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By funsherpa, July 18, 2010 9:29 am

Blondie and Brownie on a Mission to Educate

With Restaurant Week currently in full swing, Funsherpa is now gathering intel on the vibrant New York food scene. We start our series, by chatting with New York’s quintessential food bloggers, Blondie and Brownie, whose online posts reveal their adventures in the New York food scene. In this feature, we discover their favorite eats, chefs, and neighborhoods!

F: What inspired you to start a food blog? And how’d you gals come up with the name?
B&B: We worked together and bonded over food. We decided to start the blog because everyone would ask us where and what to eat so we decided to put it up on the Internet. Blondie & Brownie has a few meanings for us, but the main one is a simple play on our hair.

F: What neighborhoods do you guys live in?
B&B: We both live in Brooklyn, Blondie in Greenpoint and Brownie in the greater Park Slope area. Blondie’s favorite places are Paulie Gee’s Pizza, Papacitos, Peter Pan Bakery, and in Williamsburg, Egg. Brownie loves Terrace Bagel, Song, Almondine, Grab Specialty Foods, and Cafe Grumpy.

F: If you were to choose a neighborhood in NY to live based solely on food alone, where would it be?
Blondie: Probably the East Village, there’s some really great food at decent prices and a nice variety of restaurants.
Brownie: Ditto. I lived in the Eat(s) Village in college and it was awesome to have access to such a great variety of food and because of the big NYU student population there are a lot of budget friendly options. In the close to 7 years since I left the village, the terrific dining options have only increased.

F: What’s your typical day like?
B&B: We live pretty normal lives, both of us have day jobs in Midtown. Our lunches are usually used doing recon for Midtown Lunch. When an evening doesn’t involve an event, it’s going out to dinner or doing the mundane tasks of life. Brownie recently had a baby, so her life’s pretty full with being a mom. But we both almost always end up online at some point, to put up a post, download pictures, or answer emails.

F: What are the highlights of the food you had growing up?
Blondie: My mom actually worked and went to school while I was growing up, so she wasn’t in the kitchen a whole lot, but when she would bake, it was always a treat. As any good mom does, she would always let me help out and lick the spatula and spoons afterward. It was usually traditional American-pies, cakes, cookies, but every now and then she’d make a traditional Czech dessert and those were always amazing.

Brownie: My great grandparents were Italian immigrants who settled in New Haven, CT. I grew up eating a lot of Southern Italian food and New Haven pizza (Sally’s or Modern, please!). I make a mean red sauce and clams oreganata. The other side of my family has been in New England for close to four hundred years, and I’m a New Englander through and through. I have much love for lobster, clam chowder, boiled dinner, baked bean suppers and hasty pudding.

F: What’s is your favorite restaurant in the city?
Blondie: Blondie’s favorite restaurant is probably now Shopsin’s. Everything I have there is great, I don’t mind any of their orneriness, and one of the few places I think about on a frequent basis.

Brownie: Ditto, again. I swear, we’re not the same person.

F: What’s your favorite summer al fresco restaurant in the city?
Blondie: Blondie’s favorite is Back Forty. I absolutely love their back porch, it has good lightening, good food, and you can forget you’re in the middle of NYC.

Brownie: Brownie’s favorite is the Shake Shack in Madison Square Park. There’s nothing like pulling up a table in the park on a warm summer afternoon or evening and tucking into a burger or custard from the Shake Shack.

F: Who is your favorite NYC celebrity chef?
Blondie: My favorite ‘celebrity’ chef is Danny Meyer. From the restaurants he oversees to how he treats his employees, he seems like a pretty great guy. And of course, he created Shake Shack. I’m torn on the up and coming chefs because there are so many, but if I had to choose it’s be Christina Tosi of Momofuku Milk Bar. She’s willing to take chances and do something different.

Brownie: I’ll reveal my sweet tooth by saying Jacques Torres. As someone who loves to bake and appreciates the pastry arts, Mr. Torres is a legend. He’s also really nice and charming and unlike a lot of other “celebrity” chefs, I’ve actually seen him in his stores. Last summer we spied him up on a ladder stringing lights and setting up his ice cream cart in his Tribeca shop. Corwin Kave of Fatty Crab and Fatty ‘Cue is a really talented up and coming chef. I’d never pass up a meal if he is cooking.

F: It’s that time for NYC summer restaurant week again. what are your quintessential restaurant suggestions for lunch, and for dinner? Any suggestions/tips for restaurant week?
Blondie & Brownie: The best lunch I’ve had so far was at Convivio. I’m still hoping to get back there one day for a proper meal. The dinner at 10 Downing was pretty nice too. My main tip is to look at the menu if it’s been posted, treat the meal as more of a sample of a restaurant, and if your server isn’t treating you well because you’ve picked the RW menu, never patronize that place again.

