June 2009
48 posts
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Welcome to Harlem
After stumbling upon an adorable studio apartment complete with private garden, I decided to switch up my scenery and move to Harlem for the summer. I’ve only been here for a week, but I can honestly say I’ve never eaten better (with the exception of living with my mother, goddess of the kitchen). Last Saturday night, Read and I took a stroll through our new neighborhood only to find...
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Swedish Greenhouse
Here’s the greenhouse at Appelfabriken. We’ve had nonstop glorious sunshine since I arrived a week ago. This means I’m getting a great tan but also devoting a ton of time to watering all the plants! Alright, no complaints…
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Hot summer/cool food
While having dinner with South American friends on Friday, we were fantasizing about our favorite summer meal: Ceviche and guacamole! Both are so easy to make, yet my Venezeulan friend had never made either! I told her I would give her my favorite recipes, but I’m giving them to The Dish first! Ceviche: Ask your favorite fishmonger to cut up 1/4-1/2 inch cubes of white fish - I like to use...
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WTW: Stockholm
I learned my first Swedish word: REA!! Yes, I know- I am working at Appelfabriken-the quaint country café and garden in Stockholm’s inner archipelego. Day to day tasks usually include weeding the garden, mowing lawn, trimming hedges, watering the greenhouse down and a whole mess of other odd jobs involving rakes, hoses, shears and keeping my nails short. But post-midsummer here, everything...
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Sweden: Design Torget
Design Torget, in Stockholm’s Sodermalm neighborhood, is a design junkie’s heaven. Think MoMa design store + Ikea + Muji. I spotted a ton of stuff I wanted to import but most of it was too big. Enter the collapsable cheese grater. I am fascinated. Maybe you can get in in NYC? But I’ve never seen it… I also spotted a roundy one. Cool too!
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Coming soon... LE YUM - Bobo
In an upcoming episode of LE YUM, Chef Patrick Connolly of Bobo walks Jill through his signature dish - Ahi Tuna, with crispy tofu, avocado, and cilantro. The dish is insane, and Jill has a blast grooving down with Patrick in Bobo’s kitchen. They rock it. Stay tuned…
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Rest in Peace
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Yes we Coyoacan!
The ultra-modern, all glass facade of Mesa Coyoacan is what deterred us from visiting the space’s previous inhabitant, Pampa Grill. What can I say - it’s just a bit out there for this stretch of Graham Ave. That said, after nudges and endorsements from our neighborhood pals, we decided to finally cross the threshold and… books, covers, judgements - you get the idea. Inside,...
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Shipping Out to Sweden Today
Hi Folks! I am leaving on extended travel to Sweden today. I’ll be living on an apple farm on Färingsö - an island near-ish to Stockholm. It’s called Applefactory and they grow all kinds of local Swedish apples. There is a factory in which they produce a variety of different marmalades, chutneys, butters, glazes, syrups, jellies, and mulled wine. I’ll be there for about a...
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Cherries Jubilee
The potential Culinista who arrived for her cooking interview on Friday had no idea that my favorite Ralph’s Ices flavor was Cherries Jubilee… or did she? The first dessert ever made for a Culinista interview, this one was a winner. Check it out! Elderflower-Spiked Cherries Jubilee with Caramelized Almonds and Creme Fraîche. And, what do you think - does she get the job?
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Bobo Supper Club
Bobo has been through three, maybe four, chefs since opening its doors in late 2007. I’ve always been a fan but the reviews have always knocked the food. Patrick Connolly (re: sexy chef contest) has been in the kitchen for almost a year now and I am hoping that people start showing some love. I had a great dinner with The Supper Club in Bobo’s private room. Connolly cooked us a...
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Preserve or Perish?
As fruit displays progressively shine with the appetizing colors of summer, some locavores, heirloom produce hounds and DIY enthusiasts are already planning for winter by arming themselves with massive tongs, a litter of mason jars and huge pots of boiling water. Clostridium botulinum beware! Though an average pint sized jar of preserves or pickles lasts me 36 hours at most and a cellar of jars...
