Next, the restaurant which reinvents itself several times each year, offering up a cuisine for several months that then vanishes, never to be seen on the menu again, has asked over on Facebook what we’d like to see in the future. So far, the query has received 772 comments, which represents an even greater number of suggestions.

Since I learned during my Sicilian meal that Next serves the platonic ideal of whatever concept they’ve chosen—so much so that I was moved to purchase Kitchen Table tickets for its Kyoto dinner—I feel very invested in the outcome.

So which three menus should they serve in 2013?

Here are the most intriguing suggestions so far. (more…)

I was tweeting last night about Sean Howe’s Marvel Comics: The Untold Story, which I’m currently about 75% of the way through (more on that later), and in response to my statement that I was glad I’d left Marvel before things got truly ugly there, I was asked whether I’d moved on before or during the Jim Shooter era.

Well, not only was I there during the beginnings of the Shooter era, but he and I actually once fell from the sky together!

In case you didn’t know that, check out this sidebar I wrote that appeared in the December 1976 issue of Marvel’s fan magazine FOOM.

And since the pics accompanying the article are quite fuzzy thanks to FOOM‘s far from state-of-the-art printing process, here are some of the original pics to show how insane (and young) we once were. (more…)

I remembered fewer dreams than usual during September, thanks to my lengthy trip to Chicago for Worldcon and many culinary adventures. Dreams tend to fade before I can scribble them down when I’m exhausted and in a strange bed, which always gives me a sense of loss, because I enjoy my dreams, revel in them, really, and hate to forget even one.

But what remained was still choice, and as always, the dreams benefit from being collected and allowed to rub up against each other this way. September’s guest stars included David Boreanaz, George R. R. Martin, Alanis Morissette, Tom Hanks, Harlan Ellison, E. Nelson Bridwell, and many others.

SEPTEMBER 2012

I dreamt I was in The Colbert Report live audience, and when he introduced Alanis Morissette, the camera instead cut to him dressed as her. 30 Sep

I dreamt I was on a train to Machu Picchu, and when I looked up from my iPad, I saw Tom Hanks and Will Sasso (as Bill Clinton) were there. 30 Sep

I dreamt @scalzi got mad at me because while visiting him, I destroyed my first drafts. But more because in doing so, I flooded his house. 29 Sep

I dreamt three old guys drove to our door to deliver a kingsized mattress, only I looked at them and thought … no way they can lift it. 28 Sep

I dreamt my wife was cradling my son, suddenly a baby once again, and then passed him to me, and I rocked him. Oddly, he could still speak. 28 Sep

I dreamt I talked to my grandmother about my memories of my great-grandmother (even though grandma is dead, and I never met great-grandma). 28 Sep

I dreamt my boss @CraigEngler drove up, and I served him most of a chocolate cake with my bare hands, saving one slice for @IreneVartanoff. 26 Sep

I dreamt I worked as a baker at my friends’ cafe, and decided I was going to attempt to convince them to sell me part of the business. 25 Sep

I dreamt I was on a pitch black cruise ship searching for a light switch, as I was scheduled to teach a juggling workshop and needed to see. 25 Sep

I dreamt I came up out of the NYC subway to discover fanciful architecture that never really existed — stone towers, ornate gardens, etc. 24 Sep (more…)

So there I was in a checkout line at Walmart (which I know many of you have an objection to that reaches an almost religious fervor, but let’s leave the discussion of that for some other time, OK?) when I noticed something intriguing about the latest issue of Cosmopolitan. You know all about the brouhaha over the magazines, right, how many stores hide most of the covers, leaving only the logo visible, so cleavage doesn’t offend the unwary?

One example—my local supermarket, which only let me see Zooey Deschanel from the lips up this afternoon.

Walmart, on the other hand, was OK with letting me glimpse Deschanel’s cleavage, as you can see from the U-shaped shield below— (more…)

I’ve been to Bryan Voltaggio’s Volt, his high-end restaurant where Irene and I experienced a seven-course anniversary dinner tasting menu. I’ve also been to Voltaggio’s Family Meal, for which the chef created a menu devoted to comfort food like chicken and biscuits and fried green tomatoes. So I figured it was time I tried out Lunchbox, his attempt at a gourmet sandwich shop.

And since I’d planned to head over to Maryland today to meet with a master tailor who could perfect the fit of those two jackets I first showed off at Chicon7, this seemed like the day for it.

I arrived at exactly 11:30 a.m., right when Lunchbox opened, so I was the first customer of the day. When I entered, I was welcomed enthusiastically, with one of the women behind the counter offering to explain the various sandwiches, since they weren’t your usual Subway grinders. I probably should have let her go ahead, just to see her shtick, but I’d studied the menu at home, and so already had an idea of the sandwiches which most called to me.

The two that seemed the most tempting were “mom’s meatloaf: tamarind ketchup, gruyere, onion marmalade, ciabatta” and the “pork shoulder: ham, pickle, gruyere, pickled cabbage, egg yolk, cilantro-lime, baguette,” though I must admit the “tcb: nutella, bananas, potato bread” looked tempting as well. (See what I mean about Voltaggio trying to put the “gourmet” in sandwich shop?) (more…)

As I told you a couple of weeks ago, I fell so in love with Next restaurant while in Chicago last month that I was unable to resist booking a Kitchen Table for its current Kyoto menu, which only runs until the end of the year.

