Master Chefs & Their "Gardens"

The "Push" is on at Empellon Mexican Restaurant

2011-05-05T08:04:00.000-07:00

If looking for some different, some fabulous New York City restaurant to celebrate Cinco de Mayo -- the day when Mexican soldiers defeated Napoleon’s French forces, then look no further. Celebrated Iron Chef Alex Stupak’s new Mexican restaurant Empellon restaurant sticks it the eye of the French yet again. Here, Chef Alex shows traditional French haute cuisine to the door.

Empellon is surely the place to celebrate Mexican culinary culture. It’s a place to eat – to dine – to enjoy real food; the cultural cuisine of elegant Mexico vs. the tasteless ubiquitous, margarita and cheese-bombed Kraft-inspired version of what passes for Mexican. http://empellon.com/

Empellon – which means push – is different.

Likewise, Chef Alex is an inveterate contrarian.

The result is that customers are pushed or rather gently seduced with a come-hither menu that lures the diner to experiment.

Flavors and tastes are more often than not unfamiliar, defying food description. “It’s smoky, it’s spicy. It's hot. It’s a combination of sweet and refreshingly citrusy. Or roasted.” Or just “mmmm.” Or “wow.”

The delightful joy of eating at Empellon is discovery. Pure and simple and exhilarating and delicious. And affordable.

Chef Alex Stupak

Chef Alex takes pains to claim he is not an artist. However, he practically defines art! He shares a passion. And his work -- or art -- is constantly changing and evolving.

If fine art patrons can’t stop looking at that Andy Warhol, Empellon patrons can hardly be blamed for seeing and tasting nuance in every dish.

When asked if he is recreating a cultural heritage cuisine or taking the inspiration and re-crafting the recipes, he thoughtfully stops to consider. While Alex has done his share of solid research in Mexico, studying and inculcating the local food style – particularly in Oaxaca, there is no denying he can’t suppress his creativity. Chef says he is inspired by the impressive variety of plants and spices and the endless combinations found in Mexican cultural cuisine.

Perhaps Chef Alex is looking to put some distance between his first foray as an acclaimed pastry chef to the savory side of the restaurant. His pedigree is impressive: Iron Chef, WD-50, Alinea’s wunderkind and master of the manipulated.

Some questioned his move away from desserts and his opening a restaurant with Mexican food. His standard response is that he likes Mexican food. While that may be true enough, it’s evident that his artistic DNA is boundless.

One meal will have anyone asking, “Who cares?”

This food is amazing!

The food ingredients are sourced from local greenmarkets, especially Union Square. For the unique, Mexican-grown ingredients, including the variety of nearly 20 chiles he needs and the plantains that don’t grow in the local NY climate Chef Alex has developed regional relationships there in order to get the best and freshest for the restaurant.

The large living room-sized dining room is up front and a smaller dining room in the rear.

The lighting is low and candles set off the dark wood tables.

One wall of the main room is white-washed brick and the bar runs the length of the other side, backed by a Diego Rivera-like mural that is ablaze with red-hot chile colors.

The spirit of the Mexican painter’s labor murals could almost be said to inspire the servers and staff when observing their steely energy and crisp focused customer attention.

The restaurant is a family-run business. Alex’s wife, Lauren Resler, of Babbo fame, is the pastry chef here. Her brother, Matthew is the beverage manager and bartender.

Matthew has curated a drink offering that is nothing short of astounding.

With nearly 25 Mezcals, Empellon has more than any other bar in New York. And with names like Ilegal and Scorpion, the agave-based drinks are an illicit-sounding yet completely legit drinking adventure, setting the explorer back a mere $8 to $26.

There are also more than 35 different Tequilas, including Blanco, Resposado, Anejo and Ultra Premium and Infused, priced from $7 to $75.

There are plenty of beers with Modelo Especial and Negro Modelo on tap, along with six other brews. Beers run $5 to $9.

Por Que No?! Coctele

The Cocteles were an explosion of flavor.

The kick of the Por Que No? is one of the most popular with its silver/cilantro/Serrano/pineapple blend. Wow!

The comprehensive wine list includes vintages from all the top wine producing areas. What is intriguing and thoughtful here, as explained by the super-professional, uber-knowledgeable and gorgeous assistant manager, Rose Thompson, is that the list is arranged by attributes.

Rose Thompson, Empellon

So if the traditional European two-step of white with fish and red with meat leaves a lingering question of what to order with Mexican fare, it’s all been tied up with a bow here. For example, Red can be Light & Fruit Driven or Rustic & Earthy or Bold & Velvety. Whites are Crisp & Bright or Rich & Full.

Rose said the restaurant chose to pair the wine by its fruit or spice rather than match it to the food by the protein.

The dinner menu can start with a rich, creamy, flavorful and chunky guacamole.

But no tomatoes or citrus. It is prepared with smoke cashew and arbol chile. It comes with limes on the side and two salsas – that can go with everything. The Salsa Veracruz is roasted tomato olive and caper that is a blend of salty and smoky.

There are plenty of appetizers to choose from.

That’s the problem. They are all too tempting.

Who can resist Antojitos – which means craving?!

The taco dinner comes with three per order. The Lamb Barbacoa is cooked all day, melts in the mouth and served with Salsa Borracha and one of the most popular.

Lamb Barbacoa with Salsa Borracha

Beer Braised Tongue with Potatoes & Arbol Chile Salsa

The Beer Braised Tongue with potatoes and Arbol Chile Salsa is a surprise treat—smooth and best eaten with the accompanying onions- that will have people talking!

The Fish Tempura taco with cabbage and lime mayonnaise is startling for it’s blend of flavors - the Dogfish Tempura was served on a bed of layered radish, cilantro and sauce for a burst of flavor.

Dogfish Tempura with Cabbage & Lime Mayonaise

Seared Scallop over Peeky Toe Crab

The Seared Scallop over plantains and peeky toe crab with shredded taco- like potato sticks is a fantastic blend of textures and tastes.

The desserts are a sweet confection and just as difficult to decide what to order.

Recommended are the Bunuelos with Cafeta and Warm Honey and the irresistible Chocolate Flan with Masa-Cocoa Streusel and Cinnamon Ice Cream.

Bunuelos with Cafeta & Warm Honey

Chocolate Flan with Masa-Cocoa Streusel & Cinnamon Ice Cream

The flavor-packed dessert creations are on the same page as the Empellon savory menu offerings. Zing! Without a punch. The afterglow hits just the right note of fresh and flavorful. Chocolate is velvety, the cinnamon sparks and the streusel is served like graham cracker crumbs.

The Bunuelos are like sparkly pillows made all the more heavenly with warm caramel sauce…

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo in style. Go to Empellon for the special Prix Fixed Menu: four courses and open bar. Seatings are 6 ($70) and 8:30 pm. ($85). Chef Alex will keep the integrity of the menu for the celebration.

Return again and again for the variety and excitement of the delicious food waiting to be discovered at Chef Alex’s powerful and compelling Empellon. Hey, no pushing! There's plenty of delicious food for everybody!

Empellon serves Lunch, Dinner, and Brunch.

The restaurant is open 5pm to 2 am.

230 West 4^th Street at 10^th St. near 7^th Avenue South

New York, NY

212-367-0999

Don't call him a molecular gastronomist.: An article from: Art Culinaire

Celebrity Chef David Burke Opens Kitchen and Treehouse Garden Restaurant in SoHo, NYC

2011-04-26T11:31:00.000-07:00

Stepping off the street, through the doors of the James Hotel, down the stairs to discover David Burke’s newest restaurant, Kitchen, is not unlike going through the Looking Glass.

Patrons would be forgiven for spotting more than a few rabbits too.

And not just because the ubiquitous, mad hatter about town Easter Bunny was on display in every storefront last week.

Water-Toting Menu Rabbits at Kitchen

No, the hares that adorn the Kitchen, peeking out from the plank-backed menus to indicate its inclusion in the prix fixe meal and Drinks Menu are drawn as hard-working dairyman or farmers -- more akin to the fashionable and endearing Beatrix Potter kind.

It is an apt icon or theme for the farm to table ambition celebrity chef David is aiming for here in the sleek, barn-inspired dining room, complete with denim seats and gingham napkins.

The decor, along with his signature whimsical and creative menu offerings makes the Kitchen a restaurant that is an exciting, fun, food adventure. Like Peter Pa who won’t grow up, David is renowned for his Toy Story-like collection of curiosities that often take center stage with regard to the food and décor. (At the Rumson, NJ, Garden State Fromagerie restaurant, there is a Toys in the Attic room filled David’s treasures.)

David Burke’s fans – and there is an assembly of toy-loving, food followers and luminaries who enjoy the food and dining fantasy at his more than seven restaurants located across the US.

Kitchen is his fourth in New York City, joining the award-winning Townhouse, Fishtail, and David Burke at Bloomingdales. http://www.davidburke.com/restaurant_townhouse.html

Executive Manager Teddy Suris, who is on loan from chef David’s uptown eateries, says they are thrilled to see so many of their loyal customers who’ve make the trip downtown to the loft-like Kitchen to enjoy “David ‘Unplugged’” he notes with a smile.

The most popular selection on the Kitchen’s Lunch menu is the 3-Course Prix Fixe $24.07, according to the server. It’s easy to see why.

There are eight Starters to choose from, no less than 13 Mains and half that bakers dozen for dessert.

A la carte prices range from $8 to $16 for starters; $14 to $25 for Mains and $8 to $16 for dessert.

What’s not easy is choosing what to order.

Chef Jedd Adair finishing tuna

Chef David and Executive Chef, Jedd Adair, formerly, Tocqueville, must’ve had a blast coming up with a menu that offers the most curious mash-ups.

Diners can’t help but read aloud and share such head-shaking items like Pretzel Crab Cake with tomato orange and green peppercorn, Lobster Soup dumplings with coconut fennel crème and red watercress or the Asparagus & Burrata prosciutto with honeydew and basil.

Mains feature offerings that include Crispy Softshell Open Face salted mango with cucumber and carrot, Crispy Tuna with citrus salad, grilled leek and sour carrot sauce and Duck Meatball Lasagna with herb striped pasta and farm fresh egg.