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Jolynn and the Giant Peach
Yesterday, I went to the grocery store and discovered a peach special. Once home, I kicked off my shoes and immediately started eating my prizes one after another while licking the juices from my fingers and arms and reliving old summer memories. Ten minutes later, I retrieved my shoes from under the washer and headed back toward the store for more. [caption id=”attachment_2627”...
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Locanda Verde
Locanda Verde is DeNiro’s finest restaurant yet. On a recent visit, I enjoyed everything I tasted. Sitting outside along Greenwich Street, I became progressively excited each time the waiter arrived to our table with a new dish. Starting with the house bread - the bar was set high. Doughy foccaccia smothered in tomato sauce. Le yum… We began with the mushrooms agro dolce. I was...
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Party Down
A few people had raved about Party Down before I finally sucked it up and plopped in front of the TV (errr Projector) for a viewing. Party Down is a 10 episode series on Starz network starring Adam Scott, Ken Marino and Lizzy Caplan. It’s about a catering company, the employees of which are, for the most part, out-of-work actors and people who want to work “in the...
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Stumptown
I love Stumptown Coffee. But I also loved this article. A friend forwarded it to me a few weeks ago and I just got around to reading it. Does Stumptown = Starbucks? What do you think? Are these tattoos just hipster branding?
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Park Avenue Potluck Celebrations!
That’s the one and only Florence Fabricant, writer for The New York Times and editor of many cookbooks. A couple of years ago, she co-authored Park Avenue Potluck, a collection of recipes assembled by The Society of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center meant to raise money and awareness for patient care, research and education. Well, the ladies who are known to lunch did so well with...
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Salmon Burgers
I mentioned salmon burgers in my last post. I got two from The Lobster Place for dinner. This is barely a blog post because they are so easy! Simply sear them for about 5 minutes with a little olive oil. Then pop them in the oven at 450°… ten minutes later, take them out and serve! I served them with french fries and grilled eggplant.
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Easier French Fries à la Cooks Illustrated
I got these great salmon burgers from The Lobster Place for dinner and wanted to do a fun accompaniment. I had just received my Cooks Illustrated in the mail and remembered a recipe for “Easier French Fries.” That sounded perfect. I started out with some humble Yukon Golds. Slice it into batons. Drop them into a pot of canola oil - 1 cup per potato - while the oil is still cold....
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GET THIS BOOK! 834 Tips from Cooks Illustrated!
I recently came across this book put out by the Cooks Illustrated gang: 834 Kitchen Quick Tips - It’s about the coolest book I’ve seen in a while. It’s perfect for your son heading to college… your newlywed daughter… even your husband! 585 pages of tips like, “restart the grill with a hairdryer. Use chopsticks to dry wine glasses spot-free. Peel a kiwi with a...
Test Amazon Affiliates
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Fig Preserves
Figs are one of my favorite fruits so when Taylor’s uncle Don led me out to his garden where two enormous fig trees draped into a dome of leaves and fruit, my jaw-dropped. If you take a close look, you can see tons of green figs ripening on the tree. Don told me they’d be ready by July 4th and I want nothing more but to return to Baton Rouge to help him harvest them! Since I’ll...
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Felix's
Our last night in New Oreans, we ate at Felix’s, an oyster bar that Taylor’s dad had suggested. At Felix’s, it is understood that anyone can come in from the street, “belly up” to the bar (standing) and order as many or as few oysters as he pleases. Check out the master shucker. For round one of our meal, we decided to sit down, reasoning that we’d want more...
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What does a Dish week look like?
So what kind of food do you get when you sign up for the Dish’s Dish? WHATEVER YOU WANT!!! I’ve posted some photos (cell phone shots, sorry) below of a complete menu for one of my clients. Every menu is tailored to your needs and can be as fancy/simple or healthy/comforting as you want. You could, of course, mix and match side items the way you would want for breakfast, lunch, or...
