>Each week, Pairing Off attempts to find just the right bottle of wine to go with ordinary food.Until recent years, when words like ‘fresh,’ ‘local’ and ‘slow foods’ crept into our vocabularies, we were all pretty well satisfied with canned cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving. The real stuff is just too…
Tomorrow we celebrate the time a bunch of dour workaholics with buckled shoes sat down to eat a quiet dinner of thanksgiving with the native peoples. We all know we’d really rather party with that other famous group of European settlers down in Jamestown.Yeah, they teach the exploits of Captain…
The ‘Boys host the silver and black on Thanksgiving. A final “fact” about the city that keeps Detroit off the bottom of the ‘best places to live’ list before we turn our attention to New York…Raiders owner Al Davis stays alive by eating a bizarre diet of puppies, spotted owls…
If Memory Serves chronicles moments from my dining past, perhaps explaining why I’m so damn warped.Even in tough economic times, working Americans take fewer vacation days than any other people on earth–although I believe this oft-cited bit of information ignores farmers eking out a living on the Sahara’s fringes and…
The ‘Boys host the team from the wrong side of the bay on Thanksgiving. Another “fact” about the witless rabble…When traveling, the Raiders go to restaurants as a team–not as a show of unity, but because only defensive lineman Desmond Bryant, a Harvard grad, knows how to read.**Source: The Raiders…
It has been a difficult year so far, at least for many people. We’ve dealt with a media blitz over Sarah Clampett’s new book, a couple of bozos named Jon and Kate, the continuing presence of Oprah…oh, and that economy thing.Still, there are many things to be thankful for this…
The ‘Boys host the godless, mother-hating horde from the bay area on Thanksgiving. Something you may not know about the Raiders’ home town…Although people immediately think of Napa Valley, Oakland has an even more impressive wine-making tradition. Labels such as Thunderbird, Night Train and MD 20/20 all owe their popularity…
Yeah, there’s that Charlie Brown deal. But it’s nowhere near as popular as the Great Pumpkin bit or the famous Christmas episode. Daffy Duck did a couple of nice skits, but that was a long time ago.Halloween and Christmas get all the good specials. All Thanksgiving ends up with is…
Well, I’m running a bit behind with this, largely because Kristy Yang just came in from Vietnam with a bottle of…of…what the hell am I drinking?It’s been a busy week on the blog, too. A number of comments worthy of mention–and several deserving of a decent prize. So we had…
In the classic film Northwest Passage, Spencer Tracy plays the legendary Robert Rogers. For those who didn’t waste a portion of their youth reading about the French and Indian War, Rogers commanded a band of soldiers who wore green uniforms and fought “Indian style” in the woods of New York.The…
Next week, we find out more about Oakland. For now, one final peek inside the beltway:The ‘Boys host the NFL’s answer to the Washington Nationals on Sunday. Another fact about the team whose mascot wore a bonnet…The Redskins earned the nickname “Hogs” not for their eating habits, as many believe,…
In one week, the tea sippers battle that redneck military school for all important bragging rights. Yeah, Texas has to get past the Chickenhawks of KU first, while the Aggies go up against (yawn) Baylor. But on Thanksgiving day, it’s either “Hook ’em Horns” or…what the hell does “Gig ’em”…
The ‘Boys host the team of the ’40s on Sunday. Another fact about the city built on disease-ridden swampland…Because some people consider “Redskins” to be offensive, next year owner Dan Snyder plans to name the team after the southern dish of pig intestines.**Source: A delegation to this office claiming to…
Like so many Asian restaurants, Geisha House sets its tables with disposable wooden chopsticks, the kind you break apart before using. The things are everywhere, so it’s hardly a confusing concept. Yet during my first visit to the vast new sushi/teppan spot on Cedar Springs, I overheard a stylish young…
Matching wine to tomato soup wouldn’t seem all that difficult. Fine dining restaurants routinely piece together bisques and fresh purees, after all–and their sommeliers can generally cope. But in this column we don’t bother to make fresh, upscale, herb infused soups. That would require buying tomatoes, basil…far too much trouble, to…
I was there when McDonald’s introduced Shanghai McNuggets, asking staff members at stores around the nation to don replica coolie hats.That was in 1985 or thereabouts–before corporate sensitivity training but long after Americans should have known better. I still remember an Asian couple approaching the counter at a McDonald’s in…
The ‘Boys host a team whose fans dress as female pigs on Sunday. Another fact about Northern Virginia’s attic…As a rookie, Redskins great Dexter Manley was beaten up by the kid from the “I wish I was an Oscar Mayer wiener” commercial.**Source: A skinny gentleman who we saw in a…
Normally we roll out a Top 10 list in this space. But, quite honestly, we stalled somewhere around number six.Yet bathrooms are surprisingly important. A clean, bright and polished space reassures guests of the entire operation’s standards while a smudged, rusty room with splash marks all over the floor is…
If Memory Serves chronicles moments from my dining past, perhaps explaining why I’m so damn warped.It’s funny how memories become jumbled sometimes. For several decades now I’ve remembered sitting in our London flat, pouring clotted cream over McVitie’s apple pies. These were tarts sold in boxes of six at the…
The ‘Boys host the symbol of our nation’s concern for native peoples on Sunday. Another fact about Maryland’s second team…The Redskins are known as a “cupcake” on NFL schedules because linebacker London Fletcher bakes treats for opposing teams in the Easy-Bake oven he’s used since childhood.**Source: Jim Schutze told us…
A reader using the name Foodbevlaw posted an interesting comment to Friday’s Question of the Week: “Doucheries can almost always be identified by, and the numberb of Douchers are almost always proportional to, the number of premium tequilas in the back bar.”Keep in mind the question at hand dealt with…
Bene Bene4727 Frankford972-267-2363Old school Italian joints dot the area’s northern reaches. Don’t know why, really–but if you want typical lasagna, chicken parmigiana, bruschetta with nothing fancier than garlic and basil, or any other dish common to Italian restaurants up through the 1980s, your best options exist in a swath just…
