Annie's New York Eats

Latest Updates | Roll Over or Get Tough

In today’s economy, with customers already feeling a tremendous strain on their wallets, television networks are demanding massive price increases. Some networks have demanded that Time Warner Cable pay has much as 300% more next year. And it’s not limited to us. TV networks are trying to raise the cost of programming with all the TV distributors, including other cable, satellite, and phone companies.

via rolloverorgettough.com

We don't like to boast, but some very prominent suitors are vying for our attention. 

Vy, you may ask?

As in: the Fox networks are threatening to leave our Time Warner cable services (one in New York City, one in Kingston), if Time Warner does not pay the price for Fox services.

Said price is either Reasonable or Exorbitant, depending upon who you read.

Now Senator John Kerry, who has just been wishing to stick his chin into something for a while now, volunteers to broker an agreement between the two. We kind of wish Mr. Kerry would turn his attention towards Homeland Security right now, but if he can't do that then this is good too.

We just wanted to mention that WNYW, which is mainstream Fox, is in danger of being shut off in Kingston, as is WWOR, which we had thought was another bunch of people entirely. And we love House and 24, so thing means a lot to us. Work, Senator Kerry! Work, for the night is coming!

In Manhattan, however, we see that we are in danger of losing these channels plus Fox Soccer and FX.

So our question is: When can we look forward to missing Fox News?

Please?

Menu for Hope, or, Five Towns Girl Gets Hot

Use this form to easily choose the items you wish to bid on. Once your items have been selected, you will be directed to Firstgiving to complete your transaction. For more information about Menu for Hope 6 campaign for the UN World Food Programme, read this post.

via www.chezpim.com

Big news: Menu for Hope VI, everyone's favorite foodie raffle, will continue taking bids until midnight December 31st! That means more chances for you to bid on items posted by your favorite bloggers, food writers and celebrity chefs. For more information, do like it says and read chez pim.

Bigger news: Our own offering, 2 nights in the Glamorous Chelsea Studio, offered through AIrBnB, including personalized foodie itinerary created by ourself, has just earned the "hot" listing. It's bid item UE06 and, although we actually think there are lots hotter items than ours up there, we do feel kind of proud that we are what Tony Soprano would call "a good earner" and especially because the dough is going to a very good cause, the UN World Food Programme.

Hmmm? Oh. The Five Towns, out on Long Island, is where we're from. A lot of people, mostly Five Towns Guys, think 5Tgirls never do get hot. So you see it's almost like a joke.

"So who says we don't get hot? Hello, Mistuh Sheffield?" 

Food Historian William Grimes Quaffs Tea, Stands Down Kale in His Garden -- Grub Street New York

People mistakenly...tend to focus on these three-to-four star restaurants and to me that's not really the sign of vitality and underlying health. It's kind of the one-star restaurants — how many of those do you have and what level are they? And Fleur de Sel always struck me as the kind of restaurant that would be like the best restaurant in town automatically in a medium-size city. And in New York it passes. There are tons of restaurants you can go to that can offer a similar level of quality. You just can't say that about any other city in the United States.--William Grimes, quoted in Grub Street

via newyork.grubstreet.com

Mr. Grimes, former restaurant critic for the New York Times, has just published a book called "Appetite City" which records the history of popular restaurants and dining trends in New York City from the New Amsterdam times to the present. Good writing and a scholarly-yet-readable approach to some of our favorite history.

More About the Menu for Hope

Is it straight? 

Folks, this is the third time we've posted about Pim's Menu for Hope, that great on-line fundraiser, and our own contribution to same.

We've been traveling. The site's been down. There's a bad moon rising. Forgive us.

Menu for Hope benefits the United Nations World Food Programme, and is run by Pim of the Chez Pim blog. Every year, dozens of food bloggers contribute prizes to the fundraiser. You, the lucky reader, place a $10 bid on the item of your choice. If you want to skew the odds in your favor, place more than one bid. If you like a lot of different prizes, bid on all of them. Believe us, there are some fabulous offerings, all of them worth way more than $10.

Bidding is open from December 14 through December 25. Winners will be announced in the middle of January. Almost all of your money goes to this extremely worthy cause.

And now, you may ask, exactly what the deuce is Annie offering?

Well, if we say so ourself, it's pretty darned valuable. For we are offered two nights (two nights!) at the Glamorous Chelsea Studio which we rent out through AirBnB. See the studio here.

The Studio is a comfortable nook for one person or a couple. It is fully and even extravegantly furnished, with a queen-sized bed, linens and towels, a comfortable work space, a flat-screen TV with cable , Wi-Fi, a land line, and a small but comfortable kitchen including a full-sized refrigerator, pots and pans, utensils, and a full pantry. (Also a warm, clean, pleasant full bath).

And there's more. More, which the average guest can only dream about! We'll fill the fridge and stock the pantry with fruit, veggies, cheese, eggs, milk and cream, and anything else you might want or need for your 48-hour stay. (No fair asking for a dismembered haunch of beef; we're acquainted with Julie Powell, but we don't like to push). This is more about your supplying your own Breakfast and Room Service on a lavish scale.

Even better, we will have a highly intellectual and businesslike phone conference with you a few weeks before you arrive, and based upon information received we will write a foodie itinerary for you. Are you crazy about pizza, but a little strapped for dough? We'll send you to the crossroads of Delicious and Cheap. Want to feast like the Trumps do, but don't know which four-star restaurant gives the best value for your money? We'll help you figure that out too. Want to have a real, genuine New York deli meal...or the best Mario Batali has to offer...want to eat at a restaurant run by a Top Chef contender... or eat breakfast, lunch and dinner Tom Collichio style? We can tell you where to go, how to get there, and (in our opinion) how best to order. And we can also tell you about the best foodie bookstores, markets, and events available during your stay.

Please note that you have to get yourself to New York City, and you pay for your purchases yourself. All we're offering is the room, the contents of the fridge and pantry, and the advice.

The two-night stay can occur at any time when the apartment has not already been booked. (We personally would recommend September, that "Autumn in New York" where the season is just getting started and the Greenmarket is at its best. But it's up to you, of course.)

First you have to bid. So please go to http://www.chezpim.com and bid on UE06. And may the best reader win!

Leaving Our Heart (Yet Again)

Well now, we've been in San Francisco for over a week, and our arms are no longer tired.

We have been hanging out with Psychotronic Paul at the Harmony Hut which, since we are not Regina Schrambling, we will explain to you is the lovely Mission apartment of our friend Harmony. This is an apartment-swap on a celestial level, because the life and fun and good food and conveniences of the Mission have made both Paul and ourself fall in love with the place.

There are very few places in New York City where people live because the life is pretty good and not all that expensive. We came in for the last few years of the East Village being that way but, until they declare the Upper East Side habitable again (that'll be when Eli Zabar starts selling a loaf of bread for less than $16), we still think it's awfully precious compared to the Mission.

While resident there we did our laundry at a laundromat, ate world-famous fish tacos, walked around gawking at the lively shops and people, and bought stuff at Bi-Rite, San Francisco's wonderful little grocery store. We also found that foodies here can be any age and background, and what they love most is sharing a great food or finding out about a new one. In New York, foodie-ism, like everything else, is a status game.

Still, we don't understand the public transportation system. They have cable cars, street cars, buses, and underground trains, but they all seem to go to the same four stops and nowhere else. Also, we don't understand why they are called Bart and Muni.

Bart

Muni

This makes no sense to us.