We had a meal recently that went too long. I wont tell you where because it isn’t about that. It was interesting for my brain to contemplate the idea that even amazing slow food can actually be too slow. Eventually at about 8:00 pm, we got the appetizer which was an absolutely gorgeous single scallop. But it wasn’t enough. We were hungry for too long. More bread? No, we really should try to hold out for the food. There was a smoked trout course that was very nice with roasted tomato, eggplant, and peppers that were out of this world. There was another course that was a white fish that was yummy. Then came the veal ribs that were served rare and were gorgeous. They were served with Jerusalem artichoke paste and crispy artichoke. Magnificent. The meal finished smoked chocolate and meringue and dessert was an apple tart with crispy caramel ice cream. Delicious. The meal was great. I couldn’t fault a bit of the food. But overall it didn’t feel good. We left about 11:30 so we had been there about 5 hours. We were a table of 6 and it was fun to be with our friends but this meal pushed the limits of casual conversation. First of all, it is difficult to have fun when you are ready to eat your table-mate’s right arm. It is also hard to be “stuck” for that long. It was interesting to find this limit for me. It was completely unexpected. I really thought a dinner couldn’t go on too long for me. Now I know. It is also phenomenally interesting to me to consider this effect of timing on pleasure. It was just too long to be pleasantly hungry. The lateness of the food service made us try too hard to be “good sports” and we were fatigued by our effort. Now, to be fair, this was a culinary school so it was a learning environment. Not sure what the moral of the story is, but...
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Owl Cafe Green Chile Burger vs. Buckhorn Tavern Green Chile Burger I stopped in San Antonio, New Mexico for lunch the other day. I wanted to go to the Owl Cafe, which is famous for its green chile cheeseburger. Now, it is in the middle of nowhere on the way to nowhere (apologies to the 3 people who live there) but it has been a popular stopping point my whole life. As I got off the highway, I noticed a “newer” burger restaurant with signs proclaiming that it offers the #7 burger in the nation. I was intrigued. The Buckhorn Tavern (the “new” restaurant) had a full parking lot while the Owl Cafe was looking pretty lonely. I decided to do my own comparison. Step 1: I start at the Owl Cafe. I order their green chile burger without cheese because they only have nacho cheese and american cheese which both have corn in them and I am allergic. The waitress is probably in her late 50s to early 60s. She has worked there a long time. I am pretty sure she has waited on me before. She doesn’t seem to care whether I’m happy or not. See their very empty dining room in the photo below. As usual, the fries are brought by one server and the hamburger is delivered several minutes later by the waitress. This has been the way they have done their food for 20 years. On a scale of 1-10 the fries are a 3. The oil tastes old and they are nothing special. The green chile burger is delicious and I would give it a 9 on a scale of 1-10. I am only giving it a 9 because if I give it a 10 and the Buckhorn has a better burger I won’t be able to rate them properly. The burger comes with Green Chile, tomato, lettuce, onions, and mustard and the patty is clearly home-made. I discovered this restaurant in my college years and it is always...
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As my family was traveling along a crowded stretch of highway, we came across a most interesting brand. My first impression was shock and a bit of disgust… not reactions I’d normally associate with good marketing. But it worked. The name of the business was “Kim’s Dead Stock”, and, to the uninitiated city dweller at least, dead livestock removal is a shocking and disgusting business. The logo—a cartoon-like picture of a dead cow—was on the back of a very clean and shiny white trailer. The tagline below the logo was—hold your nose— “No cow too ripe.” We followed the trailer for a good long time and the longer I looked at this brand, the more impressed I became. My initial reaction was shock. This got my attention on a busy road, confirming that my surprise served a purpose. Then came the gross-out phase, as I thought about “ripe” cows. After that, I contemplated the profession of dead stock removal in general and realized, well, someone has to do it. I also realized that if I had to call someone for dead stock removal, then Kim’s Dead Stock would be my first choice. I would contact Kim’s not just because they’re the only dead stock removal company I know of, but because they had effectively established their brand for me as I passed by on a crowded highway. How did this brand work? With their business name, they told me exactly what they did—“dead stock”. Then, with their tagline, they defined the boundaries of their business—“no cow too ripe.” I would feel good about calling this business if I had the misfortune to need someone in their line of work. I wouldn’t need to feel guilty or apologetic about calling to ask them to remove a carcass that had been around for a while—they had already normalized that for me. Putting a person’s first name in the company name also made me—as an imagined customer—feel at ease when I contemplated contacting them. In effect, the brand took the social stigma and “ick” factor of dead stock removal and made it...
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The next day I was looking in the mirror feeling disappointed in myself. I actually, really looked at my face in the mirror and I realized I didn’t want to be the person who was afraid to explore the world in any way I chose.
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