|
|
|
Food and Web
 |
Calling all opinionated foodies: Zagat Restaurant Survey needs your help to compose its 2011 Philadelphia edition. Whether you are long-winded or short and to the point, whether you have been to 200 restaurants or two, log on to zagat.com/vote to rate spots on food, service, décor and estimated cost. Surveys in-progress can be saved, allowing you to revise your opinions or just get back to it when you have more to say and more time to say it. (Say it Zuh-GAT, not Zaggit, while you're at it).
To tempt participation, reviewers who speak their piece by March 21, 2010 will be rewarded for their time with a copy of the finished product, a 90-day subscription to Zagat.com, or a chance to win âA Night on the Townâ worth about 500 big ones. Sounding off for Zagat sounds good to me.
 |
| Questlove on TwitPic |
Cafeterias have been getting lots of wack press lately. First the Inky's Craig LaBan finds a big-ass hair in the cheesesteak he orders at the already-health-code-violation-beleaguered Capitol Café in Harrisburg. Now ?uestlove, Roots Crew icon, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon bandmember and unapologetic Overtweeter, shares this pic of a Black History Month special in the NBC employee eatery, accompanied by the caption "Hmm HR?"
So is this racist? It's definitely the safe play to say yes, but peruse the comments section on Vulture, or on the TwitPic itself, for some alternate takes. Seems like a lot of people feel that labeling this whole deal insensitive is a knee-jerk overreaction. We've compiled a few of our favorite comments after the jump. One or two of them are notably insightful and the rest of them are pretty much just funny/true.
I don't know about the rest of ya'll FOOLS, but I eat that on the regular. And for the record the look of hurt on the BLACK chef's face when she was told that BLACK people were offended by her idea is really sad.
Um, it's not the soul food. It's the "in honor of Black History Month" part that's racist. Kind of like saying, in honor of Lunar New Year, we're going to give all Asian people driving lessons.
Racism aside, that is a lot of food for 7.50
I am going to make a huge issue with HR when our cafeteria does the corned beef/cabbage/sourdough bread combo for St. Patrick's Day. What, just because I'm Irish I eat corned beef and potatoes all the time and that's how you label me? Not to speak of the leprechauns and other such nonsense that patronizes our culture and reduces us to boorish alcoholic stereotypes who like listening to fiddles and causing fights. Outrage!
post-racial menu quandry of the day: do you eat the fried chicken even if it is racist?
Soul Food's not complete without a side of heart attack inducing Mac & Cheese. Sayin.
What did he want, Beef Wellington? Salt cod? Sushi? Whale blubber? Okay, that's over the top. But this menu is really Southern, which of course has a lot to do with black history in the US. A wider representation of Black culinary history could have included African influences, as well as Caribbean/Creole influences. I wonder if the NBC cafeteria has done other menus for Black History Month and we're only discussing one day's fare? I don't want to get to a point we're only safe if we celebrate ethnic and cultural diversity without really sharing, tasting, touching, feeling any of it.
Now I usually prefer my greens made with smoked hamhock. When I said that I was making them for a work Xmas party one of my coworkers rolled her eyes. But I was mentored in the making of greens by the late lamented George West (we'll not see his like again)and once served up, my disgruntled coworker just quietly mumbled: and they got the nerve to be good, too. Now my neighbor and her sisters make them both ways. Makes me look forward to Labor day. Oh yeah and then there's ribs 'n BBQ.
RSR--yes, exactly. A wider representation of black foods, ones that weren't the direct result of slavery and jim crow would be significantly better as a representation. It isn't "racist", but it was shortsighted and feeds into a depiction of black culture that is myopic and has an ugly, ugly history.
Agreed with rory, except to say that it is racist, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's wrong. The term "racist", if divorced from its emotional and moral implications, simply means determined by race. So yes, I think it is racist, though not necessarily evil, but definitely myopic and too narrow.
I live in Alabama and what's the big deal? We all eat meals like this all the time. Come on down. Nothing racist, only great good for all!
from questlove's twitter the final word on soulfoodgate by ?uestlove. in the past 3 days a twitpic went from being a funny observation to a national issue. every blogger and his mom weighed in on the issue. in the beginning it seemed harmless enough. but with nbc office employees weighing their two cents in without all the facts and the little bit of hate mail i been getting from uninformed individuals i decided to put this baby to bed with a final statement. when i saw the sign i have to admit....i was DYING. like literally LMAO!!! maybe it was juxtaposition of the words: collard & history, jalapeno & honor, fried, black and nbc?? maybe it was the acculturative stress of having 28 days for this food that represents you but come marchâ¦pot roast for life kid! whatever the case, I found this funny and when I find something funny I like to let the world in on the joke (twitpic anyone??). in NO way did i ever think that this was some cruel insensitive joke on behalf of jeff zucker and his comrades at nbc (the cafeteria isn't even owned or operated by nbc). I kinda get where leslie calhoun (our culinary rosa parks) was coming from; fried chicken as a fragrant, tasty, honorable metaphor for the struggles and accomplishments of america's black masses. The problem is..in the blogosphere, things can take on a life of their own. âonline journalists", site commenters, even comedians (see wanda sykes on leno) have now taken my snapshot of leslie's missionary zeal and retooled it for their own racialized - "let's bash nbc for their conan sins" - flogging mission. my twitpic was just me poking fun, a Questlove still life that was clearly intended as a joke. what's even funnier: race issues in post racial america. potluck anyone?????
