Verdicts

After last week's diatribe, we finally did go to Fuel (1944 West 4th, between Cypress and Maple) tonight: the drama had provided us with a good kick-in-the-pants to finally make good on our long made plans to visit.

As I've explained, I'm on Fuel's side of the debate, and thus I went in with hopes of being vindicated: I wanted the food to be dazzling, success being the ultimate victory. It probably didn't help things much, then, to have such high expectations, because I was a bit disappointed.

That's not to say the food wasn't good. On the contrary, it was extremely competent, the product of a team that obviously cares about what they're serving and have taken time to seriously think about their menu.

What we ordered showed an emphasis on technique: I had the chicken, wherein white meat was stuff with the dark, sous vide, and then crisped up at the end, accompanied by braised artichokes, and crispy cornmeal. While it was exquisitely prepared, the concept likely got in the way of results: in the end, it wasn't overly different enough for me from a type of crispy chicken you'd see in a Chinese restaurant, and the crispy cornmeal was a bit too similar to hashbrowns. If the overall idea was to bring a comfort food quality to the plate, it definitely succeeded, but that really wasn't what I was in the mood for.

Dessert was much the same: a rice pudding using arborio grains (common in risottos), with a raspberry 'meringue.' The arborio rice definitely made it a much creamier and silkier rice pudding, but the raspberry 'meringue' really didn't seem like much more than raspberries with a fluffier whipped cream (not quite as light and airy as a meringue), slightly torched. While it was definitely comforting and good, it wasn't mind-blowingly so (the plating seemed a bit off as well: the raspberry meringue was piled on the side of the bowl, like an avalanche about to crush the rice pudding terrain below).

While I might not rush to go back to Fuel, I never - not for a moment - felt that the food was deserving of anything quite as self-involved as Gill's shoddy review. Fuel definitely merits more effort than a few inconsequential anecdotes dribbled off without much thought, and I'd certainly recommend the place to anyone that's in the area (I'd recommend Gastropod a bit more, though, which seemed just a touch more innovative). It just didn't instill as much fervent passion or praise, though, that would have had the crowds cheering loud enough to drown Gill out completely.

It's Been A While

There's a couple of easy answers as to the shortage of posts as of late: a lack of time, and a lack of ideas.

This story, however, from the Urban Diner grabbed me within seconds: it seems that Alexandra Gill, food critic for the increasingly sloppy Globe and Mail, was ejected from Fuel, one of the city's more popular restaurants that opened last year (on West 4th by Maple, used to be home to a shish kabob place).

While we haven't been to Fuel yet, I've never heard anything bad about the place, and Gill's review is probably the first time I've heard anyone not rave about it. As the story goes, Gill returned for dinner, and was asked to leave after being recognized by the staff.

One of Fuel's co-owners responded by saying "when a reviewer actually loves food, it comes through in their writing, whether they are being positive or negative, and we can handle those negatives. Those critics will always be welcome at Fuel, for without positive, legitimate feedback, we will never have the chance to grow and become better."

I'm undecided as to whether this was the right path for Fuel to take or not - it instantly propels Gill to even further attention than she probably deserves, and she's certainly no punk rock critic that anyone should have any affection for. It makes for a great story (and only serves to add to street cred) when Lester Bangs or some such gets trounced or kicked out of a show, and Gill doesn't play at that level.

Gill's reviews usually treads along the lines of one or two salient points, muddied up by Carrie Bradshaw writer-is-the-subject nonsense, to the point where one has to question her palate or overall taste (Gill has also written numerous travel and pop culture pieces). Reviews are as much about Gill's personal life as about the food; Gill is both subject and observer.

This, in itself, is not a bad thing. On the contrary, one of the best VOX lessons I ever learned was to understand that reviews were inherently subjective, and not to shy away from it. As with anything, there's a right way and wrong way to do this, and Gill, like many others, doesn't seem to know the difference.

As with any good review (I'll stick with music reviews for familiarity), one really doesn't need to know how an album was named, where it was recorded, what the inspiration was, blah blah blah: that sort of filler is available from press releases and television interviews. Instead, a proper review should reflect the writer's own subjective response to it: for instance, it's instantly understandable to read that a writer's first listen to Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions feels the same as being trapped in a garbage bin being pounded on by baseball bats. This does not mean that I need to know that the writer was shopping with his/her BFF for rollerblades when the picked up said album. One can inject his or her personality into a solid piece without having it overtake the actual subject at hand.

Gill, as many others, makes this mistake over and over again: writer-as-subject only works for Hunter S Thompson and a select few (Nick Kent comes to mind), wherein the subject and personal experience have become so intertwined that it becomes imprudent or even impossible to write about one without the other. Does it make sense for Gill to mention that her companion loves a particular dish enough to have eaten it on four or five other occasions? Sure. Do I give a rat's ass about Gill's fiancee? No (in a recent review, she goes as far as referring him to "the", not my, fiancee; in other reviews, she 'gets married to herself': bejeezus, I'll just watch SATC reruns on Cosmo if I need that). This sort of thing, though, has unfortunately found its way into more publications than ever, and, with blogs, newsgroups, forums, etc., will undoubtedly spiral further and further out of control.

For such self-indulgent writing to inspire an active response from Fuel, then, is perhaps a bit unfortunate. If it calls attention to Gill, and others, as lazy critics, I'll be tipping extra when we do visit Fuel.

