Posts for March 19, 2013 -- Grub Street: New York Magazine's Food and Restaurant Blog

Posts for March 19, 2013

3/19/13 at 5:45 PM
Leftovers
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Antica Pesa Serves Brunch; Yuji Ramen at Whole Foods Extends Hours

• Starting on March 25, Yuji Ramen's Test Kitchen’s takeout menu will be available every day from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The new pop-up location also includes expanded hours for chef Yugi Haraguchi’s omakase dinners, including a seven-course meal of salmon, squid, uni, mussel, and crab on weekends. Click here for tickets and reservations. [Grub Street]

• Antica Pesa will introduce its first-ever brunch menu this Saturday, March 23. Start the day with dishes like the "egg in a jacket" with black salsify, cauliflower puree, and truffle oil, or the Frittata Pancake, which is served with mushrooms and a truffle dressing. [Grub Street]

• Food & Wine has named Brendan McGill the People’s Best New Chef of the year. He's the chef at Hitchcock in Bainbridge Island, Washington. Dale Talde is the regional winner for New York. [Grub Street]

3/19/13 at 5:10 PM
Quote of the Day
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Fredrik Berselius Is Fine With You Not Liking Aska’s Blood Cracker

"It's three grams of food in a meal that is several courses. I really love it, because I grew up eating blood in various forms. They serve blood pudding at school lunches in Sweden — it's something that I remember." —Aska chef Fredrik Berselius says his pig's-blood cracker is no big deal, even if it baffles critics. Our own Adam Platt called the flavor a mix of rust and "back taste of barnyard pork." [Eater NY, Earlier]

3/19/13 at 2:50 PM
Video Feed
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Check Out the Velopresso, a Pedal-Powered Espresso Cart

By Hugh Merwin

Since this is the time of a leaf-choking fungus called coffee rust and we're facing the prospect of peak espresso, it's that much more comforting to see these crafty inventors enlisting roller-chains and belt-drives to "pull" shots and make great coffee. We're still fans of the kid who packed a shiny, full-scale bar into the boot of his Toyota iQ and all, but this whole Velopresso setup, which may go into wide production soon, is a little more likely to slow down global warming, and by extension, help keep the coffee coming.

It's like SoulCycle, but with direct-trade beans.

3/19/13 at 1:20 PM on Grub Street SF
Fire Damage
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Chez Panisse Fire Damage Worse Than Previously Thought, Reopening Delayed Indefinitely [Updated]

By Jay Barmann

Owners had hoped to reopen on April 1.Photo: Getty Images

Though owners had optimistically hoped they could reopen the upstairs café as early as April 1, it looks as though Chez Panisse and Chez Panisse Café will remain closed indefinitely for a more significant rebuild following that March 8 fire.

3/19/13 at 1:00 PM
Corked
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You Can’t Taste Wine Nearly As Well As You Think

By Hugh Merwin

Just stick to bubbles.Photo: Melissa Hom

Hey, all you people who care about what makes good wine taste good, did you know that there have been dozens of unsettling scientific studies conducted over the last decade or so that indicate you really have no idea what you're talking about and you probably don't enjoy anything because you really like the way it tastes? Take the now-infamous experiments conducted by the French researcher Frederic Brochet: One fooled 54 professionals into thinking white wine with a few drops of added food coloring was actually red wine, which shocked just about everyone. That was followed up by another experiment where Brochet's team switched the contents of cheap and expensive bottles and fooled most who thought they taste the difference.

You're probably going to need a drink.

3/19/13 at 12:10 PM
Shut 'Em Down
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FDA Shuts Down N.J. Bakery That Used Sugar to Make Sugar-Free Pastries

The "fat free" and "sugar free" muffins and cupakes produced at the Butterfly Bakery in Clifton, New Jersey, tested at three times the stated amount of sugar and two times the amount of saturated fat listed on packaging, Reuters reports, so the FDA pulled the plug on their convection ovens. The agency released a statement explaining that the bakery, which maintains its products are "made with 100% Love," had a preexisting rap sheet. And, seemingly, difficulty using measuring cups: One muffin had "444 percent more saturated fat than what was listed on the label," reports ABC. "This is when we take action," said a spokeswoman. [Reuters]

3/19/13 at 11:20 AM
Locavores
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The Local Food Movement Is Hurting Farmers

By Sierra Tishgart

The dark side of fresh vegetables.

