Serge the Concierge

Ledbury Restaurant Staff Rescues Diners from Rioters in Notting Hill, London

Imagine having dinner in a nice restaurant and all of a sudden a group of looters breaks in and orders you to lay down and wreaks havoc.

This is what happened to blogger Louise Yang of Naked Sushi who was enjoying the tasting menu at Ledbury restaurant in Notting Hill when she became part of the London riots news thread.

She describes her arrowing experience in London Riots Come to The Ledbury (August 8, 2011).

One of the looters even took off with her wedding ring.

Things could have been much worse if restaurant staff had not confronted invaders with kitchen tools and taken customers to wine cellar for shelter.

I commend the Ledbury staff for their courage. Let's hope they recover quickly from this hellish night.

I wish the restaurant had come to my attention under different circumstances.

(* Dining room photo from Ledbury website)

Los Angeles Happy Carmageddon, Host a Farmer, Bike the Empty Streets

I vaguely paid attention to news concerning construction work on 405 Freeway in Los Angeles.

I guess it did not resonate with selfish me since I live on the East Coast.

To counteract all the news of impending apocalyptic week-end, Alissa Walker shares tips for a pleasant carless week-end in L.A with It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year: Why We're Pro-Carmageddon (Good, July 11).

At number 2:

"Host a Farmer at Your Westside Home: For many parts of the city, business will go on as usual. Here's an interesting way to help someone get to work. The Santa Monica Farmers' Market is looking for volunteers to host farmers at their houses during that weekend so they can vend at the markets."

I vote for number 6:

"Bike the Empty Streets: If, in fact, everyone keeps their cars in their garages like they're supposed to, the streets should be wide-open for biking. The group ride 4PACOLYPSE is departing Saturday night at midnight from Mom's Bar and Lounge in Santa Monica."

With all the free time, those of you in the are will have you might want to check L.A Without a Car, Gelato Baby 10 Do's and Don'ts in Los Angeles that Alissa Walker (aka Gelato Baby) was kind enough to pen back in April.

(* Illustration via Gelato Baby)

Make Music, Faites de la Musique in Brisbane, New York, Paris, Celebrate Summer's Arrival, June 21

Event Wall Street will be making music ('Money') during Make Music New York 2011 edition on June 21.

Early birds are wanted for Yoko Ono's Secret Piece performed at Sunrise in Central Park.

Expect the unexpected from Polka to Soca, Punk to Chamber Music, juniors join in.

African music fans will have to take time off for New York Griot Summit from 1 to 4 pm in Wave Hill Garden in the Bronx).

Make Music New York is a relative newcomer to Fete de la Musique which started in France more than 2 decades ago.

This celebration of Summer's arrival and creative voices offers mostly Free concerts.

Our Australian friends in Brisbane will be amongst those to kick off what has now become a global celebration with 450 cities taking part.

Check the World Program...

Let 1000 songs bloom.

Long Vacations Encouraged in Japan as Way to Escape Summer Power Outages

Felicity Hugues reports that airlines and travel agencies are encouraging Japanese to plan long vacations of 2 to 3 weeks as a way to escape power outages the country is likely to suffer in the aftermath of this year's earthquake and tsunami.

She details the various campaigns in Japan, you look like you could use a long vacation (Japan Pulse, June 3).

One of them is ANA long stay plan.

Felicity notes that "the buzzword for this summer among  travel agents is ロングバケーション (long vacation)."

Planning for a long hot summer of power outages in Tokyo Thursdays # 194

Previously: Forest Therapy, Hiking in Hinohara Tokyo Citizen's Forest

Butcher's Guide to Well Raised Meat Contest, Win a Copy of this June 7 Book

I don't know enough about Brooklyn to link the multiple butcher shops and meat options the neighborhood offers to its history.

In any case, 10 days from now The Butcher's Guide to Well Raised Meat (Clarkson Potter/ June 7, 2011) will be gracing bookstore windows nationwide.

The book highlights, Joshua and Jessica Applestone love of a tasty and healthy cut of meat at Fleisher's Grass-fed & Organic Meats, their emporium.

Getting back to the book it aims for no less than teaching all of us "How to Buy, Cut, and Cook Great Beef, Lamb, Pork, Poultry (and More)", no small feat.

