You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
America's Foodiest Small Town
- Thread starter john McCarthy
- Start date
originally posted by VLM:
WORD!D-TOWN!!!
I hate Bpon Appetit though, so I'm a bit equivocal. But I've been making the points about the agricultural bounty for a while. Can't think of an area that comes close.
If it's about agricultural bounty, I'll bow to your knowledge. But the title of "foodiest small town" will most certainly be contested by Berkeley, which at 103,000 people in the last census is less than half the size of Durham and certainly has its share of food-centric institutions and culture. Perhaps I should do an in-depth investigation of both communities for a well-research rebuttal to the argument.
Mark Lipton
originally posted by MLipton:
originally posted by VLM:
WORD!D-TOWN!!!
I hate Bpon Appetit though, so I'm a bit equivocal. But I've been making the points about the agricultural bounty for a while. Can't think of an area that comes close.
If it's about agricultural bounty, I'll bow to your knowledge. But the title of "foodiest small town" will most certainly be contested by Berkeley, which at 103,000 people in the last census is less than half the size of Durham and certainly has its share of food-centric institutions and culture. Perhaps I should do an in-depth investigation of both communities for a well-research rebuttal to the argument.
Mark Lipton
There's the spirit.
Cheese wise, Durham's fucked, but on other things...well...
the title of "foodiest small town" will most certainly be contested by Berkeley, which at 103,000 people in the last census is less than half the size of Durham..
Yes, but isn't that a little disingenuous given the surroundings of Berkeley and all the cosmopolitan resources it draws on from all directions. I know there is a 'larger Durham' area as well, but not to the same extent. And neither of these places are small towns in the sense that Wasilla Alaska is a small town.
Steve Guattery
Steve Guattery
originally posted by Rahsaan:
And neither of these places are small towns in the sense that Wasilla Alaska is a small town.
I admit that I had a pretty good laugh when I pulled up the article to see which "small" town they were talking about.
- SG, from a college town and county seat that's still smaller than Wasilla
originally posted by MLipton:
originally posted by VLM:
WORD!D-TOWN!!!
I hate Bpon Appetit though, so I'm a bit equivocal. But I've been making the points about the agricultural bounty for a while. Can't think of an area that comes close.
If it's about agricultural bounty, I'll bow to your knowledge. But the title of "foodiest small town" will most certainly be contested by Berkeley, which at 103,000 people in the last census is less than half the size of Durham and certainly has its share of food-centric institutions and culture. Perhaps I should do an in-depth investigation of both communities for a well-research rebuttal to the argument.
Mark Lipton
Uh, but municipal Durham is probably much larger than Berkeley. You'd probably have to include Oakland and maybe others to really get a fair comparison size-wise.
From the guy I buy my eggs from. Chickens are good to.
I can ride my bike to Ben's farm.
Fickle Creek Farm will again offer BACON and HOGDOGS along with other pork, chicken, eggs and produce this Saturday at our three farmers' markets:
Pork - from our pasture-raised hogs (no antibiotics, no hormones, no confinement) - with cuts to include smoked, sliced bacon, smoked, lightly spiced hogdogs made from real pork, sausages (bratwurst, Italian, and maple breakfast), ground pork, side meat, jowls, fatback, neck bones, and rendered lard. Just these two cuts this week as you all have been asking for them for awhile now.
Chicken - fresh (never frozen) from chickens raised free-ranging on pasture without use of antibiotics, hormones, or animal by-products in the feed. We will have "French" breast (= whole, skin-on, boneless breast with first wing portion), whole leg pairs, wings, backs, necks, and livers plus raw meat pet food made from whole chicken and meant to be eaten raw. It is double ground to minimize bone chips and is in ~1lb packages.
Eggs - all-natural from our hens that are never confined, never receive antibiotics or hormones, and are free-ranging on pesticide-free pasture.
Produce - organically grown basil, spaghetti squash, butternut squash, 'Sungold' cherry tomatoes, okra, sweet bell and hot peppers.
I can ride my bike to Ben's farm.
john McCarthy
john McCarthy
originally posted by VLM:
I can ride my bike to Ben's farm.
That's how you roll baby. Keeping it real in D-TOWN!
Eden Mylunsch
Eden Mylunsch
Paso Robles is about a 40-50 hour bike ride from here (it's tough to go very fast when riding sidesaddle) but it's only three hours by car so I'm up there regularly. It's come a long way since the culinary scene was defined by A&W Root Beer and Foster's Freeze. The burgeoning wine scene in the 70s and 80s attracted an influx of people who wanted to eat better, resulting in the arrival of Villa Creek and Bistro Laurent in the 90s and those two restaurants begat other in the area.
The wines are improving too, although there are still producers catering to the traditional clientele of people hauling boats back and forth between their homes in Clovis or Kettleman City and Lake Nacimiento. It's still kind of a NASCAR constituency there, but most wineries are changing their focus from servicing the San Joaquin Valley commuters to trying to please the vacationers from SF and LA.