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La Divina
I was caught off guard by the quality of La Divina gelato. We’d read in a local paper that it had won best gelato/ice cream in New Orleans several years in a row. But being from New York, skepticism is always the name of the game, huh? Well, right off the bat there was something I really liked about Divina - the 2 oz bamino size for $2. Everyone wins! It’s the amount of gelato that...
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LE YUM - Beco
Last week, the nice boys at Beco showed me a few tricks in their Brazilian kitchen. I learned how to make pao de queijo and caipirhinas.This might just be the perfect snack. I can already see myself… munching on pao, sipping caipirhinas and getting a great Brazilian tan on the beach… oh I digress! But that’s what happens when you wander into Beco. The little bar/restaurant...
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Mari Vanna
Leave it to The Supper Club to throw a dinner party at Mari Vanna - the Russian restaurant on East 20th Street still a month away from opening. On a recent night, there were mini-Moets and Russian chocolates, excellent salads and of course vodka shots to go around! Here’s the menu: Mari Vanna combines elegance - chandeliers - with the down home - old books and myriad tchotke. The bar is...
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Sucre
Sucre is New Orleans’ super sweet, super sexy patisserie. While one part of the city heavily nods to France of yore, Sucre is a shout out to the sleek, nouveau patisseries of today’s Paris like Pierre Hermé. You can’t go wrong with macarons here. They’ve got the classic flavors and stray from them; just as they do with their gelato. Try the coconut basil. Or go for a...
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Mother's
Mother’s is one of those hole-in-the-walls that every great city has. We have Katz’s, LA has Phillipe’s. New Orleans has Mother’s. Check out this queue! Classic. And take a look at the menu. T and I decided to split a combo platter that came with crawfish etouffée, jambalaya, collards, red beans, potato salad and rice. We also couldn’t pass up a cup of seafood...
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Deanie's BBQ Shrimp
My friends Nina and Zach insisted that I check out Deanie’s for their BBQ shrimp. And, to cut to the chase - they were nothing short of revelatory. From what I understand, the sauce in which these colossal shrimp swim is basically all butter - spiced in order to disguise it. Upon first bite, Taylor said, “This is my mom’s shrimp manale.” And, after doing a little snooping...
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Tribeca Grill
Usually, any of the Myriad Group restaurants are a little out of my price range, but an invite to join a friend and her family for dinner had me running down to SoHo for a Sunday dinner at Tribeca Grill. Feeling slightly under-dressed (the restaurant name is slightly misleading…), I sat down at a beautiful white table and was presented with a wine list the size of the Bible. To start, I ordered a...
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Food Party
Thu Tran is a crazy sweet girl from Ohio… making Food Party since 2007 and recently picked up by the IFC. You don’t need to watch the entire thing to see how wild and whacky she is.. Fingers crossed for the TV show!
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Acme Oyster House
Any restaurant called “oyster house” is fine by me. Several people recommended Acme. Despite it being “touristy,” they all assured me that it was really top notch (and inexpensive). It’s a Louisiana chain, and we ended up trying the one in Baton Rouge - where our waiter, it turns out, had just moved home to Baton Rouge from Bushwick! We’d already had a very...
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Sake Chu Hi
Aside from the standard bombs and tinis, I haven’t found much creativity within the world of sake. While wandering around St. Marks this weekend, Read and I stumbled upon a sushi lounge with a drink menu dominated by something called Sake Chu Hi—a mixture of sake and flavored soda. Flavors ranged from the traditional lime to grapefruit and lychee. We decided on guava and passion fruit, which...
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Typical Louisiana Brekkers
This is a typical Louisiana breakfast. This one is from The Clover Grill. Old & gritty, we couldn’t resist popping in for a quick helping of grits plus pools of butter. This is pretty standard - it’s how the free breakfast looked at the Best Western in Baton Rouge, too - except the biscuits were better at the hotel! I mean they were really, really tasty!
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Du Monde
I’ve been hearing about Cafe Du Monde since I was 12 years old. It always had that aura around it - of something special and untouchable. Somehow, it seemed more likely that I’d go to Madagascar than Cafe Du Monde. Well I finally made it! The beignets and café au lait are perfection. It was the first meal I had in Louisiana as well as the last - we did a drive-by at 5am before...
