If you’d known me back when I was a Brooklyn teenager, you’d have sworn I sounded like one of Welcome Back, Kotter‘s Sweathogs. And if you didn’t know me back then, you were just going to have to take my word for it.

Until now.

Because I’ve managed to get my hands on the April 2, 1972 episode of Malachy McCourt‘s radio show, where I appeared, two days after my 17th birthday, to take part in a two-hour program on high-school newspaper censorship. McCourt had invited me and my South Shore High School pal Barry Chaiken (plus a few students from other New York schools) after we’d published an interview with him that resulted in us being forced to cross out several words deemed unacceptable from thousands of copies of Shorelines, our school paper.

The two hours of audio are fascinating, not just for the picture of the student struggle for an unfettered press, but also because of the news reports on Vietnam, the presidential campaign, and the death of Gil Hodges, who’d suffered a heart attack that morning.

I’m sure that eventually, because of its historical import, I’ll upload it all. But for now, here’s a snippet from the end of the program, as I respond to McCourt’s request for a few final words.

Scott Edelman on the Malachy McCourt radio show

Be honest. If I hadn’t told you who that was … would you have recognized me?

I woke up pre-dawn on Black Friday—the only time I’ve ever done such a thing—in order to snag a table to the first of three preview nights for Bryan Voltaggio’s new restaurant, Range.

Since then, the chef and the restaurant have been tweeting tantalizing photos—as if I could possibly be more stoked for that first meal! (I think I may actually be part of the first preview night’s first seating.)

In case you’re as excited as I am—or if you’re not, and need a little goosing to get you excited—check out these pics that have been shared over the last few days.

Delivery of the first bag of oysters

(more…)

I used to have a pretty decent Silver Age comic book collection—that is, until working in the business burned me out on comics altogether. Eventually, I couldn’t bear to look at them, and sold all save a few of the more valuable ones, which I hung onto in a safe deposit box purely for investment purposes.

But as I’ve mentioned here before, there’s one comic I later regret letting go of—a comic I wasn’t even sure of the title and issue number of at first—but which thanks to one of you I learned was Tales of Suspense #69.

And thanks to Claudio Piccinini, who located and kindly sent me a copy, Tales of Suspense #69 is mine again. (more…)

The Chicago Tribune broke some news today that’s of intense interest to foodies everywhere—the three Next restaurant menus for 2013. I’ve already told you about Next, and how its chefs will serve a particular cuisine for just a few months, then shut down briefly before changing over to a completely different menu, so that if you miss one, you’ve missed it forever.

Think of it as the Brigadoon of restaurants, there, but not there.

It was announced earlier this month that 2013 would start off with The Hunt (that is, wild game), with a Vegan menu rumored to follow … but now we know for sure what next year has in store for us.

First up, The Hunt, for which we are told, “expect to see bear jerky and venison heart tartare.”

(more…)

If you’d like to begin reading a quartet of undead tales right now, then why not check out the new ebook A Clutch of Zombies, assembled by Stephen Jones from stories previously reprinted in his Best New Horror anthologies?

And, oh, will you look at that? One of those stories is mine!

If you’re not already familiar with “What Will Come After” from its first appearance in my collection of the same name, now’s your chance to catch it in the company of zombie stories by Joe R. Lansdale, Albert E. Cowdrey, and Karina Sumner-Smith.

A Clutch of Zombies seems to be available everywhere, including iTunes and kobo, so … what are you waiting for?

Irene and I had a wonderful time in Chicago over Thanksgiving weekend, a visit that was sparked entirely by my desire to experience Next restaurant’s transitory Kyoto menu. I’ll share more about it when I can, but for now, let these seven photos stand in for a more detailed write-up.

Looking up at the stained glass dome of the Driehaus Museum

(more…)

I’ve never woken up early to take part in Black Friday before. But this year, for the first time ever, I chose to. Why? It had nothing to do with getting a deal on a mammoth flatscreen TV … and everything to do with being among the first to try out the menu at a new restaurant opened by a chef whose other restaurants I love.

Bryan Voltaggio—whose name should be familiar to regular visitors here, as I’ve told you about all three of his current restaurants: Volt, Family Meal, and Lunchbox—is opening a new restaurant. More than a restaurant, actually. An entire foodie complex.

