Wise Bread (Tannaz Sassooni)

How to Get High-End Electronics with One Simple Question

Tannaz Sassooni — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 01:33:55 +0000

My friend Mandy became the proud owner of a Mac PowerBook G4 in perfect condition, without spending a single cent. She's also come into a Canon digital camera, a Dali lithograph, a house full of antique furniture, and plenty more, all completely free. And the only thing she had to do was ask for them.

She explained the concept to me: "Anything that gets updated regularly (a computer, a digital camera, a phone, an iPod) you can get for free easily because a new and cooler version comes out and your friends replace their version -- even though it works fine." For example, she estimates that most people get a new computer about every 3 years. "If you have 36 friends, about one of them replaced a perfectly good computer this month. All you have to do is find that one." Just mention to a handful of people that you're in the market for a new computer, but you're short on funds. Even if they don't have one to offer, the next time one of their friends tells them they just got a new computer, they might just do the footwork for you.

It works even better with cell phones. People are constantly replacing them, but there's not much profit in selling the old ones. So they end up lying around, gathering dust. People are happy to unload them onto you.

I know firsthand that this works. A recent mugging left me with neither a cell phone nor a digital camera. My cell is my primary number, and I depend heavily on my digital camera for my food blog, so this was a fairly devastating loss. I sent an email to 65 of my closest friends (yep, it pays to be connected), asking if anyone had one lying around, either unlocked or locked to my provider. Along with an abundance of good wishes, I got 6 offers for a loaner phone, and by that night, I had not one but two free cell phones in my hands!

But it doesn't even take hordes of contacts -- sometimes one person is all you need. A couple weeks back, a friend asked about my blog, and I told him that, sadly it was losing its mojo due to lack of camera. I wasn't even soliciting, but to my amazement and deep gratitude, he offered to loan me a camera for a year. Not a crappy one either: a 7.2 megapixel Cybershot, along with a 2-gig memory stick, and he even bought a charger to replace the one an old roommate had taken. That one kind act saved me hundreds of dollars. See that? Unbridled generosity, all for just telling a friend what you'd like to have.

And that's the other thing about it. People want to give you their stuff. Even though they've got the newer, fancier version, there's nothing wrong with last year's model. So your friends feel good that their castoffs are actually getting some use -- it alleviates a certain guilt, making them feel less wasteful and more generous. Top it off with a sweet thank-you card, and you'll make your friends feel truly magnanimous.

The list of items Mandy has acquired in this way is quite impressive: in addition to the PowerBook, the camera, the Dali litho, and the furniture, she's also nabbed clothes (fancy threads from cutting-edge-fashionista friends), a bed (from a friend who couldn't take it along when he moved cross-country), a high-end duvet -- unused, antique glassware, art, vases, books, and more. She told me "I think i just listed everything I own. No, seriously."

Seriously, this tactic is a win-win. As Mandy tells us, there's no need to go to sources where you have to pay for electronics, like eBay or CraigsList. "Your lazy, well-meaning friends are a much better source for the goods you crave." All you have to do is ask.

photos by *nathan, k.giff, jean ruaud, taniwha, and epmd.

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Save the World and Save a Dime: Eat Locally

Tannaz Sassooni — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 01:01:55 +0000

By Tannaz Sassooni

Paul Michael's recent post on processed foods and Andrea Dickson's on the Manhattan family trying to live without impacting the environment got me thinking. One one hand, Paul's exposing us to some very real perils in the industry responsible for pretty much everything we consume. On the other, Andrea tells us about a family going to very extreme measures to address these perils and more. It's admirable what the Manhattan familiy is doing, but living without toilet paper, or composting inside a city apartment are a bit much for most people. But there's a group of bloggers who offer a more feasible challenge, designed for sustainability, deliciousness, good stories, and now, even for saving a buck or two: eat locally.

