This week in miscellaneous eating news: A Fatty Crab tasting party, stinky cheese menus at French restaurants around the city, and today's Texas Independence Day celebration at Hill Country. Yeehaw!
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Starting today, the "Fatty Crew" is hiding prizes in a few of their house-made Fatty Chocolate Bars, sold at all three of Pelaccio's restaurants. According to the restaurants' publicist, a small number of the bars will contain special tickets in the wrapping redeemable for items like free cocktails, free Fatty T-Shirts, and free appetizers. The golden ticket will entitle the lucky winner (and a guest) to attend one of a handful of "exclusive" Fatty ‘Cue preview parties, and "meet NYC’s own Willy Wonka of Asian cuisine, Zak Pelaccio." Which can only mean one thing: Pelaccio is preparing to disappear into retirement and wants someone to take over his fatty empire. Don't fall into the bubbling pig fat river! more ›

Today Frank Bruni at the Times bestows two out of four stars on the Upper West Side Fatty Crab (photos/menu), an impressive rating for a casual restaurant. But Bruni just can't get enough of "the Fatty spirit, the culinary equivalent of a stoner’s foggy contentment...Are its flavors in fact too big, too unrelenting? What qualifies as a bold deployment of chilies and aiolis, and what’s just indiscriminate overkill? Many a meal at Fatty Crab raises those questions and walks a fine line, but pretty much every time I began to doubt the kitchen’s care and skill, something came along to restore my belief." more ›

Tearing a page from his own tried-and-true Southeast Asian playbook (but more literally found in Keith H. Steinkraus’ massive 776 page tome The Handbook of Indigenous Fermented Foods) chef Zak Pelaccio’s new Fatty Crab opened last night on the Upper West Side. The new location has more seats (74 total, with 20 outdoor spots coming when the weather turns). The wood tabletops are unfinished, and giant wall mural of Kuala Lumpur reminds diners that they’re not in Malaysia. On the other hand, dining room smells will no doubt forcibly remind diners of Pelaccio and chef de cuisine Corwin Kave’s unbounded love for all things belacan, a kind of fermented shrimp paste typically sold in blocks that has become the cornerstone of all things Fatty. more ›

Last night at the Hiro Ballroom was Cochon 555, a sort-of sisterhood of the traveling pork event that supplies five chefs in each visited city with a 70 to 80 pound heritage breed pig; chefs are told to do whatever they’d like, and the results are judged. Wine, beer, cheese, and pig themed (or flavored, really) candy are also served. Last night’s Cochon 555 pitted the following pitmasters against each other: Mark Ladner of Del Posto, Corwin Kaye of Fatty Crab, Juan Jose Cuevas of EightyOne, Bobby Hellen of Resto, and Michael Clampffer of Mosefund Farm. Lardo and headcheese were in abundance, followed by terrine like things and boudin blanc. The air smelled like bacon. more ›

Peter Evans, an Australian chef with four restaurants and two books to his name, not to mention the daily television cooking show he hosts back home, is looking at restaurant spaces in the city. “We have friends over here with restaurants,” he told us yesterday, “so we’re going to speak with them about the economy and get their thoughts. It all depends on timing, but we’re here to have a proper look.” more ›

We don't have the luxury of forgetting indefinitely because this is not a sustainable proposition. By the time my kids are my age, they're going to look back and say, "You did what with the last drop of fossil fuels? You pushed a watermelon from Chile to your door so that you could eat it out of season? What were you thinking?"

This week in the Times, Bruni goes to the new Landmarc in the Time Warner Center, awards the restaurant one star. “It’s three times the size of the original Landmarc in Tribeca,” he says, “whose menu and competent cooking it replicates but whose warmth it largely lacks.” He compares the food to what you’d find at a Midwestern Marriot, but says that perhaps it’s just what the overly self-conscious Time Warner Center needs. more ›

• Hate airport food? Well, if you're flying out of JFK, they've just opened a Balducci's in Terminal 2. We're also partial to the Cibo Express in Terminal 6, pictured at right. [New Yorkology]
• What happens when you mix chefs, booze, fire, and egos? A mess, some broken glass, and an accidental stabbing. Seems that Marco Pierre White was demonstrating a flaming Sambuca trick to Mario Batali, Tony Bourdain and others at the Spotted Pig when things went awry. [NY Post]
• Herring, herring, and more herring. 'Tis the season at The Oyster Bar and Aquavit. [Eat for Victory]

It's the Lunar New Year this weekend, the first day of 4705 being this Sunday. The Year of the Pig is a very good year - pigs are fat and round, which means a prosperous and benevolent year. Some even think it's a good year to have babies, too! Chinatown will be celebrating the Year of the Pig this weekend and for the next few weeks. There's the Flower Market at Columbus Park today and tomorrow, and on Sunday, there's a New Year’s Day Firecracker Ceremony & Cultural Festival. The big parade will be two Sunday away on February 25, so get ready. more ›

Let’s start with some birth announcements. more ›

October 7: Beer on the Pier more ›

This time of the year, crops with long growth cycles are coming into the local markets in abundance. This late, late summer leaning into fall is a perfect time to enjoy the variety of melons now riding each morning on farmers' trucks. more ›

September 7: Sake Tasting more ›

It’s Fall Preview week at the Times. Flo Fab’s got the upcoming restaurant openings, both for this month and the rest of the year. Adjust your diets accordingly! more ›

September 3: Outstanding in the Field more ›

New York Magazine released its Cheap Eats issue this week, complete with a specific five-star system unique to the Cheap Eats list. The stars are explained as follows:

To the usual system of measures, we’re adding another, one we call the FWII Factor (For What It Is). Hereby, a frank is judged on its own terms, not against a USDA prime T-bone. Pizza can achieve perfection, and on our list, it has—twice. The FWII Factor recognizes that all food—even the cheapest—is capable of greatness. more ›

- The Times adds to the Super Bowl's gourmet gluttony with black bean and chorizo subs, chipotle meatballs and cowboy beans from Rick Bayless the Fatty Crab's pork belly tea sandwiches. more ›

Considering all of the Fatty Crab craziness going on at the edge of Manhattan's Meatpacking district, one would think that Chef Zak Pelaccio is the first to introduce the city to the wonders of Malaysian cuisine. more ›

Fall is here, and you know what that means -- Fall restaurant preview time. From what we've read in New York Metro and the New York Times, it looks like we've got a lot to look forward to, including openings from not one but two Iron Chefs -- Batali's Del Posto (85 10th Avenue) and Morimoto's Morimoto (88 10th Avenue). Gothamist is pretty excited about a few others, including Bar Carrera (175 Second Avenue), from Bar Veloce's Fred Twomey, who told us about his new Spanish wine and small plates venture a few months ago at a Spanish wine event; the Fatty Crab (643 Hudson St), the latest from 5 Ninth's Zak Pelaccio, which will dabble in Asian street foods, including Jalan Alor chicken wings and chili crabs served with white bread; and Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction (34 Avenue A), serving a Jewish/Latin menu, which we have to try, if for no other reason, than to taste the Manischevitini, a cocktail made with Manischewitz wine - what would our bubbes think? Then again, any spot where chopped liver, chorizo meatballs, and crab-stuffed deviled eggs can share the same plate is worth a visit. Mo Pitkin's is open; the others are scheduled to open this month, but you know how that goes. more ›