July 6, 2009
Michael at work
Last week I went up to Boston to have dinner with some friends. Well, two dinners, first at Sonsie and then I met up with my friend Michael Schlow, the super-talented chef and owner of Radius, Via Matta and Alta Strada restaurants (sorry nothing in NYC. Yet).
”Did you eat yet?,” he asked as he pulled up the bar stool next to me at Oishii Sushi in the South End. ”Yes, I’m soooo full,” I answer, patting my belly for extra measure.
“Well you’re going to eat again,” he says with certainty as he marks the sushi menu.
It’s easy to eat again with Michael, because you forget that eating is a finite act (only so much room in that stomach) and embrace it like a sport, to be enjoyed like you would enjoy a night of dancing. ”Let that toro sit on your tongue for a second,” he orders me, and I obey, and suddenly I’m tasting a creaminess I never knew before. Between plates of sashimi, a spicy tuna handroll served in a cucumber wrap, smoked tofu, and a phenomenal tea-smoked hamachi, there is sake. Lots of it. Other Boston restaurant peeps pull up chairs, and the jokes fly. Michael, and you would know this from his appearance on Top Chef Masters, has a fine sense of humor. He might be one of the top chefs in the country, but he’s as down’n'dirty as the rest of us and not one to take airs (yes he’s the one who sweats profusely while making dessert for the Girl Scouts).
Michael also happens to be a great writer (he wrote his own cookbook) and so I’m very excited to add his blog to my blogroll. You can find it on michaelschlow.com, a pretty fresh site where much is still under construction. Hopefully he will be guest blogging for AFB when he heads to Italy with his friend Batali. Yeah, that guy.
Michael's cookbook
July 4, 2009
the whole fish at Mary's Fish Camp
Mary’s has been adored for years as a place with one of the city’s top lobster rolls (competing mainly against Pearl Oyster Bar), and I’ve been one of those adorers, waiting patiently for my seat at the bar so I could order up that along with the oyster po’ boy and the perfectly awesome hot fudge sundae. What I realized on my last visit to Mary’s is that while Mary’s Fish Camp gets plenty of attention, there are two things on the menu that just don’t get enough credit, like…
THE WHOLE FISH. Holy crap is this good. My friend Hadi, a true foodie in from LA, insisted he couldn’t get good whole fish in LA, so he starts dreaming of Mary’s before his flight East and by the time he lands he’s on a mission. Having had it with him, I understand why. The brilliance is in the quality of the fish and the brilliant simplicity: it’s treated with herbs and lemon, and served with some grilled vegetables. Could fish really taste this good? I forget, sometimes, when it’s covered with all sorts of fancy sauces, that a good fish is hard to beat with just a little lemon.
New Zealand cockles
NEW ZEALAND COCKLES. These are so sweet and wonderful that my mouth just watered as I wrote this. Served in broth with beans and garlic and parsley and a fair share of butter, you could slurp these up by the dozen.
Mary’s Fish Camp: 64 Charles St at the corner of W. 4th St. Get more info at www.marysfishcamp.com
July 4, 2009
easy chillin' at Veloce Club
Veloce Club is a teeny tiny space hidden by thick drapes, but if you get past that you find a fantastic little hideaway, a 1950s cocktail throwback with leather banquettes, Sinatra on the playlist and a wickedly good Americano on the drink menu. Frederick Twomey (Bars Carrera and Veloce) opened it with the intention of offering REALLY excellent classic cocktails in a rich, handsome room with deep booths and simple eats. The cocktails are so well-done and the food is much better than it even needs to be (we had burrata flown in from Italy that morning and a deliciously crisp panini). This is great for when you a) have a hot date, b) don’t want to be seen with your date for various reasons or c) are totally fed up with the crowds at every other bar in Nolita. Whatever your reason, this place is a great bet.
one of my favorite americanos in the city
Veloce Club, 17 Cleveland Place in Soho/Nolita. Get more info on nymag.com
June 25, 2009
I get excited when my two loves, food and fashion, hang out together. It makes me happy, and this event, happening tonight in Soho, seems really cool. There’s shopping (and I’m assuming some special deals) at various Spanish stores and then tapas! I LOVE tapas! Especially when they’re being provided by Boqueria, which, as anyone who reads this blog knows, is my fave.
June 22, 2009
My friend Lucy turned 30 last week, and we celebrated at Weather Up, a very cool bar in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn (I’ve got to show you the cocktails, yum). The bar is very cool partly because they allowed thirty of us to take over their peaceful back garden, and partly because they allow you to bring in your own food (why not, you drink more). So Lucy made banh mi (Vietnamese sandwiches), summer rolls, and these gorgeous bites: slices of toasted baguette topped with fresh feta, sliced zucchini, lemon zest, olive oil, herbs and a jalapeno for an incredible hint of spice.
Maybe Lucy will write in with the recipe?
