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Wow, it’s Friday and boy did this week really fly by. Did you get through it ok? That’s interesting. Hey so you know what you should make this weekend? Granola! Have you ever made granola? You haven’t? My word. This is my favorite go-to granola recipe (it comes from the BAKED Cookbook) and many people [...]
Sometimes you have a negative restaurant experience that stays with you for a really long time after the fact. This is one such experience illustrated by a very talented illustrator: me. This fall I went to a hip new restaurant, here in L.A., with my friends Jim and Jess. You might ask, “Which restaurant?” but [...]
This is my friend Justin, you may recognize him from his great work at Food & Wine Magazine. Last time I was in New York, I met Justin for drinks in midtown and afterwards we decided to grab dinner somewhere in Hell’s Kitchen. On the fancy end of the spectrum is Esca, one of New [...]
An outcast. A misfit. Persona non grata. That’s been my life ever since, four days ago, I became a pescatarian. True: I only made this declaration yesterday and, truth be told, it’ll probably end with an Umami Burger somewhere down the road. But you should’ve seen the horrified looks on my friends’ faces last night [...]
There’s egg salad with mayo, which is just normal egg salad, and then there’s another kind of egg salad, a healthier person’s egg salad, an egg salad that may make egg salad traditionalists recoil in horror: egg salad with yogurt. Well, think about it. Yogurt (especially low-fat Greek yogurt) is healthy. Eggs are pure protein. [...]
Today’s NYT features an article by Julia Moskin that’s an essential read for anyone intimidated about frying chicken. If you’ve been reading me for a long time, you may recall my own fried chicken disaster (mistake #1: trying to fry in lard) and a few of my triumphs (fried chicken for a crowd). But Moskin’s [...]
When you get back from a weekend of binging in Las Vegas, you might find that you really crave salad. Not the wimpy kind with delicate garden lettuces, but a big bowl of raw vegetables that promises to cure all your ills. If you were a cheffy chef your first instinct might be to go [...]
Yesterday, buried in my post about Vegas Uncork’d, was a mini tribute to Mary Sue Milliken and a rant about how Food Network, and Food TV in general, no longer features shows with deeply knowledgable, seasoned chefs with a flair for instruction. Then I realized it hardly matters because most of those shows I loved [...]
At Vegas Uncork’d, at the Border Grill lunch, a woman sitting near us received her first course, the corn arepa with lobster salsa and a fried egg and without touching it asked the waiter for some salt. The waiter paused for a quick second and then said, “sure,” returning moments later with a little dish [...]
How many cookies does the average person eat over the course of a lifetime? 500? 5,000? 5 MILLION? I’m not sure but since life is short, I believe it’s important to make your cookies count. Cracking open a box of Chips Ahoy might scratch an itch much like sleeping with a prostitute probably scratches a [...]
When you’re an old fogey food blogger like me, dinner comes in one of two categories: 1. something you’ve already blogged about and 2. something you’ve never blogged about. The sad truth is that more often than not, lately, I feel like cooking things that I’ve already blogged about because I love making them. It’s [...]
Several years ago (in 2008, to be exact), I covered Vegas Uncork’d, Bon Appetit’s Las Vegas food festival, for the Food Network. That was a whirlwind of a trip; I interviewed so many chefs and attended so many meals, it felt like I ran a marathon. The nice people there invited me back many times [...]
Hey folks, I’m about to hit the road with my friend Diana to attend Bon Appétit’s Vegas Uncork’d. If you want to share the adventure, follow along on Twitter or Instagram. And if you have any favorite Vegas bites you think I should check out, share ‘em in the comments. See you back here on [...]
Movie theater popcorn is a total treat, worse for you than a Big Mac (I’m making that up but I’m sure it’s true), but one of the best parts about going to the movies. I always get a small movie theater popcorn and a small soda (Sprite) despite the fact that, the way it’s priced, [...]
Last week I tried an experiment in Liveblogging that didn’t really work. I was really just fooling around, having some fun with my phone, but I can see why seeing pictures of bread arriving at a lunch table isn’t the most exciting thing in the world. Today, though, I bring you a different take on [...]
Crowds gather early outside Totto Ramen in New York and by the time I took that picture I imagine the wait was an hour or longer. I like ramen as much as the next guy but I wouldn’t wait an hour for it. It’s a big bowl of soup with meat floating in it and [...]
In case you missed it, State Bird Provisions was just named Best New Restaurant by the James Beard Foundation. I was lucky enough to eat there with Pim in October; here’s my post all about it.
In good stories, a character changes. So, for example, if you’re watching a movie about a guy who’s afraid of heights but his girlfriend is being held hostage at the top of Mount Everest, we expect him to get over his fear in order to save her. If he decides to just leave her there [...]
Tobacco farmers are starting to grow chickpeas because there’s such a high demand for hummus in America. This is all my fault!
My favorite weekend breakfasts usually have some kind of balance of savory and sweet. A pile of pancakes here, a strip of bacon there, some eggs for good measure. Rarely have I ever craved a big plate of meat-products with eggs on the side. Recently, though, I found myself at brunch at The Breslin on [...]
Wandering around Williamsburg last week, my nose (or “schnozz,” if you prefer) led me down a street to a place that looked like a warehouse. The warehouse was actually home to Mast Brothers chocolate, one of the most revered chocolate companies in the country. You may recognize their chocolate bars as the ones with wrapping [...]
