Archive
Ollie’s (Oct. 2012): A Morningside Heights Tour of China’s Best
Authors: Victor, Monte, Steven, and Tad
Restaurant: Ollie’s
Chef: I have absolutely no idea.
Date: October 4, 2012
Steven: So Tad has this weird thing where he calls non-French, American, and Japanese food “ethnic food.” He doesn’t eat it if he can help it, because he thinks it’s cheap or bad or something like that. We’ve been trying to tell him that the very concept of “ethnic food” is kind of silly, especially in places like New York where cuisine is such an interesting mix of so many different cultures.
Tad: It is true that I rarely eat “ethnic” food. When money is not an issue, why would you deliberately seek out food that brands itself as cheap. Naturally, when these guys invited me along to get Chinese food, I was reticent. But after much cajoling and the suggestion that I was missing out on a large class of good food, I agreed to go, under the condition that the restaurant be 100% authentic, and the food was of the very highest quality of its type.
Monte: Of course, we took Tad to the only place in town that was authentic and classy—this was definitely not Imperial Garden.
NYC: Jungsik (Oct. 2012)
Authors: Victor, Monty, and Steven
Restaurant: Jungsik
Exec Chef: Yim Jung Sik
Date: October 6, 2012
Dinner (10-Course Tasting Menu)
Ken Z the Lobster + Unnamed Friend (Erik?)
Date: September 23, 2012
Location: Our apartment!
Meet Ken Z the lobster, he’s from NYC Chinatown. He’s a big ol’ ugly bastard and weighed about 1.5 pounds – Ken’s friend (Erik?) was also about 1.5 pounds. Steven, Arthur, and I schemed Ken’s and Erik’s fates by looking to the French Laundry Cookbook. We boiled 8 quarts of water and added a half cup of white distilled white wine vinegar, and then let the lobsters steep for 2 minutes.

