Dubai

A Brooklyn Bodega Is Selling a Strip of the VMA Red Carpet For $5,000

Just before Miley destroyed the world by dancing lasciviously with sad bears, the stars of Sunday's VMAs trotted their fit and happy haunches down the red carpet in front of a thirsty press corps eager to ask them who they were wearing and snap pics of them posing. Nothing too special, we suppose, c ... More >>

Young Guru Ushers in the Era of the Engineer, Prefers De La to Tribe

You know Young Guru as the super-engineer knob-twiddler behind hits from Jay-Z, Rick Ross and Drake, but last week he steeped out from behind the boards to deliver a lecture at N.Y.U.'s Clive Davis School of Recorded Music as part of his Era of the Engineer tour. In tandem with Grammy U, the session ... More >>

Q&A with Chef Ho Chee Boon of Hakkasan New York: Flavors Around the World Chinese Fine Dining

We caught up with Chef Ho Chee Boon, the executive chef of Hakkasan New York, who talked about his 24 years of experience at several of the world's most renowned Asian restaurants. Chef Ho has been with the Hakkasan brand since its conception, and was the chef behind the original Michelin star rated ... More >>

Say Hello to Hakkasan, Taboonette

Arabesque, a Morrocan restaurant and lounge, has just opened in Midtown. [Diner's Journal] A new branch of Hakkasan, a trendy restaurant chain with outposts in Dubai, Mumbai, and Miami, has just opened in Midtown. [Zagat] The Franks have turned the delicatessen and provision store next to Prime Me ... More >>

Indie Spirit

In it for the love of art

Dubai's New Year's Celebrations Were More Restrained than New York's

Dubai rang in the new year last night by shooting flames out of the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building. If you ever wondered what a half-mile-tall sparkler looks like, watch the above video.

53 More Great Songs From 2011

Earlier today, Maura offered a list of the 47 songs on her "2011 Awesomeness" Spotify playlist; to complement that, here are the 53 songs from my less cleverly named playlist, "2011." As is the usually the case with these mega-lists, I compiled mine a bit haphazardly, throwing together a substantial ... More >>

Camel Milk Does Exist!

Thanks to a tweeted comment from @P2H3K9, we have this astonishing video of a camel dairy in Saudi Arabia. It follows up on a piece posted earlier this morning about why there is no commercial source of pig's milk.

Coney Island Elegy

​The bald and rotund hamburger guy welcomed generations of boardwalk strollers to Astroland, itself in danger of extinction. Coney Island as we know it is clearly on the way out, as real estate interests given the green light by the Bloomberg administration prepare to turn the place into th ... More >>

Smashburger Jumps on the Gravy Train to the Middle East

SmashburgerEat up, Dubai.​ Looks like Brooklyn was a mere pit stop on Smashburger's road to world domination: Three months after opening its first New York location in a Fort Greene condo tower, the Denver-based chain has announced it will expand to the Middle East.

Secret Lovers: Iranian Girls' Clandestine Romance in Circumstance

Muslims in World's Tallest Building Asked to Break Ramadan Fast Later

via Marshall Strabala​From our Religious Observances in Skyscrapers department comes an interesting story from the United Arab Emirates. The Washington Post reports that Dubai's top Muslim cleric told residents living above the 80th floor of the 2,717 foot Burj Khalifa to "wait three extra min ... More >>

Magnolia Is Basically Planning to Take Over the Planet

bearbooandyumyum/FlickrSoon, world, this will all be yours.​Although you could be forgiven for thinking that Magnolia Bakery had already achieved worldwide domination, its reach extends only to New York, Los Angeles, and Dubai. But that's about to change.

Muslims? They're Just Like Us!

Derrick Praileau: What Happened to Right-Wing Anti-Arab Theory That Dubai Royals Ordered Him to Kill Andree Bejjani?

​Now that Derrick Praileau, the 31-year-old veteran housekeeping manager at the upscale Jumeirah Essex House, has finally admitted in court that he strangled financial bigwig and hotel guest Andree "Sara" Bejjani in September 2009, what has happened to the cockamamie theory raised at the time by r ... More >>

Dutch 'Superbus' is Super, Bus

We reported earlier this week on the New York man who beat an M15 bus crosstown while riding a big wheel. It looks like he's finally met his match; The Huffington Post reports that awesomely named Dutch astronaut Wubbo Ockels has dreamed up a 23-person, 155 MPH electric "superbus." Sure, only old p ... More >>

Checking Out the Upper East Side Shake Shack

​Is that butter on the Shack Burger's bun? When the first Shake Shack opened in Madison Square Park in 2004 - with some grumbling about public space being appropriated for private uses - it was a revelation and an instant hit. Burgers, fries, hot dogs, frozen custard, all like you might find ... More >>

New World's Tallest Building Will Be Very Tall

via Gulf News​Saudi Arabia will soon be home to a mile-high building, dubbed "The Kingdom Tower." Gulf News reports that it will be erected (you can say that about a building in Saudi Arabia, right?) in the Obhur Gulf, just outside of the port city Jeddah. Kingdom Holding Company is funding th ... More >>

Energy Kitchen Plans Nationwide Bison Burger Domination

​Energy Kitchen, the "healthy" fast-food chain that operates 10 restaurants in the New York City area, is looking to take over America with its ostrich and bison burgers and plans to expand to a whopping 1,000 locations over the next 10 years.

Magnolia Sets Up Mission Control in Harlem, Readies for World Domination

Then one day, the cupcakes started eating us.​The cupcake cartel that is Magnolia isn't just opening five new locations around the country. It's priming itself for world domination with a new 5,200-square-foot production facility in Harlem, according to the Wall Street Journal. The new factory ... More >>

Ever Find Yourself With a Valuable Collectible?

