National Cheeseburger Day ; The Elvis American Diner

Yesterday was National Cheeseburger Day  and Google rewarded my search for pics of Elvis enjoying a big one with news that  Presley culture has i nspired a chain of international diners. Here’s their spiel. Look for one rocking your town if you live in Eastern Europe or the Middle East. The rest of us have to settle for Five Guys.

http://www.elvisamericandiner.com/index.html

ELVIS American Diner (EAD) is a dynamic restaurant chain, implemented in Eastern Europe and in the Middle East. We boast a unique restaurant concept featuring upscale food court dining experience in a designed and sleek environment under the legendary thematic of Elvis Presley®. The model of Elvis Presley® legacy is presented through the decor, artwork, food and music providing an overall “feel” of oldies American culture.

Furthermore, EAD INTERNATIONAL owns officially and exclusively an operating license for the exploitation of restaurants under the trademark of EAD ELVIS American Diner™, this license has been conceded by EPE – Elvis Presley Enterprise.

EAD International

First Restaurant Established in 1974. The flag restaurant has opened in 2009 in the State Concert Hall near the main avenue of Tbilisi; 3 food stations in Georgia’s new amusement park “Mtatsminda Park”; Next restaurant to be opened in 2011 in new shopping mall “Up Town Tbilisi”; “Elvis American Diner” is in the process of designing the “Elvis City” drive-through restaurant; Due to the popularity of EAD, local media has taken an increased interest in Elvis’ work on TV, radio and the internet.

Vision & Values

50 Shades of Kraft: The Zesty Man Channels Mommy Porn

“We want to recognize our consumers as more than just moms but also as women and give her a campaign that has her view Kraft Salad Dressings in a whole new way,” a Kraft statement says.

Why do I feel that someone in the marketing department has been reading 50 Shades of Grey?  This cheesy campaign really is trying too hard– Shades of Fabio and “I can’t believe it’s not butter.”

Wonder if salad dressing stud is selling salad dressing?

Conservative group One Million Moms find Zesty man offensive and are boycotting Kraft.

Shrimpton Abbey: Jean Shrimpton’s Cotswold’s Hotel

Highly rated and dog friendly, Shrimpton’s Hotel Abbey is somewhat of a cheap-thrill for travelers and dog-friendly.

Quoting Heidi Klum, “In fashion, one day you’re in, the next day you’re out”. In her early 30’s, the face of the 1960’s and one of the most beautiful women ever to grace a Vogue cover, opted out. Jean Shrimpton’s disappearing Garbo act took her North of London to Penzance where she has owned and run The Abbey Hotel for over 30 years.

Shrimpton shocked the world by appearing at a racing event in Australia without gloves, hat and in the first mini-skirt photographed on a celeb. It was 1965 and the dress seems so ladylike and modest now.

“Fashion is full of dark, troubled people,” she said in an interview with The Guardian. “It’s a high-pressured environment that takes its toll and burns people out. Only the shrewd survive – Andy Warhol, for example, and David Bailey.” We are talking about British fashion designer John Galliano, who was sacked by Dior last month after allegedly making antisemitic comments. Shrimpton, dressed in a simple, unostentatious black dress – more bohemian than haute couture – is quick to lament the fashion world’s excesses. “No one can condone what he said – it’s reprehensible. But it’s hypocritical to pretend that fashion is normal, that people in it are role models. And it’s stupid to deny that people behave badly.”

We have heard little of “The Shrimp” since she vanished from swinging London and took off to the West Country. She recently popped up in Channel 4’s Country House Rescue, and in 1990 a ghostwritten autobiography appeared, but Shrimpton makes no bones about why she played ball. “I needed some money to renovate the roof of the hotel,” she says, her blue eyes flashing, arms firmly folded. She adds, curtly: “I didn’t want the book to appear. I’ve hated publicity all my life. I didn’t even like it when I was a model.”