One reason I wanted the Kitchen Table, which seats six, rather than the other tables for two or four, is that it’s the only table per seating that gets a few extras unavailable to the other diners. (And you know how much I love my amuse bouche.) And while searching on @NextRestaurant over at Twitter—because I’m hungry not just for food, but for learning more about the food which will be satiating that hunger—I discovered that a fellow foodie by the name of MaryMary had tweeted the following photo.

The pic seemed amazing to me, and not just because the duck made me think, “Get in my belly!” No, it was the caption:

“Duck, served out of a 200 year old duck”

I knew that even the settings on which Chefs Achatz and Beran served their food was mind-blowing, but a 200-year-old bowl? Astounding.

Why am I bringing this up to you, especially since most of you will likely never get to enjoy this meal? Because I’d like to hear from you—is it possible for a meal to be spoiled? (And no, I don’t mean that way. I mean the other way.) (more…)

One of my favorite parts of a newspaper is the obituaries page. I love seeing how lives are summed up by friends and family (and sometimes, the deceased themselves), how a lifetime can be condensed into paragraphs. And often, I’m reminded that science fiction is everywhere.

Take this obituary that appeared in yesterday’s Washington Post for Evelyn Offutt, who died on September 2 at age 94. It states that, “Her parents divorced when she was young. Fred, a professional athlete, moved to California and made a new life as an actor.” Note the phrasing, how he didn’t just try to make a new life as an actor, but he actually did make a new life as an actor.

As you can see below, Evelyn Somers led a fascinating life, but the question I was left with after reading that sentence in her obituary was …

… who was this Fred Somers? (For Somers was Evelyn’s maiden name.) Should I have heard of him? Have you? (more…)

On Sunday, September 2, 2012, Adam-Troy Castro, lover of spicy food and author of the Gustav Gloom novels, slipped away from the Chicago Worldcon and traveled to Bricks, where he attempted to eat a painful pizza, which consists of spicy pepperoni, purple onion, fresh jalapeno, garlic, tomato sauce, mozzarella, and lots and !LOTS! of hot sauce.

I was one of his sadistic friends who journeyed to witness (but not to partake in) this act of masochism. But just because you weren’t there, doesn’t mean you have to miss the madness.

Check out Adam’s agony below.

If the poor guy’s pain proves to be too much for you to watch, just skip ahead to 15:50 to learn how it all turns out and see him sum up his ordeal.

When I woke this morning, I found 185 new spam comments intended to go live on my blog which had instead thankfully been caught by my spam folder. That was an unusually large amount of spam to appear over one night.

And what was even more unusual was this—these weren’t just any spam comments, the standard random nonsense filled with embedded links to purveyors of payday loans, male enhancement drugs, and UGG boots. No, these were spam comments that could almost pass a Turing Test … filled with embedded links to purveyors of payday loans, male enhancement drugs and UGG boots.

To see just how close this spam appeared to real comments, check out these two computer-generated comments that were caught before they could appear on separate posts of mine which mentioned Connie Willis:

I’m confused. I bhougt doomsday book’ a few yrs ago; discovered it was part of an unfinished trilogy so decided to wait and not read it. i then bhougt To say nothing of the dog’ and again waited. the inside back cover strongly implied the final part was all clear’. now it seems all clear’ is the second part to blackout’. could someone please explain what belongs to what and if there is then still a third book to come or ???much appreciatedJeff

I’ve been a big Connie Willis fan for years, but there were several asepcts of Blackout/All Clear that I found confusing and dissatisfying. First, why does Mike think he has to fake his death to help Polly and Merope get out? It was not explained, and I can’t think of a good reason. (Maybe I’m just thick.) Second, where and when did Stephen Lang meet Polly prior to 1944? He’s about to tell her when he’s interrupted, and the topic is never revisited, even though enough time is spent on it to make it seem important. Third, who is the unnamed character who appears in the tube station at the end of Blackout? Colin? But I thought he couldn’t get through to that time. Any help clearing up these points would be most welcome.

And look how on target this one seemed that never made it through to litter a post I’d made about the Stoker Awards: (more…)

Those of you who’ve been paying attention know that when I travel to conventions, I hate to eat in hotel restaurants and do my best to track down memorable eating experiences. And since it looks like all of the places I plan to hit during November’s World Fantasy Convention are a distance from the hotel, which is in Richmond Hill, about half an hour outside of downtown Toronto, I’ll be renting a car—the first time I’ve ever done that internationally.

But as you’ll see below, it should be worth it.

The Black Hoof

The #1 restaurant I want to hit during the con is The Black Hoof, which is a cash only, no reservations establishment. But with a menu featuring such delicacies as roasted bone marrow, beef tendon & grits, foie & nutella, and spicy horse tartare, how can you pass it up? Adventurous eaters, please raise your hands if you want to tag along. (more…)