I've been following the evolution of Neomi's Grill's new menu on Chadzilla, but now, this whole restaurant-within-a-restaurant concept has blown us away. Well, not the concept itself, but the food produced for this mini-restaurant, called Paradigm. Here's how Chef Chad explains it on the blog:

The Paradigm concept is our 'restaurant within a restaurant' or 'chef table' manifestation. It will feature one 10 to 12 course tasting menu each week highlighting our flavor compositions, technical endeavors, experimental successes, and momentary flights of whimsy. The menu will roll at a set time every Thursday for no more than 12 persons. We will set the dinner separate from the main dining floor of Neomi's. The menu will be a week to week rotation of things that work vs. things we like vs. things that we can improve upon and make better.

Paradigm: the test kitchen [Chadzilla]
First run [Chadzilla]
Neomi's Grill [MenuPages]

Photo, of "block lobster," from Chadzilla

What is it that's so satisfying, but also kind of forlorn, about old versions of the future? Boing Boing ran this 1931 ad via Modern Mechanix that boasts of the ease with which a farmer could milk a cow by radio control. Of course, they have gigantic milking machines now, but somehow the simplicity of the "five-food length of copper" is more attractive. Plus, they probably have wires attached, so this is actually more advanced. Sort of.

THERE seems to be no end to the versatility of radio in these days of electrical and mechanical miracles—not even cows and street cars are immune to the influences of its radiations. As a curtain raiser at the annual radio show held recently in St. Louis, a street car was operated from a distance by a mere man with a radio transmitter in his hand, and a Holstein cow was made to dispense her milk by the medium of radio waves, whether she liked it or not.

The mechanism of the trolley car and the mechanism of the milking machine were hooked up to a specially constructed radio receiver using only a five-foot length of copper pipe as an antenna. At a distance stood the operator, holding a portable radio transmitter using a similar antenna, as shown in the accompanying photos. When the key was pressed at the transmitter, the distant receiver in both cases set the machines to operating.

Miraculous radio-controlled milking-machine of 1931 [Boing Boing]
Radio Milks Cows, Runs Street Cars (Feb., 1931) [Modern Mechanix]

• Bostonians celebrated the patron saint of fishermen, as well as the deliciousness of cannoli. [MP: Boston]

• A genteel evening at the Ravinia Festival turned into an all-out food fight. [MP: Chicago]

• One "raven" had his/her own personal festival of writing MenuPages user reviews: 43 at last count! [MP: Philadelphia]

• One San Francisco taqueria will cause festivities in your tummy (in a good way). [MP: San Francisco]

• Hey, how would you think to pronounce RA Sushi? Yeah. You're wrong. [MP: South Florida]

• Lee Klein presents photographic evidence that the meals on Air France are better than the ones on Continental Airlines. (Not surprising.) [Short Order]

• Looks like everyone's been on vacation recently. Sara shares photos of brunch at Lemonia in the Ritz-Carlton Naples. [All Purpose Dark]

• All of these photos are making me hungry! Danny gives us shots of his sandwich at El Rey del Chivito. [Daily Cocaine]

• Need some hurricane prep tips? Here are a bunch of good ones. [Jan Norris]

• Cupcake bakeries are embroiled in a delicious trademark dispute. One is called "Sprinkled Pink" and should welcome the chance to get rid of that name. [LA Times]

• Tropical Storm Hanna has caused so much flooding in Goniaves, Haiti, that trucks bearing food aid can't even reach the area. [NY Times]

• You know that chemical BPA? The one that's probably in your water bottle? Well, it might be reducing your ability to learn and remember. That explains so much about college. [Canada.com]

• San Francisco's mayor wants to use local food for school and prison meals. [San Francisco Chronicle]

• Oh hey, speaking of sprinkles, it turns out that the former director of external affairs at Dunkin' Donuts (Dunkie's, for the Bostonians among us) was embezzling like crazy. [Boston Globe]

Not sure how I didn't see Victoria Pesce Elliott's review of RA Sushi earlier (I swear it wasn't on the Herald's site), but I just couldn't let it slide by after reading the first paragraph:

The name is RA, as in rah, rah, sis, boom, bah -- not R.A., as I made the mistake of saying to a server who quietly corrected me: ``They get really upset if you say that. It's supposed to be like raw, you know, like raw fish.''

Anyway, the sushi is OK; Victoria Pesce Elliott gives it two stars, and her reaction is lukewarm to most of what's on the menu. But hey, the happy hour is a good deal.

