Codes On Fruit

Picture courtesy of Healthy and Natural World

Remember “9” is good

By Sean Overpeck (CFE)

**A full article and index glossary of restaurants, wines, recipes and travel for 

Wine Dine and Play are in the pages section above, or by following these links:

By Cuisine  /  By Country

Going to the grocery store to buy some fruit and vegetables is my favorite part of food shopping. I try to stay to the outside area of the store and avoid the isles unless its beer or wine of course. Everything in the isles is prepackaged, and most of the time all GMO. When you're in the FFV section (Fresh Fruits and Vegetables), have you ever noticed the little stickers on the foods? They are called PLU codes (price lookup), and really I thought it was an internal grocery code on how to charge certain items only, but it is a lot more. Examples of this include apples, they look alike, but prices vary among varieties. Since a cashier can’t necessarily tell the difference between a Fiji and a Honey-crisp apple unless they are a fruit expert, then the PLU codes come in handy.

These codes have been in use by grocery stores since the early 1990s and are administered by the International Federation for Produce Standards (IFPS), who maintains a list of five-digit codes (which are sometimes four digits, because zeroes are not displayed), that identify qualities associated with a particular produce item, such as its type, size, where it was grown, and how it was grown.

3, 4, 8, 9 - Here are the basics of what you should know:

1. If there are only four numbers in the PLU, this means that the produce was grown conventionally or “traditionally” with the use of pesticides. The last four letters of the PLU code are simply what kind of vegetable or fruit. An example is that all bananas are labeled with the code of 4011.

2. If there are five numbers in the PLU code, and the number starts with “8,” then this tells you that the item is a genetically modified (GMO) fruit or vegetable. 

3. If there are five numbers in the PLU code, and the number starts with “9”, this tells you that the produce was grown organically and is not genetically modified. An organic banana would be: 94011

The adhesive used to attach the stickers is considered food-grade, but the stickers themselves aren’t edible, so tell your kids. Also, remember that genetically modified fruits and vegetables outnumber the organic by 10-1. Also, it is impossible to eat organic produce that is grown from genetically modified seeds. A genetically engineered (GE or GMO) banana, for example, would be: 84011

The author of elingreso.com came up with a simple rhyme to remember the codes when you go to the grocery store to buy your product:

8, I hate. It’s GMO! 

9 is fine.  It's Organic. 

Most grocery stores have a labeled section for organic or “green” so you may think what is the point in remembering these codes. Well, what is to stop a person from picking up a GMO fruit and putting it in the organic section or vice-versa?

To make it even more confusing for you, some foods which have labels beginning with a 3 are sometimes genetically-modified, such as the papayas that are commonly sold across the USA. Or, they are defiantly sprayed with a pesticide.  Chula Vista papaya grows is a hybrid type with a tolerance and resistants to the PRSV (papaya ringspot virus). It is concluded in a study that Tainung papayas contain some genetic modification since there are no naturally PRSV resistant papayas in this world.

Consumer reports from 2010:

#0 applies to all non-qualified produce (and is generally presented without the leading “zero” digit).

#3 is also one of the cheapest to buy

#5 according to the Non-GMO project this is GMO as well

#6 preceding the 9 is an organic label. The 6 denotes that the farmers are paid under the fair trade agreement so they are safe. 

#7 is transitional…meaning the grower used pesticides in the past and is slowly moving to organic.

Other Noteworthy “Style food” Articles and Restaurants:

The Complete A to Z Food and Beverage Grand Dictionary If you're looking for it, then you found it

A Taste of McMurdo - 8 Months on the Ice Ross Island, Antarctica 

Shark Cage Diving Adventure with the Great White Shark Tours company in Gansbaai, South Africa

Afghan Cuisine + Markets Recipes, culture, history - A culinary tour of Afghanistan during the war

Burj Khalifa Tower Take a tour of the tallest building in the world, Dubai, UAE

Converting a recipe card from Imperial to Metric Cooking Conversions made easy

Bordeaux - A Sip and Taste Wine tours and restaurants in Bordeaux, France

Thanksgiving in Antarctica An American tradition with turkey and football at the bottom of the world

Gourmet Wine Tours of South Africa A wine and food tour of Stellenbosch, South Africa

See the whole list by visiting “The Wine Dine and Play Article Glossary”

****

The worlds best restaurants is a subjective list of who is writing it and changes on a regular basis. The Wine Dine and Play best experiences are based on my highest rated stared restaurants, meaning that the visit was an outstanding or extraordinary experience. From cafés, chains, mom + pops, hole in the walls, to fine dining including a few Michelin spots. Visit the Top 100 page to see the entire list.