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Lemon Cream Cookie Extravaganza
Last week, not one but two cookie recipes sent me running to the store for lemons and an extra pound of butter. I donated “most” of first batch to a party but devoured the second batch personally and without shame. For the first batch, I attempted the Lemon Sandwich Cookies featured in this month’s Gourmet. The recipe combines a simple but luscious filling of confectioners sugar, butter and...
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Restaurant Week for Kids?!
Yup! Check it out! Cookie + Gourmet = Kid’s Restaurant Week! It kicks off June 20th…. right around when the kids are off to… camp?
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Louie G's vs Ralph's TRUTH (according to Louie G)
I stopped by Louie G’s tonight - the new one that opened a few doors down from Ralph’s on Graham Ave to inquire why they’d opened so close. I figured it must be personal beef. Turns out - I am right! But who is really being wronged here? According to Louie G, the ice cream shop that existed in the space they are now occupying was there for 25 years before Ralph’s showed...
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Lucky Girl
I am featured in Lucky Magazine’s July issue. And you thought all I liked to do was eat ;-) Click the image to see it full-size!
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French Onion Soup
After my brother spent some time in Paris this spring, he grew an affinity for French onion soup. On a rainy night, he came over and we recreated the magic using a recipe we found in Gourmet magazine. First we melted butter. Then sliced two huge onions and one medium sized. Then we added the onions to the pot and added a pinch of salt, three sprigs of thyme and two bay leaves. We sautéed them...
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Sel de Mer
Sel de Mer doesn’t have a liquor license yet, but who needs it when you’ve got these delicious watermelon mint coolers? The flavor doesn’t end there. When a girl friend and I stopped in for a light dinner this week, we were blown away by the taste and quality of each dish as well as the friendly vibe and gentle prices. We started by splitting the fried green tomatoes. ...
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Frost Restaurant - We Finally Tried It!
The restaurant at the corner of our block is called Frost Restaurant. It’s a very old, very neighborhood Italian spot. They are busiest between 5-7pm. Check out the crowd! With new restaurants popping up all over this neighborhood (Beco, Sel de Mer, the Mexican place, Motorino), it’s important to balance out the nights with the old classics. So we walked in here - Taylor’s...
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Anella
A few weeks ago, we dined at Anella, the restaurant being described as the restaurant living in the Queen’s Hideaway space. Some big shoes to fill. People loved to love Queen’s Hideaway. It exuded “quirky genius” according to New York Magazine. Anella is doing it’s best to take the reins and keep the pace. The menu has a ton of excellent options. We were relieved when we discovered they...
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Louisiana Shrimp @ Cookshop
After a friends gallery opening, Taylor and I decided to grab a quick nibble at Cookshop – conveniently located in the heart of the Chelsea galleries. We were nibbley but wanted to stay light on our feet and knew we’d be joining others for a full-blown dinner line up later. All that considered, and remembering the heavenly bread and Cookshop signature crème fraiche-caramelized onion dip at the...
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Granola: Rolled Rye Revolution
I have always given homemade granola to friends as gifts and special treats. Occasionally fancy recipes and earnest advice seduced me with suggestions for exotic ingredients, such as cardamom, ginger, almond extract and candied orange peels. All yielded superb granola, but in the end, I felt that pungent ingredients hid the natural appeal of oats, honey, wheat germ, nuts and fruit. As a curious...
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Daniel Craig Pops
Many know that I was working on a line of popsicles a while back. Well, I have to admit, I cannot top these. “Super smooth and license to chill.” Where do you go from there?
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The Brooklyn Star
I ate at The Brooklyn Star (the website is not representative of the restaurant) last night with Matt and Ariana. The restaurant introduces Joaquin Baca, a chef who’s graced the kitchens of Momofuku and The Rusty Knot. The space is sparse - wooden/slate tables, white walls - but people were crowded in early on Sunday night. The menu is meat heavy Southern food. We started with the...
