I'm posting images of sausage counters the world over each weeknight (and occasionally weekend) witching hour until I run out. Please use the comments section to post links to your Flickr or personal site faves, and perhaps you'll see 'em posted here late some evening.
Most of the time I like my dogs crispy and deep brown on the outside. But then there are the times I want my childhood comfort food, a dirty water dog. I remember the first one I had when i was a youngin' growing up in park Slope, Brooklyn. I was around five years old and my mom stopped by one of those small hand pushcarts, the real tiny one you don't seem much anymore where the yellow and blue Sabrett's umbrella is bigger than the cart, at the corner of Union Street and Seventh Ave.
They were a dime each, and seemed a bargain to me. My mom tried to order one for me with ketchup but they didn't have any and besides, I was already of the opinion that ketchup is for fries and burgers and would never let it dog my franks. I wanted the "other stuff," the bright yellow/brown "deli" mustard and the reddish, shiny stuff. So I had my first Sabrett's hot dog with mustard and Sabrett's onion sauce. It wasn't much to look at, kind of ugly and messy to tell you the truth, but it was mighty tasty and went down just fine, thank you. (By the way, I know that's a nasty photo. I wasn't able to take my own shot.)
Life is (naturally) sweet for Gramercy Tavern Executive Chef Michael Anthony. Not only is he recently married, but his restaurant was bestowed the 2008 James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurant, and he just returned from the Union Square farmer's market in NYC with fresh sugar snap peas for dinner. Does it get any better than this? Read on.
Congratulations on winning the James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurant. How has life slash the restaurant changed since winning the award this year?
Hold on – I'm actually trying to get through the door here. I just finished shopping at the farmers market.
No worries. Take your time.
The restaurant has had an unbelievable sense of electricity since the Beard Awards. It was nice to see friends and familiar faces from around the country at the awards. They made us feel that there are a lot of people in the industry pulling for the restaurant. People have come to the restaurant to congratulate us in person. The support was felt by a very widespread audience in the industry and around the city.
Arthur Avenue Deli in The Bronx. From Flickr user esposj's Flickr.
I'm posting images of sausage counters the world over each weeknight (and occasionally weekend) witching hour until I run out. Please use the comments section to post links to your Flickr or personal site faves, and perhaps you'll see 'em posted here late some evening.
I was in NYC the past week to attend some food and cocktail events and to tape some spots about summer time cocktails and spirits for a radio show, during the first heat wave of the summer. For several days the temps were in the mid to high 90's and the whole city was in meltdown. Everyone walked around slightly spaced out and dragging their feet, myself included. For me the weather was a real killer because I live on the coast of Maine and the warmest it had been all year was a day or two in the low 70's, with it so chilly at night I still had the heat on every night since last September. The morning I left for NYC it was 42 degrees out and I started the drive with my heat on high in my car, by noon the AC was cranked instead.
As I walked out of the radio studio on my last day in town it was the hottest yet. 96 degrees in the shade and the humidity was so high that you felt like you could actually feel the water sitting lifelessly in the air. I broke into a full sweat before I had walked ten feet and I started to think about waving down a taxi. My original plans were to walk from the financial district, north up to Chinatown to get some eats and buy some lychee fruit, and then through Soho and into the East Village. Now it didn't seem like a very good idea at all.
I'm not a huge tour person generally -- I get antsy and like to explore new cities on my own (or maybe just go shopping). But a food tour is something I definitely think that I could handle. I've been hearing about them a lot lately, as many cities now offer them. More recently, I've come across City Food Tours, which offers both walking and coach tours in Philadelphia and New York City. This company has gotten a bit of press, and they even offer personalized group packages. Philadelphia also offers tours of Reading Terminal Market, one of my favorite spots in the city, and Chinatown tours with some foodie destinations.
I've never taken a food tour, but I'd love to hear accounts from those of you have had -- especially tours that you found especially great or awful.
Recipes from Home is shaped unlike any other cookbook I've ever known. It is a thick paperback that is tall and narrow, making it very satisfying to hold because it feels like it comes from another age. As you start to flip through it, you discover that it is filled with childhood pictures of the authors and lots of chatty anecdotes about the origins of the recipes.
The book is born from David Page and Barbara Shinn's New York City West Village restaurant that is also called Home. The way I became aware of it was that four years ago I was up in New York for a weekend with some friends. My friend Una planned a brunch at Home and sent an email out to the rest of us with details, including the link to the restaurant. Upon discovering this book, I fell into a state of instant infatuation and immediately ordered it (the recipes looked intriguing and the Foreword was written by Calvin Trillin. I figured any food he was endorsing had to be good).
