There's a song I’ve started to play on the piano. It’s called “Money,” a fairly straightforward arrangement by Burt Bacharach. The only problem is Liza Minnelli’s eyes. They keep staring back at me from the opposite page.
On March 20, 1974, a new French restaurant opened on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. It was called Le Cirque (The Circus), and it soon became the hottest ticket in town. It was partly known for its lavish meals—where Daniel Boulud and David Bouley, among others, earned their fame as chefs. But Le…
Last week, Amazon acquired Whole Foods Market in a merger valued at $13.7 billion. And while consumers are already seeing lower prices at the organic chain (often referred to as Whole Paycheck), there’s much concern over the deal’s impact on jobs. As a Bloomberg headline put it, “Amazon Robots…
I HAVE OFTEN PRAYED that one day an authentic Jersey diner would spring up in Washington, D.C. It’s the only thing missing in a city full of trendy bars and expensive restaurants. When all the clubs close down at 2 A.M. (quite embarrassing when friends from New York visit), there’s nowhere to go.…
Here at THE WEEKLY STANDARD, we already know the end results--at least when it comes to our campaign cocktails competition. We returned to Bar Pilar and tested out the finalist recipes submitted by you the reader. It's a hard job but somebody had to do it!
In a rush to beat out the latest iPhone, Samsung rolled out its Galaxy Note7 with one minor flaw: The battery. I'd hate to be the engineer who had to explain that one to company vice chairman and heir apparent Lee Jae-yong: "You see, sir, well, it's the battery. No big deal. It just, on occasion,…
"Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame bun." If you were around when this commercial came out in 1984, that description of the McDonald's Big Mac just rolls off the tongue. My wife hasn't had a Big Mac sandwich in years yet she still remembers the jingle…
Here's an interesting stat brought to you by Ana Swanson of the Washington Post: "A survey of 33 Japanese restaurants in the Washington area revealed that 12 were owned by Chinese Americans and 12 by Korean Americans. Only six were Japanese owned." And it's not just in the Washington area, mind…
Come the great Republican party split in 1912, Teddy Roosevelt's Bull Moose splinter inspired no shortage of cocktails.
Yet another controversy has engulfed Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, who, at a Friday press conference, compared his efforts to rid his country of drugs to Adolf Hitler's efforts to rid Europe of Jews. Now, you might be thinking, surely the media took his comments out of context. So let's see…
Towards the end of a recent lunch, I found myself ogling a friend's bowl of chicken pista korma. He was done, but there were still a few tender chunks of chicken left. It required enormous restraint on my part not to ask him, "Are you going to finish that?" And considering we were in a restaurant…
Much like Apollo 13, Sully is about a near-miss and contains an ending about which we're all aware. (Unless, of course, you've been living in your doomsday bunker. If so, allow me to pass on the message: The chair is against the wall. The chair is against the wall. John has a long mustache. John…
"NEW ROOSEVELT DRINK PROMISES GREAT RESULTS," screamed the headline in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in June of 1910. Teddy had just returned from safari, where he had picked up the nickname "Bwana Tumbo," and St. Louis bartender Henry "Papa" Harris—"eminent artificer of mixed intoxicants"—was…
Towards the end of a recent lunch, I found myself ogling a friend’s bowl of chicken pista korma. He was done, but there were still a few tender chunks of chicken left. It required enormous restraint on my part not to ask him, "Are you going to finish that?" And considering we were in a restaurant…
According to the Wall Street Journal, men's loafers are making a comeback. "Bergdorf Goodman's men's store, called Goodman's, is making a big push with loafers this year," writes the Journal's Ray A. Smith. "A factor behind the loafer proliferation is the move to more smart-casual dress codes at…
THE WEEKLY STANDARD and Bar Pilar have created a contest to find the best drinks for this presidential election season. The bartenders of Bar Pilar and the cocktail editors of THE WEEKLY STANDARD will try original drinks submitted by you and we will pick the best drink in honor of Hillary and the…
Late in November of the presidential election year 1888, the Detroit Free Press asked "What is Fame?" After all, things like elective office, or battlefield laurels, or citations and awards, all may fall under the cautionary motto sic transit gloria. But to have a cocktail named after you: Now…
By now it's well known that almost no one was interested in publishing J.K. Rowling's first Harry Potter book. The author has saved those rejection letters, stashed away in her attic. Later, when Rowling was looking for a U.S. publisher, the only taker was Scholastic Press. Numerous publishers…
Vincent Hanna was strung out on coke. If that means anything to you, read on. (And if it doesn't, read on, anyway. I need the clicks.) This was just one of many revelations during a panel discussion following a Wednesday night screening of Heat, a remastered 20th anniversary edition of Michael…
In the summer of 2007, I was working on a story for THE WEEKLY STANDARD about the cult of celebrity chefs. As part of my reporting, I spent time with Michel Richard, who then ran two restaurants, the acclaimed Citronelle and the brasserie Central Michel Richard. It was inside the gastronomic temple…
So which is it? Hillary Clinton, on the stump, telling voters she cares about the little guy, or Hillary Clinton at an intimate gathering that charges $50,000 per plate? As a subhed in Wednesday's Washington Post put it, "High-dollar fundraisers contrast with promise to help middle class."
