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February 23, 2007

Vulgar prestige of bottle services in NY

It used to be the promoter who was at the forefront.
Over the last three years, it’s very much the bottle hosts
who have become the most prominent person in the club.

-- Jamie Mulholland, an owner of Cain on West 27th Street.

To critics of bottle service, these hosts are further trappings
of a warped system in which the old intricacies of after-hours
chic have been vulgarized down to mere spending power.

For club owners, bottle hosts who bring in business help
them survive in an increasingly competitive industry in
which overhead costs like insurance and rents are climbing,
scrutiny by the city and law enforcement is increasing, and
some clubs are losing revenue as traditional New York
patrons pause in their tracks at the sight of the police
barricades blocking off West 27th Street, known informally
as club row.

Continue reading "Vulgar prestige of bottle services in NY" »

September 25, 2006

Ani Phyo

Raw like sushi: Ani Phyo.

September 15, 2006

Sant Ambroeus coffee

santambroeus makes great coffee.
NYC and Southampton, NY.

September 12, 2006

Salt and Vinegar

The writing profession has a yo-yo-diet effect on diet.

“Everybody loses weight on hiatus, and everybody gains
weight during the show. You break up the long day by
getting a little ritualistic snack. It’s like cigarette breaks
used to be.”

The rituals can be exacting.

“Someone at ‘Friends’ would get a thing of Gummi Bears
and line them up by color before eating them.”

-- Greg Malins, who wrote for “Friends” and “Will and Grace”
and is now a writer and executive producer for “How I Met
Your Mother".

“Our room is obsessed with Tim’s jalapeño chips and
these salt-and-vinegar chips that Greg has flown
in from Canada
.

No kidding. Their salt-and-vinegar-ness is, like,
illegal in the States.”

-- Gloria Calderon Kellett, one of Malins’s colleagues.

September 5, 2006

Fairway market grocer

Fairwaymarket, modest NY grocery.

September 4, 2006

Get caffeinated map

Coffee map, cups around town.

July 28, 2006

Hefeweizen gets its due

In its purest form, beer is made solely of malted barley,
water, yeast and hops. Among grains, barley’s association
with brewing comes naturally. Its characteristic hard husk
makes it easier for brewers to employ without clogging up
their equipment, as happens with a grain like wheat, which
has no husk and can gum up the works.

Barley’s high starch content breaks down easily into sugars,
which are then converted by yeast into alcohol. Wheat, by
contrast, with its elastic glutens, is well suited to making
bread; unlike barley, which becomes dry and crumbly in
the hands of a baker. Perfect division of labor, right?

Barley for beer, wheat for bread.
Hefeweizen for hot weather.

Continue reading "Hefeweizen gets its due" »

July 13, 2006

Bulgogi Korean BBQ beef in Flushing, Queens

Korean bbq place in Flushing, Queens. Recommended.

San Hai Jin Mi
36-24 Union Street,
Flushing, Queens, NY 11354
(on Union just south of Northern Blvd. )
ph 718-539-3274

Great bulgogi and they’re open 24 hours as well though they
are not set up for tourists like the ones on K-town 32nd Street.

Continue reading "Bulgogi Korean BBQ beef in Flushing, Queens" »

May 17, 2006

Sommelier smackdown

Sommelier smackdown, amused by guy who conflates
take-out and take-in outcall and incall.

Blackpepper nuances' that `explode on the back palate
supported by fine grained tannins and long plum and spice
aftertaste'.

March 25, 2006

Starbucks in Southern Connecticut

Starbucks in Southern Connecticut.
Coffee and WiFi.

March 6, 2006

PEI eats mussels

Prince Edward Island Mussels
Steamed Mussels with Green Curry and Lemon Grass Cream Sauce
CDN $9.00

'Featuring PEI's only sommelier'

Off Broadway / 42nd Street Lounge
125 Sydney St.
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
(902) 566 - 4620