Potato Chip + Pretzel + Cookie = Chipn'etzel

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!

Wine Lovers "Tweeting Up" For "Spit & Twit" @ City Winery Sunday

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."

Arby's Nears Opening Day in Brooklyn, 39 More To Come

Brooklyn has waited far too long for a French Dip Combo, but soon enough the borough's first Arby's will be opening and putting an end to its curly fry-less days. And boy oh boy, is it the fanciest Arby's you ever did see.

Diner Patron Threatens to Kill Server Over Subpar Food

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.

100 Things Restaurant Servers Must Stop Doing!

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.

Chef Behind Carmine's Dies

2009_11_carmine.jpg The NY Times reports that Michael Ronis, the chef who helped develop the Carmine's concept, died at age 60 last week from brain cancer. "Carmine’s was the brainchild of Arthur Cutler, who asked Mr. Ronis, who had previously worked with him, to come up with a menu and concept reminiscent of Dominick’s, a famed Italian restaurant in the Bronx. The idea they reached was to serve every meal in the style of an Italian wedding feast, offering piles of spaghetti and meatballs and other Italian-American standards in a nostalgic environment...[the] first location opened in 1990 on Broadway near 91st Street, and its medium-budget fare struck a responsive chord during a lingering recession."

Wine Not? 7-Eleven To Start Selling Vino

110409gulp.jpg For truly special occasions when a bottle of Two Buck Chuck simply won't suffice, the discerning oenophile may soon turn to 7-Eleven, where a far more sophisticated wine will be sold. Sure, the $3.99 price tag may give some pause, but sometimes in life you've got to pamper yourself a little bit. 15,000 7-Eleven outlets will start stocking chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon; the chardonnay is described as zesty with notes of apricot, peach and honey; and the cab as full-bodied with juicy plum Slurpee overtones. [Via Grub Street]

First Lady Michelle Obama Appearing on Iron Chef America

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.

Midweek Special: NYC Restaurant Review Roundup

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.)

Cursed Restaurant Space Gets Fresh Meat

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.

NYC Existed For 200 Years Without Restaurants

Restaurant.jpg You wouldn’t know it today walking down West 46th Street in Manhattan or Smith Street in Brooklyn, but until 1827, New York City did not have a single restaurant. That's the year when a pair of Swiss brothers named Delmonico opened their eponymous William Street confectionery and café, ending 200 years of restaurant-less history and setting "the tone for fine dining in New York almost overnight," according to a new book detailing the city's evolution as a restaurant capital. Before then, anyone forced to eat out had two choices at their local boardinghouse or chophouse: “a slab of beef or mutton with potatoes and gravy."

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