Grub Street: New York Magazine's Food and Restaurant Blog

1/27/12 at 2:20 PM
Sundance Dispatch
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James Murphy: Big Into Coffee, Planning His Own Espresso Line

By Jada Yuan

In watching the Sundance screening of Shut Up and Play the Hits, the documentary of LCD Soundsystem's final show ever at Madison Square Garden, it is clear that James Murphy loves three things: music, his French bulldog, and coffee. He loves coffee with a passion unmatched by pretty much any somewhat famous person besides David Lynch, who has his own coffee line and has been known for putting rants about the virtues of coffee versus tea in movies like Inland Empire. In fact, when Stephen Colbert asked Murphy what he wanted to do now that he was retiring from rock stardom, he said, "I like to make coffee."

1/27/12 at 2:05 PM
Top Chef
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Top Chef Texas Is Headed North for Its Finale

By Alan Sytsma

The other week, rumors popped up that the latest, Texas-fried season of Top Chef would shoot its finale in Vancouver, British Columbia (nickname: the San Antonio of Canada), and now some tweets from the various TC judges confirm it. Gail Simmons tweets that it's the birthplace of Jason Priestley; Emeril points out that it's also the birthplace of Greenpeace; Padma says it's also where "the Chinese Buffet was founded." Guess the challenge will be an ecofriendly egg roll cook-off, guest-judged by Brandon Walsh?

1/27/12 at 1:45 PM
Other Magazines
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David Chang and Peter Meehan Bro Out Over the Hold Steady, Their Shared Persnicketiness

By Hugh Merwin

In a cute profile, The Wall Street Journal's magazine, WSJ., tries to nail down the finer points of the sometimes cranky, sometimes lovely, and usually innovative collaborative relationship between the chef David Chang and writer Peter Meehan. The collaborators on the fantastic 2009 book Momofuku and newfangled food magazine Lucky Peach first met, apparently, at a Hold Steady concert in Greenpoint. Recounting the origin story of their friendship, Meehan says they were both really drunk and Chang gave him a beer. "I do occasionally regret knowing David Chang," Meehan says, "but I do not regret taking the beer." [WSJ, Earlier]

1/27/12 at 1:20 PM
Interviews
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Gail Simmons on Aggressive Shopping, Her Super Bowl Menu, and Paula Deen’s Transparency

By Bennett Marcus

Simmons, at Jason Wu's Target event last night.Photo: Theo Wargo/Getty Images

Last night, designer Jason Wu launched his collaboration with Target at Skylight Soho. Even though the event was focused on shopping, it wasn't too tough to steer the conversations toward food: Emmy Rossum told us she's a big Top Chef fan, and that she's "big into lobster risotto right now." And Top Chef judge Gail Simmons was, of course, more than happy to chat about her ability to pick great apples at the store, her secret for great Super Bowl wings, and her feelings on that whole Paula Deen debacle you may have heard about.

1/27/12 at 12:45 PM
Openings
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Burgersmith Lands in the BK, With Grass-Fed Beef and New Mexico Chilies

By Edna Ishayik

With Shake Shack expanding to Brooklyn, you'd think other burger flippers in the borough would flee. But instead, a new spot that quietly opened on the corner of Smith Street and Baltic on Monday seems to be ready for a fight. Burgersmith, conceived by chefs Blessing Schuman-Strange and Kyle Huebbe, takes a secret blend of grass-fed beef, ground fresh daily at the nearby butcher Paisanos, and griddles them on cast-iron rather than a steel flattop or gas grill. The cast-iron gets you a better press on the patties so they come away a little crustier without overcooking, Schuman-Strange tells us.

1/27/12 at 12:15 PM
Presidential Pizza
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POTUS Pie: Obama Orders Di Fara–Style Pizza in Vegas

By Hugh Merwin

Dom DeMarco, making a pie not intended for the president.

Apparently twelve pizzas (including sausage- and pepperoni-topped ones) and as many cannoli were delivered to President Obama's hotel suite in Las Vegas on Wednesday, the Review-Journal reports. They came from the two-month-old Dom DeMarco’s Pizzeria & Bar, the Sin City outpost brought to you by the extended family of Midwood's sainted pizza man. DeMarco's says its pizzas are the same as Di Fara's — "carefully handcrafted using closely guarded recipes and quality imported ingredients" — so, you know, by extension, it's sort of like the president ate at Di Fara Pizza; take that, NYC DOH! [Las Vegas Review-Journal, Earlier]

1/27/12 at 11:20 AM
Family Deen-amics
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Even Paula Deen’s Sons Almost Quit the Family Biz

Just days after bringing us the scathing news that Paula Deen's publicist recently quit, "Page Six" delves even deeper into the Deen family: According to "sources," Bobby and Jamie Deen were initially very unhappy with Paula's plans to endorse Victoza. So unhappy that they almost — almost — met with other talent agents in an effort to move out from under their mom's shadow. But! Paula "put them both under a lot of pressure," and they ended up helping their mom after all. What, did she threaten to cut of their allowance? [Page Six/NYP, Earlier]

1/27/12 at 11:00 AM on Grub Street SF
Oeno-File
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A Potentially Scandalous Mondavi Memoir; The Grateful Dead Inspire a Winemaker

By Jay Barmann

"Imagine the tell-all they could write about me!"

