Today the Times takes a long, hard look at Jay Dines, an upstate farmer who was banished from the city’s Greenmarkets only to get thrown out of the Brooklyn Flea as well. Inspectors from the Greenmarket – who visit vendors’ farms to verify they’re personally growing or making everything they sell at the markets – have accused Dines of making his all-beef hot dogs and bacon from animals obtained elsewhere. Dines says he’s just “trying......

If you're staying in town this weekend and still don't have plans for the 4th, it's not too late to catch the spirit of '76; there are plenty of barbecue options within the five boroughs, whatever your budget or neighborhood. All the events below take place tomorrow, July 4th, unless otherwise specified. Head to Water Taxi Beach for the next best thing to the Hamptons. $25 gets you a regular evening at the beach, but......

After last year's Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, six-time world hot-dog-eating champ Takeru Kobayashi declared: "I will definitely beat him next year." His opponent, Joey Chestnut, had won by eating 66 HDB (hot dogs and buns) to Kobayashi's 63. Despite not earning his way in to the contest as a regional qualifier, last year's loser be on hand this year in an attempt to earn back the title. The Brooklyn Paper (jokingly) says Kobayashi......

Quest for the Lost Ark (Sunday, 8:00 p.m., History Channel) Tudor Parfitt looks more like Jeremy Clarkson than Harrison Ford, but he is a real life Indiana Jones. This History Channel documentary special traces his search for the Ark of the Covenant – the same thing the fictional Indy searched for in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Also of note this Weekend: George Carlin: It's Bad for Ya (Saturday, 10:00 p.m., HBO) It is hard......

If you work on the west side near 14th Street, consider your lunch plans settled: the Papaya King on 7th Ave. and 14th is giving away free hot dogs to the first 500 customers today and tomorrow. As of 11:06am, just 32 customers had taken advantage of the deal, which is part of a promotional for Unhitched, a new Farrelly brothers sitcom starring Rashida Jones, who plays Jim’s ex-girlfriend on The Office. As this sentence......

halle berry, by dietrich at flickrToday on the Gothamist Newsmap: missing juveniles on Shore Front Parkway in Queens, a taxi cab vs. store front in the area of 63rd St. and Madison Ave. in Manhattan, and a suspicious death on Ralph Ave. and Prospect Pl. in Brooklyn. Investigators believe that the five-year-old boy who died in a home fire after being left alone by his older brother may have inadvertently started the fire himself.......

Clockwise from upper left: Photo of Creamsicle from the Lemon Ice King of Corona by joshbousel on flickr; Jamaican beef patties from Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery; Clam Chowder from Legal Sea Foods; artificially steaming coffee from Dunkin' Donuts Mayor Bloomberg and Mayor Thomas Menino of Boston are putting it all on the line for Sunday's Super Bowl. After winning the awful bet from Green Bay, Bloomberg has a lot more riding on the line......

As of 8 this morning the starting points for this year's Idiotarod had already been changed twice. As with every year, the effort to dodge police and the scramble to find the most updated starting line is still underway, but the carts should be off soon...and we'll keep you updated. In the meantime, check out Team Danger Zone's ride! Photo via lobster rocket's flickr. 12:35pm - Where are the carts? We just received this message:......

The new season of the Apprentice premiered on Thursday with its celebrity (or "celebrity" - if you consider Omarosa from the Apprentice's Season 1 a celebrity) twist. The show received its best ratings in two years, winning the 9PM timeslot for viewers ages 18-49. The Donald said, "I was really happy. I wasn't expecting this." We missed watching it, but NBC offers episodes online - you can see the premiere here - so we......

Few have noticed, and perhaps less care, but there aren’t too many hot dog shacks or trucks left in the city. Despite the recent success of relatively fancy dogs topped with everything from kimchee puree to avocado mash, a few legendary hot dog outposts still exist in the far reaches of Brooklyn and Queens, tucked away on corners near scrap metal dealers and steel-frame towers of junked cars. These are the kinds of places where......