A few to tease you with…

At.mosphere  High Rise Fine Global Dining, Highest Restaurant In The World Burj Khalifa, Dubai, UAE	Vue de Monde Elegant Modern Australian with Molecular Gastronomic dining  Melbourne, Australia	La TABLE de Joël Robuchon Haute French Restaurant Paris, France
Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud Impeccably prepared French fine dining  Dublin, Ireland	The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Français Contemporary, African-French Tasting Journey Franschhoek, South Africa	Alinea Highly creative new American molecular gastronomy tasting menus Chicago, Illinois, USA

“Culinary perfection consists not in doing extraordinary things, 

But in doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.”

-Angelique Arnauld (1591-1661)

Who is John Galt?

TTFN

Pretty In Pink - Carbon Monoxide In Meat

By Sean Overpeck (CFE)

**A full article and index glossary of restaurants, wines, recipes and travel for 

Wine Dine and Play are in the pages section above, or by following these links:

By Cuisine  /  By Country

It is time for you're weekly run to the grocery store and to pick up some items for your weekend barbecue party. You have your chips and dip, beer, hamburger and hot dog buns, and now it is time for the meat. 

Now if you are a foreigner and you visit the USA it is a mouth dropping shock, but to the average American shopper, it is nothing new. The brightest best-looking ground beef you can find at the cheapest price to make those hamburgers with, or even a bright red ribeye steak to grill is the one that Americans will buy. We are told that it is the best quality when its that color. But why is the meat so bright red? When I grew up and shopped with my parents they even told me to pick this meat over the brown colored meat. They told me that red was fresh and brown was old, and you can get sick from the older stuff. Besides that bright reed beef looks great as if it was just butchered that day doesn’t it? I Talk to a real butcher that owns a small shop competing with the big grocery store chains and he gave me a different story - a real story.

You will find that the meat was put into the big grocery display case days before if not longer. So how does it stay so red, bright, and beautiful? Most American consumers as I said earlier pay it no mind, while foreigners question it because, in most of their butcher grocery sections, they don’t see this. In America when you shop specifically at a small neighborhood butcher shop for your meats, then you know the story, and will not buy the grocery store meat on display. A small farm or a local butcher knows that this bright red meat is not a natural occurrence. Once meat becomes exposed to air, oxidation begins which gradually turns the red color of the meat to a more unappetizing brown or grey color within just a few days.

This never seems to happen to supermarket meat.  The meat is uniformly red, not various shades of red, brown and grey. The facts are as follows, 70% of the meat sold in stores is treated with carbon monoxide to keep the meat a deceptively fresh looking red color.

Carbon monoxide is identified by the chemical symbol CO -- it is a molecule consisting of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom. This gas is colorless, odorless, tasteless, flammable and poisonous. According to its material safety data sheet, inhaling carbon monoxide may cause damage to the blood, lungs, cardiovascular system and central nervous system. An exposure to as little as 6.4 percent CO can cause convulsions, loss of consciousness and death in 30 minutes.

The industrialized meat industry (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations – CAFO) insists that treatment with carbon monoxide, called “modified atmosphere packaging” (MAP), is necessary due to the difficulty of keeping meat at the proper temperature while in grocery store coolers. Being in food service we know that meats need to be held at specific internal temperatures to avoid pathogens from growing and causing foodborne illnesses.  In the retail sector, meat is not supposed to exceed 39° Fahrenheit (4° Celsius) at any time. For restaurants, the ServSafe standard is 41° Fahrenheit (5° Celsius). An increase of just a degree or two can result in a massive increase in bacterial growth. 

