A Full Belly

pork brains in milk gravy

You'd think the most amazing thing about Pork Brains in Milk Gravy would be that there are apparently enough people who would eat such a thing for Armour to manufacture, can and distribute it, but I'm sorry, logic has failed you.

No, the most amazing thing about Pork Brains in Milk Gravy is that one 5.5 ounce can contains 3,500 mg of cholesterol—that's 1,170% of the daily recommended intake for a human being. Spam's looking pretty healthy all of a sudden, isn't it? [thanks, Brett!]

virgil's root beer is delicious

Virgil's Root Beer gets 4 and a half stars from Josh Allen over at my favorite beverage blog, The Knowledge for Thirst. I walked a mile each way to Trader Joe's in Union Square in the summer heat to buy some of the elusive Virgil's after reading his review, and it was worth every single sweltering step—and then I discovered it was somehow mysteriously also available at my amazing corner deli. O frabjous day!

Grand Sichuan St Mark's, I Love You

The first time I ever tasted the sweet, sweet nectar of soup dumplings was at the Chelsea branch of Grand Sichuan, three or more years ago with Alaina. Grand Sichuan St Mark's has been open for over a year now and while I was slightly disappointed with them during their first few months, I'm happy to report that the food has gotten better and better every time I've visited. In fact, after my most recent meal there this past week, I can finally say that Grand Sichuan St Mark's has now replaced New Green Bo as my number one Chinese spot—the only way I could love it more is if the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory opened up a branch on St Mark's too!

Soup dumplings aside, my current favorite items on the menu are the Sichuan Wontons in red oil, the Sichuan Dan Dan noodles, and the cold cucumber in scallion sauce. Thank you to Donny for making me try the latter dish despite my anti-cucumber bias, it's so delicious and refreshing that I now order them with every meal, and so should you.

Batali, Bourdain and Buford, live at the NYPL

I had a great time seeing Mario Batali, Anthony Bourdain and Bill Buford chat at the NYPL last week—if you didn't get tickets before it sold out, don't blame me, 'cause it's not like I didn't tell you about it in advance. I wanted to write a long piece except that I was mostly too busy laughing to take lots of notes. $15 well spent! Here are four of the things I managed to scribble down that I think you'll appreciate:

• Batali, on Charlie Trotter's anti-foie gras stance: "At some point you have to realize you're on the top of the food chain, and that's all there is to it."
• Bourdain, on Rachel Ray: "40 dollars a day? Tip, bitch!"
• Audience: "Is [getting] fat an occupational hazard?" Bourdain: "They just don't smoke enough." (He should know, as he's supposed to smoke like a chimney and is a beanpole compared to the rotund Batali and Buford.)
• Audience: "What's your favorite fat to cook with?" Batali: "Lard, olive oil." Bourdain: "Pork."

My favorite discussion, i.e. the one that made me wish I was taping the entire thing, was Bourdain discussing the culinary tipping point he calls the "sushi barrier". He posted about it on eGullet early last year:

My theory, for some time, has been that the most significant point in modern North American culinary history was that moment when Westerners decided it was alright--even desirable--to eat sushi. That barrier-crossing raised all boats for all chefs of every stripe. Suddenly it was permissable to serve mackerel, octopus, fish roes, sardines and other traditional European seafood that were once largely shunned. What chefs found to be acceptable quality in seafood lept--as there was always a Japanese restaurant willing to pay for the good stuff (hence creating reliable demand for more variety and better quality). And once the bone-deep aversion to eating raw fish disappeared, other barriers fell as well. The dining public became more daring and willing to experiment.

Did you see the three Bs talk? Did you enjoy Bill Buford's new book Heat or Anthony Bourdain's latest The Nasty Bits? Let  us know in the comments!

oh, veselka

Dear Veselka,

My roommate enjoyed her pierogies and the Ukrainian meatballs I ordered were delicious, but I have to admit I was given pause by their having arrived at my doorstep in a plastic bag labelled St Mark's Veterinary Hospital. Please, for the love of tasty meats and familiar beasts, never ever do that again.

Thanks,
Lia

afternoon snack, lower east side-style

Buy a pork banh mi sandwich on Mulberry and a taro slush bubble tea on Grand, then enjoy your delicious treats while watching a futbol match on Chrystie. I love New York.

Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce

Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce (pdf) This wallet guide identifies 12 fruits and vegetables that are high in pesticides when conventionally grown, as well as the 12 low in pesticides. [via Cool Tools]

Go forth and eat barbecue

NYC No, I haven't forgotten this weekend's 4th Annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, one of my favorite food events. If you are serious about your 'cue, the Bubba Fast Pass sounds like the way to go -- prepay in denominations of $125 or $200 and get in the express lines at Pitmaster booths. You can also use the Bubba Fast Pass to pay for merchandise and seminar tickets.  I'm not able to make it this year, so please eat a Mitchell's pork sandwich for me! If you take a photo of yourself eating one, email it to me and I'll post it here.

New York vs San Francisco

New York City vs San Francisco, which dining scene will reign supreme? San Francisco Chronicle's Michael Bauer poses the question on his blog, "Is New York better than San Francisco?" Apples and oranges, I say. I love them both.

Adopt an olive tree

Nudo olive trees are now available for adoption by those of us in the U.S. and U.K. Hooray!

kitchen secrets: bill buford with mario batali and anthony bourdain

New York City food nerds, alert! Mark June 21st off on your calendar and take out your credit card, you are about to buy a ticket to see former New Yorker fiction editor Bill Buford talk at the NYPL with two of our most favorite chefs ever, Mario Batali and Anthony Bourdain, in the latest installment of the Kitchen Secrets series.

I haven't gotten around to reading Buford's new memoir Heat yet but now I'm definitely going to have to before the 21st, because parts of it detail how he came to quit his job at the New Yorker and start apprenticing at Babbo under Batali himself. As for Bourdain, not only is he Amazon's featured guest reviewer for Heat (subtitle: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany), but his latest book The Nasty Bits just came out two weeks ago, so I guess I'll be picking that up too—just as soon as I finish my current read which is, coincidentally enough, his infamous Kitchen Confidential.

P.S. Heat's been getting reviewed left and right, but here are two I particularly enjoyed reading: Will Work For Food (Julia Reed, NYT) and Eating Out (Jason Epstein, New York Review of Books). If you read only one, then for your own good choose the latter as Epstein does a marvelous job with Heat in the first part of the article and an even more spectacular one with Julia Child's My Life In France in the second!