When it comes to restaurants, San Francisco and New York have had a long simmering battle over whose cuisine reigns supreme. The battle last heated up when Momofuku's David Chang famously said that "F**kin' every restaurant in San Francisco is just serving figs on a plate. Do something with your food." And now the gauntlet has been thrown down again. San Francisco Chronicle critic Michael Bauer this morning answered a reader's question about why there weren't more New York restaurateurs by the Bay and he basically said our chefs are too chicken to cook in SF. more ›

If there is no such thing as bad publicity, then we suppose yesterday's Cash Tomato promotion was a resounding success - if a melee as people tried to grab money works for you. The event, which involved giving away $29 to individuals in honor of Leap Year - wait, make that $29 attached to tomatoes, resulted in a Union Square riot with one person hospitalized and police and paramedics on the scene. more ›

In the wake of the horrific tiger escape resulting in one death and two injuries at the San Francisco Zoo, zoos around the country are examining their tiger exhibit set-ups. Tiger Mountain at the Bronx Zoo has the following set-up, per the Post:

Tiger Mountain is surrounded by a moat about 10 feet wide and is enclosed by a fence that is 15 feet high and has a five-foot overhang. That means that the last five feet slant inward. more ›

Intertube-savvy metropolitan diners now have yet another way to make sure their every culinary craving is sated: the new website FoodieBytes, now beta testing, lets users search restaurant menus based on the food they desire. For instance, typing in “pesto” and “whole wheat pasta” yields over a hundred New York eateries. You can narrow your search by neighborhood and, once you find a restaurant that seems appealing, peruse the entire menu, get the hours, address and price info, and find directions through a Google Maps interface. more ›

This week, Phillyist saw the waters of a landmark fountain run red for a Showtime marketing stunt, the Phils pull ahead, and some serious nostalgia. They also got a chance to review an awesome tribute album, reminded folks to see the King, and appreciated their beautiful skyline. more ›

What’s worth watching on food-TV this week? more ›

Happy first weekend of September - and happy Labor Day weekend, too, for our American cities! Let's take a look at what's been happening around the Ist-a-verse. more ›

We at the Gothamist network would like to express our heartfelt wishes to the people of Minnesota in the days after their tragic bridge collapse. We're not trying to discount the severity of the accident by making note of it in opposition to our usual -Ist lightheartedness - we just wanted to take a moment and recognize those affected last week. more ›

While SFist cringed at the fatal dose of crime littering the Bay Area, it found solace in Hillary Clinton's San Francisco campaign headquarters opening, which featured loads of exposed mammary glands. In other news, SF Taxi Commission ruled that Satan's cab must keep its (in)famous medallion number, 666; and in an un-fashion-forward frenzy, San Francisco Fashion Week (chortle) bars bloggers from covering and getting smashed at their shows and parties, respectively. Also, they found a picture displaying the woes of cruising in a tacky limo on the streets of San Francisco. more ›

This week ended with the launch of the seventh and final Harry Potter installation. But while the world was consumed with Pottermania, it's important to remember that there were more serious things going on in the world, too - two of them in -Ist cities. more ›

Banner week for SFist as the site's new editor introduced himself -- hooray for Brock! While the NY Times weighed in on SF's mayoral race, only SFist had the hard-hitting latest on candidate/activist Josh Wolf. Coverage of a protest vs. gentrification spawned a fantastic debate amongst SFist's readers. Finally, from the sublime to the ridiculous: video of a man that confused a Board of Supes meeting with "open mic night" and sang a custom version of Madonna's "Borderline" to a much-beleaguered board member. more ›

more ›

It's the day for the Apple iPhone to be released to the public, and the public is doing its job to feed into the media frenzy. If you're not on line waiting for the iPhone, you've either seen people waiting on line or mocked people waiting on line (while secretly coveting one, of course). WCBS has some photographs of people on line this morning - someone even brought his dog, which is named Beta! David Clayman, second in line, has been blogging about his waiting at iPhone Adventure. And earlier this week, on the luck of seven interviewed the person at the head of the line, Greg Packer, and Clayman - here's the video. more ›

