Balance of Food

Food as art has a very small audience

Your humble narrator isn't the biggest fan of ultra fancy dining. A fancy meal every so often allows you to grow as a dining human being. Fancy is fine but ultra fancy is more theatre and art than food, especially at those prices.

My friend IRL Monica Eng covers the food industry for a long time in different formats. Eng recently wrote about Charlie Trotter tribute dinners run by Grant Achatz. 

In Chicago high dining circles. Charlie Trotter and Grant Achatz were and are well-known names. If you want to be seen as being cool, then you would dive into this opportunity. "Hey, look. I got into this exclusive experience. You didn't. I am better than you." 

Eng points out the cost for the tribute dinners (Trotter died in 2013) is $175-$235 per person. This does not count tax, tip, and drinks. From the article: "Wine pairings, starting with Champagne and ending with port, range from $135 to $345 for ultra reserve vintages. Non-alcoholic pairings cost $75." I suppose a Mexican Coca-Cola is out of the question.

Trotter and Achatz's restaurants (Achatz worked at Charlie Trotter's restaurant) are about pageantry and being seen more than the food itself. You pay through the nose for that luxury.

You get some fancy food, not much on any one plate:

"The meal starts with a ring of Osetra caviar, sea urchin, vodka créme fraiche and daikon that sings of the sea with a whisper of fruity sweetness. Other standout courses include:

• Summer-kissed heirloom tomato soup with crunchy dried tomato bits and an avocado coriander sorbet.
• A slice of rare venison over shredded oxtail infused with cherry juice and surrounded by a rich mole and cashew vinaigrette.
• Buttery Peruvian sea bass over chanterelles and a veal reduction.
• Puddingy banana bread, laced with warm chocolate ganache and topped with a coconut cookie, ripe bananas and malt ice cream that I still can't stop thinking about."

The article shows some pictures. Eng said in the article, "No, you will not still be hungry after this meal. If I was full, anyone would be full." She is likely correct, simply because there are a number of courses. The goal shouldn't be all you can eat at a family style restaurant. When you paying a lot for fancy food, the portions will be tiny. That is a key part of the panache.

One of the lures of the tribute dinners is to meet like-minded people who did Trotter's when that restaurant was still active. Perhaps you can't — or won't — put a price on that kind of experience.

The lure of eating at a restaurant with a celebrity chef

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

That isn't what food should really be. Art and performance can be in that realm. Food should be reasonably approachable. You can go to museums and see some of the greatest art in the world. Of course, museums are financially subsidized.

The costs are ridiculous yet the money is only part of the issue. You can go to Chez Panisse in Berkeley (lunch in the photo at the top of this column) and pay a lot for a very good meal. Lunches upstairs are cheaper than dinner downstairs. You could go to Swan Oyster Depot on Polk Street in San Francisco, pay a lot of money (cash only) for some amazing seafood. The ambiance is way more casual so bragging rights aren't a big deal.

You could find a quality place and spend $100-$125 (per person) for a very nice meal with wine. A nice quiet meal with no publicity.

Theoretically, one could participate new in this process, dish out the money. If they even think in their head that they didn't get value for the money, one can't say it was so-so. You have to praise what you consumed, regardless of the reality. That doesn't sound encouraging.

What's Tempting: Recreating spirit of Chez Panisse

What's Tempting: Chez Panisse for lunch

The design of the Charlie Trotter original and tribute experiences is to be exclusive, not inclusive, even more than just fancy dining. They are considered great chefs not because of the way they cook or how the dishes turn out but by charging large sums of money for that exclusive experience.

If I am ever in Cetara, Italy on the Amalfi Coast south of Naples, I am headed for Al Convento, Pasquale Torrente’s place featured with Anthony Bourdain on No Reservations. I wouldn't care how much the bill would be. All of the dishes Bourdain ordered looked so good. Cetara is known for local anchovies.

A memorable meal with a beautiful ocean view. I would take pictures and show them on social media. No one around me would be bragging that they were there because of the company, just the food. I want to dine out for the food and not some fancy exclusivity.

