Spice Girls belt out, "Spice up your life." Executive chef and owner Jean-Georges Vongerichten of Spice Market (the new restaurant in the W Hotel Midtown) can do just that. I dined there for lunch this past week with SP contributor Hope Philbrick, and I was excited to see it was more than just a market. When Americans hear "market," they think "store." But Vongerichten grew up visiting real street markets around the globe and has translated some of his favorite vendor treats into gourmet fare for you and me.

 

Lunch guests can be in and out quickly with the "Bento Box," a 20-minute express lunch offered between 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. for $15, which includes fragrant miso soup, shrimp dumplings and herbs; avocado and radish salad with Chinese mustard and tempura onions; a choice between beef satay, chicken skewers or pork satay; cod with Malaysian chili sauce and Thai basil; a choice of brown or Jasmine rice; and a choice of ice cream or sorbet. But Hope and I weren't trying to make it quick. We wanted to take our time enjoying our first experience of Spice Market, and that we did. We started with three appetizers: black-pepper shrimp served over sundried pineapple squares, chicken skewers with a lime-dipping sauce and Vietnamese spring rolls, which we wrapped in arugula lettuce leaves. The dishes were small and perfect for lunch-size sharing. Hope and I agreed that the shrimp was by far our fave out of the apps, but I was impressed with the meat provided on the chicken skewers.

 

Next we moved on to cod with Malaysian chili sauce and Thai basil, an entree we shared. The white circle of fish was ensconced in a vivid red halo, which was surrounded by an outer layer of lime green (the basil sauce, I imagine). The dish was mildly spicy, by our standards, which we both thoroughly enjoyed. We paired it with a side of baby corn and broccoli with lemongrass and chili--a completely unexpected twist to veggies and a pleasant surprise. Dessert was a medley of deliciousness: strawberry green tea cake with lychee sorbet, spiced peach tatin with ginger ice cream, Vietnamese coffee ice cream and the Thai jewels and fruits made with crushed coconut ice. The sampling of offerings at Spice was a luxurious way to spend a lunch hour (or two) and get to know the global personality of Jean-Georges.

 

Spice Market is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Valet parking at the W Hotel costs only $6 when your ticket is validated at the restaurant. www.spicemarketatlanta.com.

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Saying no to China’s oppression of Tibet—not to the Olympic Torch relay—would have been the proper approach to the torch’s journey around the world, but fanatics being what they are, there was no consideration given to, for example, the wheelchair athlete who was carrying the torch in Paris on April 6.

I agree wholeheartedly that China has overstepped its bounds and failed to peacefully address autonomy concerns in Tibet, but sacre bleu! The Olympic torch protesters are selfish idiots: being chosen to carry the torch is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for athletes, and these thoughtless demonstrators have basically ambushed and endangered those athletes by attempting to snatch the torch from their hands (and in some cases succeeding in doing so). Does this further Tibet’s cause? Not one iota. In fact, it does just the opposite. Some people who may have felt sympathetic to Tibet have become more sympathetic to China as they have watched these antics. And who could blame them? How is it peaceful to douse the dreams of the torch bearers?

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On March 14, Sen. Barack Obama told CNN, regarding the Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s comments about 9/11 and white America, "Had I heard those statements in the church, I would have told Reverend Wright that I profoundly disagree with them,” adding, "What I have been hearing and had been hearing in church was talk about Jesus and talk about faith and values and serving the poor."

But on March 18, in a speech in Philadelphia, he admitted he had sat in church and heard his former minister make controversial remarks.

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For decades beginning when I was in junior high, for God’s sake, which was more than 25 years ago, lots of business gurus and education pundits warned ferociously that American students must learn foreign languages in order to be ready for a more global economy—that such a multi-lingual marketplace was inevitable.

My own rural middle Georgia high school offered French, which many of us would need as we ordered le poule avec gras at the Kentucky Fried Chicken. We stumbled through the Maison D’Etre (the “House of To-Be”) breaking grammatical rules like lamps as we went, earned passing grades and went on to college to focus on things that were more practical, like business management. Of course, we couldn’t have known then that our mono-lingualism would doom the American economy 25 years later.

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Pete Davis has contibuted what may be the funniest political observation I've seen in 10 years. Here's an excerpt:

Mitt Romney.
Accomplishments?  Former governor of Massachusetts. Former head of the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.  Inherits the mantle of Man with most Reagan-like Hair. Fertile as Yertle the turtle.

Possible downside with voters:  His Mormon faith.  Changes positions faster than a flea on a Chinese checkerboard.  Relates to the common man like Rush Limbaugh relates to his ex’s.

Media Bias:  If you find that Mitt is a rather stiff guy it’s not completely
his fault.  It’s hard to move gracefully with fellow Latter Day Saint Glenn
Beck of CNN wedged so firmly up his buttocks.

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Although Martin Luther King Day isn't until next Monday, today, Jan. 15, marks the late civil rights leader's actual birthday. Given that Atlanta is Dr. King's birthplace, (Full article and comments)

Mack is indeed back--laying a five-percentage point whoopin' on Mitt Romney in New Hampshire, even as Hillary also came from behind to take the Democratic victory in the Live-Free-or-Die state. (Full article and comments)

Regarding the American hospitals/clinics in Dubai and elsewhere overseas: I think it's important that we think about what this might mean to our own health care system in the future and what it says about our present system. Our system is financially unwieldy, but the most fundamental role of any health care system is to provide health care. (Full article and comments)

Words like “veteran” and “soldier” feel increasingly loaded these days (no pun intended). (Full article and comments)

"The Family That Couldn't Sleep: A Medical Mystery," by D.T. Max. I spent a substantial chunk of my weekend with this fascinating non-fiction. (Full article and comments)