I'm O.K, You're O.K.

For as long as we can remember, we've been suckers for packaging. The marriage of food and art appeals to a slew of senses - when a treat for the tongue doubles as a feast for the eyes, the pleasure is exponential.

Which is why we experienced an unexpected jolt to the taste buds recently while perusing a friend's bookshelf. After thumbing through the usual suspects - Faulkner, Salinger, Hemingway, etc. - we were surprised to find a gem - Ghost World, the acclaimed graphic novel by Daniel Clowes.

An unexpected memory smacked us on the back of the palette: OK Soda!

Way back in 1993, when the soda wars between Coca-Cola and Pepsi were still raging, each corporation was scrambling to diversify, to find a magical new product to corner untapped market share. Pepsi tried, and failed, with Crystal Pepsi (ick). Coke introduced a sequel nobody asked for: Coke II (ick II).

What is a mega successful beverage company to do? There were so many soda drinking mouths going devastatingly unquenched! So many dollars not being spent on fizzy drinks! Such tragedy.

Coca-Cola decided to take on the largest - and most confusing - group of new consumers: Generation X. Marketing executive Sergio Zyman discovered that the second most recognized word in the world is "Coke." The first? "Ok."

Time magazine published an article at the time that asked, with a severely raised eyebrow, "Will Teens Buy It? Coke's new OK Soda uses irony and understatement to woo a skeptical market." But Coca-Cola boldly marched on with a formula for the disenchanted demographic: "(OPTIMISTIC / IRONIC) + (SPECIAL / ORDINARY) = “OK-NESS.”

OK Soda debuted in 17 test market cities in 1993, including our hometown. Lord knows we didn't need any more soda - just ask our mothers or dentists - but that can! It was bold, and different, and gorgeous! That can was irresistible. We had to have that can.

Coke had somehow managed to convince reclusive comic artist Daniel Clowes to design the packaging for OK Soda. Clowes built a cult following of Gen X'ers with his meticulously detailed, serial comics featuring angsty young folks as they slogged through the malaise of post-adolescence. His illustrations were perfect for the blithe, wry campaign. They were also arrestingly beautiful masterpieces of pop art:

Part of the appeal of OK was that it didn't take itself too seriously. The labels were littered with silly mottoes and charts. Clowes played with the frame of the barcode.

Some cans had spaces for note-taking.

The marketing campaign was equally unique and playful; customers were encouraged to call 1-800-I-FEEL-OK and interact with a variety of messages that ranged from ironic to absurd. Ads and cans detailed "coincidences" of "OK-ness," apparently sent in by OK Soda drinkers. Fizzled Out has a great two-part compendium of all things OK. We suggest you take the Personality Survey to judge your current level of "OK-ness."

Sadly, everything was not going to be OK. The citrusy cola failed to make a splash, and Coca-Cola killed OK Soda in 1995. Gen X-ers moved on to other beverages that appealed to their demographic, like, oh, we don't know, beer?

So whether you hail from Gen X, Gen Y, or Gen Why Not?, treat yourself to a dose of OK-ness by sitting down with a copy of Ghost World, popping open a cold one, and marinating in nostalgic existential crisis. After all, it has been said that "A day without OK-ness is like a day without 'day.'"

Images via Fizzled Out and Flickr

History Lesson: Henri IV

Bonne cuisine et bon vin, c'est la paradis sur terre.
Good food and good wine, these are heaven on earth.

The quote is attributed to Henri IV, le bon roi, a Huguenot for the history books. He was right about a lot of things in his time - religious tolerance, marrying Medici women, ending civil wars - but the aforementioned piece of wisdom is one for the ages. And not a one of us at Gastronomista HQ would dare to think otherwise.

But even bon vivants get the blues. Cramped in small offices, staring at computer screens until our eyes glaze over, we often forget that all we need to bring some cheer back into our lives is a good meal and a bottle of wine, preferably shared with friends whose sparkling wit helps smooth away the dull patina of the work week. Sometimes all we need is a little reminder.

The secrets this little bird could tell you.

Enter Paristic, an inventive French e-commerce site offering alternatives for wallpaper at a fraction of the price. Graphic Montmartre skylines, trompe l'oeil window decals, a string of birds on a wire, these large-format stickers are a welcome addition to any room in the house - ok, ok, apartment (can't a girl dream?) Think of them as giant Post-It notes gently reminding you that there's always something to look at outside your window, that beauty can be found in unexpected places and, occasionally, that one cooks pasta by first choosing a large pot.

We like these for the kitchen:

How to cook pasta

The Fab Five: Rosemary, Coriander, Anise, Parsley, Tarragon

Cupcake Corner

The definition of kitchen

Translation: Kitchen.
Room of the house where one cooks things. To bring provisions into the kitchen. Kitchen utensil. Chef, garcon, kitchen helper. To build a kitchen is to provide sustenance. In a new house, one must first build the kitchen. Good food and good wine, these are heaven on earth. Henri IV.

Like we said, lest you forget.

