The Fro Fro Blog

Pure Dark (New York)

I'm not a purist when it comes to chocolate.  Of course, I want it to taste good, but I don't discriminate between Recchiuti and a Tootsie Roll.  Both satisfy my sweet tooth in unique ways.

However, I'll admit there's something to be said for quality ingredients.  That's why when my friend Lauren suggested we meet at Pure Dark on our way to dinner the other night, I was in for two reasons.  1. Lauren is my expert source on everything from haircuts to hot new restaurants.  This place must be good. 2. I subscribe to the old adage, "Life is short.  Eat dessert first." 3. Dark chocolate is my favorite variety, and why not.  It's good for you.

When I first walked in, I had to steady myself.  Not my Louboutins, but rather the delectable aroma of cocoa made me weak in the knees.  When I regained my composure, I looked around.  The place is warm, welcoming and very well laid-out with different stations -- one for slabs of chocolate of different varieties that you can have cut to order by the ounce, another where you can mix up ingredients and they'll make your own signature bark, and so on.  Toward the back there's something akin to a Chocolate Discovery Museum, which traces chocolate from bean to bar. 

As I said before, I'm no purist, but you know a place is serious about chocolate when they talk about nibs.  Pure Dark offers three types: roasted, chocolate covered, and caramelized.  Try them on their own, then see how well they blend with the different varieties of dark chocolate slabs.  Since I tend to be a "take a bitter with the sweet in life" person, I favored the darkest chocolate with the roasted nibs.

There are also rounds all around -- disks of delectability in unique flavors such as cardamom allspice (my personal favorite), raspberry acai, and chipotle cinnamon.

Back at the "make your own bark" station, I concocted one that included nibs, cashews, dried cherries almonds and raisins.  It was gone before I even boarded my flight back to San Francisco.

That's alright, though, because Pure Dark's signature products are available on their web site, which is an unadulterated beauty.  You definitely can't say that about a Tootsie Roll.

Pure Dark
350 Bleecker Street | New York, NY 10014 | 917-284-1987

http://www.puredark.com

UPDATE December 2010 - Pure Dark is now open in San Francisco! 1775 Union Street

 

 

First Takes on Flour + Water and Humphry Slocombe (San Francisco)

Despite having a reservation we were seated at community table. Diaphanous window shades let the sun glare in my eyes. So loud we could barely hear each other. Had to say everything twice. What? Had to say everything twice.

I would've tolerated all of that if the food had been better, but the asparagus salad was just ok and the pizza had me longing for Picco or Delfina. Watery sauce, barely any cheese. 

We ordered those two and said maybe we'd get pasta if still hungry, but after the first two and all the noise, all we wanted to do was get out. It was the dining equivalent of leaving the theater before the end of a movie.  

But I'll be damned if I'm not gonna get dessert. Luckily Humphry Slocombe is only a few blocks away. Secret Breakfast (bourbon & corn flakes), Blue Bottle Coffee, and Peanut Butter Curry put me in a much better mood. Amazing, creative flavors - change daily - now following them on Twitter (@humphryslocombe) for the latest so I'm sure this isn't the last of them you'll hear from me.

Wink (Austin)

My Dear Fro Fro Blog faithful - I've been neglecting you! You've been missing out on all my escapades unless you've followed me over on the Web's latest bright shiny object, Twitter -- http://twitter.com/laurafrofro. C'mon people: if my dad can do it, so can you. But since you did take the time to read this post, I'll reward you with a delicious meal. 

No cheeky sarcasm at Wink - just simple, flavorful and beautifully presented dishes. ;) an amuse of basil lime agua fresca to enjoy while perusing the menu 

;) rabbit ravioli with peas, carrots and shaved Italian summer truffle 

;) grilled antelope on celeriac purée with maitake mushrooms and baby leeks 

;) wink trio: sampling of lemon meringue pot (tart lemon curd inside a crisp meringue shell), crème brûlée, and el rey flourless chocolate cake.

The ravioli were surprisingly light. The antelope and celeriac exceeded my expectations for something unique; the savory, beautifully cooked, well-seasoned meat and the creamy celeriac complemented each other perfectly. As for the desserts -- they were the perfect threesome. Nudge nudge, wink Wink ;) 

What's Shakin', Bacon?

Regular readers of this little column know that I love bacon.  Which is why, great friends that you are, you're always tipping me off to the latest bacon bits you've read, or the favorite varieties you've tried.  I love you for it, really I do.  

However, lately I feel that the bacon is overdone.  Everyone's writing about it.  Everyone's trying to outdo everyone else in creating the most outlandish bacon concoction.  (Bacon cupcakes?  Really??)   Of course I realize I've been as much of a culprit as anyone.  Mea culpa.  

So this morning I proclaimed to the Twitterverse and my Facebookosphere that I'm over it.  Enough with the bacon.  

You know what happened next?  An earthquake.  

That's right, minutes after my pronouncement there was a 4.4 right in my backyard.  Not to worry, that's not such a big one.  Everyone's safe -- especially the pigs.  I'm taking that earthquake as a sign, and we're going to shake things up a bit around here.  

For the next 112 days* there won't be any bacon-related posts on The Fro Fro Blog.  I understand this may alienate some readers, and to you, I apologize.  But for the rest of you, do stick around.  I have plenty of things to share with you that do not involve bacon.   I'm almost positive.

*Not coincidentally, this is the number of days until my birthday.  Birthday bacon -- count on it.

Twitter: To Tweet or Not to Tweet?

When I first started writing this blog a couple of years ago, I was like a kid in a candy store.  I couldn't get enough of the rush that came from expressing myself creatively, getting accolades from you lovely people, and having my words be read by strangers all over the globe.  Only a single-digit percentage of people on the planet were writing a blog, and I was one of them.  I was the new new thing.  

I LOVED it and couldn't imagine EVER not wanting to blog about something at least two or three times a week.

Then, along came Facebook.  I was a like a kid in a candy store filled with all my favorite candy.  I loved reconnecting with friends, seeing what they were up to and keeping them up to date on what's going on with me.  I have Facebook to thank for reuniting me with my sorority sister Anne -- we ended up doing the Danskin Tri in Austin together last year ISidebar: Jo Jo and I are about to do the "5th Annual Jo Jo and Fro Fro at the Danskin Tri" this year.  Come join us!)  I can also thank Facebook for being the catalyst for last week's Bacon Bacon Bacon Burger -- the idea was hatched when Howie (a college friend) recommended Nueske's bacon as the very best, and my cousin Stacey put in a plug for Zingerman's bacon bread.  

It's so much easier to "microblog" than to blog, and my Facebook status update began to overtake my blog in the 24-hour apple pie of my time.  

I LOVED it and couldn't imagine EVER not wanting to post pithy updates ay least two or three times a day.

Then along came Twitter.  I am now a kid in a candy store filled with all my favorite candy -- and the other kids in the store are my favorite celebrities!

At first I admit I didn't "get" Twitter.  Like you, I was asking myself, "What's the point?  Do I really need Twitter if I'm already on Facebook?"  Especially since you can set up your Facebook status to update based on your Twitter tweets (Twitter lexicon for messages) automatically.  That's all changed for the following reasons, so to speak:

1. You can follow people on Twitter who are not your friends in real life (as much as you'd like to believe that they are).  

For example, I'm following Lance Armstrong (@lancearmstrong) -- so I was getting into the flow of his daily training routine and what he does when he's not about the bike -- directly from Lance himself.  Then, the other day when he unfortunately crashed on his bike in Spain and broke his collarbone. So now I can get up-to-the minute updates on his condition, complete with pictures of his freshly sewn scar.

Then, of course, there's the royal first couple of Twitter, Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk) and Demi Moore (@mrskutcher).  Following these two on Twitter is such a romantic vicarious thrill.  Earlier this week, Ashton was on location for his new movie in France, and missing Demi back in La La Land.  So he asked the Twitterverse to send a "love bomb" -- he implored his his hundreds of thousands of followers to send a message of love to Demi at 7:45 am Pacific Time, right after she sends the kids off to school -- and we did!  She loved it, and it made me smile the rest of the day.  

I'm also following some of my favorite celebs of the food world, such as my idol Ruth Reichl (@ruthreichl), Grant Achatz of Chicago's Alinea (@Gachatz), Nate Appleman of A16 (@nappleman), Chris Cosentino of Incanto (@offalchris), Dave Martin of Crave (@chefdavemartin), Daniel Patterson of Coi (@dcpatterson), Gail Simmons (@gailsimmons) and Martha Stewart of Omnimedia (@MarthaStewart). 

It really gets good when you observe people interacting with each other:

@dcpatterson: riddle me this: what does one say to a customer who orders bone marrow and then proclaims it "too fatty"?

@offalchris: get the fuck out of my restaurant

@dcpatterson: charming.  was thinking of a more positive approach - this is the hospitality biz, right?

@offalchris: yes I know but it does get frustrating

Personally, I think Patterson should have asked the customer if this finger made him look fat.  Here's another fun exchange, between NFL and Dancing with the Stars legend Warren Sapp, and Gary Vaynerchuk, wine expert, blogger and Twitterer with quite a large following: 

@WarrenSapp: @garyvee I bet I can drink you under the table.. and yes, even wine ;-)

@garyvee: @WarrenSapp joins Twitter and his 2nd tweet ever he talks trash and wants to challenge me to a wine drinking contest!  good start ;) lol

One caveat:  Some of celebs purportedly hire ghost writers and (gasp!) don't post their own tweets.  Shame on them.  I loved following @TinaFey ("Am I eating a Caramello bar for lunch?  Yes.  Yes I am.") but then found out she was a fraud.  As you become more Twitter-savvy, it's easier to separate the shams from the silk purses.  For one thing, you see how many things they post that only they could.  Just spend one day following Ashton, Demi and Robert Luketic (@robluketic), the director of Ashton's next flick, Five Killers, and you'll see what I mean. 

2.  Speaking of fake, some of your favorite fake people are on Twitter.  

Mad Men is one of my favorite TV shows - and there are people who have appropriated the Twitter profiles of some of my favorite characters on the show -- sometimes more than one version.  There's Don Draper (@_DonDraper and @don_draper), Betty Draper (@bettydraper), Peggy Olson (@peggyolson and @BadPeggyOlson), Pete Campbell (@pete_campbell), Ken Cosgrove (@ken_cosgrove) and others.  Just like they might on the show, Betty throws out the meatloaf that Don doesn't want when he comes home late from another night of working late. A likely story.  

3. Speaking of advertising, Twitter is a great word-of-mouth marketing vehicle.

After following the making of Five Killers through the eyes of its star, his spouse, and the director for the next year, you know I'm going to see that movie!

4. You can be followed.

Don't freak; it's a compliment.  It's a great feeling when you start to have adoring masses -- you people taught me that!  But do be careful.  Standard Web vigilance applies.  

5.  You can be entertained by others' humor and and creativity.  In 140 characters or less.

Each tweet has a 140 character limit.  It's fun to see what people do with that space. 

@chef140 posts recipes -- yes, recipes -- that are all no more than 140 characters.  Here's one: "Toss 1lb cookd #pasta w/1.5c #chickpeas, 2.5c frsh #spinach, 8oz crumbld feta, minced grlc clove, 3T lemon jc, 1/4c EVOO, s&p."   Take that, Rachael Ray!

@paulfeig, actor, producer, director and writer whose credits include Freaks and Geeks and The Office, writes some terrific tweets on his own and then incites his followers to follow suit.  For example, he started #tplays, 140-character mini-dramas.  (Find them by searching on #tplays.  Or see what others are saying about your favorite subjects by simply searching on those keywords.)

@BstTwt broadcasts the best tweets others have written.  To wit:  "@nick I invented a device for making people call you for important conversations: a freshly poured bowl of cereal."  

As you can see, I LOVE it, and can't imagine EVER not wanting to satisfy my Twitter addiction two or three times an hour.  

 

So until the next new new thing comes along, follow me on Twitter...and try to keep up.

 

http://twitter.com/laurafrofro