These days, product placement (especially when it comes to food) is a fact of life. We all know that when one of our favorite television characters is holding a Coke or Pepsi product in an episode of their show, the company paid big bucks to get it there. Same goes for any mention of Kraft cheese, Cheerios cereal or Tropicana orange juice. We've come to expect this from scripted and reality TV shows (think about all the products on Big Brother or even Jon and Kate Plus Eight).
You'd like to think that the news is incorruptible, miles away from the allure of food companies offering pay for placement. Apparently, journalistic standards are a little looser in Las Vegas, where at Fox affiliate, KVVU, morning anchors now display plastic cups of McDonald's iced coffee on the podium, where a station-branded coffee mug used to sit. They hardly ever touch these cups, and the printed-on labels are angled for best viewing. The station readily admits that it's a sponsored promotion and defends the practice by saying that they cups don't come out until they start airing the lighter morning news at 7 a.m.
What do you think? Is it appropriate for food companies to get product placement on the news?
When talking about steaks, I take the word "big" very seriously. I'm the girl who was raised on huge cuts of prime rib, and would be offended when waiters would challenge my 20+ ounce beef order. Still, the one thing that has always remained out of my reach was the epic, huge, "dare you to eat it all yourself" piece of steak. I so desperately want to take on that dare, so is it wrong of me to think that the 120-oz porterhouse for six that's being offered at the new Brand steakhouse in Las Vegas is perfect for just me?
Yes, steak fans, that is just one of the many steak offerings coming from the new restaurant, nestled on the Monte Carlo's casino floor. The menu, created by chef Brian Massie, boasts even more tasty steak options like an oversized, Bone-In and dry-aged Nebraska steak, Kobe short ribs and burgers, plus fish, sides, and appetizers like the delicious-sounding King Crab Scampi.
I'm bummed that this place wasn't around when I visited Las Vegas last year, but if any of you readers happen to check it out, let me know how it is. And if you're interested in more information, you can check out the press release after the jump.
I have a love/hate relationship with the city in which I live -- Los Angeles. You can't beat the balmy weather (did I mention that I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt all day today?), but you also can't beat traffic, no matter how carefully you listen to the traffic report, time your driving with "rush hour" or opt for surface streets.
But in the end, I love Los Angeles, which is why I love these dinner plates from notNeutral. The dishwasher-safe porcelain plates are 12" in diameter, feature the downtown core printed on a black background, highlight key buildings in red, and indicate rivers and public spaces. While I favor Los Angeles, the plates also come printed with Shanghai, Cairo, Berlin (part of Collection 1) and New Orleans, Washington, D.C., Las Vegas and Dubai (part of Collection 2).
Out in Las Vegas, NV, a group of elementary school students were unhappy with the amount of canned green beans that the school cafeteria was serving them and decided to take action. Led by their teacher, they wrote polite letters to the cafeteria manager, expressing how they liked the food, with the exception of the green beans. Impressed by the letter-writing campaign, the food service department for the school district sent some staff members out to the school to conduct a mini taste-test, to see what the kids liked. Unfortunately, the district can only afford to serve a limited number of veggies, so the exercise is sort of moot. But at least they listened to the kids and showed that they respected their likes and dislikes. Here's to even more kids speaking out about their vegetables!
I hadn't touched tequila for the better part of a decade until someone handed me a glass of Patrón in Las Vegas a few years ago. The aged, crystal clear, premium flavor redefined any preconceived notion of tequila that I had, and set a whole new standard for what I would order in the way of tequila from that point on, even in my margaritas.
That said, I was pretty excited to see that they have expanded their line to include a tequila infused with pure coffee essence - Patrón XO Café. Since I haven't tried it yet, I'm hoping Jonathan will do an in-depth review at some point, but in the meantime I'll leave you with a number of drink recipes recommended on their website, which can be found after the jump.
Will Smith is apparently in talks to star as Jeff Henderson, a poverty-striken, inner-city black kid-turned Executive Chef of the Café Bellagio in Las Vegas.
