"Tom Fitzmorris=Dining Methuselah"--Article on Tom and Vietnamese Cooking

[globe9]

Just caught Lorin Gaudin's blog on Tom Fitzmorris and his stance on Vietnamese food. While I don't particularly care for Vietnamese food myself, I do agree with Lorin. Tom's palate is old fashioned and like one poster wrote, what Tom says of Vietnamese can be said for gumbo or several other New Orleans dishes.

Glad to see someone has balls around here, but Tom did comment on his msg board that while Lorin seems to tear him apart in her blogs, she acts like he's her best friend whenever they encounter each other in public.

http://www.loringaudin.com/index.php?op ... id=1:blogs

[Lizzie]

Do any Vietnamese restaurants advertise with him? If not now I understand.

[Pete]

Her article looks like a cry for help to me. She spends more time bashing the Dean's food preferences than rebutting his claim.

[flyinbayou]

After reading this it made me hungry for some Vietnamese food so I headed to Dua (downtown Atlanta near GSU) and had Bun Thit Nuong Chagio at Dua .
Wonderfully flavored pork and a spring roll over vermicelli with fresh veggies/herbs. A deceptively light dish that's perfect for summer time.

For dessert, I was treated to many glares and head shakes as I walked around downtown Atlanta with my Saints shirt on! Oh, and one "Who Dat!"!
How sweet it was!

BTW, I wonder if the Vietnamese community bristle at the thought of their baguette sandwiches (bahn mi) being called "poor boys" as Fatz did in his write up?

[Jeeves]

.....BTW, I wonder if the Vietnamese community bristle at the thought of their baguette sandwiches (bahn mi) being called "poor boys" as Fatz did in his write up?

Of course they bristle! We all know that bahn mi translates to PO-boy!

[ratcheese]

I wonder why the mention of Brett Anderson's name doesn't raise the same emotional reaction in people as the mention of Tom Fitzmorris?

[Suzy Wong]

I wonder why the mention of Brett Anderson's name doesn't raise the same emotional reaction in people as the mention of Tom Fitzmorris?

IMO, Brett Anderson is a Minnesota transplant who mainly gives sporadic reviews in the Times Picayune. Tom Fitzmorris is a local personality who has been writing, doing radio etc for 30? years who has a lot of good information but tends to intentionally or otherwise create situations of dining drama or controversy. Makes for lively conversation....

[ratcheese]

IMO, Brett Anderson is a Minnesota transplant who mainly gives sporadic reviews in the Times Picayune. Tom Fitzmorris is a local personality who has been writing, doing radio etc for 30? years who has a lot of good information but tends to intentionally or otherwise create situations of dining drama or controversy. Makes for lively conversation....

Exactomundo!

Brett Anderson is a trained journalist, Tom Fitzmorris is a personality.

Unfortunately, I have no personal impression of Brett Anderson. After years of reading his articles in the TP, I still have no sense of curiosity about Brett Anderson due to the factual, emotionless tone of his writing, which is void of personality.

The love of food and dining adventures is based on some of the same emotional triggers as gambling. Food = emotion for Foodies.

[Blue Cross Sux]

I read a post on Tom's site that she started getting flak on her blog for her article's inflammatory tone. Lorin being Lorin, she then locked down the comments section once the tide started turning against her. This appears to be the case, although you can still read some snippets of the comments.

"Thin skinned" is one of her least obnoxious negative qualities.

[ratcheese]

[quote="Blue Cross Sux"]I read a post on Tom's site that she started getting flak on her blog for her article's inflammatory tone. Lorin being Lorin, she then locked down the comments section once the tide started turning against her. This appears to be the case, although you can still read some snippets of the comments.

"Thin skinned" is one of her least obnoxious negative qualities.[/QUOTE

I am grateful that Lorin's comments made the "news". Because of this thread, I found her blog, which I love--not for the content, but for the design--great layout.

The level of pomposity on Tom's site is a bit much for my taste, so I don't visit, but I honestly find him entertaining. I disagree with much of what he has to say, but that is to be expected. He wouldn't be any fun if he said all the right things. It is often the instances of his being waaay off base that make him fun. (Awarding Juan's Flying Burrito and a couple of other Bad-Mex Joints 3 stars comes to mind.)

I believe the level of vitriol Tom incites is a credit to his stature. You don't hear that same ire directed at Brett Anderson, which is an acknowledgement of his inability to establish himself as a personality.

But to hear "professionals" sniping at one another is not good entertainment imo...or, is it?