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‘Cardiac Carolina’ Comes Up Just Short In Special Season

OMAHA, NE – “The end of the year, it always stinks.”

Those were UNC Head coach Mike Fox’s sentiments following Friday’s disappointing 4-1 loss to UCLA that knocked the Tar Heels out of the College World Series.

Let’s be honest. There is never a good time to lose. But there can only be one team who doesn’t end their season on a loss. It is both the intrigue and cruelty of postseason tournament play. A team that dominates all season (much like Carolina), can see their season end abruptly at any time. And baseball only exacerbates this effect, as sometimes all it takes is a hot ace on the mound to befuddle the best of lineups.

And unfortunately, the Diamond Heels’ designs on getting their hands on the program’s first NCAA College World Series title fell through late Friday evening, but not before an attempt at a signature ninth inning rally that this UNC squad seemingly patented in their 2013 campaign. Heck, the Heels practically turned the miraculous into the mundane with their late-game heroics, especially late in the season.

“What we did in the ninth inning is just indicative of our kids and how we played all year,” Mike Fox reflected postgame.

Boy, that statement could not ring any truer.

Can you recall the ACC tournament? In what felt like a full mini-season all to itself, UNC survived back-to-back extra inning ballgames against Clemson and NC State just to advance to the championship game where they ultimately defeated the Hokies of Virginia Tech. The sheer will and determination of the UNC squad was put on full display in those late night, no, early morning nail biting contests needed just to secure their own conference crown.

And then it was on to the NCAA tournament. As the number one overall seed, the Tar Heels undoubtedly felt a mountain of pressure along with having a gigantic target on their backs for other upstart teams. And it showed. Unheralded Florida Atlantic forced UNC to an elimination game.

The heart of a champion came out once again for the Tar Heels as they rallied back on multiple occasions to survive the home run barrages of the FAU squad to advance and win a game that Fox remarked was one of the greatest ones he had ever been a part of.

Super Regionals came next. North Carolina’s neighbors to the South were on deck. And wow, what a series it was. Not surprisingly, the Tar Heels found themselves knee deep in another elimination game. And they came up with the goods once again, scraping out a 5-4 decision over the ever-tough South Carolina Gamecocks to yet again book their tickets to Omaha.

The adversity the Tar Heels team continually faced this postseason was matched and exceeded by their “never say die” attitudes that cannot be taught. This team had more fight in them than Mike Tyson. The team thrived with their backs against the wall. Houdini-esque escapes were all but routine. And maybe it finally caught up to them on Friday night. Who knows?

But let’s remember the 2013 Diamond Heels for their admirable fighting spirit and all their unbelievable accomplishments including a school record 59 wins, a school record for most runs scored in a season, the ACC regular season and tournament titles, and another trip to Omaha.

Coach Fox, himself, dubbed this year’s squad “a coach’s dream.” He went on to add that it had been one of his most fun seasons. And this is coming from a man who has been at the helm of Tar Heel baseball since 1999. Just think of all the remarkable teams we have witnessed since then.

So let’s take a cue from Mr. Fox and savor what we have witnessed. What a wild ride it has been. Tar Heel nation was treated to so many unforgettable thrills along the way. And yes, there was no championship ring at the end of the day. But sometimes, in life and in baseball, it is the journey it took to even get there in the first place that ends up being the sweetest part of all.

UCLA defeats Wolfpack 2-1 at College World Series

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Nick Vander Tuig scattered four hits over seven-plus innings and UCLA produced just enough offense to defeat North Carolina State 2-1 in the College World Series on Tuesday night.

UCLA (46-17) moved within one victory of next week’s best-of-three finals. The Wolfpack (50-15) will play an elimination game against North Carolina on Thursday.

UCLA used two walks, two singles and a wild pitch to scratch out a couple runs and go up 2-1 in the fifth. Two innings before, Vander Tuig tagged out a runner at the plate to keep the Wolfpack from adding to a 1-0 lead.

Vander Tuig (13-4) retired 13 of 14 batters heading into the eighth inning. David Berg came on after Vander Tuig gave up a leadoff single to Bryan Adametz. Berg worked out of trouble in the eighth and earned his NCAA record-tying 23rd save.

NC State starter Logan Jernigan (1-1) took the loss.

Freshman Trent Thornton To Take The Mound

OMAHA, NE – Notwithstanding its loss to NC State on Sunday, the Carolina baseball team is still in Omaha this week in pursuit of its first-ever College World Series title. And quite a few Triangle-area residents made the trip with them–including Tom Jensen, the team’s unofficial “superfan.”

“There’s actually a really positive vibe around the team, even after what happened (Sunday),” Jensen says. “This is a team that has shown an ability to bounce back from adversity all year, and these guys really feel like they can still do this. And we (fans) will do whatever we can to help them.”

Most of the time, Jensen’s better known as the director of Public Policy Polling, the Raleigh-based firm that’s fast developing a reputation as the most accurate pollster in the nation. But during baseball season, he’s more likely to be on national TV as the most visible (and audible) member of the Tar Heel fan base.

“It’s funny,” he says about his dual role. “I definitely have people recognize me on the street (and) in the grocery store as the Superfan–(but) nobody has ever come up to me in the grocery store and been like, ‘oh, man, you’re the pollster!'”

Though he’s the face of the Carolina fandom, Jensen’s not the only one in Nebraska wearing Carolina blue: he says he figures UNC has the second-largest fan base at the College World Series this year, behind only LSU. (Even Roy Williams made the trek to Omaha: Jensen says the basketball coach was in the stands for Sunday’s game.)

And while the Tar Heels have their backs against the wall after Sunday’s 8-1 loss to the Wolfpack, Jensen says he’ll never count out this year’s team after all the adversity they’ve already overcome. Nevertheless, he says even if the Heels don’t come home with a CWS title, it’s been a memorable season nonetheless.

“It’s a wonderful group of people,” he says. I’ve been around this program hardcore for eight years now, (and) we’ve never had a group of kids and parents as special as this year.

“And regardless of what happens the rest of the week, it’s just been one amazing ride.”

The Tar Heels face LSU on Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. in a must-win game for both teams; Trent Thornton will get the start for Carolina. WCHL will broadcast the game in full on Tuesday; it’ll also stream live on Chapelboro.com.

Fans Send-Off Omaha-Bound Carolina Baseball

CHAPEL HILL – The Carolina Baseball team headed out for the College World Series in Omaha Thursday morning. Fans came out to wish the Diamond Heels luck in their journey, with big hopes of bringing home the program’s first NCAA Championship.

“I’m just watching all of our freshman—this is a first time for them. To see how excited they are in the locker room, they don’t know what to expect,” said UNC head coach Mike Fox.

It’s his sixth time in 15 years as Carolina’s head coach to take the team to the CWS.

Freshman Skye Bolt says he’s been to Omaha a few times as a fan, but can’t wait to take to the diamond as a player for the first time.

Female fans, with huge smiles on their faces, crowded around the outfielder before he joined his teammates on the bus.

“It’s a sign of the appreciation that they have for us and we have for them. They’ve been packing the house all year. It’s good to see them come out and be excited like we are too. It’s a family group effort,” Bolt said.

Bolt, who battled back from a fractured right foot this season, drove-in the winning run against South Carolina in game one of Super Regional. He says he’s ready to face ACC rival NC State in Carolina’s CWS opener on Sunday.

“I don’t think we needed to travel 5,000 plus miles to play them. We could just head down the road, but I think it couldn’t have been scripted any better to open up our trip out there,” Bolt said.

UNC claimed the season series against the Wolfpack, 2-1, thanks to a 2-1 win in an 18 inning thriller in the ACC Tournament.

The teams had previously split the regular season series in Raleigh, with game three getting rained out.

“We know each other pretty well. We don’t have to do a scouting report, that is for sure,” Fox said.

One of the fans who will be cheering from home as the Heels face take-on the Wolfpack is six-year-old Will Cooper.

“I wanted to come see the Tar Heels leave for Omaha because I’m a big, huge Tar Heel fan. I love the Tar Heels so much! My favorite player is Cody Stubbs, Cooper said.

Cooper got his wish to meet Stubbs and even get his baseball signed by the first baseman.

Stubbs, a senior who transferred to UNC after for his junior season, will travel to Omaha for the first time

“I don’t know if it will feel completely real until we step off the plane. It’s something I’ve dreamt about since I was a little kid.” Stubbs said.

To make it to the CWS, the ACC Regular Season and ACC tournament Champs have had to make big comebacks, and fight through extra innings, and rain delays during post-season play.

“You can just go back and watch all of our games, from the Regional to the Super Regional, nothing was easy, nothing was given to us. It certainly was a great challenge but it was a special one for me and I’ve enjoyed every second of it,” Stubbs said.

Carolina is no stranger to Omaha, sitting at a record of 15-19 all-time in the CWS.  The Heels advanced to the final series in 2006 and 2007, losing both years to Oregon State.

“Out there on that stage, it’s more about being there and being in Omaha you opponent is your opponent and everyone is good,” Fox said.

First pitch is set for 3 p.m. Sunday against the Wolfpack.  WCHL and Chapelboro.com will be broadcasting and live-streaming all of the action.

Omaha-Bound Heels Def. Gamecocks, 5-4

Photo Courtesy: Go Heels

CHAPEL HILL – UNC rallied with a three-run sixth inning Tuesday to edge South Carolina, 5-4, and earn a trip to the College World Series for the sixth time in the last eight years. By surviving the Super Regional, the top-seeded Tar Heels will travel halfway across the country to face rival N.C. State this Sunday at 3 p.m. in Omaha.

“I just can’t remember some of the other ways we got there [to the College World Series].  This one is sweet. This one is very special,” UNC Head Coach Mike Fox said. “It doesn’t really matter how you get there. Baseball is a tough game and you never know how it will go. At the end of that day, we are going. That is the most important thing.”

