The Only Thing Missing Were Powdered Wigs
Glenn flags this Mike Allen blurb:
WOLFGANG PUCK is in town from Beverly Hills to cook for YOUSEF AL OTAIBA, ambassador from the United Arab Emirates, where more U.S. Navy ships are ported than any other foreign country. The ambassador (who was G’town classmates with Norah O’Donnell and knows the Morrells) hosted 14 young Washingtonians for dinner and convo at his McLean home, followed by Game 7 (and a life-size Kobe) on his 103-inch TV screen. What Puck whipped up: 1) terrine of foie gras with toasted brioche, seared foie gras with cherry chutney, and mousse on apricot tartlet (Riesling, Hirtzberger, “Singerriedel,” Austria 2004); 2) seared wild salmon with cucumber raita and sweet pea puree (Chardonnay, Littorai, “Mays Canyon,” California 2006); 3) risotto with porcini mushrooms (pinot noir, Clos De Tart, “Grand Cru,” Burgundy 1995); 4) veal Milanese (Barolo, Oddero, Italy 2000); 5) slow braised Kobe short ribs and grilled Kobe New York (cabernet sauvignon, Beaulieu Vineyard, “Georges de Latour,” Napa 2001); 6) strawberry shortcake, chocolate raspberry soufflé and peach cobbler (Grüner Veltliner Eiswein, Anton Bauer, Austria).GUESTS INCLUDED [White House Deputy Press Secretary] Bill Burton, Laura Burton Capps [lobbyist, wife of Burton and daughter of Rep. Louise Capps], Helene Cooper [of The New York Times], [Deputy White House Press Secretary] Josh Earnest, Betsy Fischer [Executive Producer, Meet the Press], Jonathan Karl [of ABC News], Ryan Lizza [New Yorker political reporter and author of forthcoming White House book], Norah O’Donnell [MSNBC reporter], Rep. Aaron Schock, Jamal Simmons [CNN reporter], Jim VandeHei [Politico’s Editor-in-Chief], Natalie Wyeth [former Treasury spokesperson and now corporate spokesperson] and Jessica Yellin [CNN reporter].
It is worth remembering that these are the people who spent the better part of 2008 discussing whether Obama was too elitist for the American public for mentioning lettuce found in McDonald’s salads. Here’s Jim Vandehei on NPR:
PESCA: Let’s power through doldrums, and the best way I know to do that is to get a guy who’s excited! Jim VandeHei is the executive editor of Politico. Hey, Jim.Mr. JIM VANDEHEI (Executive Editor, politico.com): Hey. How’re you guys doing?
PESCA: We’re good. So, Jim, let’s start off with the number-one hottest political question. We bandied it around already. What kind of lettuce do you like?
Mr. VANDEHEI: Oh, me? I like good, old, crisp, iceberg lettuce.
PESCA: Yes!
MARTIN: Sure.
PESCA: You’re a real American.
MARTIN: Yeah.
Mr. VANDEHEI: Unlike that – that fancy arugula.
PESCA: Fancy arugula.
Mr. VANDEHEI: That’s a Barack Obama one.
***Mr. VANDEHEI: Hey, politics is all about being a good actor, and creating a good narrative, and there’s no doubt that – I do think that Obama has a problem, in that he often does seem sort of coolly detached, if not sort of aloof, to a lot of voters, and that’s probably part of the reason he does not do well with working-class whites, and certainly hasn’t in Pennsylvania, Ohio, in other states.
I don’t think it’s sort of a game changer for him, but it – he does have to prove that he can do something to connect with voters that aren’t just the African-American voters, and aren’t sort of your traditional “liberal elite.” And that has been the story – you guys were talking before about getting bored with the campaign. I can understand that, because it feels like nothing has changed, even after Pennsylvania.
And while I doubt Wolfgang Puck would ever serve iceberg lettuce, fortunately for Vandehei and company, they could choke down their appetizers with a delightful 2004 Riesling.
BTW- Obama won both Ohio and Pennsylvania in 2008.
(Via Sully- not sure how I missed this piece)
June 23, 2010 2:38 pm
Posted in: Assholes, Our Failed Media Experiment
118 Comments
118 Responses
DougJ - June 23, 2010 | 2:43 pm · Link
I wouldn’t pair that chardonnay with salmon.
Napoleon - June 23, 2010 | 2:48 pm · Link
I think that Mike Allen is confused. It is not Wolfgang Puck that is going to be there but Wolff Gang Pook the winner of this years installment of this event.