Splashy RA Sushi strives for mass appeal [Miami Herald]
RA Sushi [MenuPages]
RA Sushi [Official Site]

Foods of the World, a new site from National Geographic, launched yesterday to relatively little fanfare. The site is equal parts global food bazaar, recipe resource, and exploration/research tool. In fact, the marriage of National Geographic and food in one convenient site makes so much sense that we were more surprised to hear that it didn't already exist than that it was launching at all.

After the jump, more on Foods of the World.

Continue reading "National Geographic Launches Food Site: Foodie-Anthropologists Rejoice" »

Geoffrey Zakarian might be headed to Miami. The New York restaurateur is slated to oversee restaurant operations at a new hotel called Dream South Beach, which will combine the Tudor and the Palmer House at 11th and Collins. Here's what South Beach USA has to say about it:

Dream South Beach will be a high-end, luxury boutique hotel and will contain two food and beverage establishments including a ground-floor restaurant and a glass-enclosed roof-top lounge offering a sophisticated and relaxing environment.

Michelin Star chef Geoffrey Zakarian, formerly of “44″ in the Royalton Hotel in New York and currently chef of “Town” at the Chambers Hotel in Midtown and “Country” in the Carlton Hotel near Madison Square Park will be overseeing restaurant operations at Dream South Beach.

The roof-top lounge will be administered by David Rabin, a principle of 360 Hospitality which operates lounges, bar and restaurants in New York.

Dream South Beach Hotel Coming to Miami Beach [South Beach USA]
Town [MenuPages]
Town [Official Site]
Country [MenuPages]
Country [Official Site]
Blue Door [MenuPages]

Our stay-cation last weekend was extremely slow, but it looks like we'll be able to make up for it this week with several fun foodie activities.

On Friday starting at 6 p.m., The Oceanaire Seafood Room will present a five-course dinner featuring Robert Mondavi Wines. The cost is $65 per person, plus tax and gratuity. Just to get your juices flowing, we'll tell you that the first course will be “A Study in Oysters” paired with Mondavi Fume Blanc, Napa Valley ’06. Call 305-372-8862 (TUNA) for reservations.

On Saturday, the Historical Museum of South Florida will host its annual fundraiser: the Bark Brunch at the Oasis at the Raleigh Hotel (pictured), which will take place from 10 a.m. until noon. While you fill up on brunch and mimosas, your furry friend can enter a canine competition or get a doggie massage. Tickets for non-HMSF members are $55.

On Sunday, Sushi Samba Dromo is celebrating Brazilian Independence Day with a specialty cocktail, one-night-only dishes and a show featuring famed performer Gil Santos, dancers and Brazilian drummers. The live shows are scheduled for 8-9:30 p.m. Special menu items include a bandeira cocktail ($12), a mix of pinot grigio and cachaca; the lobster and palmito salad ($18), served with a coco-mango emulsion and cashew powder; and the roasted poussion com batata ($25), served with broccolini and port sauce.

The Oceanaire Seafood Room [MenuPages]
The Oceanaire Seafood Room [Official Site]
Historical Museum of South Florida [Official Site]
Raleigh Hotel [Official Site]
Sushi Samba Dromo [MenuPages]
Sushi Samba Dromo [Official Site]

Ha, this is great: Remember when we brought you our list of state/county fair food dos and don'ts? Well, an addendum should be made:

Do:
• Eat anything and everything that comes on a stick. The weirder the better.

Because look at how much fun it obviously is to eat this stuff at the Minnesota State Fair. Note: Scotch egg, hoagie, corn-dog-on-a-slide.

In Videos: Foods on a Stick at the Minnesota State Fair [Serious Eats]

• The Upper East Side is movin' on up with some great new neighborhood restaurants. [Miami Herald]

• The new Design District version of Pacific Time gets a whopping three-and-a-half stars from Rochelle Koff. [Miami Herald]

• Bill Citara really likes the food at Badrutt's Place, despite the odd design and the restaurant's multiple personalities. [Miami New Times]

• The food is good, but it seems Gail Shepherd fell in love with Cafe Seville because of the service. [Broward-Palm Beach New Times]

• Looking for fresh, local mozzarella? Here's an idea. [Miami Herald]

• The Herald's Broward roundup explores Peruvian, Middle Eastern and Chinese options. [Miami Herald]

• Charles Passy checks out the new Shorty's in Palm Beach Gardens, the first branch of the chain in Palm Beach County. The 'cue is merely OK, but the portions are large and the Key lime pie is great. [Palm Beach Post]

• A chemical in many food and drink containers has been linked to brain cancer (ugh). [Canwest News Service]

• Food distributor Sysco settles with the state of Florida over false fish allegations. [CNN Money]

• The dust is finally settling in that fatal 2003 Rhode Island nightclub fire, and very little of it lands on the club owners. [Chicago Tribune/AP]

• Reaction to LA fast food ban is some mix of insolence and skepticism. [Reuters]

Bad idea. Soon after tasting it, we realized that maybe two portions might have been better. My appetite suddenly appeared, and my boyfriend had to fight for what was, in reality, his snack. It doesn't look like all that much from the photo, but trust me, that chili sauce is magical — a perfect blend of heat and flavor.

