Yosemite Search and Rescue Team Calls Off Hunt For Liz "Go Go" Hong's Sense of Wonder

Shortly after overhearing Mozza chef Liz "Go Go" Hong say "I don't want to go to Half Dome, but can we go to Whole Dome?", a Yosemite National Park employee notified her supervisor that the famed park may have, in her words "Another lost soul amongst us"

The supervisor, Janice Swerman, told Krikorian Writes that she at first dismissed the statement as "Just another smart aleck remark", but became alarmed when another employee came to her saying the same person, Go Go Hong, had just been shown a photo of El Capitan, asked "What's that?"  Then, after she was told it was El Capitan or simply "The Rock",  Hong seemed confused, then exacerbated the situation by asking  "The movie with Sean Connery or the actor? Wait, El Capitan. That's a movie theater on Hollywood Boulevard, right?""

Later, after reviewing security footage, Swerman determined that Hong had refused to get out of the  car she was traveling in to gaze out from Tunnel View when her group entered the Valley.  This was the very same person that walked a long, cold Bakersfield block to pose in front of Hells Angels headquarters. Taking no chances, Swerman notified the vaunted Yosemite Search and Rescue Team. 

"I told them I think we have a visitor without a Sense of Wonder," Janice said, adding that this condition is extremely rare in Yosemite. "I mean even blind people stop and stare in wonder at El Captian. I have hard core members of the Hells Angeles, Oakland Chapter, break down and cry at the stars over Half Dome. But, this one, she seemed clueless. She was far more fascinated with her peanut M & Ms."

The Search and Rescue team was called and went looking for Go Go's Sense of Wonder.

Shortly after noon Thursday, Search and Rescue squad leader Duke Feldmeier thought he had found it when he saw and heard Hong in the Ahwahnee Hotel Dining Room say "That would be amazing!" However, that proved to be simply a misguided statement as Hong was reacting to a waiter who told her "Maybe I can get you some extra jus on the side for your Philly cheese steak sandwich."

Not long after that, Feldmeier overheard Go Go saying that Persia and Venezuela were the same place. "To the best of my knowledge,  no one has ever said that before," Feldmeier said. "I knew this would be a difficult operation."

But, Hong, refusing to walk outside the hotel, never expressed on iota of interest in the park and the Yosemite Search and Rescue Team called off the hunt late Thursday night.

Still, there was a glimmer of hope Friday morning when Go Go, Nancy Silverton and Michael "Juan Fangio" Krikorian drove out of Yosemite Valley . The morning sun was shining on the "Dawn Wall" of El Capitan, the very route two lunatic climbers had scaled just two weeks ago. The magnificent rock was aglow in dawn's light.  

"Liz Hong, look at that," ordered Silverton, herself spellbound by the wonder

"Wow" said Go Go. She even took a photo.

It took the Rock and the Sun. but finally there was a smidgen of proof that Go Go has a Sense of Wonder. 

Liz Go Go Hong on 19th Street in Bakersfield

Team Silverton-Goin Goes Breaking Bad; Sets New Record For Slowest Drive To Yosemite, 9 Hours, 7 Minutes

Five hours into their record-setting slow drive from Los Angeles to Yosemite National Park, Nancy Silverton and Suzanne Goin came to a stop sign in the methamphetamine-addled town of Traver, 27 miles south of Fresno.

"That guy from Yemen at the gas station said 'Don't turn right'," said Goin from the backseat of the works Honda..

"No,' said Mozza chef LIz "Go Go": Hong, also in the back seat. "He said 'What ever you do, don't turn right. He said even the sheriff's don't turn right."

I was driving. You know which way I turned   

Two blocks later, I passed a market that rang a bell. I had covered a homicide there 16 years ago for the Fresno Bee. Two more blocks and we came to Baker Drive. In all my travels - and I had traveled looking for methamphetamine hot spots, even to Apatzingan,Michoacan - I have never seen a more stereotypical crank street. This was Breaking Bad gone crazy.