It appears the rumors of autumn's demise have been greatly exaggerated and you're going to have to start wearing a jacket outside after all. But the change of seasons is not without its perks; there are those hot winter drinks to look forward to, and a number of bars around town offer the perfect accompaniment for your hot toddy: a crackling fireplace. Below are some of New York's best places to chill out on a......

Fridays are bustling on 34th Street, but yesterday was a little different. Billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg was spotted with billionaire developer Donald J. Trump and his three adult children, Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric. What were they doing? Walking, talking, and eating hot dogs. Or at least Mayor Bloomberg was eating a hot dog - he loves hot dogs and they love him! And why? Because NBC is filming the celebrity edition of The......

One could consider it a given that September 11th was not funny. One website, however, seems to make fun of the day that changed New York so much. 911wasfunny.com has jokes that aren't funny, disturbing images, and is pretty thoughtless through and through. It even has an animated image of an airplane flying into the website's logo. While it may not be too early to remove the reading of the names from the airwaves, it's......

Generally, when one thinks of baseball game food, the usual suspects come to mind -- hot dogs, sausage and pepper sandwiches, Cracker Jacks, maybe some nachos, complete with day-glo cheez -- but tucked away in a corner of Shea stadium lies something that puts them all to shame. Mama's of Corona is squirreled away on the third base side on the Field Level of the stadium, and those of us with the cheap seats have......

July 28: 2nd Annual QBQ BBQ Burger Bash It's burger time! This weekend is the second annual Gothamist-Serious Eats/A Hamburger Today QBQ BBQ at Water Taxi Beach. Your votes determined the burgers on the menu: the onion burger, the butter burger (pictured), and the pimento cheese burger. Six Apart will be sponsoring the event with a keg of Orlio and Gothamist/Serious Eats/A Hamburger Today will also be supplying an additional keg of beer. Tickets, which......

Summer always brings to mind certain culinary delights -- barbecue, corn on the cob, hamburgers and hot dogs, lemonade, and seafood, particularly anything you'd find at a New England clam shack. We're fortunate enough to live near Pearl Oyster Bar if we need a quick fix, but what about those for whom the closest decent lobster might actually be in New England? Send 'em a Lobstergram. The folks at Lobstergram sent us one to try......

Something to distract you from today's soggy weather. One Night of Fire is a roving street party organized each year by the Danger, a group that is committed to “creating nights of indelible beauty.” This past Saturday, thousands of people dressed in white lined the Brooklyn Bridge with drums, stilts, hoops, and a Metrocard. First stop: City Hall. Permanent smiles marked the faces of angels caring fabric-cut flames on poles. Colors of white and......

While the residual mustard stains have barely dried from last week’s extremely popular Hot Dog Eating Contest at Nathan’s Famous, it seems like the realm of competitive eating in NY has reached an overdue “I’m full” saturation point. So it’s only in the interest of each borough having its own event that we bring you this next story- the 4th Annual Dumpling Eating Contest, taking place on Sunday August 5th as part of the Hong......

The hot dogs were barely digested when Takeru Kobayashi threw down the proverbial gauntlet for next year's Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest. After being handed defeat by Joey Chestnut in this year's contest, Kobayashi looked at Chestnut, pointed and yelled, "I will definitely beat him next year." Chestnut broke his own world record and Kobayashi's Coney Island record yesterday by eating 66 HDB (hot dogs and buns) and brought the Mustard Belt back......

It's our favorite July 4th tradition, this side of smiley-face fireworks: The Annual Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, held at Nathan's in Coney Island. And this year's competition is particularly tantalizing: Current champion Takeru Kobayashi has been having jaw pains, while Joey Chestnut broke the hot dog eating record, by scarfing down 59.5 at a June event. So we shall begin our liveblogging, and Jen Chung and Tien Mao will be providing other commentary......

