Archive for December 27th, 2010

Quick update.

Monday, December 27th, 2010

We previously noted the Chapter 11 filing of Mangia Pizza.

Word comes to us now that the Guadalupe location has closed. As far as we know, the other locations are still open. (As a matter of fact, we had an…interesting meal at the Mesa location a few days before Christmas.)

Crimestoppers!

Monday, December 27th, 2010

What a day! Once again, we get to combine two more pet obsessions: food and the police blotter!

The Grinch, or someone equally mean, has stolen the main trailer of Lucky J’s Chicken & Waffles, an establishment we have not yet had the chance to try.

Luckily for Lucky J’s, they do have a second trailer (and I thought they were opening a sit-down eatery on Burnet as well), but in the meantime, please be on the lookout for a trailer that looks something like this:

Lucky J's

The actual trailer, as far as I know, does not have a hand holding a giant plate of chicken and waffles in front of it.

Edited to add 12/28: Put a leash back on the dagron. The trailer has been found. You may resume normal activities.

Edited to add 12/28 part 2: An arrest has been made.

Updates from the Department of Mixology.

Monday, December 27th, 2010

I did want to note the updated “Perfect Martini” recipe from Jim Coudal at Coudal Partners. I’m impressed with the seriousness of intent expressed in the recipe, and the background material about the changes in Nolly Prat is interesting. (Nolly Prat is our preferred vermouth, but we’ve been looking for others, and will have to give the Dollin a try.)

However, I am automatically skeptical of any “perfect martini” recipe that calls for vodka. While I allow room in my universe for the vodka martini, I do so reluctantly; the “perfect martini” should be gin-based. (I am especially skeptical when the recipe refers to a specific brand of vodka. Vodka, by definition, is a neutral grain spirit, so what the author is really saying is “I prefer the impurities in Belvedere Vodka to those in other vodkas.”)

Coudal’s “Friday Drink Links” looks like a good cache of stuff to browse, though.

(Hattip: Daring Fireball.)

And among the things Santa brought me was a copy of The Hour: A Cocktail Manifesto; full report when I’ve had a chance to read it.

Art, damn it, art! watch. (#19 in a series)

Monday, December 27th, 2010

Even better, I can tie two threads together!

Chinese artist Zhu Cheng has sculpted a replica of the Venus de Milo.

…a retired Swiss diplomat who is one of the leading collectors of modern Chinese art paid $50,000 for the 2-foot-tall statue…

Zhu Cheng is from Chengdu, which is also the home of China’s leading panda breeding reserve. Why is that significant? Guess what material Cheng used for his sculpture.

Once convinced that Zhu was legitimate, the reserve allowed his team of students to collect buckets of fresh droppings. Each one was about the size of a goose egg, with sticks of partially digested bamboo poking out. To make it the proper consistency for sculpting, it was mixed with plaster and glue.

Singularity watch.

Monday, December 27th, 2010

Wait, did I say “singularity”? I meant “Singletary”. As in Mike Singletary, out as 49ers coach.

In other firing related news, Gary Kubiak has lost Richard Justice. Not just “fire him”, but “fire him now, before next week’s game”.