Jean and former flame David Bailey who she left for Terrance Stamp

Shrimpton & Stamp

Nutella-gate At Columbia: Students Are Nabbing 100 Pounds A Day And An Instant Nutella Brownie Recipe

Easiest Nutella Brownies
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup Nutella
2 eggs
1/2 cup all purpose flour
Directions:
1. Grease a 9 x9 baking pan and preheat oven to 350F. Mix all ingredients into a large bowl with a large wooden spoon until batter is smooth. Pour into baking pan and smooth top with spatula.
2. Bake for about 15 minutes until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Careful not to bake too long otherwise brownies will dry out. Let brownies cool and set before cutting and serving.

What a difference more than four decades makes. Instead of being about civil rights or Viet Nam or any of the issues that fueled student unrest in the 60’s, the new flavor of civil disobedience at Columbia University is Nutella.
Students  young enough to be the grandchildren of the original protesters, having been removing the  chocolate hazelnut  spread from the college’s  cafeterias at the rate of 100 pounds a day.  It’s been estimated that Nutellagate  could cost Columbia U a quarter of a million a year in. Hard to be on the side of the well-endowed and tres expensive Ivy school on this one. Losing $$$,$$$ on Nutella  cafeteria expenses?  Eat it.

A student, who said he liked to spread Nutella on sandwiches, and wrote about the issue on a Facebook site for Freshman,  had his own explanation for why the Nutella issue had caught on.

“It combines three things people at Columbia love: People love Nutella, people love complaining about the dining halls and people feel there’s a problem with how the administration handles things,” he said. “This Nutella situation is a perfect storm of all these interests coming together.”

And now it turns out that the Nutella nabbing was much less than reported. A follow-up piece from the NY Times:

“Missing Nutella, Part 2: Columbia Puts Consumption Far Below Report

By JAMES BARRON

Columbia University on Thursday issued what a spokesman called “a tongue-in-cheek university statement” about the cost of Nutella that students have been eating in — or stealing from — campus dining halls.

“Nutella-gate Exposed,” the statement said. “It’s a Smear!”

The statement said Nutella was not costing Columbia $5,000 a week, as many outlets, including this one, had reported. That figure had been cited by a member of the Columbia College Student Council, Peter Bailinson, who said he got it from the executive director of the university’s Dining Services, Vicki Dunn. He said the $5,000 figure covered only one week last month, the first week in which Nutella was available in dining halls every day. (Until then, it had mainly been served in crepes on weekends.)

Mr. Bailinson said Ms. Dunn had told him that students had run through 100 pounds of Nutella a day. The Columbia Spectator quoted her as saying that Dining Services was “going through product faster than anticipated” because students were filling cups with Nutella in one dining hall and taking “full jars” from another.

The Spectator speculated that Dining Services could spend $250,000 on Nutella in one year.

Columbia, which had declined to comment on the Nutella situation on Wednesday, said in its statement Thursday that “the ongoing weekly cost of Nutella supply is actually less than one-tenth the purported amount originally reported on a student blog and quickly picked up by other media.”

“It is true that in the first three-four days after Nutella was recently added to the dining hall selections,” the statement said, “demand was indeed extraordinarily high.”

But the statement, first published Thursday by The Spectator, said “the actual cost was only about $2,500, and quickly went down to $450 per week for dining halls that serve some 3,600 students, seven days a week at three locations.”

The statement also said that “media attention to Nutella-gate has cut down on the amount people have been taking in recent days.”

No Magic of Macy’s For Martha On Centre Street: The Macy’s , JCP, Martha Stewart Trial Is On

Last week, loud tie and suit purveryor Donald Trump was having a notice–me hissy fit threatening a $25 million  lawsuit against  Dump Trump At Macy’s activist Angelo Carusone.

This week, Macy’s CEO Terry Lundgren and Martha Stewart face off in court. At issue, is the exclusiveity of Martha’s deal with Macy’s to sell branded cookware, bedding and other Marthaesque  home stuff.