This is where MAP came into play. The purpose of the MAP was to help manufacturers and packers/fillers of fruit and vegetables to choose the optimum packaging for their products to improve shelf life and quality of the product, as well as find a solution to the struggles of temperature consistency, and to reduce loss in the overall supply chain. It was invented in the 1970s rolling off of the use of Controlled Atmosphere Storage (CAS) which has been used from the 1930s by freighter ships transporting goods. Now, Equilibrium modified atmosphere packaging (EMAP) instead of MAP. When packaging vegetables and fruits, the gas atmosphere of the package is not air (O₂ 21%; CO₂ 0.038%; N₂ 78%) but consists of a lowered level of O₂ and a heightened level of CO₂. This kind of package slows down the normal respiration of the product to prolong its shelf-life. According to a Danish report, this process for temperature and packaging reduces aging of fruit and vegetables and can slow the degradation down and increase shelf life by more than 800%.

When meat is exposed to carbon monoxide, it reacts with the myoglobin in the blood giving the meat a bright red color. Fresh beef is naturally red, and as it ages, it becomes brown or grey. The carbon monoxide keeps it looking artificially fresh for up to a full year by restricting the growth of bacteria that proliferate from the increased heat of supermarket meat display cases, transportation, and temperature variation. How do you feel about that McDonald’s cheeseburger now?

In Russia and other European countries, some US meat products have been banned because we use this process, but also because what companies are actually pumping inside the meats. This report is from 2014 when Russia banned the meat because of a product inside it called Ractopamine, and approved use in pigs in 1999, cattle in 2003 and turkeys in 2009. This led in 1999 to some European countries banning the meat because it was labeled as being hormone free, but tests on the meat showed otherwise. Ractopamine is a growth-promoting drug which increases muscle mass by actively slowing protein degradation. According to the article linked in the previous sentence, other veterinary drugs which are withdrawn prior to slaughter, ractopamine is started and never withdrawn in the animal’s final days.  It is given to beef cattle during their last 4-6 weeks, pigs in their last 4 weeks, and turkeys for their last 1-2 weeks. So yes, that chicken breast you're buying at the grocery store, it's not supposed to be that size naturally. Cut it into three pieces, then you have a normal breast size for a slaughtered chicken. 

In 2004, a new three-gas mixture used for packaging of red meat cuts and ground beef products was approved by the Food and Drug Administration and is gaining in popularity. This mixture is 0.4 percent carbon monoxide, 30 percent carbon dioxide and 69.6 percent nitrogen. However, in 2006 the FDA was urged to Ban Carbon-Monoxide-Treated Meat as more and more people were made aware of the process of MAP and EMAP.

According to the FDA and the American Meat Institute: “Meat treated with CO is safe to eat. CO is only hazardous if you breathe it, but once it is chemically combined with the meat it can't hurt you, so after you open a package of ground beef there will be few if any, molecules of CO to breathe.” That may be the case as both Governments funded and private funded scientists continue to research the issue, but in the end, do you want to eat meat that may be months old? The Health Science Institute wrote in 2006 that, “Adding carbon monoxide to meat is a really bad idea for one reason: When meat stays red, consumers could be fooled into thinking that old meat is fresh.’

So, as a consumer, you should always check the expiration date and not the looks. If the consumer forgot to check the expiration date or if the store were to make a mistake or cheat, the meat would still be obviously spoiled once the package was opened. I spoke to a butcher and asked his opinion on the process, and said to put the carbon treated meat onto a kitchen counter-top to thaw, then leave the house for one week and come back. When you do, nothing will have changed. Even though the meat has sat out for one week, it will still be bright pink. Then he said to try that with non-chemically treated beef and leave the house for one week. He said as you open the door to the house you will vomit from the horrid smell of rotted meat, and bugs will have infested the house.

These meats are also at a cheaper price point, so who buys them? Lower income and middle-class people. What does this do over time? The answers are not clear, but in the ned do you want chemically treated meats or GMO products? Or do you want fresh, sustainable, all-natural meats? No brainer for me. I would gladly pay a little extra to get a good quality product, instead of paying more money later on to the doctors to fix me and keep me alive before cancer rips me apart.

Other methods used by large meat processing plants besides MAP are chlorine baths where bacteria is killed and it controls slime and algae, increasing the products shelf life, plus it eliminates costly hand-cleaning labor and materials. In addition to disinfecting, wash down, and chilling of water. "Pinners" in the slaughter facility who remove the birds' feathers by hand, then wash their hands with the chlorinated water to reduce odors and bacterial count after which the birds are sprayed to wash all foreign material from the carcass. also, in a 2014 directive, the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) admits the many uses of chlorine in poultry and meat production, are not required to be on the label under the "accepted conditions of use agreements.”

