Balance of Food

Don't fall for a restaurant that says it is "approachable"

A Midwestern tavern is approachable without irony. An "approachable Midwestern tavern" is almost certainly not approachable.

The long-time tenant in this Midwestern spot was approachable. They even had a "secret" seating area behind the bar for intimate conversations. A beautiful selection of hard ciders. That tenant left the space in 2020.

An "approachable" type outlet took over the space. The secret sitting area was gone. The menu, besides being very expensive, only had a few reasonable priced entrees. When you read the description, they would be for dishes that felt overpriced without mention of quality ingredients to somehow make up the difference.

Sure you could get an expensive drink on the rooftop. The idea is to eat for a reasonable price.

That tenant didn't last long, about a year (2022-2023). Now there is a new "approachable Midwestern tavern" into the space.

The grilled cheese on tomato soup for $18. You get smoked gouda and sharp cheddar, a slice of Texas toast at the bottom of the cheese. Chives decorate the open-faced sandwich plate that has a thin layer of homemade tomato soup. You don't even get a bowl of soup for $18.

The long-time tenant had appetizers that was reasonably accessible on the menu, a gateway to get to eat on the rooftop. That would seemingly be "approachable."

These kind of places view "approachable" through a very different filter, such as you don't have to get dressed up to dine yet your wallet needs an upgrade. Coca-Cola has the gall to advertise "original taste" on its high-fructose corn syrup version. Technically true by using a definition no one finds relevant.

The kids menu ($8) and desserts ($7) offer slightly better access.

Be approachable without saying you're "approachable." Go into any place in the Midwest with a Friday night fish fry. That place will be approachable without any secondary motivation. The places that are truly approachable don't have to say it out loud.

We realize that these types of restaurants don't want to be truly approachable as in any adult feels like they can go inside. The common person inside their establishment reduces the intended image of those who are courted to be there. The irony is that even if you have the extra cash, the ROI will likely be rather dismal.

The rooftop feel is lovely, well, at least from 2 owners ago. We get that a rooftop view can come at a price. When the bar is set pretty high, you might enjoy having a rooftop place in your extended neighborhood. You would enjoy it more if a place was truly approachable.

Patrons who fall for the word approachable who don't know they are being tricked or hoodwinked. The modern culture might blame those patrons for not knowing irony. Patrons shouldn't feel shame if they are tricked into coming into their establishment.

Another neighborhood place was a cafe many years ago. A local upscale pie shop took over and had a good run cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The space was closed for about 3 years, opening recently as a private space for people to pay $70/person for a shared experience. The switch has been depressing for those who felt like the space belonged to the neighborhood. Technically, both of these spaces are private property so they choose the paths they are on. We can choose not to go to those places.

I could afford the ridiculous $18 grilled cheese with tomato soup where I would be hungry 30 minutes later. Getting friends to pony up $70 for the shared experience would be more difficult than paying $70 pour moi. The expensive place isn't marketing itself as "approachable" yet is even more out of reach.

Both are out of reach for most where not so long ago, these spaces were very open to the neighborhood.

BalanceofFood.com advice coverage

These 2 places are on the same street less than a mile apart from each other. Eating out is getting bad enough for places you like and respect. Place what little food money you have in places that are truly approachable that want to offer you value for a fair price.

photo credit: me

Coping with reduced enthusiasm for food

We suggested a charcuterie board last Thanksgiving as an alternative to the elaborate holiday meal. As This Hour Has 22 Minutes parody notes, a charcuterie board could be really expensive in 2023.

The idea of a charcuterie board was to reduce the stress of the holiday as family celebrations cranked up back to the pre-pandemic possibilities.

The 2023 scenario has a different issue: reduced enthusiasm for food. Meal planning, even for one, was something where I got put the spreadsheets to consider the holiday options. This year, my reduced excitement for even a holiday meal is a concern.

Meals are more boring because I can't get the enthusiasm to jump into the holiday mindset. Even if I wasn't cooking the food, meals take longer to eat because I can't get the enthusiasm to focus and eat the meal. I dream of making a 3 or 4 course meal for myself but that feels impossible thanks to a lovely combo of anxiety and depression.

