My wife and I are culinary rivals and teammates, simultaneously. Karen, aka Darling Octopus, loves to cook and eat, and so do I. It’s culinary reciprocity and everybody wins. However, we do part ways over some topics. One of those is dessert, specifically cupcakes. Here are our diverging opinions – essentially the pros and cons – regarding cupcakes.

Karen Says:
I have a really big sweet tooth and when I think about a dessert that I really want to eat I usually think about something like this. A really elaborate cake with lots of layers, tons of icing and some crazy flavor combination. But I don’t get the chance to eat stuff like that very often. Usually you need to order a whole cake or happen to be at a wedding to score cake like this.

Enter the cupcake. This miniature cake is much more accessible – you can get a personal size, it’s not expensive (relative to a whole cake) and you can find it all over the place.

But all cupcakes are not created equal! There are a couple of things that really make a cupcake.

1. Moist Cake – If the cake is dry just forget about. It’s not worth eating.

2. Good Cake to Icing Ratio - This is a personal preference but I like a lot of icing.

3. An Interesting Flavor Combination and/or Fillings. I don’t want a vanilla cupcake with vanilla icing. I want something interesting and if the cupcake also has a filling, all the better.

Here is an illustrated version of what I am talking about:

There are a couple of cupcake places in town that I really like, sadly they are both in Shortpump and I don’t make it there too often. Frostings is good and in the same shopping center as Trader Joe’s, which I love. My favorite cupcake shop is Two Sweet. They have a salted caramel cupcake that is really great. Sadly, I am not really into Carytown Cupcakes. I wanted to love them since they are so close to my house but I thought their cake was really dry and the flavors weren’t that interesting. Also, for the most beautiful cupcakes and to die for macarons you should check out Petites Bouchees. There is no store front but they are in Richmond and you can arrange pick up, delivery or shipping.

The one thing I don’t like about cupcakes is their super trendy-ness. I think we are in the middle of this cupcake bubble and soon it will burst and all the cupcake “boutiques” will dry up. Although I think Two Sweet makes really incredible cupcakes when you walk in they have one of each flavor for that day displayed on it’s own pedestal under a glass dome. It’s kind of ridiculous. I would much rather have an awesome bakery that makes all kinds of good things than a shop that only sells one sweet treat.

I can’t wait to see what Jason has to say about all of this. He is very particular about his sweets and cake is not very high on his list of good things!

Jason Says:

I don’t like cupcakes, and I’m really excited to take these silly snacks down a peg. However, I have to play nice in this post, as my debate counterpart is also the mother of my child, and she might have seen me wolf down some cupcakes with gusto and praising them with my mouth full. So, let me admit up front, I don’t really like cake, in general. Never have. Frosting is usually straight sugar and stale fat and it sits upon a bed of inflated flour. Yuck.

The cupcake trend takes the barely edible mediocrity of cake and churns out batches of tiny clones of stylized yuckiness with loads of fanfare, frilly bows and boxes, and now cutesy storefronts. And for what? An inch and a half of dried out cake is not fun, and it’s hardly made better by two inches of bouffant buttercream on top. The current trend in petite pastry as high art is a desperate attempt to make a children’s treat into a gourmet experience that adults will fork over big bucks for. It’s a silly charade that will hopefully go out of fashion sooner than later. The fact that Karen’s favorite cupcakes are out in Short Pump is also telling, as the place is a god forsaken hell-hole (not including Trader Joe’s, of course).

I’m glad that my wife acknowledged that the cupcake party has gotten a little out of hand. I would otherwise be somewhat interested in the Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World cookbook, since it’s from one of my favorite cooks. But I’m trying to hold firm on the boycott (get this book instead). I will confess that we are both BIG fans of anything Veronica Perez cranks out of her kitchen (particularly her macarons). She’s undergone schooling in the pastry arts all over the world and uses that education to deliver serious flavors and textures. *

But most cupcakes are not products of Petites Bouchees. The rest of the cupcake crowd is a bunch of style over substance. All frills and eye candy in an ideal sized snack treat that’s also ideal for taking money out of your wallet. I wonder how much more money you can make on cupcakes versus a sheet cake made with the same amount of batter? I think they’re runnin’ a game on you, cupcake fans. That’s right. You been had. Hoodwinked. Bamboozled. Plus, each little portion of cake is baked in a paper cup that becomes one with your dessert. Try to eat it and the paper wrapper makes off with a whole bunch of that cake that you paid to much for to begin with. But this shouldn’t be vexing in the slightest, because cupcakes are more effusive affectation than effective confection.

