New York, New York

I guess the hard hitting economy is even rough for one of America's most iconic eating joints. The Tavern on the Green is facing massive debts and planning to shut down (perhaps just temporarily). Most folks have at least stopped into this place while visiting NY.

Although the reviews are mixed on the place, it was widely recognized in NY tourist circles.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/16/dining/16tavern.html

Hitler received a pizza with shrimp on it... he's pissed.

Funny stuff!

"What kind of sick f*ck would have the balls to put boiled shrimp on a pizza?!

NYE at the Hyatt

The Hyatt just sent me an invite for NYE to watch the catwalk ball drop. I think I'll pass on this one, the Tower seems a little more safe.

Prime Rib Grill? Meh

I know, I know, I shouldn't knock it until I've tried it.

"A new restaurant  opened in the two-story, glass-enclosed space at 100 E. 20th St. that housed Paddy O’Quigley’s until that bar closed in mid-2008. "The Prime Rib Grill by Hereford House, a new concept by the famed Kansas City steakhouse chain, opened quietly three weeks ago.""

I'm leery of anything The Hereford House folks attempt. I've had so many bad meals there I've learned to stay away. Look how they prepare ruin their Prime Rib..............

"More about the prime rib: This juicy cut of beef is served up eight ways at the Prime Rib Grill. We tried – but failed – to polish off the loaded version ($22.95), piled high with mushrooms, onions, artichokes, peppers and bacon bound up in melty mozzarella. The meat, brined for 28 hours in root beer, brown sugar, mustard, garlic and other secret ingredients, explodes with flavor, but the slab is almost too much for one person to finish,"

WTF? This reminds me of the Scattered, smothered, covered, chunked, topped and diced hash browns at the Waffle House! It's brined in rootbeer? Wait.... what? Don't f*ck with the meat! Age mine and pass the salt and pepper. I'm guessing you won't see me there.

Update: I just looked at their menu. Can I have a surf-and-turf with the barbecued scallops and the batter fried prime rib?

DIVER SCALLOPS

Lightly barbecued and caramelized with honey

CITY FRIED PRIME RIB

Lightly battered with special seasonings and flash fried

GARLIC PARMESAN PRIME RIB

Coated with garlic, fresh herbs and panko bread crumbs

LOADED PRIME RIB

Topped with crimini mushrooms, caramelized onions,

artichokes, mozzarella, peppers and smoky bacon 10oz.

"Medium Raw" soon to hit the shelves

 He's back.

"I guess I'm less interested in being cruel or malicious just for the sake of a laugh. I mean ... Sandra Lee is pretty low hanging fruit. On the other hand, one of the reasons I've been so unpleasant on the subject of Alice Waters is that I suspect she's right about most things — in principle, anyway. The disconnect between message and messenger seems to be what drives me batty."

Menu Mind Games

Now I know why I ordered the $115 seafood platter. I was in the mood for a burger.

"In his new book, Priceless: The Myth of Fair Value (and How to Take Advantage of It), author William Poundstone dissects the marketing tricks built into menus—for example, how something as simple as typography can drive you toward or away from that $39 steak."

Protected Designation of Origin (PDO)

 DOOR - Database of Origin and Registration is a cool database full of all your favorite foods.

 

"Foods such as Gorgonzola, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Melton Mowbray pork pies, Asiago cheese, Camembert de Normandie and Champagne can only be labelled as such if they come from the designated region. To qualify as Roquefort, for example, cheese must be made from milk of a certain breed of sheep, and matured in the natural caves near the town of Roquefort in the Aveyron region of France, where it is infected with the spores of a fungus (Penicillium roqueforti) that grows in these caves."

Stretch on stage with Guy Fieri at the Midland?

It's a veritable who's who of who cares! I can't think of two people I'd rather not see on stage than these two clowns. After party at Grinders! I'm out.

from Fat City

Not too fancy...

Often on this blog I write about fine dining options in the KC area. And those places are great. But sometimes you just need a quick bite and a beer (and maybe check the score of the big game).

It is with that goal in mind that I stopped into a TGIF near Oak Park mall this past weekend. While I didn't get the deep fried heart stopping shrimp shown above, I did get some tasty BBQ chicken wraps and some tostada nachos. The service was great. The food was solid. And the price was reasonable.

