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Chain Links: Mai Tai Masala

Vics It was a sad day when Wendy’s called it quits in Japan. But Frostys and baked potatoes might be coming back—this time with Beef ‘n Cheddars in tow. A hybrid Wendy’s/Arby’s monster is attempting to re-enter Japan. [Nation’s Restaurant News]

I’ve never understood the appeal of cold cereal, but The Cereal Bowl, has made a business out of selling sweet crunchy things in milk to Americans. Now, they’re expanding to Puerto Rico. A location in Qatar opened earlier this year. [QSR]

Trader Vic’s has always been odd in modern times. They don’t have many US restaurants any more (I finally tried the Chicago branch this New Year’s Eve) but thrive in hotels in Asian capitals—Bangkok, Taipei, Tokyo—where you wouldn’t think they’d have much of a taste for American mid-century Polynesia kitsch. There are a whopping nine Trader Vic’s in the Middle East, and now India and Sri Lanka will be getting mai tais and crab rangoon, too. Wow, they're going nuts with expansion, and in some of the most random locales. [Food Business Review]

Photo from Cookbook Village.

Der Schwarze Kölner

I wouldn’t say that I favor beer halls over other drinking establishments, so it was odd that I ended up at semi-isolated Hungarian, Draft Barn, Friday evening and at Der Schwarze Kölner two nights later.

Fort Greene’s German contribution isn’t a true beer garden—there are smattering of outdoor folding tables and chairs facing Fulton Street—and food isn’t really the point, but the bar was just right for a Fourth of July stop, post-BAM.

No, I didn’t mess around with fireworks or barbecues this year. Instead, I witnessed my first Nathan’s hotdog eating contest in person, then sobered up with some bleak Americana while watching Winter’s Bone.

The dark (and extra echoey) room was the perfect setting to test out my new point-and-shoot, an uncharacteristic impulse buy. My old-ish PowerShot SD800 died last week and I could make do like the rest of the world who now seems to rely solely on iPhones for photos, but the quality doesn’t cut it (plus, I don’t have an iPhone). I’m not always in the mood for cramming an SLR in my purse, but still want to take casual photos on occasion. Things like pretzels and sausage that can only be so pretty.

And clearly, I still have some way to go in mastering this new camera. These are not glamour shots. (By contrast, the first time I ever used my SLR in the wild at Hill Country, my photos turned out well despite not knowing what I was doing—amusingly, one of these test shots was recently used in an Ozersky post).

Der schwarze kölner weisswurst

True confession: I hate hotdogs. My patriotic eating duty went unfulfilled at Nathan’s. That doesn’t mean I dislike sausages, though. Weisswurst are more delicate and I kind of like their albino appearance. And no one can argue with a soft pretzel.

Der schwarze kölner obazda

Obazda was completely new to me. The cheese spread, a sharp blend of cream cheese, butter, brie, beer and caraway, is like Bavarian pimento cheese, in a way. The radishes and dark Spaten Optimator added an additional layer of welcome bitterness to the dip.

Der Schwarze Kölner * 710 Fulton St., Brooklyn, NY

What Do You Call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Finland?


Quarter_pounder A deadly gun battle involving an SUV in a McDonald's drive-through and it didn't take place in America? I must brush up on my Finnish culture because I thought Scandinavia was a happiest-people-on-the-planet utopia where both genders get 20 years paid time off to raise their children and the unemployed are granted vacation stipends because being jobless is stressful (ok, the latter is true).

Ah, it seems that Finland is Nordic, not part of Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, Sweden). That must explain it. I base all my decisions on random internet comments, and I like this one: "by genetic finnish people are closer to eastern world, as we are relative to estonian people. we do have same strenght and melancholic mind."

Strong and sad, a cursed combo.

By the way, in Finland a Quarter Pounder with Cheese is called a Quarter Pounder with Cheese.

Fast Food International: Go Go Curry

Go go curry exterior


It’s not Thai, it’s not Indian…it’s Japanese curry, my latest post for Serious Eats.

