Best of the Buzz : Trend Watch

Attack of the Robo-Restaurants

BuzzEditor — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 19:40:00 GMT

Diners order via touch-screens at Philippe Chow Express.

photo: Courtesy of Philippe Chow Express

Following the example of the ATM machine and the self-serve gas pump, restaurateurs around the world have increasingly been incorporating automated components into the dining experience. By doing so, they reduce staff needs in these rough economic times – and further prove the prophetic genius of The Jetsons. From touch-screen wine kiosks to sushi-laden conveyor belts, here are some of ways restaurants are using technology to encourage patrons to DIY.

Adour: At the NYC location of Alain Ducasse’s haute French restaurant, bar patrons browse the wine list (complete with tasting notes) via an interactive menu projected onto a touch-screen bar top.

Bamn!: This bright-pink spot in NYC’s East Village brings back the days of the Automat, with coin-operated machines vending pork buns and mini-burgers.

Clo: At this wine bar in NYC’s Time Warner Center, wines choices are made via a motion-activated list and then patrons fill their glasses from automatic dispensers using prepaid credit cards.

Evo Bistro: Thirty-two wines are available in three different sizes from the automatic dispenser at this Med bistro in McLean, VA.

Inamo: At this quirky London newcomer, diners can choose their own food and drinks, play digital Battleship and even order a taxi home all via a touch screen.

Isobune: Diners at this SF sushi spot catch their own fish as it floats by on a moat.

Luckyfish: Lucille Ball would feel right at home at this new LA sushi restaurant where patrons snag their dinner as it passes by on conveyor belts.

Philippe Chow Express: At this Downtown spin-off of NYC’s Philippe, diners order their dishes from a touch-screen menu.

Pod: Not only does the sushi pass by on a conveyor belt at this Philadelphia spot, diners can choose between nine different colors to illuminate their “pod” seating.

Sakae Sushi: This conveyor-belt sushi chain has already conquered Asia, and now it's set its sights on NYC.

uWink: With locations in SoCal and the Bay Area, this Californian chain by the founder of Atari (and Chuck E. Cheese) lets diners order at interactive tabletops, which double as multiplayer game consoles.

– Justin Hartung

Asian Meets Cajun in Cali

BuzzEditor — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 20:31:00 GMT

Crawfish

Photo: Isaac Wedin

Even in a land of Curious Culinary Trends, the new wave of Asian-Cajun restaurants that's swept across SoCal is an eyebrow-raiser. Its California incarnation seems to have begun in the Vietnamese community of Westminster in Orange County, where Cajun-style crab joints began popping up several months ago – down-home restaurants with names like The Cajun Corner, Rockin' Crawfish and The Boiling Crab. Those hunting for a taste of Saigon at these spots will find little if any, for these are the sort of unpretentious, cut-to-the-chase eateries found along the shores of Lake Pontchartrain.

What began in Orange County has spread like wildfire to Los Angeles County, with Asian-Cajuns popping up along Valley Boulevard in the San Gabriel Valley. There's a branch of The Boiling Crab in Alhambra just a few blocks from Boathouse Cajun Boiled Seafood, which is just a short hop from a mall in San Gabriel that's home to not one but two Asian-Cajuns – Captain Crab and Fisherman's Wharf – and just north of the wonderfully named Crabulous in Rosemead. And, as I found on a recent Saturday night, they're all full, mostly with Asian diners who have taken to gumbo with relish…and hot sauce.

Ordering at any of these restaurants is an exercise in madcap excess. The mudbug of choice is the crawfish, usually ordered in two-pound increments. That's because you get a cob of corn and two sausages for every two pounds of crawfish, so you may as well maximize the intake in between ripping the funny little things to pieces.

Now, I did not grow up in a land where crawfish were eaten – by anyone. And so, the joys of crawfish are a bit foreign to me. They're brought to the butcher paper–covered table still bubbling in large plastic bags. The bags are dropped on the table and you're pretty much on your own. Reach into the bag, pull out a bug and start…doing what?