It was Colin Moran’s RBI triple that sparked the comeback to give the Heels the victory, scoring Landon Lassiter to cut the South Carolina lead to 4-3.

A throwing error by Gamecock pitcher Adam Westmoreland allowed Moran to score the tying run.

Westmoreland, who had hit Skye Bolt with a pitch, then walked catcher Brian Holberton and second baseman Mike Zolk to load the bases. He was replaced by lefty Tyler Webb, who took left fielder Parks Jordan to a full count before walking him on an inside pitch to force in Bolt with what proved to be the winning run.

The Tar Heels shut out the Gamecocks in their last three at bats, with lefty ace Kent Emanuel coming in to nail down the save by getting the last two outs in the ninth on just two pitches.

“It didn’t matter if I would have given up 20 runs or thrown a perfect game. It’s always going to be the same. I’m there to compete against the batter and get him out,” Emanuel said. “It really doesn’t factor in to how I pitch, what happens before.”

Trent Thornton (11-1) notched the win, allowing one earned run over 4 2/3 innings after relieving starter Benton Moss in the third. None of UNC’s three starters over the weekend made it through three full innings.

UNC faced freshman lefty Jack Wynkoop, who entered the game with a 7-3 record and 2.92 ERA in 61.2 innings for the Gamecocks. Westmoreland went 3 1/3 innings but sealed his own fate as the loser with his errant throw and by hitting Bolt in the sixth.

South Carolina took an early lead with a run in the second, but Holberton blasted a two-run homer over the right field fence in the bottom of the second.

The Gamecocks regained the lead in the fifth when Tar Heel centerfielder Chaz Frank dropped a fly ball, allowing two runs to score.

“I just told them to relax. It’s not a big deal,” Thornton said about how how he maintained his composure following the error. “We knew we would comeback. Everybody wanted to win it for Chaz, especially after that play.”

The visitors from the Southeastern Conference added a single run in the top half of the sixth, setting up the dramatic rally to follow.

After throwing 88 pitches, Thornton was relieved by Chris McCue in the eighth.

In the top of the ninth, after McCue walked the potential tying run, Emanuel got DH LB Dantzler to fly out to left on the first pitch and catcher Grayson Greiner to force the runner at second on his next pitch. Emanuel, who has now thrown 240 pitches in the NCAA tournament, has at least four days rest before his first start in the 2013 College World Series.

Carolina improved to 57-10 while the Gamecocks finish the season at 43-20. The Tar Heels are expected to face N.C. State ace lefthander Carlos Rodon in their CWS opener Sunday at 3 p.m.

Hear the full-press conference:


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Storm Water Projects
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Pollution Prevention
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Water Quality Program Purpose

The purpose of Storm Water Service's Water Quality Program is to protect and restore the quality and usability of Charlotte-Mecklenburg's surface water resources in accordance with applicable federal, state and local regulations.

History of Charlotte-Mecklenburg's Water Quality Monitoring Program

Storm Water Services' Water Quality Program was established in 1969 for the purpose of identifying and eliminating sewer discharges to inner city streams that were generating numerous odor complaints from citizens.

Initially water quality data was collected to assess bacteria levels in these streams to identify sewer overflows and assess potential human health impacts.  As the Program's responsibilities increased, so did its monitoring activities. Lake monitoring was initiated in 1973. By 1980, an increased number of parameters had been added to routine lake and stream monitoring runs, including BOD, COD and nutrients in addition to continued monitoring to assess bacteria levels. Biological monitoring was added to the program in 1985.

Water Quality Monitoring

With the development of the City's Phase I Storm Water Program in 1993, there was a significant increase in monitoring activities, including monitoring during storm water flows beginning in 1995 followed by the monitoring of structural best management practices (BMPs) for pollutant removal efficiency in 1997. In 2003, Mecklenburg County and the Towns of Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville, Matthews, Mint Hill, and Pineville developed a Phase II Storm Water Program that resulted in a significant increased in monitoring activities in these jurisdictions.

Goals of Charlotte-Mecklenburg's Water Quality Monitoring Program:

1.    Identify general water quality conditions.
2.    Track long and short term trends.
3.    Assess the overall effectiveness of program activities.
4.    Assess whether streams are fulfilling their designated uses.
5.    Identify sources of water quality degradation.
6.    Measure compliance with TMDLs.
7.    Assess the effectiveness of BMPs at removing pollutants.
8.    Support watershed management initiatives.
9.    Communicate water quality conditions to the public.

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Tag Archives | Ashcraft

Vaudine Landess

WEST POINT – Vaudine Mae Landess, 100, passed away on Thursday, March 28, 2013, at Dugan Memorial Home in West Point. She was born March 26, 1913, in Kennedy, Ala., to Alice Ashcraft and Willis Sanders. She was a dietitian and head of the West Point School System Cafeteria for 10 years. She was a […]

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Home » Uncategorized » Small Business Confidence Dwindles

Small Business Confidence Dwindles

Confidence among small U.S. businesses fell slightly in December as owners remain cautious about their prospects and uncertain about the country’s economy.

Optimism at some of the nation’s leading small and independent businesses recorded a decline in December after a steady rise over the last five months. At least two surveys have indicated to this effect. However, a couple of other surveys reveal a contrary picture depicting an increase in business confidence among small business owners. Likewise, small businesses in Canada are upbeat about the economic prospects in their country in contravention to the majority sentiment among their counterparts in U.S.

According to the NFIB Small business confidence survey, the optimism index decreased to 92.6 from November’s 93.2 reading that was the highest since the recession began in December 2007, the Washington-based group said in a recent media release. Interestingly, the decline comes after small business confidence touched its highest level in almost three years in November 2010.

NFIB data indicated that while weak sales remains the top problem, stagnating hiring and spending on capital projects also were slated to be the bothering issues. All of which are sidelining the small business sector from a recovery, the survey said. This marks the 36th month of Index readings in the recession level.

“The hope for a pickup in the small business sector did not materialize,” William Dunkelberg, the group’s chief economist, said in a statement. “Owners remain stubbornly cautious and uncertain about the future course of the economy and their business prospects.”

Discover’s Small Business Watch survey for December also depicted similar sentiment with majority of the survey respondents thinking, a sustained rebound will take time to develop. The monthly index dropped to 81.6 in December, down 5.6 points from November. The index remains 4.6 points higher than one year ago.

According to the Discover survey 25 percent of small business owners said the economy was getting better this month, down from 33 percent in November; 51 percent said it was getting worse, up from 46 percent; and 22 percent said the economy was staying the same, up from 17 percent the prior month.

“Through the four years we’ve been studying them, small business owners have remained a bit fickle when it comes to their confidence in the economy,” said Ryan Scully, director of Discover’s business card, a division of NY based financial services company offering business credit card for American small businesses.

The survey is conducted by Rasmussen Reports in partnership with Discover and Small Businesss Watch, based on a national random survey of 750 small business owners.

Meantime, in contrast to the decline in small business confidence in U.S., the CFIB (Canadian Federation of Independent Business) has recorded an increase in small business owner’s confidence levels. Its index stood at 69.3, considered to be the highest in nine months this year.

The recently released CFIB data said that its “business barometer” hit 69.3 in December, up more than five points from November and close to the post-recession high hit in March last year.

CFIB chief economist Ted Mallett believed factors other than the Christmas retail rush were responsible for the increased small-business sentiment as the year 2010 came to an end.

“Instead, a large improvement in optimism among manufacturers, natural resource businesses, financial services and personal services firms pushed the overall index upward,” he said in a statement.

Similarly another small business survey by Vistage International, a San Diego, Calif., based CEO network, serving 14,000 members across 15 countries, found that small business CEOs expressed a remarkable resurgence of optimism both in the overall economy and for their own companies.

Its confidence measuring mechanism, the Vistage Confidence Index jumped to 106.3 in the 4th Quarter of 2010, after reporting 95.1 in the 3rd quarter, 94.4 in the 2nd quarter and 93.7 in the 1st quarter of this year. Of the 1,729 respondents in the Q4 Vistage CEO Confidence Index, 77 percent expect increased revenues and 63% foresee higher profits in their own companies.

“Nearly half the CEOs surveyed pledged their personal assets to keep their companies running, their people employed, and our economy from collapsing. They are the unsung heroes of our economic recovery and the brighter days ahead,” Rafael Pastor, CEO and Chairman Vistage International said in a recent media release.

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HOME > Chowhound > Pennsylvania >
Feb 12, 2007 07:10 AM

Good news about Tre Scalini (Philly)

Tre Scalini as moved - it's at 1915 Passyunk Ave. - and it's as good as ever. I should mention that it's been one of our favorite places for years.

The downstairs is larger; they do have an upstairs, but it's reserved for private parties.
It's a little noisier now, but that may have been because there were two large parties sitting near us. The place was very busy, but we still had good service.

Our Caesar salad appetizers were as good as ever. Not huge, but with the taste that I want from a Caesar salad. Our friends split the polenta with broccoli rabe, another favorite. (They have eliminated the bruschetta that they used to serve, and the bread is now in the form of very good rolls.)

I had a pasta entree: angel hair pasta with crabmeat, garlic and oil - delicious! My husband and one friend were ecstatic about their homemade black pappardelle with shrimp and crabmeat. Our other friend had the veal chop and loved it. Tre Scalini does veal chops and veal filets (the nice thick ones) as well as anyplace we know - juicy, tender and delicious.

The desserts are limited currently; no gelato, though they did have sorbets. We shared a couple of tartuffos.

They have added some pleasant and efficient new people to the wait staff (unless they have been there and we just haven't seen them before.)

