The Geeky Connoisseur

It's Monday morning, and I'm feeling a bit ahead of the curve ... the New York Times Style Section just announced that Istanbul was the "party destination of the year" and "the latest hot spot on the European clubbing circuit." Per the Times:

You feel the buzz most intensely along the teeming pedestrian boulevard of Istiklal Cadessi —a kind of Street of Sound in central Istanbul. Come nightfall, strings are tuned, amplifiers are plugged in, needles drop into grooves and microphones crackle to life at Babylon, Indigo, Balans and dozens of other pubs and clubs that lurk in the labyrinthine side streets.

To which, for those of you who rolled your eyes at my stories - Ha! I told you so!

The Times' new urban style section has been doing alright by me [or I've been doing alright by them, I'm not sure which]. I don't know the latest ethnic restaurant in Brooklyn, or live in a once forgotten but now cool neighborhood. I did, however, stumble upon rye a good eight months before Eric Asimov declared it the world's great forgotten spirit, distinctive, complex and delicious. It offers a tactile pleasure unlike any other whiskey in the world [11 Dec 2006]. It is being rediscovered, he wrote, thanks to a sense of geeky connoisseurship among whiskey lovers.

Then the Minimalist noted that his column on no-knead bread has been discussed on more than 200 blogs [which, no matter how oblique, I'm going to claim as my first mention in the Times].

Shoots, they've even claimed that Waikiki is showing signs of "urban chic" and that downtown is on the edge of being hip. Their words - I'm not sure I agree with the last bit. We have far too many lounges where everyone looks great, but precious few places where people like to get actually get down.

Still, it's nice to know that even though we're isolated we're not totally provincial.