Omnivore Atlanta

Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and king of all things politically correct in the food world, has announced that he does not support the boycott of Whole Foods:

John Mackey’s views on health care, much as I disagree with them, will not prevent me from shopping at Whole Foods. I can understand why people would want to boycott, but it’s important to play out the hypothetical consequences of a successful boycott. Whole Foods is not perfect, however if they were to disappear, the cause of improving Americans’ health by building an alternative food system, based on more fresh food, pastured and humanely raised meats and sustainable agriculture, would suffer.

I happen to believe health care reform has the potential to drive big changes in the food system, and to enlist the health care industry in the fight to reform agriculture. How? Because if health insurers can no longer pick and choose their clients, and throw sick people out, they will develop a much stronger interest in prevention, which is to say, in changing the way America feeds itself.

When health insurers realize they will make thousands more in profits for every case of type II diabetes they can prevent, they will develop a strong interest in things like corn subsidies, local food systems, farmer’s markets, school lunch, public health campaigns about soda, etc. So Mackey is wrong on health care, but Whole Foods is often right about food, and their support for the farmers matters more to me than the political views of their founder. I haven’t examined the political views of all the retailers who feed me, but I can imagine having a lot of eating problems if I make them a litmus test.

Announcement of the statement on Huffington Post produced over 1500 comments.

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The Huffington Post reports that two unions are encouraging their six million workers to join the Whole Foods boycott:

Now the Change To Win Investment Group and United Food And Commercial Workers Union — both a part of the Change To Win federation of unions representing six million workers — have put out statements criticizing Mackey and encouraging a boycott of the store.

CtW called for Mackey’s removal as chairman of the board and CEO. “Mr. Mackey attempted to capitalize on the brand reputation of Whole Foods to champion his personal political views, but has instead deeply offended a key segment of Whole Foods consumer base,” the group’s executive director Bill Patterson said in a statement. UFCW has begun handing out pamphlets to Whole Food shoppers. The group said Mackey’s op-ed was an “attempt to undermine Obama’s health-care reform.” (Whole Foods is not unionized.)

Meanwhile, Whole Foods’ brand perception appears to be taking a serious hit. Below is the “reputation chart” from YouGov. The brand’s reputation has fallen from 33.3 on Aug. 12 to 20.3 by Aug. 20. I’m not sure how much this research can be trusted. It’s all conducted among members of the YouGov site.

Lots of bloggers are waiting for Michael Pollan, who wrote negatively about the grocery chain in The Omnivore’s Dilemma, to take a stand on the issue. I’m betting he stays quiet. You may remember that he engaged in a public conversation at Berkeley with CEO John Mackey a couple of  years ago. Pollan then acknowledged Mackey’s courage in appearing before an audience of foodie activists.

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Simon Owens is a  journalist and new media consultant who writes a blog called Bloggasm. He e-mailed today to alert me to his interview with Steven Mikulencak and Mark Rosenthal, who started the 27,000-member Facebook group calling for a boycott of Whole Foods.

Rosenthal explains his motivation to Owens:

[The op-ed] lit a fire under me,” Rosenthal said. “This person was using his company as a sort of Trojan horse for a bunch of discredited, bad ideas that we have said no to over and over again. And it was just really frustrating because we had an election where we voted on these things, and we said no to these stupid ideas about deregulation being the solution to any of our problems. We’ve said no to the notion that ‘I’ve got mine and everyone else can go suck an egg.’

The post is well worth a read. It mainly focuses on how so-called social media have become a highly effective means of community organizing.

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The “Prescriptions” blog of the New York Times reported on the Whole Foods brouhaha yesterday. More than 25,000 people have joined a boycott group on Facebook because of CEO John Mackey’s op-ed opposing government-financed health insurance. (The group now has its own website, WholeBoycott.com.)

Kevin Sack, who lives in Atlanta and is Southern Bureau chief for the Times, visited the Midtown Ponce de Leon store and reported the following on the “Prescriptions” blog.:

At a Whole Foods store in midtown Atlanta on Thursday, there seemed to be little awareness of the boycott, although employees said some customers had commented about it.

“I’ve had a few to come in and say I don’t agree with his point of view,” said one cashier, “but they’re still here, so….”

Another cashier said one of her customers had announced herself as an “anti-boycotter,” saying she was shopping there specifically to support Mr. Mackey’s views.

As they loaded their groceries into a green Volvo, Carl and Sharon Gentry said they had not heard of the boycott until asked about it by a reporter (sorry about that, Whole Foods).

