Friday Fourplay: Awesome Manga Latte Art, A Grilling Gift Pack Giveaway, Pet Bird-Flavored Ice Cream, and A New Taste of The Upper West Side Giveaway

Posted on May 24, 2013 | Leave a comment

Flavorful World’s Friday Fourplay offers up a bite-sized tidbit of info on each of the four food- and drink-related things we found most interesting each week.

Photo credit: Tokyo Times

Photo credit: Tokyo Times

Manga Latte Art

The manner of presentation of food and drink being considered a legitimate art form is nothing new; we see the comparison made all the time. Meticulously-arranged meals plated in an attractive fashion are called “masterpieces.” Cocktails constructed with striking stylizations get photographed and those photographs blogged and re-blogged ad infinitum. Still, every so often, something food art-related speaks to the geek me in a personal way. This manga-inspired latte art created by talented latte artist Sugi is one such thing. Speaking as a fan of both manga and anime, the level of detail in these astoundingly accurate renderings seem more than worth waiting a bit longer for my cup of joe. Using toothpicks to draw in the milk foam atop the hot coffee drinks, she manages to do more with chocolate syrups and cocktails syrups than most people could do with pencil and ink, and that’s so cool, it’s hot (and caffeinated!)

Via Tokyo Times

Photo credit: Food Republic

Photo credit: Food Republic

Grilling Gift Pack Giveaway

Quality food delivery has been the business of Schwan’s Home Service for over 60 years. With the Memorial Day weekend about to unofficially kick off this summer’s grilling season (and with May being Grilling Month over at Food Republic,) Schwan’s is hosting a contest for a chance to do the thing up right without spending a fortune. For a limited time, visitors to their website can enter for a chance to win an 11-product meat and seafood sampler pack worth $250 and including high quality awesomeness like Beef Sirloin, Fire-grilled Italian Cod, Salmon Burgers, and more. Carnivores unite; Schwan’s is thinking about us and wants us to be happy…

Via Food Republic

Photo credit: birdcafe.jp

Photo credit: birdcafe.jp

Bird-Flavored Ice Cream

Japan’s Torimi Café serves up homemade sweets in a comfortable setting that surrounds its patrons with birds.  The latest ice cream flavor offerings it has rolled out (debuted earlier this month in Osaka at a small bird expo, natch) seem to take its characteristic appreciation for our feathered friends to new heights.  Available in Parakeet, Java Sparrow, and Cockatiel, these ice cream flavors are intended to evoke “the aroma of parakeet” on your palate, or that moment “when you’re sleeping with your mouth open and your cockatiel runs over your face and gets its leg in your mouth.” (and honestly, who among us hasn’t been there at one time or another?) Insert your bird pun of choice here.

Via Foodbeast

Photo credit: The Braiser

Photo credit: The Braiser

The New Taste of the Upper West Side Classics 2013

The Braiser has two tickets to the New Taste of the Upper West Side Classics with your name on them. Happening next Friday, May 31st, this event hosted by Adam Richman will see over 40 chefs gather to showcase their best, most comforting culinary creations. Tickets are available for purchase at $105.00, or you can enter here for a chance at a gratis pair. Then after you enter, go polish up some witty repartee and maybe an interesting question or two for the chefs and culinary personalities that will be mingling among the crowds just waiting to rub elbows with you.

Via The Braiser

*Mention of a product, good, or service in a Friday Fourplay posting should not be interpreted as an endorsement either from Anthony Beal or Flavorful World food and drink blog. Vendors are not notified ahead of time that their products/services will be featured, thus Flavorful World will at the time of posting have had no related interactions with said vendors or any sample of their products/services by which to judge them. As such, we have no idea what these vendors are like to work with, or about the quality of their merchandise and are unqualified to vouch for them as reputable. Our Friday Fourplay lists are posted in the simple spirit of our having come across something that looks and sounds engaging, and thinking that perhaps our readers will think so too; no more, no less. With that in mind, patronize these establishments and vendors at your own risk.
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Posted in Drinks, Food, Holiday, Japan, New York City

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So What’s Pouring At The May 29th Spirits of Mexico Festival?

Posted on May 21, 2013 | Leave a comment
Photo credit: TheSpiritsofMexico.com

Photo credit: TheSpiritsofMexico.com

With just over a week left until the Spirits of Mexico festival takes over New York City’s Astor Center for an evening, I thought I’d examine some of the spirits that attendees will be sampling.  While I’m familiar enough with tequila and mescal, other like raicilla, bacanora, and sotol are wild cards to me because I’ve never tasted them.  I’m looking forward to a thorough education on the merits and nuances of each, led by experts in the field on May 29th between 6 and 9 p.m.  For now, I’m happy to share here, for the benefit of those who are as unfamiliar as I am with these spirits, a few highlights on how each one is produced.  I pulled this info from the Spirits of Mexico website, and from RaicillaCentral.com, two wonderful resources for anyone seeking to learn more about lesser-known Mexican spirits.

