Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog
Follow the Culinary Ruminations of New Mexico's Sesquipedalian Sybarite. 1,316 Restaurant Reviews, More Than 13,200 Visitor Comments…And Counting!
The remonstrance from a group of my foodie friends was vocal and animated when I contended that good seafood in the Duke City dining establishments not only exists, some of it borders on greatness. One ardent detractor asserted that good seafood in our landlocked community is as rare as a…
What comes to mind when you think of lobster? A rare treat or special event meal? A delicacy? Would you believe some cultures still consider lobster “the cockroach of the sea?” There’s a scientific basis for that. Neither fish nor mammal, lobsters are arthropods, closely related to the lowly…
The late George Plimpton was a pioneering journalist who garnered much of his acclaim from competing in professional sporting events then recording the experience from an amateur’s standpoint. From pitching against the National League prior to an All-Star baseball game to quarterbacking the Detroit Lions in an intrasquad scrimmage, Plimpton…
How do you know when a restaurant has really made it? Is it when that restaurant is recognized by national publications as one of the very best diners in the country? Or when celebrities go out of their way to dine at its tables? Is it when more than five-million…
If you can imagine what New Mexico would be like without green chile or the South without barbecue, you can understand what New England would be without fried clams. Like our beloved green chile, fried clams are an iconic food, so much so that they are almost synonymous with states…
The Union Oyster House, in continuous operation since 1826, is not only the oldest restaurant in Boston, it’s the oldest restaurant in continuous service in America. In fact, it’s housed in a building which predates the American Revolution. Union Street in which it is situated was laid out in 1626…
“Endorse what you love.” That’s the message NASCAR driver Tony Stewart delivers to Eric Estrada, Carrot Top and a host of other candidates the stature of which usually grace Dancing With The Stars and other dreadful reality shows. If the television commercial is to be believed, what Stewart loves is…
Every town has them–the touristy attractions every out-of-town visitor wants to hit and locals avoid like a Lobo basketball team coached by Ritchie McKay. To visitors, these attractions represent what your town is all about and nothing you tell them will dissuade them from thinking so. After all, your local…
In an inordinate number of the thousands of newspaper restaurant reviews I’ve read over the years, the savvy, sophisticated restaurant critic is typically accompanied to the week’s anointed dining destination by a nameless and faceless “dining companion.” In some cases, the sole purpose of the dining companion seems to be…
Over 900,000 customers in 1999 couldn’t be wrong when they spent over $28M, the third largest revenue for the year among independent (non-chain) restaurants at Bob Chinn’s Crab House in land-locked Wheeling, Illinois. In 2004, Bob Chinn’s was fifth in revenue among America’s independents. Fresh seafood flown in daily to…
