Flavor Flav’s House of Flavor opens today in Las Vegas

Yeah, boy! The iconic rapper and “Flavor of Love” reality star Flavor Flav will open his fried chicken restaurant in Las Vegas today, in case you needed another reason to visit Sin City. The take out restaurant features recipes and secret spice rub mixtures developed by Flavor Flav himself over the years. Yes, that’s right. Flav has a cooking degree.

The menu includes fried chicken, fried shrimp and Flavor Flav’s signature red velvet waffle. We’re told to also expect celebrity sightings.

Not sure who Flav is? Apparently you’re not into quality TV (his “Flavor of Love 2” finale was the highest rated VH1 telecast ever). Most recently, he appeared with Elton John in the Pepsi Super Bowl commercial.

Flav wants to make sure everyone understands that this is not the same restaurant that failed in Iowa a few years back. Well, it is, but this one is going to be different, he told Business Week.

Let’s hope so – if you make it to Vegas and check out the chicken, be sure to let us know.



[Flickr image via Back9Network]

Intoxicated skiers force Aspen restaurant to impose drink limit

Cloud Nine Alpine Bistro, a popular on-mountain restaurant in Aspen, Colorado, has made the decision to limit the number of alcoholic beverages it serves to patrons. Starting last week, the restaurant instituted a three-drink maximum to help limit the number of intoxicated skiers who need to be escorted down the mountain on a snowmobile, or worse yet, try to ski down while under the influence.

Since it opened in 1998, Cloud Nine has been a popular watering hole for skiers on the hill. The establishment is well known for its raucous atmosphere and downing shots of Obstler Schnapps was practically a required rite of passage. That has all changed now however, as the restaurant has done away with hard alcohol altogether, serving only beer and wine during its lunch service. Management is quick to point out that the full bar is open during dinner however, as skiers can elect to use a snowcat to go up and down the mountain safely.

Considering the fact that Cloud Nine is located at an altitude of 10,740 feet, it is a wonder it has taken this long to institute a limit on the number of drinks that skiers can imbibe while lounging at the bar. It is also surprising that no one has gotten seriously injured after taking to the slopes following a prolonged drinking session. I have a hard enough time skiing or snowboarding while sober, and a few drinks wouldn’t help the situation at all.

[Photo credit: Charles J. Sharp via Wikimedia]

Food poisoning! What to watch out for in 2012

For many people–myself included–one of the most enjoyable aspects of travel is experiencing how other cultures eat. Even if you’re only traveling as far as the other end of the state, chances are there’s a regional specialty, street food, farmers market, or restaurant that’s a destination in its own right.

Sometimes, however, the pickings are slim, or no matter how delicious the food, the odds are just stacked against you. As Anthony Bourdain put it on a recent episode of his new series, The Layover, “…if there’s not a 50-percent chance of diarrhea, it’s not worth eating.”

Gross, perhaps, but gluttonous travelers know there’s truth in those words. Bourdain happened to be referring to a late-night drunk binge at one of Amsterdam‘s infamous FEBO fast food automats (above), so with that in mind, I present this photographic homage to the things we eat on the road, despite knowing better. Walk softly, and carry a big bottle of Imodium

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[Photo credit: Flickr user .waldec]

The perils of solo travel, or, how to sexually harass someone without even trying

Here at Gadling we’ve talked a lot about the perils of solo travel, from how it can break up relationships to creating feelings of loneliness. On a recent trip to Antwerp I discovered a danger to solo travel I never thought of–people look upon you with suspicion.

I was dining alone in a popular Antwerp restaurant. The waiter had seated me so that I faced another table less than ten feet away. A middle-aged woman and her college-aged daughter sat there. The daughter was directly in front of me facing to my left, so if I looked straight ahead I was looking at her profile.

I didn’t give it any thought as I ordered. Sometime during my appetizer I noticed the daughter kept turning to look at me. At first it was just every few minutes, but by the time I got my main course she was giving me annoyed glances every thirty seconds or so.

Obviously she thought I was staring at her. I tried to look elsewhere. She kept looking over so often, though, that anytime I happened to look straight ahead, she’d “catch” me. I began to feel a bit guilty, like when I’m walking home at night and there’s a woman walking in the street ahead of me. I hate when that happens because I know I’m making the woman uncomfortable. What do you do? Speed up and pass her? Slow down? Both look suspicious and are only going to make her more nervous.

But we weren’t alone in a darkened street; we were in a busy restaurant and she was sitting right in front of me. What could I do, squash my face into my plate of venison?

She started whispering to her mother in French. They’d been talking normally before, but now their conversation changed into a angry, conspiratorial whisper.

At this point my guilt changed into annoyance. I mean, where else was I supposed to look? In fact, for the past half hour I’d been deliberately trying to avoid looking forward. That probably made me look even creepier because now both mother and daughter kept swiveling their heads to check on me.

The bill came and I paid. More whispering. Just as I stood up, both turned on me with snarly little faces, mother and daughter the same snarly little faces.

“Peeg,” snarled mother.

“Peeg,” snarled daughter.

I ignored them and walked off. I would have explained it was all a misunderstanding if they had looked open to that approach. My second reaction was to say, “Sorry to rain on your parade, kid, but my wife is twice your age and STILL better looking than you.” That wouldn’t have gone over too well either. Instead I said nothing, got my coat, and headed out into the night.

So guys, if you’re traveling alone be sure to bring a book to dinner, otherwise you may be mistaken for a male chauvinist “peeg”.

Photo courtesy Alex Castro and the London Anti-Street harassment Campaign.

Kuala Lumpur mandates WiFi in all restaurants and bars

Thanks to a new law, visitors to Malaysia‘s capital city of Kuala Lumpur will be able to enjoy WiFi in all local restaurants and bars starting in April.

The New Straits Times reports that the law, passed yesterday, will make it mandatory for restaurants, cafes, pubs, bars, and clubs larger than 120 square meters in area to offer wireless Internet services free of charge, or for a reasonable fee. Kuala Lumpur’s city council intends to extend the requirement to public food courts, or hawker centers, later in the year.

While the law will certainly cement Kuala Lumpur’s reputation as one of the most connected cities in Southeast Asia, one has to wonder how the proliferation of WiFi will affect the dining experience, especially for travelers. It’d be a shame to be distracted from Malaysia’s mind-blowing cuisine by email and Facebook.

[Via The Next Web Asia; Flickr image via the trial]