Sarah Silverman in a Few Easy Points

While I am waiting to attend a conference call, here's an easy point-form rattle-off for the Sarah S. show we saw last night:

- no photos, as I couldn't even really make out her face for most of the night (blame failing eyesight, pencil in optometrist appt);

- it was at the casino. Slightly odd for being outside of Vegas, but not quite as odd when you note Diana Ross is playing there in May;

- the show was sponsored by mainstream FM, and correspondingly introduced by a female radio host. This prompted a 'shirts off'-type holler, which, given that most of the crowd were Sarah Silverman fans, may have been that 'irony' I hear about. (Note: this is countered with the fact that many of the audience were also drinking heavily);

- sat in front of two ladies who provided running commentary through the warm-up, "Fucker!" and "He's funny!" being the main observations;

- Sarah Silverman is one of few celebrities who appears exactly in person how she appears on screen (note caveat above re: eyesight);

- it is odd when comics do recorded material live. It is usually fine, in that sort of respectful way: a good joke is a good joke is a good joke. But hearing bits a second time through is usually not as delightful, particularly when a certain level of shock is involved as with Silverman. In general, it tends to fare well only when nostalgia is attached, eg. Cosby, Kids in the Hall (who are also playing said casino);

- many people like to yell things out during a set. This is entirely offputting, in that it assumes I will think said audience members are more funny than the funny person I have paid to see. Usually, they are not, though Silverman used this fact to good effect;

- I like being able to drink in the theatre; I do not like other people being able to drink in the theatre;

- Silverman's songs are generally not as funny as her non-song material, but only in that musical comedy has left such a general bad taste in my mouth;

- Silverman has toned down the race content, perhaps in light of her comments from this NY Times piece:

"(From the AO Scott review of Jesus is Magic): She depends on the assumption that only someone secure in his or her own lack of racism would dare to make, or to laugh at, a racist joke, the telling of which thus becomes a way of making fun simultaneously of racism and of racial hypersensitivity,” he wrote. In short, he added, 'naughty as she may seem, she’s playing it safe.'

"Ms. Silverman said the review articulated a point that she had felt, but had been struggling to express. 'That was something that always festered in the back of my mind that I never talked about,' she said. Her crowds are usually liberal ones, 'and we know we’re not racist,' she said. 'But the whiter the crowd, the more that kind of voice in the back of my head comes toward the front, and I feel grosser doing that kind of stuff.'"

Momomuxtape

(1)"Take the chicken wings, for instance. All you knew when you were eating them was that they tasted really good. What you didn't know was that they'd been brined in a salt-and-sugar solution for a whole day (but not longer, or they'd be too salty), then dried out and cold-smoked over mesquite for forty-five minutes, then poached in a vat of pork fat for an hour and a half, then browned on the flat-top, then glazed in a chicken-infused soy sauce combined with mirin, garlic, and pickled chili peppers."
(from the New Yorker's profile of David Chang, owner/chef at the Momofuku restaurants)

(2)The Clutterer muxtape: a 12 track online mixtape.

Easter Funday

(1) Common with D'Angelo - "Ghetto Heaven Pt 2". It's been a long time since the Soulquarian age.


(2) DJ Jazzy Jeff with Little Brother - "Whatever U Want"


(3) I've been reading the comments on the Globe's Tibet/PRC coverage, and have been noticing an ongoing slugout between PRC-friendly readers (eg. Meng W, tulip7R, etc) and their critics (eg. Clark the Mighty, Republic of Saturn, etc). Without siding with either, there's been a deluge of "Yellow Peril"-type comments that get their expected response. What generally ensues afterwards, though, is surprising.

Many of the 'Yellow Peril" call-outs are usually countered with "race card" responses: i.e. 'stop playing the race card.' This is a problematic response. While the 'race card' has, at times, been thrown around flippantly and without proper thought, relegating any and all race-related response to over-sensitive PC thuggery only serves to erase race out of the equation, a fatal blow to discourse when, particularly in relation to "Yellow Peril" commentary, race is the point. It treats race as a non-issue, unworthy of proper discussion, and is, though perhaps unconsciously so, just as racist as an overt example.

SIGH.

If only the PRC and the Tibetans could all put on bunny suits....
(Giant goldfish, you're on your own.)

Happiness is a Warm Sesame Bun

(1) Portishead - "Machine Gun"


(2) Sue Garner & Rick Brown - "Umo" (OOIOO cover)


(3) That new Parker Posey sitcom is a whole lot of words and laugh track in not quite enough time.

(4) Stuff Our White Liberal Kinfolk Somewhat Enjoy (Aside from Laffs!): Sorry, I'm just undecided on it. The mind races with all the race issues that it inadvertently brings up amidst, you know, all the jokes.

My Ethnic Headdress Weighs A Ton

Swinging Soul Machine - "Spooky's Day Off"


Soil & Pimp Sessions - "Funky Goldman"


TS Monk - "Bon, Bon Vie"

Mister, My Pony Needs Some Assistance

Cee-Lo "Living Again"


Tindersticks "My Autumns Don't Come" (Lee Hazelwood cover)

Songs for Bud (Kenny)

I'm not an Olivia fan either, and Cousin Pam is just too much. That leaves Bud/Kenny. Unless I can find a better picture of Cockroach.

Cal Tjader - "Fried Bananas"


Fania All Stars 3 - "Busamba"


Joe Bataan - "Muchacho Ordinaire"