The Economist is excited about the fact that the restaurant business may take care of a serious ecosystem problem.

No, I don't subscribe to the Economist. (Of  course that's not my Entertainment Weekly over there.) But I have a daughter in business school who does.

According to the story, the red lionfish is an invasive predator that can gobble up 80 percent of small fish when introduced into an environment where it's not native. It's a "top predator" because it has poisonous spines, so even sharks leave it alone.

Well, it's not quite the top predator.  ...

But if I must limit myself to only one comment, it would have to be:

cheese is the beatles of food.

Posted by: ryan97ou | November 6, 2009 1:34 PM

How true. How simple and yet Zen-like in its wisdom.  ...

One interesting thing to come out of of my post on dining trends for 2010 a few days ago was that another restaurant consultant jumped into the fray.

My finger hovered over the delete button because it felt like spam to me, but I finally decided to let the comment stay because there is some truth in what he had to say.

Or is there? I still can't quite decide.  ...

"Can we talk about the awesomeness of cheese for a moment?" she asks.

Uh, no. On deadline here. 

This is going to be a great blog entry, she insists. Cheese is a no-brainer. It's the kind of topic you can throw out there when you're on vacation and say, "discuss."

"How about a Top 10 Baltimore cheese shops?" she asks.

"We don't have 10 cheese shops," I say.

I don't want to be dismissive, so I add, "We did do Top 10 Cheese Plates."

Dead silence on the other end of the line.

"You have been doing that blog a long time."

(Jed Kirschbaum/Sun photographer)

I'm worried about Robert of Cross Keys. I'm afraid that associating with all the degenerate characters on this blog, including its writer, may be getting to him. Here's Robert and today's excellent Free Market Friday. EL

Right now I’m sitting in Red Emma’s -- yes, Red Emma’s.   I’m trying to write my Free Market Fridays, or Fascist Fridays as my wife calls it, but it is hard to focus in here.  I feel like the Jewish mother in “Fiddler in the Roof” when she goes into the Orthodox church looking for her daughter.  As I sit here in my Brooks Brothers shirt and sushi tie, I truly know the feeling of being a stranger in a strange place. ...

In a vain effort to dodge the terrible city traffic last night, I took Park Avenue, which took me past one of my fallback burger joints – Five Guys.

Just then, my heart stopped. I wasn't dead, though -- I was just in shock.

The Five Guys at the corner of Centre Street and Park Avenue was gone. ...

Are you ready for some buzzwords? (Sorry, my family watches a lot of Monday Night Football.)

Here are, as promised, the 25 buzzwords from international restaurant consultants Joseph Baum & Michael Whiteman Co.

Now don't go telling me there are more or less than 25. I can't figure out why they labeled them that way myself. ...

I have to say, I would love to eat at a restaurant where the wait staff followed all his commands. I'm just not sure it's ever going to happen.

Some press releases I just shake my head at.

The title of the latest one in that category is "MARTHA STEWART AND RACHAEL RAY MAKE TELEVISION HISTORY BY APPEARING ON SAME SET FOR THE FIRST TIME."

The moon landing. That made television history. The last episode of "Seinfeld." Not Martha Stewart and Rachael Ray appearing on each other's shows.

Oh well, if you must know:

Martha Stewart will appear on the "Rachael Ray Show" on Nov. 12, where she will show Rachael how to create a "unique Thanksgiving centerpiece." The next day Rachael  will return the favor and appear on "The Martha Stewart Show," where Martha will "show the baking-challenged Rachael how to prepare a perfect Thanksgiving Day dessert."

It sounds like Martha is having to do all the work here. ...

But a couple of things came up just now that made me want to bring up gastropubs again.

First, scottbbfm and Lissa introduced the concept of fine-dining bars, or rather I introduced it, scottbbfm pointed it out and Lissa gave it a name I love. ...

Bucky sent me an e-mail earlier today that said in its entirety:

"Where does the Jazz apple rank on your list?"

I knew that this blog had introduced him to the Honeycrisp, which somehow has given me the aura of an apple expert, but I had never thought about having an apple list before. If I did it would look something like this:

1) Honeycrisp

2) Fuji

It's not that I have anything against any other varieties (except Red Delicious). It's just that I start eating those two and before I get bored with them suddenly apple season is over. ...