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"A two-hour meal of eight set courses introduced by servers explaining how the elements reflect Trotter's passion for jazz, Japanese cooking, game meat, seasonal produce and even Nancy Silverton's panna cotta."

Ultra fancy dining requires a level of trust of epic proportions. If you had a boatload of money AND a lot of trust in Charlie Trotter, you would likely salivate at the above description. You have to trust Achatz and the others who put together the tribute dinners maybe even more than Trotter.

I do struggle with trust, especially in food relationships. I trust Alice Waters now but there was a time when I didn't have that trust.

This is the difference between fancy dining and ultra fancy dining. I can trust fancy dining for an occasional treat. I struggle to trust ultra fancy dining, even if I had the money to justify an evening's meal. 

photo credits: me; No Reservations

Pizza Hut draws attention to tavern style pizza but the style is not special

If you hear the words Chicago and pizza, you might think of deep dish, a food that Jon Stewart described as "not pizza." Chicago has a style of pizza outside the tourist traps: tavern style pizza.

The Great Lakes region of the United States already has Detroit style pizza. Detroit style pizza is distinct from the auto parts container used to bake the pizzas to the unique cheese structure and the order for the ingredients.

Tavern style pizza is, well, pizza. The main distinction to tavern style pizza is, well, how the pizza is cut. The pieces are much smaller so you can put them on a bar napkin instead of using plates.

Somehow, Pizza Hut decided to copy the tavern-style pizza from Chicago. Why?

Tavern style pizza, unlike deep dish, is actual pizza. There are subtle nuances. The thin crust is truly thin and yeast is reportedly used. Most of what makes tavern style is how the pizza is cut.

Monica Eng, whom I know in real life, compares and contrasts the Pizza Hut version with a local version. I trust her take on the pizzas.

Your humble narrator hasn't tried either one but has had multiple tavern style pizzas over the years. Regular readers know your humble narrator has an intolerance to mozzarella cheese and might wonder how I could have had those pizzas over the last few decades. I had to figure this intolerance after not making the connection. So I have had tavern style pizza and it's just pizza cut in funny shapes.

Temptation of the Week: Out-of-town pizza through the eyes of Jon Stewart

Canadian film review: The Pizza City You've Never Heard Of (CanadianCrossing.com)

A lot of Detroit people ignore Windsor and Canada. Windsor has its own style of pizza that is very different from Detroit style pizza. A river and international border runs through the 2 pizzas.

I was skeptical about how distinct Windsor pizza would be from regular pizza. My Windsor friends swore this was different. The differences are there. The documentary we reviewed goes into those details.

• flour crust with cornmeal on the bottom
• sweet sauce using sweeter tomatoes such as San Marzano or tomatoes from California
• Galati cheese company making high fat mozzarella that is stringy when you pull out a slice
• shredded pepperoni
• canned mushrooms

The list shows a way more distinct pizza than tavern style pizza in Chicago. A thin crust and smaller pieces versus these significant differences. The Windsor style pizza is a lot more distinct than tavern style pizza. Of course, Pizza Hut, Canada or United States, will not cross the border to copy Windsor style pizza.

New Haven, CT style pizza is more distinct than Chicago tavern style pizza.

The point of Pizza Hut's newest pizza isn't to be innovative or imaginary. You likely haven't heard of tavern style pizza even if you have visited Chicago. Pizza nerds know yet not regular people.

You won't compare the differences. You know the national chain wouldn't come close to duplicating a local version of any food. Imagine a national chain trying to duplicate Cincinnati style chili or a Detroit coney dog.

Perhaps the Pizza Hut people got inspired by the obsession over The Bear TV show set in Chicago.

Everyone: Make us a true Chicago pizza
Us: YES, CHEF pic.twitter.com/nisTe2LW5G

— Pizza Hut (@pizzahut) June 27, 2024

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

Cheap pizza comes to Canada but at what cost

What's Tempting: Getting the larger pizza

As we noted in a long ago time, travel to places to have the unique foods of a region. Detroit has its style pizza that is worth exploring as does Windsor, across the Detroit River in Canada. If that isn't practical, Cook's Country has a version you can try at home.

