Tag Archives: food news
New Spot: The National Restaurant
Rarely do you make the news for not making the news, but that’s just what’s happened with new restaurant The National, which quietly opened over a month ago and is literally off the (Google) map. According to WWD, first-time restauranteurs Julie Dickstein and Jeremy Hogeland wanted to get everything right before alerting the media – unlike so many new places that launch a multi-platform press attack.
Located next to Freeman’s, The National looks like it has a quaint, homey vibe, with antique pieces collected over the span of five years. Chef Zoë Feigenbaum is also a first-timer and graduate of the French Culinary Institute, and is serving up a mostly-seasonal menu that Dickstein describes as “schizophrenic,” because it runs the gamut, Blue Ribbon-like, from Korea to Maine.
So no press, next to Freeman’s, very few seats inside. You know what that means: It’s going to be mobbed.
The National
8 Rivington Street between Chrystie and the Bowery
New York, NY
212-777-2177
More Underappreciated Fish: Haddock
We already went wild for bluefish this summer – as did Sam Sifton in this Sunday’s Times Magazine (NYT: Something Fishy)- but maybe there’s something to this whole underappreciated fish thing in general. NPR ran a story today on James Beard-award-winning chef Sam Hayward of Maine, who’s weathering the recession by adding cheaper entrees to his menu at Fore Street Restaurant. One sustainability success story is haddock, a mild white fish, which is now much more prevalent – and therefore cheaper – than cod or tuna. Hayward makes it into fish cakes and serves it with sauteed local Maine marifax beans, once the year-round food of lumberjacks. Give it a listen and check out the recipes, which can easily be adapted with your own local greenmarket finds.
NPR’s Morning Edition: Top Chef Cooks up Ways to Cut Costs, Not Quality
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Tagged food news, seafood restaurants
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Dining Psychology: Confessions of a Hoarder
What’s surprising about Bruni’s hilarious article today on the psychology of diners, What They Brought to the Table, isn’t that his guests didn’t behave as scripted in restaurants, it’s that they would ever agree to the bargain at all. You couldn’t pay most people to only eat a quarter of what’s on their plate, then pass it dutifully around the table.
And by “most people,” I mean me. Years of sharing with female friends who insisted that they weren’t that hungry, didn’t order much, then ate half of what was on my plate have definitely turned me into a hoarder. The “shared plates” trend has only exacerbated the problem. What’s the point of ordering the arancini if you only get half of one delicious fried rice ball? And no, the fact that I get some of your sauteed spinach in return isn’t much consolation.
There is nothing rational about saying, “I’m going to get the rice balls. But I am going to eat them all, so if you guys want some, maybe we should order more.” Yet I have said this to my friends. In restaurants. Aloud.
Other than hoarders vs. sharers, here are a few more categories I’ve noticed over the years: the Manglers, the Impatients, the Meg Ryans, and the Switch Orderers. (more…)
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Tagged East Village rants, food news
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On the Stump for Coffee
Here it is. Coffee. A seemingly innocuous substance, yet Stumptown, a fair trade coffee brand based in Portland, Oregon, caused a fervor – and a backlash – as soon as it landed in New York this summer, the likes of which we haven’t seen since mid-90s Starbucks encroachment. A NY Press article questioning the boho spirit of the brand – true or poser? – incited a series of inordinately belligerent comments on Eater.
In the past few months, when I tell people I write about food, a couple New Yorkers immediately asked: Have you tried Stumptown coffee? Not what do you think about Bruni’s demotion of Union Square Cafe to two stars or what’s the best pizza place, but have you tried Stumptown coffee? Really, you haven’t? At this point, after proclaiming the merits of this miraculous beverage, they usually change the subject awkwardly, suddenly unsure that I would ever have anything useful to say about food. (more…)
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Tagged Brooklyn, East Village rants, food news
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I Had a Farm, a Farm in Brooklyn
In New York City, where outdoor space – make that any space – is at a premium, would you give over your entire backyard to a farming initiative? That’s what several Brooklynites have already done, as chronicled in Serious Eats’ new video Brooklyn’s Cool New Backyard Farms. Stacey Murphy, founder of BK Farmyards, consults with homeowners about what they can grow, then designs and installs planting beds, irrigation, and the actual vegetables. For everything you can’t eat, BK Farmyards will credit you and sell “to your neighbors,” as their website explains. They already have a total of three and a half acres under cultivation.
In case you’re wondering where your next really, really locally-sourced restaurant meal comes from, this video may just provide the answer.
Calorie Counting with the Lose It! App
I just downloaded this app and am already obsessed: Lose It! keeps track of how many calories you consume each day and deducts the calories you burn. It may sound simple, but if you’ve ever been lost in a fog of misinformation, this free application will clear it up immediately. For instance, if you’ve ever wondered: how bad is that extra tablespoon of olive oil (+126 calories)/gin and tonic (+160 calories)/half of a bagel with cream cheese (+245 calories), and can I burn it off by walking to work? Lose It! will also tell you that sadly, a 30-minute walk only burns 71 calories, so chances are the answer is no.