Somehow, JC Penney on its continuing road to customer confusion and declining sales, took a stake in Stewart’s company and planned to open Stewart boutiques in-store.

The future of all of it hinges on a  loophole in the agreement with Macy’s. “It’s a provision that allows Martha Stewart to sell goods in categories like bedding in Martha Stewart Living’s own stores.

According to Martha Stewart, because the Macy’s agreement doesn’t say the goods under dispute can be sold “only in “stand-alone” stores, the mini shops within J.C. Penney stores do not fall under the exclusive agreement.

Macy’s Inc., based in Cincinnati, disagrees. Lundgren argues that a typical definition of a store is that it has a parking lot or is part of a mall.”

Is it me or should Mr. Lundgren  please tell his lawyers that internet stores do count. (Macy’s is Whopper-sized and does not have a parking lot.)

He testified that he hung up on Stewart when she called to tell him she was no longer monogamously Macy’s. The two friends have not spoken since. JCP is a mess as we know, so the billions in play here legally are very significant to all parties.

I did check. Macy’s still sells Martha and the stuff is kind of wonderful.

Everyone’s favorite mean girl with mother issues is Martha’s daughter, Alexis who had a show a few seasons back,  making fun of Mom: “Whatever Martha”.

Churchill The Chowhound And My Own Private Nobu–NY Times

The Do It Yourself Sushi Chef Kit
Somehow,  this has the potential to get very Lucy/Ethel very fast. But it is quite beautiful and if you’re not up to the challenge (who is?!!!) , order a Chef on the side for an extra $350.

The  Nobu Hand Roll Box, described by the NY Times as ” nothing short of designer D.I.Y.  It’s everything you need to make  sushi for 10 to 12.  The box, with 20 different ingredients, is $550. For another $350 a chef — will show up for personalized instruction. Delivery and returns are $100 each way, though you can do both yourself: At Nobu restaurants across the United States, noburestaurants.com. Three days’ notice is required. In New York: (212) 757-3063.”–Front Burnter, NY Times

Do treaties go down easier with a good meal?  Turns out that not only could he write a speech for the ages and do his greatest geneneration best during WWII, but we now learn that Winston Churchill was quite a foodie.

From the New York Times:

“To Read: Peace, With a Side of Champagne

… “He  paid astonishing attention to the details of his dining experiences throughout his adult life, especially at meetings of the Big Three (with Stalin and Roosevelt or Truman) in far-flung destinations during World War II. These meals, and even white-linen picnics for generals in France after D-Day, are chronicled in “Dinner With Churchill” by Cita Stelzer (Pegasus Books, $27.95). Churchill relished good food and believed that delicate negotiations were often more successful at a meal than in a more formal conference room. Somehow, copious supplies of tableware and ingredients, including wartime luxuries like butter, were obtained by ship and air, and there were cases of Champagne, fine wines, whiskeys and brandies, too. But, the author notes, based on testimony from guests: “Churchill combined caution with a capacity, developed over a lifetime, to hold his alcohol.”

The Day Of Whine And Roses: What Not To Give A NYC Girl For Valentine’s Day

A pre-Valentine’s Day warning to lovers who want to stay in love post February 14–don’t try this at home: Landlordrocknyc’s  short but effective list of really, really bad VD gift ideas.

The Number One Bad Idea For Valentine’s Day: A trinket from any jewelry store with a cheesy, singing commercial. Warning, this “Every Kiss Begins With Kay” spoof spot has a four-letter word that doesn’t begin with Kay but ya gotta love the “Every Divorce Begins With Kay” lyric at the end.

More bad ideas:

A Six Foot Tall Teddy Beargram–Common kiddies. Have you seen the size of most NY apartments?  Even if she’s still enough of an ingenue (or a weird older chick) who collects stuffed critters, this one is not cute or romantic.