Comrade Javamanphil - June 23, 2010 | 2:51 pm · Link
Republicans, I don’t understand. These people, I hate. I hope you choke on your, foie gras.
licensed to kill time - June 23, 2010 | 2:52 pm · Link
Real ‘Murkans drink Bud Light Lime.
Randy P - June 23, 2010 | 2:53 pm · Link
Let’s not forget some pundit’s declaration that ordering OJ at breakfast is elitist also. This would be a surprise to the very working-class (and also largely Republican, unfortunately) diners I frequent. Especially the one with the big fresh-OJ press.
Jager - June 23, 2010 | 2:54 pm · Link
Did these fuckers learn about “Real Americans” in school or something? Was there a class on “Real Americans” you could take? Could you major in “Real Americans”? Could you write a paper on “Foods acceptable to Real Americans”? Did they take field trips WalMart, did they eat at Denny’s for a class project?
On a personal note, this week I’ve eaten arugula and ice berg lettuce, enjoyed them both. I eat at Spago (not often, its really good and $$$) and In and Out Burger, Am I a “Real American” or not, give it up godammit! I like spicy mustard, also.
slag - June 23, 2010 | 2:57 pm · Link
@DougJ: Personally, I would prefer four fried chickens and a Coke.
cleek - June 23, 2010 | 2:57 pm · Link
Real Americans don’t question their betters, Mr. Cole.
themann1086 - June 23, 2010 | 2:57 pm · Link
Ha, I’d forgotten that one. Our media is so messed up.
PeakVT - June 23, 2010 | 2:58 pm · Link
I so look forward to more installments of Allen’s new column, “Lifestyles of the Rich and Politically Connected.”
beltane - June 23, 2010 | 3:00 pm · Link
My opinion of Politico was already at absolute zero so this doesn’t do much to change anything. But I will take this opportunity to express how much I loathe the whole concept of celebrity chefs.
fucen tarmal - June 23, 2010 | 3:00 pm · Link
sheeeeit john, the meal puck made for al otaiba isn’t elitist, thats what i had for lunch, minus the foie gras and insert bud light hard dry iced lime instead of the wines.
beltane - June 23, 2010 | 3:01 pm · Link
@Jager: They go on safari looking to bag an Applebee’s salad bar. When they find one tell me.
Corner Stone - June 23, 2010 | 3:02 pm · Link
What planet are these people living on?
Roger Moore - June 23, 2010 | 3:02 pm · Link
@Jager:
Not a Real American®. In-N-Out is an elitist, Left Coast fast food chain. Real Americans® would eat at a Real American® chain like White Castle, Popeyes, or Chick-Fil-A.
Ben - June 23, 2010 | 3:04 pm · Link
@Roger Moore:
is Carls Jr. acceptable? Carl Karcher was a “real American” (i.e. Republican Party donor) after all.
Rosalita - June 23, 2010 | 3:06 pm · Link
@Roger Moore:
Nah, I think Chick-Fil-A is a step up from Mickey D’s and BK. It pains me that we don’t have them in the Northeast.
Midnight Marauder - June 23, 2010 | 3:06 pm · Link
I really, really hate the fucking Village. Can’t wait to see how they handle the addition of Eliot Spitzer to their roster of know-nothings.
bobbo - June 23, 2010 | 3:07 pm · Link
In a just world, these people wouldn’t have jobs. In a just world, if they did have jobs, no one would listen to them. In a just world, if they had jobs and people listened to them, more people would listen to the rest of us mocking them. What a fucked up world we live in.
Roger Moore - June 23, 2010 | 3:07 pm · Link
@Ben:
Acceptable but not preferred. Carl Karcher may have been a Real American®, and the ads mocking wimpy eating habits are great, but they’re still a Left Coast chain.
muddy - June 23, 2010 | 3:08 pm · Link
Iceberg is nice and crunchy to eat, but it lacks nutrition. If you are not going for nutrition, then what the hell. If a thick dressing shovel is what you want, it’s terrific.
The thing that makes me sick to hear about is the foie gras. There is a saying in my family for when the crap is flying at you too thick and too hard to avoid: “You are the foie gras goose.”
That’s because you have to either keep on swallowing shit you don’t want, or drown.
Eating that stuff is like eating a slice of horror, I can’t imagine it. And they had it twice in one meal? Sick. The bad vibes in it ought to cause cancer. Or at least Fatty Liver Disease.
