Friends, Fans and Foodophiles,
As some of you may know, my time in the Big Apple is winding down, and I will be soon moving out of the city. Given so many of you have been instrumental to my time in NYC, I was hoping to host one last food tour to say a proper goodbye to the city that has raised me for 5 years.
Please mark your calendars for JULY 23, 2011 - details will come soon, but the usual walking + after tour drinks should be expected. I do hope you can make it out, tell your friends to come too!
Best,
Brian
Monday, June 20, 2011
Farewell Food Tour - SAVE THE DATE 7/23/11
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Do Chef's Get Writer's Block?
If they do, does the restaurant close? What causes a chef to get this writer's block? What would you even call it?
Writer's block is fundamentally a lack of creativity in the moment. This is usually due to an inexplicable lack of inspiration or motivation. You aren't aware of it consciously yet, but there is something that just isn’t there anymore. The spark plug that would ignite the engine block is gone, and nothing happens when you try to turn the key.
Lights are dull. Wine has no taste. Food merely keeps us alive.
I was standing a grocery store a few days ago, and realized I couldn’t hear anything. Not in the sense of the ambient sound, but I couldn’t hear the groceries speaking to me. I had no connection to that which I used to bring me so much creative joy. I haven’t even touched a pan for more than 2 months. Why? As a chef, I have always been able to draw from that which moves me to cobble pieces of life together into sustenance, but in my current state, I can't. Even my writing has stopped flowing. I haven't been able to hold a thought long enough to put pen to paper and provide a meal for the mind.
Too much noise in my own head. What I wouldn't give for the smell of sautéing garlic in my own house.
I miss the taste of food. But I cannot create. I am a fridge in a bachelor pad.
Empty
- The UE
Read More......
Writer's block is fundamentally a lack of creativity in the moment. This is usually due to an inexplicable lack of inspiration or motivation. You aren't aware of it consciously yet, but there is something that just isn’t there anymore. The spark plug that would ignite the engine block is gone, and nothing happens when you try to turn the key.
Lights are dull. Wine has no taste. Food merely keeps us alive.
I was standing a grocery store a few days ago, and realized I couldn’t hear anything. Not in the sense of the ambient sound, but I couldn’t hear the groceries speaking to me. I had no connection to that which I used to bring me so much creative joy. I haven’t even touched a pan for more than 2 months. Why? As a chef, I have always been able to draw from that which moves me to cobble pieces of life together into sustenance, but in my current state, I can't. Even my writing has stopped flowing. I haven't been able to hold a thought long enough to put pen to paper and provide a meal for the mind.
Too much noise in my own head. What I wouldn't give for the smell of sautéing garlic in my own house.
I miss the taste of food. But I cannot create. I am a fridge in a bachelor pad.
Empty
- The UE
Friday, May 21, 2010
Dare the Bear
Tomorrow, I compete in my first real triathlon, Black Bear in Lehighton, PA, along side one of my best friends and in front of our closests supporters.
650m Swim
11 mile Bike
3.1 mile Run
My meals this week have consisted of lots of fruit, whole grain breads, healthy fats like avocados, and lean meats or fish. Nothing fried or processed. After the race, Im eating an entire pound of brisket!!!!
I plan to get out there, be smooth and fast, and CRUSH IT!!!!
This time tomorrow, I will officially be a TRIATHLETE!!! This is but the first step in the road to Iron Man 70.3 in October. Heeeeere we go!!!
- The UE
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Cinco De Mayo (and the Triathlete's Burden)
Happy Cinco de Mayo guys! Here's to those French being good for memorable wine easy defeats in battle.
I only wish I could enjoy this day more. My first triathlon is on May 22nd (http://www.cgiracing.com/2009Events/BlackBearTri.aspx), so for the month of may I am totally off the sauce, to ensure peak performance. ARRRRRGGGHHH!!!!!!!!
There's always next year. Fare the well my latin friends...
Friday, April 9, 2010
Simply Smarter
Do you remember in the late 90’s / early 2000’s when Chevron really started pushing Techron? Their entire pitch was based on the premise that their fuel was the best to put in your car. It has technology to help your car run longer. Techron could help clean your engine parts. It even kept the new car smell longer (ok, maybe not that). The point is that Chevron started a movement focused on how the intake of a vehicle can vastly improve its performance. Shell premiered its own line of enhanced gas products. Valvoline debuted its line of oil enhancing products focused on keeping engine parts clean and smooth. Day after day we continue to be bombarded with messages expressing that what goes into a performance vehicle (or even your neighborhood minivan) has a direct correlation to how well that vehicle runs.
