NYC - - Page 15

by tvff

Screw You, New York Food Scene

I have serious issues with the New York food scene.

Maybe you’re thinking that New York is the epicenter of American food culture. Maybe you believe that the variety of offerings — from haute cuisine to pushcart street food — is the best thing since sliced bread. Perhaps you really can’t get enough of all the quirky, fun little culinary trends. That’s one way of looking at it.

Another way to look at it would be that, for all the great things about NYC food, the whole accompanying “scene” is insufferably self-important. Being only an hour away, I’m close enough to be subjected to the new-hot-now attitude that permeates the city, but I’m far enough away to have some perspective. Trust me…you don’t need to be a suspicious mid-westerner to think that New York is impossibly self-indulgent and obnoxiously trendy.

I feel quite strongly about this and I know that I have logic on my side, so I present to you a five-point argument explaining why Gotham’s insufferable food culture needs to be taken down a peg:

Cheflebrity Smörgåsbord: When in Rome

When I was asked for my last meal on earth, I immediately went Italian. I have a bit of Italian blood in me, but I’m not the typical New Jersey goombah. No, I’ve never worn a track suit and gold chain and you wouldn’t mistake me for an extra from The Sopranos. But it’s certainly the cuisine with which I most closely identify. I’m actually more Irish than Italian, but you’ve got to be kidding me if you think I’m spending my last moments with potatoes, cabbage and corned beef.

Looking at the list of my fellow ESers, I was struck by how many of them went for simple dishes that undoubtedly remind them of home, family, heritage and the positive memories of life around the dinner table. Nobody picked the twelve course tasting menu at The French Laundry. I briefly toyed with the idea of a star-studded mega-meal, but it just didn’t feel right. If you have one last shot, I think it’s best to go with something that reminds you of all the good stuff in your life.

Another wise choice for a last meal? How about a smörgåsbord?

– Well, if you were going to go high-end for your last dinner, you might want to go Jean-Georges. If he’s good enough to cook for the past four presidents, he’s good enough for you.

– James Beard winner, Philly food rock star and my personal foodie man-crush Jose Garces makes fish tacos on the Today Show. He’s pretty good on camera (hint, hint, Food Network folks!)

After the jump: a politico makes a bold statement on communicable diseases, a food festival as envisioned by William Golding, and the perfect gift for the Giada-stalker in your life.

Feeding the Monsters: Kids’ Restaurant Week

Lets be honest, I really don’t keep up with the daily events on Sesame Street. Thanks to gansie for alerting me to this particularly interesting event happening across the country.

As you may know, it drives me (and many other people) insane when restaurants/parents/idiots assume kids only eat shit. Thankfully, for one week, parents and patrons alike will be saved from this mayhem.

Mimicking Restaurant Week, where high-end restaurants offer a multi-course prix-fixe menu, Cookie and Gourmet’s Kids’ Restaurant Week 2009 is set to take place June 13-21 in Washginton, DC and June 20-28 in New York In Chicago. Adults pay $29, while kids 11 and under pay their age. Dinner seatings are early (from 5pm-7pm).

The main event, obviously, is the food. Restaurants participating claim to offer “kid-friendly” (what the hell does that even mean) versions of their menu offerings. Seems good for parents, good for kids. One big happy family, right?

Although many news sources have marketed Kids’ Restaurant Week with the “tired of giving your kids chicken fingers?” routine, some restaurants are still sadly serving chicken fingers, french fries, and the ever popular macaroni and cheese (fail) during Kids’ Restaurant Week. However, others are serving up kid accessible versions of their delicious adult counterparts, such as duck tacos and tandoori chicken skewers. Perhaps at least some people are finally starting to get it.

Bottom line: if you’re interested in taking your children out to eat in Washington, DC, I’d first check out some of the menu offerings here to avoid another chicken fingers meal. If you’re in the windy city, check out this writeup of the Chicago events, where Kids’ Restaurant Week originated in 2008. If you’re in another city, or just want to see who is in on the hoopla, a list of participating restaurants for all cities can be found at the official Kids’ Restaurant Week site.

As always, if you do take your little ones to this (or have before), let us know!

in Uncategorized 2 comments

by BS

What’s the Deal with Iced Coffee?

