Taste Lapping

Coverage Coming soon!

2009-11-15T23:26:00.004-05:00

The American Stories exhibit at the Met, Brandon Wilde show at Bar 4, and Deth Killers.

Fragole

2009-10-20T00:49:00.002-04:00

On Saturday night I wanted to get dinner after a haircut (At Boy Luv Girl on Atlantic Avenue) ...and naturally the first thing that came to mind was Buttermilk Channel. It was about 7pm, and the wait was 1.5 hours, and there was no room at the bar. I put my name on the list and headed over to Prime Meats (great cheese, salads, and brunch!) and their wait was 2 hours, and they had kids (I know I know they exist)...so, next was a less fancy spot but apparently the best and most reliable choice - Fragole. An oldie, but a goodie. They still have their huge wine list at $27/bottle for ANY bottle, a full list of beautiful specials, and we had the good fortune of Europeans on the left and teenagers with their parents on the right. [I'll take a teen over a toddler any day - rawr]

Down to the food. The wine was a delicate but interesting Pinot Noir. The STAR was a grilled polenta with wild mushroom and Fontina cheese sauce. AMAZING. The salad was a bit stale like it had been pre-assembled, but still a tasty goat cheese, beat salad. The menu said marinated goat cheese, but I didn't really detect any signs of marination. The Italian sitting next to us said the bread dipping sauce was just like what his mother made.

Anywho, moral of the story, is, when it comes to a Yuppie hood, stick to the (no reservation) foodie places for brunch or early dinner (6?) and the homestyle places for dinner on the weekend. Or better yet, go shopping on Friday night and make your own, invite some friends.

> Fragoles

> Buttermilk Channel (notable mention: they advertise a vegetarian menu)

> Prime Meats

> Sahadi's

General Greene

2009-09-26T01:19:00.004-04:00

The General Greene gets a lot of bad reviews, but since I'm a long-time (decade plus) Clinton Hill resident, and a foodie, I pay it particular attention. Here's why:

The menu is designed to be eaten family-style, like 4 people. The dishes are seasoned very difffently so they do best paired as 3-4 different items. Somewhat similar to Thankgsiving. Or Chinese food.

My first dinner there consisted of a salty leafy green saute (salty), vegetable chilie, (bland), and quinoa salad-heavenly balanced and garnished with toasted walnuts [imagine at home with pecans], and I understood that either people had failed to understand the concept of the place, or the owners/waiters failed to convey the critical information.

As a solo or double (as in date) diner, the selection is a bit shorter. I lovvved the fresh ricotta and pea shoot toasts. For Brunch the spot's specialty, pastries, really shined (I took 2.5 quickbreads home with me and ate them over the next 2 days - delightful all 3!). However, I still love my scrambled tofu and my companion's French Toast was a bit TOO much like dessert. Speaking of dessert, OMG the ice cream is heavenly. The Salted Caramel is a bit much, so I suggest mixing it with vanilla or coffee and sharing with a friend :D

PS: Best summer drink ever: Vodka, Iced Tea, Lemonade, Simple Syrup, mint, shake/stir, splash of soda. Kelso Brewing company - local Clinton Hill beer! Interesting, until someone told me it was probably brewed in a bathtub : /

Not recommended: the beet salad is blah, and same with the lentil. The mac n cheese will fill you up, but it's not cheesy or interesting enough. The wine is sub-par. I wish I had've had an opportunity to try the Rhubarb Crisp. Looking forward to the fall menu and knocking-off the Quinoa recipe. They should approach Cooking Light for a feature

>New York magazine review
>Random Flickr Ice Cream Fan

Vicki Christina Barcelona

2009-08-30T05:59:00.003-04:00

I avoided this film like the plague. Even though it was about threesomes and steemy intellecutal artist three-way sex. Yes, I know, that does not sound like me. But Midsummer Night's Sex Farce never really left me completely whole as a woman and I have not forgiven Woody ever since. Neither do I trust his infatuation with Scarlet. HOWEVER. This film is not typical woody. I think it is in fact a love note to Scarlet. But one that fits around her perfectly. The way that Lost in Translation fit around Bill Murray. Not to insinuate that the lovely Sofia Coppola has a hidden Ghost Busters fetish or anything...