Competitive eating powerhouses convened in front of City Hall today to be weighed in for tomorrow's Nathan's Famous July Fourth Hot Dog Eating Contest. Six-time winner and current mustard belt holder Takeru Kobayashi weighed in at 154 pounds while Joey Chestnut, who broke Kobayashi's hot-dog eating record by keeping down 59.5 hot dogs at an Arizona event last month, weighed in at 215 pounds. Kobayashi had signaled his all-important jaw muscles weren't feeling that......

With the Nathan's Famous 4th of July Hot Dog Eating Competition just three days away, excitement is building over who will take home the Mustard Belt this year. With perennial champion Takeru Kobayashi hampered by a reported jaw problem, the Mustard Belt is up for grabs and local contendors may have a shot. Californian Joey Chestnut broke Kobayashi's hot dog-eating world record a month ago, but the New York Post profiled two men, "Crazy......

When will all this Kobayashi drama end?? We suspect that there will be story upon story about Takeru Kobayashi's jaw issues right up until next week's Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest. The Times talked to Kobayashi and says his jaw issues are genuine and that he is fit enough to compete on Wednesday. How many hot dogs "fit enough" means obviously remains to be seen. The Times also gets several gristly nuggets: Kobayashi was fitted......

Nathan's better get their beef remnants and buns ready, because Takeru 'Tsunami' Kobayashi is coming to the shores of Coney Island. At least that's what Kobayashi's manager says. If you've been following along, you know that Kobayashi, the reigning champion and six time Mustard Belt winner of the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, has experienced some hiccups in his training for the July 4th competition. After one week of training, he developed jaw arthritis. Ever......

Oh no! Could it be? Is the rematch between Takeru 'Tsunami' Kobayashi and Joey Chestnut in doubt? Last year at the Nathan's annual 4th of July Hot Eating Contest, Kobayashi narrowly defeated Chestnut to win the Mustard Belt for the sixth year in a row. Defending his title next week may not be possible for Kobayashi. First, his mother passed away in March, causing the Tsunami to take a sabbatical from training. Now, news......

Mets 1, As 0: It may have taken three weeks, but the Mets have finally won a series in June. In dramatic fashion last night, the Mets defeated the A's on a 9th inning double by David Wright. It was also the first time the Mets have won back-to-back games in 22 games. Both starting pitchers pitched magnificently, with Joe Blanton pitching 8 innings of scoreless ball for the A's and Orlando Hernandez going 7......

June 21-23: NYC Food Film Festival, Part 2 See last week's calendar for the full description of the festival and the website for the schedule of events. This weekend's fim focus in on hot dogs and sausages, currywurst in particular, and even includes a hot dog eating competition, so get your gullets ready. At Water Taxi Beach. June 21-24: Staten Island Restaurant Week In their first ever restaurant week, over 50 of Staten Island's restaurants......

This 4th of July's Nathan's hot dog eating contest should be especially exciting. Joey Chestnut, who finished second to perennial champion Takeru Kobayashi at last year's event, just broke the Japanese man's world record by eating 59 hot dogs in 12 minutes. Kobayashi's previous record was 53.75, which he set during the 2006 Coney Island hot dog contest. Chestnut set the new record at the Southwest Regional Hot Dog Eating Championship in Arizona. The......

Seattlest has a talk with the photographer from last week's "Segway Mom" and then experiences some dissension in the ranks over the question of wine vs. beer. It's not West Side Story, but about as close as they'll get. They're also still waiting on some inbox relief after a spammer is arrested. As Chicagoist counts down the days to its third anniversary party, they found all-organic pizza to be underwhelming amidst the hoopla, tried......

The Coupon Clipper scours the specials for the best deals in New York's big grocery stores. Memorial Day usually conjures up some kind of natural reactions. Beyond the real reason-for-the-season aspect of the holiday, what usually comes next is food. Though hot dogs, chicken wings, and many other things could and should be used, what hits the paper plates more often than not are hamburgers. Which is all well and good, except that Memorial Day......