Megan Blocker

We-ell, if you read the Gawker items, it seems someone saw a company trucking furniture and equipment away...which could also be the result of the renovation, I guess...but I doubt it.

The sign is down, people. Here's a link to the Gawker.com item, which includes this forlorn pic:

Sweet! Right around the corner...

Vomiting, et cetera??? Ick.

I found myself at the smorgasbord Sunday brunch at Aquavit yesterday, and thought about how long it had been since I paid to eat somewhere where I could go back for seconds (in fact, the menu-cum-smorgasbord instruction manual recommends at least 3-4 trips). New York is just not a hot spot for buffet meals, something I rarely find myself lamenting. I'll never forget when my mother came to the city on business and brought her boyfriend, who wanted to have brunch at the Marriott Marquis, simply because it was all-you-can-eat. The two of us recoiled in horror. However, after my Aquavit experience on Sunday, and seeing this item on NYC buffets, I had to ask - do you do buffets with any regularity? And when you do, is it ethnic food? Blow-out brunch type items? 'Fess up, folks!

New York Magazine Digest - 1/9/06 Reviews Uptown Transfer In the first review published since the launch of New York Magazine's new star system, Adam Platt takes on Falai, the Lower East Side's latest answer to uptown Italian eateries. Platt gives the place two stars on the new five-star scale, and offers this explanation for the designation: Features Eat, Then Sleep A look at some of the city's best all-you-can-eat destinations - though decidedly un-Vegas in style. Included are two churrascurias and a sushi bar. Steep Trajectory The Magazine lists a few spots offering alternatives to the "prim and proper" hotel tea. The list includes the latest Alice's Tea Cup location - and I can personally vouch for those kicking scones (you can also get them to go). $250K Alpha Bull Bought to Sire Many Steak Dinners It seems Steve Hanson and David Burke, who are working together to open two steakhouses, have bought a 2,500-pound bull to impregnate the cows that will breed their meat. Huh.

I stopped in at one this morning (mostly because they have egg salad sandwiches which is great when I need a quick breakfast) and the gent behind the counter, Beau by name, asked me out... go figure ← HOLY CRAP! Nobody asked me out at Starbucks today. Harumph.

Definitely pasta sauce...I remember buying it quite a bit when I first moved to the city, and now I don't think I've bought a jar of it (gourmet or otherwise) in about three years. Marshmallows. Once I made my own, I never looked back. They're so much better. Salsa - it's so easy, and I find the chopping and mixing motions to be the most therapeutic and satisfying available in the cooking ouevre, so it would be torture to give up the chance to do them! Puff pastry - this is a new one, and I'm addicted!

For those interested, here's a link to Pain D'Avignon's website. It does look like a neat operation!

Wow, Ken - that's an excellent ritual! It's almost Zen-like, isn't it? Devoting that amount of time to repetitive, satsifying activity so early in the day. Almost as though the activity itself helps center and motivate you as much as the coffee itself...

I just had dinner at Nougatine last night, and while the food was as solid as always, I was a little irked by the service. It took our waiter about 15 minutes to bring us a cocktail menu when it was asked for. One busboy spilled water all over me (not while pouring - while walking back to the kitchen - he tripped) and just kept walking. Then, someone took my water glass away before dessert and about 45 minutes before we left. Everyone else still had their glasses - don't know why they took mine. The whole thing was very odd, and totally out of line with my other experiences at Nougatine and in the main dining room. Food was good, though!

My wonderful mother sent me a box full of honeybells this week...here's the one I just ate for breakfast: They are ridiculously juicy and sweet...I tried to eat one at work the other day and ended up with a little bit of orange dribble on my shirt. Oops.

A ridiculously good chocolate croissant and a delicious cup of coffee from Andre's Cafe on 2nd Avenue. Yum!

Spaghetti carbonara (I'm addicted - it's totally becoming my weekend lunchtime treat) and a green salad (romaine and thinly sliced red onion) with a simple vinaigrette. Delicious! Now it's time to face the day...

My cousin is currently in business school (Joint MBA-MD program, actually - she's the bomb - and in tons of debt!), and they read this book in one of their classes: Pour Your Heart into It : How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time. It definitely touches on what Anne mentions - that Starbucks treats its employees well (for instance, providing health insurance after a barista's worked for them for six months). These are the sorts of details that help me see Starbucks as less of an evil empire, though the fact that they tend to crowd smaller establishments out still gets me riled...and I'm back to where I was. The capitalist in me is so impressed, but the slumbering bohemian likes somewhere a little more authentic-feeling, somewhere that feels connected to the world around it, rather than a little bit of corporate development plopped onto the corner.

