THE GREASY FOODIE: The Stinking Rose

The Greasy Foodie

The story begins blustry day Friday after Thanksgiving in 2008 in a cramped booth at a fake NYC deli in Nashville called Noshville. In between my wife, Rachel, and my brother, Michael, I sat across from my "cooler than me" cousins Mark and Sarah, and Sarah's just as cool husband, Danny. Mark, who lives the awesome life being a lawyer living in San Francisco working for Facebook, with his only downfall being his SEVERE lactardation..which has never been medically or scientifically proven to exist in Mark.. Sarah and Danny are foodies from NYC who have tried every dive "chicken finger" hut and "curry on a stick" in the big city. Danny and Sarah had discussed that they were trying to go to as many places from Bobby Flay's 'Throwdown' show as they could, and that there was one in Nashville we had to try.....a place that I had never heard of in my 13 years of living there..I will get to that adventure later.

I got an idea from my cool cousins idea. An idea became a hobby. And the hobby became an obsession. And thus produced the list.....a world-famous spreadsheet...of every restaurant that has ever been featured on Food Network and Travel Channel....every restaurant from the famous shows like "Throwdown", "Man V. Food", "Man v. Food Nation", "Food Feuds", "Food Wars", "Best Thing I Ever Ate", "Food Paradise" and "Diners Drive-Ins and Dives" to the obscure "Best Food Ever", "Meat and Potatoes", and "101 Best Places to Chowdown", plus my additions of the restaurants of famous chefs, favorite catergories (burgers, wings, pizza, bbq, and sandwiches) and local places of legend. Names, cities, food they are famous for, and addresses. It was and still is an obsession. As of 11:31am on November 27, 2018, THE LIST HAS 4,660 RESTAURANTS ON IT...WITH A FEW OVERLAPS HERE AND THERE. And then over Pastrami Eggs Benedict at Nate N' Al's Deli in Beverly Hills, Hannah and Andrew, our good friends, gave me the idea of the blog. Document every place I went. And thus, "The Greasy Foodie" was born. I will log the places, the shows they are from, and what I had. So far, every place I have been has been amazing, except two, one being mediocre, and another being down right awful.

If there is a city you have been to, or are going to, or are from and want to know what from my list is in the city, send me a email at agmarks@gmail.com

Friday, October 3, 2014

The Stinking Rose

From Garlic Paradise

55 N La Cienega Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90211

http://thestinkingrose.com/index.html

What they say: ""A Garlic Restaurant": World-Famous "40 Clove Garlic Chicken" (half-cut chicken marinated in chopped garlic, rosemary, olive oil in a sauce made with red wine, shallots, garlic, rosemary, thyme and butter served with caramelized garlic cloves and garlic mashed potatoes); Bagna Calda (Northern Italian-style garlic bread – toasted focaccia topped with oven-roasted garlic cloves, butter anchovies and olive oil mixture)"

This was the first restaurant that I "had to go to" in LA. Greg Zaganoev, a LA native, told me this was the one spot I had to try. "It's all garlic". That's all I needed to hear, and he was right. everything in this place has garlic in it. It's a garlic restaurant to the extreme. Their signature dish is a chicken made with 40 cloves of garlic and garlic flavored ice cream. The food was delicious and wonderful, and the use of garlic was masterful and perfect. Nothing pungent, just perfect.

UNTIL THE NEXT MORNING

The sickest I have ever been in my life was when I had swine flu. I lost 23 pounds and I had a 104 temperature and developed pneumonia. The next sickest was the day after Stinking Rose. I didn't eat that day. I smelled of garlic….like stunk of garlic…and I felt disgusting all day. Too much oil.

BE WARNED…IT'S GOOD…BUT THE AFTERMATH IS CATASTROPHIC..Bob Sagat said the only time he would go back to Stinking Rose is when the vampires attack because the "garlic fire diarrhea that results from eating at this restaurant would make vampires extinct"

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

THE GREASY FOODIE