I am beginning to think that the Almighty is intervening to get me to eat better. After the closing of our favorite hot dog joint in Chicago, Hot Doug’s, last week saw an announcement that my favorite burger place in Chicago, Ed Debevic’s, was closing its most famous location (where our family has gone religiously for years) to make way for a new high rise. Now, as my family is still reeling from the news, city officials have shutdown our favorite New York deli, Carnegie Deli. I have gone to Carnegie since I was a kid and my kids are now equal fans. However, the owners of this highly profitable deli are accused of possibly stealing gas and endangering customers.
Con Edison has reported that its crews discovered a diverted line running to Carnegie while looking for a leak. These inspections have been increased in the aftermath of an explosion in the East Village that killed two people. An illegal gas line tap is suspected.
Here is what I do not understand. If there is an illegal tap of the gas, it would seem an easy criminal case. If the diverting pipe leads to the deli, it would seem obvious as to the culprit and the crime. After all, did the Deli not pay for gas or pay substantially less each day? If so, this is an ongoing theft. It is not clear if this was an old line or an active line. If it was active, it is highly dangerous to create such taps.
The deli simply said that it was closed for repairs related to the city’s gas utility, but Con Edison released as far more disturbing statement. The absence of any reference to possible criminal charges is curious since this would not just be theft but public endangerment if true.
The most important issue however is that my family is being rapidly denied access to our favorite sources of high-fat cuisine in multiple cities. I sense a vast healthy food conspiracy. If I cannot get my Chicago hotdogs, Ed Devevik’s shakes, and towering New York corned beef, I might as well be . . . well . . . French.
Paul, I have and liked it. I have eaten mesquite BBQ in Texas a few times. I have never cooked w/ it.
Isaac, I am not limiting myself to my own experiences. I am being respectful of the rich history of BBQ, it’s poor folk food going back hundreds of years here in the great USA. Something you have shown to know NOTHING about. Your derision for this great country diminishes you. I have eaten @ the mecca’s of BBQ. I cook BBQ. I learned to cook BBQ from old black men who had that rich AMERICAN tradition passed down through generations. I currently have BBQ sauce from Gates and Bryant’s in my cupboard. Do you even know of those places? I lived in a BBQ mecca for 8 years. No, not Oakland or SF, or Victoria, LOL. KANSAS CITY!! I travel w/ BBQ sauce for chrissake. Come on man, you don’t understand BBQ,. It’s obvious. It’s OK to admit you don’t understand something. Well, unless you have that French arrogance, then you have to pretend you know everything w/ a pompous look down your nose. I have the true self esteem to admit when I don’t know something. I do it all the time. You keep doubling down on 14. It’s your Achilles heel, dude.
Regarding wood. Oak and hickory are very adaptable woods for BBQ, pretty much all purpose. Fruit tree wood is good for pork and poultry, but makes pork a little too sweet for my taste. Pork is sweet as it is. We Italians use pork to naturally sweeten tomato sauce. I’ve never used mesquite so can’t speak of it. The black men who taught me how to BBQ in KC were big hickory guys. Old man Arthur Bryant was a hickory man. I had a kid on probation whose mom work for Bryant’s There was literally a couple inches of grease on the kitchen floor. She told me she had to learn how to “skate” on the grease, like all employees. I do not know what’s best for BBQing fish. You see, I can admit my limitations.
Nick – wait until you have had BBQ over mesquite.
Paul
Joe must be from KC or Memphis or St. Louis, or maybe even Nice.
issac – I am not sure where Joe is from but he is an awfully nice guy. He owns Joe’s Real BBQ, Joe’s Farm Grill (which uses fresh vegetable from Agritopia) and Liberty Market (retro-fitted into a restaurant). All are within 5 miles of me.
gives
Paul
Back in the day, in Victoria, BC, my home town, there was a ‘smoking’ craze going on. It started with the ‘Lil Chief’ smoker that you could buy for very little and experiment with different woods and stuff. Salmon, Octopus, various cuts of meat and other stuff provided for lots of ‘one upmanship’. A friend’s dad was a welder and fabricated a steel smoker incorporated into a brick oven/fireplace. He had tasted what had been purported to be the ‘best BBQ’ and as a hobby spent hours messing around. We spent two or three afternoons a month there as guinea pigs. That was tied for first place along with a lot of other BBQs. Lemon wood makes for a good smoke.