Kitchen’s Pastry Chef, Daniela Arini, former pastry chef at Per Se, channels chef David’s signature Lollipop Tree dessert with passion fruit whipped cream (also good with bubble gum whipped cream!) along with her spot-on Applet Tart with crème fraiche ice cream, apple cider caramel and fennel chip or the Chocolate Caramel Fudge Cake with salted caramel and goat’s milk cajeta ice cream, that chef David recommended.

Salmon Pastrami/Pretzel/Mustard Snack

Perhaps the best-tasting composition was the Salmon Pastrami/Pretzel/Mustard. The thinly sliced salmon is wrapped around Japanese Pokey-like sticks. Chef David says he uses these “pretzels” because they can be deep-fried and not absorb the oils. How clever is that? The salmon-wrapped pretzel sticks are delivered in a well of mustard oil that is a burst of salty, sweet flavors. It’s a finger food to savor.

All the dishes come to the table plated like a work of art – by a Salvador Dali-infused artist!

The food is stacked to towering skyscraper heights, asparagus spears act like log bridges, and the fennel chip adorning the apple crisp looks not unlike a Dr. Seuss hat with plume. The sour carrot sauce and black olive are dollops of a painter’s palette setting off the perfectly prepared medium-rare tuna slices.

And all the embellishments are edible art flashes – no blah, weak parsley or watercress along just for the ride.

Softshell Crab Sandwich with Crisp Lotus

Crispy Tuna with Leeks

Pretzel Crab Cake with Yolk Mayo

Chocolate Caramel Fudge Cake and Goat's Milk Cajeta Ice Cream

Apple Tart, Creme Fraiche Ice Cream, Apple Cider Caramel, Fennel Chip

Chef David’s signature Jars are a feature here too: Tomato with eggplant and ricotta, Ocean Cocktail with horseradish and White Bean chorizo.

Hanging from the dining room’s plank farm walls are almost life-sized portraits of David’s real-life farmer and dairy food partners – showing off their edible work in living color -- in case anyone missed the point. There’s the chicken toting farmer and the cheese artisan, for example, amplifying the fresh from the farm mission. If the fresh food ingredients from his purveyors don’t measure up? “They go into the penalty box” according to David.

The center service table boasts a curiosity that could belong to a mad scientist. Turns out, David repurposed what once was a gold duck press to suck the prawn heads off the crustaceans. Take that for tableside service.

(Spoiler alert: the service table is also where the surprise doggie bags are prepared for those who don’t finish everything on their plate.)

Likewise an old fashioned phone booth where Superman might’ve, ahem, changed into his flying tights, is now home to a bouquet of fresh flowers where cell phone users can chat it up in glamorous privacy.

Cell Phone Booth

Call for that Reservation at Kitchen, please!

Open not more than three months; Kitchen is more ready than most new restaurants. Many of the professional wait and kitchen staff are borrowed from David’s uptown empire until the Kitchen and the Treehouse are full staffed and trained in the Burke Group’s ways of hospitality and courtesy. According to Ted, a new restaurant is a lot like a new car – “You have to drive it ten to 20 times to get the feel of it.”

Kitchen is clearly on the road to driving its own NYC success!! (Couldn't resist.)

The partnership with the luxury boutique James Hotel is an extension of the Chicago venture where David owns and runs the farm to table, seasonal food franchise.

Scheduled to open the last week of April, beginning of May, The Treehouse restaurant is an elevator ride up to a glass-enclosed bar area that leads to a series of undulating bars, chef table, dining and garden rooms, tucked around here and upstairs there, all perched on the corner of the James hotel that sits on the corner of Sixth Avenue.

But all eyes look up to the unencumbered sky. Ahhh, a slice of light-filled heaven that will soon be filled with fabulous downtown fashion cohorts tinkling glasses; laughing at the stars – the kind in the night sky, that is.

The Drinks Menu at Kitchen and Treehouse is a well-curated offering that features a delightful mix of moderate to aspirational wine and champagne, including Burkehouse signature vintage and crisp, tasty local North Fork wines from the Channing Daughters’ Long Island vineyard.

There is also a frothy selection of local beers – many on tap -- to cool a summer day spent in the Treehouse garden: NY’s South Hampton “Double White, Brooklyn’s Sis Points “Crisp Pils,” Fire Island’s “Red Wagon IPA,” or Long Island’s Green Harbor “Duck Porter.”

The Cocktails are nothing short of garden-inspired libations winking a come-hither dare to try them all. It’s a party after all! Brandishing monikers like “Good ‘N Plenty,” “Jackalope, 23 Grand Street, Rabbit Hunter and BTC, squeals of wonder will be heard up and down SoHo.

Chef David has some interesting plans for the Treehouse. “We are looking into doing a small farmers market on Saturday morning until around 10 am,” he says. Seeming to peer into his food-filled crystal ball, David day-dreamily orchestrates the scene: “We could put together a coffee, toast, brioche and jam breakfast basket to enjoy while picking up things from the market.”

The Burke Group's Teddy Suric (L) and Connor Burke ready for Treehouse Guests

Overall, the Treehouse menu will be small, cool food items such as lobster rolls, seven to eight different non-alcohol iced teas flavored with garden fresh herbs, such as lavender. The dream also previews Gotham-styled sunbathers sipping cool drinks on the garden terrace and under the private cabanas – perfect for canoodling. David’s way-cool son, Connor, will be the onsite, able manager of the rooftop garden oasis.

The Treehouse is destined to become THE watering hole of the season: it’s sophisticated, sexy urban garden design, located in the heart of the uber-cool, SoHo neighborhood offers a perfect meeting place for a special-someone rendezvous or daily cocktail time with friends.

Cabanas and sexy, lacy chairs

Glamorous Chef's Table at Treehouse rooftop Garden

Fashion-forward lamps to accessorize those sexy chairs

Both the Treehouse and restaurant are the answer to any event planner.

The spaces are unique. The food is catered by David Burke Events and will be unforgettable and buzz-worthy.

Recently, David described a party they did at the Armory, for example, where women dressed like sultry cigarette girls, walked the party like a cloud – serving up cones of fresh made pretty in pink cotton candy. Other teams of waiters wore cheesehead hats filled with cheese popsicles. “It was hilarious,” adds David.

He puts the amuse in amuse-bouche!

Never one to take it all so seriously, chef David’s classic culinary training is the stepping-stone – taking a traditional dish and twisting it with an element of surprise.

Kitchen’s menu will change every week with daily, seasonal items offered daily for the dinner menu.

Not that a diner could ever get bored with a David Burke merry go round of food creations.

The restaurants are open for three meals a day, brunch and snacks. Located in SoHo, in the James Hotel at 23 Grand Street, NYC 10013. Telephone: 212-201-9119. www.davidburkekitchen.com

David's classic cookbook:

Master Chef David Burke at Kitchen Restaurant

Me/Reviewer and Fan, with culinary wizard, Chef David

Bosie Tea Parlor Opens in Greenwich Village, NYC Serving Panoply of Tea Treats & Experiences!

2011-04-11T07:58:00.000-07:00

Where else but a tea parlor like Bosie’s can so much fun, history, and flavor be found?

Tea is the world’s most popular drink next to water. The culture of tea embraces a diversity of history and places: from Buddhist monks to English High Tea, to Indian tea gardens to Chinese scholars, the revered Japanese tea ceremony to the Mad Hatter and the Boston Tea Party to today’s you-know-who, tea has greatly influenced the world.

So it isn’t surprising that Greenwich Village – home to a diversity of styles and culture, boasts a new tea experience.

What is surprising is how little most New Yorkers know about tea.

Bosie Tea Parlor – scheduled to officially open the week of April 11^th is sure to bewitch soon-to-be tea enthusiasts with its tea cuisine and ambience.

Located just off Bleeker on Morton, a quiet side street is Bosie.

Furnished in dark wood walls and tables, the copper tea canisters sparkle behind the bar counter like an upscale apothecary, and the glass jewel-like case is adorned with macarons and tea cakes.

The culinary tea awaking is the brainchild of partners Nicky Dawda and tea sprite Kiley Holliday.

Before taking in the cozy yet smart restaurant, Kiley’s engaging and welcoming tea lore has customers swooning with curiosity and delight. There are more than 80 different teas available for tasting and pandering one’s tea-time palate.

Bosie’s confections are made by Damien Herrgott, who hails from Ladurée in Paris and Bouley Bakery, NYC http://www.davidbouley.com/

Chris Silversen, former chef at 21 Club and now Maritime Park http://maritimeparc.com/

creates the savory menu. Nick and Kiley worked with Chris, supplying tea for his operations from their wholesale tea business. He agreed to help out with their Bosie restaurant venture, cooking up the tantalizing tea sandwiches, quiche, salads, and soups and panini.

Tea Master Kiley is an energetic, fascinating mélange of history, culture and new-age health advocate, who met her future business partner, Nicky, when she was his personal yoga instructor.

No stranger to restaurants and culinary art, Nicky owns two Noodle Bar restaurants http://www.noodlebarnyc.com/

in New York City located on the Lower East Side that he opened after a successful career in finance.

A Los Angeles transplant, Kiley moved to New York to study history at NYU. Pulling more than a few late-nighters for exams, she soon switched from imbibing the jitter-inducing coffee to the sublime world of tea.

She never looked back.

A whole new world of history and taste was upon her.

Nicky and Kiley collaborated on a successful tea wholesale and online business -- after he proposed the two delve into a crash course in tea history and cultivating grower resources. It was off to India, China and Japan.

Today, Kiley is the brainy goddess of tea. She has the bona fides. She knows her top shelf organic teas from the green and black and Darjeelings, and can recite the optimal brewing times for any of the teas: estate, or her own custom, signature brews.

Think fairy tale flavor combos like almond cookie rooibos, gingerbread, coconut and strawberry green.

To watch her whisk a green matcha tea with almond milk is not unlike seeing a sorcerer whip a bit of magical alchemy. Performance art!