The four of us had a wonderful dinner and are glad we can keep Tre Scalini in our "BYOB favorites" rotation.

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  1. Thank you for your usual thorough review. It is really appreciated. I have been thinking of going there but wanted to wait to hear how they were doing in the new location. Again, your time on this board is appreciated more than you know.

    1. I've been thinking of heading to Tre Scalini. We have one full vegetarian in our dining party, will she find something to eat?

      1 Reply
      1. re: thicketdan

        They do a lot with mushrooms - if she likes mushrooms. The polenta with broccoli rabe is very good, and there is a great pasta with three kinds of mushrooms.
        She could also get the pappardelle or the angel hair pasta - or another one - without the seafood, just with garlic and oil - good stuff! (Or a red sauce, if she prefers.)
        There are a few salads that would work - one of them is the one with fennel and grapefruit or orange slices and a citrus vinagrette that is very good.
        I think she'll be okay.

      2. Any worthwhile fish dishes to sample at Tre Scalini? This is one of my parents favorite restaurants and I want to take them there for their anniversary... I love the branzino and soel at Raddichio and was curious if Tre Scalini had any dishes that were similar or better... any information is much appreciated.

        1 Reply
        1. re: jandrewmanne

          They have fish dishes, but I can't vouch for them since I always seem to end up with pasta or veal. Last night's special was branzino. They also had tuna and I think one other fish. The seafood was very good, but I don't remember any dish that was seafood alone. My husband's pasta had big, gorgeous shrimp and large chunks of crabmeat, and my pasta had crabmeat.
          The fish at Radicchio is my favorite, and so far no other place has quite matched it, though I have had excellent fish at Estia.


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HOME > Chowhound > Food Media & News >
Sep 7, 2007 02:19 PM

Winemakers Are Bozos In A Glass

According to Fred Franzia, the mastermind of Two Buck Chuck:

Gee, Fred sounds like my kind of drinking buddy.

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  1. This guy's winemaking is akin to being a chef at Frito-Lay. The product he puts out, while it can occasionally taste as good as any junk food, has very little to do with actual wine.

    5 Replies
    1. re: oolah

      Ok first of all Haut-Brion is in Bordeaux NOT Burgundy....wonder who made that mistake?!
      Fred is a clown and his wines reflect his style, no class, no pedigree and in bad taste most of the time. I dig finding a value as much as the next person but as someone that drinks wine every day I can not gag down that insipid, sweetish, flabby plonk. Oolah is right...it is exactly like junk food.

      1. re: bubbles4me

        Living in Wine Country and knowing enough people in wine societies who spend all their free time obsessing over wine, and being duped by 2 Buck at blind tastings... I'd be careful about being a little too smug.

        1. re: Eat_Nopal

          Been in the wine business for over 10 years and trust me people have tried to blind taste me on 2 buck chuck many times and it always gets a, "would not buy". I will happily kick down the extra cash and get a nice $10 Cotes du Rhone that has some flavor of place.

      2. re: oolah

        I dunno, I think it is actually wine, and while it may not be great wine, it's as good or better than most cheap wine made in California.

        I think it is perfectly laudable to question how overpriced US wine is. Why can I get such good wines for less than $10 from Spain, Italy and France despite the worthless US $? If Franzia puts the bad low-end wineries in CA out of business, more power to him. If some of them step up and make something actually worth drinking for $8-$10 a bottle, he has done a good deed.

        1. re: kenito799

          The EU subsidizes winegrowing which has led to a glut of unsold French, Spanish and Italian wine, this drives down prices at the bottom end.

          Most California wineries sell all the wine they make so they have no incentive to lower prices. If more people stop buying their wine and start buying good cheap wine from Europe or South America then California wine prices will drop. On the other hand there are some good values out of California these days; Cline California Syrah sells for $7.99 in my local wine shop - it is fantastic for that price.

      3. That article was hilarious. Franzia must stay up at night dreaming up new ways to annoy the pretentious vineyard owners who struggle to stay afloat while he laughs all the way to the bank.
        So they aren't fine wines. Big deal. How different is this from the traditional vin ordinaire that people have always enjoyed in Europe? Why can't Americans have reasonably priced versions of this made easily available?
        Two Buck Chuck was a gateway wine for a lot of people. Cheers for Franzia!

        1. Nice to read about a wacky, contrarian, anti-establishment type. Sounds like the nuns beat him a few too many times or the Jesuits at Santa Clara rode his ass. Any way, $2 buck chuck has probably helped the wine biz way more then any of the insiders would ever admit. Good for him.

          13 Replies
          1. re: ML8000

            You are so right. People don't start drinking wine at the $25 - $50 price point.
            If they hadn't become comfortable with including wine as part of their lives at the level that Frazier made possible, many of them never would have moved up to the more expensive, complex wines that his critics make. They should be sending this guy flowers and gifts. He opened up a market that didn't exist..

              1. re: MakingSense

                Right... and potato chips are a gateway to foie gras.

                Drinking bad cheap wine doesn't necessarily lead to drinking fine expensive wine. In fact, it usually leads to drinking more bad cheap wine. Not sure where you're drawing your assumptions from.

                I am totally for having an inexpensive American wine, but this stuff has more in common with cherry cola than wine. If it had been the first wine I'd had, it probably would have turned me off entirely.

                1. re: oolah

                  We're not talking Ripple or Thunderbird here. Some of Franzia's stuff has won blind taste tests which makes his critics even more insane. Nobody is arguing that this is fine wine, just decent quality wine that he can market for a value price. He makes no pretensions to anything more.

                  Not everybody who drinks wine cares about making a big deal out of it. Sometimes a glass of wine is just a glass of wine. It goes with Tuesday's meat loaf or Wednesday's baked chicken. Folks aren't talking about notes of this or that fruit or scents of whatever; they're talking about the notes their kid brought home from school or the dollars and cents to pay the plumber.
                  They're happy with top quality potato chips. Can't stand liver so have no reason to even try foie gras.
                  The Two Buck Chuck is fine by them. For a special occasion, they'll buy a special bottle. They would have never done that except that now wine is part of their life.

                  No one ever said that they would drink "fine expensive wine." Most people never do anywhere. They don't care that much. Why should America be different? Franzia has just opened up some new pleasures for more people. Why should that upset his critics so much?

                  1. re: MakingSense

                    Well, you implied it when you said "nobody starts out drinking $25-$50" wines. From that statement I inferred that you believe that people who drink 2-buck chuck end up drinking cases of Lafite by the end of the day. That's where I disagree.

                    I have no problem with 2-buck chuck or people who drink it -- theres certainly a big market for it. My problem is with Franzia making silly claims like "no wine is worth more than $10" and portraying himself as some kind of iconoclastic hero, when in fact he's one of the biggest industrial wine makers in all of California. I think he's doing a disservice to people by posturing like that.

                    Most of the wine I drink costs less than $25 -- it just doesn't happen to be 2BC.

                    1. re: oolah

                      People can start with simple wines that aren't rotgut and when they first begin drinking wine, they look for moderately priced bottles. If they ask advice, wine clerks who want their business advise enjoyable, approachable wines - not plonk, not expensive complex wines that they won't appreciate the value of.

                      Franzia is bombastic because he is having a grand time getting a rise out of the elitists. The people who enjoy his wine couldn't care less. The people who really appreciate fine wines know he's not going to make any difference in the real art of fine winemaking. Industrial winemaking won't affect that segment.
                      If what he does however brings competition and lowers the cost of some wines that might possibly have been priced artificially high, it's good for everyone.

                  2. re: oolah

                    None of the Charles Shaw wines I've tasted were anything like cherry cola. They were undistinguished and boring but dry, drinkable, and easily the best wines I've had in that price range. It's hard to find a better wine without spending more than three times as much.

                    1. re: Robert Lauriston

                      I agree, and cherry cola is indeed the flavor profile of Yellowtail and many other Australian and California wines, even some pricier ones. At least the 2BC I have tried did not taste like it was made for people who drink soda pop with every meal.

                    2. re: oolah

                      Liverwurst is the gateway to pate, and pate is the gateway to foie gras.

                      1. re: ML8000

                        People who badmouth 2 buck chuck remind me of Apple fanboys, we're just not tasteful enough to get it.

                        Geez folks, it's vin ordinaire, if you really don't like a bottle, take the empty back and TJ's will give you back your 2 bucks. I'm not going to be opening a $50 bottle with my five minute pasta on a weeknight.

                  3. re: ML8000

                    Bill Franzia isn't anti-establishment. He *is* the establishment.

                    1. re: Robert Lauriston

                      He's not part of the Napa Valley tastemakers establishment. In a capitalist sense, you're right and he says so much.

                      1. re: ML8000

                        Per Wine Business Monthly, Bronco was the fourth-largest U.S. wine company last year, and sold 22 million cases. That's not just about capitalism, it's also about taste--people choose to drink his wine.

                  4. Give it up on the "duped in blind tastings" already. 2 buck chuck has its place, but anyone that believes that the "blind" tastings that have 2 buck chuck placing well aren't reminiscent of his grape-swapping days doesn't know Fred all that well. That's right, some wine-makers deliver samples that aren't representative of those that they bottle. I firmly believe that Fred's been banging this whole, "oh, don't be a wine snob" drum quite successfully and is going to ride the gray train and will do whatever he needs to do to make as much money as possible. The man still makes a more expensive wine - if he's so convinced that super-cheap is the way to go, why does it still get made? Fred's a self-serving guy who was smart enough to get into Trader Joe's exclusively - this makes his cheap wine the holy grail of cheap wines to folks. If he got out of the exclusive deal, he'd be stuck with wines that are within a buck or two of his and just be another bottle of cheap wine with no story.

