NYC's new 'It food' with nearly 1 billion TikTok views to prove it

Published

2 years ago

August 28, 2023

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Once seen as a staple of the American poor, sardines have hit their gill-ded age.

TikTok’s tinned fish trend has hit a fever pitch; #Sardine and #Sardines have a combined 831 million views as plenty of canned food enthusiasts brag about being “Sardine Satisfied” while munching on the slippery suckers.

And just in time for an explosion of “Girl Dinner” and “Sardinecore,” an acclaimed Portuguese sardine monger has touched down in NYC to sate the ever-growing canned fish craving with boutique seafood including fish adorned with gold.

Those willing to take the bait can visit the Fantastic World of the Portuguese Sardine on the corner of Broadway and 48th Street, the flagship US store in a Portuguese chain with 20 outlets.

The Post visited the preserved seafood merchant, which opened last Friday, to see if it was truly the sardine gold standard.

“One of our goals with our trip to the US is to kind of bring the Americans our fresh food,” Joana Quaresma, the Fantastic World’s project manager and Lisbon native, told The Post of their mission.

The epicurean ambassador added that she wanted to spread her native delicacy of sardines in olive oil to the “amazing stage” of Times Square, where tourists are infamously always packed in like sardines.

Walking into the venue, still in its soft opening stage, is like stepping into an epicurean toybox stuck out of time: There are painted figurines, staffers in old-timey sailor’s outfits, and of course, two stories of shelves the upper tier are accessed via sliding library ladder bearing multihued sardine cans like a veritable Fort Knox of fish.

Cans which run $15 for four ounces are arranged “chronologically” from 1916 to the present and feature events and famous birthdays for that year.

But don’t worry, Quaresma assures us those weren’t the actual years they were tinned they “don’t want to put customers in danger,” she says but rather a way to “get people’s attention.”

In fact, most expire after around seven years so, jettisoning any dreams of hunkering down at “Fantastic World” come a nuclear apocalypse or enjoying “Lazy Girl Meals” until the end of time.

Inside are scrumptious filets of sardine baptized in copious olive oil and compiled at a factory in Alvaro that’s been around since 1952 allegedly the only place in Portugal that still preps and packs the fish “by hand.”

The aforementioned date trend aims to spread this haute cuisine to the US, where unlike in Europe, sardines have long been synonymous with “low-end eating.”

“Fantastic World” couldn’t have come at a better time: Sardines have taken social media by storm with tin-fluencers such as Danielle Matzon amassing millions of views by binging on this upwardly mobile eat-on-camera.

The soaring demand for this so-called “hot girl food” as dubbed on Reddit even caused a nationwide tinned seafood shortage in January.

It becomes this gourmet snack that literally took five minutes to put together, Matzon claimed while describing the food’s appeal.

Of course, tinned fish have been a fixture in Europe for some time perhaps this is another instance of Zoomers “discovering” things that have been around forever.

In fact, the seafood obsession has jumped from the food to the fashion sphere with the arrival of Bottega Veneta’s Sardine handbag and celebrities from Ana de Armas to Lily Allen rocking nautical-themed attire over the past year.

Seemingly with Instagram in mind, Fantastic World offers a special Ouro Portugues, a $44 gold ingot-shaped (this shape is patented) tin with three ounces of sardines flecked with edible gold flakes of the variety found in Goldschlger. It evokes Willy Wonka’s golden ticket bars but for fish-philes.

“We usually recommend this for a special occasion,” said Quaresma. “This is not for everyday, obviously this is very good for a gift, but you want to show some dedication and that you want people to have a special moment with this.”

After trying this ritzy “goldfish” first-hand, it’s delicious but not vastly different from the standard date-bearing versions, only that it’s meticulously skinned and deboned and perhaps a bit lighter and airier. It was a cool gimmick that ultimately felt a bit like throwing rims on a Volvo: more stylish but with the same destination.

The highlight was watching my 7-year-old sister “pan” for gold flakes with a Carr water cracker.

One of the best offerings is the moist and smoky “Sardinia Asada” with sweet peppers and onions, a canned version of the charcoal-grilled sardines traditionally eaten at Lisbon’s Santo Antonio festival on June 12 aptly dubbed the Festival of Sardines.

This was the fishmonger’s way of condensing this vibrant experience in a brightly decorated can, which features scenes from said festival on the cover, for New Yorkers.

Along with sardines, the Fantastic World also does Bacalhau, the flaky and savory dried and salted cod that is a staple of Portuguese cooking.

Next week, the fishmonger will have all 18 varieties of tinned fish, including sole, salmon, octopus, whelk, mussels and “Mediterranean sea bass” (actually branzino, a white-fleshed fish that’s ubiquitous at Greek and Italian restaurants in NYC).

They even have a cookbook detailing how to pair sardines with every type of cuisine from Portuguese to Chinese.

One downside is the steep prices at Fantastic World, whose lease is up in ten years.

At the very least, the store presents a rare boutique beacon in the kitschy labyrinth of Elmo impersonators and “I Love NY” T-shirt vendors that Times Square is comprised of.

Science

Raphael Domjan Soars to 8,224 Meters in SolarStratos

Published

48 mins ago

August 12, 2025

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Raphael Domjan Soars to 8,224 Meters in SolarStratos

Raphael Domjan, Swiss Aviator, came close to reaching the distance of a world record while flying a solar Stratos plane on Sunday. He departed from Sion Airport in Southwestern Switzerland, reaching an altitude of 8224 meters; it lasted for four hours. Domjan, tagged as an eco-explorer for his aviation focus, and is known for his eco-friendly ambitions. According to him, achieving a height of more than 10,000 meters is still a dream for him to come true soon, hopefully.