A Live Lobstergram for Two.  The prepared dinners sound indulgent and sexy,  but don’t go live unless you want to recreate the famous lobster scene from Annie Hall.

More Valentine’s don’ts:

Roses from the corner deli. Trust me, they will never open or last.

Chocolates in a heart-shaped box from Duane Reade.

A ‘pashmina’ shawl from a NY street vendor.

Sex For Dummies Written By Doctor Ruth.

State Of The Art Bathroom Scale.

Hermes silk twill scarf , 36″ x 36″ square, $410

Rememer, even if it’s really last minute, you’ll always have Paris–meaning French perfume, champagne or an Hermes scarf in that

hot orange  box and shopping bag will always work.

Sin City Modern: The Wonderful Viva Las Vegas Excess of David Rockwell’s Nobu Hotel

Very Un- Vegas Chairs and Rugs Designed by David Rockwell
Featured Below.

When I heard that the Nobu boys were doing a boutique hotel at Ceasar’s Palace, I feared for the neighborhood and all the Elvis impersonators suddenly  not  cool enough for the imagined hi-chic, Tribeca-inspired surroundings.

Nobu Hotel Las Vegas by Architect David Rockwell

Room At The New Nobu Hotel

Nobu Bath

David Rockwell

But fear not, my friends in white jeweled suits and big belts.  David Rockwell’s  small, 181-room Nobu Hotel is gaudy and gorgeous and you can’t help but feel the ghosts of 70’s cool in the chunky brown leather couches , room wall graphics and engineered metallic elevator surrounds.

Crystals-City Center Designed By David Rockwell

Crystals-City Center, Las Vegas

For those who want to really keep what happens in Las Vegas in Las Vegas, the Hotel Nobu  has a private lobby desk and concierge staff, with escorted in-room iPad registration, one of the best upgrades you can get in a town  where check-in, even at top hotels, is like the line at the  Motor Vehicle Bureau. 24 hour room service features a

Nobu Rock Shrimp

menu designed by chef  Nobu Matsuhisa, one of three Nobu Hospitality Partners who developed the property.

Nobu Hospitality Partners: Robert DiNiro, Nobu Matsuhisa, Meir Teper

How The 1% Eat: Petrossian Powdered Caviar And Caviarcream

Put this on your spice rack: dried caviar buttons packaged in their own mill by Petrossian, the people who first brought caviar to Paris in 1920 after the Bolshevik Revolution.

Petrossian Restaurant, New York

At $88 for 30 grams, powdered caviar (Fleur De Caviar), ain’t cheap, but it’s still less expensive than the real thing and has a longer shelf life. Fresh-grind it over  the usual caviar partners for  a briney, pricey punch of flavor with eggs, pasta, potatoes, scallops, etc.

Petrossian Cafe and Boutique, New York

For those in the under $50 gift club, there is also  Petrossian’s Caviarcream. At $42, it’s a small but impressive hostess gift or a guilty pleasure for yourself. The billionaire brunch bunch like it on omelettes, blini or brioche. 25% caviar, 2 oz. Both, exclusively at Petrossian.

http://www.petrossian.com/

How To Sell Booze: George Clooney (Copywriter) And A Bottle of Tequila

George Clooney & Rande Gerber Introduce Casamigos Tequila.
Clooney plans to donate his proceeds to Darfur.

Trust me. I’ve been in the biz.  Mad Ave copywriters don’t look like George Clooney or Mad Men’s Jon Hamm. But GC credits himself with writing and producing this mini film introducing Casamigos Tequila, created by Clooney and Cindy Crawford’s  restaurateur husband Rande Gerber. The commercial is  a low-key farce starring one bed, one  bottle  and musical bed mates  Crawford, Gerber, Clooney and  girlfriend Stacy Keibler.  Clooney’s Copy?: ” It could happen, please drink responsibly.”  Does make you want to drink the stuff, hoping it will happen….