The Eat Local Challenge can mean different things to different people. For some, it's a 100-mile radius, while for others, anything that comes from within their state is fair game. There may be exceptions, like soy sauce, or black pepper. It might be a commitment to reshape your entire diet, or just a single dish made exclusively from local foods brought to a Thanksgiving dinner. But the idea is, you start thinking about the food you're consuming. You ask questions from the employees at your local grocer, or at the farmer's market (a real haven for diverse, fresh local goods). You boost your local economy and eliminate the environmental costs of long-range transportation and packaging, even more effectively than by eating organically.

It is a true challenge, but the payoff is an oasis from many of the issues introduced by food processing, not to mention delicious new taste experiences. Eating locally means you can't have everything all the time, but instead you get a feel for seasonality -- fruits and vegetables at the peak of flavor and ripeness. Plus, local produce is certainly fresher than pears shipped from China or cucumbers from Mexico (unless of course, you happen to be living in China or Mexico).

The folks at Eat Local Challenge have been churning out a variety of challenges over the last couple years, and the latest focuses on budget: The Penny-wise Eat Local Challege. For one week in April, they will be eating locally, but also staying within the budget of the average American, which according to the Department of Labor, this could be as low as $121 a week for a single-income household. No doubt there will be trying moments, but that's part of budgeting, right?

Here's some more info:

The official announcement of the Penny Wise Challenge

Nuts and bolts details of the Penny Wise Challenge

10 Reasons to Eat Local

Tips for Eating Locally

Time Magazine Article on the 100-mile Diet

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Onigiri: Behold The Mighty Triforce

Tannaz Sassooni — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 14:45:25 +0000

By Tannaz Sassooni

He zips around the lush pixelated world of Hyrule, battling monsters on his quest to save Princess Zelda, a sacred triangle perched atop his head. Link knows that the ancient relic holds great power, but what Link never learned is that the Triforce is also deeelicious.

I visited Japan with friends in fall of 2005, and while there, we made an amazing discovery: onigiri. As our days in Japan increased, the fatness of our wallets decreased, and we learned the true glory of this humble food. Onigiri is a Japanese convenience store food consisting of rice formed into a triangular cake around a center of something yummy (salmon, tuna, umeboshi [pickled sour plum], and kimchi are just some examples), and wrapped in seaweed. We ventured to say that the three elements that constituted this Triforce were rice for Wisdom, a shield of seaweed for Courage, and the Power of delicious fillings.

But perhaps the true magic of onigiri is its packaging (wow, a Japanese product with genius packaging. Big shocker). You see, wrapping onigiri comes with a challenge: if the seaweed has contact with the rice for more than a couple seconds, it gets soggy and sticky. But the ingenious Japanese came up with an elegant solution.

First, the seaweed is wrapped within a two-layer sheath of plastic.

The plastic protects the seaweed's inside from the rice's moisture, and its outside from external elements.

So, the seaweed is wrapped separately from the ricey triangle. Then, how do you get it out of the wrapper, without compromising the structural integrity of the mighty Triforce? Well, first, you pull down the tab that starts at the upper point of the triangle.

Note at this point, that the inside layer of the plastic sheath is split down the center. As you pull the tab all the way down and around the onigiri, the outer layer also splits down the center (are you seeing where this is going?).

Now, this next step is the culinary equivalent of the take-off-your-bra-without-taking-off-your-shirt trick.

You tug on each corner of the wrapper, now split in two, and, astonishingly, the wrapper slides right off the seaweed, leaving the mighty onigiri unwrapped and intact!

Okay, maybe not completely intact. You do have to fold the corners over. But a few quick tucks and a few quick bites, and you get to that all-powerful center.

See? Magical! Now, why would Link run around with this thing on his head when he could be eating it?