After the jump, some more of the food highlights from our 10 days in Seoul...

Continue reading "National: 10 Days Of Kimchi" »

What I really want to do is present you with some insightful commentary on something like the greening of Florida's citrus industry (scary!), the growing popularity of bubble tea in South Florida, or the restaurant scene emerging in the Upper East Side. But I spent 26 hours yesterday navigating airports from one end of the world to another as I made my way home from Seoul, and I'm really, really exhausted. So exhausted that I'm having a hard time coming up with coherent thoughts about anything relevant. So instead, I'm taking a cue from Short Order's John Linn and filling out the Omnivore's Hundred. The idea is to bold any of the food items on the list that you've had and to cross out any that you'd never try. My list, after the jump:

Continue reading "The Omnivore's Hundred" »

In Oakland, there's a guy named Ivar, an oldies DJ, mechanic, artist, and partner in The Key Printing and Binding.

Most important, though, among Ivar's many talents, is his non-stop stream of consciousness when it comes to hilariously disastrous concepts. Any conversation with Ivar yields at least a couple ideas so deliberately misguided that you yearn to see them put into action, just so that they will exist in the world, such the seagull that lives in your shirt if you don't have health-care and pops out to warn you when you're about to do something dangerous.

A long-time favorite is Ivar's "Bad Drinks" cocktail list, which includes such hits as a glass of blood with microchips floating in it, a glass of pubic hair with a dollop of chili on top, and a glass of pure water topped with several drops of gasoline.

Continue reading "National: Drinks To Forget" »

A favorite Brickell lunch spot is trying to lure dinner patrons as well. We just spotted this sign, which touts $12 entrees Monday through Thursday from 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., hanging on Perricone's front porch. Though we've yet to check out which 12 entrees made the the $12 list, the majority of the restaurant's grilled dishes ring in at more than $20, so they're offering a substantial discount.

Perricone's Marketplace & Cafe [MenuPages]
Perricone's Marketplace & Cafe [Official Site]

• There's a pretty good chance that meat and milk from the offspring of cloned animals has entered the U.S. food supply. [Reuters via Guardian]

• A severe drought in Ethiopia has left 8 million in urgent need of food aid. [Reuters]

• Lobster prices are at their lowest in years due to decreased demand, so now might be a good time to splurge. [NYT]

• United Airlines reversed the decision to stop offering hot meals to economy class passengers on international flights. [Chicago Sun-Times]

The New York Times ran an expose a few weeks ago about Kate Stoeckle and Louisa Strauss, high school students in Manhattan who did a most interesting science project: They dropped a couple hundred dollars on sushi from restaurants and grocery stores, and then sent the fish off for a DNA analysis that would positively identify each sample's species. The result? Mislabeled fish turned up at 2 of the 4 restaurants and 6 of the 10 grocery stores.

Of course, in the wake of this article, the world has been turned on its ear. Predictably, big hitters like Eric Ripert of New York's seafood cathedral Le Bernardin and the guys from Nobu issued impassioned declarations that they never never swap in cheaper, farmed fishes in lieu of the exotic, expensive ones that are advertised on the menu.

So that's a story in and of itself, and probably worthy of more in-depth coverage on this blog. But! The real story here, at least to us, is an op-ed that ran today that takes this bit of fishy business as a springboard for a discussion of the power of the mind to dupe the palate.

The key here is a trick of the trade held close to the heart of magicians, con artists, and other sleight-of-handers: It's easier to fool an expert than it is to fool a naif. Citing examples of white wine dyed red, and chocolate yogurt mistaken for strawberry when eaten in the dark, author Edward Dolnick illustrates just how easy it is for us to dupe our tastebuds when we trust the information coming to us from another source — a wine expert asking us how we like our Pinot Noir, or a lab tech asking us whether we taste the strawberry, or (as it turns out) a menu telling us that the tilapia draped over a lozenge of sticky rice is actually "white tuna."

Of course, there are some food-related slights of hand that make us happy: think meatloaf cupcakes, or Chef Michel Richard's virtual eggs. But we're the first to admit we're not immune to the power of suggestion: the first time we tried one of the virtual eggs (made from mozzarella and yellow tomato) our first thought was not "oh hey, cheese and tomato shaped like an egg." It was "whoa, this egg is rotten."

