the ulterior epicure

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There aren’t many on my list of musts.  But, this past weekend, Pappy’s Smokehouse in St. Louis earned a line on it.

Gerard Craft, chef-owner of niche (and the attendant Taste and Brasserie), had commended Mike Emerson’s barbecue too many times to be ignored. So, to the smokehouse we went for lunch.

We arrived to a familiar scene there, a line snaking through the dining room, around the corner, and down a long hall.  I’m sure if it weren’t below freezing outside, it would have gone out the door too. But, here is the benefit of eating with a local celebrity chef and a friend of the owner: not two seconds at its tail, we were plucked out of line by Emerson, sat at a table, and fed generously.*

Continue reading ‘review: baby back…’

Posted in dining, restaurant, restaurant review, travel
Tags: 2012, baby back ribs, baked beans, barbecue, bbq, brisket, coleslaw, french fries, gerard craft, lunch, meat, mike emerson, pappy's smokehouse, pulled pork, restaurant, ribs, slaw, st. louis, sweet potato

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Although I’ve spent countless hours at Lambert Field (I’ve flown through it more than any other airport in the world, by far) my time in St. Louis has been slight, a half-dozen one-nighters over the past three decades: school field trips, business trips, and a quick eating trip three years ago.

So, when Gerard Craft graciously offered to host a bluestem cookbook dinner at niche this past weekend, I decided to visit for a few days.

Continue reading ‘travel: meet me in st. louis…’

Posted in cookbook, dessert, dining, restaurant, restaurant review, travel
Tags: 2012, bluestem, bluestem cookbook, brasserie by niche, colby garrelts, gerard craft, kevin nashan, megan garrelts, mike emerson, missouri, niche, papy's smokehouse, sidney street cafe, st. louis, taste by niche

RANDY: There are certain rules that one must abide by in order to successfully survive a horror movie. For instance: One: You can never have sex. The minute you get a little nookie-you’re as good as gone. Sex always equals death. Two: Never drink or do drugs. The sin factor. It’s an extension of number one. And Three: Never, ever, ever, under any circumstances, say “I’ll be right back.”

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Genre fully matures, and, indeed, survives, when it’s able to hold a mirror up to itself, point, and laugh.

So predictable become its habits, so formulaic its courses, that to continue without acknowledging them would be suicidal, endangering its species to a hoary fate of tropes and clichés, dismissed as easy.

Why? Because a puzzle solved is a puzzle no more. Fashion becomes unfashionable, fads fade, and trends die.

Out of self-preservation, genre must break the fourth wall and address its audience directly, jumping one step ahead of its demise to acknowledge and appeal: here’s why you have loved me and why you will continue loving me – because I don’t take myself too seriously.  We know it as parody. Sometimes it’s funny, sometimes it’s profound, but it always refreshes the stale and stagnant with a candy coat of artificial reality.

I touched on this topic briefly in a previous rumination. I return to it here for a lengthier consideration, an extension to my thoughts on the edible proscenium.

Continue reading ‘rumination 20: spoof…’

Posted in rumination
Tags: 2012, genre, parody, spoof

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Situated somewhere in the middle of my three-week, million-calorie binge in New York last year was kajitsu, a meditative pause in an otherwise reckless episode of indulgence.

Tucked below street level in the East Village, kajitsu is quiet and clean, not unlike the food it serves, a series of vignettes in kaiseki form. Here, chef Masato Nishihara adheres to ahimsa, the dietary devotion of Zen Buddhists, and defies the current, meat-macho mindset with a vegan – yes, vegan, not vegetarian – menu. And, apparently, he does so with such deft and consistency that he has become favored among some of America’s best chefs, and Michelin has deemed his food worthy of two stars.

Continue reading ‘review: a series of pauses… (kajitsu)’

Posted in dessert, dining, michelin, restaurant, restaurant review, travel
Tags: 2011, japanese, kajitsu, new york, shojin, vegan

This series was an utter failure last year. I will try to post more regularly this year.