It's been two years since Christopher Nolan had a film out—Interstellar—and four years since The Dark Knight Rises. He's currently working on Dunkirk, slated for 2017. It's been all hush-hush until a segment of a trailer leaked last week. This led to Warner Bros. releasing an "announcement"…
It's truly unfortunate what happened to Donald Trump Tuesday. To have one's words all twisted and misconstrued—it's rather unfair. First, here's what the Republican nominee said: "Hillary wants to abolish, essentially abolish the Second Amendment. By the way, and if she gets to pick … and if she…
Last summer, workers removing chalkboards from a high school in Oklahoma City discovered another set of boards hiding underneath. They had last seen the light of day in 1917. The boards were still chalk-marked with drawings, a calendar, and mathematics. But perhaps most striking were the…
Kudos to Variety for interviewing members of the cast and crew of Stand By Me, which came out in the summer of 1986. As I've insisted here before, if you grew up in the 1980s, '86 was a hell of a year for pictures: Top Gun, Platoon, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Aliens, About Last Night, and Back to…
Five years after the collapse of MF Global, a settlement will soon be reached between Jon Corzine, the former CEO of the now-bankrupt brokerage firm, and customers who claim their funds were wrongfully used to offset the shortfall, making those accounts unavailable to them. Although Corzine and his…
Each summer, my wife and children head up to Connecticut to spend a week with my in-laws. Believe me, I’d love to join them for a fun-filled week of swimming, cookouts, and cocktails—or as Jack Nicholson put it in As Good As It Gets, "good times, noodle salad." Alas, I am stuck in our nation's…
First came the studies saying red meat was good for you. Then came news that butter should be embraced over margarine. It's okay to eat eggs again. Now comes word that, based on a recent study, pasta is not the carb-laden villain we once knew. To the contrary, it can be an essential part of your…
Last month, when voters in the U.K. decided to exit the European Union, the pound plummeted and market chaos ensued. The media speculated as to which companies might pull out of the country. And everyone wondered how the referendum would impact the flow of immigration. But there's an even graver…
Despite being one of the most celebrated chefs in the world—and hanging out with Anthony Bourdain—Eric Ripert still has a recurring nightmare. It involves his former boss, the legendary Joël Robuchon. When I interviewed Ripert last month for the Washington Free Beacon, we chatted at length about…
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal highlighted a study showing that people who tell good stories "are happier in life and in love." Yes, research was conducted to determine this. Specifically, "New research, published this month in the journal Personal Relationships, shows that women find…
This past weekend, Wall Street Journal books editor and WEEKLY STANDARD contributing editor Robert Messenger reviewed MacArthur at War in the pages of WSJ. This latest history by Walter R. Borneman focuses strictly on the Pacific theater during the Second World War and reappraises the actions of…
A few weeks ago I agreed to take on my most perilous assignment yet: review Outback Steakhouse's Loaded Bloomin' Onion for the Washington Free Beacon. With little help from my family, I hardly made a dent. I did receive loads of feedback, though I never really got around to reviewing the appetizer…
In the end, Norbert Hofer came up 31,026 votes short of Making Austria Great Again. The Freedom Party of Austria’s presidential candidate lost to Alexander Van der Bellen, a Green party economist, by a margin narrower than the Brenner Pass. Just last night Hofer was leading by 144,006 votes, but…
When Ted Cruz is standing on the debate stage, does he ever reflect on the words of Michael Corleone? "Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgment." After all, the Texas senator and presidential contender did recently admit The Godfather Part III is one of his favorite movies.
"Hickory dickory dock." If the next line that comes to your head is something obscene, you have Andrew Dice Clay to blame. The 58-year-old comedian, known for his raunchy rhymes and wildly offensive stand-up material, is the subject of a recent Washington Post profile. Clay is in the midst of a…
When James Moore was 14 years old, he began playing Sid Meier's Civilization II, a game in which competing empires vie for global domination. And he kept playing one particular scenario just to see how long he could last. Moore started in 2002. Fourteen years later, his world lives on—but it's not…
In a recent Washington Post advice column, a mother complains about her almost 6-year-old son's penchant for bad language. We're not just talking about negative words like "stupid," but also the f-bomb. He has been hurling insults at his younger brother, telling him to "shut up." The 3-year-old…
Not that it ever left—but it sure seemed that way, what with Burger King having introduced more than 50 different menu items in a single year (remember Satisfries?). But it finally dawned on Restaurant Brands International Inc. that its fast-food burger chain was better off selling classic…
It was all about the pants. Explosive colors, as if his legs were on fire. And patterns that looked like they were sewn together by a blind seamstress. That was the Bud Collins I remember—the longtime tennis broadcaster who died on Friday at the age of 86.
Whenever I’m driving with my wife, I have this nasty habit of smacking her in the face. No, it's not because of the innumerable times she says, "It's green. You can go now." Or "Slow down, there's a stop sign." It's not even when she thinks I don't see the car in front of me braking and yells, "Oh,…
In 2008, I was invited to judge a wine-and-oyster pairing competition at the Old Ebbitt Grill. It was a great deal: Rank 20 glasses of whites in order of your liking alongside all the Olympia oysters you can eat. Food writers and oenophiles I expected to see there. But Supreme Court Justice Antonin…
In the latest installment of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, host Jerry Seinfeld interviews Will Ferrell, who we find sitting on a playground swing. His first words to Seinfeld: "Hey little boy, you like candy?"