                    As far as blind-tastings at homes, parties or even wine shops go - well, you may not have been to many. When you're doing tastings with regular folks, the spit bucket is for one thing only - junk wine. I look back on some of my tasting journals (when I thought it would be helpful to remember), I laugh - the larger script, the semi-coherent half-sentences, the sort-of words ('YMGOOD, BUY!!!") - it all points to someone that's enjoying all of the wine. There's a point at which you could feed me anything from a 2 to a 200-bottle of wine and it will produce the same happy smile where you're convinced that I have just found my favorite bottle.

                    That being said, there's no perfect price point for wine. Anyone that has had more than 5 bottles of wine in their lives will know that price is not an indicator of how good wine will be - heck, this is the rule for anything in life. Since when has expensive ever meant that something will automatically be better than something cheaper?

                    But let's not kid ourselves. You can tell me that a BMW 3 Series and your Toyota Avalon are comparable. You can even tell me that the Mercedes C-Class and your Volkswagon Jetta are on equal footing. But when you start telling me that even the Camry and the Kia Rio are on equal footing, I'm going to call major BS. Just like 2BC and expensive wine, you can say that both cars will get you from point A to point B just fine. They'll both come from grapes and they'll both have alcohol (aka - they'll both have doors and a steering wheel and will be covered in something resembling steel on certain body parts). Beyond that, they'll start to differ. If you don't require certain appointments (oak aging, aging at all, older vines, etc.), then you'll be fine. However, if you do believe that certain things add to your "driving" experience, you'll seek those things out. This doesn't mean you won't be able to drive 2BC and be happy, but you'll be aware that there are better models out there when you want to enjoy yourself.

                    You may be perfectly happy with 2BC. But for goodness' sake, be happy with 2BC. If you're only happy if you're putting down more expensive wines and calling people stupid or "duped" then you're lying to yourself.

                    Keep in mind that the greatest thing about wine is the ability for wine to keep your food in that "happy place." I save my best reds for the best cuts of steak simply because I will forever be able to have that fantastic first taste of steak followed by a bold red over and over again as my palate gets to rock back and forth between fantastic flavors. If I'm having whatever, I can drink whatever - and that's the good thing about 2BC or any of the cheaper wines. If I'm making spaghetti sauce with ground round and Prego for a 20-minute dinner, a bold Sangiovese is a waste of money and my taste buds - nothing will compliment anything properly and I'll be disappointed in everything and wonder why I opened an expensive wine for nothing.

                    If one wants to demystify wine, I suggest anything put out by the Wine Brats. Fred is a businessman intent on selling you more of HIS wine and nothing more. The Wine Brats actually want you to love wine, no matter what the price.

                    36 Replies
                    1. re: Stephmo

                      Franzia's deal with Trader Joe's is more complex than just a business deal. Unique aspects of the two companies have allowed them to cut costs through vertical integration and streamlining the distribution process.

                      To put it another way, I don't think there's another wine company that could profitably produce that quality wine at that price point in that quantity, and I'm not sure there's another retailer that could make a profit selling it.

                      1. re: Stephmo

                        There seems to be a sense that the only choices are 2BC with take-out or a Sassicaia with a prime porterhouse. TBC works well on a number of levels, from modest snack to somethign resembling a real meal, and that's fine. Why should Franzia not want lots of folks to drink his wine? Most of us, I think, end up in between on most nights. I know I'll be usually be drinking a $9 aglianico with the sauce I'm making from san marzano tomatoes. There's an ocean of well-made, delicious, and distinctive wine right there between $2 and $25. Just look.

                        1. re: obob96

                          In California, I haven't found any delicious wine for under $6 in a few years. For everyday-drinking styles of wine I'm typically spending $8-15. And even in that price range I have to drink a lot of mediocre bottles to find a few delicious wines I want to buy by the case.

                          1. re: Robert Lauriston

                            RL, you have a good palate. You find everyday wines at moderate prices but more important to those who don't yet have your skill, they'll find learning experiences at the lower end. They'll discover those good wines as their taste improves, but they've got to drink a few mediocre specimens, maybe even a baaaad bottle or two, before they can tell a good one when they encounter it. Sometimes we learn more from our mistakes than from all the good choices we make. A journey.

                            1. re: MakingSense

                              I would highly recommend tasting stuff without knowing what it is... then deciding whether you like it or not. I recently tasted my first glass of a D'Yquiem and thought it was good but nothing specially. It was nice that I wasn't conditioned to believe it was "one of the best in the world" prior to having it... as I didn't know anything about it.

                              I wonder how many people's advanced palettes are really just the result of being told what is good, and then learning to identify it... and judging other stuff (not like it) to be inferior.

                              In the ideal world... you could try the same two wines everyday for a year without knowing what they are... then deciding which you liked better.

                              1. re: Eat_Nopal

                                Try posting THAT idea on General Topics and watch the fireworks!

                                1. re: MakingSense

                                  As an addenda to that, if you drink only two similar wines for a period of even a month or two, you would get quite familiar with them. Then you could realistically find the difference changing glassware does or does not make.

                                  1. re: yayadave

                                    Realistically, most people use the same old wine glasses all the time. They just pull them out of the cabinet or dishwasher. Or they set the table by what glasses look good with the rest of the settings they're using. Maybe the acrylic stems if they're out by the pool.
                                    It's only when people get really "into" wines that they start playing around with the variables like stemware. I hope they're not putting 2BC in Riedel - it would probably taste like UpChuck.

                                    1. re: yayadave

                                      Interesting you should ask...

                                      From the NYTimes this weekend:

                                      Do wineglasses make such a difference? And if so, how many are enough? I attended a Riedel seminar held recently at the company’s New York showroom to see for myself. It was led by Max Riedel.

                                      We started with a typically full-flavored California chardonnay, from Kendall Jackson. In Riedel’s Vinum Chardonnay glass, notes of tropical fruit wafted up and expanded lusciously in the mouth. We transferred the wine into the Vinum Sauvignon Blanc glass, where it seemed to lose depth. Creamy oak and vanilla overpowered the other flavors. It also seemed unpleasantly tannic.

                                      Finally, we poured the chardonnay into a “joker” glass — those miserly little wineglasses that you can barely fit your nose into. In this glass, alcohol burned on the nose, and the tropical fruit disappeared.

                                      A surprised murmur swept through the room.

                                      1. re: oolah

                                        Bad reporting (by a business section reporter, not the NYT's wine writer). Riedel-sponsored seminars are designed to sell their glasses. The article should have cited the independent laboratory tests that found people can't tell the difference. See "Shattered Myths" by Daniel Zwerdling in the August 2004 Gourmet.

                                        Here's a report on an amateur test with interesting results:

                                          1. re: Robert Lauriston

                                            That guy seems a little biased (he makes his own wine glass) but overall some interesting things to mull & research further. Particularly:

                                            "In 1998, Frederic Brochet, a researcher at the University of Bordeaux, fooled wine professionals into thinking that a white wine was a red wine simply by adding food coloring to it. They didn't stop there. The second part of the study was sampling two wines. The wine professionals were told the first one was an inexpensive wine. Then a second wine was brought and the professional were told it was very expensive. All the wine professionals preferred the second one. Of course, the first and the second wines were the same. Brochet stated that all of the information that people have, the label, the cost, the producer, etc. plays a huge role in their opinion of the wine. He supposes the same thing is happening with wine glasses. People prefer the Riedel because they cost more, they look good, they are delicate and wine experts and writers say they make a difference. But all the science says they don't. "

                                            1. re: Eat_Nopal

                                              That's CRAZY. I don't find it too hard to believe the cheap / expensive experiment, but I can't imagine confusing a red and white wine -- I wonder if there was other psychology at work too. I found a PDF of the full report in English in case anyone is interested (experiment described on pages 9-11) http://www.academie-amorim.com/us/lau...

                                              Of course expectations play a role, but it's odd that it's so one-sided. For example I recently was opened a relatively expensive burgundy and I was actually disappointed because it wasn't as *good* as I thought it would be. If someone had told me it was cheap swill, I would have enjoyed it more since I would have been pleasantly surprised with its quality.

                                              BTW, Brochet now works for Domaine Ampelidae, which makes a fantastic Sauvignon Blanc (Marigny Neuf) that retails for about $10. Clean, crisp, and lively. Great value :)

                                              1. re: oolah

                                                The subjects in the white-dyed-red study were enology students, not wine professionals:

                                              2. re: Eat_Nopal

                                                Makes perfect sense to me. Basically the wine label, the price/vintage (real or fake) amounts to packaging and people (professional or otherwise) pick up information from it.

                                                It sounds like the current vodka bottle craze, i.e., .25 cents spend on a cool looking bottle means the price can be upped to premium even though very few people can ever tell the difference.

                                                Which from below is the best, costs the most and has the most refined palette?

                                                1. re: ML8000

                                                  Of course the single estate Polish one HAAAAS to be superior by FAR. They government regulators wouldn't allow them to use such a cool bottle if it weren't the best... and of course its Single Estate that by itself denotes superior quality.

                                                    1. re: alanbarnes

                                                      Only fallowed with cow dung by organically fed heirloom draft horses.

                                                    2. re: Eat_Nopal

                                                      By actual count, Poland now has 18,367 half acre plots named "My Old Comrad Estate." Each one produce half case vodka each year.

                                                    3. re: ML8000

                                                      By law, vodka sold in the U.S. has to be neutral in taste.

                                                      Not that it is, but fussing over brands of vodka has one of the highest high snobbery-to-substance ratios of any drink preference.

                                                    4. re: Eat_Nopal

                                                      The best I've seen along those lines was one that Candid Camera did at a wine convention of some sort, with a tasting table of four glasses of wine. People tasted, found dramatic differences between one and the next... and all four were poured out of the same bottle.

                                                  1. re: oolah

                                                    All right Oolah. That's enough! You sound like Frazier's brother. Riedel is trying to sell wine glasses.

