ramblings

Secret In-and-Out Burger Menu

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For all those headed to the west coast soon, here is a run-down of the items on the secret menu at In-and-Out Burger. This place is quite possibly the greatest burger joint on the planet. If you didn’t know, In-and-Out Burger’s menu has only 4 items on it – burgers, fries, beverages and shakes. However, there are a number of items that are off the menu yet known to all employees. Now when you hear someone ask for their burger “animal style” you won’t be so confused…

ramblings

Because I’m Fat, I’m Fat, Really Really Fat

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This is burger was just introduced by the Hardee’s fast food chain. Yes, it looks ridiculously delicious. It’s called the Monster Thickburger and is made of two 1/3-pound slabs of Angus beef, four strips of bacon, three slices of cheese and mayonnaise on a buttered sesame seed bun.

Now for the downside: it contains 1,420 calories and 107 grams of fat. That’s right. 107 grams of fat. Your intake for the day is supposed to be around 60 grams of fat. This burger gives you enough fat for 2 days. I would need to bike for 4 hours (at 10 mph) to burn this puppy off. Oh but it looks so tasty…

After the jump read the article that was on MSNBC about it. Thanks Neu for making my mouth water.

Hardee’s serves up 1,420-calorie burger; Fast-food giant skips diet craze, creates fat-filled sandwich

The Associated Press

Updated: 12:47 p.m. ET Nov. 16, 2004

ST. LOUIS – As many fast-food chains introduce healthier fare amid fears of being sued, Hardee’s is serving up a hamburger with 1,420 calories and 107 grams of fat.

St. Louis-based Hardee’s Food Systems Inc. on Monday rolled out its Monster Thickburger – two 1/3-pound slabs of Angus beef, four strips of bacon, three slices of cheese and mayonnaise on a buttered sesame seed bun. The sandwich alone sells for $5.49, $7.09 with fries and a soda.

The introduction comes at a time when McDonald’s Corp., Wendy’s International Inc. and other fast-food giants have broadened their offerings of salad and other lower-calorie fare amid concerns that the industry could be held legally liable for America’s obesity epidemic. Last year, a federal judge in New York dismissed two class-action suits blaming McDonald’s for making people fat. McDonald’s was also skewered earlier this year by “Super Size Me,” an award-winning documentary that targeted the fast food industry.

Even before the new Monster Thickburger, the chain offered five sandwiches with 1,000 calories or more, and eight overall that have more calories than what was once the big-burger standard – McDonald’s 600-calorie Big Mac.

“Maybe this is a smart strategy because there are still folks out there who care about the taste and size of their sandwich, and less about their weight,” said Jerry McVety, president of the restaurant consulting firm McVety & Associates in Farmington Hills, Mich.

In trading Monday, shares of Hardee’s parent company, CKE Restaurants Inc., closed up 13 cents, or 1 percent, at $12.63.

ramblings

Where I Got Engaged

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There was an article in the 3/17/04 edition of The New York Times which reviewed Montrachet, the restaurant where I popped the question to my now fiance and future wife. We ate there after graduating college in 1999, our first “mature” meal, and the second time we ate there I left with a bride-to-be on my arm. In honor of that special occasion, I have decided to post the entire review. Though the review isn’t necessarily super positive, I must state that we were there for their ultra-popular B.Y.O.B. night, that Jessie is not only a “foodie” but a great lover of wines and that we stuck to the prix-fixe meal which they make so many times that they can’t really screw it up. Here is the review:

RESTAURANTS age in different ways. Some, like Joe Allen, sag into lovable shabbiness. Others, like La Caravelle, become time capsules – fastidiously maintaining their youthful charms. Many just fade away.

In 1985, Drew Nieporent, then a fledgling restaurateur, opened Montrachet in TriBeCa, then a downtrodden industrial landscape. Diners came flocking, and soon Montrachet became the showpiece of a re-emerging neighborhood.

Montrachet wasn’t just stylish, it was serious with a capital S. Bryan Miller gave it three stars in The New York Times (and advised diners who were driving to this unusual area of the city to call for directions). Of the food, then under the direction of a young David Bouley, he wrote, “One evening you can enjoy a homespun French dish of braised cabbage rolls stuffed with foie gras and squab meat and flanked by squab legs. Another time it could be an au courant preparation such as red snapper with tomato-coriander sauce and fresh pasta.”

Mr. Bouley now owns Bouley and Danube nearby. Mr. Nieporent has added 14 restaurants, including Nobu and Rubicon, to his empire. And Montrachet – now in the hands of Chris Gesualdi, the executive chef – has reached a critical juncture. It will either firmly establish itself as a classic in the hearts of the New York’s diners – or just whimper out. TriBeCa is a different place now. It doesn’t need Montrachet. It has to want Montrachet.

