I follow former Top Chef finalist (I refuse to call anyone on that show a “cheftestant” unless I am saying it in a mocking tone, which this is not) Richard Blais on Twitter, and this morning he published a link to a recent posting of his over on Creative Loafing.

In a nutshell, he talks about his for-naught efforts at one Atlanta eatery on New Year’s Eve to transform it from Amateur Night to, well, Not Amateur Night. Suffice it to say his efforts failed as no one appreciated his inventive menu, his progressive service attitude, or anything else.  People wanted to watch the game.  No one wanted to eat caviar. Why?  Because folks who go out to dinner on holidays such as Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, New Year’s Eve, etc. are amateurs. They don’t “get it”.

Amateur night could be any Friday or Saturday night, when people who don’t usually dine out head out on the town to blow a paycheck. But the serious amateur nights are New Year’s Eve, Valentines Day, and Mother’s Day brunch. These are reserved for that special brand of customer, many of whom haven’t ventured into a restaurant since the previous holiday. It’s a night that shiesty restaurateurs gouge prices. A night when guests ask for ketchup with their aged rib eye. And also a night when burned out chefs retreat into ubiquitous schlock, and overly ambitious young chefs mistakenly puff their chests out…

At this point, you’re probably thinking I’m about to start in on a rant about how I most certainly am not an amateur and how dare that Richard Blais and his third-place finish judge me! Quite the contrary. I agree with the guy.

(more…)

Day 7 – Project 365

Originally uploaded by snarkwife

After this morning’s roast chicken success (merci, Julia Child), I decided to take the fruits of my efforts and add them to this Chicken Tamale Casserole. I’ve been looking for new, lower-fat “Wintertime” dishes and this one was pretty good.

The only “complaints” at the recipe’s site were that the corn muffin mix is a little on the sweet side (I used Jiffy too…it was all Target had in that size), and it is. But…I didn’t really mind. I’m used to more savory Mexican dishes and the sweetness was a nice change of pace.

I also added chopped olives, but I don’t think they really added anything special or distinctive to the recipe. Will likely skip those next time.

All in all, thumbs up!

Clearly I’m not a food blogger…not yet. Maybe I should change my name to Julie.