Wacky news that makes you go "wtf?"

[The Carnivore]

Originally Posted by Dr Sardonicus

And you know he wasn't pulling your leg because...

... and you don't remember the exact name. Also, no mention of when this outfit is supposed to have been operating. Okaaaaay...
Amusing story. I don't necessarily take it seriously, but just for fun:

Assuming this place was (supposed to have been) in the USA, I note that

(1) WRT whale meat, "when" is important. Starting around 1986, it became illegal to sell whale meat in the USA.

(2) "Wild" game sold in US restaurants has to be raised commercially -- like livestock or poultry -- and inspected, in order to be legal.

If the operators were violating these rules and got caught, that would probably have gotten their license revoked. Selling whale meat after around 1986 could have gotten them prison time.

If you have a time frame, you might be able to find records of licenses to operate a business at that address at that time.

There are other possible lines of inquiry, of course.

I'm completely certain that the last two words of the restaurant were "Top Foods", and that the initials of that place were "WTF". It's the first word that I'm not quite sure of, but I still think it's either "Wilson's" or "Willy's". The restaurant was located in the USA.

The person I met told me that story around 2011 and appeared to be in his late 30s or early 40s at that time. So that restaurant had to have been in existence after 1970, and probably after 1986 unless he went there before he was old enough to drive.

Of course, it's completely possible that the place was nothing more than a figment of his imagination. But it was definitely one of the wackiest stories I heard that year.

[kriesel]

A web search for "WTF restaurant" reveals many, and names include
Where The Food At? http://www.wtfstarkville.com/
What Tasty Food https://wtf.oddle.me/en_MY/
Waterfront Hotel http://www.waterfronthotel.us/
Where's the Food Burger Bar https://wtfbb.com/#about-us
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot https://www.zomato.com/auckland/wtf-...ot-bar-manukau
...

[MooMoo2]

Originally Posted by Dr Sardonicus

Assuming this place was (supposed to have been) in the USA, I note that

(1) WRT whale meat, "when" is important. Starting around 1986, it became illegal to sell whale meat in the USA.
...
Selling whale meat after around 1986 could have gotten them prison time.

I've had whale meat in Iceland. It had the texture of beef, the color of beet, and the taste of tuna.

Originally Posted by Batalov

Curiosity ... kills the cats. Humans are fine.
When in Australia, we ate a meal of roos and gators (with my friend we ordered one of each and shared. Both tasted like chicken!)

I've had kangaroo but not gator. It didn't taste like chicken at all. It was quite tough to chew and was more similar to very lean beef than it was to chicken. Maybe I should have gotten it medium instead of well done?

But it was in Switzerland that we saw an elephant steak on the menu, and couldn't resist the curiosity. (Notably we spent more in the restaurants then on slopes. It was actually very weird. The year was 2001, it was remarkably cheap (for Zermatt), there were very few people on slopes - we went for the week just after New Year, and ...there is nothing to do after 4PM, except sauna and dinner.) The sound that we heard shortly after the order was that of a microwave. Of course, we tried to console ourselves that it was only to thaw the frozen meat. They don't give you a choice of which of the two elephants that they have to kill for your dinner, as they would for a fresh fish/lobster or something. They probably get a shipment once a year and keep it in the freezer. We don't think they cheated on the actual meat origin. That would be illegal. I thnk.

How did it taste?

[The Carnivore]

Originally Posted by Dr Sardonicus

Selling whale meat after around 1986 could have gotten them prison time.

Sometimes, you get off relatively easy:
https://la.eater.com/2015/4/8/836869...gal-endangered

Originally Posted by retina

Why pay more for things that taste like chicken when you can just eat chicken for much less?

Part of it is the curiosity, thrill, and allure of eating "forbidden fruit". If eating whale meat is illegal and taboo where you live, isn't there a part of you that wants to see for yourself how it tastes like? And wouldn't you feel an adrenaline rush and heightened sensations when you're actually eating it for the first time? Heck, it's like a safe way of doing drugs!