“I’m going to go into management right now and tell them I disagree and that we’re going to see that people not shop here,” said Mr. Gentry, 54, sporting a gray ponytail.

“I’m just going to have to stop buying,” said his wife. “But they have good meat, that’s the problem, and good fish.”

Other shoppers were not nearly so passionate. “In my opinion, a boycott is stupid because you’re going to cost the people who work here their jobs,” said Katrina Drlik, 27. “People have a right to their own opinion.”

Obviously, you’re going to get a mainly predictable opinion if you ask people shopping at Whole Foods if they support a boycott of it. Oh, and I love the mention of Mr. Gentry’s ponytail. I’m sure Mr. Sack didn’t mean to stereotype anyone.

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Food Network is holding an open casting call this Mon., Aug. 24, for Season 6 of of the “Next Food Network Star.” The show will air in 2010. Casting will be held at the W Atlanta Midtown (188 14th St.) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“We are looking for people who are full of life, passionate about cooking, and knowledgeable about food to meet us in person at our open casting call,” the “Next Food Network Star” casting assistant Nivale Lightfoot said in an e-mail. Like last season, the show is open to casting chefs, home cooks, caterers and any culinary enthusiast.

The network requests that applicants bring two recent photos, a resume, and a completed application to the casting. Applications can be found at www.foodnetwork.com/star. Questions can be directed to nfns6atlanta@yahoo.com.

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Could you use an extra $25,000? Then, design a sandwich that includes at least two ingredients from the   Mezzetta product line. Enter the recipe in the company’s Make That Sandwich contest by Sept. 7. Besides the $25,000, you’ll also receive a trip for two to Napa Valley. Check out Mezzetta’s contest website for full details.

Above is the winner of last year’s contest — Edwina Gadsby’s Spanish-style grilled cheese sandwich.

(Photo courtesy of Mezzetta)

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It’s time for your annual fix of New Mexico green chilies. All locations of Taqueria del Sol are stocked with them and are offering chile rellenos at dinner only. As I recall, the restaurant prepared a set number of these every night during last year’s season and ran out fairly often. So, go early. …

Lance Gummere, chef at the Shed on Glenwood, continues to produce new riffs on the slider every Wednesday night, when the restaurant offers sliders for $3 each. Last night, there was a new one stuffed with cotto ham, tallegio and fig jam. The other newbie featured fried mozzarella with roasted tomatoes. Both delicious and it’s cheaper than cooking at home. …

Are you a Krystal hog? Then be sure to show up at 1 p.m. on Sun., Sept. 13, at Lenox Square:

At the Krystal Square Off VI Atlanta Qualifier,
professional and amateur eaters will battle it out to see who can
consume the most Krystal Burgers and Big Angus Burgers in an 8-minute
eating contest. For the first time in Krystal Square Off history,
eaters will contend with two new rule changes—Big Angus Burger Bonus
Points and a No Dunking policy—that drastically alter the face of the
competition and have forced eaters to rethink their strategies.

And once again, five amateur hopefuls will be chosen on the spot an
hour before the qualifying eating contest to go head-to-head and
bite-to-bite against professional eaters. The winner of this event
earns one of the 12 coveted seats at the final table of the Krystal
Square Off VI World Hamburger Eating Championship, where the top
eaters compete for a whopping $50,000 in cash prizes, the largest cash
purse in competitive eating history

Good news release: “McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurants in Atlanta are demonstrating their passion for quality ingredients and commitment to the Georgia’s food and agricultural industry by adding two new items to their daily printed menus featuring certified Wild Georgia Shrimp™ and other locally-sourced products. The new menu items – Wild Georgia Popcorn Shrimp with Vidalia Onion Marmalade dipping sauce and Wild Georgia Shrimp Low Country Boil – are being launched in honor of the restaurants’ 10 year anniversary in the Atlanta market.”. …

Go shopping and have lunch with Chinese Southern Belles this Sat., Aug. 22. Sign up for the event online. For more events, check out their website. …

Get your fresh produce at Danneman’s:

Danneman’s coffee shop in the Old
Fourth Ward has partnered with Fresh Roots Farm, an Atlanta farm
project, to provide weekly baskets of freshly picked produce to
customers. A $25 basket includes five to eight different organic
vegetables and half a dozen free-range organic eggs, and pairs
perfectly with a pound of Danneman’s locally roasted coffee and fresh
pastries. All baskets must be ordered and paid for one week before
pick up, and can be pre-ordered for multiple weeks at a lower cost.