She also offers a coquettish grin when asked how the name Bosie came about. “Bosie was Oscar Wilde’s main lover.” There is a bit of intriguing lore about that that appeals to her love of history and literature and art. “Wilde is my favorite writer and the name reminds me that some things are overtly good for you -- and tawdry and decadent at the same time,” she adds with a bit of a wink.

According to Nicky, tea is a luxury, and an affordable one. “For not more than $10, guests can enjoy splurging on a treat without breaking the bank.” The partners agreed there is a huge opportunity for cultivating a tea culture clientele in New York.

Already, the duo has supplied custom tea exclusives for the likes of In Style magazine and fashion clients. Boise will also offer customized gift packages at the restaurant.

Take home teas are hand-filled into elegant small black tins with red cover art and hand written labels. Very glamorous.

Customers will discover they can splurge on high tea, giddy while pairing the variety of brews with six triangle sandwiches, two different tea cakes and two scones with clotted cream.

Nearly 80 varieties of L’Age de Thé http://www.lagedethe.com/

from estate teas to Kiley’s custom signature blends prevail.

Prices for a pot of tea rang from $6 to a little more than double that depending on the selection of tea. The high-end matcha Kiley coyly named “Beverly Hills” tea costs upwards of $100 for 1.5 oz! Pastries run from $2 to $19.

Bosie’s Sweet Menu tempts with a selection of 20 flavors of melt-in-your-mouth macarons including vanilla, pistachio, chai and caramel, pb&j, tea cakes (the match with passion fruit is especially fabulous), cookies, Madeleine’s, financiers, and French pastries.

Bosie will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Bosie Tea Parlor

10 Morton Street – off Bleeker Street

212-352-9900

www.bosienyc.com

See Examiner.com article: http://tiny.cc/3minm

New York City's Lena Latin Grill Serves Up High Quality, Affordable, Fast-Food

2011-04-05T12:57:00.000-07:00

Lena Latin Grill

Like the sequel to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking-Glass, one steps off 35^th Street into Lena’s Latin Grill restaurant and enters into a mirror world of seeming opposites.

Nothing is quite what it seems.

This is a fast food eat in/take out/delivery restaurant; however all the food ingredients are sourced fresh-from-the-farm – Pasture to Plate - and from local greenmarkets.

The cuisine boasts Latin, but there is nary an enchilada or a burrito in sight

How can all this be??

There are freestanding refrigerators filled with Lena-labeled water and tempting home made juices. The exotic-sounding fruit flavors: lulo, tamarind, mango guanabana, cantaloupe, blackberry, watermelon, lemonade and herbal tea are fresh-squeezed -- every day!

The restaurant buzzes and hums with a purposeful, lunchtime working-class clientele.

Breakfast is served daily too. Lena’s customers found themselves part of such a culinary awakening – and are so devoted to its one-two punch of innovative food offerings and breakthrough operations, the restaurant is now also open for dinner too.

Shhh. Don’t tell McDonalds. The customers at Lena are all enjoying fresh, good-for-you, grilled food!

The genius behind this break-through dining concept is chef and owner, Ronny Abenhaim.

Chef Ronny’s award-winning culinary pedigree includes extensive fine dining, haute-cuisine episodes with the great top chef, Mario Batali and hospitality legend Andre Balazs’s Miami Standard Hotel and his Long Island Sunset Beach resort. Ronny learned the brilliance of “how to keep it simple” from Chef Mario. Mario would often say, “What are the probabilities of a mass audience liking 13 ingredients?” Simple flavor is best. With upwards of 1,000 dining covers on a typical 4^th of July weekend at Sunset Beach, Ronny learned how to manage volume from Balazs.

Chef Ronny is a hands-on chef and manager. Diners catch a glimpse of the wiry, intense chef in the see-through grill kitchen as well as ringing up customers in the fast-moving order line.

Chef Ronny is the kind of passionate chef that has years of experience, vast knowledge of food and farming and homegrown pride, all rolled together - like one of his stellar wrap sandwiches.

“The concept was to do a high-end restaurant style menu in terms of quality, using fresh, seasonal ingredients; molded into a fast-food and service template to make the meals quick and affordable,” explains chef Ronny. “And to serve up Latin-infused, flavor drenched dishes that would turn the notion of Latin-menu-is-Mexican on its head.

No easy task. However, Lena succeeds brilliantly.

Chef Ronny's distinctive cuisine stems from his South American roots. He moved to the United States when he was 13 years old from Columbia.

He grew up with fresh vegetables and fruits and grilling food to wring the most succulent, savory taste.

Ronny explains he uses a mix of applewood, ash, and maple split wood to fire up a sweet, heady grill. Even the wood is sourced locally – from Brooklyn’s The Woodman.

So important is the wood grilling to the restaurant’s food integrity, Ronny named the restaurant Lena – which means "firewood" in Spanish. In homage to nature’s purest “stove,” split wood serve as a sort of rough-hewn cornice design detail, lining the top perimeter of the restaurant’s narrow space.

“Using direct heat to cook is healthier,” says Ronny. “Grilling the food sucks out the fat and retains the protein.” Lena grills all its Plate entrees and its vegetable Additions.

The food ingredients are sourced locally too. Ronny’s farm-fresh vegetables and fruits come from a number of green, organic growers including Chelsea Market, the Greenmarket in Union Square, Baldor Specialty Foods or Ipex. The food itself starts off with so much natural flavor Chef Ronny claims “We don’t need to do too much to it in order to serve pure, simple, flavorful dishes.”

OK, here’ s the skinny on the menu:

Three different styled entrees: Wrap, Salad and Plate.

The Wrap and Salad come with one sauce and two Additions or side orders.

There are 12 different kinds of sauces to choose from – all fresh-made with savory ingredients ranging from green tomatillos (which is excellent) to the jalapeno pepper to avocado.

The Plate comes with one sauce and two Additions or sides, such as roasted sweet potatoes.

Sorry, no New York-styled mixing and matching or substitutions when it comes to ordering, a la “I’ll have the BLT and hold the bacon!”

Here, Lena does the formidable task of “culinary accessorizing” for its guests -- to perfection. They make it all so easy to eat good food!

Don’t forget to enjoy a Lena alfajor cookie confection: a South American street food version of a Linzer torte cookie sandwich filled with a sweet, caramel dulce de leche. Luscious.

Chef Ronny’s passion for fresh, quality ingredients, grilling and less-is-best philosophy when it comes to manipulating the food is based on his own preference for eating healthy (he and Michelle Obama would see eye to eye on diet and health). And is backed up by his research that he is only too happy to share. Available as a print out and on the Lena web site and soon to be on the wall for customers in line to order to read, are Chef’s Seven Latin Power Foods and their benefits.

The succulent seven are: tomatillos, garbanzo beans, avocado, garlic, cinnamon, chiles and cilantro.

According to Ronny’s research, “the hot Latin diet increases fat burning by 25 percent in addition to decreasing hunger.” It is true that eating good food satiates more than the palate. The body is not tricked by added sugars or oils. In fact, he goes on to report the hot Latin diet increases the variety and flavor while improving the balance of fats consumed. In addition to the Power Foods, the Latin food menu emphasizes fish, olive oil and nuts, adding lots of spice to the meals.

Lena's flavorful food sure gets around town: about 80% of the restaurant’s lunch business is take out.

Breakfast favorites are coffee, fresh fruit juices and pastry.

Chef Ronny and his game-changing Lena Latin Grill is just the beginning. He hopes to open another Lena Latin Grill for a Wall Street clientele. And then on to a franchise. “It’s what I love to do,” he says. He commented how he is energized by the needs of his customers.

How Do I Love Lena? Let me Count the Ways.

When asked, a well-heeled customer, Jacqui Booker said she is such a fan of Lena Latin Grill she asked chef Ronny to prepare her Thanksgiving turkey. “The food at Lena is so well-cooked, so authentic and yet so very simple that she comes to Lena more often than she can count. "I've lost track of how many days a week I eat here," Booker says about her favorite New York city restaurant.

Lena customers are to be forgiven for their cult-like devotion to this moderately priced, foodie haven.

So there may be no need for the Lena Latin Grill Loyalty Card but there it is. “Ten Is On Us.”

After an even 10 meals, Lena provides $10 on the house.

The only things I'd change is to have a waitress tell Lena newbies, like me and my cousin, that diners need to step up and order directly from the menu at the register, a la McDonalds or its fast-food distant relations. Chef Ronny says they are already planning to add this instruction signage to the wall menus.

The Seven Latin Power Food and their benefits will also be added to the wall menus. So you can feel even better about what you are about to order. Delicious AND Healthy.

Lena Latin Grill

34 West 25^th Street (5^th & 6^th)

phone: 646 274 1995

http://www.lenanyc.com

Restaurant Week in Long Island, April 3 through April 10, 2011

2011-04-02T15:31:00.000-07:00

You say spring has played a cool trick on you? March Madness seems so last month? What’s a foodie to do with ramps and asparagus just peeking out at the Greenmarkets? Wine and Dine your way through Long Island Restaurant Week, Sunday, April 3 through Sunday, April 10, 2011 and celebrate the bounty of Homegrown Long Island.

The food and drink celebration is the first Spring Long Island Restaurant Week. The Island’s Fifth Annual Fall Long Island Restaurant Week will launch Sunday, November 6 through Sunday, November 13.

With the local waters teaming with fresh fish and local food artisans such as Catapano cheese and Sally Nadler Honey -- to the myriad farmers including Balsam Farms, Early Girl Farms, the Rottkamp Farms and their kissin’ cousin, the Andrew’s Family Farm and Sang Lee and Satur Farms, there is a bit of head-scratching as to what took so long to celebrate spring cuisine at Long Island’s best eateries.

The local growers and food craftsmen’s fidelity to the Long Island terroir are the enduring inspiration to Long Island’s master chefs.

My soon to be published book, Homegrown Long Island, offers an intimate -- behind the kitchen door and the garden gate -- to the best Long Island chefs. It explores the unique relationship to the small-scale farming and fishing that gives the Island’s pasture to plate cuisine its distinctive cuisine.

Here is the list of the Top Long Island Restaurants that will be featured in Homegrown Long Island – along with their growers and food artisans.