You pull the crawfish apart, and what you find inside is a small plug of meat, which is pleasant enough, but even two pounds of them aren't quite enough for a fellow who likes to eat his shrimp and crab by the tankful. Which is why it's also a good idea to order additional plastic bags of shrimp, blue crab and Dungeness crab, perhaps some fried catfish with french fries, gumbo with rice (thick as mud), fried calamari and Cajun onion rings.

The shellfish bugs come in a choice of sauces – garlic butter, lemon pepper and a variety of sauces with names like "Ragin' Cajun" and "Cajun Sensation" – further amended as mild, spicy or suicide, which is hotter than seems humanly possible. Dip your fingers into the sauce enough times, and they begin to marinate. Your fingers turn a reddish-brown color that doesn't come off for about a week; the aroma stays with you no matter how much soap you use. And be sure to wear something either washable – or disposable. It's a terrific meal, wholly interactive and downright primal.

– Merrill Shindler

Tipping ’Em Back at Tales of the Cocktail

BuzzEditor — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 22:07:00 GMT

Home base for Tales of the Cocktail was the revolving Carousel Bar at the Hotel Monteleone.

photo: Karen Hudes

Forget amateur night – the biggest rager in the country last weekend was at Tales of the Cocktail, the annual New Orleans festival that draws the most accomplished, ambitious and creative players in the world of bartending and mixology. The big names were all there (Dale DeGroff, Gary Regan, Pegu Club’s Audrey Saunders) as well as plenty of newcomers soaking up knowledge at scores of seminars, tastings and late-night parties. The Buzz visited the alcohol-fueled scene to distill the latest trends.

In the pink: Scott Beattie's market-driven cocktail

photo: Karen Hudes

Culinary Cues: Cocktails are going “hyper-seasonal,” in the words of one panelist, as bartenders develop relationships with farmers to get the right botanicals for their drinks. That adds up to elements like the lemon verbena–infused syrup and dehydrated peach-chip garnish used by Scott Beattie (Sonoma County’s Cyrus) and refreshing tomato water prepared by Todd Thrasher (Restaurant Eve in Alexandria, VA) for his Bloody Mary. Two green-minded Brooklyn impresarios told the Buzz they’re going hands-on this year, with a bar in the works where the herbs for infusions and garnishes will be grown on-site.

Micro-Distilling: More and more mixologists are learning their way around a still, and licensed micro-distilleries are popping up around the country, including two producing absinthe in Oregon. For one cocktail, bourbon (made with all-local corn) by the Hudson Valley’s Tuthilltown Spirits was blended with New York apple butter and maple syrup to make a pleasing tipple with a wealth of terroir. And since former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer signed a bill last year making it legal for farmers to distill what they grow, expect to see more homegrown micros on the way.

Feeling Bitter: Ted Haigh (aka Dr. Cocktail, curator of the just-opened Museum of the American Cocktail in New Orleans) sees a trend in bartenders making their own bitters too. “They want to recreate Boker’s Bitters, Abbott’s Bitters,” he says, and some small companies like Fee Brothers are heeding the call, bringing back previously extinct flavors.

Garnish Recap: Some of the most fragrant and eye-catching toppers of the weekend included a half-fig, a shiso leaf and a sprig of mint smacked in the bartender's palm. Look out for foams, flowers, house-pickled produce and crystallized powders from liqueurs making a statement on the rim.

New Sensation: A standing-room-only crowd squeezed in for a seminar on molecular mixology. Like its gastronomic counterpart, the gist is using science – knowing the chemical properties of the liquids you’re working with and the tools at your disposal – to intensify flavors and re-contextualize familiar notes. Eben Freeman of NYC's Tailor pulled it off with a New Orleans twist, presenting a Ramos Gin Fizz marshmallow and Sazerac gummi bear, while a vodka rep presented the audience with groan-inducing but admittedly amusing Red Bull cotton candy. Among other topics, Jamie Boudreau (Vessel in Seattle) discussed “fat-washing” to get the flavor of bacon without the slickness.