The next method is ammonia also known as "Pink Slime" pushed from processing tubes and sent to grocery stores and US schools in the form of chicken nuggets. Other examples include "lean, finely textured beef" (LFTB) which is made from unwanted beef "trim" and treated with puffs of ammonia gas to retard the growth of E. coli.

To conclude and make you aware if you are not already, so please check what you're buying especially if it is something you're going to eat. Do your research and check and recheck to make sure. For years it has been said that GMO’s are fine and safe, but as you dive deeper you find some serious problems with it. 

Other articles on the subject:

USA Today

Care2

Health Sciences Institute 

Other Noteworthy Food Articles and Restaurants:

The Complete A to Z Food and Beverage Grand Dictionary If you're looking for it, then you found it

A Taste of McMurdo - 8 Months on the Ice Ross Island, Antarctica 

Shark Cage Diving Adventure with the Great White Shark Tours company in Gansbaai, South Africa

Afghan Cuisine + Markets Recipes, culture, history - A culinary tour of Afghanistan during the war

Bordeaux - A Sip and Taste Wine tours and restaurants in Bordeaux, France

Gourmet Wine Tours of South Africa A wine and food tour of Stellenbosch, South Africa

See the whole list by visiting “The Wine Dine and Play Article Glossary”

“Culinary perfection consists not in doing extraordinary things, 

But in doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.”

-Angelique Arnauld (1591-1661)

Who is John Galt?

TTFN

First Watch

 2 May 2017 review /  18 November 2016 review

An Organic Break-Fast

Carrollwood-Tampa, Florida, USA 

Cuisine Style: Breakfast, Brunch

Average Price: $

Overall Rating: 3/5 

Dined on November 2016

By Sean Overpeck (CFE)

**A full article and index glossary of restaurants, wines, recipes and travel for 

Wine Dine and Play are in the pages section above, or by following these links:

By Cuisine  /  By Country

Terms that ten years ago were taboo to most people and only used by the “eco” hippy crowds are now becoming part of the mainstream. Words like organic, sustainability, Non-GMO, free-range, cage-free, antibiotic free, Monsanto, and so on. I was one of the mainstream that thought these terms were crazed liberal revolutionary thoughts and shook my head at them. Today thanks to my wife and research into the subject, and opening my mind to other ideas, I see that it wasn’t crazy after all, but healthy. This is where restaurants like First Watch come into play. They are taking these words and practices and not only adding them to a small part of the menu to appease all groups but making it the standard where you can’t get anything but the healthy good stuff. This review is based on November 2016 visit at the Tampa, Florida location.

Vice President of Culinary Strategy:

Chef Shane Schaibly

My wife and I were in the area dropping our dog off at the veterinarian and wanted to get some breakfast. She had been to First Watch a few times and wanted to introduce me to them. The restaurant is in Carrollwood, an unincorporated community in North Tampa, Hillsborough County. Early every morning the kitchen crew begins slicing fresh fruits and vegetables, baking muffins and whipping up french toast batter from scratch. Everything is made to order, and freshness is never compromised. Chef Shane graduated at the top of his class from Johnson & Wales in 2005, then worked in fine dining for brands like the Ritz-Carlton in Miami Beach and Tampa’s Café Ponte. He joined Front Burner Brands concept The Melting Pot in 2007, where he helped the company set the Guinness World Record for Largest Cheese Fondue Set while working as manager of culinary development. From there it was time for First Watch where everything was to be fresh, organic, GMO-free and all natural, not just a few set menu items like most restaurants.

First Watch is a chain restaurant, with the home location in Bradenton, Florida. As of 2016 there are105 stores operating in 17 states, with the first in Pacific Grove, California in 1983 by Ken Pendery and John Sullivan. They moved the business to Bradenton in 1986. First Watch restaurants are named for the nautical terminology that refers to the first shift of the day. No microwaves, heat lamps, or deep-fat fryers are used. The business is largely owned by private equity company Freeman Spogli & Co., who bought out the 85 percent stake previously held by Catterton Partners.

