Sunday, October 24, 2010

what i've been up to

so we had a big gay brunch this weekend then headed to the standard beer garden to enjoy one of the last days warm enough for such a thing. someone said, "wouldn't it be awesome if we had a hotel room here and could just go upstairs and drink without tickets and lines?" and i won't say how it happened, but all of a sudden we had a room key. and a case of champagne. and we put on the hotel robes and ordered up more for people who showed up so we all looked like monk/cult members of some sort. we tried flashing people on the highline but were too high up to be noticed. we ran a hot bath and took turns lounging in it, taking photos and sipping champagne. a friend had to leave for a date but returned with a pizza, which was amazing. the night, in retrospect, was the kind of thing i wouldn't believe unless i'd been there. and thank god i'd been there because it was pretty fucking amazing.
 
my beloved joseph leonard had a fire! i stopped into jeffrey's to see the crew who was in as good spirits as could be hoped for. most of the damage is in the basement which means the dining room is okay, but there was a lot of expensive equipment down there and tons of smoke to get rid of. thank god for insurance? people have been pouring into jeffrey's to offer support and it's a really beautiful reminder of what a tight-knit little community gabe stulman has built with his restaurants. i'm happy and grateful to be part of the family of folks who feel at home in his restaurants.
 
i'm possibly going to thailand over thanksgiving? i mean, i'm definitely going to thailand over thanksgiving. we're flying in and out of BKK but want to hit an island or two, feel free to e-mail over suggestions or drop them in the comments! i'll be there for two weeks
 
 
 i'm also going to georgia to an auburn game in a couple weeks. i didn't really have football in college (they were DIII, which, who cares?) but this is a totally different thing. i went to a couple notre dame games when i was in high school but i think this will be crazier because they're all southern. colin and david want me to sleep with a college kid which might be funny just to say i did it, and likely not fun in practice. 

have a couple pieces due out soon, will link them as they happen!

Monday, October 11, 2010

foodie things

san diego was fantastic. stayed at the andaz, which is one of the best hotels in the city but we kind of hated it. the rooms had no light and no lamps and it was impossible to do work in the room. we got an "upgrade" which was just them moving us to a room with a king-sized bed which looked into the restaurant so we had to keep the curtains closed 24/7. they have this club on the roof which is pretty tacky but the pool is otherwise lovely and colin and i spent time getting sun and doing some work in a cabana in the rain.

the best part of the trip was searsucker, brian malarkey's new place. it was FANTASTIC. one of the best meals i've had in years. get the brussels sprouts. 

i wrote up the new yorker festival for mediaite over here

i've pulled a bunch of my eating posts here and moved them to a separate blog: A.B.E. Always Be Eating. just made sense to separate it. sorry to andrew carmellini and the joseph leonard folks who will have that new place pop up in their google alerts some 15 times each due to the re-posting. i'm still deciding whether to keep the food stuff entirely separate or whether to just repost it there as it happens...suggestions? i use this here blog as a sort of livejournal and would hate to have my life separated into two like that, but feel the food stuff has to have its own place now that i've started writing. 

trufflepalooza is coming up again! ted is joining, I'll come back with a full report.

i've had such a busy few weeks that i'm starting to just forget where i've been and what i've done. BAD. 

had the honor of attending the Michelin Red Guide drop party. i'm possibly working on a story about supper clubs and talked to michael white, drew nieporent, jean georges, daniel boulud and others about them. the food at the party, cooked by supper clubs, was fantastic. the caliber of cooking these guys are doing blows my mind. whisk and ladle had this celery root soup with veal cheek croutons that i'm having dreams about. city grit did fried shrimp and grits which were awesome (and eater's favorite). i met the sweetest girl there, a travel writer for AOL who won a shorty! for weirdest tweets! she has a llama that tweets at people to do ridiculous things at their desks. small little tasks that are silly, and probably entertaining for those stuck in a cubicle all day. reggie watts performed and HE IS THE SHIT

then new york wine and food festival happened. had a steak sponsored afterparty at some random mid-town club. let me tell you, if you ever hear "steak sponsored" and "party" in the same sentence: GO. filet was all over, as much as you could eat. they had a beautiful rose champagne and some pretty awesome music. 

finally tried relais de venise, the outpost of the famous french place that i adore. in three words: not as good. the sauce is lacking kick (or salt) and the portion was small. service was spotty and there were a few screaming babies in attendance (due to location, i'd assume). but afterwards we hit rudy's. consumed 1 pitcher of blonde and no hot dogs. then stopped by joseph leonard which pretty much the best place to be at that second because the 2nd place winners in the burger bash, mo koyfman and ben leventhal were there celebrating and their award winning burger was being given out gratis to everyone still in the restaurant. AMAZING. getting the #2 burger without having to pay the $250 burger bash entry fee: priceless.

gabe's jeffrey's grocery opened last week too and i was luckily invited to friends and family there. wine and cheese were in abundance but it was a good chance to catch up with some regulars. met phyllis who immediately seized my arm and dragged me over to meet a cute bartender when she found out i was single. "it's my jewish grandmother's instinct," she said, apologetically.