So what about the vehicle of the human body?
Lately I have been trying to answer the question of nutrition for triathlon training. As you would expect, most of the literature suggests that I have a balanced diet consisting of the healthiest of foods – whole grains, natural fruits and vegetables, lean meats and fish. But why? Isn’t a calorie a calorie? Does it really matter from where I source my carbs, proteins and fats if they all total the right figures? Why can’t I live off of the McDonald’s menu?
These are all questions I have had floating around my head (read: stomach) as doubts to the science of fueling my body to perform. But to sustain biking dozens of miles, or running a marathon, or even just making it through a week of training without severe digestive issues, I have realized that my body must be treated like the performance machine it is. As I progress through this lifestyle, I realize more each day that I am asking my body to be a Ferrari, but feeding it the cargo for a garbage truck. How can I expect to be the fastest on the race course if I am weighing myself down with Big Mac’s that don’t digest fully? How can I aim to drop unneeded body fat when I am fueling my body with the low density lipids and trans fat laden in chili con queso? I have recorded evidence that I perform much more strongly after a dinner of sushi and edamame than a cheeseburger and fries.
Recently I have actually had to come to grips with the effects Mexican food has on my body pre-training. As you may have noticed from previous posts, I have a deep rooted passion for Tex-Mex foods. However I have noted through my scientific process of journaling the foods I eat (down to the actual calories and nutrition mix detail), that certain south of the border foods take the air out of my tires pre-training. I have thus sworn them off before training, and will only enjoy them on my off days. I’m fearful of what other foods will fall off my list. Will I no longer be able to enjoy a nice glass of wine with dinner? Are the days of the chocolate chip cookie numbered???
My current deliberations have led me to believe that to properly fuel my training, I need to adjust my intakes to align more closely with the foods our bodies were meant to digest. That means increase of beans, carrots, fruits, fish, etc. That also means a significant decrease in the amount of alcohol, cheese, FOIE GRAS, and other unnaturally occurring materials entering my body. Just thinking about what sugar can do to a GAS TANK has led me to cut way back on sweets (farewell tiramisu).
At the end of the day, my goal is to be the fittest, fastest and foodiest triathlete there is. The quest to not be this guy continues…
- The UE
Read More......
So what about the vehicle of the human body?
Lately I have been trying to answer the question of nutrition for triathlon training. As you would expect, most of the literature suggests that I have a balanced diet consisting of the healthiest of foods – whole grains, natural fruits and vegetables, lean meats and fish. But why? Isn’t a calorie a calorie? Does it really matter from where I source my carbs, proteins and fats if they all total the right figures? Why can’t I live off of the McDonald’s menu?
These are all questions I have had floating around my head (read: stomach) as doubts to the science of fueling my body to perform. But to sustain biking dozens of miles, or running a marathon, or even just making it through a week of training without severe digestive issues, I have realized that my body must be treated like the performance machine it is. As I progress through this lifestyle, I realize more each day that I am asking my body to be a Ferrari, but feeding it the cargo for a garbage truck. How can I expect to be the fastest on the race course if I am weighing myself down with Big Mac’s that don’t digest fully? How can I aim to drop unneeded body fat when I am fueling my body with the low density lipids and trans fat laden in chili con queso? I have recorded evidence that I perform much more strongly after a dinner of sushi and edamame than a cheeseburger and fries.
Recently I have actually had to come to grips with the effects Mexican food has on my body pre-training. As you may have noticed from previous posts, I have a deep rooted passion for Tex-Mex foods. However I have noted through my scientific process of journaling the foods I eat (down to the actual calories and nutrition mix detail), that certain south of the border foods take the air out of my tires pre-training. I have thus sworn them off before training, and will only enjoy them on my off days. I’m fearful of what other foods will fall off my list. Will I no longer be able to enjoy a nice glass of wine with dinner? Are the days of the chocolate chip cookie numbered???
My current deliberations have led me to believe that to properly fuel my training, I need to adjust my intakes to align more closely with the foods our bodies were meant to digest. That means increase of beans, carrots, fruits, fish, etc. That also means a significant decrease in the amount of alcohol, cheese, FOIE GRAS, and other unnaturally occurring materials entering my body. Just thinking about what sugar can do to a GAS TANK has led me to cut way back on sweets (farewell tiramisu).
At the end of the day, my goal is to be the fittest, fastest and foodiest triathlete there is. The quest to not be this guy continues…
- The UE
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