FatManSeoul

Yes, you can get a glass of absinthe here. But startlingly, rare alcohol plays second fiddle here to a wide range of very delicious coffees and the best cupcakes in Seoul.

Got that? The best, bar none. Read the rest of this entry »

FatManSeoul has gotten right back into the swing of things by giving a short presentation on Korean food blogs, blogs about Korean food, and what this means for globalization and popularization of Korean food for TEDxSeoul‘s salon at General Doctor! Our action-packed 3 minutes (ok, 4 . . . you didn’t really think we could keep it that short, did you?) talked a lot about how Korean food blogs ended up taking their current form, and how it influences the food here, all while showing us the values and interests of diners. Korean food blogs are an anthropological goldmine of information! (more on that later . . .)
Speaking of food blogs, the Venerable Joe McPherson of Zen Kimchi fame also gave an invaluable talk on what works and what doesn’t in marketing Korean food to foreigners. There were even more fascinating lectures on the role of a Korean NGO in distributing food in Haiti after the earthquake (English, 한국어), the importance of food in the poems of Baek Seok, Korean drinking habits, and makgeolli! It was an amazing event, and everyone there was incredibly knowledgeable and interesting. Plus, great food and great drinks ~ could life possibly get any better?

Been a long time, hasn’t it? You probably thought we were never coming back! But we’ve finally fixed our technical problems, and are back in action . . . there’s more delicious foodblogging to come!

A lot of you out there are probably getting a message about malware on this site, and we wanted to let you know we’re in the process of fixing the problem. Our apologies! We’ll have it up and running like normal as soon as we can.

Kristie Lu Stout of CNN chowed down with First Lady Kim Yoon-Ok, who spilled the beans on all kinds of national secrets, like what makes Korean food taste good and what MB2 eats for breakfast.

First of all, for anyone heading to the Chungjangno Festival in Gwangju (or heading or living in Gwangju at any other time) KoreaMaria has some suggestions on where to grab your coffee. Take that Seth – Gwangju has good coffee! (and a tip of the fat hat to Brian in Jeollanam-do)
Still don’t believe Fatman that the bean scene is jumping? Check out what industry mag AP Food Technology says about the coffee industry here . . .

In other Gwangju news, the Kimchi Festival (한국어링크 . . . click here for English link) starts next week . . ..

Tonight only, Zen Kimchi’s brother, Chef Ben, will be dishing up delights at Fatman (and everbody else’s) favorite, Star Chef. 02.529.8248 for reservations.

merci, chosun!

Even in North Korea you can still get your burger fix . . .

South China Post’s Kristine Kwok wrote about her beefy find here (subscription required, 영어링크) and you can read more about your northern fries and fizz here and here (영어 링크.  한국어 여기 . . . 여기 . . . 그리고 여기)

and courtesy cbs, we have video!  bon appetit!

and a tip of the fat hat to serious eats

Huh?  Julia & Julie has been pushed back to December 3rd?   Practically everybody else in Asia has an earlier release date . . .  are you trying to make sure we’ve all seen it on pirated DVD’s from China before it hits our theaters?

축하합니다 to Joe McPhearson and Eun-Jeong, the Zen Kimchi pair:  They go together like 신라면 and 소주!  Peanut butter and jelly!  오징어 and 땅콩! Cheese and crackers!  빈대떡 and 막걸리!  Congrats to you both!

축하합니다! Congrats!

And &*%$ you, Conde Nasty.

image from newsday

Fatman has always loved the beautiful Gourmet Magazine.  We grew up eating recipes from its pages and reading the essays and articles.  It was the gold standard in food writing, and published work by an astounding array of writers and gourmands.   The photography was always wonderful, and trends in the way food was plated and photographed often began in the pages of Gourmet.   And the grande dame has been around since 1941 ~ this is a magazine with a real history and relationship with readers.   Sister publication Bon Appetite has survived Conde Evil’s cuts, but that won’t appease us.

They must suffer for this outrage!  Bring Fatman the head of Conde Nitwit on a silver platter, garnished with a sprig of parsley and a wedge of lemon!

we took this from visionsteen.com - it just awaits the head of conde nast and some garnish.

Read more about it in the New York Times, the National Post, and at the Telegraph, and the Guardian,  and Newsday, if you can choke back the bile.  You can write to the editors of Gourmet here, and as for those those *&#$^@ at Conde Nast, Fatman suggests that you tell them what idiots they are write a strongly worded communication of your dissapointment in their decision here.

UPDATE:  You can find a lovely article here at Slate.com on the history of Gourmet and another here and here at their sister magazine, Double X.  We’ll add more coverage as more responses roll in.