When you arrive, you are welcomed with a pot of their Sunrise Select Premium Blend® coffee, along with complimentary newspapers and WiFi Internet access. From there you can have a juice made from their fresh fruit juice bar, and then relax and look over the menu in a clean quiet atmosphere that smells fresh and inviting. Their menu is broken down by:

Breakfast

• Omelets and Frittatas
• The Healthier Side
• First Watch Egg-clusives
• Power Bowls
• The Middle Griddle

Lunch

• Sandwich
• Salads
• Soups

If you want to be healthy and have a good start to the day and your body stick to the healthier side with items like avocado toast, energy bowl, or the sunrise granola bowl to name a few. My wife had the Chickichanga® from the egg-clusives part of the menu, which consisted of whipped eggs with spicy all-natural white-meat chicken, chorizo sausage, green chilies, cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese, onions and avocado rolled in a flour tortilla. The dish was then topped with Vera Cruz sauce and sour cream. On the side, the dish is served with fresh fruit of the day depending on the season, and fresh non-GMO seasoned potatoes.

There are many other dishes on this portion of the menu as well along with several egg benedict recipes, sandwiches, and skillet choices. My selection, the pesto chicken quinoa bowl was jam-packed with protein-rich quinoa, mixed with kale, shredded carrots, and house-roasted tomatoes, topped with all-natural lemon chicken breast, cooked on the char grill, then slapped with a basil pesto sauce, feta crumbles and fresh herbs for garnish. The dish was fantastic. 

On the side, we ordered some of their bacon to share, cooked with maple syrup and filled with knock your socks off flavor. You could also order fresh fruits, biscuits, and several other items as well. For lunch, they offered eight sandwiches and four power salads and soups, along with a kids menu, and a full allergen and dietary restriction guide.

Other noteworthy breakfast, and brunch reviews: 

Al Fanar Restaurant and Café Authentic Emirati cuisine, Festival City, Dubai, UAE

Café du Monde Iconic café & coffeehouse serving beignets since 1862 in New Orleans, Louisiana

First Watch - Second review of this organic breakfast café in Tampa, Florida

Food 101 Farm-to-table eatery offering Southern classics in Sandy Springs, Georgia

Fugitives Drift Lodge and Zulu Battlefields African cuisine buffet, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa 

Halls Chophouse Esteemed old-school steakhouse with gospel brunch in Charleston, South Carolina

High Cotton A refined eatery with Lowcountry fare and Southern brunch in Charleston, South Carolina

Metro Diner Local diner chain with classic American breakfast & lunch; reviewed in St. Petersburg, Florida

Metro Diner - A second article of this classic American diner in St Petersburg, Florida

Metro Diner - Third article, same as the other two in St Petersburg, Florida

Noble Crust Modern contemporary Italian and Southern dishes in St Petersburg, Florida

Nueva Cantina Vibrant, authentic, and contemporary Mexican cuisine with brunch in St Petersburg, Florida

Nueva Cantina - A second article of that “Mexican Place” in St Petersburg, Florida, October 2017

Paradise Grille Beachside joint offering casual American eats in Pass-A-Grille, Florida

Romano’s Greek & Italian Restaurant Casual Greek & Mediterranean dining in Brandon, Florida

Safar Restaurant Arabic and Emirati blended buffet at the Dubai International Airport (DXB), UAE 

Stella’s Restaurant Southern-inspired comfort eats and diner in Gulfport, Florida

The Dutch Kitchen Buffet of Dutch and French cuisine at the Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam

The Jungle Junction Zimbabwean & international tastings buffet at the Victoria Falls Hotel in Zimbabwe

Waffle House A Southern 24/7 breakfast chain known for their hash browns, based in Atlanta, Georgia
Z Grille Colorfully inspired twists on American classics in St. Petersburg, Florida

See the whole list by visiting “The Wine Dine and Play Article Glossary”

A few Tampa restaurants and articles on Wine Dine and Play:

Council Oak Steakhouse Upscale eatery with butchery at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino	Ulele Rustic native American and Floridian fare w/Barbacoa Grilling	Rock 'n Raw  Asian restaurant with sushi at the Hard Rock Casino
Edison Food + Drink Lab  Eclectic & innovative gastropub using molecular gastronomy	Ciro's Speakeasy & Supper Club  Prohibition-themed New American cuisine Restaurant - password required	Yeoman’s Cask and Lion Hip British-inspired and themed pub

See the whole list by visiting “The Wine Dine and Play Article Glossary by country”

Final notes and observations:

It was extremely refreshing to see a breakfast restaurant like First Watch.  When you drive around you are bombarded with Waffle House, Denny’s, IHOP, and other named chains, and rare to see a smaller chain or mom and pop, then fresh and organic to boot. 

