Sysco Restaurant food?

[Michael Nielsen]

I heard that many restaurants/eateries serve Sysco food, whole or partially made dishes to assemble and reheat, and sometimes even the menu is given by Sysco.
I think I had one of those Sysco foods when I had a salad with chicken and it was just horrible. the chicken was rubber, and I left pieces, which is saying a lot - vikings needs their meat!

Often you think that you are at a qulaity restaurant with a chef who makes his own menu and food, and gets the ingredients around the place, making deals with local farmers. But then it turns out it is Sysco food with raw materials from e.g. china.

Even upscale places you can risk getting Sysco food, for example, French Laundry while having a recipe for homemade fries in his book, serves sysco fries, and gets some meat from them as well. So it is really hard to know.

Anyone here knows how to predict it?

[itsjoan...@webtv.net]

On Saturday, July 26, 2014 1:02:18 AM UTC-5, Michael Nielsen wrote:

> I heard that many restaurants/eateries serve Sysco food, whole or partially made dishes to assemble and reheat, and sometimes even the menu is given by Sysco.
>
> I think I had one of those Sysco foods when I had a salad with chicken and it was just horrible. the chicken was rubber, and I left pieces, which is saying a lot - vikings needs their meat!
>
> Often you think that you are at a qulaity restaurant with a chef who makes his own menu and food, and gets the ingredients around the place, making deals with local farmers. But then it turns out it is Sysco food with raw materials from e.g. china.
>
>

Stay home and then you'll be somewhat safe.

Seriously? You have no idea where your meal came from but you automatically assume and blame Sysco Foods for your crappy meal?

[Ed Pawlowski]

On 7/26/2014 2:02 AM, Michael Nielsen wrote:

> Even upscale places you can risk getting Sysco food, for example, French Laundry while having a recipe for homemade fries in his book, serves sysco fries, and gets some meat from them as well. So it is really hard to know.
>
> Anyone here knows how to predict it?
>

Assume it. Probably 75% or restaurants are getting something from
Sysco. I see them all over.

[notbob]

On 2014-07-26, Ed Pawlowski <e...@snet.net> wrote:

> Assume it. Probably 75% or restaurants are getting something from
> Sysco. I see them all over.

So many restaurant foods come frozen from mega-corps. When I worked
in a small hotel resto, 40 yrs ago, I was shocked to see Mrs. Smith
frozen commercial pies were the "homemade" pies served to patrons.
Likewise, the crab stuffed salmon was also pre-fab. Much of the
processed frozen foods you see in the sprmkt, today, started long ago
as pre-fab food for pricey restos.

nb

[Michael Nielsen]

>
> Seriously? You have no idea where your meal came from but you automatically assume and blame Sysco Foods for your crappy meal?

It had been frozen thats for sure, and another poster also said I can pretty much assume it is from sysco.

I cant eat at "home" because it takes 16 hours to get home (Denmark!). Im doomed to eat out. Cant go to supermarkets and eat their ready to eat food, cos thats from sysco. And its besides the point. I want to try different places to eat, but where its a real chef that makes his own. I know one pace that is like that, where they make their own sauces even and has their own farm and deals with other farms near them. I want more like that. Should be possible near the US food capitol Berkeley.

[Michael Nielsen]

>
> So many restaurant foods come frozen from mega-corps. When I worked
>
> in a small hotel resto, 40 yrs ago, I was shocked to see Mrs. Smith
>
> frozen commercial pies were the "homemade" pies served to patrons.
>
> Likewise, the crab stuffed salmon was also pre-fab. Much of the
>
> processed frozen foods you see in the sprmkt, today, started long ago
>
> as pre-fab food for pricey restos.
>

The fact that they call it homemade is the worst part. Just call it a pie, so places with homemade pies can write that believably.

[ImStillMags]

I used a regional restaurant supply company, similar to Sysco. I did not like Sysco because I thought their stuff was inferior. I never trusted them. The regional supplier I used was much better because I could get organic vegetables, salad ingredients, meats, poultry, etc. and I had a rep who was trustworthy and would go out of his way to find something for me.

Suppliers are necessary. It is not always easy to source everything you need in a restaurant from local growers and there is so much more than just fresh foods that are necessary for a restaurant operation.

I never bought 'pre-made' meals, only ingredients, from my suppliers. Most restaurants buy from suppliers because of the reliability of being able to get the ingredients they want.

[Dave Smith]

On 2014-07-26 12:17 PM, Michael Nielsen wrote:
>
>
> The fact that they call it homemade is the worst part. Just call it a
> pie, so places with homemade pies can write that believably.
>

There are all sorts of word games being played. 100% pure juice and all
natural don't necessarily mean that your orange juice is 100% pure
natural juice.

[jmcquown]

Or you could just learn to cook rather than eating out.

BTW, how's Martha? LOLOL

Jill

[dalep]

Many years ago (probably 18-20) our Sysco had a retail store. While it did not offer all of their products, they had a lot of the pre-prepared restaurant supplies. I hate their cole slaw. I can always tell when a restaurant is using it. A lot of their stuff is okay and I would shop the store for party supplies.

We had a restaurant near us about 35 years ago that had a menu that was pretty much all Sysco. Frozen chicken fried steaks, cordon bleu, lasagna, and all sorts of dinners that were either microwaved or tossed into the deep fryer. They did not taste bad, but were all very salty and fatty. They were a popular restaurant in a small town for many years.

DaleP

[Janet Wilder]

I had a relative who worked for Mrs. Smith's. He said that private
bakers would use their facilities and they would make the private
recipes. Maybe this is what those pies were?

--
From somewhere very deep in the heart of Texas

[bigwheel]

'Michael Nielsen[_4_ Wrote:
> ;1953448']I heard that many restaurants/eateries serve Sysco food, whole

Sysco is a major player around here along with another wholesale food
distributor called Ben. E. Keith. Near all the
restaurants..schools..jails..hospitals buy stuff from one or the other.
Most of their stuff is pretty good. Not sure where the chicken salad
jumped the tracks.




--
bigwheel

[Janet Wilder]

We have Ben E. Keith here, too. When I was in the rehab hospital the
food definitely came off a Sysco truck. It was vile. All kinds of
nuked crap. DH would bring me dinner from home or take out.

[Ema Nymton]

On 7/26/2014 11:17 AM, Michael Nielsen wrote:
>
>>

You are right, calling it homemade is disappointing. One of my nephews
wives (that does not sound right) makes pies for restaurants in her
small town, she is a wonderful pie maker.

Becca

[bigwheel]

notbob;1953613 Wrote:
> On 2014-07-26, Ed Pawlowski e...@snet.net wrote:

> -

> Assume it. Probably 75% or restaurants are getting something from

> Sysco. I see them all over.-

>
> So many restaurant foods come frozen from mega-corps. When I worked
> in a small hotel resto, 40 yrs ago, I was shocked to see Mrs. Smith
> frozen commercial pies were the "homemade" pies served to patrons.
> Likewise, the crab stuffed salmon was also pre-fab. Much of the
> processed frozen foods you see in the sprmkt, today, started long ago
> as pre-fab food for pricey restos.
>
> nb

One of he local bbq restaurant chains uses Mrs. Smith cobblers. Very
good stuff. Taste like my grandma made it.




--
bigwheel

[bigwheel]

Ed Pawlowski;1953606 Wrote:
> On 7/26/2014 2:02 AM, Michael Nielsen wrote:

> -

> Even upscale places you can risk getting Sysco food, for example,
> French Laundry while having a recipe for homemade fries in his book,
> serves sysco fries, and gets some meat from them as well. So it is
> really hard to know.
>
> Anyone here knows how to predict it?

> -

>
> Assume it. Probably 75% or restaurants are getting something from
> Sysco. I see them all over.

