My secret agent, Durjoy showed me this

http://www.thinkingforaliving.org/topics/curated

which is the first steps of an open-source design school.  Way better than tv.

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Marc Rudnick and Sally Wetzler are members of the Community Builders Cooperative who have built Toscanini's and rebuilt the homes of many Cambridge residents.
They sent us this report.

Shiva Paatri is a grand Hindu festival observed on February's full
moon;  Losar, the Tibetan Buddhist new year, falls on February's new
moon, but since the Hindus take about two weeks to celebrate anything,
we were able to enjoy both on the same crazy weekend.

Bodnath is the Tibetan Buddhist capital of Nepal, much like Dharamsala
in India, an oasis for exiled Tibetans and a magnet for western
Buddhist acolytes.  Losar brings out thousands of each, and a
sprinkling of non-believers like us join them as they shuffle their
way around the magnificent stupa, spinning creaky prayer wheels,
fingering meditation beads, chanting oms and generally worshiping the
enlightened one (who, of course, cautioned against worship to no
avail).  The stupa itself is one of the classic images of Nepal, a
mammoth overturned rice bowl capped by a cubic block of gold, buddha's
serene eyes adorning each facet, and the thirteen gold tiers reaching
to nirvana above.  All day, whitewash is poured over the yellowing
bowl, creating a giant lotus pattern which will fade to yellow again
by next Losar.

Worship here's a pretty serious affair, but nicely anarchic, with all
methods of devotion accepted, from prostrate squat-thrusts to icon
toe-touching to buying and inscribing prayer flags which are then
carried up to be strung from the golden spire atop buddha's crown.
The crowd is a candle-lit whorl of maroon, locked in a clockwise eddy,
endlessly drawing bodies from the narrow lanes feeding the square and
swaying to the drums, horns, bells, and vocal drone: om mani padme
hum, om mani padme hum, om mani padme hum.  Hail to the jewel in the
lotus!  There's a bit of new year's carousing and cavorting, but when
young monks parade the Dalai Lama's portrait around the square,
riot-geared police arrive to shuffle them away from the crowd, and
coldly capture their "Free Tibet" flag.

Breaking free of this mesmerizing carousel, we walk a dusty mile or
two through alternating fields of trash, crops, and half-built homes
that define the suburbs of the valley's small cities to arrive at
sacred Pashupatinath.  The park-like temple complex dribbles down a
steep hill trapped in a deep bend of the Bagmati River, into which all
must flow, not least the ashes of bodies being burned on the ghats
along its terraced banks. Shiva's sacred temple itself is off-limits
to non-Hindus, but we stand a head and half taller than the crowd at
the gate and so are rewarded with the ass end view of the ginormous
golden bull, Nandi – Shiva's mighty steed. Brass balls like boulders.

Stone stairs and walkways twist among thousands of shrines, chaityas,
and holy whatnots, corraling the tens of thousands out to celebrate
Lord Shiva's awesomeness.  This is friendly family affair, kids
underfoot, teens on parkbenches massaging their cellphones, gabbing
gaggles of saree-wrapped moms, dads snapping photos of rhesus
macaques, simian hoodlums grabbing at the kids' flowers and candies.
Colorful tents display every imaginable temple offering – garlands and
fruit plates, old coins and riceballs, baubles and bangles and beads.
Sadhus are everywhere posing – their painted foreheads alive with wavy
rainbows and greasy lightning, stark contrast to their scant ragwear
and grimy walking sticks.  The holiest of them sit cross-legged among
the shrines, often bathed in ashes or mud, dreadlocked and turbaned,
smoking their chillums, munching grapes, and expounding on
lord-shiva-knows-what.  Young men and old approach them with rupees
and cigarettes – the holy men carefully coax the tobacco out of their
wrappings, refill these with ganja or mixtures of tobacco and hashish,
and hand them back to the faithful.  Everyone lights up, the chillums
are passed round, and the sharp, sweet scent mixes with the whiffs of,
dare I say it, barbeque, wafting up from the burning ghats.
Befriended by a red-eyed young Nepali man who'd clearly been smoking
for weeks, we are treated to a stoned rap worthy of those mighty gods,
Cheech & Chong.  The scene is wild beyond belief, and is surely
blessed by Shiva, incarnated in the herds of gentle deer watching it
all from the surrounding parkland.

