FusterCluck Day 3

I've been posting a lot about this but its just so outrageous that i have to keep on coming back to it: Oprah really fucked up this time.  A tipster on Gothemist said the following about a downtown KFC

 "Despite the very visible grilled chicken behind the register, the manager told everyone with coupons to leave and that the promotion was over for the day. The people there are currently holding a sit-in and refusing to leave until they get their free chicken ... or the cops are called. Racial epithets were being spewed, people who actually wanted to pay for chicken were facing a potential beatdown, and the manager ran from the screaming horde. Oprah, what have ye wrought?"

Ol Dirty Calls It

In my last post I questioned the wisdom of having Oprah sponsor a KFC special. Looks like my prediction is coming true. The other day Oprah.com posted a note saying they were experiencing technical difficulties due to the massive downloads of the coupons. Here are some of my favorite quotes from the comment page:

"THANK YOU OPRAH, I WAS JUST NOW ABLE TO PRINT THE KFC COUPON! IT TOOK OVER 3 HRS.."

"I think I will be up all night trying to print the coupon...am not getting through and started thirty minutes ago."

"I got the coupon....no problem, but I can't use it in Canada"

"I'M MELTING CAN'T GET THE COUPONS PLEASE IS THERE ANOTHER WAY OF GETTING THEM ???? HUNGRY FOR THE CHIICKEN"

people are getting mad

This Could Cause Riots

if my previous videos tell us anything about the link between chicken and social strife then this move by oprah could end the US.  

http://www.unthinkkfc.com/

Yonah Schimmel: Lower East Side

The Jewish delicatessens of Houston street are no local secret. Katz's has achieved a near epic reputation as a haven for lunch meats and Jewish deli staples. Nearby Russ and Daughters has achieved a reputation as the local gourmets market of choice for smoked fishes. All of these places are excellent sources of the foods they specialize in, but to me Yonah Schimmel will be the Jewish eatery of choice. Its not so much that Yonah Schimmel outdoes Katz or Russ's (its knishes are the best in the city, but it doesn't offer half the foods that the other two do). Instead Yonah's wins in my opinion because of its authenticity. Its the only one of the delis where the man behind the counter has an eastern European accent, and the eatery had remained operated by the family of it's original namesake. The dining room is pleasantly nostalgic if not a little shabby, and the menu, while limited to Knishes, has enough variety of knishes to satisfy most of your moods. The Knishes are freshly baked and delivered by dumbwaiter to the dining room where they are served by the slightly surly but certainly authentic Mr Schimmel himself. Unlike Katz's Yonah's hasn't become a brand name, and unlike Russ's it hasn't began to cater to the rich. Its not the best offering of Jewish food (except for the Kinishes) but its my personal favorite and Ol' Dirty heartfully endorses it next time your near Houstan and First Ave.

Beef and Bros thats what Bistro does

Even though my friends over at 4 o'clock eats have already favorably reviewed it, I felt the need for ol' dirty to weigh in on a West village favorite: The Corner Bistro, located on w 4th st. The Bistro has been around since the early 1900's and I don't think they've changed much since they opened. The place has a worn, used feeling to it. A stained mahogany bar is the centerpiece of activity, and patrons have carved their initials into the wood tables over the years. Overall the ambiance is not exactly pleasant, but its certainly not stuffy or pretentious, which fits with its laid back style. The only significant downside of Bistro's environment is that its full of assholes. I feel like every bridge and tunnel guy who wants to eat in the city comes to Bistro with their fake tan girlfriends. There was more then one "chug, chug, chug!"(cindy's style) chant while I ate there, and the tables were filled with 20 something year old bros and their arm candy. The Bistro is popular too. I went on a Sunday night and still had to wait 20 minutes to be seated. If the joint wasn't full of these people Corner Bistro would have a charming tavern feel, maybe if you go on a weekday you can experience this. Now pretty much the only food people eat here are Bistro Burgers. The Bistro Burger is a huge slab of juicy cow, with about 2 inches of toppings including onions, lettuce, tomatoes, and bacon. The toppings aren't really worth talking about, and I was a little disappointed by the bun which I felt could have come from a supermarket. But what really endears patrons is the meat. The burger was juicy, well cooked, flavorful, and at 6.75 for a large patty, decently priced. The fries were good too, although not spectacular, and at 2.50 also relatively cheap. If you can stand the bros, Bistro Burger is undoubtedly one of the best places to pick up a cheap burger in Manhattan.

Rules of Bumming Vol 4: Work the Town

Ah New York. So much bustle so much activity so many events to go to, from art openings, to movie screenings, to street fairs. And you know what? A lot of these things have free food. The other day me and my boys Griff and Loaf were walking down the SoHo streets at night when we spied an art opening. Art openings are really fantastic. You go in and depending on the gallery there will be either an open bar or a hor'douvres spread. Most places if they serve any food will serve finger foods or those tiny water crest sandwiches, so make sure you grab like 6 or 7 of each thing if your aiming to fill up (keep an eye out for pigs in a blanket, these are like the holy grail of finger food). All these events have booze, but watch out because once a bottle of white comes out its usually gone in 5 minutes (its the art crowd after all). Of course there are many other events with free food besides art shows. Hit up your local culinary institute for free tastings, or raid Dean and Deluca for free samples. Take advantage of deals like Ben and Jerrys free cone day. Everyday I wake up and say "somewhere in New York someone is giving out free food."

Maison du chein

The relevancy of this entry to this blog is questionable but I thought I should share something I noticed and got a kick out of. A summer ago I volunteered to help a pet adoption service which works out of my neighborhood. I have never seen a group of people so in love with dogs and cats as I saw during my time working with this agency. Throughout all the odd human animal interactions I saw one thing struck me as particularly weird. Since the shelter we worked at could not house all the dogs, we gave the dogs out to foster homes who would watch the dogs for a week at a time. Every-time one of these foster owners delivered their dog back to the shelter they always had to report what they had fed their dog. The list of things these people gave their animals would make any 3rd world inhabitants mouth water. One lady remarked that since her dog didn't like the shiitake mushrooms she gave him, she diced them and mixed in beef scraps for him. More commonly, foster care owners gave their dogs ridiculously fancy dog foods which even I would have considered eating if presented with one on a plate. Recently the LA Times gave 18 people Spam, Pork Liver Pate, Liverwurst, and Newmans Own Dog Food, and asked them to ID all of them. 72 % of the people asked ID'd the dog food as Pate. I have a dog, I understand the animal man connection. But I will never feed the creature that will happily burry its mouth in a pile of shit any food that can be mistaken as Pate. How do these people live with themselves I wonder? Feeding their dogs expensive foods only to find whole bottle caps and marbles in their dog's stool (as I have found in my dogs, not that I like rip it apart to look for goodies but you know...it sticks out). I think people like to project their tastes on their dogs, just like they do their children. Owners dress up their dogs, give them vegan dog food (it exists), take them to pet salons to give them haircuts. Even i'm a little guilty: I wash my dog with pantine pro v shampoo cause I think it smells good in my hair. But I make dam sure to feed her cheap food, because I'm not giving her pate if she don't appreciate it.