As mentioned previously, Brown-Forman is selling Southern Comfort to the Sazerac Company for $543.5 million. This ought to free up the Louisville, Kentucky-based liquor giant to focus on its flagship brands, namely, Woodford Reserve and Jack Daniel's. Indeed, last October Brown-Forman unveiled the…
In drinking news (the most important news, let's face it), Brown-Forman is selling that American classic, Southern Comfort, to the Sazerac Company for $543.5 million (and throwing in Tuaca, an Italian liqueur, as part of the deal). For despite the increase in U.S. consumption of whiskey and…
The snow is snowing. The wind is blowing. But I can weather the storm. What do I care how much it may storm? I've got my drink to keep me warm. That's right—Snowpocalypse 2016 is officially upon us (at least for those of us in the mid-Atlantic), so what better time to offer these drink recipes that…
I would've guessed with all the bad press surrounding Chipotle Mexican Grill, there would be no lines during the lunch hour. But that guess would be wrong. On a recent visit to my nearest Chipotle (on M Street), the line was practically out the door at 12:30 p.m. As it turns out, there are fans of…
If a normal person is asked whether he or she has read a certain book, the response can be a simple "yes" or "no." For a journalist (i.e., not a normal person), there's a wonderfully cynical rejoinder: "Read it? I haven't even reviewed it!" Also: "Well, I've read in it." I was reminded of this upon…
Just when you thought there couldn’t possibly be any more breweries for AB InBev to acquire, the beer giant is now going after rival SABMiller. So the company that already owns Budweiser, Bud Light, Stella Artois, and Corona is now gunning for Miller, Coors, Peroni, and Blue Moon, to name a few.…
I find the Review section of the Wall Street Journal to be must-reading. But I’m inevitably backed up because, well, who has the time? (The feeling is apparently not exclusive, considering the latest tagline for the paper is "People who don't have time make time to read the Wall Street Journal."…
As the Wall Street Journal recently reported, Diageo brand Smirnoff is trying to reverse declining sales of its leading vodka by focusing on … music?
The Boston Globe reports:
The recent E. coli outbreak that shut down 43 locations of the Chipotle chain in Washington state and Oregon reminds us of the downsides of organic. For in the push to rid our food of, among other things, preservatives, we tend to forget that the whole point of these additives was to, well,…
In January 2006, the actor and former senator Fred Thompson visited the offices of THE WEEKLY STANDARD to discuss the state of the Supreme Court, which was in the midst of filling a vacancy—Thompson had been providing advice to then-nominee Samuel Alito. It was an in-depth conversation about the…
Think of Mount Vernon these days and the first images that come to mind are those class trips—kids feeding goats, running through a straw-bale maze, and going on wagon rides. The last thing you'd associate with the home of George Washington is whiskey (indeed, our first president preferred Madeira…
Remember all the commotion surrounding the first commercials for Viagra? It wasn't just the content per se that had people talking—it was also the voiceover that casually warned you to "call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease in vision or an erection lasting longer than four…
During my research for Vodka: How a Colorless, Odorless, Flavorless Spirit Conquered America, I met with the execs at Jim Beam who, besides selling fine bourbon, also sell Pinnacle Vodka, a brand known for its vast array of flavors: Cherry Whipped, Cookie Dough, Pumpkin Pie, Strawberry Shortcake,…
One of the perks of covering the alcohol beat is the occasional complimentary sample that arrives by mail. It’s usually a medium-sized package containing, at most, a 750-ml. bottle. Often it’s smaller: A sample of the delicious Chopin wheat spirit Single was 375 ml. in size, Woody Creek vodka from…
One of the perks of covering the alcohol beat is the occasional complimentary sample that arrives by mail. It’s usually a medium-sized package containing, at most, a 750-ml. bottle. Often it’s smaller: A sample of the delicious Chopin wheat spirit Single was 375 ml. in size, Woody Creek vodka from…
Last weekend’s Defending the American Dream Summit in Columbus played host to five presidential candidates: Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, Bobby Jindal, Rick Perry, and Marco Rubio. This part isn’t a surprise—the two-day event was organized by Americans for Prosperity, the Koch-funded political advocacy group…
Based on her latest column, Maureen Dowd is not a fan of Hillary Clinton's campaign run. But how do the Times's readers feel? It's a guilty pleasure of mine (or a bad habit) to read comment sections in order to gauge the mood out there. At the New York Times, however, comments are broken into three…
Have you ever had two dinners in one night? I did, more than 20 years ago, in Budapest. My buddy Todd and I had gone backpacking through Europe, hitting 11 cities in 30 days. As students, we were careful not to overspend, staying at pensions and hostels and crashing at my former host family’s house…
THE WEEKLY STANDARD Casual Podcast, with Victorino Matus reading his casual essay "A Fistful of Forints."
If you were to ask a group of grade schoolers their opinions on grown-ups, what would they say? In our age of participation awards and "good job," would the descriptives be more positive than negative? In a 1931 issue of Harper's Magazine, a schoolteacher asked her students, ages 7 to 11, that very…
It’s been said that the terminally ill can hear music just before slipping away. I’ve always imagined these souls listening to angels strumming their harps. I never thought it might be “Hey Jealousy” by the Gin Blossoms. But that’s what I heard as I lay in my hospital bed last month while battling…
On the Today show, former Spokane NAACP head Rachel Dolezal explained how despite having two white parents, she identifies herself as an African American. She also mentioned her child's observation: "Mom, racially you’re human. Culturally, you’re black.” And according to her colleagues and fellow…
Xiaoping Ren means well. The doctor from Harbin Medical University in China has extensive experience in the realms of hand and face transplants. And he hopes his current research will lead to transplants that, according to the Wall Street Journal, "might one day be able to help human patients who…
Brassica oleracea acephala: "A hardy cabbage with curled often finely incised leaves that do not form a dense head," according to Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. It was, writes Alan Davidson in The Oxford Companion to Food, "the ordinary greenstuff of country people in most parts of Europe…
The first thing you see upon entering the new National Archives exhibit "Spirited Republic: Alcohol in American History" is a column containing 26 gallon-jugs filled with pure alcohol, each with varying amounts and representing our annual consumption over the centuries. And while it might sound…
Now that it’s been reported the Comcast-TimeWarner merger talks have collapsed, there will be much ad time to be filled on television and radio (as well as print). At least if you live in the D.C. area, radio commercials are often about impending legislation and a voiceover urging listeners to…
A friend sends along an email attachment—a handwritten letter by his 8-year-old son, Peter. It’s addressed to First Lady Michelle Obama. “It all started because he saw something about school lunches [and] how ketchup is bad for you, and that Michelle Obama wants to limit the amount of ketchup” in…
According to my mechanic, that burning smell emanating from my car’s vents was caused by an oil leak near the camshaft synchronizing sensor underneath the right side of the engine. Unfortunately I had no idea what he was talking about. He lost me at camshaft.
