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Videodrome      07/02/2009  

Happy Fourth Of July From The Feedbag

“Is it the fourth?” Such were the last words wheezed by Thomas Jefferson, who was holding on trying to make it to the country’s 50th anniversary. Now here we are at 233. We’re knocking off the ‘Bag early, and leaving you with a some small sprinking of stardust from our vast cultural capital. And by we, I mean all Americans, not just food bloggers. Here’s Jimmy Cagney from 1942’s Yankee Doodle Dandy. Skip ahead to 1:22, if you must, to get to those stirring strains, and Cagney’s immortal moves. Hold on; it’s almost the fourth.

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Appreciations      07/02/2009  

Mimi Sheraton Writes: It’s Not Just The Hamburgers I’ll Miss From Joe Jr’s!

The great Mimi Sheraton, the grand dame of New York gastro-journalism back in the day, writes in to say:

If hamburgers were all, the loss of Joe Jr., would be far less serious. Like so many devotees, the things I would miss are the nicely doctored soups, the excellent tuna fish salad sandwich, all egg dishes and the waffles as well as the oatmeal.

I’m not sure I agree, but speak nothing ill of the dead! Of course, lost in all this garment-rending is the fact that there is another, even better Joe Jr’s on Third Avenue that isn’t going anywhere. But, as David Kamp points out, it has a common ancestor but a different owner. Still, the dominant gene for succulent soft burgers has clearly been passed down. Not to mention excellent tuna fish salad sandwiches.

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Elsewhere      07/02/2009  

‘Taxonista’ Blogger Entrusts Her Meals to the Goodwill of Random Taxi Drivers

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Image courtesy Washington Post

Layne Mosler, who recently moved back here from Argentina, used a universally reliable technique when she was down there to find good food: she just asked taxi drivers to take her someplace good.  This technique varies, of course; you’re OK if you happen to hail the Hungry Cabbie, say. But what if you get this guy? She made waves doing it in Buenos Aires, even gettng written up in the Washington Post, but she’s still at it since coming back to New York and moving to Astoria.  “But here,” she writes on the blog, “there are also 13,000 cabbies who can show me the way to Gotham’s culinary riches. I’m placing my food fate in their hands (but I’m bringing pepper spray just in case).” It seems to be working out.  In her first New York posts, Mosler has hit Curry in a Hurry and Tangra Masala.

Go Where the Taxista Takes You

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Videodrome      07/02/2009  

Chow Brings the World The Greatness of Charles Gabriel’s Fried Chicken

It’s a rebuke to the whole New York food media corps that none of us, in all these years, thought to go in the kitchen and do a video with Charles Gabriel, the fried chicken virtuoso currently wielding his immense pan at Rack and Soul in Morningside Heights. The video is hosted by the Lee Brothers, Matt and Ted, whose new book, Simple Fresh Southern, is coming out this fall. What a service they’ve done, getting Charles’ method down on video for posterity! Though few of us have a thirty-inch cast-iron skillet, or the chef’s skill at working the chicken, even a crude emulation will raise the game of your Independence Day. Any American that doesn’t want to make fried chicken after seeing this video ought to just move to Khartoum and be done with it.

Chow: The Perfect Fried Chicken

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You Heard It Here First      07/02/2009  

And In Other Hamburger News…Joe Jr’s Closing?

Feedbag correspondent Bob Cratchit writes in, “Just walked past and Joe Jr’s has big handwritten signs in the window  saying they’ve lost their lease after 35 yrs, are closing this Sunday.  They are asking people to sign a petition to save Joe Jrs and to  “spread the word,” I guess in hopes of pressuring the landlord not to  cut them loose. Please do what you can to spread the word/get coverage/ stoke outrage.”  Done and done, Bob! Joe Jr’s is a true classic, and New York would be poorer without it. On the other hand, the burghers of 12th street, already blessed with Stand and BLT Burger certainly need Joe Jr’s a lot less than some other neighborhoods — such as, say, Ozerkistan. Still, any change is a bad change, culturaly speaking, so let’s all cross our fingers that Joe’s might stay. Otherwise they’ll likely put in a Ricky’s, or one of those makeup stores that women go to, that has a name like Semaphora. Mr. Man, don’t kick out Joe Jr’s!

