Asked to define what Red Lobster means by fresh, Ms. Setta responded, “It’s as fresh as anything you’d find in a top-tier seafood restaurant.” The chain delivers fish to its restaurants six days a week.Don't you think the obvious follow-up question for the NYT reporter should have been to ask what day the fish isn't fresh?
I haven't eaten at a Red Lobster in years. I still occasionally crave cheddar bay biscuits, though. Once upon a time I said that, should I ever find myself mysteriously pregnant with a daughter, I would name her Cheddar Bay Freese.
Unrelated addendum #1: People are already lining up outside Mary and Brady's blog to be the first person to comment when their blogathon opens at 9 EDT.
Unrelated addendum #2: I wish part of feeling stretched too thin was that one actually got to feel thinner.
4 comments:
Isn't the universal bad fish day Monday? A lot of sushi restaurants are closed Mondays, I think for that reason. Bourdain talks about it famously in Kitchen Confidential. I'm surprised the article doesn't mention it - the NYT is in love with that freaking book.
Why not name a future son Cheddar Bay? Huh, anybody?
Having worked in a fancy-schmansy kitchen at a fish restaurant I've gotta be honest and say that we didn't get fresh fish in every day. Sunday was our day for "old" fish. However, keep in mind that one day old really isn't that old. In fact it's a lot fresher than consumers often get it (as it has to be processed for sale by the wholesaler and then again by the retailer. We simply got whole fish the day it came in off the boat. So even our "day old" fish was about 2 days fresher than what you'd get in a store. Most restaurants (or at least, LOTS of restuarants have two main delivery days: tuesday and friday. Places are often closed monday to give the kitchen one day off. So new food comes in Monday afternoon/tuesday morning and then gets processed for cooking tuesday, wednesday, thursday; then new stuff comes in friday and gets processed for friday, saturday sunday.
Ang is totally right about being scared about Mondays. If a place isn't closed it's often getting rid of left-overs from the past week. Also avoid specials that are the same as what's already on the menu. So if a place has a salmon dish and ALSO a salmon special, then they basically have way too much salmon in the back that is starting to get nasty and they need to get rid of it. Sundays are the days to really be ware of this.
Oh, and one more thing: if you like your steak well done, I'd suggest either not ordering steak or getting used to ordering it medium to medium well. Why? Because if you order a well done steak the kitchen will serve you the oldest, worst cut of meat they have. They figure you can't really taste it any way. And given that they're cooking the hell out of it, you won't get sick. Bourdain points this out in his book and it's pretty much been the case in every restaurant I've worked at.
I miss working in kitchens! I should quit sociology. Then again, I'm not sure I could physically stand around a stove for 8-10 hours like I used to. I've gotten soft. And by soft I don't just mean "of weak constitution"; I also mean fat!
Oh, and the place I used to work at closed for a bit but is now re-openned! If you're ever in Philly, check it out! It's good (but pricey).
http://www.stripedbassrestaurant.com/)
In the words of the great Julia Child, what the eye doesn't see, the heart doesn't grieve for.
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