I joke that when I watch Food Paradise on the Cooking Channel, I have the opposite reaction of Pavlov's dogs. I tend to lose my appetite when they bring out those ridiculous dishes. Certainly not my version of Food Paradise.

Now this applies to regular food that isn't freakish. I have dreams of an oyster po-boy that duplicates what Alton Brown did in the episode, right down to the slaw.

Deep fried food needs to be dark brown. When I got desperate during the pandemic, I went to a neighborhood place for deep fried food that was very light brown. The taste reflected the contrast. Deep fried food isn't worthy unless the color is as dark as those oysters.

Food used to be a temporary cure for anxiety and depression, or at least reduced my higher anxiety levels. This story doesn't match exactly my concerns but I feel some bonding. Eating healthier can help those symptoms but when the cook is depressed, well, that makes life more difficult.

Don't have the energy to make this oyster po' boy sandwich yet would manage the energy to eat this sandwich.

Charcuterie board offers a small Thanksgiving feast without pressure or hard work

Temptation of the Week: Cranberries by themselves

Leftovers are the pinnacle of a traditional Thanksgiving meal. You put all of that effort into a single, gigantic meal and then eat leftovers for several days. A turkey sandwich that you dip in gravy on Black Friday. The pumpkin pie that you had for dessert on Thursday becomes breakfast on Friday and Saturday.

Might be worth making a huge meal just to have days where you don't have to cook. The drawback to leftovers is you may not be excited to eat them.

One Thanksgiving, your humble narrator has a typical Thanksgiving meal at a hostel in San Francisco. My second choice would have been S&G restaurant in Chinatown getting the Peking duck with the bao buns. Easier to eat than cook … and no leftovers.

Showing kids that fruits and vegetables have merit through watching ads

Adapting to Thanksgiving in a pandemic

Taking broader perspective on Thanksgiving meal

Mindful eating can start over the holidays and keep going

Thankfulness. Love. The first is obvious. Being thankful. Love is crucial, especially if you are celebrating with family.

Love also means love for yourself. You deserve a Thanksgiving celebration. Doesn't have to be a feast in the classic sense. Minimal cooking. Maximum eating, to a point.

Be thankful and worthy of self-love in preparing Thanksgiving. Even if you have to go to a family celebration where you won't be comfortable, make a separate Thanksgiving meal for yourself. You deserve something for yourself. 

A loved ones Thanksgiving is often a great excuse to blow off a less than desirable family event. Protect yourself.  

BalanceofFood.com holidays coverage

Holidays can make mental health issues, especially anxiety and depression, worse. This can take a toll of the enthusiasm for food. Do something celebratory but low-key with little to no pressure.

video credit: This Hour Has 22 Minutes/CBC
photo credit: Good Eats/Cooking Channel

Cutting way back on major label fast food

Hard habits to break. Fast food might be one of the toughest if you live in the United States or Canada. Those who drive might find giving up to be virtually impossible. I accumulated a lot of fast food, often without a car.

The COVID-19 pandemic made that a lot easier, as we have written about. Many people, because they are human, have resumed their previous behaviors. No judgments. Just a reality.

Your humble narrator is not a genius or specially gifted. Yet to the best of my knowledge, I am coming up on an unusual anniversary. The last memory of being at a major fast food place was in November 2019. This would be the 4-year anniversary of not going to a major fast food place.

Let's offer a few caveats. I remember that visit to a McDonald's in November 2019. I might have visited a McDonald's or a Burger King between November 2019 and March 2020. I can't swear I made a visit but don't recall a single visit in that time. I can promise I haven't made a trip since March 2020.

We define major fast food places = McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's. I have made a few Arby's visits, some Little Caesar's stops for Crazy Bread, and one not-so-great Long John Silver's visit. A lot fewer fast food trips than in the before time (before March 2020).

Before you ask where is the book I've written on how I made this happen (there is no book), I do have some theories as to why this has happened.

