October 2006 Archives

Oh sweet sweet Kopp's, you had me at hello. Softer than a raw oyster, thick and smooth, rich and eggy, oh delicious frozen custard, you make the world turn faster, you make the sun shine brighter, you make my intestines turn but that's not your fault, that's just my genes, and they're WRONG about you.

Miho and I took a cab ride to Kopp's from the venue -- $18 each way, the custard was only, like, $1.90, so it was a $20 cup of custard, but what a cup. The place is kind of 50s retrofuturistic -- men and women in paper caps and white uniforms, lots of shiny stainless steel, and a picture of a nice looking grandma type who I assume is a Kopp. I got double truffle, Miho got straight up vanilla. Double truffle had little crumbly chocolate brownie/truffle cubes in a caramelly vanilla custard. The vanilla was pure and eggy and creamy and everything you dream ice cream should be.

Best exchange ever with the counterman at Kopp's, for which Milwaukee wins 100 points and an eternal place in my heart:

GANDA: What do you want to get?

MIHO: I don't know...

COUNTERMAN: Where are you guys from? You from New York?

GANDA: Yeah, we are!

MIHO: Yes! How did you know?

COUNTERMAN: [knowing smile] I can tell.

We did quite a bit of walking around town today trying to find some brunch. We hoofed it over to Cafe Brenda only to find that it's closed on Sundays. (I should have remembered about that whole closed on Sundays thing from Prairie Home Companion.) We nixed a bunch of brewery type eateries, walked into Borders' Cafe and walked right back out after looking at their sad, plastic-wrapped sandwiches, went over to Hell's Kitchen upon recommendation by the Borders cashier, where we were told there would be a 1 to 1 1/2 hour wait for two, and ultimately wound up at...Panera. Which we would still choose over Panda Express.

Apologies to Minneapolites for not making it to Nye's or that yummy sounding doughnut place -- we really had a tight schedule today. I am going to try and hit up some of the Milwaukee recs I've gotten. Despite the cold, I am going to try my darnedest to get some Kopp's frozen custard.

Gig was the first of the tour; lots of people came out. Our tourmates are lovely. I am currently blogging from my laptop using the bus's wi-fi. Are you as impressed as I am?

Want to hear some of the music we'll be doing? Miho's MySpace page has plenty to sample. Nic Harcourt's been playing some tracks on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic. We love that guy. The album is out on Rykodisc on October 24th. Check it out, come to a show (listed on Miho's MySpace page), support DIY independent music.

Overheard last night at Pho Grand, a Vietnamese restaurant on Grand St.:

[group of young people perusing menu]

HYPERACTIVE FAUXHAWKED ASIAN GUY: Dude, what was that thing we ate on St. Marks last week?

DROLL HIRSUTE JEWISH GUY: Okonomiyaki.

HYPERACTIVE FAUXHAWKED ASIAN GUY: Yeah, THAT'S what I want!

DROLL HIRSUTE JEWISH GUY: You can't get that here, that's Japanese.

Just wanted to say hello from Minneapolis. We're staying downtown, and while downtown is generally not a great place to hang in any town when you want to be with the peeps, that's where we are. This hotel is kind of like a Swiss chalet in the 70s -- lots of taut buttoned leather couches and this bizarre baby grand in a pile of woodchips closed off by brass railing.

We've tentatively subtitled this tour the Zen Bossage Spa Office Tour. Getting out of New York can often be a vacation in its own right. You never notice you're on the hamster wheel until you get off. Between the two of us, we probably have enough tea and health food products to set up camp under a bodhi tree and wait for enlightenment.

At JFK, airport security made me throw out my empty free-with-purchase Beard Papa travel coffee cup. Apparently, no screw top containers allowed at all, even empty ones. Leave your firefly jars at home.

As I was told, the Hmong community here is quite prominent. I can't tell if the Hmong language is different from Thai or if I'm just being confounded by funny fonts. The Asian market had all kinds of herbs I hadn't seen before, as well as big slabs of smoked pork and beef which looked mighty interesting.

We're going to go enjoy complimentary cookies and milk down in the lobby of the hotel at 10 p.m. That's fuckin rock n roll, man.

I am in serious headless chicken mode right now, kids. I cannot believe what a busy three months it's been. I'm surprised I'm not breaking out in boils.

Anyway, I'm on the road again, I can't wait to get on the road again. I thought we were leaving tomorrow (Sunday) but as it turns out, we're leaving today (Saturday). Thank god Miho called and left a message: "Uh, Ganda, you know we're leaving on Saturday, right, not Sunday?" I got oatmeal and several packages of fiber-rich dried fruit for the bus (no poop no paper when you flush on the bus!), and now I have to go shove it all in my suitcase. TMI?

I'm going to try and roadblog but I'm not making any promises. Are you ready for this jelly, Minneapolis? Which way to Paisley Park?

Tonight, you're a star...and I'm the big dipper.

LA LA LA LA. LA LA LA LA!

Name: Jeff Gramm

Borough: Brooklyn

Relationship status: Single, but I eat couple-sized portions!

What did you eat today?

Breakfast: plain yogurt, lemon guava and mango. Lunch: Leftover bulgoki on bread. Dinner: I don’t know what I’ll get, but we’re going to Rainbow Drive-In, best plate-lunch on Oahu. [You're in Hawaii? --Ed.]

What do you never eat?

I’m not all that into organ meat, although there are some exceptions. I like most types of liver, for example. I don’t drink soda. I never go out of my way to eat potatoes or brown rice, I guess.

Complete this sentence: In my refrigerator, you can always find:

My housemate’s tofu-dogs. What’s the half-life of those fucking things?

What is your favorite kitchen item?