Get a jump-start and enjoy now during Spring Long Island restaurant Week http://tiny.cc/wttp8

North Shore

Bistro M, Chef Mitchell SuDock, Glen Head -- The Rottkamp Farm

18 Bay, Chefs Elizabeth Ronzetti and Adam Kopels, Oyster Bay/Bayville – Sang Lee Farms

Cool Fish, Chef Tom Schaudel, Syosset – Paumnok Vineyards, Satur Farms

Swallow, Chef James Tchinnis, Huntington – Swallow Garden, Sally Nadler Honey

Kitchen A Bistro and Kitchen A Trattoria, Chef Eric Lomando, St. James – Kitchen A Bistro Garden, Early Girl Farm

Mirabelle Restaurant and Tavern, Chef Guy Reuge, Stony Brook – Mirabelle Garden

South Shore

The Lake House, Chef Matt Connors, Bayshore – The Farm at St. Peter’s

Grey Horse Tavern, Chef Meredith Machemer – Grey Horse Garden, Catapano Farms, The Fish Store

The East End

North Fork

North Fork Table & Inn, Chefs Claudia Fleming and Gerry Hayden, Southold – Iberco Pigs

Jedediah Hawkins Inn, Chef Keith Luce, Jamesport – Jedediah Hawkins Inn Garden

Satur Farms, Chef Eberhard Mueller, Cutchogue – Satur Farms Garden

Cuvee Bistro & Bar at the Greenporter Hotel, Chef Deborah Pittorino -- Greenporter Garden, Satur Farms

The Frisky Oyster, Chef Robbie Beaver -- KK Haspel Biodynamic Fruit Farm

Amarelle, Chef Lia Fallon, Wading River – Andrew’s Family Farm

Scrimshaw, Chef Rosa Ross, Greenport – Scrimshaw Garden, Satur Farms, Sang Lee Farms

Vine Street Café, Chef Terry Harwood, Shelter Island – Sylvester Manor Farms, Sang Lee Farms

South Fork

Loaves & Fishes, Chef Anna Pump, Sagaponick – Loaves & Fishes Herb Garden, Pike Farms, Bridgehampton Inn Garden

The American Hotel, Chef Jonathan Parker, Sag Harbor – Ted Conklin American Hotel Garden

Almond, Chef Jason Weiner, Bridgehampton – Pike Farms

Foody’s, Chef Bryan Futerman, Water Mill -- Hayground School Garden, Mecox Farm, Halsey Farmstand

Southfork Kitchen, Chef Joe Isidori, Bridgehampton – Southfork Kitchen Garden, Dale & Betty’s Organic Farm

Nick & Toni’s, Chef Joseph Realmuto, East Hampton – Nick & Toni’s Garden with Peconic Land Trust, Balsam Farms

Della Femina, Chef Michael Rozzi, East Hampton – Balsam Farms, Sidor Farms

1770 House, Chef Kevin Penner, East Hampton – 1770 House Garden, Quail Hill, Herb Eikhouse

Fresno, Chef Gretchen Menser, East Hampton – Fresno Garden, Balsam Farms, Mecox Bay

The Living Room at the Maidstone Inn, Chef James Carpenter, East Hampton – Maidstone Garden, Early Girl Farm, Zaluski Farms, Balsam Farms

Starr Boggs, Chef Starr Boggs, West Hampton – Starr Boggs Garden, Halsey’s Green Thumb Organic Farm

OSO Restaurant, Southampton Inn, Chef Bryan Naylor, Southampton – Stephanie Evanitsky, Mecox Bay Dairy, Wickam’s Fruit Farm

Drink

The Mega Million bonus to Long Island Restaurant Week is the food pairing with the North Fork’s excellent wines grown in the local vineyards and lovingly produced in xx wineries such as Bedell Cellars (www.bedelcellars.com) and Shinn Estate Vineyards (www.shinnestatevineyards.com) Local, fresh-squeezed juices abound at many restaurants, especially The Living Room at the Maidstone Inn in East Hampton. And the not to be missed, over-the-top Long Island Vodka , (www.lispirits.com) made with the best of Long Island’s famous potatoes! Its award winning flavor is outstanding for martinis or in a cocktail of choice. As Long Island’s first craft distillery – it’s another head scratcher. What took so long to pay homage to those famous Long Island spuds?!

The eight-day long promotion features a special prix fixe dinner offered by all restaurants. Long Island dining will be available for bargain prices. The idea is simple: for one week, Sunday to Sunday, all participating restaurants offer a three-course prix fixe for $24.95 all night, except Saturday when it will be offered only until 7 p.m. Each restaurant offers their own unique menu.

American Chocolate Week

2011-03-24T10:43:00.000-07:00

American Chocolate Week

March 21 through March 25

Seriously? Isn’t every week chocolate week?

No need to ask any chocolate lover twice for a reason to indulge and celebrate the food of the gods.

Bring on the heavenly, storied, melt-in-your mouth confection.

Aphrodisiac or health food? Who cares!

A Cliff Notes dip into the history of chocolate reminds us chocolate is truly a Native American treat.

The Mayans of Central American cultivated the seeds of the cacao tree. The warring Aztecs conquered tribes and demanded restoration and payment in cocoa. Aztecs believed wisdom and power came from eating cocoa “fruit” and that the tree was stolen from paradise.

The Native Americans, by and large, drank their chocolate thick and unsweetened.

It was bitter by our standards.

But the early Spanish explorers saw the value of the cacao: it was used as monetary exchange and currency among the peoples and nations of American cultures.

It was also shockingly, temptingly, delicious. Heaven and stars in the mouth.

Once the exotic, American chocolate discovery landed in the royal circles and upper crust European gentry of Europe, they couldn’t resist having their cooking staff add sugar to sweeten the chocolate.

Fast forward more than a few centuries and head Downtown to Kee Chocolatier on Thompson and Spring Street in New York’s SoHo or Midtown (inside HSBC) and the center of the universe is yet again where chocolate reigns supreme.

No less authorities than The New York Times hailed Kee’s as “Hands down, the best chocolates in New York. Maybe the World.” And Martha Stewart reported: “One taste and you’ll be over the moon.” Zagats perennially votes Kee the best chocolatier in New York.

Proprietor and chocolatier goddess, Kee Ling Tong, presides over her chocolate kingdom, albeit small at 350 square feet, she is not unlike the early Aztecs with regard to a dedication to purity.

The shop is simple and unadorned. No pretense.

There are just two glass cases.

One is filled like a Cartier jewel box, tiered with the variety of balled and intricate-shaped bon bons; nestled in carefully stacked Collections.

The other is a flat-topped case showcasing the petite, colorful macaroons, with chocolate-dipped fruit such as apple and orange and lemon peels, along with macadamia nuts dipped in chocolate.

Subtly, this makes the focus on the chocolates all the more pronounced.

One might think they stepped into a place of transition. And in a matter of speaking, that is not so off the mark.

The chocolates are so in demand, the contents of the cases are replenished at least a dozen times a day.

Constant change. Always fresh.

And the concept of transition and change is also a metaphor for the alchemy Kee orchestrates phasing the chocolate from a pure block to the one of a kind, exquisite chocolate recipes she creates.

Kee inserts her handmade, locally-sourced fillings. After cooling, she hand breaks the molds in order to retain the thin, pure shell that "snaps" when one bites into the chocolate bon bon.

Then the team rolls the outer flavors and herbs:

While enjoying a successful Wall Street career at JP Morgan and Bear Stearns, this native New Yorker was stubbornly determined to follow her passion.

She enrolled in professional training at The French Culinary Institute.

She claims she wasn’t exactly the best student at thinning and making chocolate. Hard to believe! Maybe because she was going to make chocolate in a new, special way all along…

In 2002, upon graduation, she found the space at 80 Thompson Street. “It drew me in” she says.

It served as both retail and production space until she got the space across the hall three years ago where the production is now.

Kee doesn’t have far to go for work. She lives upstairs.

“I can roll out of bed and work my 12-14 hour days.” She jokes.

Here she is with her sales associate: Josie.

Like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis, Kee found her calling.

“I like making tiny, pretty, intricate things,” she says, in case staring at the exquisite, mesmerizing confections reflecting through the glass left any doubt.

Key to her distinctive art are a few elements:

All the chocolates are hand made daily at her shop: she mixes the chocolates, makes the molds. She adds no sugar to the chocolate
All the filling recipes are her own creation, (“I never looked at a recipe and I don’t share,” she said. She uses top-quality, local ingredients – herbs and fruits – from Chinatown and NY Greenmarkets.
The “crack” or “snap” one senses biting into the ultra thin shell is critical
Good, pure chocolate has its own shine (and not an oil-based sheen)
Clean finish; no after taste

Kee has 48 flavors in her eclectic chocolate portfolio, with about 35 in the case at any one time. Four are white chocolate, including Green Tea, Almond, and Pistachio.

Gleefully, one can select from bon bons filled honey, jasmine, ginger and saffron; coated with chile, white and dark sesame; a dark chocolate ganache; Black Rose with dark chocolate truffle with black tea infused with rose petals; Blended Peppercorn with four different peppercorns with dark chocolate ganache; Elderflower – dark chocolate ganache with elderflower and Coconut with dark chocolate truffles coated with toasted coconut.

Kee offers four seasonal fillings, two in the spring: pineapple lychee and mango green and two for the winter: honey kumquat and yuzu.

According to Kee, her best seller is the crème brulee. It sells out early too.

She just added a new flavor: Lotus Flower, a gift from a friend who had traveled to Vietnam. Kee waved her magic wonder wand and next thing you know – a new exotic Kee chocolate creation.

Kee makes 22 flavors of the glamorous macaroons including key lime, shiso, green tea with jasmine, rosewater lychee, kaffir lime and truffle oil.

Looking ahead, she is considering making pate te fois, or jelly-coated fruit with sugar. Another eye candy treat for sure!

In fact, it’s hopeless. Just a taste, renders one under the spell of Kee’s magical chocolate spell.

Kee tempers all her chocolate, makes her molds and “eyeballs” the ingredient measurements for the fillings. There are no exact or precise renderings. It’s all Kee’s artisanal culinary talent.