Convenience stores in Tokyo are pretty exceptional. In a city known for being prohibitively expensive, it's nice to know that on just about every corner, there's a friendly shop when you can get a substantive meal for the equivalent of a few dollars. You find a mix of US chains like 7-Eleven or am/pm and homegrown convenience stores, or combini, like FamilyMart and Lawsons. In addition to onigiri, you can get little packages of egg salad, hot steamed buns filled with seasoned pork, and even the occasional sandwich. And in today's gloriously shrinking world, Japan's Family Mart has dressed itself up with gourmet snacks and sleek stylings and brought its act to the states as Famima!! (that's right, the two exclamation points are part of the name). Which means that the True Force to Govern All is just a buck-fifty away.

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Fifteen Minutes of ...

Tannaz Sassooni — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 00:30:07 +0000

By Tannaz Sassooni

One day when i was in fourth grade, my parents sat me down at the dining room table. Their faces were very concerned and it all seemed very serious; I thought I was in trouble. Not really, they just wanted to have a talk, about a subject that to 9-year-old me was a bit nebulous. They told me i was bazigoosh, a word that translates directly to game-ear in Persian, but basically means I'm a slacker, easily distracted, a procrastinator, too fun-loving for my own good. To counter this this horrible plight, the loving parents suggested I spend less time with Traci and Ashleigh, with their freewheeling divorcee moms and Guess! jeans, and hang out more with Alicia Ngo, all striped cotton dresses and straight A's.

As we all can predict, this did not work. I mean, Alicia did have every single My Little Pony (not to mention the stable and the hair salon!), but Traci had pool parties with boys and Ashleigh wore her Keds with no shoelaces! How could I possibly resist? Time passed, and while Alicia probably is running for office, i have a copy of Do It Now! on my bookshelf that I, sigh, still plan to read someday.

It's a fight to get through the distractions that taunt and tease at every turn. Obviously, being a bazigoosh is my past and present, and probably my future. But I have a secret weapon that narrows the gap between me and the Alicia Ngos of the world: the timer. The simple kitchen timer can be the difference between a day of productivity and one of slacking. It goes two ways: set a timer to limit your time on diversions, or set one to guarantee you'll do at least a solid chunk of whatever it is you're putting off. Any old timer will do, including the one built in your microwave or oven, but for those of you on Macs, you can download an egg timer widget for your dashboard.

I learned this trick from a great site called FlyLady, where the eponymous webmaster gives tips, support, and really an entire system for taking control of your life and moving forward (granted, it's geared predominantly toward stay-at-home-moms, but amidst the acronyms and cutesy prose there is a lot of wisdom here for anyone). Just like your mom cut your peanut butter sandwich into perfect squares for you, FlyLady breaks down personal progress into bite-size chunks. So, one of her mantras is, "You can do anything for fifteen minutes." It's really quite a revelation. Go set a timer for fifteen minutes, then do nothing but, say, clean one room in your house for that time. And when the timer goes off, stop cleaning. You will be amazed at how much you accomplish.

If you're up for another fifteen at that point, restart the timer and go to it. But if you need a break, say to mindlessly surf the web for a bit, restart the timer and go to it! Figure out ahead of time how much time you'll need to recharge yourself, and set the timer. When it goes off, get up.

It's simple, but shockingly effective. It's easy to fit an extra fifteen minutes into your routine, and once you've got that into place, even the most easily distracted can tackle big projects. Giving you plenty of time to play Barbies all afternoon with Traci, Ashleigh, and a clear conscience.

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A BBC Production America Hasn't Ripped Off Yet

Tannaz Sassooni — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 04:44:59 +0000

By Tannaz Sassooni

The BBC are so selfless. They offer us Americans the addictively hapless crew at The Office, and never complain when we totally rip it off. They give us the deliciously candid fashion criticism of What Not To Wear, even though we copy it outright. (Not that we didn't have a history of this behavior: Three's Company, that beloved American classic, comes straight from Britain's Man About the House.) But there's one wildly successful project BBC's putting out there that is theirs and theirs alone.