Come to Chicago for the hot dog, Italian beef sandwiches (trashed in The Bear), and perhaps the pizza and "not pizza." Don't come to Chicago just for tavern style pizza. If you come for other reasons, find out for yourself if tavern style pizza is distinct.

photo credit: Pizza Hut
video credit: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart/Comedy Central
Twitter capture: Pizza Hut

The lure of eating at a restaurant with a celebrity chef

Eating at a place from a celebrity chef? Not much enthusiasm from your humble narrator. I thought about this when on the tarmac at the airport in Las Vegas. The woman next to me went on and on about eating at Gordon Ramsey's place and Bobby Flay's place in Las Vegas.

I was detoured to the Las Vegas airport by Southwest when I should have been killing time in Denver. I was eating airline snacks that day and even the lure of a meal from Ramsay or Flay didn't make me salivate.

These celebrity chefs aren't cooking your personal dinner. They lend their approach and recipes and then jet off somewhere to be on food television.

As the woman switched topics to the excitement of gambling in Las Vegas, my mind wandered to a question I never thought I would ask myself: "Would I eat at a restaurant from a celebrity chef?"

I have eaten at a few places of somewhat famous people: Xoco from Rick Bayless (Chicago), Chez Panisse from Alice Waters (Berkeley, CA), and Garde Manger from Chuck Hughes (Montréal). I admit this with the idea of disclosure. Maybe they qualify as "celebrity chefs" but they are restaurateurs who happen to be moderately famous. If you view them as "celebrity chefs" on the level of Ramsay and Flay, then perhaps you think I am a hypocrite.

I am tempted by a José Andrés restaurant in my city, mostly because I think this might be more authentic Spanish food. I have not dined there.

Coping with reduced enthusiasm for food

I would go to a place if Alton Brown had a restaurant and they served his oyster po' boy sandwich the way he did in that episode.

I would order coq au vin at a theoretical Julia Child restaurant, provided the dish was made in the spirit of The French Chef, her TV show.

The lure of an old hen, French wine, and a solid cooking technique. A dish that is difficult to duplicate at home. Going to a Julia Child celebrity restaurant for a lovely plate of coq au vin would be nice on a Friday night or even an early dinner on a Tuesday.

Alton Brown did an episode on coq au vin. Even by his standards, this was a complicated dish. Brown fully admits in the episode that finding an old hen is rather difficult.

Does Julia Child, if she were alive, have to cook this dish herself? No. The staff would have Child's recipe and ideally the dedication to bring that to fruition, so the standards for her coq au vin would remain.

This is also why there never was a Julia Child celebrity restaurant. The standards would be too high, even if that would lead to an enjoyable meal.

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I did order the lobster poutine at Garde Manger in Montréal, Chuck Hughes cooked that same dish on Iron Chef America in defeating Bobby Flay. I didn't see that episode until after I had the lobster poutine. I did smile a bit, knowing I actually had that dish.

I enjoyed the fact that Hughes beat Flay in that episode more than the coincidence of eating a dish served on Iron Chef America yet I enjoyed both within that episode.

The lure of a celebrity chef is that you love them on TV, feel like you can relate to them and their recipes, and feel comfortable in a celebrity chef type restaurant. Those people flock to Las Vegas and eat at a place because of that celebrity chef endorsement.

You should try a celebrity chef restaurant as long as you know the parameters involved. Just lower your expectations.

video credit and photo credit: The French Chef/PBS

Breaking down barriers so people will try new foods

"People with special conditions should always consult with their doctors before consuming new products."

I could have used this disclaimer when I was 10. My father started verbally berating me over trying new foods. While he had 2 children, he only picked on me. "Wonderful or awful" were essentially my choices. Wonderful wasn't viable since no one could live up to wonderful.

This was a rather unusual product, a drink that I was gifted. I love intense flavors in food and drink and even this drink was too intense for me. The second ingredient (behind water) was yuzu juice.

I did read the disclaimer and still tried the beverage, even while not consulting a single doctor or even a medical professional.

I didn't end up drinking too much from the beverage. I'm sure it's a great product, regardless of health conditions.