                                              3. re: Eat_Nopal

                                                I'd be interested in seeing what people would say too. I agree that it's nice to learn your own tastes without being influenced by what others think is good (ignorance is bliss, right?), but I've also found that knowledge about a subject helps you appreciate it more. And it's certainly true that other people's opinions can help enrich yours, even when you disagree.

                                                For example, I enjoy baseball more when I can understand which hitters and pitchers are regarded as the best and how they go about their craft, and I enjoy food more when I can understand which quality ingredients the chef used and how he crafted a particular dish. By the same token, I like to know when the wine I'm drinking is well-regarded and when it's not. I like to think my judgment is strong enough that it won't unduly influence me, but I'm willing to risk the corruption for the sake of knowing.

                                                1. re: Eat_Nopal

                                                  At the risk of parroting the NYTimes entirely too much, wanted to post one more link that addresses your comment above. I think Asimov expresses what I was trying to say well -- knowing about wine can of course cause bias, but it also enriches the experience. I totally respect your position -- just wanted to offer a different perspective.

                                                2. re: MakingSense

                                                  Sure, it's important to taste all sorts of wines to learn what you like.

                                                  I was just responding to the claim that there's "an ocean of well-made, delicious, and distinctive wine ... between $2 and $25." You don't have to be a very experienced wine drinker to learn that there's not much distinctive (at least not in a good way) at the bottom of that price range.

                                                  1. re: Robert Lauriston

                                                    I think there's a huge market out there that didn't exist a decade or two ago - the market that Franzia serves - that by and large doesn't need, and maybe not even care about, "distinctive" wines, although some of them will move up to that category. Marketing efforts have made it an agreeable part of "lifestyle" for many and it's an adjunct to the middle class food scene. As people talked about above, they don't need Riedel stemware. The glassware from Bed, Bath and Beyond looks nice on their tables.
                                                    If they enjoy life and Fred Franzia makes that possible, it's fine by me. I doubt it has much effect on the high end except some of the science and technology may benefit everyone but that's another topic....

                                                    1. re: MakingSense

                                                      As an occasional wine drinker - never spent more than 12 bucks - is there any comparison to be made with beer here? Perhaps the trend is in the other direction, where someone learning about wine, but without the means to spend $25-50 on any 1 liter beverage might not realize how satisfying wine can be?

                                                      I didn't drink much beer at all until about 7-8 years ago because I thought it was junky tasting. I only had experience with Coors, Bud, etc and it was nasty.

                                                      Then I had the pleasure of trying some local micro-brews along with some good German and Dutch beers. Within a year or so, I developed a taste for a few of the less expensive beers (though still hate Coors and Bud).

                                                      Now, I'm part of the market for beer, and will usually spend $20-25 a case, but occasionally will order a more expensive beer when eating out.

                                                      Could this happen with wine as well?

                                                      1. re: GDSinPA

                                                        I don't see how drawing more consumers in at any level can hurt the wine industry. If people get used to drinking wine inevitably at least some of them will start to look for better quality stuff and continue to increase their spending on wine.

                                                        1. re: GDSinPA

                                                          Cheap wine is not as aggressively flavorless as Coors or Budweiser.

                                                          Cheap or expensive, wine is made from grapes. Good beer is made from barley; Bud is made from rice, corn, and wheat.

                                                          1. re: Robert Lauriston

                                                            "aggressively flavorless"
                                                            Good point. Fantastic word combination there - almost an oxymoron, but it works!

                                                            1. re: GDSinPA

                                                              Yeah, I thought that whole post by RL was great, very pure. Sorta "aggressively the color of water." An essay in three sentences.

                                                        2. re: MakingSense

                                                          nothing wrong with glass ware from Bed,bath and Beyond for wine.One doesn't need expensive crystal to drink wine from.My grandfather and his siblings grew up with a pitcher of wine on the table ,and just drank it no doubt from regular glassware. More than likely it was wine made by my great grandfather,who brought the skill from Germany,since he had relatives there who owned vineyards I was told.
                                                          We didn't have wine much growing up,except for special occassions.
                                                          Usually my dad would by Blue Nun,and Webers or Zellar Schwarzkatz.
                                                          Champagne for New Years was Taylor,or Mum's.Sometimes he'd get
                                                          Martini and Rossi or other italian wine.
                                                          I don't think he ever bought anything over twenty dollars,if that much.Weber's he bought because the family drank it.Most of the wine we did have seemed to be mainly german and some italian.
                                                          I'm not a wine snob.It is in the taste and flavour for me.I would prefer a wine that costs $5.00 over one that costs $50.00,if the $5 one has the better flavour.Even the local supermarket has wines you can taste.
                                                          Yes,the market Franzia caters to doesn't care about distintive wines.many of these people anyways are beer and liquor drinkers.Wine is for like New Years and weddings or anniverseires(Sorry),not for everyday,like beer.
                                                          Drawing more consumers in I would think would sell more wine,though whether the average person will start to pay for more high end wines remains to be seen.

                                                          1. re: HollyDolly

                                                            Holly, couldn't agree with you more about BB&B glasses. Great value. So are lots of others that many people use to set lovely tables or enjoy for entertaining. My daughters and I have cases of different types of glasses that we share so we never have to use plastic for any party of any size. We also use heirloom and new crystal too. Frankly, I think tumblers, Italian-style, under the trees or on the kitchen table are charming for casual meals and I hate it when people get snotty about it. Spending your money on Riedel or whatever is your choice, so leave others alone about theirs.
                                                            Wine should be part of enjoying life just as our families did. If some want to move on to the study of it and finer wines, I'm sure they'll find rewards. We'll all gain.

                                                            1. re: HollyDolly

                                                              "Yes,the market Franzia caters to doesn't care about distintive wines.many of these people anyways are beer and liquor drinkers.Wine is for like New Years and weddings or anniverseires(Sorry),not for everyday,like beer."

                                                              Bad, bad assumption.... lots of people here in wine country have 2 buck chuck as an everyday wine I even when they have a 200 bottle cellar with some interesting stuff for special occassions... or maybe the people I know are just cheap.

                                                          2. re: Robert Lauriston

                                                            Well, yeah, not much distinction at $2, but often somethig well or decebntly made. At mid-point--say, from $10-$14--I find it fairly easy to land on distinctive wines, whether it's a Corbieres vin gris or a spicy Rosso Piceno. I'm also lucky living in New York, with so many retail choices.

                                                  2. Check out the NY Times today. There's an article about wines under $10. There are over 450 comments posted to it and no one can say enough about Chuck.


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HOME > Chowhound > Home Cooking >
May 14, 2008 07:20 PM

Wok cooking : hotter equals better?

Dabbling around here and there in wok cooking, I've gotten the perception that the general consensus about cooking in a wok (at least for stir frying) is that the hotter and faster you can cook food without burning it to a crisp, the better it is, and the more "wok hei" it has. It seems this way since I've seen lots of videos of wok chefs putting the rounded piece of metal over enormous swirling jet flames and food spontaneously igniting while stirring. Of course I have alot of practicing to do before I can get to that level and cook food fast enough without burning it.

However, I have a feeling the adage that "hotter is better" seems to be a little oversimplified. Am I anywhere close?

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  1. I'm just a home cook, so take this for what it's worth. But when you're cooking on a typical residential range, getting enough heat to the pan is the biggest obstacle to making good stir-fry. Dishes tend to steam slowly as all the moisture seeps out of the ingredients. Not tasty.

    Now if you have access to Chinese-restaurant-grade firepower, then controlling the heat (instead of just maximizing it) becomes an issue. I have 30k and 60k btu burners set up on my patio, and although I'm a long way from mastering the art of the stir fry, the results are consistently better than anything I've been able to do inside. Spontaneous combustion and all.

    So in answer to your question, "hotter is better" is a fair statement for stir frying on a residential cooktop. But it's probably an oversimplification once the equipment improves.

    6 Replies
    1. re: alanbarnes

      I just wanted to add my own personal experience this week, regarding more heat and Wok cooking. I did a batch of fried rice over a white hot charcoal fire in a traditional Thai portable stove, which is basically a clay-lined bucket which is meant for cooking in a round bottomed pan like a wok. Simple but effective. Previously, I never had much success in getting that wonderful, almost caramelized (but not scorched) quality to the rice on a normal stove burner. With the charcoal fire, which I bet you could have forged metal in, I had tremendous success, but it required extremely quick action, and organization to keep things moving while ingredients were added so as not to completely blacken and scorch something.
      That said, yes, the more heat the better, but with it goes increased demand for good technique, which I am still working on!

      1. re: klieglight2

        I've heard very good results from charcoal stoves, mostly because it heats the entire bottom with a steady even heat. Do you know here to get one of those stoves?

        I've been having alot of trouble with my propane burner because it produces hot spots. Usually that shouldn't be a problem since the stirring of the food stops it from burning, but the problem is that when you preheat the wok, the hot spots start to burn off the seasoning. Also, the food sometimes sticks, especially with starch products, which is such a pain.

        They say the perfect test to see if your pan is at optimal temperature and has the perfect seasoning is to drop a little water in the pan. It should form into a perfect little motionless bead that just slides along the pan. It is actually the water droplet floating on its own steam!

        1. re: klieglight2

          kleiglight, is your thai bucket stove like this one?: http://www.crest.org/discussiongroups...

          could you use it like a tandoor for meats on skewers?

          1. re: alkapal

            Alkapal and takadi, that stove is pretty much the same as mine, although it seems like numerous cultures around the world have used very similar portable cooking appliances.
            I think I may have posted this in a thread a while ago re: wok cooking over charcoal, but I got my stove here:

            Works great, and cheap. The heat is absolutely blistering with a good fire using lump charcoal, but very even. Due to the wide heating area, the "hot spot" may extend up the sides of the wok more than you are used to.
            Disclaimer, of course, do this outside only, but I have a circa 1700's working walk in fireplace in the kitchen that I use it in when the weather is bad.