The annual Distilled Spirits Council industry review has just been released: As it turns out, Americans like to drink. No, seriously, we really like to drink. Last year, U.S. distillers cranked out 210 million cases of liquor, up 2.2 percent from 2013. Supplier revenue is up to $23.1 billion. An…
Over the weekend, the Washington Post Magazine published a survey detailing the most popular spirits in ten U.S. cities. The study, conducted by Nielsen Scarborough USA, spans a 30-day period and tracks millions of adults. The findings are intriguing.Boston, for example, leads when it comes to gin…
Our affable colleague, senior editor Victorino Matus, is famous for his big head, big heart, big appetite—and encyclopedic knowledge of food, drink, the consumption of same, contemporary German politics, and the sociology of his native New Jersey. Vic’s attention to detail, and mastery of English…
It figures. In the June 2 issue of THE WEEKLY STANDARD, I devoted a Casual to my inability to keep pace with technology. Try as I might, at some point in time, it gets to be a bit much (I refuse to pay anything by smartphone). But much of the column was spent poking fun at my parents for being so…
With growing amusement (and only mild alarm), my wife and I have been noticing how our parents’ quirks have gotten, well, quirkier. My mother and father, for instance, steadfastly refuse to text-message. “I don’t want to get charged,” my mother says. And besides, “Why do you need to text when you…
THE WEEKLY STANDARD Casual Podcast, with Victorino Matus reading his casual essay "Technical Difficulties."
Every so often you'll find a headline about robots that will soon resemble (replace?) humans—the technology is only 20 years away. And these robots will be able to act like us and think like us, but they'll obviously be much smarter, making calculations at the speed of light. Sort of like that…
In the weekend's Washington Post, Georgetown professor Angela Stent discussed the sudden demand for Russia experts—in particular those Sovietologists and Kremlinologists who in the 1990s had been consigned to the dustbin of history (or, if they had tenure, the dustbin of history departments). But…
Yet another damning revelation about the Clintons: Daughter Chelsea preferred imitation maple syrup over the real thing. In Dining at the White House, former presidential chef John Moeller recalls his urging another cook to give the first daughter what she wants, even if it seems just plain wrong.
The big news from this morning's annual briefing by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) was that for the first time ever, sales of bourbon and Tennessee whiskey exports generated over $1 billion. Admiral Peter Cressy, president of DISCUS, referred to a "whiskey renaissance"…
Dorothy Kosinski is looking forward to the release of The Monuments Men, and not just because it stars George Clooney. The director of the Phillips Collection sees the movie as a way of spreading awareness that culture matters—and is even worth fighting for. The film is based on Robert Edsel's…
The one robbery where there should have been enough for everyone. Six million dollars in cash and jewels. And yet, within days of the robbery the dream score turned into a nightmare. What should have been the crew's happiest moment turned out to be the beginning of the end. —Nicholas Pileggi on the…
Now that the Grand Coalition has returned to power, will there be a thaw in German-Russian relations? The Social Democrats (SPD) have retaken the foreign ministry. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the foreign minister, gets along well with the Russians—he was once chief of staff to Gerhard Schröder, a…
Today would not be a good day to hang out with Michel Richard. I've been around the award-winning French chef when something's not right—the vegetables in the soup aren't fully cooked, bread is being wasted, a waiter's shirt is verging on the untucked—it's not pleasant. Normally Richard is a jovial…
The battle over government's role in society has been raging for some time—culminating in today's clash over Obamacare. But for how long? In The New Deal & Modern Conservatism: A Defining Rivalry, Professor David Davenport, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, and Gordon Lloyd, a professor…
Over at Politico, Josh King reflects on the disastrous Michael Dukakis presidential campaign—specifically the moment the Massachusetts governor donned a helmet and rode around in an M1A1 Abrams, trying to resemble a muscular commander in chief. Except he didn't.
The Good Book tells us “God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work He had done in creation.” What biblical scholars cannot tell us, however, is precisely how God spent his Sunday. Did He go for a run? Read the paper while sipping on a venti macchiato at…
Last Saturday marked the 24th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. At the International Spy Museum in downtown D.C., the day was commemorated by a parade of colorful Trabants, those wonderful symbols of East German innovation and efficiency—central planning at its best.