BBC Languages is the BBC's extensive set of online resources for learning a number of languages. It's amazing to me that all of these materials are just sitting there, for the taking. To start, if French, German, Spanish, or Italian is your language of choice, take a quiz to measure what level you should begin with. Then jump into a wide variety of language learning tools: interactive courses, often with video and audio, TV shows with related activities, audio guides, and more. It doesn't stop at these four languages, either: Portuguese, Greek, Urdu, and Mandarin Chinese are broadly covered, and you can even learn crucial phrases like "Where's the toilet, please?" in Belarusian and Luxembourgish -- come on, you know you've always wanted to.

What's impressive about this set is that it's not just basic grammar and vocab. There are slang guides, info on using the languages in the workplace, and monthly audio magazines with articles on the various countries' culture and news. They've even got a "Your Say" section, where other students share their common mistakes, learning tips, and blogs from abroad, and tips on improving at languages in general.

Granted, taking these courses over the computer is not going to make you a fluent speaker. But to get the basics of a whole slew of languages, free is a lot cheaper than taking a class or hopping on a plane. There is a lot of learning to be had on these pages. And, of course, you can put all this learning to use on their site, too. After all, they do offer the BBC news in 33 languages. And if English is the language you're trying to learn, they've got that covered thoroughly, too, in their Learning English pages. See? Boundless generosity.

But it's not like we Americans don't give back, albeit in a most surreal way: if you happen to be a speaker of Chinese using the BBC's site to learn English, you'll have a very unlikely instructor.

Photo by nofrills.

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How To Get Mugged

Tannaz Sassooni — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 17:28:43 +0000

By Tannaz Sassooni

Awesome, 10:45 and there's still one parking spot only a few buildings from mine. I do the parallel parking bit, grab my purse, lock the car, and start the quick walk to my apartment building. As I walk past our next-door building, a car stops in front of me, and the passenger steps out. Weird, he's talking to me. "OK, give me your purse."

Next thing I know I'm splayed out on my back like a dying cockroach on the curb -- except much wrigglier, and much, much louder.

The whole thing took about 30 seconds, and then he drove off with my purse, my wallet, my phone, my camera. I was suitably shaken -- feeling helpless, violated, extremely freaked out -- but the lesson for me was that this really can happen anywhere. People have asked me if I'm going to move to a different neighborhood now, and the answer is a decided no. When you start telling people you were mugged, they come back with stories of their own. A friend has been the victim twice -- once in front of his mother's house on Rodeo Drive (yes, that Rodeo Drive), and another time in the Pico-Robertson area of West Los Angeles -- a neighborhood predominantly inhabited by Orthodox Jewish families.

So, I'm not running to the suburbs anytime soon. But now that I know it's a reality, I can take some personal steps to prevent another assault, and I can share what I learned about what to do when it does happen.

Do this now: Make sure you have a photo ID in your home, off your person. Write down or memorize your driver's license number and credit card numbers. You'll need these items a few times -- to renew your license, to tell the police, to take money out of the bank without an ATM card. If you are compiling a document, adding the 24-hour numbers for your credit card and ATM card will also come in handy. Having all this info at easy access prevents scrambling.

If you buy a new mobile phone, be sure to keep your old one. You can get a new SIM card free, and start blabbing away immediately. If your phone has the capablity to sync with your computer, do it frequently. It saves a great deal of headache not to have to recompile your address book.

Keep some cash in the house. With no ATM card, you are at the mercy of bank hours to withdraw cash, and you won't have a credit card.

Soon after the mugging, someone gave me a can of pepper spray. I've put it on my keychain, but I'm admittedly of two minds about it. It's a bit of comfort to know, in a realm where I, as a diminutive woman, am a prime victim, that by carrying it with me I'm evening out the playing field just so slightly. But, its very existence can be inflammatory: cashiers have made not-so-innocent jokes about it, and my sister rightly expressed concern about having it around her small children. So, it's really a personal decision. If you do choose pepper spray though, know that you must be prepared to use it before anything happens. Walk out of your car with the can in your hand and your thumb on the trigger. The best product I've seen was a thin tube on a strap, which wrapped around your hand, securing the canister in your palm. This article, written by a professional security consultant, covers nicely the whys and why-nots of pepper spray. Read up and decide for yourself.

