Potato Salad Sandwich
I’ve been to Japan twice, and both times have been experiences in new food textures, tastes and presentations. My first trip was in 1992 and earned me the nickname bento-san, literally, “Mr. Box Lunch.” The guys from Nihon Sun hosting me discovered that I loved the equivalent of New York City hot trucks, except in [...]
WordCamp New York City 2009
WordPress is one of the most widely adopted, easily modified and customized blogging and content management platforms available. It’s what powers the Pork Roll world as well as some larger sites (oh, like CNN’s blogs); WordPress blogs are read by some tens of millions of users a day. Cool? Not as cool as being involved. [...]
Mr. Peanut is a Creeper
Let me be completely up front: Mr. Peanut freaks me out, and has done so for about four decades. There’s something just not quite right about a food mascot that is only partially clothed. As with all convoluted and convolved tales of Jersey Shore lore, there’s the real backstory and the personal demons that must [...]
Weight Watchers Exit Strategy
I was thrown out of Weight Watchers. Seriously – it’s not something they talk about, but occasionally they have to ask people to leave for being disruptive, obviously non-compliant, or otherwise predestined to #fail. Sometime in 1988, my wonderful, svelte wife and I decided to join Weight Watchers to undo some of the good food, [...]
Elbonian Pasta Salad
I promised part travelogue, part food blog, part humor here, and I’ve been saving the story of the Elbonian Pasta Salad for just such an occasion. It involves Soviet-era airplanes, time warping, and pineapples showing up where they most definitely do not belong. As the woover-groover would say, this one has a little introduction to [...]
Pork Is A Vegetable
Bacon has as many forms as forums for discussion. It’s not heart healthy, but it inspires heart-felt loyalty. Richard Stevens, creator of the insanely funny and thoroughly retro 8-bit comic Diesel Sweeties, has had veins of bacon running through his strips for years (sample right). You can tout your own belief in the vegetarian qualities [...]
Ponzio’s Diner: Help For A World of Hurt
Ever have those days when you need comfort food? I’m not talking about a handful of M&Ms because your boss yelled at you, or maybe a spoonful of ice cream in between dinner and Grey’s Anatomy because it’s only Tuesday and you’ve already worked half a normal wage earner’s week. I’m talking about needing to [...]
The Good French
[Another updated repost, this time with demographic changes, from my Sun blog.] I spend approximately 70 nights a year away from home. Part of my travel koan is to eat a good breakfast, because lunch often reduces to Altoids mints and a Starbucks coffee. I have become a self-proclaimed connoisseur of french toast, a veritable [...]
@ The Generation Gap
[Note: Another edited for time and context repost from my work ramblings, this one originally appearing April 11, 2008]. We hosted two Israeli teenagers as part of the Diller Teen Fellow program between our North Jersey federation and our sister program in Rish L’Zion, Israel. They were articulate, funny, techno-savvy and they didn’t laugh at [...]
Dinner at Vola’s
I had the utter, sincere, deep and profound pleasure of celebrating my birthday at Chef Vola’s in Atlantic City last weekend. Volas has a somewhat mysterious aura about it, ranging from the fact that it’s in the basement of a house on a side street in Atlantic City to the absolute necessity of reservations (more [...]