Polite Savages (tm)

New York Chinatown Bakeries

I love food.  I love Chinese food and I mean real Chinese food.  Not the stuff of local takeouts that cater to a bland palate.  One of the things that most Americans don't experience about Chinese food is the Chinese bakery.  The Chinese bakery in America is a fusion of Western baking techniques and the Chinese palate.  The baked goods range from sugary goodness in the middle of a napoleon walnut cake, the savory goodness of a pork thread bun and my favorite, the egg custard tart.  Of course there is so much more for sale like roast pork buns, curry puffs, hot dogs wrapped in puff pastry, sweet white pullman bread and the list goes on . . . I could eat at a Chinese bakery everyday. 

A couple of blogs and websites provide fantastic advice on  navigating the menu and ordering etiquette at a Chinese bakery.

Ed Levine provides a detailed guide to New York's Chinatown bakeries.

This is a general New York Chinatown blog.

Fay Da is one of the most prominent and accessible bakeries in New York's Chinatown.

These bakeries typically provide trays, tongs and wax bags.  It's self-service but sales attendants are always ready to help customers especially the ones that look confused.  Please do not use bare hands, put baked goods into the wax bags.  Move from left to right.  Pass your tray to a cashier who will tally your purchases.  Pay quickly and get out of the way.  Don't be afraid to ask questions.  Finally as always, say thank you and please and smile.

Enjoy!

The Death of Formal Dining

     Florence Fabricant wrote last week in the New York Times about the decline of formal dining restaurants in Manhattan.   Linen table cloths, fine china and crystal are just too expensive and apparently not quite as fashionable anymore.  Alain Ducasse said: "In six years, style and expectations have changed.  You cannot present the same degree of formality."  A part of me regrets the trend because it means that there will be fewer opportunities to practice elegant dining.  Another part of me is delighted because I don't want elaborate decorum at a meal.  I'm just too tired to wear a tie, sit up straight and use the correct fork. 

     That being said, I believe that knowing proper dining etiquette is necessary for social success.  Knowing how to cut meat properly, how to use a fish knife and where to put your napkin when you leave the table shows your respect for the people that choose to dine with you and for the society in which you live.   

     However, I cannot discount that manners evolve.  What was proper a century ago is considered outlandish today.  And that's fine.  Manners are not static rules.  They evolve with social and cultural norms.  If dining manners didn't change, all of our meat would still be on a stick.  Don't get me wrong, I love meat on a stick, who doesn't?  If manners didn't change at all, it would be a reflection of a stagnant society.  Those die.

Wine Tasting

   On July 9, 2007 the New York Times ran an article, "It's a Tasting, not a Guzzling, L.I. Wineries Remind Guests", about the growing trend of wine tasting guests that seem more like college kids on spring break in Panama City instead of responsible adults trying to enrich their palates.  Needless to say, getting drunk at a wine tasting and skinny-dipping in the adjacent lake is hardly appropriate or considerate to other guests. 

     I though of this article because last night, I went to a lovely wine tasting of wines from the Loire Valley and some new world wines at Chelsea Wine Vault.  In case you were wondering, I was the epitome of self-restraint.  We sampled some beautiful wines and tossed around words like flinty, chalky, minerality, vanilla, nose, body and fruit bomb.  I stretched my limited knowledge of wine.  I sniffed deeply from the glass and then made thoughtful faces as I set the glass down.  I ooh-ed and ah-ed for my favorite wines and said that they had "remarkable depth," or were "lovely and enticing."  Granted not perfect wine-speak but good adjectives nonetheless since they avoided naming specific aromas.  What if I described something as "grassy" when it was really "citrusy"? 

     But really, it was like sitting through a time-share presentation.  Everything was magical and would greatly improve my life.  Representatives from the distributors were on hand to extol the virtues of their wares.  I felt like I was an active audience participant in an infomercial about Loire Valley wines.  Eventually you were either convinced by their pretty words or guilted into buying something.  My partner ended up buying 12 cases. 

     Some of my favorites were the Domaine Laureau Savennieres "bel Ouvrage" and the Domaine Frederic Mabileau St. Nicolas de Bourgeuil "Eclipse" both distributed in the U.S. by Jon-David Headrick Selections and Teira Sonoma Sauvignon Blanc distributed by Teira Wines.

     My favorite quote from the evening was "It's forty years after the summer of love, it's time to get back to acidity" so said one of the wine distributor reps. 

Drunk and Disorderly Part Two

    

     On a more humorous but not less serious note, one of my desires is to publish a coffee table book of dramatic black and white photographs of drunken people throwing up in public.  I should expand it to the subject matter of drunken people looking foolish in public.  I've been thinking about this idea since 1999.  That is when I started to go London regularly.  A London weekend from New York was fun and relatively inexpensive, not to mention you could get to work at a reasonable time on Monday morning. 

     I sigh and remember the first time I stumbled around a corner and saw a young woman on her hands and knees, her thong popping out on her exposed backside, heaving on a cobblestone street while her friend held her hair.  I remember jumping up from my seat on the night bus because the cross-eyed man next to me started to convulse.  No the convulsions were not because he was epilectic.  They were a result of drinking too many beers and apparently he had to throw up in the adjacent luggage area. 

     Maybe one day my dream of this rude coffee table book will come true.  In the meantime, keep that in mind the next time you're partying in London or some other major city.  You'll never know where I might turn up with my camera.

Drunk and Disorderly

     An article In the New York Times reported about the rise in alcohol fueled, rowdy behavior in Rome's historic city center.  The article discusses the clash between young Italians, tourists and the local residents.  Young Romans and tourists stay up all night drinking in historic piazzas causing the locals to lose sleep.  The accompanying picture shows a young man lying on stairs littered with bottles and cups in the light of Saturday morning. 

     This phenomenon is not specific to Rome.  It happens everywhere in big cities and small towns.  People like to drink and have a good time and that is just fine.  What is wrong is when someone's good time is had at the expense of someone else's sleep or quiet enjoyment.  Laughing loudly, blasting music from one's car, or shouting down the street at a friend at 2AM in front of someone's home is rude.  People are trying to sleep at that time or enjoy their homes in peace and quiet. 

     I have to be honest and say that I'm biased.  I side with the residents of Rome's historic city center because my family happens to live on a residential street in Manhattan that is around the block from two large clubs.  Every weekend we hear and feel loud music from cars, have people hang out on our front stoop as if it were some fab after-party and even have heard the occasional breakup as if it were a telenovela beamed into our bedroom.  No matter what, I can't imagine that even those inconsiderate people would enjoy those intrusions in their homes. 

     So the next time that you are out on the town just remember that other people live there too.  They might need to go to work or take their kids to school the next day while you're sleeping off a hangover.  Don't litter and don't make noise.