Last night I was at a bar on 10th Street called Black and White. It's nothing special — a dark, loud, dive-y bar between 3rd and 4th Aves, a little too loud for my taste. When I walked in, I thought that I had probably raised the average age of the place quite a bit, but at least they were playing the Clash — Police and Thieves. Turns out there was a DJ, playing some fantastic 80's music. It literally sounded to me like she had taken my personal box of mix tapes — the ones that I had taped off of the radio on WLIR back in the day — and put them on her iPod: New Order, Joy Division, Tones on Tail, the Cure, Depeche Mode, and more. If she had played it at a volume that had actually allowed me to hear my friends, I would have stayed all night.
Author: Laren
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Sometimes
I miss Hugh's viciously bitter sense of humor, especially about New York. From Gaping Void.
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All in the Family
I've been considering upgrading my phone. Not because it doesn't work, and not because I don't love the artichoke picture I have on it (ordered it in lieu of an upgrade a while back), but because I seem to be texting more and more and the T9 text entry drives me nuts. I would love something with a QWERTY keyboard. And no, I don't want an iPhone at the moment. So, I went into the Verizon store and asked questions about various models, but alas, one of the issues with upgrading is that I am on one of their "Family Plans." Now this is fantastic, mind you, as it keeps my phone bill quite low (thanks, family!), but at the same time, I have learned that if I want to change to a plan with any sort of "data" use (which I'd have to do, I think, if I upgraded my phone), we have to switch our whole plan, at a potential cost increase to everyone. I'm still collecting all the details, but I don't think it's worth it at the moment. I'd rather stick with the family and continue to send stunted, misspelled texts, at least for now. Anyone have recs for Verizon QWERTY phones in case I decide to switch soon?
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Thoughts This Week
– Five years later and I'm still dealing with this nonsense.
– I'm developing a Fried Chicken to-do list, including Momofuku Noodle Bar, The Redhead, Savoy, Fatty Crab, and Locanda Verde. Must spread it out over several months for fear of calorie overload.
– Speaking of calorie overload, I've got a hot date with a pork butt tonight.
– I've been practicing my newfound cocktail skills by chilling down my iced espresso in a Boston Shaker every morning. Many thanks to The Cocktail Guru for reminding me of the easiest way to open the shaker (hint — it's not upside down, which is how I was doing it this week. Then again, it was pre-coffee).
– As much as I have enjoyed my food writing over the years, I am thrilled that I was never a professional reviewer dealing with picky/high maintenance dining companions.
That is all.
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A Thing of Beauty
Just wanted to share this gorgeous specimen with you — the English Muffin from Momofuku Milk bar: a homemade English Muffin with black pepper butter, a deep-fried soft poached egg, caramelized onions, pork belly, hoisin and pea shoots. Only available on Saturdays.
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Raising the Bar
Inspired by my recent cocktail class, I set out this weekend on a shopping excursion to pick up some components to improve my home bar. Nothing major, just a few essentials — bitters, a bar spoon, some more glasses, and a key bottle or two. Everything got a good workout in honor of the Mad Men premier last night, where @cocktailspirit and @halw shook up some classic cocktails for the rest of us to enjoy. One such treat was the Park Avenue Cocktail (courtesy of John the Bastard):
The Park Avenue Cocktail
2 oz gin ¾ oz pineapple juice ¾ oz sweet vermouth ⅓ oz Grand Marnier (or orange curaçao) Shake and strain.
The one more piece of equipment I need to improve my home bar (and the rest of the home) is an air conditioner that cools more than my bedroom.
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Catch Me Now I’m Falling*
So last Friday, as I was slowly winding down my week at the beach, I received a few emails/calls from concerned friends to the effect of — have you heard that your building might be collapsing? Needless to say, this was somewhat disconcerting, to say the least, especially now that I am a homeowner. That said, when a friend asked if she could do anything or go to my apartment and get anything out, it really gave me pause. I had my computer with me, containing about 4 years worth of pictures. I was thinking that maybe she should grab the rest of my pictures and my old external hard drive (more pictures), perhaps my jewelry box, although I don't have much that is particularly valuable, perhaps my passport and Social Security card (both replaceable), but there really wasn't much else that came to mind.
Ultimately, despite scary news reports to the contrary, nothing fell, nothing collapsed. The bricks that were bulging are being fixed and there's now scaffolding around the building. Whew.
What would you rescue if you knew your building was about to collapse? Thanks again to those who were thinking of me!
*A nod to Ray Davies and the Kinks
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What’s Cooking
- My latest on Serious Eats NY — interivew with Jeff Glassman of Fire Island Beer Company
- In case you wanted more — my other Serious Eats posts
- Look for a post soon on the Savory Cities blog — my interview with Dave Arnold and Alexis Kahn of FCI [UPDATE — the post is now up!]
- Also keep an eye out for a weekly cocktail column on Serious Eats NY
- And, coming this fall, a home cooking project that I hope to document here.
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Love Child
As I said yesterday on my Facebook status update, I want to be the love child of Julia Child and Chrissie Hynde when I grow up. You can read about my love for Julia below. I got to see Chrissie and the Pretenders rocking out on Monday night at Summerstage. If I can rock that hard, sing that well, and look that good at age 57, I'll be thrilled.
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Words of Wisdom, Take 2
After seeing Julie & Julia this weekend I was once again reminded how much I admire Julia Child and everything about the way she lived her life. Of course I then decided I wanted to write about one of my favorite Julia Child quotes and then realized that I already did. Fine. Then I'll give you my second favorite quote — her advice on how not to lose a husband: the "three F's." "Feed 'em, fuck 'em, and flatter 'em." And my third favorite: "Life itself is the proper binge." And finally, a bonus quote, when asked what her longevity was attributed to, she answered, "red meat and gin." Amen, Julia.