Purchasing local food makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but the movement is leaving many farmers broke and without insurance. Economists say that it's an uphill battle for farmers to earn a living because the return on investments for fruits and vegetables is too small, and it's not a profitable use of time. As the government tries to figure out how the hell to solve this obesity crisis, it's bad news that it's inefficient to produce healthy, locally grown food, and that farmers' markets are bad economic models. Fortunately, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is developing new programs to support small businesses — and farmers are getting creative by using hand tools to supplement their incomes, developing farm-to-school programs, and selling food to big bad Walmart in addition to markets and co-ops. But next time you see food billed as "artisanal, local, organic, farm-to-table, and magical," know that it's bullshit — at least when it comes to energy efficiency and cost. [NPR]

3/19/13 at 10:25 AM
Soda Stream
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Coca-Cola Introduces Something Called Fruitwater, Which Is Definitely Not Juice

By Sierra Tishgart

Mmm. Taste the Splenda.

Unsure how to wash down your Burger King turkey burger? Or McDonald's egg-white McMuffin? Coca-Cola's capitalizing on your desire to eat healthier with a line of zero-calorie, carbonated, fruit-flavored waters, which debut on April 1. Splenda-sweetened Fruitwater doesn't contain any actual fruit juice, but that's okay, because the drink is "enhanced with nutrients." Yuck. Coca-Cola's marketing the beverage as a healthier alternative to Vitaminwater, which is made with the natural sweetener stevia and packs 125 calories into a sixteen-ounce bottle. In 2010, a nutrition advocacy group sued Coca-Cola for its "deceptive" health claims that Vitaminwater can reduce the risk of disease, but billing these new products as virtuous and healthy is just as misleading. Neither Fruitwater nor low-cal McMuffins nor 530-calorie frozen turkey burgers sound appetizing — or all that good for you. These giant companies are on the defense, and their attempts to cater to health-conscious diners are misguided. Sure, if you're eating fast food, these options offer fewer calories, but that doesn't equate to good health. It's real, unprocessed, and affordable food that Americans need. [Freep, Earlier, AP]

3/19/13 at 10:05 AM
Closings
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Yotel Moves to Shut Down Its Times Square Restaurants

By Hugh Merwin

What's next?Photo: Courtesy Yotel

The Times Square outpost of capsule-hotel chain Yotel will shut down its existing food service operations over the next two weeks, according to a WARN notice posted on the New York Department of Labor website. All 102 employees at DohYo, Terrace, and Four, which is run by the chef Richard Sandoval's restaurant group, are affected.* While WARN notices sometimes do not result in actual closures, the online notice indicates that Sandoval's group terminated its agreement with the micro-hotel chain. It's not yet known what will replace FOUR, but a recent tweet from the hotel indicates that absolutely nothing will stop its brunch parade. [WARN]

*This post has been updated throughout and corrected to show that YOTEL has one New York location.

3/19/13 at 09:00 AM
Hackers
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Sandwich Scam Artists: Men Busted With $40,000 of Hacked Subway Gift Cards

By Hugh Merwin

The don't have five-dollar footlongs in jail.

In what seems to be an increasing occurrence, Ars Technica reports that two California-based scam artists have been charged with hacking thirteen POS machines and adding lots of nonexistent cash to Subway gift cards. "At least $40,000" was loaded onto the gift cards, which were then sold at a discount on sites like Craigslist and eBay. Maybe these guys could join forces with the mother-daughter duo who cracked Coca-Cola's code-based bottlecap contest and take down McDonald's Monopoly once and for all. [Ars Technica via Eater, Earlier]