The folks at Serious Eats have launched the first of their city guides today, focusing on -- where else -- New York City. The guide is designed to highlight NYC's "essential eating experiences," and doesn't contain many surprises. You'll find quintessential New York icons like Russ & Daughters and Katz's Deli for "Best Old-School New York Landmark," Blue Ribbon for "Best Late Night Eats," and Blue Smoke, Hill Country and Daisy May's for "Best Barbecue,"......

After 81 years spent fattening us up with their many irresistible cookie varieties, the Girl Scout organization is dropping some not-so-subtle hints that perhaps keeping a dozen boxes of Samoas in our locked desk drawer isn’t the healthiest way to make it through the winter. So for the first time they’ll be peddling sugar-free chocolate chip cookies and another low calorie cookie option: Cinna-Spins™. (Pictured.) Each carton of Cinna-Spins™ will contain five 100 calorie packs......

In case you haven't noticed, 'tis the season for giving and all that jazz. You've got a friend/relative/other loved one who can't get enough of the epicurean lifestyle, and you're looking for the perfect gift. Never fear -- 'tis also the season of gift guides, which will steer you to gifts that will guarantee a smile. First, our own five gifts for the foodie under $50, all available online, including a beautiful olive wood mortar......

The folks over at the all delicious, all the time site Serious Eats rounded up and presented a bumper crop of recipes from the newly released Mark Bittman cookbook last week, the 996-page How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great Food. The latest in Bittman’s “How to Cook Everything” series, this giant book is exactly what those omnibus, fried-shallot-and-butternut-squash glossy vegetarian porn books strategically posed on chain bookstore discount tables purport to......

Looking for some of the best coffee in the city? Ed Levine has a few suggestions, including some of our favorites, like Joe, the Art of Coffee and the Mud Spot. The Omnivore's Dilemma's Michael Pollan puts in his two cents about recent activity surrounding the Farm Bill, "However many worthwhile programs get tacked onto the farm bill to buy off its critics, they won’t bring meaningful reform to the American food system until the......

Ed Levine waxes poetic about the genius that is 'ino's truffled egg toast and provides the recipe so that you can have it for brunch even if you are too lazy to leave the house (provided, of course, that you hit the grocery store first). Watch it on video if you need some extra guidance. [Serious Eats; RealMealsTV] Is David Chang opening a Momofuku outpost in Vegas, or not? Does he think that NYC is......

There’s activity over at the old Jade Mountain space on East 12th, the restaurant with the iconic neon CHOW MEIN sign. Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York (via Eater) reports that an on-scene workman offered up this tidbit: “It’s going to be a restaurant.” Jade Mountain closed earlier this year after much-missed owner Reginald Chan was struck by a vehicle while delivering food. Here’s a photo of the restaurant’s landmark sign taken by reader Jay Jaffe: Red,......

What’s worth watching on food-relatedTV this week? Tonight on No Reservations--in another repeat--(10pm on the Travel Channel), Bourdain goes to Brazil. ">Martha Stewart has Chef Tom Colicchio on Tuesday making Cornish game hens. The show airs Tuesday through Friday this week at 1pm (NBC). Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares is on Wednesday at 9pm (Fox). This week, Ramsay makes over Seascape in Islip, NY. The LA Times calls the show “noisy and dissident.” All the TV......

What’s worth watching on food-related TV this week? Tonight on No Reservations (10pm on the Travel Channel), Bourdain goes to Shanghai (repeat episode). This week on Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares (Wednesday at 9pm on Fox, Ramsay makes over the Mixing Bowl Eatery in Bellmore, NY. On Top Chef, part 2 of the two-part season finale airs Wednesday at 10pm (Bravo). Rocco’s back as a guest judge, along with Todd English and Michelle Bernstein. The Village......

What’s worth watching on food-TV this week? Tonight on No Reservations (10pm on the Travel Channel), Anthony Bourdain goes to Tuscany. Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares (the US version of his BBC show) is on Wednesday at 9pm (Fox). This week, Ramsay makes over Dillon’s in NYC—this is the makeover over which Ramsay was sued (and charges were subsequently dismissed). Want your restaurant Ramsified? Go to the show’s website for a downloadable application form. On Top......