Aptly named Baker Drive is line with rusted trailers, a RV so dilapidated it made us laugh, foil on most windows, tarps on others, weeds as high as Badger, milk crates for days, a scruffy white kid - who looked like that boy Jesse tried to help - running around in the backyard littered with a titling refrigerator and sideways washer machine .

"If David could see me now," Suzanne said, referring to her husband, chef David Lentz. 

"Oh, my fuckin' god," said Go Go.

Nancy just stared.

The street was short, So was our tour.

We - Nancy, Suzanne, Go Go, four boxes of food, four suitcases and myself - had left the back parking lot of Mozza at 11:30 bound for beauty; Yosemite and their Chefs' Holiday event at the Ahwahnee Hotel. Our first stop was in Bakersfield for lunch at the Basque restaurant Wool Growers. Food was solid and we'd all go there again if the timing was right. Oxtail stew, fried chicken, sausage sandwich, lamb chops. Very good fries.

Plus, a block down, across the street was a Hells Angel clubhouse.  Can't beat that for local color. . 

We got back on 99 North  and drove past, Tulare and the beloved B-17 of my youth, past the Visalia cut off and, when Nancy saw signs for Bravo Farms - known for their cheddar -  we pulled off in Traver. We were at the Bravo Farms um, complex, for at least an hour.

Suzanne bought a 3.5 cord for us to listen to a podcast, a sack of (allegedly) "fartless" bean soup, and climbed a 7-story treehouse. Go Go got ice cream. Nancy got coffee, shot a replica .45, and played slots. I got caramel marshmallow and three root beers from their impressive selection  Thirty pounds of un-attended tri tip grilled not far from a petting zoo.. This is not the normal cheese stop

All of us highly recommend the stop. 

But, when you head back to the freeway, don't turn right at the stop sign.      

Back on Highway 99 to Highway 41 and a Fresno rush hour traffic jam.  Then to Oakhurst for coffee. Suzanne, at Nancy's request. put on that podcast "Serial". Five people had raved to me of this podcast about a guy in a Maryland prison for 15 years for the killing of his ex-girlfriend 

We entered the Park late, so there was one at the entrance gate. Serial came on. It was boring the fuck out of me. The best part for all of us was about Mr. S, some streaker.  No, the best part was when Suzanne said she had only up loaded three episodes and couldn't get service to get more. Good. .

I took over telling them my own podcast; a story I had covered about the killing of three tourists outside of Yosemite by a motel handyman (Cary Stayner) who went on to kill another woman in Yosemite before he was captured and eventually sent to Death Row.  All, even Nancy, agreed my story was better. 

By the time my story was done, we were about to enter the tunnel  that leads to the magical Tunnel View. It was dark, but I exited the Honda and gazed at the stars and silhouette of El Capitan. You can have all the other views. 

Nine hours, seven minutes and 47 seconds*, after we left Mozza, I parked at the Ahwahnee Hotel.  . 

Heaven I'm in Heaven. 

***

* Note - The record is for driving in "good" weather conditions. Slower drives have been record, but in Tule fog conditions.

Website for the Bakersfield restaurant. http://woolgrowers.net/

Baker Drive, Traver. Technically, Traver is not even a town, but rather a "Census designated place" with a pop of 713. Two of the population were accused of beating that guy in the bathroom during a 49ers game last year.

New Nancy Silverton vs. Ruth Reichl Feud Erupts Over Secret Sauce

It was to be a simple Sunday night dinner among old friends. Hamburgers would star. But, when it was over last night, what lingered was the sweet taste - or bitter lack of - Secret Sauce.

Ruth Reichl, in warm Los Angeles with her husband Michael Singer for their annual "Escape from Cold New York" trip, had invited Nancy Silverton and four others over to try what she considered the best hamburger meat in the land, the aged ground beef of Debragga, a New York butcher.

Nancy brought along two bottles or red wine, a half-pound of Swiss Challerhocker cheese, a dozen buns and her own "secret sauce" which she had lovingly made in her kitchen two hours earlier. 

What a match this was to be.  The Nancy's secret sauce with Ruth's favorite hamburger meat.

But, as the group of seven sat to indulge, Reichl refused to apply the sauce to her burger. "This meat doesn't need anybody's secret sauce."

