So good and so bad

Paula Deen makes a lasagna sandwich!!

Sandra Lee

Sandra is not one of my Food Network favs but I do not hate her either. That is before I saw this clip full of repeats and mispronunciation. Not the smartest cookie but she makes a beautiful table-scape. Love the part around the .40 min.

Cute gay McDonalds’ ad

Very sweet/subtle.

Gossip, Seinfeld star’s difficult name, Elisabitch Hasselbeck in tears, Colicchio wins James Beard Award, Bruno wins lawsuit

The name Julia Louis- Dreyfus is apparently very difficult for some people to spell. Even the Hollywood star she got this week had to be replaced. It said Luis Dreyfus. “Just when you think you made it, she said.” I love her in Seinfeld, my boyfriend’s favorite all-time series. Elaine and George really make it fun for me.

The View’s Elisabeth Hasselback cried on TV yesterday after feeling sorry for a nasty crack she made about the recently sexually harassed Erin Andrews. According to Elisabeth, if the stalker would have seen Andrews in the bandana she wore on DWTS weeks ago, that would have been enough to have kept him out of jail. Hasselback said she cried at home to her daughter because she hurt someone. Yeah right, bitch hurts people’s feeling for a job.

Tom Colicchio, the famous chef and judge from Top Chef won the prestigious James Beard Award this week as the nation’s chef of the year. I have been to all of his NY restaurants, Craft Bar, Craft, Craft Steak and the new Colicchio and Sons. Except for the now closed Craft Steak I have always been underwhelmed in his restaurants. Give me Bobby Flay and Mario Batali anytime over him.

The woman who filed a lawsuit against the maker’s of Bruno for sabotaging her bingo and causing her huge mental damage lost on all accounts. Richelle Olson even has to pay $17k in attorney fees. She wanted $ 25k in damages, first even saying she was in a wheelchair now because Bruno’s people attacked her.

Brussels

Last weekend me and my boyfriend made a trip to the beautiful capital of Belgium. Even though it is my neighboring country and I have been all over Europe, strangely enough I had only visited Brussels twice before at night, to party. From Amsterdam it is only 1.5 hours with the Thalys and it really feels very different from Holland. The first night I was alone because my hubby was still on his way through Europe to get to Brussels(it was the week after the start of the volcano trouble).I walked over the magnificent Grand Place with numerous intriguing century old buildings. Lots of gold and amazing details. Then a quick bite to eat at a brasserie, duck in a beer broth and later on some of the best ice-cream I ever had, with a gingerbread flavor. After that I had a quick walk though the gay area of Brussels, which was fun. Lots of flirting going on, always good for the ego. I definitely miss that from NY, here where I live in the Netherlands I go weeks without seeing many gays(or none at all) sometimes. Our hotel was the luxurious Rocco Forte Amigo where the beds were very comfortable. Next morning I finally saw my boyfriend and it always feels extra great to see each other after a longer absence. We got some coffee, soft-drinks and sandwiches at a nice little bakery in the sun and planned the rest of our day. First we did some shopping and bought a cool retro orange/black messenger bag for myself and a new digital camera. We had lots of pictures so shoot and nothing to do it with at the time(2 of them are in NY) so it was a necessity. Then it was time for lunch already and we went to a small place recommended by the concierge of the hotel and it was phenomenal. My boyfriend had the best casserole with lots of meat and beans he ever had( and he had a lot) For myself there was rabbit rillette as a starter and sole in a creamy sauce for my main. After that it was off for a long walk to burn some calories, through the picturesque city center. Beautiful churches, pedigreed lawns/parks and the palace of the Belgian royal family. Not as pretty as the British one but still worth seeing. At night we had reservations at a 2-star Michelin restaurant. That means in general for foodies like us a good time but this was one of the most mediocre Michelin star restaurants we ever ate. The amuses were uninspiring, the fish-sauce too fat and the sweetbreads a bit bland. The silverware was very chic as was the interior but the service was not up to par while they were pretending to be very formal. Empty glasses were not filled on time and the bottles were out of reach for us, napkins were not refolded after toilet visits nor did people get any assistance sitting down. Don’t get me wrong the food was ok and some of the formalities are not important to me at all, but expectations from a 2 star are pretty big. We had a great night together nonetheless The next day the weather was again very nice (sunny and 70’s) and after a nice breakfast at one of the many outside cafe’s surrounding the Grand Place we thought it was time for some culture and went to 2 museums. The first one was a beer museum, perfect for my beer-loving boyfriend. The showed how some of the famous Belgian beer was brewed in the past and present and it ended with a tasty local beer. Not too shabby huh? Belgium is famous for his comic books and I read many of them as a kid. The cartoon-museum featured some of my favs like Suske and Wiske and Tintin but I expected a bit more. It is worthwhile for families but I would not recommend it for only adults. Then we walked fo another hour or so, bought some of the famous Belgian chocolate for family and had a farewell lunch at out spot from saturday afternoon. Another hearty feast was served and eaten to the last little crumb. All in all I would totally recommend people to visit Brussels, maybe in combination with the medieval beauty Brugge for a long weekend.