Roger Moore - June 23, 2010 | 3:10 pm · Link
@Rosalita:
But Chick-Fil-A has tons of Real American® cred. They’re from deep in Real America® territory, not from phony Left Coast land. They sponsor College Football. And, best of all, they’re such good Christians that they aren’t even open on Sundays. You can’t get much more Real American® than that.
Rosalita - June 23, 2010 | 3:11 pm · Link
@Roger Moore:
True…I just hate to ‘dis the chikin biscuits
elmo - June 23, 2010 | 3:14 pm · Link
Is it time for the rusty pitchforks yet? Plleeeeeeze?
KG77 - June 23, 2010 | 3:15 pm · Link
I’ve always wanted to ask David Brooks if the Applebee’s salad bar has arugula.
Corner Stone - June 23, 2010 | 3:15 pm · Link
@muddy:
Have you considered developing a Reality TV series for your family?
Boots Day - June 23, 2010 | 3:16 pm · Link
I think all that most political reporters know about Real America is that they’re not it. So they assume that people who do stuff that they don’t do – like go to church, or fire guns, or live in meth-addled towns in Alaska – must be the Real Americans.
So they’re really isn’t any contradiction here. Reporters eat fancy European-style food, so Real Americans must be eating something else. If Barack Obama eats fancy European-style food, that just shows he’s as different from meth-addled towns in Alaska as John VandeHei is.
Jager - June 23, 2010 | 3:18 pm · Link
@Roger Moore:
In ‘n Out it was started by a WW2 Vet and his wife, it was a “Real American” family business. Is it elitist because its California based or because the food is good? If you make good stuff and make some money doing it you lose your “Real American” creds, but if you make shitty stuff and make billions doing it you are still a “Real American” and you are even more of a “Real American” if you make it off shore, right, also, then?
Roger Moore - June 23, 2010 | 3:18 pm · Link
@Rosalita:
You don’t have to dis the chikin biscuits. The best part of being a phony liberal elitist is that we don’t reject you just because you want to eat Real American® food sometimes. We’re not purists like the Real Americans® are. You only have to do liberal elitist stuff once in a while to qualify.
Mark S. - June 23, 2010 | 3:18 pm · Link
Why would a foreign ambassador go to the trouble of wining and dining all these douchebags from the press? I mean, these are professional journalists with the highest ethical standards. These aren’t cheap whores you can just buy in order to get good press, right?
licensed to kill time - June 23, 2010 | 3:18 pm · Link
I say we start polishing up the guillotines and bust out the knitting needles.
Corner Stone - June 23, 2010 | 3:20 pm · Link
I’m still wondering who the Morrells are and if it’s somehow significant that I don’t know them.
Cat Lady - June 23, 2010 | 3:20 pm · Link
If that party had suffered a predator drone strike, what would have been lost, other than some nice full reds? Is there one person in that group that the country wouldn’t be way better off without? Puck’s a great chef, but there are a lot of great chefs.
Mike in NC - June 23, 2010 | 3:21 pm · Link
What do Count VanDeHi and Lady DeRothschild talk about in their drawing room, anyway?
TuiMel - June 23, 2010 | 3:23 pm · Link
Can you really be sure that the powdered wigs were missing?
John Cole - June 23, 2010 | 3:23 pm · Link
Here in WV and the midwest, Carls Jr. goes by “Hardee’s” and is the definitive NASCAR real American place to go with biscuits and gravy and all the fixins.
ajr22 - June 23, 2010 | 3:24 pm · Link
That meal sounds amazing, and anyone upset that people are eating it are just hating.
stuckinred - June 23, 2010 | 3:25 pm · Link
@Jager: And they have bible references on their cups?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wi.....erence.jpg
Mark S. - June 23, 2010 | 3:27 pm · Link
This has got to be the most insane match in history.
Omnes Omnibus - June 23, 2010 | 3:28 pm · Link
@slag: Dry white toast.
elmo - June 23, 2010 | 3:28 pm · Link
@John Cole:
It’s Hardee’s in the South, too. But they (Hardee’s and Carl’s) aren’t exactly the same.
I moved to TN from CA about seven years ago, and was very confused for a little while—wait, why is this “Hardee’s” place using all of Carl’s Jr.’s trade dress when their menus are different? No Santa Fe Chicken Sandwich at Hardee’s, but lots of different presentations of biscuits that I don’t recall at Carl’s.
