ProfessorBainbridge.com

Annoying Restaurant Practices

Zagat lists what they view as the 10 most annoying things restaurants do. Over at their site, they offer their own commentary. here, I add what I think of them:

"1. Dogs in Cafes/Outdoor Restaurants." Predictably, this one doesn't bother me at all. To the contrary, I like it.

"2. Tables Ridiculously Close Together." Why is it that restaurants with lousy acoustics are especially fond of this one?

"3. Overzealous Wine Pouring. If there’s one thing we definitely don’t need help with, it’s pouring our own alcohol." Damned straight. I bought it. It's my bottle. Servers should keep their hands off it.

"4. Designer Ice" Who cares?

"5. Enormous Wine Glasses" I'd rather have a glass that is too big than too small. One trend that seems to be over is for high priced Italian places to use tumblers instead of real wine glasses. My $100 bottle of super-Tuscan wine belongs in a Riedel glass, not a water tumbler.

"6. Ketchup Snobbery" Who cares?

"7. Sparkling, Flat or Filtered Tap?" Filtered tap is better for the environment and, for my money, tastes better.

"8. Unisex Restrooms." Lousy idea.

"9. Excessive Punctuation/Lower-Case Letters in Restaurant Names, Menu Items Wh.at is up wi.th all the pe.ri.ods?" it's annoying, but it's better than the 1980s fad for adding extra "e's", as in "Ye Olde Taverne."

"10. Wood-Infused Food" Unless it's smoked BBQ, wood is not an ingredient.

Professor Bainbridge's 2012 Christmas Gift Giving Guide

For the corporate governance policy wonk in your life, the latest learning on corporate governance after the financial crisis. "Stephen Bainbridge is not only an expert on corporate governance and an academic whose ideas and writing have changed the way we think about corporations. Professor Bainbridge is also one of the most perceptive academic commentators on the federal government's regulation of corporate governance. In Corporate Governance after the Financial Crisis, Professor Bainbridge has written an important book for those seeking to understand the theoretical and practical implications of Dodd-Frank, Sarbanes-Oxley and the federal government's foray into corporate regulation. It is a book that for years to come will influence the controversial debate over the federal regulation of corporate governance." --Professor Steven Davidoff N.Y. Times "Deal Professor"

 

 

 

 

For your favorite oenophile, the best wine glasses on the market, combining fashionability with an amazing ability to enhance the flavor and aroma of wines. Plus, they're completely dishwasher safe. I've switched entirely to the O line at home.

"Like other Riedel lines, O glasses are specifically shaped and sized to suit particular varietals but with the additional benefit of stemlessness. This innovation creates a lovely rounded silhouette that cradles pleasantly in the hand while fitting better than traditional stems in the cupboard, picnic basket, and dishwasher."

 

 

 

 

I've been using this tagine a lot, for both traditional tanginess but also for pretty much anything I braise. Many of the recipes for which I've used it came out of the Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Mediterranean Cooking book. All in all it is an incredibly useful kitchen tool. "Inspired by the slowly simmered, heavily seasoned cuisines indigenous to North Africa, this 2-quart Moroccan Tagine by Le Creuset is a classic example of form following function. Its distinctive cone-shaped lid promotes natural steam circulation and allows for the constant return of condensation to the base, moistening ingredients and tenderizing tough fibers within cuts of meat. And because it's crafted from durable cast iron, the Moroccan Tagine retains heat longer and cooks food more evenly and thoroughly. Traditional Moroccan tagines (the dish is named for the cookware) typically include a combination of braised meat (often lamb, beef or chicken), fruits, root vegetables, nuts, and fragrant spices like cinnamon, saffron, and ginger. For centuries, North Africa has had access to a myriad of wonderful spices to complement the region's diverse selection of seafood and meats. The traditional method of cooking in North Africa--the Tagine--has been used for centuries to slow cook with these spices. Precious little water is needed to keep foods moist, and the unique design of the Tagine lid locks in the combination of flavors. The base in this model, made of cast iron, works with any heat source: gas, electric radiant or solid plates, ceramic, halogen, induction, and Aga-Rayburn-type stoves. The tall, inverted cone shape keeps the top far from the heat source and from absorbing the heat, and thus stays cool to the touch. Le Creuset has also included many wonderful North African recipes for the Tagine, including soups, main dishes, salads, and desserts."