Sysco and Ben E. Keith are real similar to a Sam's or Restaurant Depot
which endeavors to deliver the goods to your place of business for a
small price above going to pick it up yourself. I have never found any
poor quality goods from either place. Sysco did get nabbed out in sunny
CA the other day for stashing perishables in some type of holding
facilities which were sub standard..no refrigeration etc. Got a whopper
of a fine. Our boy has worked for both places. He says Ben E. Keith is
better and treats the employees much better. Sysco has idiots in the
chain of command.

'Sysco caught with pants down | Marler Blog'
(http://www.marlerblog.com/case-news/sysco-caught-with-pants-down/)




--
bigwheel

[Michael Nielsen]

> Or you could just learn to cook rather than eating out.
>

When Im in a position to cook I do, but when Im travelling and living in hotels I have to eat out, and thats my trouble. it is mostly disapponting to find these "reheat" places, and salads thats like going to a safeway plastic container that they scooped on a plate for me and charge triple.

>
> BTW, how's Martha? LOLOL
>
>

I dont know but my wife and daughter are fine, thanks for asking.

[ran...@gmail.com]

On Saturday, July 26, 2014 9:15:57 AM UTC-7, Michael Nielsen wrote:

> I cant eat at "home" because it takes 16 hours to get home (Denmark!). Im doomed to eat out. Cant go to supermarkets and eat their ready to eat food, cos thats from sysco.

I'd be surprised is any medium to large sized supermarket chain would be buying from Sysco. Supermarkets have their own suppliers and distribution chain. Sysco provides the distribution chain for restaurants from large suppliers. If the supermarket has trucks with their own name on them, they don't need Sysco. Now, I'm not saying that makes supermarket prepared food any better or worse, just not really from Sysco.

Sysco supplies lots of things to restaurants from latex and poly gloves to basic staples like salt, sugar, flour, etc. It would be hard to run a restaurant without at least considering getting some supplies from Sysco, whether they use pre-made entrée items or not is a different question.

Bill Ranck
Blacksburg, VA

[Michael Nielsen]

> Sysco supplies lots of things to restaurants from latex and poly gloves to basic staples like salt, sugar, flour, etc. It would be hard to run a restaurant without at least considering getting some supplies from Sysco, whether they use pre-made entrée items or not is a different question.

Well, here is one example of a supermarket Sysco delivery, which seemed odd because that supermarket is a whole foods kinda things for "shop local", sustainable, raw foods, vegan, organic, no waste, no plastic containers, bring your own container, fill it with foods, shampoo, soaps, and pay per weight kinda deal.

http://www.davisvanguard.org/the-proliferation-of-sysco-trucks-in-farm-to-fork-america/

However, to me "sysco" is just a symbol for the concept of having premade stuff delivered and making it fraudulent by calling it "homemade" or "our chefs soup". Its not about getting produce or ketchup from them, but whole meals and you just get the service of scooping the salad onto a plate for you.

And the opposite is chefs that invent their own recipes and make sauces incl. ketchup from scratch.

If both types call their menu "homemade" - how should you know the difference? one will cost more than the other ofcourse....

[Nunya Bidnits]

I know you have a warped tunnel-vision view of what Sysco offers.

Let me guess... you got fired from a job with Sysco?

[Michael Nielsen]

>
> Let me guess... you got fired from a job with Sysco?

No, Im from Europe, where restaurants have chefs and make their own food. Except 20$ all you can eat places and chain restaurants, but people know who they are and they dont claim it is homemade. That is fraud. Its puzzling that these restaurants are not sued, in "sue everyone america".

[Michael Nielsen]

> Even upscale places you can risk getting Sysco food, for example, French Laundry while having a recipe for homemade fries in his book, serves sysco fries, and gets some meat from them as well. So it is really hard to know.
>
>

In case someone needs a refresher what this is about:

http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/cleanplatecharlie/2012/12/secrets_from_the_sysco_guy.php

The fact that some of their food is good is irrelevant.

[Janet Wilder]

I'm warped about them because one of my dearest friends got hit by one
of their trucks. The driver was not paying attention when he made a
right turn and hit my friend. He still suffers from the brain damage
and had to learn to read all over again. Every time I see a Sysco truck
I think of what my poor friend had to endure.

[Nunya Bidnits]

So your big claim is that The French Laundry claims in black and white that
the fries they serve are homemade from the recipe in the book, but they are
serving Sysco.

Are you actually saying you know all that to be true and have evidence to
back it up? You know, including the part where they are clearly making a
fraudulent claim?

Fact is, some restaurants use more Sysco products than others, and Sysco
offers a LOT more than just prepared foods and frozen potatoes. They are a
full service restaurant food supplier. You can get fresh produce, or you can
get prepared produce dishes, etc etc etc.

Just because something is on a menu does not automatically mean the
establishment is claiming it is made in house. And just because a restaurant
buys products from Sysco does not mean they are serving frozen prepared
dishes while specifically claiming (which is not the same as you presuming)
they prepared those foodds in house.

Your attempt to paint Sysco as some evil demon company in cahoots with tens
of thousands of liar restaurants is not convincing.

MartyB

[Michael Nielsen]

>
> Your attempt to paint Sysco as some evil demon company in cahoots with tens
>
> of thousands of liar restaurants is not convincing.
>

Im not making any claims, or painting sysco anything. Im just reacting to what I hear and read about them. Assuming their claims are correct, I react and wanted a discussion about that.

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2007/02/every_bite_you_take.html

[ran...@gmail.com]

On Monday, July 28, 2014 2:56:56 PM UTC-7, Michael Nielsen wrote:
> Im not making any claims, or painting sysco anything. Im just reacting to what I hear and read about them. Assuming their claims are correct, I react and wanted a discussion about that.
>
> http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2007/02/every_bite_you_take.html

No, you are just slanting and exaggerating an already slanted article. At least the article you link contains this:

"But many quality restaurants, like Tree Room, use Sysco responsibly--shying away from pre-made items they can disguise as their own. Bardia Ferdowski of Bardia's New Orleans Café in Washington, D.C., purchases only raw and unprocessed Sysco products such as flour, potatoes, and beef, and receives frequent deliveries so that ingredients are as fresh as possible. For its part, Sysco has also been upping the quality of some of its offerings. It now distributes more locally grown meats and produce, and teams up with companies like artisanal cheesemonger Murray's to deliver specialty foods. Chef Tom Hosack of Hudson's at the Heathman Lodge in Vancouver, Wash., for instance, buys most of his greens through Sysco, and they're almost all regionally grown."

As others and I have said, just because a restaurant buys something from Sysco doesn't mean they don't have a chef who actually makes his/her own menu items from real ingredients. You are just outright lying that no restaurants in your area make their own stuff.

Bill Ranck
Blacksburg VA

[Michael Nielsen]

> As others and I have said, just because a restaurant buys something from Sysco doesn't mean they don't have a chef who actually makes his/her own menu items from real ingredients. You are just outright lying that no restaurants in your area make their own stuff.
>

I never said noone does. I even said I know of one that does. I also knew that some just buy ingredients. They are not what this is about. I asked about how can you know if you are going to get generic industrial food or real freshly prepared food...

I dont understand why you people get so worked up about...

[ran...@gmail.com]

On Monday, July 28, 2014 3:44:17 PM UTC-7, Michael Nielsen wrote:
> > You are just outright lying that no restaurants in your area make their own stuff.

>
> I never said noone does. I even said I know of one that does. I also knew that some just buy ingredients. They are not what this is about. I asked about how can you know if you are going to get generic industrial food or real freshly prepared food...

Bull! You just wanted to stir up some crap. If you can't tell the difference, then what does it matter . . .

