Ulman Jokes With A Hollywood Star; I Steal His Catchphrase: "We Have A Shoe You Can Play In"

I was in Miami when the Julia Louis-Dreyfus controversy swept through town, but I'm going to keep it alive one more day to steal a catchphrase.

If you missed it, a really well-known New York writer came to Columbia to interview the actress for a Web site.  The writer slashed Columbia, where Louis-Dreyfus films "Veep," as "one of the dreariest American landscapes imaginable" and quoted Louis-Dreyfus as saying that something was like "a prison."

The ant hill boiled over.

A bunch of local writers posted about the comment.  Folks responded on Twitter.  Ken Ulman and his crew created a charmingly amateur video where he declares his love for Louis-Dreyfus and assembles a team to list reasons to love Columbia.  Louis-Dreyfus apologized on Twitter and said the warehouse stage was a prison, not the county.

I could have just let the moment pass, but I love Team Ulman's Number 3 Reason to love the county (at about the 1:20 mark): "We have Enchanted Forest.  It has a petting zoo.  It has a shoe you can play in."

I need to know the name of the Ulman aide who gave this quote.  For the record, I came to Howard County for a woman.  While I was here, I found a lot of food to enjoy, and I have been arguing for years with young-uns from Baltimore and Washington who write restaurant reviews on the theme: "You'll be shocked to hear that anything but chain restaurants exists outside the city limits."  But I never had a true HowChow slogan until now:

"Howard County: We Have A Shoe You Can Play In."

Just to be precise, I think the shoe is in Ellicott City.  The shoe is at Clark's Eliok Farm, right?  Seriously, I love that Ulman responded with something that joshed and tried to make a few points for the hometown.  I don't figure anyone with Seinfeld money is reading HowChow, but this is a few places that the Veep production company could call to cater a lunch if Louis-Dreyfus wants to get a taste of the real Howard County:

• Mango Grove for a mix of veg and non-veg Indian
• R&R Taqueria for Mexican -- maybe an authentic taco bar?
• Maiwand Kabob for Afghan kabobs and vegetables

Julia can check out all the great restaurants at the HowChow's Best of 2013 post.

Check out Jonathan O'Connell's Washington Post blog post for the video and the best summation of that I saw.  The Twitter hashtag #AwesomeColumbia seems to have lost its focus -- Fretboard Coffee is in Missouri -- but it's fun to scan.