The use of the word "products" instead of "foods" was definitely a deliberate choice. I would love to find out what the "special conditions" would need to be. Chances are, given my physical health, good that I have "special conditions." People with "special conditions" likely have multiple doctors.

We think — not that we have medical expertise — people should try new foods without a doctor's permission. What if you never had sea urchin or pickled herring? Are they considered "products" or just foods? Does Flamin' Hot Cheetos qualify as a product you shouldn't try without a consultation with doctors?

Some of the foods where my father would berate me involved canned vegetables that weren't rinsed. I was too sensitive to the salt content, not that people thought about such things back in those days. I didn't like tuna fish too much as a kid. I found that the taste significantly improved when I rinsed the tuna fish out of the can.

After all, the verbal abuse wasn't about being right or health-conscious.

The idea of a doctor's note wouldn't have gone too far as a 10-year-old child, though stalling appealed to me greatly at that age.

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Despite my alleged peculiarities as a child, I am a great advocate for trying new foods (products?) in my travels. Eat local what is local to where you travel. That could be tripe in central Italy, the aforementioned herring in Scandinavia, fish tacos in southern California, and poutine in Quebec in Canada.

Americans in particular (stereotype) struggle with being adventurous in trying new foods. We shouldn't create extra barriers to finding out what we like in food, whether that be overbearing parents or cultural prejudices against certain foods. This doesn't mean we have to like every food. Some foods are "meh," not wonderful or awful. This is a perfectly fine reaction to a food.

"Yes. FDA advises consumers to talk to their doctor, pharmacist, or other health care professional before deciding to purchase or use a dietary supplement. For example, some supplements might interact with medicines or other supplements."

We are not advising to necessarily go against the wishes of the Food and Drug Administration, as an example. We do note that disclaimers are set up to protect others from the implications of your actions. Be smarter in that regard.

Trying new foods is exciting, even if they don't succeed, like this juice for your humble narrator. Failure only comes if you don't try something because you are afraid. Travel well and eat well in those travels.

photos credit: me

Hipster vs. Classic: sincerity in ingredients

This will not be a fair fight. Hipster is about listing ingredients on a menu and tricking people into buying their food. We ran into an ideal hipster sample in our recent trip to San Francisco. We also encountered a dish with a few ingredients with true sincerity.

Let's start with the hipster sample: Duck fat fries. Regular places that serve duck fat fries, especially Hot Doug's RIP, have French fries cooked in duck fat. That makes them duck fat fries.

Horsefeather in San Francisco serves what they call "duck fat fries." The fries contain umami seasoning, duck fat "snow," and curried ketchup. The umami seasoning is real, not that exciting but verifiable. The duck fat "snow" looked pretty but didn't have any taste. The curried ketchup was curried in that there was a slight curry taste but not enough to bring any significant flavor, like curry for people who can't handle actual curry taste. Curried implies not full curry.

The problem with these fries is that they weren't cooked in duck fat. The trick is that the snow, which was tasteless, qualified them as "duck fat." Duck fat should have been in quotes in the description. The law may not be able to touch them but they are deliberately deceptive.

The fries were $8 and there wasn't a lot of ketchup. (If there is a lawsuit, I will contend the fries did not taste like they were cooked in duck fat. I will win.)

The porchetta sandwich at Roli Roti is a classic. Very few ingredients yet thoughtful and ones that marry well together. The slow-cooked pork with the cracklings, a beautiful onion jam, arugula, and rosemary sea salt.

Every ingredient is sincere: the onion jam would be great by itself. The ingredients make this $13 sandwich more than the individual ingredients by themselves. If you think you dislike arugula, you will enjoy it on this sandwich.

I got to enjoy this twice on the trip, the second with a Mexican Coca-Cola. Talk about the perfect complimentary choice (purchased separately inside the Ferry Building).

Unlike the fries, I ate the whole porchetta sandwich. In fact, the sandwich was so good that I ate it slowly to appreciate what my taste buds were experiencing. The "duck fat fries" were so dry that you had to eat them with the curried ketchup. A good fry, especially ones actually cooked in duck fat, should be able to stand up on its own.