What’s worth watching on food-TV this week? Tonight on No Reservations (10pm on the Travel Channel), Bourdain goes to South Carolina. He’s also got an upcoming holiday special that features Queens of the Stone Age (wearing Christmas sweaters from QVC, no less). We can’t wait for that one. Read about it in ">Rolling Stone. On Top Chef, Episode 12 airs Wednesday at 10pm (Bravo). The guest judges are Sirio Maccioni and Andre Soltner. Grub Street......

What’s worth watching, food-wise, on TV this week? Be warned: it’s the dog days of summer, so there’s not much new on the air… Tonight on No Reservations (10pm on the Travel Channel), Bourdain goes to Cleveland, Ohio, where Michael Ruhlman shows him around town. Serious Eats recaps last week’s ep (visit to French Polynesia), shares the recipe for poisson cru. Top Chef is a repeat this week. It’s the “All-Star” episode where top competitors......

What’s worth watching, food-wise, on TV this week? Tonight on No Reservations (10pm on the Travel Channel), Bourdain goes to French Polynesia. Serious Eats reviews the series—and his trip to Brazil—here. On Top Chef, Episode 9 airs Wednesday at 10pm (Bravo). This week, Chef Geoffrey Zakarian is the guest judge. On last week’s episode, no one was eliminated. Grub Street hates it when everyone makes nice. We agree: it doesn’t make very good television. And......

What’s worth watching on food-related TV this week? Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations continues tonight at 10pm on the Travel Channel. This episode features Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern exploring New York City. On Hell's Kitchen (Monday at 10pm, Fox), it’s the grande finale. Bonnie vs. Rock: who would’ve foreseen this matchup? If you missed last week, read the recap in the LA Times. Episode 7 of Top Chef airs Wednesday at 10pm (Bravo). Did you watch......

Ed Schoenfeld, dubbed "the curator of Chinese food in America" by Gourmet, tells Leonard Lopate how to order properly in a Chinese restaurant (how'd we do, Ed?) The episode aired at noon today on WNYC, so the podcast should be available shortly. Slate gives us a video slideshow of how chefs and cooking are portrayed in film, including Ratatouille, Big Night, and Mostly Martha. Best pasta to beat the heat -- the classic combo......

We're still working all the meat out of our system from Saturday's Gothamist-Serious Eats/AHT QBQ BBQ II, but we hope that those of you who made it had a good time. Thankfully, the forecasted rain held off as we served about 150 pounds of beef (600 burgers) during the event. A special thanks to Harry Hawk, the staff at Water Taxi Beach and some assistants from Gothamist, Serious Eats and A Hamburger Today, Six......

We just wanted to give you one final reminder about tomorrow's Gothamist-Serious Eats/AHT QBQ BBQ at Water Taxi Beach. The event starts at 5 pm and it's rain or shine. If it does rain, don't worry, we'll already be stationed in the covered area of Water Taxi Beach (pictured above). Those of you who attended last year may remember that there was stormy weather last year too. On the menu are the onion burger,......

July 28: 2nd Annual QBQ BBQ Burger Bash It's burger time! This weekend is the second annual Gothamist-Serious Eats/A Hamburger Today QBQ BBQ at Water Taxi Beach. Your votes determined the burgers on the menu: the onion burger, the butter burger (pictured), and the pimento cheese burger. Six Apart will be sponsoring the event with a keg of Orlio and Gothamist/Serious Eats/A Hamburger Today will also be supplying an additional keg of beer. Tickets, which......

For all of you that were waiting to find out which burgers would be served at Saturday's Gothamist-Serious Eats/A Hamburger Today QBQ BBQ at Water Taxi Beach, the burger menu has been finalized. The winning burgers, as determined by voters, were: the onion burger, the butter burger, and the pimento cheese burger. Here are the descriptions of the winning burgers again: The Onion Burger: Popular in El Reno, Oklahoma, the Onion Burger was born of......

If you have yet to vote what burger should be on the menu at next weekend's Gothamist-Serious Eats/A Hamburger Today QBQ BBQ at Water Taxi Beach, today is your last chance. Since we announced the event on Monday, the leading vote getter is the onion burger, followed by the butter burger and the pimento burger. Only the top three vote-getters will make the menu for the July 28th event. Also up for contention are......