 |
| selleckwaterfallsandwich.tumblr.com |
Selleck Waterfall Sandwich is a Tumblr that features photos of Magnum P.I., accompanied by various sandwiches, Photoshopped into idyllic waterfall scenes.
The image above features our very own cheesesteak kicking it in a tropical locale with Mr. Baseball himself. You can tell it's a cheesesteak because it is wearing a Phillies hat.
Selleck Waterfall Sandwich is hands down the greatest Web site we have ever seen and it makes us question why we're even attempting to do this whole blog thing. Way to make us feel like Salieri, jerks.
Thought of y'all immediately first time I saw that tumblr. (Make you feel any better?)
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Amy Strauss and Meal Ticket, Christine Fisher. Christine Fisher said: RT @mealticket: We will never, ever be able to come up with something as good as Selleck Waterfall Sandwich http://bit.ly/d1Go9S [...]
 |
| Photo | Drew Lazor |
Just FYI, if the ever-delicious Yogorino (230 S. 20th St.) reaches 500 fans on Facebook (they're at 416 right now), the Rittenhouse yogurt shop will organize a "Fan Night" featuring "great surprises" and a chance to win a $50 gift card. Think about how much Yogorino you could buy for 50 bucks. You could even buy us some.
Done. I am pretty damn obsessed with FroYo.
 |
| Dining with 'Dre |
Last night, Andre Ethier went 3 for 5 in the Phillies' squeaked-out Game 1 NLCS victory over his Dodgers. He'd probably be batting worse this postseason, however, if he paid a little more care to Dining with 'Dre, his MLB-sponsored food blog. The outfielder hasn't updated since January of this year, when he sang the praises of Mexican fry bread in Phoenix. (In the past, though, he's done elaborate writeups on places like L.A.'s Pizzeria Mozza, which Meal Ticket peeped out in April.) We think it's only fair that some Philly restaurants invite Ethier in for a meal when he gets here for Game 3 this Sunday � you know, get his mind off work a little bit.
 |
If you like food and you like Twitter, chances are your feed's filled up with shots of stuff you're eating. (Ours sure is � guess we're Foodiotic!) Well here's an opportunity to do a little good with your habit. ShareUrMeal aims to raise funds for the United Way's LIVE UNITED: Food for Thought, a multi-pronged initiative combating hunger in this part of Pennsylvania. ShareUrMeal's various sponsors (a mix of companies, foundations and regular people like us) donate one dollar to Food for Thought for every food pic uploaded to the site � so you're supporting a great cause and stockpiling local what-should-I-eat? tips all at once. Head here to get involved and become a sponsor.
(h/t mikeyil)
 |
The 215 Festival kicks off tonight. You should definitely hit up their site for a full schedule of what's planned for this weekend, but we want to direct special attention to the food bloggers brunch scheduled for this coming Sunday, Oct. 4.
Come to National Mechanics (22 S. Third St.) from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. to check out a panel discussion featuring bloggy types from Foodaphilia, Mac & Cheese, Phoodie, Unbreaded, A Hamburger Today/The Girl Who Ate Everything and us! Jess from Fries with That Shake will moderate the convo. And of course there will be eggy things and Bloody Marys at the ready. Hope to see you there.
New Philly cheese blogger here. Just wanted to let you know I enjoyed hearing you talk on the panel this morning. Cheers, and thanks for your food coverage around town. I always enjoy it. Until a few years ago, I was the food editor for an alt weekly in Madison, WI, so hearing you talk took me back to the sweet madness of it all.
Madame Fromage: Thanks for coming! Sorry we didn't get to meet.
I really enjoyed the food blogger brunch! It was really excellent to hear everyone's different perspective on writing, and in general y'all were totally entertaining. good on ya! Thanks for participating in the 215 festival! Noelle (one of the 215 festival organizers)
 |
A "StephenStarrSRO" started following Meal Ticket on Twitter last night, teasing these details about pies in R&D at Starr's forthcoming Stella Pizza. An orange marmalade and chorizo pizza sounds so, so good, but we're gonna wait for airtight confirmation from SRO (checking with them now) before fully embracing the fact that the captain of the Starrship Enterprise is now kicking it with all us 140-character-or-less schmoes. Sorry if we're being overly skeptical, but we got burned by Ed Rendell in the past and it hurt so bad.
UPDATE: Yeah, this ain't him, says SRO.