Bill Ranck
Blacksburg, VA

[Nunya Bidnits]

Michael Nielsen <sequoia...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> As others and I have said, just because a restaurant buys something
>> from Sysco doesn't mean they don't have a chef who actually makes
>> his/her own menu items from real ingredients. You are just outright
>> lying that no restaurants in your area make their own stuff.
>>
>
> I never said noone does. I even said I know of one that does. I also
> knew that some just buy ingredients. They are not what this is about.
> I asked about how can you know if you are going to get generic
> industrial food or real freshly prepared food...
>

If you can't tell the difference, what does that tell you?

Other than you should save your money and just buy tv dinners? Eat them by
candlelight if you miss the ambience.

[sf]

On Mon, 28 Jul 2014 15:25:25 -0700 (PDT), "ra...@vt.edu"
<ran...@gmail.com> wrote:

> You are just outright lying that no restaurants in your area make their own stuff.

There's always the possibility that he can't tell the difference.

--
I take life with a grain of salt, a slice of lemon and a shot of tequila

[sf]

On Mon, 28 Jul 2014 15:44:17 -0700 (PDT), Michael Nielsen
<sequoia...@gmail.com> wrote:

> I never said noone does. I even said I know of one that does. I also knew that some just buy ingredients. They are not what this is about. I asked about how can you know if you are going to get generic industrial food or real freshly prepared food...
>
> I dont understand why you people get so worked up about...

You're the only one who is worked up.

[Julia Bove]

"Michael Nielsen" <sequoia...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:3eaaf3b0-9c27-4706...@googlegroups.com...

How could a person sue a restaurant for not making something from scratch,
even if it isn't? In order to sue, one has to have some sort of damages.
Yeah, maybe the food didn't taste good. But unless it sickened them in some
way, where are the damages?

[Julia Bove]

"Michael Nielsen" <sequoia...@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:4eadb918-a3e6-4544...@googlegroups.com...

I've seen Sysco trucks around. I never gave them a second thought. For all
I know, the restaurant is getting mustard and ketchup from them. Maybe salt
and pepper. Or tea bags.

I also know there are plenty of restaurants that serve premade soup or soup
made from soup base or frozen food. I don't mind frozen fries and most
likely if I get a burger patty, it came frozen. But I do still draw the
line. I've been told that Applebee's makes nothing from scratch. It all
comes frozen. I avoid.

[Julia Bove]

"Nunya Bidnits" <nunyab...@eternal-september.invalid> wrote in message
news:lr6ckj$v5f$1...@dont-email.me...

First off... Which French Laundry is he talking about? I would assume that
it is the one that serves a tasting menu. Now their website seems to be
down but here are some menus. Might be out of date though.

http://www.zagat.com/r/the-french-laundry-yountville/menu

I think there are other menus and there are other locations but there are no
fries on that menu.

Or did he mean this one?

http://www.lunchandbeyond.com/

No fries on that menu either.

I am pretty sure that I have seen the first French Laundry menu before and I
don't recall seeing any fries listed there at all. Has anyone here eaten
there? I've only seen one from the outside.

[Julia Bove]

"Michael Nielsen" <sequoia...@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:f4671467-1a8f-46e7...@googlegroups.com...

That article is much ado about nothing. It does take stabs at the Tree
Room. Never heard of it before. But here's their menu:

http://www.sundanceresort.com/dine/tree_dinner.html

It's a small and limited menu. What is on it that might come frozen? Maybe
the cheddar grit cake? Dunno. Doesn't look like much of that could come
frozen.

And so what if the salad dressing isn't made in house? Not that I eat salad
dressing. I don't. But even if it says "house dressing", I wouldn't assume
that it was made in house.

The article also mentioned some specific foods like Parkay and Lucky Charms.
Well... While I have no statistics on this, I would be willing to bet that
most places that serve food and might order from Sysco would in fact use or
serve such things. It's not just restaurants that serve food. What about
places like nursing homes, schools, hospitals, and various cafeterias such
as those in a large courthouse? Do you really think they are going to cook
the food from scratch?

And if our area is any indication of how the rest of this country is going,
most of the restaurants are chain places that serve mediocre food. Sure as
shootin' they are getting from Sysco or similar. And I don't really care.
I try not to eat at those places and they also don't try to pass their food
off as homemade. I do think the average person probably thinks they are
really cooking it back there though just based on comments I've heard people
make.

I do eat at a couple of places that have cottage cheese on the menu. Do I
think someone is back in that kitchen making the cottage cheese? No. And
they've got to get it from somewhere. Same for that cheese on the
cheeseburger.

The article also says that Sysco sells beer mugs. So just like I said
before... I see a Sysco truck and I make no assumptions. I also do not
assume that a restaurant makes all that they sell from scratch. To think so
would be foolish.

[Julia Bove]

"ra...@vt.edu" <ran...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:2593610a-fa4c-4d5a...@googlegroups.com...

On Monday, July 28, 2014 2:56:56 PM UTC-7, Michael Nielsen wrote:
> Im not making any claims, or painting sysco anything. Im just reacting to
> what I hear and read about them. Assuming their claims are correct, I
> react and wanted a discussion about that.
>
> http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2007/02/every_bite_you_take.html

No, you are just slanting and exaggerating an already slanted article. At
least the article you link contains this:

"But many quality restaurants, like Tree Room, use Sysco responsibly--shying
away from pre-made items they can disguise as their own. Bardia Ferdowski of

Bardia's New Orleans Caf� in Washington, D.C., purchases only raw and

unprocessed Sysco products such as flour, potatoes, and beef, and receives
frequent deliveries so that ingredients are as fresh as possible. For its
part, Sysco has also been upping the quality of some of its offerings. It
now distributes more locally grown meats and produce, and teams up with
companies like artisanal cheesemonger Murray's to deliver specialty foods.
Chef Tom Hosack of Hudson's at the Heathman Lodge in Vancouver, Wash., for
instance, buys most of his greens through Sysco, and they're almost all
regionally grown."

As others and I have said, just because a restaurant buys something from
Sysco doesn't mean they don't have a chef who actually makes his/her own
menu items from real ingredients. You are just outright lying that no
restaurants in your area make their own stuff.

Bill Ranck
Blacksburg VA

---

I think it is highly possible that no restaurants in his area make their own
stuff if he has only places like Red Lobster or Applebee's. Denny's does
hand shape their own burger patties. They're not good but... At least
those are from scratch. I would be willing to bet though that most of what
they serve is not from scratch based on the ingredients listed on their
website.

[Julia Bove]

"Michael Nielsen" <sequoia...@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:75e334cf-f751-49ed...@googlegroups.com...

---

Well for starters, don't eat at chain places. Then pick a restaurant and
ask them if they cook from scratch. Or perhaps better still ask which items
are made from scratch because chances are unless it is a really high end
place, they are buying some stuff even if it's only bread and rolls.

[Julia Bove]

"Nunya Bidnits" <nunyab...@eternal-september.invalid> wrote in message

news:lr76v4$ru6$1...@dont-email.me...

---

I truly think the average American can't tell the difference. Why? They
don't cook from scratch at home to begin with!

[Julia Bove]

"sf" <s...@geemail.com> wrote in message
news:bb8et99rd3h97cgt0...@4ax.com...

> On Mon, 28 Jul 2014 15:44:17 -0700 (PDT), Michael Nielsen
> <sequoia...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I never said noone does. I even said I know of one that does. I also knew
>> that some just buy ingredients. They are not what this is about. I asked
>> about how can you know if you are going to get generic industrial food or
>> real freshly prepared food...
>>
>> I dont understand why you people get so worked up about...
>
> You're the only one who is worked up.

Indeed. I think he is trying to get us worked up but is failing.

