Sebastian Errazuriz has used art to take on an array of issues: New York's death rate, the Occupy movement, military suicide, children with disabilities, the brutal reign of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. Now, the Brooklyn-based artist is taking aim at what he sees as religious extremism.

At a party this weekend celebrating New York Design Week, which begins today, the Chilean-born artist plans to hand out 100 "Christian Popsicles" made of "frozen holy wine transformed into the blood of Christ" and featuring a crucifix instead the tongue depressor that typically hosts the frozen treats, he said.
FULL POST

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the New York Times restaurant review. We're honoring the art of criticism in a series on the subject.

It took Jay Rayner around 700 words to lay waste to a Russian empire. In a blistering review of famed Moscow restaurateur Arkady Novikov's eponymous London outpost this past February, the Observer critic pronounced the establishment so "astoundingly grim you want to congratulate the kitchen on its incompetence" and compared its cuisine to cheap Chinese food. He was just getting warmed up.

“And so my advice to you. Don't go to Novikov. Keep not going. Keep not going a lot," Rayner wrote. "In a city with a talent for opening hateful and tasteless restaurants, Novikov marks a special new low. That's its real achievement.”

Harsh words, but for a professional restaurant critic, this was par for the course. As with any creative medium, the culinary arts are subjected to critical judgments. With the good, comes the bad. Or in the case of Novikov, the “very, very bad.”
FULL POST

Warning: The following contains minor spoilers for "The Avengers."

Odds are if you had never heard the word "shawarma" before this month, you have by now.

Towards the end of the box office juggernaut "The Avengers," Iron Man - played by Robert Downey Jr. - asks the rest of the superhero team if they've ever tried shawarma because he heard there is a good restaurant for it nearby.

In an extra scene that hardcore fans know was shot mere weeks ago, we witness Thor, Captain America, Bruce Banner and the rest of the heroic clan quietly enjoying shawarma after casually saving the world.
FULL POST

Sink your teeth into today's top stories from around the globe.

• Thinking Arby's? Think again: A 14-year-old boy found a worker's fingertip in his roast beef. - USA Today

• Food is the new rock? Sammy Hagar says, "rock on." - Food Republic

• One man, one beer, one chainsaw. - Gawker

• Wendy's new advertisement touting a "free, small, hot, original redhead" is not what you think it is. - Consumerist

• Staying skinny in butter-fueled Paris. - David Lebovitz

While you're frying up some eggs and bacon, we're cooking up something else: a way to celebrate today's food holiday.

Do we seem a little puffed up today? It's not without reason - May 18 is National Cheese Soufflé Day!!

This savory, airy cake rises to the occasion nearly every time; the name comes from a French verb, souffler, which literally means to "blow up" or "puff up." That's the delicious alchemy that happens when custard and whipped egg whites take a leisurely loll in a hot, closed oven.
FULL POST

Pssst! Got a sec to chat?

We are utterly thrilled when readers want to hang out and talk – whether it's amongst themselves or in response to pieces we've posted. We want Eatocracy to be a cozy, spirited online home for those who find their way here.

Consider the daily Coffee Klatsch post as your VIP lounge – the primary comments thread for readers who'd like to chat about topics not related to the articles we're running. That way, everyone knows where to find each other, and each post's comments section remains on topic.

(Health.com) - Drinking a daily cup of coffee - or even several cups - isn't likely to harm your health, and it may even lower your risk of dying from chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests.

The relationship between coffee drinking and health has been a hot topic in recent years, but research has produced mixed results.

Some studies have linked coffee consumption to better health and a lower risk of premature death, while others suggest that coffee - or rather caffeine - might contribute to heart disease through negative effects on blood pressure, cholesterol, and heart rate.

The new study is by far the largest of its kind to date. As part of a joint project with the AARP, researchers from the National Institutes of Health followed more than 400,000 healthy men and women between the ages of 50 and 71 for up to 13 years, during which 13% of the participants died.

Read the full story on CNN Health: "Coffee drinking linked to longer life"

While you're frying up some eggs and bacon, we're cooking up something else: a way to celebrate today's food holiday.

It's a shoo-in as one of America's favorite desserts - May 17 is National Cherry Cobbler Day!!

Pandowdies, crisps, crumbles, buckles, grunts and slumps are, first of all, a heck of a lot of fun to say. They're essentially all rough versions of a cobbler, which is a deep dish dessert with a thick, biscuit-like crust and a fruit filling.
FULL POST

Pssst! Got a sec to chat?

We are utterly thrilled when readers want to hang out and talk – whether it's amongst themselves or in response to pieces we've posted. We want Eatocracy to be a cozy, spirited online home for those who find their way here.

Consider the daily Coffee Klatsch post as your VIP lounge – the primary comments thread for readers who'd like to chat about topics not related to the articles we're running. That way, everyone knows where to find each other, and each post's comments section remains on topic.

You may recognize Alan Richman's name from his 25 years as GQ Magazine's restaurant critic, his numerous James Beard Journalism Awards (including the Craig Claiborne Distinguished Restaurant Review Award he won just last week) or his highly publicized "Best New Restaurants in America" and "10 Best Restaurants in New York" lists. You may be acquainted with his 2004 anthology of food essays "Fork It Over: The Intrepid Adventures of a Professional Eater" or his classes at the French Culinary Institute, where he serves as Dean of Food Journalism and New Media.

But, if you're not an obsessive follower of food literature, you probably know Alan Richman as the guy who got a Sazerac thrown in his face on an episode of Treme. The casting was hardly an accident.
FULL POST