To me, this just makes the whole Starbucks phenomenon more interesting - they are not just catering to the tastes of the American public, but actually dictating what that public will like. FASCINATING!

I can't decide whether Starbucks is the ultimate expression of capitalism, or the most evil empire on earth. Both options, of course, being completely free of hyerbole or exaggeration. Seriously, though - I honestly can't decide whether I admire Starbucks for its ability to play the coffee-drinking public like it does, or whether it just makes me mad. Maybe it's both? In any case, I'll be giving the short cappuccino a try, and we'll see if it makes me a Starbucks coffee (as opposed to corporate) believer - nothing has yet.

I used to do this with Frostees at Wendy's!!!

I love this thread! I had no idea people had such strong, visceral feelings about dunking. I was always taught that it was vaguely impolite, but never knew it grossed so many people out! I feel the same way about chewing gum...narsty.

You don't?

That's funny - I have a similar situation. I live in a decent-sized studio apartment, but the (separate) kitchen isn't windowed, nor does it have an exhaust fan. Add to this the incredibly sensitive smoke detector, and you can't even bake cookies (let alone burn them - by accident, of course) without the alarm going off. I've dealt with this by clipping a small fan on the closet door just under the smoke detector, and turning it on whenever I cook. As for the smell, I'm lucky enough to have my bedroom area at the farthest side of the studio from my kitchen...however, it will still stink up from time to time (though the bed linens are usually ok). Generally, if I'm worried about smoke or smell, I cook with the windows wide open, the fan going, and I light a pre-emptive candle in the living space (Williams-Sonoma's essential oil candles really do a good job of clearing out smells). If I'm cold, I just put on a sweater and suck it up till the food's done.

Cucumbers have an odd way of disappearing on their way from the cutting board to the salad in my house, as does chocolate chip cookie dough...really, any kind of dough or batter is fair game.

New York Magazine Digest - 1/2/06 Reviews Restaurant reviews take center stage this week on NYMetro.com, as New York Magazine simultaneously unveils its 101 top picks for food in NYC and its new five-star rating system. An eGullet discussion of the new rating system can be found here. The new stars will be assigned as follows: Five Stars: Ethereal; almost perfect Four Stars: Exceptional; consistently elite Three Stars: Generally excellent Two Stars: Very good One Star: Good In his introduction to the top 101, Adam Platt adresses the inherent issues of restaurant reviews (subjectivity, snobbery, enraged chefs) and defends the magazine's choice to adopt a star system: The list of the top 101 picks is organized by the number of stars... Five Stars Four Stars Three Stars Two Stars One Star The list is broad and interesting, putting the admittedly neighborhood-y Ouest at number 18, while Alain Ducasse sits at 33. In addition to the top 101, the magazine lists its top five picks for the following: Best in Brooklyn Best Bang for the Buck Best Italian Best New Restaurants of 2005 These lists overlap somewhat with the top 101, particularly the latter three. The 2005 Overrated List deals mostly in trends rather than in actual restaurants, as Adam Platt shares with us his 2005 irritants. Among his pet peeves: heaping portions of petits fours, and cooking sous vide. Finally, Platt takes a look at what's New in 2006, including Del Posto and Country. Gilt also gets a mention. Features Many Happy Returns New York Maagzine looks briefly at the new surge of department-store eateries, including David Burke's new spot at Bloomie's, and a new place on seven at Bergdorf's (featured: the $25 Cobb salad). Veg Out A look at eateries with good vegetarian fare - most surprising is the inclusion of Cafe Boulud, whose potager menu section is "one of the best-kept vegetarian secrets in town." Coco Pazzo’s Al Dente Détente Finally, it seems Mark Strausman and Pino Luongo, former co-workers (Coco Pazzo and Sapore di Mare) and sworn enemies, are collaborating on a cookbook.

I've been to Campagnia several times...my mom's lived in the 'hood since 2001, so I've been tons of places (I actually spent two months there that summer, just after college graduation)...I do like Campagnia, though I'm not sure it's as good as it used to be. My favorite thing there was always the pepper-encrusted pork chop. Yum! Good bar scene, too. I've not been to Erna's, though I hear it's fantastic! Next time I'm up, I think I'll be headed that way. I also think a cooking class at Erna's may be my mom's birthday present in March...

Maybe THAT'S why my coat looked so wrinkled last time I got it back! I think Matt actually lives under the bar.