Forgive me for I have zinned - drink the wine you enjoy

You don't need a pompous snob to tell you your taste

After perusing the food blogs today I found a great article from Gregory Dal Piaz on the art of tasting and choosing wines. He pointed out that many of us have bought into the idea that mainstream wine is for the "vino rookies" and that we should abide by the experts affluent taste buds and buy accordingly. I've always used certain aspects of the wine world (ratings, reviews and referrals) to choose my wine and then make the decision thereafter if I enjoyed the varietal.

Piaz states,

I have a theory. You see, I think that many people stick to their tried and true wines simply because wine snobs are such clowns. Yes, because of you there, you drinking the obscure bio dynamic wines made by one-armed hermaphrodites on a deserted island made of a solid block of limestone using the fruit from a single 2,100-year-old vine. You’re keeping people from having the confidence to branch out. Stop equating cool with some universal notion of good.

We as a eating populace need to listen to our own tastes and senses, even if it goes against the elitist grain. Trust what you like and embrace it. 

Now, time to hop off the intertubes and enjoy a nice bottle of $10 Pinot Noir.

Chefs and Social Media - Who Reigns King?

Lately it seems like most celebrity chefs spend more time on twitter and facebook then in the kitchen. So, who are the chefs that are making their presence felt via social media?

Huffpost Food has put together a list of these kitchen guru's who are tearing it up with their thumbs. Go check it out here.

Your Chop Biscuit Guide for living in Austerity

As a pasty, chubby Irish lad who enjoys good comfort food and even better comfort beer, I've figured I would take a few key "monikers" of what I've learned over the past few years in this business to help explain what I think we as a society where we should be moving towards in food.

1.      Eat more Veggies: Meat takes 10 times more energy to produce than plants, so your carbon footprint will ultimately decrease on shifting about 20-30 percent of your diet to plants and vegetables. You can start a garden without much knowledge of “gardening”. Diets with high concentration in green, leafy vegetables have been proven as a superior diet than those concentrated in meats. Mom was always right with this.

2.      Don’t eat out as often: We, as a society, eat out way too much. I’m personally vested in the large retail business of eating and I’m constantly astounded with the sheer volume of fiscal waste when it comes to eating. I’m not saying to stop enjoying the pleasure of dining with family and friends, I’m saying to do it less often and cherish the moments you have the luxury to partake in the experience. My wife and I use “date night” as our opportunity to enjoy the time away from our kitchen and to support our local restaurant operators and community farms.

3.      Scratch “All” processed foods from your diet: This has been a tough one for me. I have a self proclaimed sweet tooth that I received from my mother and have to work daily to cancel the craving that chocolate confections has on my soul. I’m not saying to totally deny yourself of the pleasures of sweets, I’m just saying that it shouldn’t be a staple in your diet and take a significant amount of your calories in your overall consumption. Try making your owns sweets and guilty pleasures at home, you will most likely eat less and enjoy the experience, smells and theatre.

4.      Shop at your local farmers markets and/or food Coops: My wife and I now purchase most of our grocery items from the farmer’s market. I understand how many people do not have access to these options and aren’t fortunate enough to meet the people that grow their food. If you don’t have the opportunity to shop at a farm, Coop or market, ask your local grocer what products in the store are supplied by reputable, regional distributors and/or farms. Most grocers are now hopping on the bandwagon and will generally steer you into that direction.

5.      Learn how to cook and plan your meals: It’s a simple as it gets folks. Learn how to cook. By learning the basics of cooking, you will save money and be able to control what you are putting into your bodies. Planning ahead also allows you to be creative and have fun with your food, while saving money.

More ill-prescribed thoughts coming soon!

Food Chain Stardom - Plagerism, infridgement and cribbing at it's finest

I started out this Monday morning as I do most - with a cup of hot single estate coffee, a check on some sports scores and some food industry updates. This morning I happen to come across a headline from NRN.com that stated, The next Chipotle.

It never ceases to amaze me how some Venture Capitalists are so fervent to invest in the next "It" concept at any cost. They see the opportunity, hire a team, artificially inseminate a new brand and BAM - a concept is born. According to the article by Lisa Jennings, 

A new wave of “Chipotle-style” concepts are looking to find success by adapting the fast-casual burrito chain’s business model to different cuisines in order to fill holes in the market.

And why not? As much of the restaurant industry struggled during the past few years, Chipotle Mexican Grill churned out quarter after quarter of positive results, ending 2010 with a same-store sales increase of 9.4 percent, and securing its place as a business model to be imitated.

