foodha for thought – menuism blog

Menuism reviewers are truly awesome! Whether they found an unexpected tasty gem of a restaurant or took it for the team after having a terrible meal, we truly applaud all their efforts in giving us the scoop on where we should be spending our hard-earned money on. On that note, I’d love to introduce you to those reviewers who we feel really contribute quality content to the site as well as quality information to fellow Menuism’ers. Our Featured Reviewer today is Stuart, better known as Sticky.  So let’s learn more about Stuart from Brooklyn, NY.

Introduction

Right now I’m living in Bushwick off the J Train in Brooklyn.  I’ve been here almost 6 weeks now.  I’m from California, across the east bay from San Francisco.  I’m a film intern at ARC and I’m planning to go to film school to be a director.  I also busk around Union Square with my acoustic guitar, which generally finances the CDs I buy and the concerts I go to.  I got my first paying job bussing tables at Bussaco Restaurant. I’m working towards being a waiter and a barista, so I can pay my rent and expand my food appreciation.  Before I came to New York, I joked with a friend that I was going to eat in a different restaurant every meal and so that was what my goal became until I got my own apartment with a kitchen. I was born in New Jersey which I’m told is the diner capital, but lived in California from age 5 until now. I don’t want to share my age, just my ambition.

1. How did you find out about Menuism?

I found out about Menuism when I arrived in NYC in Sept. 2008 and had no place to live.  I had a friend scouring the internet finding housing for me.  I’d be on the cell phone telling them what my location was and they would look for a place for me to eat.  They found Menuism I guess either through a search engine or a review of a restaurant.  I needed to be sure there were vegetarian choices and it was affordable before I would walk in. Since I was eating alone, I’d be on the cell phone looking at the menu and telling my friend what I was hungry for.  After my meal, I’d call them to get directions and they’d ask about my meal.  We thought it would be fun to post my experience on a blog they set up with notes about housing and other information since I didn’t have a place to stay or a laptop at the time.

2. What about Menuism first appealed to you?

So I need to fess up here – I didn’t see Menuism on the internet – my friend started using it to post my review right to my blog – they’re the internet addict, I’m just the eater!  But Menuism was a great help to me to find cheap diners in many neighborhoods and to get an idea of what to expect if I had a choice of several.  It saved so much time when I was starving and all I had to do was make a phone call to get quick choices and directions. Its been a lot of fun to be the reviewer.  My friend tells me that Menuism automatically mapped the locations of all the restaurants I’ve reviewed – which is pretty cool.

3. What restaurant did you write your first review about?

The first restaurant I ate at was the Carnegie Deli.  I had been there on my last trip to NY 1.5 years ago before I moved here.  I kind of saw Carnegie Deli as the epitome of the New York diner.  I made the trek all the way up there even though it was out of my way, but I was starving and I just had to eat there to mark my first day as a New Yorker.  I had a great meal very late at night.  I was thrilled that it was open and they served me whatever I wanted, which was Cheese Belintzes and my first New York Egg Cream – where else but New York can you get a meal like that at midnight?  There was a place back home called Saul’s in Berkeley that I always thought was a knockoff of the Carnegie Deli, but they close early.  Apparently my first review wasn’t too extensive because my friend didn’t know how to enter the information – so I’ll eat there again and expand my review!

4. What is your food philosophy?

I like eating cheaply at local places that are unique and can’t be found any other place in the world.  I enjoy eating at different places all the time and like to talk about what I ate.  I eat simply and basic – no meat, and even though I’m a vegetarian I’m really not attracted to vegetarian restaurants, most of the time.

5. What are your favorite restaurants?

Diners are my favorite because they have a variety of things, I enjoy eating breakfast for dinner, their portion sizes are usually ample, and it feels like you’re sitting in someone’s kitchen when you’re eating.  And of course, they’re affordable on an intern’s budget.

6. What are your favorite cuisines?

I like American breakfast food and I guess Italian, because I eat a lot of pasta and salad. Regarding breakfast food, I eat a lot of eggs to get the protein I don’t get from not eating meat, and I like the taste of eggs.  I really like Egg Creams, although there is neither egg nor cream in them!

7. What are your favorite comfort foods?

Ice cream. Steamed milk. Pasta. Pierogies (I’m looking for a place to get fresh made pierogies and also a decent fresh produce store near where I live or before I get on the subway in Manhattan).

8. What is the best meal you ever ate and why?

The best meal I ever ate that I can remember, besides the meal I just ate and any other meal that satisfies my hunger, was this past summer when I went to see a huge music festival in San Francisco called Outside Lands.  It was outside and we were in the hot sun all day from early afternoon until 11 at night.  It was an incredible line up of music and performers.  It took a long time to get home, a bus to a train – it was 1 AM by the time I got home and it started to rain.  Neither myself nor my friend had eaten since 12 noon, the food at the festival was too expensive and we were too busy running around to take in all our bands to wait on line for food.  We got off one stop before home to a favorite place in Berkeley that used to be called Mel’s.  I got a large salad and a large chocolate malt.  Because it had been an incredible day and I was starving, and the food hit me just in the right spot, I remember that as being a great meal.  It doesn’t sound so extraordinary describing the food, but it was everything leading up to the eating that was awesome.  Second best meal was at a restaurant called Skates on the Bay in Berkeley.  They have an appetizer that I make a meal of that is Warm Brie with Macadamia Nut Crust – on the menu they describe a balsamic reduction, house bread, apple slices and honey drizzle.  Its become a family favorite and I fight with my sisters to finish it.

9. Do you have any favorite cookbooks (if any)?

I don’t think I’ve ever used a cookbook, but I have bought them for my sister, and I have looked at them.  I just call my mother for recipes, like the one I made tonight called Pasta and Potatoes made with pasta shells, boiled potatoes, sauteed onions, butter and garlic.  Which is good because its consistent with my philosophy of unique and basic eating experiences in every meal – hey, you couldn’t just open up any cookbook and get this recipe – you’d have to know my mother, or I guess my father’s family where the recipe originated.

10. What words of encouragement would you give to first time Menuism reviewers?

Try something new- a new restaurant, a new item on the menu, eat it, enjoy it and then share about it like you’re talking to someone on the phone.

If you’d like to be able to keep up with Stuart’s reviews, click here to check out his profile!

If there is a Menuism reviewer who has really helped you make great dining choices and you’d like to see him or her be a Featured Reviewer, than be sure to message me or send me an email at abby@menuism.com.

By Abby C. Abanes
Menuism Community Manager