“The service is terrible, but the waitress is super hot.”

Can’t wait to eat here!

At Wilfie & Nell, a gastropub a few blocks south, the room is a chaotic mixture of J. Crew and American Apparel, management consultants standing at the bar, the actress Martha Plimpton at a table near the door. Those wanting a seat need a keen eye and ruthless elbows: it’s first come, first served, and there’s no list. Here the ceiling is low, and the room has the dark, claustrophobic dampness of an English pub. The waitress, dressed in clingy black, with an eggbeater tattoo on her wrist, wends her way through the crowd with a sweet nonchalance. The food is meant to sop up the beer: pigs in a blanket, though the blanket is bacon; a buttery grilled cheese, made with tangy Gruyère and caramelized onions; neat little pork sliders, with the perfect ratio of meat to bun. Still, it dawns on you that, although the menu was assembled by Joaquin Baca, who also helped mastermind the Momofuku empire, the food is beside the point. One patron summed it up: “The service is terrible, but the waitress is super hot.” (Gottino is open weekdays for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and weekends for brunch and dinner; dishes $5-$14. Wilfie & Nell is open daily for dinner; dishes $5-$12.) ♦

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING I SAW TODAY

I was sent this email today. It really is beautiful, isn’t it?
Stacey and I like to eat at the bar at Artisnal when in NYC. We ate there last trip and must have supplied them with our address. I’m glad I did, helps keep me motivated to get back there. Click here to see the complete page.

PEACE LOVE AND BEL AIR MALL

The other day a few of us were sitting on the front porch just chatting. Along comes a neighbor, we got to talking and he told us he enjoyed the Rush Limbaugh radio program. My sister spoke up and said how she found Rush to be divisive and mean, really bad for our country. The fellow said a few more pro Rush comments, he also said Rush had never been proven wrong. The guy talked about how smart Rush was. I wanted to tell this asshole how stupid he sounded. I wanted to tell him that I thought he was just another dumb ass that confused Rush Limbaugh as being intelligent with someone who collected information. But, I just bit my tongue and high fived my sister.

Yesterday I was watching the news and Obama was making a short speech about Ronald Reagan. These are some of his remarks.

President Reagan understood that while there are often strong disagreements between parties and political adversaries — disagreements that can be a source of conflict and bitterness — it is important to keep in mind all that we share.

For all of the deepest of divides that exist in America, the bonds that bring us together are that much stronger. And we may see the world differently, but we must never stop seeing one another as fellow Americans — and as patriots — who want what is best for the country we love.

This nation was built on the basis of the principle that we are stronger, not weaker, for even the most vigorous debates — debates that have energized our politics since the inventors of America argued over our founding documents more than two centuries ago. Through the weighing of different views we take measure of where we stand and where we must go. And the moment we fail to recognize the good in those with whom we quarrel, is the moment that we’ve lost sight of who we are as a people.

Rush Limbaugh could care less about anything other then his wallet and getting his next pain pill.

Talad Ying Charoen

This was my favorite day in Bangkok. Chef arranged for us to tag along with his group of 30 or so. They were all in the food business and were there as a guest of the Thailand Department of Culture . That is how we ended up being in Bangkok. Chef told us he was going with this group, we ask if we could meet him there and the rest is history.

Chef had full days so we were on our own a lot. Tuesday they were to visit the Ying Chareon Market and there was room for us on the bus. And what a bus it was! It came with a sleeping cowboy.

The Ying Charoen is a wet market, talad sod in Thai. A wet market is the traditional market place to shop for all things food in Bangkok. For a very long time it was the only way to shop, now it competes with supermarkets and flea markets for customers.The wet market is a dying breed. In the last ten years the number of wet markets in Bangkok has dropped from 150 to only 60.

The wet market we visited, Ying Charoen, is the model wet market of the furture. It is owned and operated by Parinya Tumwattana and his family. Mr. Tumwattanas Mother started this market 54 years ago and it was the most successful of it kind for many of those years. As time and progress changed the standards of living in Bangkok the wet market was getting left behind. Mr Tumwattansa knew his market needed to change as well.

