finished with Parmigiano." One of my dinner mates opted for it last night but I decided to try their Pappardelle Alle Olive instead, "Sauteéd jumbo shrimp & Sea scallops cooked in a light tomato sauce with black & green olives." I'm not a fan of olives so thankfully there were only a couple and I couldn't tell if they really did anything to the flavor. Really, it was kind of like pasta (pappardelle, which are long, wide, flat noodles that are a little thick and give you a much different feel than eating regular pasta) with shrimp, scallops and a red sauce. It was definitely good. But what I had last time was better.
Note to self and others: when you see "wild boar ragu" just get it. It's going to be awesome. Everywhere we've had it, like Osteria, it never fails to impress. I was a little jealous watching my friend eat it. Both options are $17, as are their other pasta dishes, so reasonable for a more upscale BYOB. Melograno's meat/fish entrees are all priced in the $20's. Everyone seemed pleased with their meals but no one particularly raved about their food. Maybe we were just too consumed in conversation, though, or in polishing off two bottles of wine between one light weight and two tired souls determined to get drunk (I'm not the lightweight).
What really made this Melograno visit great, however, was the fact that they never chased us out. We got there at 7pm on a Friday night and were seated right by the window immediately. The service was fine, not rushed at all, and 3 1/2 hours later we were still sitting there. Now, in the past I've always seen people waiting outside for tables and Melograno packed inside. For whatever reason last night it was never 100% full and no one seemed to blink at the fact that we weren't moving. And neither were a lot of the tables around us. I wish more places were like that. I get the fact that you need new patrons to make money, but I also need a place to finish my wine and talk with my friends before they move [gasp!] 12 miles away (versus 9 blocks today).
Melograno is a solid Italian BYOB - not the best, nowhere near the worst - and a great spot for anything from a romantic dinner-for-two to an outing with friends.
Bradd and I went to the BYOB last summer for our first anniversary but hadn't been back since. The menu looked different to me - I recall it being dimensionally smaller and with more pages, but I don't know if that translated to more options. I recognized what I ate last time right away, mainly because the girl at the table next to us had the same thing and, man, did it smell good. It's called Pappardelle Al Ragu di Cinghiale, or "braised wild boar bolognese made with fresh tomatoes & rosemary finished with Parmigiano." One of my dinner mates opted for it last night but I decided to try their Pappardelle Alle Olive instead, "Sauteéd jumbo shrimp & Sea scallops cooked in a light tomato sauce with black & green olives." I'm not a fan of olives so thankfully there were only a couple and I couldn't tell if they really did anything to the flavor. Really, it was kind of like pasta (pappardelle, which are long, wide, flat noodles that are a little thick and give you a much different feel than eating regular pasta) with shrimp, scallops and a red sauce. It was definitely good. But what I had last time was better.
Note to self and others: when you see "wild boar ragu" just get it. It's going to be awesome. Everywhere we've had it, like Osteria, it never fails to impress. I was a little jealous watching my friend eat it. Both options are $17, as are their other pasta dishes, so reasonable for a more upscale BYOB. Melograno's meat/fish entrees are all priced in the $20's. Everyone seemed pleased with their meals but no one particularly raved about their food. Maybe we were just too consumed in conversation, though, or in polishing off two bottles of wine between one light weight and two tired souls determined to get drunk (I'm not the lightweight).
What really made this Melograno visit great, however, was the fact that they never chased us out. We got there at 7pm on a Friday night and were seated right by the window immediately. The service was fine, not rushed at all, and 3 1/2 hours later we were still sitting there. Now, in the past I've always seen people waiting outside for tables and Melograno packed inside. For whatever reason last night it was never 100% full and no one seemed to blink at the fact that we weren't moving. And neither were a lot of the tables around us. I wish more places were like that. I get the fact that you need new patrons to make money, but I also need a place to finish my wine and talk with my friends before they move [gasp!] 12 miles away (versus 9 blocks today).
Melograno is a solid Italian BYOB - not the best, nowhere near the worst - and a great spot for anything from a romantic dinner-for-two to an outing with friends.
May 12, 2010
Sampan
A few weeks ago, while Philadelphia was having its string of 85-90 degree early Spring days, I met a friend for drinks at Sampan. It's a new spot, more or less across the street from El Vez and Vintage wine bar. In reality, we were waiting for our respective significant others to show up and then we'd all go to El Vez for dinner. We just needed a place to sit down and have a cocktail in the meantime.
Apparently Sampan's chef, Michael Schulson, is kind of a big deal. He has a really successful, "modern Japanese pub" at the Borgota called Izakaya and he has been on TV several times. More on that on Sampan's website.