The particulate issue hadn’t made it to BC at that time.
issac – we are lucky to have the top-rated BBQ place in the Valley here in Gilbert, Joe’s Real BBQ. It is a place where people literally stand in line for the food. And the line is long. Once a year he give away free BBQ as a reward to his customers.
Nick
In the end it all comes down to taste. You can BBQ good cuts of meat and good cuts don’t necessarily need to be eaten rare. There was a place on Stanyon in SF across from Golden Gate Park in the ’80s called ‘Hog Heaven’. They suited you up with a full bib and the pork and beef virtually dripped off of the bones as good as any you will ever taste, all good cuts, well marbled, and plentiful.
A good cut of meat, well marbled, and smoked properly is BBQ. You seem to limit yourself to your own experiences. You need to get out more or try some healing bouillabaisse. I was going to suggest something pharmaceutical but we’ve been there.
Paul
Go towards the bay on University to Martin Luther King Blvd. Turn right and you might still see some shacks with smoke houses in back. If you go on Friday/pay day, you can satisfy two appetites at once. The place has probably changed in the past fifteen years. There used to be several BBQ shacks there that were second to none. In the social climate of today’s country, perhaps stabbed.
issac – CA has cut down on its particulate pollution. The probably forced them to take down the smokehouses.
LOL! The more he talks about BBQ the more he shows how little he knows. You don’t BBQ good cuts of meat like he was touting those elite French chefs doing. Brisket is about the best cut you would BBQ. You want the muscle and fat cuts. By cooking those pieces slowly, the fat and smoke cooks into the meat and makes it incredibly flavorful. I’m sure if you BBQ prime rib it would be flavorful, but also A TRAVESTY! You eat good beef rare. You don’t BBQ center cut pork chops. You BBQ butt, ribs, shoulders.
Isaac, You have drunk the French Kool-Aid. Sell the “best BBQ is in France” to someone else, I ain’t buying it, and no one who knows BBQ will either. You mentioned NONE of the true meccas of BBQ, where those great black musicians would tell your brainwashed ass is where you go for REAL BBQ. Those destinations are not Jerry Brown’s hometown of Oakland for chrissake. Those places are KC, St. Louis, Memphis, Nashville most of Texas, Carolinas and a few other places. Now, STFU about French BBQ, you’re embarrassing yourself. Someone’s gotta tell you when you pissed on both legs. I’m that guy. I’ll listen to you about poutine I won’t it the sh!t, but I’ll assume you know about it. WTF else is there in Canada besides that and Tim Hortons?? We get it, you saw Negroes eating BBQ in France. Probably a big deal for a hoser.
Nick – I think the French count Arby’s as BBQ.
Paul
Deepest Darkest Oakland, the flatland.
issac – we are talking Oakland, CA? Right? Next time I go to Oakland and I ask for Darkest Oakland I am not going to get shot or stabbed, right?
5009 n Clark. 2 brothers who cooked at Hot Doug’s just opened their own place. Duck fat fries on the weekend. Hope to see you there
High-fat food served in a high-explosive environment. Can’t get more exciting than that.
Nick
The BBQ at the Nice Jazz Festival was not so much French but a hybrid of what artists like: BB King, Muddy Waters, Fats Domino, Lionel Hampton, and others who, along with their retinues, have probably eaten the best, liked, knew, and influenced, and what the chefs at the festival prepared. The French used to use only the best third of the beef. The art of curing, smoking, and mucking about with meat is an art form there as well. The rest they shipped to Eastern Europe. The cuts were the best and the preparation no second place to anywhere in the world. I’ve eaten in Louisiana, Alabama, Darkest Oakland, and other places that all purported and made great BBQ. The stuff at the Jazz Festival was as good if not better. The main ingredients to a great BBQ is product, preparation, and secrets.
