If you passed by St. Paul’s Chapel near the World Trade Center site yesterday you may have felt like you’d stepped back through time to the city’s raw, post-9/11 days, when the chapel’s fence was festooned with photos and tributes to the attack's victims. The new Nora Ephron movie Julie & Julia recreated the makeshift memorial, which was dismantled in November 2002. (Using a crane, the crew also pasted leaves to the trees.) more ›

We were fascinated by today's Salon article, "Bad Taste," in which prominent food writers chronicle their absolute worst meals ever. Jane and Michael Stern, Regina Schrambling, Steven Rinella, Julie Powell, Michael Ruhlman and Robert Sietsema all chime in with stories of "washcloth steak," "embryonic duckling boiled alive in its shell, one week before birth," (apparently a Filipino delicacy), and "mealy" skate with "low-tide nasty" lobster foam, prepared by Rocco DiSpirito. more ›

Foodies attack the silver screen! In today's Times Arts & Leisure section, the long history and current feast of food in film is given another look. Would there have even been a Big Night if not for the food? In the coming months, Russell Crowe, the first person we think of when the phrase "good taste" coming up, will star as a man who inherits a vineyard and Nora Ephron is working on an adaptation of Julie & Julia, the Julie Powell book that came from her blog. Fast Food Nation has been filmed, too, and, there will be acompetitive eating movie, All You Can Eat, to add some low-to-middle-brow enjoyment to all the wineries and roux. more ›

After reading the review of Ana Marie Cox's new novel, Dog Days, in the Times yesterday (Cox got praise some of the satire, but the narrative itself was too formulaic), Gothamist wondered what about the other bloggers turned genuine, published (or about to be published) writers and their fates. Are a bunch of online fans enough to make a book successful? But what would be success? Critical praise or bestseller-dom? Link love from the blogosphere? An Oprah endorsement? A kick-ass Technorati ranking? Well, of course, all - and even critically panned books get movie deals! Gothamist has spent about ten minutes thinking about this and clearly, the way to go is to write a pseudo-memoir novel that involves raising a dead brother, Russian Jews, race relations in England, stints in drug clinics, and the Opus Dei, basically The Little Staggering Pieces Are Illuminated White Code. more ›

Julie Powell, author, Julie & Julia, creator, The Julie/Julia Project more ›

Gothamist has been a fan of the Julie/Julia Project for quite some time. We were sad to see it come to an end, but at least we knew that Julie had gotten a book deal, so we had something to look forward to. And now, we can revisit our favorite Julie/Julia moments in the form of Julie's new book, Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen: How One Girl Risked Her Marriage, Her Job, and Her Sanity to Master the Art of Living. David Kamp at the New York Times doesn't seem to love the transformation. Although he is quick to compliment Julie on her food-writing skills (she has been published in the New York Times and Bon Appetit since her blog's completion), he still sees the book as too, well, bloggy. "'Julie and Julia' still has too much blog in its DNA: it has a messy, whatever's-on-my-mind incontinence to it, taking us places we'd rather not go . . ." Don't worry, we're still psyched to read it. more ›

.") not to mention her wallet and figure (she estimates she's used over 60 pounds of butter). The Powells will head to DC once the project is over for a pilgrimage to Julia Child's kitchen at the Smithsonian. more ›