 

And now for something serious: Thoughts on the season from one of Christianity's most heroic and inspiring figures. "Pope John Paul II continues to be remembered and loved for his closeness to all people around the world. In this book his own words lead readers to the holy season of Christmas. Reflections for each day--from the First Sunday of Advent until the end of the Christmas season--begin with selections from talks and statements of the late Holy Father, followed by Scripture, prayer, and a suggestion for an appropriate seasonal activity. Advent and Christmas Wisdom is ideal for those who want to enter more deeply into the mystery of Christ's Incarnation as they prepare room in their hearts for his birth."

Dogs are different

Sean Linnane at the Frum Forum writes:

A new ad by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals features a turkey with the head of a dog. It reads, “Kids: If you wouldn’t eat your dog, why eat a turkey? Go Vegan.”

To which he responds:

Man occupies the top of the food chain for a reason, and the animals are here on this Earth to serve us. In the case of the turkey, that service includes with stuffing, gravy and cranberry sauce and potatoes on the side.

Dog, on the other hand, serves us by showing extreme loyalty, and working hard to protect us and also to keep us warm on cold winter nights. My dogs are more than human, they are G-O-D spelled backwards. In fact, 

I don't think my dogs are more than human. But I do think God gave us dogs to show us that unconditional love really exists. And, like Sean, the more people I meet, the more I love my dogs. Which makes them different from turkeys in my book too.

Getting ready for Thanksgiving

Since it's just the two of us for Thanksgiving this year, Helen and I are going out to eat instead of dealing with 20 pounds of left over turkey. If I were eating at home, however, I definitely try a couple of these celebrity chef recipes. Plus, of course, I'd take my own advice on What American Wine to Drink at Thanksgiving.

Quoted re New York's proposed anti-competition wine law

From an article by Mathhew Shaffer:

Bill A06884, introduced by Democratic assemblyman Robin Schimminger, would “amend the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law to insure that alcoholic beverages distributed in this state pass through those authorized to sell the product.” Specifically, it would “require the manufacturer of an alcoholic beverage to identity [sic] the entities that are authorized to distribute, at wholesale, the product.” This is being done in order to “protect against counterfeit or ‘grey market’ goods and would serve . . . in the collection of state excise taxes.”

Stephen Bainbridge, UCLA law professor and wine blogger, tells me that this will mean that “a limited number of wholesalers will be exclusively entitled to import wine into the state of New York.” In the past, wine retailers and restaurants could “do grey-market purchases, to bypass the big wholesalers, and buy directly from the winery, or go to the auction market or private collectors.” But if the bill passes, “every bottle of wine sold in New York has to go through a licensed wholesaler.” There are only five such in New York State, and they would control “the flow of inventory from producers to retailers.” ...

Bainbridge notes that “the limited extent to which there is a counterfeit-wine problem tends to be in very old, very rare, expensive collectible wines.” The demographic that consumes these wines is a narrow slice of the electorate and one that most New York voters would think, if they ever thought about it, does not require the Assembly’s special solicitude.

But even so, does this market require regulation and surveillance? It surely does. But that surveillance is done within the market — by connoisseurs who take steps to make sure they don’t get conned on a four-figure purchase, and auctioneers and collectors who carefully guard their reputations. Professor Bainbridge notes that “wineries are making much more sophisticated labels and bottles that are much harder to duplicate,” and requiring auctioneers to provide “documentation of where and when auctioned bottles were bought.” In other words, the market is policing the market.

The Fifth Major Food Group

Res ipsa loquitur:

The meat monster

In Japan, Burger King is selling The Meat Monster, which puts "two ground beef patties, two slices of cheese, three strips of bacon and a chicken breast between two buns." (HT: Lund)

I can't imagine anything more cleverly designed to give the neo-Puritans at places like PETA or the Center for Science in the Public Interest apoleptic fits.

RajinCajun

Had lunch today at the RajinCajun food truck, which was parked on Wilshire in the Miracle Mile area near LACMA. Had a very good bowl of jambalaya topped with a spoonful of gumbo. Just the right amount of heat, although vast quantities of hot sauce were available for those with the need for real heat. The praline cheesecake looked good, but good sense prevailed.

Recommended

Twitter: @cajunonwheels

web: http://www.ragincajun.com/

Pre-Valentine Dinner at Ca'Brea

Helen I went to an old favorite last night for dinner, Ca'Brea, an Italian place on La Brea at 4th. I started with the "little oranges," which are fried wild mushroom risotto balls on greens with a white truffle oil-based dressing. Yum.

