Nostalgia connects us almost involuntarily to things we would otherwise shun: peculiar people, obscure objects, and arbitrary places that, if not for the singular human obsession with that which we have left behind, we would have long ago cleansed from our memories like bedrooms full of old junk. Why are we such relentlessly nostalgic creatures, so deeply uncomfortable with our ability—perhaps unique within the animal kingdom—of reinventing ourselves, and our tastes, in real time? Whatever the reasons, it is so, and so it is that even our geniuses spend their days circling like buzzards over their carcasses of youth, fancying those lost moments more vital than anything ahead.
And so it is that nostalgia maintains mediocrity. And so it is that people still go to López Mexican Restaurant. For almost 30 years, the restaurant has been serving milder-than-mild Tex-Mex (these days, your Texan grandmother probably uses more hot peppers than this)… [More]
9.3 Chez Roux
9.2 Tony’s
9.1 Catalan
9.0 Dolce Vita
9.0 Feast
9.0 Rainbow Lodge
9.0 Huynh
9.0 Vic & Anthony’s
9.0 Hubcap Grill
Top Ethiopian: [More]
There are three subjects you must never bring up in polite conversation: religion, politics, and pizza. Not only does it invite bad blood, but you will have as much likelihood of bringing others to your camp as you would single-handedly forging peace among all nations.
Though pizza’s epicenter is understood to be Naples, everyone everywhere has their own style, from dough to toppings to firing method. Pizza is no stranger to being loosely interpreted, and each variation has its own rabid defenders of the faith.
So where in the pizza spectrum does culty, love-it-or-hate-it Pink’s fall? Pink’s, with its shabby seating and bubbly menu font from 1981? Pink’s, which also runs the dubious Asian fusion “bistro” Dragon Bowl? Its wimpy convection oven won’t draw the occultists who worship brick, pumping fists around a 900-degree fire chanting blacken and bubble. It won’t draw the orthodox intellectuals, who argue over which is better,… [More]
Britain’s Sun recently reported that supermarket giant Tesco sold two bottles of counterfeit Louis Jadot Pouilly-Fuissé, distributed by Hatch Mansfield, to a customer named Danny McGowan of Clacton, Essex, who described the fake bottle as having a label that “looked photocopied.” Apparently, the bottle was on sale for £5, down from a usual £14.49. (As of this writing, the Pouilly-Fuissé was on the price list at the Tesco website for £12.99.)
The Sun article, which was sent my way by the illustrious wine-counterfeiting scholar/economist Günter Schamel (whose work I’ve previously discussed here), has the amusing title “You Plonkers” and an equally amusing photo of a nonplussed McGowan.
The most unusual thing about this story is that while has been much discussion of counterfeit wine in the high-end rare and fine wine market—Jefferson bottles… [More]