Roger Moore - June 23, 2010 | 3:28 pm · Link
@Jager:
Yes. It also has all kinds of DFH ideas like never freezing anything (frozen fries are good enough for Real Americans®), putting fresh tomato and lettuce on its burgers (Real American® burgers use ketchup and pickles), and not keeping food around indefinitely under heat lamps. Not to mention weird stuff like letting Satanic college students order 666×666 burgers.
Actually that stuff is just a bunch of rationalization; it’s elitist because I said so as a way of dissing you. That’s the true point of making distinctions between Real Americans® and elitist liberals. There doesn’t have to be any systematic reason for labeling things one way or another. The important part is being able to criticize somebody for failing to be a Real American®.
jrosen - June 23, 2010 | 3:28 pm · Link
@Roger Moore
And if they were in Hoboken on Washington Street they could pop in at “Cluck You”. That’s not just American, that’s New Jersey!
These people ate at “Puck You”.
beltane - June 23, 2010 | 3:28 pm · Link
@Corner Stone: The Morrells are mushrooms and are often featured in elitist French surrender monkey type food. It is not just any fungus that gets to attend Georgetown.
kommrade reproductive vigor - June 23, 2010 | 3:30 pm · Link
The fact that arugula wasn’t on the menu makes it a 100% reaLAMErican meal.
The only thing missing was a mob of angry scythe & torch wielding pesants.
Jim C - June 23, 2010 | 3:31 pm · Link
@Corner Stone:
I thought “knows the Morrells” is beltway-speak for the more RealAmerican® phrase “knows his onions.”
Walker - June 23, 2010 | 3:32 pm · Link
Chicked-fried steak on a biscuit for breakfast. Hardees is God’s fast food restaurant.
Lord how I miss them since moving north of the Mason-Dixon.
Waynski - June 23, 2010 | 3:32 pm · Link
I’m so sick of hearing the phrase “game changer” from the Villagers, but I guess to them, people without health care, two wars, and the disappearance of an entire way of life in the gulf states is all in the game as Omar from The Wire would say. Assholes. Hope you enjoyed your fucking fois gras.
TuiMel - June 23, 2010 | 3:32 pm · Link
The only possible silver lining to this piece:
I did not see Sally Quinn the Eskimo’s name among the glitterati. Lacking the presence of the queen bee, these drones could not have fully enjoyed themselves. Cold comfort that life-sized Kobe because the “convo” just could not have been as sparkling as it might have been.
cleek - June 23, 2010 | 3:34 pm · Link
@stuckinred:
there’s an NC burger chain (Cookout) which puts bible verses on its bags.
i forgive them because they have the best burgers around. and they often have 50+ options on their milkshake menu.
stuckinred - June 23, 2010 | 3:36 pm · Link
@cleek: I forgive In n Out even though I don’t eat the food I wear them swell shirts and always have people commenting on them.
eemom - June 23, 2010 | 3:37 pm · Link
@Midnight Marauder:
with Kathleen Parker no less. What a nauseating couple.
canuckistani - June 23, 2010 | 3:37 pm · Link
@Omnes Omnibus:
Sorry, dry white toast is for Canadians.
SenyorDave - June 23, 2010 | 3:38 pm · Link
Maybe Obama can do a speech from the Oval Office saying that he is resccinding Health Care Reform but will instead provide every person in the US without Health insurance free foie gras until they secure Health insurance.
Corner Stone - June 23, 2010 | 3:38 pm · Link
@TuiMel: Nor would I expect to see Quinn’s name there.
Didn’t you notice he stuck the knife in and twisted it a little with this:
Once you look at who the adjective “young” covers, it’s pretty clear this is either more fuffery for the actual guests, or a dig at those who weren’t invited.
jeffreyw - June 23, 2010 | 3:39 pm · Link
Accompanied by an orange/lemon shake up.
Corner Stone - June 23, 2010 | 3:41 pm · Link
@cleek:
Who needs more than 3? And that’s pushing it with the elitist addition of strawberry as choice.
Anything more just isn’t American™.
KevinNYC - June 23, 2010 | 3:41 pm · Link
Obviously you need to this video by The Upper Crust on the front page.
TuiMel - June 23, 2010 | 3:42 pm · Link
@Corner Stone:
The whole thing just reeked of Quinnifaction to me…
stuckinred - June 23, 2010 | 3:43 pm · Link
@jeffreyw: You got Maid Rite around you?