[Ema Nymton]

On 7/28/2014 5:06 PM, Sqwertz wrote:

> On Mon, 28 Jul 2014 11:11:18 -0700 (PDT), Michael Nielsen wrote:
>
>>>
>>> Let me guess... you got fired from a job with Sysco?
>>
>> No, Im from Europe, where restaurants have chefs and make their own food.
>

> Ahh, so this is one of those "America-bashing" trolling attempts.
>
> Well, I hate to break it to you, but we have chefs that cook real food
> here, too. And you have plenty of low-quality restaurant distributors
> wherever you live, too.
>
> Now you can fuck off. We already have enough of your type of troll
> here. They don't last long; they come and go sporadically but always
> get their asses kicked.
>

Steve, did you read the article that Modom or Mrs. Modom posted on
Facebook? They bought a house in the south of France and they just spend
a month, there. Restaurants in France have a sign that they can display
in the window, saying that their food is cooked in the restaurant,
because 60-80% of restaurant food in France is prepared somewhere not on
site.

Becca

[Doris Night]

On Tue, 29 Jul 2014 03:48:31 -0700, "Julia Bove"
<juli...@frontier.com> wrote:

>I've been told that Applebee's makes nothing from scratch. It all
>comes frozen. I avoid.

I'm pretty sure the salad I had there didn't come frozen.

Doris

[sf]

On Tue, 29 Jul 2014 04:22:08 -0700, "Julia Bove"
<juli...@frontier.com> wrote:

> Well for starters, don't eat at chain places. Then pick a restaurant and
> ask them if they cook from scratch. Or perhaps better still ask which items
> are made from scratch because chances are unless it is a really high end
> place, they are buying some stuff even if it's only bread and rolls.

Sounds like he's not really in Berkeley if he's having so much trouble
finding a decent place to eat. If he was still up in the
Sacramento/Davis area, I'd have no problem understanding what he's
talking about because it's the land of shopping malls and chain
restaurants.

[sf]

On Tue, 29 Jul 2014 04:20:27 -0700, "Julia Bove"
<juli...@frontier.com> wrote:

> I think it is highly possible that no restaurants in his area make their own
> stuff if he has only places like Red Lobster or Applebee's. Denny's does
> hand shape their own burger patties. They're not good but... At least
> those are from scratch. I would be willing to bet though that most of what
> they serve is not from scratch based on the ingredients listed on their
> website.

He claims to be "in" Berkeley now. If he can't find scratch food
there, he's trying his best not to.

[Michael Nielsen]

>
> I also know there are plenty of restaurants that serve premade soup or soup
>
> made from soup base or frozen food. I don't mind frozen fries and most
>
> likely if I get a burger patty, it came frozen. But I do still draw the
>
> line. I've been told that Applebee's makes nothing from scratch. It all
>
> comes frozen. I avoid.

[read all your responses]

See this is the kind of insight I was looking for, thats all. Im not worked up or trying to get people worked up.

Im just a frequent traveller that prefer to support places with a chef that uses local ingredients and his own recipes. I know the drawbacks, as the place I do know that makes all sauces and fries from scratch will have changing menus based on the season, and they will sometimes be sold out of a dish.

I've sometimes had things at restaurants that felt more like fastfood, while I do expect slow food at restarants. So when I was told about sysco (and others like them), that explained some things Ive seen. A lot of people in my area swear to aplebees. I was there once 10 years. Wondered why people raved about it. During the 10 years in and out of this place I ate mostly at a Czech restaurant that made all the czech dishes, incl. lots of different layer cakes themselves. They are closed now. When the seasonal local food restaurant I was happy to have two good slowfood places.

Both when I was told about sysco and in the articles and discussions people mentioned it as a big surprise that he would use frozen fries. (you ask which one, it is in Napa) and I was there some years ago and did wonder about the fries. Because of them I wondered why people consider it a fancy place. In Denmark, fancy places dont have fries. As a restaurant approaches mid class , they replace fries with fresh fried or roasted potatoes. I know they dont claim it is anything else, but it surprises people.

Regarding claiming to be homemade vs assuming homemade things, I agree there is a difference, and I dont know how many places do that. From the sound of the articles and question-answer sites and waiters responses, then it is frequently done, though. Especially pies, sauces and soups. In Denmark products that are falsely marked can get in trouble with authorities. Should be the same in restaurants. In Italy I see asterixes when a dish contains frozen things.

It is too late to ask about if things are housemade or industrial after sitting down. Im not the kind of person who will get up and leave after being seated. thats why Id like to predict it beforehand. It is a good point that some things will be housemade and some things not in most places. Assuming the water will be truthful about it (and some of them have said in discussions of industrial served foods that they will not be in all establishments).

And finally, I did except that foodies would care about fastfood in slowfood restaurants. Not worked up , but thinking that it is a disappointing practice and a bad development for the world, that it becomes more and more common. There could be official rules about marking these products.

I like to avoid industrial foods. I dont have nestle products in the house. Before my wife moved in I didnt even have ketchup. When I made burgers Id make a sweet and sour compot of onions and mushrooms. So if I can avoid being fed industrial foods to some extent when forced to eat out, it would be great :)

[Michael Nielsen]

> Sounds like he's not really in Berkeley if he's having so much trouble
>
> finding a decent place to eat. If he was still up in the
>
> Sacramento/Davis area, I'd have no problem understanding what he's
>
> talking about because it's the land of shopping malls and chain
>
> restaurants.
>

Im in Davis yes. And one of the places I trusted is gone! Fun fact about the czech restaurant: When the guvernator was in sacramento his favourite place was the czech place and he would drive into davis with 3 hummers, making a lot of noise. After going back to L.A. he had dishes flown in from that place haha.

[sf]

On Tue, 29 Jul 2014 03:58:23 -0700, "Julia Bove"
<juli...@frontier.com> wrote:
>
> First off... Which French Laundry is he talking about?

If he's talking about any French Laundry other than this one, he's
trolling http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_French_Laundry

> I would assume that
> it is the one that serves a tasting menu. Now their website seems to be
> down but here are some menus.

They are redesigning the web site. He's probably thinking about
Bouchon, which does serve fries.

>Might be out of date though.
>
> http://www.zagat.com/r/the-french-laundry-yountville/menu
>
> I think there are other menus and there are other locations but there are no
> fries on that menu.
>
> Or did he mean this one?
>
> http://www.lunchandbeyond.com/
>
> No fries on that menu either.
>
> I am pretty sure that I have seen the first French Laundry menu before and I
> don't recall seeing any fries listed there at all. Has anyone here eaten
> there? I've only seen one from the outside.

No and no desire either. I don't want to war dial for a reservation
and I won't buy one from a scalper, so I'll eat a Bouchon someday. In
any case, I seriously doubt Bouchon would buy premade fries from Sysco
although I would not be surprised if the potatoes were delivered whole
by them. If In N Out can cut their own fries and cook them, Bouchon
certainly can too. At least at the Yountville location, which is the
only one he should be talking about without specifying where.
http://bouchonbistro.com/yv-menu

Honestly, that man is a dumb as a bag of hammers.

[Michael Nielsen]

> He claims to be "in" Berkeley now. If he can't find scratch food
>
> there, he's trying his best not to.
>

No, I said "near berkeley". Its still Davis as you guessed in the other post.

[sf]

On Tue, 29 Jul 2014 06:54:32 -0500, Ema Nymton <EmaN...@comcast.net>
wrote:

> Steve, did you read the article that Modom or Mrs. Modom posted on
> Facebook? They bought a house in the south of France and they just spend
> a month, there. Restaurants in France have a sign that they can display
> in the window, saying that their food is cooked in the restaurant,
> because 60-80% of restaurant food in France is prepared somewhere not on
> site.

Must have been the Mrs, because I don't remember seeing it from the
Mr. Not that I see every single post from every single person on my
friends list.

