THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 11, 1996 TAG: 9601100057
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F2 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: A LA CARTE
SOURCE: Donna Reiss
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
I'M CRAZY about computers, and the World Wide Web helps me keep track of culinary trends.
When I'm traveling to an unfamiliar city, the Internet helps me select restaurants. When I teach writing, I use electronic mail and group conferencing as instructional tools.
I keep in touch with friends and colleagues around the world by e-mail. I write articles with a 486 and submit them with a 14.4 fax-modem.
Now, if I want to know what's new on the menu at the Raven restaurant in Virginia Beach, I look to http://www.infi.net/raven.
I can even carry my laptop in and plug my modem into their phone lines while I eat (keeping in mind that it's nobody's fault but my own if I spill beer or ketchup on the keyboard).
If you don't have a web browser and want to electronically reach this casual beach eatery at 1200 Atlantic Ave., send an e-mail request to Raven(AT)theraven.com.
Oh, yes, you can still reach them by phone; call 425-9556.
Wish list for a New Year
Homemade mashed potatoes are delicious. But I've had enough, thank you.
Oh, they go well with many dishes, but when every plate comes out of the kitchen with a white mound - whether it's flavored with butter and cream, chili oil, celery or garlic - somebody needs to think again about complementary colors, textures, and flavors.
Get real: Give me butter! Offer an imitation as an alternative for those with a medical need or preference, but don't serve the rest of us margarine - or that mysterious item called a spread - without asking.
Cook with real butter and olive oil, unless I ask for a substitution or the menu specifies. Use real cream on desserts. Why would I order chocolate sin pie if I didn't want to indulge?
And, please, put a little pepper mill on my table. That way, I can serve myself after the waiter has disappeared with the monster wooden model and I've tasted the food to see if it needs the seasoning.
Unless you have a corporate office rattling your chain, you shouldn't have a canned mushroom in your kitchen. Most grocery stores carry an assortment of fresh mushrooms grown on the East Coast. If I you can find shiitakes and portobellos in the produce section, so can your chef.
The rest of the rooms
Just as the greens in the salad are a sign of a restaurant's shopping and prepping standards, so is the condition of the rest rooms a sign of its sanitation standards.
Some places that serve food I like have bathrooms that make me doubt their kitchen's cleanliness. If there's no soap, how do the employees wash their hands before they touch our food? Restaurant staff should frequently clean and restock the rest room.
They should provide towel holders that customers don't have to push or prod, and waste disposal containers that we don't have to touch with our clean hands. They should expect women to use the men's room if they have a single-unit set-up, and they should put slide bolts on the door so we'll know it's really locked.
MEMO: Reviews are based on a single, unannounced visit by a party of two or
three, unless otherwise noted. The Virginian-Pilot pays for the
reviewer's meal and those of the guests.
by CNB