“People are eager to try new ideas and disgusting things,” says Freeman, who thinks the public is “over feeling safe.” Even when he’s not testing palates with hops-infused liquors and the like, he’s keen on stirring up “profound emotional experiences” with memory triggers like scotch infused with pumpernickel raisin bread, and “bringing back the first impressions of flavors,” serving customers perception-bending renditions of rum and Coke in solid form.

LeNell Smothers plays doctor

photo: Karen Hudes

Hangover Cure: LeNell Smothers, the saucy owner of LeNell’s wine and liquor shop in Brooklyn, always keeps the tone down-home. At her seminar on using eggs in cocktails, she concluded by asking, “Have you ever had a proper Prairie Oyster?” She then demonstrated the hangover cure by having a buff volunteer take off his shirt and lie down on the table. She proceeded to crack eggs, add salt and pepper, Worcestershire and Tabasco and licked the result off his stomach before a thrilled audience. Which all shows the professionals can get as down and dirty as anyone, they just know how to do it properly.

– Karen Hudes

Vegas Gambles on Burgers

BuzzEditor — Tue, 13 May 2008 16:53:00 GMT

The BLT Burger

For years now, Las Vegas has been a city built around the joys of Big Beef, with a sprawling steakhouse in every casino: Prime in the Bellagio, SW Steak in the Wynn, Delmonico Steak in the Venetian, Charlie Palmer Steak in the Four Seasons, Carnevino in the Palazzo, StripSteak in Mandalay Bay and even the highly regarded Steak House in Circus Circus. But these days, the mighty steak is facing heavy competition from the hamburger, which is certainly one of the more telling bits of evidence that – the cheerleaders of Washington notwithstanding – we are wallowing our way through a period of economic recession.

Recently, Laurent Tourondel announced that, rather than opening one of his steakhouses in Vegas, he will open BLT Burger later this year at the Mirage. And at the Red Rock Casino, chef Anthony Meidenbauer (former executive sous -hef at the Wynn) is opening an upscale burger spot called LBS (as in pounds) by the fall. And why not? When construction ran behind at Fleur de Lys at Mandalay Bay in 2003, classic French chef Hubert Keller opted to occupy himself with a casual joint called Burger Bar in the shopping mall between Mandalay and the Luxor; it's been jammed since the day it opened, serving everything from plain patties to Kobe beef with foie gras and black truffles.

The rise of the hamburger (albeit, the Upscale Hamburger) in a bellwether city like Las Vegas speaks volumes about the state of our spending. Add onto that word that gambling revenue in Las Vegas is down 4% so far this year, and we have, if not a trend, then at least a statement. The burger is about to become the special treat meal of choice. When it descends to cans of Chef Boyardee, we'll really be in trouble.

– Merrill Shindler

Buy Me Some Peanuts and BBQ Chicken Pizza

BuzzEditor — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:30:00 GMT

Baseball cuisine just ain’t what it used to be – it’s much better. While the old favorites are still there, a newer breed of noshes has risen up around the baseball diamond. At LA's Dodger Stadium, the lyrics in "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" could be changed to "buy me some BBQ chicken pizza and corned beef sliced lean.” There’s also a constant swirl of rumors about what interesting dining options will be available at the new Mets and Yankees stadiums when they open next season. Meanwhile in Boston, restaurants are trying to entice fans with Fenway-inspired snacks and creative cocktails like the Tickle-Ortiz-Me. Game on!