After the success of our Gothamist-A Hamburger Today QBQ BBQ last year (that's quality before quantity), we've decided to team up with Serious Eats/A Hamburger Today for another burger event at Water Taxi Beach in Long Island City. At last year's event, Chef Harry Hawk served up four regional burgers from around the nation. This year, you get to choose what burgers are served, with the top three vote-getters across Gothamist, Serious Eats, and......

What’s worth watching on food-related TV this week? ">Martha Stewart has all new episodes this week (10am Monday-Friday, NBC). Monday her guests are Mario Batali, Michael Schulson and Scott Conant; on Wednesday it’s Rick Bayless, Sue Torres and Tom Douglas. Fox has Episode 7 of Hell's Kitchen on Monday at 9pm. Melissa’s gone, and six contestants remain. Read the latest episode roundup in the LA Times here. Gordon Ramsay has also adapted his BBC show......

Need to lose a few pounds? Try some pickles -- Drew Nieporent swears by them: "You should slice them the long way, so they last longer. I have lost 50 pounds in 100 days." [NY Daily News] Is your favorite chip on the list of those tested by the Times this week? Kettle Chips are the overall chip champ, but Ed Levine laments the omission of Cape Cod Dark Russets. [NYT; Serious Eats] In case......

Good news! Serious Eats reports that the vendors at the Red Hook ballfields will be allowed to sell their delicious food through the season, which ends October 28. (Eater explains that the Parks Department approved a waiver.) Earlier, there were concerns that the vendors would be denied permits by the Parks Department, which brought out fans ranging from soccer players to chefs. The vendors will start have to work out a formal deal with the......

People really do be lovin' some of that there Hill CountryBBQ. It's a bit stale by now, but Jason Perlow is seeking help from all you Korean food loving souls. Eater has the line of the week during their postmortem on the BABBP declaring - “Now, we will cease eating for three days, or until such time we stop sweating pork juice.” Meg pulls a Chodorow and follows Bruni to Gramercy Tavern, she likes what......

As we mentioned earlier this week, the vendors who set up shop at the Red Hook ballfields may be at risk for losing their permit. According to the New York Times, the vendors have operated for years under a series of temporary use permits, but now they will have to place a formal bid with the city in order to remain in the space. But the vendors are not guaranteed to win this bid, so......

- "The first rule of Milk Club is you don’t talk about Milk Club. The second rule of Milk Club is you do not talk about Milk Club." The Brooklyn Paper explores the raw milk movement in Brooklyn. - On his blog, Bruni illustrates how even the big time muckity-mucks can't get a reservation at "hot" restaurants without some investigation into how big time they actually are. - Tables for Two visits Rosanjin and explores......

- The good folks at Gawker run a witty IM conversation between Choire, Emily and Balk mercilessly dissecting Bruni’s Room Service roundup last week in Dining In/Out. - Augie revisits L’Impero. - Chowhound sets up an interview between Jim Leff and one of his long-time board moderators. - Timed for this past Saturday’s green tinged festivities, here is a glimpse inside corned beef. (via Serious Eats) - Kiri Tannenbaum, for the NY Post, looks in......

- Anthony Bourdain unplugged at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival. Not as riotous as his post over at Ruhlman on TVFN but worth a peek. (via Snack) - Round-up of the wake left behind the Robert's at the Penthouse Club steakhouse review. Ganda, Bruni Digest, National Review, and Bourdain on Ruhlman (again). Bonus Bourdain: Q&A; over at Serious Eats. - Seems the John Mackey (Whole Foods) vs. Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma) smackdown......

- Note to self: Start hanging out at Republic more to stalk catch a glimpse of Top Chef's Sam Talbot. [Grub Street] - David Chang discusses the logic behind expanding the hours he offers his late-night menu at Momofuku Ssam Bar: "the late night menu + regular hours = asses in seats." [Eater] - The Times explores the culinary evolution and composition of Queens, from Greek, to Bangladeshi, to Mexican, to North African, to Chinese,......