And I was correct. This book is filled to bursting with really amazing food. In the summer I like to make their "Sweet Corn, Red Onion and Basil Relish." I'm a big fan of their "Sage Corn Bread." I drool over their recipe for "Chocolate Pudding" (which is available on their website, on the cookbook page, at the bottom of the recipe window). And I love the fact that there is an entire section devoted to cheese (what you can do with it, not how to make it).
I don't call this cookbook a must-have if you are trying to keep your collection carefully edited. But if you are the type (like me) who approaches cookbooks as something akin to inspirational literature, then this one would be a good book to check out.
I'm a sake fanatic and I just have to tell you about the Joy of Sake: New York, an event celebrating the art of sake brewing will be held this year on Thursday September 27, 2007 on two floors of the Puck Building in New York City. These annual events are held once a year in Honolulu, San Francisco, and New York, and are the largest sake tasting events in the US. More than 300 sakes will be tasted and enjoyed by over 3,000 guests in a bash that makes sake lovers swoon. Some of the best NYC restaurants supply the food including Bao Noodles, Bond St, EN Japanese Brasserie, 15 East, Geisha, Kai, Kyotofu, Matsuri, Megu, Nobu, Oms/b, Riingo, Sakagura, SushiSamba, Tocqueville, Woo Lae Oak, wd-50, and more.
The sakes are absolutely fresh and in peak condition with many being ones that aren't available in the US. So this may be the only time you will get to try them unless you go to Japan. There will be silver and gold award winning sakes from the annual U.S. National Sake Appraisal blind tasting competition and every style imaginable like pure junmai, premium ginjo and daiginjo, various makers tonkubetsu sake (special/exceptional sake) and some of the more unusual ones like sparkling sake, aged sake, etc. I can't wait, especially since I missed the Joy of Sake the past two years. This year I am driving over 400 miles, so I can sip the night away with fine sake and fine food.
Tickets tend to sell out so if you are interested go online right away or give them a call. Tickets are $75 in advance, $90 at the door (if there are any still available) and may be ordered online at www.joyofsake.com or by calling 212-799-7243.
New Orleans now offers a soulful culinary phenomenon that's more often seen on the streets of New York City or Los Angeles: taco trucks.
Residents of New Orleans have embraced the mobile taquerias' offerings, including al pastor and pork tacos. Some even go for the more exotic cow's head and tongue varieties, both of which are some of my favorites. Even though the public has warmed up to a type of restaurant little known before an influx of Latinos came to the state seeking reconstruction work, Jefferson Parish officials have recently banned the trucks. The new law gave vendors only 10 days to set up restrooms and washing stations. I've certainly wished for both of these amenities after wolfing down a few tacos de carnitas on the streets of Jackson Heights, Queens. But it's simply not going to happen. It should be pointed out that if my fair city banned the taco trucks, there's a fair chance that I'd soon find myself living in L.A.
But back to the story at hand. Jeff Parish pols raised concerns that the mobile kitchens are unsanitary, even though state health officials found nothing wrong. As the article I read pointed out, the taco trucks are embroiled in a food fight of sorts. To be sure, racisim also plays a role in the ban, but so does a concern that the cuisine of Puebla threatens the historic foodways of the Big Easy. New Orleans City Council President Oliver Thomas recently asked, "How do the tacos help gumbo?"
The burning question for me is something more along the lines of, "How soon can I get me a boudin noir taco?
When I go into a fast food place such as McDonald's, Burger King, or Wendy's (which I think I've done maybe 3 times in the past 3 years), I know beforehand that I have made a decision to eat badly that day. I don't care if these places have "salads" or "low-fat foods," it's still fast food to me, and I don't need anyone to tell me what I'm about to eat probably has a lot of fat and calories.
Having said that, I see no real problem with New York City restaurants having to show calorie info where customers can see it. The law took effect earlier this week. Some of the fast food companies argued that it "violated their First Amendment rights," which I still don't understand. Some places are putting the info in areas where they're not immediately accessible to customers, while other places, like Subway, have the info upfront.
Fines will start being issued October 1 for restaurants that violate the law.
The city becomes the third in the country to ban trans fats (used in frying and baked goods), along with New York City and Philadelphia. Boston and Cambridge are thinking about doing it as well.