Del Posto for lunch was a fantastic experience. I didn’t for one minute feel that they were treating us as lesser customers because we were there for the RW menu rather than a more expensive lunch. They brought us little cocktail samples to try at the beginning of our meal and sent us home with chocolates. One restaurant week suggestion that I always make is to check out the menu and what’s being offered, some of the restaurants offer similar pre-fixe lunch deals on a regular basis that you can try anytime, so try to choose a place where you’re really getting a special twice a year kind of offer. Delmonico’s Steak House is a quintessential and historic New York restaurant–it was one of the first restaurants in the nation and they have a terrific menu for lunch and dinner.

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By funsherpa, June 10, 2010 11:49 am

Cheap Living with Stuart. Photo by Julie Michelle of ILiveHereSF.com

With the economy shafted and seemingly stuck in a rut and coupon sites popping out like rabbits, Funsherpa sits down with the expert in living cheaply. Stuart Schuffman, the brains behind Broke Ass Stuart, shares his thoughts on cheap travel, cheap New York, and more importantly cheap dates. So stop splurging around and start living the Broke Ass lifestyle!

F: How did you end up starting your broke-ass living cheaply guides? Have you always been looking for the best bang for your buck since you were a kid?
S: I started off by selling zines, which are little pamphlet thingies that you can make from photocopying and stapling at a copy store. The zine was Broke-Ass Stuart’s Guide to Living Cheaply in San Francisco and I distributed with my backpack, the bus and my two feet. At the peak I was in probably 25 or 30 stores. I did a couple versions of it, then ended up doing some writing for Lonely Planet, and eventually found my book deal on craigslist. Yeah, I know how ridiculous that sounds. For a long time I told people I always seem to come through the back back door and then I realized why all those conversations ended so awkwardly.

As for looking for the best bang for my buck, I’ve just never been into fancy shit. I appreciate real interactions with real people, not ones who are trying to make you think they’ve got more money than they actually do. So I think I’ve always been attracted to places like diners and dive bars. My whole thing is that, I’m not necessarily cheap, I’m just broke. So I’ve structured my life to make it as fucking awesome as possible while spending the least amount of money. It seems to be working out so far.

F: It’s that time of the year for fresh college grads wondering how they’re going to survive now that they’re in the real world? What’s one important broke-ass tip that you can share with them?
S: If it burns when you pee, go see a doctor…that’s not the kind of tip you’re looking for is it? Um, I think if I was to give college grads one serious bit of advice it would be this: do what you love and work your fucking ass off doing it. If you do that you’ll figure out a way to pay your bills somehow. If that doesn’t work, you can always just try extorting someone.

F: Say someone is traveling to New York on a real tight food budget, like $10 for food a day? What places would you recommend hitting up?
S: That’s a tough one because there are just so many places to eat for cheap in NYC. One awesome one is Fried Dumpling (106 Mosco St. btw Mulberry & Mott Sts.) in Chinatown. You can get 5 dumplings for a dollar there. But actually there are a bunch of places that do deals like that in Chinatown. I think your best bet though is to go to either The Alligator Lounge (Williamsburg), The Crocodile Lounge (East Village), or The Charleston (Williamsburg). They give you a free personal pizza with every drink you buy. Yeah really. So that way you can kill two birds with one stone. Those fuckers are geniuses they deserve Nobel Peace Prizes.

F: What suggestions do you have on a cheap date, without fear of being called ‘cheap’?
S: Cheap dates are easy. Motherfuckers just want you to seem interesting and thoughtful. Have a little picnic with some cheap wine, then stroll over to one of the museums on one of their “pay what you want” days. Or you can do what I always do: go to some shitty Brooklyn dive bar and drink until you want to have sex with each other. Or better yet, combine the two for super awesome date time!

F: Lately, there seems to be a trend for all these ‘daily deal’ sites, What are your thoughts about it? Any favorite sites?
S: Those deal sites are a brilliant idea. I don’t really have any favorites because they are all pretty much doing the same thing. All I know is that I wish I’d thought of that shit first, then maybe I wouldn’t still be broke.

F: Can you suggest some broke-ass budget friendly countries to travel to?
S: Budget friendly countries? Generally any country you associate with hating America is gonna be budget friendly. I think they hate us because they’re afraid wankers like me are gonna go over there, buy up a whole province for $35 and start running shit like a tyrannical medieval lord. You better watch out Krygyzstan your ass is mine!

Really though, if you’re traveling on the dollar, stay out of the US and Northern & Western Europe and you’ll be fine. Go to Thailand, Vietnam, or Cambodia and you’ll think you died and woke up as Jay-Z.