At the same time, she says it’s all “A learning process” -- from the making of the chocolate to the business management.

Kee is a hands-on, artisanal chocolatier, dedicated to the highest quality hand made chocolate who is front and center for her customers, (“How are the twins?” she asks of a customer”) to her staff, Josie and international clients, (“I’ll do my best” she confirms to a London caller.)

There is no finer example of American Chocolate, than Kee Chocolatier

www.keeschocolates.com

to see a full listing of the divine, exquisite specialties.

New York Chefs and Restaurants Named to James Beard Foundation’s 2011 Chef and Restaurant Awards Finalist Nominees

2011-03-21T17:56:00.000-07:00

Finalists in the James Beard Foundation's 2011 Nominees Announced

This Year’s Theme is: The Ultimate Melting Pot

The Award Show and Gala Announcing Winning Chefs and Restaurants: Monday, May 9^th, Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, New York, NY.

Cookbook, Media & Journalism Awards Award Show: Friday, May 6^th, Espace Restaurant, New York, NY

New York City hosts the James Beard Foundation Awards 2011 Gala.

There could not be a more divine and appropriate event theme.

Few would disagree that New York City is arguably the penultimate Melting Pot – of people and cuisine.

We all know Gotham is an unparalleled cauldron of class that can serve up the most exciting and delicious culinary compass.

Following is a list of the Big Apple’s James Beard top finalists in the restaurant and chef categories; with the Cookbook, Media and Journalism Award finalists list after that.

The lists of the NYC hosts for both gala events will help New Yorker’s better help the home team navigate the award shows.

So, break out the champagne. Cheers and kudos to our New York Homegrown finalists.

Best New Restaurant NY Finalists:

Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s ABC Kitchen (NYC)

Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi’s Torrisi Italian Specialties (NYC)

Outstanding Pastry Chef Award NY Finalists:

A chef or baker who prepares desserts, pastries, or breads and who serves as a national standard-bearer for excellence. Candidates must have been pastry chefs or bakers for at least the past 5 years.

Angela Pinkerton, Eleven Madison Park (NYC)

(Should have included Claudia Fleming, North Fork Table and Inn)

Outstanding Restaurant Award Finalists:

A restaurant in the United States that serves as a national standard-bearer for consistent quality and excellence in food, atmosphere, and service. Candidates must have been in operation for at least 10 or more consecutive years.

Blue Hill (NYC)

Blue Hill is a remarkable restaurant and Dan Barber is an unsurpassed leader and standard-bearer, influencing our national food agenda and inspiring a new generation of chefs. Dan is the poster child for homegrown, field to table, exciting food. Chef Dan Barber is a featured chef in my upcoming book: Homegrown New York City. I couldn’t be more thriled. I am honored to know him…

Eleven Madison Park (NYC) Love this restaurant!

Oversight Award: Not naming a New York finalist to the Outstanding Chef Award category. Really??!!

Outstanding Restaurateur Award

A working restaurateur who sets high national standards in restaurant operations and entrepreneurship. Candidates must have been in the restaurant business for at least 10 years. Candidates must not have been nominated for a James Beard Foundation chef award in the past 10 years.

Bruce Bromberg and Eric Bromberg, Blue Ribbon Restaurants , NYC

Phil Suarez ABC Kitchen, Co., Gigino Trattoria, Gigino Wagner Park, Jean Georges, JoJo, J&G Steakhouse, Market, The Mark Restaurant by Jean Georges, Mercer Kitchen, Perry St, Pipa, Prime Steakhouse, Spice Market, and wd~50  Various Cities

Outstanding Service Award

A restaurant that demonstrates high standards of hospitality and service. Candidates must have been in operation for at least the past 5 years.

La Grenouille , NYC  Owners: Charles Masson and Gisèle Masson

Per Se  NYC  Chef/Owner: Thomas Keller

Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional Award

A winemaker, brewer, or spirits professional who has had a significant impact on the wine and spirits industry nationwide. Candidates must have been in the profession for at least 5 years.

Paul Grieco , Hearth NYC – LOVE this restaurant. Hearth and Chef Marco will be featured in my Homegrown NYC book

Outstanding Wine Service Award

A restaurant that displays and encourages excellence in wine service through a well-presented wine list, a knowledgeable staff, and efforts to educate customers about wine. Candidates must have been in operation for at least 5 years.

The Modern  NYC Wine Director: Belinda Chang

Rising Star Chef of the Year Award

A chef age 30 or younger who displays an impressive talent and who is likely to have a significant impact on the industry in years to come.

Christina Tosi , Momofuku, Milk Bar  (NYC)

Best Chefs in America

Chefs who have set new or consistent standards of excellence in their respective regions. Each candidate may be employed by any kind of dining establishment and must have been a working chef for at least the past 5 years. The 3 most recent years must have been spent in the region where the chef is presently working.

Best Chef: New York City (Five Boroughs)

Michael Anthony,  Gramercy Tavern – The best and last word in master chefs is Michael Anthony. Michael is the supreme culinary artist – elegant in his demeanor, management, recipe development, execution, and devotion to local, fresh food. And a pillar of the food community – devoting time and expertise to food programs in local schools. And yes, I could go on. Chef Michael is a featured chef in upcoming Homegrown New York City book.

April Bloomfield,  The Spotted Pig. LOVE this restaurant. Hope April is featured chef in upcoming Homegrown NYC book.

Wylie Dufresne , wd~50

Gabrielle Hamilton , Prune

Michael White , Marea

Best Chef: Northeast (CT, MA, ME, NH, NY STATE, RI, VT)

Gerry Hayden, The North Fork Table & Inn, Southold, NY: Chef Gerry Hayden is a dedicated, passionate field to table, creative culinary genius who is a key player in making the North Fork of Long Island a food destination. His wife Claudia Fleming, pastry chef at North Fork Table & Inn is Chef Gerry’s accomplished and powerful partner. Her book, The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern – is a must have for anyone who is in any way serious or just plain gobsmacked about sweet confections.

Speaking of cookbooks, the James Beard Award Winner Profile Nominees for Cookbook, Media and Journalism Awards include favorites:

General Cooking

The Essential New York Times Cook Book: Classic Recipes for a New Century by Amanda Hesser (W.W. Norton & Company) – LOVE this cookbook tome. Amanda and food52 and their real-time help and daily fun, food frolicking is just too good to miss. (see earlier blogs for more complete review)

Writing and Literature

Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food by Paul Greenberg (The Penguin Press): LOVE this book. A must-read.

Television Program, In Studio or Fixed Location

Top Chef: Season 7  Host: Padma Lakshmi  Network: Bravo Producers: Tom Colicchio, Dan Cutforth, Jane Lipsitz, and Dave Serwatka

Profile

Barry Estabrook The New York Times Magazine “The Catch”- See the Four Fish

Brian Halweil Edible Manhattan “Joan Gussow, Teacher of Teachers” – Brian Halweil, Editor of Edible East End and Edible Manhattan, and a Project Director, 2011 State of the World, Innovations that Nourish the Planet and Senior Fellow, Worldwatch Institute Board of Directors is the genius, Green Revolution advocate who is more than helping to create awareness and lead the way to ending hunger; promoting sustainability; and implementing a true field and fin to table movement. Brian also wrote the Foreword to the upcoming Homegrown Long Island cookbook.

And one cannot say enough about the inspirational, organic food leader, Joan Gussow. Her new book is Growing Older: A Chronicle of Death, Life and Vegetables. Read what Michael Pollan says about Joan J

For a full list of the James Beard Award Finalist Nominees, go to: http://www.jamesbeard.org/jbf-nominees.pdf

State of the World 2011 Innovations that Nourish The Planet

2011-03-02T11:19:00.000-08:00

Worldwatch Institute’s State of the World 2011 Shows Agriculture Innovation
Is Key to Reducing Poverty, Stabilizing Climate

Report provides a roadmap for food security and agricultural investment, revealing
15 high- and low-tech solutions that are helping to reduce hunger and poverty in Africa

New York, 2011—Worldwatch Institute released its report State of the World 2011: Innovations that Nourish the Planet, which spotlights successful agricultural innovations and unearths major successes in preventing food waste, building resilience to climate change, and strengthening farming in cities. You can buy the book too:

The report provides a roadmap for increased agricultural investment and more-efficient ways to alleviate global hunger and poverty. Drawing from the world’s leading agricultural experts and from hundreds of innovations that are already working on the ground, the report outlines 15 proven, environmentally sustainable prescriptions.

“The progress showcased through this report will inform governments, policymakers, NGOs, and donors that seek to curb hunger and poverty, providing a clear roadmap for expanding or replicating these successes elsewhere,” said Worldwatch Institute President Christopher Flavin. “We need the world’s influencers of agricultural development to commit to longstanding support for farmers, who make up 80 percent of the population in Africa.”

State of the World 2011 comes at a time when many global hunger and food security initiatives—such as the Obama administration’s Feed the Future program, the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP), the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), and the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP)—can benefit from new insight into environmentally sustainable projects that are already working to alleviate hunger and poverty.

Nearly a half-century after the Green Revolution, a large share of the human family is still chronically hungry. While investment in agricultural development by governments, international lenders, and foundations has escalated in recent years, it is still nowhere near what is needed to help the 925 million people who are undernourished. Since the mid-1980s when agricultural funding was at its height, agriculture's share of global development aid has fallen from over 16 percent to just 4 percent today.

In 2008, $1.7 billion dollars in official development assistance was provided to support agricultural projects in Africa, based on statistics from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)—a miniscule amount considering the vital return on investment. Given the current global economic conditions, investments are not likely to increase in the coming year. Much of the more recently pledged funding has yet to be raised, and existing funding is not being targeted efficiently to reach the poor farmers of Africa.

“The international community has been neglecting entire segments of the food system in its efforts to reduce hunger and poverty,” said Danielle Nierenberg, co-director of Worldwatch’s Nourishing the Planet project. “The solutions won’t necessarily come from producing more food, but from changing what children eat in schools, how foods are processed and marketed, and what sorts of food businesses we are investing in.”

