LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Feb 3, 2016 21:09:48 GMT -5
Our trip is going to be wall-to-wall eating. Exactly how I like my vacations!  Oooooo, Badger is right on the money with that one. I particularly recommend Smoke for brunch. I went some months ago, and the brisket hash with charred rajas was a transcendental experience. Also, their bloody mary's are awesome. Best mix I've ever tasted, and very Tex-ified with smoky spices. That's right. Snape. Recommending a cocktail. |
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Feb 3, 2016 21:11:47 GMT -5
So Mrs. Snape picked Y.O. Ranch Steakhouse for her birthday dinner. Which was, uh, surprising. Hot take: Steakhouses suck. My wife picked one one year and I spent the next month passive-aggressively suggesting alternatives. "Are you sure? It's just that for the same money at this place that nobody talks about anymore, we could, say, eat at the best restaurant in the city. And I think one of the 9 courses we get there would be the best bite of beef you've ever had. But I mean, it's your birthday." Ha! Yeah, I'm with you. Like, we go to this kind of steakhouse so rarely now, that I can appreciate the desire. I feel it sometimes, too, thinking back to when she used to work for the Pappas family and we could go to Pappas Bros. Steakhouse with a $150 gift card to burn. I do like a good steakhouse sometimes, but man, like, ask me first. Knife. We coulda gone to Knife. |
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Post by pairesta on Feb 3, 2016 21:22:06 GMT -5
Ha! Yeah, I'm with you. Like, we go to this kind of steakhouse so rarely now, that I can appreciate the desire. I feel it sometimes, too, thinking back to when she used to work for the Pappas family and we could go to Pappas Bros. Steakhouse with a $150 gift card to burn. I do like a good steakhouse sometimes, but man, like, ask me first. Knife. We coulda gone to Knife. I just never grew up going to a steakhouse. The few times I've had the desire I've immediately regreted it. I'm in the home base of Papa Bros Steakhouse, and good god that billboard at the airport makes it look incredible, but it's: go there and get a slab of meat, one vegetable, and a martini or go to The Pass and laugh my ass off at the creativity of every course. |
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Post by Ron Howard Voice on Feb 4, 2016 8:47:53 GMT -5
Ha! Yeah, I'm with you. Like, we go to this kind of steakhouse so rarely now, that I can appreciate the desire. I feel it sometimes, too, thinking back to when she used to work for the Pappas family and we could go to Pappas Bros. Steakhouse with a $150 gift card to burn. I do like a good steakhouse sometimes, but man, like, ask me first. Knife. We coulda gone to Knife. I just never grew up going to a steakhouse. The few times I've had the desire I've immediately regreted it. I'm in the home base of Papa Bros Steakhouse, and good god that billboard at the airport makes it look incredible, but it's: go there and get a slab of meat, one vegetable, and a martini or go to The Pass and laugh my ass off at the creativity of every course. I'm just gonna chime in here to say the wine service at Pappas is a collective dick. My colleague and I did a list of Ten Best Wine Lists in Dallas where we rewarded (1) creativity, (2) balance of good cheap stuff and good expensive stuff, and (3) ability of some ordinary schmuck to stumble in, say "I have $50 and I'm ordering chicken, what's good?" and get something that's actually good. Soon enough, like 3 Pappas Brothers managers were commenting on the article and on the Facebook page to say that the list was stupid and we had no idea about wine, because Pappas Brothers wasn't #1 for having every single $150 Napa cabernet on the planet. I was like, hey, good for you, having 50 glamorous Napa cabs is cool, but shut up. |
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Post by pairesta on Feb 4, 2016 9:12:03 GMT -5