Silverton said nothing, but instead made a production of lavishing the sauce onto her patty. She then began chatting up her left-side dining table neighbor, film critic Robert Abele,  on the wonders of this sauce.  As Silverton raved on, she kicked her driver, Juan Fangio Krikorian, and nodded over at Ruth. "Miss Writer too good for secret sauce?"

Adding insult, Reichl refused to add the cheese Silverton had brought to her burger and then proclaimed the buns "a tad sweet'.

Tension rose and knots formed on  Silverton's upper back like muscles on Dr. Bruce Banner when he turns into the Hulk. Krikorian rubbed her back that was, by then, as soft as the Dawn Wall of El Capitan. 

Seeking to avoid an out-and-out confrontation at the dining table, Reichl's husband Singer sought to engage diners in table conversation that swerved like Nike Lauda at the Nurburgring: "The Grand Budapest Hotel";  Eric Snowden, Dante's Barbershop on 3rd Street ( two blocks east of Western), his cats, hospitals in New York, his love of Pizzeria Mozza and the chef there, Liz "Go Go" Hong.  

But, it was too late.  The feud, which began last year ( see; http://krikorianwrites.com/blog/2014/3/4/silverton-gets-tired-of-reichl-tells-her-to-leave-van-ness-palace ) was deep into percolation. Silverton resorted to one of her classic moves to lull an opponent; she feigned tiredness and closed her eyes, her version of Ali's Rope-a Dope. Reichl was more to the point. She told Krikorian "Take her home."

As Silverton was leaving, Reichl asked "Would you like to take your secret sauce back home?"

"No, Ruth," Silverton said as she walked out. "I made it for you."

By the next day, Go Go Hong was transferred out of the pizzeria.

##

To try the meat, check out - http://www.debragga.com/proddetail.asp?prod=dry-aged-ground-beef&cat=56

To try the secret sauce ask Ruth for the leftovers, though sources say she may have tossed it. Otherwise, wait for Nancy's next cookbook, tentatively titled "Mozza At Home". 

.To Secret Sauce or not to Secret Sauce

"He Poured Out His Love...And His Wine" - My Grand Wine Collection

Published in Fresno Bee, Nov. 3, 1999

I once had a grand collection of wine..

Mostly Bordeaux from the heralded 1982 vintage, a few bottles from the legendary 1961 crop, and one glorious bottle of 1947 Chateau Cheval Blanc that I treated like a newborn, swaddling it in terry cloth towels when ever I moved it.  My temperature-controlled wine locked in West Los Angeles cooled the hottest of California Cabernet Sauvignon from the '84, '85, and '86 vintage. 

Then I met Carmen.. 

Carmen lived the high life. She had a town house in swanky Century City and an apartment on East 50th Street in Manhattan, two blocks from the famous French restaurant Lutece where she was a fixture in the dining room. 

She had dresses that cost more than my 1983 Ford Ranger.

We met four years ago (1995) when we sat next to each other at a luncheon featuring 1988 red burgundies at trendy Campanile in Los Angeles.  Though there were eight other people at the upstairs private dining room, we hardly noticed them

After the luncheon, we walked down the street, sat on a once-elegant - now tattered - old couch that a La Brea Avenue used furniture store had on sidewalk display and talked until the sun went down 

I called her the next day, but she was off to New York. When she came back to Los Angeles, we went to dinner. I brought along a Chateau Beaucastel, 1978.  The next morning, I brought her some blood orange juice. It did the trick better than the classic Rhone.

We had a great week and the she went back to New York for business.

Then I lost my job. I was a city hall reporter from the Los Angeles Times and was smacked in a huge layoff.

But, I didn't tell Carmen about the job loss. I mean, why tell someone 3,000 miles away you're unemployed? What good does that do?  Certainly wouldn't score me any points. Anyway, I figured I'd be back on the job soon.

But, work didn't come so easily. Freelancing was rough. 

Still, I was having fun. We talked every night. Like kids, sometimes for an hour. She had class and she knew white burgundies like no one I'd ever known. 

