In-N-Out Burger according to D Magazine.

Before long North Texas will have its first In-N-Out Burger.

In-N-Out triple cheeseburger and fries

A couple weeks ago, D Magazine ran a piece worth reading for In-N-Out enthusiasts and for hamburger lovers in general (thanks, Travis for the link).

Writer, Nancy Luna, covered the food industry in Southern California and she provides some interesting history of the fast-food business.

For instance, In-N-Out took a different path than the other hamburger enterprises that got their start in Southern California. McDonald's being the biggest. They don't franchise, they're still privately held, and the burgers are still made to order from fresh ingredients. That kind of commitment to controlled growth builds a strong customer base.

From the D Magazine article,

It’s the kind of loyalty that Burger King and McDonald’s will never have. While most fast-food chains live and die by limited-time menu creations, discounting, and coupons, In-N-Out never resorts to those gimmicks. Other than combo meals, the most expensive single item sold on the menu is $3.05. It sells burgers, fries, sodas, and shakes. Nothing else. No onion rings. No salads. No chicken sandwiches. Not even a hot dog. The most recent change to the menu, made a decade ago, was the addition of lemonade. 

The Double-Double (two patties, two slices of American cheese) remains the chain’s most popular item. But it’s rare to find any two customers who order the same meal. . . burgers with names such as Animal Style, Protein Style, Flying Dutchman, 3x3, and 4x4 are celebrated underground requests never seen on the menu.  

Nancy Luna, D Magazine, February 23, 2011. For the complete article in D Magazine go here.

I have never been to an In-N-Out, enthusiasts speak very highly of their fresh beef, never frozen hamburger, and I can't wait to try one.

In our area, Fort Worth will get an In-N-Out Burger on 7th, and Hurst, on Airport Freeway.

Share:

Ellerbe Fine Foods. On Magnolia.

Ice cream dessert at Ellerbe

Ellerbe Fine Foods is located in an up-and-coming neighborhood of Fort Worth: the north-Fairmount / hospital district on West Magnolia.

This is a guest post by Travis Cooper

The ambience is a trifle odd, but peaceful and pleasant nonetheless. The stark contrast between varnished industrial concrete floors and wooden ceiling rafters actually works. The very soft background music, though composed of a combination of modern pop and covers of older rock/pop, also seems strangely fitting (one of the songs was a woman doing a cover of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb,” and somehow it didn’t feel out-of-place). The colors are soft and pleasing to the eye: light green and white. Tall, large windows give the interior a feeling of space and a view of West Magnolia – it feels more “open” than most restaurants.

Soon after we sat down, the waitress brought bread, butter, and salt to our table. Apparently the bread – French baguette – is flown in daily from La Brea bakery in Los Angeles. The butter is unsalted, since they provide coarse sea salt to add to the butter and bread. The bread was tasty and of good texture, and the butter and salt were a good combination.

We ordered rabbit terrine as an appetizer: rabbit pate on toast, over arugula with pistachios and wine-soaked cranberries. It was decent, but I’ve only had pate once or twice, so I’m no expert, and besides, I’m not a pate kind of guy.

The two entrees were absolutely wonderful. The wife had boar, rubbed in spices, over mesquite bean blinis fried in cinnamon, accompanied with fried pieces of cactus (“nopalitos”) – a very unique and very tasty dish. I had pheasant, served over arugula and cornbread stuffing/dressing, topped with little pieces of fried squash and bacon and with a barbeque-esque glaze. I don’t usually like stuffing, and squash doesn’t do much for me, and I had never tried pheasant before, so it was a risk. But, the waitress highly recommended it (one of at least two recommendations that were perfect). It was one of the best entrees I’ve ever had – perfect texture, combination of flavors, size, etc. An astounding dish.

We had oysters on the side – I’ve had oysters only once or twice, and never liked them, but thought I’d give it a shot – and they were quite good. The wife would have preferred them a little more cooked, but then again she doesn’t like her ribeye or filet rare/medium-rare, so . . . Anyway, I liked the oysters, though the texture of oysters does disturb me a bit.

Dessert was splendid. The wife got rice pudding brulee – it was just what it sounds like. The rice pudding was perfect: texture, temperature, and flavor were just right. I got a chocolate mousse dish (called “shokinag pave”) that was tremendous: a layer of stiff but creamy chocolate mousse, covered in melted chocolate sauce with chicory, topped with caramel corn. We split a glass of Sauternes (dessert wine) – brilliant choice (recommended, as was the chocolate mousse, by the waitress).

The service was very good though not excellent (we were very low on water once or twice). As I said before, the waitress’s recommendations were all of them brilliant, for which we were very grateful.

