I Want It.

Who's up for a road trip?

"It's the size of a city block, only much, much smaller."

Recently I wrote about the NY Mag interview with Matt Levine, owner of the Elderidge, the latest elitist hot-spot to infect the LES.

Today, NY Mag posted a new interview with the famous Craigslist Ko-Thario, in which he does an excellent job making Matt Levine look like even more of a jerk -- which in my book makes for a great article.

A highlight:
How will [the patrons] let you know they're coming?
We have a public line and a private line. Of course, no one from the public line will ever get in. The public line is six blocks away from the club, so no regular people can find out where the club really is. There's a closed-circuit feed, though, of the public line, that patrons can access through special screens located throughout the club. That way they can point and make fun of the commoners.


Read the full interview here.

Because It's Friday

One of my favorite clips of all time -- from a great show, Arrested Development.

A little background -- Tobias wants to spend more time with his daughter, but due to his pending divorce, he hasn't been able to see much of her. So, he dresses up like a woman and calls himself Mrs. Featherbottom. (He gets this idea from watching Mrs. Doubtfire.) The family knows it's just Tobias, dressed like a woman, but they don't say anything because he's actually very helpful around the house, cooking and cleaning and spending time with his family.

The clip above shows when Tobias took the "nanny" thing too far and wanted to be like Mary Poppins.

UPDATE: Clip was removed from YouTube. Sad.

*Thanks, Scott, for the great find.

Whatever Lola Wants

"I’m selfish, impatient, and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control, and at times hard to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best." -- Marilyn Monroe

I Have a Great Idea -- Let's Never Go Here

Grub Street interviewed Matt Levine, owner of the not-anticipated LES bar, the Eldridge. I really can't say any more about this bar or I might find myself extremely angry. Levin's own words say it all anyway. Below, a few choice quotes from the interview:

"Rather than security guards, we’re going to call them chaperones. Rather than waitresses, they’re table attendants. Rather than bartenders, we’re calling them butlers."
* This is not demeaning -- not at all.

"It’s a place that I want to keep kind of stealth."
*...But I'll give an interview to NY Magazine -- one of the go-to publications for night life and restaurant referrals.

"Everyone I know goes away on the weekends. I wanted to keep it New York. I just thought as far as the vibe goes, the people who go to the Eldridge, they’re not in the city on weekends. So I’m closing the weekends..."
*Ouch.

"We’re not doing a lot of press. We’re going to be cool because we’re cool, not because we have a publicist doing press for us."
*Believe me, you're not cool.

Yes, I Know All the Words

At my age, admitting you like Billy Joel in such that admitting you know all the words to all his songs and would much rather see him in concert over a new, hip band that no one has ever heard about is somewhat taboo. I got tickets to "Last Play at Shea" months ago and thought nothing of it. Got a little bit excited a few days prior to the show and casually met up with friends, in work clothes and sober, to head over to the stadium last night.

Little did I know that this concert would be one of the best I've ever attended, and has now set the bar so high, I don't really know what other show could compare. Our seats were in the dead middle of the stadium and we were surrounded by other young die hard fans who at the first stroke of the keyboard would know the song he was about to play. We stood up and cheered when Tony Bennett, John Mayer, Don Henley and John Mellencamp made surprise guest appearances, clinked beers when he played "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant" and locked arms and swayed back and forth to "This is the Time to Remember."

Watching Billy Joel gave us a sense of New York pride. He'll always be our Piano Man, and I'm proud to say that I'll never be embarrassed to admit that I'll always be a true fan.

Momofuku Ko: It's Like This

Tonight I took my boyfriend to Momofuku Ko for his birthday. No, I didn't call in a special favor for this special occasion -- I was simply lucky. After months of trying daily to get two seats at David Chang's esteemed establishment, I got in on one of the only days of the year that mattered, which made this one-of-a-kind dining experience that much cooler. I also won girlfriend of the year, which is great.

First, we chose to take part in the wine pairing. I think we both even said, "When in Rome!" Such nerds. Since I work at a magazine, and was treating for his birthday, we opted for the $50/pp selection, as the $85 and $100 was definitely for the big-timers. This turned out to be a great choice because a) I can't really tell the difference between cheap and expensive wine (and sometimes believe that a $10 bottle is better than a $70 bottle and b) each of the nine -- yes, nine -- courses were matched with a delicious white or red wine - and sometimes a sake, beer or champagne.