-Eden (I usually stay at the Melody Ranch Motel myself)
The wines are improving too, although there are still producers catering to the traditional clientele of people hauling boats back and forth between their homes in Clovis or Kettleman City and Lake Nacimiento. It's still kind of a NASCAR constituency there, but most wineries are changing their focus from servicing the San Joaquin Valley commuters to trying to please the vacationers from SF and LA.
-Eden (I usually stay at the Melody Ranch Motel myself)
lars makie
lars makie
originally posted by john McCarthy:
America's Foodiest Small Town
Loading…
www.bonappetit.com
Yeah....
I tried not be too judgmental or jaded while reading through the gauze-y prose of bon appetite's nyc writer seemingly ready to give it all up and live on a farm. As someone living in a big city (Chicago), I am definitely envious of what sounds like a great set-up down there. Anyway, I thought I just read somewhere else that, like, Portland, Maine was a big, little foodie town.
originally posted by Rahsaan:
Yes, but isn't that a little disingenuous given the surroundings of Berkeley and all the cosmopolitan resources it draws on from all directions. I know there is a 'larger Durham' area as well, but not to the same extent. And neither of these places are small towns in the sense that Wasilla Alaska is a small town.
Well, I did guffaw when I saw what they were calling a small town. But in a Durham/Berkeley food smackdown, we compare Research Triangle at ~ 2 M people vs. Berkeley/Oakland/SF at ~ 1 M. Granted, the Metropolitan Bay Area comes in at...what is it these days?... ~ 4 M? but to include San Jose and other bedroom communities in this comparison seems even more disingenuous to me. Whatever. Bon Appetit sucks.
Mark Lipton
Yes, how much longer until all those quaint, close farms are paved for condos?originally posted by Susannah:
I don't want people reading about this areaIt's exploded enough already.
Actual small towns, now...
Certainly some contenders in VT, for example, though it's hard to support a big or diverse restaurant culture in a tiny little village. The local ingredient sources are excellent, though. Woodstock? Norwich? Montpelier (OK, no longer that small.) Waterbury? Bennington?
Certainly some contenders in VT, for example, though it's hard to support a big or diverse restaurant culture in a tiny little village. The local ingredient sources are excellent, though. Woodstock? Norwich? Montpelier (OK, no longer that small.) Waterbury? Bennington?
Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
Orwell!
Paul Courtright
Paul Courtright
Coming from the Bay Area, I was pleasantly surprised to see all of the great produce available in Austin. Maybe not quite the wealth of variety (can't grow Artichokes anywhere near hear), but the quality is impeccable.
Certain things even put CA to shame (peaches, non-heirloom tomatoes, chilis, okra, chicken, rabbit, grass-fed beef, bison, prawns).
In the end though, shouldn't this be what it's all about? Each and every region has it's own agricultural bounty.
The fact that California produces most of the produce for the whole country...
It's nothing that people a lot smarter than I have said before.
ATX certainly doesn't hold up to the Bay Area, probably not Durham either, in the restaurant scene. But we do have a new glimmer of hope, and a place to drink Baudry and Renardat-Fache - Olivia
PC
Certain things even put CA to shame (peaches, non-heirloom tomatoes, chilis, okra, chicken, rabbit, grass-fed beef, bison, prawns).
In the end though, shouldn't this be what it's all about? Each and every region has it's own agricultural bounty.
The fact that California produces most of the produce for the whole country...
It's nothing that people a lot smarter than I have said before.
ATX certainly doesn't hold up to the Bay Area, probably not Durham either, in the restaurant scene. But we do have a new glimmer of hope, and a place to drink Baudry and Renardat-Fache - Olivia
PC
Paul Courtright
Paul Courtright
Wouldn't you say VT benefits from being the home to NECI?Certainly some contenders in VT, for example, though it's hard to support a big or diverse restaurant culture in a tiny little village. The local ingredient sources are excellent, though. Woodstock? Norwich? Montpelier (OK, no longer that small.) Waterbury? Bennington?
It only makes sense that some students would be drawn to staying in the area, given the great seasonal offerings.
PC
Wouldn't you say VT benefits from being the home to NECI?
Hmmm. It brings more trainee chefs to restaurants that the state probably couldn't otherwise attract (for example, the NECI crew that staffs the two higher-end dining facilities at the Okemo ski complex, which is a definite improvement over regular fare), but it's not like their influence covers the whole state, and I think the excellence of the ingredients has very little to do with NECI and a bit more to do with wealthy urbanites' second homes and their ability to support these producers economically. But -- and I'd say this is the key difference between VT and certain other states -- native Vermonters support the producers as well. Which, to my mind, has very little to do with NECI.
But I could be wrong.
originally posted by Paul Courtright:
In the end though, shouldn't this be what it's all about? Each and every region has it's own agricultural bounty.
I think this is a very good point.
It's amazing what a difference buying local can do for poultry and eggs isn't it? Friends in CA couldn't understand my love for the lowly chicken...
The fact that California produces most of the produce for the whole country...
In SoCal, at least, it left me with the feeling that there wasn't anything that came from anywhere nearby...