Uncategorized — No comments
04
Jun 10
I knew the Banh Mi had arrived when I saw it on a non-Vietnamese, Rockland, Maine restaurant menu.
Back in 2003, when I first found out about Banh Mi, I took a trip out to the Sunset Park neighborhood in Brooklyn to find a hole in the wall called Ba Xuyen (now lauded as the mother of all NYC Banh Mi). It was known for its grilled pork & pate sandwich, with spicy fixins’ of slaw and mayo, on a warm baguette (a nod to the French Indochine era). I couldn’t believe this place was churning out these amazingly satisfying Vietnamese sandwiches for only $2.50. Blissful, satiating, and a total revelation.
What was once a little known fusion of Vietnamese & French ingredients, began it’s humble stateside ascent in the tiny Asian markets of NYC in the late ’90s. Since then, the Banh Mi craze took off and has become one of NYC’s most popular sandwiches. Like so many ‘feeding frenzy’ fads in NYC, a nationwide roll out soon to followed.
Continue reading →
Uncategorized — 1 comment
25
May 10
So after many hard months of toiling, connecting, flesh pressing, organizing, hand wringing, and serious meditation, “Eat, Drink, & Be Social” went off without a hitch at Technique @ Le Cordon Bleu in Cambridge, MA. Turn out was robust and the speakers were engaging and candid. Attendees that I spoke to were extremely happy with the program and felt that they learned a lot about social media and the Boston restaurant scene.
Here are some highlights of the event:
Continue reading →
Social Media — No comments
08
Apr 10
A delicious smoked salmon sandwich
Yesterday, the New York Times had an article about people who obsessively photograph every (or nearly every) meal they have. A couple of years ago, I tried taking photos of my meals while living in Spain. I was posting them to another blog I had at the time, but found the chore of taking out the camera and disrupting the meal as too intrusive. The people featured in this article don’t have those same concerns, although, they sometimes grapple with other people’s qualms about it. But aside from how you feel about “phood photos” (that should be the term, right?), what is undeniable is their dramatic growth online and sharing on social networks. Continue reading →
Uncategorized — No comments
05
Apr 10
As the Final Four plays out on TV, a tourney with more delicious implications is reaching it’s dramatic conclusion online…
BurgerBusiness.com, a website dedicated to the hamburger industry, has put out their version of the NCAA Tournament Brackets, matching up 64 of the top burger joints around the country. I can’t say that I agree very much with the burgers that made it to the tournament – where’s the Burger Joint, Corner Bistro, Hamburg Inn, Le Tub? Nor can I say that I agree with some of the winners either (McDonald’s beats BLT Burger, WTF?). But like the real NCAA’s, what makes this tourney so exciting, is that you never know who will win.
The battling burgers have battled it out to the Final 4: In-N-Out (no argument here), Rare Bar & Grill (NYC’s own), Cheeseburger Bobby’s (never had the pleasure), and Blanc Burgers + Bottle (where the heck is Leawood, KS?). Much like tonight’s classic David versus Goliath match up between Butler and Duke, the Finals pit Blanc Burgers + Bottle v. In-N-Out. Me personally, I almost always root for David. I’ve never given the Bottle Burger a try, but if I find myself in the Kansas City, MO area, I just might have to make a little side trip to Leawood.
The winning burger depends on comments made by Burger Business’ readers, of which they’ve gotten over 1,000 of so far. I would love to hear what your favorite burger is and why. I’m thinking that there just might be a Burger World Cup 2010 tournament in June, hmmm…
Uncategorized — 3 comments
19
Mar 10
Do you ever hear people say, ‘I go to Mike’s Pastry in Boston’s North End just for the cannoli’ or ‘the chicken parm sandwich at Torrisi Italian Specialties is the best I’ve ever had?’ Well, for a restaurant that is known for doing one thing better than anyone else, there is a new social media tool for you.
It kinda goes without saying that there are new social media tools launching all the time. It only seems like a month ago (really!) that everyone started talking about FourSquare. For those of you who don’t know, FourSquare is a location based application that allows users to ‘check in’ when they get to a location and then broadcast that to other FourSquare users. Check in more than anyone else, and you become the designated ‘mayor’ of that location. Continue reading →
Uncategorized — No comments
13
Mar 10
Serious Eats, the all-things-food blog and a place where I spend a lot of time online posed the following question to its readers (in a not too subtle homage to Jeff Foxworthy), You Might be a Foodie, If…
Answers varied and I most identified to those that mention thinking about another meal while in the middle of the current one. I also have a habit of doing that. I’ll make something at home and suddenly, I’m thinking about a) how I can improve the dish, b) how good this will be as leftovers, and c) what I’ll be cooking next.
The question posed on Serious Eats is actually a good example of how to create a thought provoking blog post that gets participation by its community. Continue reading →
Uncategorized — No comments
08
Mar 10
This is my first post to the Grange Hall Media site. The basic idea behind Grange Hall Media builds on the notion that there is a basic relationship between the way people use social media and how they communicate about food. For example, when you eat at a great restaurant, where everything was perfect, the food, the service, the atmosphere, you want to tell everyone you know about it. Obviously, before the Internet, you’d share your experience with friends, but what they did with the information was up to them. Some might forget about your advice, while others might not tell anyone else about it, regardless of their experience. Today, your recommendations get saved in perpetuity and can be spread exponentially. With social media tools such as Yelp and Citysearch, you’ve become an ‘influencer at large.’ The amount of friends you have and can influence is not really so important anymore, it’s about how many strangers you reach. Continue reading →
I knew the Banh Mi had arrived when I saw it on a non-Vietnamese, Rockland, Maine restaurant menu.
