Free Meals?

The Wall Street Journal reported last Saturday in their Food and Wine section that several, nationally popular food bloggers have been criticized for accepting free meals from restaurants in a food blogger version of a "quid pro quo."
Food and Fort Worth would like to issue the following statement on our complimentary meal policy:
Food and Fort Worth has never accepted a free meal from a restaurant or food establishment of any kind.
Have I have been offered a complimentary meal?
Uhhhh, well, uhhhh, No.
Would I accept, if offered a complimentary meal?
Let me make this perfectly clear, I have not, nor will I ever accept a free meal . . . unless, and I consider this important, that it is obvious to me that it is in the best interest of my readers, and only then when the form of payment usually accepted is denied by the proprietor or manager on duty because he or she considers it expedient at the moment to do so.
Okay?
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For those interested, some of the food weblogs mentioned in the WSJ report and their comp meal policy ( I have not visited all of the sites):
Eater.com / free meals must be disclosed
Chow.com / free meals accepted when restaurant not under review
egullet.com / free meals can be accepted but must be disclosed
tablehopper.com / accepts free meals
amateurgourmet.com / had accepted free meals no longer does
restaurantgirl.com / has implemented a no comp policy

Lili's -- What's Right and What Is . . .

Wrong? . . . Not really anything because the food at Lili's is good and it is reasonably priced, and anyone who names a restaurant after their daughter has some idea of what's important.
It's just that, well, one night I was with my son, who lives near there, and we were without our respective families so I asked him if he wanted to get dinner. I chose Lili's. The food was good, the service was good, the owner was friendly -- but for two guys who probably would have been more comfortable at a burger joint it was a little too feminine. I was okay, my son was squirming like a you know what in church. Can I blame them for that? Of course not.
I would place Lili's in the boutique restaurant category, it is after all called, Lili's Bistro, but for most of us that is an uncertain description; it has tapas menu as well as a full plate menu.
I chose the Grilled Halloumi (a mild and smoky cheese) for an appetizer, which was excellent, and the crab cakes for dinner. I had just had a fantastic crabcake in Baltimore a few days prior so I thought let's try the Bistro version. It is served in three small patties with a kind of wasabi sauce. It was very good.
My son is 27. I'm not sure what he had but he needed to eat again a couple hours later. Like I said, he's 27, so he needs to eat every couple of hours anyway. Can I blame Lili's for that? Of course not. Will I go back? Maybe for lunch. But for dinner, ladies, enjoy.
Dinner for 2, with tip and without adult beverage, costs around $50.
Website: http://www.lilisbistro.com

Fort Worth's Best Local Food . . .

Because I have been in Philadelphia and doing what I do best, eating, and particularly eating good street vendor food, I thought it would be a good idea to pull out the post on our (Fort Worth's) best local food. Our version of street vendors are in aluminum sided kitchen vans and roadside barbecue smokers on wheels, but we have them. And for the most part I think they are good. Most of the time the best food at the best price is in a locally owned establishment with limited or no seating.
Also, if you have a favorite taco stand, chicken-fried steak or barbecue pit. Let me know.
The following post was first run in August.

You know what your local food is by counting the number of family owned "corner" cafes and restaurants. When I was a boy in the northeast it was Italian: deli's, cheesesteaks, pizza, with an occasional Jewish or Polish deli (hot pastrami 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 influence 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.