[via Kottke.org]
Look, let’s be honest, I make a really good radicchio salad. That may not mean much to most people because radicchio isn’t one of those vegetables that gets anyone excited. It’s bitter. It’s red. It’s red and bitter. What’s the big deal? Well: I like to serve it before a big, heavy dinner to wake [...]
Lunch at Spring on the Upper West Side was serviceable, pleasant, if slightly uninspired. Sitting outside, though, was a treat on this gorgeous day; it was also a treat to spend time with Lisa and Sam. And to blog the whole experience on my phone. Thanks, technology!
I’m at lunch with Lisa and Sam and I’m going to Liveblog it. Get ready!
This was an oatmeal cookie from Bouchon Bakery that I ate yesterday in the park with my friend Patty. I am on a bus now blogging about that fact. Are you impressed???
I just downloaded WordPress for my phone to see if I like blogging from it. This might be fun!
One of my favorite New York novelties is the existence of Please Don’t Tell in New York’s East Village. On St. Marks, between 1st and A, is a hog dog emporium called Crif Dogs. Looks innocent enough. But what you don’t realize, unless you know the secret, is that the phone booth that you see [...]
What a genius recipe (really, it’s from Food52′s Genius Recipe column) from one of my favorite chefs, Alex Raij: day-old croissants are sliced open, griddled in butter and topped with vanilla bean butter and orange marmalade. Can’t wait to try this back in L.A.
A few weeks ago, I posted this picture of a cheesecake that I ate at Craig’s aunt and uncle’s for Easter brunch and several readers wrote me and asked for the recipe. I wrote Craig’s aunt Liz who put me in touch with Andrea, who made the cake. The secret? “This recipe has twice as [...]
Yesterday Restaurant magazine continued its tradition of naming the best restaurants in the world, displacing Noma (which was formerly at #1) with El Celler de Can Roca in Spain. Of course there are all kinds of discussions about how legitimate this list really is (The Ulterior Epicure has a good rant about it) and, like [...]
David Lebovitz’s epic post about his trip to Lebanon is blogging at its best; beautiful pictures, wonderful stories and David’s unmistakable voice making the whole thing a treat to read.
When I think “cottage cheese” I think of my grandmother who would greet me, growing up, with an offer of diet chocolate soda (she stocked that stuff like it came from the fountain of youth) and cottage cheese with sugar and cinnamon. The texture of cottage cheese was so foul to me that when choosing [...]
When I went to Paris in 2005, the warm croissants certainly set my heart aflutter, as did the cracklingly fresh baguettes and the dainty, delicate macarons. But the moment my heart almost stopped beating from the shock of deliciousness was the moment I tasted my first Pierre Hermé dessert, a dessert called H. Mogador that [...]
My Mondays always start with me editing pictures from the previous week and deciding which of them will make good food posts. But this morning I found myself looking at a bunch of Instagram pictures I took this weekend and my favorite ones are all of New York City as it charges head-on into spring. [...]
[via L.A. Weekly's Squid Ink]
One of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had is the Captain’s Daughter at Saltie in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It’s described minimally on the menu: “sardines, pickled egg, salsa verde” and yet tastes like so much more. The bread, focaccia, is fluffy and rich with olive oil. The flavors are as bold as flavors can be: fishy, [...]
Emily Matchar asks a bold question on Salon.com: “Is Michael Pollan A Sexist Pig?” I certainly don’t agree with that assessment, but I think the conversation around it is fascinating. So fascinating, I just got into a whole debate about it with a house guest before hitting publish. Check it out.
The three elements that made this breakfast come together the way that it did were leftover pita (from the night I made chicken and hummus), leftover olive tapenade (from the night I made 4-hour lamb; the recipe’s in that post), and leftover Gruyere (from that cauliflower gratin). The breakthrough moment was when I decided to [...]
In early 2013, scientists and scholars from the Institute Marron Glacé gathered in Montmarte to discuss the creation of a food personally quiz that would help define four different types of food personalities. Sadly, after a bad case of the Norovirus wiped out nearly half the attendees, the other half grew disenchanted with their chosen [...]
There’s a funny website called “Is It Iced Coffee Weather?” that determines, based on your location, whether it’s iced coffee weather. The current prognosis for me is: “No. Try it hot.” This is a question I’m often asking myself because I enjoy drinking coffee every day, so much so that I drink tea in the [...]
The Girl Who Ate Everything really ate everything. This link proves it. (And now I’m hungry.)
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, a musical can be built around the poetry of Ezra Pound. Wait, that was a ridiculous line from last week’s Smash (as recapped, hilariously, by Rachel Shukert here). What I meant to say was: I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, it’s worth knowing [...]
18 million YouTube viewers can’t be wrong.
This is hard so I need a second. (Ahem.) Ok, my name is Adam Roberts and I have a problem. It started when I began cooking nine years ago and Sara Moulton said on the TV that you should blot your chicken before it goes into the oven to help the skin crisp up. I’ve [...]
Hey gang, I’m in New York for 10 days and I’m looking for some new places to check out while I’m here. Where should I go? What should I eat? I’d prefer inexpensive places, but don’t be shy with your suggestions. There’s a good chance something you write in the comments right now will become [...]