Entering the restaurant is a bit like stepping through the looking glass. There is no coat room in the tiny foyer. A small portable heater set on top of a wine cask buzzed at the coat checker, who took my coat, hung it on a metal rack in the dining room, then looked up my reservation. She was polite, warm even.

Before me stood a dining room with sponge-painted walls and self-consciously modern paintings. It felt like a scene from “Wall Street.” I could picture Michael Douglas sitting at a red banquette, bellowing into a first-generation cellphone the size of a shoe.

I hadn’t been to Montrachet in years, and I suddenly felt the disappointment of returning to a childhood home and finding that the backyard is not so big as you remembered, that the curtains are kind of shabby. Montrachet even smells old.

A lobster salad in a murky broth, duck breast and a gummy tarte Tatin shot out of the kitchen and paused briefly at our table. In an hour, we were done. In some respects, it was ideal. It was a weeknight, and I didn’t feel like dining into the wee hours. But three-star restaurants shouldn’t treat you as a takeout joint does.

On other visits, the food took on more luster. Roasted chicken was moist, its skin crisp enough to snap. It was nestled in a potato purée with bright green peas and a rich garlic demi-glace. Risotto with truffles was dense with mushroom flavor, and uninhibited by its simplicity.

A dish of braised tripe looked a lot like shreds of carpet in a brown sauce (how does one make tripe attractive?) but hit all the right notes. It was hearty and savory – a scattering of fava beans and chips of black truffle lurked within. The squab was equally well composed. Roasted pink, it was gamy and sweet, with the breast meat sliced and fanned and a leg there for gnawing. Atop a tangle of frisee, sharing the plate, was a quail egg cooked soft so that the yolk tamed the zesty dressing. But the squab also epitomized the problem at Montrachet. Much of the cooking is textbook-correct, yet you will not be awed. You will be fed well and sent home.

Monday nights tell the rest of the story. That is B.Y.O.B. night, and the otherwise sleepy restaurant springs to life. Regulars pour in and are greeted by name. A troupe of sommeliers glide around the three small dining rooms, pouring from bottles that crowd the tables. All evening, a clamor of glasses and conversation fills the air.

For wine lovers, Montrachet provides a joy ride in the esoteric: long pages of the wine list are devoted to classic and obscure Burgundies. The list rambles, impresses and excites. And just when you’re feeling befuddled, a sommelier moseys by and saves you from giving up and ordering a beer. Montrachet’s team of wine stewards are masterly at listening, assessing your inclinations as well as the plumpness of your wallet and then coaxing you to try something new.

This kind of service can be found only in an older, established restaurant. And it sums up what has happened to Montrachet. Its reputation for exceptional wine has trumped its food. It’s no longer a three-star restaurant aiming to blend perfect food, wine and service. It’s a wine haunt.

A special wine list is ample motivation to dine out, and in a way the menu, like the menu at Veritas (also known chiefly for its wine list), does not make the mistake of competing with the wines. Montrachet’s menu is flush with hearty but restrained bistro classics like magret of duck with peppercorn sauce, mustard-crusted salmon, foie gras and creme brulee.

Unfortunately, though, too many dishes fail even to provide sturdy pairings for the wine. The tuna tartare lacks both the clarity of flavor you find in the best quality tuna and the acidity needed for contrast. The goat cheese salad is fragmented by flavors like red pepper and pine nuts.

Some mistakes are too elementary to comprehend. A molten chocolate cake, a recipe that seems to be in the DNA of every American chef, is thick and sludgy here. And although the Gewurtztraminer panna cotta is tangy and floral, you couldn’t jiggle it with an earthquake.

The kitchen employs lots of ramekins, lots of sticky savory sauces and fruit sauces – coulis, in 80’s parlance – decorated with swirls. This is neither irony nor postmodern quotation. It is simply inertia. Sadly, the gloss and the grooming and the energy in Mr. Nieporent’s restaurant empire, which all started here, are now to be found elsewhere.