Joseph Nobles - June 23, 2010 | 3:44 pm · Link
Oh, really?
Sorry, that’s my gaydar going off. I’m going to have to take that in to the shop and have it examined.
Ash Can - June 23, 2010 | 3:44 pm · Link
I personally don’t care if these folks get together for some fun and a fancy meal. That’s fine. However, as others have said here, the next one of them to utter the word “elitist” in public should get his/her can kicked all the way to Kansas City. And back.
And WTF is a himbo nobody like Aaron Schock doing mixed in with this group? Is he somebody’s boy toy?
Jager - June 23, 2010 | 3:46 pm · Link
@Walker:
Northern Minnesota is filled with Hardees and the Scandanavians, yust love it, you betcha, then.
Jager - June 23, 2010 | 3:48 pm · Link
@Roger Moore:
Thanks, man, I needed dissing this morning. I feel better already.
Joshua Norton - June 23, 2010 | 3:48 pm · Link
Meh. It’s ok if you’re impressed by cafeteria food.
twiffer - June 23, 2010 | 3:49 pm · Link
@Jager: if you mention the price of arugula at whole foods to a group of farmers in iowa who grow arugula, you are elitist and out of touch with real americans. also, real americans only use French’s mustard.
Walker - June 23, 2010 | 3:50 pm · Link
@Jager:
Except that in my experience, those northern Hardees do not carry the awesome biscuit sandwiches. Every Pennsylvania Hardees I have ever seen only carries biscuit and gravy.
If I cannot get my Steak Biscuit (or a Pork Chop Biscuit), it is a fake Hardees.
elmo - June 23, 2010 | 3:56 pm · Link
@Walker:
Thou shalt not deep-fry beef as you would chicken; this is abomination.
But I grant you that their biscuits n gravy are pretty decent for fast food.
What I really, really, really miss is Jack in the Box. Ultimate Cheeseburger, omg I’m drooooooling…
slag - June 23, 2010 | 3:56 pm · Link
@Omnes Omnibus: Elwood!
Jager - June 23, 2010 | 4:03 pm · Link
@Walker:
Would Steak and Shake make the “Real American” list?
How about Cracker Barrel? A&W, Dairy Queen, IHOP?
For “Real American” food on a local level, if you ever pass through Bismarck, ND, exit on Main and eat at Kroll’s Kitchen. It is all there, although some “Real Americans” might object to a few of the German favorites on the menu, you know “furren” stuff like knefla soup. Mrs J and I ate there one morning and the food carried us all the way to Livingstone Mt, she and I got close to 600 miles on our personal tanks!
jeffreyw - June 23, 2010 | 4:05 pm · Link
@stuckinred: nope
Corner Stone - June 23, 2010 | 4:07 pm · Link
@elmo:
***SPUTTER***
Walker - June 23, 2010 | 4:08 pm · Link
@Jager:
I am a huge chicken and dumplings fan, so I like Cracker Barrel for that. However, their country stores filled with Chinese merchandise creep me out.
asiangrrlMN - June 23, 2010 | 4:08 pm · Link
Um, I do not eat fast food. What does that make me?
stuckinred - June 23, 2010 | 4:09 pm · Link
I assume most of ya’ll have never been to the Varsity in Atlanta or Athens. What’ll ya have!
stuckinred - June 23, 2010 | 4:09 pm · Link
@asiangrrlMN: swoooft
slag - June 23, 2010 | 4:10 pm · Link
@asiangrrlMN: Ummmm…not just another statistic in America’s raging obesity epidemic?
stuckinred - June 23, 2010 | 4:11 pm · Link
Varsity lexicon
Hot Dog
Hot dog with chili and mustard
Heavy Weight
Hot dog with extra chili
Naked Dog
Plain hot dog on a bun
MK Dog
Naked dog with mustard and ketchup
Regular C Dog
Hot dog with ketchup
Red Dog
Naked dog with Ketchup
Yellow Dog
Naked dog with mustard
Yankee Dog
Plain dog with mustard
Walk a Dog
Hot dog to go
Steak
Hamburger with ketchup, mustard and pickle
Chili Steak
Hamburger with chili
Glorified Steak
Hamburger with mayo, lettuce and tomato
Mary Brown Steak
Hamburger with no bun
Naked Steak
A plain steak
Varsity Orange
The original formula
Squirt One
A Varsity Orange
N.I. Orange
Varsity Orange with no ice
F.O.
