prosciutto, arugula, mozzarella
This is one of eight pizzas that Chris made tonight. And so the Sunday night dinner and HBO viewing tradition continues! I hope Girls redeems itself from last week’s episode which was full of unbelievable and, to me, weird scenarios.
In case you missed the previous Sunday pizza party.
The view from up here. (Taken with Instagram at Essex & Rivington, NYC)
Sometimes I find out an ex boyfriend is married.
swing swing
Last weekend, during a one-sided crying session (my side) Chris gently reminded me that life isn’t so hard - or complicated. I think he also said ‘laughter is the best medicine,’ but I blocked it from memory because that’s ridiculous.
Just kidding.
(Source: octopussoir-, via newsweek)
Now you can get dishes recommended to you based on foods you’ve loved in the past, see Yelp star ratings and reviews, and even make a reservation right in the Foodspotting app. It’s the food app we always wanted to use ourselves and make for you, and now it’s here!
Introducing Foodspotting 3.5: Your Personal Picture Menu
Free for iPhone, Android and Windows Phone foodspotting.com/apps
“Dear Mr. Sendak,” read one, from an 8-year-old boy. “How much does it cost to get to where the wild things are? If it is not expensive, my sister and I would like to spend the summer there.”
- From this morning’s New York Times Book section: Maurice Sendak, Author of Splendid Nightmares, Dies at 83
Just finished reading about Mr. Sendak’s half century-long career as an illustrator and writer while nursing a cup of lukewarm coffee. Being reminded that death takes indiscriminately always leaves me feeling bleak. Today’s gloomy grey weather seems appropriate.
P.S. I love this anecdote, too…
“Once a little boy sent me a charming card with a little drawing on it. I loved it. I answer all my children’s letters — sometimes very hastily — but this one I lingered over. I sent him a card and I drew a picture of a Wild Thing on it. I wrote, “Dear Jim: I loved your card.” Then I got a letter back from his mother and she said, “Jim loved your card so much he ate it.” That to me was one of the highest compliments I’ve ever received. He didn’t care that it was an original Maurice Sendak drawing or anything. He saw it, he loved it, he ate it.” - Maurice Sendak
image via.
allswell that ends well
I remember when food trucks first took to Twitter, using the real-time social media tool to broadcast their location, specials of the day and to shoot the shit with customers. The social media trend has taken hold of restaurants too, with many boasting Facebook links on their websites. Most of these Facebook pages usually do not show high levels of customer engagement, however. What’s worse, most feel like an afterthought. Who has the time to run a restaurant and update Facebook and Twitter, anyway? I always wonder which PR agency they’ve hired to ghost tweet or which overworked employee they have tasked with logging in to tap out 140 characters with overt cheerfulness.
So what is it about Allswell’s online presence that I like? They don’t even have a real website. (Gah!) But where they lack a dedicated URL, they have a Tumblr which is updated daily with what’s on offer that night. I love that the colors of their logo changes, too, but not the logo. I admit it: I even like the font they use. They have to print out new menus each night anyway, why not post it online? And Tumblr makes it easy to do so.
There are at least two more reasons why Allswell does it for me. The focus is still on the food, the daily-changing menu, but they’re smart enough to let people know about it. Also, their customers are the kind to like being reminded of what’s cooking. Allswell uses Twitter and Tumblr consistently and they’ve made it easy for themselves by linking these two accounts. Every Tumblr posts automatically sends to Twitter.
Using social media to share what’s good, like the chef’s recommendations, needn’t be hard. It just needs to have consistency in the frequency and voice. And if you change up the visuals, even something as simple as the color of a logo, then even better. In the end, a Twitter account with hundreds or thousands of followers will not keep a restaurant in business, but having a grown up version of a spicy McChicken sandwich (their peppery and tender ‘Crispy Chicken Sandwich’ is available during lunch and brunch) and reminding customers what they love about your restaurant even when they’re not inside just might.
Allswell, 124 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn (347) 799-2743
Friday night sushi picnic at Chris’s music studio. Deadline tomorrow…
photo taken with Instagram at Mixtape Club
My company, Foodspotting, was nominated for a Webby in the Mobile & Apps: Guides / Ratings / Reviews category. Our fellow nominees are formidable and more established, but I’ve always been of the mind that the underdog shall not be underestimated. Please vote!
(Source: foodspotting)
“I’m not scared. This is just my face.”
photo taken at home with instagram
congrats and thanks to the instagram team for always making me look so damn cute. - mittens
A day of mixed emotions Interesting day for the startup community: Facebook acquires Instagram for $1 billion and the news from Instagram on Tumblr.
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scene from sunday night
Chris and I had friends over last night for our first ever Mad Men watching and pizza making dinner gathering. Turns out it’s incredibly easy to make pizza — just add toppings to pizza dough (you can buy dough from most pizzerias if you don’t want to make your own) and bake on a pizza stone…
The hard part, I guess, is already owning a pizza stone, which Chris does because these things just come naturally to him. I, on the other hand, don’t even have a spatula to call my own, let alone pizza making paraphernalia. My biggest contribution to the kitchen since I moved in four months ago? These simple bistro tumblers I found at Task, my favorite home design shop in Williamsburg, which, I must point out, we use way more often than the pizza stone.
photo taken with instagram @ home
Just two weeks ago I was in Texas with the Foodspotting team tearing the meat off the bones on this plate and drowning them in barbecue sauce at the famous Salt Lick…
Afterward, my coworker Chris and I hopped on a party bus outfitted with a karaoke machine, Christmas lights and feather boas back to Austin. Meanwhile, champion eater Kobayashi napped in the back of the bus on an elevated platform that looked like a canopy bed. It was one of the weirder experiences I’ve had in my life.
Earlier this month, the Foodspotting team reunited in Austin, Texas for our third annual SXSW Street Food Fest which drew 5,000 attendees despite the rainy weather! Check out the recap and pics from our food truck extravaganza.
Photo of meat platter from The Salt Lick BBQ by Chris Connolly. Follow him on Tumblr.
(Source: foodspotting)