F: On what things are you or do you suggest not being frugal or cheap on?
S: I buy $50 Levi’s jeans because I wear the shit out of them, like 6 months straight. So If I know something is gonna last me awhile I don’t mind paying extra for them. Same goes with something that has a lifetime guarantee. I really wanna buy this pair of $150 Doc Marten’s because they have one of those guarantees. Plus, I really wanna join a Riot Grrrl band.

Also, I imagine cheap tattoos are not a good thing either. Those shits are permanent; you don’t want some weird cross-eyed junkie fucking up.

F: You’ve been pretty successful with your broke-ass living cheaply guides for San Francisco and New York, and the ‘goddamn’ website, any other upcoming projects that you’re thinking about? A new city? A TV show perhaps?
S: Why yes, yes I do. I’m currently working on a new book that’s gonna be like a “General Guide to Living as a Broke-Ass”. The problem is that my SF book is only for sale in the Bay and my NYC book is only for sale out there. This way I can spread my anti-consumerist propaganda throughout the entire United States. As for a TV show, that is certainly something I’m aiming for. I have poor decision making skills, a plethora of skeletons in my closet, and at least three pending paternity tests. I was made for the spotlight…or at least politics.

But for real. I wanna make some TV dammit. If Sarah Palin can do it, I sure as hell can. I’ve had diarrhea smarter than her.

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By jonathan, September 10, 2009 12:47 pm

Funsherpa NY features Antoni Mendezona, a rising star who just got accepted into the Dicapo Opera Young Artist Program.  Antoni moved to NYC soon after finishing her studies at the Westminster Choir College at Rider University.  She has performed in a variety of Operas and Concerts in California and tonight will be her New York debut in Tobias Picker’s Emmeline at the DiCapo Theatre.  Antoni currently resides in Washington Heights where she enjoys quiets walks and the rich Dominican culture.

F: Why did you move to New York?

I moved to New York to continue studying with my voice teacher and to be a Resident Artist with Dicapo Opera Theatre. Plus New York is the hub for auditions and it makes sense to be in the center of where everything’s happening.

F: What has been your most defining ‘welcome to new york’ experience so far?

Well… I have this neighbor who lives in the building across from mine and he apparently likes to hang out of his window and watch people. My roommates and I nicknamed him “Peeping Pablo”  when he decided to choose our apartment as his new found interest. Every now and then he puts on a cowboy hat, or a wrestling mask or plays with animal balloons. It’s always entertaining to come home and guess what he’s up to next!

F: When and how were you first drawn to opera / classical vocals?  Were you always musical as a child?

Piano was my first instrument and I took lessons for about 8 years in the Philippines. I always sang at church and in school – it just came naturally to me. So when it came time to decide what to major in for college, music was the only thing that made sense to me! The first time I saw an opera, it was La Boheme with Anna Netrebko at the San Francisco Opera. I immediately fell in love with it and auditioned for my college’s opera program as soon as I could!

F: How do you prepare for your roles ?

First I try to see what literary piece the opera is based on. It’s really important to me to know the historical aspect of the role I’m prepping. Then if it’s in another language, I first do a literal translation and then a poetic translation. Then I speak what I need to sing for a while to get the language in my head and flowing easier off my tongue. After I do all of that, then I learn the music. Since I play the piano, I like to learn the accompaniment first to understand the music aside from the vocal line and then I sing! I try to do all of this before I take the music to my teacher and coaches. It’s a lot of work but worth it in the end!

F: What’s been your favorite role to date?

I sang “Elisa” from Il Re Pastore last December and fell in love with her character. Not only was Mozart’s writing absolutely stunning, the strong personality appointed to Elisa made it so much easier to commit to the performance.

F: Tell us about your upcoming performance in Emmeline ?

Emmeline (written by American composer Tobias Picker), is a story about  a young girl from Maine who was sent to work in a factory in New Hampshire. She is seduced by the boss’s son-in-law and actually ends up having his child. The child was taken away from her and adopted and Emmeline never knows who her child is. She returns to Maine and lives with her family and falls in love with a young man new to the area. They marry and live happily until the truth about his identity is revealed in an extremely dramatic scene. It turns out that he is actually her child!

I am covering one of the leads and singing in the chorus as well. Our stage director is Hungarian and is a genius! We are taking the show to Hungary in November as participants of this competition and I hope we win!

F: How would you make opera appeal more to the younger generations? What do you think of an American Opera Idol?

That’s a really tough question, one which has been asked and discussed at length at most of the parties I go to with musicians! I think if we try and market opera the way the MET is doing right now, more drama, more mainstream advertising, then maybe it will appeal more to younger generations. The most important way I think to get younger generations to even begin to appreciate opera is music education and exposure at an early age.

I think an American opera Idol would be really cool!