My main was lamb chops in a black truffle sauce. Good, but not quite as good as the risotto. The potatoes were okay, the broccoli with garlic was excellent.

Ca'Brea has a very reasonable corkage charge (just $16/bottle), so even though they also have a very good (and reasonably priced wine list), I dug around my cellar to find something ready to drink but still young that it wouldn't need decanting. The 2007 Jayson Napa Valley red wine was ideal. Big, forward fruit and chocolate flavors. Delicious.

All in all, a delightful evening at a deserving favorite.

Would you eat an animal you knew?

Eatocracy:

Rabbit meat is delicious. I wish I didn't know that.

Rabbits bond for life. For most, instinct drives them to seek out another creature - usually one of their own kind, but it’s been known to encompass cats, guinea pigs, dogs or even birds. They’ll groom, cuddle and grieve palpably upon the other’s absence or loss.

Claudette, my nine-ish year old Hotot / dwarf mix (pictured above) is, as I was informed by my local rabbit rescue guru, bonded to me. She expresses this via chin rubs to shoes I’ve not previously worn around her (rabbits have scent glands with which they mark territory), a distinct drop-off in the bitchy behavior she demonstrates to nearly all other humans she’s encountered, and tooth-grinding purrs as I stroke her silken fur. We belong to each other.

At the same time, I can’t pretend that the most astonishing bite of food I ate in 2009 wasn’t a smoked rabbit kidney. In my defense, I didn’t order it; it was a gift from the chef of my favorite local restaurant. The rich, gamey, smoke-soaked flavor built in my mouth and did not ebb for many minutes. It made me grateful to have a tongue.

I debated for a minute or two before I ate it, and I apologized to my rabbits (there is another besides Claudette) upon my arrival at home. Yes, I sometimes anthropomorphize, but I felt genuine guilt when I looked into their faces. I take care of these animals. I enjoy and yes, love them. It is truly unnerving to know, quite specifically what is under their fur and how it tastes.

I gave up cooking and ordering rabbit - my most favorite meat - when I decided to adopt Claudette in 2004. It still shows up on my plate, sent out by chefs and friends who don't know that about me. I'm always conflicted.

I am a dedicated, enthusiastic eater of meat and especially offal - occasionally from animals I’d known while they were still living, thanks to some farmer friends who have no use for the heads, organs and extremities of the pigs and cows they slaughter for food. I don’t have qualms - well, not any more - about enjoying eating these creatures I’d seen walking, wallowing, eating and generally cavorting about. Parts would otherwise going to go to waste, so I eat them.

What gives rabbits more rights than these creatures?

In my book, nothing. I have eaten animals I knew when they were alive with no qualms. And, at least in the case of one particularly vicious Tom Turkey, with considerable relish. I'd have no problem dining on a backyard raised rabbit, except for the fact that pet rabbit breeds don't have enough meat to make it worth while.

But dogs are a different story. I would not knowingly dine on any dog, let alone one I had known personally, and I would gladly approve of a ban on anyone eating dog despite my general opposition to that sort of food paternalism.

Are dogs ethically different than, say, rabbits? Personally, I think rabbits don't really qualify as a companion animals, while dogs do, and you don't eat companions. I concede, however, that that's not a strong argument. Plenty of people like Kat Kinsman find rabbits very appealing compansions.

At the end of the day, I suppose there is no better answer than that I like dogs better than I like rabbits. Indeed, I like most dogs better than most people. But let's not follow that thought to its logical conclusion.

Breakfast at Doughboys Cafe

Doughboys Cafe on Third Street (just east of La Jolla) is a great breakfast place. I got the breakfast sandwich: Fried eggs, bacon, grilled tomato, and cheese between two slices of bread that's then gratineed (sp?). Wow.

Today's thought

A life well lived is a tapestry of many threads. It is possible to appreciate Karol Józef Wojtyła's theology of the body and Quentin Tarentino's films, first growth claret and country fried steak, and The Who and Joshua Bell. Indeed, not merely possible, but desirable.

Andrew Cuomo: Living in Sin ... With Her!

John Vecchione points out that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is living in sin with "statuesque blonde Sandra Lee." He goes on to observe that:

The Cuomos are a famously Catholic family.  They use that to their political advantage at every turn. ...

Andrew Cuomo’s father is the famously Catholic and famously uxorious Mario Cuomo. Andrew married into the Kennedy family and that marriage ended in divorce.  The Cuomos are from Queens.  Their support began in the conservative, Democratic Catholic neighborhoods there (where my family is also from).

