So over at Serious Eats, there’s a post about increasing your chile tolerance. While I agree with the message (namely that some of the best cuisines in the world are pretty hot, and that it’s worth developing a tolerance so that you can enjoy them), I feel they left out a key component: Start slow and build up to all out! In the first few days, only add half a jalapeño or a couple drops of hot sauce, then after you’re comfortable with that, increase it steadily and gradually. Within a few weeks you’ll be a fire-breather, undaunted by whatever the world’s kitchens can throw at you. Good luck.
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Curry Craving: Ravi Kabab
Next time somebody claims you can’t get good Indo-Pak food in the DC area, throw some dal in their face and slap them with a hot chapati, and call them out on their ignorance. For the meatier side of things subcontinental, I present: Ravi Kabab, an Arlington institution steeped in Lahori deliciousness.
LITTLE BOOTS’S NEW ALBUM DUE THIS YEAR!! Best news of the day by far!
Great Danes of Music: The Raveonettes
Sune and Sharin. Also available in colour.
In a slight stylistic deviation from much of the in-your-face music I love so much, we arrive today at the Raveonettes, one of my absolute favorite currently active and touring bands. They’re somewhat well-known, but not too much. Misdemeanor-ly unappreciated if not criminally unappreciated, I suppose. In any case, they are very, very dear to my heart, and here’s why:
Buy a Case, Quick! Château Haut Blaignan 2010
- Buy as much of this as you can
I make no pretensions of being a wine critic, as I find that profession mostly full of hyperbole and bullshit, and I won’t go into “bits of jam and twig with sniffles of cherry ice cream and hints of fairy breath” here. I do know a damn good wine when I drink one though, and we have a winner here: Château Haut Blaignan 2010, from Bordeaux’s elite Médoc region, home to some of France’s most superb wines. For $7, Haut Blaignan is making a bloody good effort. Yes, $7, if you can find at your local Trader Joe’s. It normally retails for about $16, and I’d put it on par with $30 bottles I’ve had. It’s really that good. Seriously, buy a case if TJ’s has one, or just get a few bottles to enjoy at home by the fireplace or to take to a small gathering and wow the hell out of everyone with your awesome erudition in oenology. Cheers!
A Gentleman Needs But One Blade: Taylor of Old Bond Street
- Straight razor…straight to the face!
Throw you double, triple, or fourple-blade or greater razors out, chaps. Chuck the advanced micro-nutrient Whiz-Tech cream out with it too. You only need one blade, a good brush, and some soap. Much has been written on the classic and oft-forgotten art of wet shaving, so I shan’t be adding to the literature. Should you want more information, check out this handy guide from the Art of Manliness. No, today I sing the praises of the Temple of Keeping it Old School, Taylor of Old Bond Street, St James’s, London.
We Fail Harder: How NOT to Sell a Car
- NOT what I’m in the market for.
Some of you that know me personally may know that I’ve been car shopping. I’ve been seeking used (no, I will not use this idiotic “pre-owned” term), simply because let’s face it, I’m about maximizing value, and finding a well-taken care of car that’s a bit older but otherwise immaculate is a VASTLY better value than a new car. I’ve been at it for several weeks, and 90% of the sellers out there FAIL HARD. Here’s what not to do:
Great Ballers of Music: Manu Chao
Where to even begin? A true living legend, multilingual global troubadour, the leader of two amazing bands and the man behind several brilliant albums for himself and others, and a veritable musical chameleon, capable of three-hour live sets run at breakneck speed.
(Lots of good stuff and a TON of videos after the jump)
Cocktail Perfection: Little Branch in NYC
What dreams are made of.
Inconceivably superlative.
Fucking Perfect.
Ladies and gentlemen, the single best bar I have ever been to, and the standard against which all further mixology is to be judged: Little Branch in the West Village in Manhattan.
We Ball Harder 