Sneakeater

I guess now, there really isn't.

So there's no such thing as criticism?

Let do a better one. Let's say the Frenchette guys open another restaurant. But, although it charges Frenchette/Le Rock prices, it's no better, in terms of ingredients, execution, and service, than the NYC Le Relais de Venise L'Entrecôte was -- and instead of looking like a cafeteria as Relais did, it looks like a very cheesy overdecorated Vegas dining room. I'm a fan of the Frenchette guys -- even though I don't think Le Rock is worth a trip, it doesn't miss in a way that pisses me off -- so I'm gonna feel like I want to try the new place, right? So it's MY fault, when I go there, that it turns out to be a cynical cash grab? And I can't complain about it cuz it was MY CHOICE to go there?

Oh I get it.

You mean like it's not a restaurant's problem if the service is terrible but YOUR problem because you decided to go there?

I NEVER would have guessed that Botero was still alive until earlier today.

THAT'S the entire purpose of the video.

Seriously, that's like saying you can't say you thought a movie was terrible in a way that pissed you off cuz you didn't have to go. (Or, being on-Board-topic, a restaurant.)

Guess what? I'm gonna play the album, too.

The thing is, if you're a White American Guy in his '60s or '70s, you kind of DO have to watch the video. I mean, I'm not gonna watch the video for the first single from the first Stones album of new material since 2005? Not bloody likely.

Wait are you saying Doc Watson is ALIVE?????????

This is another of those wines that, while it doesn't overwhelm you up front, by the time you've gotten to the bottom of the bottle, it's just so drinkable you're sorry to see it go. (As opposed to last night's accidental red, which was something of a slog.)

And what did this cost? $15? Something like that. Good use of $15!

A down and dirty steak pizzaiola sandwich (Flat Iron Steak: YUM). Very down. Very dirty. A prime example of how gross half-assed food can be the best. (Cleared out some pantry detritus, too!) On the side, some Syracuse salt potatoes: one of those dishes where once you see you can make them, you feel you must -- repeatedly. (Although it must be conceded that Syracuse salt potatoes were originated by people who came from the part of Italy that sits across the Irish sea from Britain.) Although steak pizzaiola is very much a Southern dish, the consensus obvious wine pairing for it is from the North. 2017 Gianni Doglia Barbera d'Asti "Bosco Donne" This is very much a Modern Piemonte wine -- but it's one of the ones that are good anyway. At least it sees no oak (unlike Doglia's very seniormost cuvée). This smells like violets (unlike Barolo/Barbarescos, which smell like roses). It kind of tastes like violets, too. Then, some very black cherries, a little bit of herby shit, and a BIG acid finish. Not a lot of complexity here. Just a lot of enjoyable flavor. And you know what? There's a reason why people reflexively reach for Barbera with tomato/beef dishes.

The fact that a record that came out in the 21st Century -- and not at the very beginning, either -- is nearly 20 years old has implications that are so depressing to me that I can barely contemplate them.

See, I thought A Bigger Bang was actually good. But I'm a sucker.

I would have bet that I was the only person here who knew that place. Of course, that would have been impossible.

A repeat of Monday's dinner. Leftover Amalfi-style pasta topping on Capellini. Roasted radicchio (better this time cuz I've had the advantage of having made it before). (I'm trying to decide, BTW, whether, when I publish my cookbook, I should call it The Lazy Cook, as I'd originally thought, or the more apt Too Stupid to Be Allowed Near High Heat.) But I changed up the wine. This is one of those dishes that, while it comes from Compania, in its heart of hearts really wants a Sancerre. HEY WAIT! This is a Sancerre Rouge! OK, maybe I should have looked at the bottle when I pulled it from my storage unit and moved it to the fridge. But it was where a White Sancerre should be, not a Red. So I blame the person who filed it. In other words, past me rather than present me. Hey guys! We're having a chilled Pinot Noir with this supper tonight! 2015 Domaine du Carrau (Doninique Roger) Sancerre Rouge At least it was a light red. But I'll tell you what. We all know now that it's bullshit to say you can never have red wine with fish. But only certain fish prepared a certain way. Not this. I felt like Red Grant. (To be sure, a Provençal rosé would have been fine with this. But this isn't a Provençal rosé.) So this wine didn't go with this pasta at all. As for how it was on its own, well, I don't have a very high opinion of Sancerre Rouges. They tend to be too thin to my taste. Instead of being silky Pinot Noirs like you get from the Mothership, they're meager ones. WIth a cold shrimp and vegs pasta topping, that was probably a blessing. And if you're going to drink this wine chilled, for God's sake, it's almost a necessity. But finishing the bottle now by itself, I can't say it's the kind of thing I actively want to be drinking.

Hey I WANT you to have your ham!

Just to be clear!

Prospect DEF has it, if you're ever over this way.

I'm sure Dickson's Farmstead has some.

Prospect Butcher Co. (don't remember where THEY source it from)

Right. It's like making a big think prosciutto sandwich.

I guess I should announce that I've decided that for sandwiches I much prefer City Ham (which I had tonight) to Country Ham. I guess that's what the conventional wisdom says, but I didn't think I'd agree. But Country Ham is just too funky to pile high between bread.