She would be back in LA. in a month and we'd have a swell time, she told me. 

But, at that time, my money, never a strong point, was hitting new depths. The checking account was dwindling faster than a bottle of Krug on New Year's Eve. My savings account, like the gas tank on a V-12 Ferrari Enzo after a drive from Sanger to Sonoma, was on empty. My credit cards were as useless as merlot from North Dakota. 

My only financial plus was my 401(k) account, but I knew if I went into it, I would be taxed and penalized 50%. The financial crisis had not yet reached that panicked stage. No, this was just run-of-the-mil desperation.

Plain and simple, I needed a lot of extra cash to lavish on a girl. Why else does one need extra cash anyway?

One July night, she called and said she was coming back to Los Angeles in three days. She couldn't wait to see me, she said softly.

I needed some romancing cash, I thought.

I did the unthinkable.

Now, I know any true wine lover reading this may find what follows deplorable But, this might be love. Or at least a romantic case of lust.

I started selling my wine collection.  

The first to go were the extras I had of first-growth Bordeaux from the '82 and '83 vintages.  Heck, some of them aren't drinkable for another decade, I reasoned to myself. What good are they doing me collecting dust in some freezing Westside warehouse, I rationalized. Anyway, I'd sell them, get back on my financial feet in a year or two and start buying them back, I planned. 

I walked into 20/20 Wine in Los Angeles like I was carrying letters of transit out of Casablanca. I sold an 1982 Cheval Blanc I had bought for $60  I got $150, $160 for it. A Latour, Margaux, a Mouton from 1982 and I had $700.

Then I took a few bottles out of my cellar to drink.

Carmen came to town and I was ready for her with a magnum of '85 Dom Perignon Rose at her townhouse and reservations at Valentino, my favorite Italian restaurant.

That was a grand week.

She went back to New York, wanting to know when I was going to come see her in Manhattan.  I sold more bottles, mostly California Cabernet, and soon boarded a midnight flight to New York City.  

We dined grandly thee: Lutece (Zind Humbrecht Tokay Pinot Gris); Lespinasse (Montrachet from Ramonet); Union Square Cafe (Screaming Eagle Cabernet with the best cheeseburgers). It was wonderful.

I flew back to LAX. My cousin Greg took me home. I borrowed five bucks to eat the next day.

This continued for six months. Carmen would come back. I'd go to New York. Soon, my wine locker looked like downtown Beirut during the civil war. Desolation reigned. Only a few bottles, like the survivors of the Battle of Stalingrad, remained. 

Then, over a  series of  painful phone calls, Carmen let me know that it was all over for us. She had met a rich man. I knew all along this wasn't gong to be a lasting relationship, but, still it kinda hurt.

However, no sooner did I get dumped, I got a new, better job back at the Times covering South Central Los Angeles and Watts. Within  a few months, I met a beautiful woman and forgot about Carmen.

Through that disaster, I managed to keep the 1947 Chateau Cheval Blanc. But,  the '82 Bordeaux are gone. A few drunk, the majority sold.

I thought about that foolish period of my life - one of many - the other day when I saw a bottle of 1982 Cheval Blanc for $595.

But, hey, things are going better now. Maybe my irrational logic for selling them wasn't that far off. I have an even better job now at the Fresno Bee and maybe one day I will be able to buy them back. That would be nice.

Nancy's Fancy Garners Second Highest Number of Superlatives in the United States This Week

During its three-day premiere at the Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco, Nancy's Fancy, the gelato of Nancy Silverton, was the subject of 56,242 registered superlatives, the second highest total for any noun in the United States during that time period, an official said Wednesday.

"Great","Wonderful", "Do me, Baby, do me", "Magnificent", "Amazing", "Oh, my God" "Wow!", "Delicious" and others were being gushed during the Sunday, Monday and Tuesday event in the Moscone Center at such a rapid clip that the Superlative Board of America (SBOA) had to add a second counting machine.

