to move up and down
Flavors: 11/11/11
I totally had a long post planned for today since I kinda phoned it in all week (I’m tired- I’m sorry!), plus the Union Square Holiday Market starts up next week, so there’s going to be LOTS more half-assing on this blog between now and the end of the holidays. Buuuutttt…..
TODAY’S 11-11-11!!!!
Maybe it’s lucky or something- I have no freaking clue. What I DO know is that it’s a perfect excuse to post THIS!
If you feel that wasn’t enough, here’s a longer collection of Spinal Tap highlights. It’s Friday- you can probably get away with watching the whole thing without anyone noticing.
And now for the cupcakes! These cupcakes will give you armadillos in your pants!
Clockwise from front: Chai Latte, Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake, Butterbeer, The Breucklen
Chai Latte: Chai spiced cake, mascarpone buttercream, toasted chai spices
Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake: Pumpkin cake, cheesecake buttercream, chocolate fudge dip
Butterbeer: Butterscotch soaked cake, butterscotch buttercream, edible gold dust
The Breucklen: Apple cake, cinnamon caramel buttercream, Good Batch stroopwaffel, cinnamon caramel drizzle
Available at:
Robicelli’s at DeKalb Market: Corner of Flatbush & Willoughby, Downtown Brooklyn
Cafe at Sam’s Bakery: 94th Street off Third Avenue, Bay Ridge
Aloha Grinds: 76th and Third Ave, Bay Ridge
Bagel Schmagel: 76th and Third Ave, Bay Ridge
Tazza: Clark Street off Henry AND Henry off Atlantic, Brooklyn Heights
Blue Apron Foods: Union Street off 7th Avenue, Park Slope
Court Street Grocers: Court Street off Luquer, Carroll Gardens
The West: 379 Union Avenue, Williamsburg
Eastern District: Manhattan Ave off Eagle Street, Greenpoint
Brooklyn Standard: Nassau & Jewel, Greenpoint
Cake Shop: Ludlow St btwn Standon & Rivington, LES
Joe Columbia University: West 120th btwn Broadway & Amsterdam, Morningside Heights
Queen City Cupcakes: 62 West Main Street, Patchogue, Long Island
Red Hook Lobster Pound: Van Brunt Street, Red Hook; Brooklyn Flea; Smorgasburg; Roving Food Truck (Whoopie Pies Only)
Flavors: Wednesday, November 9th
So I fell asleep while doing the Tumblr last night and once again I have to write something in two seconds. Then while I was asleep, for the second night in a row my kids climbed into our bed and forced me out, so I ended up curled up at the foot of the bed like a dog.
Can any parents out there tell me if I’m ever going to have a decent night of sleep again? Please?
*sigh*
Tonight I’ll be speaking on a panel for Work It Brooklyn about using social media to grow your small business. Obviously, I’ll be pointing out stellar examples such as this one. Regardless, I’m incredibly honored to be asked, and very very stoked to meet lots of you there, so grab your tickets while you still can. I’ve been told I’m very entertaining in person, regardless of my children’s best efforts to derail it. Plus, there’s wine!
Time for cupcakes! Today’s the last time the Pecan Pie will be released into the rotation (though we’ll have it at DeKalb for a bit), and I heavily suggest you grab one, as Matt swears up and down it’s his favorite cupcake of all time. I don’t blame him.