El Bulli no longer number 1 restaurant, now it’s NOMA

It was a huge surprise that first place from the S Pellegrino World’s best restaurants went to the Danish eatery NOMA, located in Copenhagen. The winner of the most prestige food award is picked by over 800 restaurateurs, chefs and food writers from all over the world and El Bulli from Spain on years in a row and now was number 2 just for The Fat Duck from the UK. My boyfriend and I are big foodies and were curious to see to how many places in the top we have been too. Let’s say we still have a long way to go. We ate at number 8 Daniel and number 15 Le Bernadin both in NYC. Then number 34 Aqua in Germany and my personal favorite The Librije in Zwolle, the Netherlands ranked 37. Then number 52 Jean Georges and 57 De Karmeliet in Brugge. Another favorite of us Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence ended up at place 87. The chef from the Librije, Jonnie Boer was on TV yesterday and he as very happy with his place 37, I think he deserves even more. On saturday night the restaurant is booked until July 2011. Luckily we always go on a different day!

Japanese have sushi gene

British researchers found that Japanese people have a special gene in their intestines to handle the algae leaves in the raw fish rolls. To do this the Japanese, who are the only people in the world that have this special enzyme, adapt to the bacteria of the sea. Quite interesting I thought

Overheard

Yesterday while dining at the fabulous Morimoto restaurant in New York.

24-year old fairly cute tiny girl to her mother(most ridiculous whiny baby voice): “You don’t know what love is mom. You never loved dad. I don’t want a fat slob as a man, look at me I am on a 1000 calorie-a-day diet. Besides, dad is a psychopath.I never wanna see him again and do not want him to meet my future children.” And this was just one of the many ridiculous things she said yesterday night….

WTF!!!!!!

Key West

My bf and I left for Key West 2 weeks ago and even though we are back for a week already it is still hard to get adjusted to the New York life. Key West is simply awesome. We went there last year and had  great and active time. We saw a lot of the old houses that are restored into mini-museums now, like the Hemingway house. We went on a dolphin tour and saw cute young dolphins swimming right next to our boat, we para-sailed( scary but lots of fun) and visited the small butterfly conservatory where there is just an explosion of color and movement. This year though we took it easy at our great rental house Viva on Duval, a huge white 2-story house with 3 bedrooms and private pool. It’s an old cuban house with great wooden floors and antiques. If you have the money and it’s available, this place is a huge recommendation. Bring your earplugs though because in Key West, chickens en roosters walk around free and are not afraid to go into your private garden at 5.45 in the morning to wake you up. The weather was perfect for most of the time, sunny and warm(mid 80’s) but not humid like it is in the Netherlands or New York with that temperature. Our two favorite things about Key West are the open-mindedness of the people shown for example in the piano-bars and the many drag-cabaret bars across town.. And number one the fantastic food. We ate at great people watching spots with delicious food like Martin’s( with lots of german-inspired fare, like the irresistable apple strudel) and 915(try the tuna dome!!). For great outdoor seating right next to the ocean bring a visit to Louie’s Backyard in a monumental renovated old house. One of the best lamb-dishes we ever had was at Cafe Marquesa where they also have the nicest staff on the Island. At Pisces they have great french cuisine with a modern twist. Key West has really stolen our hearts and will remain there for a long time, together with Provincetown it is my favorite place in the world.

Picky eaters!!

When I was a kid I was a pretty picky eater, no fish and also not a lot of veggies. My mom never pushed me into eating anything that I did not like with as a result that I know eat about everything. All veggies, all(even raw) fish, all meats. The only things I don’t like to eat are tomatoes and grapefruit. My boyfriend does not care about warm pineapple but really likes everything else. When we had dinner in Key West one night we really had to laugh about how picky one woman was. She wanted a caprese salad but was allergic to milk(yeah right) and could thus for not have the mozzarella in it. She also did not care for tomatoes(that I can understand) and she wanted to have the dressing on the side. So basically just dry lettuce. Why the hell do people like that even go out to a nice restaurant?? The waiter seemed to get really inpatient with her and I can totally understand, if I was a chef/waiter I would have loved to just kick her out of my restaurant.