Henderson's fascinating life story was depicted in the recent publication 'Cooked: From the Streets to the Stove, from Cocaine to Foie Gras,' a memoir detailing how the one-time cocaine dealer and prisoner worked his way up from prison dishwasher to cook, sparking his dream to one day become a world-class chef.
Overcoming adversity, racism, plus a criminal record, Chef Jeff eventually became one of the top in his field, working in such establishments as Hotel Bel-Air, L'Ermitage, and the Ritz Carlton.
IMDB is showing Cooked as scheduled for 2009, but no further details are available at this time.
When you plan your holidays, do you ever factor in the local cuisine when deciding where to go? The number of travelers seeking culinary adventures has definitely risen over the past few years, in fact, according to the Travel Industry Association of America, more than 58% of American leisure travelers take culinary or wine-related activities at their destination into account before booking.
Travelocity has prepared a list of some of the best places to visit if food is what you are looking for. A few are obvious, while others come as a bit of a surprise. The list includes Barcelona, Spain; Boulder, Colorado; Charleston, South Carolina; Las Vegas, Nevada; London, United Kingdom; Montreal, Quebec; New Orleans, Louisiana; New York, New York; Rome, Italy; and San Francisco, California.
Regarding Vegas, as an example, they state "If you want your foie gras topped with shaved truffles and dusted with gold, it's a sure bet it can be found here." If you've visited Las Vegas any time recently, you know that is all too true. Gone are the days of $1.99 steak sandwiches - fine dining has taken over the town.
Have you been somewhere that you feel should have made the list instead of those places, or do you agree with their picks?
Last month I was in Las Vegas and had several outstanding meals. Though something can be said for finding the $4.99 Prime Rib dinner specials or $0.99 hot dogs, I highly encourage everyone to set aside a little of your vacation budget and splurge on at least one fancy meal. They do have world-class dining in almost every hotel after all.
My friend and I decided that the MGM Grand was our destination of choice, and we ended up at Fiamma Trattoria. It was apparent from the start that the service was going to be outstanding. Though the restaurant was full, our waiter took his time explaining the specials and joked around with us. Bread and olive oil were brought over immediately, and we ordered cocktails and sparkling water.
We each ordered appetizers, or antipasti. She raved about her choice of Mozzarella, which included Mozzarella Di Buffala (freshly flown-in) tossed with tomatoes and fresh basil. I had the daily special; a dish made with lobster and scallops in a cream sauce topped with a generous portion of Alba white truffles. Honestly, life does not get much better than that.
The newest issue of Cooking Light, which is their 20th anniversary issue, has the magazine's choices for the top 20 cities in the US, based on 15 criteria that they feel embody their "Eat Smart, Be Fit, and Live Well" philosophy. They looked at fitness, health and exercise data from the Centers for Disease Control, the number of parks and recreation areas (and how often they're used) from the Trust for Public Land, restaurant ratings from the Zagat Survey and James Beard Foundation, and the USDA's farmers markets listings. Everything was evened out on a per capita basis and the cities with the most of everything made the top cut.
One of the top ten cities will be featured each month in the magazine this year, so readers will have access to information about all the things that got the city their ranking.
1. Seattle, WA 2. Portland, Ore. 3. Washington, D.C. 4. Minneapolis, MN 5. San Francisco, CA 6. Boston, MA 7. Denver, CO 8. Milwaukee, WI 9. Philadelphia, PA 10. Tucson, AZ
The first time I tasted stuffed chicken wings was years ago at Lotus of Siam, the Thai spot in Las Vegas that many say is the best in the States. Needless to say their version was packed with an incendiary stuffing.
I forgot about this culinary wonder that ranks up there with the turducken as one of mankind's greatest achievements until the other week when I was dining with some friends at Chanto, a sleek Japanese restaurant and nightspot in lower Manhattan.
Glancing at the menu, I saw it, "Tebagyo: gyoza stuffed chicken wings with teriyaki sauce." I love a good gyoza and I'm quite fond of teba, or Japanese-style wings. Who needs mad food scientists and their shrimp as pasta, I mused as I pondered the wonder of chicken wing as pork dumpling that awaited.