[Michael Nielsen]

On Tuesday, July 29, 2014 9:02:59 AM UTC-7, sf wrote:
> On Tue, 29 Jul 2014 03:58:23 -0700, "Julia Bove"

> >
>

> > First off... Which French Laundry is he talking about?
>
>

> any case, I seriously doubt Bouchon would buy premade fries from Sysco
>
> although I would not be surprised if the potatoes were delivered whole
>
> by them. If In N Out can cut their own fries and cook them, Bouchon
>
> certainly can too.

Yes its the bouchon locations. people here refer to them as french laundry? and he admits using frozen fries.

http://www.grubstreet.com/2007/01/in_his_cookbook_bouchon_thomas.html

[Nunya Bidnits]

Frozen fries can be extremely good. There are some battered fries from Sysco
a Greek place down the street serves with gyros and lamburgers. I couldn't
reproduce them at home without a lot of effort. And if you know anything
about frying, there's often an advantage to dropping a product frozen into
the fryer.

So you still haven't said what their sin is. Which fries are they serving,
the bargain basement stuff? You do know there are various quality levels in
Sysco offerings, since you're a Sysco expert, right? When are we going to
get some specifics on this vague claim of poor quality and fraud you've
foisted?

mARTYb

[Nunya Bidnits]

Michael Nielsen <sequoia...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> I also know there are plenty of restaurants that serve premade soup
>> or soup
>>
>> made from soup base or frozen food. I don't mind frozen fries and
>> most
>>
>> likely if I get a burger patty, it came frozen. But I do still draw
>> the
>>
>> line. I've been told that Applebee's makes nothing from scratch.
>> It all
>>
>> comes frozen. I avoid.
>
> [read all your responses]
>
> See this is the kind of insight I was looking for, thats all. Im not
> worked up or trying to get people worked up.

Julie... insight... ROTFLMAO!!!!

CLIP

> I like to avoid industrial foods. I dont have nestle products in the
> house. Before my wife moved in I didnt even have ketchup. When I made
> burgers Id make a sweet and sour compot of onions and mushrooms. So
> if I can avoid being fed industrial foods to some extent when forced
> to eat out, it would be great :)

It's not that hard. But you're not going to get that at Ruby Tuesday prices.
And frankly I find your paranoia over frozen fries to be a non-starter.
Other than formed pulp products, most frozen fries taste just fine and are
easier to cook than from fresh potatoes which requires some processing.

Moral: Not all prepared or frozen foods are bad, or bad for you.

You can make your own everything if you have the time, ingredients, and
skill. And you can get what you want in restaurants if you're willing to pay
for it. If you're claiming that all upscale restaurants engage in "Sysco
fraud", I'm going to need to see some conclusive empirical evidence of that
(read: non-anectodal evidence) before I'll consider the point seriously.

MartyB

[Michael Nielsen]

>
> Frozen fries can be extremely good. There are some battered fries from Sysco
>
> a Greek place down the street serves with gyros and lamburgers. I couldn't
>
> reproduce them at home without a lot of effort. And if you know anything
>
> about frying, there's often an advantage to dropping a product frozen into
>
> the fryer.
>
>
>
> So you still haven't said what their sin is. Which fries are they serving,
>
> the bargain basement stuff? You do know there are various quality levels in
>
> Sysco offerings, since you're a Sysco expert, right? When are we going to
>
> get some specifics on this vague claim of poor quality and fraud you've
>
> foisted?

Im not a sysco expert. I only heard of them 4days ago...

I never said Keller is doing any fraud. I said that places that serve homemade things from sysco is doing fraud. Didnt say Keller does that. Im dont know if the angry people here dispute there are places that does it? From what I read it is the fries and some meats like waguy meat he uses.

I had the fries at bouchon 5 years ago and they were not good. But I havent said anything about them not being good until now. They reminded my of highway rest stop fries in Denmark. I did say that the people who told me about keller from french laundry using frozen sysco fries, and also articles I found afterwards were very surprised. SF wrote 40min ago that she cant believe he uses sysco fries. So americans, not me, are surprised that he uses them. somehow they have been lead to believe into thinking he is better than that. Not me.

You keep interpretting what I say from your own world and values. sysco has a certain value to you , thomas keller and julie child has a certain esteem. Im not from this country and I go " ok what is sysco? who is thomas keller and julia child?" when people talk about them here. I come with a fresh slate and curious and place no values to these random names. And then when I get some information about what people attribute to these names, I start to wonder, and discuss further. Apparently, then I get attacked and is a piece of shit that is to blame for the groups decline? Maybe it is people who call others pieces of shit that makes people run away.

Btw Ive been active on and off here since 1998 or '99...

[Michael Nielsen]

>
> It's not that hard. But you're not going to get that at Ruby Tuesday prices.
>
> And frankly I find your paranoia over frozen fries to be a non-starter.
>
> Other than formed pulp products, most frozen fries taste just fine and are
>
> easier to cook than from fresh potatoes which requires some processing.
>
>
>
> Moral: Not all prepared or frozen foods are bad, or bad for you.
>

Im not paranoid over frozen fries. I just see that people dont know and even when hearing it dont belieeve that an upscale place like kellers places would do it.

>
> You can make your own everything if you have the time, ingredients, and
>
> skill. And you can get what you want in restaurants if you're willing to pay
>
> for it. If you're claiming that all upscale restaurants engage in "Sysco
>
> fraud", I'm going to need to see some conclusive empirical evidence of that
>
> (read: non-anectodal evidence) before I'll consider the point seriously.
>

I never claimed this. apparently my english is worse than I thought if something I wrote could ever be interpreted that way.

[Nunya Bidnits]

Michael Nielsen <sequoia...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Frozen fries can be extremely good. There are some battered fries
>> from Sysco
>>
>> a Greek place down the street serves with gyros and lamburgers. I
>> couldn't
>>
>> reproduce them at home without a lot of effort. And if you know
>> anything
>>
>> about frying, there's often an advantage to dropping a product
>> frozen into
>>
>> the fryer.
>>
>>
>>
>> So you still haven't said what their sin is. Which fries are they
>> serving,
>>
>> the bargain basement stuff? You do know there are various quality
>> levels in
>>
>> Sysco offerings, since you're a Sysco expert, right? When are we
>> going to
>>
>> get some specifics on this vague claim of poor quality and fraud
>> you've
>>
>> foisted?
>
> Im not a sysco expert. I only heard of them 4days ago...

Then maybe you should educate yourself instead of showing your ignorance.

>
> I never said Keller is doing any fraud. I said that places that serve
> homemade things from sysco is doing fraud. Didnt say Keller does
> that. Im dont know if the angry people here dispute there are places
> that does it? From what I read it is the fries and some meats like
> waguy meat he uses.
>
> I had the fries at bouchon 5 years ago and they were not good. But I
> havent said anything about them not being good until now. They
> reminded my of highway rest stop fries in Denmark. I did say that the
> people who told me about keller from french laundry using frozen
> sysco fries, and also articles I found afterwards were very
> surprised. SF wrote 40min ago that she cant believe he uses sysco
> fries. So americans, not me, are surprised that he uses them. somehow
> they have been lead to believe into thinking he is better than that.
> Not me.

SF isn't my idea of a person with authoritative or even well considered
opinions. And regardless, she is not a representative sample of "Americans".
However I can't help the fact that your points are almost entirely made up
of vague attempts at stereotyping.

>
> You keep interpretting what I say from your own world and values.

That's a surprise? News flash: I'm not you.

