I have to learn not to be so damn gullible. Especially on April Fool's. Last week I sent this very excited e-mail to a group of fellow foodies:
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Hi foodie friends!
This is the most exciting news I've gotten all day (yes, it's early, but still). I've been following this incredible blog for a while, Alinea At Home, in which this woman cooks her way through Grant Achatz's Alinea Cookbook (which, incidentally, Tony C. Yang got me for my birthday last year). This woman has ALREADY cooked her way through Thomas Keller's French Laundry cookbook, and just looking at all the steps it takes to produce 8 bites of flavor experience makes me want to faint.
Anyway, she has decided to take her cooking on a cross-country road trip, and she'll be serving food out of her truck! She comes to SF (at 18th and Dolores) on May 14-15. Some of the things on her menu:
- Hot dog air
- Banh mi explosion
- Sweetbread and lobster popsicle
- Falafel liquid shot
- Pho on a pin
I am definitely going, and if you're interested we can all mob her truck together! Then, we can go to Bi-Rite or Delfina or Tartine for some more filling food. How 'bout it???
Steph
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You can imagine some of the excited responses I got from this e-mail. People promising, "I'm in!" and "Sounds awesome!" and whatnot. But then, I started reading some of the comments on the woman's blog post, and that creeping feeling of dread came over me. And before long it became clear that there was to be no cross-country road trip after all. And so I was compelled to send this very shameful follow-up e-mail:
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I am so sad and embarrassed to say this.
But I think I (and all ya'll) have been duped. After reading comments on the blog post, I'm realizing the whole thing was most likely a very well conceived, very cruel April Fool's joke. Apparently I don't follow the blog closely enough to realize she's done the same thing for a few years running.
Which means Carol (that mean person behind Alinea at Home) will probably not be taking a cross-country road trip after all. And there is probably no such thing as "hot dog air," though I didn't doubt for a second that there could be such a thing as a "rich, flavorful hot dog stock." Sorry to get your hopes up! Believe me, I am beYOND crushed. Le sigh.
Oh well, I still plan on making Grant Achatz's black truffle explosion sometime this year, but first I have to get used to using my new pasta roller/cutter (which means practising a lot with ravioli, if you want to join for that). Or if you feel like drowning your sorrows in a pint of Bi-Rite and a ham and cheese Tartine croissant, then call me up.
Bummed,
Steph
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I'm glad my friends were understanding, but the whole thing still sucked and I'm quite salty about it still. I just might refuse to go if the Alinea woman DOES decide to do a real cross-country tour, I'm so mad. Might. But probably not.
Some of the funny and touching responses I got (interestingly, my friends use a lot of emoticons when they are being nice and understanding):
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HAHAHAHAH! omg. happy april fools to all! Dont' worry Steph, I was equally as excited and equally as fooled...although I did find her truck to be a bit suspicious....darn her clever ways!
Taco shots? Ugh. Didn't even want to try those ANYWAY....maybe. Cheers and thanks for the invite in any case!
Jane
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Poor Steph! That was a very elaborate April Fool's joke. I didn't get it, either, and I've been thinking about hot dog air, wondering what keeps the vapor from going back to liquid, and how, when you bite into the balloon, you keep from burning yourself on the hot vapor. I was thinking of coming up, just to find out.
The sweetbread and lobster popsicle seemed pretty disgusting--even to me, who eats pretty much anything. :)
Miss you!
Grace
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HA! I was sort of sad that I didn't get pranked all day.
I was pretty excited about the Pho Pin. I'm going to have to sit down and think about what that means for my life. Thanks for the giggle, Stephanie. :)
Micah
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so sad, i wanted to go to this with you... but like many people, it was the only april fool's joke i got, so that's one good thing about the prank :)
Jennie
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OMG, this gourmet truck food sounded like a dream coming true for a quick second ;-)
Let me know when you decide to make fresh pasta again--I can bring some recipe ideas from Batalli's (or Tyler's) book.
Thais