The Ultimate Kitchen Nightmare

I watched Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares last night, and I could barely keep my food down. Rat traps, cockroaches everywhere, green meat, and rotten veggies… blech. I seriously thought I was going to throw up. But it got me thinking: How does a restaurant in midtown Manhattan get away with this? I know that NY’s a big place and there are too many restaurants to keep tabs on, but this was an egregious mistake on the part of the NY Health Department. And I think more than anyone, they should be embarrassed and ashamed. I’ve actually considered calling the Health Dept lately—there’s a teeny, tiny restaurant at the end of my block that is disgusting. They are infested with rats. I can’t walk by without seeing at least 6 of them scatter across my path. And they basically throw their garbage down into the cellar for the rats to feast on—no bags, no cleaning, no nothing. So, should I do it? I’m morally conflicted. I don’t want to be a tattle-tale, but it’s food and it could seriously make someone sick. What’s the right call?

PS—there’s some talk over on the YumSugar boards about the hottie, Vikas Khanna, that Ramsay brought in to turn the Purnima Restaurant around. They’ve also put up a poll about whether you’d consider eating at Purnima now. Tough question. It’d be hard to turn down Vikas’ food, but even harder to get the image of those cockroaches out of my head.

Swapping Lit

Laura is hosting a book-swap—what a fun idea! The plan is to sign-up to send out at least two really great books that you are currently enjoying. The books can be cookbooks (that’ll be me—I’m thinking about swapping the two books above), romance novels, children’s books, autobiographies – pick your poison (as Laura says). She’ll try to match people up accordingly based on interests and assign swap partners Wednesday of next week via email. (It will be up to you and your partner if books need to be returned or not). If you’re interested in participating, email Laura at dachsiedesign@gmail.com with the following information:

Name
Mailing address
Email address
Blog or Flickr account
Favorite section of a bookstore
All time favorite novel
A book that was way better than it’s movie version
Would you be willing to ship internationally? Y/N

I have a ridiculous amount of cookbooks in my apartment, and I could definitely use some new ideas and inspiration. So I’m ready to swap!

What’s Next: The Wine Keg?

I just read on YumSugar that an Argentinean wine company, called Iron Wine, has started to sell wine in cans. I love this idea! I’m a big fan of wine-in-a-box—maybe because I’ve bought a bottle of wine gone bad a few too many times. Which brings up another question I have:

If you buy a bottle of wine from a wine store, and it’s completely bad when you open it for the first time, can you return it? Or is it part of the risk you take in choosing to buy wine, that sometimes you’ll have to accept the loss of a bad bottle (sorta like you have to accept you’ll occasionally lose clothes at the dry cleaners)?

It’s a question I’ve grappled with for some time now. I’m always too embarrassed to return anything, but it infuriates me nonetheless. The whole wine in a can idea would be a nice departure—plus, it’s really the perfect size for a single glass of wine. I really like the idea of being able to buy smaller portions since I can never finish a bottle before it goes bad (OK… sorta a lie, there). But, alas… it’s not available in the US, yet.

Perilla Open for Brunch!

I just got an email from Perilla that says, starting Sunday they’ll be open for brunch! I bet it’ll be amazing, and I wish I could go. Here’s what the email said:

On September 29 we’re starting brunch here at Perilla. It’s one of our favorite things about New York – waking up late on Saturday and Sunday, reading the paper, having a cup of coffee and our favorite brunch food. We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel, but Harold’s having some fun in the kitchen, offering Cinnamon Challah French Toast with Rum Raisin Maple Syrup and Whipped Sweet Butter; Poached Organic Eggs with Chive-Buttermilk Biscuits and Pork Sausage Gravy; and even his take on a Cuban sandwich, with Pork Belly, Swiss, homemade Pickles and Tater Tots on the side.

It’s a great time of year in the city, and we’ll constantly be changing the menu to reflect the season’s ingredients (look for some apple pancakes made with fresh Upstate apples later this fall).

Oh, Harold. Why won’t you just marry me and cook me breakfast every morning? If anyone goes, tell me how it is!

Photo via.

I Ate Caviar Last Night

And you know what? It really is salty. I got the 5-star treatment at a press event for Usher’s new perfume (not half-bad, might I add). But mostly, I just wanted to show-off my close-up pic of the dapper crooner. PS—Martha was there!

Now That’s Using Your Melon

I love these really fun watermelon sculptures that I saw on flickr—what a weird talent. Ram Food Art.

Flower.

Eagle.

What Do You Eat for Breakfast?

I love this photo compilation that J sent me—the photographer is Jon Huck and he took pics of people and the breakfasts they eat. Mine would be sad: Heart to Heart cereal and horrible, office, instant coffee. But at least it’s not beans!

That’s not breakfast!

Yum!

Poptarts!!!

Photojojo! is doing a Breakfast thread of their own if you want to join the fun.

Fancy Shmancy Dinnerware

I love these bowl-like, plate-type things that I saw at SwissMiss. So shmancy. The Impression Crockery is made by Benjamin Hubert, who’s apparently a big-deal in the design world since he’s nominated for Design Blueprint Best Newcomer 2007.