UPDATE: THANKS FOR THE RECIPE LU!
June 18, 2009
chilled out people take their dogs for a ride in Scituate Harbor
Why should you go? Because the little beach towns along the coast are so freaking charming you forget you HATE saltwater taffy and steamers. I grew up in one of these towns on a five-mile stretch of beach called Nantasket, which pokes out halfway between Boston and Cape Cod. Visiting home recently, I forgot how beautiful it is on a dry sunny day, when the sky has only a few wispy clouds, the ocean is a hundred shades of blue, the sun is pleasantly warm so you think you won’t get burned. You get burned.
We started at noon with beers at TK O'Malleys, one of the only places I know that you can sit outside, at a bar, and directly face water.
And the food… oh I love it. It’s so simple and traditional. Lucy and I had lunch on the second floor of Mill Wharf in Scituate (the town down the way), overlooking the harbor. Mill Wharf is a run-of-the-mill place (ahem) where you stick to what was caught that and what’s fresh. We ate Duxbury oysters, clams and shared a lobster roll. She had a summer ale and I had some crappy California white whose name I don’t remember, but it didn’t matter because it was cold, and the food was good, and the view was spectacular.
Moved onto Mill Wharf, and had oysters and wine
Lobster Roll, with cole slaw
The South Shore is completely overshadowed by the Cape, and that’s fine by me. If you’re visiting Boston, I highly recommend taking a day trip to my old stomping grounds- it’s an hour drive and it’s got all the charm of the Cape without the ridiculous traffic.
Information about Hull, click here.
Information about Scituate, click here.
Information about Cohasset (a gorgeous town, home to the organic farm I talked about), click here.
And if you want an incredible meal, go to Tosca, in Hingham MA (another gorgeous town in an area full of ‘em). It’s hands down my favorite restaurant.
June 18, 2009
A few weeks ago I made this watermelon and feta salad for a party. This might be one of my favorite summer salads. It’s light, it’s fresh, sweet mixed with salty, and full of interesting textures that makes me go mmmmm. You really can’t mess this one up, and there are a ton of recipes (some of which I’ve provided links to below). The basic rule is: fresh seedless watermelon, a salty cheese like feta, torn mint or basil, olive oil, pepper. You can add olives or thinly-sliced red onion, you can serve it over greens or as a composed salad. Try it, you’ll love it.
my watermelon salad, with basil, feta, and served over watercress
Watermelon Salad from Food and Wine, click here.
Watermelon, Feta and Olive salad from Saveur, click here.
Tomato and Watermelon Salad from Epicurious, click here.
June 18, 2009
It’s been raining for what feels like months. I’m tired of it, and I want summer to come in all its sunshined glory. And when the summer sun has had its way with the tomatoes, making them grow red and yellow and orange and green and plump and juicy, I will eat tomato salads every day, like this one. My friend Hope ate this salad last summer in Napa Valley, and I find it positively beautiful to look at and dream about.
June 8, 2009
The scene at Roberta's
I don’t want to tell you about this place. I’m sorry, but I don’t. I feel like I must, though, because it’s a little jewel in a not-so-jeweled spot and I want to show my support… But oh how I wish I could keep this place a secret so I don’t have to wait for a table after the word gets out.
grilled country bread with ricotta, peas, mint, arugula
The Specken Wolf pizza
It’s called Roberta’s, and it’s a few things. It’s a pizza place, if you can call a place that puts out ethereal little pies like the Specken Wolf (speck, mushrooms, onions, oregano, mozzarella $14) with handmade mozzarella and glorious strips of fresh speck and delicious crust just a pizza place. It’s a restaurant with a small menu and a cash only policy, which doesn’t really matter when everything on the menu is under $20, including things like wood-roasted Berkshire pork chop with farrow, nettles and oyster mushrooms or linguine with big juicy clams. It’s the home to its own garden, which is built atop giant shipping containers in the back, the things that grow in the garden, like herbs and tomatoes, go directly into your dinner. It’s also home to a radio station, where chefs and wine experts talk shop inside the shipping containers that also serve as the radio station studio. Roberta’s is it’s own culinary-culture temple.
a bite from the cheese pizza
the main course: green salad accompanying a gorgeous pig butt, slow-roasted with fennel pollen and various herbal wonders
pork fell apart. pork from heritage foods.
Roberta’s is also a hike for most as it lives on a relatively barren street in Bushwick, but it’s a worthy hike. The food is seriously good, the vibe is mellow, and there is a level of authenticity and ingenuity to the place that’s really inspiring. I went there for a family dinner of sorts. Now I don’t recommend taking a big group there as the kitchen will want to kill you (we had an in via Erin Fitzpatrick, host of the radio wine show “At the Root of It” which she tapes in those shipping containers I was talking about).
Roberta’s: 261 Moore St, Brooklyn, NY. For more information, photos, menus, etc, visit their website.