Anxiety and depression: Reduced interest in things I previously enjoyed. Some good things have disappeared along with the desire for a lot of fast food. You take the good and the bad.

Reduced enthusiasm for French fries: I thought my strong love for French fries would return when things went back to relatively normal. They don't taste as good, even when I have had them. French fries isn't a strength for the major 3 hamburger places. McDonald's used to be good in the beef tallow and trans fat days. They need ketchup, hopefully one without high-fructose corn syrup.

Less running around: The fast food siren gets silenced when I don't run around as much. The temptation gets stronger when I am running around doing activities. "You need a snack. It's not that much. You used to love me."

I didn't eat fast food because the food was good tasting. I ate fast food out of convenience. Make a snack and take it with you. Easier said than done but that could get you out of a pickle or jam with fast food.

How Trevor Noah and The Daily Show poked fun at the food supply

McDonald's aim for adult nostalgia in Happy Meals falls short

Fast food apps should be more flexible, creative

You may still have a long relationship with fast food. You had a car so when people couldn't get fast food without a car, you had a car.

The funny thing is when you don't have that relationship with fast food: you remember the sad moments in that relationship. Eating a McDonald's hamburger that tasted more like a pork sandwich out of a microwave oven than beef from a griddle. Stopping in the middle of a Burger King Whopper and finding the burger so dry that you didn't want to finish the burger.

Those are real memories from 2019. I hope I have enough self-respect that I deserve better. My lone Long John Silver's pandemic trip had very little satisfaction. I have fought with my local Little Caesar's that often serve me Crazy Bread without the cheese sprinkled on like the product.

Fast-food chains are feeling the heat from false advertising lawsuits claiming their food doesn't match ads or photos on the menu board. https://t.co/HvHJUDhaOP

— Axios (@axios) September 2, 2023

I have childhood memories of dark brown chicken from Kentucky Fried Chicken. The only way you can get that dark brown color is in the KFC advertising. The wonder over getting a breath of mustard in lieu of a decent serving of mustard on a McDonald's hamburger on a consistent basis.

Those who are fighting fast food companies over how much better their food works in commercials versus reality: we love and support you. The uphill battle is taller than Mount Everest and might be about as dangerous to climb. We wish you much luck.

McDonald's Quarter Pounder hot and juicy claims are laughable

The lack of fast food hype in a pandemic

BalanceofFood.com fast food coverage

Eventually Cal Ripken Jr. sat out a game. Long streaks come to an end, for those who don't get the baseball reference. There will be a moment when major fast food will pass through my lips and sadly into my stomach.

I will enjoy what I have until that streak ends. When the streak does end, I won't go back to a regular habit of fast food. Hopefully.

If I had the power, I would negotiate a deal: I'll eat major fast food when I can get a product that looks as good as the ones in the ads.

photo credit: McDonald's
Twitter capture: @axios

Homemade whipped cream is great and a lot of work

Pumpkin pie season so whipped cream is in our thoughts.

I usually use whipped cream to do a deconstructed strawberry shortcake in early summer with shortbread cookies.

We love whipped cream on all sorts of foods from pies to fruit. We even appreciate the use of whipped cream in boosting a couple's sex life.

There are generally 2 ways to get whipped cream: buy the ready-made canisters or buy heavy whipping cream and whip your own.

Making homemade whipped cream involves a bit of work. You get a great product in the end. The ready-made whipped cream requires no work.

Here is where the confusion: the ready-made versions are "watered down" with skim milk. Even the Trader Joe's version has skim milk.

Whipped cream means rich and decadent. I want whole milk in my whipped cream, not skim milk. Sounds like a really bad "meh" compromise where nobody wins.

There is a logic to using skim milk in a processed whipped cream from what little I have read. I also don't put in carrageenan, which comes from red seaweed, and seems to be part of the process of the cream within the canister.

When your humble narrator whips cream at home, I put in some sugar. I don't think to put in milk, not even whole milk. I read where some people put vanilla in a homemade whipped cream. That feels decadent.

