Tyler Florence and Applebees

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buckytom said:
a "chef inspired menu" is a load of you know what.

who was cooking before, a bunch of monkeys?.


My thought exactly. But it seems obvious that no one who cooks was associated with developing the original menu.
 
TATTRAT said:
say it aint so!<insert sarcasim>...Would it really be worth it?


i agree why would a chef be team up with applebees is beyond me.

he is known for the ultimate in food or recipes correct?

think applebees falls in this catagory (think not) or maybe doing
this is a take off on how to boil water. i personally don't even think
they can do that.

every applebees i have ever been into has been dirty. stick floors, tables,
chairs. this is in different ones not even in the same state. i refuse to
eat there:sick: but they do serve cold beer:LOL:
 
I haven't been to Applebee's in quite a while, but I don't think they (or Olive Garden) deserves quite the bashing they receive here. Maybe some don't do the food as well as they could, but there are lots of people going there who seem to be satisfied. Maybe they aren't chefs and don't know any better like some here. This hasn't been my favorite thread!
 
I have seen the Commercials for Applebees - and they seem to talk about serving dinners for people who are on Weigh****chers.

The commercials are running constantly and I am really tired of seeing them. The closest Applebees Restaurant to me is about 50 miles and I did eat there once and the food was delicious.
 
tyler florence does have a culinary background... he put in some time in NY kitchens going up the ranks and ultimately became head chef, he is also a graduate of johnson & wales where i attended and personally know professors who said he was an excellent student. where he lucked out is that while in New York, he became friends with none other than Bobby Flay and the rest is history... i never met him but several people i know have and they have all said he is the easy-going person that comes across on tv, a fun, laid-back youngster from South Carolina. it kinda sucks to see him go the applebees route but i guess every one has a price and i bet theyre paying him a nice chunk of change... hopefully, applebees is doing more than just running a marketing campaign and actually paying a little more attention to their kitchens and restaurants, and as evidenced by their reputation on this thread, for their sake!!!
 
We have a new Applebee's here in town, and we've had some pretty darned good meals there. Their ribs are quite tender and delicious, as are the Buttermilk Fried Shrimp, and the smashed potatoes are very good. We had some tasty chicken quesadillas, and they have some kind of molten chocolate dessert that is so good it will curl your hair. I haven't tried a Margarita yet, as we go there for lunch, and that's a little to early in the day for me to start cocktail hour.
One of our grandson's works there as a cook. He says everything comes to them pre-made, either frozen, or as a mix, and the instructions are specific for each item. The ribs, for instance, have already been smoked and frozen. He thaws a certain amount each day in a special drawer, then just throws them on the grill and sets the timer, to reheat and crisp them up as they are ordered.

One must remember...Applebee's is a chain. Comparing it to a fine restaurant is like comparing apples and oranges.


By the way, I love Tyler Florence, and can't wait to see what new things he comes up with for A'bee's menu.
 
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jennyema said:

FWIW, the word gnarly" means "cool" or "awesome" or "intense." It's not a negative term. It doesn't mean "disgusting" or "gross". It's a common misconception, since Jeff Spicoli said, "Gnarly, dude!" during Fast Times at Ridgemont High's cadaver scene, that he meant disgusting.

A "gnarly" wave, is a big, awesome, terrifying, but *cool* wave.

And that's my pedantic lesson on surfer lingo and jargon for the day. :LOL:
 
phinz said:
FWIW, the word gnarly" means "cool" or "awesome" or "intense." It's not a negative term. It doesn't mean "disgusting" or "gross". It's a common misconception, since Jeff Spicoli said, "Gnarly, dude!" during Fast Times at Ridgemont High's cadaver scene, that he meant disgusting.

A "gnarly" wave, is a big, awesome, terrifying, but *cool* wave.

And that's my pedantic lesson on surfer lingo and jargon for the day. :LOL:
Actually gnarly has a few meanings. One meaning is what you describe phinz, but another is what Jenny was using it for. Gnarly can mean bad or nasty.
 
phinz said:
FWIW, the word gnarly" means "cool" or "awesome" or "intense." It's not a negative term. It doesn't mean "disgusting" or "gross". It's a common misconception, since Jeff Spicoli said, "Gnarly, dude!" during Fast Times at Ridgemont High's cadaver scene, that he meant disgusting.

A "gnarly" wave, is a big, awesome, terrifying, but *cool* wave.

And that's my pedantic lesson on surfer lingo and jargon for the day. :LOL:

I agree with you about gnarly.

Apparently you are not aware of the word knarly (the 'k' is not silent). This word is of early Sanskrit and sino-Eskimo origin. It was lost for many years but recently unearthed cave paintings has resulted in its resurfacing.