• Robert Mondavi's widow Margrit, 85, is working with a ghost writer on a "frank" memoir about her life in and around the wine business, including a story about a famous, costumed Roman orgy the couple hosted at their home in the eighties. [Decanter]

• Margrit also recently gave the famed Wappo Hill mailbox from the couple's recently sold estate to chef Richard Reddington, at his request, to feature in his new Yountville pizzeria Redd Wood. [Grub Street]

• Grateful Dead bandmember Phil Lesh is busy opening a restaurant and music venue in Marin County called Terrapin Crossroads. Meanwhile, the "earthy, savage blend" of the Dead's Steal Your Face album inspired a Mendocino winemaker to make a Syrah blend and name it for the album. [Mass Live]

1/27/12 at 10:30 AM
Bookshelf
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Marcus Samuelsson’s New Memoir Has a Spicy Cover

By Hugh Merwin

Ask the dust.Photo: Courtesy Random House

Totally judging a book by its cover: We're going to guess that's not Martian soil or Cheetos dust on the just released cover of the Red Rooster chef's forthcoming memoir. The book's emphatic Yes, Chef title seems to be drawn in the African spice mix berbere, suggesting Samuelsson's self-described career path of "chasing flavors" was at least partially determined within his first three challenging years in Ethiopia before he and his sister were adopted by a family in Sweden. As such, the memoir's title echoes the sparse, melting serifs of Bill Buford's Heat before it, or the effective macaroni and rosary titles of Elizabeth Gilbert. Is Samuelsson cooking up a best seller? We're sure he won't have any problem finding opportunities to promote it. [Random House]

1/27/12 at 09:45 AM
Video Feed
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The Meatball Shop Guys Hit Chelsea Lately Last Night

By Alan Sytsma

Meatball Shop owners Daniel Holzman and Michael Chernow continue on their shared path toward world domination. First, Elle just named them two of "America's Most Sizzling Chefs" (along with Fatty Crew's Corwin Kave, L.A.'s Jordan Kahn, and the Animal guys). Also on the Meatball guys' agenda: an appearance on Chelsea Lately last night. As you might guess, there were a lot of ball jokes. Check out the clip, straight ahead.

1/27/12 at 09:25 AM
Mediavore
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Teen’s Chicken-Nugget Diet Lands Her in the Hospital; Fried Food Not Necessarily Unhealthy

• The USDA's "Plant Hardiness Zone Map" for gardeners, which hadn't been updated since 1990, shows that warm zones have drifted northward. Cough, climate change, cough. [Salt/NPR]

• A U.K. teen who has subsisted solely on chicken nuggets since she was 2 years old was rushed to the hospital with all kinds of weird health issues. So, Twinkie Diet adherents shouldn't get any ideas. [HuffPo]

• Fast-food burger chains are proliferating in New York. Guess we can expect Mayor Bloomberg's next subway ad campaign to address that. [NYP]

1/27/12 at 09:00 AM
The Grub Street Diet
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Andrew Zimmern Feasts on Roasted Raccoon for Breakfast, Banana Pudding for Dessert

By Alan Sytsma

Zimmern digs in at Craft.Photo: Melissa Hom

As the host of Bizarre Foods on Travel Channel, which kicked off its latest season this week (airing Mondays at 9 p.m. ET/PT) , Andrew Zimmern made his name eating some seriously strange stuff. But he swears that things are different when he's off the clock: "I go home at night, I pick up the dry cleaning, and I make a roast chicken and some crispy potatoes and my wife and son and I sit down to a nice dinner." But that doesn't mean it's impossible for some errant offal to sneak into his day-to-day routine, especially when chefs recognize him in their restaurants. "The disaster for me is when I'm with my wife and son and we stop at a burger bar or something," Zimmern says, "and the chef decides to send out a month-old pig head from the freezer. I just want to eat a burger with my son!" Fortunately for Zimmern, there were no surprise pig heads this week while he was in New York — Zimmern, a native New Yorker who now lives in Minnesota, says he gets back to town about once a month — but there were plenty of other interesting things. For tales of sauteed duck testicles, calf-brain sandwiches, and much, much more, take a gander at this week's New York Diet.

