GOURMET DUMPSTER DIVERS

     I've decided to stay away from the sexual deviance today and dive into garbage. Those of you who live or lived in a city have probably seen people dive into dumpsters to grab salvageable food to bring home for dinner. I mean, I have never done that personally, but I have seen it. Some of you might throw your nose up in the air and say, "That is utterly disgusting!" Some might be curious as to what these people will find. 

     Well, a food-focused innovator and his chef have teamed up and decided to turn trash-bound ingredients into elegant meals and serve them to guests in a cleaned-up old used dumpster. So, instead of diving into the dumpster like a heathen, you can now dine in it with your food cooked by a gourmet chef. Basically, she cooks your garbage. Salvage Supperclub creator Josh Treuhaft told New York Daily News, "If it's edible and you can eat it, we should be using it to feed people" after he studied how to reduce massive food waste. The 30-year-old recent School of Visual Arts graduate partnered with Natural Gourmet institute chefs back in March to hold the first supperclub dining experience in a Chelsea studio. Today, they've run five dinners with the last two held in an industrial dumpster in Williamsburg. I have to admit; I'm not sure I can do it. I'm one of those people that I mentioned earlier who will turn their nose in disgust.

     The 16-seated guest feast showcases chronically unloved ingredients in gourmet dishes. Chef Celia Lam has mashed disgusting-looking black peel bananas with coconut mile for tasty custards, pureed the greens from rubbery carrots for pesto and juiced bruised apples for sorbets. Purple kale stems get pickled for garnishes. Cracked heirloom tomatoes are boiled, skinned and blended into a summer gazpacho. Lam, who hopes to encourage people to use more of their food, says, "It's not something that's very complicated. Pickling is easy to do. Pesto is easy to do. 

     Apparently, the key is to realize there's a difference between normal breakdown and the dangerous bacteria from mishandling that can make you sick. The dumpster dining room was a concept designed to drive home the idea and theme that Lam and Treuhaft came up with. Treuhaft uses materials donated by Build It Green! NYC, a Gowanus-based building supply store that sells salvaged materials, also known as garbage! Even the water glasses come from old wine bottles. The pair have raised a few eyebrows and received a few complaints from passersby. One woman thought it was an insult to homeless people who scavenge for food. Um, not quite, but nice try. And do you really think a homeless person would be insulted by this? I highly doubt it. 

     The duo hope to host another event in August, but they're still working out the details. They hope their idea spreads. Treuhaft says, "Anyone can do this. You could get together with friends on a Sunday and bring things home from your refrigerator and have a great meal." I have a better idea based on the woman's comment. Why don't they keep this concept to feed the homeless? Instead of the homeless diving into dumpsters. Invited them into a dumpster to have a gourmet meal. That would be a hell of a nice gesture and you wouldn't be insulting the homeless. Oh, but then again, where would the money be in that? Well, enjoy your dumpster dining! You won't see me there....unless, I really become homeless. 

BREAKING UP ISN'T THAT HARD TO DO

Well, that was three minutes that I'll never get back! I'm talking about some music video that was put on YouTube to explain a couple's breakup. That's right! 31-year-old, Ivory King, and 30-year-old, Jonathan Mann, a musically inclined couple from the creative side of Brooklyn, decided to end their five-year relationship through song. So, they created a short breakup music video to share the news with their friends. Find anything weird about this? I do! I could care less about your relationship! I have my own problems! Are anyone’s private lives even private anymore? Are we so attached to social media that even our breakups have to be public knowledge? Just saying! 

Anyway, Mann posted the video online late Wednesday, and now it's soon-to-be a viral YouTube hit with over 100,000 hits already. Mann stated that it was a bittersweet ending to a five-year relationship and that he wanted kids and she didn't. The lyrics to their song "We’ve Gotta Break Up" reflected the Williamsburg couple's baby-crazy downfall and the reassurance to their friends that they won't have to pick sides. They both agreed that they still loved each other, but because they want different things, they couldn't be together. Mann says that it was Ivory's idea to do the music video because it would be the easiest way to break the news to their friends. He says, "I didn't want to post it on Facebook and have that be it. And I didn't want to have to explain it over and over to people, because that can be really painful. Plus, I hoped it would feel cathartic to make this together, as sort of our final act." I, personally, could've done without it, but my curiosity was raised and I had to take a look. It was like a train wreck...Better yet, it was like watching The Jersey Shore, and I couldn't look away! I really wanted to after I saw their made up dance at the chorus where they did some variation of the Chicken Dance! Really?

Heartbreak aside, Mann's been pretty pleased by his friends' reactions. He went on to say that he and King have been together so long that they have so many mutual friends, so it was sort of a big thing for them to break up. He says friends have been super supportive and they're happy that they made the video and that the split was amicable. The music video was actually part of Mann's ongoing "Song of the Day" project, where for more than 1400 consecutive days; he's posted a new song on YouTube. The full-time musician often enlisted King's help because she's a writer who also sings and plays the bass clarinet. How will this affect their musical relationship?  I have to admit this was a pretty stupid idea and you can't help, but to make fun of it. Even if I was a friend of theirs who the video was actually for, I think that I would have to ridicule both of them for the rest of their live because the video is absolutely silly! I've posted the video below. Let's see how far you can get without shutting it off! 

ROAD-KILL TAKE OUT.....GROSS!

This story was so stereotypical, it's embarrassing! Then again, who doesn't eat deer meat, better known as venison? Anyway, Red Flower Chinese restaurant in Williamsburg, Kentucky was recently closed for business after health inspectors found road-kill in its kitchen. In fact, the health inspectors were called in after customers saw two employees wheel in a deer carcass stuffed in a trash can. One customer stated that it was really disturbing and that there was actually a blood trail that the employees were mopping up behind the garbage can.

The owner claimed that the deer, which his son supposedly picked up along Interstate 75, was never going to be served to customers and instead was intended to be brought home for personal consumption. One environmental health inspector said that the deer had already been gutted by the time he arrived at the restaurant, which raised "many health and illness" issues.  The inspector also said that the owner claims that he didn't know that they weren't allowed to do this, which leads him to believe that the owner may have committed a similar health violation before. Officials shut down the restaurant immediately citing the owner's son for possession of a white-tailed deer without a tag!

Red Flower isn't being forced to close its doors for good, however, the inspector did say that they can reopen if they pass an inspection proving that they completely cleaned and disinfected the facilities. One customer says that it doesn't matter what the restaurant does to clean up its act, she'll never eat Chinese food ever again. Really? 

Okay, let's take a look at this from the Tim Louie perspective now. A Chinese guy sees a dead deer on the side of the road and decides to pick it up. Who the hell picks up a dead deer on the side of the road? Maybe some people do, but think about all of the bugs and other bacteria that are already in this carcass. I'm sure he had no idea how long that deer was laying there unless he hit it or killed it himself, but according to the story, he found it on the side of the road. That's gross! Then he brings it to his family's restaurant to gut and cut up into steaks. Why would you do that knowing how people feel about us Chinese and our food anyway? Bring it in after hours if you weren't going to serve it to your customers. They didn't have to see that. Bringing it into an environment where you serve food to the public is just nasty! So, that's where I feel the Chinese restaurant was wrong. Now, as for the customers, IT'S VENISON! Really? You'll never eat Chinese food ever again? Then I guess that you've never eaten a venison steak before? Then you really haven't lived! Venison is amazing and tastes great if cooked right! I could see if it was a cat or a dog or something, but it was a deer! Deer meat is no different than cow meat! So, some people really need to get over themselves!