Montrachet
**
239 West Broadway (White Street), TriBeCa; (212) 219-2777.
ATMOSPHERE A 1980’s flashback, with sponge-painted walls and bright abstract paintings.
SOUND LEVEL Quiet enough for eavesdropping.
RECOMMENDED DISHES Roast squab; red wine risotto; roast chicken; saddle of rabbit; trio of beef; creme brulee; strawberry and fromage blanc dome.
SERVICE Deft and not hovering.
WINE LIST An extraordinary list, whose strengths lie in Burgundy. The bartender makes a delicious kir royale.
HOURS Dinner, Monday to Thursday, 5:30 to 10:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, to 11 p.m.; Lunch, Friday, noon to 2:15 p.m.
PRICE RANGE Dinner, appetizers, $11 to $22; entrees, $24 to $30; desserts, $9 to $10. Prix fixe, 3 courses, $36; 6 courses, $79.
CREDIT CARDS All major cards.
WHEELCHAIR ACCESS Steps at entrance. Restrooms on main level.
WHAT THE STARS MEAN:
(None)|Poor to satisfactory
*|Good
**|Very good
***|Excellent
****|Extraordinary
Ratings reflect the reviewer’s reaction to food, ambience and service, with price taken into consideration. Menu listings and prices are subject to change.

food

Bread Tribeca: Dishes to eat according to NY Times

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I always forget what reviewers recommend to eat when I arrive at a restaurant that I recently read about. It is a feeling that is utterly paralyzing: I know I should eat some dishes and I know I should not eat others. Which are which? That question is usually one which I do not have an answer for. Here is my first stab at never having this problem again:

RECOMMENDED DISHES: Antipasto di mare; fritto misto; fried sardines; grilled vegetables; pansotti with walnut sauce; taglierini with pesto; tagliatelli with lamb; roasted Cornish hen; steamed mussels; zuppa de pesce; pizza margherita; branzino; shrimp with vegetables; sardines and pepperoncini on baguette; fritelle; strawberry soup; cookie plate.

ramblings

Coffee Coffee Everywhere

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I happened to be in a Starbucks using up a gift certificate I received for giving blood (the irony of giving a diuretic and most probably then a blood thinner to reward one for giving blood is not lost on me) and I picked up a brochure that listed all the Starbucks in the New York City area.

In total, all 5 boroughs have 152 Starbucks. Not as many as I thought but still, a pretty large number. Woe to Staten Island – they only have two! The Bronx is even worse off – they only have one!

Here is the breakdown:
Upper West Side = 14
Garment District = 12
Chelsea = 8
Staten Island = 2
Morningside Heights = 2
Brooklyn = 5
Queens = 10
SoHo & TriBeCa = 5
Theatre District = 5
Harlem & Washington Heights = 3
Financial District = 13
The Bronx = 1
Chinatown = 1
Upper East Side = 12
Greenwich Village = 7
Gramercy & Murray Hill = 11
Midtown West = 14
Midtown East = 27
_________________________
TOTAL = 152
*** Most eye catching stat: Midtown East has 50% more Starbucks locations (27) than all of the outer boroughs combined (18).

ramblings

Two Choices

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A man sitting in a chair holds out two hands, each held straight out, curled into a fist. A man sits across from him.

“Vanilla or Chocolate? Choose one.”

“I choose Vanilla.”

“Why? I choose Vanilla because?”

“I choose Vanilla because it is my favorite flavor.”

“No. That is a reason and you must get beyond reason. Again, Vanilla or Chocolate?”

“I choose Vanilla.”

“Why? I choose Vanilla because?”

“I choose Vanilla because that is what I want.”

“No. Want is a desire and a desire is a reason and a reason is based on a decision. Get beyond reason and get beyond decision. I ask again, Chocolate or Vanilla?”

“I choose Vanilla.”

“Why? I choose Vanilla because?”

“I choose Vanilla because that is the flavor that agrees with my palette.”

“No. Again, that is a reason and you must get beyond reason. I ask again, Chocolate or Vanilla?”

“I choose Vanilla because.”

“Because why?”

“Just because. Is that the answer you are getting at?”

“No. That is not good enough and that is not what I want you to see. There is no insight there. I want you to see the insight behind this choice. Once a choice is made, a choice is made. A decision is something one can back on; one can question one’s decisions, one may decide his previous reasons were incorrect. Later on you may regret your decision and change your mind. You must get your beyond reasons and decisions. Choices and decisions are two different things and you must learn the insight as to why.

Choice is the act of selecting while a decision is a judgment. Judgments are the formation of an opinion. Choices should not be based on judgments. You can see this insight or else I would be asking you to make this choice. Once an insight is gained that insight is yours forever. I will help you get that insight but I will not give it to you. Again I ask, Chocolate or Vanilla?”

“Is there an answer here? Is this a rhetorical question?”

“No and yes. This is not rhetorical and there is an answer. Again I ask, Chocolate or Vanilla?”

“I choose Vanilla because I choose Vanilla.”

“Correct.”

“How so?

“When a person is born, does he choose his mother? No. You choose your mother because you choose your mother. Embrace your choice and move on. Do not spent your time wondering and/or thinking about your choice for it was not a decision. The decision is made after the fact. Spend your life moving forward not backward. Embrace the choice and ignore the decision.”

“I see.”

“I knew you would.”