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Last Meal      07/02/2009  

Last Meal: A Hamburger Drivearound

You know how it is when you’re a hamburger guru. Friends are always coming up to you, saying: Josh! When are we going on a hamburger drivearound? Well, I acceded to such a request last night, and gave a little burger tour. We started at Stand, whose new house burger I should hate, since it has herbs and garlic in it– but don’t; stopped in at Westville, for some finely-ground, chuck-rich juice bombs on Portuguese rolls; headed uptown to HB Burger, where apparently I am quoted on the front of the restaurant (happily, HB’s burgers are still worthy of my praise, but it was disquieting to see myself quoted before confirming that was the case!).  Lastly, we took a looping, uncertain route out to Paramus, New Jersey, to hit Bobby’s Burger Palace, for a capper with lots of burgers and shakes. All together it made me feel that we are living in a hamburger golden age. And I’m glad that I have the mobility and the gastrointestinal capacity to try to appreciate it.

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J'Accuse!      07/02/2009  

Grub Street Roots Out The Truth Behind Boar-Tainted Pig Takedown

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It's ok to eat him again! (Image courtesy Slate)

Big props go out to Grub Street, who, alone of all the observers (including myself) who saw James E. McWilliam’s anti-free range pork piece in Slate, questioned its veracity. Daniel Maurer actually went to the trouble to report out McWilliams’ claims, asking local pig farmers if what he said was true. (It wasn’t, at least not entirely.) And maybe more significantly, Maurer recalls that McWilliams is the same writer who wrote in the Times earlier this year about the health risks posed by free range pork, without ever revealing that he was on the payroll of the National Pork Board! Between the reporting and the background, we can all go back to eating free range pork, lots and lots of it, without the slightest qualm or question. Thank you, Daniel Maurer.

Grub Street: Is Slate’s Takedown of Free-Range Pork Just a Bunch of Hogwash?

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Appreciations      07/01/2009  

Scott Conant Opines On The Nature of The Cosmos, Scarpetta, and Scott Conant

scottyScotty Conant appears on a Culinary Institute of America podcast today, and I have to say that listening to it sort of put a hop in my step. Does anybody like anything more than Scotty Conant likes being himself? I need to take a page out of this guy’s book.  The confidence in his voice just rolls out; he’s like the Lou Rawls of self-esteem. Meanwhile, I still haven’t made it to Scarpetta to try the new late-night bar menu, which everyone is telling me is terrific. (I want that squid ink shot. Or maybe the half portion of spaghetti. Or the fried chicken with porcini…) Anyway, just settle back and listen to this. It’s relaxing. It’s like being Scott Conant for a few minutes, and what could be better than that? You don’t even have to listen to what he’s actually saying.

CIA Podcasts: Scott Conant

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Citysearch Says      07/01/2009  

Double Trouble: Two-for-One Deals in NYC

zachbeer212According to a study by the Feedbag Institute, receiving two beers for the price of one is preferable to having to pay for both beers. True, the sample size was only one, but the experiment was repeated thousands of times over a period of 27 years and the results are pretty much conclusive. This also holds for mimosas, margaritas, vodka tonics and any other inebriating substance. There’s no arguing with this, people; it’s science.

Double Trouble: NYC’s Best Two-for-One Deals

-Keith Wagstaff

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Elsewhere      07/01/2009  

Alan Richman Slams Katz’s! (Or At Least He Thinks He Does)

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He has his reasons! (Photo courtesy GQ)

When I saw that Alan Richman had jumped on Katz’s hard with both feet, I was distraught. Was he going to do to the sanctum sanctorum of deli what he did to Vongerichten and New Orleans? It sure looked like it from lines like “I’m not sure another man alive has tried so many of Katz’s offerings, 19 in all. Actually, I’m not sure any man alive has ever eaten so much terrible food…Much of what Katz’s prepares is the worst food for the money in New York.” Vey is mere! But, happily, the review sounds worse than it is. Richman doesn’t like the knishes, the corned beef, or the chopped liver sandwich he had, but is up front with saying that the pastrami, and all the wursts, are as glorious as ever. Complaining about the other menu items in Katz’s is like complaining about the acting in Transformers. But, in point of fact, Richman hasn’t eaten more of Katz’s offerings than any man alive. I have. I’ve eaten the entire menu. And while none of it is as good as the pastrami, it has some highlights. For example, both the cheeseburger and the cheesesteak are much better than they have any right to be. The grilled cheese is good. The lox, eggs and onions is more than palatable. The cakes and pies are better than you might expect. But Richman knows all this. He just wants to shake the pillars of the temple, and rattle the cupboards, as they say in Yiddish. No harm done.

