As a self-proclaimed semi-foodie, I love eating out. But after reading Smart Money’s ‘10 Things Restaurants Won’t Tell You‘, I might think twice about what I’m ordering next time I go out. For instance, should I be ordering the special of the day?

…Countless variables can leave surplus ingredients at the end of the day—which often become tomorrow’s special. “It could be the chef legitimately wants to try out something new,” says Stephen Zagor, founder of consulting firm Hospitality & Culinary Resources. “But it could also be something nearing the end of its shelf life that needs to get out of the kitchen.”

Ew. Ew. Ew.

Tasting Table is smart. Really smart. After the buzz began about Le Fooding coming to New York, everyone tried figuring out how to get in.

The website only stated:

Registration is not open yet but links to get the secret access codes can be found on several AmericanFooding-friendly websites covering news, food, fashion and citywide events.

To get a shot at one of 100 secret access codes for Le Fooding, all one needed was to friend Tasting Table on Twitter or fan them on Facebook. Instantly, word began spreading, culminating in (what one would assume is) thousands of new friends on both social media networks. It wasn’t an opportunity to win free tickets; it was a chance to purchase them. But since Tasting Table was the first media outlet to give the opportunity, foodies in NY pinned on them their hopes of eating with David Chang and Wylie Dufresne.

Before Tasting Table ever got the codes out to their winners, the NY Times posted the secret on their Dining Out blog. Now anyone who signs up using the NY Times link can buy the tickets themselves — no raffle necessary. But now there’s more buzz around Le Fooding and Tasting Table has gained a wider audience in the NY foodie circles. Brilliant, eh?

Good Magazine has put out an interesting chart on the best and worst seafood to consume, based on overfishing and health risks.

For the seafood I love (and I love seafood) –

• American crab, check
• Lobster, check
• Salmon (if Alaskan), check
• Oysters, check
• Sea Bass, darn
• Tuna, darn
• Shrimp, darn

Welcome to the whole wide world of Asian grocery store luncheon meat! My favorite is the “chopped PORK and HAM loaf” container with the overweight white piggy on the front.

This fly seemed to really like my wine.

In my first Project 365 post, I chronicled my wi-fi-less adventures at Peacefood Cafe. Since swearing off coffee three years ago, I now choose from the tea menu when I go to cafes (at Starbucks, it’s a Grande No-Water Soy Chai Latte). Today, I ordered a $4.50 brazilian nut chai at Peacefood Cafe — one of the worst food purchases made in recent memory. Apparently, I’m not meant to go vegan.

Meals involving pasta are usually the easiest to fix on a busy night. This one is a bit more involved than marinara over noodles, but still quick to prepare — hot pasta (in this case, cheese tortellini) tossed with olive oil, minced garlic and freshly shaved parmesan cheese, with salt and pepper to taste. Delicious.

The locavore movement has seen an explosion in recent years, and Blue Hill at Stone Barnes is a huge champion of it with their farm to table concept. Rob managed to snag reservations for my birthday weekend. We walked around the greenhouse, chased after the fowl, passed by the this stack of wood, and ate one of the best meals of my entire life.

Waitress brings around a basket of eggs to educate us on how they’re obtained.

Me: “Are those eggs from the chickens in the coop next to the greenhouse?”
Her: “No, the chickens you saw are the ones… we eat.”

There’s a cafeteria located on the fourteenth floor of 375 Hudson. Many of my former coworkers at the building eat there only when the weather is bad; I deviated from eating its food at most once a month. Since I no longer have access to $3.95 sandwich and soup specials, my lunch experience has changed drastically. Greg and I were working in Soho today to meet up with Living Breathing, so we grabbed burritos to eat from the Calexico cart. I’ve always bemoaned the fact that the Mexican food in NYC will never measure up to the deliciousness found everywhere in Texas, but I have to admit that these were mighty good. (Look at the guy on the left who seems jealous that we’re taking away his burritos!)