Restaurant Recommendations for Podcamp

If you're coming to NYC for Podcamp April 6-7, you may want to eat once or twice! Since so many wonderful people are joining in with the spirit of the unconference and sharing resources, I thought what better way to share my chef's knowledge than to recommend a few worthwhile places to eat in the neighborhood of the hotel!

Lunch possibilities:

While Chris Penn's pdf includes a nifty satellite image of the neighborhood with some fast food restaurants listed, there are actually quite a few other quality places nearby:

The Stage Door Deli: NW corner 33rd st and 8th Ave. Classic New York Diner fare, pastrami sandwiches, burgers and fries, matzo ball soup, etc. They always bring pickles and coleslaw to the table when you arrive. They're used to people being in a hurry there, so they are fast and efficient, and always friendly. My favorite quick eat in the neighborhood.

Tir Na Nog: 8th Ave. between 33rd and 34th (next to the main entrance of the CNN building). 212-630-0249 This Irish pub gets busy with a happy hour crowd there for pints, but also has great pub food. Fish and Chips, Corned beef and Cabbage, the usual suspects. With an authentic Irish atmosphere, yet only a block away from the New Yorker hotel.

Tick Tock Diner: 212-268-8444. This aluminum sided diner is in the same building as the New Yorker Hotel, and attempts to bring back the feeling of the 50's with neon signs, vinyl covered booths, and malted milkshakes. frankly, the food is better at The Stage Door, but if you're itching for that 50's feel, eat here.

Ben's Kosher Deli: 38th St between 7th and 8th. 212-398-2367. A bit farther from the hotel than the others, but this is the ultimate in NY Kosher Jewish Deli experiences. The sandwiches are sky high, and the service is perfunctory but efficient.

Cheyenne Diner: 411 9th Ave, at the NW corner of 33rd St., 212-465-8750. If you want the REAL THING for old fashioned diners, this is the authentic article. It's actually an old aluminum diner that was moved in and built into the side of the building. GREAT buffalo burgers. It's tucked away on 9th Ave, so head here and avoid the usual suspects on 8th and you'll be rewarded. it's just across from the temple of audio and video that is B&H Photo and Video, which frustratingly enough will be closed the whole week for passover, so it may be a tease for all you geeks!

Little Korea: This stretch of 32nd St between Broadway and 5th Ave. is CHOCK FULL of Korean restaurants, many of them open 24 hours with many offering the Korean Barbecue right at the table. You can't go wrong in any of them, but my favorite is Kum Gang San, 49 W. 32nd St., 212-967-0909.

Nick & Stef's Steakhouse: 9 Penn Plaza (on 33rd St. between 7th and 8th Aves) 212-496-4000. Slightly upscale steakhouse on the ground floor of Madison Square Garden. A little too expensive, but it's a safe bet if you like dry-aged beef. Take a meeting there with the company that wants to sponsor your podcast, and have them expense it!

Skybox American Bar & Grill: 416 8th Ave, 917-351-0607. After work, before MSG hang out for beer, steaks, birgers and grill. Good proximity to the New Yorker hotel.

Las Poblanitas: 302 W 38th St, just West of 8th Ave. 212-629-0090. Authentic Mexican restaurant, low on atmosphere, but high on flavor. Again, a bit of a walk from the hotel, but if you're hankering for Mexican after the day, this is a good, low key bet.

PodcampNYC, Restaurant Guide, ReMARKable Palate

Chef Mark mentioned in MarketWatch article

I was mentioned in an article by Frank Bamako about the upcoming PodcampNYC "unconference", which will bring together podcasters from all around the country to The New School on April 6-7th. The article was rather unflattering about podcast metrics and growth rates, but considering that the methodology used to measure is the old Nielson journal based measurement, it can't possibly represent actual users, and besides, the value to the real listeners and their degree of interaction with podcasts is immeasurably greater than that of "old media". Here's the part where he mentions me:

Niches fill PodCamp schedule

An even 100 workshops are scheduled for the upcoming PodCamp podcasters' conference in New York in about three weeks. "We are very sorry (yet excited) to announce that we cannot accommodate any more sessions at this time," organizers said.

There are lots of sessions on learning the basics, promoting podcasts, finding sponsors, and improving production techniques. Two of the workshops really caught my eye, though, because they show the narrow niches podcasts can address to generate an audience.

Eric and Cat Susch have produced a dozen video podcasts, "LetsKnit2Gether." The shows are simple. Cat sits in a chair and shows techniques for knitting, projects she's completed, or takes viewers on a tour of knitters' shows. There are production elements like dissolves and graphics, and the segments do not look like home movies. They look good. Eric, Cat's husband, has been a video and film producer for more than 20 years. Cat is authoritative and clearly knows her craft. She also works in media and calls herself a "passionate" knitter. In the past six months, they have produced a dozen five- to eight-minute shows. They say the episodes have an audience of 3,500 viewers, and is growing 50% a month.

The other workshop that interests me is Mark Tafoya's, although in his submission for a session he was all over the map with ideas. But it's his niche that grabbed me. He's organized the Culinary Podcast Network, all-food podcasts all the time. Chefs and self-styled gourmands from coast to coast are producing shows about food, wine, cooking, restaurants, travel, and even nutrition. Several of the podcasters, like Tafoya, are chefs. The shows are excellent promotions for their skills. All the episodes I downloaded were audio, but give it time. Video will come. So will advertising. Tafoya's show is part of the roster on Adam Curry's Podshow Network, and so his episodes are carrying the network's promotions for GoDaddy services.

Yes indeed, more video will come. And let's not forget that we have counted Chef Ming Tsai as a member of CPN for awhile, and his show is a video podcast (he's been on hiatus for a few months and will have new episodes out soon).

It's funny that he mentions that my submission was "all over the map", as I think he's clearly dropping context. He was citing from a wiki on the site which listed the preliminary ideas for the session I will lead, and which I submitted more than a month ago, which listed all the areas I could possibly speak on. In the spirit of an "unconference", I was soliciting input from the community on what they'd prefer to hear me speak about, not simply choosing to speak on something that would just promote myself.

In any case, please do try to attend PodcampNYC if you have even a passing interest in the developments happening in the podcasting field. It promises to be an exciting weekend.

food, food podcast, PodcampNYC, podcasting, Marketwatch, ReMARKable Palate, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork