There’s an article in the NY Times today about the meat storage box at the famous Peter Luger Steak House in Brooklyn.

It’s a 2,000-square-foot industrial walk-in cooler (located below the restaurant’s kitchen) packed with 30,000 pounds of raw, aging meat. Read the article for more info if you like words.

But if a 360 degree panoramic photo of all that meat is more to your liking, then check this out!

Vegetarians beware.

Ever feel like going up for dinner?

Dinner in the Sky will hoist you and 21 guests 150 feet into the air for a gourmet meal with a view that can’t be beat. Even better, they deliver!

Belgium-based Dinner in the Sky can come to your location (as long as there is 500 square meters of flat ground) to serve lunch, cocktails, dinner or a meeting in the sky. They can even provide a second crane with a platform at the same height as the table. Why you ask? For the musical entertainment of course!

Each seat at the table has a four-point harness to hold you in place – the view straight down explains why.

Dinner in the Sky

(Via)

According to an article in the NY Times today, it turns out that fortune cookies—the desert treat popularly served in Chinese restaurants—are actually of Japanese origin.

Japanese bakers have been making omikuji senbei (“written fortune crackers”), in Kyoto for generations. Fortune cracker making was brought to the west coast of this country by early Japanese immigrants. After these Japanese families were removed to the internment camps during WWII, it was Chinese families that took over the production of the cookies.

After the war, returning American servicemen were served fortune cookies in California. Upon arriving home, they asked their local Chinese restaurants why they didn’t serve the fortune cookies.

Still popular in Kyoto, Japan, the “written fortune crackers” are similar in shape, but differ in taste. They are bigger and browner, and not as sweet, being flavored with miso and sesame instead of butter and vanilla.

One bakery, Sohonke Hogyokudo, has used the same 23 fortunes for decades. (Wonton Foods, the American cookie maker has over 10,000 fortunes in its database.) Hogyokudo’s fortunes tend to be more poetic in theme than prophetic.

But a cookie opened in another local Kyoto shop contained the advice, “To ward off lower back pain or joint problems, undertake some at-home measures like yoga.”

Nigiri – Sake (salmon). Mmmmm, my favorite!

I photographed this piece of sushi at Clem & Ursie’s in Provincetown, MA, moments before devouring it.

Though there are 3 basic types of Sushi — Chirashi, Maki, and Nigiri — the most well-known form of sushi is oval-shaped or Nigiri, made with sushi rice (seasoned with a sweet vinegar mixture), various raw fish (salmon, tuna, squid, shrimp, octopus, etc.) and wasabi (japanese horseradish).

Eating sushi correctly is an exercise in manners, logistics and tradition; as illustrated in this how-to-eat-sushi video:

The process here starts with raw coffee beans roasted in small batches, 30lbs at a time.

The raw coffee beans are placed into a cylindrical roasting oven by hand.

Paddles inside the oven slowly tumble the beans during heating. Beans are roasted at about 425-475 degrees for about 12-18 minutes, depending on the type of beans and desired darkness.

At the precise moment, the hot beans are dumped into an open hopper with rotating paddles that stir the beans while air is blown from below to cool the beans and stop the cooking process. During this phase, any loose chaff (hulls, casings) from the beans falls through the grating at the bottom and is removed.

The cooling completed, roasted beans are ready to be put into bags for sale.

Next, the beans are placed into a bagging machine that dispenses exactly the right weight into hand held bags.

The bags are manually closed and marked with the roasting date.

The roasting date is the key. Fresh roasted coffee should be brewed and consumed within 10 days. According to coffee roaster Diedrich Coffee’s website, “Freshness is probably the most misunderstood factor about coffee. The date of the roast is the key to freshness. Without sophisticated packaging, coffee beans lose more than half of their flavor within two weeks. After six weeks the oils become rancid. Exposure to air and moisture accelerates the decomposition of the flavors. Freezing the beans may stop this decomposition but freezing also destroys the delicate oils and aromatics. Never freeze a quality fresh roasted coffee.”

You can read more about what makes an “Exceptional Cup of Coffee” here.

Good morning!