Writing about food since 2004.

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Stories and Rants

  • My First Soft-Boiled Egg

    My First Soft-Boiled Egg

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    Two Sundays ago, after a morning of bird-watching with our ornithologist friend Morgan Tingley, I ate my first soft-boiled egg. We were at Cafe Sabarsky, one of my favorite places in New York, and Morgan recommended the Wiener Frühstück for breakfast: a continental breakfast of orangensaft, ein weiches ei, weißbrot, butter, marmelade & honig von…

  • The James Beard Awards’ Chef’s Night Out

    The James Beard Awards’ Chef’s Night Out

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    I have a secret to reveal: this year, I was a judge for the James Beard Awards. Whoah, I just heard your collective gasp through the computer screen. Believe me, I gasped myself when they asked me. It’s a pretty gasp-worthy fact, considering that the James Beard Awards are like the Oscars of the food…

  • Ramps: What Up With That?

    Ramps: What Up With That?

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    There’s this SNL sketch that Craig and I find pretty funny. Actually, I’m not sure it’s even that funny; it’s more amusing than funny. Essentially, there’s this talk show host (played by Kenan Thompson) who hosts a show called “What Up With That?” and he sings a theme song (also called “What Up With That?”)…

  • The Soda Tax

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    The commercial that you see above really irked me the first time that I saw it. In it, a woman grouses about a bill to tax soda in New York State (a similar bill is being proposed in ten other states, including California and Washington), making the point that she can barely make ends meet…

  • Back to the Big Apple

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    Big changes are afoot, loyal followers of my blog. For three years now I’ve lived in Park Slope, Brooklyn–steps away from Franny’s (one of my top three favorite restaurants in New York)–and pretty content with my BK lifestyle: brooding with the other writers at Gorilla Coffee, skirting over to Key Foods for catchy 60s ditties…

  • When Foam Looks Like Spit

    When Foam Looks Like Spit

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    Let’s not worry about where I was when this dessert arrived at the table; let’s not even worry about what this dessert is or how it was described on the menu. Instead, let’s just focus on that clear, bubbly substance on the top. Tell me the truth: does it look like spit? I think it…

  • Airport Food

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    Be careful what you wish for: sometimes your wishes are answered. That’s how I felt on Sunday at the new JetBlue terminal at Kennedy Airport. I had two hours to kill: I was on a different flight from Craig, so mine arrived earlier, and I was waiting for him to split a cab back to…

  • Party Food

    Party Food

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    Quick, rank the following from least important to most important, on the subject of “what makes a good New Year’s party”: a. food; b. music; c. decorations/lighting. Many of us food lovers would like to believe that music and decorations rank less than food when it comes to a happy New Year’s eve, but now…

  • Adam “The Amateur” vs. Randy “The Ram”

    Adam “The Amateur” vs. Randy “The Ram”

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    I take it most of you are familiar now with “The Wrestler,” the sensational new movie from Darren Aronofsky and starring the irascible Mickey Rourke? What many of you might not know is that many of the characters who show up frequently on this blog had a hand in making the movie. First and foremost…

  • The Ultimate Reservation

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    For the past four years, every since I knew about it, really, I’ve been e-mailing El Bulli–frequently cited as the best restaurant in the world–for a reservation. And almost like clockwork, I get an e-mail back a few months later stating that because of intense demand (800,000 people applying for 8,000 possible reservations, according to…