We got a table on the street and even though it was 6:30 on a gorgeous Friday night, the waiter didn't insist on us ordering dinner nor did he seem to mind that we sat there for about two hours. Score one for Sampan. It's also in a great location for people watching - 13th Street between Walnut and Sansom. There you'll find literally everything, from people on their way home from work in attire totally inappropriate for the office, to yuppies out for Happy Hour, to "gayborhood" regulars en route to Woody's, to totally confused suburban families trying to drop off books to the used bookseller down the road. Saw it all and then some.
Best thing about Sampan was the drink I had. I'm bummed that their drink menu isn't on the website because I don't remember what it was called, but I do know what was in it - a lot of whiskey (my fav liquor), mango, a little tonic, and three cherries soaked - i mean SOAKED - in brandy. It was very tasty and very potent. Eating the cherries will make you cringe, in a good way. Two of those puppies and you'll be geared up for a fun night.
According to uwishunu, Sampan also does the fishbowl drink thing, in case you're in the mood for sharing.
As I mentioned, we wanted to hit up El Vez for dinner, so we didn't eat too much. Sampan's version of the "Philly Cheese Steak" was interesting... it was kind of like a spring roll, but kind of like a slider... hard to describe. But it tasted good and was easy to pick at. The waiter claimed their Edamame Dumplings were a patron favorite so we tried them. Who doesn't like edamame right? Eh, they were kinda just green blob-ish gnocchi-ish things without a lot of flavor. Good concept, less than perfect execution.
I went inside a couple times to hit up the restroom (of course, as I have the tiniest bladder in the world) and was thoroughly amused by the audio playing in there. It's a loop of famous movie lines that you can't help but listen to while going about your business, although it takes you a minute to figure out what they are. Then it becomes like a game to guess the movie.
While I liked my visit, I'm not sure Sampan is going to last too long, unfortunately. It doesn't have a really unique draw and I fear it will be a spillover place from its neighbors (after all, that's how I ended up there). The inside of the place looked pretty suave thought so I'd go back sometime when I want to feel cool and neon and eat interesting Japanese food.
Apparently Sampan's chef, Michael Schulson, is kind of a big deal. He has a really successful, "modern Japanese pub" at the Borgota called Izakaya and he has been on TV several times. More on that on Sampan's website.
We got a table on the street and even though it was 6:30 on a gorgeous Friday night, the waiter didn't insist on us ordering dinner nor did he seem to mind that we sat there for about two hours. Score one for Sampan. It's also in a great location for people watching - 13th Street between Walnut and Sansom. There you'll find literally everything, from people on their way home from work in attire totally inappropriate for the office, to yuppies out for Happy Hour, to "gayborhood" regulars en route to Woody's, to totally confused suburban families trying to drop off books to the used bookseller down the road. Saw it all and then some.
Best thing about Sampan was the drink I had. I'm bummed that their drink menu isn't on the website because I don't remember what it was called, but I do know what was in it - a lot of whiskey (my fav liquor), mango, a little tonic, and three cherries soaked - i mean SOAKED - in brandy. It was very tasty and very potent. Eating the cherries will make you cringe, in a good way. Two of those puppies and you'll be geared up for a fun night.
According to uwishunu, Sampan also does the fishbowl drink thing, in case you're in the mood for sharing.
As I mentioned, we wanted to hit up El Vez for dinner, so we didn't eat too much. Sampan's version of the "Philly Cheese Steak" was interesting... it was kind of like a spring roll, but kind of like a slider... hard to describe. But it tasted good and was easy to pick at. The waiter claimed their Edamame Dumplings were a patron favorite so we tried them. Who doesn't like edamame right? Eh, they were kinda just green blob-ish gnocchi-ish things without a lot of flavor. Good concept, less than perfect execution.
I went inside a couple times to hit up the restroom (of course, as I have the tiniest bladder in the world) and was thoroughly amused by the audio playing in there. It's a loop of famous movie lines that you can't help but listen to while going about your business, although it takes you a minute to figure out what they are. Then it becomes like a game to guess the movie.
While I liked my visit, I'm not sure Sampan is going to last too long, unfortunately. It doesn't have a really unique draw and I fear it will be a spillover place from its neighbors (after all, that's how I ended up there). The inside of the place looked pretty suave thought so I'd go back sometime when I want to feel cool and neon and eat interesting Japanese food.
The Summer of Kristy - can you handle it?
Oops. I kind of disappeared in 2010, in case you didn't notice that Bradd has written every post since January. I switched jobs at the end of the year and am getting my master's degree, so its been a busy couple months...
Anyhoo, I'm back. Just in time for The Summer of Kristy. Coined by Bradd on the night before my last grad class this semester, this is my last summer before turning 30 and its going to be all about having good times with good people. And that means more restaurants, more bars and more posts. I promise.
Cheers to that.
Anyhoo, I'm back. Just in time for The Summer of Kristy. Coined by Bradd on the night before my last grad class this semester, this is my last summer before turning 30 and its going to be all about having good times with good people. And that means more restaurants, more bars and more posts. I promise.
Cheers to that.
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