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I fell for the hipster place because I was running around that afternoon and felt like having a treat of duck fat fries. If I knew for a second that the deception would run that deep, I never would have gone in there, not even for a story. I could have argued about the deception, but the hipster logic is that they were "upfront" and you should have known better.

We likely have been tricked more than once by the hipster food approach. We are still good people even if we are labeled as "suckers." Just eat more classic food than hipster food in your travels.

photo credits: Horsefeather; me (x2)

Don't let financial concerns ruin your eating options on vacation

Will not judge too harshly. You are in one of the best eating cities in North America. Wilensky's is not expensive. Romados for Portuguese chicken on Rue Rachel East. Poutine, smoked meat, bagels. #Montreal https://t.co/iI5f0xSgFV

— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) February 3, 2024

I do not want to be harsh in my take on this situation. This is a nice person on social media, thoughtful. Sharing a moment of weakness that he easily could have not posted. Do not retaliate in any form or fashion.

This person had this issue in Montréal, an amazing eating city. Your humble narrator recently had similar concerns on a trip to San Francisco.

Vacation budgets were tough, even before the inflation that is Ukraine and pandemic and greed rolled into one. Eating out in your own city. Eating out elsewhere.

"The restaurants I wanted to go to were way too expensive." I know that pain. If you have traveled lately, we know that pain. Even my old favorites, such as Swan Oyster Depot. New favorites such as House of Prime Rib, R&G Lounge, and Italian Homemade. The money was staggering.

The joy of traveling is eating at places where you normally wouldn't find at home. I've been to Swan Oyster Depot and the food is wonderful, whatever the price. The memories of eating at these and more places are the value of travel. I've eaten at wonderful places in Montréal, including a place that recently closed.

I also need to go back to Montréal, where I will pay more $ for places such as Au Pied de Cochon and Joe Beef, restaurants likely on his list.

Americans eating in Montréal and elsewhere in Canada do have a key advantage: currency exchange rates. The Canadian dollar is traditionally weaker against the U.S. dollar, even more for British pounds and better for those with Euros. The exchange rate was 1 U.S. dollar = 1.35 Canadian dollars at Feb 4, 7:37 PM UTC.

As we noted, Montréal offers relatively inexpensive culinary options, such as bagels, smoked meat sandwiches, and poutine. A lot cheaper than seafood in San Francisco.

I skipped places I had been, such as Chez Panisse in Berkeley, where I had been before, based on price.

I spent more than I wanted to on dinners in San Francisco. The same will be true in Montréal, hopefully this summer. How can I or anyone else justify this cost?

— Spend less at home. I live in a major city and rarely eat out. Cooking isn't as much fun since grocery store prices are climbing. Still cheaper than eating out. I sadly eat 2 meals a day, most days, so I inadvertently save money that way.

— Spend the money on dinner and not the other meals. Maybe doing McDonald's for lunch allows you more money for dinner. Breakfast is the most important meal and the easiest to find relatively cheap. Even a pain du chocolate isn't that much.

— Picnics. Picnics are a cheaper way to consume great local food. One of the best meals I had in Rome was a collection of food from Salumeria Volpetti in the Testaccio neighborhood. I took the food to the Borghese Gardens with a bottle of Italian Coca-Cola and ate like a royal. Picnics aren't going to work as well in the Montréal winter yet a great option in warmer weather.

— Smarter calories. The porchetta sandwich from Roli Roti was rather expensive. I got vegetables with the arugula. A hearty roll. Plenty of pork. The whole sandwich kept me full for a longer time. Spending a lot and being hungry 2-3 hours later means you will spend more money.

— Tell yourself you can't take it with you. Less money for retirement? A bit of an extreme thought process. I have enough anxiety and depression that I tell myself that to reduce anxiety in the moment. I did save up for this adventure in San Francisco and feel good about the money I spent and the money I didn't spend. I made decently smart choices on the trip and have the memories, regardless of the price.

Mourning the loss of your favorite restaurant

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I was nervous that a lot of my favorite restaurants would disappear during the pandemic. Some did disappear, especially in the city where I live. Had a place within walking distance to get duck fat fries and they didn't come back.

