If there was ever a luxury beer made for food pairing, my South African buddy Rui created it with Collective Sao Gabriel. And damn, they did such an incredible job with packaging. Wonder how it tastes? Stay tuned.
The machine is a Rube Goldberg machine which can serve you an omelet, coffee and a toast with jam. Yuri and Masa invited other designers and the public to help build and design the machine. They’ve used recycled remnants of previous Platform21 projects to solve all the different problems to get to their goal. Last weekend the machine was ready and served all-day breakfasts to the visitors.
Did I mention I want one? Like, really badly? Full video over here. My Dutch is a little rusty, but damn it looks awesome.
Asking a seasoned traveler for the name of a good Chinese restaurant is like searching online for a custom made shirt. With no chance to feel the hand of the fabric or compare that particular shade of blue you like with your skin tone, the search for right tastes and a healthy blend of ingredients is elusive at best and can often lead to a major disappointment if not a sour stomach. So, it was a rare and welcome discovery to sit down to the five-course near perfection offered up by Chef Chan Yan Tak at Lung King Heen in Hong Kong. Situated in the spectacular Four Seasons Hotel (the largest Four on the planet), this three star Michelin master holds court daily for diners whose adoration for dim sum bring them to the ongoing power lunch scene around the peaceful, spacious and beautifully arranged tables of this stellar restaurant. We passed up the initial invite for lunch so as to be able instead to savor a delicious dinner we will lovingly remember.
“Fried Rice with Lobster and Seafood†was equally divine; the rich taste of the rice combined well with sweet peas, tiny slivers of carrot delicately mixed with small bites of succulent lobster, prawn and crab. The result was tasty without being too filling, as much a light vegetable dish as one with seafood. From the page entitled “Organic, Vegetarian†we selected the “Five Grain Noodles and Assorted Vegetablesâ€, abandoning our gluten-free preference for this special occasion. Both full of flavor and rich, this was as fine a noodle dish as any we'd ever had, the accent on the organic solidly noticeable with each bite. Since most noodle dishes in lesser establishments are often buoyed by water chestnuts, bamboo shoots and Chinese cabbage, the absence of these staple fillers has to be acknowledged.
More familiar with tofu than most other patrons (my family has made our own for four decades), we were eager to try the “Crispy Tofu Sheet Rolls with Vegetables.†We'd happily devour this dish, with a bowl of brown rice (not served here) and steamed greens, on a daily basis – that is if we could prepare it as well as Chef Chan did. It was exceptionally appetizing and totally enjoyable.
Vegans, vegetarians and macros take note: don't settle for ordinary rice and bean curd just to save money in the great city of Hong Kong. Assuming they sample the beef, pork and shark's fin items on the menu, most people pay $150 – $200 each at Lung King Heen. Calculating that our meal served three people generously, the tab was $50 US per person, and we dined at the only three star Michelin Chinese restaurant in Asia. If that's not great value for money, then my tai chi is full of hungry ghosts.
The surprise ending? Hasma, known for its health-giving properties, are moist, chewy morsels with almost no taste. Hasma is said to be very good for the kidneys, lungs and women's skin as it contains many hormones and has a high lipid content. This is because it is a combination of fat and part of the reproductive area of a white-bellied frog from the north of China. Thus, as the meal ended, we conceded that when searching for healthy food, it just might not be essential to avoid all four-legged creatures that evolution moved out of the water. Astonished that we'd ingested our first amphibious body part, we both left of the same mind, feeling blessed that dinner at Lung King Heen was the best Chinese meal we'd ever had.
It might be the weather, the water, or the love with which it’s made, but regardless of the cause, the fact remains that the gelato is just better in Italy. Most gelaterias in Rome are pretty amazing. Of course, there are ones that are sub-par too (Blue Ice is the chain you’ll run into frequently). But for true craft gelato, the only choice is San Crispino. For the last couple of decades it’s been the gelateria that’s stayed true to the art of gelato, using only fresh, local ingredients and constantly striving to innovate new flavors. In the past 24 hours I’ve been to their location by the Trevi fountain three times. Here are my flavor combos: strawberry and Barolo wine (made with a 15-year-old bottle), honey and ginger & cinnamon, and hazelnut and plum. I’ve only scratched the surface and I’m already addicted.
I lived in Bangkok from age zero to thirteen and only realized I took true Thai food for granted after I spent some time in the US. Yes, it’s true that there’s plenty of Thai folk working their culinary magic right here in America (especially in New York), but I’d given up hope for perfectly authentic Thai food until I experienced SriPraPhai, a little spot in Queens that made me miss home more than ever. The place is not exactly fancy, but that just adds to the effect, reminiscent of the Thailand I remember where the best food is at street level and won’t cost you much. While I’ve always favored beef noodle soup, that’s about the most basic thing on the extensive menu, which includes obscure items from every region. Go there once and take a Thai person with you. They’ll agree, the proof is in the spicy som tam.
My boyfriend surprised me on my birthday with these amazning little cupcakes. They were a huge hit so we decided to make a how-to page for everyone that always asks about them. By Kate Wienburg from Toronoto.
It’s not often that someone throws a birthday party and gives you a present. Checking in with my local beer wholesaler last week, Stone’s 13th Anniversary Ale is now widely available on the East Coast. Like most of Stone’s best work, the brewery’s first Imperial IPA/Double Red offering has more hops than a froggie jamboree (those that just bought The State on DVD know what I’m talking about). Tons of dry-hopping give it the citrus aroma and bitter-smooth finish, and the “Imperial” in the name means you’re looking at a bell-ringing 9.5% ABV. The sadists over at Stone put their usual 1000 word diatribe on the back of the bottle, but bring up a good point as Good Beer Month comes to a close: in these trying times, invest in what really matters.