Would love a warning when your store-brought whipped cream is about to run out. Shaking the container is valuable but not too accurate. Make your own whipped cream and you know how much you have left in the container.

The ready made is fun to dispense but I do love the mouthfeel of the freshly whipped cream.

BalanceofFood.com holidays coverage

One key tool in making homemade whipped cream: have a mixer where you don't have to hold the bowl for several minutes while the old school beaters do their work.

If you are struggling with that task, making a pre-holiday purchase wouldn't be the worst idea. Your humble narrator still does it old school but wishes for a bigger kitchen and a tool to make that happen.

photos credit: me

PepsiCo goes Starry to replace Sierra Mist, which was great in a mocktail mojito

The new Starry ads are "crisp, clear" about a new lemon-lime flavored soft drink. The Gen Z aimed ads don't disclose its large parent company, PepsiCo.

The worst part is that Starry, which contains high-fructose corn syrup, replaces Sierra Mist, which was sweetened using cane sugar.

PepsiCo is letting us know Starry is a thing with way more energy and pep than the company used to promote Sierra Mist. Use little to no marketing with Sierra Mist and wonder why a brand has falling share numbers.

Sprite and 7UP are the primary contenders in the lemon-lime flavored soft drink market. Finding cane sugar versions (e.g., Mexico) is a lot more difficult than finding Mexican Coca-Cola in the United States. 7UP changed its U.S. formula (not factoring in sweeteners) so who knows what a Mexican 7UP would taste like.

Your humble narrator has spent too much time this summer trying mocktails in a can. Ugh. The only mocktail I generally like is a homemade mock mojito. The joy of Sierra Mist was the ease in making a homemade mock mojito.

Mexican versions are the best big-brand option for a mock mojito, if you can find a Sprite and 7UP hecho en Mexico. The mocktail version of a mojito doesn't need a big brand lemon-lime flavored soft drink. You can find ginger beer or root beer made with cane sugar a lot easier than the lemon-lime flavor variety with cane sugar.

Sierra Mist was special in that the product was easy to find and buy in a regular grocery store. Kudos to PepsiCo for making Sierra Mist with cane sugar but bad on them to lower the presence of the drink until putting the soda pop out to pasture. Given the near conglomerate control of the vast majority of soda sales, selling Sierra Mist to a smaller company would never happen.

If you wondered what happened to Sierra Mist, let's check in with Delish.com and its explanation of the soda's recent history:

The soda was first made with high fructose corn syrup, then pivoted to the cane sugar-based Sierra Mist Natural in 2010. Then PepsiCo added stevia to the Sierra Mist formula in 2014, only to switch back to (high fructose) corn syrup and rebrand as Mist Twst two years later.

Then, as a last ditch effort, the soda's recipe changed back to cane sugar once again and re-adopted its original name. While many consumers opted for Sierra Mist to minimize their consumption of high fructose corn syrup, Sprite always remained king.

No wonder Sierra Mist consumers were lost and confused.

Gen Z and Millennials grew up on high-fructose corn syrup in their soft drinks. A lot of the younger Gen X kids also only know high-fructose corn syrup in their soft drinks. Thank goodness for older Gen X kids, who knew a better world as children: actual sugar in soft drinks.

Soft drink companies know the HFCS versions lead to more sales because those versions can't quench a thirst like the cane sugar versions. We've seen Dr. Pepper (owners of 7UP) fight the Dublin, TX plant that produced Dublin Dr. Pepper. Mexican Coca-Cola is made by Coca-Cola but the parent company doesn't promote that version in the United States.

The Mexican versions are in U.S. stores because of high consumer demand. Sierra Mist was easier to find so it couldn't last too long.

Bars should add good quality fruit and vegetable juices for better mocktails

BalanceofFood.com high-fructose corn syrup coverage

The soft drink companies may hate soft drink taxes but unfortunately the taxes applied to all soft drinks, including those made with cane sugar. Besides not tasting as good, the HFCS versions make more of a profit for the soft drink companies because of the heavy federal subsidies for corn products, making HFCS far cheaper than actual sugar.