Cookie Boy

There is one thing you never have to say twice to girls like us, cookies are delicious.  Because they are.  We have a deep love for cookies, and a deeper love for really beautiful cookies. 

Japanese cookie artist Takeshi Hiroshi, aka Cookie Boy, is starting a cookie renaissance.  His cookies are graphic, colorful, whimsical, and extremely photogenic.  His disciplined repetition cookie to cookie is really quite remarkable - we traditionally get too excited of the prospect of making something else out of that already used shape...but we digress.

He sums it up best:

One day, anniversary gifts to make cookies.
Smile like a child when I opened the box, I was happy.
Awakening the artistic texture, creating a self-taught cake daily.
Textile design utilizing technology in the past have learned, we made a line drawing type.
Approached in the distance and things to eat.
As the cookies melt in your mouth, goes to unravel the feelings of people.
I found a canvas of cookies.

Thank you Google Translate for that enlightening depiction. 

On to the cookies:

The Cookie Boy, we presume.

The Original Sinners.

Camera.

Song Birds.

Kimonos.

Mystery Man.

Pearl Necklaced Pups.

Turnips.

 Check out his website, and his blog for more information.

On This Day - Liz Taylor

All little girls need someone to look up to - and today us girls lost a legend.  Miss Elizabeth Taylor.  An original femme fatale, a collector of great rocks and great men, one of the true great beauties of our time.  She will be missed.  

A few of our favorite Liz moments after the jump:

Scott Conary, We'd Eat Steak With You

We've been known to be fans of Food in Art, Food as Art, and Art as Food - all tasty combination two of our favorite things.  We've also been known to like meat in paint form - so naturally we are smitten with Scott Conary's meat still life paintings.

We first saw them on the cover of RISD's Alumni publication, RISD XYZ - enamored we remain in all of his work, which can be found on his website. 

Scott Conary - Glow Chop

There is something kind of ... haunting about all of Conary's paintings.  The lonely farm houses, the eerily lit Habanero, that kind of terrifying hammer...there is something almost sadistic and quite literally raw in them.  For still life paintings that blatantly fetishize dinner, we think they are amazingly personal. 

Scott Conary - Rib Chop

Scott Conary - Hen, Back

 

Scott Conary - Habanero 1

Scott Conary - Moth

Scott Conary - Flying Carpet

Scott Conary - Mussels

Scott Conary - Cut Apple

For more information, check out his website.
Another good interview with him on The Daily Meal.

Won't You Stay for Tupper, Dear?

Our mothers have always been ladies with the utmost in social graces - why, they taught us genteel Gastronomistas everything they know. But sometimes we wonder how on Earth they did it without modern technology - how do you invite friends over for a last-minute cocktail party without a mass text message? And who has the patience to hand-write invitations to dinner, let alone buy a book of stamps? Our social - and gustatory - lives would be dead without Facebook, Twitter, and email.

But the concept of a social network is nothing novel. Why, just look at Tupperware. What began long ago as a direct sales scheme for housewives to earn some independent income quickly became a storied opportunity to convene, commiserate, and engage in a bit of commerce.

With this notion in mind, we attended the incredible Tupper Club party in the penthouse of the Setai residences on Fifth Avenue the other night. The prescribed theme for the evening was “The Art of Conversation,” and instead of Jell-o molds and artfully preserved leftovers, Tupperware called in the big guns: recent James Beard Award winner Chef Michael White of Marea. We went armed with eager appetites and witty repartee.

As expected, the food was spectacular - Chef White cooked to impress. The loveliest surprise of all, though, was the company. Between bites of succulent Nova Scotia lobster dolloped with milky burrata, we traded names and stories of how we lucked into the invite.

Over the second course, we easily confided to the young journo beside us that we wouldn’t kick that Shrimp and Calamari Cavatelli off of our plate any day.

By the time the veal loin with pancetta cream sauce arrived, we had plans for a group pizza crawl through Brooklyn. The end of the meal saw us washing down bites of Rhum Baba with Oddero Moscato d’Asti and reminiscing about the avocado-green Tupperware vessels of our youth.

Remember that durable pitcher we used to fill with Country Time lemonade to shill on the corner? Sure, we were looking to make some extra candy money, but we were mostly hoping to catch up with our friends and neighbors, to convene and commiserate. Isn’t that what Tupperware is all about?

In that spirit, we left the Setai with full stomachs, a bevy of modern plastic vessels, and a group of new friends to invite over for dinner. Of course, we’ll have to find them on Facebook.

Chew on This

We are hungry, starving, desperate to get to Inaki Aizpitarte's newest restaurant, Le Dauphin, in Paris' 11th arrondissement. I think you know why.

This is the man behind the stove.

Designed by Rem Koolhaas as an "obsession in white," the stone, marble and mirror-covered space is flanked by floor-to-ceiling glass, and its cool, quiet simplicity serves as a stark contrast to the rioutous good time on the plate.