Given that, we're keeping a more critical eye (and, er, tastebud) on what goes in our mouth. Hey, garde mangers — consider us en garde.

Fish or Foul? [New York Times]

[Photo: Heck knows what kind of fish any of this is anymore. Via sifu_renka's Flickr]

I’d be lying by omission if I didn’t admit to being pretty darn impressed with the Slow Food Taste Pavilions this weekend. Menupages’ own Adam Martin joined Sweetie and me for the Saturday evening session, and we were all impressed with the general pageantry and spectacle of the event in addition to the genuinely great food with which we filled ourselves over the course of four hours.

The only complaint? You weren’t able to buy anything at the pavilions, just collect check marks on your "Slow Dough" card to indicate that you’d been to a station. Of course, I'm not sure how the pricing would have worked if they had decided to sell goods at the pavilions, because we couldn’t help question the seemingly arbitrary “price scale” employed at the event. The Spirits pavilion was two check-marks, but you got unlimited cocktails all night. On the flip side, one sample of pork confit on small slice of toasted bread was three check-marks. Huh? Maybe pork is particularly expensive compared to a bottle of organic vodka.

And so we pressed on.

With each of the pavilions promising the best of what a particular industry or ingredient had to offer, I went into the evening thinking I’d see lots of familiar names and faces, like Blue Bottle Coffee, Cow Girl Creamery or Niman Ranch. But we were pleasantly surprised to see so many new or under-promoted names holding their own among the heavy hitters.

For instance, Counter Culture Coffee Roasters from North Carolina had us at hello with the El Salvadorian roast we sipped mid-flight at the Coffee Pavilion. We were all over the Wild Nunavut Arctic Char, available for the first time in the States, which was prepared by sustainable fish company CleanFish at the Fish Pavilion.

The pork pate from Café Rouge in Berkeley gave the charcuterie sampler some girth. And even the folks over at the Spirits Pavilion had new tricks up their sleeves with Shane McKnight, mixologist extraordinaire at Globe and founder of Urban Lunch SF, going through an elaborate process to create one very special cocktail: Pureed cucumber and lime, lemon juice, muddled cucumbers, St. Germain, Prairie Organic Vodka, mint and soda.

It was great to discover and rediscover food and the people responsible for making it. What’s more, in the spirit of slow food, localism, and sustainability, it's great that so many food purveyors were able to share the spotlight and let the food, rather than the branding, do the talking.

And now it's picture time. See you after the jump...

Continue reading "SFN: A Visit To The Taste Pavilion, Vol. 2" »

• Today in global food aid: North Korea needs $503 million of it. [Reuters]

• Slow Food Nation is the perfect hybrid of Democrat and Republican ideals. [SFChron]

• Cinnamon prevents food spoilage! Neat! [NYT]

• RIP Raymond L. Danner, Sr., businessman behind the Shoney's restaurant chain. [AP/IHT]

• A roundup of victims of the "grocery shrink ray" (coinage, btw, by Consumerist) [AP/IHT]

It's been a great weekend of solid Slow Food Nation, but like all events, this, too, must end. That doesn't mean the coverage has to, though. Alexis will bring you another look at the Taste Pavilion tomorrow, and you can at least one more story later this week, as well as more photos and anecdotes.

For it being a "slow" event, Slow Food Nation sure did involve a lot of hustling hither and yon and eating on the go. The Taste Pavilion and marketplace both lent themselves to snacking while walking, and the farm tour, of course, involved a morning of tromping around fields. But the last official event I attended made up for all that hardship (I know, what a tough life), with a four-course meal that involved some of the finest meat and vegetables I've eaten all season.

Sunday night was my turn to eat at a Slow Dinner. I picked Serpentine because I've been curious about the restaurant, and I liked the sound of the Center for Land-Based Learning, which the dinner benefited.

But by the time it rolled around, I wasn't really looking forward to the evening. I was tired of working, and tired of hearing about food politics, and as I hopped a cab out to Dog Patch, I looked wistfully at the Taqueria Castillito on Mason Street, thinking how comfortable it would be to curl up in front of the tube with a nice al pastor burrito.

Walking into the Serpentine's bright, airy dining room did little to put me at ease. The place looks great, with sharp lines and dramatic angles and plenty of natural evening light. Meanwhile, I was in the mood for a dark, low room where I could hide out in a booth. Mary Kimball, director of the Center For Land-Based Learning, greeted me at the door and invited me to sit anywhere. After grabbing a seat at the bar, I ordered a Hangar One martini, and within a few minutes, I was having fun in spite of myself.