Danneman’s is located on the corner of Boulevard and Edgewood Ave. in
the Old Fourth Ward at 466 Edgewood Ave., Atlanta, Ga.   Call
404-380-1393 for more information,

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Ha! Megan Matteucci of the AJC reports that a 24-year-old man has been jailed after telling his girlfriend he was going to Canton to pick up an inheritance. Instead, he robbed a Domino’s Pizza. When the amount he stole didn’t add up to the inheritance he told the girlfriend he was receiving, he tried to cover for himself by calling police and reporting that he’d been robbed at a bank. Police got — duh — suspicious.

Ms. Matteucci ends her report with an important observation.

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There have been a lot of restaurant closings in recent months. The economy has taken its toll on everything from high-end powerhouses to tiny ethnic spots. But for me, losing Son’s Place is the most heartbreaking yet.

The soul food restaurant closed on July 31.

Son’s Place is the first restaurant I visited in the city that made me fall in love with Atlanta. The food, the feel, the people, the warmth, all spoke of a kind of hospitality you just don’t find outside of the South. I’ve had many arguments in the years since about whether the fried chicken lived up to its hype, or whether the cobbler was too sweet. Through it all, I’ve remained devoted. On days when I needed comfort and sustenance, Son’s Place is where I headed.

On the phone this morning, owner Lenn Storey said the economy is to blame. Customer traffic has dwindled so much in past months that he just couldn’t keep the restaurant open.

“Hopefully, we can reopen,” said Storey. “I don’t know. It’s a sad time for son.”

(Photo by Mara Shalhoup. Additional reporting by Robyn Baitcher)

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Unless you’ve been living under a rock without a laptop, you already know that Whole Foods has been targeted for boycott. The reason is an op-ed column that the store’s CEO and co-founder, John Mackey, wrote for the Wall Street Journal last week.

The op-ed, which begins with an anti-socialist quote from Margaret Thatcher, is a reiteration of the usual tired talking points against making health care an entitlement — the way it already is for the elderly and veterans.

Whole Foods is, of course, a store whose primary appeal is to progressives interested in sustainable agriculture and community support — precisely the same people who mainly support guaranteed health care for all Americans. So, apart from the fact that it’s surprising Mackey turns out to be so conservative (”libertarian”), it’s also shocking, from a practical perspective, that he would pen something so predictably offensive to his customers. What was he thinking?

The pure stupidity of this is all the more offensive because the column includes an advertisement:

Recent scientific and medical evidence shows that a diet consisting of foods that are plant-based, nutrient dense and low-fat will help prevent and often reverse most degenerative diseases that kill us and are expensive to treat. We should be able to live largely disease-free lives until we are well into our 90s and even past 100 years of age.

Translation: Shop at Whole Foods and you won’t need health care.

You can read about the boycott effort on a Facebook page that already has more than 10,000 supporters. It includes links to some point-by-point refutations of Mackey’s argument. You can also check out Whole Foods’ own forum on the topic.

It goes without saying that Mackey has every right to express his opinion. The rest of us likewise now have a good excuse to move to Trader Joe’s or Publix and Kroger. As I’ve written many times before, I have long found Whole Foods’ produce vastly overrated, especially for the inflated costs. There’s nothing that the store supplies that can’t, with some extra effort, be bought elsewhere.

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Hector Santiago

When Richard Blais made his now legendary run on “Top Chef” Season Four, it captivated Atlanta audiences in a way basic cable rarely does: We became enthralled as a community.

This season, we have even more reason to tune in. Three Atlanta chefs, all of them fairly prominent, compete in the sixth season premiering Wed., Aug. 19: Pura Vida’s Hector Santiago, Woodfire Grill’s Kevin Gillespie and Eno’s Eli Kirshtein. Anyone who cares about food and restaurants in Atlanta has most likely eaten in at least one of these guys’ restaurants. And while none of them may be as well-known as Blais (who riled up the passions of foodies long before he was on “Top Chef”), they each bring a set of strengths and challenges to Las Vegas that will be fascinating to watch.

I spoke to all three chefs last week, and while they aren’t allowed to talk about what happened on the show in any detail, I was able to find out a little about how they went into the competition and what their strategies were once they arrived.

Continue reading “Atlanta’s Top Chefs”

(Photo by Trae Patton)

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Bon Appétit has named Decatur’s Cakes and Ale one of 2009’s top 10 best new restaurants:

At the age of 27, Billy Allin gave up his job as a money manager and enrolled in culinary school. After graduation, his cooking skills landed him gigs at renowned restaurants, including Chez Panisse in Berkeley and Watershed in Decatur. With his farm-to-table cooking philosophy fully established, Allin and his wife, Kristin, decided it was time to open “the restaurant where we would want to eat,” he says.