Praise for the four flavors of Nancy's Fancy, ( three gelati and one sorbetto) ranked 2nd only to the superlatives uttered by visitors at the Tunnel View in Yosemite National Park which tallied 61,061 praises. (An estimated 12,000 utterances were for the two lunatics climbing El Capitan's "Dawn Wall" without climbing aids other than harnesses and ropes.)

The flavors, members of  the elite "Squad Seven", were Salted Peanut Butter with chocolate, Greek Yogurt with red fruits of the forest, Cold-brewed Stumptown Coffee with cardamon, cinnamon and nutmeg, and Coconut sorbetto  with chocolate strands. An employee of Nancy's Fancy, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the other three flavors that comprise Squad Seven did not travel to San Francisco from Los Angeles  "due to security issues." The employee would not elaborate further.

Nancy's Fancy is expected to be available to the public in early Spring. 

Jerry Hauser, the director of SBOA, said that he expects Nancy's Fancy numbers to get even higher upon release and he was seeking federal funding to acquire a faster counting machine.

"Both McLaren and Ferrari are working on a high-speed superlative counter," Hauser said. "We might need both of them this spring when people come to Yosemite and gaze out from Tunnel View while savoring Nancy' Fancy."

Nancy Silverton To Unveil New Gelato at the Fancy Food Show, San Francisco Officials Urge Calm

When a photo showing what appeared to be two pints of gelato with the name "Nancy's Fancy" was leaked to the press earlier this week, speculation in the ice cream world revved up like a McLaren P1 down the Mulsanne straight in Le Mans. Was it a hoax? Or was this for reals? Was it Granada I see, or only Asbury Park?*  Well, now, it is official. Nancy Silverton will be making gelato and sorbetto in pints that will be sold in stores across the United States.

After  the announcement was made Wednesday morning in Grape Street Park that "Nancy's Fancy" was indeed happening, the grand chefs of America could not contain their delight.  Mario Batali was the first to comment  (see below) issuing a statement akin to a Hendrix solo. Legendary pizzaiolo Chris Bianco soon followed, riffing off "Jaws", ("I'm gonna need a bigger spoon"), as did Jonathan Waxman and many more.  San Francisco chef Dominique Crenn emailed thoughts on "Nancy's Fancy" so titillating, so rife with sensual possibilities, that she has been banned from Brazil for six months. 

The public grew excited, too. After all, this wasn't a treat that would only be available to the chosen few, only offered to a smattering of the privileged. Nancy's Fancy will be offered throughout America later this year.

"In the frozen section of the supermarket, it is s going to be like all the other ultra-premium ice creams and gelato will be wearing a nice department store outfit and then, boom!, here comes Nancy's Fancy decked out in Marni, looking like she's going to the Academy Awards. No, Make that the James Beard Awards since Nancy has already won there four times”, said Suzanne Tracht, chef owner of the acclaimed Jar in Los Angeles. (Silverton has been honored by the James Beard Foundation for Outstanding Pastry Chef in America, Outstanding Restaurant (Campanile) in America, Who's Who of Food and Beverage in America, and, just last year, as the Outstanding Chef in America.).

The public will get their first opportunity to sample Nancy's Fancy this coming Sunday, January 11 at the Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco ( https://www.specialtyfood.com/shows-events/winter-fancy-food-show/) which will continue on Monday and Tuesday at the Moscone Center, Nancy and her executive pastry chef Dahlia Narvaez will be there to hand out 5,000 samples of four Nancy's Fancy flavors.  

Still, with all the excitement, there is concern that the rush for the stuff will be overwhelming. Therefore, the City of San Francisco is taking extraordinary measures to  ensure bedlam doesn't ensue both inside and outside of the Moscone Center. 

"Nancy's Fancy is the greatest thing to happen in the ice cream/gelato world since Noah let two cows on that Ark," said San Francisco Mayor Jerry Rice. "But, on the other spoon, we need to contain this as the Fancy Food show has the potential for calamity. There will be 5,000 portions of Nancy's Fancy available. There are  837,442 people living in San Francisco. You don't have to be 'ol Stevie Hawking to figure out there's gonna be 832, 442 disgruntled citizens in my town.".  