Avoid being on the street by yourself late at night. Carpool with friends, or have them walk you to your door. Spend the night at a friend's home after a late night. Befriend a neighbor; see if you can exchange phone numbers, so you can call each other when you need someone to walk you home. In times when walking outside alone at night is just inevitable, I've begun running from car to apartment: I figure, it cuts the time I'm outside in half, and a weirdo sprinting across the sidewalk is probably a less likely target.

During the assault: It's important to know the best way to react, although in the moment it might take you a while to recall what you know. And that best way is to give them what they want. At first, that's not what i did. I was working under the logic that most human beings are reasonable, and that it's reasonable for me to walk into my apartment with my purse in tow, as I had set out to do seconds before. But, reason had little to do with this situation. I resisted, held fast to my purse, and started screaming. Loudly. So, he pushed me onto the ground. After a few seconds, it became clear my screaming was to no avail. I remembered what you're supposed to do, and I did it: I let go of my purse, and its new owner immediately drove off. I was left with a hefty bump on my forehead and the surreal view of my familiar block, now as seen from the ground. But I was lucky -- he could have pulled out a knife, he could have pulled out a gun, he could have been far more violent. Everything in your purse is replaceable; you are not.

Afterwards: Before anything else, call the police. I was lucky in that one neighbor did actually hear my screaming, came outside after the incident, took me into his home, and led me through this process (it's not hard, but I was completely frazzled). Try to bring to mind any details, because you will forget them surprisingly quickly. They will send out officers to get the full report.

In the meantime, tell someone. Either someone at home, or a friend or family member that can be reached by phone. It's a huge comfort to call a loved one and tell your story.

Then, cancel your cards. Your credit card statement will have a phone number where you can report a lost or stolen card. Be sure to ask if any charges have been made since your card was stolen: not only in case there are charges you need to protest, but also because even failed attempts to charge may be leads in finding the criminal. Same goes for your ATM card.

Call your cellular phone provider. They will suspend your SIM card. Later on, go to your provider's brick-and-mortar store, and they can provide you with a new SIM that holds your existing phone number. Just drop this card into any phone that is 'locked' for use with your provider, or one that is unlocked, and you're ready to send and recieve calls as normal.

Contact the credit bureau. They will put a fraud alert on your file, so that creditors will alert you before any extensions of credit are made. There are 3 major credit bureaus -- Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion -- and if you contact one, they will contact the other two.

And here's an exhaustive list of tips, phone numbers, and great info on preventing identity theft from the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.

Unfortunately, things like this aren't going away anytime soon. But, with a little knowledge, you can prevent a bad situation from getting much, much worse.

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The Way to Your Honey's Heart Is Through the Kitchen

Tannaz Sassooni — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 15:08:03 +0000

By Tannaz Sassooni

They say a way to a man's heart is through the stomach, but on Valentine's Day, our men take no pains to take that very route to their ladies' hearts as well: call every restaurant in town for a last minute reservation. Finally have the host at Chez Exorbitante tell you the only table they have is at 5:30 pm, but you'll love sitting next to Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Atric -- they have great stories to tell. Pay an appalling markup on a bottle of bubbly (had you only consulted the lists earlier). Suffer through a meal at a restaurant where every single customer expects personalized special-occasion service, from a waitstaff made of mere human beings. Avoid the risk of driving home full of boozy bubbles, by shelling out more cash to take a cab home (in rush hour traffic no less). Isn't it romantic?

No.