Fred Kovey, obviously. Sadly, my kitchen houses neither Fred nor more traditional kitchen items. Right now it has Annie Hayden’s keyboard, a tent and a huge stack of my unopened mail. Maybe I can trade in that keyboard for one of those combination hot dog maker / bun-toaster devices?

Where do you eat out most frequently?

I would like to say I eat out most frequently at my favorite restaurants, but surely my most common destinations are local: Pakistani food on Coney Island Ave, Veggie Castle, the Avenue U corridor, DiFara’s, Cinco de Mayo on Cortelyou.

World ends tomorrow. What would you like for your last meal?

Hmmm, I’ve never really been too picky about food combinations. . . I’m in the subset of people that gets both the chicken and the tacos (and meximelts!) at those KFC/Taco Bells (I guess that also puts me in the slightly larger subset of people who would actually enter a KFC/Taco Bell). So I would opt for a huge selection of my favorite foods rather than my favorite meal. Perhaps I will do you a favor and restrict my list to ten.

1) Maryland Blue Crabs 1 steamed hardshell, 1 fried softshell and half a crab-cake.
2) One small piece of spam musubi
3) Papaji’s hawaiian style-kalbi with kimchi and with a taste of kalbi jim on the side
4) One-half Ben’s Chili Bowl chili-cheeseburger with mayonnaise
5) One quarter-dark Peruvian chicken from El Pollo Rico in Arlington
6) One spicy-tuna handroll and maybe a few ounces of toro
7) One bite of fatty brisket (Cooper’s maybe?) and a forkload of Vietnamese porkchop with fried egg over crushed rice.
8) One Sichuan wonton in red oil chased by Jerusalem style lamb-fat kabob.
9) One small plate of roasties from Canton: duck and goose only.
10) 6 shots of Rye followed by one jalapeno slider, some Katz's pastrami, one fresh sausage and cheese kolache, one roti canai, one-half Chicago pork-chop sandwich and whatever other drunk food I can only think of when I’m drunk.

Hmm, banh mi, dipped sandwiches, burgers and tortas did not make the list. No curries, chilidogs or pizza either. I also really love a good BLT with a lot of mayo. Shit, and no dumplings or veggies of any kind. Maybe I can get a few days of advance warning for this whole world ending thing?

Played Mountain Stage in Morgantown, WV this past weekend. Didn't really get much to eat but I got to hang with my buddy Brian Rosenworcel whose band Guster was on the same bill. I hadn't seen him since his glorious wedding in Columbia, MO. We totally kicked ass in all-terrain bocce and he joined us onstage for Barracuda (Miho version, not Heart version).

Went on their tour bus, which is probably a lot like the tour bus I'll be living on for two weeks for the Hotel Cafe tour, which Miho and I will join on Sunday. They have a microwave and a George Forman grill. "For making panini with cold cuts and cheese we get at the venues," explained Bri. An excellent idea for any road tripper with an outlet in their vehicle.

The buses will probably be packed -- the Guster bus sleeps 12 (though Guster only travels with 10). It got me thinking -- what can you cook on the road without refrigeration or a burner or a lot of storage space? A rocker friend of mine who's vegetarian once said he always brought a box of couscous and boullion cubes because you can always get hot water. Miho and I are planning on bringing instant oatmeal, dried fruit and plenty of tea. Any other ideas?

By the way, I am going to have absolutely no time to research good eats, so if anyone has suggestions for can't-miss dinners (preferably cheap and vegetable-filled) in Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago, Detroit, Lansing, Louisville, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Columbus, or Cincinnati, please e-mail me. I'm looking for dining experiences I can't get in New York. (No Detroit Coney Island Dog, please, and none of that loose hamburger either. *Shudder*)

P.S. Guster's 22 yr. old. roadie had never heard of Friendster. How old did that make me feel? V. v. v. old.

Rehearsal at Mauro's house the other day:

MIHO: I went to see Ladytron last night. They were great.

MAURO: How was CSS?

MIHO: I liked them a lot.

GANDA: Why would anyone name their band CSS?

MAURO: Actually, it stands for "Cansei de Ser Sexy." Means "tired of being sexy."

GANDA: OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I've heard of that band! I saw CSS and I thought it was CSS like CSS.
[Quizzical looks from everyone.]

THOMAS: What are you talking about?

GANDA: You know, like Cascading Style Sheets. It's this thing...you know, it's like naming your band HTML or something. Oh my god, I'm such—

THOMAS: You are such a nerd!

It's my friend Alex's 40th birthday this year and to celebrate, his friends are throwing him a big, drunken party in Chelsea tonight. (We were originally going to go to Berlin, but the pittance I've earned from those Google ads all year would barely cover dinner and pilsener for two at Loreley.) My friend Shannon came up with a totally genius flyer/webpage/concept for it. The evening is called The Joy of Alex: A Guide to Mature Lovemaking and the page plays "Je t'aime...Moi non plus". I just about fell off my chair laughing when I saw it.

I had a funny idea for the birthday confection part of the evening, so I called up sugar Sweet sunshine to see if they could make my dirty dream come true.

GANDA: I'd like to get two dozen cupcakes, but I have a special decorating request. I'm wondering if you can, um, ice them to look like breasts.

BAKER: [Giggling] Breasts?

GANDA: You know, if you could make the icing flesh colored, maybe put a piece of red candy in the middle for a nipple.

BAKER: Red candy...

GANDA: And, you know, some of them can be chocolate too so we have multi-racial breasts.

BAKER: [Giggling] Chocolate...How about red icing instead of candy?

GANDA: Icing's great.

BAKER: Do you want red nipples or pink nipples? [Giggling]

GANDA: Oh, you know, whatever's appropriate.

I also thought it would be funny to get them all as red velvet cupcakes so when you bit the tit, it would be bloody on the inside, but I thought that might be a little too morbid so I just went with vanilla and chocolate.