Matzo Balls and Baseball

BuzzEditor — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:30:00 GMT

Like most Dodger fans, I go to the games to cheer on the Boys in Blue, to check out the celebrity quotient ("Look! It's Hef and the girls!") and to eat a Dodger Dog. Indeed, like most Dodger fans, it's the Dodger Dog that comes first – I can always catch a double play on the instant replay. And in fact, more hot dogs are sold at Dodger Stadium than at any other stadium in America. But in recent years, the culinary options at the stadium have expanded logarithmically. These days, you can get a slice at California Pizza Kitchen, some kung pao at Panda Express, a burger at Ruby's Diner, nachos at Camacho's Cantina, cookies from Mrs. Beasley's and, starting this year, mile-high corned-beef-and-pastrami sandwiches at the newly opened Canter's delicatessen stand. It sits on the stadium's field level, on the third-base side. Along with deli sandwiches, there's matzo-ball soup, coleslaw, potato salad and kosher pickles. Which may necessitate a rewrite of the line in "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" about "peanuts and Cracker Jack"; these days, it's "BBQ chicken pizza and corned beef sliced lean."

– Merrill Shindler

Boston Food and Drink, Red Sox-Style

BuzzEditor — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:28:00 GMT

Sweet Caroline: now a drink

photo: courtesy of the Four Seasons

With baseball season underway, restaurants around Boston are lining up their own rosters of Red Sox–themed specials.

Todd English’s Bonfire in Park Square loads the bases with items like Sean Casey-dillas ($9), Jacoby Beef Sliders ($15) and Big Papi Poppers ($10) – fried jalapeños with smoked cheddar and lime sour cream – that are offered every game day during baseball season.

Boston Beer Works, at the Fenway and West End locations, hits a line drive with Fenway American Pale Ale on tap ($4.75 for 12 oz., $5.75 for 22 oz.).

And The Bristol at the Four Seasons smacks a home run in the Back Bay with its highbrow take on park treats: blue-cheese-stuffed Green Monster Olives ($15), Papelbon’s All-star Popcorn ($13) and creative cocktails like the Tickle-Ortiz-Me (Bacardi with passion fruit, orange and pineapple juices, and dark rum; $15), the Manny-Tini (Grey Goose vodka, splash of Tio Pepe sherry and olives skewered with a sprig of rosemary; $15) and the Sweet Caroline (Stoli Raz, raspberry purée, lime juice and club soda; $15).

Where the Actors Are the Owners (Not Just the Waiters)

BuzzEditor — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 23:48:00 GMT

Have you been to a celebrity-owned restaurant?

Are they worth the hype? Share your thoughts on the Zagat Discussion boards!

With the writers' strike finally over and the Academy Awards just around the corner on February 24th, most of Hollywood is thinking about who will be taking home that little gold guy. But not everybody can win an Oscar, so financially prudent actors might find themselves pondering potential side businesses. And if they want a tried-and-true second gig, the food industry is very welcoming to thespians. We're talking about owning here, not waiting on tables or tending bar.

LA is arguably the capital of the celeb-backed restaurant. The scene-heavy Melrose Italian Dolce Enotca e Ristorante has backing from the likes of Ashton Kutcher; the same group also owns the newish Ketchup,which boasts Wilmer Valderrama and Tara Reid as backers. Then there's Cathy Moriarty's pizza mini-chain Mulberry St. Pizza. Over in Pasadena, Jennifer Lopez opened Madre's, a glamour Puerto Rican dining spot. And, don't forget about Eva Longoria Parker and Todd English's upcoming Beso. Even Steven Spielberg's mother has her own kosher dairy kitchen, Milky Way. Although Johnny Depp no longer owns the Viper Room, the House of Blues, with investors ranging from Dan Aykroyd to Aerosmith, is still going strong.

For Robert De Niro, winning two Oscars wasn't enough – he still wanted to become an über-restaurateur. In West Hollywood, he has Ago, a pricey Tuscan that recently opened a location in Las Vegas and is on its way to New York. He has Rubicon in San Francisco and Nobu, Nobu 57 and Tribeca Grill in New York. Paul Newman, also an Oscar winner, opened the Dressing Room, an organic New American that sits adjacent to wife Joanne Woodward’s beloved Westport Country Playhouse in Westport, CT. Oscar winner Timothy Hutton put some money into the Midtown pub P.J. Clarke's, which now has three locations. And Oscar-winning director (and actor) Quentin Tarantino was an early investor in Korean Barbecue Do Hwa in New York City.