Supercharged by all this spiritual energy, we accept the small bothers
with greater ease – the gritty air, chilly nights, hours without
power, bumpy roads, paper-thin mattresses, blaring horns, menacing
motorbikes, hour-long waits for mediocre meals: after all, the poor
Nepalis endure this and much more for the honor to sit for a spell
twixt Shiva and Buddha.

Namaste, y'all.

=marcnsally in Nepal

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The cool folks at Meatpaper are having another party.  These guys are going to win a National Magazine Award for partying.  This one is to celebrate their tenth issue.  Meatpaper is great.  It is a serious, but not humorless look at the issues involved with meat.  The recent contretemps in Cambridge over raising chickens in town is right up their alley.

The Meatpaper folk shuttle between Brooklyn and the Bay Area.  Don’t confuse this with going over the Mystic Bridge to Chelsea.  It is much cooler.  The first party is at Oakland uber-pizzeria, Piazzaiolo.  It is this Sunday so get over to Logan or start driving right now.

The second party is on Monday and is at Bar Tartine, which like everything else in SF is on Valencia Street, probably next to Good Vibrations and near Vanilla Saffron and Ritual Coffee.

1)  Meat & Greet at Pizzaiolo: Issue 10 Launch Party
We’re honored to collaborate with Pizzaiolo and a crew of amazing chefs to bring you a range of seasonal dishes, wine, beer, and cocktails. Please raise a glass with us as we celebrate our tenth issue, local food, and biodiversity.

WHAT
A cocktail party, celebration, and fundraiser for Meatpaper. Menu sneak preview: stuffed oxtail, gallo pinto, eel & rabbit stew, farmers market vegetables, charcuterie, California-distilled rum, locally made wine and beer, and much more.

WHEN
Sunday, February 21, 7pm – 10pm

WHERE
Pizzaiolo
5008 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland, CA 94609
 
2) East Meats West II
In November we collaborated with our friends at Diner and Marlow & Sons in Brooklyn to produce an amazing rabbit feast, and now, the Brooklyn folks are flying west so you, too, can taste the magic!

WHAT
Chefs Chris Kronner of Bar Tartine in San Francisco and Sean Rembold of Diner in Brooklyn team up to create a 4-course dinner featuring Devil's Gulch rabbit and wine pairings. A portion of the proceeds will go toward the Devils Gulch fund to help the community in Haiti that they serve.

WHEN
Monday, February 22
Two seatings, 6pm and 9pm

WHERE
Bar Tartine
561 Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA 94110

2.  The LATimes has a short piece about Martha Stewart’s new show about food pornography.  Not as funny as it migh be.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dailydish/2010/02/anthony-bourdain-and-eric-ripert-hit-the-airwaves-1.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimesdailydish+%28Daily+Dish+Blog%29

The other silly food story was about the Italian television host who described eating cats.  If he can get to Brooklyn or Valencia Street in SF he can hang with the Meatpaper guys.

Italian chef in stew over eating cats

By Associated Press  |  February 18, 2010

ROME – Italian state TV has suspended a cooking show host who shocked the nation by saying cat stew is a Tuscan delicacy he has enjoyed many times.

RAI TV confirmed yesterday that it had suspended Beppe Bigazzi, the 77-year-old host of a popular morning program that offers food tips and recipes in a country fiercely proud of its cuisine.

His 27-year-old female co-host looked stunned after Bigazzi said he had eaten cat stew “many times,’’ but he defended his tastes. “Why, people maybe don’t eat rabbit, chicken, pigeon?’’ Bigazzi said.

