Results tagged “foodparty”

The IACP Awards, or more informally—the “cookbook awards”—were given out somewhere in Denver over the weekend. A few Gothamist interviewees from the past year were honored: The big Chanterelle book, by David Waltuck, Andrew Friedman, and photography by Maria Robledo, won for Food Photography & Styling. Bottomfeeder, a first person chronicle of the sustainable seafood movement by essayist Taras Grescoe, won the Literary Food Writing award, and Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, by Jennifer McLagan won in the Single Subject category. Eat Me Daily’s Helen Rosner offers some smart criticism of the judges’ choices and how they'll inform the future of cookbooks; here’s a decent-sized preview of the award-winning Chanterelle. Meanwhile, we’d be remiss if we failed to mention another Gothamist interviewee’s ascendancy to some kind of specially selected, niche list: Food Party host Thu Tran has just been named one of Paper magazine’s Beautiful People 2009.

Thu Tran, host of what might be the only cooking show shot on a set made from cardboard, has made the long awaited fourth episode of Food Party available online. The latest installment of the ongoing, surreal series filmed in Tran’s Brooklyn apartment follows something of a telenovela format: Chain-smoking, hipper-than-thou talking Gallic baguette arrives for a date with Tran, only to keel over mid-meal. The very concerned Dr. Monkeyface and a sweets-loving male nurse are called in, at which point it is revealed that Baguette has developed croutons and is suffering from a literal yeast infection. Recipes shared along the way include one for a special kind of congee made from rice harvested by kittens that charge paddies like demented boll weevils. That segment of the episode is called “The Story of Rice Porridge,” and is narrated by none other than Santos’ Party House maestro Andrew WK. Prepare for glutinous rice tears, and a plateful of starchy drama.[Food Party IV: Baguette Drama]

Thu Tran is the host and creator of Food Party, quite possibly the only cooking program you should be watching. The show is a labor of strange love between the 27-year-old and her friends, who hand-make the supporting cast, sets and props. In the first two episodes, cardboard versions of Jay-Z, Beyoncé, and LeBron James make dinner plans with Tran, and the artist spends a good half hour whipping up snacks made from common household items like spray cheese, Buffalo chicken wings, and tree-grown doughnuts. Also making appearances on Food Party are the devil (who plays righteous rock hero guitar), and a lovelorn ice cream cone that lives in the permafrost freezer compartment. Maybe just watch some segments here.