Indeed, NYC has no shortage of celeb-backed ventures. Justin Timberlake (yes, he's an actor too) recently brought Memphis BBQ to the Upper East Side via Southern Hospitality. Chris Noth's nightspot in the Flatiron, the Cutting Room, offers a performance space for all types of acts. The first Planet Hollywood even landed in Gotham and although the chain has lost some of its swagger and some of its original backers (most notably the Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger) it still has Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone to stand behind the 18 locations around the world, plus a recently opened Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

While the majority of actor-backed restaurants are in the celeb-infested environs of New York and LA, they do pop up elsewhere. In 2006, Sandra Bullock teamed with chef Brenton Childs to open Bess in Austin. Don Johnson and Cheech Marin are both backers behind San Fransisco's French-Vietnamese Ana Mandara. And in Paris, Gérard Depardieu has two restaurants: the Classic French La Fontaine Gaillon and the raw bar L'Ecaille de la Fontaine.

Lean Times for the Meatpacking District

BuzzEditor — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 19:20:00 GMT

Uneasy Street: Gansevoort and Washington

photo: Emily Capo

The new year is off with a thud in New York's Meatpacking District, with a slew of closings both real and rumored. The downturn began with last year's shuttering of Markt, probably the most populist (and popular) venue in the high-flying neighborhood, which was razed to make way for an Apple Store. This month, the nightclub PM went dark after its liquor license was suspended, and word is it won't reopen at all. There's a similarly uncertain future for the Inn LW12, currently "closed for renovations" and also alleged to be gone for good. Across the street, the Japanese restaurant Ono is set to fold in March (to be replaced by a Maxim magazine–branded steakhouse), while long-reported plans to transpose former hotspot Double Seven to Gansevoort Street have also been scuttled.

It's all part of the roller-coaster ride that is the Meatpacking District, a once gritty industrial zone that became a dining/clubbing destination in 2000 following the opening of Lotus, the 'it' club of the millennium.Soon the district was drawing big-name chefs (Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Zak Pellacio, Sue Torres), big-name restaurateurs (Jeffrey Chodorow, Steve Hanson, Keith McNally), a swell hotel (the Gansevoort) and every kind of nightlife imaginable from dive bars to boutique lounges. But even during the boom times, one street seemed jinxed – the stretch of Gansevoort between 9th and Washington, where most of the current closings are clustered. Over the last eight years, this strip has seen one major flameout (Sascha) as well as a number of lesser ones (Chinghalle, Hell, Meet, Rhône, Zitoune).

Still, there's some hope for this unlucky block. Los Dados, a newish Mexican cantina is gamely holding down the fort on its western perimeter, and Merkato 55, Marcus Samuelsson’s new African eatery, is on the way. And when in doubt, there's always Florent, the circa-1985 granddaddy of the boulevard, where you can still get a hamburger and a martini at 5 AM.

– Curt Gathje

A Tale of Two Waitresses

BuzzEditor — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 18:59:00 GMT

Recently I took my nine-year-old daughter to Las Vegas for a daddy-and-daughter getaway. We tasted the chocolates at the new Payard Patisserie. We watched the water and light show in the fountain in front of the Bellagio. We had a truffle-oil pizza at Canaletto in the indoor version of St. Mark's Square in the Venetian. We went to two Cirque du Soleil shows. We ate lots of gelato. We shopped.

And we learned how widely service can vary from restaurant to restaurant.

