The City Sweet Tooth

I’d like to take a moment to recommend some food related manga that I find inspirational. Manga are Japanese comics (for those who don’t know) and one of the books that inspired me to create The City Sweet Tooth is a manga called Antique Bakery by Fumi Yoshinaga. The story concerns a small bakery and the relationships between the (attractive male) workers (including the chef, “a gay of demonic charm”) and also the customers. I’d say it’s a comedy / drama and one of the best parts about it are the detailed descriptions of each French pastry they make. Also, the intense reactions when people try the delicious desserts. It makes you hungry just reading it! When I first read it I thought “Pastries and cute guys, why didn’t I think of this?” That combined with my love of NYC and knowledge of local dessert spots that I am always recommending to people was the impetus for The City Sweet Tooth. I was also excited to work more with color in my comics and am having a blast with the colors I’m using. Another food manga I’ve started to read is Yakitate Japan! about a young baker obsessed with developing a delicious national bread for Japan. He ends up in many hilarious competitions (ie; having to bake a bread that a horse would love - “mare-velous” bread) and this book has some really funny reactions from people trying his amazing breads. It also has some actual explanations of the chemical reactions and recipes included. This book also has a lot of puns which I love. These are both available translated in the US so check them out!

Here’s a sweet tip! Chocolate Bar is running a Happy Hour special until Sept. 15th and I must say they have some awesome sweets! This is a good chance to check it out!

Time for another “Not Just Desserts” post! I am a fan of soy milk. I am also a fan of melon flavored things. When I lived in Tokyo I became fond of melon soda. It seems that green melon flavor is more popular in Asia than here because you don’t see too many American green melon flavored drinks. Anyway I came across this melon soy milk in a Chinese bakery in Bay Ridge (don’t worry I’ll be covering a Chinese Bakery soon enough!). It is delicious and I recommend it. That is all.

Check it out! Patrick Montero did a lovely interview with me for the Daily News! Click to read!

My latest cold dessert adventure brought me to Eton in Carroll Gardens. Click here to read it at The L Mag!

I’ve decided to post more random musings about food that may not fall strictly within the dessert category, but nonetheless should be of interest to hungry New Yorkers. Also something to read in between comics! They will be in the “Not Just Desserts” category.

This time I’d like to discuss fruit salad. In an effort to eat healthy (I try to eat as healthy as possible outside of my dessert excursions) I’ve been eating more fruits and sampling fruit salads from different delis. Since I’m based for most of the week in Chelsea I’ve tried fruit salads from a few places there and have come up with interesting results. Your average fruit salad will start with a base of  melon, usually honeydew and cantaloupe, with orange slices, some apple, some grapes, and maybe a kiwi or some pineapple and a strawberry. That’s pretty standard but it’s still amazing the different subtle varieties the different delis will come up with. Generally I want a fruit salad with less melon and more of the other goodies. If it has extra kiwi and some mango, you’ve hit the jackpot! The more melon in the salad the cheaper the deli or diner is being and though I love a good melon, usually the melon in these fruit salads is tasteless or not ripe or too soggy, rarely ideal.

In no particular order here are the salads I’ve tried:

Your Taste - 100 W. 23rd St. - A good basic fruit salad. Solid choice. Decent value.  I think they meticulously count the pieces of kiwi, orange, and strawberry slices on top as looking at all of the salads the ratio is identical!

Malibu Diner - 163 W. 23rd St. -  A pleasant surprise! For some reason I’d expect a lower quality one from a diner like this, but they actually had extra pineapple and kiwi and it was good quality! Good value. Plus on Fridays they have a nice Matzah Ball Soup.

Toasties - 214 7th Ave. - The best! Why? They have mango!

Lenny’s - 16 W. 23rd St. - Disappointing! They have the most upscale vibe but chintziest salad (almost all melon). They do have some excellent sandwiches and  their salmon from the steam table is great. Fruit salad just isn’t their strong point, or maybe I caught them on a bad fruit salad day.

Daily visit - a fruit stand! I get a nectarine almost every morning lately, I like it when they’re sweet but not too soft…. Like my men! (hahahah!)

Please feel free to add your fruit salad comments or recommendations.

The L Magazine has posted my latest yummy comic! Click to read at the L! It’s available on the stands all over NYC in the Fiction issue! It’s about an NYC summer-time fave, Chinatown Ice Cream Factory!

I’ll be at San Diego Comic Con this coming weekend so if you’ll be attending come by and say hello!
July 25-27
San Diego Comic Con
San Diego Convention Center
111 W. Harbor Drive
San Diego, CA

“Toys, Comics and Characters: Illustrators as Entertainment Entrepreneurs”
I’ll be on this Parsons School of Design Panel
Friday, July 25th, 2008
3:30-4:30 p.m.
Comic-con International
Room 32AB

Also Friday 5-6PM Signing at Prism Comics booth (#2146 and #2148)

This is on stands now in The L Magazine’s “Sex Issue”. Free on every street corner in NYC! I cover Chocolat Moderne, Wine Cellar Sorbets, and Vere Chocolate. Click here to read it at The L now!

I had the pleasure of attending The Fancy Food show last weekend and it was amazing! Click here for my full blog report (with illustrations and photos)!