The taping of the showdown took place last night at the LES bar The Delancey and both deli’s brought crowds and energy to cheer for their teams. I of course, was on Team 2nd Ave Deli, proudly wearing my t-shirt. There were six tasters (including the Village Voice food critic, a linebacker from the Jets, and long time customers of each prospective deli) and an appearance by Times Square’s Naked Cowboy! I can’t tell you who won this showdown of course, but stay tuned for the episode which will air this Spring!

Here are some pics of the activities:

The Naked Cowboy sang a little opening ceremony deli tune.

The 2nd Ave Deli t-shirt, complete with a listing of its delicacies.

Camera crew.

The cheering crowd!

Team 2nd Ave representing.

Katz’s fans, with a sign of the famous line from When Harry Met Sally (filmed at Katz’s of course).

To the left, 2nd Ave Deli owner Jack Lebwohl, and to the right is Katz’s owner Alan Dell.

Pastrami A (2nd Ave)

Pastrami B (Katz’s)

And there I am, with Food Wars host Camille Ford

The episode will air sometime in April, stay tuned for details and the WINNER!

Wedding choice of two entrees; Chicken Breast with Root Vegetables

or Herb Crusted Salmon with Wild Rice and Root Vegetables

Both seasonal and delectable. Win-win.

Le Fooding, is a Parisian food festival that was established in 2000, and celebrated its first year in NYC this weekend. They rounded up the troops: Twelve chefs, three mixologists, two butchers, one ice-cream maker, two DJs, 15 graphic designers, a select vintner, a fine Champagne, some fromages and a mystery guest, to feast your senses and do some conscious good. All proceeds support Action Against Hunger.

On the menu:

We started out with a plate of fromage;

+ Brie, Livarot, Emmental
BY CHEESES OF FRANCE,
served with bread from
BALTHAZAR BAKERY

Up next….
+ Traditional Moroccan Couscous
BY DANIEL BOULUD; OLIVIER MULLER,
DB Bistrot Moderne, NYC .

Here is a photo of Daniel Boulud and little ole me!!

+ Paris-New York Aller-Retour chicken skewer
BY ALBERTO HERRÁIZ,
Fogón, Paris

+ Black Label Burger
BY LEE HANSON, PAT LA FRIEDA, RIAD NASR,
Minetta Tavern, NYC

Next up….

+ Steak with charred aubergine
BY INAKI AIZPITARTE,
Le Chateaubriand, Paris

And then….
+ Barbacoa (beef head taco)
BY JULIE E. FARIAS,
General Greene, Brooklyn, NY

Julie Farias was very rude. My friend is a vegetarian and asked to sample just the taco with its sauces, vegetables and accouterments, and she FLIPPED out and would not adjust her dish, then went on a tirade on how if we came to her restaurant she would make amazing tofu for her. UM NO THANKS. JULIE FARIAS, you suck!!

More beef…

+ Simmered beef and chilled camembert meringue
BY STÉPHANE JÉGO,
L’Ami Jean, Paris

We missed out on the ice cream

LE I SCREAM D’AMOUR
+ Ice cream flavors: Salted Hazelnut Gianduja, Bourbon Vanilla
BY NICHOLAS MORGENSTERN,
The Greene ice cream, Brooklyn NY

There was also some sweet visuals at the event. The lighting was done by Travis Bass.

Song of Songs light show:

Oh Hey, Jess!

Some cool wall art.

James Murphy from LCD Soundsystem and Paul Sevigny on the 1s and 2s.

Le Fooding also opened up the museum for us so that we can wander around at our leisure. Her is a beautiful mural inside the PS1.

The best exhibit right now is the Leandro Erlich: Swimming Pool. The exhibit is a full-size pool, complete with all its trappings, including a deck and a ladder. It is only when visitors enter the Duplex gallery from the basement that they recognize that the pool is empty, its construction a visual trick fashioned by the artist. A large, continuous piece of acrylic spans the pool and suspends water above it, creating the illusion of a standard swimming pool that is both disorienting and humorous. In other words, its really trippy to stand underneath the pool!

Above ground view of the pool:

Underground view of the pool:

I REALLY CANNOT WAIT FOR THIS EVENT NEXT YEAR. IT REALLY WAS AN AWESOME SUCCESS.

This past Father’s Day, I had a great meal at one of the best Greek restaurants in the city, Kefi. Coming from an Israeli family, many Greek flavors are the same as Israeli food. After all, they lie on the Mediterranean, and you can certainly take a ferry between the two countries. We ordered the mezze platter and warm feta to start. The mezze platter was delicious; hummus, tzatziki, taramosalata, eggplant spread, and sun dried tomatoes. But my favorite app was the “Warm Feta, Tomatoes, Capers, Anchovy, Peppers, Olives”. How hard can it be to make this dish?

NOT HARD AT ALL. In fact, it literally took 2 minutes prep and I baked it for 10 minutes in the oven. So I bought a small brick of feta (actually, Bulgarian, since I find it a bit saltier) for $2 and the rest of the ingreds I had in the fridge and cupboard.

Olive oil, tomatoes, garlic, dried oregano

Cheese

Chopped up two cloves of garlic and one roma tomato, pour over block of cheese

Drizzle olive oil and add dried (or fresh) oregano

Baked it for 10 minutes at 350, and here’s the final product. It does not look so different as the “before” shot since the cheese does not melt. It merely warms while the tomatoes and garlic cook, and makes an amazing app with crackers or pita to dip.

SO! Me and my sista ate almost half of the baked feta. Obviously, I wouldn’t throw it away because it was amazing and I can save it for later, right? So I wrapped it back up into the fridge and saved it for tonight. Baked it again at 350 for 10 minutes…..

WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?

WHEN I OPENED THE FOIL POUCH TONIGHT, IT TURNED GREEN!!!!! MORE SPECIFICALLY, THE GARLIC HAD TURNED SHREK GREEN! I BUGGED OUT.

It turns out…garlic turns blue or green when its sulfur compounds come into contact with copper. Not much copper is needed for this to happen. The water in some areas of the United States contains enough copper to cause this reaction. Copper utensils can also instigate a color change in garlic. If garlic is harvested before maturity or is not allowed to completely dry, it can turn green in the presence of acid, such as from lemon. These color changes, as bizarre as they are, do not harm the garlic. It is still safe to eat.

I know that my oven has copper in it. Phew, safe to eat. So I ate it and it was great for the second time around.

Super weird though.
Has this ever happened to you? Hmmm?