At this point, I want to acknowledge the elephant in the room. Cupcakes are for girls. There I said it. I’m no fan of oppressive generalizations, but gender specific foods are just G.I. Joe and Barbie toys for adults to play with at the dinner table. Check out the “prima donna” pic up above. What guy has a conniption for a cupcake? There’s almost always pink involved in the frosting, or the box, or the silly logo on the storefront. In defense of my own manhood and to set a good example for my son, you won’t catch me eating cupcakes anytime soon. Well, at least not until Karen brings home another $12 four-pack from wherever and looks away long enough for me to sneak a bite.

*I might contradict everything I’ve said here, or at least compromised my point of view, with this “Pretty Pretty Cupcakes” post.

On Black Friday, Karen brought this Rival crock pot home for $13.  She even made a hazardous trip to (don’t judge us) Walmart on the biggest shopping day of the year to land this bargain.  We’ve used it several times and most everything it’s produced was barely edible.  Recipes followed to the letter were off in some way every time.  Ad-libbed concoctions that should be good tasted muddy and blah.  I know these slow cookers are fashionable throwbacks to the 70s, but I’m about to throw mine back to the 70s.

Sure, I could spend more time reading the big crock pot blog that people swear by. I could survey all of the vegetarians out there for best practices of slow cookery.  But, that seems like it’s contradicting the purpose of the crock pot to begin with: THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE EASY.  Throw stuff in the pot and come back hours later to a delicious meal.  Make it fast. Make it slow, as the infamous crock pot blogger says. Who wants to spend loads of time researching, much less wading through this trial and error period?  I know, I’m going to the trouble to write this, so I must be willing to invest some extra time, but this is (as with many of my blogs) a venting session in the hopes of gathering knowledge and correcting some of my own ignorance.

Some of the reviews of our model of crock pot say that it’s too hot and renders everything inside into flavorless much.  The four settings don’t seem to affect the temperature, instead acting only as a timer. That could be part of the problem.  My coworker tells me that the best thing to make in a crock pot is meat.  Okay. Now this vegetarian is relegated to “not the best” whenever I cook in a crock pot.  Great.  What to do?  I’ll turn this over to you.

Since I first published the post about Enoteca Sogno getting squeezed out of their Broad Street location, I’ve been in touch with the owner, Gary York, to see if my speculations were very far off and where Enoteca might pop up next.  Gary wisely chose to stay above the fray by not joining the contentious comments that erupted around that post.  Public sympathy for Gary’s plight was pretty evident in the comments and on Twitter.  Rather than speak out on the news that Justin French and Rick Lyons would be converting the old Enoteca into a new restaurant called Empress, York is taking time to recharge his batteries and focus on his acclaimed seafood restaurant, Coast, at Grove and Libby.

The question remains, will Enoteca Sogno reopen somewhere in Richmond?  So many Richmond restaurants have closed recently, it would be a shame to add Enoteca to that list.  Gary says Enoteca Sogno was financially stable thanks to a steady stream of regulars and relatively cheap rent afforded by his blighted Broad Street setting.  However, being bullied into closing has to leave a bad taste in a business owner’s mouth.  Add to that, the deep pockets and long reach of French and Lyons’ advertising pull seems to be ensuring that Richmond’s media out won’t delve into the Enoteca story, even to eulogize the restaurant.  That’s too bad, because increased attention probably would help give Gary and Enoteca the momentum to reestablish in a new location and put the restaurant on more people’s radar than its old incarnation.*

So, will Enoteca rise like a Phoenix from the ashes of an ugly turn of events on Broad Street? York doesn’t know yet. He’s got a a few restaurant ideas in his head and seems to be looking for inspiration to show him the right path to take.  I’m thinking that the right space is what Gary is missing, and there’s probably some hesitance to put trust in a new landlord after being burned so recently. If Gary York is going to get inspired, he’ll probably also need to hear from his supporters.  From what I’ve heard from his loyal customers, no one wants Enoteca memorialized by a pair of his and her’s douche-bag bars on Broad, matching and monogrammed.  York will have to write the next chapter himself and let us all know if there will be a sequel.

