Is Cafe Rio being shady?

I love Cafe Rio just as much as the next guy. They are extremely efficient in everything they do. It seems that no other restaurant chain has figured out how to move people through the line anywhere close to as fast as Cafe Rio. In fact, Cafe Rio makes the Toyota Production System look like it is moving in slow-motion. I appreciate and admire efficiency, but I love tasty food.

Which brings me to my point: I could eat a Cafe Rio pork salad almost every day of the week...just not if I wanted to stay somewhat healthy. But don't tell anyone. Let's keep it our little secret.














You see, Cafe Rio doesn't think it is important enough to provide relavant information to customers. However, you can go to their website (http://www.caferio.com/) and read all about the company's history. Make sure to save enough time to browse through the fascinating corporate executives' bios. You can also click through the entire menu, look up the daily specials and have peace of mind knowing that everything they make is super fresh...just don't waste any of your time trying to find nutrional information.

You can get "nutritional" information at McDonald's, Burger King, Taco Bell, Del Taco and Subway (just to name a few), but not at Cafe Rio. I guess they figure you are on a "need-to-know" basis...

I'm sure it's just a simple oversight. Nothing more than an honest mistake. Maybe they just haven't had the time to get around to figuring it out. Lucky for them, there are people out there who like to do this sort of stuff (probably in between games of Dungeons and Dragons). I found one guy's attempt (http://theboard.byu.edu/?area=viewall&id=36426) that seemed pretty reasonable to me.

Which makes me that much more suspicious about Cafe Rio not providing the real information in the first place. Are they afraid of what their restaurants would look like if people knew the salad they were about to order had 1,300+ calories?












Just to put that in perspective, NOTHING on Burger King's menu is over 1,300 calories. The Triple Whopper weighs in at 1,090; add cheese and you are still "only" at 1,250.

Wouldn't it be cool if somebody did a ground-breaking documentary about eating three meals a day at Cafe Rio for a month. Does anybody know how to say "Super-Size Me" in Spanish? Is that what it is going to take for people to realize what they are really getting at Utah's favorite fresh mexican restaurant? Maybe then, and only then, will people find a new place to flock to like moths to a porch light. I hope that day comes soon. I'd really love to be able to sit and eat my pork salad in peace and quiet for a change.

Cheese Addiction

I went to New York City last year on business. Well, sort of. I should say I went to New York to visit a store, but work just happened to pay for the trip because there was a conference being held that I needed to attend. I didn't want to visit just any store, I was on a mission to find a cheese shop: Murray's.

Murray's is a pretty well-known place for people who are into cheese. If I won the lottery, I would want to open up a cheese shop like Murray's and spend the rest of my days mastering the techinques of making world-class cheese. At least that's how the dream plays out in my head. In reality, I'd probably tire of making cheese after a while and end up just playing golf every day, but that's missing the point.

You see, I have a problem. I am addicted to cheese. Addiction sometimes makes people do strange things. Let me explain. I had never been to NYC before. I was only in town for two days, one of which was completely booked with conference activities. My flight back home left in the evening of the second day, so I didn't have time to see much. Fortunately, I had a plan.

Step 1: Wake up early and find something quick to eat for breakfast.

Step 2: Figure out NYC's public transportation system.

Step 3: Navigate my way through the never-ending maze of subways, people, cars and buildings until I arrived at Murray's.














Step 4: Take a deep breath upon entering the store. Linger for an hour or so and sample as much imported cheese as possible. Buy some stinky cheese to take back home.















Step 5: Race around Manhattan like a mad man for the remaining few hours to see (in the following order) Lombardi's Pizzeria, Canal Street, Ground Zero, the Statue of Liberty and Grand Central Station.

Step 6: Try not to lose the cheese.

The rest of the day was pretty much a blur. I arrived at JFK just in time to catch my flight home. I was exhausted, hungry and ready to go to sleep. I closed my eyes and laid my head back on the seat. And then the smell hit me. The cheese was wrapped in two layers of butcher's paper, three layers of plastic bags, stuffed into my carry-on suitcase and locked in the over-head compartment. But apparently that wasn't enough. I took a deep breath and smiled.

I may have missed out on what much of what NYC has to offer, but at least I had found what I was looking for.

August 2008 ROM - TK's Burger Mix

TK’s Burger Mix

Summer just isn’t complete without a few really good BBQs, and a really good BBQ isn’t too hard to pull off if you have a super tasty burger mix. You don’t have a good burger mix, you say? Well then, you have come to the right place. Let’s begin:

Yield:
Approx. 6 large patties

Ingredients:
2 lbs. fresh ground hamburger meat
1 egg, beaten
1/2 medium, yellow onion, pureed in food processor until smooth
3 green onions, finely sliced
2 Tbsp. steak sauce
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 slice of toast, ground into course breadcrumbs in food processor
1 package of Liption onion soup mix (optional)
Course kosher salt and fresh-ground black pepper

Directions:
Step 1: Combine eggs, onions (yellow and green), steak sauce and Worcestershire sauce (and soup mix, if used) in a large mixing bowl. Stir in breadcrumbs and let sit for a few minutes.

Step 2: Add hamburger to mixing bowl and mix until everything has been incorporated. Store mixture in refrigerator until 30 minutes prior to cooking.

Step 3: Evenly divide mixture and form thick, hand-made patties. Heavily season outside of each patty with coarse kosher salt and fresh-ground black pepper.

Note: Don’t be shy with the seasoning because there is purposely no salt or pepper on the inside of the meat. Coarse kosher salt is less salty than table salt and the seasoning will form a nice crust on the patties as they grill, which adds awesome flavor and texture.

Step 4: Preheat grill on high for 20 minutes before cooking. Cook over medium-high or high heat until a nice crust is formed (3-5 minutes per side) and there is just a little pink left in the center. Remove patties from the grill, cover with aluminum foil, and let them rest for 5 minutes before serving.

TK’s tip: Put the patties on the grill and don’t touch or move them until they are cooked on the first side. Flip them over once and don’t move them again until they are ready to take off the grill. NEVER squeeze them with the spatula and resist the urge to keep flipping them over. The less you bother them the juicier they will be.