By now we know that winning the war on terror requires a commitment to peace and stability in far-flung places—a component that goes hand-in-hand with military might. Of course this is easier said than done. Certainly there are a slew of organizations focused on relief efforts, but how many of…
The day had finally arrived—our children were embarking on their first flight. My wife and I figured that since we wouldn't have to be changing diapers in cramped quarters (our kids are five and three), the time was right. But I also presumed that since we had toddlers with us, the airline would…
Aiming to be the next Chad Ochocinco, 49ers safety Donte Whitner announced he was legally changing his last name to Hitner. But according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the paperwork cannot be completed because of the government shutdown. In fact, it may take a few weeks before the name change and thus a…
Lost in the shuffle of last week's German elections was the plight of the Green party. It was understandable, of course. Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats dominated. The Free Democrats fell out of the Bundestag. And the CDU is meeting with Green party officials to discuss a potential partnership…
Berlin
Berlin
Frankfurt "For the first time in this election I'm feeling nervous," one FDP member just confessed. And he should be. ZDF's final poll (Politbarometer) was released, and the race could not be tighter. At the moment, Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union is holding steady at 40 percent. Its…
Frankfurt
Wiesbaden, Germany
Beginning tomorrow and through Sunday I will be reporting on the German elections, aka Bundestagswahl 2013, from Frankfurt, Mainz, Wiesbaden, and Berlin, as part of a study group sponsored by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation. The foundation is the nonprofit arm of the Free Democrat Party, the…
To counter the persecution of gays in Russia, some in the West have been calling for a boycott of Russian vodka—the idea being that if things don't improve, we ought to hit 'em where it hurts. After all, Russians drink and make a lot of vodka and there was a time (in the mid-19th century) when…
Michelle Obama is on the cover of this week's Parade magazine. The profile by Maggie Murphy and Lynn Sherr was hard-hitting: "Posing in the formal Green Room, she appears both relaxed and invigorated, embracing the undefined (and undefinable) roles of Spouse in Chief, Role Model in Chief, and Mom…
It is said that when jazz legend Charlie "Bird" Parker died, the coroner guessed he was in his 50s. Parker was, in fact, 34 years old. Likewise, many of us might have been surprised to learn that actor James Gandolfini, who died suddenly on Wednesday night, was a mere 51. This means that when The…
The military historian Victor Davis Hanson was in Washington, D.C., to promote his latest book, The Savior Generals: How Five Great Commanders Saved Wars That Were Lost—From Ancient Greece to Iraq. Considering what is transpiring overseas, the timing couldn't be better. (It also makes for great…
Normally I blog about each week's Mad Men episode here. I avoid Slate and Esquire and everywhere else that offers analysis and simply try to reflect on the more interesting aspects of the show. Then I'll go over to the other sites and realize I know nothing. I am reminded of Gene Hackman's Lex…
I once suggested the Garden State be renamed the Diner State—New Jersey has more of them supposedly per capita than any other state in the union. They all seem to be open 24 hours and offer the kinds of food I love, especially around 2 a.m., such as a Western omelet, corned beef hash and eggs, and…
"Embrace the slime!" That was how my "oyster mentor" taught me to appreciate those fine bivalves. "Swish it around, taste the brine." Prior to our dinner at the Oceanaire Seafood Room, I tended to gulp down oysters doused in shrimp cocktail sauce, which was not the ideal way to eat something that…
Last night at the Kennedy Center concert hall, Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese delivered the 2013 National Endowment for the Humanities Jefferson Lecture. He spoke of the importance of preserving film and lamented the studios' fixation with box office grosses. The end of celluloid saddened…
Perhaps by the end of the day Michael Wolff will tell us it was all a joke, like Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal." And that he couldn't have possibly been serious when he wrote in British GQ, "You likely wouldn't have sex with someone who took you to the wrong restaurant (or at least wouldn't…
(SPOILER ALERT) The season finale of Top Chef didn't involve iditarods, tonging for oysters, or a roller derby. Instead, finalists Brooke Williamson and Kristen Kish, with the help of eliminated competitors, cranked out their own menus for the judges and a select group of guests—including the…
The first part of the Top Chef season finale involved the finalists creating a three-course menu and serving it up at head judge Tom Colicchio's flagship Craft in Los Angeles. This in itself was daunting. The contestants were awed by the sparkling kitchen and array of fresh ingredients at their…
And then there were three. (SPOILER ALERT) But at the moment we only know two of this season's Top Chef finalists, Brooke Williamson and Sheldon Simeon. The third is the winner of Last Chance Kitchen, which will either be Kristen Kish or Lizzie Binder. But it won't be Oklahoma chef Josh Valentine,…
In this morning's Washington Post, columnist and former New Republic editor Charles Lane writes that the Obama administration has not only fallen short in its quest for electric car domination—the quest has actually ended in decisive failure.
As I mentioned elsewhere, it was rather fitting that during the week I was away on THE WEEKLY STANDARD cruise, the Top Chef episode I missed happened to take place on a cruise ship. The kitchen quarters are cramped and the contestants had to figure out how to use the various serving vessels and…
From this morning's Washington Post:
"Keep it f—g simple," is how Wolfgang Puck put it. Last night's elimination challenge on Top Chef was conceptually easy: make good fried chicken. And yet Brooke Williamson removed the bones (and thus the flavor) from her chicken breasts while Stefan Richter did a cordon bleu because, as he told the…
(SPOILER ALERT) "Bite my tongue, bite my tongue," was all Kristen Kish could whisper to herself at judges' table. She could have explained how her teammate Josie Smith-Malave promised to make the sauce in time but procrastinated. Instead, Kristen took full responsibility as executive chef on last…
Here's a common Top Chef dilemma: When a contestant conceptualizes a plan of action and, with the clock ticking, suddenly discovers a key component is missing, say, a level pot for risotto or a vital ingredient, does he tear up the plan or just keep going? This week, Micah Fields was hoping to…
If the name "Jimmy Sears" rings a bell, somewhere along the way you must've read Kitchen Confidential, Anthony Bourdain's bestselling "Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly." The book dispels any lofty notions a reader might have about the cooking life. It's blunt and graphic, but it is also…
From yesterday's Washington Post:
Two episodes ago at judges' table, Danyele McPherson confessed that this reality-based cooking competition isn't for everyone. Her admission could've cost her (instead it was Eliza Gavin who got sent packing). But in the following episode, Danyele did get sent home for a less than flavorful chicken…
