Posts Tagged ‘Craig LaBan’
“is he just reading adsz and mailing in?”
t says: Craig LaBan’s “best of the rest” bit highlights a lot of great restaurants. As I looked through them, I saw a lot of faves from our list. Also – hooray for those restaurants that got upgraded (looking at you, Fond!).
a jokes: Is he just reading adsz and mailing in? I think so …
t says: I doubt that Mr. LaBan bothers with this little slice of cyber-space, but that’s ok. If we and he both like the same restaurants, then clearly that means these restaurants are doing something right in order to appeal to “professional eaters” like him and plebeians like you and me …
The two biggest discrepancies I find is our take on a.kitchen (we didn’t like it as much) and the absence of Marigold Kitchen on his list … Of course – our bit on Marigold debuts tomorrow, so stay tuned!
Oh … and I wanna check out that sushi place in Haddonfield, too! … Maybe some parents will join us? … Maybe j will be in town? … Just talkin’ out loud here …
a little pretentious, no?
t says: Anyone see the latest drivel to come out of LaBan’s mouth? “I’ll reset the landscape of Philly’s restaurant elite.” I’m sorry, but what? I normally like reading LaBan’s reviews because I, myself, don’t get the chance to taste every single dish on a menu – so his reviews are like scouting reports. But what arrogance this last comment exudes! He must be a Michelin inspector or James-frickin-Beard, himself! Taking yourself a little too seriously, eh? Come on. You eat food for a living. It’s not theoretical physics. It’s not fetal open heart surgery. It’s not curing cancer. It’s inserting matter in one end of a 30-foot long tube so your body can turn it into poo. So let’s all take a chill pill and a slice of humble pie and just say, “I’m coming out with a new list of top 5 restaurants … and my previous top 4 might not have made the cut. Please read my article when it comes out on 2/5, because if no one does, I may no longer have the privilege of making a living by doing something that every single other person on this planet can do. Thank you.”
Talula’s Split Goes More Public
t says: This had been reported a while ago, but now that it’s in the Inquirer, I feel a little more confident in its truth. I do want to say that it is kind of weird that this is front page news, but I guess if you consider the impact that Django had on the Philadelphia restaurant scene as well as the foodie-prestige that Talula’s brought to the area, it is somewhat big news.
What do I think? Well, regarding the article’s focus on the Aimee-Bryan relationship (and comments below the article), I feel that most readers will feel that LaBan is most certainly painting a stunning portrait of Aimee, and a less-than-stunning one of Bryan … but … if Bryan did truly pull a Tiger Woods here, then I’m totally fine with that. Obviously, there weren’t many details.
As far as the Bryan-cooking relationship is concerned, it’s quite a shame, because when we talked to Bryan in the kitchen in June 2009, we loved his attitude about food and cookery and restaurants. He even admitted that his days at Django killed him with stress, and that he liked Talula’s food-centric, slower-paced gig. But now the Inquirer claims he doesn’t want the cooking-for-one-table job, either, because he has to do some schmoozing? So he doesn’t want to cook a lot because it’s stressful, and he doesn’t want to schmooze because he doesn’t like it, but he does want to be “in the loop” as far as thinking up that prospective new place with Stephen Starr?
Finally, what do I think about the future of Talula’s? Well – g and I have been to the market and agree that they still have excellent food. As far as the dinners are concerned, we also have 2010 Labor Day Saturday reservations, and if we can get together the minimum number of people, we are in! If you want to come with us, let us know!
Sampan gets 2 bells … maybe more later?
t says: LaBan gave Sampan two bells. I guess that’s not too shabby … LaBan’s overall critique: a very diverse menu, probably too diverse of a menu, but the food had lots of potential. Some of the dishes had issues with balance of flavors, but others were spot on. Overall, I think our stomachs and our wallets appreciated Sampan more than LaBan, so at the very least, we’re happy that the place isn’t going to be super-mobbed when we want to go (like every restaurant that gets 3+ bells). g and I are also happy that one of our friends who recently dined there will be dreaming of the pork banh mi, like us. g and I can’t wait to do a Sampan versus Chifa pork banh mi taste-off!
after dinner sneeze 