Calvin Trillin

The Nastiest Thing I Ever Told Someone

Telling people about their bad press is a no-no, especially if you couch it in an "I'm so concerned for you" backdrop of fake-compassion. At least the one time I alerted someone to a bit of bad publicity, I did it without any disingenuous charm whatsoever. I was just flat out spiteful. This was i ... More >>

Gold, Meehan, and Me Invade KC

The brisket burnt-edges sandwich at Gates Bar B.Q. [See More On the Road: Weird Food Truck in San Francisco | Watermelon Shop in Texas! | Delicious Kansas City Oddball Burgers] The last week of April, Peter Meehan, Jonathan Gold, and I went to Kansas City for three days of binge eating. The conve ... More >>

Kansas City's Oddball Burgers, and Why They're So Good

The burger at Winstead's (rather grandly called a "steakburger"), celebrated by Calvin Trillin in American Fried As burgers have become a mainstay of New York City bistros, bars, and snack shops, area chefs have come to define them in a restricted way: the patty must be thick and juicy and made wi ... More >>

John Brown Smokehouse: Long Island City Gets a Great Barbecue

Queens now tastes a little like Kansas City

In Praise of Frank's RedHot: A Thumbnail History of Buffalo Chicken Wings

​Whoomp! There it is. When I'm making Buffalo chicken wings, do I reach for the Tabasco? No I do not. Sure it's great for zapping a gumbo or shaking on oysters, but it's too damn hot and vinegary for Buffalo wings. Use it, and it will climb right up your nose, eclipsing the chicken flavor w ... More >>

POLL STARS

An early look at 2012

The New Yorker's Annual Food Issue Has Arrived

Martin Schoeller/The New Yorker​The New Yorker's annual food issue is out this week, to the immeasurable joy of gastronerds who have some spare time on their hands. High on the marquee is Lauren Collins' profile of April Bloomfield, whom Collins dubs "the food world's oblivious savant." Elsew ... More >>

Buffalo Wings: Old Town Bar Versus Bonnie's Grill

Old Town Bar's buffalo chicken wings​In a 1980 New Yorker article, Calvin Trillin attempted to get to the bottom of exactly who invented buffalo chicken wings, and when. There is no doubt that the snacks were born in Buffalo, New York, and the generally accepted story goes that the Bellissimo ... More >>

The Early Word: Dos Toros

Not a burrito: Dos Toro's steak taco​ Dos Toros, a new Cal-Mex taqueria just off Union Square, is owned by Leo and Oliver Kremer, two brothers from Berkeley who wanted to bring Mission-style burritos to New York. Oddly enough, Leo is also the bassist for Third Eye Blind. Neither brother has an ... More >>

Post-'Gourmet,' Ruth Reichl Embarks on a New Set of Adventures

Brigitte Lacombe​Gourmet may be dead and buried, but last night's party at A Voce Columbus for Ruth Reichl's Adventures With Ruth didn't feel like much of a wake -- as guests knocked back wine and uni crostini, the deceased was barely mentioned. Reichl, accompanied by the show's executive prod ... More >>

TOP CHEF

Food vendors go head to head

KF Seetoh on Singaporean Street Food

Chowhound Dave Cook's Last Road to Singapore

For his last meal, this man dreams of food courts of the Far East

Pleased to Meet Me

Self-satisfied, insider-y, predictable—a case against the New Yorker Festival

Bean There, Done That

Easter stew and other delights at Sunnyside Ecuadorian café

'I Like Killing Flies'

Thanks, Cattle

On thronged Eldridge Street, maybe the best noodles of your life

Grease Is Good!

Are lard, eggs, and fish tacos the new health foods?

Chop Suey Christmas

From lo mein to lobster in the city's five chinatowns

Theater

Steak—Out

Hypocritical Oafs