On the Blogs

Delivery Man Publicly Shames Bad Tippers On Blog

by Slashfood Editor, Posted May 2nd 2011 @ 3:30PM

delivery guy in NYC Photo: Ed Yourdon, Flickr

Perhaps to prove that what's goes around really does come around, a Williamsburg, Brooklyn delivery man has taken to the blogosphere to broadcast all the bad tippers he comes in contact with. His blog, 15%, chronicles the tight purse strings tendencies of certain customers, in an effort to publicly shame their stinginess. Customer addresses have now been removed, due to Tumblr's request, reports Gawker.com.

The mastermind behind the blog is Larry Fox, a 20-year-old designer and developer. He told Gothamist that the reason for starting his blog was that he "just got tired of all these big companies, these TV shows and movie sets giving us two or three dollar tips on a $90 order." Fox is not only broadcasting bad tippers, but also answering readers' questions. Some highlights (also submitted by other delivery men):

"Went out into a Level Two Snow Emergency (We are not even supposed to be delivering, but dedication wins out over common sense) And got a whopping 0.50 tip from the guy."
"Lorimer St. tipped me one dollar to bring him a sandwich during a hail/rain/thunder storm....I hate you."
"Manhattan Ave. greenpoint took you 8 minutes exactly to come downstairs after two phonecalls (14 stairs in a standard american stairwell) because you don't have a functional buzzer like everyone else in brooklyn."
"corner of meserole ave. end of delivery zone - about 23 blocks from my restaurant for 4 slices of pie during prime dinnertime. two bucks for well over a mile. thanks for the two bucks to bust my ass because you didn't specify your cross-street as meserole ave from street bro. not on deck. i dropped your food a few times. whoops."

Filed under: On the Blogs, Food News

The 7 Biggest Celebrity Fad Diets

COMMENTS 0

by Slashfood Editor, Posted Apr 27th 2011 @ 12:00PM

baby food Photo: justmakeit, Flickr

We all know the "secret" to losing weight: Eat less and exercise more. But where's the fun in that? Celebs have been trying out zany alternatives to the sensible path to fitness for years, and The Daily Meal has a list of seven of the weirdest ways high-profile stars have tried to drop pounds. The Babyfood Diet is just sort of silly (though eating green-hued unseasoned purées would make anyone lose their appetite) but it was good enough for Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon. Brooke Shields preferred the Cabbage Soup Diet, while Kim Kardashian opted for the sounds-better-than-it-tastes Cookie Diet.

Want to see if you've tried the same fad diet as a celeb? Check out the full list at The Daily Meal.

Filed under: On the Blogs, Celebrities

Cheeseburger Explosion: How to Make a Fried Egg-Stuffed Burger

COMMENTS 2

by Slashfood Editor, Posted Apr 22nd 2011 @ 4:00PM

Photo: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, SeriousEats

You've heard of egg-in-a-hole, also known as egg-in-a-basket (eggs fried in the center of grilled bread). Now there's the Eggsplosion, in both Grilled Cheese and Cheeseburger versions, courtesy of Serious Eats. It's a runny, meaty, eggy, cheesey protein mash-up that's exactly what we want for lunch.

Get the Cheeseburger Eggsplosion how-to and recipe at Serious Eats.

Filed under: On the Blogs

Gastrocrats: Are the Food Elite Spoiling it For the Rest of Us?

COMMENTS 2

by Slashfood Editor, Posted Apr 21st 2011 @ 5:00PM

Photo: alBerto Trevino, Flickr

There's a new breed of food snob that revels in one-upmanship, on getting a reservation at the newest "temple of gastronomy" and then blathering on about it on Twitter; of ordering the most expensive wine on the list, not because it's exquisite but so it can be bragged about. This money-flashing, fast-talking breed is the gastrocrat, says Josh Ozersky, in his recent column for Time, and he's damn sick of it.

Ozersky, former Slashfood writer, and author of The Hamburger, A History, was prompted by a Craigslist offering of a reservation at the new Grant Achatz place, Next, for $3,000. Says Ozersky, "It's clear to me now. It's gotten out of hand."

Read more about Ozersky's blame game against the gastrocrats at Time.com.

Filed under: On the Blogs

Curtis Stone Addresses His Haters, Plans to Open LA Restaurant

COMMENTS 11

by Slashfood Editor, Posted Apr 21st 2011 @ 12:00PM

Curtis Stone Photo: Casey Rodgers / AP Images for Bravo

YumSugar interviews omnipresent celebrity chef, "Top Chef Masters" host and "America's Next Best Restaurant" judge Curtis Stone and finds him "surprisingly grounded and impressively well-spoken." Stone has recently caught some flack for being more of a pretty face (those eyes!) than, well, a chef. Eater recently asked the question on everyone's mind, "Who the Hell is Curtis Stone Anyway?").

