The best in drink for 2008

by Aaron Hotfelder on

Like myself, the good people over at Esquire can appreciate a fine drink. They’ve recently compiled a series of articles highlighting the best in drink for 2008– from their favorite bars to their favorite cocktails to the perfect drink for today’s weather (tornado warning? Drink whatever’s in the basement).

In Esquire’s list of the best bars in the US, Gadling fave Chuck Thompson recommends Juneau’s Alaskan Hotel & Bar, the scene, if I recall, of some of the action in his book Smile When You’re Lying. Seeing Thompson’s name next to that recommendation brings to mind a favorite quote of mine from his book: “There are two things to do in Juneau: drink and get drunk.”

Thompson also pens a defense of smoky bars (from a nonsmoker!), writing that bans on smoking are destroying one of the few remaining places where adults can be treated as such. “By kowtowing to yet another milepost on the road to American pussification, we might be saving our lungs, but we’re killing our seditious hearts.”

Finally, Joe Oestrich wonders why the names of hotel bars are always so ridiculous. Fandangles? Whispers? Bowties? You just can’t tell someone, “Hey, meet me at Fandangles!” and keep your dignity.

More from Esquire here.

Bolshoi in Russia: In Cyrillic, American fastfood chains suddenly look exotic

by Iva Skoch on

Greetings from Moscow! Bolshoi in Russia is my variation on Big in Japan. (Bolshoi means “Big” in Russian. Get it?) Stay tuned for my live dispatches from Russia this week.

What you are looking at is Starbucks coffee, or if you want: CTAPBAKC. In Russia, they must legally rewrite even a brand name in Cyrillic; not the way it is spelled, but phonetically. PECTOPAH is Restaurant, spelled phonetically.

Half of the fun of being in Russia is interpreting the alphabet. It is actually pretty easy for me because I grew up in communist Czechoslovakia and had to study Russian in school. This is really helpful in Russia, where only a small percentage of people speak English.

Most menus here are in Russian and all the subway signs are in Russian. If you can’t read it fast enough, it could be a problem. I really suggest studying the alphabet before visiting Russia. It is not that difficult.

Still, seeing American fastfood chain signs in Cyrillic is a little strange. Here is McDonalds and “McDrive” or McAuto, as they say here. Really, it’s MAKAVTO.

American chains are very popular here. Every McDonalds I saw was packed. The branch on Pushkinskaya Ploshad is the busiest McDonalds in the world. The trick is: it is packed because it is relatively cheap. Unlike most dining options in Moscow.

Eating your way through Japan – a photo gallery

by Jeremy Kressmann on

The phrase “Japanese food” has a fairly standard meaning in the United States, conjuring images of sushi, instant noodles, seafood and teriyaki chicken. But as I discovered during my recent trip to Japan, the cuisine is far more diverse, delicious and surprising than I could have ever imagined.

Over the course of his trip, this intrepid Gadling blogger left no culinary stone unturned and no meal uneaten. Not only did I taste some of the freshest sushi and most savory ramen, I also ate some of the tastiest French creme puffs and the most tender Italian spaghetti. Let’s also not forget the many slimy, tentacled, raw and downright horrific things I ate too, which I’ve included as well for your viewing pleasure.

A special thanks to Gadling blogger Matthew Firestone for serving as my Japanese translator and food guide for this post. Don’t let him in front of a menu after he’s had a few cocktails!

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Bolshoi in Russia: Moscow truly is a ridiculously expensive city

by Iva Skoch on

Greetings from Moscow! Bolshoi in Russia is my variation on Big in Japan. (Bolshoi means “Big” in Russian. Get it?) Stay tuned for my live dispatches from Russia this week.

Moscow has been ranked the world’s most expensive city for two years now. Still, it’s one thing to see the ranking in the newspaper and another thing to actually be here and pay the prices. In an average bar or restaurant, this is what you are looking at:

  • $5-10 for a shot of vodka
  • $8 – 10 for a latte (and they insist on putting a straw into it, to make matters worse)
  • $8-10 for a beer (sometimes, they put a straw in beer, too)
  • $20-$30 for lunch (and I am taking sausages, not an actual meal)
  • $50 for a decent dinner

It is the price of coffee which would kill me here. It would be very hard to just hang out in a coffee shop without going completely broke.

The funny this is, the average salary in Moscow is about $1,500/month. Most people, however, make less than $1,000. How do they afford this stuff? The easy answer is they don’t. You see kiosks all over Moscow where people grab lunch, dinner or beer to go. Every metro station has a cluster of these kiosks and people simple hang out outside of them, drinking beer and talking. What do they do in the winter? You got me.

There are, however, some really affordable aspects of life in Moscow:

Take metro tickets, for example. They are only 19 rubles, or roughly 80 cents. The subway system has great coverage and is extremely efficient. Trains come every 1-2 minutes. They pretty much have to because the subways are always packed.

Another bargain in Moscow? Theater tickets. We paid 300 rubles (or about $15) to see a classical music concert in the Moscow International Hall of Music. Really nice venue, great music, all that for the price of two lattes. As much as I love coffee, I would have to opt for music here. Even the Bolshoi Theater has bargains.

The other thing that is fairly affordable in Moscow is sushi. Like many place around the globe, Moscow was swept by the sushi wave about five years ago. So many new sushi restaurants opened, that they all had to reduce prices. Mind you, it is still not a bargain, but comparing to everything else in Moscow, California roll for $10 is a good deal. They really go crazy with rolls here, by the way. Most of them don’t even have fish in them. You can get a Caesar salad roll, (yes in a Japanese restaurant), pizza roll, ham and cheese roll…you see my point.

Let’s see, what else if affordable in Moscow? How could I forget! You can see dedushka Lenin in his tomb for free! I saw him today. He looks very peaceful in there. I couldn’t tell if he is real or if its just a wax figure, as some conspiracy theories suggest. At the end of the day, who cares.

Then, of course, there is vodka. You can get some good deals on Vodka, but I wouldn’t suggest going with the cheapest stuff. You an get a shot from as little as $3 to as much as $20. Russian Standard is a good brand. A shot would set you back about $5. With a little vodka in you, the cost of hanging out in Moscow doesn’t hurt as badly.

From Russia, with love.

French happy hour may be coming to an end

by Anna Brones on

Using English words in France, sometimes causes a stir. Remember the French Eurovision song that had English lyrics? Despite attempts to language purity, English words and expressions still manage to make their way into la vie française. “Happy hour” is one of those expressions. The French love getting a deal on an afternoon beer, and happy hours (pronounced apee ow-uuur in a French accent) are popular. Travelers love them too, as they make expensive pints of beer — or an afternoon pastis — just a little more affordable. But the infamous happy hour is under the threat of a ban.

The French government body in charge of the fight against addiction to drugs and alcohol is working on a measure that would ban happy hours as well as the sale of vodka and other strong liquors in nightclubs in order to curb underage intoxication and alcoholism. The proposed measures are currently under discussion, but a decision could be made within a few weeks.

Government officials see the proposed ban as helping with public health, others see it as a merely “stupid measure.” “People buy bottles when they are in a group because it’s cheaper and they can last a long time on a single bottle. Does the government want people to spend their money individually to get wasted on beer instead?” said Patrick Malvaes, president of a union representing nightclub owners.

Happy hour might be under threat, but don’t worry, I am pretty sure the French government would never dream to regulate wine consumption. Just plan on making the house red your drink of choice on your next French vacation.