That restaurant is Cakes & Ale (from a phrase in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night meaning “the good things in life”), located east of downtown Atlanta. The couple’s ideal restaurant turns out to be a 50-seat neighborhood spot where the kitchen staff often answers the phone when you call to make a reservation, and a chalkboard announces the daily menu, which features simple, precise dishes like braised rabbit grits with saba vinegar and spring onion; buttermilk-rhubarb fool; and the addictive arancine here.

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Michael Erickson, marketing director for Fifth Group Restaurants, posted a link on Facebook to an article in the Wall Street Journal about a movement among New York coffee shops to discourage laptop use:

Amid the economic downturn, there are fewer places in New York to plug in computers. As idle workers fill coffee-shop tables — nursing a single cup, if that, and surfing the Web for hours — and as shop owners struggle to stay in business, a decade-old love affair between coffee shops and laptop-wielding customers is fading. In some places, customers just get cold looks, but in a growing number of small coffee shops, firm restrictions on laptop use have been imposed and electric outlets have been locked. The laptop backlash may predate the recession, but the recession clearly has accelerated it.

Erickson wonders if the same problem had anything to do with the closing of Caribou at the corner of Monroe and Piedmont. Actually, a sign on the door says the coffee shop has closed for remodeling. Meanwhile all the laptop users have moved to Ansley Starbucks, where I counted 15 machines a few days ago.

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The Environmental Protection Agency banned domestic or imported foods that contain residue from the pesticide carbofuran late last month in an unusual move that will effectively remove the chemical from the U.S. market.

The pesticide gained national attention in March when it was highlighted by a “60 Minutes” report that described the Kenyan practice of using the chemical to poison lions preying on traditional herders’ cattle. Bottles of the substance retail for around U.S. $2 in Kenya, the report said. Lions who eat the chemical quickly die after their nervous systems shut down. (more…)

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Today’s New York Times website includes a video about patrons of a food bank in California. The reporter, Monica Almeida, spent a year tracking people who use the facility, a faith-based organization. Click here and look for the video piece entitled “A Year of Struggle at a Food Bank”…

Richard Blais is featured in a Businessweek article about the hamburger renaissance:

A finalist on Bravo’s Top Chef last season, Blais is a student of molecular gastronomy, cooking with nitrogen and the like. One of his beef burgers is cooked sous-vide, which is French for “under vacuum,” and describes food that is cooked inside an airtight plastic bag over a long period at low temperatures. What Blaise brokers in is not so much hamburgers as proteins of any ilk stuck between two buns….

Joel Antunes is cooking in Bali.

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I got some great news today. Dan Krinsky, who co-owns Tierra with wife Ticha, will undergo kidney transplant surgery on Aug. 28 at Piedmont Hospital. Dan found a suitable live donor a few months ago, after seven disappointments. He has been on dialysis three times weekly since last December.

Tierra will be closed for a week following his surgery.

Dan says the donor turned up after reading mention of his need in my Grazing column. Many thanks to that reader and others who contacted him offering help.

(Photo by Cliff Bostock)

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H&F Bread Company, the outstanding bakery from the Restaurant Eugene/Holeman and Finch folks, has closed its doors to the public. According to part-owner Regan Smith, the bakery just wasn’t generating enough foot traffic to justify keeping the retail operation open. The bakery will continue to function as a wholesale operation, and Smith says that in the future they hope to offer call-ahead bread ordering for individual customers.

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You’ve probably read about the South Carolina woman who has been charged with criminal neglect because of her 14-year-old son’s obesity. The boy, who weighs more than 550 lbs., is now in foster care.

CNN interviewed the mother’s attorneys yesterday. …

Another Wednesday, another absurdly inexpensive meal of Chef Lance Gummere’s designer sliders at the Shed on Glenwood. I notice that in my original post on Omnivore, I suggested that the $3 treats were big enough that two would fill the average diner. The last two weeks, I’ve ordered three and Wayne has had four — and not because they’ve grown any smaller in size. Addiction. …

Blogger Amy Wallas hits Varasano’s: “We tried the salumi and the white clam pizza. The salumi was tasty, with good fresh mozzarella and Italian meats. The char on the pizza gave it flavor and body as well, but to be honest… .”