T.G.I. Friday’s Union Square


Friday's exterior I broke my no-new-restaurants-during-opening-week rule because world-famous chains are above the law. And the controversial without cause Union Square T.G.I. Friday’s (nothing new–NYC is already home to eight and the poor restaurant is a native New Yorker) was the perfect birthday setting for a fellow aging chain-lover. Luckily, I am blessed with a few (just a few, mind you) friends who can appreciate a Jack Daniel's steak and Electric Lemonade as much as a dry-aged rib eye and limoncello.

Community activists, take note. Try as they might, the gay pride promotions and DJ playing Bel Biv DeVoe and New Edition, weren’t exactly wooing the crowds. I’ve never seen a major chain so empty in the city or the suburbs, though most of the seats at the bar were taken. My theory has always been that more locals than tourists patronize these NYC chains, but I might have to rethink that.

Friday's tea

While I’ve knocked back a few wine coolers in my day, the ultimate underage elixir, Long Island iced tea, has eluded me thus far. This was my chance, and oddly, I was carded despite being very much over-age. T.G.I. Friday’s not only claims to have invented the everything-in-the-liquor-cabinet-cocktail that doesn’t actually contain any tea, they also had a disproportionate amount of drinks revolving around tea and sugar: SoCo (that would be Southern Comfort) Peach Tea, Ruby Mo-Tea-To and Sun-Spiced Tea, for example. I hate sweet tea, Snapple, Arizona and anything resembling these beverages, so one Long Island iced tea was sufficient. It's off my bucket list.

Friday's burgers

Mini-burgers, no, not sliders, were inoffensive. Meat, bacon, melted cheese with a bbq dipping sauce are not the harbinger of Manhattan's demise.

Friday's nachos

Nachos done daintily, and traditionally, each chip a standalone hors d'oeuvres slathered in refried beans and fused with a thick layer of cheese. I kind of prefer a big gooey mess to pick through.

While it's not obvious at first glance, the menu at T.G.I. Friday's  isn't terribly diverse.  Most of the dishes revolve around chicken, shrimp and/or steak, and melted cheese is rampant. Applebee’s is more creative. Yeah, I just typed that. Oh, an Applebee's executive chef just won an award—the coveted 2010 Chefs of Grey Poupon—so you know it's true.

Friday's combo

This is one of the classic Jack Daniel's combos: ribs and shrimp, and a two big scoops of mashed potatoes like starchy ice cream. The sweetish sauce and mildly spiced rub are a notch up from Dallas BBQ, and let's leave it at that. No one saunters into a T.G.I. Friday's thinking it's Hill Country.

Friday's bamboo

A built-in wall shelf was completely bare minus a little reminder of the previous tenant. The bamboo didn't prove so lucky for Zen Palate.

T.G.I. Friday's * 34 Union Square E., New York, NY

Impurrfections

Cat models fact & fiction

Even felines are subjected to stringent beauty standards and unrealistic photo retouching. Just look at the fluffy glowing white Fancy Feast cat compared the dour Berkeley & Jensen (BJ’s Wholesale Club’s house brand) model with scraggly fur and under eye circles.

Using Your Noodle

Pasta logos It's hard to imagine a time, oh say, six years ago, when bread baskets were shunned and New Yorkers were eating scrambled egg whites on scooped bagels (oh right, they're still doing that).

Three is a trend, and it looks like carbs are coming back in a big way. (I’m much preferring the proliferation of country western bars: Branded Saloon, Viva El Toro and Lady Jay’s.) By the end of July, Manhattan will be home to three pasta bar chains: homegrown Hello Pasta, German Vapiano and French Nooi. It's a Small World of noodles. Is there really such a pent up demand for pasta lunches?

Then again, why not pasta? Salad bars are ancient history. I was alive enough in the '80s to have witnessed the mania first hand. And when my middle school got a baked potato bar? I knew I'd arrived when all the sour cream, grated cheese and imitation bacon bits you could cram onto one spud was deemed a healthy lunch.