Well, I'm running a bit behind with this, largely because Kristy Yang just came in from Vietnam with a bottle of...of...what the hell am I drinking?
It's been a busy week on the blog, too. A number of comments worthy of mention--and several deserving of a decent prize. So we had arranged for this week's top commenter to dine with Jim Schutze on Thanksgiving--until we learned about his Thanksgiving traditions.
Morally, ethically and (especially) legally, we couldn't follow through.
Once again, no one wins by reading City of Ate...um, that didn't come out right. Anyway, the week's crop of non-winners:
We like it when people admit to an appreciation of mass-produced crap. Hell, I'm a big fan of Cheez-Its. So this comment by Coleman--"Say what you will about macrobrewed fake craftbeers,
but Michelob's Shocktop is very, very tasty"--caught our eyes.
Of course, we don't condone the use of "tasty" on City of Ate.
DallasDude earns a nod for this comment about McRibs: "However horrible this man-made pre-formed,
ill-conceived pork by-product on a bun might be, I find them
deliciously irresistable. And this is coming from a guy that thinks his
palate is 17% better than the average man. I cannot explain it."
Just like that he has a percentage nailed.
And--as an aside, djs reminds us there is good in everything, even McRibs: "frozen beasts they were but they made for great grill
hockey."
Football hater TLS returns to the non-winners list with this: "Here is what I learned from my good friend Googlemeister:
* The melting ice acts as a slow, continuous flush * Ice cools the air
around the urinal. Cool air sinks, which serves to contain the smell *
Cold discourages drain flies * Fun to melt, helps users aim better,
compensates for poor male sanitary habits."
Wouldn't know what she's talking about.
Worzel Gummidge deserves mention. As he points out, the "Best implementation of chorizo in Dallas:
Samar's chorizo and potato hash."
We'll admit it's not particularly clever. But it is straight to the point and makes us want Samar's chorizo and potato hash.
As usual, Veggie Guy spurred some interesting (but not victorious) comments, ranging from carrots are great's "So you like produce up your ass. Cool. Bet
they hate you at central market" to Anonymous' "I prefer my bees bacon-wrapped, then dipped in
honey... But, that's just me." And then there's
Coleman, who took Veggie Guy's observation that "while some vegans are on the fence about honey, many
view it as the product of a highly evolved creature enslaved for
exploitation" and pointed out "and yet, whenever the Bee Liberation Front tries to save
the poor bees from tyranny, the ungrateful bastards just sting the shit
out of them! Stockholm Syndrome is a sad thing to see."
Because some of us (me in particular) are still rather juvenile, despite advancing years, we picked this, from primi timpano: "'Mr. Hung' could be one of the great screen names
of all-time."
Gallery slide shows rarely draw comments. For some reason, however, Smoke inspired a couple non-winners. From JF: "The mixture of spices they put on their fries is actually
really good. Sort of like a more upscale version of Bojangles." And from luniz: "the world is a depressing place when people are
willing to die for grits."
Well, luniz, people often die for much less. Swagger, for instance.
But the week's biggest non-winner is Ms T, for this well considered comment in response to Pho From Home: "I love that authenticity is given a nod without worshipping
the concept. Constantly railing about a restaurant or a dish not being
"authentic" kind of misses the point of food as an artform (meaning, it
is constantly being reinterpreted) and a means of pleasure. It's also
incredibly important to know the traditions and cultures from whence
your meal came...it adds to the enjoyment of the dish, and it allows
you to spot the variations in the dish (regional, "Americanized," etc)."
Great stuff. And thanks again.