In the YumSugar interview, Stone admits that his detractors almost have a point. "If you're going to say you're a chef, you need to cook somewhere, which is why I'm opening a restaurant. I miss cooking in a restaurant, and that camaraderie, and that art of perfection that I was talking about."

Stone hopes his Los Angeles restaurant will be "a nice little place, where you can still cook for people the way you want to...I want it to be relaxed and special; I think 40 or 50 seats would see me out." Don't worry ladies, the man still has a few tricks up his sleeve (note: he is involved with the actress Lindsay Price). When asked what he wants to be remembered for, the cheeky Stone answered, "A few things spring to mind that I shouldn't say out loud."

Filed under: On the Blogs, Celebrities

Secret Vices of Food World Celebs

COMMENTS 0

by Slashfood Editor, Posted Apr 18th 2011 @ 1:00PM

Photos: Rob Kim / Getty Images; Rachel Been, AOL

Ever wondered what chefs and food critics eat when they're behind closed doors? Guess what? It ain't foie gras. Our friends over at The Daily Meal asked a slew of tastemakers -- such as Alton Brown and Ruth Reichl, April Bloomfield and Mario Batali -- about their secret food indulgences, and got some surprising answers. GQ's food guru Alan Richman has a soft spot for garlicky sausage, and gets his fix with Katz's Deli's knoblewurst. We won't ask which party he's going to after he loads up on garlic.

And what does the doyenne of Italian food, Lidia Bastianich, snack on when she has a sweet tooth? Nope, not a tiramisù. Lidia joneses for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Frankly, so do we.

Who's the chef who loves to nosh on Popeye's fried chicken?
Discover all the food vices at The Daily Meal.

Filed under: On the Blogs, Celebrities, Chefs

Glowing Blue Pork Found in China

COMMENTS 11

by Jason Best, Posted Apr 13th 2011 @ 1:00PM

glowing blue pig pork Photo: Getty Images

So this story on ChinaSMACK, which offers English-language translations of odds and ends found on the Chinese internet, caught our attention: "Blue Glowing Pork Meat Found in Shanghai."

For one, the story itself is sort of priceless: Apparently, one "Miss Chen" gets up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and notices a faint blue light coming from her kitchen, only to discover that the source of this ghostly glow is none other than the slab of pork that she'd purchased the day before and left on the table (left on the table!?).

Second, there's a tone of eager, earnest amazement that runs throughout the article which makes it feel less like a digitized dispatch from a teeming megatropolis on the other side of the globe and more like something you'd find in the dusty archives of, say, the Walnut Grove Gazette. To wit, "In order to be sure she wasn't seeing things, Miss Chen woke up her family to look at this piece of strange meat together. The pork glowed in the dark but returned to 'normal' in the morning. Both astonished and afraid, Miss Chen's family did not dare to eat from this piece of pork again. Yesterday afternoon, this reporter rushed to Miss Chen's home and saw this piece of glowing pork."

Filed under: On the Blogs, Food News

What Food Trend Do You Want to See Die?

COMMENTS 6

by Slashfood Editor, Posted Apr 12th 2011 @ 11:00AM

bacon cupcakes Photo: wtfclem, Flickr

C'mon, admit it. We all love food, but sometimes a fad hits critical mass and you wish it would just disappear. Maybe it's the bacon craze, or the precious (and overpriced) cupcake hoopla that has you rolling your eyes. The editors over at Serious Eats have sparked a lively discussion about what trends they'd like to see go away forever. What's your pick?

Read the full story at Serious Eats.

Filed under: On the Blogs, Food News

The 6 Most Outrageous Beverage Lawsuits

COMMENTS 0

by Slashfood Editor, Posted Apr 8th 2011 @ 11:00AM

Muscle Milk Photo: eviloars, Flickr

We told you about the stomach-turning lawsuit filed by a man who claims he found a mouse in his can of Monster Energy Drink. The company says the can was left unattended, which is how the mouse got there. (Our money's actually on this version -- wouldn't a mouse have deteriorated in all that acidic soda?) Either way, the "Case of the Mouse in a Can" is just one of many wacky lawsuits filed against beverage companies. The Daily Meal has a list of the top six -- anyone remember the guy who tried to sue Bud Light because his beer didn't produce hot babes like the commercials promised?

Read the whole list at The Daily Meal.

Filed under: On the Blogs, Food News

Take A Cadbury Creme Egg Quiz

COMMENTS 0

by Slashfood Editor, Posted Apr 7th 2011 @ 4:00PM

Cadbury Creme Eggs for Easter Photo: sea turtle, Flickr

What is it about Cadbury Creme Eggs that inspires such devotion? Sure, the chocolate's good, and the vanilla creme inside has the weird-egg-yolk-novelty thing going for it, but is it really any better than say, a Snickers bar? If you're a fan, you're not alone -- the company makes over 300 million of them each year. Surprised? YumSugar's got a fun quiz that reveals even more creme egg trivia.

Take the quiz at YumSugar.com.

Filed under: On the Blogs, Holidays