One day we tried to get an order of bacon cooked crispy at a cafe in one of the most upscale hotels. Now, you wouldn't think that crispy bacon would be a big deal. To crisp bacon, you simply cook it a little longer. It doesn't involve a lot of skill or require a degree from the Culinary Institute of America. So, when our grumpy waitress brought us a plate of undercooked apple-smoked bacon, I was duly surprised to hear her reply to my request for crunchy bacon.

"We don't make it that way," she said.

It was such an odd response that it stopped me for a moment. I wondered if they also refuse to toast bread or to boil eggs. I said again, "We'd like it a bit more crispy." So she took my plate away, saying, "Well, the kitchen won't like that."

The kitchen won't like that? Excuse me. Is the kitchen paying for the meal? Does the kitchen really care about cooking bacon a little longer?

Interestingly, it was a different waitress that brought the re-cooked bacon back. It was now stiff as a board. But it was crispy.

By contrast, our request the next morning at another cafe in a slightly even more upscale hotel didn't cause our waitress to flinch at all. You see, my daughter dislikes the smell of eggs. (I trust it's a phase she's going through.) I, on the other hand, love eggs. And if I'm ordering the remarkably good corned beef and pastrami hash they serve for breakfast, I definitely want poached eggs, too. So I asked the waitress if she could serve the hash to me at the table where I sat with my daughter (whose idea of breakfast is a large basket of sweet rolls), and serve the eggs separately – at a table halfway across the room.

She didn't even flinch.

"No problem," she said. “Do you want the hash first, or the eggs?"

I asked her if this was the strangest request she'd ever gotten.

"Strange?" she replied. "This isn't strange. Honey, it doesn't even come close."

– Merrill Shindler

LA to NYC: Keep Your Cupcakes!

BuzzEditor — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 20:13:00 GMT

Crumbs in Beverly Hills

What we desperately need here in LA is New York pizza, a fine taste of which recently appeared at Joe's Pizza in Santa Monica, reminding those of us who know the difference that New York pizza really is in a class of its own. But instead of pizza, New York seems determined to send us cupcakes, cupcakes and more cupcakes.

We're drowning in a sea of Magnolia Bakery clones (Sprinkles, Susiecakes, etc.). And we're also being inundated with branches of New York cupcakeries – Babycakes is set to open on Beverly Boulevard in a few months, and Crumbs just opened in Beverly Hills. Yes, the Reese's Peanut Butter cupcake is awfully good, even sinfully so. But please – we don't have the streets of New York on which to walk off our cupcakes. Our exercise consists of walking from the bakery to our cars parked next door. Feed us cupcakes and we'll look like floats in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade (another import that we could use, though it probably doesn't travel all that well from coast to coast).

– Merrill Shindler

Whipped, Shaken & Stirred in NYC

BuzzEditor — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 22:52:00 GMT

By Karen Hudes, ZAGAT.com staff editor

A Voce's boozed-up baba

photo: Karen Hudes

There's nothing like having a dessert and a drink to cap off the night, and if you can roll them into one sumptuous treat, all the better. We took a hop around New York to discover the best confections with a buzz.

Malt Shop Liquor

The newest burger joints are adding a grown-up kick to their thick milkshakes. At Stand near Union Square, customers suck down a multicolored array of fountain drinks ranging from shortcake-y strawberry ice cream with vanilla vodka to an elevated reincarnation of the Shamrock Shake – light green with fresh mint and a hit of bourbon. A few blocks west at Laurent Tourondel's BLT Burger, old-fashioned glasses, complete with fat straws and syrup all around the sides, deliver a serious shot of hooch. While the Night Rider – chocolate ice cream, Oreos and Kahlua – makes a tempting combo, it's Grandma's Treat – a caramel-drizzled vanilla shake spiked with Maker's Mark – that really packs a punch. And when you're in the mood for some Fox's U-Bet the way Gram never had (or maybe she did?), head downtown to Schiller's for a liquored-up egg cream.