Scene: A coffee shop. The first perfect, 85-degree late spring day in Brooklyn, NY.

Dramatis Personae: BS, an easily disgruntled food blogger.

Conflict: The same issue that brews through my caffeine-addicted mind every time the weather gets this warm. I get to the front of the line and see:

Hot Coffee: $1.25

Iced Coffee: $2.50

WTF? Why is iced coffee so damn expensive? Is it really that hard to cold brew coffee? Because it seems like you’re paying twice as much for goddamn ice. Ice costs like 99-cents for a giant bag, and of course you can just make it yourself for, oh I don’t know – free! Even factoring in the price of water, I’d say a cup of ice costs about 1 cent, which means that charging me $1.25 extra for ice in my coffee is basically a 10,000 percent markup. Pound for pound, iced coffee is the most expensive drink in the world!

Needless to say, I went with hot coffee. I’m considering going back up there and asking for a (free) glass of ice water, dumping out the water, and pouring my coffee over the ice.

Grrr….

Previously on ES: What’s the Deal with Mozzarella Sticks?

Getting a Chip off My Shoulder

(Photo: Kanko*)

in Drinks / Rants & Raves 8 comments

by tvff

One Trick Pony

There’s something great about doing one thing and doing it well. That’s why I love Pommes Frites.

Yes, this is coming from the same guy who nearly blew a gasket last week about chefs reworking one ingredient into three preparations. But this is different.

Pommes Frites is a postage stamp-sized shop on 2nd Avenue in the East Village between St. Marks and 7th that specializes in Belgian french fries. And when I say “specializes,” I mean that it’s the only thing on the menu.

They make fantastic fries. They appear to be pre-blanched and finished to order, and then they’re served in paper cones. The extremely limited seating consists of benches and low tables that have holes drilled in them into which you can put your cone of fries (illustrated in my shitty iPhone photo above). The holes for the cones are charming beyond belief.

Good fries are always worth seeking out, but what is it that makes Pommes Frites so good that I dragged Mrs. TVFF down there for a special birthday treat, despite it being nowhere near our intended destination? Without a doubt, it’s the sauces.

Just how exciting can dipping sauces be? Well, let me tell you…

Who’s That Eating?

ES spied this celebrity enjoying some green salad and hot tea last week at Michael’s in midtown Manhattan, which makes sense given it’s just a few blocks from his current place of business. This multi-talented artist has worked with everyone from Jay-Z to Christina Aguliera to Dave Chappelle, and has even been immortalized as a playable character in the video game NBA 2K9.

So? Who’s that famous eater? The first correct commenter wins an ES Spring Cleaning Prize Pack, which includes a Top Chef 2009 Calender and a signed No Reservations still of Anthony Bourdain.

in Celebs 12 comments

by BS

Poor Punning Alert

I don’t know if the rest of the country is as thickly blanketed in the newest Snickers marketing campaign as New York is, but I’ve been seeing these lame-o ads on every subway, taxi and billboard for the last month, and as a world-renowned expert in food punnery, I simply cannot stay silent any longer.

As loyal readers of Endless Simmer certainly know by now, your humble editors clearly enjoy a corny food pun now and again. But even the lowest form of humor has some standards.

There are good puns, which make you laugh out loud and applaud the punner’s cleverness. There are decent puns, which make you think a minute and then say, “Oh, I get it. Ha.” There are, of course, bad puns, which inevitably set off a chorus of hearty groans, but even these just have to be said sometimes.

And then there are Snickers puns:

Take night classes at chewniversity…Flash your snackstage pass…Get funky on the snaxophone…Take a field trip to the peanutarium…Go camping in the Snackorondacks.

I mean WTF? Not only are these not laugh-worthy, they’re not ha-worthy, and they’re not even groan-worthy! You just kind of look at them and go, “Oh. Why did I read that?”

Seriously, I am getting mad all over again just writing about this. The poor pun does not deserve to be abused like this! Someone got paid to come up with these phrases? They are so far from funny that they should never have been allowed to come out of a person’s mouth, much less written down and pasted all over town.

In fact, I’m so personally offended by the unfunny-ness of these ads, that I hereby declare a one-man boycott of Snickers bars, effective immediately. It might be difficult, but I believe I candy do it.

in Rants & Raves 13 comments