The U.S. market deserved a better version of Sierra Mist, a crafted lemon-lime flavored soft drink, a ginger beer type precision. Sierra Mist was likely as good as the U.S. could handle, even as Americans deserved a more flavorful lemon-lime soda.

photo credit: Starry/PepsiCo

Making tomato bread a worthy dish at home

You may have been to Spain and had one of the better tapas dishes: Pan de cristal con tomatoe. Otherwise, the dish is known as tomato bread.

You can't readily find the local Spanish bread or the amazing Spanish tomatoes. Yet you can replicate the dish in a decent manner and save a bunch of money.

The ingredient list is simple: tomatoes, bread, a garlic clove, kosher salt, and extra virgin olive oil. This is why quality is so crucial.

Ideally, you have a local source for tomatoes and crusty bread. You can even find local garlic this time of the year.

Cut the bread into thick slices. Toast said bread. When lightly toasted, cut a garlic clove in half. Rub the halved garlic clove on the toasted part of the bread.

Cut the tomato in half down the equator of the tomato. Grate the tomato. I mix the kosher salt and olive oil into the tomato mixture.

Spoon the tomato mixture on the toasted bread. Eat.

Pan de cristal con tomatoe is one of the best known Spanish tapas. This menu is from the Jose Andres restaurant Jaleo in Chicago. The $14 price tag is reduced to $7 if you go during the Sangria Hour as defined by 4-6 pm local time. We don't know if the portion size is reduced as well.

The Spanish tomatoes and the wonderful bread do make a difference. Still, you can replicate this dish at home, especially with local tomatoes still in bloom.

The beauty of pan de cristal con tomatoe is that you are experiencing amazing local ingredients simply prepared. If you can make toast, you can make tomato bread. This can be a local dish, whether you are in Seville, Madrid, or Barcelona as well as Toledo, Spain, er, Ohio.

Your local version will likely not be as good as getting the same version late at night in a tapas place in Spain. Your local version will taste better than a lot of foods you can get anywhere in the world.

Eating local is easier and better in California than in New Hampshire. Tomato season is a lot shorter in New Hampshire than California. Yet everywhere in the United States has a local tomato season, however short that might be.

This is an ideal time for local tomatoes. Savor them while they are here. Throw a tapas party and serve pan de cristal con tomatoe aka tomato bread. They might think you went to Spain instead of the local farmers market.

Food shows downplay the wonderful impact garlic could have in a dish

BalanceofFood.com farmers market coverage

BalanceofFood.com world food policy coverage

BalanceofFood.com travel coverage

With rising costs for restaurants and buying items in the grocery store, fancy dishes such as this one can be made for relative pennies. You can freeze the sliced bread you don't use. You can even save the cut garlic gloves for a later dish so you aren't wasting the garlic.

A baguette at the farmers market isn't that much more than a regular, lesser quality loaf of bread in a grocery store. Tomatoes at the local farmers market taste way better than what you find at a grocery store. More of your money goes to local vendors who keep the money in the community.

If you are a relative novice cook, making tomato bread can boost your confidence with little risk of messing up the dish.

photo credits: me; Jaleo restaurant in Chicago

Gift a umami filled bottle for a party instead of wine

We know the drill. Someone throws a party. You are the guest and you bring a bottle of wine as a gift for being invited to the party.

Your humble narrator loves being a guest but hates buying wine. Would love to have a system like a wedding shower with a registry, and you pick a bottle of wine from their list.

Wine is my blind spot. I could buy a 40 oz. bottle of La Fin du Monde, a great Quebecois beer. I could bring some great Michigan fruit-related hard cider.

I don't really want to bring alcohol to a party these days. I do so because the unofficial rules require this.

If I were throwing the party, I wouldn't mind a couple of bottles of wine for cooking. I would want to invite people who would know me well enough and say, "In lieu of wine, I'm bringing you a bottle of Red Boat Fish Sauce." I would love that instead of a bottle of wine.

Fish sauce is the key, though Red Boat is one of the best. Umami in a bottle. I cook with fish sauce quite a bit. I would use up a bottle of fish sauce. I wouldn't drink it, unlike a bottle of wine.