​While uncluttering the house one day, I found a Michael Jackson chocolate bar -- dark chocolate, mind you -- on a shelf, though I have no idea where I'd originally attained it. Must be the Jesus juice. Wherever the thing came from, this discovery had me moonwalking for joy, and I assumed I ... More >>

Sex and the City 2 Reviews: The 10 Best Slams

​If you're the kind of person who sometimes asks themselves why some people hate Sex and the City so much, you are either (A) not living in New York or (B) one of the imported creatures or various changes in New York City that Sex and the City is responsible for. Well, in the new movie, Carrie ... More >>

The Middle East's Arab Population: Choosing Facebook over Newspapers

​America isn't the only place print publications are in trouble, and online news organizations aren't the only one threatening them. To find evidence of this abroad, one must look no further than Facebook...in the Middle East.

Faisal Shahzad Seemed to Have a Happy Home Life

AP​Details continue to emerge about Faisal Shahzad, the would-be Times Square bomber intercepted by agents aboard an Emirates flight at JFK as he was attempting to flee to Dubai on Monday night.

'The Calm After the Storm: Making Sense of Lebanon’s Civil War ' at Walter Reade

Lebanese film series illustrates the absence of sense in a 15-year fight

In Dubai, Confusion Over Cooking Alcohol Reigns

​Earlier today, it was widely reported that Dubai was cracking down on enforcement of a 2003 law that forbids alcohol to be used in cooking. Alcohol is available at restaurants and clubs in Dubai, and the rule against using it in food had been mostly ignored until recent complaints that devout ... More >>

Magnolia Blasts its Buttercream on Dubai

Flirty Kitty/flickr​Back in October, Magnolia announced it would be bestowing buttercream upon the Middle East by opening a store in Dubai.

Crime Beat: Tiger Woods' Other Problem Is Dubai's Meltdown -- and Its Adultery Laws

HarkavySerenity now: Tiger's first designed golf course, in Dubai, features a "30-foot depression" on the 12th hole, a pit much smaller than what he's trapped in right now. Tiger Woods may be lucky that his adulterous behavior surfaced now instead of next year. The first golf course he has designed ... More >>

Newark Grocers Push Fruits & Veggies; Jonathan Safran Foer Asks, 'Why Not Eat Dog?'

​Costco will start accepting food stamps nationally after it started to accept them in New York earlier this year. The program should be operational in half the company's 407 warehouse-style stores by Thanksgiving, according to company officials. [NY Times] Small corner grocery stores in Newa ... More >>

Magnolia Set to Sugarcoat Dubai

Flirty Kitty/flickr​Dubai is starting to resemble a New York dentist's worst nightmare: The Chocolate Bar is already there, the Shake Shack is on its way, and now, it appears, Magnolia is about to follow. According to the cupcake capo Steve Abrams, the bakery will open a store there inside the ... More >>

Before it Goes to Dubai, Shake Shack Will Travel to Nolita

CurbedThe future location of the city's fourth Shake Shack outpost. ​The Shake Shack will open its fourth outpost in Nolita, according to an announcement from the Union Square Hospitality Group. The new location will be at 47 Prince, at the corner of Mulberry Street. It's not quite as exotic a ... More >>

Senator Orrin Hatch Salutes Ted Kennedy in Song

Utah Republican Senator Orrin Hatch did not let the fact that the last video on his YouTube channel was "Perils Of Government-Run Health Care" deter him from recording a hastily written homage to his good friend Ted Kennedy. Let's just do this verbatim, shall we?

Bye-Bye, Balducci's: New York Stores Close

Balducci's, next to Zabar's probably New York's best known gourmet food shop, has closed its local stores at West 66th Street and at the corner of 14th Street and Eighth Avenue. The Times eulogizes, though one interviewee says, "Do you really need chipotle raspberry finishing sauce?... People don't ... More >>

This Is Why You're Fat--Study Says Allergies Can Hinder Weight Loss

A study in Japan has found that eating 2.5 ounces of baby broccoli per day for two months may help stave off a stomach bug that is linked to several more serious problems, including gastritis, ulcers and even stomach cancer. [Reuters] Downing a banana smoothie before bed could help sufferers of sl ... More >>

Dumped via Facebook? Probably. Hooked up by stimulus bill? Maybe.

This'll break you up: Revisiting the January 2007 Facebook parody from USC, directed by Mu Sun While you're waiting for the stimulus bill to hook you back up: • It's not you, it's my social-networking. Further confirmation in this morning's Daily News of something that thousands of you alre ... More >>

Giuliani, in UAE, Won't Rule Out Runs for President, Gov

Daily Flog: Hedgehog Day on Wall Street; no one's selling greed short

Capitalist Kumbaya

The First Saturday in May: Spellbound, With Horses

Could use more humans, though

Houston to Dubai: A Nonstop Flow of Money

Carey Young's "If/Then," 'The Office,' and Jean Foos's 'The Other Me'

Recommendations by R.C. Baker

Our Slave Labor in California, Iraq

I, Genius

Odd kids and surreal optimists in a new collection from George Saunders

In-Flight African Reveries

Supermax in Baghdad

Cheney as Furor

Anchors Way, Way Away

Port Security and the Politics of a Good Story

Dubai's Port of No Return

Don't jump to conclusions, but there are ties between the UAE, bin Laden, and the Taliban

Seafood Aria

In midtown, something fishy and cheesy this way swims

What the Butler Wired

Do Not Disturb — Unless You've Brought Me Some Floppies