To myself and many others, moves like this dumb down concepts and makes the competitive landscape muddled down with mediocre food, quality and experience. Hey, I'm all for food consumerism if the field boasts players that have valid beginnings with heritage and hard work, but many of the brands nowadays is as core to concept as the fifty something brands of energy drinks that line the coolers of your local Mini Mart. That  32 ounce Monster Devil Loko Wolf Amp Caffeine Blast thingamajig has some real pizazz.

It just makes you understand that most concepts that endure strong earnings and loyal customer bases have a rooted base in something fundamental outside of branding a concept for the sake of expanding the field and offer a competitive alternative. It's always about the food, first and foremost.

Monsanto is the Biff of the food industry

Is that Delorean genetically modified McFly?

Monsanto = Charlie Sheen

They're all about winning, at no cost and apparently, they view us as "trolls". Here is an excert from the latest musings of the Big Monsanto Machine.

It is no surprise that Monsanto wishes to hide what is in their seeds and how they believe Roundup is good for humans or the environment.  After all Monsanto plants need heavier applications of pesticides even though the seeds themselves genetically contain more pesticide which is digested by people and animals.

As an example Monsanto advertises Round Up PROMAX on their website and describe the active ingredient of RoundUp herbicide contains GLYPHOSATE.  Monsanto is the largest producer of herbicides that contain glyphosate on the planet that produces allergic reactions, pancreatic damage and is a carcinogenic ingredient no matter how much they deny it.

Again if you read the literature of the use of greater amounts of pesticides and chemicals that Monsanto promotes and is polluting the environment they also make their way into ground water.

Are we ever going to be able to rid this frankenscience from our food Eco-structure? I sure hope so.
Continue reading the article here.

What does "eating local" really mean?

I am a gastronome. No, not the glutton with no sense of restraint, whose enjoyment of food is greater the more plentiful and forbidden it is. No, not the fool who is given to the pleasures of the table and indifferent to how the food got there. I like to know the history of a food and of the place that it comes from: I like to imagine the hands of the people who grew it, transported it, processed it, and cooked it before it was served to me. I do not want the food I consume to deprive others in the world of food. I like traditional farmers, the relationship they have with the earth, and the way they appreciate what is good. The good belongs to everyone: pleasure belongs to everyone, for it is in human nature.”

Carl Petrini – Food Enthusiast

Contentment and food. How many of us enjoy a cooked dinner at home with unabashed bliss? Do we enjoy the food because it facilitates family discussions and remembering? Does the food at the dinner table bring you back to a joyous time during your formative years? For whatever reason, the joy of food has been persistently enjoyed with happiness for millions of fortunate families over the course of mankind. The quandary over the past 50 years is that we’ve enjoyed the giving’s of provisions so much, that we have become lethargic on how the food has arrived at your dinner table. How did that plump turkey disembark on your table for thanksgiving? Was he eradicated on someone’s farm during bow season, or was he raised in a processing mill in Kansas in which he –or- she never saw the light of day until he was inhumanely slaughtered by a minimum wage employee working the morning shift - listening to Eminem on is iPod. If it was the later, your turkey may have been slaughtered, drugged, processed, packed, frozen, shipped and bought for you to enjoy the holidays with your family. Does that affirm “good times” to you? See where I’m getting at here – all around you, people are starting to grasp what eating locally purchased products and sustainable farming can do for your health, habitat and community.


The term “local” has been getting hurled around more than a midget little person at a Howard Stern book signing. If I truly want to eat local, what does it mean? Does it mean, eat at my local Chipotle. Does it denote that I buy cheese from a regional supplier 200 miles away in Vermont. Does my favorite, independently owned local restaurant even “buy local”? So many oxymoron's in the term “local”, wouldn’t you concur?

Let’s try to ultimately define, disect and analyze what eating local means – so that the majority of Americans can interpret for themselves and their families. Again, we are trying to sway your habits away from centralized food production that are friendly retailers are united with, to a local sustainable food economy that benefits you with health, wellness and community.

Let’s quickly chat about what local means in terms of eating.

So, when did this local food movement in the U.S begin to take shape. Was there an overseeing noble, that cast his or her brilliant analogy of this appalling food agribusiness in our society and said “Enough is Enough”? Did the movement actually come to fruition in America, or did it start overseas? It’s truly thorny to pinpoint when this cause came to light, but we know of many regions, organizational groups and wonderful personalities that eventually came to being from it. I personally have been in the food business since the age of 16 - over 20 years, and just recently woke up to this enlightenment.