I have great memories of the food I've had in San Francisco on this trip and previous encounters. Same for my time in Montréal. When we are on our deathbed, we won't remember the McDonald's trip in a moment of weakness. I will remember eating the chocolate gelato with whipped cream at Bar San Calisto in Rome while listening to this Swedish woman tell me about this cat food called Pussi. I will remember biting into the first bite of that porchetta sandwich at the Ferry Building farmers market in San Francisco. That is what will count in life.

The McDonald's misstep when traveling is more common than you might expect. Just don't let it define you as a food traveler.

Twitter capture: @canadian_xing
photo credit: me

How to make Canadian burgers

Burgers made in the United States are pretty simple: take ground meat, form into patties, season with salt and pepper. Then cook the burgers to your desired temperature.

Burgers made in Canada are not that simple: take ground meat, mix it with ingredients to make the meat juicier (allegedly), form into patties, and season with salt later.

The "Americans" reading this might be thinking, "that is for meatballs or meatloaf, not hamburgers." Canadians would disagree.

Mary Berg demonstrated this on Mary Makes It Easy on CTV Life Channel in Canada and Food Network in the United States in Season 2, Episode 24: Back to the BBQ.

Berg made a fancier version of a panade, using a nice sandwich bread (no crusts) and red wine. Traditionally, a panade is a simple mix of milk and bread. Again, this is ideal for meatloaf in the States and burgers in Canada.

Berg also incorporated chives and garlic along with the pepper with 600 grams (1.32 pounds) of meat. "The perfect thing to keep your burgers super juicy," said Berg.

She made brie and pancetta burgers topped with chunky grilled red onion. These are not typical burgers for Canadians: this was an upscale burger recipe.

Why do Berg and other Canadians add a panade to simple burger meat?

There are 5 traditional outcomes for a burger: rare, medium-rare, medium, medium-well, and well-done. The law in Canada requires an outcome of 71°C (160°F), defined as well-done.

A burger cooked to 71°C (160°F) would taste rather dry and lifeless. The cow died the first time: Why are we killing it again?

Your humble narrator has had quite a few burgers in Canada. Does the panade magic make the burger juicy? Our well-researched opinion is no. We haven't tried red wine in a panade. A Canadian burger is edible with lots of toppings. You might as well be eating a turkey burger at that point. Turkey does need a higher temperature so they usually are dry.

Canadian beef taste test: well-done vs. medium-rare

Medium-rare elk burger can be found without traveling to Canada

Medium-rare burger a rare find in Canada, especially buffalo and elk

We love Canadians and Canada. We love medium-rare burgers more. Canadians can buy good quality meat and bring that home to cook the burgers to their desired temperature. We have noted that there are exceptions if a restaurant grinds its own meat.

I ran into a place in Windsor in 2022 that grinded its own meat yet wouldn't cook a burger medium-rare. The law allows for an exception but restaurants aren't required to follow that exception.

If I had money, time, etc., I would create a Green Book for tourists and Canadians to find places that will serve a medium-rare burger. A friend in Toronto helped me find a place in the Danforth neighbourhood that was honestly the best burger I have had in Canada.

(The Green Book comparison can be offensive [no offense is intended] and we are sorry for any hurt feelings. Places that serve a medium-rare burger almost need to be secret about that in Canada.)

When I was a child, the males in the household loved medium-rare for burgers. We joked that my mother's burgers could be left on the grill for a long time. She didn't disagree.

Maybe you enjoy a well-done burger, sincerely. The world is made up of different people. If you do enjoy a well-done burger, you might be better off with a turkey burger or even a vegan burger. If you insist on using a beautiful dead cow for your burger, consider a panade to give some flavor (or flavour in Canada). A meatloaf burger or meatball burger might appeal to that audience.

If you are averse to using red wine, which is perfectly fine, the recipe offers beef stock or milk as alternatives.

A Canadian burger could go well with poutine, a combo of French fries, squeaky white cheese curds, and brown gravy over the top of both.

