Posts from the ‘International Intrigue’ Category

International Intrigue: Commes des Garçons, Camel Meat, Cheese Patties

Photo: Mandilicious

Though both are slightly out of my wheelhouse (is it just me or has there been an uptick in the use of “wheelhouse” and “sea change” recently?) it is worth noting that while Paris mostly gets Brooklyn burgers, tacos and diners, we will have Racines, a wine bar, “neo-bistro” whatever, opening tomorrow, and were introduced to Rose Bakery, the sort of British restaurant inside a Commes des Garçons boutique, late last year and reviewed by New York this week.

On the other hand, the UAE, which only gets our imports, never the other way around, may send something called Wok Chi our way. More interesting, might be Mandilicious, which partnered with a US-based company earlier this year. I’m not sure if its mascot, Nawaf, or the camel mugagal, would fly here, but a fast food chain serving Yemeni food would be cool.

Burger King isn’t really opening in Crimea. Pizza Hut did open in Iraq, though. Some members of the US Consulate attended the opening and looked pretty happy.

KFC is a little late to the game–McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Subway already have vegetarian menus in India–but the chain with chicken in its name finally joined in. That means paneer zingers, which are breaded fried cheese patties stuffed with a spicy sauce.

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Say Goodbye to Casseroles and Jell-O

Photo: Lotteria

I’m pretty sure that The New York Times buried the lede in its whopping piece on the changing role of women in the Mormon church. Young ladies from Utah harassing Koreans on buses is kind of fascinating (especially since I just watched a similar scene–minus Mormons or Koreans–on House of Cards) but skip down to the fifth from last paragraph.

In South Korea, Ms. Farr, the former beauty pageant contestant and future businesswoman, was knocking on doors and setting a baptism date for her first convert, a teenage girl with whom she had formed a deep connection. But her mind had also been turning with new business ideas: a novel way to export and sell pearl jewelry, and restaurant chains that would sell some of the cheap Korean treats like rice burgers to students at Brigham Young. “I have to do the market research when I get back,” she said.

I am sensing a true calling here. Do you think she was inspired by Lotteria, Baburger or Mos Burger?

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The Week In International Intrigue: Hot Pots, Hot Nabes, Weird Places

Photo: Bedford-Stuyvesant

If you find yourself in Madrid in desperate need of Goldfish crackers, Teddy Grahams, Newman’s Own salad dressings or Smucker’s Goober (strawberry and grape) head to a chain of stores called Taste of America. Just ignore the Marmite.

Little Lamb, a new Chinese hot pot chain in Flushing is getting a bit of attention, but whither Little Sheep? All of these knock-offs are so confusing and so very Chinese.

Of course there is now an Amsterdam cafe called Bedford Stuyvesant with kale on the menu. The owners seem vaguely intentional in this neighborhood naming choice at least.

Thrillist rounds up a number of “legitimately great delicacies” at chain restaurants abroad. I beg to differ with Pizza Hut Germany’s mac ‘n’ cheese pie.

Vietnam’s first McDonald’s is still making waves. CNN uses it as a springboard to detail a few other “weird places” to find the chain like the countries of Israel and India. (The not mentioned Berlin McDonald’s in front of Checkpoint Charlie is kind of a weird location really, plus it serves the McRib year round.) Also, Serious Eats interviews a Hanoi-based food blogger for his take. Big Macs will probably not be the death of banh mi.

The Wall Street Journal article, “In Dubai, Fast Food Is Big Draw at the Mall” sounds like it’s going to be fun, but it’s really about one Indian woman who got diabetes and now eats food court tom yum for lunch. This is in the business section.

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The Week In International Intrigue: Burgers Not Baguettes, Banh Mi

Facebook/Little Fernand

The French love burgers. No, make that hotdogs.

We still have a love affair with macarons, and now there’s a second NYC Ladurée.

South Korean Caffé Bene is also on an NYC tear.

McDonald’s is always opening somewhere at any given moment, but the first Vietnam location is getting a lot of attention. There’s little word on the food other than the inclusion of the McPork, also sold in Japan. For comparison, Burger King, which entered Vietnam in 2011, has localized the menu quite a bit with shrimp, pork and rice.

Cinnabon’s president details how the company managed to get its Sochi branch up and running for the Olympics.  “Even though the mall isn’t totally complete, come on in, follow your nose and our great aroma, keep walking … we’re the ones with the lights on,”  says Kat Cole. (via @RonRuggless)

I have a hard time getting excited about a Mexican-ish restaurant imported from London, but Bodega Negra now exists in Chelsea regardless of what I think.

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Ranch-Style

WBIR.com

Things are bleak for the middle class, and could be made no clearer than the Darden brand examples given at the end of The New York Times’ recent report. Traffic is declining at Olive Garden where the average check is $16.50 (clearly, these people aren’t partaking in the chianti) where spending is up at Capital Grille and closer to $71.

Most notable to me, though, was how the company has re-branded its answer to Outback Steakhouse.

“LongHorn Steakhouse, another Darden chain, has been reworked to target a slightly more affluent crowd than Olive Garden, with décor intended to evoke a cattleman’s ranch instead of an Old West theme.”

The differences between Old West and ranch-style seem nuanced at best—at least to my untrained eyes. (For the record, the above photo is intended to be “a warm, relaxing atmosphere reminiscent of a Western rancher’s home.”)

Facebook/Cinnabon Russia

Meanwhile, in the “Soviet-style dystopia” that is Sochi, there is a mall where the only open business is a “thriving” Cinnabon.  The real question is whether giant American cinnamon rolls qualify as middle-class in a Russian Olympic village.

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The Week in International Intrigue: Peri-Peri, Big Pictures, Lamb Burgers

The Guardian generated over 1,200 comments when Jay Rayner defended Nando’s (and mildly insulted the monotonous cuisine of Dordogne).

Quartz is one of those endless scroll sites with big photos that make everything seem smart and important (for instance, if you were to read some of the content–just some–from Roads & Kingdoms in a Word doc, the whole vibe would change) like this article/post that uses charts and links to say that there are lots of Dunkin’ Donuts in other parts of the world even though only a few US regions have the chain. New Yorkers don’t realize how good they’ve got it–I recently tried some doughnuts and coffee at the newish maligned Bedford Ave. location [why is no one going nuts over the truly new branch  on Metropolitan Ave. near the Lorimer station?] and they were so delicious and cheap.

Fuddruckers, a chain that on one really defends, is opening in the Dominican Republic and hopes to sway locals with unique-to-the-region specialties like lamb burgers with mint jelly (I had no idea) and bread pudding.

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