Tennessee Is the 2nd Fattest State

That was today’s headline on the front page of the Tennessean.  Article here.

Tennessee, tied with Alabama for second, is one of ten southern states in the top 11 most obese states.  31.6% of TN’s adults are obese.  Not surprisingly, obesity affects minorities and the poor.  Last year Tennessee spent $1.5 billion on “obesity-related health costs.”

Arnold Myint on Top Chef, Week 1

We just got around to watching the first episode of this season’s Top Chef–with a particular focus on Nashville restaurateur and chef Arnold Myint.  The season’s kickoff was grating and obnoxious, filled with excessive displays of masculine bravado. The episode’s front runners, Angelo Sosa and Kenny Gilbert, were puffing their chests and talking trash as if preparing for a boxing match.  It was, therefore, nice to see that Arnold avoided this week’s spotlight.  He was both exuberant and modest.  An opening clip shows Arnold joyfully dancing around as if on a home video.  In one of Arnold’s few lines, he admitted that he got a stylist for the show (see picture for below), but later he humbly said that he owned some “mom and pop” restaurants, implying that they didn’t have the kind of kitchen equipment available on Top Chef.  Sure, Arnold wants to be stylish and energetic on the show, but one also senses that his modesty requires a certain kind of confidence–but not the alpha-male variety.  Bravo, Arnold.

Click here for another take on Arnold’s Top Chef appearance.

Rich, Runny Cheese

Our penchant for ripe, runny, pungent cheese was completely satiated by Noble Springs Dairy’s “Harpeth Fleur,” a goat cheese.  We purchased it at the original Provence on 21st, but the products from this Franklin, TN can be purchased at a number of places around town.  On their website, they’ve got a list of merchants who carry their products, as well as general information about their farm.

Blind Pig Open

12th South’s Blind Pig is opening tomorrow, Friday, June 18th (they’re running through their soft opening as I type this).  They’ve been using their smokers out back for the past few days, and their large TVs, easily visible from the street, have been on.  Some folks have written about the Blind Pig; go here for an info entry.

Their menu and press release are available here, on their website.

Brunch Today

To celebrate Pickle’s return to Nashville, I made a decadent brunch:

A steamed lobster tail, atop a poached egg and a toasted open-faced English muffin.  The accompanying sauce was homemade Bearnaise sauce.  There also was a fruit salad with fresh yogurt.

A Restaurant of Offal: Holeman & Finch

Holeman & Finch Public House
2277 Peachtree Road Northeast
Atlanta, GA 30309-1173
(404) 948-1175
holeman-finch.com

Atlanta is often grating to me:  the sensory overload from all that shopping and traffic.  However, it is a city that likes to eat–having one of the highest numbers of restaurant per capita in the country.

Last night, a dear friend took me to Atlanta’s Holeman & Finch, the cheaper, adjacent, sister restaurant of the well-respected Restaurant Eugene.  Upon walking into Holeman & Finch, I noticed all the cured meats hanging in glass cases.  In the open kitchen, the cooks were meticulously prepping the food.  But I did not expect all that their menu offered.  My friend just ordered a number of little plates for the table, and it was a feast of rich, rich food:  a meat plate with delicate strips of lard, duck hearts and head, griddled pork belly, crisp pig tail, battered and fried livers, crawfish pies, and shrimp salad with perfectly fried shrimp heads.  Nothing goes to waste, and everything is wondrously defamiliarized.  All complimentary greens were crisp and subtle, mixing well with their respective dish and dressing.

This spot also has a nightly tradition of serving exactly 24 handcrafted burgers at 10 p.m. No more, no less.  We had had too much to try their pursuit of burger perfection.

Nashville’s Taco Trucks

An recent impassioned post by Lannae (here) on taco trucks around town (and how you can go about your own taco truck hunt).

