The best cocktails in the world

by Annie Scott on

According to Genevieve Swart of The Sydney Morning Herald, the term sundowner, meaning sunset cocktail, originated in Africa, where they have some of the most beautiful sunsets in the world.

Swart has taken special pains (and pleasures) in finding the most beautiful places on the planet for sundowners. Her list includes hotel and restaurant locations in Cape Town, Santorini, Zanzibar, Norway, Brazil, Cambodia, and Florida — yes, Florida. She even found the best drinks! Would I like a Veligandu Secret in the Maldives? Yes, I would!

Unfortunately, I’m stuck in New York for the moment – but I bet I can find a patio on the Hudson River where they’d be willing to bring me a drink and tell me I’m in Asia. This “sundowner” idea is great!

[via The Sydney Morning Herald]

The sounds of travel 11: Liverpool

by Annie Scott on

Here at Gadling we’ll be highlighting some of our favorite sounds from the road and giving you a sample of each — maybe you’ll find the same inspiration that we did, but at the very least, hopefully you’ll think that they’re good songs. Got a favorite of your own? Leave it in the comments below and we’ll post it at the end of the series.

If you’re going to England, you really ought to make a stop in Liverpool. There’s a Tate Museum (with a terrific Auerbach I particularly like), Albert Dock, from whence The Titanic departed, and a music scene you’ll never forget.

The Beatles aren’t the only band to come out of Liverpool. Here’s a list of twelve Liverpool bands from the BBC, which even they confess is “by no means an exhaustive list.” Every one has played the famous Cavern Club, which is a great place to visit, even just for a pint in the afternoon.

If you’re into new music, you’re also in luck. Not only does Liverpool continue to encourage new artists through its music-rich history and welcoming clubs, but there’s also a school there called the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, which was started by Sir Paul McCartney in 1996. LIPA is farming out fresh talent to all over Europe and beyond. You can catch the students at their very own Paul McCartney Auditorium or at the local bars and clubs like The Magnet and Bar Hannah.

Beatles tourism in Liverpool is pretty commercialized, but don’t miss The Magical Mystery Tour, which is conducted by childhood friends of The Beatles themselves. They’ll have all kinds of tidbits for you, for example: Did you know that “Norweigan Wood” was originally titled “Knowing She Would,” and they changed it for the censors?

Have a listen above; it’s sure to give you a smile.

Click here for previous Sounds of Travel.

A Self – Indulgent Interview With Mike Lee of Studiofeast

by Mike Barish on

Last year, Gadling’s own Grant Martin wrote about Studiofeast, a New York-based underground eating club. Since then, Studiofeast has thrown several more semi-secret culinary events that have occasionally included guest chefs such as Ilan Hall (winner of Top Chef Season 2). This past weekend, Studiofeast joined forces with four other eating clubs to throw the two-night Undergrounds Unite event at a secret location in Manhattan.

Now seemed like the perfect time to revisit Studiofeast and learn more about the seductive world of underground eating. And what better way to do that than with an interview with the creator of Studiofeast, Mike Lee?

(Full disclosure: I am friends with Mike and his Studiofeast partner, Derrick Yuen. I usually help out at Studiofeast events and get drunk for free with great regularity.)

For people who have never heard of an underground eating club, give us the simplest definition you can. The bastard child of your next door neighbor’s dinner party and a restaurant.

Now describe your eating club, Studiofeast, in a haiku.
Two Asians cook food
Thirty one people enter a loft
Mike Barish is here?

How did you end up joining forces with four other underground eating clubs to throw Undergrounds Unite? The girls at Homeslice West approached me about bringing Studiofeast to this event they were planning, Undergrounds Unite. I’m not sure how they first heard of Studiofeast and I didn’t know a lot about Homeslice West at the time, but I think we quickly passed each other’s basic, level 1 foodie litmus tests with a shared love for quality BBQ, Mac & Cheese, and Fried Chicken. From there, I started throwing ideas into the pot about Undergrounds Unite, created the logo and website, etc. But they were the marshmallow of the rice krispie treat the whole time. They did great work pulling everything together, and getting our hands all sticky.

So was it more like the Justice League or Voltron? The other supperclubs cook with a decidedly more western style, while Studiofeast leans heavily on the Asian side. So I guess it was the Justice League granting a work visa for Voltron to come over from Japan. I have 6 more weeks left in the group, unless I marry one of them.

Is the underground food scene in New York as competitive as the restaurant business is? I don’t think so, and I hope it doesn’t get that way. The thing is, we aren’t actually restaurants where we should be fighting tooth and nail for customers. It’s all about fostering something with more of a communal feel. Even though we seem exclusive with passwords and guestlists, it’s only because we: a) operate occasionally, so we’re limited in terms of capacity, and b) we need a little more control over who gets into the door because it’s a clandestine sort of operation (and to filter out douchebags).

