I wrote my "place" piece on Outback Steakhouse. I had several setbacks and the end product, much like Outback Kookaburra Wings, was disappointingly bland. I think if I had read this brilliant restaurant review in Vanity Fair first, I might have been more inspired. The review gives great descriptions of the place, the food and the people. One of my favorite paragraphs starts:
Twenty minutes later, possibly under their own steam, the snails arrive. Vesuvian, they bubble and smoke in a magma of astringent garlic butter and parsley. We grasp them with the spring-loaded specula and gingerly unwind the dark gastropods, curling like dinosaur boogers.
I have found a new favorite writer and am committed to pushing my own writing a little harder.
I don't know Amanda - I think this line may top it for me:
ReplyDelete"The cramped tables are set with labially pink cloths, which give it a colonic appeal and the awkward sense that you might be a suppository."
Thanks for sharing this piece!