The tools we use in our every day lives have come a long way since the time of early man. Jagged rocks fashioned into crude shapes and surfaces ideal for jabbing into fleshy substances just don’t seem like they would fly for kitchen knives nowadays. Or would they? Neolithic Knives, a new creation for Bond by NYC based designer Matthias Kaeding is a striking homage to the instruments of the new stone age made slightly more convenient for today’s kitchen commanders. These sleek ceramic instruments bring a more salt of the earth appeal to the acts of smashing, slicing, dicing, chopping, and scooping up ingredients in your meal preparation. While we’re not sure if it’s just as easy as whipping out the ginsu, it’ll probably give you enough of a sense of accomplishment once you’ve managed to mince an entire onion that you’ll have no choice to let out a hearty grunt reminiscent of your evolutionary ancestors.
In what reminds me of a cross between storage Tupperware and tiffin lunch carriers, updated to modern times, the Innate food containers are just what my pantry needs. They are BPA-Free and Phthalate-Free (try saying that 3 times quick), so you know that no nasty chemicals are leeching into your food even when heated. The containers are made of durable 18/8 steel while the tops are made of silicone. The best part is the top fully collapses to fit flat on the container, yet expands and doubles as a bowl. It is also microwave safe which is great since metal and microwaves don’t play nice. There are two sizes available with three color choices.
Idyllic summer nights in Brooklyn leave little to be desired–unless you’re Q Tonic founder Jordan Silbert, that is. The gin and tonic lover discovered that the tonic water he was drinking four summer ago was chock full of artificial flavors and high fructose corn syrup, and in the name of not standing up for something so undignified, he set out to create a crisper tonic. After pulling together quinine from South America, organic agave and lovingly designed floral-inspired glass bottles, Silbert’s concoction can now be found at Gramercy Tavern and the Four Seasons in New York and NOPA in San Francisco. “One of the things that excites me most about Q Tonic is that it enables you to actually taste the difference between and gin and tonic made with different gins–a gin and tonic made with Plymouth and Q Tonic tastes very different than a G&T with Hendricks and Q Tonic,” says the drink maker, who slaved over the recipe in his Brooklyn kitchen for more than a few seasons. “Unlike when you use mass produced tonic waters, you can actually taste the different botanicals that make different gins great in their different ways.”
The term “fast food” usually applies to the speed in which a frozen hunk of processed mystery ingredients mutates into a wondrously cheap and edible delight; not the rate at which a seemingly innocuous old shipping box transforms into a chic new restaurant. Alas, MuvBox might change the meaning of fast food forever, not only with it’s unique sort of sanctuary, but also with the gourmet fare being dished out on site. The space-saving solar-powered Montreal eatery created by Daniel Noiseux serves up high quality cuisine using the finest of local ingredients. Customers delight in savory seafood pizza, lobster rolls and the like. And when the day is done and it’s time to shut up shop, it all goes back in the box in a matter of minutes. If you want to witness this magnifique mealtime miracle head to Montreal’s Old Port and satisfy your inner fast foodie.
Re-Ment’s Puchi Petite Collections are tiny, incredibly detailed, and often food-focused toys from Japan. The global cuisine includes assortments ranging from Luxury French to American Kitchen. One of my personal favorites, The Re-Ment Sushi Bar, features campy titles like “Wasabi Makes my Eyes Watery” and “I Want to Eat Sweet Grilled Egg!” Each box is sold blind-style and contains mouth-watering miniatures like avocado rolls and fatty tuna, as well as the necessities like chopsticks, hand towels and tea. You can find Puchi Petites in many toy stores and of course, on eBay. And as you might imagine, there are several Re-Ment Flickr groups. From a 1cm. perfectly-formed donut to a 1-inch plate of oysters on ice, Re-Ment puts the kitch in kitchen. Yum.
A good vinyl toy should be more than a status symbol or dust collector: it should connect with you as an art form, and in an ideal situation, you should feel something. When I look at Andrew Bell’s upcoming O-No Sushi figure, I feel the polarity of consumption: desire and guilt simultaneously. Based on Andrew’s Never Look Back artwork, these toys will be one of the must-have items of the San Diego Comic-Con and summer in general. Each figure (exclusive blue and standard red) has articulated limbs, severed tentacles, extra eyes, sushi, bowl and terrific packaging. This is the second sushi toy I’ve reviewed in as many days. Sushi toy trending? Check out many more snaps of O-No Sushi here. � More delicious pictures after the jump.
Anna the Red makes brilliant character bento, often with a nod toward anime and video games. Her Kyaraben transforms the traditional Japanese lunch box into a work of art. Recently, someone from Google took notice of Anna’s bento prowess and invited her to help promote Google Chrome by making the logo out of food. She began with a sketch, and ended up with the Google Chrome logo realized in boiled broccoli, fried red peppers and scrambled eggs. If you’ve ever wanted to see the dilligent work that goes into this niche art form, check out the fast-paced video. Delicious.
It’s not often that someone throws a birthday party and gives you a present. Checking in with my local beer wholesaler last week, 
Idyllic summer nights in Brooklyn leave little to be desired–unless you’re 