Shakes with a shot at BLT Burger

photo: Karen Hudes

Sugar in Your Cup

Tipping the balance, the East Village's new Back Forty mixes a little dessert with its alcohol in the form of a float made with a pint of malty, slightly sour Irish stout topped by a scoop of vanilla. As sweets go, the ice cream does more for the beer than the beer does for the ice cream, so it's best reserved for brew aficionados in the mood for a twist. Offering even more immediate imbibing, Chocolat Michel Cluizel at ABC Carpet does away with the glass altogether, serving shots of liqueur in petite dark chocolate cups as well as in the pre-filled, ID-required bonbons – a serious challenger to those 85-percent cocoa bars. And at Park Avenue Winter, pecan biscotti can be dipped into a steamy mug of cider with hot buttered rum, nutmeg and cinnamon

Wombat's tipsy trifle

photo: Karen Hudes

Drink Like a Sponge

In the European school of alcohol-drenched desserts, A Voce, bolstered by new pasty chef Joshua Gripper, leads the pack with its baba Napoletano, a cream-filled, brioche-like cake brightened by a citrus salad and served with a glass of aged rum to pour over it yourself. Fluffy, aromatic and hands-on, it's a knockout combo. (Watch out for old-school purveyors like Veniero's that only use rum syrup in their baba.) Meanwhile, at Williamsburg's Aussie restaurant Wombat, the kitchen whips up a wallop of a Brit-style trifle, layered with whipped cream, custard, currant jelly and sponge cake soaked in Harvey's Bristol Cream. So why shouldn't a woman – especially one who remembers its retro ads – invite a man out for a sexy nightcap like that?

How Much? Gawking at Outrageously Expensive Food

BuzzEditor — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 23:26:00 GMT

The FleurBurger 5000

Those shocked by conspicuous consumption dropped their jaws yesterday when the Guinness Book of World Records announced the world's most expensive dessert, the $25,000 frozen "hot" chocolate at Serendipity 3 made of cocoa, milk and several grams of 24-karat gold. Of course, the costly concoction's excesses didn't end there: topped with whipped cream, La Madeline au Truffe and yes, more gold, it's served in a gold-crowned diamond-encrusted goblet with a gold spoon.

Serendipity's Frrrozen Haute Chocolate may be the swankiest sundae around, but it has lots of company. Across the globe, restaurants and hotels looking to draw attention to themselves are offering outrageously overpriced fare. Just this Monday, chef Frank Tujague at the Westin in Times Square announced the following menu addition: a $1,000 bagel topped white truffle cream cheese, goji berry–infused Riesling jelly and the obligatory gold leaf.

And that isn't the only 1K breakfast treat. If bagels aren't your thing, you could always head to Norma's in NYC for its $1,000 "Zillion Dollar Breakfast Fritatta" made of eggs, lobster and 10 oz. of caviar (the menu "dares you to expense" it).

Besides premium price tags, what these dishes have in common are highly coveted ingredients – think gobs of caviar and mounds of white truffles. Chicago's Blue Water Grill recently honored national seafood month by selling a $100 maki roll constructed from lobster, sea urchin, gold leaf and an ounce of Osetra caviar.

And since those famous white fungi are especially rare this year (they run about $275 an ounce), truffle-bedecked delicacies are seeing their prices rise. Most notably, the infamous truffle-topped mac 'n' cheese at New York's Waverly Inn, which once cost $55 a serving, is now $85.

Are these prices for real?

What's the most outrageously priced item you've seen? Let us know on the Zagat Discussion boards!

Burgers, one of America's favorite meals, aren't immune to the insanity either. If the $120 "double truffle" burger at db Bistro Moderne in New York is too cheap for you, there's always the FleurBurger 5000 served at Fleur de Lys in Las Vegas' Mandalay Bay (pictured above). Not only does it come with truffles, foie gras and Japanese Kobe, it replaces the usual Coca-Cola with a bottle of 1990 Chateau Petrus poured in Ichendorf Brunello stemware (bonus! the crystal is later shipped to your home).

