Food and Drink: October 2004 Archives

So, it looks like life below 2nd Place in Carroll Gardens is stirring. A few months ago, Minibar opened, on Court Street, between 2nd Place and Nelson. It's a teeny-tiny bar, but lately business has been picking up, perhaps due to their frequent pre-7:30 happy hour specials. Across the street, Frankie's Sputino has been getting its share of press attention. Its little toasts are fine, but the drinks are superb, especially the espresso martini, pulled with a real shot of espresso, yum! Also in the works, a Japanese restaurant between 2nd Place and 3rd Place or is it 3rd Place and 4th Place, my memory fails me. And, shocker of all shockers, a bagel place appears to be going at the corner of Smith and 9th Street, right by the subway. It has pretty glass windows. First the expanded cell phone and video store at Court and 9th and now a bagel place. Gasp! Maybe those candy lofts going condo have done something to the 'hood after all.

Oh, and here's some New York Times love for the neighborhood. I'm going to have to check out the House of Pizza and Calzone's specialty, a deep-fried calzone!

1. Catch the W-burg band My Victoria at Rothko (go Scaduts ;). The band plays at 10pm, followed by Stylofone and Sons of Sound. $7.

2. Head to Orchard Bar to help S. celebrate her birthday in true S. style. That means staying out too late, drinking too much, and forgetting most of it by morning.

3. Drink plenty of OJ.

Bed Trend (sorry K.)
>See Duvet and B.E.D., New York, for the biggest of them, but you can find beds in a bunch of New York clubs and restaurants, among them Highline in the Meatpacking District. I mean, eating in bed is gross when it's your bed, but when thousands have gone before you?

The Poorly Named Specialty Drink Trend
>A upscale lounge with a drink named, in all seriousness, the Kitty Box. What were Denzel Washington and Lenny Kravitz who co-own Kos thinking?

The Catering to the Most Helpless of the Rich Trend
>Another upscale lounge, 49 Grove, that is advertising an on-call fleet of black Mercedes S500s with drivers who double as concierges, as well as on-request personal security attaches.

Where else but Pennsylvania would a restaurant be serving a nine-pound hamburger. Yep, Denny's Beer Barrel Pub in Clearfield, Penn., offers prizes to people who can finish their humungeous burgers in designates periods of time. Link (with lots of fascinating photos) from snopes.

... why Orbit gum seems to have the same addictive powers as crack?

It's because it contains just about every artificial sweetener on the list!

ok. ingredients are as follows
Sorbitol. The first of two nutrative sweeteners. Too much of it can cause damage in eyes and nerves. Plus, it's got that pesky little laxative effect, but I think you'd have to ingest a lot of it.

Gum base. What makes the gum chewy.

Natural and artificial flavors. Not specified.

Mannitol. A nutrative sweetener, as opposed to the other fakies down below. Sounds like it's better for you, too. Except for that part about its laxative effect.

Xylitol. Cool, sothing flavor that appears to taste minty

Aspartame. Who knows on this one. Everyone says such opposite things. Still, it's kind of scary that all of these have been linked to cancer and other disorders etc.

Acesulfame K. Another artificial sweetener that may potentially cause cancer.

Sucralose. Most people know it as Splenda. Splenda says it's perfectly safe. Others disagree. In an interesting sidenote, a study conducted on rats found that the ones who were fed artificial sweeteners gained weight.

BHT (To maintain freshness). A preservative that might cause cancer, but it also might help treat herpes and AIDS.

Red 40 Lake.

Yellow 6.

Phenylketonurics. An inherited disorder that makes it difficult for people to synthesize protein

Phenylalanine. This is an isolated amino acid that makes up 50% of aspartame and is harmful to people with a certain kind of genetic makeup.

Of course, I did all my research on the internet. But it's interesting to see how much synthesized material goes into a food product.