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The CHOW Blog 
Insights, tips, and restaurant reports from CHOW editors and Chowhound.
Is It Art, Food, or Math?
The unfortunately named food blog Eat Me Daily has a great profile on artist Kevin Van Aelst, who turns food photos into high- (or at least medium-) brow art. If you’ve never seen cellular mitosis as depicted by Krispy Kreme doughnuts, now’s your chance. Equally goofy and wonderful: a finger print rendered in mustard, a yin-yang Oreo, and a periodic table of elements executed with gummi bears.
In this image, “Cantor Set,” Van Aelst uses (no doubt painstakingly) manipulated egg yolk to illustrate a mathematical concept that, trust us, is best left unexplained.
Photo used with permission.
Tiny Baboons in a Gumdrop World
Gumdrops, broccoli, sugar cubes, marshmallows, corn, peanuts, and popcorn are among the props St. Paul–based artist Steve Tomashek uses to complement—and bring a sense of scale to—his itty bitty sculptural animal creations. A menagerie of carved and painted tiny wooden monkeys, sheep, camels, dogs, penguins, dragons, and loons hang out in the generally food-themed little worlds that Tomashek designed for them. Thumb through his gallery—it’s a guaranteed delight and diversion.
Photo used with permission.
The Basics: How to Make an Icebox Cake
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New Finds: Ritzy Hostess Gift for Your Hamptons Trip
In an alternate universe—maybe yours—people get invited to fancy rich people’s houses in the Hamptons, and need to find a unique-and-classy hostess gift. Why gosh darn it, this porcelain flower, one of a kind, made to replicate table decorations used by the Bavarian monarchy in 1765, is just the ticket! These “fantasy flowers,” each one a different flower and one-of-a-kind, were made by craftsmen in Nymphenburg, Germany. Pricey, yes, but in this alternate universe, it’s a mere bagatelle.
Katie Lee and Billy Joel Split
Representatives for TV food critic Katie Lee and Billy Joel confirmed Thursday that the pair are on the rocks. Their official statement says they’re still friends, admire and respect each other, yadda yadda. But, as Fox News sensitively reports, “Lee, 27, has been rumored to be involved in a romance with Yigal Azrouel, a 36-year-old Israeli fashion designer. The two have been photographed together and were reportedly spotted dirty-dancing together in Miami last January. Azrouel is even said to have referred to Lee as his ‘girlfriend’.” Fox News also ran a photo of Billy flanked by Katie and Alexa, his daughter with Christie Brinkley, who’s only four years younger than Katie. The photo is captioned: “Which one’s the daughter, which the wife?”
Ouch. That has to really hurt. But probably not as much as this NY Daily News story, which features a picture of Azrouel, looking tasty and youthful, right underneath a shot of Billy Joel looking every one of his 60 years.
Image source: flickr member kevindooley under Creative Commons
Pass the Chicken and Biscuits
Little Skillet, one of the new generation of Twitter-trackable eateries, is a takeout window that magically produces fried chicken and waffles (two pieces with slaw and a biscuit for $6.50) and excellent red velvet cupcake ($3), says Windy.
And now it is testing breakfast items, like biscuits and gravy. “B&G is really, really good—solid southern biscuits with exceptional meaty gravy,” says larochelle. Note that these are angel biscuits, a fluffy type common in Texas that may seem more like a dinner roll than the more typical kind of biscuit. Little Skillet also does breakfast po’ boys, which are good but not destination-worthy like the biscuits and gravy, larochelle says.
Little Skillet [SoMa]
330 Ritch Street, San Francisco
No phone available
Board Links: Little Skillet [split from Nonstaurants thread]
Windy’s month of lunches - SOMA edition
