On June 29th, 2007, Mark Malkoff, a filmmaker and comedian out of New York City, did one of those things that people do mostly to prove that it can be done. He went to 171 Starbucks in Manhattan in a single day and made a short film about it.
Mark purchased (spending $369.14) and consumed food or drink at every one of those Starbucks and has the receipts to prove it. He traveled around the city on bike for the first 14 hours of the tour, but became so dehydrated and disoriented from the caffeine that the film crew brought a car in to help him finish the day. He first developed the idea while passing multiple Starbucks on his way to work.
David Wondrich, the drinks guy at Esquire, wrote one of the best cocktails books in the past quarter century, Esquire Drinks, and he says that if you want a proper Manhattan, you have to skip the cherries and add more Vermouth. After the jump, his recipe.
The Manhattan Trader Joe's location has
been open for about 7 weeks now and Manhattanites have been acting like kids with a candy store, talking excitedly,
lining up to get in, etc. It has been all over the papers, the news and the blogs and, believe it or not, we
all know it's there.
Well, not all of us. Alex Kuczynski, of the New York Times, wasn't going to let
the opening - already old news - go by without tossing yet another 2¢ into the paper. She missed the grand opening
and only recently was able to check out the store. This would be fine - great, even - if she picked up on new products
or a new trend. Unfortunately, she didn't and we were treated to an account of the fact that bought almonds, the cheese
crunchies, spinach artichoke dip, double cream brie and cheap wine. Congrats, Alex. You figured out that Trader Joe's
has good products at good prices.
Now, please, tell us something that we didn't already know.
A
while back I experienced a dim sum epiphany in the form of pear-shaped dumplings at a spot in Manhattan's Chinatown.
I'm pleased to report that the same place, Jing Fong, has
provided yet another surprise.
When my yum cha buddies
and I saw this dish rolling by, we wiped the drool off our chins and waved down the lady. At first glance, it
looked like a large open-faced dumpling. Digging into it revealed that it was a taro cake flecked with bits of meat
(perhaps Chinese ham) crowned with a mixture of ground meat, bits of lop chong, pieces of mushroom
and other goodies. As with all good taro cake, the interplay of the sweet, soft taro with the salty, savory ingredients
was spot on. But this version was exquisite: a taro cake fit for a king.
As of 9am, the Trader Joe's at 142 East 14th Street in Manhattan is officially open. It is located in the
Palladium building, which according to Tracking Trader Joe's is also a
college dorm. The TJs covers between 12,000 and 15,000 square feet and is divided into two stores, one of which sells
only wine and liquors, while the main store sells beer. Now New Yorkers can see what everyone has been raving about -
get down to Union Square and check out the store!
Store hours are 9am-10pm daily. The wine store will be open from 9am-10 pm Monday-Saturday and 12pm-9pm Sunday.
In anticipation of the opening of the Manhattan Trader Joe's location, it seems
that New Yorkers are eager to find out what will be in store for them. Since not everyone could wait, a very lucky New
York Times reporter headed out to Southern California to see what all the fuss was about at Trader Joe's headquarters. While there, she met the
tasting panel and learned the process that all Trader Joe's products go through on their way to the shelves and into
the baskets of customers. Trader Joe's is always rotating out the bottom 10 percent of their products, about 300 of
their 3,000 or so items that are stocked in their stores, so the tasting panel keeps busy. The regularly gather at the
company's headquarters - during breaks when they are not scouring the globe for new products and ideas - to taste test
everything from whole wheat pasta to truffled cheeses and to discern whether it is possible to replicate a particular
Italian cafe's tiramisu into a premade frozen food while preserving the taste. The goal of the tasting panel and of the
chain as a whole is to foster and facilitate a love of cooking in the people who shop at the store. While it may not
rival the passion of the Hawaiian shirt-clad staff, it's certainly a passion that is catching because Trader Joe's
customers are some of the most loyal and dedicated in the industry.
Many Manhattanites are looking forward to the new Trader Joe's in their neighborhood, but
not everyone in the city is familiar with the options that the specialty grocer offers. In fact, residents of Madison,
Wisconsin may not be sure what is in store for them when their Trader Joe's opens, either. To
be sure, we coveralotofit here at Slashfood, but there is a lot
to learn about the way the grocer operates. The blogger at cardhouse has put
together a frequent shopper's guide to Trader Joe's that outlines
some of the high and low points of the store. Among the highs are some of their excellent products, like Trader Joe's
Smokey Black Bean Dip and Trader Joe's Banana Waffles. Low points include their annoying tendency to replace name-brand
products with store-brand clones. Is it worth it? Only time and experience will convince Trader Joe's newbies for
sure.
I went to
graduate school in Philadelphia, and lived only a few blocks from the famed La
Colombe Torrefaction. I was a student, it was far too hip for me - but I did stop in once or twice for a croissant
and what Food & Wine Magazine calls their "silky cappuccino," naming the caffeinated hotspot the
top U.S. coffee "bar."
As I've only quaffed java at one of their top five spots, though, I can hardly be a judge. What do you all think:
are they missing anyplace else that's truly paradise in a French Press?
Trader Joe's plans to open their first
store in New York City within the next three
months. The southern California-based specialty grocery chain already has several locations in New York State, but none
in Manhattan. The store will definitely give New Yorkers - particularly those who for some reason do not feel the need
to leave the city, ever - a chance to see what they have been missing for all these years.
The new Trader Joe's will be in Union Square, near the huge Whole Foods Market, though its dramatically different
stock and lower price points will probably not put it in direct competition with the massive, high-end grocer. Trader
Joe's is famous for their generally high-quality prepared and frozen foods, as well as their low prices on specialty
goods, from well-priced vanilla extract and high-end chocolates to exotically-spiced curry simmer sauces. Most of the
items they carry are sold under their own brand, with some notable exceptions like Charles Shaw wine,
which is lovingly referred to in California as "two-buck Chuck".
On June 29th, 2007, Mark Malkoff, a filmmaker and comedian out of New York City, did one of those things that people do mostly to prove that it can be done. He went to 171 Starbucks in Manhattan in a single day and made a short film about it. 
David Wondrich, the drinks guy at Esquire, wrote one of the best cocktails books in the past quarter century, Esquire Drinks, and he 
Add wine to your weeknight meals, including 
The Manhattan 
A
while back I experienced a dim sum epiphany in the form of 
As of 9am, the Trader Joe's at 142 East 14th Street in Manhattan is 
In anticipation of the opening of the 
Many Manhattanites are looking forward to the
I went to
graduate school in Philadelphia, and lived only a few blocks from the famed 
DIY Foods: Making homemade sausage
Cakes so amazing they'd be hard to cut into
Fruit juice: An invitation to diabetes?