When the pork-laden wings touched down on our table, they did not disappoint. The skin was lacquered with a delicious sauce. Cutting into them revealed a ring of chicken meat surrounding a savory filling of ground pork combined with scallions and other green bits. I guess pigs can fly after all. Chanto, 133 Seventh Avenue South, (212) 463-8686
Studies have shown that the size of the glass can influence the size of the drink a bartender pours, and many people will swear that certain outfits and/or leaving big tips can get you stronger drinks at a bar, too. The only ones who don't seem to like it when this happens are the bar and nightclub owners, who collectively lose $7 billion each year due to overpouring and undercharging.
A new technology, brought to our attention by the hard-working Engadget crew, called the Beverage Tracker, has been invented by a San Francisco company to alleviate the problem. The device is an RFID-enabled liquor spout that attaches to bottles and keeps track of how much is poured for each drink. The data includes "not only the unique identification number of its microchip, but also the brand and size of liquor bottle to which it is attached, as well as the amount of liquor poured" and it is transmitted directly to the bar/club's computer system. Data collected helps with inventory management, as well as identifying bartenders who chronically overpour/undercharge. The whole system can cost from $10,000-20,000, depending on the size of the bar, but the return on the investment can take as little as 6 weeks.
Currently, the system is being used at the bars at Las Vegas's Treasure Island Hotel and Casino, as well as at about 100 other bars/clubs.
The US Army celebrated its 231st birthday with cake. A very, very big cake. The ingredient list included 540 eggs, 100 pounds of flour, 30 pounds of butter, 30 gallons of milk and 30 pounds of sugar and it took 17 chefs about 1 week to create. How did it work? It was constructed from layered individual sheet cakes - 50 of them, to be precise. 35 gallons of icing were used to cover and decorate the cake. The finished product was 8.5 feet long by 3 feet wide and weighed more than 250 pounds. It was served at the Pentagon June 14th to approximately 1,500 people.
Elsewhere in the country, individual divisions had their own celebrations with even morecakes.
Granted, this cake - which is still very impressive - doesn't come close to rivaling the world's largest birthday cake, which was built last year in Las Vegas and used 30,000 half-sheet cakes and 40,000 pounds of frosting. The end result was a cake which weighed in at 65 tons.
There is one more cake close-up after the jump, as well as a picture of the world's largest birthday cake.
A new competitive eating world record was set over the weekend when eater Joey Chestnut out-ate the competition by eating 49 grilled cheese sandwiches in 10 minutes. Sonya Thomas and Pat Bertoletti tied for second place with 37 sandwiches each. All three passed the former record of 36.5 sandwiches.
There is a video available here of the event, which was held at the Arena Football Fan Fest in Las Vegas. It is a fascinating sight - if mildly disgusting - for anyone who has never witnessed a professional eating competition. The crown cheers on the eaters while they battle the sandwiches, which an announcer describes as being glue-like. Sonya, who weighs 105 pounds, really has her technique down to a science and Chestnut, in a post match interview, describes how much concentration is needed to compete, given that your body doesn't really want to eat all that grilled cheese.
It's Thanksgiving, and the magazine has 
I hadn't touched tequila for the better part of a decade until someone handed me a glass of Patrón in Las Vegas a few years ago. The aged, crystal clear, premium flavor redefined any preconceived notion of tequila that I had, and set a whole new standard for what I would order in the way of tequila from that point on, even in my margaritas. 
Will Smith is apparently in talks to star as 
When you plan your holidays, do you ever factor in the local cuisine when deciding where to go? The number of travelers seeking culinary adventures has definitely risen over the past few years, in fact, according to the Travel Industry Association of America, more than 58% of American leisure travelers take culinary or wine-related activities at their destination into account before booking. 
Last month I was in Las Vegas and had several outstanding meals. Though something can be said for finding the $4.99 Prime Rib dinner specials or $0.99 hot dogs, I highly encourage everyone to set aside a little of your vacation budget and splurge on at least one fancy meal. They do have world-class dining in almost every hotel after all. 
The newest issue of 
Studies have shown that the 
The US Army 
A new 
DIY Foods: Making homemade sausage
Cakes so amazing they'd be hard to cut into
Fruit juice: An invitation to diabetes?