Serving locally raised crops to school children, for example, has proven to be an effective hunger- and poverty-reducing strategy in many African nations, and has strong parallels to successful farm-to-cafeteria programs in the United States and Europe. Moreover, “roughly 40 percent of the food currently produced worldwide is wasted before it is consumed, creating large opportunities for farmers and households to save both money and resources by reducing this waste,” according to Brian Halweil, Nourishing the Planet co-director.

State of the World 2011 draws from hundreds of case studies and first-person examples to offer solutions to reducing hunger and poverty. These include:

In 2007, some 6,000 women in The Gambia organized into the TRY Women’s Oyster Harvesting producer association, creating a sustainable co-management plan for the local oyster fishery to prevent overharvesting and exploitation. Oysters and fish are an important, low-cost source of protein for the population, but current production levels have led to environmental degradation and to changes in land use over the last 30 years. The government is working with groups like TRY to promote less-destructive methods and to expand credit facilities to low-income producers to stimulate investment in more-sustainable production.
In Kibera, Nairobi, the largest slum in Kenya, more than 1,000 women farmers are growing “vertical” gardens in sacks full of dirt poked with holes, feeding their families and communities. These sacks have the potential to feed thousands of city dwellers while also providing a sustainable and easy-to-maintain source of income for urban farmers. With more than 60 percent of Africa’s population projected to live in urban areas by 2050, such methods may be crucial to creating future food security. Currently, some 33 percent of Africans live in cities, and 14 million more migrate to urban areas each year. Worldwide, some 800 million people engage in urban agriculture, producing 15–20 percent of all food.
Pastoralists in South Africa and Kenya are preserving indigenous varieties of livestock that are adapted to the heat and drought of local conditions—traits that will be crucial as climate extremes on the continent worsen. Africa has the world’s largest area of permanent pasture and the largest number of pastoralists, with 15–25 million people dependent on livestock.
The Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) is using interactive community plays to engage women farmers, community leaders, and policymakers in an open dialogue about gender equity, food security, land tenure, and access to resources. Women in sub-Saharan Africa make up at least 75 percent of agricultural workers and provide 60–80 percent of the labor to produce food for household consumption and sale, so it is crucial that they have opportunities to express their needs in local governance and decision-making. This entertaining and amicable forum makes it easier for them to speak openly.
Uganda’s Developing Innovations in School Cultivation (DISC) program is integrating indigenous vegetable gardens, nutrition information, and food preparation into school curriculums to teach children how to grow local crop varieties that will help combat food shortages and revitalize the country’s culinary traditions. An estimated 33 percent of African children currently face hunger and malnutrition, which could affect some 42 million children by 2025. School nutrition programs that don’t simply feed children, but also inspire and teach them to become the farmers of the future, are a huge step toward improving food security.

The State of the World 2011 report is accompanied by other informational materials including briefing documents, summaries, an innovations database, videos, and podcasts, all of which are available at www.NourishingthePlanet.org. The project’s findings are being disseminated to a wide range of agricultural stakeholders, including government ministries, agricultural policymakers, farmer and community networks, and the increasingly influential non-governmental environmental and development communities.

In conducting this research, Worldwatch’s Nourishing the Planet project received unprecedented access to major international research institutions, including those in the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) system. The team also interacted extensively with farmers and farmers’ unions as well as with the banking and investment communities.

The Worldwatch Institute and the Nourishing the Planet project are gratefully supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and additional foundations, governments, and institutions including the Rockefeller and Surdna Foundations, the United Nations Foundation, the Goldman Environmental Prize, the Shared Earth Foundation, the Wallace Global Fund, the Winslow Foundation, and many more.

Purchasing information:
State of the World 2011 sells for $19.95 + shipping & handling / £14.99 + P&P.
It can be purchased via the Worldwatch website at http://www.worldwatch.org/sow11, by e-mailing wwpub@worldwatch.org, by calling toll-free (+1) 877-539-9946 (in the U.S.) or (+1) 301-747-2340 (from overseas), or by faxing (+1) 301-567-9553 with ISBN number 9780393338805.

The book is published outside of the US, Canada and India by Earthscan and can be purchased at www.earthscan.co.uk/sow2011 or by calling +44(0)12 5630 2699 with ISBN number 9781849713528.

About the Worldwatch Institute:
Worldwatch is an independent research organization based in Washington, D.C. that works on energy, resource, and environmental issues. The Institute’s State of the World report is published annually in more than 20 languages. For more information, visit www.worldwatch.org.

Homegrown Long Island Book's Next Chapter

2011-03-01T17:08:00.000-08:00

You can't make this up.

If anyone told me that as I was just about to hit the "Send" button for the final, Author's Edits, that I'd get a call that hold on. My editor said she was instructed that management would like to, needs, to add 10-12 more chefs.
We had completed all the edits, approved the photos and were good to go.
Not so fast, as NBC must've said to Conan.

Of course I will do it. Gladly. Joyfully. I relish the opportunity to meet and get to know even more inspiring chefs from Long Island.
More food experiences? Bring it on!

Maybe I will write a book about writing a book...
With the exception of those who have written a book, I know it's difficult for anyone to get beyond the romance of book writing.
However, it is indeed a business. And I embrace and understand that element.

My only regret in moving the publishing/release date back six to seven months is that the chefs who worked so hard with me to provide their recipes and plant lists and fact check their profiles -- all while they manage their restaurants and culinary art and their relationships with their farmers and fishermen and artisanal food producers - and their customers -- will have to wait...
But as I wrote to them all to inform them of the new direction, "Publishing, like gardening, is a humbling endeavor."
Humble pie?!

To a chef, they were all supportive and understanding with most offering suggestions for the added chefs. That gracious, expert offer and my own research, yielded a most fabulous list of additional chefs.
As I told my editor, there were about five or six chefs from my original list that didn't make it into the final manuscript because of communications snafus or scheduling.
So I started with them.
Then expanded to new restaurant openings and chef assignments since the time we started the book.
So chef Joe Isidori and chef James Carpenter who may be Long Island master chefs are now in new locales with an energized, field to table menu.
Very exciting!

I have already conducted the interviews with the additional chefs and I am very impressed.
Each and every chef has an inspiring, intriguing story to tell. Book readers will find their background and style sparks them to make their delicious, mouth-watering, unique recipes.

Who are the new field to table Long Island chefs for the book?

I could ask you to submit your suggestions... But I will tell you. But do feel free to make a suggestion or two.

Drumroll please!

In no particular order, here is the list of master farm to table chefs that will be featured in the Long Island Homegrown Cookbook:

1.Robby Beaver, The Frisky Oyster

2. Kevin Penner, 1770 House

3. Deborah Pittorino, Cuvee Bistro & Bar, Greenporter Hotel

4. Tom Schaudel, Coolfish, A Mano

5. Eric Lomando, Kitchen A Bistro

6. James Tchinnis, Swallow

7. Guy Reuge, Mirabelle

8. Rosa Ross, Scrimshaw

9. Joe Isidori, Southfork Kitchen

10.Gretchen Menser, Fresno

11. James Carpenter, Maidstone

1.Robby Bea

Maybe Michael Mandleur, Jamesport Manor Inn or Christian Mir, Stone Creek or Elmer Rubio, Chachama Grill as the last chef candidate...

What do you think?

I am very, very excited to work with this outstanding, brilliant roster of chefs.
Clearly, the book will benefit from their inspired culinary craft.
Some already have cookbooks and restaurant books.

For example, Chef Rosa Ross has two books under her toque:
New Wok Cookbook
365 Ways to Cook Chinese

Chef Tom Schaudel has one:

I will post some teasers and news about the interviews. On deadline now!

Seeing Red in A Dinner Menu

2011-02-22T07:09:00.000-08:00

Seeing Red in a Dinner Menu

Not surprisingly, many cooks – home and restaurant -- were heart-fully throbbing a red-themed menu for Valentine’s Day.

It’s fun to purposefully seek a way to put a menu together.

So with cheer and love, put on those rose-colored glasses and look to recreate a rosy food look.

Red is the language of love. Red-hot sparks February. It may be the shortest month but it’s really long on holidays and parties.

From Lunar New Year to Valentines Day, Black History Month to Fashion Week and the tantalizing tail end of Restaurant Week.

If you are pulsing red, think about a dinner menu that starts with homemade tomato soup.

At this time of year?

If you didn’t pack away the tomatoes, you have to rely on the artisanal food makers from the Greenmarket like these Garden State geniuses who took the vine-picked red, juicy Jersey tomatoes, cooked and prepared: seasoned with parmesan cheese and canned or specifically jarred for winter time table treats. Even the pooch was excited!

For the entrée menu, think red, juicy rib-eye steak. Shop Whole Foods (www.wholefoods.com) or local greenmarket’s offerings.

Season with fresh grown or fresh from the market herbs and spices: ground chile peppers, cumin seed, and pink peppercorns.

How glamorous and romantic to add a pretty-in-pink taste and visual to culinary cuisine?

As per Amanda and Merrill

(www.food52.com) who recommend searing the meat on both sides and then add in beef broth and cook for a few more minutes.

Add a lipstick-red, seasonal vegetable: Swiss Chard.

An easy to make and delicious recipe can be found in Melissa Clarke’s sassy, unique and utterly captivating cookbook, “In the Kitchen with A Good Appetite” Recipes and stories About the Food You Love… www.melissaclark.net

Basically, you cut the red stalks or stems from their leafy green tops. Put a bit of olive oil in a pan with fresh garlic and some shallots. Then put the red stalks, sliced coin-sized into the pan. Cook until tender. Meanwhile, roll the green, red-veined tops into a log and cut along the roll into quarter or half inch slices. Did I hear you say “chiffonade?!”

Add to the red swiss chard in the pan and add a few squirts of anchovy paste for natural, tasty salt flavor.

There are red apples and red beets that are versatile and healthy and delicious!

You can add to the menu with some petite red bliss potatoes. Steam the small garnet jewels or slice and pan fry with garlic and olive oil.

Also, it’s a great time to secure seasonal fresh mushrooms: oysters and shitake. Wash and slice and cook in a pan with garlic and olive oil, adding in white, cannelloni beans.

Add in the love potion red wine – Valipocella is an amore Italian love choice to better complement and bring out the rich red taste of the meal.