GQ: Not Good For the Jews (Or the Tourists)

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Shtik Fleysh Mit Oygen      07/01/2009  

The Times Prescribes The Perfect Hamburger, But What of Unity of Vision?

The Times, to continue a theme from earlier this morning, serves its readers well today, in a major compendium of burger tips for the home cook. They extend from bun to crust, and include a veritable who’s who of burger masters, including Bobby Flay, Pat LaFrieda, the guy from Comme Ca in Los Angeles, Dog The Bounty Hunter- lookalike Hubert Keller, and various other chefs. Nearly all the tips are useful, but do they cohere? Doesn’t a hamburger have to have a unified vision? The article, for those of us who are overexposed to chefly hamburgers, is also an album of contemporary burger tropes, of the kind adopted by high-end restaurants for their bar menus, and rarely leading to burger greatness by themselves.

READ STORY>>

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Last Meal      07/01/2009  

Last Meal: The New Aureole

I stopped in (on day 2!) of the new Aureole, and it’s gorgeous, with a huge, uncrowded bar area and a lively dining room that couldn’t be farther in spirit from its former home, an east side manse for septuagenarian grandees. The food was surprising! I thought Chris Lee, working with Charlie Palmer, was going to just transplant the menu, but he’s made it even more ambitious and complex, with more happening on the plate. While occasionally he falters — a veal duo got a little too cute for me –  like any ambitious chef of his caliber, even his mistakes do him credit. And the things that work are really masterful. Through the haze I remember…. READ STORY>>

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Elsewhere      07/01/2009  

Class War Erupts In A Battle of Bonbons Vs. Dirty Dogs

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What hot dog can compete? (Image: New York Times)

Everyone is always putting the Times down for always being late to the game. And indeed, today’s story about war between gourmet trucks and immigrant carts is old news to anyone who reads Midtown Lunch. But the Times gives you the deep fissures, the big picture. (That’s why The Daily Show’s takedown was such a cheap shot.) The battle between the likes of the Wafels & Dinges Belgian waffle truck and the  poor, hardworking immigrants who shlep in from Jackson Heights every day for the privilege of selling crappy $2 hot dogs is a story worthy of Upton Sinclair.

READ STORY>>

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Videodrome      07/01/2009  

Mayor Declares July Is “Good Beer Month” In NYC


The mayor has spoken! Mike Bloomberg has official declared July in NYC as “Good Beer Month.” The ‘Bag went over to City Hall yesterday to watch Jimmy Carbone and Ray Deter read the proclamation aloud. Good Beer Month will recognize the “Good Beer Seal” given to a number of taverns and beer halls in New York City that pride themselves on carrying artisan beers. Jimmy Carbone (Jimmy’s 43) gave us the back story: “Several months ago, Ray Deter (DBA), Gary Gillis (Burp Castle) and I decided to form an association to recognize good beer bars in the city, that have community presence, and serve mostly craft beer, so we wrote a letter to the mayor requesting a proclamation, that July is NYC ‘Good Beer Month.’ I was shocked to received a call from the Mayor’s office on Friday and was thrilled to learn that the proclamation was going to be issued!”

Upcoming Good Beer Month events can be found here.

-Laurie Pila Horowitz

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You Heard It Here First      06/30/2009  

Gus and Gabriel is NOT Opening Tonight

If you were planning on heading to Gus and Gabriel tonight to taste Michael Psilakis’s gastropub menu (as I certainly was) hold off: there was a problem with the air-conditioning, and they’re NOT in fact opening tonight. We’ll advise when they are opening.

Earlier: Michael Psilakis’ Gus and Gabriel Opens Today - And Here’s The Menu

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