A bottle of quality fish sauce is comparable to the cost of a decent bottle of wine, so the cost factor isn't an issue.

You aren't even limited to fish sauce.

A bottle of banana ketchup from the Philippines.

A jar of ajvar from Eastern Europe.

Get some Romesco sauce from Spain.

How about dark sesame oil from Japan.

Find a good adobo sauce or butter chicken sauce.

Add flavor to an otherwise bland kitchen instead of yet another bottle of wine.

A fun little trick: Love using ajvar but it goes bad very quickly. Pour the contents into an ice tray to freeze portions.

Let the ice cube serving of ajvar thaw in the refrigerator and use in a dish. A small amount adds a lot of flavor to a dish.

The idea is that you might go down a certain, unnamed aisle in the grocery store and wonder what to do with a condiment that isn't typically in your pantry. Once the condiment is in your pantry, then you feel compelled to research ways to use that in your meal planning.

Would you rather have 10 bottles of wine, 3 of them that could have been better? Would you rather have 7 bottles of wine and 3 umami based containers?

Maybe you don't cook too often and a bottle of banana ketchup would gather dust in your cabinet. Fish sauce is subtle as long as you don't smell it. I do smell it but I can handle that smell. Tastes way better than the smell.

A Romesco sauce and ajvar have ingredients you will recognize. This could be a way to travel without leaving your kitchen.

Ethnic food aisles should be seen as an opportunity without stigma

BalanceofFood.com world food policy coverage

BalanceofFood.com travel coverage

You may not want 10 umami containers after a party but the gift of umami can bring unexpected joy. Maybe you put Romesco sauce on your scrambled eggs, like you would with a Mexican salsa. Maybe you add an ice cube or two of ajvar to a Sloppy Joe mix.

Maybe you have chicken thighs in your freezer, which would pair well with adobo or butter chicken sauce.

Try a little bit of anything new in your kitchen. Wine has its limits in cooking. Umami has more unleashed possibilities to add flavor to your food.

photos credit: me

Food shows downplay the wonderful impact garlic could have in a dish

We love garlic. We wish food TV shows loved garlic as much as we love garlic.

Yes, some people are afraid of garlic so food shows, even on PBS, have to assume everyone is scared of garlic. They aren't scared of onions. They chop onions in tiny pieces.

The spiel is essentially the same. Slice the garlic so the garlic won't be too strong.

They rarely point out that the smaller pieces you have of garlic, the more flavor you will get. Yet they never cut the garlic into smaller pieces.

That common denominator means garlic goes in, just not to do what garlic could to improve a recipe.

The garlic press can get garlic into tiny pieces without resorting to a knife. This can be good if your clove is small enough. Wrestling a larger clove into a garlic press is an activity that would never make it into a cooking show. Watching Mary Berg use a garlic press on Mary Makes It Easy proves she makes it easy by not getting all the garlic into her dish.

"[G]arlic that has been tragically smashed through one of those abominations, the garlic press, are all disgusting. Please treat your garlic with respect … don't put it through a press. I don't know what that junk is that squeezes out the end of those things, but it ain't garlic." — Anthony Bourdain.

Chopping garlic into small places gives you more of the garlic in a dish than a garlic press will provide.

Alton Brown has an excellent episode on garlic: Season 4, Episode 11 of Good Eats called In The Bulb of the Night (Garlic). Brown counsels an unseen Count Vlad of the virtues of using garlic in recipes.

Brown cooks up for Count Vlad the 40 Cloves and a Chicken dish and Vlad's Very Garlicky Greens.

Brown is one of the few who goes into the power of smaller pieces and celebrates the beauty of strong garlic into a dish, especially with a skeptical vampire in his midst.

He doesn't introduce one of his many scientific replicas to reinforce the magic of smaller pieces. Otherwise, the episode is a joy to those of us who love garlic more than most cooking shows.

The cautious count is definitely a metaphor for the other cooking shows that seem as afraid of garlic as Count Vlad is on the program.

