Okun on Food

Accentuate the Positive

Lots of restaurant diners  - and maybe you are one of them - hate having their conversations interrupted when the server keeps coming back and asking, "Is everything all right?"

One time is OK,  I guess, but after that it is annoying and so programmed, just like the cashiers at supermarkets asking, "Did you find everything?" It doesn't matter what you answer; they just keep plunking the stuff into the bags.

Yesterday I experienced a pleasant variation on the theme. Our server approached and asked, "are you enjoying your jambalaya?" I was actually and I appreciated the positive spin he put on the same ol', same ol'. Other servers, other restaurateurs  take note.   

Restaurant escapades

Item to bring up if there's a  lull in the conversation  (or, space for blog comments, I suppose): What's the worst (or funniest) thing that ever happened to you in a restaurant? Everybody's got a story; they either laugh or cry.

There's even a Web site devoted to the subject -- www.dinnersfromhell.com. Both patrons and servers contribute and some of what they say is funny, some is disgusting, some just  plain  dumb. Sadly, there's plenty of whining  too.

Well no wonder. After many years of eating out and/or talking to other people who eat out often, I've experienced or heard about some doozeys. The time a couple, who happened to be my parents, were waiting for their dinners in a small, now defunct place when the cook walked out of the kitchen and marched through the dining room yelling, "I quit!" Or the time when a reader was on what must have been his zillionth cup of coffee when the boss called the cops to get him out of there. Or the time when my lobster fell to the floor during service in a  restaurant in Mexico and it was whisked back to the kitchen and appeared on a different dish about two minutes later. (I recognized a claw.)

Which brings me to my point, or The Question. See Paragraph One.

Consumer beware

They seem like such a perfect solution and most of the time they are. A  gift certificate to a restaurant   1) doesn't have to be wrapped, 2) is usually happily accepted and 3) one size fits all.

But you should probably be wary before you plunk your money down for this gift. Of all the culinary complaints that I hear, the ones about gift certificates are by far the most common.

So here's my advice: Know your restaurant and  know what the gift certificate entails. Does it have an expiration date? Is it applicable every night  of the week? Can it be used to  cover tax and tip? Does it impose any special responsibility on the person who receives it? Must he declare the certificate before he orders? Must he mention it while making a reservation?

If the answers to all the above questions fit in with your plans, well then go ahead. Your gift will probably be successful and they'll love you forever. But there is one other thing: These are tough times, so try to determine if the restaurant  is likely to stay in business for a while. Once those doors get locked, forget legal action -- your friend is out of luck. And, just to stay on the safer side...

Caution your recipient to use the certificate  quickly.

Eating Away from the Mall

It was an exhausting job, last week trekking through our local shopping malls for Gusto to list the eating experiences available, but a dispiriting job too.

Sure,  there are many opportunities available to fill  our faces  while stacking up on holiday stuff, but so many of the spots are chains and franchises. They provide good enough food, (well, sustenance anyway) but a cookie cutter ambiance, and frenzy.

Let's not forget that you find some really good mom and pop, locally owned places less than a mile away from the malls. Yes, you  have to get the car out to get to them, but at least you can stow your packages in the back seat and not under a table or bench. And if the weather is cooperating, you can even dump your jacket or coat before you go in.

Among the places I think about: Red Pepper Chinese and Vietnamese Restaurant, 3910 Maple Road (across from Boulevard) and the Gate House Grill, 8220 Main Street (not far from Eastern Hills).

And let's not forget Giacobbi's Pasta and Pizza at 4572 Clark St., not too far from the McKinley Mall. (Same ownership, but it was once known as the Park Avenue Grille.)

As far as Walden Galleria goes, you're on your own, and I'd like to hear your suggestions. I simply can't sort my way through the sticky mass of chains that  hang out around there.

Cookbooks for the Ages

While writing a story on the year's cookbooks, I couldn't help but wonder whether the books published  today will ever reach classic status.

Before the days of Food TV and the rock star chefs, cookbooks were really the only way newbies were introduced to the kitchen. You had your Fannie Farmer; you had your "Joy of Cooking;" you had your "Better Homes & Gardens" --or even "The Silver Palate." These books were  given as wedding presents, and even though they were spattered and stained, they became part of  the household.

That's  anything but true today. With the exception of Mark Bittman's "How To Cook Everything," today's books are mostly  too narrow  (confining  themselves to single subjects like soup or cakes) or too egocentric (who will  care about Naked Chef Jamie Oliver or  even Paula Deen -- especially Paula Deen) 10 years from now?

Something New and Different

Always in search of something new and delicious on a restaurant menu, I really was lucky at Torches on Kenmore Avenue the other night. The first was an appetizer -- potato with cold weather lobster tail wrapped around it and sauteed in butter. It was expensive - but wow!