Earlier this week, I received an email (because I’m in the Volt database as a previous customer, I assume) letting me know that Range would be open for a series of limited preview dinners December 15-17, and that reservations would be taken online starting this morning at 5:00 a.m. prior to the opening of general reservations.

So as 5:00 a.m. approached, I was at the Range homepage, hitting refresh, refresh, refresh. Nothing happened at first, and I worried there was a server glitch, but at 5:07, I was able to grab a 5:30 p.m. table for the first preview night. By 5:09, all that was left was a 9:30 slot that first night, but within minutes, the night was gone, and all that remained even on the second of the preview nights were 8:00 and 9:30.

I’m obviously not the only one intensely interested in what Bryan Voltaggio has in store for us! Check back in a few weeks, when I’ll know exactly what he’s doing.

If you want to find out everything there is to know about Syfy these days, it’s simple—just open up a browser, go to http://www.syfy.com/, and you’ll discover all the info you could possibly want.

But eighteen years ago, getting online for the scoop about what was then the Sci-Fi Channel was a wee bit more complicated, as this column from the June 1994 issue of Sci-Fi Entertainment proves. (It would have gone on sale around April 30.)

I don’t know about you, but except for the great times I had back when it seemed as if the entire SF community centered around GEnie, I’m not at all nostalgic for the good old days of the Internet!

Let’s get one thing straight first. My visit to the newly opened Cafe Boulud—the second restaurant in Toronto whose birth I was alerted to via a post in Eater, a food porn site I visit daily—was nothing like that of Amy Pataki from the Toronto Star. I did not feel “something is off with the Toronto iteration,” plus I witnessed the opposite of “distracted servers, unaccommodating reservationists and fumbling busboys.” I’m assuming she just wandered in on an off night, because everything I saw told me Cafe Boulud was staffed by an attentive team serving mind-blowing food.

Cafe Boulud was my final meal in Toronto before heading home from the World Fantasy Convention, and I drove in with Ellen Datlow, John Clute, and Elizabeth Hand. This was my fifth trip from Richmond Hill in search of foodie gold, which some con-goers thought a bit much since there were perfectly serviceable restaurants in Richmond Hill. But I was in search of more than just serviceable. I wanted to see what artists could do at the top of their game. And also, as with my trip to Momofuku Shoto the night before, I wanted to experience a restaurant at the moment of its birth, and since Daniel Boulud’s newest spot had only opened at the beginning of October, this was my chance to see the place while it was still shiny and new.

After making our way through the Four Seasons Hotel and checking our coats, we were led to our table in the brightly lit, modernistic dining room, which, surprisingly for such a high-end restaurant, happened to be under painting featuring The Avengers—which felt very strange, not only because such a thing was unexpected in that environment, but also because I’d actually once helped write an issue of that comic!

It turned out that this was no cheap knock-off mash-up, but the work of Mr. Brainwash, whose paintings filled the dining room. We were told they were all for sale, and if we were interested, one could be ours for from $55,000-$90,000. Not in my league, I’m afraid. (Hey, restaurants like Cafe Boulud are themselves only rarely in my league!) (more…)

Somehow, I’ve never made it to Momofuku Noodle Bar in New York, so when I saw that a branch would be opening in Toronto while I’d be there for the World Fantasy Convention—which I only learned about because of my daily reading of the food porn site Eater—I knew I’d finally get inside a David Chang restaurant. But I decided that before heading to the Noodle Bar for lunch, I’d see whether I could get reservations for the evening tasting menu at Momofuku Shoto.

I was able to do so, which required diligence, though nothing like the obsessive/compulsive checking of the Internet that was required to get into Alinea and Next. To book seats at the U-shaped Shoto counter means logging on to the Momofuku site at exactly 10:00 a.m. 13 days before the date you’re seeking. So at 9:59 a.m. on Sunday, October 21st, I was hitting refresh, refresh, fresh until the site allowed me to book seats for Saturday, November 3rd.

Which was a relief, because I wanted to see Momofuku while it was all shiny and new, with excitement still in the air about a new adventure just begun.

My co-conspirators for the evening were Charlie Anders, Annalee Newitz, and Cecilia Tan (who also joined me for my orgy at The Black Hoof). We experienced an amazing meal, but what’s most alive in my memory isn’t just the food (which I expected), but a strange encounter in the Men’s room (which I did not). But I’ll get to the urinals conversation in a bit. First, the food. (more…)