We recently saw two of our besties, Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert, on an episode of "No Reservations", digging into a plate of other Inaki Aizpitarte's foodstuffs. Their favorite dish was yet another celebration of white - a seared filet of rouget atop a schmear of masarpone cheese an al dente spear of white asparagus and a healthy spirnkling of elderflower. What?!? Yes, that's right, all that crazy stuff on one plate. Both of our buddies were surprised that it worked, and that it worked so well.

According to The Ripper, "Genius."

According to us, regarding Monsieur Inaki, "Hot!"

This is what the food looks like.

We were delighted to receive a note this week from the Spanish filmmaker Oskar Alegria, whose newest work was shot during the build out of Le Dauphin. In his words, "the video itself speaks about paradox, I mean, food seems to be similar to a lot of disciplines, arquitecture included, but finally is paradox what makes things work... sometimes." Thank you, Oskar, for this lovely piece.

architecture et nourriture from oskar alegria on Vimeo.

In case your eye candy craving hasn't quite been sated, you can find more of Inaki right here:

Ok, fine, one more.

Health Benefits of Beer

Beer is delicious, or so we say as we drink a nice Session Black Premium Dark Lager.  But we've heard rumors that Beer can be good for you too!

Design Firm Belanico out of California has designed an infographic that identifies the health benefits of moderate consumptions of beer.  Antioxidants, heart benefits, kidney benefits, cognitive function, lowers blood pressure, and helps women age better.  Yes please!

Beer You're In The Clear - $25

Your evening Lager, now guilt free.  Cheers!

Recipes Sans Text

Ok, we admit it.  We usually tend to be intimidated by recipes that resemble War and Peace and prefer recipes brief in nature (don't hate us, we're busy girls).  So naturally, we love any kind of drawn recipe.  We've been fans of Kokblog for a while now, Johanna Kindvall's drawings that accompany her recipes are always charming and whimsical.  


With all of our chatter lately about bit about deconstructing the recipe, we thought we should include Johanna's cooking diagrams.  We love her drawings and colorful graphics that make cooking seem so... easy (just how we like it).  

Mushroom Risotto

Ragu Sauce

Semlor for Fat Tuesday

Beef Stew

The Beef Stew entry was also featured in GOOD Magazine's Redesign The Recipe and we must say, Kokblog's Beef Stew was hands down our favorite.

Check out Kokblog for more fantastic foodie recipes here.

A Simple Guide To Eggs

Eggs can sometimes be perplexing - I mean what's all this free-range business versus cage free versus certified humane...all of these different certifications can give a girl a nervous breakdown at at the market!   Thanks to Culinaut you can refer to this nice info-graphic for all your egg based questions.  We always love a good info-graphic!

Click for a bigger, and thereby better view.

Chef Photo Shoot

We, like probably you, are obsessed with Portlandia on IFC.  Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen are relentless in their portrayal of Portland in their hilarious character-based shorts.  We previously featured Is It Local? - a clip that still makes us laugh every time we see it.

Today we bring you Chef Photo Shoot. Chefs are so hot right now, just in case you didn't get the memo.

Art of Cooking

It seems that everyone is deconstructing the recipe these days.  Words have become so passé.

Either way, we're a fan of it.  Give us recipes drawn, via video, stop-animation, just make 'em pretty, that's all we ask.

Carl Kleiner can be credited to really blowing up the deconstructed recipe scene with his Ikea advertisements, Homemade is Best.  We've seen many copycats in the past few months (too many), but none quite get the same level of abstraction, discipline, or whimsy that he does. 

He's done a new Ikea campaign, this one a series of short videos sharing the Art of Cooking. 

These are our favorites:


Ikea - Art of cooking - Make sushi! from Carl Kleiner on Vimeo.



Ikea - Art of cooking - Master flip from Carl Kleiner on Vimeo.



Ikea - Art of cooking - Make espresso! from Carl Kleiner on Vimeo.



Ikea - Art of cooking / Chop chop from Carl Kleiner on Vimeo.

Stumptown Stubbies

Stumptown, Portland has released these charming Stubbies; cold brew coffee bottles and ready to go!  We just love the ye olde-time bottles, and cannot wait for them to make their appearance in the NYC Stumptown locales.

Available in all Portland Cafes!

Gastronomista Guide: Guinness Recipe Roundup for St. Patrick's Day

There's nothing like a Guinness!

Gastronomista Girls love our stout.  There's nothing like a Guinness, or so they say.  Last year we did a story on Ms Nigella Lawson's  Guinness Cake; this tasty cake had us savoring our favorite pour in more ways than one!  This year we are drawing more inspiration from the most classic of Stouts, and doing a roundup of Guinness recipes - savory and sweet!  A teaser: Black and Tan Leg of Lamb, Braised Short Ribs, Guinness Lobster, Guinness and Chocolate Beef Stew...our mouths are watering as we write this!  Read more after the jump.

A Guinness A Day

We've been researching Guinness lately, with St. Patrick's day coming up.  We've been impressed with the vintage Guinness posters by John Gilroy, and would love to share a few of our favorites:

Guinness Print Ad 1931

Aim for a Guinness

Crab and Guinness - 1940

Lovely day for a Guinness - 1936

Guinness for Strength - 1930's

Guinness Two Step