More Quotes of the Day:
“When you’re dead, it robs life of many pleasures.”
--Harvey Pekar
“You can’t smoke at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Is there even a bar in here?” --Bourdain
“I could eat three steaks. I could eat a whole pizza. I could eat 50 pieces of sushi. It’s a vicious cycle. You have to watch your weight. You have to fit into your clothes….You need to hit the treadmill.”
--Marky Ramone
“If there’s no in-room porn, I’m not hitting any exercise at all.”
--Bourdain, needless to say.
“I was a damn professional once, right?”
--also needless to say.
Tags
Today, I did something I haven't done for a long time - I bought a new VHS tape.
Charlie
I was in Cleveland last month and the Rock Hall was so much cooler than I thought it was going to be. It costs $20 (!!) but I spent around four hours in there and felt it was worth the cost, and I'm not even a huge fan of rock music.
I can't wait for No Reservations tonight. Go Tribe. 😉
French Laundry at Home
Ruhlman, are you unrolling a red carpet down the sidewalk leading to your front door tonight for a watching party? I'll call TMZ so they can get some paparazzi snaps of you just before airtime.
fiat lux
We usually TiVo "NR" episodes so we can fast-forward through the damn commercials, but this once we might actually watch live.
Big Red
I am so excited for tonight's episode. I am planning on spiking the kids dinner with a sedative (or at least serving turkey) in order to get an hours worth of peace to watch. Too bad we all didn't know about it before or we could have put together a little get together to watch. NR super bowl of sorts.
Clarkehead
I have to admit last week's NR kind of fell a little flat for me. So I'm really looking forward to this one. Oh, and Go Browns!
Ms.Anthrope
Hmmmmmm.....No Reservations...Lunar Eclipse...No Reservations...Lunar Eclipse...
Thank gawd for TiVo!
Of course, it did me no good last week when the cable went out. I sit down, hit "play" and get the first 3 minutes then a black screen for 57. Sigh.
Frances
My going to Cleveland would entail breaking an unwritten law of cyber-friendship, and possibly win me a restraining order.
Great quotes.
Janet
Just dropped my 16 year old off at the Mountain School in Vermont
this weekend-4 months at an organic farm with 40 some kids
from all over the country. What a concept.
Anyway, her only regret about leaving was missing tonight's show. Bourdain in her hometown! The show is a Monday night ritual for our family, it won't be the same without her.
edsel
There's cinnamon in this!
Ruhlman fights the good fight against Skyline Chili.
Lovin' this.
THETomH
Mr. Ruhlman
I've interacted with you on eGullet, but my mother just called from her retirement home in Florida to tell me to tune this episode in, seeing as we are all Cleveland natives, and I am most passionate about it. Of course, I have it on my DVR.
I hope you are nice to our fair city, and keep Bourdain in line.
Thanks for allowing me to join this community.
THE TomH
THETomH
BTW, Skyline Chili is a Cincinnati thing, not Cleveland. Not only cinnamon, but cocoa as well.
Go Browns!
Sorcha
We have been cracking up nonstop through this whole thing. Well done, guys.
Big Red
Ruhlman,
Nicely done. I am still recovering from laughing until I wanted to pee. You and Bourdain are great together. Oh and tell your son and daughter they did very well, and, thank goodness, look like their mother. And your wife, gracious as she is beautiful is a saint to have put up with a couple of knuckleheads in her kitchen like the two of you.
Otherwise it was a fantastic look into the Cleveland world, and I look forward to my return in December. I promise to stop to appreciate it's splendor. Maybe I will bring you a few jars of my preserves, salsa and sauce.
Ahhhh Cleveland.
French Laundry at Home
You guys were just so precious. Loved it!
Chad Edward
Never eaten a cheese coney? What a pansy! Yeah, cheese coneys are definitely Cincinnati, not Cleveland, and in Cincy you can go to one of the independently owned chili parlors, like Camp Washington Chili at about 4:00 AM.