I just never grew up going to a steakhouse. The few times I've had the desire I've immediately regreted it. I'm in the home base of Papa Bros Steakhouse, and good god that billboard at the airport makes it look incredible, but it's: go there and get a slab of meat, one vegetable, and a martini or go to The Pass and laugh my ass off at the creativity of every course. I'm just gonna chime in here to say the wine service at Pappas is a collective dick. My colleague and I did a list of Ten Best Wine Lists in Dallas where we rewarded (1) creativity, (2) balance of good cheap stuff and good expensive stuff, and (3) ability of some ordinary schmuck to stumble in, say "I have $50 and I'm ordering chicken, what's good?" and get something that's actually good. Soon enough, like 3 Pappas Brothers managers were commenting on the article and on the Facebook page to say that the list was stupid and we had no idea about wine, because Pappas Brothers wasn't #1 for having every single $150 Napa cabernet on the planet. I was like, hey, good for you, having 50 glamorous Napa cabs is cool, but shut up. Wine is a huge point of pride with them. Even at their mid tier joints like Papadeaux and Papasitos. A buddy of mine was a waiter there for a bit and they put him through their sommelier program. At a cajun restaurant. |
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Feb 4, 2016 9:25:32 GMT -5
I'm just gonna chime in here to say the wine service at Pappas is a collective dick. My colleague and I did a list of Ten Best Wine Lists in Dallas where we rewarded (1) creativity, (2) balance of good cheap stuff and good expensive stuff, and (3) ability of some ordinary schmuck to stumble in, say "I have $50 and I'm ordering chicken, what's good?" and get something that's actually good. Soon enough, like 3 Pappas Brothers managers were commenting on the article and on the Facebook page to say that the list was stupid and we had no idea about wine, because Pappas Brothers wasn't #1 for having every single $150 Napa cabernet on the planet. I was like, hey, good for you, having 50 glamorous Napa cabs is cool, but shut up. Wine is a huge point of pride with them. Even at their mid tier joints like Papadeaux and Papasitos. A buddy of mine was a waiter there for a bit and they put him through their sommelier program. At a cajun restaurant. I have had the pleasure of telling the Pappas Bros. Steakhouse master sommelier on more than one occasion that, no, I would not be having any wine that night. *Closed menu* *Fake smile* *Walks away* We haven't been to Pappas in at least half a decade, and as discussed above, it's not the kind of thing I'm likely to choose today, but their steaks really are incredible. 40-day dry aged ultra-prime bone-in rib-eye, it's a different meat-eating experience. Though for all their talk, I thought Smith & Wollensky's (R.I.P.) was better. In every way. When she was pregnant, the Mrs. got such a mad craving for S&W's truffle mac-and-cheese, that one weekend we drove down to Houston just so she could have some. Hey Badger, remember before kids when you could just do shit like that? (I say as Ron preps his trip to New York.) |
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Post by Liz n Dicksgiving on Feb 4, 2016 10:03:35 GMT -5
That's right. Snape. Recommending a cocktail. ::wipes away a tear:: I never thought we'd see the day! |
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Post by Ron Howard Voice on Feb 4, 2016 14:56:06 GMT -5
Parents visiting this weekend. They requested pizza and good Asian food. Current tentative plan:
Friday - Olivella's
Saturday - Smoke for brunch; Teppo
Sunday - something in Chinatown or Koreatown. First Chinese BBQ?
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Feb 5, 2016 10:13:50 GMT -5
Parents visiting this weekend. They requested pizza and good Asian food. Current tentative plan: Friday - Olivella's Saturday - Smoke for brunch; Teppo Sunday - something in Chinatown or Koreatown. First Chinese BBQ? All sounds great, of course. Get the brisket hash for me. If you've never done Cane Rosso, you might consider that as a swap for Olivella's, just to try something different, but I know by reputation that Olivella's is very excellent, so that's a sure thing as well (and I know you're a big fan). Man, I haven't been to First Chinese BBQ in probably a couple years. That place is so good. Roast duck and a fried rice plate and I'm in heaven. Edit: you could also consider dim sum for the Asian fix. You probably have your favorite, but I'm a Maxim's man, myself. |
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Feb 19, 2016 16:07:44 GMT -5
It's Mrs. Snape's birthday. Tomorrow is the steakhouse, so that's the actual celebratory meal, but I'm gilding the lily tonight with a trip to Babe's. Mmmm, I can taste it already.