Bacanora
A 400-hundred year old spirit distilled from wild Silvestre agaves that flourish in the Sierra Madres Mountains of Sonora…The mature agaves are harvested and slowly roasted in underground pits. The roasting process contributes to its mineral nuances. Fermentation takes place in wooden or stainless steel vats for upwards of 10 to 12 days. The roasted agaves are then fermented in open wooden vats, a long process that utilizes wild, airborne yeasts to precipitate fermentation. Bacanora is double-distilled in a copper pot stills and bottled at 40% alcohol by volume.
Via TheSpiritsofMexico.com

 Raicilla
A centuries old drink… [Agave is cooked] over a slow fire, to produce a fine, aromatic steam. When the steam comes in contact with a copper cone cooled by fresh spring water, it condenses and, drop by drop falls into a slender mezcal sheath  (husk). The aromatic liquid is then received by a glass jug and is given a final purification step in this completely natural process. Extreme patience is required because it takes an average of eight years from the planting of the agave, to obtaining Raicilla…it is safe to say that Raicilla can be considered the grandfather or the predecessor of Mexico’s most famous drink.
Via RaicillaCentral.com

Sotol
Sotol is distilled from the desert spoon plant, a hardy variety of agave native to deserts of Chihuahua. It takes the plant 12 to 15 years to mature and yield the highest amounts of fermentable sugars. After harvesting, the agave are baked in clay ovens for upwards of 3 days, crushed to extract the agave’s precious juice and then allowed to slowly ferment. The fermented wash is double-distilled in copper pot stills.
Via TheSpiritsofMexico.com

Spirits-of-Mexico-LVA-Logo-CMYKFlavorful World is proud to be a media partner with the Spirits of Mexico festival coming to lower Manhattan’s Astor Center on May 29, 2013.  Catch our live Tweets from the event by following @flavorfulworld

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Posted in Cocktails, Drinks, New York City

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Raise a Glass to National Chardonnay Day on May 23rd!

Posted on May 20, 2013 | Leave a comment
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

National Chardonnay Day is coming this Thursday, and our friends at Wente Vineyards want to include you in the celebration!  To that end, the Wente family is hosting a live toast to this delicious and versatile wine dubbed America’s Favorite Varietal on Toutsuite.com.

Here are the details, courtesy of California’s First Family of Chardonnay:

In 1912, the Wente family brought Chardonnay cuttings from France and planted them in the Livermore Valley. The 1936 vintage was the first varietally labeled Chardonnay in the nation. Today, the Wente clone of Chardonnay is the most widely planted in California.

When:
Thursday May 23, 2013
4:00 PM PST

Where:
Wente Vineyards Events Center,or via ToutSuite, or wherever you wish to enjoy and share a glass of Chardonnay!

How to Celebrate:

  • Open a bottle of your favorite Chardonnay with friends and family and toast this special occasion!
  • Join the conversation on Wente Vineyards Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages!
  • Host your own National Chardonnay Day Celebration with friends and family! Click here to download the Party Kit from Wente Vineyards’ exclusive National Chardonnay Day page!

Tweet it:
Join in on the virtual toast by tagging @WENTE and using the hashtag #CHARDDAY #WENTECHARD between 4 PM and 5 PM PST

Facebook it:
Share your photos and video of Wente Vineyards and tag @WENTE VINEYARDS

CHEERS!

For questions and more information please contact Charles Communications Associates at press@charlescomm.com or 415-701-WINE (9463)

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Posted in Food, Wine

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Friday Fourplay: A Cheese Grater Business Card, A Drinkable Tea Calendar, Canada’s New Restaurant for Gamers, and the Film/Lit Cocktail Chart

Posted on May 17, 2013 | Leave a comment

Flavorful World’s Friday Fourplay offers up a bite-sized tidbit of info on each of the four food- and drink-related things we found most interesting each week.

Photo credit: Foodbeast.com

Photo credit: Bon Vivant

Cheese Grater Business Card

So, in the almost 40 years that I’ve been kicking around this place and others, I’ve amassed a fair collection of business cards from various establishments with the expectation that having their info would facilitate my continued patronage. However, I’ve never once encountered a business card of such unmitigated awesomeness that I felt compelled to snag more than one, or been barred by store policy from doing so.  Having said that, I’ve never visited Brazilian cheese shop Bon Vivant, or had one of their cheese-grating business cards offered to me.  I might feel differently then, because these light metal graters printed with the store’s contact info double as functional cheese graters with the dimensions of a standard-sized business card.  The limited 1,000 produced by JWT ad agency proved so popular that bon Vivant was forced to limit the frequency with which customers could return to receive another one.  Hopefully there are more on the way, because Brazil is very near the top of my list of desired vacation destinations and when I arrive, my cheese ain’t gonna shred itself.