> sysco has a certain value to you , thomas keller and julie child has
> a certain esteem. Im not from this country and I go " ok what is
> sysco? who is thomas keller and julia child?" when people talk about
> them here. I come with a fresh slate and curious and place no values
> to these random names. And then when I get some information about
> what people attribute to these names, I start to wonder, and discuss
> further. Apparently, then I get attacked and is a piece of shit that
> is to blame for the groups decline? Maybe it is people who call
> others pieces of shit that makes people run away.

If anyone says you are causing the group to decline, that is just paranoid
hyperbole. You have no such power. But you are certainly full of vague
complaints painted with broad strokes. I tried to bring it down to specifics
but we're getting nowhere.

Sysco makes all manner of frozen fries from bargain crap to outstanding.
Same with onion rings. Those who know much about deep frying know better
won't accept your amateur opinions about frozen foods.

MartyB

[Nunya Bidnits]

Michael Nielsen <sequoia...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> It's not that hard. But you're not going to get that at Ruby Tuesday
>> prices.
>>
>> And frankly I find your paranoia over frozen fries to be a
>> non-starter.
>>
>> Other than formed pulp products, most frozen fries taste just fine
>> and are
>>
>> easier to cook than from fresh potatoes which requires some
>> processing.
>>
>>
>>
>> Moral: Not all prepared or frozen foods are bad, or bad for you.
>>
>
> Im not paranoid over frozen fries. I just see that people dont know
> and even when hearing it dont belieeve that an upscale place like
> kellers places would do it.

I believe it, and I don't question Thomas Keller's understanding of quality,
nor do I expect amateur critics to be qualified to judge his choices.

>
>>
>> You can make your own everything if you have the time, ingredients,
>> and
>>
>> skill. And you can get what you want in restaurants if you're
>> willing to pay
>>
>> for it. If you're claiming that all upscale restaurants engage in
>> "Sysco
>>
>> fraud", I'm going to need to see some conclusive empirical evidence
>> of that
>>
>> (read: non-anectodal evidence) before I'll consider the point
>> seriously.
>>
>
>
> I never claimed this. apparently my english is worse than I thought
> if something I wrote could ever be interpreted that way.

So now you're saying you didn't say that restaurants were dishonestly
serving prefab food while claiming/giving the clear impression that the food
was made in house? I thought that was what started this fustercluck.

MartyB

[sf]

I think I read that he had 10 hummers, not sequentially - all at once.
I'm so glad he's not governor anymore. Jerry has done a great job!
Maybe someday, we can start picking up roadside trash and repaving.

[sf]

Davis is not "near" Berkeley. It's near Sacramento.

[sf]

[sf]

On Tue, 29 Jul 2014 08:55:39 -0700 (PDT), Michael Nielsen
<sequoia...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Before my wife moved in I didnt even have ketchup. When I made burgers Id make a sweet and sour compot of onions and mushrooms. So if I can avoid being fed industrial foods to some extent when forced to eat out, it would be great :)
>

Okay, so you're not an American and don't top burgers or accompany
your fries the way most Americans do. Not saying I wouldn't like your
compote, because I would.

[sf]

On Tue, 29 Jul 2014 09:45:13 -0700 (PDT), Michael Nielsen
<sequoia...@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Tuesday, July 29, 2014 9:02:59 AM UTC-7, sf wrote:
> > On Tue, 29 Jul 2014 03:58:23 -0700, "Julia Bove"
>
> > >
> >
> > > First off... Which French Laundry is he talking about?
> >
> >
> > any case, I seriously doubt Bouchon would buy premade fries from Sysco
> >
> > although I would not be surprised if the potatoes were delivered whole
> >
> > by them. If In N Out can cut their own fries and cook them, Bouchon
> >
> > certainly can too.
>
> Yes its the bouchon locations. people here refer to them as french laundry?

Nobody except you has ever mixed them up. Bouchon is not a copycat
French Laundry or Per Se.

> and he admits using frozen fries.
>
> http://www.grubstreet.com/2007/01/in_his_cookbook_bouchon_thomas.html

So they're frozen, it's not the end of the world. The quote says: "We
use fries which are 100% potato, which do not contain additives. The
consistency in these fries is often better than that of fresh
potatoes." It's a convenience. When customers expect their meal to
be set in front of them in 10 minutes, that's what you do to keep them
happy.

[sf]

More off than on. 98% of the current group doesn't know you from up,
so please don't barge back in with misinformation (right down to where
you are currently located) trying to stir up a hornet's nest, claiming
"it's not done this way in Denmark" and then getting miffed and
changing your tactic when no one rises to the bait.

You'll be better off on Facebook.

[Dave Smith]

On 2014-07-29 3:02 PM, sf wrote:

> More off than on. 98% of the current group doesn't know you from up,
> so please don't barge back in with misinformation (right down to where
> you are currently located) trying to stir up a hornet's nest, claiming
> "it's not done this way in Denmark" and then getting miffed and
> changing your tactic when no one rises to the bait.

If it is not done that way in Denmark that can be a good thing. The
first time I went to Denmark I read some travel books and they led me to
think that Danish food was very boring. They reported that it was all
basically meat and potatoes. When I got there I was delightfully
surprised to find that was not exactly the case. Yes, meat and potatoes
are a major presence in meals, but there were a lot of other good
things, and everything was very high quality. I did not have a single
disappointing meal there.

[sf]

That mirrors my eating in England. I'd always heard it was bland and
boring, but IMO it was anything but. When I commented to locals or
servers, they said they were "getting ready for the Olympics". I
gather things have only improved in subsequent. Whatever the reason
was, I was happy with the food and other than the hole in the wall
Turkish restaurant we fell in love with in London - we didn't feel any
need to venture very far beyond pub food.

[Ema Nymton]

Well, you are right, it is truly disappointing. If I wanted to eat
canned or frozen food, I would buy that in the freezer section of my
supermarket. This is why most of us like to cook at home, then at least
we know what we are eating. Thanks for your comments, this discussion
has been interesting.

Becca

[Ema Nymton]

On 7/29/2014 11:37 AM, sf wrote:
> On Tue, 29 Jul 2014 06:54:32 -0500, Ema Nymton <EmaN...@comcast.net>
> wrote:
>
>> Steve, did you read the article that Modom or Mrs. Modom posted on
>> Facebook? They bought a house in the south of France and they just spend
>> a month, there. Restaurants in France have a sign that they can display
>> in the window, saying that their food is cooked in the restaurant,
>> because 60-80% of restaurant food in France is prepared somewhere not on
>> site.
>
> Must have been the Mrs, because I don't remember seeing it from the
> Mr. Not that I see every single post from every single person on my
> friends list.

You were right, it was Mrs. Modom. I met her at a Texas cook-in in '97
or '98. Nice lady, smart lady.

Here is the link.

http://tinyurl.com/nav6hsn


http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/07/21/332645040/from-scratch-or-not-french-restaurant-law-stirs-controversy?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20140721

Other articles tell more.

Becca

[Julie Bove]

"Doris Night" <goodnig...@yahoo.ca> wrote in message
news:kj5ft9l25uqr73he3...@4ax.com...

No. But the shrimp likely did.

[Julie Bove]

"sf" <s...@geemail.com> wrote in message
news:k1gft9haakcvghe86...@4ax.com...

> On Tue, 29 Jul 2014 04:22:08 -0700, "Julia Bove"
> <juli...@frontier.com> wrote:
>
>> Well for starters, don't eat at chain places. Then pick a restaurant and
>> ask them if they cook from scratch. Or perhaps better still ask which
>> items
>> are made from scratch because chances are unless it is a really high end
>> place, they are buying some stuff even if it's only bread and rolls.
>
> Sounds like he's not really in Berkeley if he's having so much trouble
> finding a decent place to eat. If he was still up in the
> Sacramento/Davis area, I'd have no problem understanding what he's
> talking about because it's the land of shopping malls and chain
> restaurants.
>

I've been to Berkeley but we never ate there. So I don't remember the
restaurants.

