Well, late August, really. After finishing a very long stint as a Ph.D. student, I am in dire need of a respite from all things mentally taxing.

Thus, I take my repose within the ample tropical bosom of Polynesia–sandwiched between excursions to the West Coast. And then there’s guitar camp.

The Food Monkey will return in the Autumn with full vigor.

Mahalo

Fate is a fickle temptress. The very day my diploma was placed in my hands, I received an invitation to audition to host a show for The Food Network, which will feature cheap, hidden, gourmet food around the country. The casting agents had found my bar menu deal map as well as my Chronicle piece, and requested an audition video talking about myself, inexpensive deals around Boston, and the ways they were found.

I chose to focus my audition piece on Estragon, in Boston’s South End, which serves dollar tapas at the bar from Monday through Thursday from 5:30-7pm.

Items on the dollar tapas menu may include:

• Pan Tumaca con Jamón – Serrano Ham on Tomato-Garlic Toast
• Queso de Cabra con Tomate – Warm Spanish Goats’ Cheese & Tomato on Toast
• Boquerones con Manchego y Tomate – White Anchovies, Manchego Cheese & Tomato on Toast
• Patatas Bravas – Feisty Fried Potatoes
• Lengua con Mojo Verde – Beef Tongue, Canary Island Salsa on Toast
• Torreznos - Crispy Fried Pork Belly, Salsa Picante
• Tortilla Española – Traditional Spanish Omelette
• Chorizo - Grilled Spanish Sausage on Toast
• *Pringá - Braised Beef Shank, Pork Belly & Bone Marrow on Toast – Garbanzos Fritos
• *Crispy Paprika Chickpeas – Aceitunas Marinadas
• House-marinated Olives – Alcachofas Fritas
• *Crispy Fried Artichoke Hearts, Alioli

* = Especially recommended

Estragon is among my favorite places for tapas in the city, mixing exceptional food with reasonable pricing (especially with the dollar menu). Despite its chic decor, with walls adorned with pictures of Salvador Dali and half-naked women, Estragon serves traditional tapas from Chef Julio de Haro’s childhood in Madrid. Incidentally, Chef de Haro claims that Estragon is the only tapas place in the greater Boston area in which the chef is actually a Spaniard. This is a leg up on the McDonald’s dollar menu, as I’ve yet to have a true Irishman make my McDouble.

If you do stop by for dollar tapas, make sure to order the artichoke hearts and pringá (a buttery marvel). You will not regret it.

We’ll see how the audition goes. Wish me luck….

TED (which stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an annual four-day event in which some of the most interesting people in the world give short, vivacious talks on a variety of thought-provoking topics, including food. TEDx is a series of self-organized local offshoots of TED, for the those not among the lucky few who get to attend the real thing.

I was very excited to learn that on Sunday, May 16th at the MIT Stata Center, TEDxCambridge will present “How do you eat?” a celebration of food (http://www.tedxcambridge.com/)

From the press release:

The event is inspired in part by Jamie Oliver’s TED Prize wish “to create a strong, sustainable movement to educate every child about food, inspire families to cook again and empower people everywhere to fight obesity.”

“How do you eat?” is a question meant to be interpreted broadly.  We are reaching out to an eclectic pool of speakers including Boston-area chefs, restaurateurs, biologists, psychologists, engineers, designers, artists, writers, and food historians.  We’re particularly interested in content related to: sustainability; international development; the global obesity epidemic; the science of food; cutting-edge food technology; architecture, design & food; and food history.

The exciting lineup of speakers includes:

• Dan Ariely: Economist, author of Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions
• Edgar Blanco: Research Director at the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics
• Chandler Burr: New York Times’ perfume critic and writer of the Times’ Scent Notes column
• Richard Chisolm: Filmmaker, A Recipe for Change, on reforming Baltimore school lunches
• Alissa Hamilton: Author of  Squeezed: What You Don’t Know About Orange Juice
• Coco Krumme: Wine Economist
• Francisco Migoya: Former Executive Pastry Chef for The French Laundry, Bouchon Bakery and Bouchon Bistro
• J. Kenji Lopez-Alt: Food Writer
• Wheeler del Torro: Vegan ice cream maker
• David Gracer: Proponent of entomophagy (eating insects)
• Don Katz: Neuroscientist studying how context and experience affects taste preferences and neural coding
• John Gertsen: Mixologist, Bar Manager at Drink
• David Waters: CEO, Community Servings
• Jennifer Hashley: Director of the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project (http://www.nesfp.org)
• Adam Simha: Knife Designer

Tickets to “How do you eat?” are by invitation or you can fill out an application for membership located here.

Space is VERY limited, so make sure to apply ASAP.

To pique your interest, here are some great previous TED talks on food that you are sure to enjoy:

• Malcom Gladwell on finding the perfect pasta sauce
• Jennifer 8 Lee on the real General Tso and his famous chicken
• Dan Barber on a new “natural” foie gras

I was just contacted by the casting producer for the second season of the Food Network’s series about disastrous home cooks, Worst Cooks in America. As part of their search this year, the casting team is heading to Boston to find people who have a hard time in the kitchen and are desperate to learn how to cook.

Who: They are seeking people with a genuine inability to cook, but a need and desire to improve. Candidates can either nominate themselves or someone they know.

What: Worst Cooks In America is a high stakes elimination series where the “recruits” (worst cooks) will be put through culinary boot camp to learn one of the most important life skills – how to cook!

When: Interviews will take place on May 10th And 11th. The location will be given to those receiving appointments.

Why: There are truly are a lot of people out there who don’t know how to cook, and are dying to learn. You might be among those who need some help! It’s a great opportunity for candidates to work with the best chefs in the country, and to learn to cook like professionals.

To Apply: Those interested in attending the casting call can e-mail worstcooks@gmail.com. Explain why you (or the person you are nominating) are the most disastrous cook in the country. Include the name, age, hometown, occupation, contact phone number, and a recent photo of the hopeless cook.

More information is available at www.worstcookscasting.com.

R u @ 1337 haxor? Then eat at the Busy Bee Diner on Beacon Street in brookline:

Sure it was just a bill for $13.37 given to me by a brusquely Bostonian septuagenarian waitress with an accent worthy of “Ask This Old House”, but I thought it was pretty awesome.