Restaurants - - Page 19

by Emily

Plus-Size Vegas: The Peppermill

To celebrate/mourn the end of the summer, I did what any old-fashioned, hard-drinking American girl would do: hopped a flight to Vegas for a weekend of pool parties, 52-oz. margaritas, slot machines, and food exploration. I know it’s important to look hot in Vegas, and part of looking hot is not stuffing your face with so much buffet food that you get all bloated and oily. That’s why I took it relatively easy until the final day of our trip, when I said “screw it” and headed down to the old end of the Strip to try out a diner I had read about and was desperate to experience for myself: the Peppermill, where everything is larger than life.

The Peppermill is equally lauded for its immense portions of epically greasy diner food and its gloriously tacky atmosphere. Upon entering the Pep, the hostess will probably say something like “Okay, for three? It’ll be about 20 minutes. But you’re welcome to wait in our lounge…?” Yes, yes, YES. You will wait in the magnificent Fireside Lounge!

It looks like Xanadu crashed into a jungle, and then disco balls covered the sky, then half of the wildlife in the jungle turned into flatscreen TVs that blare blurry 80s music video programming. How’s that for a mental picture? Can you imagine it? Well, here’s a taste:

by forkitude

They Don’t Give Away Michelin Stars For Nothing

We as people are always in search of something bigger, better, faster, stronger. But isn’t it great when you can enjoy dinner at a restaurant that actually tries to make you happy (and dine with someone who makes you happy) and just simply enjoy the moment, for a moment? I had my first Michelin star dinner in the stunning Italian alps at La Stüa de Michil in the La Perla Hotel in Corvara, Italy. Did they think I was a Michelin inspector? Maybe. (Probably not). As I sit here, back in America, contemplating, munching on a Kinder Bueno (my favorite European candy), wishing I were still in Italy, I think to myself, “What makes a Michelin star meal? Is it any different than any other meal?” The answer is yes.

in Cheese / Food Travel / Rants & Raves / Red Meat / Restaurants 2 comments

by BS

Cocktail O’Clock: Shibuya Shake

Any drink that combines the exotic (shiso leaf), the extravagant (St. Germain) and the just plain silly (Squirt!) is an A-OK drink as far as we’re concerned.

This one comes from the just-opened Jasper’s Corner Tap and Kitchen in San Francisco. If you don’t have a Japanese grocer around the corner, we’re pretty sure it would work with a couple basil leaves instead of the shiso. Pretty sure the Squirt is essential though.

Shibuya Shake

in Drinks / Eggs / Endless Cocktails / Recipe / Restaurants 0 comments

by BS

Milkshakes Gone Wild

Chocolate or vanilla? Are you kidding me? Milkshakes are the latest classic comfort fare to get a foodie-fied makeover, and we’re liking what we see. From bacon and bourbon to sweet potatoes and cereal, these creative innovations from chefs and bloggers around the country would make your grandmother’s milkshakes blush.

1. Cereal Milk Milkshake

Blogger Savory Notes took everyone’s favorite end-of-bowl treat — cereal-steeped milk — and turned it into cereal-flavored milkshakes.

Recipe: cereal milk milkshakes

2. Sweet Potato Cashew Milkshake

At Baltimore’s B&O American Brasserie, chef Thomas Dunklin whips up sweet potato ice cream and blends it with candied cashews and bourbon.

Recipe: sweet potato cashew milkshake

3. Dulce de Bacon Milkshake

Does life get any better than dulce de leche and bacon up in your milkshake? We don’t think so. Kudos to Adventures in Cooking for dreaming this up.

Recipe: dulce de bacon milkshake

in Bacon / Desserts / Drinks / Endless Bacon / Featured / Lists / Pig / Restaurants / Trends 3 comments

by BS

Eating on the Edge: Staten Island Sri Lankan

It’s been a hot minute since we’ve posted an update to Eating on the Edge, our travel eating series that takes you to New York’s most far-flung restaurants. With summer in full swing, we’re back to exploring, which for us of course just means eating at new places. Today’s entry comes from NYC’s most shit-upon borough, but one that actually has its fair share of culinary surprises.

Every day, thousands of tourists ride the Staten Island ferry for the cheap-o’s version of a New York harbor tour. After taking in the Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn Bridge views, almost all of them get back on the ferry and go straight back to Manhattan. I have to admit, I’d never thought about getting off and exploring in Staten Island, until I heard about the cluster of Sri Lankan restaurant and shops that have popped up there, just up the hill from the ferry terminal.

in Fish / Restaurants 3 comments

by gansie

Bagels in the Land of Danes

In the tiny country of Denmark, best known for its abundance of slim dark bread, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw signs for bagels. During my four days in Copenhagen I ate plenty of browned rye bread—on its on, with butter, with garlic aioli, with smoked herring, with strong, old cheese—so please don’t judge me for wanting to see how the Danes produce this New Jersey staple.

We ordered The Bagel Co‘s version of an everything bagel, studded with pumpkin, sunflower, caraway and sesame seeds. While the crust was softer than I’d like, the crunch of the large seeds helped add that bit of texture that I crave with a bagel. But what I absolutely adored was the schmear: pesto cream cheese, lightly herbed and plenty creamy.

in Breakfast / Food Travel / Restaurants 2 comments

by BS

Do or Dine: Dumpling Nachos

We thought we’d found the limits of nacho creativity when we told you about wonton wrapper nachos, but then the chefs at Brooklyn’s new Do or Dine had to go and make dumpling nachos. Yep, their “Nippon nachos” are basically nachos made with dumplings instead of tortilla chips. Not dumpling wrappers—entire dumplings. Deep-fried pork dumplings are topped with melted cheddar, sour cream, salsa and scallions.

Game on, ESers — what’s the craziest food you can turn into a nacho? Eggs Benedict nachos? Foie gras nachos? Steak tartare nachos? I honesty can’t think of anything I wouldn’t want to eat in nacho form (And big up to Lorie Marsh, who has already written in with her amazing chili cheese nachos. Thanks, Lorie!)

A little more about the awesomely named Do or Dine: two front-of-house workers at Manhattan’s fancy-pants restaurant The Modern branched out to Bed-Stuy with one of the most creative high-end/lowbrow menus we’ve seen yet. They also officially win our search for America’s most creative deviled egg with this:

in Cheese / Eggs / Restaurants 3 comments

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