Food Truck and Beer Festival This Sunday! 8/12 From 12 to 9 at South Street Seaport

The Food fun never ends! And now with Beer...

So get down to the Seaport this Sunday to enjoy yet another Food Truck festival, this time with and international flair. Bites & Brews...well maybe don't bring the kids. What could be better than being in the Seaport eating amazing Food Truck meals as well as being totally shit faced? Hmmm...

Here's a link:

iadventure.com/index.cfm

Again I won't be able to go, and man am I steamed about it.

Num Pang's Delicious Cambodian Sandwiches In Union Square

A sandwich to rival the Vietnamese Bahn Mi...maybe. Num Pang is a three year old, hole-in-wall, shop that brings traditional Cambodian sandwiches to New York City with it's two locations. One on 12th street just off of University and the other in near Grand Central at 41st street. Similarities abound between the Vietnamese and Cambodian subs with the use of vegetables that accent the meal. However that is where the similarities end. The sandwiches from Num Pang have a wider range of tasty meats and fish that truly set it apart from the more familiar Bahn Mi. For instance there are choices like:

Catfish
Pulled Pork
Coconut Tiger Shrimp
Meatballs
Skirt Steak
Pork Belly
Brisket
Bluefish
Sausage
Turkey Breast
Chicken

There is also a number of vegetarian selections, soups and salads to choose from, plus an amazing Grilled Corn on the Cob to go along with several other sides. Not to purposely steal a line from Transformers, but here 'there's more than meets the eye' when comparing to the Vietnamese sandwich. So head on over to Num Pang to try out one of their handcrafted selections so you too can compare which sandwich is better. As much as I love the Bahn Mi, Num Pang's sandwiches are far superior, however that doesn't mean I won't eat the former more often...some habits are hard to break.

Click the link below to read the Daily News article about Num Pang:

www.nydailynews.com/life-style/eats/num-pang-brings-cambodian-sandwiches-union-square-article-1.1125709

Eddie's Pizza In A Fight Over Entourage???

Man I miss Entourage. The show ending it's run on HBO has really left a void in my life and no matter how many times I watch the DVD's it's still not the same. Thankfully I have just heard that the creator, Doug Ellin, has started writing a script for what could possibly be the motion picture version of the show. However until then I will just have to deal with the news that Entourage is part of a lawsuit in Long Island...over pizza. Really? Apparently Eddie's Pizza was featured in an episode where the boys have a few pies flown to LA because they feel there is no good pizza there. Soon after Eddie's Pizza became well known for their signature 'Bar Pies' and now are really pissed that other Pizza joints are using what they believe to be their registered trademark.

One of the Pizzerias involved has already agreed to remove the name 'Bar Pie' from their menu even though they think it's silly. They believe the term is a style of Pizza that has been made for over a hundred years and no one should have a claim to it.

Maybe it's time Ari Gold got involved. He could broker a truce by offering the other Pizzeria joints a role in one of his movies. Oh wait, he's not real. He just the actor Jeremy Piven who only eats Sushi and gets mercury poison so he can't do his Broadway play, maybe we'll leave him out of it.

This has happened before. Men in Black 2 (as in 2 too many) used Ben's Pizza in SoHo to film an early scene in the movie. This caused great interest in the Pizza Parlor and to this day the poster for MIB2 is still in their window. Of course other Pizza places claimed to be Ben's, just like the once common Ray's Pizza of NYC, another Ben's opened up claiming to be better than the original.

Can't we all just get along? I'm sure cooler heads will prevail, even in a serious business like Pizza and all will realize that they can exist together. Bottom line? If the Pizza is good people will eat it no matter what it's called...

Cinnabon Opens A Location In Libya?

Oh brother. It seems that there is no end to the trend of crappy food being popular anywhere in the world. Did you know that the expansion of US Fast Food restaurants around the world has led to the decline of good health? Not shocked? Neither am I.

So why not open a Cinnabon in Libya, doesn't that seem like a great idea? Apparently they tried to open the location in that nations capital of Tripoli two years ago, but the country's revolution made them delay a bit...how nice. I think it's great when an American company opens up a location in an area where just a year before a crazy ruler was promoting hate and terrorism. Maybe Cinnamon Buns are just what that country needs! Maybe creating some long term health problems will be the answer to peace in the region. Yeah clogged arteries! That way they will forget their disputes over land, or religion, or whatever, because they will be stuck in the emergency room with heart palpitations.

As a bonus the new Cinnabon location in Tripoli also sells Carvel Ice Cream! Now families over there are going to buy a Fudgie The Whale cake for their kids birthdays! Woo Hoo! It's quite possible that Fudgie could be the olive branch to world peace because who can argue that the cookie crunchies inside Carvel Ice Cream cakes aren't the best ever? You see we can all agree!