1/26/12 at 5:45 PM
Neighborhood Watch
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Learn to Cook Like a Lover; Organic Avenue Launches UWS Outpost

Chelsea: Dine on vittles grown on NYC farms — that's right — and help support the immigrant farmers who harvest them January 30 from 6 to 9 p.m. at Sueños. For $75, taste the creations of house chef Sue Torres, Jacques Gautier of Palo Santo, and other toques. All proceeds help the New Farmer Development Project recover from Irene. [Edible Manhattan]
Gramercy: Tom Colicchio's simplistic-food haven Craft brings back its Blind Tasting dinner January 27, where Craft wine director Greg Majors will lead diners through a blind tasting of eight vinos. The most discerning palate will be awarded a prize, so follow Majors on Twitter for clues. A four-course meal will accompany the tasting. E-mail Kate at kgardiner@craftrestaurant.com for reservations; $110 per person plus tax and gratuity. [Grub Street]

1/26/12 at 5:30 PM
The James Weird Awards
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The James Weird Awards: Marijuana Mouth Spray and Streets of Animal Blood

By Laura Reineke

After last week's shenanigans, a slight drop-off in weird food news was to be expected, but we still saw penis cakes, geoengineered food, and strange PR stunts in the mix. For more, check out the James Weird Awards, straight ahead.

1/26/12 at 4:45 PM
Game Shows
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How Many Vowels Are in Margarita?

Pat Sajak says he and Vanna used to hit up a local Mexican restaurant and pound a couple of 'ritas before hosting the game show, and would sometimes have trouble recognizing the alphabet as a result. Yep, we probably would have done the same. [People]

1/26/12 at 4:30 PM
What to Eat
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Eat a Three-Foot Num Pang on Super Bowl Sunday

By Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld

A big game requires a big sandwich.Photo: Michelle Feffer/New York Magazine

When you’re a pair of sports junkies and you own an excellent sandwich shop and your hometown team is going to the Super Bowl, it’s practically your civic duty: You make said sandwiches available in supersize form come game day. That’s how Num Pang’s Ben Daitz and Ratha Chaupoly see it, and the result comes on customized three-foot Parisi hero rolls, feeds ten to twelve, and includes grilled corn on the cob with chile-mayo and coconut flakes.

$85; order by February 3 for $10 delivery or pickup at 21 E. 12th St., nr. University Pl.; 212-255-3271; or 140 E. 41st St., nr. Third Ave.; 212-867-8889

1/26/12 at 4:10 PM
Closings
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After a Slow Death, H&H Is Gone

By Alyssa Shelasky

Love 'em or hate 'em, H&H was a legend.

Prepare for a pang of sentimentalism: The last remaining location of H & H bagels is officially closed. Reports say that officials seized the 46th Street space on behalf of the landlord, who was owed a whole lotta dough. There's been a lot of drama around the nostalgic bagel shop — involving tax fraud and debt, among other things — so we hope perhaps this brings the bagel legacy some peace. Now let the best bagel philosophizing begin, but get that poppy seed out of your tooth first. [NYDN via Eater NY]

1/26/12 at 4:00 PM
Two for Eight
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Tables Available at Babbo, Felidia; Within the Hour at Morimoto

It's 4 p.m., and that means it's time to play Two for Eight. We just asked ten restaurants the best time they can squeeze a couple in for dinner; you need only make your chosen reservation. (As always, we make the calls but don't guarantee the results.) Today: TV Chefs.

1/26/12 at 3:30 PM
Love and Sex
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A Restaurant List for the Lonely Hearts Club

Zagat has organized a list of ten different restaurants for ten varieties of singletons, from "down-to-earth alcoholics" to "American Psycho types." What, nothing for "Dorito-eating bad grrrls" or "self-promotionally-confused chefs"? [Zagat Buzz]

1/26/12 at 2:45 PM
Hostility
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The Hasidim Pray for Crown Heights’ Non-Assimilation

By Alyssa Shelasky

Speaking of ...

Rabbi Joselph Spielman and several of his pals are not enjoying the hipsterfication of Crown Heights at all, with provocative goings-on like bar hopping and sunbathing. "We like to live by a certain set of rules," the rabbi told a reporter. "It is an area where we don’t want our children seeing these things." The tension seems to only be growing between the Hasidic community and their new neighbors, with blogs reading, "These yuppies [who] bring pritzus [immodesty] to our neighborhood," and secular tenants who don't mean to offend yet have no intentions of changing. Hope Bar Corvo escapes the drama! [NYDN]