Adam & Eats: An early retrospective, part 2

Editor’s note: Adam Brandt is a graduate from the Cobra Kai School of Culinary Callousness, where he received their highest award, the Red Apron of Merciless Eating. Aside from eating and talking about eating, he makes pots, paintings, prints, books, photographs, and generally, a big mess. He has been the studio assistant at Mudpuppy Pottery for almost nine years and is attending a local university in a desperate attempt to earn a biology degree.

So far, in my career as a restaurant critic, I have reviewed 30 restaurants. It seems like only yesterday I started eating for a living and now we are 30 plus weeks in. In the second half of the retrospective I would like to address the best and worst restaurants reviewed and talk about the overall food scene in our fair River Valley.

My top three restaurants (thus far) have been Emmy’s German Restaurant, Cara’s at Brunwick Place, and Paizi’s Gyros. All three venues have shown the River Valley that good food comes from the heart. These eateries serve their food via well-trained, friendly staff and did so without breaking the bank. It helps that they all have stood their ground and served up something a little out of the ordinary. Kookiness, friendliness, and tasty food go a long way in my book.

My bottom three restaurants (thus far) have been Catfish Cove, Gino’s Hamburgers, and Rick’s Ribhouse. These three have shown that sometimes the owners spend more time running the business than tasting the food. It happens. Kitchens slip. They have also shown me that sometimes too diverse a menu means overall crappy food. Granted all three of these places are someone’s pride and joy (not to mention some of your favorite restaurants). To their credit, Catfish Cove is taking steps to whip their kitchen crew back into shape, I busted Gino’s for making an untrue statement, and the one thing that I didn’t try at Rick’s RIBHouse was the ribs. That said, I still poo-pooed on them. I can’t take that back.

When hired for this job, I was told to be as honest as my PG-13 rating would allow. If I have a bad experience, I am going to tell you about it. If I have a blast, you hear about it. Those are the breaks.

Let’s face it. We in the River Valley like to eat. A lot. In general, we have a pretty decent food scene. It could always be better, but we work with what we’ve got for now.

I’m proud that we have done so well, so far. We have managed to produce an excellent German restaurant, a few quality Italian places, a high-end Ecuadorian venue, a decent Mediterranean/Indian eatery, tons of BBQ, bunches of variations on buffets, Latin food by the grove, two Japanese steakhouses, and diners galore. That is not to mention the numerous corporate chain restaurants, catfish places, sandwich shops, grocery stores, and gas stations that serve food (and all of the places that I forgot to mention).

Variety is the spice of life, and we, apparently, like our lives to be spicy (and filled with heartburn).

Picking a place to dine can be a chore. Luckily, I have the trusty Yellow Pages to help me sift through the droves of eateries and find my next target. I also have the wondrous support of readers like you, who e-mail me pointing me in the direction of their most loved, and hated, food spots. It may take me a while, but I usually get around to eating at the places you recommend. Also, there are a lot of places I won’t get around to reviewing in the near future, but I will recommend places if you ask me. So, that said, keep the e-mails coming.

I enjoy doing this and I can only assume, since I haven’t been fired yet, that you enjoy it as well. I am looking forward to continuing this food adventure and further exploring this place we call home. Thank you all for your support, and for not gunning me down in an alley.

Until next week, good eating.

Feedback
When he’s not beating his eggs, Adam makes time to respond to e-mails that get past his hard-ass spam filter. You can try to reach him at [email protected]

Adam also has this thing called Sandwich Control.