Bloomberg's Near Tofu Snafu

Gothamist loves stories about the eating habits of political candidates, because even if we disagree about the issues, at least we know we all like food. But the NY Times published a somewhat controversial story over the weekend about Mayor Bloomberg's new election year diet. He has cut out the following: Wine; bacon and eggs (or is he trying to woo more Orthodox Jewish votes?); saltines with cream cheese and salt; and his "favorite lunchtime fare," Chinese food. Cutting out Chinese food? Perhaps the most popular take-out in the city, this side of pizza? While the Chinese vote won't make or break his candidacy, perception is everything, especially when you think about how many Chinese people there are on this Earth and how many Chinese investors are looking to make their mark in New York; news like this would be like gold to the Asian tabloids. The NY Times followed up with some Chinese restaurant owners and diners. The owner of Joe Shanghai's said, "He is making big mistake," and added that Chinese people are always skinny. Perhaps "usually skinny" is a better term, Gothamist wonders if the Mayor is not drinking tea with his Chinese lunches, because one adage says the tea helps flush out the fats. Anyway, the Mayor's spokesman, Ed Skyler, tried to calm Chinese food enthusiasts by noting the Mayor is eating tofu and broccoli with oyster sauce for lunch and saying, "Having shared a lot of meals with him over the years, I can assure owners of Chinese restaurants across the city that this is a mayor who has and will continue to deeply love Chinese food." We should hope the Mayor's advance team is scheduling a trip to a Chinese restaurant stat!

Foods the mayor will still eat: Hot dogs, popcorn, and melon; no word on his beloved lemon ice. The Mayor wasn't the only one faced with food issues: City Council Speaker Gifford Miller was faced with a cannoli conundrum last month. You can try out some real Chinese food by heading to Chinatown.