Passengers on Virgin Atlantic will soon be able to make in-flight cellphone calls, send texts and browse the web on their way home from Europe, it was just announced. The new service is part of the airline’s upgrade to the Airbus A330, which will also provide expanded in-flight entertainment, USB ports and a very spiffy upper class. Cellphone service will initially be available only on London to New York flights, but will be expanded to more cities by the year’s end. There are a lot of caveats, however: you’ll need to be on a Vodafone or O2 network, only 10 calls will be allowed at one time and service won’t be cheap. Calls will cost 1 GBP per minute and texts 20p each. You’ll also still need to turn off your devices for takeoff and landing, and turn them off within 250 miles of US airspace, so no flight-long games of Words With Friends.
Gadling readers: would you use this service? Do you think it’s any improvement over the old-school in-flight phones? Or will it just be another amazing innovation that no one appreciates?
It’s a question that comes up again and again. Even more so in the last few years, as the industrialized world seems to become food obsessed. Not just with eating in general but also where it comes from (is it local?) and how it’s grown. Our preoccupation with provenance is almost an existential crisis: it seems we have this growing need (no pun intended) to touch our food, to get closer to it, because technology is alienating us in an unprecedented way.
And so now, more than ever, we’re traveling just to satisfy that craving – a simple desire and a deeper one. Okay, this is getting way too serious. The point is, when I attended a couple food-centric events recently for the Lucky Rice Festival and the James Beard Awards, both in New York, I asked the participating chefs and mixologists the question: where would you travel just to eat? Not surprisingly many of them were looking to Japan and Spain for their inspiration.
New York. Wait! I think I’d go to Las Vegas. All the top chefs are there. I’ve been there over 100 times. The restaurant I would go to frequently was 808 but, sadly, it closed. I also really like eating at Joel Robuchon and Michael Mina’s place.
That’s a very challenging question. I think I’d go to Spain. It’s all about the ingredients. Plus Spanish chefs are so progressive and so ahead of the time. In terms of where I’d go, I’d call up my chef friends – Ferran (Adria) and Jose Andres – and they’d tell me where I should go. It wouldn’t have to be Michelin-starred restaurants.
•Stephanie Izard, executive chef at Girl & the Goat, Chicago
India. I’m not exactly sure where I’d go but I’ve been reading a lot about Indian cuisine lately and it just sounds great.
I’d go to Bangkok. Specifically I’d eat at David Thompson’s place Nham. He’s doing some really special stuff over there, including reintroducing some heirloom vegetables to the Thai food landscape. He’s a really great chef.
Spain. They’re doing some of the most creative food there right now. I’d check out Etxebarri, near San Sebastian, as well as Mugaritz.
•Paul Qui, executive chef at Uchiko, winner of “Top Chef Texas,” Austin
San Sebastian. It has the most Michelin-starred restaurants in Spain. I’d hit up Mugaritz and Arzak, for sure. I’m sad I wouldn’t be able to head down to elBulli anymore.
•Julie Reiner, mixologist at Lani Kai, New York City
Japan. I love Japanese food. It would be interesting to eat in such an authentic way. I think I’d eat mostly sushi.
I’d go to Peru and eat anticuchos, a meat stew that a lot of slaves and Chinese laborers used to eat. I’d just eat this and at the same restaurant every day. It’s so good.
Japan. Specifically, I’d go to Hakaido. I love it there. They actually have dairy there – milk and cheese – and it’s really good. The seafood is abundant. The ingredients and cuisine are very inspiring to me. I’d spend a lot of time at an onsen relaxing and eating.
•Roy Yamaguchi, chef/owner of Roy’s, multiple locations
Japan. I’d go to an onsen in Hakone, which is about an hour from Tokyo. I’d take a hot spring bath and then eat a meal based on all the fresh seasonal ingredients that are available.
Holiday travel can be hectic, especially when it comes to transportation. Despite the potential to be a scary experience, AAA statistics show that 34.9 million Americans used plane, train and automobile transportation last Memorial Day. With this year expected to be just as crazy, Foursquare has compiled data from 20 billion users, to let travelers know what the busiest travel hubs are expected to be this Memorial Day.