Gidget, Taco Bell’s mascot, gives up the ghost at 15. …

How to make a smoothie with your feet. …

Photographer Broderick Smylie checks out the action at Noon in Midtown. I may be mistaken, but I believe Broderick hit Noon after leaving another nearby restaurant still hungry. …

Steakhead has been quiet lately but he likes Teela Taqueria in Sandy Springs.

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Tom Maicon, the founder of Atlanta Cuisine, has put up a post today announcing that the discussion forums on that site will be shut down at the end of this month.

Atlanta Cuisine has long been a virtual gathering spot for Atlanta foodies. When I first arrived in town I relied heavily on its posters to let me know what I should be checking out. I have many of the posters there to thank for directling me to many of the great meals I’ve had in Atlanta.

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Mark you calendars for next Friday. Stella in Grant Park is reprising my favorite pizza there, fresh figs with prosciutto. …

The owners of Sugo are opening the Iberian Pig in Decatur, in the space vacated by Sage. …

Marco Betti, the owner of Antica Posta, has opened Joia Restaurant and Lounge at 1100 Crescent Ave. in Midtown. It features late-night hours with an uncomplicated menu by Chef Brett Maddox.

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Gourmet’s Melissa McCart writes about a recent culinary boot camp experiment to help Army cooks hone their understanding of technique, ingredients and flavor profiles. The chefs who participated in the training were recently deployed to Afghanistan, where they are now making meals for 600 to 800 soldiers at a time.

The Chicago Tribune dining staff ran an editorial story yesterday about all the phrases they hate seeing on menus. “World famous” and “garden fresh” were among their most loathsome clichés.

If you liked the Hardee’s Biscuit Hole ad that Cliff put up last week, you’ll love these new salacious marketing treats. The Western fast food chain Carl’s Jr. is featuring MTV The Hills star Audrina Patridge in a television commercial for their Teriyaki Burger – “It’s more than just a piece of meat.” And Burger King is currently running an unimaginative, super suggestive ad in Singapore for their BK Super Seven Incher burger.

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What a grim photograph. The soldiers are protecting the presidential house in Honduras, following the recent coup. But the background probably says quite a bit about America’s actual interest in preserving democracy in the beleaguered nation.

(Photo by Oswaldo Rivas/Reuters, courtesy of BAGNewsNotes, a terrific site that analyzes images related to current events.)

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Enraged man calls 911 after being allegedly short-changed by McDonald’s.

(Hat tip, Michael Saunders)

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Pizza Hut may be changing its name to … The Hut, according to Marketplace, American Public Radio’s business program that airs on WABE (90.1 FM) weekdays at 6:30 p.m. You can read or listen to the piece about the change on its website. Here’s a teaser:

Kai Ryssdal: Marketing is more important than ever in a down economy. We ran across the latest example in the trade magazine Brandweek this morning. Pizza Hut seems to think that’s just one word too many to be really catchy. The Hut, they say, would be better. Marketplace’s Rico Gagliano reports it’s yet another fast-food chain trying to change with the times.

RICO GAGLIANO: Outside a pizza hut in downtown L.A. this morning, I asked passerby a pretty obvious question.

GAGLIANO: So when you think of Pizza Hut, what food item comes to mind?

GUY 1: I think of very spongy pizza, barely edible.

GUY 2: Um, greasy pizza.

Setting aside these guys’ unsolicited editorializing, you’d think this would make the folks running Pizza Hut happy, because at least customers know what they sell, right? But problem is, more and more consumers aren’t buying pizza from chains.

Meanwhile, however, Pizza Hut told Reuter’s it’s not changing its name and reported the same decision on its website a few days ago. So whatever. The important thing is that the chain’s sales are down significantly.

(Photo courtesy of fabulous, battered Perez Hilton.)

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Last week, the United Nations’ Food and Health Organization released a chilling statistic: More than one-sixth of the world’s people will go hungry in 2009. What qualifies one as “going hungry?” Less than than 1,800 calories a day, according to the FHO. The agency attributes the 100 million increase over last year’s figure to the global economic slowdown and consistently high food prices. Called a “silent crisis” by FHO Director-General Jacques Diouf, political instability and lack of infrastructure have compounded food shortages — shifting political boundaries and conflicts such as civil war keep much needed food from reaching people.

Want to help? Consider volunteering here in Atlanta. The Atlanta Community Foodbank accepts individual and group volunteers daily and for special events. Project Open Hand — a service organization that delivers meals to the chronically ill or elderly — needs help preparing and giving out food. The Hands On Atlanta website lists volunteer opportunities by date and interest so you can find a foodie way to be good to Atlanta.

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