VittlesVamp

Purity - Cubed

Nothing like tap water-based ice to sully a perfectly pure cocktail. Am I right?

No. Not really.

And yet, according to the Wall Street Journal, purified ice cubes are "the next big thing":

You pay $2 a bottle for pure spring water, and $80 for 18-year-old scotch and cool it down with ... an ordinary cube of ice?

A handful of upstart businesses are hoping to persuade consumers, restaurants, airlines, hotels, hospitals and the military that they could be risking their health (and compromising good taste) by not buying prepackaged, upscale ice...

..."Over time, if we do this right, I believe this will be a commodity." Ross Colbert, a managing director of Beverage Marketing and a board member of Water Bank, says he sees the premium ice customer as someone who needs ice on a private boat or plane and wants an alternative to dragging ice in plastic bags to the sink to break it open.

Indeed, the ice industry, valued at about $2 billion to $2.5 billion at retail in North America, has been slow to ride the wave of bottled water's marketing success...To carve out more than a niche, however, will take resources. Water Bank, with the help of lead underwriter Kingsdale Capital Markets (USA) Inc., is going public with a private placement reverse merger transaction that will close on July 31 and aims to raise $4.5 million in capital.

Since mid-June, the company has distributed 5,000 packs of Icerocks in new refrigerators sold by manufacturer Groupe Candy Hoover in France, and to date has spent some $100,000 on packaging, marketing and Web design. Its trays were included in gift bags given to celebrities at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles in March.

Hmmm. Purified ice cubes. Cool gimmick or cool new cocktailian staple? I have yet to decide...

Nutritious and Delicious

Didn't exactly eat a nourishing, well-balanced dinner tonight. A small bag of pretzels and a can of Canada Dry Ginger Ale to be exact.

Yet, I feel well-fed - if not fortified - by a brilliant night at the theater. Just returned from seeing a new Off-Broadway alternative rock musical called "Spring Awakening."

Admittedly, I haven't seen a marvelous Off-Broadway musical since "Lone Star Love."

And that musical couldn't help but have an edge on my affections - if not my stomach. The show came with complimentary chili.

Not so at "Spring Awakening." That said, I'd happily pay for my snack and soda all over again.

And, yes, folks: That's a rave review from The Vamp (for the show - not necessarily for the pretzels and ginger ale).

Culinary Cityscapes

The shifting landscape of Gotham's outerboroughs as seen through the eyes of a long-time Queens hot dog vendor, and then through the eyes of two brownstone Brooklyn boys ingeniously selling panini streetside, instead of the time-honored classic lemonade.

Quite a kaleidoscope.

You Gotta Have Balls

Lewd. Perhaps. C'mon these treats are called PHUKET Coconut BALLS for goodness sakes! Yes, I have a dirty mind, but trust me - these tasty balls are worthy of obsession, smutty or no.

Lori, one of my colleagues, ferried them back from Thailand and now I'm officially obsessed with these addictive, bite-sized, slightly sweet, crunchy coconut treats.

You'd think I'd have been captivated by Lori's colorful box of Amazing Thai Desserts instead.

And the inside of the box didn't disappoint, featuring a myriad of intriguingly exotic delights.

I was tempted by a honey-laquered rice cake treat - and took a bite.

Tasty. But it was no Phuket Coconut Ball.

I think I'm gonna have a real problem on my hands, if I can't find a store that proffers these goodies in the States.

Flashbacks

Memories...like the corners of my mind...Misty tie-dyed memories...Like the way I was...

Nothing like visiting the old campus. In this case - Harvard. Yes, this weekend I paid call on Boston, with a side trip (and I mean trip) to Cambridge.

It all started out innocently enough with a yen for cocktails, good music and comfort fare. My Boston posse suggested B-Side Lounge for all three. Besides, the top Beantown dog on the Boston-area Chowhound message board had put it on the top of his list.

Good pick.

With the holiday weekend in full swing, the place wasn't exactly swinging, but the jukebox was well-stocked with rockabilly tunes, the help was mellow and amply tatooed, the cocktail list was riddled with classics, and the food was mighty fine. In fact, I was thoroughly impressed with my entree of Grilled Pork and Pulled Pork Tosada with Black Beans and Pickled Onions (pictured below).

But once we left the lounge, and pulled into a Harvard Square parking lot my flashbacks began.

I won't bare my soul and provide details here, except to say that Herrell's Chocolate Pudding ice cream, cannonball imprints, pennyloafers and a couple of cute male students were involved.

And the flashbacks continued once I returned to terra firma in New York.

I saw the film verson of "The Devil Wears Prada," only to be confronted by memories of a devil-like boss back in the days when I worked in television. If that wasn't enough, yesterday I ran into one of the actors that used to be on that same-said TV show where the devil reigned supreme - and I sold my soul for a time.

Thank goodness I escaped.

But the memories...Forever.

That's the thing about flashbacks. You don't get to pick and choose. The good with the bad.

Wouldn't mind a flashback of that B-Side tostada right now. Strike that. Another flashback of those Harvard boys is a much tastier pick!

It's A Wacky, Wacky World

Guess this is what you get by way of breaking news on a national holiday - First off, today's New York Times reports that the barnyard may soon fuel the great U.S. of A., and make the heartland's farmers wealthy in the process:

In a sense, it is the ultimate renewable source of fuel. Weather anomalies can kill off corn crops, calm the winds, obscure the sun -- but through rain or shine, gusts or stillness, cows and hogs and turkeys spew forth a steady stream of manure...