Why put yourselves through this? Why not forgo the drama and make a simple, impressive meal at home? She'll love that you did the work and created such a charming spread, and when she lavishly showers you with appreciative affection, you'll be beaming for more reasons that one -- after all, you were able to steer clear of the theatrics, the traffic, and the hefty check. Here are some tips and instructions to prepare a sophisticated meal from fresh ingredients (plus a few secret shortcuts), without breaking the bank. And I've posted all the recipes for the ideas below right here, at my food blog, All Kinds of Yum.

First, some general tips: Avail yourself of Trader Joe's! it's the number one not-so-secret weapon for faking fancy. Great wines, decent cheeses, olive oil, all can be found here. Improvise based on what you and your date like -- you can never get that sort of personalized menu at a restaurant. Substitute favorite vegetables, fruits, herbs and seasonings, to suit your fancy. Go seasonal! These recipes have very few ingredients, so quality is key. Produce is always at its tastiest when it's in season, and has the added advantage of saving you cash. Google can help you find out what's in season in your part of the world now, or just visit your local farmer's market. Now then, onto the meal:

The room: If it's dark enough, even the bacheloriest bachelor pad can be evocative and romantic. Buy some flowers (wisely), both for your girl and for the room, and get yourself some candles. You can find a huge selection of candles at Target -- go with a single color (i like white, but all different pinks or reds could be very pretty too), and be cautious of too much scent. Don't be too concerned about the lushest amenities -- a kitchen table works fine, as does floor pillows around a coffee table. Even a picnic laid out on the bed can be unexpected and romantic.

The Bubbly: Abandon Champagne and visit the neighbors. You can still get champagne's European ooh-la-la appeal from Prosecco or Cava, Italy and Spain's sparkling wines, respectively, but at a significantly lower price. Don't expect them to be exactly like champagne -- the distinct geology and climate of each region leads to unique flavors. But both are festive and delicious, and will introduce you to a little corner of the wine world a bit more esoteric than the old French standby.

The Appetizer: French Kisses are a three-ingredient recipe with massive appeal. These bite-sized nuggets of puff pastry with a melty brie center, each kissed with a single saucy cranberry, are irresistible. But if you don't feel like baking, serve cheese.

The Cheese: Traditionally, cheese is served as a dessert course, but it's not unheard of to have it before the meal. There's no need to go crazy: there are only two of you, and no one wants a belly full of cheese on the canoodliest night of the year. So, pick a couple favorites, or even just one. Then, accessorize. Alas, figs are out of season -- their, ahem, feminine appearance, makes them a Valentine's day natural. But what is in season, at least here on the west coast, is Asian pears. As is honey, which happens to be a folk aphrodisiac. Pair them with blue cheese or another strong-flavored cheese of your choice, and try this pretty presentation: Place the cheese on a small wood cutting board, or even a pretty, or simple, plate. Slice the pear into rounds, discarding the core, and fan out the slices beside the cheese. Serve honey alongside in a small, pretty dish (a teacup or small bowl would work great here) with a teaspoon, or just drizzle it right on the cheese.

The Main: A simple broiled fish recipe is light and delicious, and you can prepare it with whatever fish is on sale at the market. Fresh herbs and lemon juice perk it up. Choose your favorite herb, and you can use it for both the fish and the vegetable (and if you choose mint, you can use it to garnish your dessert as well).

The Veg: You can certainly quickly boil your favorite cruciferous vegetable (any of the broccoli family, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, etc.), then top with some butter, salt, and pepper. But I think roasted cherry tomatoes are perfect for Valentine's Day -- bright red and blistered from the heat of the oven, they really look, and taste, flirty.

The Starch: Crusty bread is effortless, but pasta is pretty easy too, and can be made ahead.