A San Francisco Police Department commander, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said police have been carefully studying the classic "Do's and Dont's of Crowd Control" by Attila the Hun, the colorful 5th-Century invader known for, among other things,  his unique way of handling large groups of people.  (It should be noted the book is now considered a masterpiece on how not to address large crowds, including avoiding such sayings as "You're  gonna wish you never came here", and "What the fuck did i just say?".

Still, most say the excitement to get the Nancy's Fancy will be worth a line or two. 

These are the four flavors will be available at the show  Chunky Salted Peanut  Butter/with Crunchy  chocolate; Cold-Brewed Spiced Stumptown Coffee with Cracked Cocoa Nibs, Greek Yogurt & Mixed Berries; Coconut Stracciatella with Bitterweeet Chocolate Strands.

A Special Report on the Flavors is coming soon. But,revisit this article about Nancy and Dahlia's Salted Peanut Butter.  http://krikorianwrites.com/blog/2014/1/12/nw6s2jk2qectcua6hpzok65h65cc2n

Here's what Mario Batali said about Nancy and her gelato.  “Nancy is the goddess of the delicious and the most inspired and inspirational cook I know in everything from pizza to panini so its natural that I have always been/will forever be in LOVE/LUST for her gelato  it is if the angels opened their freezers and delicate flakes of frozen genius are falling from the skies like notes from a jimi hendrix solo, each one different yet mellifluous and delightful on its own or as a full on symphonic poem to the magnificence of her creamy, sensational and ultimately satisfying work in frosty frolic.”

 * - "At Long Last Love"  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRFbKBHvLXs

NRL Shocker - Pizzeria Mozza Trades Tagorda For Chi Spacca's DeNicola

In news that sent shock waves throughout the National Restaurant League, United Mozza announced Sunday that Pizzeria sous chef Joe "GQ" Tagorda will be traded to Chi Spacca for their own sous chef, Ryan Vito DeNicola. 

Although complete details of the trade were not made public, sources said Spacca would also get two first round 2015 draft choices from the Culinary Institute of America, while Pizzeria Mozza would get a new front door which completely shuts..

Pizzeria Mozza general manager Arielle Chernin said she was delighted to be getting DeNicola. "He's a very nice guy and I say any time an Italian restaurant can get guy who has 'Vito' for middle name, go for it."

Tagorda who worked at the Pizzeria for nearly five years, was excited about the trade.  "I'm thrilled to be joining the Chi Spacca team and I know i can make the place more stylish," said Tagorda in his last official oven appearance Sunday evening at the Pizzeria. "The food is great at Spacca. but have you ever seen the way Chad dresses? Not exactly Ralph Lauren."

In his career at Pizzeria Mozza, Tagorda made 2,130 pizzas, burning 145. for a very fine 93% success rating.  (In comparison, storied pizzaiola Chris Bianco, of Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix has 98.8 % completion rating, highest of all active pizza makers in the National Restaurant League.. On the other end of the spectrum, former cook Sam Schramberg had a 5% completion rating, burning 19 or the 20 pizzas he made as a line cook before moving onto management.)

DeNicola, in his nearly two years at Chi Spacca, grilled for 520 bistecca alla Fiorentina, botching only 26 or them,  (95%) and had a very impressive 93.2% satisfaction rating on his tomahawk chop..

Tagorda was unfazed by those numbers. "Yes Ryan is fine cook, but I look better."

Spacca's chef Chad Colby said he would miss his long-time right hand man  but was glad to get out of DeNicola's five-year contract, rumored to be $7 million a year, plus incentives. Tagorda will start out making $9 an hour, but could go up to $13.25 by 2017. In addition, Spacca will pay for Tagorda's personal grooming, said to run upwards of  $1,500 a day. 

Top Secret Photo Reveals the Future of Gelato in Nancy Silverton's Freezer

Rumors have been circulating for months that Nancy Silverton was going to be making gelato and sorbetto sold in pints available in markets across the United States. Every time reporters had questioned her about this venture, she would simply reply "Nothing has been signed."

When reached in Italy early Sunday morning, January 3rd, Silverton told a reporter "Haven't you anything better to write about? Aren't there all those killings on the streets that begin with 80?" Then she hung up.

