Pizza. It’s arguably the quickest and most versatile fast food out there. The trend these days in NYC is to bring pizza back to its Napoli roots. Thinner crust, less topping and more time to make it equates to the gourmet-izing of this friendly snack. I have been to Napoli. The pizza is great. But, You don’t need to charge me $25 because you throw some kale on top of a super thin crust and have some 500 year old wood burning stove to cook it in. I was in Chicago this week, so I opted for the exact opposite of this New York pizza revolution in the video above.

Chicago hot dogs are famous like their pizza. I am not sure I understand why on either account. To be fair I was told to visit this place NOT for the hot dogs but for the Italian beef sandwich pictured below.

The beef was a bit disappointing as well. It was sort of like a mediocre Philly cheese steak without the cheese. The addition of sweet peppers perhaps was a saving grace in the sense that there was a second flavor besides the beef to remind me that the beef tasted good.

A garbage salad was ordered on the misdirected recommendation of the cab stand guy. He told me he loved the chopped salad at Portillo’s but when I realized the “chopped salad” mostly consisted of lettuce I assumed he must have been confused with the famous “Garbage”.

To round all this out I asked the woman who took my order if I was missing any “must have” items. She replied by pimping the onion rings. Again, sub-par in the sense that I could get them anywhere made the same way. All in, not a bad meal BUT I was looking for a super unique Chicago street food experience and I felt like I had just visited any standard carnival or street fair. If in Chicago you might have to have a “famous” dog for the story but trust me, it’s not for the taste.

Portillo’s – Chicago, Illinois
100 W. Ontario
Chicago IL 60654
312-587-8910

I never expected to find great salami in Seattle. But, I am a big Batali fan and I figured he had to learn from somewhere. Salumi is an Italian cured meat shop in the heart of Seattle’s Pioneer Square run by Armandino Batali, Mario’s father. Armandino had a full career at Boeing as a process control engineer but after he retired he spent 2 years learning how to make Salumi. He then opened up this small shop slicing up meat for sandwiches 4 days a week.

When I arrived it was nearly noon and the line was already out the door. It moved quick but slow enough that I had sufficient time to contemplate my order.

The decision wasn’t easy. I wanted to try almost every salumi on the menu. The differentiator between Armandino’s meat and other Italian pork-processing pioneers is his mix of spices. His use of nutmeg, cardamom and even a Mexican mole is extremely unique. The flavors show up mildly but distinctly. Turning my attention from the standard salumi’s to some of the other cured meats on the list, I found lamb prosciutto and even guanciale (Italian bacon prepared with pig’s jowl or cheeks) hanging in the glass framed walk in refrigerator that is built into the front of the narrow shop.

The line finally moved up and I stepped up to order. I chose the Muffo, a cold sandwich with olive tapanade, two salumis and provolone on a ciabatta roll. (pictured at top). Luckily I had a few friends with me so we ordered a few other sammys and had a little tasting selection.

Salumi with peppers and tomatoes.

Meatball sub with provolone.

We slipped our way to the back of the shop, careful not to knock over anything or anyone in the narrow space, where there was a large table. The table sat ten, had a couple bottles of wine on it with “Pay-what-you-drink” signs and 9 strangers happily devouring their delicious sandwiches. There was a second room through a doorway that had another communal table that sat another 6 sandwich lovers.

Biting in, the salumi was amazing. It’s flavors complimented the rest of the ingredients with just the right balance. The meatballs had a mild spice and the marinara a sauce a sweet bite. I came for the salumi but discovered the best meatball sandwich of my life. I don’t mean to over power the hero product, the salumi is still well worth the trip.

The beauty of Armandino’s operation is much like my own supper club philosophy, good food, daily specials consumed in the company of strangers. My advise, take a swing by the next time you are in Seattle. Ohh yeah, and order something you think sounds strange. I promise you will not be disappointed.

Salumi Artisan Cured Meats
309 Third Ave South
Seattle, WA 98104
(between Main and Jackson, across from Seattle Lighting)
(206) 621 8772

Flying into SEATAC airport in Seattle leaves you with few options for some early morning chow. Asking the locals came through again when I was directed to this “frozen-in-time” pancake house with a German surprise.

I love the business lunch. I like the whole idea of a hot snack, mid-day filled with some marketing talk, some good yucks and an Arnold Palmer or two. (I rarely sip the vine, hops or fermented potatoes during a business lunch, just a personal policy) Because I lunch often, it feels right to cover the action, when possible, with a quick little video snack. Depress clutch. Pull stick into second. Release clutch.