Yesterday I Was a Tourist

I got to sleep in yesterday, which is the best treat on earth! But when I woke up, J and I decided it was too nice to spend the day sitting on the couch watching TV. So, we took a walk along the East River from the Williamsburg Bridge to the Brooklyn Bridge. While sitting on a bench and relaxing, I all of a sudden said, “Hey, wanna walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and have lunch at Grimaldi’s?” I’ve lived in NYC for 6 years, and I’ve never done either of those things. It was hysterical—the bridge is beautiful and lovely to walk across on a nice, sunny day, but man… did we feel like tourists! We got yelled at more than once for walking in the bike lane, and we stopped along the way to ooh and aah over the incredible views of the city and the Statue of Liberty. When we got to the end of the bridge, I sorta assumed Grimaldi’s would be sitting there like an oasis at the finish line. Nope. So we had to flag down a Brooklyn native and ask for directions—”Just walk down the hill and you’ll see a bunch of people waiting on line.” Well, we got on line… for 45 minutes. Most of that time we were forced to listen to some southerner on the phone practically screaming all the details of her amazing trip to NYC. Why can’t people censor their volume? Then we sat for 25 minutes before we got our pizza. Finally! And I have to say, it was pretty good. It’s certainly not the best pizza I’ve ever had—J complained heavily that the basil was bitter and the sauce was too sweet. But it was a fun experience and I’m glad we did it. And we’ll never do it again.

Can you find me?

Cupcakes on the Brain

Here’s a few of the adorable, edible cupcakes I’ve seen over the past week or so. Beach cupcakes via yumsugar,  Karate cakes via Cupcakes Take the Cake, Knitted cupcakes (completely edible) via BoingBoing, and Meteorbite via Cupckaes Take the Cake. I also love this special TMNT one (below) that we posted on GoodyBlog! Now someone buy me one I can actually EAT!

Dine and Dash: Empanadas

I have walked past Rivington Bar almost every day for the past 2 years—it is a complete enigma to me. It is one of the most puzzling venues I’ve ever come across in NYC. It’s a bar, yet… it’s never open. Seriously, I’ve walked past at 10pm on a Wednesday night more than once, and the place is completely shutdown and locked up. I think that the dudes who own it just randomly decide to open—like, “The game’s on tonight and we’re all gonna watch it anyways, we might as well open the bar.” And several times I’ve passed it to watch a riveting game of Nintendo/PS2/X-Box/Game-ish device. I even ventured inside once, and I was met with the abrasive din of trip-hop. It’s a teeny bar. There’s no room for trip-hop. Anyways… if I think too hard about this place, my brain starts to hurt. But, there’s an added weird-factor to the bar now. Apparently, as of tonight, they are serving empanadas at a walk-up window. They said that they’ll be open every night, 7 days a week, from 5pm ’til 4am. Yeah… I’ll believe that when I see it. But why empanadas, Rivington Bar? Why? Do you just enjoy screwing with my mind? Why do you think that trip-hop, strange Euro-style, and empanadas mix? Ahhh…. too much to handle.

UPDATE: Per Nick’s comment, the empanada confusion has been solved. Rivington Bar is no longer… hallelujah! It’s now run by the ex-General Manager of Cielo, and it’s been renamed Label—for more info check here. I’m going to try to check it out for myself soon.

Dining Among the Stars

Literally—like the stars in the sky—with this amazing contraption called “Dinner in the Sky.” It’s a dinner table that gets hoisted into the air and held up at a height of 50 meters by a team of professionals and a very large crane. This makes my stomach ache, and I’m not sure if I could get over the fear of plummeting to my death in order to regain my appetite. But at the same time, it sounds like a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Can you imagine doing this anywhere in NYC? Or in Brooklyn right near the river? It would be such a spectacular view. The table seats up to 22 people, which is more than I can fit in my apartment, so that’s not too shabby. You can even rent a second crane to hoist up a band or some other form of entertainment! You know, just in case you get bored of hanging around.

Finally! A Wine Tutorial I Can Understand

 

Jo the MasterBaker sent me this article about picking the perfect wine based on everyday foods you like to eat. For example, “If you like lemonade or lemon meringue pie, try… sauvignon blanc.” Or my favorite, “If you like chewy fudge brownies, try… Merlot.” But, the problem with this article is that I like every food they mention, and I know I don’t like every wine. Do I like lemonade, buttered corn on the cob, brownies, watermelon, BBQ chicken, and grilled beef with black pepper? Yes. All of them. In my mouth, now, please. But my love for corn on the cob tells me I should equally enjoy Chardonnay. Which I don’t. At all. And now I’m even more confused than I was before about wine! So I don’t know how much credence I’m giving this piece. But maybe you feel differently? Is it right on or way off for you?

Love This

 

 

Sold at Like Minded People (link via yumsugar). And there’s a cute one for babies too!

A Cup of Joe, and Make It Pretty

I don’t drink espresso. The only coffee I drink is from Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, or the disgusting free instant coffee maker in my office kitchen (I’m poor, what do you want from me?). But if I did, I would snatch up this gorgeous espresso set from Quel Objet. (link thanks to Dachsies and Design!) I love how the spoon’s handle looks like grass growing out of the coffee.

I do NOT love these. Yuck! And, I’m not alone.