NYT ups the Red Chef
My network of spies has unearthed a mention of me in the Times. As some sort of hoary veteran, no less, against which the young upstarts will be tested! I've gone from nobody to yesterday's news without missing a step!
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$25 AND UNDER; A Late-Night Reveler's Best Friend
By PETER MEEHAN
Published: December 28, 2005
THEY arrived in a pack: three new downtown hot dog joints. First BroomeDoggs, then Dash Dogs. Then Sparky's crossed the East River at the end of November to join the fray.
It's odd, because the greater Lower East Side -- throw in the East Village for a moment -- is not an area wanting for hot dog options. Katz's Delicatessen is a stalwart. Dawgs on Park and Crif Dogs have loyal followings. On weekends, from 11 p.m. on, Sam Talbot's Pushcart N.Y.C. dishes out kimchi dogs and the like to the drunk and the hungry. So what are the new players doing to stand out in the crowd?
BroomeDoggs and Dash Dogs, just blocks from each other, couldn't be more different.
Dash Dogs's spartan, almost futuristic décor is the work of Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis, the firm that put together Tides, a striking but disappointing lobster shack around the corner that is partly owned by two of Dash Dog's proprietors, Steven Yee and Allen Leung.
BroomeDoggs's slapdash outfitting makes it feel like a dorm room that was hastily converted into a doggeria. The combination of bright orange walls and mismatched colored fluorescent lights makes for a peculiarly unflattering setting for man or dog.
But in the world of the tube steak, the meat and what it's served with are what matter. BroomeDoggs, the first Manhattan venture from the same people who have stakes in a number of Brooklyn spots, including Schnäck, the Gowanus Yacht Club and the Zombie Hut, wins big points for the quality of its franks and sausages. The sausage selection includes a beefy Black Angus dog ($3) from Stahl-Meyer, a huge pork and veal knockwurst ($5) from Jubilat in Park Slope and Italian sausages ($5) from Jeffrey's I in the nearby Essex Street Market.
You can pile whatever you order as high as you like with any of more than 15 offerings at the ''fixin' bar,'' an unceremoniously arranged set of plastic buckets and bottles on a wood shelf. It covers all the bases: there are multiple mustards, celery salt and oddball options like potato chip dust.
Dash Dogs serves salty, garlicky Empire National kosher dogs that are griddle-crisped. But the dogs are dry, and the ice-cold buns and offbeat salsas as toppings left my friends and I wanting. On our last visit, however, we liked the newly introduced stoned dog ($2.50), a deliciously downscale marriage of the Frito pie and the hot dog: frank, chili, cheese and crumbled corn chips. You may need to be in a certain mind-set to appreciate it fully.
Sparky's occupies the narrow triangular building at the intersection of Lafayette and Bleecker Streets. It is the first stab at expansion from the folks behind the popular Sparky's in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. (And although they sell Doughnut Plant doughnuts and excellent egg sandwiches for breakfast, they have not brought their ''Egg'' menu over to Manhattan yet.)
Sparky's has a larger menu than any of the other places: a selection of passable burgers, so-so grilled cheeses and a ho-hum B.L.T. But Sparky's steamed organic all-beef hot dogs, from Dines Farms in Oak Hill, N.Y., nestled in fresh-baked buns from Amy's Bread, are the top of the pile. Juicy without being mushy, you can practically eat them plain ($2.50), though Sparky's offers dressed-up dogs, including one with blue cheese and Buffalo wings sauce ($3) and the Sparky dog ($4), with chili, cheese, bacon and onions. A veggie corn dog ($3), freshly battered and fried, warrants a special mention, as do the skin-on fries ($2.75), which are meaty, crispy and bursting with potato flavor, especially when you nab a fresh batch.
These places are cash only, and none serve anything stronger than a chocolate milkshake. But all are open late, especially on weekend nights, when they are counting on downtown revelers looking for a salty snack to drop in.
BroomeDoggs
250 Broome Street (Orchard Street); (917) 453-6013.
BEST DOG -- Black Angus dog, $3.
HOURS -- 11:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday; 11:30 to 1:30 a.m. Thursday; 11:30 to 4:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday.
WHEELCHAIR ACCESS -- Two steps up. Small restroom.
Dash Dogs
127 Rivington Street (Norfolk Street); (212) 254-8885.
BEST DOG -- Stoned dog, $2.50.
HOURS -- Noon to 1 a.m. Sunday through Wednesday; 11 a.m. to 4 a.m. Thursday through Saturday.
WHEELCHAIR ACCESS -- One step up. No restroom.
Sparky's All-American Food
333 Lafayette (Bleecker Street), (212) 334-3035.
BEST DOG -- Sparky, $4.
HOURS -- 8 a.m. to midnight Monday through Friday; 10 a.m. to midnight Saturday; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday.
WHEELCHAIR ACCESS -- All on one level.
Posted by Sam on
07:43 PM
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Pushcarts in Seoul
(my camera got stolen in Xi'an, along with a bunch of cool photos, so I'm going all out of order -- I've got some photos on a memory card from the old camera, but I can't get at them yet.)
Seoul is like some kind of pushcart mecca. On the block we were staying (which is near a shopping area) the street is lined with carts, some selling food, some selling merchandise. The sidewalks are wide, about 20-25 feet, so the carts really get to spread out. They are also allowed to lock the carts up and leave them there when they are not there. I'm so jealous. And they're allowed to serve booze. Particularly, they serve soju, a kind of yam vodka, which at about 1,250 Won (about $1.30) a 1/2 liter bottle, will get you fucked up and quickly. Molly and I saw businessmen sitting and getting drunk.
Which brings me to the last part -- most of the pushcarts have stools, either arranged at a counter around the cart, or, at the bigger operations, around tables set up in a tent behind. Many of the larger carts become, in effect, small restaurants. Impressive.
More pictures to follow...
Posted by Sam on
06:02 PM
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if not bored...
If you don't want to ever be bored, then either you expect the world to entertain you, or you expect yourself to be constantly amazed by the world.
The first is some obvious, spoiled-brat bullshit, the second (which is the stickier one, for me) is a form of enchantment which; a) still prevents you from engaging conciously with folks, despite the god-is-love joy-all-the-time hippie bullshit; b) breaks, and leaves you with only yourself to blame.
Boredom should also not be confused with blase.
It's like, this is the necessary price of having an active mind -- sometimes you have to wait for errything else to catch up. Be patient without quiescence means learning to love the boredom.
I wish I had had another day or two to write the VV bit (link last post) -- the end is a little succeptible to misreading. What I meant is: stop playing it so cool, cats -- the world is a super messy place and we'll never get anything done if we have to be suave uber alles. Boredom is a good self-explaination for some of the rough patches. (Less so for others) At least you're not terrified or in pain.
Posted by Sam on
09:32 AM
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transmission from the east
hailing from seoul, COEX mall next to the MegaBox Cinema
a lot of stuff has changed here since the guidebooks were written
old neighborhoods going down and highrises going up.
in Beijing I dreamed that St. Marks place had been paved with marble tiles. "This isn't St. Marks anymore" I said to Molly as I knocked a box of candies off a mall display. Then I felt bad and started to pick them up.
They have a TV channel here of team competitions in video games. Today Molly and I saw a competition live at the eSports complex in Youngsan. cool
cant believe its only the 12th day of the year
oh yeah the hip replacement press gave a few lines to the red chef
/end transmission/
Posted by Sam on
05:14 AM
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