Recent Posts
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Cubana Cafe in Park Slope
It's aight. I'm trying to test that out as my new favorite phrase because Steph tells me that my current go-to answer, "I don't know" just isn't going to cut it anymore. If for some reason you were frozen through all of the late 90s and early 2000s, those two words mean, "It's alright" As with all phrases, you can use it in many ways. It could be pretty straight. For example if someone asked me about that new show, How to make it in America, the response would be a straight up "It's aight." If someone asked me about one of my new favorite shows, White Collar, I'd respond with an understated "It's aight" because I don't want to oversell a show that's basically a character (Bryce Larkin) from my other favorite show (Chuck), just being a badass. And if someone asked me "Yo, you check out chatroulette?" My answer would be a nervous "It's aight" because that shit is outta this world. And don't do that to yourself folks. When it comes to a nice neighborhood place for food, a content and straight forward "It's aight" is exactly what you want, and Cafe Cubana is just that.
Cubana Cafe in Park Slope is continued here...
3 comments. Posted on February 23 2010 at 9:54 am
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Jibek Jolu in Chicago
Guest Post! Jonathan is back with another tale from Chicago. Kyrgyz food looks interesting. I don't even know if we have that here in NY... but read on for the delicious tale!
I had to look on a map to find Kyrgyzstan. Actually, I first had to find out how to spell it, before I could find the central Asian country officially known as the Kyrgyz Republic. As I had guessed (clearly), it is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east. So much work before heading off to a restaurant! It was like homework. But I had to know a little about what I was about to eat.Jibek Jolu in Chicago is continued here...
3 comments. Posted on February 18 2010 at 3:49 pm
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Trying Afghan food for the first time at Bamiyan
In middle school I knew these two guys Oliver and Jacob. Oliver was Chinese and Jacob was white. And sometimes when we were joking about something, we'd say to Jacob, "Hey man, don't forget. We built your damn railroads." It was a fun joke when you're a 1% minority in race and a 0.01% minority in religion. Gotta put 'em crackers in their place even as a youngster. The Chinese railroad workers helped introduce Americanized Chinese food to this country. Slavery has done a lot for the culinary landscape of the United States. I guess the cuisine type has to be brought over to the soil before Americans really open their minds to it. We've been at war with Afghanistan for how many years now? As a dumb American, I choose not to know that answer. It's both an indictment on my world view, and attention span at a neverending war. Although I say that, I'm also guilty of building a bridge to nowhere. I've been trying to update the look and feel and functionality of this site for 9 months now. Nooooo progress. Awesome. Back to the food though. Even after Afghanistan has been in our eyes and ears in the news for so many years, I still had never tasted Afghan cuisine. I had high expectations and the food matched them.
Trying Afghan food for the first time at Bamiyan is continued here...
4 comments. Posted on February 16 2010 at 11:37 am
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Pad Key Mao at Pongsri Thai
Variety is what New York City sells. You can get basically any type of cuisine in New York. Maybe it won't be authentic, maybe it won't be good, and maybe it's not in Manhattan... but it'll be here. I found myself craving Thai food lately and it wasn't a craving for authentic or even good Thai food... just food that resembled Thai and would go down easily. Sure, one could venture out to Sripraphai in Queens, but that luxury escapes me on lunch breaks. When I found myself on 23rd street the other day, I settled on Pongsri Thai. I couldn't tell you if this stuff was good or if it's authentic. How does a blind person tell a one dollar from a ten dollar bill? I'm the blind man and my tongue is tied on whether the taste is counterfeit currency or the real thing. But I looked on their website and found out the owners have a location in Thailand. That offers up some hope that their restaurant in Thailand is somewhat authentic... but I know this requires a more thorough investigation.
Pad Key Mao at Pongsri Thai is continued here...
5 comments. Posted on February 15 2010 at 11:28 am
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On food writing blogs
I know what you are, but what am I? Famous words by Pee-Wee Herman. Suitable also for food bloggers. Recently Robert Sietsema penned a great piece on the Columbia Journalism Review about food bloggers. It's a really interesting piece if you want to learn more about the history of food writing as it pertains to restaurant reviews. The question it raised personally was, "What exactly am I? And what do I hope to do with this blog?" I think the question is worth exploring for most bloggers, and maybe it's time to reflect on that a little bit here.
On food writing blogs is continued here...
4 comments. Posted on February 11 2010 at 12:09 pm
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