ps. don't ever lend me a knife or a pistol, even if I beg you really realistically :P

Faerwear

2009-04-12T18:14:00.006-04:00

Faerwear is jewelry, creative knitting, and other assorted interesting things created by my good friend Dori, who is always a source of inspiration and entertainment for me. She quit her .com job and moved to Mexico for 2 years! She stopped working full time because it was keeping her from being happy. Anyway, I'm really impressed with her squash blossom pattern currently offered on Etsy!

>Dori's Etsy Profile
>Faerwear Products
>Dori's Blog

Check out the new Trojan campaign

2008-10-29T14:07:00.001-04:00

Spider Lillies

2008-05-14T22:06:00.005-04:00

These lovely ladies are the leads in Spider Lilies, a film from Taiwan that just won a Teddy award at the Berlin film festival. I clicked on the instant button at Netflix admittedly just because I was feeling kind of horny, and they recommended it because I loved The Dreamers so much. Well, it was REALLY good. I mean, I've taught myself to cry at chick flicks - mostly for the stress relieve benefits, but this one really had me going. It is so beautifully shot. And it doesn't make a huge deal out of the fact that the lovers are two women. And the tattoos are so cool. I can't really say more without spoiling it, but even if you're not into lesbians or romance or foreign film, you should still watch it.

> Check out the Trailer on YouTube
> Asian Popcorn Premeire coverage (where this sizzlin' pic is from)
> Screenpics of my favorite scenes
> Buy the DVD

Muppets and Showcases

2008-03-21T22:43:00.003-04:00

I saw Vampire Weekend play at one of their first shows at The Pullout Method, a showcase that starts after 10 pm!!!! every other Friday night at Club Midway in the Village. This is the ultimate of tastelapping events!

My Easter resolution is to not miss the next one, which will host The Flying Machines and War Canoes. Oh, and they have this awesome muppet video (above) on their home page.

> The Pullout Method
> Vampire Weekend
> Club Midway a.k.a. rehab
> The Flying Machines
> War Canoes

The Pickup (1975)

2008-03-01T01:26:00.003-05:00

I can't believe that this film doesn't even have a listing on imdb. It is SO good. Not just because there are boobs. It is really trippy, reminds me of Easy Rider. It's interesting just from the early synthesizer perspective. Then you add trippy visual sequences, bizarre plot lines, a 70's luxury mobile home, and lots of hot yet not X rated sex. It's awesome! Soooo glad I downloaded it. Yes, I'm a Tarantino fan, but you might like this "grindhouse" film even if you don't like him.

Actually, I'm a bit appalled that I haven't drummed them up on my own yet.

>The Pickup on Amazon
> Myspace page (yep!)
>Youtube clip (not embeddible, dammit) of Apollo Goddess sequence

The Attorneys - I mean Flying Machines - live in Arnheim, CA

2008-02-02T18:53:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite NYC bands, The Attorneys, re-formed as the Flying Machines and got sponsored by Fender. Here's one of their new songs, "I Don't Remember", live in Anaheim.

Check them out at Rockwood Music Hall this Thursday or at Parkside Lounge on the 23rd.

>The Flying Machines myspace page
> Rockwood Music Hall
> Parkside Lounge

Letchworth Village on Opacity

2008-01-31T23:27:00.000-05:00

Lechworth Village is where Kinsey was filmed and also a new short called "Boob," about to be released by the Honest folks. The photographs of the abandoned mental institute buildings on the Opacity site are GREAT! They're by photographer Motts (pic on right). I came across this site years ago and looked at every single page - so glad I found it again!