Top 10 Busiest Airports: Foursquare looked at the change in check in rates to airports vs. the same time window during the week prior to Memorial Day 2011 to compile these findings:
1. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
2. San Francisco International Airport
3. Chicago O’Hare International Airport
4. John F. Kennedy International Airport
5. McCarran International Airport (Las Vegas)
6. LaGuardia Airport (New York)
7. Denver International Airport
8. Boston Logan International Airport
9. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
10. Newark Liberty International AirportTop 10 Busiest Train Stations: Foursquare looked at the change in check in rates to train stations vs. the same time window during the week prior to Memorial Day 2011 tocompile these findings:
1. New York Penn Station
2. Grand Central Terminal
3. Union Station (Washington, D.C.)
4. Chicago Union Station
5. 30th Street Station (Philadelphia)
6. Long Island Railroad Jamaica Station
7. Newark Penn Station
8. Union Station (Los Angeles)
9. New Jersey Transit Frank R. Lautenberg Secaucus Junction Station
10. New Haven Union Station
Top 10 Busiest Bus Stations: Foursquare looked at the change in check in rates to bus stations vs. the same time window during the week prior to Memorial Day 2011 to compile these findings:
1. Port Authority Bus Terminal: New York, New York
2. South Station Bus Terminal: Boston, Massachusetts
3. Harbor Pointe and Shuttle Area: Anaheim, California
4. Boltbus Midtown Stop (34th Street and 8th Avenue): New York, New York
5. Megabus NYC Stop (West 31st Street): New York, New York
6. Megabus DC Stop (Union Square Parking): Washington, D.C.
7. Frankford Transportation Center: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
8. International District/Chinatown Station: Seattle, Washington
9. Hollywood Studios Bus Stop: Lake Buena Vista, Florida
10. Magic Kingdom Bus Stop: Lake Buena Vista, Florida
Top 10 Busiest Highways: Foursquare looked at the change in check in rates to highways vs. the same time window during the week prior to Memorial Day 2011 to compile these findings:
1. Lincoln Tunnel: New York, New York
2. Bourbon Street: New Orleans, Louisiana
3. Lombard Street: San Francisco, California
4. Rodeo Drive: Beverly Hills, California
5. Huntington Beach: Huntington Beach, California
6. Long Island Expressway: Long Island, New York
7. Holland Tunnel Toll Plaza: Jersey City, New Jersey
8. I-95 on Georgia/South Carolina State Line
9. Brooklyn/Queens Expressway: Brooklyn, New York
10. I-95 on Florida/Georgia State Line
Top 10 Busiest Rest Stops: Foursquare looked at the change in check in rates to rest stops vs. the same time window during the week prior to Memorial Day 2011 to compile these findings:
1. Delaware Welcome Center Travel Plaza: Newark, New Jersey
2. Maryland House Travel Plaza: Aberdeen, Maryland
3. Molly Pitcher Service Area: Cranbury, New Jersey
4. Lake Forest Oasis: Lake Forest, Illinois
5. Cheesequake Rest Area: Sayreville, New Jersey
6. Woodrow Wilson Service Area: Hamilton, New Jersey
7. Chesapeake House Travel Plaza: North East, Maryland
8. Grover Cleveland Service Area: Woodbridge, New Jersey
9. Charlton Service Plaza (Westbound): Charlton, Massachusetts
10. Des Plaines Oasis: Des Plaines, Illinois
For something quirky to do in New York, visiting the City Reliquary in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, is a great option. The museum – which is actually a not-for-profit – houses artifacts and exhibits of the city. While this may sound run-of-the-mill, the pieces on display are anything but ordinary.
On their website it states that “through permanent display of New York City artifacts, rotating exhibits of community collections, and annual cultural events, The City Reliquary connects visitors to both the past and present of New York.”
So, what kind of things can visitors expect to see? Building fragments, L train paint chips, a “very old shovel,” subway tokens, horse bones, water from the old aqueduct system, postcards, geological core samples, rotting birthday cakes, antique subway maps, old films, roller skates, rat bones, light-up statues and a lot more.
For many, it’s a unique, off-the-beaten-path way to learn about New York. Not only that, but the museum hosts fun events, like film festivals, concerts, block parties and “show and tells,” where people can bring in their own New York artifacts to showcase. Plus, the museum is free – although there is a suggested donation – and serves cheap beer.
The City Reliquary is open Thursday through Sunday, from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. It is located at 370 Metropolitan Avenue, which you can reach by taking the L train to Lorimer Street.