            (you could do meat on skewers with a smaller fire, and perhaps a grill put overtop if necessary, a-la-yakitori, but an actual tandoor is a deep, barrel shaped clay oven, I believe)

            1. re: klieglight2

              Great information. The item you referenced looks perfect and I've ordered the one that is 12" wide. What size wok do you recommend using? I have a very large steel wok. It is really too large and unwieldy to use. I also have a smaller, flat bottomed one that I use on my stove, but I'm concerned that the non-stick coating on it will scorch right off when subjected to some real heat.

              1. re: scoooter5

                I think my wok is a fairly cheap, ancient 15" hammered carbon steel model with a single (pan style) handle, which I strongly prefer over the small loop style handles found on some woks, so you can have something cool to hold on to while vigorously stirring etc. I would certainly caution against the non-stick wok, as the coating probably would not hold up, as you suggest. With a well seasoned steel wok, I have not had things stick at all with a little bit of care.
                I agree with the suggestions as far as technique is concerned, as discussed further down in this thread, but believe me, I am still learning myself!

      2. Yes, hotter is better. But with standard home equipment a work around that gives pretty good results is to do each ingredient separately, then combine at the end.
        Cook the meat and remove from pan. Do dense veggies and remove from pan. Do light veggies last, then quickly add other ingredients back in.

        1 Reply
        1. re: hannaone

          While cooking with the Fuchsia Dunlop books last month, this was the technique that worked the best for us. The mise en place was key.

        2. Yes.

          Cooking with a wok is the stir-fry equivalent of searing meat on a hot grill.

          1. I was just looking through last month's Gourmet magazine in which cooking vacations are featured. One of the ones on Asian food said that one of the tricks to cooking with a wok is to let it heat way, way up, then put in the oil and immediately turn down the flame. Unfortunately, that's all it said because the piece was more about the vacation than the techniqes used but maybe this will give you some good ideas.

            3 Replies
            1. re: erzuli72

              The problem with letting it preheat up all the way is that the seasoning flakes right off. Are woks that are used in such high heat applications not even meant of have seasoning?

              1. re: takadi

                There should be no flaking, at least not with a quality wok.

                1. re: takadi

                  On a big burner, "preheat" takes but a few seconds. More likely, you'll be wanting to throw on some water to cool off the wok a bit.

                  Wok should not be hot enough to burn off seasoning. A few seconds to heat, a few seconds to heat the oil after you throw it in, etc.

                  Watch a professional chef at work:
                  (and other videos by the same poster

                  Not sure what a "quality wok" is. Anything cheap you can get in Chinatown is what the restaurants use - carbon or stainless.

              2. Here's a thread from the Cookware board that has some helpful suggestions for wok cooking outdoors over high heat.


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HOME > Chowhound > General Tristate Archive >
Sep 17, 2008 08:54 AM

Natural on Seven Street in Garden City?

The old Food Basket had a sign installed above it recently. Rumor had it that some organic market would be opening in it's place.

GC Guy - you have any details?

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  1. Trying to get details,but yes...organic, perhaps a bit "gourmet"is what I've heard. Don't know, I guess we'll see soon. Another market...I don't know. Hope it's good.


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HOME > Chowhound > Ontario (inc. Toronto) >
Dec 28, 2008 06:25 AM

The Keg - Yonge and Eg

good old mom and dad, they sent me some keg gift certificates for xmas. i don't go that often in t.o, but was wondering which location is best? i live closest to the somewhat new yonge and eglinton location. mansion is ok..i have been before a few years back but the wait can be trying. i went to the york street one for drinks once. i did not mind it but was wondering if anyone has feedback on the yonge-eg one.

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  1. Only feedback I have is second hand... some friends in the new Minto tower adjoining the Yonge and Eg Keg suggested that they won't take weekend reservations, which our friends found quite frustrating (as you said, the wait was trying). Once in, however, they reported the food was same quality as ever (reliable and satisfying, but not Harbour 60). Decor looks much like York Street.

    1. I got some keg cards and exchanged them on a classifieds site for cards that I wanted, just a thought in case you weren't interested in eating there.

      1. I've been to that location as well as the one on York St. I frequent York one more, not by choice, but because of work/clients. I actually haven't had a full meal at the Yonge-Eg location because that specific day, my friends and I decided to order a bunch of appetizers. Regardless, I found it to be pretty decent, if not better than the York location.

        In general, I am just really sick of the Keg (reminds me of work). But if I have to go, I wouldn't mind trying the Yonge-Eg location again. Hope this helps.

        1. I agree. Similar to the York Street (which I find the best outlet in the chain). So pretty good as a second choice.


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HOME > Chowhound > Prairie Provinces >
Jun 3, 2009 05:15 AM

Cheap Eats in Calgary?

Coming to Calgary from Montreal and looking for some cheap places to eat at. I am open to try anything....all cuisines across the board. There are no picky eaters in our group however one person doesn't eat pork.

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  1. You can always count on shawarma places to not bring the swine and to be cheap to boot- I know Montreal is crawling with great shawarma but so is Calgary and the style here is different- as in BIGGER- some of my faves include Shawarma Knight on 14th St in the Beltline, Shawarma Station (best shish tawouk) on 10 st in Kensington, Tazza on 1st Ave in Bridgeland just east of all the new stuff in The Bridges project, and Jimmy's which has three locations, on on 20th Ave NW sort of between downtown and U of C, one in Rocky Mountain Court condos at 6th Ave and McLeod Tr downtown, and one on 4th St SW across from Sonystyle at about 13 Ave called "Mediterranea." HUGE and delicious shawarma.

    Another great option here is Vietnamese, which does entail pork but it's easily avoidable. Like shawarma, Calgary's spin on banh mi is always on the huge side (unlike the little $2 ones you can get in Toronto and I assume in Montreal, which I admit are more authentic but you still should sample the Calgary spin on them); my faves are Thi Thi across from the Harry Hays Fed Bdlg in the NE corner of Chinatown (itself full of superb cheap eats) and the other is Kim Anh on 17th Ave on the NORTH side of the street, at 5th St SW. 17th is a salubrious street in general and you'll find lots of other diversions there.

    Apart from banh mi there are viet noodle houses in every corner of the city but I'll leave the discussion to others now.

    9 Replies
    1. re: John Manzo

      Thanks... John. Some great suggestions....I will definitely try some of your spots. The shawarma sounds very good....I am looking forward to sampling that one. Just a side question....is there prov. sales taxes on food in AB? Most of the vietnamese places I go to in Montreal have the taxes (GST and PST) included in their prices.

      1. re: ddmark

        There is no provincial tax, but you will pretty much always need to pay GST on top of the listed prices.

        I have some suggestions for 17th Avenue SW:
        Tubby Dog (they have beef dogs and veggie dogs): 1022 17th Ave SW, http://www.tubbydog.net
        Thai Tai (banh mi): 615 17th Ave SW, http://www.thaitaisub.com
        The Ship & Anchor (a pub with decent, cheap food): 534 17th Ave SW, http://www.shipandanchor.com
        Sammy's (shawarma): 1235 17 Ave SW. There's no seating at Sammy's, just a counter you can stand at.

        1. re: 23skidoo

          There are 3 seats at Sammy's and there are two 2-person tables outside for the summer.

          1. re: 23skidoo

            if you're going to recommend viet subs, you should be pointing towards Thi Thi, and NO WHERE ELSE! hands down the best viet subs in the city. period. http://calgary.wikia.com/wiki/Thi_Thi...

            1. re: nonlinear

              so how many and which Viet Sub places have you gone to?

              1. re: chewy_bakah

                Thi Thi is the best. Oh, there's lots of good and even very good ones around town. But Thi Thi is the best.

        2. re: John Manzo

          i agree about the schwarmas, although of those manzo mentioned, i've only been to Jimmy's and tazza - both of which are much better than you would find at a typical deli in Calgary. I much prefer tazza, however, since it consists of MUCH higher quality ingredients and is better spiced. also, jimmy's makes their sandwiches WAY TOO BIG and they are very, very expensive - i believe a medium now exceeds $10!!!!! if you go there, but sure to get a small. also, the last time i went to jimmy's they had pre-cut the chicken and left it to sit in a warmer in a bunch of fat/oil, and it was probably the greasiest thing i've ever tried to eat in my life (/me pukes).

          1. re: nonlinear

            I just avoid Jimmy's A&A altogether.

            1. re: nonlinear

              These days my fave shawarma is a toss-up between Shawarma Knight (I can't get over what a beautiful thing their double-wrapped shawarma are- if you don't know what I mean check it our) and Shawarma Station on a good day.

              For donair- Sammy's, no contest.

          2. There is some decent Chinese food in Calgary, mostly Cantonese-style.

            Try Calgary Court (119 2nd Ave SE) in our little Chinatown for a pretty authentic Hong Kong-style café experience (I don't know--are there many of these in Montreal?). Calgary Court has daily specials on the back of the menu. The breakfast combo can be a lot of food.

            Gee Gong Restaurant (206 Centre Street SE) has very competent Cantonese and very reasonably-priced "Peking Duck." Their Hong Kong-style BBQ butcher is quite good, too--great for takeaway.

            Hans Restaurant (116 - 303 Centre Street SW; inside a little mall that has a Thai Tai location on the corner) has delicious Szechuan-by-way-of-Taiwan. Prices are a little higher, but I've always found their dishes quite filling. This is mostly quite spicy food. I would mention to the waitress about excluding pork since some of their dishes have it despite not saying that on the menu.