Frosted Varsity Orange
Joe-ree
Coffee with cream
P.C.
Plain chocolate milk always served with ice
N.I.P.C.
Chocolate milk with no ice
All the Way
With onions – Can be a hot dog, chili, steak, etc
Bag of Rags
Potato Chips
Ring One
Order of Onion Rings
Strings
An order of french fries
Sideways
Onions on the side
Corner Stone - June 23, 2010 | 4:12 pm · Link
@elmo:
AKA Ultimate Leadburger
Fifteen or so years ago J in the B made the mistake of running a “buy one supreme burger and get one free” coupon.
A friend and I went and each had a Sourdough Bacon Swiss Something and an Ultimate Cheeseburger. And curly fries.
Friends, I don’t give a good god damn what Puck served these elitist pigs. THAT was good eatin’.
Walker - June 23, 2010 | 4:13 pm · Link
@stuckinred:
If I am in Atlanta, I am eating at the Busy Bee.
I remember the first time I took my (white) wife there and she ordered chitterlings. The waitress looked at her and said “You do know what these are, don’t you?”
I said, “She’s Polish. You can’t scare her.”
Corner Stone - June 23, 2010 | 4:14 pm · Link
@Walker:
Like the person the other day who said they didn’t find Palin attractive, I may be the only white male in the country who thinks every thing at Cracker Barrel is disgusting.
Never had anything I enjoyed there and I’ve tried several different ones because family members like them.
LT - June 23, 2010 | 4:16 pm · Link
Iceberg lettuce sucks frucking monkey ass. The most useless food on the planet. If one of my relatives ever serves me a “salad” that is 90% iceberg lettuce, a few toamto quarters, and a pint of French Dressing I am going to kick their pets. Swear to fucking god, I hate that crap.
And I’m a meat of any kind-eating, non-lettuce must be ripped not cut (fuck you), cheap beer guy, who thinks arugula is dandy. Just to be clear.
LT - June 23, 2010 | 4:17 pm · Link
Damn. No more edit function, huh? Oh well. Damn the typos – full speed ahead, I guess.
Walker - June 23, 2010 | 4:18 pm · Link
@Corner Stone:
Do you just not like southern cuisine (which I understand some people don’t)? Because it is pretty hard to screw chicken and dumplings up.
My regular Cracker Barrel order has become like a mantra: chicken and dumplings, green beans, fried apples, and a sweet tea.
LT - June 23, 2010 | 4:20 pm · Link
@licensed to kill time: I had a Budweiser Chelada on my B-day the other day. It’s Budweiser marketed to Mexicans. It has Clamato in it. Here.
elmo - June 23, 2010 | 4:21 pm · Link
@Corner Stone:
Cracker Barrel (or as my partner calls it, “Honky Bucket”) has got to be, hands-down, the worst chain restaurant in the country. I’ll go into a Denny’s or Shoney’s and order by pointing at the menu with my eyes closed before I’ll eat anything there. Horrible food, worse service, creepy atmosphere, and invariably crowded with fat adults and loud children. I don’t say this lightly, but I will go hungry before I’ll eat there.
(People who know me IRL would all collectively gasp at the very idea of me voluntarily going hungry, trust me)
Dave S. - June 23, 2010 | 4:24 pm · Link
@Corner Stone: That caught my eye too. I even clicked all the way through to see if there was some larger context in which it made sense. As it was Politico, there wasn’t and it didn’t.
Maybe “knowing the Morrells” is Village-speak for “hiking the Appalachian Trail.”
elmo - June 23, 2010 | 4:26 pm · Link
@Walker:
Yes. It is. Which is why I’m constantly amazed at the capacity of every Cracker Barrel I’ve ever been in to do just that.
The dog rescue transports I’ve been on have pretty consistently used Cracker Barrel parking lots as our transfer points, because they’re located on convenient interstate exits, they’re easy to see, easy to get in and out of, and they’re big parking lots edged with grass. So I’ve tried. Really, I have. But I just can’t do it any more. It’s the only restaurant in my whole life that has managed to kill my Pavlovian response to being in a restaurant parking lot—oooo, must eat here. Nope, not any more. Ugh.
stuckinred - June 23, 2010 | 4:27 pm · Link
@Walker: Wow, been in Athens 25 years and that’s the first I’ve heard of that joynt! Did you know Deacon Burton’s over by the Inman Park Marta station? He was from Oconee County and hit his brother in the head with an axe. He ran away and didn’t find out until years later that he didn’t die.
jeffreyw - June 23, 2010 | 4:28 pm · Link
You want fries with that?