Other great posts about Nashville’s taco trucks at:
–Serious Eats
–“Nashville Restaurants” blog

Post-Mirror

We were just informed that the new restaurant replacing Mirror on 12th South is to be named:  the Blind Pig.  According to rumor, it’ll be a high-end, gastopub-by BBQ joint, opening in mid-June, which is to say soon.   As we discussed this at the Taproom, we realized an unusual Nashville pattern:  the penchant for food establishments to name themselves after an animal, qualified by an adjective:

-Blind Pig

-Smiling Elephant

-Silly Goose

-Frothy Monkey

-Flying Horse

-Red Pony

-The Wild Cow (thanks to Nancy Vinneau for this one)

Felafel and Fries

I have been getting my felafel at a small stand on the corner of Gordon and Frishman in Tel Aviv. Most felafel stands offer you french fries, called “tships” in Hebrew. This stand fries them in wonton wrappers. The pitas are fresh, the felafel balls a bit mushy, but the “tships” are something else.

The felafel guy claims they were his invention but they have been spotted elsewhere in town.

Tel Aviv Breakfast

My favorite meal in Tel Aviv is breakfast. When the fried and I traveled to Paris 5 years ago he suffered the lack of a warm meal in the morning. A chocolate croissant was not enough. When we flew from Paris to Israel, he was totally surprised to discover that Israelis really know how to eat and eat well. I will set politics aside for this post, although politics is one thing that  is difficult to avoid here!.

Israel breakfasts include eggs, fresh vegetables, a variety of cheeses and spreads, including feta, homemade cream cheeses, and labneh, sweets, and fresh.

Breakfast 1 is from Cafe Idelson on Dizengoff, which was until recently Cafe Casit, the literary cafe where the Hebrew literary elite, including Shlonsky, Alterman, and Goldberg used to regularly meet. Now the cafe has been turned into a hip spot to see and be seen. See this video clip of the cafe in French new wave style (although these images are from the Ben Yehuda branch.).

The soft boiled eggs were lovely, and the pretzel sticks with poppy seeds made of fried philo dough were a nice touch. The cheese and cinnamon cake were delicious as was the salad, the salami, and the yellow cheese. I couldn’t finish this on my own however.

My next breakfast was at Cafe Dubnow 8, named after  Dubnow street, which is in turn named after the famous Jewish historian, intellectual, and theorizer of Jewish diasporism, Simon Dubnow. The cafe was close to “Beyt ha-Sofer” (The Writer’s House), where the literary archives are located. This Israeli breakfast was a few shekels cheaper and more modest.

The salad, feta, cream cheese, , butter, and preserves were all fabulous. The bread was tasty and filled with all sorts of grains. A healthy way to start the day in the archives.

Gastronomic Impressions of London

We just visited London, and here are some quick impressions:

-The funniest food sign:  On the Tube, there was a sign that bluntly stated, “Please don’t eat smelly food.”

-The most awkward dining moment:  We ordered two bowls of ramen of the exact same variety.  One comes out and served to me.  I was enjoying some appetizers, so I offered my bowl to A.  The server comes out, minutes later, with the second bowl and perplexingly said, but that first bowl was for Asians.  Apparently, the second bowl was for non-Asians.  We asked for clarification, but didn’t get any.  The only difference we detected was that the “Asian” bowl had pork belly, while the “non-Asian” one had tenderloin.  Another example of the arbitrariness of categories and stereotypes.

-The most difficult thing about London lunch:  Most of the restaurants waited until at least noon to open for lunch.

-The most counter-intuitive aspect:  It’s easier to get a pint of beer, then a glass of tap water.  As learned at the Anne Hathaway house, historically it was safer to drink beer than to drink water.  Perhaps an accurate precedent, or American diners have just come to expect water.

-Our new favorite dessert:  Posset, rich layers of cream or milk, sugared, and lightly curdled with wine.

-Consistent:  it’s almost an annual event for us now, and though it seems to have lost some lackluster, Wild Honey still serves up some great food, with a great wine list, and knowledgeable staff.

-Most enterprising: Alan Yau keeps opening great restaurants.  The latest Cha Cha Moon.

-Most liked this time around:  Tayyab’s, near Brick Lane.  Some of the best Pakistani food we’ve had.