Clockwise from front: The Breucklen, Pecan Pie, Car Bomb, Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake
The Breucklen: Apple cake, cinnamon caramel buttertcream, Good Batch stroopwaffel, cinnamon caramel drizzle
Pecan Pie: Pecan molasses cake, vanilla buttercream, butter molasses glazed pecan
Car Bomb: Chocolate Guinness Stout cake, Jameson Whiskey ganache, Bailey’s Irish Cream buttercream
Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake: Pumpkin cake, cheesecake buttercream, chocolate fudge glaze
Available at:
Hom: Third Avenue and 88th Street, Bay Ridge
Cafe at Sam’s Bakery: 94th Street off Third Avenue, Bay Ridge
Tazza: Clark Street off Henry AND Henry off Atlantic, Brooklyn Heights
Radish: Bedford Avenue off North 8th, Williamsburg
Jem: Broadway off Franklin Street, Tribeca
Red Hook Lobster Pound *Whoopie pies only*
Queen City Cupcakes: 62 West Main Street, Patchogue, Long Island
Flavors: Monday, October 17th
Lots of things change the moment you become a parent. Some people gain weight, others immediately ten years in our faces. We always look tired. But one universal thing that happens to just about all of us: We cry at everything. For real, before I had kids I could probably count the number of movies I’d cried at on one hand. Now? Movies, television, shadow puppets- I can’t even make it through five minutes of the evening news. And the thing that always makes me cry the most? Commercials. Pampers commercials, Barbie commmericals, Mr T Cereal commercials- thirty seconds, and I’m a weepy hysterical mess.
I had a moment like that this weekend at the Food Film Fesitval, where our film was preceded by a commercial which was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. As I have an image of total awesomeness to uphold, I was doing my best to suck it up and not make a scene. Then I got a text from Matt who was in the back of the theater saying he was crying. I looked around, and EVERYONE was crying. And instead of talking about it, I want, nay I NEED you to watch this. Turn the sound on and enjoy. It’s only two minutes:
HOW AMAZING WAS THAT!!!! SERIOUSLY!!!!
I’m not a preachy farm to table type (in fact, with my schedule almost all my meals are take-out), and I’m not a Chipotle customer (though I will be now). But this commercial just blew me away. Then I got to thinking about how I wished every person in America could see this. Think about the Super Bowl commercials we see every year- big corporations throwing away millions and millions of dollars on abject crap. Wouldn’t it be amazing if instead of seeing a spot for a remake of a beloved childhood film that Hollywood has unnecessarily destroyed because they’re out of good ideas, the biggest commercial of the year was this one?
I immediately pulled out my phone and looked up Chipotle on Twitter, and found a listing for Chris Arnold, aka
, spokesperson for the brand. I just wanted to send a passionate message in the moment, to let them know that their commercial had been effective and they had gained a new fan.
@robicellis
Dear @ChipotleMedia: I just saw your commercial at #foodfilmfest. PLEASE air this during the Super Bowl.
(I apologize for the formatting here- can’t get the tweets to copy and paste well into Tumblr, and am waaaay to tired to figure out how to fix this.)
And I got a response from Chipotle in less than ten minutes. On a Saturday.
@ChipotleMedia@robicellis I like that idea. But Super Bowl ads are terribly expensive, and that’s a long spot (more than two minutes).
First off, Bravo to Chris Arnold for blowing me away with the customer service. We’ve been back and forth tweeting for two days, and I don’t feel like I’m talking to a company but rather a real person. At this point I had not tasted a single thing that Chipotle has made, but I immediately fell so in love with the brand that even if the burritos are filled with asbestos I’d probably still eat them. No wonder my imaginary food boyfriend Nate Appleman went to work for you, Chipotle.
I also understand why they wouldn’t put this up during the Super Bowl. For them to air the entire commercial, it would cost them well over $12 million dollars, which is the is about the yearly salaries of 240 Chipotle managers. I’d much rather have them putting that cash towards jobs than commercials myself.
Fortunately, we live in a golden age where we do not need 12 million dollars for the world to see this! We can post this on Facebook, share on Twitter, tell our friends (Get the linkage an embed codes HERE). We can send a message to @ChipotleMedia and tell them how much we’ve enjoyed it. Or you can patronize Chipotle, and hope that their success leads to more fast food companies changing their operating practices.