[Julie Bove]

"Michael Nielsen" <sequoia...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:5c924c9a-b808-4548...@googlegroups.com...

---

Some places do make their own ketchup. I'd suggest that you look online
before dining. You can tell a lot by the way the menu reads. You can also
call and ask to speak to the chef but don't do this when they might be busy.
3:00 is a good time to do this. We have to ask because of our food
intolerances. A soup that I would make at home would not have wheat or
dairy in it. But if they use a soup base in a restaurant, it likely will.
You may not have a legitimate medical type reason to avoid certain foods so
you'll have to come up with a way of wording things to make it sound
pleasing to the chef. I can't really help you there but I'm sure you can
come up with something.

[Julie Bove]

"Ema Nymton" <EmaN...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:lr94h...@news6.newsguy.com...

> Well, you are right, it is truly disappointing. If I wanted to eat canned
> or frozen food, I would buy that in the freezer section of my supermarket.
> This is why most of us like to cook at home, then at least we know what we
> are eating. Thanks for your comments, this discussion has been
> interesting.

Agree. I had this same discussion recently with some people who love to go
out to eat. I pointed out a new to me restaurant and asked if they had
eaten there and the response was, "We don't eat at places like that!" And
what they meant was, that looks like a small place where they probably cook
from scratch! These are people who are afraid of sauces, garnishes and
anything they might consider to be strange. These are people who do like to
eat where the food comes frozen because there is a comforting sameness to
it. And when they do eat at home, they eat frozen. It's what they're used
to.

[Julie Bove]

"Michael Nielsen" <sequoia...@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:2ad1f751-d923-4ce2...@googlegroups.com...

Not all frozen fries have sugar, starch and hydrogenated oil. These do have
oil, sea salt and citric acid:

http://www.alexiafoods.com/products/fries/yukon-gold-julienne-fries

I'm fine with frozen fries. There is one restaurant here that makes their
own fries and they're horrid. They've been horrid since I was a kid. I
complained of them then. They have a burned taste to them and are oddly
dark and yet they are super greasy and soggy. I'd much rather have good
tasting frozen fries than those.

[Julie Bove]

"Michael Nielsen" <sequoia...@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:14c8a169-4cb5-4d35...@googlegroups.com...

>
> Frozen fries can be extremely good. There are some battered fries from
> Sysco
>
> a Greek place down the street serves with gyros and lamburgers. I couldn't
>
> reproduce them at home without a lot of effort. And if you know anything
>
> about frying, there's often an advantage to dropping a product frozen into
>
> the fryer.
>
>
>
> So you still haven't said what their sin is. Which fries are they serving,
>
> the bargain basement stuff? You do know there are various quality levels
> in
>
> Sysco offerings, since you're a Sysco expert, right? When are we going to
>
> get some specifics on this vague claim of poor quality and fraud you've
>
> foisted?

Im not a sysco expert. I only heard of them 4days ago...

I never said Keller is doing any fraud. I said that places that serve
homemade things from sysco is doing fraud. Didnt say Keller does that. Im
dont know if the angry people here dispute there are places that does it?
From what I read it is the fries and some meats like waguy meat he uses.

---

What angry people here? This is a cooking group. Not a dining out group.
And I don't see anyone who is angry except for you. If someone admits to
using frozen fries, then they are not claiming them to be from scratch.
Right? Right. Don't like it? Don't eat there.

---

I had the fries at bouchon 5 years ago and they were not good. But I havent
said anything about them not being good until now. They reminded my of
highway rest stop fries in Denmark. I did say that the people who told me
about keller from french laundry using frozen sysco fries, and also articles
I found afterwards were very surprised. SF wrote 40min ago that she cant
believe he uses sysco fries. So americans, not me, are surprised that he
uses them. somehow they have been lead to believe into thinking he is better
than that. Not me.

---

Americans are not surprised. Perhaps sf was surprised. She does not speak
for all Americans. I am not surprised. Not at all.

---

You keep interpretting what I say from your own world and values. sysco has
a certain value to you , thomas keller and julie child has a certain esteem.
Im not from this country and I go " ok what is sysco? who is thomas keller
and julia child?" when people talk about them here. I come with a fresh
slate and curious and place no values to these random names. And then when I
get some information about what people attribute to these names, I start to
wonder, and discuss further. Apparently, then I get attacked and is a piece
of shit that is to blame for the groups decline? Maybe it is people who call
others pieces of shit that makes people run away.

Btw Ive been active on and off here since 1998 or '99...

---

I'm an American and I didn't even know the name Thomas Keller prior to this
post.

[Julie Bove]

"sf" <s...@geemail.com> wrote in message

news:g04gt95unc0h929i6...@4ax.com...

I have also read that some restaurants often cater to tourists and offer
different menus to them with things they think they would like, rather than
what they would serve to the locals.

[jmcquown]

On 7/29/2014 3:02 PM, sf wrote:
> On Tue, 29 Jul 2014 10:23:45 -0700 (PDT), Michael Nielsen
> <sequoia...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Btw Ive been active on and off here since 1998 or '99...
>>
>>
> More off than on. 98% of the current group doesn't know you from up,

If he was still posting under the nickname Archon it might ring a few
more bells. ;)

Jill

[notbob]

On 2014-07-30, jmcquown <j_mc...@comcast.net> wrote:

>> On Tue, 29 Jul 2014 10:23:45 -0700 (PDT), Michael Nielsen

>>> Btw Ive been active on and off here since 1998 or '99...

> If he was still posting under the nickname Archon it might ring a few
> more bells. ;)

Bingo!

[jmcquown]

Brings back some memories, doesn't it? Heavy metal Martha and her
Danish boy toy. }:)

Jill

[jmcquown]

Shrimp? Where did Doris mention shrimp?

Jill

[Nancy Young]

On 7/29/2014 8:54 PM, jmcquown wrote:
> On 7/29/2014 7:13 PM, Julie Bove wrote:
>>
>> "Doris Night" <goodnig...@yahoo.ca> wrote

>>> On Tue, 29 Jul 2014 03:48:31 -0700, "Julia Bove"
>>> <juli...@frontier.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I've been told that Applebee's makes nothing from scratch. It all
>>>> comes frozen. I avoid.
>>>
>>> I'm pretty sure the salad I had there didn't come frozen.
>>
>> No. But the shrimp likely did.
>
> Shrimp? Where did Doris mention shrimp?

Unless the place is picking up fresh shrimp at the docks
every day, I hope it was frozen! I won't even buy thawed
shrimp from the market, just sell it frozen.

nancy

[jmcquown]

+1 Lots of places don't have access to freshly caught shrimp. In that
case frozen is probably the best you can hope for if you want shrimp.

Jill

[Doris Night]

On Tue, 29 Jul 2014 20:54:08 -0400, jmcquown <j_mc...@comcast.net>
wrote:

Actually, I think a week or so ago I did say it was a Thai shrimp
salad. It was very good, and I have no doubt that the shrimp was
frozen. I would expect nothing but frozen shrimp in Iowa in July.

But the salad part was lovely and fresh, and it had a really nice Thai
dressing (lime, ginger, chili, etc).

The menu said it had only (I think) 390 calories for the whole meal. I
got a lot of food for that few calories, so I was a happy camper.

Doris

[sf]

On Tue, 29 Jul 2014 20:15:37 -0400, jmcquown <j_mc...@comcast.net>
wrote:

Honestly, I don't think so.
>
> Jill

[sf]

Why are there no attributions to this? The ignorant asshole who tried
to claim I was "surprised" (by what?) can bite me.

[Julie Bove]

"sf" <s...@geemail.com> wrote in message

news:f2rgt9d6svp83iu7i...@4ax.com...

