Lets be serious for a second

I normally stay away from the complex politics of the food industry, since I prefer to focus on the enjoyment brought on by dining, not where or how my food is made. When I was eleven I was at a a now extinct Boston restaurant called Maison Robert. My grandfather leaned over to me and asked me if I knew how Fois Gras was made, which of course I didn't. He went on to describe the process, including the binding of the goose, the force feeding, the hanging of the goose to limit it's movement, and finally the slaughter and liver extraction. He then scooped up a nice big chunk of the stuff into a toasted bread slice and jammed it in my mouth. As I sat there thinking of a room full of hanging gooses with tubes down their throats, another thought entered my head, this was fucking delicious. I'm pretty callous to food issues. I read Fast Food Nation, saw supersize me, and continue to eat Micky D's. I like organic ingredients not because they're better for the environment but because they taste better. But there is one issue which i just can't, despite my incredible powers of ignoring the often brutal and inhumane process of food preparation, overlook, and that is the state of fish in the world. Whenever I eat sushi or cooked tuna I can't help but feel like I'm contributing to the extinction of a species. The EU is entertaining a ban on Bluefin fishing, which I wholeheartedly support. Currently in the Mediterranean Bluefin are at about 15% their historic level, which means that there is less then a fifth of the normal tuna average left. About 80% of Bluefin Tuna ends up in Japan (watch the south park episode), and a huge Japanese fish market remains the chief obstacle to any sort of limitations on Tuna fishing. So I'm going to say something I've never though I would say. Please stop eating Tuna. I'm not asking this because of some sort of hippie appreciation for God's beautiful creations, but simply because I want to eat the slimy bastards for the rest of my life, and I can't do that if those greedy Japanese roll them all up into sushi.

Skull and Rolls

I'm a sucker for this kind of thing. Apparently there's a guy in Greenpoint named Ben Sargent, who hails from the lobster loving city of Boston. Give Ben a call and he will whip you up a lobster roll... yeh it's that simple. Sarge runs a unlicensed (illegal) lobster business from his apartment, and if you call him during the evening you can stop buy and pick up your rolls. If it's late at night he even runs a mail slot service, which will drop your rolls through a mail slot. So why would you make a trip out to Greenpoint for lobster rolls? Well you really need to appreciate your lobster. Ben won't say where his lobster comes from, but since hes a Boston guy I'm going to assume it comes from Cape Cod (Which means its delicious), and he also guarantees that your lobster is less then 24 hours out of the world, which makes all the difference for a good lobster. Besides the taste there's something nice about an unlicensed New England native (complete with patriots hat, flannel, and baggy jeans) running a lobster speakeasy in a city which tends to get too fancy with its seafood. I'm making it my food goal of the month to eat one of Ben's rolls and I'll let you know what I think.

Brooklyn Bread Basket

This city used to make things. All those factories shuttered up along the BQE, all those nice lofts in Dumbo, used to be full of minimum wage pulling Italians and Irish. I can't really explain it but there's a real romance to a New York based production operation, especially when nowadays our chief export is financial woes from Wall st. That's why I'm always happy to see a city based food production company go up, and recently Brooklyn has been full of them. Brooklyn Brewery has always been churning out quality goods from its Williamsburg factory, but joining it soon will be companies like Kings County Jerkey Co. Kings County Distillery, and possibly even Brooklyn Maple Syrup. I'll talk about Jerkey Co for now. KC Jerkey Co is to Jerky what Pickle Guys is to Pickles, giving what is traditionally a hiker's food a craft-gourmet makeover. The beef is smoked on a terrace in Bed Stuy (great for the neighbors), and infused with three flavors, classic, orange giger, and Bulgogi (Korean style). The meat itself is sourced from a farm in Kingston New York, however it's worth noting that the company has only appeared in craft fairs and contests so far, so the actual meat distributor could change when the company opens officially in April. Hopefully KC Jerky Co can do for Jerky what micro breweries have done for craft beers, and it's all from Brooklyn.

Momofuku Milk Bar

Im a sucker for Asian deserts (go figure), and while Momofuku's (means delicious peach in hello kitty speak) dishes are far from traditional Eastern fair, the fusion of classic french patisserie and contemporary Asian ingredients is as innovative as it is delicious. I really shouldn't be saying all this considering the only thing I've had at Momofuku is cookies, but what good cookies they were. My favorite is the cornflake chocolate chip marshmallow cookie, which had a consistency that you would guess from it's name, somehow soft like a marshmellow and yet crunchy like cornflakes. The ingredients are the stars here, and the soft buttery taste is something you can only achieve with high quality high fat butter. I was impressed to find out that most of Momofuku's ingredients were sourced from local farms, which explains their freshness. I also highly recommend the butterscotch cookie, but if your a looking for something much more traditional the chocolate chip will do fine. The milk bar is located on 2nd ave and 13th street, and while you may find the prices hard to justify if you get the right thing your getting your dollar's worth.

Fast Love

This is where Bums take there girls, not that most bums have girls...
Romance at White Castle

Beef Ya

Recently I learned of a cooking magazine titled simply "Beef." It's a cooking magazine geared towards manly men and shameless carnivores, which makes sense when you learn that the magazine exists only in Germany. Beef is new to the scene, with only one issue out so far, but it's already promising to awesome. The very first article showing a giant picture of a furry rabbit, followed by a full page spread of what we assume to be the same rabbit skinned and hanging from a rack. What follows is a list of instructions on how to skin and prepare the cutie, which by the sound of the magazine they expect you to have caught and killed with your own teeth. Women are nowhere to be seen or heard from in this magazine, except in articles like "how to cook a woman into bed" in which they are mainly seen and not heard. I know I'm making this sound like a joke, but it's really a (semi) serious cooking mag, hope to see it stateside.

Rebirth

Where the fuck have I been: Poor and hungry thats where. I was particularly generous this Christmas, and have been involved in a lengthy Fixie build, I'm not going to bore you with details of my financial situation but needless to say I haven't had enough dough to support a meal out every week, even with my legendary bumming skills. After about a month of inactivity I finally accepted that Ol Dirty was dead, I even started telling people it was dead, but something that is based on a love as simple as eating can't go away for long. This weekend I got a little extra green in my pocket and decided to accompany a friend to Katz. I took my little ticket and got a Knoblewurst on rye. I don't think I need to explain the powers of Katz's, and sitting there under the wall of fame, trading bites of Pastrami for bites of sasuge and striking up friendly banter with Katz's famous cutters made me realize I sorely missed the food world. So here I am again, and hopefully for a long time.