Thanksgiving Turkey

Image November 24, 2010 gwong Leave a comment

This is the turkey we had for dinner last Thanksgiving, a turkey we hadn’t planned on having but ended up making anyway. We were gonna do a Chinese-heavy Thanksgiving dinner since my brother was moving into his new apartment the day before and wasn’t inclined as such to go the whole traditional Thanksgiving route. But the fates conspired to force him into the kitchen for hours when our father’s friend gave him a frozen turkey. I mean, what were we gonna do, not cook it? Thus, we ended up doing a Thanksgiving that was pretty much the same as it always is in the Wong household – some traditional, some Chinese, all good.

And on that note, Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Eat well – I know I will!

This photo was taken on November 26, 2009.

Marcus Samuelsson, Restaurant Owner?

Image November 23, 2010 gwong Leave a comment

Far be it from me to beat up on a guy needlessly but we’re talking about a celebrity chef who’s a lot more celebrity these days than chef. Marcus Samuelsson is, without a doubt, a talented chef but it’s more apt to say that he plays one on TV these days than in an actual kitchen. Fittingly, he won the first ever Eater Award for Fameball of the Year for, among a myriad of appearances: Cooking Class Leader for Buick, Appearance on A&E’s Fix This Kitchen, Kitchen Linen Collection for Target, Menu Consult for Holland America Line Cruises, Top Chef Masters Winner, MasterCard Spokesperson. From the above ad that I saw at the 34th Street-Penn Station subway stop, I guess you can now add American Airlines to the list. But what is this Red Rooster restaurant they speak of him owning in Harlem?

This photo was taken on November 23, 2010.

Gazing Longingly Out the Window

Image November 23, 2010 gwong Leave a comment

So when I took this photo, it was a little past 11 pm on a Tuesday night, about four hours into covering a community board liquor license meeting for Eater. To say that these meetings are soul crushing is putting it mildly. Am I doing a service for Eater NY readers? Man, I hope so because I’d hate to think my suffering went for naught.

If you’d life to see the post I ended up writing for Eater NY from my covering the meeting, it’s here.

This photo was taken on November 9, 2010.

Times Square Cardboard Apartment

Gallery November 22, 2010 gwong Leave a comment

No, I’m not talking about the kind you’d see a homeless person take shelter in a back alley in the old Times Square though I say that being far too young to have actually seen a Times Square that looked like that. This was actually a one-day-only installation from Services for the UnderServed (SUS), helping “individuals and families faced with a wide range of challenges—mental illness, developmental disability, physical disability, AIDS, homelessness, unemployment and poverty.” While the cardboard apartment, complete with cardboard furniture like chairs, a desk, and a bed as well as cardboard food, it serves as a stark reminder of how rough some people have it. Sadly, I don’t think enough can ever be done to help all those who need it.

These photos were taken on November 12, 2010.

PPQ Dungeness Island’s Dungeness Crab

Image November 22, 2010 gwong Leave a comment

My second trip to San Francisco in 2008 came with it a second visit to PPQ Dungeness Island for what I think is the best dungeness crab in the city. On our first trip, Justin and I came here because we figured we had to have dungeness crab while we were out there but we didn’t know where to go so this just became the place to go based on online accolades. Well, the praise was well deserved because the crab and the remainder of the meal was just perfect for the two of us and at a moderately decent price. When I went back out there a few months later, my co-worker Sonu, also out there for WWDC, heard me sing PPQ’s praises and really wanted to go. Fine by me. We just couldn’t find any time to do it and as the WWDC closing party/concert dragged on, it seemed like we just might not be able to get it in before Sonu’s flight home the next afternoon. Thankfully, the band wrapped up and we hopped into a cab, getting there less than a half hour before their kitchen was set to close for the evening. Mission accomplished!

This photo was taken on June 12, 2008.

SNY Calls the Game from the Stands

Image November 21, 2010 gwong Leave a comment

This was really cool. In the final season at Shea Stadium, the SNY crew broadcasted a game from the Upper Box level. Here you can see analyst Ron Darling working on the meticulous prep befitting that of an Emmy winner for “Best Sports Analyst” in a very crowded NYC market. Play-by-play man Gary Cohen is going over stuff with staff before going on the air. The other member of the best three-man team in baseball – I’m slightly biased but you’d really be hard pressed to find a better three-person booth in the game – isn’t in the shot but he was also working this game’s broadcast. For the fans, it was a great sight to see the broadcasters working the game in the elements, amidst the crowd, albeit a small one since this was a weekday afternoon game in May. It’s this sort of thing that has made this broadcast team, only in their third year together in 2008, widely acknowledged as one of the best in the biz. Actually, they were lauded as second best earlier this year behind only the legendary Dodgers announcer Vin Scully. Not a bad place to be, behind a legend like Scully.

This photo was taken on May 15, 2008.

Tour of AT&T Park

Gallery November 20, 2010 gwong Leave a comment

On my second trip to San Francisco in three months, this time for Apple’s annual WWDC, I took one morning off from conference sessions and went on a tour of AT&T Park, the home of the San Francisco Giants. As far as ballpark tours, it’s one of the better ones I’ve been on. We got to see the tiny room where they do their smaller press conferences before heading up to the upper level of the stadium which, with a stadium devoid of fans, afforded us a great view of the empty stadium. A brief history lesson and then we were off to the Oracle Suites level which was followed by everyone’s favorite part of the tour, walking onto the field and getting to enter the dugout. Then it got even better – since I went on an off day where the visiting team for the next series hadn’t arrived yet (it was the Oakland Athletics so it’s not like they really needed to get in the day before), we got to enter the visiting clubhouse. One final treat came when the clubhouse manager let us into his office so he could show off all the player bobbleheads he’s received over the years.

These photos were taken on June 11, 2008.

David Wright, Pike Place Market Foundation Donor?

Image November 19, 2010 gwong Leave a comment

At Pike Place Market in Seattle, there is Rachel, a giant bronze piggy bank that sits outside the main entry. It’s a popular spot for tourists taking photos and it does decent business, taking in between $6,000 and $9,000 annually. What interested me were the bronze hoofprints around the pig with a donor’s name on it, especially the one pictured here for “David Wright”. Somehow I doubt it’s David Wright, All-Star third baseman of the Mets but wouldn’t it be funny if it were? Yeah, it’s probably not him.

This photo was taken on October 3, 2010.

A Shuttered Johnny Rockets

Image November 19, 2010 gwong Leave a comment

This Johnny Rockets on the corner of 8th and Greene Streets closed at the end of September. I guess even the hordes of NYU students that come through the doors over the years weren’t enough to keep up with ever-escalating rents that primo space must demand. What I couldn’t help but notice was just how empty this place is now. Sure, the counters and stools are still there but everything else not bolted down is gone, creating nothing but space. Hopefully, someone else will come along and open something here, though preferably not another chain.

This photo was taken on October 18, 2010.

San Francisco Ferry Building

Image November 18, 2010 gwong Leave a comment

On our last day in San Francisco, Justin and I bummed around the city, doing little but moving around a lot. One of our stops was the Ferry Building for some coffee and, later, lunch. The building is home to a bunch of shops on the ground level but offices occupy the upper levels. While the view of the building from the ground level would have been nice, it doesn’t compare to the one pictured here, taken from one end of the building on the second floor. Here, you get the full view – the shops on the ground, the mezzanine, and, finally, the windowed roof. Just an awesome sight.

This photo was taken on June 28, 2010.