Lately, I have been overwhelmed by restaurant reviews. For a town hit hard by the recession, there sure are a load of new restaurants opening across this metropolis. A month ago I decided to hone my sources down to three websites. From these three I would work my way through their recommendations and keep my mind temporarily uncluttered. My favorite. Immaculate Infatuation. Chris and Andrew give ya the straight dope. They break the joint down in a non-foodie way, tell ya what to get, what not to get and if you should bother going to the restaurant at all. Of course, I have yet to dine with either of these music industry moonlighters, so I can’t trust them just yet. But, I like their tone and site design so I figured I would put one of their reviews to MY test.

The Spotted Pig is the now famous gastro-pub that….ahhh, blah, blah. blah…we don’t do reviews like this here. Just read it over at Immaculate. I had a suckling pig (various parts mixed together) over braccoli rabe. A bit salty but the swine was delightful. Elliott had a Cubano sandwich. The bread was crispy-crunchy but fresh as hell. Inside a unique pickle mixture added a bit of spice. We deduced that the pickles were cut with pickled jalapenos. Nice touch. As you saw above, we started the whole thing with their deviled eggs dripped with good olive oil. The make shift AP’s from the bar were not half bad for not having lemonade in house. All in it was delicious and an unexpectedly quiet afternoon in this west village hot spot. Bottom line is, lunch can not be used as the judge for whether this restaurant makes the cut or not. Almost everything mentioned in any dinner review of “The Pig” was not on the menu, so I could not get a true test. I guess I’ll just have to go back. Stay tuned.

Spotted Pig The
314 West 11th Street
New York, NY 10014-2369
(212) 620-0393
www.thespottedpig.com

It’s rare, even for me, when a work partnership turns into a friendship considering that the two guys above do not work with me everyday. Tarikh and Josh are the duo that make unbelievable ideas come to life at their company, Uncommon Projects. It has been just over a year now when I called up Uncommon and asked them to put a GPS tracker in a sneaker. They said no. Then I asked, “Hey, how about a bike” They agreed. (More on that picture taking, GPS enabled Yahoo! bike here) Thankfully we finally got down to celebrating the project at Vinegar Hill House about a week or so ago.

Josh Rooke-Ley is the quiet, coding genius who rarely is scene without a fitted Mets hat on his head. Among his many passions he has become quite the cyclist since the Yahoo! Bike project launched. For a while he was riding to the office in DUMBO all the way from his house in Queens. It even inspired this iPhone app. You know someone is into their work if it changes behavior in their personal life.

Tarikh Korula is a master of hardware and software mixing. In a world of new apps, programs and websites, Tarikh has the magical fingers to hack, invent, make and modify devices that can do things never before seen. Tarikh and I had more than one 4am night getting the bikes ready for shipment. Through those wee hours we covered everything from hip hop legends to failed relationships to beer preferences. I love to get him going on a topic he finds interesting. The conversation always goes to a great place. Outside of work he has gone deep into the ambient music world. He has started turning out performances that use all sorts of sounds in his melodies including old traffic reports. Super fun stuff to close you eyes to and listen hard.

Guys thanks for making work so fun and making play that much more interesting.

What we ate:
Farmstead Cheese & Salami with homemade crackers, pickled quail egg
Fennel Salad with provolone piccante, green olives, currants
Braised Beef Cheeks with celeriac, celery, chestnut honey
Red Wattle Country Chop with homemade sauerkraut

A couple weeks ago I was in Austin. You may have heard. In between my BBQ adventures and a trip out to a crepe trailer I had the pleasure of dining on some lamb parts with a crew of true gents. An impromptu “boys night” that well deserves its own post. This post, however, will focus on the food.

After finishing a smoke (not me) and passing Stevie Ray Vaughan’s brother at the bar we settled into a large booth in Olivia Restaurant located on South Lamar in Austin. Olivia has a delicious menu that reads much like the back dumpster of a butcher shop looks. Let me explain.

A week prior to the trip my friend Brian told his old skool buddy Sean we were coming into town and he was bringing “this guy” who has tasted everything. Sean took this as a personal challenge. He was determined to peak my gastronomical interest and trick my tuned palette with some “nasty-bits-turned-good”. Olivia’s menu read like a collision between a whole foods and a key food freight train. Those of you unfamiliar with key food think Family Dollar or that sketchy meat market you pass in the latin neighborhood of your town.