A visit to their co-writer Alexandra Zissu site brought unusual facts to the surface:

"Joshua, a third-generation butcher and former vegan, and Jessica, a former vegetarian, are advocates for humanely and ecologically raised local meat and promote these issues and their craft through wildly popular seminars. They taught butchery to bestselling Julie & Julia author Julie Powell and feature prominently in her book Cleaving."

Their butcher shop is not in Brooklyn by the way. It's in Kingston, New York.

What's your ticket to a copy of The Butcher's Guide to Well Raised Meat?

Simple.

Tell us what the best alternative to Hanger Steak is.

E-mail your answer to info [at] njconcierges [dot] com

All entries must be received by Thursday June 1, 2011 (8 PM, U.S Eastern)

There is one copy to win so this contest is on a first come, first serve basis.

It is reserved to U.S readers.

RIP Poly Styrene, 53, As You Stated 'Que Sera Sera'

I posted news of the passing of Poly Styrene at age 53 after a battle with breast cancer on a media list I belong to and someone got message truncated and thought I was mentioning Phoebe Snow who also passed away (age 58).

Lady who got that truncated message had no clue who Poly Styrene was.

Call her a punk icon if you will circa 'Oh Bondage up Yours'.

She made girls wearing braces look cool.

She had attitude, brains and soul.

Since I passed the 50 years mark, it always feel odd when someone who was part of your world when you were growing up passes away while younger than you.

Leaves a whiff of sadness behind and a sense that life is too short not to be lived.

Poly Styrene latest album Generation Indigo produced by Youth (Killing Joke) was released late March 2011.

Rest in peace, Poly!

My Contribution to Earth Month, I will Carpool to Hospice du Rhone on April 28

I did not buy carbon credits for my round trip flight from New York JFK to San Francisco.

As a way to make up for it, I will be car pooling with a couple of other French speaking attendees on my way to Paso Robles for Hospice du Rhone on Thursday, April 28.

Since winemaker Herve Bizeuil should be one of them, I might have a chance to do my first interview in a car.

Maybe it's the best place to conduct an interview as the other party does not have the chance to escape (evade) your questions.

A more creative expression for Earth Day 2011 is Litter Critters on The Loose where Philadelphia takes out the trash in style on April 27 (from 4 to 5 PM)...

(* Litter critters image from Mural Arts program pages)

Celebrate Noma Second Best in World Award with Dessert of Flowers Recipe

Many restaurants would be happy to be the top dog once, Noma in Copenhagen managed to get World's Best Restaurant prize for second year in a row.

Celebrate and get a chance to test your advanced skills in the kitchen with this Dessert of Flowers recipe from Noma: Time and Place in Nordic Cuisine (Phaidon, October 2010).

Dessert of Flowers

* This recipe requires advanced techniques, accurate measurements using the metric system, specialist equipment and professional experience to achieve good results.

Serves 4

Ingredients

Elderflower Mousse

130g double (heavy) or whipping cream

80g egg whites

4g gelatin

75g elderflower cordial (syrup)

16g sugar

200g skyr*

Rose Hip Meringue

75g pickled rose hips

50g sugar

45g water

3g egg white powder

3g gelatin

1g salt

Violet Syrup

22g sugar

75g water

1 drop violet essence

Thyme Fluid Gel

19g sugar

125g water

2g thyme

0.25g agar-agar**

5g instant food thickener

Skyr Sorbet

1 sheet gelatin

300g water

170g sugar

42g glucose

290g skyr

25g lemon juice

For Serving

Any fresh flowers in season

*Skyr is a mildly sour-tasting milk product, similar to strained yogurt, although technically a very soft cheese.  It is popular in Iceland and Denmark.

**Agar-Agar is a gelling agent derived from seaweed, which retains its gelling properties up to a temperature of 80˚C (176˚F).

Instructions

Elderflower Mousse

Whip the cream and the egg whites in separate bowls.  Bloom the gelatin and dissolve it in a small amount of the cordial by heating it up with the sugar.  Mix the cordial and the gelatin into the skyr, and fold the cream and the egg whites into it.  Cut a sheet of acetate into pieces approximately 8x4 cm and roll into tubes.  Pipe the mousse into the tubes and freeze.