And the second was a cheese I never have tasted called "Burrata mozzarella." It's a fresh buffalo cheese imported from Italy that comes in two ways -- either packed  in brine or wrapped in a palm leaf from Palm Sunday.

Both types are made in Italy on a Monday and then shipped to us by Wednesday. I ate the brined type, which I'm told is a little firmer. I've never tasted anything so fresh.

Lombardo's has the cheese on the menu, too, but you can also buy it for your home kitchen at Guercio's or Tarrantino's. It isn't cheap.

I continue to seek out new exciting ideas for apps on local  menus and I'd appreciate your input on this --after all we do want to encourage innovation, don't we?  Send in your nominations, but be discriminating please. We're seeking the unusual -- lovers of crab cakes and stuffed peppers need not apply.

Turkey Wars

One of the biggest grocery competitions of the year is the frozen Thanksgiving Turkey Price  Race.  It's very hush hush and the winner is never known until two Sundays before the holiday.  Oh the intrigue. I keep picturing  supermarket guys  sitting around a table at midnight crunching numbers - no  not in a smoke filled room probably in a cave somewhere.  Results are never announced until two Sundays before the  the big day

We know now, though. This year's winner is Tops, at 29 cents a pound.
"We will not be undersold," the ad trumpets.  Smaller type  reveals you must buy with a bonus card and spend at least $25. (It's not only  the turkey  that is of concern, the idea is to get you into the store to  also buy the cranberry sauce, the veggies, and even the pumpkin pie.)

Second place went to Quality,  which also  would not be undersold but was offering a bird for 49 cents with an additional $30 purchase. These are for brands that are not nationally advertised -- Honeysuckle and Butterball run higher. And fresh turkeys are out of the race entirely because of inventory problems. But they are for Grade A birds (I've never seen a Grade B one, come to think of it)  and the  prices are so low, it makes you think.  Why not stash a bird in the freezer for a snowy day?   

It's Broccoli Dear

How do get kids to eat what's good for them? It may be the publishing question of the year. In my column today I speak about two books that just came out at the same time "The Sneaky Chef" by Missy Chase Lapine and  "Deceptively Delicious  by Jerry's Seinfeld's wife Jessica. They both advocate pureeing veggies that the kids  won't eat and then hiding them in the foods they will. For example: Mac and cheese and chocolate pudding. (What  a thing to do to chocolate pudding.)

A big hassle evolved about these books - did someone copy from someone else perchance? Forget that.

These books, it seems, are but the tip of the  iceberg. There's also "Food Chaining: the Proven 6-Step Plan to Stop Picky Eating, Solve Feeding Problems, and Expand your Child's Diet" (Marlowe & company) written by a bunch of people with many degrees after their names.

Here's how it goes: You start out by giving them something they'll eat like french fries, then go on to hash browns, then to sweet potato fries,  then zucchini sticks and finally -ah ha - to steamed vegetables. (That last is quite a leap). Pity the poor exhausted parent who begins the chain.

And then there's "Food Fights:  Winning the Nutritional Challenges of Parenthood Armed with Insight,  Humor and a Bottle of Ketchup" (American Academy of Pediatrics) and I have this to say: What humor?

In the 30s (to judge from the clothing) they also were sneaky, evidently. There's this famous cartoon of a mother feeding a little girl. and the dialog goes this way: "It's broccoli dear," says mama. But the sweet little curly-haired tyke isn't having it. "I say it's spinach and I say the hell with it," she chirps.   Now that is funny.

Do you agree? Feeding problems go back a long long way.

Thirsty?

It may not be the best time to be in the water business. An interesting question: What has happened to bottled H2O sales  in upscale restaurants lately? With the current emphasis on environmental awareness, I mean.

Think of the emissions released and the fuel used in transporting all those bottles from Italy or Maine or wherever. Think of all the bottles filling up landfills.

And think of the virtuous  expressions on all of our faces when the server asks what kind of water we want with our dinners. "Tap  water will  be fine, thank you."

After all we do have  plenty of the good stuff to drink around here.  A rare win/win situation. Both   a good way to save money and  a small  way to save the earth.

Cup of Joe

What chain serves the best cup of coffee in Western New York? It's an ongoing discussion at our house and we've finally agreed to disagree. My favorite remains Starbucks -- and yes, it is ridiculously expensive and yes, the chain has a reputation for putting mom and pops out of business.

I'm not so sure about the latter, but Starbucks does serve strong stuff and that's the way I like it.

Another member of the household opts for Tim Horton's, but I think the coffee served there is bland. Dunkin' Donuts serves a lustier brew. And as far as smaller outlets go, Spot Coffee can be acceptable, although I mourn the fact that it's no longer locally  owned.

  Caffe Aroma  is locally owned and can satisfy.