It helps if you can climb up onto the arches of a Roman arena and watch Muddy Waters sing where 2,000 years ago they threw Christians to the lions. Senses are often cross wired in the memory. You have to take into consideration that France was home to most of the Jazz greats while most of America was still in the dark ages. Their influence to the culinary arts of France is well known. Not so much in San Diego though.
issac – where the hell is Darkest Oakland?
Nick
OK, no more about meds. Try the bouillabaisse.
Isaac, I know French food does not need to be pretentious. Jacque Pepin and Julia Child taught me that. I came to learn about Vietnamese food from Anthony Bourdain. There is a large Vietnamese population here in San Diego. We are approaching the 40th anniversary of the Viet Cong taking over Saigon on 4/30/75. If the history of that interests you, there were some great articles in yesterdays San Diego Union Tribune paper yesterday on that historic day. The Midway aircraft carrier is now a museum in San Diego Bay. It’s mission was to help w/ the evacuation on 4/30/75. It is from the deck of the Midway you have seen the iconic footage of helicopters being pushed off the deck. The reason was there were over 20 Huey’s circling the Midway loaded w/ refugees. The flight deck officer was interviewed in one of these interesting articles. He had to land these choppers as they ran out of fuel. He got them all down, ordering empty aircraft pushed over the side to make room for the aircraft waiting to land. The officer is now 83. He volunteers @ the Midway Museum. It is a superb tour. All of the stations are manned by men who served on this historic ship.
Squeeky, Great non PC poem! And love the blast from the past on your website. I’m skeptical of all things hyphenated.
Nick
Remember the meds. The thing about French food is that it is regional and some regions are incredible and some rank in the bottom. One of the great aspects of French food is the infusion of other cultures. Vietnamese cuisine in France after a couple hundred years of intermixing is something quite special, just like the French-Vietnamese women. I have had Vietnamese cuisine that was purported to be Vietnamese but this again varies by region. The North African cuisines and those from the Levant that mix with French Mediterranean food is also hard to beat. I have never had as good a sausage as a merguez, barbecued, and laid on a baguette with a fresh mint sauce. In the regions near Italy and Spain the food is superb. The nuances that come from outside the country make the local cuisine. When you put the local catch with the local vegetables and add the local magic the result is special enough to soften even the strongest and most acerbic opinions. It’s hard to stay touchy after a good bouillabaisse in Marseille, not so much from Paris though.
@NickS
What about hyphenated foods, like my Chicken Spinache, and my Pork Chops Paree’ ??? I wonder if they are American, or what???
Which, this is from like my first week of blogging 5 years ago:
http://squeeky-squeek.blogspot.com/2010/05/squeekys-chicken-spinache-recipe.html
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
I can assure you, the best BBQ BB King, Fats, etc. ever ate was not in Nice! I doubt it makes the top 100. If the best BBQ you ever ate was in Nice I simply feel sorry for you. I’m sure those greats enjoyed a little taste of home in the land of pretense. But, the best BBQ is cooked in little greasy spoons, owned by black men and women, where most white folk, particularly hosers, would fear to tread. I took some friends from St. Cloud, Mn. to Arthur Bryants back in the 70’s. Our car took gun fire, blowing out a window. There is a back story to that. But, after talking w/ the police and filing a report, I continued on to Bryant’s. I don’t think our friends really enjoyed the day.
Harold
Many businesses don’t accept credit cards or checks in an effort to keep costs down. Especially in the food business, where the margin of profit is so slim and restaurants have a problem simply keeping the doors open. Do you have any clue as to the failure rate of restaurants? While the customers may be inconvenienced by the failure to take credit cards or checks, why assume that this establishment, in particular, doesn’t report its sales? You do know, companies which take in any amount of cash could fudge on their sales and not report all income, don’t you?