Later this afternoon, we'll be posting a Good Word Q&A with City Paper restaurant critic Trey Popp, who's stirred up a bit of a shitstorm with his recent review of Tommy Up's P.Y.T. You'll have to wait till then for Trey's take on this "issue," but in the meantime, we'd like to share two of our favorite Twitter updates touching on it, courtesy of @tylersnotes and @adamerace:
 |
 |
good job tyler baber. well put. this whole thing has been dumb since the beginning. tommy up's challenge with square burger was a good move, funny and a smart marketing ploy. when he started getting people to compare butcher and singer's burger to his, eh... not so smart. does he even think steven starr cares? and now making excuses like "california" style vs. "east coast pub" style??? what a douche. i am a huge fan of in and out burger and well done little "california" cheeseburgers may be my favorite and PYT's is simple not that good. buns not toasted, burger is dry. up is a club promoter and PYT is a club. he made friends with bart blatstein and had an opportunity to open something because no one else wanted to rent from bart. successful restaurateurs know that consistency is the key to success and up has only been consistently loud. i've eaten 3 burgers from PYT all of them mediocre. no heart, no soul just a way to make money and be cool. up is a douche.
What people are seemingly naive to is the fact that the burgers at PYT were actually developed by Josh McCullough of Time. McCullough's cooking is superb, but his absence from PYT's kitchen after opening week has created some real consistency issues. After all of this hub-bub, I think it would behoove Up to bring McCullough back into the kitchen a little more often for extra supervision and training. In regards to the California vs. East coast burger thing (phillygreg), I think you are missing the point. The PYT burger is deemed a California style burger because of its size, 5 ounces of beef a top a Martin's potato roll. East coast burger refers to the absurdly behemoth patties of 10 and 12 ounces, on enormous brioche rolls that have become the norm over here.
[...] this page was mentioned by Roland Bui (@rolbui), Ben Kessler (@kessler), tommyup (@tommyup) and others. [...]
How is a Martin's potato roll "California"?
nope, sorry ben, not missing the point at all. if you read what i wrote you would realize i know exactly what a "california" cheeseburger is and that they are probably my favorite. im actually tired of the giant steakhouse style burger. PYT's just isnt very good. thats the problem. nice of you to come to up's rescue though. and as for the josh mccullough issue youre talking about. i can see your point and maybe the burgers arent as good as the designer wanted them to be, fine. but wasnt up the one tweeting about how great the burgers are at pyt? wasnt he challenging square burger? gettting people to compare them to butcher and singer? sorry ben, you ever heard the expression that excuses are like assholes? everyone has them and they all stink. up's excuses stink and so do his burgers. sorry ben, im tired of our great food city changing to a pr game. it's bad for food. i say top 3 burgers in this city are the royal tavern's, south philly taproom's and good dog's. and i dont think up's is the worst i just dont deem it anywhere near the best
 |
| twitter.com/midatlantic3711 |
We recently tried to get Daniel Stern to spill the beans on hyper-regional culinary approach of his upcoming "modern taproom" MidAtlantic (3711 Market St.), but he was all coy about it. Now it looks like his peeps have launched a Twitter account for the restaurant, designed specifically to torture us through the power of cryptic updates that casually mention proposed menu items. We like crab. We like scrapple. Tell us moreeeeeee.
Would this be called Scrabble? I'll get my coat.
Sam: Collin from Phoodie speculates that it could also be called "crapple." Mmmm.
[...] like the crab scrapple we spotted on Twitter awhile back will be served as part of a “Crab Louis,” with lettuce, buckwheat and a Brandy Louis [...]
- barstool scientist
- Booze
- Brew Revue
- Chef Salad
- Closings
- Coffee
- Contests
- Dealage
- Dirty Dishes
- Don't Front
- Eat This Immediately
- Field Trip
- Food and Art
- Food and Holidays
- Food and Movies
- Food and Music
- Food and Politics
- Food and Sports
- Food and Web
- Food Blogs
- Food Books
- Food Events
- Food News
- Food TV
- Gifted
- Happy Hour Hopper
- How-To
- In Print
- Interview
- Meal Ticket
- Menu Time
- Not So Quickfire
- Notes from the Weekend
- On Wheels
- Openings
- Patio Drinking
- Philly Beer Week 2010
- Photos
- Private Chef POV
- Product Placement
- Recipes
- Snack Time
- Stiff Drank
- SUPPER
- Tea
- Testing
- Ticket Stubs
- Top Chef
- Vegan
- Vegetarian
- Video
- Weekly Candy
- Weird Regional Foods
- We're Here to Help
- Where'd We Eat?
- Drew Lazor's Ill-Advised Rant Factory
- Pregame
- Ill-Advised Ranting
- The Week Without Meat
- Philly Beer Week 2009
- Real Big
- Where'd I Eat Last Night?
- Top Chef Masters
- The Good Word
- Next Iron Chef
- Arterial Terrorism
- Food and Radio