In the end, we’re all rooted in making something that’s interesting and connects people. Even though we strive for great food to hit the table, this isn’t about Michelin stars, Zagat ratings, or getting Frank Bruni to love you. It’s about packaging an experience that’s uniquely compelling and honest.

How is Studiofeast different than the other clubs out there? The collection of people that help me run Studiofeast as well as the people that end up at our feasts. That’s the difference. I’ve been very fortunate to have chanced upon some great individuals over the course of this project and it’s those people who put the color in Studiofeast. One of our hosts (who shall remain nameless) recently quipped to a guest that he’d “bring out farm animals” to the table just in case his attention waned between courses. How great is that? What a commitment to excellence. It’s too bad the offer was made after the beef entree was served. Old Bessie was cute (and tasty).

People throw the word “foodie” around a lot when these clubs come up in conversation. And foodie has taken on a bit of a pretentious connotation. I guess my question is, Why are you so pretentious? I am so totally above this question.

Gadling is a travel blog, so let’s talk travel a little bit so that my bosses don’t get too pissed off. What place that you’ve visited has the most interesting food scene? Japan all the way! For me, one of the most notable examples of how interesting Japanese food culture is comes from visiting a department store Depachika in Tokyo, like Isetan or Takashimaya. There are probably a hundred or more food counters in one of those, each just focusing on a narrow category of food. I love that, because they’ve just committed themselves to one thing and doing it really, really well. And since they’re all in one place, you can literally graze for hours and pick up so many new things in one spot. It’s so opposite to what we have in America, where we have the mall food court, and it mostly sucks. If I told you to visit New York and have a serious meal in the basement of Macy’s, you’d laugh your ass off. There’s simply nothing like a Depachika in the States, and there are probably only a few dozen equivalents to it around the world in other countries.

Underground eating clubs are, by definition, not mainstream. How do you find similarly clandestine activities when you’re outside of New York? I’d suggest visiting the Ghetto Gourmet site to see what’s happening underground eating club-wise in your area of interest. They’re a great resource for this sort of thing and have a wide reach across the country. Also, to the extent possible, latch onto someone who’s a local and just follow without asking questions for a while. Even if that person has no idea what he/she is doing in terms of food, you’re bound to gain some kernel of truth about how other people live. This especially applies when traveling internationally. Talk to your Japanese bartender, or the Icelandic girl at the fermented shark counter and you’ll rarely be led astray. And if you do, then it makes for an even better story, doesn’t it?

Let’s play food word association. I’ll name a place and you tell me your thoughts on their food in one word.

Italy: Delicious

Spain: Reallydelicious
Japan: Reallyreallydelicious
Your kitchen: Reallyreallydeliciousinaporkysortofway

If you could take one dish that you’ve eaten from each place you have traveled in order to create your ultimate international menu, what would you pick?
This is by no means a complete list, but from recent travels:
Spain: Jamon Iberico & Manchego Cheese
Morocco: Merguez sausages straight off the grill in the central market
Iceland: Skyr & an Icelandic Hot Dog with remoulade and crunions
Sweden: Fish stew from Salu Hall and the meatballs from Pelikan
Tokyo: Daiwa Sushi and, of course, the Ramen.
Osaka: Okonomiyaki and Takoyaki
Sterling Heights, Michigan: The shrimp fried rice and egg roll from my parents’ restaurant, the Golden Wheel. I’ve been eating this all my life and it keeps me centered.

When you’re not being a pretentious foodie, what foods do you slum it with? My girlfriend makes the best Buffalo Wings with the Blue Cheese baked into skin. It’s only categorically slumming it, because they’re absolutely amazing and I’d pay top dollar for them anywhere. Also of note are Spam, Slim Jims, Cup of Noodles, General Tso’ Chicken, and Gray’s Papaya.

And to close us out, an SAT-style analogy for you. Studiofeast is to food as ________ is to sex. A Caligula-style Roman orgy…with farm animals.

You can sign up for Studiofeast’s mailing list at their website. And you can read more about the first Undergrounds Unite event here.

Undiscovered New York: Drinking History in New York’s Oldest Bars

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Welcome back to Gadling’s weekly series, Undiscovered New York. Don’t act surprised when I tell you we like our bars here in New York. Sure, you can grab some suds in just about any town in the United States, but New York boasts a culture of drinking that goes hand-in-hand with the manic highs and crushing lows of our obsessive-compulsive residents. Just take a look at some of New York’s most famous residents as proof.