Most reviews are subjective, depending on the writer; but they should also be responsible, and respectfully written, upholding the truth, and accurately conveying the experience to the best of the writer's knowledge, even if it includes metaphors the restaurant may not like to read about. My ratings are by the stars I award (from 0 to 5). The rating is calculated on a point accumulation of six separate factors based on individual experience. They include wine and other beverage selections, plate presentation, customer service, restaurant or café ambiance, food quality, and wow factor. To see more details of this rating list, read this article:

What Is A Restaurant Review, And Am I Any Different?

Overall from this experience, and the score factors outlined in the ‘about page’ section, based on my individual experience and rating, I give First Watch a 3 out of 5 stars, meaning that they exceeded my expectations and were far above the average dining experience of most restaurants. The six factors used to get this rating include reviewing of their wine selections; overall customer service from host, bar, service, and management; the restaurant ambiance, noise level, lighting, and bathroom quality; plate presentation, which includes garnish, color, and art; quality of the food, where it is produced, and how it is prepared; and finally the “wow” factor. Did the restaurant wow me in any way not listed in the five factors above? Some restaurants do, but most do not. 

Overall Star Rating:	3 of 5 Stars: Exceeded Expectations
Corkage fee’s:	The Restaurant does not list any corkage fee’s however, most American restaurants charge $25.00 per bottle
Restaurant style:	Casual
Reservations:	Not Required Walk-Ins: Accepted, but not guaranteed
Child policy:	The Restaurants reviewed on this site may have a child’s menu or cater to them; however, for full enjoyment of food and wine, it is recommended for children not to be in attendance, unless they have been trained in proper etiquette.  Hire a Babysitter!
Dress code:	Casual
Cuisine style:	Modern, American, Organic, Gluten Free, Vegan, & Vegetarian
Experiences:	Place for foodies, Trendy, Rustic, and a Neighborhood Gem.
Payments:	Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express
Parking:	Public Lot
Wifi	The restaurants reviewed on this site may have Wi-Fi, but do not require you to go online, because the excitement of the food and wine alone will keep you too entertained instead of checking your social media and emails.
Noise level:	Low to Medium
Smoking:	Nonsmoking restaurant
Patio:	No

Food Prices 

(excluding, alcohol, taxes & gratuity)

$£€¥ -                Under 50.00 

$£€¥ x 2 -          51.00- 99.00 

$£€¥ x 3 -          Over 100.00 

$£€¥ x 4 -          Over 200.00 

$£€¥ x 5 -          Over 400.00 

**Currencies chosen reflect the world’s major travelers and restaurant connoisseur’s**

My food bill:	Currency:	Price chart:
$15.00	United States Dollar (USD)	$
$20.00	Australian Dollar (AUS)	$
£12.00	Great Britain Pound Sterling (GBP)	£
$20.00	Canadian Dollar (CAN)	$
¥104.00	Chinese Yuan (CNY)	¥¥¥
€14.00	European Union (EUR)	€

Currency rates as of January 2017

First Watch:

13186 North Dale Mabry

Tampa, Florida

Contact Information: 

Maître d or host:	+1 813 961 4947
Restaurant website:	First Watch
Website contact:	Contact First Watch
Social Media  &  Accolades:	Facebook link
	Twitter @First_Watch
	YouTube
	Instagram

****

The worlds best restaurants is a subjective list of who is writing it and changes on a regular basis. The Wine Dine and Play best experiences are based on my highest rated stared restaurants, meaning that the visit was an outstanding or extraordinary experience. From cafés, chains, mom + pops, hole in the walls, to fine dining including a few Michelin spots. Visit the Top 100 page to see the entire list.

Güero's Taco Bar Landmark Mexican Restaurant Austin, Texas, USA

Columbia Restaurant Traditional Spanish & Cuban chain since 1905 Ybor City & Sarasota, Florida, USA

Willie Mae's Scotch House Acclaimed soul food spot for fried chicken  New Orlean’s, Louisiana, USA

“Culinary perfection consists not in doing extraordinary things, 

But in doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.”

-Angelique Arnauld (1591-1661)

TTFN