This turned out to be maybe the easiest Slow Food Nation event to enjoy. It was just dinner, plain and simple, with a short interruption as Mary gave her spiel on the Center, to which went $50 from each $110 ticket. She didn't talk our ears off, and it was fun hearing about the center, which is doing some great work. Here she is in full swing:

As the wine flowed, I found it easier to loosen up, and soon I was chatting away with Toby Hastings, whose Free Spirit Farm, near Davis, supplied the cherry and heirloom tomatoes for the dinner, as well as the Gypsy peppers. Toby leases his acre or so of land from the Center, and is one of Serpentine's regular suppliers. He also went to the University of California at Santa Cruz with my brother, it turns out. God, this is a small town.

The bar seemed to be where "industry" types sat, as the pair to my right mentioned they had delivered the evening's beef through their Prather Ranch Meat Co. They met chef Chris Kronner at a Meat Paper party, co-owner Steve McCarthy told me.

Before long we were all having a laugh, passing around the family-style serving plates, and by the time dessert came around, I didn't want the evening to end.

I wish I could offer you a taste, but you'll have to make do with the photos, after the jump, that show off this wonderful menu. As for me, I'll be glad to get back to the calm pace of the work day after one frenzied weekend. It's been fun, and it's been delicious, but this weekend was anything but "slow."

Continue reading "SFN: Slow Dinner At Serpentine" »

If the Slow Marketplace was the centerpiece of this weekend's Slow Food Nation event, then the Taste Pavilion was the main course. Ambling through For Mason for the evening session, fellow MenuPages blogger Alexis Wright, her "Sweetie," and third wheel yours truly, prepared to be overwhelmed.

Even before the massive, Fort Mason exhibition hall loomed into sight, we knew we were in for the kind of treat you have to work at. Lines ruled the day, and were overwhelming at first, but after suffering through a couple, it turned out most went pretty fast, and they all had a lovely payoff.

By now you've probably seen a good few photos of Saturday's Taste Pavilion, thanks to intrepid reporters at Eater SF, and the Slow Food Nation flickr pool. What's that? You just can't get enough? Great, here are some more photos and maybe an anecdote or two, after the jump.

Continue reading "SFN: A Visit To The Taste Pavilion, Vol. 1" »

A lot of cool stuff happened this morning as my old pal Kim Cuddy and I set out to take a tour of San Francisco's Alemany Farm. The only Slow Journey that was both free and didn't involve going anywhere (or anywhere you couldn't get to on BART), this was for me.

As we tromped through the bushes on the hillside above the farm, lost, but navigating by the landmark windmill, Kim stopped to eat blackberries that grow wild there. We were already late for the tour, so what the hell:

You couldn't get more in the spirit of Slow Food Nation than this place. A former San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners sight, the couple-acre patch just off Interstate Highway 280 and Alemany Boulevard was first plowed in 1995. Since then it's been known as St. Mary's Youth Farm, SLUG, an abandoned lot, and, since 2005, the independent Alemany Farm. It's a prime example of a piece of urban land transformed into the city's own salad bowl.

Once we made it through the gate, Kim and I took a partially guided tour of the farm's crops, corners, and crannies. Check it out, after the jump.

Continue reading "SFN: A Tour Of Alemany Farm" »

Friday was one packed day. In addition to a panel discussion full of zingers and insight, Slow Food Nation got started with the taste pavilions, a day's worth of slow tours and of course, the Slow Marketplace and Victory Garden. This is where I spent the morning, eating, chatting and generally hobnobbing with friend and impromptu guide, the Tablehopper, Marcia Gagliardi.

We met up in the Victory Garden, which splays out in front of City Hall for an entire block, full of circular planters like these:

Tons more photos after the jump...

Continue reading "SFN: Photos And Quips From The Slow Marketplace" »

Today's Food For Thought panel discussion, "Re-Localizing Food," was interesting, yes, entertaining, for sure, but almost totally devoid of surprises. Did you know that Michael Pollan is in favor of using sustainable farming techniques and growing food closer to home? Why yes, actually. Did you also know that Winona LaDuke thinks people like those on her White Earth Indian Reservation deserve better access to fresh, local food? Yes, you probably did.

But underlying what might be characterized by the cynical as a one long choir-preach, we found a lovely surprise: These folks are funny. Sure, the humor is a little NPR-ish, but the zingers were not sparse among the four panelists as they rapped on their favorite issues, fielding questions and egging each other on.

Continue reading "SFN: Does The Fun Ever Stop? A Discussion On The Politics Of Local Food" »