With the fiscal cliff looming, readers and lawmakers (and the readers who happen to be lawmakers) can get a better grip on the crisis by checking out Government Policies and the Delayed Economic Recovery, edited by Lee Ohanian, John Taylor, and Ian Wright (Hoover Institution Press). At a recent…
Here's how Top Chef head judge Tom Colicchio described the side of carrots prepared by contestant Eliza Gavin: "They were a mystery to me. I just don’t know how a person could possibly try to make them the way she did," he wrote on his blog. "They were dry, cooked through yet somehow still hard, as…
As Al Capone explained in The Untouchables, "A man stands alone at the plate. This is the time for what? For individual achievement. There he stands alone. But in the field, what? Part of a team. Teamwork... Looks, throws, catches, hustles. Part of one big team. Bats himself the live-long day, Babe…
Back in the day, when a cook lost on Top Chef, cohost Padma Lakshmi would tell the loser to "pack your knives" and go home. (At least she said it in her soft, sensual voice.) But for the last two seasons, eliminated contestants were given a chance at redemption on Last Chance Kitchen (viewable on…
Fans of Top Chef were probably not surprised that the first to go was young Jeffrey Jew, a personal chef formerly of Washington, D.C. Problem is, he only looks young. Jew was 34 when the episode was taped. He not only has years of experience both stateside and in London, but also graduated at the…
Let me preface this item by saying I am not the biggest fan of Guy Fieri, the Food Network celebrity with the bleached-blonde spikey hair who hosts Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives. I pretty much lost all interest in him when he started doing ads for T.G.I. Friday's—are you honestly craving that Chipotle…
Last night Bravo aired the qualifying episode of Top Chef, featuring 21 chefs competing for 15 slots. Of the three D.C. chefs in the running, two succeeded and one failed—Dan O'Brien of Seasonal Pantry was asked to make an omelet for Wolfgang Puck. It wasn't pretty.
“Hello, I’m Rachael Ray,” was how Christopher Kimball introduced himself to the capacity crowd at the National Museum of American History. The audience burst into laughter without actually knowing why they were laughing—they were just excited to see the star of America’s Test Kitchen, the number…
In the spirit of the election, many D.C. eateries have concocted politically themed menus—from BLT Steak's Obama and Romney burgers to the Occidental Grill's first lady cookies. THE WEEKLY STANDARD applauds these capitalist innovations, but a serious political magazine is simply not interested in…
"Romney's High Unfavorable Rating Hampers Message on Economy" ran the headline at Bloomberg Businessweek. "Half of Americans hold an unfavorable view of Romney—a September high for a presidential challenger in the last three decades," reports Julie Hirschfeld-Davis. "Forty-nine percent of likely…
The Clam Castle, a tiny outpost along Boston Post Road on the way to Hammonasset Beach in Connecticut, serves up a menu I find irresistible: fried whole clams, clam fritters, clam strip rolls, fried shrimp, fried sea scallops, and fried cod. It reminds me of the seafood restaurant in The Simpsons,…
It’s a floral smell at the presidential suite on the 10th floor of the D.C. Park Hyatt. It’s also citrusy and with hints of wood. Or the woods. As it turns out, it is a specifically designed scent, Le Labo's Bergamote 22, and it’s actually detectable throughout the hotel. But it’s most noticeable…
Seinfeld fans surely remember the episode in which Kramer has an idea for a cologne that smells like you just came from the beach. On page D3 of this weekend's Off Duty section of the Wall Street Journal, Aleksandra Crapanzano writes,
The New York Post reports on a new cut of beef called the Vegas Strip, though in fact only the name is new. It's a shoulder cut that is so lean it needs to be grilled to no more than medium rare. (Or it can be boiled as with a Schulterscherzl.) The Post says the Vegas Strip "looks just like a…
I recently received a postcard from my alma mater announcing "GEORGETOWN IS GOING GREEN." But how? Through carbon credits? Wind turbines? The postcard explains,
For the last year, a restaurant in Washington, D.C.'s Penn Quarter has been keeping America's culinary history alive—a place where you can order Lobster Newburgh, Brunswick Stew, "Hamburg Style" steak, Blackened Croaker, and Oysters Rockefeller. The bartender happily makes rickeys, New York sours,…
If, for some reason, Angela Merkel were unable to carry out her duties as chancellor, the next in line to govern Europe's most powerful nation would be a 39-year-old Vietnamese named Philipp Rösler. It's doubtful many Americans know this. Rösler was an infant in a Vietnamese orphanage when a German…
From Politico's website, June 15, 2012 (since revised):
On Thursday I posted the story of Lycerius, a man (at least I think it's a man) who has been playing the same board of Civilization for the last 10 years. His brutal stalemate (in the year 3991 A.D.) was finally resolved once he uploaded his scenario and another player achieved a rather cunning…
From USA Today:
When a Reddit user named Lycerius revealed he's been playing the same game of Civilization for the last 10 years, little did he know his post would go viral, generating (at last count) more than 500 comments. "Man Plays Civilisation II For 10 Years, World Disintegrates into 'Nightmare of…
Vienna
Last year, the mega-law firm Dewey & LeBouef generated revenue totaling $782 million. It was the 20th largest firm according to the National Law Journal. Its clients included the Los Angeles Dodgers, the NFL Players Association, and eBay. But over the last five months, 206 of its partners defected.…
On June 6 at 9 p.m. on the Travel Channel, Adam Richman's Best Sandwich in America will premier, with 30 sandwiches from around the country facing off March Madness-style, with a winner crowned by the host at season's end. The crab cake sandwich from Faidley Seafood is representing Baltimore while…
The Drudge headline from Sunday night was "Crushing Defeat," which it certainly was for the Christian Democrats in North Rhine-Westphalia's state election. In the span of two years, the CDU plummeted from 34.6 percent of the vote to 26.3 percent within the state. The CDU's gubernatorial candidate…
Food blogger, chef, and bestselling author Michael Ruhlman is once again up in arms (you might recall his previous rant against the anti-fat brigade). This time, a reader poses a dilemma about where to host a post-wedding luncheon considering several guests "have every variation of diet extremism…
The backlash to the backlash over "pink slime" continues: This past weekend in the Washington Post business section, Dina ElBoghdady reported on the consequences resulting from the panic. What is interesting is how it's understood within the piece that, at this juncture, what transpired was an…
As I mentioned yesterday, northwest of Salzburg is a picturesque little town called F—g. And while Austrians obviously know what that word means in English, it doesn't mean it in German (that word would be ficken). So nobody seemed to be bothered by the town's name during its early existence.…
In the great tradition of its middle column stories, this morning's Wall Street Journal features a hilarious tale out of the Pentagon involving the purported portrait of Ensign Chuck Hord, "Lost at Sea 1908." Until recently the framed picture of the dashing young Annapolis grad was hanging in the C…
[Y]ou know what he wanted? Hot dogs! You know what they make those things out of, Chet? You know? Lips and a—holes!
