Donna's Bake Shop is a tiny little bakery/sandwich shop in Midtown. And there are plenty of other places online where you can read about their cute story or whatever. I don't care what their story is. It's not that damn important honestly. If you do your reading, it seems that some of their goods straddle the line between quantity and value, which is to say some consider their goods overpriced for what it is. I, however, did not run into the the value problem when I saw one of their chocolate chip cookies last week.... [Continue reading]
Jane's Sweet Bun's is located on Saint Mark's Place in the East Village, just east of 1st ave. It came on the scene late in the summer and captured the attention of many food lovers. I think the reason is because deep down, we all grew up eating mall food like Cinnabon and now that we're sophisticated and snobby foodies, I mean, food enthusiasts, we want the artisan version of our childhood favorites. I mean, that's why Next Restaurant is going to do a childhood theme soon, right? Because deep down food is about what we feel, what we know, and what we love. We always think we know what we want, but we really want to be surprised about our desires not being what it used to be, instead a fancier version of last year's model. Seriously, when's the last time an elementary school kid told you, "Shiiiiiiiit, this dessert is too sweet!" Yet, it's seemingly the only refrain that comes out of Gail Simmon's and Johnny Iuzzini's mouths on Top Chef. Apparently when we grow up, desserts aren't supposed to be sweet anymore. I just want to slap people and be like, "If something is cloyingly sweet, DRINK SOME FUCKING WATER AND PUNCH YOURSELF IN THE FACE ASSHOLE!" So what we want isn't Cinnabon of our memories, what we want is something newer, something better. Jane's Sweet Buns has that, if you like your buns with booze.... [Continue reading]
Cupcakes still have their haters. Even with many detractors, the movement will probably continue to grow. Over thinking the cause behind the movement is useless. Sometimes people just like something. Cupcakes are inherently more adorable than pies, doughnuts, or cookies. A little frosting goes a long way to winning the hearts of those who love rainbows and unicorns. Did you know there's a show called My Little Pony Friendship is Magic? Why does it exist? It's cute. Cupcakes are similarly cute. The craze is big in Washington D.C. too. One of the most famous cupcake shops in DC even has a show on TLC called DC Cupcakes. It's the Magnolia's of Washington DC.... [Continue reading]
I can't figure out how to break down the taste of a donut as it relates to life. Is the satisfaction received due to the doughnut being delicious enough and therefore I enjoy it? What about the intrinsic value of a doughnut? If the doughnut is the jumpshot, then the doughnut maker is either Ray Allen or Reggie Miller? We know the skill can be acquired because no one is born with the holy grail of donut recipes engraved in their grey matter. Even if you suck balls at making fried dough, if you practiced hard enough, you could be the JKidd of doughnut making (for non-NBA fans, JKidd used to be a terrible shooter, but after 17 years in the NBA, he's now the third on all-time list of most 3-pointers made). Are we born knowing what is a tasty doughnut? Is that trained too? If you're the only person in the world who loves eating something, and if that item is weird, we call it taboo. If later on everyone else learns to love it, then you're a trailblazing tastemaker. You still haven't changed. The doughnut is still what it is. Blogging about something that's not super popular drives these questions. Sure we all love doughnuts, but basically unless you're a fan of The Doughnut Plant or Peter Pan Doughnuts or Dough, then food lovers shoot you a look of, "Who raised you?! I bet you eat asparagus in November!" Let it be taboo then. These chocolate creme doughnuts from The Donut Pub are spectacular.... [Continue reading]
The Mavs are NBA champs! Being a sports fan means to be a fanatic. The dictionary say it is to be full of extreme and uncritical enthusiasm or zeal. Leave it to a book to sum up the entirety of my passion for basketball so concisely. Food can never live up to that. It's easy to cheer for something when there's time and consequence associated with it. We all can give cheer upon tasting delicious food, but simply to watch it? The Food Network and Bravo have proved that competition makes for more compelling food stories. Yet are we passionate about it? If we can't be passionate about watching it, it means on some level we cannot fully imagine ourselves on that stage. It's not that we can't be extreme about food. It's that we can't be extreme about what we might do or what the right thing is to do in the situation. What would you make in a final elimination cookoff? And how do you judge the decisions made by the chefs on TV? Would you diss a rough dice because it should have been a fine dice? Perhaps some viewers are capable of that (I'm not), but it's much easier to say, "Lebron should have been more aggressive in the fourth quarter." If an editorialized TV show doesn't fully convey passion for food, how much of a chance does a blog have? Sure, the pear tart from Francois Payard Bakery is good. How does it compare to Mille-Feuille? How can we really know? I can't come to terms in determining the better of the two French bakeries, so I'll simply say they're both good. Delicious croissants appear at Mille-Feuille. Eclaires and tarts at FPB.... [Continue reading]
A new thing that I'm trying to do more of is to assume that things are going to work out for the better. Too often it's easy to get caught up on things... [more]
It's difficult to find something more affordable than doubles from the Trini Paki Cart. I actually had it maybe a month or two ago and I can't even... [more]
Recently I tortured Steph into watching Game of Thrones with me. There's dragon eggs in that show, and I've previously told many of my friends that... [more]
Thirty five point two nine percent. That's how much of my life has passed by based upon a life expectancy of getting to 85-years-old. It certain could... [more]
Did y'all catch the article last week by Eric Asimov about the state of being a critic? I think if there's one thing to note about the state of restaurant... [more]