Rose Hip Meringue

Blend the rose hips to make a concentrate.  Heat the sugar and water in a pan to 121˚C (250˚F).  Lightly whisk the egg whites and add the caramel slowly to make an Italian meringue.  Bloom the gelatin and add before the meringue base gets cold.  Add the concentrate and the salt and pipe the meringues in small dots.  Dry at 55˚C (130˚F) for 12 hours in a dehydrator.

Violet Syrup

Bring the sugar and water to a boil, then cool.  Add the essence and keep in a squeezy bottle.

Thyme Fluid Gel

Bring the sugar and water to a boil in a pan to make a syrup, then cool.  Blanch the thyme and refresh it in cold water.  Blend the syrup with the thyme for 1 minute at full speed and strain.  Whisk the agar-agar into the liquid and bring it to a boil.  When cold, blend it with a stick blender and add the instant food thickener.

Skyr Sorbet

Bloom the gelatin.  Warm the water, sugar and glucose and add the gelatin.  Mix the rest of the ingredients and pour into Paco containers*.

Garnish

Pick all the flowers off their stems and put into ice water.  Dry them and keep on dry paper.

To Serve

Put the plates in the freezer to get very cold.  Remove the frozen mousse from the acetate tubes and let it temper to around 5˚C (41˚F) on a cold plate.  Dot a little of the fluid gel and the syrup around the plates and cover it with meringues.  Process the sorbet, make into quenelles and place a quenelle next to the mousse on each plate. 

*Paco Containers are the receptacles used with a Pacojet, a machine used t make sorbets with a very fine texture.

Let us know how things work if you give it a try

Related stories: Chef Rene Redzepi of Noma Makes Time for Our 5 Questions Interview

(Adapted* from Noma: Time and Place in Nordic Cuisine (October 2010. Phaidon Press), recipe and photo reproduced courtesy of the publisher)

Japan TWOgether Practical Tips on Navigating Japan Post Earthquake

After last week's earthquake and tsunami in Japan, I reached out to a number of my local contacts to make sure they were safe.

Today I heard back from Eisei Saito who shared his 10 Do's and Don'ts on Tokyo recently.

With his team at Jesto they quickly put together a site offering practical information and useful links on the evolving crisis in English (mostly).

Named Japan TWOgether it covers the immediate actions after an Emergency including an illustrated guide on how to restart natural gas (most buildings have safety valves that shut off gas in case of emergencies to prevent leeks and explosions).

It also offers updates on transportation, Bus and Air Travel has details in English while Train info is Japanese only.

You can also find out when Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) rolling blackouts will take place.

Obviously they have a page on Nuclear Plant and Related Safety and Health Issues so residents can plan ahead.

Another section is dedicated to Useful Links from Prime Minister Office to Japan Meteorological Society who shares daily forecasts. The latest (dated March 17) is Increase of the risk of the submergence and flood during the spring tide associated with the ground sink caused by the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake starting with period of March 18 to March 26, 2011.

On the positive side they compiled Heart Warming Messages from Japan and Around the World and note that "although Japan has been facing the greatest difficulties, one can catch a glimpse of Tasukeai (mutual help) or Gaman (endurance).

Regarding donations and help, since I am not an expert, I decided to share of suggestions I received from Elizabeth Andoh who I interviewed on Kansha last fall.

They are:

Japanese Red Cross

Doctors without Borders

International Medical Corps

CARE

NetHope

I hope these tips prove useful to some of you and help soothe frazzled nerves.

A Week after the quake for Tokyo Thursdays # 183

A Bench is A Hard Thing to Find in Tokyo Except in Jiyugaoka District

Each city has its peculiarities. One thing that most expats based in Tokyo lament is the lack of public benches.

Edan Corkill vents his frustration in Standing up for the right to sit down in public (Japan Times, October 10) on the unability in most of the town to find a bench where one can sit down to eat a quick lunch or simply rest their legs.

One area that the writer points as an exception is Jiyugaoka (Kurinoki Road pictured below).

Contrary to New York where small oasis have been created recently, the idea of community spaces as part of the urban landscape seems to be an alien landscape in the Japanese city according to Tokyo Green Space which points out to residents supplying their own bus stop seating (May 2009, picture below).

Will things change?

(*  Kurinoki Road photo is part of Tokyo, Jiyugaoka Pictures Album copyright Photopass Japan)

Unable to sit down for Tokyo Thursdays # 161

Previously: Meet the Buddha, Kill the Buddha, Zen and its Opposite, Dark Side of Japanese Flicks