It hasn't been such a good week for New York City pizza makers named De Marco. First came the shooting rampage that started at De Marco's Pizzeria and left four dead. I've enjoyed a slice and the occasional bowl of linguine puttanesca at this West Village spot, which is owned by Dominick Demarco Jr., the son of the pizzaiolo behind Brooklyn's legendary Di Fara Pizza. I wish De Marco's all the luck in the world, but the idea of eating there anytime soon creeps me out.
Thankfully, the second mishap to befall the De Marco family this week is not nearly as grave. Di Fara Pizza has been swept up in all the commotion caused by rats in my fair city's eateries. It seems that as of yesterday afternoon Midwood's temple of pizza artistry had been temporarily closed by the Health Department. As a fan of this spot I'm not surprised that it's been shuttered, though I am glad that it wasn't for anything nearly as serious as vermin. It's long been a dirty little secret that Di Fara's is a tad unkempt, but only because they're so insanely busy. I gave them a ring this morning and the maestro himself answered. He told me that they're closed for a few days for "little things." I felt a sense of relief wash over me as I pondered eating several perfect slices there in the very near future. [via Slice]
This is the First Annual Japanese Food Culture Week in New York City that is being coordinated by The Japanese External Trade Organization (Jetro), the Japan Society, Nikkei America, and other Japanese / American organizations and restaurants. I've been caught up in a whirlwind and this is the first I have been able to write about it. From Sunday March 4 - Saturday March 10, 2007 there is a week of special events, seminars, food shows, and Japanese restaurants with fantastic specials for the general public to enjoy. The events are being held to educate and expose the public, as well as restaurant owners, chefs, etc. to Japanese cuisine and its effects and interactions in the US. I will describe in detail some of the events I have had the good fortune to attend.
The playful antics of the rats at a Taco Bell-KFC restaurant in New York City's Greenwich Village have probably seen more ink than Taco Bell's recent E. coli outbreak. Their performance has certainly garnered tons of local TV news coverage and as of this writing has more than 800 hits on YouTube.
The good folks over at The Scoop over on the NRN Foodservice Blog reported on the story behind the story the other day via an exclusive interview with the leader of the Taco Bell rats. And quite a scoop it was. They managed to catch the leader before his appearance on Conan later that night. Among the revelations from the interview is the fact that the rats' celebrity like that of most stars was no easy task. They'd been practicing their dance moves for more than two months starting with when they were discovered by the city's Health Department in December.
Asone might imagine, the leader describes living in the restaurant as a paradise chock-full of tacos and fried chicken. And he offers up a theory as to why the Health Department allowed the fast-food joint to continue to operate even though a troupe of performing rats had set up shop. They're just too busy with important matters like protecting the public from the trans-fat menace. Never let it be said that New York City doesn't support the arts.
Life is (naturally) sweet for Gramercy Tavern Executive Chef Michael Anthony. Not only is he recently married, but his restaurant was bestowed the 2008 James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurant, and he just returned from the Union Square farmer's market in NYC with fresh sugar snap peas for dinner. Does it get any better than this? Read on.
Recipes from Home is shaped unlike any other cookbook I've ever known. It is a thick paperback that is tall and narrow, making it very satisfying to hold because it feels like it comes from another age. As you start to flip through it, you discover that it is filled with childhood pictures of the authors and lots of chatty anecdotes about the origins of the recipes. 
New Orleans now offers a soulful culinary phenomenon that's more often seen on the streets of New York City or Los Angeles: taco trucks.
Brookline, MA has voted to stop using trans fats in their restaurants and schools.
The mag visits star chef Jean Georges Vongerichten in Bora Bora. 
It hasn't been such a good week for New York City pizza makers named De Marco. First came the shooting rampage that started at De Marco's Pizzeria and left four dead. I've enjoyed a slice and the occasional bowl of linguine puttanesca at this West Village spot, which is owned by Dominick Demarco Jr., the son of the pizzaiolo behind Brooklyn's legendary Di Fara Pizza. I wish De Marco's all the luck in the world, but the idea of eating there anytime soon creeps me out.
The playful antics of the rats at a Taco Bell-KFC restaurant in New York City's Greenwich Village have probably seen more ink than Taco Bell's recent E. coli outbreak. Their performance has certainly garnered tons of local TV news coverage and as of this writing has more than 800 hits on YouTube. 
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