No, not that kind of "recovering" (thank God), but the actor, comedian, and WEEKLY STANDARD contributor Larry Miller spent the last few days in the hospital after suffering a head injury, falling outside (of all places) a bar in Los Angeles on April 3. His rep told Hollywood.com, "It was…
Why do more Americans oppose Obamacare than support it? "Most Americans don't want to be forced to take on insurance," says Dr. Scott Atlas, a radiologist and professor at Stanford University. But, he goes on, the problems are much worse than that and the more one learns about the current quality…
Vienna
Vienna
Cafe Hawelka, Vienna
"Employers ought to embrace this. If you can’t beat them, you might as well join them,” John Challenger told Chicago's local Fox affiliate. “It’s a way of bringing people together. Everybody does it. It's really harmless." No, the jobs consultant isn't talking about an office key party, but rather…
In late January I spoke on the phone with Tom Colicchio, celebrity chef, restaurateur, and star of the hit reality series Top Chef, which just concluded its ninth season.
Austin chef Paul Qui remembers his parents' reaction years ago when he told them he was going to be a chef. "Really?" was their response. "Having Asian parents, they sort of expect you to be a doctor or a lawyer," he said in a phone interview this afternoon. But over the years his mother and father…
Jonathan Schrag, until today the deputy commissioner of Connecticut's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), does not deny that he once said, "One way to push back on e-mails is to freak someone out." He also doesn't seem to deny that it's his voice left on Cynthia David's…
When Lindsay Autry began her first day on Top Chef: Texas, she was surprised to see how many of her fellow chefs made it through the audition process—they hadn't. Lindsay then learned all 28 of them would compete on-air until 16 actual contestants were left standing. "Just put your head down and…
When the late Sidney Frank created Grey Goose vodka in 1997, he was clear that this spirit must stand above the rest. Not only would it be made in France (giving it that sophisticated European aura), it would also come in a tall, frosted glass bottle with a long neck—easy to spot on the shelf and…
Last week, food writer Michael Ruhlman had a glorious screed on his blog about the war against fat:
Although viewers watch Top Chef in weekly segments, the actual filming is broken into two sections. The Texas episodes were filmed on a succession of days during the summer. After the final four chefs were selected, several months passed until they were reunited last month in British Columbia for…
All throughout Top Chef: Texas, Ed Lee has never been rattled. He may have made a few mistakes along the way, but his focus remained unbroken. (He also had little patience for incompetence and was never soft on his fellow chefs. When Sarah Grueneberg needed 9-1-1, Ed was actually annoyed by the…
Grayson Schmitz is never at a loss for words. According to the New York-based catering chef, "Whatever is in my head I say." So I couldn't resist asking her what went through her mind during the last episode of Top Chef: Texas when the special guest judge turned out to be the one and only Pee-wee…
Last year, Russia imported 55,000 live cattle to help beef up its dairy herd, which has been in serious decline since, well, since collectivization efforts first began under Stalin. As Laura Vozzella of the Washington Post points out,
As Military.com reported yesterday,
The front-page headline in yesterday's New York Post blared, "Wheely Rich: Tycoon wills $1M to driver." Not only that, but the late music mogul Alan Meltzer gave $500,000 to his doorman. At least when it comes to the doorman, it shouldn't be a surprise. In Steve Dublanica's book on tipping, Keep…
The question was, "We have many qualified, Hispanic leaders. Which of our Hispanic leaders would you consider to serve in your cabinet?" Santorum, by dint of his position on stage, got to speak first, picking the very obvious choice of up-and-coming Florida senator Marco Rubio. Gingrich came in…
Chicago chef Chris Jones respects the judges' decision, he doesn't harbor any ill will towards his competitors, and as he said on the phone earlier today, "I don't make excuses." That said, when the contestants on Top Chef: Texas were told to create a healthy version of a meal to be served at a…
It shouldn't come as a surprise that a book on a handgun's history would come out now. After all, C.J. Chivers's The Gun, about the AK-47, not only sold well but also won the Pulitzer Prize. The story of the Glock is different. It came out in the early 1980s—not as a product of a Stalinist regime…
What a week for headlines: An oceanliner keels, Rick Perry quits the race, Newt Gingrich's ex-wife talks about open marriage, and Rick Santorum wins Iowa. But the biggest news of the week is without doubt Beverly Kim's elimination from Top Chef: Texas. Yes, I'm joking, but as Beverly said over the…
With much fanfare, this past episode of Top Chef: Texas featured Restaurant Wars, which seems to excite the chefs but strikes me as the most perilous of challenges—a competent chef who volunteers to be team leader can go down with the ship, taking responsibility for others' mistakes. The chefs were…
Yes, we can all eat better and get more exercise. No, the government shouldn't take on these challenges by restricting our choices of food and drink. This is where the new website Women for Food Freedom comes in—a creation of the Independent Women's Forum meant to counter various…
As a few of my colleagues are flying back and forth from New Hampshire, what better time to talk about airplane germs. Last month, the Wall Street Journal confirmed our suspicions that flying really can make you sick. "Air travelers suffer higher rates of disease infection, research has shown,"…