BalanceofFood.com Canada food policy coverage

The premise behind the Canadian law and most practices in the United States is that the burger meat might come from more than a single cow. Steaks don't have this issue even in Canada since the steak comes from a single cow.

Burger meat from multiple cows: this sounds like a worse problem than temperature of a burger.

Trust your meat. Know your farmer. Cook it for yourself, especially in Canada. You have to work harder to get a burger cooked to your temperature. If you like a well-done burger, you can eat almost anywhere in both countries.

photo credit: CTV Life Channel/Food Network

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

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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

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

Mourning the loss of your favorite restaurant

Ouch. Surprised at how much this hurts. An end to decades of The. Best. Smoked. Meat. In. Montreal. https://t.co/BQsZWjSNEt

— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) May 9, 2023

The funny part in Canadian politics is that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau doesn't often give his personal opinion on matters. Yet Trudeau declares the best smoked meat in Montréal as The Main comes to a close on St. Laurent Boulevard.

Canada has a parliamentary democracy so even the prime minister represents a riding. The deli was in the Laurier--Sainte-Marie riding, south of the Papineau riding Trudeau represents in the House of Commons in the federal capital of Ottawa.

Your humble narrator has eaten at The Main at 3864 St. Laurent Boulevard, a prominent north-south running street. (Technically, north-south in relation to the St. Lawrence River. Trust me, when you are in Montréal, you have to follow that logic.)

The smoked meat was quite good. I need more practice to know which smoked meat is the best, something I won't get to do at The Main anymore.

I have also had the smoked meat at Schwartz's at 3895 St. Laurent Boulevard. The famous Schwartz's can be spotted if you are sitting in The Main. You can see the much longer lines at Schwartz's than you saw at The Main. Yet the prime minister of Canada has officially gone on the record as saying The Main had better smoked meat than Schwartz's.

The smoked meat is also very good at Schwartz's. There is more of a carnival atmosphere at Schwartz's as you may have seen on food TV shows or perhaps a trip to Schwartz's.

If you spent enough time in Montréal, you could sample smoked meat from both places. Maybe one for lunch and the other for dinner.

Trudeau isn't the only major celebrity who loved The Main. The late Leonard Cohen was also a big fan of The Main.

Montréal has a bagel battle: you get asked which bagel you prefer between St-Viateur and Fairmount. Your humble narrator is on Team St-Viateur. The Fairmount bagel is better than most bagels you will ever eat, just not a St-Viateur bagel.

If one of those were to go down, eating a Montréal bagel wouldn't be as awesome, even if your place was the survivor.

End of an era with closure of The Main, an iconic Montréal deli (The Current CBC Radio)

Some might think the smoked meat battle isn't confined to the 3800 block of St. Laurent Boulevard. Yet the competition was mostly The Main vs. Schwartz's.

The funny story is how I ended up at The Main. I was in Montréal heading for Schwartz's. There was a small incident involving the fire department. Nothing significant but I wasn't going to eat at Schwartz's that afternoon. I saw The Main across the street and had their smoked meat.

The sandwich and food was very good. So was Schwartz's. That stroke of fate meant I got to try both places.

This report from CBC News gives an all too familiar explanation for the demise of The Main. Things weren't as good as they used to be. Quality allegedly shifted after the death of the long-time owner Peter Varvaro when the deli was then sold off. Like when you are dating a person and that person seems to change and not for the better.

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I hope to get back to Montréal this summer. A city I adore and have not been there in too long. I have a list of favorites in Montréal and plan to try some places where I have never eaten.

Even if you have been somewhere before, that approach is wonderful. Some of your favorites and perhaps, some new favorites. Unfortunately, The Main will not be one of them. I would have trusted the opinion of a Montréal person — the prime minister of Canada. Guess I will settle for the second-best smoked meat in Montréal.

You may not be into smoked meat, bagels, or even Montréal. You can likely adapt this story, like Mad Libs, and use this as a template over one of your favorite restaurants.

Twitter capture: @JustinTrudeau
photo credit: CFCF Montréal/CTV News
video credit: YouTube/Educate@DIYdocufilms