Besides, even though some exotic foods may resemble other more familiar foods, their taste is often richer, more intense, and more delicious. From: https://thoughtcatalog.com/mark-wien...at-taste-like/

If Kobe beef is the superlative beef of the world, dog is the crème de la crème of all meat!

After eating dog meat, beef tastes flavorless.

Another attraction of eating certain exotic meats is the feeling of conquest you get from being at the very top of the food chain.

Now, you may be a professional athlete who earns millions a year, while I'm just a middle-class guy who's too weak to do five pull ups. But you know what unites us both? Our status as the world's superpredators! The lion may be the king of the jungle, the shark may be the king of the ocean, and the polar bear may be the king of the Arctic. Humans, however, are the kings and emperors of the entire planet, as we can eat adult lions, sharks, bears, and any other prey those animals can catch. No matter what your status in life is, all humans are alpha males and females at the dinner table, and that is something we should embrace and be proud of.

[Nick]

Originally Posted by The Carnivore

all humans are alpha males and females at the dinner table, and that is something we should embrace and be proud of.

Wasn't that the behaviour that brought humans first HIV and now Covid-19?

[Dr Sardonicus]

Originally Posted by Nick

Wasn't that the behaviour that brought humans first HIV and now Covid-19?

We should also embrace and be proud of the slaughter of large animals in order to mine their corpses for body parts used as "aphrodisiacs."

On the one hand, we can look forward to the prospect of an "extinction dinner" in which the participants consume the remains of the last member of a species to have lived in the wild, or perhaps to have lived at all. On the other, we can eagerly anticipate interviews with the last person to use this or that "aphrodisiac" body part, the animal that supplied it having been annihilated.

Or, on the gripping hand, one or the other practice unleashing a plague that exterminates us.

[kriesel]

Originally Posted by Dr Sardonicus

We should also embrace and be proud of the slaughter of large animals in order to mine their corpses for body parts used as "aphrodisiacs."

On the one hand, we can look forward to the prospect of an "extinction dinner" in which the participants consume the remains of the last member of a species to have lived in the wild, or perhaps to have lived at all. On the other, we can eagerly anticipate interviews with the last person to use this or that "aphrodisiac" body part, the animal that supplied it having been annihilated.

Or, on the gripping hand, one or the other practice unleashing a plague that exterminates us.

Combining your concepts, you'd find Soylent Green exciting in multiple ways.

[kriesel]

Originally Posted by Nick

Wasn't that the behaviour that brought humans first HIV and now Covid-19?

We are the ultimate of invasive species, which has its pros and cons.

[retina]

I've never understood the concept of "I ate $WEIRD_THING and now I feel superior". Or the concept of "Let's have a big elaborate ceremony each time we eat" either.

Food is just fuel. It gets broken down, the useful parts are extracted, and the rest is ed out.

[The Carnivore]

Originally Posted by Dr Sardonicus

On the one hand, we can look forward to the prospect of an "extinction dinner" in which the participants consume the remains of the last member of a species to have lived in the wild, or perhaps to have lived at all. On the other, we can eagerly anticipate interviews with the last person to use this or that "aphrodisiac" body part, the animal that supplied it having been annihilated

Eating or using species to extinction is idiotic because it deprives yourself and others of the taste of, the use of, and the domination of that animal. Deer hunters don't want to annihilate all deer and other large game, if that were to happen, what else would there be left to hunt? And neither you nor anyone else would get to enjoy the taste of deer meat ever again.

It would be like conquering a mountain by nuking it instead of climbing on top of it. Legal considerations aside, it would also be like killing or permanently disabling your opponent instead of beating him/her fairly on the playing field.

Most "exotic" animals, including lions and some whale species, aren't endangered. That's why the former is legal to eat in the US:
https://www.theguardian.com/environm...e-lion-burgers

Originally Posted by Nick

Wasn't that the behaviour that brought humans first HIV and now Covid-19?

Exotic meats shouldn't be singled out. More conventional meats like pork, chicken, and beef were the origin of swine flu, bird flu, and mad cow disease. Should we stop eating those as well?

[Xyzzy]

Originally Posted by The Carnivore

Should we stop eating those as well?

Probably.