Vecchione opines that "The fact that Andrew Cuomo will suffer little from shacking up with his girlfriend in a house provided by the taxpayers of New York and suffer no political consequences underlines the decline of marriage."

Personally, I can't decide which is the more egregious aspect of the story: That the Governor of New York is shacking up in the governor's mansion? Or that he's living in sin with the gawd awful Sandra Lee?

Vecchione clearly thinks it's the former, since he opines that "Sandra Lee has a cooking show I actually like called Semi-Homemade in which she gives tips on how to entertain so it appears you made various dishes from scratch."

Gawd help us. He lost me right there.

Semi-Homemade epitomizes practically everything that's wrong with American cusine. It celebrates the triumph of the ersatz over the real. It celebrates the virtues of speed and convenience above taste and craftsmanship. It celebrates kitsch.

As Amanda Hesser wrote in the New York Times:

Her approach merely underlines a way of cooking that is rapidly growing in American culture. While cake mixes and convenience foods have been around for decades, it is only recently that attitudes toward using them have shifted from embarrassment to allegiance. ...

Had Ms. Lee turned out a book full of original recipes like the roasted pepper soup, it would have been an accomplishment. Had she turned out a book full of prettied-up cake mix recipes, that wouldn't have been terrible either. Instead, she has produced two books in which she encourages a dislike for cooking, and gives people an excuse for feeding themselves and their families mediocre food filled with preservatives.

But Ms. Lee gets fairly close to offensive when, in the early pages of her first book, she writes this of ''disposables'': ''Making life easier can be so simple if you utilize disposable products. Paper plates, napkins, plastic utensils, baking dishes, serving bowls and platters are all readily available. Disposable items provide quick preparation and cleanup -- you'll minimize your work while maximizing your leisure time.''

So you can whip up your Gnocchi Dippers with Velveeta and blithely pollute the environment. But hey, your time is worth it.

Living in sin is bad enough. Living in sin with fake fairy godmother Sandra Lee is beyond the pale.

Christmas Dinner

I found a fun and easy recipe on Epicurious.com: "No Nightmare" Beef Wellington, which I proceeded to tweak. I omitted the spinach. I swapped out rehydrated porcini mushrooms for the recommended button mushrooms. I sauteed the mushrooms briefly over low heat in a dash of truffle oil. I then stirred in some chunks of truffled pate off heat. As an alternative to the recommended balsamic sauce, I made a port wine sauce using 1 cup of tawny port, 1 cup of low sodium beef stock, and a packet of demi-glace, which I reduced massively to a sauce consistency. Instead of balsamic roast veggies, I made a roasted mix of root vegetables (carrots, parsnip, golden beets, and fingerling potatoes), with some olive oil, salt, and pepper.

I poured a 1990 Chateau Gruaud-Larose (St. Julien), which was magnificent. As I've mentioned before, Gruaud-Larose has a special place in my heart, as it was the first classed growth Bordeaux that I drank on a regular basis. In most vintages, Gruaud-Larose rivals the first growths for power and longevity, yet it can be had at a fraction of their price. In 2009, wine critic Robert Parker scored it 94 and wrote that the 1990 Gruaud-Larose was:

Meaty, smoky, sweet berry and black currant characteristics intertwined with roasted herb, charcoal, new saddle leather, and bloody steak juice-like notes are found in this lush, full-bodied, opulent wine. It is a fully mature 1990 that, given its depth and intensity, should continue to evolve for at least another 15 years.

The bottle I opened tonight was still incredibly youthful at age 20. A deep purple-ruby in color. Massive legs. An intense bouquet of currants, leather, cedar, and tobacco. A long finish, showing deep red and back fruit. There's still a massive backbone of tannins and acids, suggesting that the other 4 bottles in my cellar easily could continue evolving for at least the 15 years Parker estimates.

A Christmas Tree "Dilemma"?

Prompted by an Ann Althouse post punching holes in the rent a Christmas tree theory and suggestng an artificial tree, Tung Yin debated the issue and settled on supporting the local Oregon foretstry economy by buying a live tree.

I've got a more radical solution. No tree. About 8 years ago, Helen and I stopped treating Christmas as a retail event. We stopped giving each other gifts. We stopped spending a lot of money on decorations, such as trees. We take the money we save and give it to charities. Most years we give half to the Los Angeles Mission and half to Catholic Charities of Los Angeles.

We find it makes the season much more meaningful and a whole lot less stressful.