F: Tell us about what “non-opera” jobs you have had or are currenty doing? What has been your favorite?  Which one sucked the most?

Well, I do LOTS of things. I temp, baby-sit, dog-sit, sometimes sing at a church …. what else?

I really can’t say which one has been my favorite and which one sucked the most. I am very grateful for all the jobs that I have! Some days are harder than others but I do enjoy them most of the time.

F: When not rehearsing, auditioning, performing or working you non opera jobs, how do you unwind and relax in the city?

I barely have any time to unwind! But when I do, I like to go for walks. The city is so beautiful in so many different ways that it is always interesting to me.

F: What are your top 3 songs you would choose when you go to karaoke?

That’s easy! Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, Eternal Flame by the Bangles, and  Yesterday by the Beatles. I know…I’m sappy.

F: Have  you thought about what you might do when you stop singing?

I hope that the only reason why I would stop singing is because I decided to retire! (I’m not joking either!). When that happens, I think I’d like to direct some shows, maybe do some work with young artists.

F: How do you like living in Washington Heights ? Any spots you recommend in your neighborhood?

I love Washington Heights. I like the fact that when I get out of the subway, the air feels cleaner and I can actually breathe and hear my own thoughts! I would definitely recommend a restaurant called Plum Pomidor. They make most of their pastas at the restaurant and their duck confit is delicious and super inexpensive!

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By jonathan, July 15, 2009 8:00 am

Conchita concentrating before a performance

A funsherpa first! Interrogating the interesting is now in New York City!  Our first NYC feature is with singer/songwriter Conchita Campos. Having recently moved back to the Big Apple after a year of self discovery in San Francisco, Conchita brings back her unique sound and music talent back to the city.  If you’re interested in checking her music out, you can find her EP here and on iTunes

F: So what’s up with Conchita these days?

C: I am currently working hard on my first full-length album – it is quite exciting because it is about 75% done!

F: You seem quite talented in many things, what made you decide to create music?

C: I come from a musical family. My dad played the piano and my brother picked up the guitar in high school, so that’s how I got into playing music. When I got to college, I eventually decided to take it up as my major and have been playing ever since.

F: Who are your major influences on your sound/style ?

C: I grew up around a lot of jazz and Latin jazz and my dad collected a lot of records, so there’s a big jazz influence in there. As I got older, I started to listening to other styles, like soul, hip hop, indie rock, electronic – I think there’s a little bit of all of that in there.

F: Has NY influenced your music much?

C: Definitely!  I think the dark, grittiness that comes out in my music is a NY thing. I noticed the songs I’ve written in California are significantly more upbeat, at least in melody.

F: I’ve thought of becoming a singer…any advice to the aspiring singer/songwriter?

C: Like most things, there will always be ups and downs and you’ll always have doubts. As long as you remain sincere and passionate, you’ll be able to push through it. Keep creating and dreaming.

F: So you mentioned that you have an upcoming album…can you spill the beans on it?

C: It’s a big departure from the purely organic, acoustic sound of the EP.  It’s heavy on the jazz and soul, with some elements of my roots in acoustic music. I worked with really amazing people (The Park, Rachel Lastimosa from Dirty Boots, Nino Moschella) to create the sound I envisioned for the album.  Hopefully, people see the fruits of our labor in this collaborative endeavor.

F: Aside from the finance world, NYC has an awesome arts scene.  How do you feel about the current music scene in NYC?

C: The NYC music scene is diverse and always evolving, just like the city itself. My biggest gripe with it is that it’s so extremely competitive, so there isn’t as much of a sense of community in the music scene, unlike that in San Francisco. On the other hand, it’s good in the sense that it forces you to stay motivated and driven and passionate.

F: Why did you decide to move back to NYC after moving back to San Francisco for a year ?

C: I went to San Francisco to record the album. It made absolute sense to do it in there because I could work with people I admire and respect, who would be able to achieve my vision for the album. I was surrounded by amazing musicians who were also my friends. It made everything easier and more enjoyable. Now that the album is pretty much done, I felt like it was time for me to go home. One of my favorite artists, Alana Davis, said that as an artist, you must be where you feel most inspired. Being in the Bay Area for a year made me realize that NY is now home. It’s where I’ve been inspired to write and constantly evolve and create.

F: Where do you go in the city when you need inspiration for writing your music?

C: I watch a lot of shows, whenever and wherever I can.

F: Can you tell us where Conchita hangs out in the city to listen to live music?

C: The summer is awesome because you have all these great free concerts. I love jazz shows, so there’s Smoke and Sweet Rhythm.

F: Favorite place in the city to perform?

I have a soft spot for The Bitter End, since it’s where I played my first NY gig.

F: We love summer – any suggestions for things to do in the city during this time of the year?

Summerstage, the music festivals, food festivals – so much to do really!