In less than a century, the United States has gone from being a mostly agrarian society to an urbanized one. Most of us live in cities and, despite our growing cultural fascination with food, most Americans have no idea where the ingredients on their plate (or in that wrapper) are actually coming from.
That’s where “Food Forward” comes in. After a three-year effort, the premiere episode of this innovative new PBS series, as first reported by theHuffington Post, is airing nationally throughout April (see schedule after the jump). In “Urban Agriculture Across America,” the “Food Forward” crew travel from the Bay Area to Milwaukee, Detroit and New York City, talking to urban farming innovators such as Abeni Ramsey, a single mother in West Oakland.
Formerly relegated to feeding her family Top Ramen, Ramsey was inspired some years ago by a farm stand she spotted in her neighborhood, operated by West Oakland’s City Slicker Farms. As part of City Slickers’ initiative to nourish under-served communities, their staff and volunteers build garden boxes (designed for small-scale, intensive production) in residents’ yards.
Ramsey got her garden box and soon had a backyard full of produce. Next, she got chickens to provide her family with protein in the form of meat and eggs. Today, she’s the farm manager of the East Bay’s urban Dig Deep Farms. Dig Deep sells and delivers produce to local communities through its CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) program and works in collaboration with Oakland’s acclaimed Flora restaurant.
Says Flora chef Rico Rivera, “We order the produce, she picks it and it’s here the next morning.” Adds Ramsey, “It’s a modern idea that you get all of your food from the store. People have been farming in cities…since there were cities.”
[Photo credit: Flickr user Martin Gommel]John Mooney, chef and rooftop hydroponic farmer at Bell Book & Candle in Manhattan’s West Village, is another interesting subject as is urban beekeeper Andrew Coté, who collects specific blends from hives around Manhattan and Brooklyn.
While the idea of keeping bees in the midst of a metropolis may seem an unnecessary objective, or a somewhat precious craft food enterprise, it’s anything but, as Coté points out. “Bees help pollinate the city’s community and rooftop gardens as well as window boxes.” Localized honey also contains pollen that helps allergy sufferers living in these neighborhoods.
Of Detroit, “Food Forward” co-creator/producer Stett Holbrook says, “It blew my mind. It’s a city that has been devastated by industrial collapse and the exodus of half of its population, but the resilience of the residents still there to remake the city – literally from the ground up – was truly inspiring. Urban agriculture is a big part of the renaissance.”
According to its website, the objective of “Food Forward” is to “create a series that looks beyond the world of celebrity chefs, cooking competitions,” and formulaic recipe shows. From my perspective, it also goes beyond the seemingly endless variations on scintillating (not) reality series on baked good empires, riffs on “Homo sapiens vs. Arteriosclerosis” and “Twenty Crappy Things You Can Cook With Canned Goods.”
Instead, “Food Forward” looks at what it calls the “food rebels” across America – farmers, chefs, ranchers, fishermen, food artisans, scientists and educators – who are dedicated to changing the way we eat and finding more sustainable alternatives to how food is produced and procured.
“Food Forward” succeeds (if the pilot is any indication) in a way that documentaries of this genre haven’t (despite being excellent on all counts: see, “The Future of Food,” “Food, Inc.,” etc.).
It’s mercifully not about food elitism, either. Rather than leaving you depressed, angry or guilty, the show inspires, entertains and sends a message of hope. Future episodes will focus on school lunch reform, sustainable fishing and meat production and soil science. Some segments are animated, either to better illustrate a point or to engage a wider age demographic.
“Food Forward” is “written, produced and directed by a veteran team of journalists, cinematographers and storytellers that includes: director Greg Roden (PBS, FOX and National Geographic channel’s“Lonely Planet” and the Los Angeles Times, Dallas Morning News, and San Francisco Chronicle); aforementioned creator-producer Holbrook (Food editor for Metro Silicon Valley and The Bohemian in Sonoma County, and contributor to the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Saveur and Chow.com); Brian Greene (Food Network, Discovery Channel, NBC), and director of photography David Lindstrom (PBS, National Geographic and Discovery channels).
On April 22, the pilot will air on WTTW in Chicago at 5:30 p.m. and WLIW in New York at 2:30 p.m. On April 28, it will air on Washington DC’s WETA at 5:30 p.m. For future episodes, check your local PBS listings, visit the “Food Forward” website or www.PBS.org/foodforward.