“Who’s not fat, kills the cat,’’ is how Bigazzi began his lighthearted prattle about cat stew.

When Bigazzi claimed cat stew was a Tuscan specialty near the Arno river valley, co-host Elisa Isoardi was so embarrassed she ducked behind a cart of salad greens, the healthy virtues of which the two were supposed to be chatting about.

His critics included Francesca Martini, undersecretary of the Health Ministry. “Cats are pets protected by law,’’ Martini noted, specifically against “cruelty, maltreatment, and abandonment.’’

Central Square, Cambridge moves up, down and sideways.  Pearl Art was the offbeat anchor of Central Square retailers.  They have closed, as has the Gap, The Attic and a flower shop.  On the other hand Central Bottle has opened, which is a handsome wine store selling cheese and their own olive oil as well as Venetian appetizers.  Joanne Chang will open the third branch of her Flour bakery next door to Central Bottle.  Floating Island might be the best regarded restaurant that most people have never finished.  Everyone says this is great Cambodian food.  They are moving to Central Square, taking part of the site abandoned by the Gap and previously rented by Woolworth’s.    Life Alive is a good restaurant from Lowell that is taking over the Hollywood Express location that is in one direction across from City Hall and in the other direction the Post Office.

I agree with everyone that the new Cambridge Libray by William Rawn is fabulous but imagine how much better it would be if it were in Central Square.  And imagine if the Cambridge Police Headquarters was still in Central Square.

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Chef Kevin Rafferty and Mimi have been outdoing themselves on the weekend.  We have had pork belly, caviar and now we have Popeye's Poached Egg with sauteed spinach and tomato, with a poached egg on top.  If you skip the poached egg it is vegan and either way it is delicious.  Better than the late and very lamented McSkillet Burrito.

Breakfast@TheBigTable
Every Saturday and Sunday from 10AM to 2PM.

Out of consideration for others you cannot study or use computers
ANYWHERE in this room during breakfast.

Popeye’s poached egg: sauted spinach and tomato,
poached egg with toasted 7-grain bread  7.50
Buttermilk Pancakes with blueberry compote and
soft lemon curd cream  8.25
Classic French Toast with NH maple syrup  5.75
Cheddar cheese scramble on toasted ciabatta
with tomato jam  5.75
ADD apple smoked bacon  2.25
Fried Egg 1.0:  with carmelized onions,
French feta and spinach pesto  5.75
Fried Egg 2.0: roasted garlic, goat cheese,
and greens on toasted 7-grain bread  5.75
ADD apple smoked bacon  2.25
Grilled blueberry muffin with whipped butter  2.95
Side o’bacon  3.75
Sophia’s of Belmont Greek yogurt with honey
and granola  3.25
French Press Coffee from
Barismo.
George Howell,
or Batdorf & Bronson  3.75
 

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We steal ‘em.

Friends often ask me, “Where do you get ideas for new ice cream flavors?” and the answer is usually that we steal them.  A marketing guy once corrected me, “you should say that you appropriate them.”  That is also true or it may just be an equivocation.

A few flavors are the result of happy accidents, like 3M’s well-known accidental discovery of Postit notes and Adam Simha’s invention of Burnt Caramel ice cream.

Flavors containing grape nuts are popular and they are the result of supermarket visits I made after we first opened in 1981.  I was looking for anything that would stand up well to being frozen in cream.  Most cereals turn to mush but grape nuts are indestructible and after I started making the flavor I learned that I had rediscoverd the Grape Nut pudding that is so popular in northen New England and Eastern Canada and the Grape Nut ice cream that Jamaicans miss so much after moving to Boston. 