Dessert: I believe there are 2 keys to Valentine's Day dessert: chocolate, and raspberries. You don't have to use both, but it is a stellar combination. You can achieve either one with an extremely-easy-to-make, fancy-French-name-having, lusciously delicious sauce: chocolate ganache or raspberry coulis (rhymes with 'Julie'). Pour some in a plate, then place a slice of store-bought poundcake or semi-homemade dark chocolate fudge cake over top, and garnish with a couple stray raspberries. Or, try a fun idea with a different berry: get some pre-made chocolate cookie dough, a heart-shaped cookie cutter, and some strawberry ice-cream, and make heart-shaped ice cream sandwiches (Tip: Build the sandwiches in the cookie cutter to maintain the heart shape, and re-freeze before serving). Or for the ultimate in free and easy dessert, do as the Surreal Gourmet suggests, and have sex instead.

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And One for the "Readers": LibriVox

Tannaz Sassooni — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 19:23:34 +0000

By Tannaz Sassooni

A short while back we learned about DailyLit , a service that delivers public domain literature works to your email inbox in easily-digestible chunks. But what if you don't feel like reading? Or what if your eyes are too busy doing something else, like knitting, or cooking, or solving Fermat's last theorem (what, it was getting a little too domestic there!)? In this modern age, we're all about multitasking, after all. Well, friends, reading the classics has entered the age of the internet: it's free and convenient, and doesn't even involve reading anymore! Now that's progress.

LibriVox is a free service that offers a growing collection (689 and counting) of public domain literature works as downloadable audio files. It's like books on tape, except it's free, and there's no tape -- just download the files directly to your computer. Even with the public domain limitation, and in spite of the significant time it takes to record entire books as audio files, there is still an impressive catalog. You've got your whole you-saw-the-movie-now-read-the-book camp. There's a sizable collection from the old Bard. You can even read up on baby-eating and crushing your adversaries and rising to the megalomaniacal power you unquestionably deserve. And their catalog is not limited to English: many languages are represented. Chapters are available as mp3s, ogg vorbis files, or podcasts.

It's a non-profit, volunteer-only project from some warm friendly folks up in Canuckistan. This means you get a broad range of voices reading the selections, from people who care about literature and sharing it with others. There are forums blogs, and plenty of bookish links that foster a sense of community, and the site's administrators make anyone interested in contributing their voice to the project feel very welcome.

So download a couple chapters, pick up your knitting needles, and get yourself edumacated!

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Pop That Corkage: A Cross-country BYO Roundup

Tannaz Sassooni — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 07:43:50 +0000

By Tannaz Sassooni

For me, drinking wine at a restaurant is a classic image of living large: sipping rich purply red from a bulbous stemmed glass, laughing at your companion's urbane chatter, and enjoying the moment. But often the restaurant markup on a bottle of wine is twice or even three times what you'd pay retail, prohibiting this picturesque scene for those with tight purse strings. Fortunately, plenty of restaurants allow you to bring your own bottle. And diligent folks across the country and the internet are tracking them down.

[I know, I know, my third post in a row about drinking large on a small budget. I assure you I don't have a problem, I just had to ride the wave and wrap up the trifecta. Now read on so you too can drink wisely, you lush!]

Of course, bringing a bottle of wine to the restaurant is not an occasion to break out the Two Buck Chuck: the idea here is not to be cheap, sullying your restaurant experience with a bargain wine. Rather, bring along a wine that will complement the meal -- perhaps a bottle you've been waiting for a special occasion to uncork, or one that suits the cuisine you're having. Remember that the restaurant is offering you a service: not only does the waiter have to serve something you have not paid for, but there is also a cost to providing and washing glasses and replacing any that might break. And every bottle you bring in is one fewer bottle that the restaurant will sell. So, while some restaurants will allow you to bring in wine for free, restaurants may also charge a corkage fee -- often between 8 and 20 dollars, but sometimes up to 50 at higher-end eateries -- to cover these costs. Nonetheless, tip generously. And, as several online articles on BYO etiquette suggest, offer a glass to your server. I love this idea -- it's such a gracious gesture to give back to the very people whose hospitality makes our restaurant experience worthwhile.