Parked! 2012 Food Truck Festival This Saturday 8/4 at South Street Seaport

And you thought the Food Truck Rally in Prospect Park was a big deal. Well just wait until Saturday when 30 of the best Food Trucks in the City will be parked by the South Street Seaport! That's right, from 11 am until 10 pm, all of your favorite trucks will be there so you don't have to go running around the City to find them.

Go here to find out more:
meanredproductions.com/5898

How to get to Parked:
parked.meanredproductions.com/category/location

Unfortunately this is one big event I'm going to miss, but I hope all that read this will go and report back to me just how delicious it was!

11 Of The Best Cold Noodle Dishes In NYC From NY Mag

I've always loved Cold Sesame Noodles, but it's certainly something I have to be in the mood to eat. To me it's the perfect appetizer to share, that way you are not eating the whole thing and feeling really full before you get to your entree. Now I'm not suggesting ordering Cold Sesame Noodles just anywhere, thankfully NY Mag has come up with a list of the 11 best Cold Noodle dishes in the city:

newyork.grubstreet.com/2012/07/eleven-cold-noodle-dishes-for-summer.html?mid=twitter_grubst

Also I've included a recipe for those of you who would like to try and make it yourself at home, or to impress your friends at a dinner party. Read below:

Chinese Cold Noodles

1 lb. iron man noodles, cooked, drained and cooled
1/2 lb chicken breast, boiled and juilienned
3 eggs, cooked into egg sheet and julienned
2 cups cucumber, julienned
2 cups carrots, shredded
2 cups bean sprouts, washed
1-2 cups preserved mustard green, shredded or julienned
1 cup creamy peanut butter
~1 cup boiling water
sesame oil
soy sauce
red wine vinegar

To make the peanut sauce: Place peanut butter in a medium bowl. Pour 1/4 cup boiling water into the bowl and carefully stir the water into the peanut butter. Continue stirring until incorporated. Add another 1/4 cup of water and repeat until creamy (pourable) consistency is reached. Add 1-2 tbsp sesame oil, 1-2 tbsp soy sauce and 1-2 tbsp of vinegar to taste. Mix well.

Place a mound of noodles in a bowl or on a plate. Top with carrots, cucumber, mustard green, egg, sprouts, and chicken. Pour peanut sauce over the noodles and eat.

The Best Ramen Noodles in The City Goes to Chuko in Brooklyn according to the Daily News

Back during my college years there were many days when I didn't have any money just like a lot students, and often times I could only afford one meal a day. I'm still here however so it wasn't as bad as it sounds. With the little money I had from working a part time job at the Hard Rock Cafe, I'd have to plan out exactly what I was going to spend and couldn't allow any excesses. We're talking about college here where excesses are commonplace, so inevitably I'd run out of money before the week ended which meant I wasn't going to eat...much.

It was NYC in 1989, times were different and some of the supermarkets had yet to convert to scanning every item, still slapping each item with price stickers. So an almost starving student in Midtown took it upon himself to switch some prices around to conserve as much money as possible, horrible I know but completely necessary. My diet consisted of several staples:

Sliced White Bread
Chunky Peanut Butter
Strawberry Jelly
Saltine Crackers
Granny Smith Apples (My vitamins)
Store Brand Ice Tea Mix
Ramen Noodles

That was basically it. On a good day, where it was easy to peel the stickers, I'd leave the grocery store paying around 10 bucks which would leave me with enough money for a Toasted Bagel from the deli near school for breakfast.
Lunch was always Peanut Butter and Jelly and a Granny Smith Apple, not exactly five star quality, but sufficient nonetheless.
At night sitting in my dorm room I'd dream about large Pizza Pies with delicious melted Mozzarella, footlong Sandwiches filled with tasty meats, and sloppy Burgers covered with Cheese, Bacon and dripping ketchup. Oh but it was not to be. My dinners came in a package, but they weren't TV dinners.

Ramen Noodles, never the choice, always the dinner.

Cooked in my trusty little crock pot, the noodles were the cheapest meal on the planet, and probably still are. Unfortunately that's how they tasted as well, but I got used to it.

So forgive me if I wasn't all over the trend of Ramen Noodle restaurants in New York City since I just didn't have it in me to go back to my college days. However I'm starting to think that it's time I changed my tune. Ramen Noodles have truly become a high quality meal from food trucks, to food vendors, to restaurants, and at this point there seems to be no stopping the trend.

This past Sunday the Daily News put out their choice for the best Ramen in the City, which went to Chuko in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. Click the link below to read their article...

www.nydailynews.com/life-style/eats/best-new-york-a-great-bowl-ramen-brooklyn-chuko-t-beat-article-1.1122263