For dessert, there are the red cherry pie popsicles. They are so cute and seem to smile back at you. Make or buy pie crusts, cut into rounds with a glass, fill the center with a teaspoon of cherry preserve filling – Solo is a good choice – since 1895! www.solofoods.com

Brush the round and cherry top with some milk. Then insert the lollipop sticks purchased from craft stores: www or use coffee stirrers doubled up. Use two to a pie pop and insert into the cherry-filled round. Place top round on cherry pie filling and brush with a tad more milk. Fork close the edges around the pie pop. Sprinkle with red sugar. Bake for about 10 or 15 minutes or until golden.

A fun and happy way to finish off a red-hot dinner. Everyone can lickety-split their pie pops while mingling or mixing/mushing with ice cream.

Oh, well there is the dark side to contemplate: CHOCOLATE.

What did you cook and enjoy for February=Food?

Cheers Darlings!

Danny Meyer On The Red Carpet!

2011-02-02T14:58:00.000-08:00

The Restaurateur, a documentary more than 10 years in the making had its New York debut at the 92 Street Y recently. It was also the only place in New York to view the award-winning film. You can buy the DVD, available this month.

I’ve heard Danny Meyer speak in the past at an American Express business seminar where he shared his successful business strategies with the audience, followed by a book signing of his memoir and life in restaurants: "Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business."

At the movie screening, he was the “star” but in a markedly different way.

Director Roger Sherman launched the program telling the full house of audience attendees (despite the night’s impending snowstorm) how he began the film 1998 with Danny Meyer and his restaurant partners to chart the launch of two New York City restaurants – both to open within weeks of each other.

Danny Meyer is a restaurateur legend and icon with Union Square, Gramercy Tavern, Maialino, and Shake Shack, among others, in his stable of successful dining establishments, known for their farm to table recipes, support of farmers, greenmarkets and local communities. And especially for their hospitality.

And he also builds restaurants in or near Parks!

Chef Michael Anthony, Gramercy Hotel is a featured chef in my upcoming book, Homegrown NYC.

The fact that the documentary took 12 years to make, due to financing, in some ways enhanced the narrative. We, the audience view the story from the vantage point of knowing the outcome. Credit to the director, Sherman, for keeping the viewer engaged and curious despite knowing how it all ends, is a credit to his storytelling and editing.

To see the younger Mr. Meyer and Chef Tom Colicchio brought happy laughter to the audience. Time has been good to them, but there is maturation. Danny is showing Chef Tom how the Eleven Madison of his dreams will emerge from the cavernous hollow shell of a space.

Another striking chord is hearing Mr. Meyer lamenting that labor is so hard to come by: from the construction trades to the restaurant staff. The audience let out a collective “ha,” in light of the present economic woes. Sigh. How different it all was not that long ago….

The documentary tells the story of Danny Meyer opening two restaurants, at the same time: Eleven Madison and Tabla. Drama enough.

We see the background of what it takes to make a restaurant successful: from the vision to the design and construction. It’s amazing to see the blank spaces that soon became glamorous, landmark interiors.

It was so intriguing to view the focused detail and struggles of finding the right chemistry fit for the executive chefs. Eleven Madison changed reins two times – with the toque going to Kerry Heffernan who takes over and saves the day right before the opening; but after garnering only three-star reviews, is re-purposed to Danny’s catering business, and management eventually finds gold after a nationwide search that yielded Daniel Humm, who does bring home the four stars. The story tells what a personal, gut wrenching decision it was for Danny to make the changes. But he always does things in a professional, dignified way.

At Tabla, they made all the right moves: stuck by the chef, Floyd Cardoz . Curiously, the film frequently shows Chef Floyd developing recipes at his suburban home during construction. We got it – the restaurant wasn’t open yet. It was a bit jarring to repeatedly see Floyd out there by himself in his modest family home in order to show his heritage cooking influences. I could only wonder why he wasn’t in another of Meyer’s professional restaurants trying out the very upscale Indian food that eventually found it’s way to the menu.

I loved Tabla and ate there with some frequency. It was magical.

We also witness Danny creating a luscious décor and struggling with the casual and formal menu split personality of upstairs/downstairs.

But after a good run, and despite the excellent three-star reviews and extraordinary food, Tabla was the first and only one of his restaurants to close. This too was done in a dignified way, with proper notice to staff and vendors – he noted no memo pasted on the door in the middle of the night that too many restaurants do.

The movie tells the tale of Tabla from recipe development, pride of introducing a new cuisine to a New York clientele and then the heartbreak but inevitable business decision to close the establishment – to end on a high note, so to speak.
I thought, that took guts.

Eleven Madison became a very upscale glamour puss with exciting award winning food. And don’t get me started on Roberta Bendavid’s glorious, incandescent floral designs that transport the ambiance of the restaurant – and she does at all of Danny Meyer’s restaurants. I saw Roberta in the film, but there was no attribution for her L And flowers are such an important ingredient of the restaurants’ success. Missed opportunity on Sherman’s part, especially given all the screen time given to the construction crew…

I found the movie very entertaining. It moved along with good editing from beginning concept, to the struggles and triumphs of getting the restaurants from a Dream to the grand openings and the move to become part of the Danny Meyer hospitality New York empire. The film was not bogged down by extra details or distractions.

The New York foodie audience loved it too.

Following the film, Roger and Danny provided an on-stage conversation and Q&A.

You could tell the closing of Tabla remains a bitter pill, despite the continuing, soaring success of other openings, especially the multiple Shake Shacks. Danny did offer that Tabla was the only restaurant in his stable that was not an All-American and not a cuisine that he “feels” and knows. Despite the rave reviews from restaurant critics, including three stars in The New York Times, “I just feel that a lot of people when considering a reservation at Tabla had to ask, ‘Honey, do the Smiths like Indian food?’ And if you don’t know, you don’t want to chance a Saturday night restaurant dinner and consequently choose a place where you know that guests will find something they are sure to like.” Sad but pragmatic outlook on Danny’s part …

After tearfully closing Tabla, they sold the Tabla artwork to dining patrons along with a lot of the interiors. He joked that if anyone wanted an oculus to let him know!

Noting that the audience was probably eager to leave because of the snowstorm (no one was moving) Danny Meyer said his restaurants would offer a Free drink or bottle of wine for the next day’s lunch menu at any of his restaurants if guests would venture out in the blizzard. We were Tweeting that offer as fast as we could type.

The Sonoma International Film Festival named The Restaurateur “Best Documentary Food” and “Best Domestic Documentary.”

You will enjoy the DVD, available this month:

Watch the movie, followed by a dinner at one of Danny Meyer’s restaurants to discuss the cinematic drama of dining. Or just enjoy the theater of the restaurant….

Those Three Little Words

2011-01-09T19:02:00.000-08:00

“Author’s Clean Copy”

Are those not the three most beautiful words an author can hear?!

OK, “I Love You” is right up there. I grant you that.

But when you think about it, love is inextricably linked to writing and producing a book.
There is the passion and respect for the subject matter itself, for the featured protagonists – in my case the master chefs – along with their gardeners and/or farmers; the love of their culinary craft, the love of the art of the garden, the love of the Long Island landscape and sea-scape, the love of the project itself: the photography by Jennifer Calais Smith and my garden art renderings that both help tell this amazing story.
And of course there is love for the editors and publishers who helped bring all this passion to the printed page. I love my Quayside, Voyageur Press editors: Kari and Michael.

I just received, via email attachment, the Author’s Clean Copy manuscript. All text and photo and art selection must be completed to go to the printer by February 1^st deadline I was told.

It is nothing short of thrilling.

As anyone who has ever had a book published, it’s common knowledge that the gestation process is very slow.
Glacial, in fact.

But not when you are in the thick of it: working on the book is almost an all-consuming effort. There is the research, the interviewing, the writing…
The book is a lover that steals your heart – and your time…

But for now, just for a sweet, sweet interlude, I want to embrace this moment.
This manuscript.
I want to celebrate!

And to celebrate the addition of two men who have brought great joy to my life J

First, I honor the good fortune of having secured my number-one candidate to write the Foreword for the book. I had solicited knowledgeable people for suggestions, but I knew I only had eyes for Brian Halweil.

My research and following of Brian’s work whispered to me he was the perfect fit to introduce you, the reader, to the special world of Long Island’s culinary artists and master chefs and to the farmers and fishermen and food artisans and to the astonishing LI landscape. He is talented, smart, dedicated and is an advocate for food and hunger causes. I am in simpatico.
Brian is the Editor of Edible East End Magazine.
http://www.edibleeastend.com/

He is also a senior researcher and Co-Project Director for “State of the World 2011: Innovations that Nourish the Planet” a seminal work from the Worldwatch Institute, Vision for a Sustainable World that reports on global hunger and agricultural issues.
To say it’s a must-read is an understatement. This is real journalism, not repeat Tweets.
It is a most important book. You will be enlightened – and moved… that “a child dies every six seconds” is an unbearable tragedy….

Please help support Brian and his colleague’s great work, including Danielle Nierenberg,
Anna Lappé, Small Planet Institute and Stephanie Hanson, One Acre Fund.

Do attend this most important book launch for “Nurturing the Planet” Wednesday, January 12^th at 10:00 AM in New York City at the WNYC Greene Space at 44 Charlton Street.
http://www.worldwatch.org/node/6557

I will be there, along with some guests.
Worldwatch is offering a sneak preview online, with a link to Chapter 1.
But buy the book!

The other man that came into my life recently is the photo editor and publisher from Voyageur Press, Michael Dregni.

Michael is a New York Times best-selling author too. He’s written a number of acclaimed books including Harley and the chart-topping, “Gypsy Jazz: In Search of Django Reinhardt and The Soul of Gypsy Swing”

While Michael was a lucky strike extra for me, having been assigned by the publishing company, I couldn’t help feel a connection.
That is because there are a number of threads in my life that, taken together, make quite a nice cloth --or bridge to Michael’s work.
When I went to school in Switzerland, I spent the better part of one summer with my Danish boyfriend in Copenhagen where I worked in the Huset where a large part of the entertainment was American Jazz. I always felt Europeans are much more appreciative of our only – along with the Blues – truly American musical art form. I helped the director there to write letter to many of the aging, black jazz musicians to get them to perform and to secure interviews for a book he hoped to publish about American Jazz. Michael was his name too, I recall, and he told me that due to the Red Scare and racism, too many of these talented musicians never got a chance to tell their story – and he knew they had a lot to contribute to the art world and to culture.