However, an appliance repairman, making a routine house call to Silverton's home in Green Meadows, was both pleasantly surprised and deeply disappointed when he opened her freezer New Year's Day and saw an enticing pint of something labeled. "Nancy's Fancy".

The repairman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said "I hadn't been so excited since opening night at Pizzeria Mozza."  He quickly snapped a  photograph (seen below) with the Hassleblad 503CW he carries on his tool belt.

Alas, the thrill was soon over. The container was empty. However, there was evidence something had been ravaged  inside that container as fork marks were clearly visible.

Novelist Ruth Reichl, no stranger to Silverton's freezer, would not comment on the photograph's credibility even though, according to the repairman, the back of the container recounts a story of Reichl seeing Silverton sitting on a floor churning away.

Renowned San Francisco chef Dominique was thrilled at even the prospect of a gelato made by Nancy Silverton. When told of its possibility, she dipped into a sensual reverie. "Hot winter in San Francisco. I am taken by surprise by 100 degree Fahrenheit. While strolling the streets, my body is craving a sweet luxurious taste of refreshing goodness  I need to find that place, not negotiable. Nothing can take the place of my Nancy's Fancy.

More to come as this important story unfolds. And folds. 

A spokesman for Tim tam said "That's one classy ass freezer."

. 

LA Weekly Review Slams Chi Spacca as Not "World Class", Demonstrations Erupt in Three Continents

Demonstrations continued to erupt over the weekend in three continents after a scathing restaurant review in the Los Angeles Weekly boldly stated that Chi Spacca, the revered Mozza Family restaurant, was not "World Class".

The review, published in the Dec.18, 2014 issue of the Weekly, highly-praised Chi Spacca for service and food, and even awarded it a rare four stars signifying it as "excellent", but stopped short of the top honor of five stars which the paper defines as "World-Class".

"To flat out deny Chi Spacca the world class status is a travesty," said Maurice Curnonsky, the  Prince of Gastronomy in Paris.  "If you picked up Spacca and dropped it on the Rue Royale it would be a smashing success. If it was plunked down in old London town, there'd be a line around the block to get in. Same thing for Rio, Tokyo, Khartoum, and Moscow. If that's not world class, then what is?" 

While the demonstrations for the most part were peaceful, several people were arrested Sunday night in Pyongyang, North Korea for carrying signs that read "Chef [Chad] Colby cooks better than Kim Jong-un".  Jong-un, a self-proclaimed "Grill Master" was said to be distraught over the signs.

In the Central African Republic, interim president Catherine Samba-Panza called for a six-week ban on the Weekly. "In times like these, we all need to come together and encourage each other, not deny dreams," said Samba-Panza at a unruly news conference held Monday morning in the capital city of Bangui. "Hell, Colby and  [sous chef] DeNicola make a Bistecca alla Congo that is to spear for."

Also, outside of Gallup, New Mexico, 13 Apaches were arrested Sunday morning when they threw tomahawk pork chops at passing tourists, one who sustained a black and blue eye. 

To the review's credit, the Weekly lauded Spacca for its steaks ("some of Los Angeles' great special-occasion dishes") , its charcuterie ("fantastic") and added chef Colby's "food should be considered a prize."

While many were upset Chi Spacca didn't get the five, others were astounded .the world, with all its problems, would react so vociferously.  

"What the big fuss all over the world about Spacca getting only four stars? " said Ludo Lefebvre chef owner of Trois Mec and Petit Trois, both of which were awarded four stars by the Weekly. "Get over it. It is four stars. Be happy. I was."

One customer was thrilled Spacca did not get five stars.

"I wish they only got two stars so it would be easier to get in," said Dan Pirelli, owner of the Wine Hotel on 3rd Street who did not eat at Chi Spacca on October 13, November 10th and Dec. 3rd. 

Chef Chad Colby, who had predicted Spacca would get six stars, could not be reached for comment.

****

The Weekly review -http://www.laweekly.com/squidink/2014/12/16/chi-spacca-review-artistry-well-beyond-the-butchers-block