After 54 votes, Kinkaid's is the landslider winner in the "Fort Worth's Best Burger Poll."I am, however, a horrible hypocrite. Every morning on my way to work I stop and buy a cup of coffee. I have two options every morning: the local mom-and-pop coffee shop or McDonalds. Without fail, every morning, I look at the mom-and-pop and I think “I should go there.” I never do. The reason is that every time I have gone there, the service is slow and the coffee is no better than McDonalds. It’s not worse but it isn’t better. The Mom-and-Pop doesn’t have much business, I think, because most everyone has made the assessment I have: it’s no better and it is less convenient. So McD’s will win and I will build up the very thing which I scour.
So as Don Corleone says in Godfather II: “Senator, we’re all part of the same hypocrisy”
It is often hard for me to understand why waiters are necessary at all. The only thing they do that I can’t is type in the order on the computer. Everything else I can do. Fill up drinks at a fountain? Check. Grab napkins? Check. Put my food in a to-go bag? Check. I can think of plenty of reasons why I don’t need them: they might spit in my food, they might not wash their hands, they might not ever fill my tea up, they might mess up my order, and they might forget to put my order in and then tell me twenty minutes later that they are ‘in the weeds’.
The annoyed consumer, however, has generally had to suffer through them if he wanted a convenient meal above the quality of Taco Bell. Some restaurant groups have picked up on the market opportunity and have started the hybrid “fast-casual” concept. One of my favorites among these “fast casual” restaurants is Pei-Wei. Pei-Wei has perfected the fast-casual scheme. I’ll run down the list of why I think they run this scheme so well.
-up coffee shop and turned in into a bistro showpiece. This is a very good looking place. It's small with seating for about 30 - 40 including some outside tables and the bar seating. The wine display, table settings, and wall paintings all suit the space and the cuisine. Even the waitresses are good looking which is never a bad thing.
r of the "Who Will be President" poll, in a landslide is, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
watching the first season of Alias. Charlie's Angel meets Jack Bauer. I am about 5 0r 6 episodes in. So far: This is written for girls, right? I can't imagine a guy getting into it.
for accepting free meals from restaurants in a food blogger version of a "quid pro quo."
on rye with a barrel-picked dill pickle). Here, it's Mexican, with a second going to Texas Barbeque. I have traveled throughout much of mainland Mexico and, food wise, it would be like traveling the U.S. A lot of consistency but more difference than you expect. What we know as "Mexican" food is the food of the lower income person in Mexico, beans, rice, corn tortillas, and chicken. I have stayed in their homes and eaten on their family farms, and throughout Mexico you will see those ingredients in various recipes -- all of them good. This was also true when Italians immigrated to America in the early 1900's. Spaghetti, pastas, tomato and cream sauces, and pizza are eaten in Italy and what we consider "Italian food", but in-Italy Italian food is more seafood, aged cheeses, ham, breads, fresh fruits and vegetables, than it is pasta. I never had spaghetti dinner as a meal in Italy. But back to native Mexican cuisine -- My favorite meal in Mexico was in the home of an average "office- working" family in San Luis Potosi. The main course was Chicken mole', which was brought to the table about 10 p.m., after a couple of "warm-up appetizers." Everyone was served a breast of chicken topped with a hot, spicy, chocolate mole sauce. It is hard to describe a chili-powder infused, smooth, milk-chocolate sauce alongside the taste of chicken but at the time I thought it might be the most delicious thing I had ever eaten (I've tried it since, but it wasn't the same, maybe it was the influenc
e of the 2 glasses of wine prior). Mexican food in the mainland is: fish, beef, chicken, pork, many varieties of peppers and other warm clime vegetables and fruits, and breads, along with, tortillas, beans and rice. There is none of the mainland-Mexican restaurants in Fort Worth, that I know of, but what we have, is good, though limited in its scope. Look for a torta sandwich the next time you visit a local place. There's a Lunch Van parked outside the Carnival on 8th St south of downtown and north of Berry that has the best $1 tacos you can get. Hot beef, fresh tortillas, cilantro and onions, with a spicy red picante sauce on top. Plus tortas. It's not for everyone but I love them.
Marinate Chicken for 3-24 hours.
6 chicken breasts
2 cloves garlic minced
juice of 2 lemons
1 tbsp coarse salt
1tbsp coarse pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
Put all ingredients in ziplock bag in refrigerator until ready to grill.
Pasta sauce
1 lb bacon
12 oz marinated artichokes
1 clove minced garlic
5 tbsp butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
juice of 1 lemon
1 cup white wine
salt and pepper to taste
Render fat from bacon until bacon is crispy. Drain
bacon and put fat to the side. De glaze pan with
lemon juice and wine. Add butter and garlic. Simmer
for about 5 minutes. Add artichokes and heavy
cream/salt and pepper-return to simmer. Cook pasta
until done, drain and put in a large bowl. Add 2 tbsp
bacon fat and toss pasta. Pour artichoke sauce over
top, add bacon and top with grilled chicken and
Parmesan cheese.
