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by ML

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!

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by gansie

Sports: Positive Role Models Are Possible

I know. This is not where you normally turn for sports updates, but as active fans, we’ve found ways to intersect our love of balls and food.

ES friend JakeSG (and new Portland resident <tear>) sent me a PSA of sorts from the awesome Philly sports blog, The 700 Level. The White House released a video of Phillies’ first baseman Ryan Howard touring its new, totally hyped garden with chef Sam Kass.

The baby-faced slugger discussed his pre-season weight loss, explaining: “I ate a lot of organic foods but it was actually good.” This sentence cracks me up. What did he expect *organics* to taste like? Three day old fish? Howard goes on to try some of the food (“this is as raw as it gets!”) and tour the enormous space (composting is a part of the gig).

Now, I won’t go into all of the craziness that players get themselves into, but we know that’s what dominates the news. So, here is a fantastic change. An athlete promoting healthy eating. Not drugs, not bling, not violence. But checking out the presidential garden and praising the idea of changing eating habits.

And in case you can’t watch the video, here’s my favorite exchange:

Chef: This is probably the greatest achievement of this garden
Slugger: Okay, what do we have
Chef: We got a honey bee hive
Slugger: Oh snap son

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by BS

Endless Simmer on Twitter

Have you guys heard about twitter? It’s this really underground, cutting edge mode of communication. It’s possible you’ve seen it covered in a newspaper article or two. Or ten million.

All hype aside, ES is on Twitter and you should be too. Click here to follow us.

Oh, and we’re also on Facebook, in case you’re still living in the stone age.

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by 80 Proof

It’s Just a Little Crush

It really wasn’t a contest. Would you rather eat pizza and get red pepper flakes stuck in your gums and feel the burn for 15 minutes or would you like to try the crushed ones on the right? Easy choice of course. I love my red pepper flakes and garlic salt on pizza (and Parmesan when available). But those round, light brown things almost ruined the experience for me. I never understood why they couldn’t be crushed up or why the containers would dribble out two or three pieces at a time. It was damn near impossible to get an even covering over a slice!

The solution after the jump…

Cilantro or Cilant-no?

Is cilantro the bacon of 2009?

That’s what our pal So Good was wondering last week, and he’s got good reason. The world’s most controversial herb has been burning up the blogosphere in 2009, most notably on Fuck Yeah, Cilantro, a new tumblelog with perhaps the most specific food porn focus we’ve ever seen: daily money shots of cilantro-covered foods, from pizza to hot dogs and even drinks. Fuck yeah, indeed!

But not all is well in cilantro-land. Over at I Hate Cilantro, anti-coriander activist Erin has been chronicling her hatred for what she calls “the pubes of Beelzebub itself,” even creating a cilantro-free restaurant guide.

I’ve always been intrigued by the passionate feelings this simple spice elicits. I don’t think there’s any other food quite like it. Half the people seem to think it’s the nectar of the gods; the other half think it tastes like soap. I’ve heard it said this is due to some kind of weird genetic split, but wiki says this has never been proven. Ah, cilantro. You are a mysterious one.

So let’s do a highly scientific survey. What do you think? And why?

[poll id=”34″]

(Photo: Chrismar)

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by gansie

Needing More Meat

Editors Note: Help out ES friend, belmontmedina, as she tries to figure out what to cook for her friend’s mom’s cocktail party. Seasonal ingredients may only apply.

I’m doing a cocktail party this Saturday for VT’s mom and about 15 people. He made Alton Brown’s avocado butter earlier this week, and has a ton leftover, so if there’s any way to incorporate that into the food, that would be great.

To make things even more complicated, I’m working until noon on Saturday, then have a cooking class at 4, and am going directly from the class to the party. Therefore, I need things that are either make ahead, or VT can do himself, which means “put in oven at 350 for 15 minutes, take out and don’t touch until I get there.”

We’re not doing anything sit down, just trays of stuff and putzing around his apartment. Here’s what I’ve been toying with so far:

1. Bacon-Goat Cheese pops

2. Modified lamb cigars. Made these for Super Bowl and VT LOVED them. I use little phyllo cups and do chickpeas and spinach in one and lamb in another. Might be too labor intensive though.

3. Tomato-mozz skewers with basil. Super easy, and there are tomatoes at the Foggy Bottom market (at least there usually are, I’m going today to check it out).

VT wants something else meaty and I think we need one more veg app.

HALP!

Pic

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by tvff

Farewell, Harry

Growing up in South Jersey, both gansie and I are big Phillies fans. And as happy as we were when the Phightin’s took home the trophy last year, we’re both really saddened by the loss of Harry Kalas, the team’s long-time Hall of Fame announcer who was as beloved as anyone in the city.

Even if you’re not from the Delaware Valley, you’ll likely know Harry the K’s work. He has long been the voice of NFL films, providing dramatic voice-overs for countless highlight reels.

So when Campbell’s decided to go with pro football stars as part of their advertising campaign for Chunky Soup, who better to serve as the voice of these commercials than Harry?

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