He has spent the last ten years, more or less, updating the Ying Charoen Market. Hygiene was the number one concern. Today each vendor has refrigeration, running water and a responsibility to help keep things clean. There are daily inspections from the Health Department and classes are offered to the vendors to teach them how to handle perishable foods. The classes take place right there at the market in their state of the art kitchen.

We met with Mr. Tumwattana first thing that day and you could tell how proud he was of his market. He spoke about how he and the vendors were a large family. How they had worked together to make this new concept work because it was the only way to continue the tradition of the old wet markets. As we listened to Mr. Tumwattansa speak I thought his ideas were brilliant and compassionate, then we went downstairs to the market and that’s when I realized how much work went in to all he had talked about. Just look at some of these photos Stacey took as we toured and tasted our way through the Ying Charoen Market.

WHY I EAT

If you know me or read this blog you know where ever I go I eat. A large part on my travel is eating. That’s because I believe if you want to know the soul of a culture, of a place and it’s people you share their food. But you’re doing more then eating. You’re taking the time to get to know a person and their home land. People eat what they eat in different regions because of the evolution of that place. What is eaten in different places is whats available in those places. How food is prepared has much to do with place as well. Many places in the world have not had electricity, and all the appliances that come with it, for very long. Hence, they have developed different ways to preserve, prepare and serve food.

It may sound as if I’m all about eating. Actually I’m all about meeting people and if lucky, getting to know them a little. It might be a trip to Bangkok or a trip to the local Mexican grocery store, no matter where, I’m seeking food and I’m talking to the folks selling, cooking and serving it to me. I’m making friends and learning about their life. I collecting information on their town and it’s culture.

In Bangkok Stacey and I had some great food experiences. Some stuff we had never had before, some was familiar to us, but all came with a new face. We got to know a young lady named Pooh. Pooh is a native of Thailand and had spent a few years in Chicago studying under a sushi master named Isao. Once she had learned her craft and felt confident, she returned to Bangkok and opened her own restaurant. She named it after her master and works hard to make him proud. We had two meals with her. The food was really good, but the main reason we returned for a second meal was to talk more with Pooh. She told us things about Bangkok and it’s people you don’t read in a travel book. She taught us a lesson we learn over and over again, no matter where you go people are basically the
same. And, we learned this by sitting at her sushi bar, listening and letting her feed us.

Food is a language spoken world wide. I may have no idea what the lady, who gave us the twice fried chicken was saying, but her smile and refusal to take my money was clear.

These and all photos of Bangkok taken by Stacey
The most awesome person in the world.

BANGKOK PHOTOS

MORE ON BANGKOK

So Stacey, Chef and I have no problem finding China Town once the nice lady helps. We rise to street level from the subway and try and get our bearings. We decide on a direction and begin walking that way.
The first thing you notice about Bangkok is the traffic. It is all backwards from the U.S. You drive on the other side of the street from the other side of the car. I think I could handle the other side of the car part, but not the backwards traffic lanes part.
We walk for a while and come across a very old man selling fruit. Chef grabs a couple pieces of something and tries to ask the old man how much. They are not able to communicate. A younger man walks up to help and he tells Chef the man wants to sell him the whole box. Chef didn’t want the whole box and somehow they settle on a price. Everything is very, very cheap for US in Bangkok. For all we could tell the two pieces of fruit cost a nickle and Chef might have paid a dollar, we didn’t care, happy to give a little extra to someone who clearly lives on some much less then us.

We walk a little further and this is the first photo opp.

Then we look in another direction and see this.

We find this is the norm in Bangkok, the contrast of new and old. Bangkok is a city of contrast. You would think it is dangerous, it’s not. You would think the locals would have no time to help you find your way, wrong. You would think they would try to over charge the tourist, not. You would think when a local stops you just to chat that they want something more, they don’t.

Anyway we work our way into China Town and don’t realize til later that we are way to early. It is 8 a.m. and hardly anyone is on the streets yet. So we wander. We walk through side streets where car and scooter parts are stacked high. We walk past street vendor restaurants where the owner and family are sleeping on the tables. There are a fair amount of dogs wandering around, they pay us no attention. We have no idea where we are and love it. I bet we walk through private yards and don’t even know it. We are blown away by the scenery, Chef and Stacey are clicking photo almost nonstop.
Lost in China Town, Bangkok. What a way to start a day!