Image of the founder of Chipotle on one of their farms with a future taco courtesy of ABC News
As silly as it is, I just think I’m so amped up because this is something I have believed in and have fought for my entire career. When I was in fine dining, I couldn’t stand the idea that only rich people were allowed to eat well, while people like me were eating mass produced burgers and hot dogs. Robicelli’s is founded on the principle that EVERYBODY, no matter what their class or how much money they have in their pocket, deserves to eat well. Chipotle seems to get that too, and even though only a few years ago it seemed like an impossible idea, they’re actually changing fast food. I hope one day we reach as many people as they do.
After the commercial, the tweets, the films, I finally had my first Chipotle taco at Matt Timm’s Taco Takedown, and you know what? It was the best “fast food dish” I’ve ever tried. Hit me up on Facebook and tell me what else I need to try, particularly any “healthy options”, since my fat ass gained about 10 pounds from Madison Square Eats.
I want to stress at this moment that I have not received any sort of incentives from Chipotle to write this post. Except for a “Free Burrito” coupon in my Film Festival gift bag. I also got a pair of socks from Google and you don’t see me writing about how great those are (yet). I also got a slinky from Bloomberg that I manged to get caught in my hair.
Clockwise from front: Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake, Bea Arthur, The Breucklen, Maple Walnut
Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake: Pumpkin cake, cheesecake buttercream, chocolate fudge dip
Bea Arthur: Black coffee infused chocolate cake, cheesecake buttercream, espresso ganache
The Breucklen: Apple cake, cinnamon caramel buttercream, Good Batch stroopwaffel
Maple Walnut: Maple walnut cake, vanilla buttercream, maple glazed walnuts
Available at:
Robicelli’s at DeKalb Market: Flatbush Avenue Extension & Willoughby Street, Downtown Brooklyn
Robicelli’s at Madison Square Eats: Corner of 25th Street & 5th Avenue
Cafe at Sam’s Bakery: 94th Street off Third Avenue, Bay Ridge
Aloha Grinds: 76th Street and 3rd Avenue, Bay Ridge
Bagel Schmagel: 76th Street and 3rd Avenue, Bay Ridge
Crespella: 7th Avenue off 9th Street, Park Slope
Tazza: Clark Street off Henry AND Henry Street off Atlantic, Brooklyn Heights
Jem: Broadway off Franklin Street, TriBeCa
Cake Shop: Ludlow Street btwn Stanton & Rivington, LES
Joe Columbia University: W 120th btwn Broadway & Amsterdam, Morningside Heights
Queen City Cupcakes (Closed Monday- Flavors for Tuesday): 62 West Main Street, Patchouge, Long Island
Red Hook Lobster Pound: 284 Van Brunt Street, Red Hook (Whoopie Pies Only)
New This Weekend at DeKalb Market
Do you really think we’d open up a new store in one of the most buzzed about marketplaces in the city without bringing our friends along for the ride?!?! Starting this weekend, you’ll be able to get:
CANDY FROM LIDDABIT SWEETS AND STROOPWAFFLES FROM THE GOOD BATCH!
We’re also getting a big batch of Banana Fluffernut marshmallows from our Sous Chef Kristen’s one woman operation “Kitty Lee Thomas Sweets”- that’s big-ass homemade marshmallows dipped in a mix of peanut butter and white chocolate, then rolled in crunchy banana chips. You seriously are not going to believe how good these things are. You might die, and then make yourself come back to life just so you can eat more.
And to let the cat out of the bag on the internets- Anna from Good Batch got engaged last weekend!!!! So to celebrate that and the arrival of her unbelievable cookies in our store, we’re bringing out the “Breucklen” cupcake that made jaws drop at this year’s Tasting Brooklyn, and making it available to the public for the very first time! It’s our rich, tender apple cake topped with salted caramel and cinnamon buttercream, pieces of Good Batch stroopwaffles and more cinnamon caramel drizzled all over the top.
As for Liddabit, we’ve got King Bars, Slurtles and Beer and Pretzel Caramels, all because you told us on our Facebook page that’s what you wanted. And we listened, because we’re good people like that.
I’ll be working the store all day Saturday, so come say hi!