Writer Dylan Thomas supposedly drank as many as 18 shots of whiskey one fateful night 1953 before meeting his maker. Beyond Thomas, New York has frequently played host to a literal “who’s who” of famous alcoholic artists, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Truman Capote and Jackson Pollack. Tragic as their alcoholic deaths may be, their lives are inextricably linked to New York’s hard-boozing culture and legendary taverns and nightspots.

Which leads us to another question – are any of these historic watering holes still open for business? Nobody is saying 18 shots of whiskey is a good idea for anyone, but wouldn’t it be neat to throw back one or two in the same spot as Thomas? What about a bar that’s been open since the Civil War? Click below to get Gadling’s picks of New York’s best historic bars.Bar One: McSorley’s Old Ale House
When you talk about historic bars in New York City, the first name off most people’s lips is McSorley’s. Irish immigrant John McSorley first opened the doors to his legendary ale house on East 7th street in 1854. Since then the bar has played host to everyone from Abraham Lincoln to John Lennon. Females give thanks – up until 1970, McSorley’s did not permit women patrons, a policy reinforced by the bar’s slogan: “Good Ale, Raw Onions and No Ladies.” When you stop by down a few pints of McSorley’s famous ale, make sure to drink in the bar’s amazing atmosphere including sawdust-strewn floors and a huge cast-iron furnace behind the bar.

Bar Two: Chumley’s
Ah Chumley’s. Perhaps one of New York’s most famous writer bars, Chumley’s is a former speakeasy and haunt of some of New York’s most famous literary residents. An unmarked door at 86 Bedford Street hides the entrance to the preferred watering hole of such greats as William Faulkner, John Steinbeck and E.E. Cummings. Sadly, structural problems with the building forced the closure of Chumley’s in 2007. But fear not, the reconstruction is in progress – we’re all hopeful that Chumley’s will be back in business later this year.

Bar Three: White Horse Tavern
Opened in 1880, the White Horse Tavern may not be New York’s oldest bar, but it more than makes up for it with historic charm. A West Village favorite in the 50’s and 60’s, the White Horse was played host to New York’s thriving bohemian artist scene, including regulars like our friend Dylan Thomas as well as another famous Dylan (Bob) and other cool cats like Jack Kerouac and Doors frontman Jim Morrison.

Bar Four: The Ear Inn
Dating from 1817, The Ear Inn was a famous haunt for New York’s longshoremen, who passed the hours drinking pints awaiting the arrival of merchant ships on the nearby Hudson waterfront. The Ear Inn was originally owned by James Brown, aide to George Washington during the Revolutionary War. The upstairs of The Ear Inn has an interesting history as well, serving at various points as a smuggler hideaway, a brothel and also as a boarding house. Some say the ghost of “Mickey,” a former sailor still awaiting the arrival of his ship, haunts the bar’s interior. I guess when your drink disappears suddenly you now have a built in excuse.

Bar Five: Brooklyn Inn
Manhattan does not have a monopoly on historic bars, and the Brooklyn Inn is proof. The bar’s beautiful interior is adorned with hardwood and intricate tin ceilings. Believe it or not, the carved wood bar was imported piece by piece from Germany. While you take a moment to comprehend the logistics behind such a feat, don’t forget to check out the bar’s eclectic jukebox which boasts some killer tunes for the hood’s legion of music snobs.

Freeze your backside off at the new Minus 5 Vodka lounge in Vegas

by Scott Carmichael on

It’s no secret that Vegas is hurting at the moment, prices of most hotels in Sin City are way down, as are visitor numbers.

Thankfully that does not mean enterprising people have stopped bringing new entertainment to the city that never sleeps.

The newest attraction in the desert is the Minus 5 Ice Lounge – a sub zero Vodka lounge located in the Mandalay place resort at Mandalay Bay.

Minus 5 started in New Zealand back in 2003 and has since expanded into Australia and Portugal. The Las Vegas location opened on September 25th.

For $30, patrons get warm clothing, one drink and a 30 minute visit to the icy cold lounge. You can buy more drinks, but Minus 5 limits its guests to no more than 3 per visit. Of course, after hanging out in a -5C/27F lounge, I’d say 30 minutes may be more than enough!

Inside the lounge everything is made of ice, and Minus 5 make it very clear that this means everything. This even includes the glass you are drinking from, which is made from artesian New Zealand water. Minus 5 even reassures you that the lack of moisture in the lounge won’t make the glass stick to your lips, though I don’t recommend licking the bar itself.

Of course, now Las Vegas is a family destination, the drinks lineup even includes some kid friendly non-alcoholic beverages. Before you leave, you can have your photo taken as a souvenir, and then leave the lounge through a gift shop (sounds a lot like Disneyland!).