Via Huffington Post

Photo credit: Foodbeast.com

Photo credit: Foodbeast.com

The Tea Calendar You Can Drink

German tea manufacturer Hälssen & Lyon is out to make sure each new day is a good one for tea drinkers.  The product they’re using to accomplish this is a 365-day calendar made up of date-bearing tear-away tabs composed of pressed, dried tea leaves.  How it works is simple: you heat water for tea, then tear off the respective date, put it into your cup of hot water, and let it steep.  Minutes later, savor the flavor, fullness, and aroma of a brand new day.  Savor it!

Via Foodbeast

Photo credit: EXPbar.ca

Photo credit: EXPbar.ca

Canada’s Video Game Restaurant

Vancouver, British Columbia is the site of shiny new gamers’ food paradise, EXP Restaurant and Bar. Old schoolers will come for the Super Smash Nachos, and likely will stay for the Triforce Burger (branded with the mystical Legend of Zelda insignia) and for the general air of merriment one would rightly expect of an establishment boasting an extensive menu of drinks named after various Pokemon (and possibly for main course menu items bearing names like “Epic Shrimp and Crab Battle for Righteousness.”) Failing that, the large screen televisions positioned throughout the place for gamers to get their Goldeneye on tournament-style between bites should do the trick.

Via Kotaku

Photo credit: Cool Material

Photo credit: Cool Material

The Cocktail Chart of Film and Literature

This one’s exactly what it sounds like: a chart of the forty-nine most iconic mixed drinks in all of literature and filmdom, with instructions on how to craft a perfect rendering of each one.  Removing the guesswork as you attempt to drink like your favorite fictional characters…that will free up all sorts of time you’ll be able to spend reading and watching your favorite films (and calling it mixology research.)

Via Cool Material

*Mention of a product, good, or service in a Friday Fourplay posting should not be interpreted as an endorsement either from Anthony Beal or Flavorful World food and drink blog. Vendors are not notified ahead of time that their products/services will be featured, thus Flavorful World will at the time of posting have had no related interactions with said vendors or any sample of their products/services by which to judge them. As such, we have no idea what these vendors are like to work with, or about the quality of their merchandise and are unqualified to vouch for them as reputable. Our Friday Fourplay lists are posted in the simple spirit of our having come across something that looks and sounds engaging, and thinking that perhaps our readers will think so too; no more, no less. With that in mind, patronize these establishments and vendors at your own risk.

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Posted in Cocktails, Drinks, Food

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Celebrating A Decade’s Achievements at NYC’s May 29th Spirits of Mexico Festival 2013

Posted on May 14, 2013 | Leave a comment

On the evening of May 29th, 2013, Flavorful World food and drink blog is going to the 10th Annual Spirits of Mexico Festival being held at lower Manhattan’s Astor Center. From there, the party moves late next month to Chicago, Illinois, and then to San Diego, California from August through September for a host of events including the Spirits of Mexico Tasting Competition, Tequila Trail, Awards Dinner, and more.

For ten years, the event has been bringing together aficionados and industry experts alike, all of them gathering to proclaim their passion for agave spirits and how best to enjoy them in their purest expressions. These fetes have also explored the evolving role of such spirits in Mexican cuisine and have collected numerous accolades over the course of a decade spent furthering knowledge and appreciation of tequila and many of Mexico’s fine spirits that are lesser-known in the United States.

Here’s a small sampling of honors and recognitions this oldest, largest Mexican spirits event in the United States has earned:

  • In 2012, this annual celebration of “the agave distiller’s art” earned the declaration from Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer that its May 23rd commencement would be known as official “Spirits of Mexico Appreciation Day” in the City of New York.
  • In 2011, The Spirits of Mexico festival was selected as the exclusive organization to host and debut a certification program of ascending educational courses for enthusiasts seeking to earn the title of Master Mezcalier.
  • In 2009, the event was cited as one of 6 Food Festivals That Are Worth the Trip in the September issue of O, the Oprah Magazine.
  • The festival has earned commendations from the Old Town San Diego Chamber of Commerce for the past three consecutive years in 2010, 2011, and 2012.

It bears repeating here: these are but a small portion of all that this event has accomplished since its simultaneous launches in New York City and San Diego, California a decade ago. One can only imagine what honors await the Spirits of Mexico festival in the future.

So if, like me, your idea of a good time includes award-winning spirits and fine Mexican gastronomy showcased at a renowned annual multi-city event frequented by masters of their craft and the people who love them, Tickets are still available. Don’t miss your chance to get in on the celebration.

 

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Posted in Bar/Lounge, Cocktails, Drinks, Food

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