Cleveland was my favorite episode of "No Reservations" since Paris. The Harvey Pekar segment was genius. And, I'm reading "Charcuterie", so confirmation Ruhlman can actually make a country pate is encouraging...unless it was "dramatization" like the drag racing segment.
Eldie
Loved the NR episode. You'll have to get him back here to go through some of the cooler parts of the inner suburbs (the Heights, Lakewood, etc..)
ruhlman
glad you liked it, thanks. bourdain and zeropointzero did a great job.
Frances
Another great quote, "Nothing says love like heart-shaped meat."
Maura
No more NR for me. My sucky cable provider pulled the Travel Channel and replaced it with Noggin. I suppose they couldn't give up one of the five shopping channels we have. (whine).
Sorcha
Augh, Maura, that sucks!
parkbench
oh maura, that is so wrong. Screw the cable provider, and get the Dish Network. Thanks to their early broadcast of NR on the Left Coast, I get NR at 7 pm on channel 215.
And for what it's worth, we put off my birthday dinner tonight (ugh, a Monday; you make do) until after the episode we've been waiting for since Bourdain and Ruhlman took up the challenge.
We still got to watch our favorite tag team, and then out of the house early enough for dinner (skipped the halibut special) and before the Monday pub crawl -- and in my 'hood, there IS a Monday pub crawl.
Well done, guys. Thanks for making my day. [grin]
And Maura, get a service worth your time. 😉
--parkbench
Sorcha
Parkbench, unfortunately you can't always get satellite. I dunno how Maura's luck might be with it, but we tried last year but there were trees in the way, not all of them on our property. Never mind we had Dish years ago and it worked just fine. I guess the trees moved? (And no, we don't live by Birnam Wood.) At least we get a discount on our cable internet for having it from the same company as our digital cable. Not so good, though, is that if we want to get the full use of our new TV with HD capability, we have to pay even more per month. Feh. /venting
Bookseller
As vile as a Skyline three-way may be, it pales in comparison to the Skyline cheese coney, the yuckiest fast-food tidbit wot has ever entered my mouth. To make it, they ladle a pile of steaming, cinnamony Skyline goodness over a hot-dog bun and -- the capper -- a sausage-facsimile that has the exact consistency of (sorry about this) a soft turd. My ex grew up in Cinci, and yearns for cheese coneys, here in the wilds of Manhattan, the way I crave bagels in London. The first time we went back to his home town, he bought me a cheese coney and waited -- eyes fixed on my face in the anticipation of shared delight -- as I took my one and only bite.
I couldn't swallow it. I couldn't even bring myself to chew it. I felt like a contestant on one of those reality shows where they make you eat guano in a bid to win a bunch of money. Ruhlman, for the sake of your tum -- and Tony's -- I hope the cheese coney I saw on his tray stayed untouched. Yeah yeah, "drunk food," I get it. There isn't enough whiskey in the world to make me eat one a them things.
bob
Beef cheek perogies....dreamy
sausage shoppe...dreamy
Markee...still kickin'
weather...reminded me painfully of growing up in Rochester, N.Y.
Skyline chili...the garbage plate of Ohio
Bourdain in a Firebird...priceless
Maura
@parkbench:
"And Maura, get a service worth your time. ;)"
Heh. I guess we need to go back to digital. Missing what sounds like a classic episode of NR is more than I can take.
@bob:
"Bourdain in a Firebird...priceless"
Stop torturing me. (More whining)
hazel
To use the words of Tony, "this episode sucked, big time"! You love Cleveland? Not from Cleveland but lived there for a few years(east side). Could you focus on any more of the armpit elements of the city? Far too many "cartoons".
Claudia
And Michael - what beautiful children you have. (Although I don't blame your young son and heir for retreating, like a hawksbill turtle, deep into the recesses of his hoodie at the alarming sight of bad "Uncle" Tony's cassoulet, given the fact he's - what? About 10?)
