Andrew Nusca

"I’ve been studying the diner burger lately, and there’s something so reassuring about the formula of..."

Sat, 18 May 2013 11:32:01 -0400

“I’ve been studying the diner burger lately, and there’s something so reassuring about the formula of burger, bun, garnishes, fries, and small cup of slaw—if you want to go wild, you can simply dump the slaw on the burger. This is food at its simplest and most elegant, food that doesn’t want to slap your face. This is food that is simply good, and defines a sort of normalcy in eating that no longer exists. Nowadays, every meal is a challenge and a problem. Have you eaten well enough? Have you eaten innovatively, locavorically, and seasonally enough?”

- That’s the elegant level-headedness of Robert Sietsema, the longtime Village Voice food critic who was fired today, per a Gawker report. He’s the guy who writes about restaurants you’ve never heard of, because they don’t have publicists and they’re not listed on UrbanDaddy. Sietsema goes reviewing in parts of the city where yellow cabs don’t fill the streets, where subways aren’t always close by, in neighborhoods you didn’t know existed, and where English isn’t the first language of either the clientele, the waiters or the owners. He was, and still is, one of our most essential critics.

“His relationships with small restaurant owners not only led directly to the creation of the paper’s annual, sold-out “Choice Eats” event, but his written reviews literally changed the economic fortunes of several hundred small business owners throughout the five boroughs over the past two decades and left an indelible mark on the city’s food culture,” Hugh Merwin eloquently writes for New York Magazine’s Grub Street.

It’s important for us food writers and critics to cover the highly-touted new restaurants in Manhattan and cool parts of Brooklyn, because, well, that’s where people are spending their money, and it’s our job to follow and critique that money trail. Of course, every now and then, with re-reviews, we try to lead our readers off the trail by turning a spotlight on a more forgotton venue, or a venue that’s imporoved over the years.

And while Sietsema covered the big important new joints like the rest of us, his dedication to leading us WAY off the beaten path, outside of our Manhattan-Williamsburg-Carroll Gardens comfort zone, is why he’s so necessary. And with our city’s hospitality industry still getting back on its feet in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, it’s ever more vital that these small “Sietsema restaurants” (if I can call them that) be given their proper due.

I hope we find him writing again soon. New York City needs Sietsema.

(via baddeal)

Robert is a treasure, and his being fired by the craven New Times management not only underscores that fact, it puts it in 148-point boldfaced type. That company knows about what New York needs from its media outlets (“Can’t we just post cameraphone-sourced gifs from plays instead of paying the most well-respected theater critic in the city?”) about as well as it knows how to run a digital news operation.

(via maura)

"The audience has to be earned every day."

Mon, 13 May 2013 10:49:08 -0400

“The audience has to be earned every day.”

- David Carr

Relationships Are More Important Than Ambition

Mon, 13 May 2013 08:13:49 -0400

Relationships Are More Important Than Ambition

"Just make stuff and don’t agonize over it. Stop worrying about being No. 1. I see a lot of..."

Fri, 10 May 2013 23:50:38 -0400

“Just make stuff and don’t agonize over it. Stop worrying about being No. 1. I see a lot of people getting paralyzed by the response to their work, the imagined result…that’s the way I approach everything. Just make ‘em.”

- Steven Soderbergh

insiderimages: The final piece of the spire at One World Trade...

Fri, 10 May 2013 21:24:09 -0400

insiderimages:

The final piece of the spire at One World Trade Center is lifted into place in New York, May 10, 2013. The tower now rises to a symbolic 1776 feet, making it the tallest building in the western hemisphere. INSIDER IMAGES/Gary He (UNITED STATES)

To license these images and more, click here.

celestial-navigation: Misty morning over the olive groves and...

Fri, 10 May 2013 21:17:06 -0400

celestial-navigation:

Misty morning over the olive groves and out to sea. Citta Sant’Angelo, Abruzzo, Italy.

"The pleasure and the honor and respect for the profession of journalism that I always had as a kid,..."

Thu, 09 May 2013 08:21:35 -0400

“The pleasure and the honor and respect for the profession of journalism that I always had as a kid, and have now even more so, is because I was in the only occupation that tried not to lie. If you lie, you get kicked out. And the people who kick you out are your colleagues; it’s not somebody on high.”

- Gay Talese

Video

Wed, 08 May 2013 14:31:32 -0400

According to one former investment banker-turned-journalist, carrying the FT instead of the Journal...

Wed, 08 May 2013 09:19:57 -0400

According to one former investment banker-turned-journalist, carrying the FT instead of the Journal is like wearing a bespoke suit: it suggests worldly sophistication.

— NYO

"To bet on a new idea you have to have faith—you can’t analyze it, you can’t justify it."

Tue, 07 May 2013 13:48:10 -0400

“To bet on a new idea you have to have faith—you can’t analyze it, you can’t justify it.”

- Evan Williams

"Write quickly to avoid remorse about having written badly."

Tue, 07 May 2013 12:30:18 -0400

““Write quickly to avoid remorse about having written badly.””

- Tracy Kidder

Photo

Mon, 06 May 2013 18:09:54 -0400

Photo

Mon, 06 May 2013 11:04:00 -0400

"Now that I have a watch, I notice other people’s watches. This leads to more conversations..."

Mon, 06 May 2013 09:20:09 -0400

“Now that I have a watch, I notice other people’s watches. This leads to more conversations about watches and more time spent thinking about watches. This is a slippery slope: You start as an earnest young man who’s trying to keep track of the precious minutes of life and suddenly you’re a potbellied old bore trapped in endless conversations about Panerais, waiting for death.”

- Ezra Koenig

kieljamespatrick: Two Adirondack chairs. A schooner. Brilliant...

Sun, 05 May 2013 20:51:26 -0400

kieljamespatrick:

Two Adirondack chairs. A schooner. Brilliant Sunset and a blood orange Bellini. If we could only stop time.

"I’m an editor, and I will be that until I retire or die, whichever comes first. I get to think..."

Sat, 04 May 2013 14:47:03 -0400

“I’m an editor, and I will be that until I retire or die, whichever comes first. I get to think up unanswered questions about the city and send other people out to do the work of finding out the answers. It’s pretty sweet.”

- Tom McGeveran

On one occasion, a layout for a rate card, submitted to the head of [CBS designer William]...

Fri, 03 May 2013 17:19:15 -0400

On one occasion, a layout for a rate card, submitted to the head of [CBS designer William] Golden’s division, came back by messenger with a note saying, ‘I don’t like it very much. Let’s discuss.’ Golden’s answer was to tape a drawing pencil to the corner of a large layout pad and send it back with this message scribbled across the top sheet: ‘Let’s not! Why don’t you make a better one?’ The rate card was produced as originally designed.

— Nine Pioneers in American Graphic Design

taylorlorenz: Take a tour through the Time-Life building in the...

Fri, 03 May 2013 16:21:00 -0400

taylorlorenz:

Take a tour through the Time-Life building in the 60s.

miss this place just a lil’ bit.

jaredbkeller: Just came across this awesome video from 2011 of...

Fri, 03 May 2013 16:14:45 -0400

jaredbkeller:

Just came across this awesome video from 2011 of the Bloomberg Businessweek graphics crew putting the magazine together.

I missed this the first time around, but it’s great.

gofwd: Woah.

Fri, 03 May 2013 16:07:38 -0400

gofwd:

Woah.