chomper

tunnel of fudge cake recipe

I lost that recipe, clipped from the New York Times. But the past Sunday, the New York Times Magazine printed yet another obituary of H. David Dalquist, inventor of the bundt pan, and included a link to the beloved tunnel of fudge cake recipe printed a year ago. Now I found myself with two options: save the recipe on my bloody computer, so I could easily access by keyword in the future ("fudge cake"), or to save it to my Times file. Huh? I knew that Times Select had a few cool features, including a monthly quota of articles I could pull from the archive (including this recipe). But I hadn't realized I could save articles (or in this case, a recipe) and store it for future reference with keywords. Hmmm....sounds like a nice way to ensure I keep subscribing, doesn't it. But the real matter is: will I ever bake this cake? Probably not. I don't even own a bundt pan. But I really like these weird notes, like no other recipe: Bake for 45 minutes. You cannot use the toothpick test because the cake contains so much sugar that the center will not set but will remain a tunnel-of-fudge. You are dependent on a correct oven temperature and the 45-minute cooking time. (Well, that likely rules out my oven, since it's the cheapest piece of crap that my slumlord could have installed.) When removed from the oven, the cake will have a runny fudge core with an air pocket above the fudge. About 30 minutes after taking the cake out of the oven, press the inside and outside edge of the cake bottom down all the way around to minimize the air pocket. This is more fascinating than high-school thermodynamics lessons. Physics is phun!

Tags: bundt pan, times select, tunnel of fudge cake

dead, decomposed & eaten alive

You know, I normally write about food here. But I just read three RSS headlines from Thursday's Newsday: Decomposed body identified as local runaway Body in trunk likely mobster's, officials say Swiss businesswomen `eaten alive' by bedbugs in New York hotel, lawyer says I began to realize: we use a lot of food metaphors when describing grisly crime scenes as well as horrible things that hapen to our living bodies. Imagine that—a visitor from Switzerland eaten alive by bedbugs. Perish the thought! Bedbugs (as we know from personal experience or that frightful article in last Sunday's paper) do chew at you, but eat you alive? By the way, the two female businesswomen, Ksenija Knezevic, of Zurich, and Marlies Barisic, of Kreuzlingen, both appear to have names from the former Yugoslavia—the largest source of lawsuits in Switzerland, in case you were unaware. Perhaps they aren't dead just yet.

Tags: bedbugs, eaten alive, lawsuits, newsday

NYC brewpubs

It's worth asking: how come the tremendously successful brewpub concept, such a familiar fixture in the Pacific Northwest and California, never really took off in New York? Sure, we have a fair number of brewpubs in both Manhattan and Brooklyn, and certainly some exceptionally talented brewmasters. Garrett Oliver of the Brooklyn Brewery immediately comes to mind, as do the chaps in Park Slope. But Chomper is talking about the institution of the brewpub, the concept of drinking locally-brewed ales, lagers, pilseners, stouts, bocks and even barleywine. New York City has so many exceptional bars and pubs; but sadly, it seems that too few offer local brews on tap or even in the bottle. Perhaps the marketing forces of Miller and Anheuser-Busch may have something to do with that, but I doubt it. It is tough to succeed in this city, as the list of failed places (Highlander, SoHo Brewery, Zip City) underscores. Chomper's buddy, a brewmaster from California, had this to say about his recent visit: "In the places I went the lack of local beer was shocking." Just as quality tacos were very late coming to this city, just as great espresso and cappuccino came here late, methinks perhaps another tidal wave of fine suds is overdue. We just aren't filling enough hogsheads in NYC to make a real difference.

Tags: ale, barleywine, beer, bock, brewpub, brooklyn brewery, garrett oliver, lager, pilsener, stout

¡viva México!

Literally every job in the restaurant business is being performed by our friends from south of the border, from hosing down the sidewalks at 6 a.m. to cutting, paring, prepping and frying, and so on. Something we don't pause much to think about is that frankly, without this army of workers the restaurant industry would come to a crashing halt. Next time you're sipping your latte at Union Square, have a look at who is picking up those huge orders of fruits and vegetables from the Greenmarket. Then maybe pause to reflect that prices are low because their wages are low.

Tags: latte, mexico, union square

Dylan's Candy Store

Kids remember their favorite candy stores, and adults who had particularly memorable candy experiences don't tend to forget their childhood either. That's why Dylan's Candy Store is a great 21st-century version of the Penny Candy Store some of us remember from the 60's and 70's. The stairs leading to the lower level at Dylan's are stunning, full of gummy objects and various beloved sweets. The light emanates in a way that silhouettes the candy displays, and what kid doesn't stop and go nuts over this? If you haven't been to Dylan's, it is a wonderful experience, with clothing for sale in addition to every possible type of candy you can think of. Nice baby gifts too.