When the waiter stopped by we did not waste any time going for the jugular, literally. Well almost literally. About three inches north. First up was lambs tongue with grilled bosc pears, citrus pan sauce and yaupon honey.

Following the tongue we moved to corazón.(President of the Philippines or in this case spanish for heart) A full plate of grilled lamb hearts stuffed in jalapeños and then wrapped in house bacon were finished with fireman’s 4 syrup.

Next up was a giant plate of lamb fries with whole grain mustard aioli. If you are like me, you discovered what lamb fries were when you watch Chevy Chase in Funny Farm back in the 80′s. If you are NOT like me, they are lamb testicles. Yes. Testicles. Get over it. They are delicious. Just take a look.

We rounded out the appetizers with some San Francisco Molinari salami and a killer bottle of wine.

This lamb trio was delicious. If you just watched the Chevy clip I linked to above, and I hope you did, you saw him spit out his 31st once he found out what they were. That’s the problem with us. We eat with out mind. Those of us with predetermined ideas of what is good, bad and edible miss out. Scroll back up. Read some of the ingredients that were used in preparing these dishes. House cured bacon can’t be bad. Jalepenos and syrup work the hot and sweet parts of the tongue. Who doesn’t love some sweet kick? Chef’s these days are being really inventive with their recipes. Part of that is using ALL of the animal. So next time you see some “weird” stuff on a menu, release your mind and give it a nibble. After all, you eat hotdogs don’t you? You know what hotdogs are made of right?

So if I am so in love with the apps, what could I possibly have followed it up with? As good as those starters were my entree sang. A balsamic braised pork belly with honey crisp apples, twice fried yukon potatoes and fresh cilantro appeared before me and after the first bite, I lost my mind.

The meal ended with a last few sips of wine before the five of us piled into Sean’s truck and headed over to see their friends band at the Continental. That’s par for the course in Austin. Follow your nose to really good food and then follow your ears to really good music. We shut it down at 3am. I woke up for my 7am flight at 7:30am but that is another post. Hell, that is another blog.

Olivia
2043 S Lamar Blvd
Austin, TX 78704
(512) 804-2700

Can you beat a home cooked vegetarian (almost) business lunch? Rhetorical, please hold your breath for a moment. I was in Hastings, New York with Amit to meet with Seth and Ishita around a few projects in the percolator. Only days before Thanksgiving I certainly have food on the brain and this gastronomical surprise was the perfect easement into my second to last business day before holiday.

If you are a faithful reader, you have undoubtedly heard of Amit before. Creator or Photojojo and Jelly, he has been my partner on the Yahoo! and Jelly “Jellytalk” series. Most recently, besides a red eye from SF and a quick nap on my couch, he has put out an awesome photo book with all sorts of great ideas in it. You know I rarely plug but, this is a great ‘lil holiday gift from a super creative place.

Seth I had met once before at a Jellytalk in Brooklyn. Although he loves to complain about the space I know he had a good time, at least during the talk. Seth’s office reads like a neatly organized exploration in fun and interesting. Not surprising considering his background, occupation and writing. His one line bio, (Seth is a writer, a speaker and an agent of change) may need another comma and the word cook added. Thanks Seth for the delicious lunch.

Ishita made the tea and kept the meeting on track. She is Seth’s assistant and creator fear.less, an online magazine that empowers people through unique stories of overcoming fear. There seems to be some discrepancy over Ishita’s role. After further clarification it is unclear if Ishita works for Seth, if Seth works for Ishita or if they are partners in crime. One thing is clear, Ishita’s official title is “Head of Hoopla”. That sounds like the boss to me. I’m just saying.  

This was perhaps the most productive and tasty meeting I will have all week. Thanks again guys for the hospitality.

What we ate:
Brown rice with kimchi, hummus, egg and tofu

When someone tells you they are taking you to the outskirts of town to a parking lot where great food is made in an old airstream trailer, YOU JUST GO. My friend Brad did just this on my recent trip to Austin. As the story goes, two friends wanted to start making crepes and well…the vid will explain it all.

You can’t hate a job that takes you into the heart of San Francisco, buys you a sandwich and lets you “work” in the park over looking the bay for an afternoon. That’s what went down a few days ago as the Buzz Team and I started work on our next set of BIG ideas. This video will give you a peek into where the “magic” starts and how we do what we do.