I recently asked Twitter where Enoteca Sogno should reestablish itself next and got a couple requests for a Southside location, anywhere in the city proper, and a who cares just reopen comment. When I asked Gary what he’s looking for, here’s what I got:

• An old building with exposed brick, not new construction.
• Within striking distance of York’s Northside home.
• Affordable rent to ensure affordable food.
• Enough space for all of his wines.**

With these requirements in mind, please chime in with your suggestions, encouragement, and feedback about the future of Enoteca Sogno.  I’m sure Gary will appreciate it.

*In its four years of operation, Enoteca Sogno never received a single full-length review in a major Richmond publication Style Weekly (got it wrong. there were RTD and Richmond Mag reviews. my mistake).

**I also got a lot more than I bargained for in wine wisdom.  This dude is steeped in the wine world (especially Italian).  And he bristles at the common 3x mark-up featured at so many restaurants.  I dare you to chat him up about vino.

RVA or NKOTB?

This blog entry is dedicated to Lauren Brandt, a friend and fight fan who passed away just before the holidays.  She was excited for this event and probably would have  carpooled  with me from Richmond to Fairfax and back.  Lauren will be missed.

Ultimate Fight Night 20 was my first in-person UFC event. Held at the Patriot Center on Monday, January 11th, it was also the first for the state of Virginia.  The way the event sold out and was nearing capacity during the preliminary bouts, it’s pretty clear that Virginians have been eagerly waiting for a chance to see the big leagues of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) in their own back yard.  Another attraction for locals was Richmond’s own, Amir Sadollah, a relative novice in MMA, who was catapulted from MCV surgical technician into pop culture infamy by winning season 7 of The Ultimate Fighter reality show in 2008.  Sure, it’s not on network TV (Spike, available thru most cable outlets), Amir’s exciting tenacity in the cage combined with his Forrest Griffin-esque unassuming presentation and constant self-deprecation has made Amir one to watch whenever he’s broadcast over the airwaves.

On top of Amir’s notoriety, I think announcer Mike Goldberg said “Richmond, Virginia” upwards of 15 times during the Spike network broadcast.  Despite all of this, there has been virtually no coverage of Amir or the UFC’s debut in Virginia by the Richmond media, or anywhere in Virginia for that matter, except for the Washington Post.  (more…)

On Christmas morning, the house was full of people and presents. Food couldn’t contend with all the other stimuli for our attention. That’s why Karen whipped up an easy and quick eggy casserole with a puff pastry crust (the gruyere is key). To many, the words, “puff pastry” are foreboding, but in this case it’s just a frozen product that you just unfold, flatten out, and form to fit the pan. After that, just pour the beaten eggs, layer with cheese, and bake. Instant breakfast/brunch home run. With that, I want to welcome you to a little pictorial highlight reel of our holidays. It would be more action packed, but there’s a sizing issue that has negated half of my scrumptious looking photos (resizing is a pet peeve of mine).

I had four hefty fish given to me for my Christmas dinner. They were caught via ice fishing in upstate NY.  My farmer friend, Kyong, pulled them out of a relatively tiny hole about a foot across. These are pickeral (three on bottom) and a northern pike (the one on top), both real fighters on the line from what I hear.  They were also totally unprepped, still with the bait in their mouths, smelling of the river water, slimy, but still bright eyed, and fresh.  I had to clean them, scale them, gut them, etc. It was a first for me and really laborious (cuz I didn’t know what I was doing).  I’m gonna spare you the pictures from that process, but you can see at least one unappetizing shot here. I seriously didn’t eat during the whole day that I was dealing with the fish innards.  Two of them got turned into fillets and the scraps went into a stock.* (more…)

