A Site About Airline Meals

by Erik Olsen on

Just when you thought there were Web sites about
everything under the sun, there comes a site entirely about airline food.

Who knew that such a mundane topic could lead someone to put so much effort into such an odd topic?

OK, we’re not that surprised. And truth be told, I found this site rather interesting, if not weirdly useful. It
provides a break down of all meals served by various airlines aroun the world, as well as menus for first class meals
(just so proletarians like you and I can say, ahhh, that’s what they eat up there).

But that’s just
the beginning. There is also an entire section dedicated to old meals from the 70 and 80s, illustrated with many
stomach-turning photos. Sure it’s arcana of the first degree, but I give this site an enthusiastic thumbs up for
cataloguing an obscure bit of airline history. The pictures alone are worth it.

Ethnic Food In Vancouver

by Neil Woodburn on

I always thought that Canada was so vanilla in flavor that restaurant spice racks had room for only salt and
pepper.  While this may be the case in certain parts of the country, it is as far from the truth as possible in
Vancouver. 

This beautiful city on the west coast of Canada is surprisingly diverse.  Half of its citizens are foreign born,
with the majority of them coming from Asia.  While cultural diversity brings many wonderful benefits, the one
I’m most fond of is food.  And Vancouver does not disappoint. 

An interesting article on CNN.com this week focuses on the variety of ethnic
flavors which greatly enhance the city of Vancouver and directly challenges the culinary misconception that
Canadians can make only maple syrup and not much else.  The article discusses the vast array of restaurant choices, ranging from Malaysian to
French, as well as making a small handful of recommendations, such as the tasty Le Crocodile.

The remainder of the article is dedicated to other swell things to do in the city.  And there is not a single
mention of maple syrup. 

 

Absinthe: Acquiring an Ear for Alcohol

by Neil Woodburn on

The
purpose of travel is to learn about new cultures, experience different customs, and on occasion, try something that is
illegal back home.

I had never heard of absinthe before arriving in Europe because
it simply didn’t exist in America at the time. The fiery green, 140-proof liquid was the love of Parisan artists
in the 1920s.  It was also, many suspect, the agent provocateur responsbile for Van Gogh mailing his ear
to a certain lady friend. 

The devil in absinthe is thujone, a compound found in one of the drink’s signature ingredients,
wormwood.  Ingesting thujone led to such nasty, Van Gogh-like actions that authorities eventually banned the drink
throughout Europe.  Spain remained the one holdout.  When the Eastern Bloc opened up, absinthe began appearing
there as well thanks to outdated liqueur laws.

I tried it once in Prague where the bartender warned me in broken English, “One absinthe okay.  Two
Absinthe, bye-bye.”  I had one shot, and left with both of my ears intact.  Although it tasted no
different than a very strong, bitter alcohol, I wasn’t interested to find out what two shots tasted like.
 

Absinthe is having a bit of a comeback thanks, in part, to a New Orleans chemist who has reverse engineered the
long lost recipe for absinthe and is attempting to de-demonize the evil green spirit.  You can check out Wired Magazine for a nice write-up on the topic,
or pick up the March 13, 2006 issue of The New Yorker for
an (offline only) article about the “New Absinthe Craze” by Jack Turner. 

Zagat to Go Guides

by Erik Olsen on

Foodies that I know here in New York all share one
thing in common. No not obesity. They share a near religious obedience to the recommendations in their Zagat Guides. You know these guides. And perhaps you know some Zaganauts yourself. The
folks who will go no where without their burgundy-covered restaurant, theater, museum, ad nauseum guides. OK, I confess
I’m a big of a Zaganaut myself. I subscribe to their online service and probably have a half dozen or so guides
lying around the apartment here.

But let me introduce you to something new from the Zagat folks that may
make your life much simpler…or at least less cluttered. The good folks at Zagat’s have released the newest
version of their Zagat To Go
guides ($29.95). Available for many types of mobile devices like the Pocket PC,
Palm devices, as well as some cell phones like the Treo 700w, these portable digitized guides bring the word of
Zagat’s to your little handheld. The Zagat To Go software and subscritption features ratings and rankings for
over 24,000 restaurants and nightspots in over 70 cities. So forget having to cart around those burgundy covered books
anymore, you’ll have all the Zagat info you need at the push of a button.

The beauty of these digital
versions, as I discovered, is that finding and sorting and discovering the best places is much easier than thumbing
through a book.  You can browse listings by cuisine/category, neighborhood, feature and Zagat’s well-known top
lists. And don’t forget searching and sorting by cost, which I do all the time .And more, you can not only bookmark
certain places for later reference, but you can add thier info to your contacts list. This is a very big thing for
folks like me who always forget to add my favorite restaurants to my cell phone call list.

There’s even
more to this fine application that you will discover as you use it. As a rather devoted Zagat user in the past, I give
this package a thumbs up.

 

GADLING'S TAKE FIVE: Week of March 5

by Adrienne Wilson on

My goodness! The time has come once again to reflect and/or catch
up on some of Gadling’s finer moments this past week. Without further delay let’s jump right into things with this
week’s list:

5. Spring Break
Travel Safety:
The last thing on any Spring Breaker’s mind is the word safety, but I strongly encourage all
you in pursuit of booze, beach, babes and boys to check out this fine piece from Community Dispatch online. At the very
least you could even print the article and give it to your worrisome loved ones to show them you are thinking not only
about parties, but your well-being as well. They’ll love you for it.

4. Horseback Riding in Mongolia:
With
Neil covering the lesser exlpored parts of the globe in his daily Red Corner series once-upon-a-time remote areas have
come alive again. Earlier this week he pointed out the best way to see Mongolia which happens to be by horseback. You
see Mongolia and horseback riding are synonymous, it is the horse lover’s paradise and the only way to experience the
vast untouched land. If Mongolia is anywhere on your radar, go now, saddle up, giddy up, do whatever and check this one
out.

3. Eat More Goat:
Having gobbled
down on some good ole’ mouth-watering goat roti a number of times during my present travels I was real excited to
discover this piece on eating more of the animal here in America. Erik does an excellent job pointing us to this piece
from the LA Times which suggests adding more goat to your diet. Yummy!  While many American’s may have started
ordering goat on a regular basis there are several folks ever faithful to their chicken and beef missing out on all the
culinary splendors goat brings to the taste buds.

2. Traveling Book Clubs:
Bookworms have
often been regarded as hermits who only dream of seeing the world by way of the recycled paperback books they hide
behind with their coke-bottled glasses, but tis’ is far from true. In fact there are outfitters in the world that cater
to literature loving clients by sending them to locales where the book takes place. Ever dream of the Italy depicted in
the works of Hemingway, Henry James or Lord Byron? Then take a pause from your reading and step out onto the very
streets that caused such inspiration.

1. Urban Explorer at Explorer’s Club:
People often marvel at men who go great lengths to walk the Sahara or summit some outrageous and dangerous mountain
peak and while that makes pretty exciting dinner conversation, I can’t deny my admiration for the men and women who are
equally in tune with their own city’s secrets. Urban Explorers is what they go by and they have a club of their own. If
the concept of spending little cash and hitting the boulevards around your own town seems like a boring and less than
thrilling idea to you, perhaps it’s time you freshened your approach or try reading the fascinating links Erik provides
us with this week.