There was a Match Game '75 episode that mentions garlic. Start at the 6:00 mark in the video for the question. There may be some questionable answers but this survived broadcast standards in 1975. Margaret, the contestant, gives garlic as her answer. She ends up winning by a soupçon of garlic, thanks to Patti Deutsch.

Back then, garlic had a bad reputation. We should know better now to get more people to appreciate what strong garlic can bring to a dish.

Garlic may be in season at your local farmers market. If you are going to experiment with garlic, buy local garlic.

Some of us with heartier palates want a strong blue cheese flavor in a dish, more umami such as fish sauce, and yes, a stronger garlic flavor. We love the cooking shows to be "now, with extra garlic."

photo credits: me; Food Network; Good Eats
video credit: Match Game Productions

The Original Farmers Market in Los Angeles is losing a famous neighbor in CBS

If you got a new job back in the day where people went physically to a work location, you might be excited if your new job was located next to a farmers market. For many years, the folks who worked at CBS in Los Angeles had such a luxury.

The Original Farmers Market is on West 3rd Street on Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles. CBS is at Beverly Blvd. (7800) with West 3rd Street being its southern border.

If you watched The Price Is Right, Match Game, The Carol Burnett Show, Tattletales, or any of the countless shows produced at CBS, you could have a sense of the history of that building.

Unfortunately, the Original Farmers Market is losing its most famous neighbor. CBS sold the building and is moving production of its shows out to Glendale in northeast Los Angeles.

The Original Farmers Market is not a traditional farmers market like you may visit on a regular basis. The location mostly has restaurants and a cute gourmet grocery store.

Still, the neighbors were a good fit. People in television who want to eat well. A farmers market that might get more business because of being located right next to a broadcast network.

CBS sold Television City to Los Angeles real estate investment company Hackman Capital Partners for $750 million in 2018. The company announced a $1.25 billion redevelopment of the facility, which is why the shows are leaving Television City. We don't know if those shows will return to West Hollywood, much less 7800 Beverly Blvd.

Finding great burgers means eating some lesser burgers

When you meet real bravado and a damn fine burger

BalanceofFood.com farmers market coverage

In January 2019, I took the 720 bus from Santa Monica that went down Wilshire Boulevard to the Original Farmers Market. I got off at Fairfax, where the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures now stands. I walked 0.6 miles up Fairfax. People who live in Los Angeles would likely be shocked I walked that far. LA is very car-reliant.

While I was at the Original Farmers Market, someone mentioned how close we were to CBS. Since I walked in from the south, I hadn't noticed the large complex just to the north of the market. After a wonderful stay at the market, longer than I expected because it actually rains in Southern California, I walked north and crossed West 3rd Street to the southwest corner of what was CBS.

The tourists were more likely to notice a farmers market on their quest to see CBS where I approached the trip in the complete opposite vantage point. I was happy with my bonus. I remember Johnny Olson distinctly telling people if they wanted to be on The Price Is Right that the address was 7800 Beverly Blvd. in Los Angeles. There I was at the place with all those shows I watched as a child.

I've seen Match Game reruns where they mentioned the nearby farmers market. They joked about mugging the audience members in the parking lot after the show. You can't see the parking lot from Fairfax Avenue.

I can imagine CBS stars shopping at the Original Farmers Market maybe in a simpler time when that was more prevalent. Fresh, local produce is usually incentive enough to go shopping but a celebrity sighting could boost your interest in going to a farmers market. Unfortunately, that is less likely now that those shows will be in Glendale and not West Hollywood.

We could look at the arrangement as a blessing for multiple decades to have the entities close to each other. Yet we are sad that the relationship will not continue. You can visit the Original Farmers Market at Third and Fairfax and imagine that Carol Burnett and Richard Dawson went there on a lunch break, imagining what they might have bought.

photo credits: me
map credit: Google

The Bear mocks the basic sandwich establishment for another unneeded high-end restaurant

The Bear is about a high-end chef who comes back to his family Italian beef sandwich establishment after his brother's suicide. The premise is that after trying to make this seemingly fish out of water scenario work, they tear down the Italian beef sandwich establishment from within to make room for a high-end restaurant.

