Food News January 5, 2004

"The French way of life requires shopping several times a week at small markets or well-stocked supermarkets that carry quality produce... (More from USA TodayNanci Hellmich). Blah blah blah. Spare me. French supermarkets and "hypermarkets" are stacked to the rafters with just as much packaged and prepared foods as any American supermarket. Next time you happen to be in France, stand in line at the checkout counter and see what kind of food the average French family purchases, it will look pretty familiar to what gets bagged at your neighborhood store. Oh yeah, and my son loves to eat dinner with the Parisian family of 5 that lives down the street from us. They routinely dine on that fine French dish known as spaghetti with ketchup. Seriously.

Four-Star Brouhaha: At Masa's in New York City, it's tough to get out of the door for less than $1000 for two (lunch or dinner).

"Frank Bruni's four-star rating (12/29/04 - NY Times) - rarer than canonization by the pope - kicked off a wave of commentary in the restaurant industry, on the Internet and among folks who plan vacations around restaurant reservations. "The common man thinks $350 and goes through the roof, but that's below the going rate at super luxury restaurants," says Steven A. Shaw, executive director of the Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, which maintains eGullet.com. Over at Chowhound.com, there was discussion about whether raw fish could ever be worth a second mortgage. While Bruni is arguably the most-read critic to gush about Masa, he is not the first. Interim critic Amanda Hesser was effusive last summer..." More from the St. Petersburg TimesJanet Keeler.
Bruni's review.
Hesser's review.
Mariani's review
Masa thread on eGullet

"While Monterey County's moderate climate might allow lettuce and celery to grow here year-round, the law does not. Lettuce went on its annual hiatus during December, and celery will be absent from Salinas Valley fields during January. Commercial growers are not only forbidden to cultivate these vegetables during specified periods, but all traces of the crops must be buried or removed from fields to interrupt cycles of disease." More from The CalifornianJoli Spencier.

Paul Willis and his wonder pigs. "Willis's plump animals live outside and move to barns when hard winter sets in. These naturally raised pigs lead the barnyard life of yesteryear -- eating corn, munching on grass, socializing. ''This whole system is about who pigs are," says Willis. Though he and farmers in other states who sell pork through Niman Ranch agree to raise pigs in a humane way -- without confinement or antibiotics, on natural feeds, and on sustainable family farms -- the point is not only the well being of the animals. It's also flavor, Willis emphasizes." More from Boston.comAlison Arnett.
Niman Ranch Pork.