Food: November 2009 Archives

And they said it couldn't be done. While countless idle dreamers have fantasized about uniting the flavor of potato chips, pretzels, and cookies in one transcendent mouthful, nobody ever actually did anything to make the dream a reality, besides stuffing each separate entity into their mouths at once and hoping for the best. Until now! (Or, until recently.) Meet the Chipn'etzel, the apotheosis of the pretzel, the cookie, and the potato chip. We did it, America!

On Sunday, the snobby, pedantic atmosphere that often dominates wine tastings will get rocked by the smug, over-sharing culture that always permeates Twitter! This City Winery event (which merits mention if only because of its name) is called "Spit & Twit." Who can resist? On Sunday afternoon, tweeting oenophiles will have the chance to try over 100 wines from 35 wineries around the world. But here's where it gets interesting or annoying, depending on your feelings about Twitter and those who hold forth on "tasting notes."

Speaking of things waiters should "never" do, here's something a diner should never do: throw your food at the server and threaten to kill him or her. On Wednesday night one Steven Scott, 40, was arrested for assaulting a server at the New York Fried Chicken Diner on Fulton Street in East New York. Hapless waiter Baljit Singh says it all started when Scott came in at 11:30 p.m. and ordered mashed potatoes. After a couple bites, Scott "started griping about the nasty tasting food." So he was given a new serving of potatoes, but this didn't satisfy him either. Oh, no it did not.

Ugh, servers. After they bring your food they're always butting in asking if you're "still working" just as you're reaching the punchline of your most well-rehearsed anecdote! Weren't we supposed to eliminate the human element from the dining experience with computers and conveyor belts by now?! While the world waits on that technology, would-be Hamptons restaurateur Bruce Buschel has completed his list of 100 things servers should never, never do. For instance:

   

Click on the images for details on Frites 'n' Meats, Le Caprice, and Piccola Cucina Focacceria.

Last month celebrity chefs Mario Batali, Bobby Flay, and Emeril Lagasse visited the White House garden to film part of a special two-hour episode of Iron Chef America to emphasize locally-grown, healthy food. The three were joined by the White House executive chef Cristeta Comerford, who teamed up with Flay against the other two chefs in a cooking contest filmed later in NYC.

This week in the Times, Sam Sifton reviews the newly-opened midtown outpost of French mini-chain Le Relais de Venise L’Entrecote, which serves just drinks, salad, fries, steak, and dessert. "Women in French maid outfits serve the stuff as if they were characters in an early Preston Sturges film," says Sifton. "And you know what? It’s terrific." Meanwhile, the Times's Oliver Strand is in Williamsburg to rave about the gourmet sandwich shop Saltie, from veterans of Marlow & Sons and Diner: "It’s a lot of talent for one cramped kitchen. So they overachieve." (He also has kind words for Crosby Connection and Barros Luco.)

Yaargh, the frothing 17,000 square foot vortex at Third Avenue and 40th Street has swallowed up many an ambitious restaurant, and even left jaunty Jeffrey Chodorow with nothing but an ivory stump for a leg. Some say that spot on the map is cursed by a foul wind, and no one's been fool enough to set sail for it in years, ever since that monomaniacal Captain Chodorow lost his leaky Wild Salmon to tropical storm Frank.

       

Click on the images for more details on truffle specials at Bottega Del Vino, Sapori D'Ischia in Queens, Marea, Gilt, Scarpetta, David Burke Townhouse, and Craft.