Tagged culture, food news, iPhone apps, technology
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Dis This: Bruni Takes on Celebrity Chefs
The lede in Bruni’s review of Locanda Verde last week was particularly intriguing:
“Renown in the restaurant world can dawn so suddenly and grow so quickly that many chefs get ahead of themselves, winding up a half-dozen paces beyond where they rightfully belong.”
Which automatically begs the question, who? There are so many options in NYC, but Bruni must have been referring to at least one chef in particular. The answer becomes clear in this week’s review:
“[Table 8] marks the New York debut of Govind Armstrong, one of those supremely telegenic chefs whose celebrity seems to outpace his accomplishments….”
Slap! Score one for Bruni.
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Tagged food news, Frank Bruni, Locanda Verde, New York
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No Lobsters Were Harmed in the Making of this Movie
Buried deep within Kim Severson’s fascinating NYT article on food styling in the upcoming “Julie & Julia” film is this nugget:
On the set of “Julie & Julia,” the lobsters posed a special challenge. Ms. Adams appears to plunge two live lobsters into a pot of steaming water. The steam is actually a cool mist, and just off camera representatives from the American Humane Association monitored the creatures’ health.
Meanwhile, on the front page of the Times, you can also read about how Iranian protesters were beaten to death. But no, we Americans are really, really concerned about the well-being of . . . lobsters.
Let’s hope no one told those representatives what was in the liver aspic, the lamb stew, or for that matter, the Dover sole. Multiple portions of which were bought for the styling of the movie.
On the other hand, there may be a sequel in this: What became of your lobster, Julie? You still wake up and hear them screaming, don’t you?
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Tagged food news, Julie & Julia
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Bruni Speaks
Since announcing that he is leaving the post of Times food critic, Frank Bruni seems to be gradually revealing himself. This week: Bruni’s voice! Hear him as he narrates this slideshow of the best new NYC pizzerias. He harumphs (Co.) and at one point even swears (Veloce Pizzeria), declaring a hen-of-the-woods pizza “damn good.”
Chances are, restauranteurs and publicists around the city are committing that voice to memory right now.
If you can bear to wait until then, Bruni is slotted to appear in the flesh with Eater founder Ben Leventhal in “Bruni Unveiled,” an hour-long interview at the New York Food & Wine Festival in October.
Murray’s Melts – A First Look
The humble bacon, egg and cheese sandwich may never be the same.
Can you ever go back to a deli sandwich with a too-big roll, meager egg, and supermarket quality bacon and cheese after one of Murray’s breakfast sandwiches? The answer is unclear, because Murray’s combination of farm egg, fontina cheese, gourmet bacon on a thin English muffin that perfectly frames the ingredients within is pretty redonk, even for someone who thinks they’ve sampled the best bacon, egg and cheese in the land.
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Tagged cheese, food news, Murray's Melts
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Murray’s Melts
Stop the insanity – or actually, please don’t: Grub Street reports that Murray’s Cheese has just opened a sandwich counter, Murray’s Melts. Imagine the deliciousness of Murray’s taleggio, maple leaf smoked gouda, or double creme brie on Blue Ribbon Bakery bread, sandwiched next to sopressata, roasted turkey, or prosciutto, then topped with caramelized onions, sauerkraut, or cornichon then grilled to crunchy melt-in-your-mouth goodness. That and so much more now exists! There are 14 cheeses to choose from at this sandwich counter, nine meats, eight veggie toppings, and five fancy condiments. They even do breakfast sandwiches. Sandwich prices start at $3.99. (more…)
Monkey Bar: Ketley Is Out, Forgione Is In
A small but important listing in today’s Times: Looks like Graydon Carter has given the boot to the original chef of the Monkey Bar, Elliot Ketley. (You’ve got to hand it to Carter – he really does know how to fire people.) Larry Forgione is in as of May 18th as the “supervising executive chef.” Not quite sure what that means, but let’s hope it translates to better food, pronto.
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Tagged food news, Graydon Carter
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Julie Powell: Food Bloggers Are Clannish, Slightly Evil People
Last night the Young Lions of the New York Public Library hosted a panel, “Eating at Home,” featuring Amanda Hesser, Rocco DiSpirito, Marion Nestle, and Julie Powell, author of Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment, the basis of an upcoming film starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. The most revelatory part of the evening? Though she was perhaps the first food blogger to get a book out of her blog postings, and certainly the first to get a movie starring Amy Adams as herself, Julie Powell does not consider herself a food blogger and feels “deeply ambivalent” about the whole food blogging phenomenon. “Food bloggers are clannish, slightly evil people sometimes.” Et tu, Julie?
The Young Lions Committee often features excellent panels like this (I’ve also seen Mario Batali, Anthony Bourdain, and Bill Buford face off on stage there), so if you want to see excellent speakers first hand, please join and help them out: The New York Public Library just lost $57 million in funding.
More highlights from the talk, after the jump.