Midnight Marauder - June 23, 2010 | 4:30 pm · Link
@asiangrrlMN:
A sleeper cell.
Corner Stone - June 23, 2010 | 4:35 pm · Link
@Walker:
I thoroughly do enjoy such.
It’s not the menu selection I have an issue with, it’s the quality. Everything is lackluster if not outright blah. I could go on but I see we just disagree on Cracker Barrel. Given the choice, I would never step foot in another one. And seeing as how I’m usually the one paying for meals these days, I probably never will have to.
Jager - June 23, 2010 | 4:36 pm · Link
@Walker:
My Yankee Aunt married a Grzadelewski, nothing scares him, nothing! At the wedding dance the beer taps never shut off, the mugs were passing under them too fast. When my cousin was 16, a couple of punks kicked his ass one night. My Uncle said, too bad, now get even and signed the kid up for boxing lessons. A year later, Mike kicked both their asses. You ought to taste his deer sausage; a third each of pork, venison and beef, it is the consistency of high grade summer sausage and a 100 times better! Makes it at home.
Corner Stone - June 23, 2010 | 4:38 pm · Link
@Dave S.:
I did the same thing, damn me. Gave them a click because it was so inexplicable a lack of context.
But as I thought about it, I came to understand that it in fact did make perfect sense for who the target audience was.
Corner Stone - June 23, 2010 | 4:43 pm · Link
@LT: It always bothers me when someone just isn’t sure what they like or don’t like.
Gozer - June 23, 2010 | 4:48 pm · Link
@Roger Moore:
Hey now, Popeye’s is fuckin’ delicious.
EDIT: As is nearly everything out of New Orleans.
Does New Orleans count as “Real America”? What with all the black and brown people, the gays, and that whole french thing?
Anne Laurie - June 23, 2010 | 4:57 pm · Link
@Corner Stone:
My fallback is their french toast (speaking of things it’s hard to screw up). It’s been a couple years, but at least here in the Northeast they give you real maple syrup, not the best quality but at least not that Karo slop. And their ‘house salad’ isn’t doused with sulfite preservatives and features bacon bits made from actual bacon, FWIW.
Also, the stores sell Winchester oyster crackers, which I adore.
JenJen - June 23, 2010 | 5:00 pm · Link
And, the Arugula Eater won Ohio by far more than Chimpy ever did. And wasn’t Pennsylvania the first “McCain Firewall” that fell on Election Night? Wasn’t it, in reality, the kind of victory we could call a landslide?
arguingwithsignposts - June 23, 2010 | 5:02 pm · Link
@elmo:
Here, I have to disagree. I’ve tasted chicken and dumplings screwed up almost as much as fried okra (hint: it’s not a batter, it’s corn meal, you stupid f**ks!).
Also, I’ve eaten at Varsity in Atlanta. it was meh.
WereBear (itouch) - June 23, 2010 | 5:05 pm · Link
@Gozer: Popeye’s rocks. And so does Steak n Shake, though I only get there about once a decade.
Roger Moore - June 23, 2010 | 5:07 pm · Link
@asiangrrlMN:
Definitely a liberal elitist not Real American®. As if you needed to be told that, given your many other not Real American® credentials.
Mnemosyne - June 23, 2010 | 5:12 pm · Link
@Walker:
Good thing you’re not from Hawaii or you’d be declaring that all other McDonalds’ are fake because you can’t get saimin for lunch in Topeka.
For all of the complaints about the Urban Outfitters-ization of America, fast food still has some surprising regional differences, even within the same chain.
Calouste - June 23, 2010 | 5:15 pm · Link
@Corner Stone:
Planet Pundit.
Mnemosyne - June 23, 2010 | 5:19 pm · Link
@stuckinred:
That doesn’t bother me with In N Out because they don’t put recognizable ones on them (no John 3:16) and you really have to be looking for the verse references on the cup to find them. Half the time, they end up being printed on the bottom. It’s more like an Easter Egg than an in-your-face “Praise Jesus!”
Plus the owners actually try to be, you know, Christians and not “Christians,” as in paying their employees well, providing benefits, etc. I’ll cut people like that an extra break if they decide to do a little almost-invisible proselytizing on your drink cup.