There’s often discussion on how the local food or “slow food” movement began. Most people who are well-informed will denote this honor to Carlo Petrino. Petrini, an Italian, strived to preserve ethnic and regional cuisine after foreseeing the international expansion of the fast food industry into his native land. Promoted as an alternative to fast food, slow food styling’s strive to preserve traditional and regional cuisine and encourages farming of plants, seeds and livestock characteristics of the local ecosystem. It was the first established part of the broader Slow movement. The movement has since expanded globally to over 100,000 members in 132 countries. Its goals of sustainable foods and promotion of local small businesses are paralleled by a political agenda directed against globalization of agricultural products. Wiki; slow food movement

The objectives, as stated on the organization’s website, promotes an ideology of linking the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment. Well, that sounds pretty appeasing, I believe most people could buy into that right?

'nuff said

Guu Izakaya - Toronto

Recently I had an opportunity to travel to Toronto, ON, Canada and although I didn't have any famous Canadian sightings, no Jim Carrey, no Michael J Fox, not even an a glimpse of Avril Lavigne, I did happen upon Guu Izakaya! A non descript, wood plank clad building in downtown Toronto. This unassuming dwelling is home to one of the culinary wonders of this city, also home to the MLB Blue Jays, the NHL Mapleleafs, the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, an of course the CN Tower. Guu made it well worth the trip. The traditional Japanese fare paired with the uber hip modern vibe, served by 20 somethings decked out in sheik urban clothing that mocks the need for a chef coat. But alas, do not let the 21st century, live action anime fool you, these young students of the rapid fire, short-order style were truly talented.





The atmosphere of Guu is upbeat and fun, the host staff continuously welcoming and wishing patrons a fond farewell as they enter and leave. With each well wish, the entire staff echos the genuine greeting with a unison shout to each new guest as if to say, we see you and know you are here...and you are important. And then as guest depart, each guest get a rousing song of thanks and remembrance until the next visit.

To a lesser qualified crew, this continuous cycle might be enough to drop the line into the weeds night after night, but the crew at Guu thrive on it; never missing a beat. This visit I had the pleasure of sitting at the bar, getting the entire show of short order mastery with fine Japanese cuisine. It was thoroughly enjoyable, the food was fabulous and I have not stopped talking about this place since I left. I can not wait to return.

Friday food fail

Something just doesn't seem right with this picture, don't you  think?

"Waiter, will my pizza be long?"

Let's get Chop Biscuit rolling shall we? Well, if you're a burly pizza fan that enjoys the thin crust as much as I do, I'm sure you have heard of the renown pizza shack in Phoenix, AZ, Pizzeria Bianco. It's the location where you have waited upwards of 4 hours to grab a lil' slice of heaven.

I finally had the opportunity to bring my wife there (after three attempts) and we waited, and waited, and waited (and drank two bottles of wine), and waited until we finally got the call, "You're table is ready"! It was a four hour plus wait that gave us the opportunity to make countless friends at the Picnic table outside the restaurant.

For those who are wondering what the fuss is about, Pizzeria Bianco's is regarded as the best Pizza joint in the nation, year in and year out. What made this place so special is that Chris Bianco (the owner) made the Pizza's for every customer, every time. Some of you are probably saying, that may not be the best business model eh? Well, if you were advantageous enough to get a chance to eat one of his pizzas, you would understand. With his condensed, yet ingredient rich menu you will savor the opportunity to taste one of his creations with fresh herbs, good wine in a vibrant atmosphere.

The pizza is so delicious, it got it's own wiki page. Chris is a passionate chap about his pizza and had a admirable quote about what makes his pizza so special,

“There’s no mystery to my pizza. Sicilian oregano, organic flour, San Marzano tomatoes, purified water, mozzarella I learned to make at Mike’s Deli in the Bronx, sea salt, fresh yeast cake, and a little bit of yesterday’s dough. In the end great pizza, like anything else, is all about balance. It’s that simple."

Recently Chris came down with some health issues that forced him to move out from in front of the oven.

In 2005, Pizzeria Bianco was named the best pizza in America in the book "Slice of Heaven," causing consternation among pizza-loving traditionalists in New York City and deep-dish fans in Chicago. It has been lauded by the Food Network, the New York Times and Gourmet, Martha Stewart Living and Vogue magazines.

Even though Chris is no longer steering the ship from inside, you can bet he is deeply involved with the concept and his trusted assistants to maintain his gold standard quality coming out of the oven.