Happy Father's Day! For those of you who have dads, are dads, or know dads, this one's for you, from all of us at the Gothamist network." more ›

Photo courtesy of Eat for Victory more ›

MOVIE: One Ring Zero is a lit-rock fans dream come true. The band features Paul Auster, Jonathan Lethem, Dave Eggers and Margaret Atwood’s lyrics set to the music of trumpets, theremins, claviolas, and metallophones. Director Joe Pacheco captured the band on film and presents it now as a documentary, As Smart As They Are: The Author Project. Here's a song/video with lyrics by Michael Chabon: more ›

If you haven't heard about Christina Ricci, Samuel L. Jackson and Justin Timberlake's Southern Gothic exploitation movie, . more ›

TASTING: Forget wine and cheese...come pair up your favorite fromages with some beer! FreeNYC points us to Bierkraft - Park Slope's proprietor of some of the finest microbrews, cheeses, and chocolates. They're having a pairing of 5 beers with 5 cheese tonight, here's what's on the menu: more ›

Where are all the rich, single guys in Manhattan? Why, the East Side and Chelsea, of course. We figured that out using GeoIQ's heatmap technology, which displays information using futuristic gradient shading. They've released two sample maps: a New York vs. San Francisco demographic comparison (rich, single men in SF seem to congregate near Union Square!) and a traffic map, which you can use to compare congestion in various cities. For instance, here's NYC vs. LA-- aren't you glad we have a working subway? more ›

Let's take a look back at a week that raised this Zen koan: if Kevin Federline got into a wrestling ring with a wrestler, who would you root for? more ›

While not listed on the website, a small bird-shaped source tells us that the gigantic (website says 66k vs. 90k sq.ft. in reality) Whole Foods in the Avalon Christie on Houston & Bowery will open in April 2007, an almost 1 year delay. Same little birdie says that contrary to reports elsewhere, they will also get to build a Whole Foods wine store (maybe not liquor) to replace the one forced out of the Columbus Circle store. more ›

So, what have you guys been up to for the last...10 years? more ›

As we sat down to write this week's Best of the -ists post, a car blaring "21 Questions'" passed by our house. And that started us thinking about how some of the best -ist posts out there have at their hearts questions, some of which are answered, and some of which are left open. Check out the Best of the -ists from this week, and see if you agree. more ›

- And we have the third highest number of college graduates (SF was the most educated, followed by San Jose) more ›

The internets are abuzz with Jason Kottke's "Manhattan Elsewhere" project. In it, he uses Google Maps and Google Earth to place Manhattan on the same map as other cities (Chicago, SF, Boston, Minneapolis, and the teeming metropolis that is Barron, Wisconsin!) The project is a loving remake of Bill Rankin's Errant Island of Manhattan project-- check that one out for LA and Philadelphia comparisons. Six years passed between the two projects, and it is fun to see how far internet maps have come since Mapquest-- especially in the 3D rendering department. more ›

The 2006 Bicycle Film Festival is here, kicking off in New York today, and then traveling to nine additional cities across the globe. more ›

Two Gallants more ›

Seattlest saw a house party get senselessly attacked with a shotgun and end in seven dead. A local senator is debated and their version of the big dig is investigated. To truly get to the bottom of it they interview the writer Jonathan Raban. more ›

So you thought you were going to spend tomorrow sleeping in, lounging around your fetid apartment, and maybe watching some TiVo'd Olympic coverage? Wrong! Tomorrow at 2pm you will be in Union Square, armed with pillows, preparing to beat the stuffing out of numerous strangers. The details: more ›

To heck with the old New York or LA fight (or even the once strong NY v. SF meme), USA Today is trying to stir up some trouble by pitting our fine Capital of the World against the Second City (the capital of the Midwest?). more ›