> Check out the pics
> The Kinsey Institute
> Honest

We Are Friends exhibit

2008-01-13T18:45:00.000-05:00

Last night I went to Daniel Anthony St. George II's studio in Billyburg for a show he organized of his friends' work. I was completely blown away by Jeremiah Maddock (pictured). Very detailed and meticulous, using unique techniques - but the really interesting thing was the use symbolism from all over the place. There are your basics, like Christian crosses and masonic eyes, but then there are also Hopi, Pacific NW native, Hindu, Haitian, Egyptian, Pennsylvania Dutch, sideshow, etc. etc. influences. I spoke with him briefly about his art, and surprisingly he didn't seem to be very research oriented in his process. He said simply "I think those things are just all fucked up and weird." When I mentioned the psychedelic impression they made on me he said that he sometimes will go into a bit of an altered consciousness state when he's at the end of a piece. But the next day when he looks at it, it's gone.

He traded one of his pieces for this amazing winged buffalo statue with bright red genetalia by Meena Kim of Meena Made. She was rocking some fab homemade arm warmers and a beribboned cape-like garment. I learned from a nice fellow that if you put grapefruit juice on paper, it will leave a brown stain quickly when put to flame. In a corner there was a monitor with a cool stop-motion Aesop Rock video by asif.

The show is open by appointment, and many of the pieces are very affordable - so make an appt with Daniel to view them. Finally, watch this Art, or Not Art? video posted on Dan's blog.

Links>>
We Are Friends Flier
Buy the Art Online
Daniel Anthony St. George II aka AzStar78 website
Flickr pics from the show
asif site

Hugo Arcier

2008-01-13T15:47:00.000-05:00

Hugo is a talented young director and video artist in Paris. He has a blog called du temps perdu that covers what's happening in the Paris art world. You can see his work on his website, Yaschik. He recently finished a bumper that you can see on VirginTV. What I love most is his personal film work, like Hypocondria, which brings you inside his colon. Gotta love the French :D

Hairstyle Tool

2008-01-05T20:33:00.000-05:00

Finally there's another hairstyle tool online. The registration and photo upload is quick and painless. It's important to start out with a good photo. Mine looks a weird because my face is at an angle. It's fun but lacks a good range of colors for red. Still, I love having access to a tool that lets me try out Katie Holmes' new bob. Even though I look really stupid in this shot I can use my imagination to fill in the gaps. Thanks, InStyle!

Pablo Perez

2008-01-05T20:18:00.001-05:00

I met a nice fellow at Bar Reis last night, an editor at Gridskipper. I went online to check it out and they had this very cool artist featured, Pablo Perez. There's an interesting mix of psychedelic and pop art, also video and sound which I haven't perused yet.

Great Blog for Music Mining

2007-12-30T18:02:00.000-05:00

Beedubblyer is a former colleague of mine from Amsterdam. He handles all the promo music that gets sent to WK Amsterdam and used to be in the music biz. He's always got great new stuff to check out, like this post about Mexican techno group, No Somos Machos Pero Somos Muchos.

The Woes at Barbes - December 29th

2007-12-30T00:19:00.000-05:00

I went down to Barbes for the first time tonight, and I really liked it. A bit crowded, perhaps. Their website had the following description of the Woes on their site: "Frontman Osei Essed and Cicero Jones, a French Horn player and gospel organist, formed The Woes in 2002, inspired by Delta blues, early Country, bluegrass and New Orleans marching band music, they call their music 'Post-Apocalyptic traditional music'". That's pretty informative. I'd peg it closer to marching band, in overall feeling, but the lyrics, voice, and banjos create a bluegrass/country underpinning to the racous but adept brass section. It's the kind of music my parents love to listen to. And on a night when I wasn't in the mood for electric geetars or techno music, it was just right. I bought a copy of the cd, titled "That Coke Oven March", which I'm sure will get more quality listening.

Check back for a drawing I made of the lead singer while sipping a perky Six Points I.P.A...until then (and for a limited time), you can download the album here.

Links>>
Myspace
Official Site (sells the albums!)
Barbès