Sorry, I don't know. Some people's posts just come out that way. And
sometimes mine come out that way for other people. I can't explain it.

[Julie Bove]

"jmcquown" <j_mc...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:c3qu1i...@mid.individual.net...

When she said that she had a shrimp salad and that it was good.

[Julie Bove]

"Nancy Young" <rjynly...@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:cvXBv.278182$za5....@fx23.am4...

Well, seeing as how I am in the Seattle area, fresh shrimp is pretty darned
common. I don't know about other places.

[gregz]

"ra...@vt.edu" <ran...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Saturday, July 26, 2014 9:15:57 AM UTC-7, Michael Nielsen wrote:
>
>> I cant eat at "home" because it takes 16 hours to get home (Denmark!).
>> Im doomed to eat out. Cant go to supermarkets and eat their ready to eat
>> food, cos thats from sysco.
>
> I'd be surprised is any medium to large sized supermarket chain would be
> buying from Sysco. Supermarkets have their own suppliers and
> distribution chain. Sysco provides the distribution chain for
> restaurants from large suppliers. If the supermarket has trucks with
> their own name on them, they don't need Sysco. Now, I'm not saying that
> makes supermarket prepared food any better or worse, just not really from Sysco.
>
> Sysco supplies lots of things to restaurants from latex and poly gloves
> to basic staples like salt, sugar, flour, etc. It would be hard to run a
> restaurant without at least considering getting some supplies from Sysco,
> whether they use pre-made entrée items or not is a different question.
>
> Bill Ranck
> Blacksburg, VA

Supplies like pepper packets. We tried using them at our cafeteria, after
they took away the shakers, after people kept stealing them. The paper
pepper packets have pepper in them, but you many might notice lack of
flavor. Not just lack of flavor, no flavor. You got to use 3-4 like one. I
have to give sysco lack of respect. After complaining to them, the response
was, well, we think they are OK. In another session, I explained there was
an easy answer why other company packets had flavor, no response.

Greg

[Julie Bove]

"gregz" <ze...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:508516428396835.424...@news.eternal-september.org...

There is precious little pepper in there but... Not only is it pre-ground
but it's in paper! How do you expect any pepper to remain?

Perhaps another solution would be to have a pepper mill. Central Market
keeps one on their salad bar. Sure somebody could steal that too but if you
get a big one and keep it in an obvious place, that would be hard to do.

[sf]

On Wed, 30 Jul 2014 00:36:01 -0700, "Julie Bove"
<juli...@frontier.com> wrote:

>
> Perhaps another solution would be to have a pepper mill. Central Market
> keeps one on their salad bar. Sure somebody could steal that too but if you
> get a big one and keep it in an obvious place, that would be hard to do.

Are you kidding? If they can steal televisions from grocery stores,
they can certainly steal pepper mills.

[jmcquown]

On 7/30/2014 11:45 AM, sf wrote:
> On Wed, 30 Jul 2014 00:36:01 -0700, "Julie Bove"
> <juli...@frontier.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> Perhaps another solution would be to have a pepper mill. Central Market
>> keeps one on their salad bar. Sure somebody could steal that too but if you
>> get a big one and keep it in an obvious place, that would be hard to do.
>
> Are you kidding? If they can steal televisions from grocery stores,
> they can certainly steal pepper mills.
>

I'm pretty sure that's why, in better restaurants servers will ask if
you want freshly ground pepper. They bring the peppermill to the table
and grind it over the plate. They don't just leave them sitting on
every table so someone can walk off with them. The same thing sometimes
applies to freshly grated Parmesan. I'm not talking about places that
have a shaker of some dried cheese stuff sitting on the table. ;)

Jill

[sf]

On Wed, 30 Jul 2014 12:05:52 -0400, jmcquown <j_mc...@comcast.net>
wrote:

I consider that harkening back to the olden daze and hate it. I don't
want to have to call the waiter over if I want a little more pepper,
so better restaurants put grinders of both salt and pepper on the
table now so you can do it yourself.

[Michael Nielsen]

>
> So now you're saying you didn't say that restaurants were dishonestly
>
> serving prefab food while claiming/giving the clear impression that the food
>
> was made in house? I thought that was what started this fustercluck.


You said I said keller did it. I didnt. I said I heard and then read that a lot of places do. And I found discussions where waiters tell that they do tell its made inhouse even if its an industrial product.

[Michael Nielsen]

> The ignorant asshole who tried
>
> to claim I was "surprised" (by what?) can bite me.
>
>

If a person says:

" In any case, I seriously doubt Bouchon would buy premade fries from Sysco although I would not be surprised if the potatoes were delivered whole by them. If In N Out can cut their own fries and cook them, Bouchon certainly can too. "

And then finds out that they do buy them from sysco, if "surprised" is not the right word, then what word is it?

And what misinformation have I given?

Davis is near san francisco, sacramento, napa, sonoma, vacaville, berkeley, lake tahoe and even yosemite in my book... Most notable regarding food for foodies berkeley. Christine Dabney took me for a tour there once upon a time. So yeah it is near berkeley.

Do you not believe the articles I was told about and later did research to find and confirm that it is a growing trend to use these generic products? It is fine that we disagree if it is a good, neutral or bad thing.

[Michael Nielsen]

>
> What angry people here? This is a cooking group. Not a dining out group.
>
> And I don't see anyone who is angry except for you.

Why do you think Im angry? Im not the one calling people pieces of shit and angrily waving the pitchforks, telling me that what Ive been told and read is a lie and I am a liar for repeating it (even if it was a lie, people could in a friendly tone tell me that the articles are not true).

> Americans are not surprised. Perhaps sf was surprised. She does not speak
>
> for all Americans. I am not surprised. Not at all.
>

With "americans" I mean "people who are americans", not "All americans". There wouldnt be these articles about the frozen fries at keller, if the reporters did not expect that to be a surprising news to a lot of people...

[Michael Nielsen]

> With "americans" I mean "people who are americans", not "All americans". There wouldnt be these articles about the frozen fries at keller, if the reporters did not expect that to be a surprising news to a lot of people...

A nice summary:

http://www.seriouseats.com/2007/03/you-want-fries-with-that.html

[sf]

Do you not understand the word "not"? I've had enough of your
trolling and you're going into the bin.

[dsi1]

On Friday, July 25, 2014 8:02:18 PM UTC-10, Michael Nielsen wrote:
> I heard that many restaurants/eateries serve Sysco food, whole or partially made dishes to assemble and reheat, and sometimes even the menu is given by Sysco.
>
> I think I had one of those Sysco foods when I had a salad with chicken and it was just horrible. the chicken was rubber, and I left pieces, which is saying a lot - vikings needs their meat!
>
>
>
> Often you think that you are at a qulaity restaurant with a chef who makes his own menu and food, and gets the ingredients around the place, making deals with local farmers. But then it turns out it is Sysco food with raw materials from e.g. china.
>
>
>
> Even upscale places you can risk getting Sysco food, for example, French Laundry while having a recipe for homemade fries in his book, serves sysco fries, and gets some meat from them as well. So it is really hard to know.
>
>
>
> Anyone here knows how to predict it?

My guess is that you should eat more Asian food. That might help a lot. Just don't ever look inside of a kitchen at a Chinese restaurant. Stay away from baked goods unless the owner of the restaurant is a pastry chef.

[Michael Nielsen]

> My guess is that you should eat more Asian food. That might help a lot. Just don't ever look inside of a kitchen at a Chinese restaurant. Stay away from baked goods unless the owner of the restaurant is a pastry chef.

Hmm, is that a fact? Where is that at?

When I was in China it was impressive that even at the food wagon of a night train they made their own wanton wraps by hand. But in Denmark a lot of asian food comes on frozen bags to be poured right into the fryer.