At the beginning of the meal, we were snapping photos of each course with our Blackberries -- that is, until we got caught. Apparently, photos were a problem when the restaurant first opened and were ruining the dining experience for all the patrons. We respected the waitress when she asked us to put away our phones, but were secretly happy that we got away with it for the first 5 courses so that we could go home and document what we ate. Again, nerds.

Now, for the good part -- the menu. I will try to describe each dish briefly - and completely in vain. They will probably sound terrible, but I promise, almost all were incredible.

1. Peaches with leaks and chives, along with a small english muffin slathered in pork fat. Breakfast of champions.
2. Raw fluke (I ate it!) in a spicy mayo-style sauce sprinkled generously with poppy seeds.
3. Pea soup with prawns and a small mushroom tart

Pea Soup, Fluke and Poached Egg

4. Poached egg with caviar, onions, bacon puree and potato chips
5. Corn Ravioli with pancetta, Mexican cheese, grilled sweet corn, kimchi and lime zest


Ravioli -- probably my favorite dish of the night.

6. Fois gras over leeche fruit (there was more to this, but it wasn't a favorite if mine. In fact, it was the only dish that I didn't completely finish.)
7. Smoked and crispy trout over Chinese green beans, pea shoots and pickled radishes
8. Seared Duck breast and leg with a cherry demi glaze
9. Kiwi sorbet over a apricot and olive oil marmalade
10. "Milk and Cereal" Panacotta with avocado creme.

For me, the highlight of the meal was sitting at the bar, watching the chefs at work. They are completely at ease, tasting the food, talking to the customers and trying out new recipes for the following weeks. My favorite dish was probably the corn ravioli and my least favorite dish was the fois gras, for which I was scolded by our chef. In fact, he told us that David Chang told the chefs that if any of them can make a dish as amazing as the fois gras is considered to be, he will take them to Masa for dinner.


Eric chowing down. Me -- kid in a candy shop.

Discussions like that made the atmosphere pleasant. We didn't hesitate to ask our chef multiple questions about the preparation of the dishes, where he worked prior to Ko and how he helped plan the menu. The music was also terrific -- a strange mix of pop songs put together by David Chang himself.

So, was it worth the hefty bill at the end of the night? Was it worth signing into the website daily for months, only to be rejected time and again? In a word, yes. Not only are the food combinations inventive, delicious and like nothing I've had before -- but the full experience, including watching your dishes be prepared in front of your eyes, tasting excellent wines and talking to your fellow diners (who are as excited as you are) throughout the meal makes for a memorable night in foodie paradise.

In fact, when Dr. Dre and Snoop Dog made it on playlist, providing a perfect ambiance to the curious restaurant I was dining in, I understood just how lucky I was to have one night at Ko.

All Work and No Play: Freaks Me Out

A very cool commercial promoting a Stanley Kubrick retrospective on UK TV (via Defamer) -- Reminders of The Shining pop up throughout, giving me the chills.

After showing this to a co-worker of mine, he couldn't understand why I thought "The Shining" in book form was scarier than the movie. When I tried to explain the topiary scene (something that didn't make it into the film), I freaked myself out and had to stop talking about it. I think that's proof enough.

Perfect Email Accounts: The Next Pizza.com?

I have always been so happy that I snagged a gmail account early during its beta phase -- when you had to be invited to join. I was lucky enough to get a great address: jessica[dot]april[at]gmail.com.

It's simple, easy to remember and looks professional on resumes and any other place that you need to provide an address. I'm not embarrassed by strange number or nickname combinations (unlike my AIM screen name from 8th grade). But last night I realized that I might not have my perfect email account forever.

Gmail is pretty mainstream at this point, and a lot of the great account names have been snagged. Therefore, when women get married and take their husband's last name, there's a good chance they won't be able to get a clean and simple account name, as it's probably already taken.

Email addresses might be like the next great URLs. People will make accounts all over the place, tuck them away in their back pocket and hope they will need to use them one day -- or even make money off of them later. Like buying "www.pizza.com", it might be smart to snag some generic first and last name pairings (i.e. Mary Jones, Rachel Coen). By the time some of us will need to change our email addresses to reflect any changes in our life or name -- it might just be for a price.

VICTORY

I got a reservation at Momofuku Ko. Just sayin'.