Of course, there are extremely pricey items out there that don't have anything to do with fish eggs or fungus. Kopi Luwak coffee, for instance, is harvested from the *** of Asian Palm Civets who eat raw coffee berries but can't digest the actual coffee bean. Buying Kopi Luwak coffee beans can run up to half a grand per pound. Or if you're a bit strapped for cash, you can always head to Silks at the Mandarin Oriental in San Francisco where you can drop a mere $40 on a cup.

Are Cool Loos Washed Up in NYC?

BuzzEditor — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 15:57:00 GMT

The garden-variety urinals at the revamped Royalton

photo: Ryan Charles

In 1988, the brand-new men’s room in the Royalton Hotel – replete with a notorious waterfall-***-urinal designed by Philippe Starck – arguably introduced the cool loo to NYC's annals of dining and drinking. The once lowly bathroom had arrived, and the Royalton's facility was soon joined by other conversation-starting loos tricked up with self-fogging doors (Bar 89), state-of-the-art commodes (Bette, Ono), one-way mirrors (Dusk, Glass, Peep) and witty photomurals (QT Hotel Bar).

Recent developments, however, suggest that the cool loo may be all washed up. Several months ago, the Royalton closed for renovations and it's now back – with its signature men's room waterwall replaced by two garden-variety urinals. Along the same lines, Little Italy's M Bar, once celebrated for its X-rated bathroom wallpaper, has been replaced by a new watering hole with wallpaperless loos. Even Keith McNally, who brought you the droll restrooms at Schiller's (with separate doors for the ladies and gents that open to the same communal room) has resorted to chic but unremarkable stalls at his latest venture, Morandi.

Will going to the bathroom become less hip than it once was? Maybe, but there's still hope. One of the coolest loos in recent memory, fashioned out of an aged elevator cab and outfitted with a fold-up railroad car sink, surfaced this summer at the TriBeCa bar Smith & Mills.

– Curt Gathje

Finding the Sweet in Savory Bacon

BuzzEditor — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 19:05:00 GMT

Pecan brown sugar and bacon ice cream from the cookbook Seduced by Bacon

Is pork the candy of meats? These days it certainly seems so. Not only is the sheer variety of pig-based dishes astounding, but the swine have even begun to move out from main courses and into desserts and beverages:

Candy, Candy, Candy: The candy of meats, you scoff? Well, some restaurants actually make candy out of pork. Really! To wit, some customers at Elizabeth's in New Orleans are so enamored of the restaurant's sweet and savory praline bacon that they affectionately call it "crack bacon." And the regulars at Lou in Hollywood have similar feelings about that restaurant's house bacon, called pig candy, which is baked in an oven with brown sugar until crispy and sweet.

And then, of course, there are always actual bacon candy bars.

Pork Ice Cream, You Scream: Though odd-ball ice creams are popular on TV shows like Iron Chef, they're a bit harder to come by in the real world. And though there are some exceptions (like the one from the Bacon Brunch in the above photo), a great bacon ice cream is hard to imagine. But if you're in Barcelona, Spain, you don't need to. Just head to dessert specialist Espai Sucre and indulge in a bread pudding, bacon ice cream and pineapple concoction that has to be tasted to be believed.

Or you can fly to Bray, England, to sample the molecular gastronomy at Heston Blumenthal's The Fat Duck. The tasting menu there includes “nitro-scrambled egg and bacon ice cream” served with a sweet and slightly sour tomato and red pepper jam, caramelized french toast, salted butter caramel and a glass of tea jelly.

Drinking the Pig: Ice cream is one thing, but what about a drink? Well, if you want one with swine in it, you can mosey over to Double Down Saloon (in New York or Las Vegas) for the joint's signature bacon martini shaken with homemade bacon-infused vodka.

Looking for more bacon-based confections? Examples of bacon-based treats abound, including chocolate-covered salo (pork fat) in the Ukraine, bacon cotton candy in South Carolina and much more.