All in all, I would go back to Ellerbe’s again before I went back to two of my favorite restaurants: Saint-Emilion and the Reata. So, yes, two thumbs up on an absolutely wonderful all-around dining experience.

Website: Ellerbe Fine Foods

-----------------------------------------

Editors Note: Mr. Travis Cooper teaches Philosophy at the College of St Thomas More. He is about six months from completing his doctoral dissertation. Travis is married with three children, and lives in the Meadowbrook area of Fort Worth, Texas.

Share:

Fort Worth's Population Growth . . .

There has been a lot of talk lately about Fort Worth's population growth, and the normal Dallas and Fort Worth comparisons. In the latest reports we grew a bunch and they didn't.

This Wednesday, columnist for the Star Telegram, Mitchell Schnurman, wrote a well reasoned piece on the subject. As much as I like to tweek Dallas and talk about the business that has moved eastward, the facts are that the Dallas area is not in any danger of losing its role as the big city of North Texas.

I'm not talking about quality of life or way of life, or future potential. Fort Worth annexed land in its far north border near Alliance airport and can grow within city borders for many years to come. Dallas is bound by well-established and big suburban cities like Plano, Carrollton, Coppell, and Garland.

But when you look the the numbers that Schnurman skillfully details, we ain't catchin' 'em anytime soon.

Good piece, worth reading.

Mitchell Schnurman Fort Worth Star telegram piece.

.

Alias Talk

Marian and I are in the fortunate phase of life when our evenings are more or less free and we don't really have any interest in going anywhere. After thirty years of the salt mines by day and little league, ballet, school meetings, etc., by night -- we're tired -- and we have found, the television.

For whatever reason we prefer television series' to movies and have worked our way through every British BBC show, many American shows, and even some live-while-we-are-watching shows.

Lately, upon recommendation from my son, we have been watching the Alias series.

We're hooked.

If you haven't seen it, think 24 in a Lost plot. And a beautiful, female lead character instead of Jack Bauer. Jennifer Garner, Sydney, is good-looking and one tough motha.  Garner somehow pulls off the part as tough and vulnerable. Feminine -- but deadly if you're on the wrong side. It works for me because I can't handle the attractive, tough female who is not, well, feminine. She's both. I'm sounding like Oprah, sorry.

What Alias has that 24 doesn't have is a lasting romance that is a thread throughout the series, at least through year three. It's believable, and more or less wholesome. The one problem I had with Jack's girlfriends is that I knew that they would all end up dead because Jack was the "man of sorrows." And that they were always well endowed but kind of androgynous, too. I never really liked them. But with Garner -- you can't not like her.

She is the reluctant heroine who has found her home in the kindness of her father and her apparently loving but twisted mother -- and Vaughn, her once boyfriend, who at this point is married to Lauren, the wicked witch of the West. It's complex but satisfying.

As a whole, the acting is great. The strategy room scenes are a little stiff and over-orchestrated as they set the plot for that episode, but the comic figure of Mitchell, (think James Bond's "Q") is perfect.

Sloane is a tragic-hero of the modern sort, driven by love for his daughter, by fate via the Rombaldi prophecy, and by his own weakness for the "end-game." The Rombaldi thread gives Alias the Lost-like quality and keeps the viewer wanting the next episode.

It's a good show. Quentin Tarantino makes a couple cameos. He's great. Alias keeps the suspense up but backs off enough to give the viewer a break. For us it's got the right blend. The only part we do not like are the torture scenes, mild by today's standards, but more pain-infliction than we care to watch.

We're just starting year four, so no hints about the end, please.

-

Jersey Mike's on Hulen.

Yesterday, I stopped by Jersey Mike's to try their Philly cheesesteak. I have Jersey/Philly street cred, having lived in both places, so keep in mind, I'm picky.

Conclusion: Just decent. 6 of 10.

Jersey Mike's is a 500 location company; it's not some guy who just moved to Texas with a passion for cheesesteaks. And a company of that size has to make some compromises in the price/quality equation.

Here's my opinion on their approach:

• The steak is authentic "chip steak" as used in Philly.
• The steak portion of the sandwich is on the light side. The cheese flavor overwhelmed the overall taste.
• The cheese itself is American (I think). And American cheese is what? Not much. I prefer provolone. I wasn't offered an option.
• Sandwich could have had twice the amount of fried peppers and onions.
• The roll is big, fluffy white bread. I prefer a denser roll with a slight bit of crust.

I'm not trying to be a cheesesteak snob. Jersey Mike's is a decent, if pretty generic, cheesesteak but I'm not putting an "authentic Philly" seal on it. 

Sorry.

--------------------------------

Jersey Mike's is next door to Five Guys Hamburgers on Hulen south of I-20. 

Website: Jersey Mike's.

Share: