Nose To Tail At Home

Happy Friday!  What a week, huh?  Here are a few neat things from around the web that I’d like to share with you.

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First up are two articles from the NY Times.  One is a great piece about a restaurant I’m planning on visiting very soon, Feast.

AS if a menu with lamb’s tongue, calf’s heart, rabbit’s kidney and pig’s foot left any doubt about their whole-hog approach to food, the three proprietors of the restaurant Feast recently went out and branded themselves, more or less.

They got matching tattoos — three little pigs, each spotted, with an upturned snout, just like the adorable oinker on the restaurant’s logo. These fanciful brands were statements of culinary orientation, opportunities for epidermal advertising and, most of all, celebrations of a milestone.

One of the three owners worked at St. John off and on for six years.  How lucky am I that they’re located in Houston?!

Thanks to Ken Gallaher, Frank M and Melissa P for the link!

The other article is an opinion editorial by James E. McWilliams about free range pork vs. pork that was raised by conventional means, sent in by Ben Lippincott.  I’m in agreement with Mr. Lippincott about his reservations on some of the things the author mentions.  I’m going to have to do some research later on to see where the truth really lies.

UPDATE: My sources shot me two links that counter the op-ed above.  Point one.  Point two.  I feel better now.

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I was invited to an amazing foodblogger potluck last weekend, and had a grand time meeting and talking to some local food bloggers.  To raise the bar even higher, every single dish brought, be it soup or desert or drink, was astonishingly well prepared.

Austin American-Statesman copy editor, Addie Broyle was the force behind the meeting, and Saveur photographer Penny De Los Santos–check out that link, stunning pics–was kind enough to host all of us in her incredibly chic house.

Addie has a post up about the meeting here, and Boots in the Oven–a blog I just added to my RSS reader ’cause it’s a great read–has a post up here.  The woodcock inquiry was mine.

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James Beard nominee Hank Shaw was recently interviewed for an article over at the Sacramento Bee.  They go into what makes Mr. Shaw so interesting–the fact he is “the real deal”.  Hank is a huge inspiration to me personally, and I’m going to be taking gun safety lessons next month with my wife due to his example.

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And finally, I’ve got an article up at Eat Me Daily about tripe.  This will be a weekly thing until I run out of nasty bits to write about, or they get tired of putting up with me.  I’ll be the first to admit that I’m no expert when it comes to offal.  If you want experts, you’ve got this guy and this guy.  I am very happy to be sharing my love of offal with more people, with the hope to open a few minds.  Hey, sushi was super gross way back when, right?  Look at America now.  You can’t throw a stone without hitting a sushi joint.

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Okay, that’s enough for now.  Have a great weekend, and a great holiday if you celebrate it!