Probably most flavors are riffs on existing flavors.  Anything can have chocolate chips in it and almost anything does.  There is plain old Chocolate Chip, Malted Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Chocolate Chip, Coffee Chocolate Chip, Banana Chocolate Chip and Mint Chocolate Chip.   If you use a chocolate sandwich cookie like Oreo or our choice, Hydrox, then you can try vanilla sandwich cookies like Vienna Finger Cookies, or Pepperirdge Farm Cookies.  Dark Chocolate begets Belgian Chocolate and Mocha and then Deep Chocolate and Malted Chocolate and Chocolate Peppermint and Gianduia and Chocolate Peanut Butter and Chocolate Banana.

All of our South Asian flavors came about because of suggestions from customers.  Years ago a proferssor from Harvard set us off on this path by suggesting Saffron and Khulfee ice creams.   Other customerrs from South Asia helped us improve all these flavors.

italian flavors like Nocciola and Gianduia were the inevitable result of travelling to Italy.  We’re still trying to make a Rice flavor as good as I once had at Vivoli’s in Florence.  Cathedrals and gelati represent the high points of Italian culture.

A friend came back from Japan with a Green Tea KIt Kat bars so we began freezing and chopping up KitKat bars and we began paying attention to Kit Kat variations in Japan.  This lead to Malted Kit Kat ice cream and White Chocolate with Lemon.  The green tea Kit kat was explained as a snack given to students during exams because of a pun that translated as “study study.”   Recently I was forwarded an English newspaper article about  Japanese Kit Kat bars and I reccommend it to everyone.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/kit-kat-takes-on-japanese-tastes-1901867.html

Ice cream makers also look at websites for other ice cream makers, restaurants, chefs, pastry chefs and candy makers and it occurred to me that some of what sophisticated pastry people do would work well in ice cream, including the use of salt, hot peppers and surprising spices and herbs.  in fact if you want to play at home you can buy Kit Kat bars and sprinkle them with unusual salts and pink peppercorns.  This is much cheaper than going to Pierre Herme in Paris.

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And as a service we share this piece from Time Out London about where to drink coffee in the former imperial capital.

http://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/features/9601/London-s_best_cup_of_coffee.html?DCMP=EMC-London-18-02-2010

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Dylan Blowen drove his snazzy Italian convertible from Central Square to … Australia  He recently sent us a package from Down Under with an issue of The Australian (newspaper)' Wish, April, 2008.  It contains an article about life in Boston by pianist Simon Tedeschi who was studying jazz.  He likes the city except for Boston Harbor which compares poorly to Sydney Harbor or Syndey Harbour.  And he says nice things about Toscanini's.  This is one of our furthest away compliments.  Thanks to both of them.  

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Khold Vinh is the art director of the NYTimes and has his excellent site
http://www.subtraction.com/2010/01/18/bob-noorda-1927-2010 which send a reader to the excellent display site
http://www.thisisdisplay.org/features/Bob_Noorda_1927-2010/  where you find an obituary for the designer Bob Noorda

Bob Noorda 1927–2010

Bob Noorda was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands in 1927. After serving for the Dutch military in Indonesia in the late 1940s, he returned to Amsterdam to resume his studies at the IvKNO (Instituut voor Kunstnijverheidsonderwijs, now the Gerrit Rietveld Academie), graduating in 1950*. The functionalist education he received, a result of the school’s Bauhaus influence, was a constant presence throughout Noorda’s life as a designer. Noorda did freelance work in Amsterdam until 1954*, when he moved to Milan, Italy where the economic boom and cultural climate translated into innovative design work. Since that time, Noorda has contributed a great deal to the artistic and cultural development of that city. In addition, his body of work – corporate identity, transportation signage and graphic design – has reached far beyond his adopted city of Milan.