Raphael Domjan Sets New SolarStratos Altitude Record

As per TechExplore, In 2010, Andre Borschberg set the record for the highest flight in a solar plane for 9,235 meters as a Swiss pilot flying the Solar Impulse. Domjan won’t just break the record of Borschberg but also intends to fly to the same altitude just like commercial jets. The challenge is as important as Solar Stratos has a boundary on the altitude that it can reach and while relying on solar power only.

The Road to 10,000 Meters: A Green Aviation Dream

Prior to this attempt, Domjan completed a practice flight on July 31, reaching an altitude of 6,589 meters, which was a record for the SolarStratos. Last Friday, he attempted a flight, but the thermals which usually aid in altitude gain were absent. He decided to turn back to conserve battery power for future attempts.

Earlier this week, conditions proved more favorable, leading to a new record altitude for the SolarStratos. As an innovation, the plane has solar panels on its 24.8-meter wings, which power its batteries. During the flight’s solar charging cycle, the plane’s batteries will automatically recharge to full. Domjan and his team are preparing for the next record attempt to make sure it will be a guaranteed success.

Asked about the 10,000 meter target, Domjan believes it is a target which will be achieved only by relentless attempts. For him, it is about the achievement, and an achievement only possible through determination and resilience on the aviations of the future as a green revolution.

Science

Singapore Researchers Build Maple Seed Drone with Record 26-Minute Flight

Published

1 hour ago

August 12, 2025

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Singapore Researchers Build Maple Seed Drone with Record 26-Minute Flight

A flying robot inspired by the anatomy of a maple seed, samaras, was developed by researchers of the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD). This new monocopter, besides flying much longer than other drones of its size, proves its superiority by running on a single rotor for 26 minutes. This feat is a marked achievement, proving the goals of SUTD’s associate professor Foong Shaohui, who built a 50 minute flying drone for Singapore’s 50 year anniversary. Now, the focus shifts to efficiency in smaller designs.

Nature-Inspired Design Brings Breakthrough in Small Drone Efficiency

According to Techxplore, Nature proves to be the ultimate guide for the SUTD team, as they had previously designed quadcopters with no external help. In the case of maple seeds that spin and gently fall to the ground creating lift, the team built a singular powered wing monocopter. This improvement, while simple, also greatly enhances control, efficiency, effectiveness, and reduces weight.

The collective mix of human creativity with AI enabled tools to further enhance the designs fuel origami’s makes the monocopter a success. AI enabled tools allowed the team to simulate various shapes, angles, and weight before creating the final prototype. As a result, the team had a drone that is 32 grams while retaining the ability to endure more than other drones.

From 10-Year Challenge to Record-Breaking Maple Seed Monocopter

This small monocopter could be extremely beneficial for low-cost, long-duration missions. An example mission could be to transport instruments for measuring meteorological conditions. Taking home the Sustainability Winner award at the 2024 Dyson Awards felt like a decisive victory for monocopter, underscoring its potential for environmental monitoring missions. Now refinement efforts will target a larger payload, longer endurance, and extended range, all without adding weight.

The achievement shows the ten years of steady progress, which started from the SG50 quadcopter and evolved into the SG60 monocopter. It is planned for rollout during the 60th birthday of Singapore festivities. It has been guided by advanced engineering, insights from nature and on-board AI from the team has demonstrated the practical versatility and impressive performance of compact flying robots.

Environment

Elon Musk went from promising Tesla unsupervised self-driving to ‘less nag’

Published

1 hour ago

August 12, 2025

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Elon Musk went from promising Tesla unsupervised self-driving to 'less nag'

Elon Musk is hyping an upcoming Tesla ‘Full Self-Driving’ (FSD) update by claiming that it will have “less nag” – a far cry from its long-unfulfilled promise of unsupervised self-driving.

For the last few weeks, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been hyping a new FSD update that he claims will include “10x higher parameters.”

We already reported how FSD owners should manage their expectations based on the last time Musk claimed a significant increase in parameter count.

Other than the increase in parameter count and the timing for the “end of September”, the CEO didn’t elaborate much on the update.

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He again commented on it this weekend:

The FSD release in about 6 weeks will be a dramatic gain with a 10X higher parameter count and many other improvements. It’s going through training & testing now.

But this time he also added that the update should result in “much less nag”:

Once we confirm real-world safety of FSD 14, which we think will be amazing, the car will nag you much less.

“Nag” is what some people refer to as the alerts FSD gives drivers to stay attentive to the road.

Tesla requires all drivers to remain attentive to the road when using Autopilot or Full Self-Driving, and they are responsible for any mistakes made by the vehicle.

Musk has repeatedly promised that Full Self-Driving would eventually become unsupervised, but every time he shared a timeline, Tesla failed to deliver.

Electrek’s Take

We are talking about 6 weeks – meaning the end of September, which also happens to be the end of the third quarter.

Tesla will release the update just in time to justify recognizing some deferred revenue set aside from selling its Full Self-Driving package.

“Less nag” means nothing. 99% of the value of FSD is in unsupervised operation with responsibility on Tesla. That’s where the value lies, and we are still far from that.

Musk is now talking about FSD having “less nag” by the end of September. And then what? We should expect Tesla to go from that to taking responsibility for the system in customer cars by the end of the year? Please.

The best data available points to Tesla achieving about 400-500 miles between critical disengagements and the last time Tesla introduced a big parameter increase it resulted in roughly a 2x improvement.

At 800-1,000 miles between disengagement, Tesla would still be years away from unsupervised self-driving in customer vehicles.

Look, I have FSD. I’m incentivized for Tesla to deliver here. I want to believe, but to do so, I can only rely on the latest in a long series of unfulfilled promises from a known liar versus actual data pointing the other way.

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