Cool Travel / Neal’s Yard Dairy

February 4, 2010 | Cool Travel | by The Urban Grocer |

Think of cheese and it’s typically the French or Swiss that come to mind. Not the Brits. Or is it? Thanks to a growing group of talented, enthusiastic, and young artisanal cheesemakers in the UK, it seems Britain is claiming the throne. Of cheese, that is. One place showcasing England’s new energy of cheesemaking is Neal’s Yard Dairy, based in London. Here, the fine work of over 70 organic artisanal cheesemakers is carefully selected from farms through Britain and Ireland. At their Old England style boutique shops, wheels and chunks sit perched, piled upon one other and sorted in the shelves forming a sort of mouldy rind wallpaper. Read more

New Trends / Pork Stuffed Bacon Roll

January 9, 2009 | New Trends | by Gerry Mak |

You know, a lot of people look at a latticed sheet of bacon with ground pork rolled up inside of it as an unnecessarily extreme indulgence, sure to cause an instantaneous heart attack, but I look at that slab of protein and fat as — I’ll say it — health food. Ok, bear with me, please. I just read the book Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health by Gary Taubes. I know it sounds like a crazy fad diet book due to its unfortunate title, but it’s actually an obsessively researched tome that documents the history of the nutrition debates between doctors and scientists, and how the ‘fat is bad’ hypothesis won out more for political reasons than for hard scientific and medical reasons. Citing dozens of studies and dissenting researchers from the past century of medicine as well as describing clearly the physiology and science behind their claims, Taubes asserts that the increased consumption of refined carbohydrates such as bleached white flour and high fructose corn syrup are the real culprits behind the epidemic of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer. Read more

Cool Travel / New York’s 71 Irving Place Cafe

December 17, 2008 | Cool Travel | by Fernanda Cohen |

71 is the kind of place which is small enough to miss, but once you see it, you realize everyone somehow knows about it. It’s set three steps down from the sidewalk level, and it’s always packed, except for week late nights and mid-mornings. Even though their service is not the friendliest — like any other spot in New York that’s too cool for school — 71 has a noticeably loyal clientele. Lots of writers hang out with their computers, while photographers check out the scene, and artists meet up with their reps. Besides hot and cold drinks, including their own coffee, they also offer a great selection of pastries, sandwiches and my friend Nicolas’ favorite chicken soup ever.

New Art / Alan Warburton’s food and politics series

December 2, 2008 | New Art | by Zolton |

Cambridge artist Alan Warburton collaborated with a non-art audience to produce this series of work in which he asked volunteers to use fruit to explain politics: ‘In Caracas, Venezuela, volunteers explained the complex and lively political scene using melons, and in Cambridge, diverse residents used locally picked apples to explain the issues that affect the city’, he says of how the series unfolded. Read more

October 31, 2008 | Video | by Gerry Mak |

Foodies should rejoice in the website Eat Drink or Die, a great YouTube-like resource devoted to cookery and food. It’s chock-full of user generated videos as well as cooking instructions by professionals, the most prominent of whom is Tom Colicchio of Kraft and Top Chef fame.

October 21, 2008 | Cool Websites | by Gerry Mak |

I think eating in restaurants alone is sort of amazing, even though when I see other people do it, I get pangs in my heart. People are just so vulnerable when they’re shoveling food in their mouths, an act that humanizes anyone, which is why Crying While Eating is one of the most amazing blogs I’ve seen in a while.

Cool Travel / Total Wine Bar’s scrumptuous Mac n’ Cheese

October 17, 2008 | Cool Travel | by Marcos Chin |

Situated on the corner of Fifth Avenue and St Marks Place, in Brooklyn’s Park Slope, Total Wine Bar serves wine, beer and some small eats (their Mac n’ Cheese is seriously the best that I’ve eaten). Read more

New Events / Balint Zsako at The Proposition

September 4, 2008 | New Events | by Zolton |

One of our favourite artists, Balint Zsako, is showing his collages in an exhibition with his mother, Anna Torma (textiles), and father, Istvan Zsako (paintings,) at The Proposition Gallery in New York opening September 13 and running until October 18. Read more

Cool Travel / Grom: real Italian gelato in New York

September 2, 2008 | Cool Travel | by Yuko Shimizu |

Passionate about gelato? The second best to going to Italy is going to Grom. More than $4 for a small cup? A long line? It’s so worth it, trust me. They opened a store in ice cream battleground, the West Village, but my choice is the more quiet and chilled Upper West Side store. A secret tip to a short wait is to never go there after dinner. Early in the day is the short cut to a cup of Extra Noir chocolate. Or any other taste of your choice.

Cool Travel / Gelateria Nico, Venice

September 1, 2008 | Cool Travel | by Yuko Shimizu |

I just came back from teaching a week-long illustration workshop in Venice, Italy. After finish up the class each evening, the students and I often ran to our favourite gelateria in town, Nico. Read more

Cool Travel / Cheeks Bakery, Brooklyn

July 19, 2008 | Cool Travel | by Marcos Chin |

Disregard the buzz that surrounds those other cupcake shops in New York City. Cheeks Bakery in Williamsburg houses the best cupcakes that I’ve eaten. The clean and understated decor extends to the menu, where being fancy doesn’t rule on the cupcake shelves. Cheeks offers, simply, vanilla and chocolate cupcakes with either vanilla or chocolate cream. But if you do want more, Cheeks has that as well, a limited selection of pies and cakes.

New Trends / Papercraft steak

June 1, 2008 | New Trends | by Gerry Mak |

Seeing as rising food and fuel prices may make steak an unattainable luxury for all but the wealthiest people in the future, it’s good to know that at least there will be papercraft steaks to fill that sucking void that will be left on our plates, much the way poverty-stricken peasants in inland China used to have wooden fish on the table during banquets. There’s a raw version and a cooked version available for download, along with a side of carrots, a plate, and even paper silverware.

Cool Websites / The Black Oven

May 13, 2008 | Cool Websites | by Gerry Mak |

Black metal and baking don’t usually go together, unless you’re talking about baked brains. The Black Oven, however, is a blog of cookie, cupcake, and brownie recipes, none of which require blood, animal sacrifices, or pledging allegiance to Satan. Read more

Cool Websites / Cupcakes Take The Cake

May 9, 2008 | Cool Websites | by Zolton |

Oh man! Now I’ve seen it all. An entire blog dedicated to cupcakes, those perfect little bundles of sweet, sweet goodness. Hell, my mouth is watering just looking at them. What will they think of next? A blog about pretzels? Ha! Oh, wait a minute. Damn!

February 20, 2008 | Video | by Gerry Mak |

Leave it to perennially crunchy Portland, Oregon, to open the world’s first vegan strip club. Read more