Top Chefs in New York!

OMG! I got to meet (and briefly touch) my two favorite cheftestants from Season 4 of Top Chef. Their cross-country bus tour is coming to a close and after signing autographs, Andrew and Richard and about 35 lucky people climbed into their traveling RV/kitchen for a quick demo and Q & A.

Although I got a lot of crap from other bloggers and friends for enjoying Andrew's antics as long as he was on season 4, I feel completely vindicated now that I've had a chance to meet him and be entertained by him. He is hilarious!! A little bit bitter about losing, but in a fun/ny way. And Richard is so nice. Very humble, very kind, very confident and real. I guess that would be the take-home message from this meet and greet cooking demo - these are regular people who have been helped a lot in their careers by making it onto a reality show and doing well. I think Andrew said at one point that he "culinarily crapped his pants..." So, yes, he is keeping it real. I asked a ton of questions and it was so totally worth running down to Union Square on my lunch break!

Andrew & Richard show me some love!

Andrew brandishes a knife! Nenox, I think? Yes: link

The cooking demo featured an Andrew recipe: Shrimp w/fruit & avacado & tomatoes in a lime, fish sauce, sriracha dressing. It was really good!

Tillamook Cheddar in New York

Specifically at Trader Joe's. Bonus - it's been blessed by a rabbi!

fork this via wordle

Aren't words cool? This is a little java thingy made by Wordle @ http://wordle.net It's made from the words on this blog, although I'm pretty sure it's just made from the words on the first page. You can customize the font, colors, word directions, etc... It's fun!

I found this over at Hot Sauce Daily.

Charcoal, Corn & Craziness

The pig roast was a ton (approximately) of fun. Honestly, it's kind of a blur, especially the part after the whiskey was passed around amongst the volunteer crew.

Here are two of my corn cronies in the pre-game calm:


We removed the silks and then folded back the husks around each ear for about half of the 3,000 (not really) ears of corn that we had to prep. Then we tested a batch with silks removed and without silks removed - there was little difference so we decided it wasn't worth the trouble. I forgot to dunk the first batch into water, but as the husks caught fire and scorched, I quickly remembered. Here's a photo by Cathy Erway of Not Eating Out in New York:


You can see the burned ears on the edge of the grill. I filled a big serving bowl (all I could find in the kitchen,) with water and each batch spent a few minutes soaking before going on the fire.

Things got pretty crazy as the taco team began assembling the pork tacos and the folks at the front of the food line got antsy. My team rallied and came together over in corn corner - Rachael took the grill, Kristine shucked the husks, Alicia served on the line and I ran coverage back and forth, adding coals to the grills, delivering trays of hot corn up to service and helping with the shucking. Corn Corner owes a big thanks to Jay Casey who stepped up and helped out in so many ways, including a very drunken rendition of "clouds in my coffee" on the walk up to Smith Street.


The grilled corn was served with spicy mayo and mexican cheese. In addition to the tacos there was rice and beans, and for dessert, apple crisp with maple ice cream. I didn't get any dessert, but I was too busy drinking Makers and chatting up the extremely attractive and interesting attendees to care very much.

In the end, we collectively consumed this entire pig from Fleisher's, prepared and tended to by Tom Mylan:


He was delicious.

Cupcake Cafe

This just arrived at my desk!

Tonight! Corn! Roast Pig! Brooklyn! Apple Crisp! Music!

*****This just in: $10 Admission Only Tickets Added! This gets you in to mingle and boogie. No food included. Cash bar. Fun!******************

INFO HERE

Le Parker Meridian/The Burger Joint

This has really got to be experienced to be believed.

In midtown Manhattan? Need some lunch? Why not treat yourself and head to a fancy schmancy hotel? Looks nice, right?:

Ok, so you heard there was a restaurant here that served really good burgers? Where is this place? Not the fancy hotel restaurant or lounge... Wait, what's this? A dark hallway lined by curtains and guarded by a very serious hotel employee?

Ok, so there's a long line down the hallway which is lit only by a neon sign in the shape of a burger with an arrow pointing to the right. After a bit of a wait you are face to face with the hand written sign:

Then you turn the corner to discover a small, wood-paneled room whose walls are covered with posters, photos and scrawled signatures of previous customers. The room is filled with booths and stools pulled up to narrow counters and an equal mix of suits and tourists. The instructions for ordering are clear: Don't fuck up the system! Burger, cheese or not? cooked to what degree of doneness? toppings? (go for "the works,") with fries? to drink? CASH ONLY, name? now move aside, please!


You've just spent $6.50 for a cheeseburger at a hotel that charges a rumored $18 for a room service burger. You find a seat with some other folks at one of the booths (grab it fast, the place is packed!) and dive in - the meat is perfectly medium rare, the bun is soft but somehow manages to hold together despite the lettuce, tomato, pickle ketchup and mustard. The fries are salty and warm, but maybe overcooked just a tad today. If you were going all out, you'd also be sucking down a real, made-to-order chocolate shake.


As you lick ketchup and salt off your fingers, you're probably thinking that the strange allure of The Burger Joint is the stark contrast of the disney-like simulacrum of an old-school burger shack with the haughty elegance of the big-city hotel. But you won't find prices like this at disney - nor will you find the simple quality of ingredients without pretension, made well and served hot off the grill.

The Burger Joint @ Le Parker Meridian
118 W. 57th Street
between 6th & 7th

The Big Brooklyn Pig Roast @ the Yard

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! I'm so excited! A big fat food event and guess what? I'm helping to cook! Next Friday, at The Yard, Brooklyn Based is throwing their first annual Big Brooklyn Pig Roast. A portion of ticket sales will be donated to the New Farmer Development Project. Expect heavy hitters like Blue Marble Ice Cream, Sixpoint Ales and butcher Tom Mylan with a whole Fleisher's hog for the spit. There will be music, a talk from the producer and general merry-making. Check out Brooklyn Based (my favorite brooklyn events/arts/culture e-newsletter,) for ticket info here.

Friday, October 10th, 6 pm
The Yard is located right on the Gowanus Canal between the F and M/R lines.
388-400 Carroll St.


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