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Post by Ron Howard Voice on Feb 21, 2016 16:56:46 GMT -5
Well pairesta I'm finally convinced. You were dead right all along. At dinner last night with friends, we saw Gorji snap at one of his waiters. That makes for an awkward meal. |
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Post by Ron Howard Voice on Feb 21, 2016 16:57:39 GMT -5
It's Mrs. Snape's birthday. Tomorrow is the steakhouse, so that's the actual celebratory meal, but I'm gilding the lily tonight with a trip to Babe's. Mmmm, I can taste it already. My parents requested fried chicken when they visited and I was at a loss. Babe's is the best place for it, right? But it's way out in the burbs? |
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Post by pairesta on Feb 21, 2016 20:09:05 GMT -5
Well pairesta I'm finally convinced. You were dead right all along. At dinner last night with friends, we saw Gorji snap at one of his waiters. That makes for an awkward meal. DISH, girlfriend! What happened? |
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Post by pairesta on Feb 21, 2016 20:10:47 GMT -5
It's Mrs. Snape's birthday. Tomorrow is the steakhouse, so that's the actual celebratory meal, but I'm gilding the lily tonight with a trip to Babe's. Mmmm, I can taste it already. My parents requested fried chicken when they visited and I was at a loss. Babe's is the best place for it, right? But it's way out in the burbs? Actually Pecan Lodge is supposed to have killer fried chicken but I can't bring myself to order that when I go. There's several Babe's all over the city. There's also Bubba's, which is related in some way to the franchise. Chicken Scratch is Tim Byres' fried chicken place and that's in downtown. |
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Post by Ron Howard Voice on Feb 22, 2016 15:18:08 GMT -5
Well pairesta I'm finally convinced. You were dead right all along. At dinner last night with friends, we saw Gorji snap at one of his waiters. That makes for an awkward meal. DISH, girlfriend! What happened? First, thanks for the fried chicken counsel! We had a coupon for a free bottle of house wine - it was my friend's birthday and he's a regular. So we presented the coupon at the beginning of the meal, but then a $36 wine appeared on the tab. The waiter had goofed, and when he was fixing the bill around the corner from us, Gorji pretty loudly was saying stuff like "I told them it was good, I took the coupon, I gave it to you, I told you it was free..." etc. Not any swear words or whatever, just a statement of facts, but a very angry hardass statement of facts so we all looked at each other and whispered, "Yup, okay, it's true." The waiters were clearly a couple of untrained klutzy high schoolers, so I can definitely relate to being stressed out by that, if your only help in a restaurant is newbies. They kept refilling already-full water glasses and making other amusing faux pas. |
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Feb 23, 2016 9:48:30 GMT -5
It's Mrs. Snape's birthday. Tomorrow is the steakhouse, so that's the actual celebratory meal, but I'm gilding the lily tonight with a trip to Babe's. Mmmm, I can taste it already. My parents requested fried chicken when they visited and I was at a loss. Babe's is the best place for it, right? But it's way out in the burbs? I think Pairesta offered all the answer you need, but yeah: - Lots of Babe's locations, so hopefully there's one closer than the Garland original that I frequent. For me, they define the classic southern fried chicken experience. Buttermilk brined, classic flour dredge, super crispy, juicy meat. And you get LOTS of it. - The only other contender for best friend chicken for me is what used to be served at Rathbun's Blue Plate Kitchen, now closed. However, when I told chef this a couple months ago (namedrop!), he told me that they still serve it at Jasper's for brunch. Still burbs though. Location in North Plano. - Beyond that and in addition to Pairesta's recommendations, I've also heard that Sissy's Southern Kitchen has terrific fried chicken. |
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Post by pairesta on Feb 23, 2016 10:59:14 GMT -5
Sissy'a is pretty good. Alot like what I remember KFC Original Recipe being back in the day: thin crust with lots of herbs and pepper in there. But it's expensive, and they really nickle and dime you (sides are a la care, and come in little individual serving crocks). When my wife and I went and got in the car right after, we both said at once that Babe's is better.
So, speaking of fried chicken, you know what's weird? I live in the 'burbiest 'burbs that ever 'burbed, where people are actively hostile to "ethnic" food and anything other than a chain, and yet there is no fried chicken joint to be found anywhere. There's places like Chicken Scratch, where a notable local chef opens their own little chicken shack, but that's in town. But there's no Babes-like place out here. There's places that say they have fried chicken, but we go and it's chicken strips. FUCK YOU. That's not fried chicken.
If I had any balls at all I'd be calling Babes HQ to partner with them and open a franchise out here, because it would clean up.
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Post by pairesta on Feb 23, 2016 11:00:07 GMT -5
Hey, that Quote button sure is close to the Edit button, isn't it?
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Post by Ron Howard Voice on Feb 23, 2016 17:08:45 GMT -5
So, speaking of fried chicken, you know what's weird? I live in the 'burbiest 'burbs that ever 'burbed, where people are actively hostile to "ethnic" food and anything other than a chain, and yet there is no fried chicken joint to be found anywhere. There's places like Chicken Scratch, where a notable local chef opens their own little chicken shack, but that's in town. But there's no Babes-like place out here. There's places that say they have fried chicken, but we go and it's chicken strips. FUCK YOU. That's not fried chicken. This is what my parents are going through in San Antonio! Why is good fried chicken so hard to find? |
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Post by Ron Howard Voice on Feb 23, 2016 17:10:12 GMT -5
So the Dallas Observer offered me a pay cut today*. I really love the bragging rights of being a food writer, and the resume padding of being a regularly-published author, but dang, the new food editor is getting on my nerves.
