Nermo

I buy kitchen tools I don’t need, and being a gadget-obsessed guy and culinary daredevil, my urban kitchen is getting crowded. I can’t seem to put myself on a diet, but I’m going to slim down my kitchen.

The plan: I’m emptying all of my cooking tools into a bucket.  Once a tool has been used, it goes into a designated drawer. When a tool from the drawer gets used, it goes into the canister on my counter.

Rules:
1. When cooking, draw first from the canister, then the drawer, and finally the bucket, if no suitable tools are in the drawer.

2. After a month, I can pick ten things in the bucket to stay and the rest go to Salvation Army. Tools in the drawer go back into the bucket, canister tools stay put and the cycle starts again.

3. If the drawer becomes full before the month ends, it triggers the purge that would happen at the end of the month.

4. Knives and appliances are exempt. No way in hell am I getting rid of of my Shuns, Cuisinart, slow cooker or immersion blender.

            

In no way do I endorse the the views expressed in this film.  I just think it’s funny!

[from: Leave It To Beaver]

            

Food2.com just published a review I wrote of the Nirvino Wine Ratings Guide application for the iPhone. For those not in the know, Food2 is the younger, hipper, online branch of the Food Network.

            

This is the oddest food trend in a while. Celebrities endorsing food is nothing new, but there is a recent rash of celebrity-branded jerky.

I first stumbled into this last winter while chatting with Ethan Wayne, son of the late, great John Wayne about how Wayne Enterprises had been licensing his father’s name for a long time, but they had never marketed their own products, so they founded the John Wayne Stock and Supply Company, launching with a line of beef jerky, which reminded them of car trips with dad from their childhood.

It’s no surprise that Jeff Foxworthy sells three types of beef and one ham jerky, and Chubby Checker has been hawking his jerky for a while, but the latest jerky star caught me off guard.

Liz Hurley just released her own “guilt-free” (vegans may disagree) beef jerky.  It’s not often you’re met by nude and bikini-clad pictures of a beef jerky company owner on the website.  Let’s all be thankful the Waynes didn’t try this approach.

            

Amanda, a dear friend from back home, moved to San Francisco this week and wanted to know where she should go. I started giving her “tourist advice” before I realized that she deserves to be treated like a local, so I am sharing my insight with whomever wants to read it.

This list is of restaurants that are hidden gems, known only by locals, or have fallen out of fashion despite their continuing excellence. It’s a fairly diverse list, both in cuisine and location.

New Eritrea (Eritrean/Ethiopian, Inner Sunset) [review]
Tu Lan (Vietnamese, Civic Center) [review]
New Ganges (Indian/vegetarian, Inner Sunset) [review]
Cassis (French/Italian, Pacific Heights) [review]
White Horse Tavern (pub/steakhouse, Nob Hill) [review]
Mandalay (Burmese, Inner Richmond) [review]
Panta Rei (Italian, North Beach) [review]
Hama Ko (Japanese, Cole Valley) [review]
Memphis Minnie’s (barbecue, Lower Haight) [review]
San Tung (Chinese, Inner Sunset) [review]
Bang San (Thai/Halal, Tenderloin) [review]
Weird Fish (seafood, Mission) [review]

On the hipper (and moderately more expensive) side, I’d recommend eating  at

Nopa (New American, Western Addition) [review]
Gitane (Basque, Nob Hill) [not yet reviewed]
Bar Bambino (Italian Wine Bar, Mission) [review]
Canteen (new American/brunch, Tenderloin) [review]
SPQR (Italian, Pac Heights) [review]
Lime (brunch, Castro) [review]
Zazie (French/brunch, Cole Valley) [review]
Cha-Ya (Japanese/vegan, Mission) [review]

            

A good friend mentioned that FoodBuzz.com is having their first annual convention for food bloggers here in San Francisco, so I jumped on the boat last minute.

Last minute, as in a flying leap off pier 39, hurtling over sea lions and sidestepping tourists OJ-style before hurling myself over the open water as the ferry leaves the shore.  It was a ninja-move of registration attempts.

Alright, it may have been last minute, but it was surprisingly simple to register a profile, start posting and networking and to get Featured Publisher status, which you might have noticed in the left column of the site lately.  I’m really looking forward to the “festival” which starts with a cocktail hour sponsored by Skyy Spirits (Hi, Caitlin!) at Hotel Vitale (Hi, Krysta!).  I’ve stayed in that gorgeous 8th floor suite before and the views are killer at happy hour.  After that we’re having dinner at the Ferry Building CUESA Kitchen.

Saturday is packed with seminars, tastings, meals and an award ceremony.  Sunday is a farewell brunch.  I’m most psyched about the networking opportunities.  There are thousands of great food bloggers out there, but it’s pretty rare to get hundreds of them together in one room.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

            

I’m planning an epic dinner party that defiles the sacred Italian belief that seafood and cheese should never be married.

I love fish tacos, tuna melts and anchovy pizza, but what are the more upscale options?

So far, I’ve been toying with concepts and recipes for:

• ·Cheddar ale soup with smoked baby octopi
• ·Trout and goat cheese napoleons
• ·Mac and cheese with a puttanesca sauce
• ·Seafood fondue
• ·Peruvian Causa with smoked oysters and gouda

What are your thoughts on mixing the two?  Menu suggestions?

            

Along with CreateShareWear, my other 5 jobs and an active social life, another recent venture has been taking up a lot of my time, hence the lack of posting on this blog.

I created MobileDocent as a digital tour guide for gallery visitors to access to rich multimedia content (text, links, images, audio, video and more), enhancing their experience of the art and objects being exhibited in museums and cultural institutions through their web-enabled mobile devices (iPhone, Blackberry, etc.).

I’ve been working with the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts to test my project and we have decided to begin piloting MobileDocent with the January Icons of Attention exhibition of work by Kamau Amu Patton, so stay tuned for updates on the progress of the program, and mark your calendars for opening night party, January 22nd, 2010.

For more info on MobileDocent, visit MobileDocent.com.

            

I’ve been neglecting this blog because I am deeply involved in a couple other projects, and this pesky day job keeps getting in the way, but I am very excited to announce that today is the official launch of the Picpoket, from CreateShareWear, a clothing/art/social media venture that I founded with a friend.  I’ve been coding like a madman all week trying to make the site perfect, and I am awfully proud of what I have built.

The premise is simple, but the overarching plan is exciting.  We are selling custom hoodies (and eventually other clothing and accessories) that hold your video iPod, facing out, so you can show your images and video to the world.  In conjunction, we will soon be launching a social networking site for our users to share their work with the Picpoket community to wear all over the world, and collaborate on collective arts and activism projects.

Check out the site, let me know what you think, visit our blog, and if you want to pre-order a hoodie now, we’re offering a special price, a bonus grab bag of art, and premier status on the social network!

            

Lately, I’ve been writing more about drinks, and decided the topic deserves its own site with richer content than just a blog, not to mention a slicker design and its own Twitter account.

The angle will be the same, explaining and demystifying the things you experience in bars and restaurants, documenting my bar experiments, reviewing products and sharing recipes for amazing cocktails.

All of the drinking articles from this site and new writing will be available at LibationLab.com along with printable guides, recipe cards, and cheat sheet for the home bartender.  I’m looking for other content to include, and am thinking of adding a social network for SF Bay Area cocktail enthusiasts and a database of local happy hour specials.  If you have any thoughts on what else a drinking site needs, please share your ideas.

Tell your friends: LibationLab.com is live

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