In Milan, Noorda first gained widespread fame in the mid 1950s and early 1960s for his posters and advertisements for Pirelli (tire and industrial manufacturer). Along with other companies such as La Rinascente (department store) and Olivetti (business machine manufacturer), Pirelli was a visionary leader – hiring both Italian and European designers for their advertising and publicity. Designers including Walter Ballmer, Aldo Calabresi, Max Huber, Lora Lamm, Bruno Munari, Raymond Savignac, Albe Steiner, Studio Boggeri (whom Noorda worked for briefly in 1956) and Pino Tovaglia all had opportunities to work for Pirelli during the 1950s and 60s. In 1961, Noorda became Pirelli’s art director and served as art consultant for La Rinascente from 1963 to 1964.

During those years Noorda also worked with architects Franco Albini and Franca Helg on the new Metropolitana Milanese which opened in 1964. He was in charge of all graphics from signage, name plates and maps to clocks and even, initially, the posters displayed there. To accomplish this task, Noorda studied the stations extensively – colors, lettering, distance of signs, etc. The success of the Metropolitana Milanese resulted in Noorda receiving the Premio Compasso d’Oro (Golden Compass) in 1964, a prestigious award originating in 1954 by La Rinascente to acknowledge achievements in design. Noorda would receive the award three more times in 1979, 1984 and 1994 (Career Award).

Along with international recognition as one of the new breed of graphic designers with a specialty in transportation signage, Noorda’s work on the Metropolitana also led to his association with his fellow Milanese designer Massimo Vignelli. Together they were two of the co-founders of Unimark International, established in 1965. Noorda headed the Milan office while Vignelli moved to the United States to run the New York City office. With a presence in five countries, Unimark was known for using modern design approaches for their international clients such as Knoll, IBM and American Airlines.

In 1966, Unimark was awarded a contract to design signage for the New York City subway. The resulting design, the basis for the current sign system, was largely the work of Noorda. Vignelli said:

    I remember when Bob came to New York and spent everyday underground in the Subway to record the traffic flow in order to determine the points of decision where the signs should be placed. I also remember how we decided all details, from typeface to type spacing, from color coding to implementation. Bob Noorda had a very systematic mind.

Unimark’s work for the New York City subway led to other subway signage projects for Noorda in Saõ Paulo, Naples and the regional train network in Lombardy.

In the early 1970s Unimark, which at one point had as many as 13 offices worldwide, fell apart and in 1972 Noorda and three others took the Milan office of Unimark independent. The firm lasted until 2000. After that Noorda and his wife Ornella worked under the aegis of Noorda Design. In addition to client work, he also taught at the Venice School of Industrial Design, Umanitaria of Milan, the ISIA in Urbino and Milan Polytechnic, where he was awarded an honorary degree in industrial design in 2005.

Along with Pirelli, Olivetti and La Rinacente, Noorda worked for many leading Italian companies during his more than fifty-year career: pharmaceutical manufacturers Montecatini and Farmitalia; automaker Alfa Romeo; energy companies Agip, Total and Enel; publishers Feltrinelli, Arnaldo Mondadori Editore and Touring Club Italiano; department stores COOP and Upim; luxury brands Richard Ginori, Lanco and Ermenegildo Zegna; and others. Noorda’s enduring design work demonstrates the importance of building a corporate identity based on value and utility, not merely aesthetics. His prolific contributions to graphic design will continue to have an influence and be recognized.

Special thanks to Paul Shaw for his assistance in writing and researching this feature article.

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Here's a cute article about a guy who became HJ Heinz on Twitter.  A little fun and interesting.  Did Teresa find out?

http://adage.com/columns/article?article_id=142108

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On We Fe 17
We will be closed, sort of.  For Part of the Day.

MassMouth will run two story-telling sessions for children.
10AM to 11AM  for younger story-tellers
2PM to 3PM  for older story-tellers

Admission to the store for this event is $7, which goes to Partners in Health’s Haitian relef efforts and includes a coupon for a small scoop of ice cream that can be redeemed during the month of February. 
Our noisy espresso machine will be closed in order not to distract from the story-telling. 

At 3PM we resume all operations until our regular 11PM. closing.

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