Creative Loafing Food Critic Cliff Bostock Baits Riccardo Ullio

Cliff Bostock continues to bait chef Riccardo Ullio, owner of Fritti, Sotto Sotto, and the newly opened Escorpion on Omnivore. Since posting about Ullio's hatched blog "Una cosa alla volta" and starting a lively debate between the chef and AJC critic John Kessler, Bostock lured Ullio in again by pasting an excerpt of a reader criticism in his latest post. Ullio, of course, could not help commenting...twice.

Cliff, you are very good at creating some drama!

Speaking of drama, I think we need a reality tv show; " chefs vs foodies and critics ", where we get to give you a taste of what it is like to be on the other side. : )

Christiane and I have been happily debating for the twelve years we have known each other. There is nothing better than a lively, humorous discussion, that ends in mutual, respectful disagreement. Our pizza debate has been going on for 10 years now...it feels just like yesterday

Oh yeah, an interesting email about Escorpion also. I believe I know who the couple that sent you the email is, I talked to them on the first night they came in. We chatted about Lupe, and they told me how much they loved it and missed it... "I was sad about having to close it down, especially after we finally started making a profit, but we could not keep the bank from foreclosing." When asked about the food, the lady mentioned that the relleno had too much cheese in it, but "I don't like a lot of cheese, and the amount is likely to be good for most people." I brought them out a complimentary tres leches cake and thanked them for their continued patronage. We parted with smiles and exchanged best wishes.

Onto the margaritas. The Escorpion recipe is identical to the Lupe one (tequila, orange liquor, fresh lime juice and simple syrup) except for one difference: we use a much better tequila at Escorpion than we did at Lupe...

So what is it that could make them unhappy enough to email you? Hard to say, but I know one thing for sure: they loved Lupe and miss her, and loved ones are difficult to replace.

· Lauterbach not trembling [Omnivore]
· Ullio starts blog, critics tremble [Omnivore]
· a day in the life of a restaurateur?. [Una cosa alla volta]
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