            3 Replies
            1. re: aktivistin

              Places like Calgary Court and Sun Chiu Kee are excellent suggestions- I have a friend who moved to Mtl from Cgy and he says that these places don't exist in Montreal- remember that Calgary has about 4 times the population of Chinese of Mtl, per capita, so Chinese may be a definite priority for the OP.

              1. re: aktivistin

                Gee Gong and Hans are both lunchtime faves for me! (Haven't tried Calgary Court.)

                For vietnamese, try Pho Hoai on 3rd Ave downtown. Mekong on 17th in Forest Lawn is worth visiting too.

                1. re: aktivistin

                  I have to say that the best Chinese in the city is the Golden Inn, although not cheep/cheep (around 16-18/dish) the portions are Huge and made with fresh delicious ingredients....the salt and pepper squid is amazing! Two dishes and some rice would easily feed 4 people and they give you free tea which they fill up quickly.

                  Golden Inn Restaurant
                  190 Spokane St, Kimberley, BC V1A2E4, CA

                2. I will be in Calgary (first time and very excited) on the 24th of June for 5 days and will report back after the trip. I just hope I have enough time to check out most of the suggested places as well as making a trip to Banff (definitely going to put up a few Banh mi for the trip). I recently spoke to a co-worker who mentioned something about sushi served on a model train in Banff....I will have to check that out as well. Hope the sushi is good.

                  Thanks to all for the great suggestions (and I love this country from end to end!!!)

                  1 Reply
                  1. re: ddmark

                    if you're going to banh mi thi thi and picking up some banh mi for the road, make sure to ask for 'no oven'. They'll pack the veges separate from the sandwich and wrap it up in cling wrap instead of toasting it and putting it into paper. It'll hold up way better for the road ;)

                  2. The original comment has been removed


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HOME > Chowhound > Florida >
Oct 2, 2009 11:59 PM

Barbara Jean's in Ponte Vedra?

Have any of you chowhounds eaten at this restaurant? I've read some rave reviews in magazines.. Apparently, they are especially known for their She-Crab Soup and crab cakes.

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  1. BJs is a mini- chain with a few places up and down the coast. We go to the one on Amelia Island. They are more or less Georgia home cooking places. The food is generally good and plentiful. Not everything is great (eg the meatloaf) but the place is reliably good. I find the crab cakes OK, better than average I guess, but I'm not a big crabcake guy.

    1 Reply
    1. re: gfweb1

      gf, thanks for your impressions! I had read that they had a restaurant on Amelia Island and another further up the coast,, as well as the Ponte Vedra location.


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HOME > Chowhound > Home Cooking >
Feb 16, 2010 06:20 AM

best cookbook for the cooking of louisiana/ new orleans?

any thoughts for this New Yorker who wants to get his louisiana cooking on?

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  1. My favorite New Orleans cookbook is the classic by the recently deceased Richard Collin and his late wife, Rima. The recipes are accessible and very easy to follow. This is the book I always give to folks who want to try New Orleans cooking. I also like La Bouche Creole by Leon Soniat.

    John Besh's recent My New Orleans is a huge, beautiful book, as much a love letter to the area as a cookbook. I've cooked only two of the recipes, so I don't have a lot of practical experience with it. But it is lovely.

    As for "Louisiana" cooking (the cooking of South Louisiana is pretty distinct from that of the northern part of the state), I'm guessing you're probably thinking more along the lines of Cajun cooking, and for that the standard is Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen, currently the COTM. I learned how to make roux and gumbo and many other standards from it and swear by it, despite its many peculiarities ( most of which are discussed in the current COTM threads, which you may find helpful). LK includes a lot of classic Cajun dishes as well as some New Orleans standards, but there are also many fancied-up (deliciously so) versions of the Cajun standards as well as cajunized versions of American standards. Warning: Prudhomme's recipes call for copious amounts of fat, which can easily--and without flavor sacrifice--be reduced. John Folse's Encyclopedia of Cajun and Creole Cuisine is another weighty tome, and while I've never cooked from it, cooks I respect love it.

    12 Replies
    1. re: nomadchowwoman

      Paul Prudhomme's book is still wonderful for Cajun. For Creole, I love any of Leah Chase's books, and "The 100 Best Dishes in Louisiana History." John Folse's book is excellent, but huge.

      1. re: nomadchowwoman

        I'm sorry to hear of Richard and Rima Collin's demise. I always loved the New Orleans Cookbook; it was the first "true" New Orleans cookbook I ever purchased. I also recommend it and second the accessibility and "easy to follow" opinions.

        Paul Prudhomme is still the king of Cajun and his Louisiana Kitchen will definitely get anyone started.

        1. re: nomadchowwoman

          I know I'm late to the table on this one.
          I've just recently picked up the book by Chef Besh and am looking forward to sitting down and reading through it.
          Have you made many of the recipes since this last post almost a year ago?

          I also love this one from Brennan's.

          1. re: grnidkjun

            Since the thread is revived...Real Cajun by Donald Link. It reads really well, and I am teetering on purchase...anyone cooked from it? Feels contemporary and traditional at the same time...

            1. re: pitu

              I haven't, but I am a fan of his restaurants. I thought the book looked really good, and I bought it for my brother, who craves Cajun food, for Christmas. He told me in an e-mail last week that he really likes it and has been cooking from it (I think he made both gumbo and etouffee) although he was having trouble finding the proper ingredienst in Denver.

              1. re: pitu

                What a wonderful cookbook. To date, I've made the sausage stuffed chicken thighs, his decadent bread pudding and the old school chicken and sausage jambalaya, which is among the best things I've ever cooked out of a book. Definitely buy this.

                1. re: Mr Bigglesworth

                  chicken and sausage jambalaya is the thing I made from the book when I had it out from the library - loved it

                  1. re: pitu

                    This dish alone is worth the cost of the book. I crave it constantly.

              2. re: grnidkjun

                Hi there grnidkjun--I did love reading through this book, and I love showing it to people, but I haven't cooked a whole lot out of it. Everything I've tried has been good so far, and there are several more recipes I want to take a crack at.
                I cooked a few recipes, trying to recreate experiences. The most spectacular was "Momma Rochelle's Stuffed Quail Gumbo," which I used to always get at La Provence (before Besh owned it). I had tried to do this, without a recipe, years ago, in Michigan, and it came out great. But, with recipe in hand, I made it again last summer (in Michigan, where for some reason it's easier to find the boned quail), and it was much more like the real thing. A fair amount of work but delicious.
                A few months ago, I also made the Fall Greens Salad w/Pumpkin Seed Brittle, something we always order at Restaurant August . It, too, was a bit of effort for a salad, but it was delicious, and we were able to make several salads once I'd made the brittle and the dressing.
                I've also made a quail-chanterelle salad, and I used his recipe for horseradish-rubbed standing rib roast this past Christmas. Other than that, I've only used the recipes for spinach madeleine and trout amandine and meuniere. (His remoulade sauce recipe and his peach jam recipe are almost exactly like recipes I already had been using, so I guess they don't count.)

                I don't have the Brennan Seafood Book, but I've been tempted to buy it. We eat at Ralph Brennan's restaurants often. If their recipe for BBQ shrimp is there, that alone would probably make the book worthwhile.

                1. re: nomadchowwoman

                  The recipe for the shrimp is on the web site and it is outstanding and so easy. The Brennan's recipe for Crawfish Ettouffee is always a hit as well.
                  I can't get fresh crawfish here so have to use frozen. Both of these dishes I've made many times and everyone always loves them.

                  1. re: grnidkjun

                    I often use frozen crawfish tails myself. As long as they're from Louisiana, I'm fine w/the frozen--and have never noticed any difference in etouffee.

            2. "Cookin' Up A Storm" is a nice volume from the Times-Picayune, recipes that ran in the paper before Katrina. It's a nice contemporary survey.

              1 Reply
              1. re: pitu

                I have to agree. I bought this a few weeks back and have had great success with it. Not just good to read, but good to cook out of.

              2. Justin Wilson's books have always done me right. Made a feast from his recipes 22 years ago as a teen and have loved them ever since.

                1 Reply
                1. re: dcfb

                  Justin Wilson's Homegrown Louisiana Cooking was the first one I picked up. I used to watch his show many years before and when I wanted to start making gumbo, felt he was the go to guy. I still use the book a lot but have since picked up Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen and Heaven on Seven books. Justin and Paul are the two I use most with extremely great results!

                2. John Folse, "Encyclopedia of Creole and Cajun Cuisine."

                  7 Replies
                  1. re: Ernie Diamond

                    That book is incredibly beautiful - I took a browse through it at Kitchen Arts & Letters. Would love to own it. I looked at Cookin' Up a Storm at the same time, and thought it had a lot of recipes for dishes one doesn't traditionally associate with Louisiana/New Orleans.

                    1. re: MMRuth

                      I looked at Cookin' Up a Storm at the same time, and thought it had a lot of recipes for dishes one doesn't traditionally associate with Louisiana/New Orleans.

                      Seeing a recipe for Sauerbraten, followed by Osso Bucco, Bruccioloni, and then Pork Chops with Turnips, and Rabbit or Squirrel Sauce Piquant may be a bit confusing until one remembers the distant past and present day influence of the Italians, German's and others who have contributed to the foodways of the area...HTH

                    2. re: Ernie Diamond

                      I have to agree about Chef Folse's "Encyclopedia". I have a personalized copy (long story) and Chef Folse speaks of "South Louisiana cooking" in his note.

                      That seems to fit the OP's request to a tee.

                      If you can see your way clear to investing in this tome, please consider it! It's wonderful.

                      However, "River Road", "Talk About Good", anything by Leon Soniat cannot be overlooked.

                      I have WAY too many books in this genre to be able to choose!

                      (And here's to the Collins' for forging the trail!)

