We swung by the flagship location of Garrett Popcorn last night to coerce Richard Blais—making a media appearance at the shop—into placing a surprise phone call to Top Chef correspondent Zach Feldman. Blais, tickled, indulged us, and a giggly Zach OMG’d his way through all three minutes of the conversation.
 
Apart from our stunt, the evening’s keystone gimmick was frozen "PopcornSicles." (NB to Garrett, we’d have taken a page from Pichet on this one…p*ornsicles). The balls were bound together using liquid nitrogen, which crept haunted house–like over the floor, and imparted a searing burn on our besandled toes.
 
The substance, it seems, is the coolant of choice for the would-be Top Chef. From using it to chill beers to mixing what he calls “molecular milk shakes, the sort that populate the beverage program at his newly opened Atlanta burger shop, Flip. Blais tells us the milk shakes—including a Krispy Kreme version—will also be available at the New York location he promises is in the works. “It’s the next market we’re looking to hit,” he said before scurrying off to his 9pm resy at bobo. So what do we think, readers? Who will turn a cover first—Ilan at ¡pasé!, or Richard at Flip?