What's On The Menu At The State Fair

State and county fairs of late have become summer playgrounds for culinary crackpots, dishing newfangled treats like deep fried butter and spaghetti-on-a-stick.  Now comes word of the latest caloric catastrophe: a hamburger served on a Crispy Creme donut.  

This is the hot item at the Wisconsin State Fair, where many folks are lining up for the $5 patty presented on a sliced glazed donut.  The mixture of savory and sweet was praised by many. As for myself, I think I would take a pass.  I'm not a huge fan of the lastest sweet/savory mashup trend, where enterprising chefs like to add bacon to ice cream for instance. I prefer to enjoy my desert and breakfast foods separately.  

Here Comes The Restaurant Week Truck

File this under inevitable: Restaurant Week, NYC's annual  feast of bargain eating at the city's top restaurants, has jumped on board the current foodie truck-trend.  This year, there will be actually be a Restaurant Week Truck serving various soups from the city's fanciest eateries.  


The truck will be in three locations over the next two weeks, starting at Broadway and 51st through 1/29, Fifth Ave and 19th from 2/1-2/3 and Greenwich and Warren from 2/4-2/5.  Today's featured soup: City Crab's famous New England clam chowder.  The Restaurant Week Truck website has the full menu. Also, a dollar from each soup will go towards relief efforts in Haiti. 


As for regular old-fashioned Restaurant Week which takes place in an actual restaurant, it started yesterday and goes til Feb 7.  Lunch is $24.10 and dinner is $35.00 at more than 100 restaurants throughout the city.  I'm kicking my Restaurant Week adventures off today with lunch at 10 Downing, the new Jason Neroni joint (he created the famed 71 Clinton Street).  You can look at menus for a number of restaurants this year on the Restaurant Week website and make online reservations for most of them as well. 

Cupcake of the Week: The Cupcake Truck

It was inevitable--after seeing the Mud Truck, Dessert Truck and Gelato Truck tooling around the city, the Cupcake Truck has arrived!

I spotted it parked at 5th Ave and 13th the other day. That's usually where it sits during the day...around 5pm it moves up to 23rd Street between 7th and 8th. If for some reason you can't find it, the Cupcake Truckers are always updating their location and advertising deals on Twitter. Their specialty is the red velvet cupcake and the Oreo topper, pictured above. But sorry--the cute guy holding the tray is not included with purchase.

And what's next on the truck-food scene? If I were a betting man, I'd have to say the Whoopie-Pie Truck. Seriously. Mark my words...