Following is a roundup of lists of restaurants across the country (with a couple in Canada and the United Kingdom for good measure) of restaurants that allow you to bring your own wine, complete with corkage fees.

Atlanta

atlcorkage's Wiki - Slim list, but lots of personal notes.

LocalWineEvents' Atlanta BYOB List - Free corkage in HOTlanta.

Chicago

Dr. Vino's BYOB Forum - Chicago, plus the suburbs, plus a few strays in Berkeley, Edinburgh, and London.

Los Angeles

The Delicious Life's Screw You! How Much it Costs to BYOB - Extensive list with lots of links to The Delicious Life's irreverent and fabulous restaurant reviews.

K-Mozart's list - Sip slowly and hobnob with the classical music set. Includes Orange County.

Yelp/Richard A's Cheap Corkage and BYOB - With links to all the LA Yelpers going on about their favorite restaurants.

New York

Littleviews' BYO NYC Wine Tasting - A list of restaurants with a corkage of $15 or less.

NYCorked's Corkage Wiki - Includes info on glasses and service.

New York Magazine's BYOB List - 50 spots that dull the pain of the price of a meal in NYC.

Philadelphia

DiningInfo's QuickFind - Search near you, or just hit 'Go' for the full list.

Pittsburgh

About's BYOB Restaurants in the Greater Pittsburgh Area - A sortable list of spots with a corkage of 3 dollars or less.

San Francisco [Strangely, I was unable to find a list for San Fran. But I'll give you the following instead.]

Vinography's The Great San Francisco Corkage Debate - Get some popcorn, this is gonna take a while.

What you get when you search for 'san francisco byo' on Google

Seattle

The Seattle Times' Reader Recommendations - Includes tips for taking wine to a restaurant.

Texas

VinUnici's BYOB Short-list - With a few notes on the food at each restaurant and a wine recommendation for each.

Toronto

BringMyWine's list - Drink up in Canuckistan!

United Kingdom and Ireland

Bring Your Own Bottle Directory - From a UK wine expert.

Washington DC

eGullet Forum's Places That Allow Corkage - This is a forum thread, but it includes extensive corkage info for DC

So, drink wisely, and I'll end this with a toast: May you always have old wine, old friends, and young cares.

[oh, and, hey MShades, thanks for the photo!]

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Get Your Booze On for Free

Tannaz Sassooni — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 06:34:11 +0000

By Tannaz Sassooni

Recently a reader here at Wise Bread accused us of being European, citing our proclivity for writing about wine and beer. Mais non, my friend, but indulging in a little of the sauce every now and then is a luxury I'd rather not give up due to budgetary constraints. And I've found a fun way to do it for free, so I will risk name-calling -- continental, drunkardly, or otherwise -- and share this knowledge with you.

myopenbar.com finds all the spots throughout town that offer free (or super cheap) drinks on any given night, and tells you all about them. And it's not just free watered down gimlets at the Elks lodge -- these are cool events at cool venues. The kind of thing you know must be going on, but somehow you never manage to get in on. Now you'll know. It might be the KidRobot Mega-event at the Standard Hotel's rooftop bar in downtown Los Angeles, or free bathtub gin from 5 to 6 at the Blue Owl in the East Village. They cover several metropolitan cities across the country, and you can even sign up for the Boozeletter to get the latest haps sent right to your inbox.

This is more than just a glorified Excel spreadsheet though; they've built a hip little community over there. There's a blog chock full of event recaps, music reviews, and random other cool stuff. There's a cobrasnake-like gallery of all the hipsters, beautiful people, and wackjobs enjoying the generosity of others at myopenbar events. And the fine folks over there encourage you to contribute photos and tips for their motley crew of stingy drunks. And in return, they make the following promise: "We, on our end, will do our best to sell out as fast as we can and get all kinds of lame ads and banners on this piece. Word to yo moms."

Photo by Swanksalot.

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