Some days I try to think of posts where food relates to sports, and the sports relates to life. Such comparisons are always stretched too thinly. Loving sports and food is tough. Food just doesn't seem to relate to life. How do you analyze spaghetti to a cook's personality or to an eater's? Dining descriptions have a life their own, and seem to know its boundaries. When food stories evoke emotions it's often about quality time with family and friends. Perhaps it's learning to cook from a grandmother or spending one-on-one time with a parent at a ballpark. I'm generally critical of memoirs because if you live your current state in such vivid details that can be recalled later, then either your diaries could be worth fortunes, or the embellishments and adjectives are monetarily placed. When I look at authors of memoirs, it fills me with rage. My anger is placed both on their ability to live a moment so fully and also with their ability to artfully articulate memories with vivid details. "It's all about quality ingredients!" That's the mantra de rigueur, although recollections are often panko crusted, infused with oils, and drizzled with lemon juice. Words, like food or sports, in the hands of a crafty veteran usually results in something of beauty. I, on the other hand, barely qualify to be a rookie, especially when it comes to food. Once, I got bored in a tiny Brooklyn kitchen, and tried to reduce tequila in a cheap pan from Chinatown. Man, shitty times. As for describing the food, I'm still not getting much better. That's not going to stop me though! And maybe I'll find a sports analogy in there somewhere.... [Continue reading]
Recently I saw the movie Freakonomics and it was as good as both of the books, the blog, and the podcast. They really seek to tease out causation from a large data set instead of just talking about correlation. It's really fascinating stuff regarding natural experiments and real world numbers. If you're not familiar with the stuff, you should start with their first book. They also had this post on their blog about how to price chicken wings. Weird menu prices exist everywhere, right? It shouldn't come as a surprise that an old school doughnut place in Brooklyn would do that. That's where Mike's Donuts and Coffee comes into the picture.... [Continue reading]
Contrary to popular belief, tight living quarters is not the worst part of living in NYC. I know many individuals in other parts of the country cannot fathom living in 500 square feet. I was in Ikea last week and they had a showroom for a 480 sq. feet apartment. It was sick. In typical New York fashion, the thing featured no natural light and required coop board approval. Actually the worst part about living in NY is the commute. Tanoreen is actually just 13 miles from my apartment. This means that whoever just won the Boston Marathon could run there in 1 hour. On a subway train + walking to the place? One hour and thirty minutes. Fuck me. Fuck me. Fuck me. Oh but after getting there slower than a running dude, I could have really awesome cauliflower and a ginormous meat nugget? It's worth it to travel to Brooklyn for good Middle Eastern food, RIGHT? RIGHT? YES!!... [Continue reading]
The 2011 NBA playoffs are going to start soon and I kind of want to root for the teams that aren't stacked with super stars. Or just root for teams that have an aging super star, because those teams probably won't win. The notion of "old school" seems to have a great appeal in the age of social media. Old things are definitely the best. Remember the days before Facebook chat? Remember the days when you just showed up at your friends house without making sure they're there? Old school in basketball seems to mean that there was less 1-on1 and more team play. This day in age, the NBA is bombarded with teams that stacked their top talents, like Lebron who took his talents to South Beach. Or even the Knicks, who traded seemingly the whole team to Denver for Carmelo. Now the Denver team is doing pretty well and they don't have a super star, so I will be cheering for them and the Portland Trailblazers. In food the old school thing still appeals as well. Ligaya Mishan visited Nom Wah Tea Parlor for the NYTimes. Don't get more old school than that. Even one of my favorite foods, the donut can come in an old school form. Just look at Peter Pan Donuts. They don't even have a website. The doughnuts here are some of the best in NY and they are only one dollar. That's one third the price of some places in Manhattan!... [Continue reading]
A Dough donut is the sun! It is my lady! O, it is my love! Sometimes it is better to turn to someone more eloquent with words. These doughnuts are some of the best in NY and they are serious. More serious than Kemba Walking in crunch time. The delicious nature of the Dough donuts are unwavering even on the second day. If you go on a doughnuteating binge like I've been doing, you learn to appreciate the awesome ones at Dough.... [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]
