This Just In ...

Culinary no-no #304

Posted by Kevin Fischer on Nov. 25, 2012

Culinary no-no's

THERE ARE THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF
FOOD BLOGS, BUT ONLY ONE CULINARY NO-
NO!









I used to love watching that network.

Informative. Entertaining. Interesting. Intelligent, quality programming.

Not anymore.

Hosts eating insects. Cooking contests harshly focused on chef mistakes. Restaurant owners almost brought to tears from being ridiculed.

Somehow the Food Network has succeeded in gearing shows to an audience lower than the lowest common denominator.

In short, they’ve gone stupid.

Classic example, this guy…




Guy Fieri is the host of Food Network’s Guy's Big Bite and Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Fieri also has written a best-selling cookbook and owns several restaurants.

Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives has Fieri motoring across America in search of greasy spoons that are popular with the locals that also serve great food and lots of it. I’ll admit that while channel-surfing, I’ve stumbled across dishes in some of those dives that have me drooling, “Yeh, I’d love some of that!” But the program seems to center too much on Fieri who has to have his punk-like mug in every shot, attempting humor but failing miserably with a dumb line for every shake of salt or stirring spoon. Naturally, Fieri must have the camera catching him devouring every fatty morsel being served. More dumb lines. More punk-like shots.

At the risk of sounding like an elitist snob, he needs to realize he’s on television as a celebrity chef. Why the teenage rapper outfits? On one episode that featured his entire family, he went to an elegant restaurant dressed like a proverbial bum.

You’re supposed to be yourself on the air, and for me, I can’t get beyond my view that Fieri is one big goofball. The Food Network actually dumped Emeril and now highlights this clown?


 

Fieri recently opened a restaurant in Times Square. According to Pete Wells of the New York Times, Fieri hasn’t learned much on those drives to dives and doesn’t practice what he preaches.

WELLS’ REVIEW IS THE BEST RESTAURANT REVIEW I’VE EVER READ; CREATIVELY FUNNY WITH RAZOR-LIKE WIT…A MUST READ.

The New York Times piece caught the eye of the folks at Saturday Night Live.The SNL crew rehearsed a sketch, but it never made it to the final broadcast.

We found it.

Enjoy!

CULINARY NO-NO BONUSES


Down at Walt Disney World...


Speaking of Walt Disney World, our recent family excursion to the Mouse House had us eating at the new, lovely Tutto restaurant in Italy at Epcot. 

For an opening cocktail, the warm Florida temperatures had me requesting Tangueray and tonic. For dinner I ordered Polenta Valsugana - Traditional Northern Italian creamy polenta, melted fontina, served with braised short ribs, meatballs, sweet and piccante pork sausages.

Gin with that? Culinary no-no and then some.

Since my wife is the sommelier in the family, I needed a recommendation from our waiter who suggested  a Langhe Nebbiolo, Mirafiore. Sure. I knew that.

Out of the mouths of babes. When my glass of wine arrived, Kyla said, as if to be totally mystified, “But Daddy, only girls drink wine.”

I don't write a Culinary yes-yes blog. If I did...

My wife writes the yes-yes blog. Check it out.