The problem is that she's allocating most/all the dough to breaking news stories and listicles to be more like Eater, and my style, whether it's a good or bad style, is ... not that style.
*a per-article pay raise, but coupled with no more paying for expenses.
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Post by pairesta on Feb 23, 2016 17:44:16 GMT -5
So the Dallas Observer offered me a pay cut today*. I really love the bragging rights of being a food writer, and the resume padding of being a regularly-published author, but dang, the new food editor is getting on my nerves. The problem is that she's allocating most/all the dough to breaking news stories and listicles to be more like Eater, and my style, whether it's a good or bad style, is ... not that style. *a per-article pay raise, but coupled with no more paying for expenses. That sucks. I liked that DO stuck to long-form coverage instead of little blurbls like Eater and Culturemap have shifted to. |
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Post by Ron Howard Voice on Feb 23, 2016 18:45:29 GMT -5
So the Dallas Observer offered me a pay cut today*. I really love the bragging rights of being a food writer, and the resume padding of being a regularly-published author, but dang, the new food editor is getting on my nerves. The problem is that she's allocating most/all the dough to breaking news stories and listicles to be more like Eater, and my style, whether it's a good or bad style, is ... not that style. *a per-article pay raise, but coupled with no more paying for expenses. That sucks. I liked that DO stuck to long-form coverage instead of little blurbls like Eater and Culturemap have shifted to. I will give the new editor credit that she does think Eater etc. are shitty, and she doesn't just want to copy & paste press releases. (BTW it takes Eater only about 5-10 minutes to post a press release. When you write for a while, you start getting on mailing lists...) But while she hates their lack of quality, her goal is merely better versions of the same thing. Call it ... Picky Eater. |
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Feb 25, 2016 14:52:25 GMT -5
Hey Ron Howard Voice, The Snapes are thinking about checking out The Royale this weekend. That's John Tesar's Wes Anderson-themed burger joint in Northwest Plano. It'll be Saturday, early evening. Baby will be with us. Our plan is just to go when she wakes up from her nap, since they open at 4:00 and it'll take us like 45 minutes to get there. But, if you think you might like to join, we can coordinate a more specific time. |
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Post by Ron Howard Voice on Feb 26, 2016 13:37:27 GMT -5
Hey Ron Howard Voice , The Snapes are thinking about checking out The Royale this weekend. That's John Tesar's Wes Anderson-themed burger joint in Northwest Plano. It'll be Saturday, early evening. Baby will be with us. Our plan is just to go when she wakes up from her nap, since they open at 4:00 and it'll take us like 45 minutes to get there. But, if you think you might like to join, we can coordinate a more specific time. Actually...this works perfectly for me! Absurdly perfectly. I'm having an early lunch that day and can spend the evening at home watching movies. Let's do this. |
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Feb 26, 2016 13:42:06 GMT -5
Actually...this works perfectly for me! Absurdly perfectly. I'm having an early lunch that day and can spend the evening at home watching movies. Let's do this. Awesome. 5:30 at The Royale? Or even 5:00 if that's better for you. |
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Post by Ron Howard Voice on Feb 26, 2016 15:37:31 GMT -5
Actually...this works perfectly for me! Absurdly perfectly. I'm having an early lunch that day and can spend the evening at home watching movies. Let's do this. Awesome. 5:30 at The Royale? Or even 5:00 if that's better for you. 5:30 would be the mostest perfectest. Or 5:40ish. That way I can catch the crazy-long 2:00 Oscar short film bonanza at the movie theatre next door. |
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Feb 26, 2016 15:46:10 GMT -5
Awesome. 5:30 at The Royale? Or even 5:00 if that's better for you. 5:30 would be the mostest perfectest. Or 5:40ish. That way I can catch the crazy-long 2:00 Oscar short film bonanza at the movie theatre next door. We'll see you there! |
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Post by Ron Howard Voice on Feb 28, 2016 11:15:37 GMT -5
As promised! (Note: I spliced the screenshots together in MS Paint, not always perfectly.)  |
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Post by pairesta on Feb 28, 2016 15:10:50 GMT -5
As promised! (Note: I spliced the screenshots together in MS Paint, not always perfectly.) God I love Laussade. Have you met her? |
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Post by Ron Howard Voice on Feb 28, 2016 16:10:42 GMT -5
As promised! (Note: I spliced the screenshots together in MS Paint, not always perfectly.) God I love Laussade. Have you met her? Yeah, at the last writer's meeting. She's...basically exactly the same in person. It was a delight. |
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