                      1. re: Monch

                        Love Folse's Encyclopeida. What an incredible read of food and history.

                        1. re: FoodChic

                          Just looked at it.

                          What other book, of similar value, gives you a 5-pound recipe for andouille on one page and starts the next with "50 pounds of ground pork butt" for the following recipe.

                          Does anyone have any input about his "After the Hunt" book?

                          I'm not a sportsman, but if it's worth a look, I'll consider the purchase.

                      2. "River Road Recipes" by the Junior League of Baton Rouge is in a class by itself.

                        7 Replies
                        1. re: grampart

                          I second the River Road Recipes!! Wonderful book- even if you don't cook from it, it's well worth it in terms of entertainment! (But the recipes are great too).

                          1. re: happybellynh

                            wondering what recipes you particularly recommend in this book. It has sat on my shelf for years without being used and I am starting to feel I have too many books in that category.

                          2. re: grampart

                            I was in New Orleans a few weeks ago and my colleague recommended the River Road series (along with the John Folse book). She said the second River Road was the best, but I haven't been able to find it.

                            I stumbled across the first one at a used book store and gladly picked it up. Great, straightforward recipes.

                            1. re: grampart

                              The problem with community cookbooks is figuring out which recipes are "the good ones."

                              1. re: grampart

                                I totally agree with the recommendation for River Road Recipes. All of them are excellent. I have never made anything out of RRR's that was not great.

                                1. re: grampart

                                  I agree with everyone else as well. I picked it up on a lark and was very pleased with it.

                                  1. re: Crockett67

                                    add me to the fan base of river road recipes.


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HOME > Chowhound > Outer Boroughs >
Apr 16, 2010 08:20 PM

West African market?

Anyone know of a West African market where I can buy meat?

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  1. There are many. Do you have a borough or neighborhood in mind?

    2 Replies
    1. re: DaveCook

      Not really. Just looking for the biggest/most plentiful one? And not halal. It went up to 116th in Harlem and most of the markets were halal. If you have a few suggestions, that would be great.

      1. re: sumouthi10

        The largest market that sells meat but isn't halal, and isn't near my home neighborhood? I'll need to think on that. Would you share your reason for seeking out a non-halal meat market?


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HOME > Chowhound > U.K./Ireland >
Aug 22, 2010 03:19 AM

Lupita (london)

Last night my husband and I went to Lupita, the new mexican restaurant near Charring Cross. You can see the menu at http://www.lupita.co.uk/. Overall, it was good, but not spectacular. The decor is very clean with some industrial (raw concrete blocks) and rustic (not very neatly stacked dark wood) elements. Concept designer probably sold it as 'modesty funky.' Nothing about the decor says "mexican restaurant" which I think is kinda refreshing. We went around 7:30pm on Saturday night. It was busy but not full. They have been open for a week.

For starters, we had the Guacamole Artesanal (they make it at the table). It was nice, but could have used more lime. Nothing you can't make at home. The Cebollitas Cambray Preparadas were quite yummy. They were fresh (not dried) onions that had been grilled until soft and sauced with Worcestershire sauce. Simple, but very yummy. The Totopos with salsa (v) confused us a bit. The tortilla chips were not homemade. This is one area that they could really improve upon. The salsa was warm, as in had been heated up and served still steamy. I've never had warm salsa before. I'm going to have to read up Diana Kennedy's opinion of it. Googling has lead me to a chowhound post where there are mixed opinions.

The tacos we had were pretty amazing. They were out of Rajas con Papas Queso y Crema. My Pastor taco had very good pork and the spot on combination of pineapple, onion and coriander. Just to give you an idea of the portions, for £3.95, I got 2 10cm soft corn tortillas. Our Nopales tacos were also very satisfying. We think the cactus was pickled and tinned. Nice flavor, though. Once or twice in the past 6 years, we've had fresh cactus at Taqueria.

Our quesadillas were so-so. We very much enjoyed the Huitlacoche. I think this is the second time I've ever had it and was very excited to see it on a UK menu. Our Flor de Calabaza had too much cheese. I love squash blossoms and too much cheese over powers their delicate flavor. These were on flour tortillas that were a bit bigger than the corn ones used for tacos. Again, 2 quesadillas a serving.

In retrospect we should have had a flan and an arroz con leche for dessert, but instead we each had 2 arroz con leche. It was served with a really amazing clove and vanilla syrup. The rice had a nice al dente bite that I can never replicate. Our margaritas were not very strong, but well flavoured. Our bill came to £50.

There are a few teething problems in terms of service, but I'm assuming that they will tighten those up. Everybody was very friendly. I remember having one or two phenomenal meals at Taqueria years ago that far surpass this one, but otherwise would rank this above our experiences at Green and Black and Wahaca. I also hope that they add some aqua frescas and horchata to the menu.

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  1. Nice report, I'll have to keep this place in mind. Is it the type of place you could have a cheap(ish) lunch of just tacos? Or is it more of a sit-down, formal type of feel?

    4 Replies
    1. re: Dave MP

      I, a young woman of indeterminable age and status, would feel absolutely welcome here on my own for lunch. It is quite casual. One could spend under £10 and be full if they avoided alcohol. Their tortas, the bewildered couple next to us ordered one, look quite filling. I'd be very interested in what other think of the place.

      1. re: relizabeth

        Went there on Friday - had a taco with Pork Royal - pork a bit dry like it had been sitting around - salsa was good and menu interesting was in a rush so only had a snack - good place to sit at the bar and people watch - so okay for lone diners - guy at waterloo better though

        1. re: bleep75

          What is Pork Royal? I don't see it on their menu.

          1. re: r.vacapinta

            having a pulp fiction moment - it was the taco carnitas - sure i read somewhere they called it pork royale.

    2. We were very excited to try the place, having felt just ever so slightly deprived of good Mexican cuisine. If this meant slogging through heavy rain for our fix, so be it.

      The menu is definitely Mex-Mex rather than Tex-Mex, and more taqueria than restaurant. Basically this means that one dish each would not make a satisfying meal. But a nice selection of things to share fit the bill nicely, none of us left unsatisfied.

      We have to agree with the original post on the guacamole and the chips. The guacamole was fine but at £7 a pop I could do just as well for a lot less at home.

      The daughter had tacos de carnitas, and although she only allowed us a small taste they were better than just fine. We shared a quesadilla lupita (potato, mushroom and squash flower) and a special dish they call a volcan. These were just fine, but the real standouts here were the sides. Chiles toreados were sublime: roasted chiles with onion and lime served as a warm salad. The chiles were as hot as you could desire and the combination was delightful, not like anything I have had before. The nopales salad was a good counterpoint, rich and slightly sweet to offset the hot.

      Desserts were excellent, arroz con leche and flan simply prepared and nicely presented. The whole satisfying dinner with drinks came to £51.

      We chatted a bit with the people, who promise that they will resolve the chip problem. I asked about the menu, which is at this starting point a bit limited, and was told that they are not experimenting much for the start. But the guy seemed responsive when I told him I would be very pleased if they could bring themselves to offer pozole or birria.

      General assessment: pretty darn good, and stands a chance of getting better.

      4 Replies
      1. re: Gordito

        Cool, great report.

        Can you describe the volcan?

        1. re: Dave MP

          It wasnt so exciting. A crisp corn tortilla with some meat, your choice of mushrooms or nopales, and some cheese. That was my dish but i think both the tacos and the quesadilla were better.

          1. re: Gordito

            How does it compare to the Tomasina Meiers Mexican restuarants?

            1. re: Snufflehound

              The only one I've tried was Wahaca. I thought the food was OK and the atmosphere was nice, but I never had a desire to try it again.

      2. Expert from the land of Taqeria's

        I live in Santa Cruz CA USA, where there are around 40 taqeria's in a city of around 50,000. I know my taqeria's and London is lucky to have one that is this authentic. The reviews I read here missed one of the things that set's a taqeria apart from the rest. Lupita's does El Pastor, and does it well. El Pastor is pork marinated and cooked on a rotisserie in a similar style to the Greek Giro's. But this is not at all the same because of the Mexican marinating and spices. This makes Lupita's special and worth going out of your way to try. Also, they are doing the Pico De Gallo well. The other sign of a really good taqeria. Give this place a chance, as they have more good stuff coming such as more Mexican beers, that are not your typical Corona/Sol (which no self-respecting Mexican would drink). You will soon see Modelo Negra and Dos Equis on tap as well. Also the owner told me he hopes to have Carne Asada soon, when they are able to get the right permits to cook it correctly. This place was a real treat, and having been in England and France for six weeks, it was a real exciting find for myself and my wife.

        2 Replies
        1. re: pbacon3

          i enjoyed a lovely meal here on Friday night. The service in particular stood out.

          I had: The tomato soup, pork carnitas (very good) and a tomato and strawberry margarita which was simply delicious. The food was all good and I love Mexican food, but I wouldn't call myself an authority on the cuisine. Honestly, I think I prefer the food at the Mexican food stall in E&C. Maybe it's something to do with eating out of a cardboard container, that makes you think it's more authentic!

          1. re: Nii

            Was probably there with you Friday. Six of us ate on Friday night. We tried 3/4 of the menu. Some outstanding. A lot good. Some average.

            Will post more shortly.

            No comparison to the real thing in Condesa by the way. Having lived in Mexico for 18 months I was full of expectations.

        2. A fine meal at Lupita.

          Two of us ordered off the set menu (£12.50 each), sharing ceviche tostadas, nopales salad, tacos 'gobernador' (shrimp tacos), tacos cochinita pibil. They were out of most of the set puddings so we both chose ate con queso (guava with cheese).

          Plus 2 Negra Modelos. Damage: about £30

          Best Mexican meal I've eaten this side of the Atlantic.