Here's a Hot Tip
Tuesday, November 28, 2006 | posted by Mike
Actually, here’s about 20 of them.If you’ve been watching The Hungry Detective (and you should be), you’ve seen that host Chris Cognac has his set of rules or guidelines that he uses to track down the best in off-the-beaten-track dining. It’s a blend of the wisdom learned while walking the beat, experience using research and the internet and common sense things like looking for long lines or ethnic neighborhoods. Typically, we get these hints in little “asides” that Cognac does which illustrate how he picked the restaurant he’s visiting.
Well, the folks at the Food Network web site were good enough to pull out all of the lessons and present them in a list. My favorite?
Strip malls: Head to strip malls to find creative cuisine at a bargain price. Many family-owned restaurants choose strip malls as their first location. The affordable rent allows them to spend more on the quality of their food rather than the overhead.Hey, one of Extremely-Soon-to-Be-Mrs. TVFF.com’s and my favorite restaurants is sandwiched between a dollar store and a Borders Bookstore, so I’m definitely a proponent of strip mall dining.
Of course, these hints are good for you to use in any city if you want to do some detective work on your own. If you want the specific info on any of the shops or restaurants Chris Cognac visited on one of the episodes, check out The Hungry Detective main page and click on the city for a listing of web sites, addresses and phone number.
Labels: Chris Cognac
