Category Archives: food

Anthony Bourdain eats at Waffle House for the first time

Posted by Palmer Eldritch on

As someone who has spent many years in the south, with a schedule that frequently saw me leaving work past last call, I have a tremendous fondness for the heroes of Waffle House. Throughout their diners the food maintains a consistency that most other chains have a difficult time maintaining. Despite the fact that the short order cooks have only a verbal order from which to work, I’ve never gotten the wrong dish, and the waitstaff have personality. You can get breakfast 24 hours a day, and they NEVER close. For so many of us, those with odd hours especially, Waffle House is a welcoming, reliable buddy.

It’s gratifying to see respected southern chef, Sean Brock of Husk Restaurant, Charleston SC, take global gourmand, Anthony Bourdain, for his virginal Waffle House experience. Bourdain, never one to shy away from a greasy spoon, seems to genuinely enjoy the Waffle House experience, declaring it, “better than French Laundry”, Thomas Keller’s legendary Napa Valley Restaurant. While certainly an amusing overstatement, it’s clear that Bourdain understands the chain’s charms.

Mark Bitterman’s book, Salted: A Manifesto On The World’s Most Essential Mineral, With Recipes

Posted by Palmer Eldritch on

I just thrifted a copy of this comprehensive ode to the world’s many types of salt, filled with more information about the mineral than any person should probably ever know. I mention this because in the section listing flavors for various salts, these descriptive terms are used: wild horse sweat (wild, because everyone knows that domesticated horse sweat has a weak, inferior taste), snake venom, soldering flux, circuit boards, a dream of lactose and seawater, a young pangasinan (which, as far as google search says, is a province in the Philippines, so… a young Filipino?!), deep jungle animal hide, play-doh (which I at least agree, has a specific flavor), modulated undertones of gruyere (again, at least gruyere has a distinct taste, but modulated undertones?), spectral clarity, noxious paint, potter’s studio dust, elusive cucumber (which, coincidentally, will be the name of my next psych rock band), and that’s just a handful of the ridiculous descriptors. How can anyone take that sorta shit seriously? I understand that you’re writing a guide and have to differentiate the most subtle of differences, but am I the only one who thinks that this does more of a disservice to the topic, than not? Then again, I’ve always had a distaste for extravagant wine descriptions, so maybe it’s just me. Nevermind. It’s not me. That shit is pretentious and laughable. Although, I am now planning on grinding circuit boards on my next Nicoise Salad, or would tween Filipino sweat be better?