As a child, I was really into cereal.  The sugary brands were generally forbidden by mom, but I’d compensate with a a couple tablespoons of sugar on my Cheerios and eat the stuff whenever I wanted a snack. As I grew up, I decided that granola was probably a lot healthier, but eating the stuff never became the priority of my childhood obsession with cereal.  Nonetheless, for as long as I can remember, there has always been a box of granola, or a bag of it from bulk bins, somewhere in my kitchen.  I never know how old it is, but that doesn’t seem to matter.  The oats and nuts and grains are shellacked in a sweet preservative, petrified in clumps that are destined to scrape my gums, an abrasive against the roof of my mouth as I choke down each bite.  I’m not complaining, really.  It’s a trade off. Granola is a good pain. Sweet and satisfying, hearty and healthy. Then, I tried Zaydie’s. Not the same experience at all.

borrowed from eatingbirdfood.com

First, I want to assure you that I don’t remember ever getting a single kick-back for food blogging. Some food bloggers do it effectively, acquiring high end appliances to test out and talk up.  Me? I talk too much shit. Any business is probably right to be weary of me.  Then, I got a message from Shelley Freed, one half of  Zaydie’s Granola, a small scale Henrico based cereal enterprise. It was a flattering email, asking if I’d try their granola and see if I had anything to say about it. Obviously a form message, delivered to me by mistake, because I’m a raging asshole – totally unworthy of gifts.  And yet, after emailing my address, two bags of granola showed up in the mail. And these weren’t sample size either. Their heft and probable retail value made me wonder immediately what might be my obligation.  Of course, I CANNOT BE BOUGHT, but that’s probably cuz no one’s really tried.  For two bags of granola, I’ll write a blog entry that reflects whatever mood the granola elicits.

I salute Zaydies for their approach to getting exposure.  We bloggers work social media tools to elevate our profiles, and businesses work social media tools (like bloggers) to elevate theirs. It’s a new world and a new granola. Actually, the granola tastes old. Not expired beyond the shelf-life old, but old like the way they used to eat granola back in the day. Old school. Old fashioned. Simple and honest.  The significance of this locally produced product is not marketing tactics of the mother daughter team, but the flavor and feeling it gives you.  More on that in a minute.

The thing about granola is that it’s more than a cereal, it’s a lifestyle, a social class for liberal tree-huggers or anyone wearing hemp, or sandals with socks, or an affinity for pita sandwiches.  The hearty cereal is tainted by its double meaning.  Eating granola has a hint of the word’s social connotation.  You are just a little bit hippy by association if you eat granola.  It might hold true if we did a comparison of every granola eater and their politics/lifestyle, but I don’t think that should influence your impression of granola… at least not Zaydies.  Does Henrico County even have hippies? Certainly not!

My first few bites of Zaydies granola made me question what I was eating. This doesn’t fit my preconception of granola. (more…)

What exactly qualifies a restaurant as “the best” in Richmond? I’ve been over this topic before, but it seems that it’s being addressed again by the year-end round-ups in Richmond’s print publications.  And they’re mostly coming up with the same answer:  The best restaurants are those places most of us can’t afford.  Or, when we do afford them, it’s a splurge -  “aspirational spending” that lets us pretend that we’ve moved up in the  socio-economic hierarchy.

As an avid reader of these lists of superlatives, I’m generally looking for some updated insights about what our city has to offer, a representation of our eclectic culture.  Unfortunately, if it isn’t exactly the same restaurants on these lists, they tend to focus on the $20-40 entree eateries that attract the upper tax bracket diners.  It’s like the Academy Awards of overpriced eating in every printed food feature.  I don’t think Richmond wants restaurants in Oscar contention at every meal. A low-budget Sundance Festival jury winner often hits the spot, with leftovers for lunch the next day.  Or better yet, a meta-ranking that includes input from everyday eaters as well as alleged experts.  Tell us what Richmond is crazy about and what we might be missing if we’re not adventurous enough.

In a small city, it’s not surprising that you have to cater to the big fish in order to survive.  However, I don’t think the masses of would-be readers are served by accolades ad nauseam for those places they won’t be visiting but a few times a year.  (more…)