I recently launched my own photography website (www.bonjwing.com).  It will not, as some readers have inquired, replace my Flickr account.  Instead, it will serve as a gallery of my professional work, a sampling rather than a library.

Since that site launched, I’ve received a few emails asking about the watermark on the photographs on that website. The “seal” is my “chop,” an engraved stamp of my name in Chinese. Traditionally, Chinese chops are made of stone, with the owner’s name etched into the flat, polished surface of the chop’s underside (luxe ones can be made of precious metals and stones, like gold and jade). The chop is first stamped in a red stain, which is a moist, clay-like substance, and then onto paper to make its mark. Chops can be plain – simply a baton of stone with the name engraved at one end – polished or rough, round or square, or carved with decorations.

Continue reading ‘photo of the week 37: chop…’

Posted in photography
Tags: bonjwing photography, chop, horse, photo of the week, watermark

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I was 27, and I was crazy.

Two years of imprisonment in the ivy halls of law school begged for an adventure. So off to the Netherlands I went for a change of scene, under the pretense of studying law in the Dutchmen’s ivy halls. Don’t tell anyone, but I was really there to travel and eat.

Despite the fact that British Airlines lost half my luggage on the way over (never recovered, and never recompensed, by the way), my first purchase upon arrival was not underwear or a jacket or a bicycle. I bought a copy of Michelin’s Main Cities of Europe guide and a Eurail pass.

Using Leiden as my base and Schipol as my portal, I embarked on the greatest eating escapade of my life.

Orchestrating my own culinary coming of age, in the span of one semester, I explored the tables of Ireland, Turkey, Sweden, Finland, Luxembourg, Germany, Belgium, France, Spain, Norway, Austria, Poland, and all over the Dutch countryside. And I did it all on a shoestring budget.

Don’t believe me?  I’ll tell you the craziest thing I did for food.

Continue reading ‘travel: what i did for food…’

Posted in dining, michelin, restaurant, travel
Tags: alsace, baerenthal, fellrath, france, l'arnsbourg, strasbourg, vosges

Now that the whole world knows what umami is (that’s a Japanese word), I’d like to talk about xian (that’s a Chinese word, not to be confused with xian of a different tone, which means salty, or Xi’an, the ancient capital of China).

I’m surprised no one has mentioned it yet.

What is it?

Well, it’s basically the equivalent of umami in Chinese, with a discriminating factor.

Continue reading ‘rumination 19: xian…’

Posted in rumination
Tags: chinese, flavor, umami, xian

Two years ago, I offered my opinion on eating in Kansas City.  It’s time I update that post.

But this time, I’m not just going to throw you a list of my favorite places to eat. This time, I’m going slightly deeper than that.

Recently, Saveur Magazine’s editor in chief, James Oseland, put Kansas City on the horizon of America’s culinary landscape.

As a native and resident, I reserve celebration, but hope for its arrival. Oseland’s portension is no fait accompli.

Yes, we have come quite a ways, here in the heartland of America. Never mind the eighties or nineties, not even a decade ago, Kansas City’s food scene was fairly desolate.

And now, it’s burgeoning.

Yet, despite its recent growth, if I am to take an honest look at what has changed, I’m not sure that many of my fellow Kansas Citians would want to know my conclusions.

But, I care. So, at the risk being branded an elitist, a self-styled prophet without honor, I’ll tell you what I really think.  This is not the first time I’ve raised this issue on my blog.  But this time, I do so with heightened scrutiny.

Continue reading ‘travel: kansas city…’

Posted in travel
Tags: 2011, kansas, kansas city, missouri

I’m going to say this upfront: I’m no expert on the Michelin guides.

But I have used them for years, referring to them for dining advice in dozens of countries across three continents.  And, in my limited experience, I’ve found them generally reliable in Europe (though it varies with each country), less so in the United States, and nearly useless in Hong Kong (I have not been to Japan to test the guide there, although I’ve heard that it comports with the vetted consensus).  It goes without saying that I make these claims based on my personal experience in Michelin-rated restaurants, and not out of some non-existent, subjective standard.

Continue reading ‘rumination 18: bibendum in america…’

Posted in michelin, rumination