All stories about "Food"

News of sex rings and call girls has dominated the media in recent months. But, rarely, do we get to hear it from the horse’s mouth. Considering the life of a call girl includes countless hotel room trysts, who’s a better judge of hotel room service, than the women who service extremely wealthy and high profile men? After the jump, a NYC-based call girl who goes by the name of “Chloe” and whose “clients range from bankers to hipster, well-known indie band-mates,” divulges all the dirty details of what NYC hotels really stand out when it comes to in-room dining, and which should be avoided altogether.

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Everyday on Gridskipper we give you a new map. Some are new, some are fetched from our archive, newly updated. Happy Gridskipping. Let's be honest: New York City is not exactly a summertime haven, and right now, given the unbearable heat, it's even less tolerable. Our rivers are not the balmy breeze types, and it's hard to hang a hammock between skyscrapers. The one summertime treat we can enjoy? Besides frozen liquor beverages? Ice cream. In one of the most gourmet-centric cities in the country, ice cream in New York isn't merely a cup-or-cone affair. Check out our picks for the very best cold stuff in the city, and feel free to add your own.

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Everyday on Gridskipper we give you a new map. Some are new, some are fetched from our archive, newly updated. Happy Gridskipping.

It’s National Donut Day everybody! So, why not celebrate with a nice jelly-filled/pink-frosting topped/sprinkle-covered one? As fancy as Los Angeles wishes it were, at heart it's trashy frontier town with simple, simple tastes. Hence the proliferation of donut shops -- purveyors of delicious, high-calorie nothingness -- across the city. There's a pretty even mixture of locals, inexpensive chains, colorful independents, and donut "boutiques." Here's our list of favorites from Silver Lake to Beverly Hills.

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In every major cosmopolitan capital one is faced with countless options in the form of culinary temptation. And Paris is no exception. From Foie Gras-filled crepes, to multi-tiered macaroons, there are plenty of places to get ones foodie fix. So, to help narrow things down a bit, five not to be missed French dining experiences in the City of Lights.

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Every so often a book is published that makes you ask yourself: how much weight did the author put on researching it? Jamie Cahill, author of the recently published Pâtisseries of Paris, has compiled the city's best pastry shops, bakeries, ice cream shops, chocolatiers, and salons de thé. Many of them happen to be concentrated in Saint-Germain, which has a sort of cruel irony to it, as this former intellectual nerve center of Paris has undergone a transformation in the last 10 years to become the center of a very expensive, very chic fashion scene, putting the Rive Gauche in YSL. But it's time you learned the sublime tension of consuming millefeuilles while not gaining mille poids. Cahill's publicist, by the way, reassures us that even after four years of this research, plus a professional pâtissier's course, plus two children, Cahill has managed to stay a size 2. "But that's another story," we are told. So, Jamie? What's the story? We'd love to know.

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What's in a name? A lot, a baking company in the small Swiss town of Champagne can tell you. A local family company that has used the phrase "from Champagne" on the labels of its breadsticks and cookies since the 1930s can legally do so no longer because of an agreement between Switzerland and France. It's part of France's efforts to ensure that everything labeled Champagne is actually from its Champagne region. [IHT]

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To say I love Eggs Benedict would be a bit of an understatement. One of the greatest challenges I face at brunch is wrenching myself away from my beloved Eggs Benny and trying other options on the menu. This post is a roundup of my favorite restaurants for Eggs Benedict in the District. It is also purely selfish, as I'm hoping to get suggestions on some fantastic new Eggs Benedict spots to satisfy my craving. Comments welcome! ()

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There's a reason why New Yorkers are still spending their sad little dollars in Paris: the food here is better. Backing us up on that one is Restaurant Magazine, with their just-released update of the World's 50 Best Restaurants. The City of (Culinary De)Light captured more of the 2008 top spots (8) than any other town. As for NYC: only five of their restaurants made the cut, and four feature imported French chefs. While nay-sayers have long decried France as losing its culinary edge, les trois couleurs took home more rankings (11) than any other country, including Spain (7) and the UK (6). The World's 50 Best list was formulated by a jury of 651 well-respected food professionals. Restaurant's selection of Paris addresses, with accompanying description from the magazine, is waiting after the jump.

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Soaring food prices are changing diets in many places around the world, and in Liberia that means giving up rice for spaghetti. "Spaghetti shacks . . . are springing up in the Paynesville district of Monrovia, a working-class neighborhood rarely visited by expatriates." Most are serving a version of spaghetti spiced with lots of African chili pepper in order to make it more palatable to locals. [BBC]

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Clotilde Dusoulier from Chocolate & Zucchini has developed an enthusiastic following in the five years since she started her Paris-based food blog about her adventures in the kitchen. Her first cookbook, Chocolate & Zucchini, was published last year. And out this week is Clotilde's Edible Adventures in Paris, a very personal guide to restaurants, markets, food and wine stores, as well as tips on how to understand the Parisian shopkeeper or waiter. Clotilde shared with us some of her favorite places to go when she's not in the mood to cook. All in Montmartre, they include four spots from the book and two additional neighborhood watering holes she selected just for Gridskipper.

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Thanks to a rise in grain prices, Japanese butter reserves have been nearly depleted. To the London Times, its "reaction to global food shortages will illustrate what happens to a country whose population has far outgrown its farmland's ability to support, whose agricultural population is elderly and disaffected, whose food self-sufficency rates are low, but whose palates have grown accustomed to exotic imports." In other words, it may be a hint of things to come in many other countries. [The Times]

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The Marco Polo Hotel in Deira (the older often more interesting part of Dubai) has broken a Guinness World Record. It can now join horny hipsters and Tommy Lee. Last year the hotel played a role in the world's longest food buffet to date, but, this year, the Marco Polo Hotel took it upon itself to create the world's longest pair of wooden chopsticks. What the famous explorer and a pair of 22.5 foot-long chopsticks have in common, I have absolutely no idea. But, you know what they say about big chopsticks...big hands? Full photo of the enormous sticks in all their glory after the jump. [Hotel Chatter]

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Weed lovers in D.C. find themselves wading through a pool of over-accomplished and pompous d-bags. So chill, brah, and partake in many of the fine red-eye friendly eating establishments and thought-provoking outdoor activities. It's hard to brave the tourist haunts and general public when you're sober, so numb the pain a little and blow your mind at some of D.C.'s more stimulating attractions. (photo)

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Last year we brought you free bar food in NYC. But as tax day approaches and the economy remains generally shitty, I figured the time was right to also embrace the more upscale snacks that are a staple of New York's fancier bars. It only makes sense that you should get a little somethin' somethin' to complement your $14 martini. After the jump, the most delicious snacks that come for free (as long as you don't count that overpriced cocktail). (photo)

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When you're on the road, worrying about reading maps, the horrible exchange rate, and not getting caught in an unforeseen tourist trap can cause you to leave your progressive habits at home. If you are one of those people who likes to eat, shop, and otherwise consume in an organic-when-possible manner, there's no reason to throw your conviction to the wind in London, where organic options abound. Here is a sampling of London's best, from a delicious dinner spot to a new eco lifestyle store from actor Colin Firth to a beauty treatment that involves the application of organic bull sperm to your very own scalp. For more information on how to stay organic in London, go here.

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