Tags: candy, dylans, gummy, store

sounds of summer, tastes of plastic

Mister Softee, the most evil progeny of artificially-flavored, chemical-slush ice cream, announces his (or her) presence with a decades-old, broken-down and mournful soundtrack. The horrible tune emanating from the trucks echoes the gravelly voice of Tom Carvel, who alas died in 1990 and went to the great Cookiepuss freezer in the sky.

Tags: carvel, cookiepuss, evil, ice cream, mister softee

one-word BBQ

Rub, Smoked, Rib, Dinosaur, Dallas ... such are the creative names of NYC's BBQ joints. The first three are new; Dinosaur hit Harlem some months ago (and imported a number of waitresses from Upstate); and Dallas has been an established chain. But what gives with extending the trend of one-word restaurant names to the BBQ arena as well? Eventually with this craze of BBQ joints, the number of place names will be exhausted. On the other hand, maybe these five are more aptly named than Bone Lick Park.

Tags: bbq, dallas, dinosaur, rib, rub, smoked

Yesterday's Special: Good, Cheap Dining

You can always fit the facts to make the story. But fact is, plenty of affordable and decent restaurants still exist in Manhattan; even if you're not a white female correspondent for the New York Times, you're quite likely to find these places if you just look around more carefully. However, Chomper is willing to accept this analysis as semi-valid: The analysis of prices did not try to measure Greek diners, corner Chinese restaurants or chicken spots, no matter how sublime their wings. There remain many satisfying and inexpensive restaurants in what is arguably the nation's greatest food city - restaurants filled with patrons who are not seeking a memorable dining experience each and every night that they disdain their stoves.
But the high-quality bistros, trattorias and American comfort-food outposts, where diners flocked for a good meal, quite possibly served on a tablecloth, have greatly increased their prices, or moved outside Manhattan. The new hotbeds of affordable innovative cuisine are increasingly in places like Park Slope and Carroll Gardens in Brooklyn, or Astoria in Queens, having been pushed out by higher rents in Greenwich Village and Chelsea.
Well, in fairness, here is more of the article:
Yesterday's Special: Good, Cheap Dining By JENNIFER STEINHAUER and JO CRAVEN McGINTY There was a restaurant in Greenwich Village called Le Zoo, and it was good, and it was cheap, and now, like so many others of its kind, it is gone. It was not the sort of place that drew tourists clutching their Zagats, but it swelled each night with young hipsters and people from the neighborhood, who sipped red wine at the bar and ate $6.50 trout salad and $13 salmon at the crammed-together tables, and yes, smoked. But last year a new restaurant, the Spotted Pig, arose in Le Zoo's spot on West 11th Street, and it quickly became a destination for patrons with deeper pockets and expense accounts. Pub classics like sautéed veal kidneys are $18, and desserts are $6, not $4. The average bottle of wine is $30. Restaurants like Le Zoo - small, with a decent and inexpensive wine list, a memorable special, a total bill for two of $50 - used to be easy to recognize, the high-quality neighborhood places that were one of New York's pleasures. But now, in Manhattan, they are increasingly becoming a memory. In interviews, several restaurateurs confirmed what many New York diners have long suspected: it is becoming impossible to serve innovative and high-quality food at reasonable prices in Manhattan. Melissa O'Donnell, formerly one of the chefs at Le Zoo and now the owner of Salt in SoHo - where the entrées are 30 percent higher than at Le Zoo - said one more rent increase could be the end of her restaurant. "I'm from Manhattan, my client base is here, I have been working in downtown Manhattan since I went to cooking school," she said. "This is my home. But I think my type of place here is going to be a thing of the past."(NYT)

Tags: cheap, comfort food, diner, dining, greek, le zoo, zagat

Your Taste - 23rd St. @ 6th Ave.

Everyone's taste is represented in this 23rd century salad bar meets Korean deli. This is the future of hybrid cuisine, in which our dear Mexican friends make soups, tossed salads, panini, quesadillas, pressata, sandwiches, wraps, teriyaki, sushi rolls, coffee, juices, and smoothies. Sheer genius! Note the color scheme, the glass panes, the photography: this somehow appeals to something inside everyone. Also note how the Nepalis figured this out ten years ago, creating Everyman's Hill Café for tired trekkers and now the concept has finally hit our shores near a major subway and PATH station.

Tags: coffee, juices, panini, pressata, quesadillas, sandwiches, smoothies, soups, sushi rolls, teriyaki, tossed salads, wraps, your taste

Kellogg's Diner - Williamsburg

It's 4 a.m. and you are drunk! Yes you skunk, you are drunk and starving. So many diners to meet your needs for breakfast or a cheeseburger or some other large greasy object to fill your worthless intestines. Long, long ago this was my situation, and I found myself near the L train with my comrades. Flash forward about 13 years, and I found myself here again, similar circumstances. Cops are always hanging around the place, and no matter how ugly you think you look, there will always be another table full of drunker and uglier.

Tags: diner, kelloggs, williamsburg