Sheila - June 23, 2010 | 5:25 pm · Link
Iceberg lettuce has so few nutrients that vets advise against giving it to guinea pigs. But who these days believes the media deserves to be treated as well as guinea pigs, those perpetually-sweet small mammals?
D-Chance. - June 23, 2010 | 5:37 pm · Link
GUESTS INCLUDED [White House Deputy Press Secretary] Bill Burton, Laura Burton Capps [lobbyist, wife of Burton and daughter of Rep. Louise Capps]
Nice to see Oh-boy isn’t allowing ‘business as usual’ to infest his executive staff… gotta keep that transparency-illusion thing going for the benefit of the rubes.
Delia - June 23, 2010 | 5:51 pm · Link
@Mnemosyne:
I really miss In n Out Burger. Haven’t located one in Oregon. Another fast food joint I miss is El Pollo Loco. Great chicken based Mexican food.
Mnemosyne - June 23, 2010 | 6:19 pm · Link
@D-Chance.:
The president is supposed to decide who his staff is allowed to marry? Really?
dollared - June 23, 2010 | 6:49 pm · Link
I ran the wine list through Wine-Searcher.
Total, around $600 for each set of six wines. Figure 3 bottles per course to cover 14 people, and you get $1800 for the wine at retail, $3500-$4000 at restaurant markup. So that gets you around $300/head for the wine alone, with tax and tip, and now add in $150/head for food, tax and tip.
Pretty conservatively (I haven’t added in limousines, servants, linens and party favors, or even thought about what our friend Wolfgang charges for a day rate), if this were in a restaurant, it would have cost $6-7,000. Add back in Wolfgang’s day rate, and this cost our hosts $20-$25k. A pretty penny for a night’s entertainment.
Call me old fashioned but that’s simply a meal no journalist without a trust fund could have afforded 30 years ago. Again, call me old fashioned, but that’s simply a $900 per couple bribe at the low end, and $3000/couple bribe at the high end.
And I’m concerned about taking my kids to a water park because I hate paying $180/night for the hotel room….
Funkhauser - June 23, 2010 | 7:40 pm · Link
That’s Lois Capps, not Louise.
Original Lee - June 23, 2010 | 8:07 pm · Link
@Walker: You just don’t know where to look. There’s a Hardee’s on the Ohio Turnpike, for instance.
asiangrrlMN - June 23, 2010 | 9:45 pm · Link
@slag: Heh. It would be true if I didn’t love food in general. Sigh. I just don’t particularly care for fast food.
@Midnight Marauder: OK, that cracked my shit up.
@Roger Moore: Heh. That is quite true. Then again, I have never claimed to be a Real American©, so I am fine with that.
stuckinred, I am not sure what you mean by swoooooft, but I like the sound of it.
Steeplejack - June 23, 2010 | 11:42 pm · Link
@stuckinred:
Former long-time Atlanta resident and Varsity veteran here. And I’ve got the clogged arteries to prove it. Don’t forget the Varsity Jr. on Jimmy Carter Boulevard in Norcross—an acceptable substitute for the downtown venue.
Steeplejack - June 23, 2010 | 11:50 pm · Link
@Gozer:
Probably not. But it is the best eating town in America. Or at least it was. I haven’t been down there since Katrina.
Steeplejack - June 23, 2010 | 11:53 pm · Link
@WereBear (itouch):
My guilty-pleasure-fast-food-place-that-I-never-get-to-enough is Whataburger. Primarily a Texas-Florida chain that goes to the mustard side on burgers rather than the more common ketchup/mayonnaise route. Used to be that when I was going to the beach from Atlanta we always had to stop at the first Whataburger over the Florida line to toke up. Good shakes, too.
Gozer - June 24, 2010 | 1:57 am · Link
@Steeplejack:
Still is. If you get down there I’d recommend Jacques-Imo’s (if you haven’t already had it). I’d also recommend my dad’s gumbo…but that’s not for sale. :)
Luckily most of my family is down there so I can get back a coupla times every year.
Steeplejack - June 24, 2010 | 4:12 am · Link
@Gozer:
Hell, I’m jonesin’ for the simple things in life—e.g., a muffaletta from the Central Grocery Store. Take it up to the levee and eat it while looking across to Algiers and watching the big ships move up and down the river. Good times.
SqueakyRat - June 24, 2010 | 9:02 am · Link
Funny how arugula wasn’t elitist when it was called rocket.