For those of you wanting top notch service, they even employ two high school kids to do nothing but open the doors for people (a little odd given our economic times that two employees at a chain place would do nothing but open the inner set of doors for people, but hey, it is two more jobs out there).

The point is that sometimes it's alright to just hit a chain for a quick bite without feeling guilty. The experience was good. Try one today.

Food trends for 2010

 Read about it here. Most of these trends are already in full swing.

"The National Restaurant Association has the latest predictions of next year’s trends, via their annual chef’s survey. Besides the obvious stuff (locavorism, sustainability, simplicity, blah blah blah), they see a rise in “superfruits” (acai, goji berry, mangosteen, purslane), “non-traditional fish” (branzino, Arctic char, barramundi), and “newly fabricated cuts of meat” (Denver steak, pork flat iron, Petite Tender)."

Want a badass lunch?

If you haven't been to The Drop for lunch.... do it!
Here is the lunch special from the other day. $8 are you kidding me? Yum.

"Croque madame: (croque monsieur with a fried egg) berkshire ham, white cheddar w/ sauteed asparagus $8. Soup: Potato with garlic and truffle"

And don't forget about their Prix Fixe – Sundays!

"Looking for the Deal of The Century? Find it, Sunday nights at The Drop! Grab a dinner date and hit The Drop on Sunday nights for our exclusive Prix Fixe dinner for two. Enjoy four (4) courses and a bottle of wine for just $50 per couple."

Go say hi to Eddie and the rest of the sexy staff today!

Steakhouse or Gay Bar?

Really, it's harder than you think. Tee Hee. Play here.

Rusty Spurs? Gay bar!
Hindquarter? Steakhouse!

My favorite little Korean finally has a website!

It's Nari Kye, her website is Nyam Nyam and she has a few very odd instructional cooking videos. Cute alert!

Here is her video on making Fermented Soybean Stew.
Here is one for making Kim Chee which she calls "Buried Treasure".

Greatest Advent Calender ever?

I think it is. Thanks to the folks at Bristow Fresh for the post..

Welcome to Salon Food!

Here is the official introduction by Francis Lam.

"Food is the thing that connects us, the thing that can give me and a man whose circumstances I will never understand a reason to stand together and share our lives for an hour. It’s the thing that reminds you, when you taste something new, or better yet when you taste something old again for the first time, how much bigger and better and more wonderful the world can be than we ever realize."

Introducing salon.com/food chumps!

That's right folks, the people over at Salon started a food section. I suspect some people from Gourmet have found work here.

Here is a great article by Francis Lam about Michel Bras.

"Michel Bras was just another chef I was supposed to respect, until I realized why."

salon.com/food

Richard Branson to Open New Jersey Culinary Resort

Hell yes! Here is the story.

"The resort, located in Peapack-Gladstone in Somerset County, is called Natirar (the reverse of Raritan, the river that runs at the edge of the property). A restaurant, Ninety Acres, will be open to the public, along with a cooking school run by Viking, the kitchen appliance company, and a wine school."

Here is the official website.

Here is the Wiki.

"Natirar 491 acres (2 km²) is an estate spanning Peapack-Gladstone, Far Hills and Bedminster, New Jersey. In 2003 it was sold by the estate of His Majesty, Hassan II, late King of Morocco, to Somerset County, New Jersey, and is now administered by the Somerset County Park Commission. Approximately 90 acres (360,000 m²) of the estate have been leased to the Virgin Spa at Natirar, an entity controlled by Sir Richard Branson of the Virgin Group, which plans to develop that portion of the estate (which includes the mansion, stable/carriage barn and most of the other outbuildings) into an exclusive hotel, spa, restaurant complex."

Tripe the next sushi?

Thomas Keller the King of American Cuisine thinks so.

Chef Tats

Chef Tattoos are pretty cool. I like the Sirracha logo and the 6 year old chef's back tattoo.

The best jerky ever

I just ordered some jerky from this little place in Le Roy, Kansas. It's been years since I've had some. It's the best. Order some! Jerky USA!