Globalist Chefs Want to Whip Inflation Now! But They Can't.

As the dollar weakens, so does our ability to cherry-pick the best exports in the world.

Posted 05/07/08 in Grub Street : NewsFeed

Tags: fork in the road, inflation, newsfeed, sarah di gregorio, village voice

Global Grub Abounds at ‘Voice’ Choice Eats

There’s a lot to recommend the Voice’s Choice Eats dinner, coming up on March 11 and taking rezzies now. For one thing, it’s cheap: These kind of events are usually a small fortune, whereas this one costs $25 in advance, and $35 at the door. But more important, the restaurants represented are all ones searched out by the paper’s xenophilic critic, Robert Sietsema. Sietsema’s various West African stew houses and Uzbek kebab palaces tend to be more read about than visited and are spread far throughout the five boroughs. The event — a chance to eat at 30 of them at the same time (including Albert's Mofongo House, Yeti of Hieizan, and Peppa's Jerk Chicken) — amounts to a global-cheap-eats summit. No self-respecting New York gastronaut should consider doing anything else that night. You can buy tickets here. The Puck Building, 295 Lafayette St., nr. Houston St.; Mar. 11, 6:30–11:30 p.m.

Posted 02/26/08 in Grub Street : Foodievents

Tags: choice eats, foodievents, robert sietsema, village voice

Sietsema to Blow the Lid Off ‘Iron Chef’ Tomorrow

The Village Voice’s press department writes in to let us know that the cover story of tomorrow’s issue will be Robert Sietsema’s “Iron Chef Boyardee,” in which “our man Sietsema gets into an Iron Chef America taping, and learns that the reality TV show is more bogus than even he realized.” When we attended an Iron Chef tasting, we did wonder how so much good food could be invented and cooked in an hour when many New York restaurants can’t do the same in six months. Maybe it was sleight of hand? Related: ‘Iron Chef’ Taping Leads to Earth-Shattering Revolution

Posted 02/19/08 in Grub Street : NewsFeed

Tags: iron chef, newsfeed, robert sietsema, village voice

Food-Labor Discord Spreads to Laborers

If our recent coverage of the deliveryman revolt caused you to imagine a Utopia in which once lowly restaurant workers pour bubbly on their bikinied yacht passengers while singing “I’m a go-getter,” think again: A feature in today’s Village Voice indicates that all is not well within the Restaurant Opportunity Center of New York (ROC-NY), the group that protests alleged labor-law-flaunting restaurants like Daniel, Smith & Wollensky, and the Fireman Hospitality Group’s eateries. The nonprofit is being sued by former members who allege that they were cheated out of a fair share of the ROC’s pioneering co-op restaurant, Colors. And that’s just the start of the beef. Fork Off [VV] Related: Deliveryman Revolt Continues With No Check in Sight [Grub Street] The Delivery Man’s Uprising [NYM]

Posted 08/22/07 in Grub Street : NewsFeed

Tags: daniel, delivery, newsfeed, smith & wollensky, village voice

Riding the B Line: Georgia on Our Mind

Somewhere in the world there may be a train line that covers more gastronomic territory than the B and V subway lines, which start in southernmost Brooklyn and end deep in Queens, but if there is, we don’t know about it. For the next twenty-odd weeks, we'll be riding the B and V from Coney Island all the way to Forest Hills, jumping off frequently to rave about our favorite restaurants and food stores near the subway. This week: The Sheepshead Bay B Stop

Posted 08/08/07 in Grub Street : The Orange Line

Tags: brooklyn, georgian food, orange line, robert sietsema, sheepshead bay, tamada, The Orange Line, village voice