According to the anthropologists' and forensic spelunkers', translations, the word has a base meaning of horse droppings. However, going beyond the literal translation to the idiomatic usages of the word we find that knarly has evolved to mean having a bad taste and/or smell. It has become even more specialized in that it is used in reference to foods to the exclusion of all other usages.
 
I think as far as the "junk-screwed-to-walls" restaurant chains are concerned, alot of the quality depends on the individual restauants. I used to be a huge huge fan of TGI Friday's, but after I started going to the newly built one here in my college town, I became more and more dissatisfied with each visit. Having once interviewed for a job there, I can definitely understand why folks wouldn' like these chains if the head chefs at each restaurant are given a certain amount of freedom to run their kitchen in the manner they see fit. The head chef at the Friday's near me didn't seem to care so much about their quality as much as saving the restaurant money, and was very mean to boot. Their line chefs aren't very good either; when I order fajitas there I can expect one thing, overdone and charred meats with only partially melted cheese and partially cooked vegetables. Now I like my fajitas both with crispy and done veggies, but their veggies fall somewhere in between, partially cooked and partially raw, and it's not a pleasant texture at all.
 
licia said:
...there are lots of people going there who seem to be satisfied. Maybe they aren't chefs and don't know any better like some here. This hasn't been my favorite thread!
My hat's off to licia. I'm envious of her ability to criticize so tactfully.

For my part, I suggest the administrators add a new smilie posters could use when referring to "chain" restaurants. I'm picturing an upturned nose captioned ******. (Edited myself to be more tactful.)
 
licia said:
I haven't been to Applebee's in quite a while, but I don't think they (or Olive Garden) deserves quite the bashing they receive here. Maybe some don't do the food as well as they could, but there are lots of people going there who seem to be satisfied. Maybe they aren't chefs and don't know any better like some here. This hasn't been my favorite thread!

licia:

Rating a restaurant is an individual exercise. Some will like a restaurant and others will dislike it. It will depend on individual performances on the part of the restaurant and the personal experiences and standards of quality of the individual customers. Both great and awful reviews are often deserved by the same restaurant. Neither is more or less valid than the other.
 
college cook, good analysis.

licia, sorry to be a bummer, but of course those were only my opinions. someone else may love the place. more power to them, i say!

connie, i think you are experiencing something i've found to be true around here. when a chain restaurant, or even a fast food joint opens a new location, the food seems to be superior to other, older chain locations for a while.

i'm not sure why. it might be as collegecook mentioned, that the staff and management cares about doing well so the new place is a success. then it seems to trail off after that. possibly with the changeover in staff?

i've seen this happen at a wendy's, a tgi friday's, and even a hooter's restaurant (btw, hooter's doesn't work this far north. the waitresses are nasty. southern girls are polite, demure, even fun as they despise you for oogling them. jersey chicks let you know how they feel. "what are you looking at creep. this is my uniform! now leave me a big tip and go away")
anyway, when they opened, the food was pretty good. but after a while, it was just as processed, over salted garbage as any other place.
 
Here's another thing I thought of- depending how much reign the head chefs are given they may even be in charge of ordering. I know they probably get a lot of their items pre-packaged frozen from some regional distribution center, but as for fresh produce, that really varies with region, so each restaurant may be responsible for choosing their own produce vendor, maybe their own meat bendor, and probably their own fish vendor. Things that can be frozen probably are, like wings, cheese sticks, burger patties, etc. Corporate HQ would do this to ensure as much as possible that the food is the same b/w the various restaurants.

Therr was a decent Applebee's back home, and at the same time there was a very seedy one. I've alreadyt mentioned rthat I loved the Friday's back home, but am very unimpressed by the one near me now. One restarurant that has been consistent as well as tasty is Chili's. It's not great food, but it's decent, and more decent than many other places as far as Tex-Mex goes. At least they don't try to disguise the fact that t hey are Tex-Mex and call themselves Authentic Mexican.

I have never been very fond of Hooters. I think the food there is actually pretty awful. I do think the food caters to its main patron though, beer-drinking man looking for some cheap food, a good buzz, and some eye-candy.
 
phinz said:
FWIW, the word gnarly" means "cool" or "awesome" or "intense." It's not a negative term. It doesn't mean "disgusting" or "gross". It's a common misconception, since Jeff Spicoli said, "Gnarly, dude!" during Fast Times at Ridgemont High's cadaver scene, that he meant disgusting.

A "gnarly" wave, is a big, awesome, terrifying, but *cool* wave.

And that's my pedantic lesson on surfer lingo and jargon for the day. :LOL:

To this middle aged woman, it still means "yuck.":-p

We go to Chevy's (Mexican) all the time in NYC and the food is consistantly good, as is the service. And I think they share a kitchen with the Applebee's around the corner.... I really wish there was one close to my house.
 
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