Thursday, February 08, 2007
Scraping the bottom
Larry Bly
Larry Bly has plenty on his plate these days. He's got two TV shows on Cox Cable Roanoke. Click ahead for details and showtimes.
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In the parlance of cooking, to "deglaze" a pan is to use the scrapings off the bottom to make a sauce. After the food has been sautéed or roasted and removed from the pan, excess fat is spooned off and the remains are scraped and loosened as a wine or stock is poured into the same pan, stirred, and often a thickening agent is added to form a sauce or gravy, which is then used as a topping on the cooked item itself.
Consider this week's article a deglazing of sorts. I'll be back to restaurant reviews next week, but for now, you'll just have to settle for the bottom of the pan, which consists of a little of this and a little of that.
I had a hankerin' for a "sackful" Sunday morning and thus replaced my usual sensible Sunday morning breakfast with their little square hamburgers -- though they do offer breakfast items as well.
Nothing less than these tasty mini-burgers would satisfy my early-morning hunger. They come standard with onions, mustard and a dill pickle. I consumed four of them in less than 5 minutes, plus fries. I then got a bagful of 24 to take home for the Super Bowl crowd. It went over very well with the hungry gang. I just warmed 'em up in the oven and served in their little individually-wrapped packages.
Despite an overly nervous manager, standing-room only crowds out the door, and cars surrounding the Krystal building for drive-through service, they managed to keep all of us satisfied with a minimum of snafus. Overall, a most accommodating staff, though you'd expect that from the "South's Oldest Franchise," now wouldn't you?
It would appear that Chef Tony Pope has returned to Roanoke after a brief respite. His even briefer run in the kitchen at Wertz's downtown ended with a run-in that no one's talking about.
Apparently he will soon bring his substantial talents and cooking expertise to the recently defunct Spoon on the Avenue over in the Crystal Spring neighborhood of South Roanoke.
The location has been problematic for virtually a half dozen others, but Tony will try his magic there. I'm predicting that he'll do OK if he limits the hours.
This location is strange and the house is haunted, I'm certain, by the ghosts of restaurant-failures past.
Chef Tony's move comes via "a Ms. Steele," whose terse e-mail in my in-box said, "all of his energy is going towards developing a new, wholesome concept for the Roanoke dining scene." Well alrighty now!
Metro has named Chef Scott Switzer as a "partner" in the business. Well deserved, in my book. Scott is a CIA-trained chef in both French cuisine and contemporary American.
He holds forth in the Metro kitchen, watching over a sizeable staff of talented new chefs and trainees.
He labored in the position of chef de cuisine at Mason's in Easton, Md., and worked for a time for the Inn at Perry Cabin, an Orient Express property in St. Michael's, Md. I've visited St. Michael's and it's a paradise on Earth, I can tell you.
Lucky for us, he decided to move to Salem in the spring of 2004 to bring his talents to our tables in Roanoke.
All of that aside, I kid the very handsome and Kennedy-esque Scott for always sporting the perfect three-day beard. Even when he shaves, he looks just like the Marlboro Man. Congrats and glad you've decide to hang around in these parts.
The Roanoke Valley Red Cross chapter is launching another big fundraiser, this one called Red, White and Blues on Saturday, April 21, from 8 p.m.-midnight at the Performing Arts Theater at the Roanoke Civic Center.
Remember when it was just the auditorium at the Civic Center? Anyways, this event will be held in the lobby, both upstairs and down, and include a "bluesy blend of fabulous food, wines, music and a silent auction. Sample gourmet appetizers and tantalizing desserts from some of the area's finest restaurants and caterers, as well as Virginia wines. Music by Fat Daddy Band and the Jesse Ray Carter Band," says their announcement.
Proceeds will benefit the disaster relief work of the Red Cross in the Roanoke Valley. Tickets in advance, $30; tickets at the door $35. More information at roanokevalleyredcr oss.org.
One of my readers, Mr. Elliott, wrote that "As for your list of downtown restaurants closing, it's not long enough. So many are just bad deals and deserve their fate. My wife, who works downtown, likes Martin's for lunch but that's about it for standard eateries."
Well, the restaurant business is rough and tumble and the customers can be mighty fickle. I don't relish any failure ... it often represents the owners' life savings ... but I must agree with Mr. Elliott that sometimes people opening businesses haven't done their homework and haven't a clue.
A new restaurant will soon open in the old Howard's Soup Kitchenlocation in downtown Roanoke. I have no idea what it will be. I hope they put all of those horrible straight-back chairs in the dumpster. They used to pitch you forward into your soup. Very uncomfortable indeed.
And the poor old Howard Brothers deserve some sort of award for opening and closing the same restaurant again and again in the same location. That had to be a record. God bless them. I hope they finally get some much-needed rest.
And one other thing. Trio Bistro Bar and Bottle down on the Roanoke City Market has finally quit serving breakfasts, except for Sunday brunch. Apparently it just didn't catch on despite months of offering great breakfasts with completive pricing. Also, they've started closing for business on Tuesdays.
Tuesdays? Go figure?!
Oh, and one more. Whether you agree with the new proposed "no smoking in restaurants law," I really don't care.
To my mind, nothing could be more silly than some places that observe the old guidelines.
The funniest of them all is the Waffle House. People come in and ask "Where's the no-smoking section?"
They're directed to an area to left of the front door.
IT'S ONE SMALL ROOM, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!
I worry about people's brains sometimes!
Bly for now.