For Chris Crary, the most recent casualty of Top Chef: Texas, losing isn't always a bad thing. Two years ago, back when he weighed a hefty 245 pounds ("and not in muscle," he pointed out), he decided it was time to lose weight. "I wasn't sure how my body would react," he said on the phone earlier…
Las Vegas
The Washington Post's "5 Myths" series continued this week with a holiday-themed "5 Myths about Christmas" as elaborated by James Martin, S.J. (a prolific fellow, though not to be confused with my late friend Father James Martin). For starters, Martin rightly reminds us that for Catholics,…
He was an inspiration to us all—Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger was told he didn't have the grades to get a transfer into Notre Dame. And he was too little to make it onto Ara Parseghian's heralded football team. But as we all know from the movie, Rudy made it onto campus and then onto the field. Was there…
For the fans of Top Chef: Texas who were hoping for a long, drawn-out struggle between outspoken chef Heather Terhune and Beverly Kim, last night's episode was disappointing. The Chicago chef's "braised" beef, a tribute to her mother, was judged the worst dish of the lot. Guest judge Patti LaBelle…
You can't just say that the Great Leader died of a heart attack. Instead, here is how North Korea's official news agency originally explained it: "In the whole period of his protracted revolutionary guidance, he valued and loved the people very much and always shared weal and woe with them. He…
Tuna salad or chicken salad? Why not ask your friends on Facebook? It's freezing outside. Shouldn't your friends know it's freezing, too? If you answered no to the above, you're not alone. A poll conducted by Real Simple magazine reveals the Facebook updates we find most annoying, all of which are…
On last night's episode of Top Chef Texas, the name of the game was game—namely, elk,venison, and quail. The contestants were divided into teams of two, but the combination of Beverly Kim and Heather Terhune was like oil and water (or in the words of judge Hugh Acheson, "ammonia and bleach"). Their…
Can't seem to find the right gift for your loved ones? Although there are only 11 days left before Christmas, there's no need to panic: Simply click over to the Obama 2012 store—a magical place where hope and change are alive and well. A place that sells $5 bumper stickers proclaiming "Veterans…
At his Chicago restaurant Chilam Balam, Chuy Valencia serves up a salmon-goat cheese dish that is popular with his customers. But on this week's episode of Top Chef Texas, it was anything but popular. "Smoked fish is paired with cream, which is why mild cream cheese works with lox," writes head…
Last Wednesday's episode of "Top Chef Texas" was all about chili. And Padma Lakshmi riding atop a stallion. But really it was about chili. During the Quickfire Challenge, chefs chose a chili pepper to cook with—each pepper had a monetary value depending on its heat according to the Scoville scale.…
I’d never gone to a memorial service at Arlington National Cemetery until this morning. But through a friend I was invited to attend the interment of retired Captain John Cooper Jr. who served in the United States Navy during World War II and remained active in the reserves for the next several…
Forty-seven-year-old gentle giant Keith Rhodes of Wilmington, North Carolina, was the first official casualty of Top Chef Texas. In last night's episode, much was made about Keith's buying precooked shrimp for a Quinceañera celebration, but in a phone interview, Keith explains it wasn't so much the…
If you read the above headline and were hoping to learn about ways to cut pork-barrel spending, this is not that item. But if you're a fan of Top Chef, the best cooking competition on television, do read on.
While perusing CNN.com, a headline along the right margin caught my eye: "Vote for your CNN Hero!" The teaser explained, "You can help choose the 2011 CNN Hero of the Year. Just select the individual whose accomplishment, impact and personal story inspires you the most!"
When New Jersey governor Jon Corzine lost his reelection bid to Chris Christie in 2009, part of his defeat in a Democratic state was blamed on the post-Lehman mood. Having experience as a top executive at Goldman Sachs just didn't help. But in March 2010, Corzine returned to Wall Street where he…
Over the weekend, the White House held its Halloween festivities and, as the Associated Press reports,
Among the Washington Post's endorsements in the Virginia House of Delegates is an incumbent from Fairfax named Eileen Filler-Corn. It's quite a mouthful—and a bit distracting. Remember the New Hampshire Democratic Senate candidate who challenged Republican Bob Smith in 1996? His name was Dick Swett…
Consumer experts advise us not to store perishable items like milk in the refrigerator door because of the fluctuation in temperature that occurs every time we open and close it. This explains why our milk occasionally goes bad before the expiration date. As it turns out, something similar is…
Of all the many contributions for which to thank Apple founder Steve Jobs—user-friendly PCs (easy drag and drops, visual trashcans for old files, just one disk drive), iPods and iTunes (though record stores and CD jewel case factories may disagree), and the iPhone—we would be remiss if we didn't…
It wasn't pretty. In the end, Libyan strongman Muammar Qaddafi, soaked in blood, was jostled around by rebel forces and either succumbed to his wounds or was finished off. Thanks to digital technology, the entire world can now see the dictator in his final moments and later his lifeless corpse…
In light of the rioting in Egypt and attacks against Coptic Christians, President Obama earlier this week urged restraint and calm. The White House statement read, in part,
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