People figure your humble narrator is into the show because 1) the nuance of how restaurants work and 2) living in the city where the show takes place.

I struggled to get through Season 1. Pardon this pun but the show was a bear to watch. Too much fake drama no matter how "realistic" the show was about the restaurant world.

If you didn't care about the food and restaurant themes, you would complain about the terrible writing, vague attempts at character development, the soliloquies that are more hilarious than meaningful, the details the creators clearly get wrong, the way character relationships jump around with alleged off-screen resolution.

Let's get to the real hero and villain of the story. The villain is a place such as the Original Beef restaurant (Italian beef). The hero is a place such as The Bear, the new high-end restaurant.

In Season 1, Episode 7, Richie (old guard) and Sydney (new guard) have a discussion about those workers who won't have access with all the fancy changes. Richie is the old guard. Sydney is the new guard. 

Sydney said this is about the business model. As empathetic as the character is, she doesn't care about the current customers or the future customers. Sydney is also obsessed to have a Michelin star. There are plenty of wonderful restaurants without a Michelin star who do better by their customers but the star is the golden calf.

Watch that scene even if you don't watch anything else from the show. Not every restaurant needs to be the mighty high-end restaurant. Fewer people will be able to eat out other than going through a drive-thru and trying to eat a cheeseburger while stuck in traffic. The Bear isn't about them; it's the competition for the rich people who can afford to eat at The Bear.

Interestingly. Sydney is one of the few decently developed characters in the whole show.

In Season 2, they rehab the building to turn the old place into the new place. Realistically, they could take over one of the many closed high-end restaurants but that wouldn't make for TV "fun" by discovering the building has mold inside.

Usually, high-end places, especially in River North, the downtown neighborhood in Chicago where the show takes place, has valet parking. Not sure where the cars would go for the high-end place since the Italian beef establishment had benches for eating outdoors and is accessible by nearby buses.

Putting the new restaurant in the old building is a metaphor that is actually relevant. Since the place will have very limited seating, they will need to turnover pretty quickly where high-end people tend to enjoy relaxing at dinner.

High-end restaurants are about better ingredients, which is a good thing. Using local farmers and eating locally. No high-fructose corn syrup or GMOs (hopefully). The kind of food that all of us deserve, not just high-end earners.

They are also about trusting the chef, using very little of said ingredients for higher prices. The concept is if they charged $5 less per dish, the alleged value would diminish among those high-end earners. They may have to go home for dessert since they won't get enough to fill up at dinner but that is the sacrifice of high-end eating.

I've heard enough high-end restaurant owners talk about how accessible their places are. You don't have to wear a tie or a long dress to go but you still need money and lots of it. They aren't interested in you otherwise. As Sydney would say, that is the business model.

Bourdain Day 2023: Celebrating a loss with food

Carmy and Michael (the dead brother) were very different people. Michael belonged in the Italian beef world while Carmy should be in the high-end world. The Bear shuts down Michael and then his world since there is only room for one and that is the high-end choice.

Places such as Original Beef are often there for decades, establishing loyalty and giving back to the neighborhood. High-end restaurants are not about loyalty, unless it's one-sided (customer to restaurant). They usually only last a few years before the owners get bored or burned-out or aren't making tons and tons of money. They don't care about the neighborhood. The land stays dormant until something else eventually comes along to fill the space.

Your humble narrator appreciates high-end food when delivered honorably. More and more, you can do almost as well at home without the pretense, small portions, or the dramatically high costs. With the money you save, you can treat yourself to an Italian beef sandwich: get it dunked in the jus and order the giardiniera, even if all they have is spicy.

Both seasons of The Bear are available on FX on Hulu.

Editor's note: If you are looking for a film that delves into the insanity of high-end restaurants, our sibling blog, CanadianCrossing.com would recommend Nose to Tail. The drama is intense but unlike The Bear, the drama feels real.

photo credit: The Bear