Turns of Phrase - June 2, 2013

Another small measure of appreciation for the work of that increasingly rare creature: the gainfully employed, artfully perceptive food critic:

"The art of the possible is on display."

- Phil Vettel on Next (Vegan) in Chicago Tribune

"But when you pull your car into the parking lot of Lucy’s 24-hour laundromat/wateria, and you make your way up to the truck, you will find that the woman behind the counter is slightly unclear on the concept of tlayudas, but rather firm on the unavailability of carnitas, which sold out almost before it turned dark. You can leave, or you can settle for tacos made with trompas, which is to say a kind of carnitas made with the pig’s snout. You take a step back toward your car. But then you notice that the tacos are made not just with fresh tortillas but with tortillas made to order from little balls of fresh masa, and that the red-chile salsa seems to be hot enough to flush the neck of the tattooed dude who was a couple of places ahead of you in line."

- Jonathan Gold on La Tehuana in L.A. Times

"At first this prim choreography seems tongue-in-cheek, then earnest, and finally almost silly — and all the more charming for it, like much of the orchestrated seduction that is a night at Maison Premiere."

- Ligaya Mishan on Maison Premiere in New York Times

"The food is impressionistic, best appreciated as a series of lovely, fleeting moments rather than the sustained arc that typically constitutes a meal."

- Ligaya Mishan again

(continued ...)

"The faux-meat dishes then, psychologically, feel like wedding band cover songs. No matter how accurately they play, there's no substituting for the real thing."

- Kevin Pang on Kitchen 17 in Chicago Tribune

"And those sourcing promises – they are a liability. One evening I watched a man in a Sysco uniform push two hand trucks of boxed oxtail, frozen octopus and other groceries through Playa Cabana’s Junction dining room. ... 'If Grandview doesn’t have oxtail, then our chef will probably ask the guys from Sysco for it,' Mr. Sidhu said when I challenged him on his purchasing. That wasn’t mentioned in his manifesto."

- Chris Nuttal-Smith on Playa Cabana in The Globe and Mail

"Aged 16 I used to bring girls to Joe Allen hoping to get a snog, and then ruin my chances by ordering the ribs. Who would want to snog a boy with sauce dripping off his fat cheeks?"

- Jay Rayner on Joe Allen in the Guardian