So . . . Harvey busted YOU for potty-mouth and thinks NR is a FAMILY food show? Too funny!
Sorcha
It wasn't a hoodie, Claudia, he just had his shirt jerked up over his head. I thought it was funny, but if it had been Littlest doing it at the table while we had company I'd probably have reacted the same way. 😉
CincyMom
I'm sorry you got stuck with Skyline Chili. However, if you really want the good stuff, go to Camp Washington Chili. It makes Skyline pale in comparison.
fv
Ruhlman,you filthy beast!!
Cleveland Bob
D'oh! I missed the NR episode on Cleveland. Anybody know when it is going to re-broadcast? Travel Channel has barely a mention and no listing for a re-run.
john atkinson
how did bourdain miss a chance to mention the dead boys, cleveland's greatest obscure 70's punk band? for the first time in my life i'm almost dissapointed in him. anyway, good job ruhlman, but time for a wardrobe change.
Mitsos
The Cleveland episode was one of the best.
Harvey and the other guy (Bob?) are true originals!
You can't find their kind in NY anymore, unfortunately.
Ms.Anthrope
It's not all that bad Maura, it was an automatic.
Maura wrote:
"@bob:
"Bourdain in a Firebird...priceless"
Stop torturing me. (More whining)"
bob
stop torturing who?
Melissa Gajewski
I agree with Hazel. The show focused on the worst of Cleveland. With all the new homes in Tremont and all the renovation of old buildings on Euclid Avenue and the Warehouse District, NR had to keep showing the bombed-out-looking deserted building over and over. One good shot of some renovation would have been nice. Did not do our city justice at all. Very disappointing show.
applehome
Great show. But what does it say about the place if the absolutely most mouth-watering chow that was on the show was what you and Bourdain put together at your house? ...could've been done in Jersey, for cryin' out loud.
applehome
Great show. But what does it say about the place if the absolutely most mouth-watering chow that was on the show was what you and Bourdain put together at your house? ...could've been done in Jersey, for cryin' out loud.
maaia
I loved the show. Having been born and raised in Milwaukee, I almost felt like I was watching a show about my hometown. The post-industrial nature of the city, the loss of factory jobs, the hearty foods of Central/Eastern European immigrants...I especially loved the bookstore. We may even travel to Cleveland someday now. A destination we would have never considered before. A truly eye-opening show.
My husband (who is actually from Eastern Europe) and I nearly cried when we looked up the sausage shoppe only to discover they do not ship. Alas, we live in Phoenix where there is nary a good European sausage to be found. But, if you live in this concrete desert long enough, you learn where to find the hidden gems buried amongst the swath of corporate conglomerates in this giant suburban sprawl of a city. (Yet, for some reason, we love it so.)
Anyways...kudos to all involved with the episode. The show did what it does best - opened our eyes to the lifestyles of the humble everyman doing his/her best to enjoy life the best s/he can with what s/he has.
Jimbo
Nice episode, Ruhlman. But anyone who thinks Pittsburgh isn't superior to Cleveland is him/herself a filthy beast. 🙂
Oh, and Ruhlman, how many Super Bowls have the Cleveland Clowns, I mean Browns won?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Chicklet
Hot Sauce Williams?! How much laughing gas did Symon inhale to take Bourdain to that abomination? HSW is some of the worst food I've ever had - greasy, flavorless baked ribs with a gallon of radioactive red glop dumped on them, runny slaw and fries that were fresh ... out of the Cosco bag in the freezer. Luchita's on West 117th would've been a better option.
Starla
Skyline chili is the most godawful thing that had ever passed my lips. This includes fried scorpions, haggis, and menudo.
Let me make this as clear as possible, Cinnamon has NO PLACE IN CHILI.
As a native Texan, we would draw and quarter any loser who tries that horsechit. Keep that crap back in Ohio and don't let it infiltrate the divine thing that is REAL chili.
Other than that, NR in Cleveland was a glorious watching experience. Thanks for letting us in on the journey.