The next thread is my brother is a musician and plays a lot of terrific jazz. Further, he arranged for the family to go and see Django Reinhardt when the famous musician performed at New York City’s iconic Tavern on the Green. My beloved father, George, who died too soon on August 29^th in 2008, thoroughly enjoyed the music and the talent of Django and frequently recalled the event with joy.
And anything that made my father happy, was a bonded seal of approval for me…

And the last thread is that my husband owns and does love his Harley motorcycle. So the This Old Harley book Michael wrote and produced was the cherry on top of personal links…

You can see a full listing of Michael’s books and purchase here:
http://www.biblio.com/michael-dregni~473182~author

I am very superstitious. The fact that Brian and Michael had some pre-existing meaning to me, confirmed it was destiny. A good sign that would bring good things.

Author’s Edit

I asked my husband to print out the manuscript. Even though I will do the Author’s Edits in the Word document, I thought it would be kinda’ cool, somewhat easier and I daresay, decadent, to have the actual manuscript to hold and hug and work from.
It is indeed.
The only thing was, when I learned the clean copy is 176 pages, I told him to forget the paper copy. “Too late,” he replied.

So now I have my jewel of a manuscript to touch and tote around and edit.
In front of the fire with the snow blowin’ like a snow globe outside, I can fantasize about the magical world of what I always thought a writer’s world could be like.
Even if it’s just for a few nights. Even if it’s illusionary. We all need our dreams…

Back in the world of kitchen, I did begin the cooking the book’s recipes provided by the chefs.
I don’t know if I mentioned it previously, but the guidelines I gave to the chefs as to what kind of recipes to offer for the book were a Signature dish - something they are known for – the menu item that customers will ask for time and again. That they will leave home for to eat. That they will introduce family and friends to, as in “You MUST have Chef’s ___! Fill in the dish here…
The other guidelines were a family or cultural heritage recipe. I was thinking perhaps the chef grew up with a grandmother or father’s stuffed cabbage or peach cobbler or stuffed ziti or…
Then there was a request for a seasonal recipe – and I emphasized it didn’t or shouldn’t be the default summer recipe. It’s much more challenging to find a best of breed winter or early spring recipe.
And finally, if the chef could create a new, never-before recipe creation just for the book – that would be very special.
But ultimately, I told the chefs the recipes they were providing was their choice.
I was so grateful and honored they were taking the time to do this..

I know I am already behind my planned schedule to prepare and cook a recipe from the book every week. Maybe it was the holiday’s that set me back.
I’m trying.

For no real reason, except I so love their food – and the two of them --I started with the recipes from 18 Bay Restaurant’s Elizabeth Ronzetti and Adam Kopels.

They are exciting and dedicated and curious chefs – always pushing the boundaries for taste, purity and fresh, local ingredients.

Their fabulous recipe entries for the book:
Signature: BBQ striped bass fin
Seasonal: Black bow tie pasta with local squid and guy lok
Family Heritage: Immaculata’s stuffed peppers (How cute is this?!)
New: Roasted razor clams with Chinese long beans and fresh chilies

Last week I make the BBQ striped bass fin. We have a formidable BrevilleÒ panini cooker we got from Williams-Sonoma last year and it BBQ’s too!
It’s a great cooking tool and I should use it more often.
It’s like the front line of Notre Dame’s “Fighting Irish”: solid and consistent.

The striped bass was delicious. By the time it got to the table.
Both Maria – my garden design client who is a fabulous cook – and who graciously agreed to be a cooking partner in this culinary trial adventure, had some real fun with the fish….
The striped bass fin was by turns an exotic yet simple dish to prepare. I love the juxtaposition.
The culinary crossroads were never tastier…

Stay tuned for next entry.
I made Immaculata’s stuffed peppers tonight.

Cheers and bon appetit!

The Start of the Prequel

2011-01-03T10:20:00.000-08:00

It was just about this time last year that I had not quite recovered (!) from the change in locale for my book, ” Homegrown.”

I had already had the penultimate honor of interviewing the top New York City chefs who were – and remain – keystone leaders of the locavore, farm to table, in-season menu. They are also game-changers for bringing attention to upgrading school menus and edible school gardens and inaugurating cooking lessons for our children…

And not so curiously, many are now pretty much known by their first names: Dan, Michael, Peter, Mario…

In what seems like a New York minute, we now know chefs are rock stars, right? J

I had carefully researched each and every potential chef for the book.

It was not good enough that they were great chefs.

After all, I can say with no undo humility, that Gotham has more amazing chefs per square block than anywhere else in the galaxy.

No, what I was in search of, were the leaders – those who denied the phone ordering from the purveyor for – well, frankly; for the unknown.

To those who weren’t with me when I first started the book in early ’02, “my” chefs were those revolutionaries who inspired a sea change in how we think about food, cooking, local farmers and fishermen, and artisanal food makers.

Predominately, the chefs I researched and selected were from New York City and two from the Garden State.

Later, my publisher asked me to add in the Hamptons.
Whey not? J I found five chefs and their restaurants right off the bat there that would add to the New York Homegrown book.

You see, I started with the concept that gardens and farms are so beautiful and magical that they inspire artists – all artists – but especially the culinary artist. It seems obvious but maybe not. I felt this is a compelling story that needed to be told. Unlike musicians or painters or fashion designers, culinary artists use the bounty of the garden in their own artistic endeavors.

I promise that when I say or write ‘My” chefs I will stop using the quote marks.

But I must admit I’ve used the “designation” as a way to distinguish “my” selected/chosen chefs in the local/sustainable/food/culinary cuisine arena vs. other good /great chefs.

See how exhausting and challenging it is to label a food movement with more monikers and descriptors than a Greek diner’s menu offerings?!

And I am ever mindful not to suggest possession or too much familiarity.

But truth be told; I love my chefs. Like children.

Each and every chef is extraordinarily special to me.

Chefs are loving and sharing artists. They want to give what they have created to others. (Food just won’t keep like that Picasso!)

So you might better understand when I say ”my” chefs, these are the chefs I selected for the book.

But in fact, the chefs belong to all their adoring customers, foodies, and frankly, to history -- because they have and are forever changing how we define food and cooking and, by no small means, how we manage our national and international agriculture, healthcare and nutrition.

Whew!

These inter-related issues are consuming. To say the least.

And my chefs are passionate about using what is now their bully pulpit to change the world and make us all healthier and happier to enjoy delicious, tasty food that is good for us and the environment.

Oh, and they love to entertain. They have successful restaurants.

While they were busy changing the world, they needed to have legions of loyal dining customers who just cannot live without their culinary creations.

I am forever blessed to live in a part of the extended culinary “world” (there are those quotes marks again that serve to suggest something more.)

In this case my culinary world includes more than local geography or locale. It includes a commitment to the concept of Slow Food, international sustainable food production and caring for our environment. To maintaining a garden filled with a variety of vegetables, herbs, bees, flowers and love.

And delicious, amazing seasonal food!

Therefore -- I wanted - and needed -- the chefs in my book to be the best of the best in the local farm to table and sustainable food movement (see above!)

For some, their names were already familiar to me. I had eaten at their world-class restaurants.

For others, I had read about their work, researched their commitment and dedication to the locavore/sustainable food initiative and only then, approached them to ask if they would agree to be part of the book.

I have already written of the list of New York City chefs that will be included in that book. (see earlier blog post)

I am thrilled my editor recently asked for an expanded list of New York City chefs and that we're back up in the queue.

But last year, the change in locale to focus this first book exclusively on Long Island, as opposed to including The Hamptons in the New York City book was a directive from my publisher.

The first Homegrown book from me was to be from Long Island. New York City would be the second book from me.

The magnitude of this was extraordinary to me.

Not only did I have many of the profiles text written for the New York City chefs but we had completed almost all the photography of the chefs in their inspired gardens or farms, and cooking their recipes in the kitchen restaurants.

My Homegrown book features a profile for each chef – their story of how they got to be a leader who is passionate about seasonal, local ingredients, Four recipes from each chef, a garden art rendering I do of their inspired garden or farm, and the corresponding plant list.

My dream is that readers will in turn be inspired by the master chefs and their gardens and farms and be able to grow a garden based on the garden designs and plant lists and then cook and bake the recipes gifted by the chefs.

Furthermore, I was privileged to have been able to spend special time with these extraordinary chefs interviewing them to garner their unique stories of how they got to be successful and then, along with my photographer and food stylist, photographed the chefs in their inspired gardens and with their farmers and gardeners.

It is a very personal, intimate relationship.

Not so different from my garden design clients. Meaning you are in their homes– and in their head…

I respect all they do with their craft.

I start from that perspective.

You see, the process of getting to a list I could be proud of required me to establish critical criteria in order to get to a book-worthy chef.

Every chef had to have demonstrated pioneering leadership in developing relationships and infrastructure for a food community of farmers, fishermen and artisans.

In starting the research for the Long Island roster of chefs, I turned the spotlight on key geographic spots that would not only fulfill my publishers desire to represent the entire Island, but would tell the best story about the culinary culture of this area nick named Pleasure Island. (For good reason.)

I found Long Island’s historical, agricultural, immigration, fine arts heritage including literature, painting, cinema and the arts, along with its unmistakable fabric of wealth and money - a fertile, fascinating exploration.

I identified my local Long Island area into the North Shore often called the Gold Coast, separated from Connecticut by the Long Island Sound and the South Shore. Out on the East End of the Island and its two fingers jutting out to the Atlantic is the North Fork and its vineyards and the South Fork or the Hamptons and the Hampton Bays.

There is unmitigated beauty found here. The bays and inlets, the shorelines, farms and dunes are indeed the stuff of dreams.

Nature blessed this region with caressing microclimates to allow its farmers to grow a bushel basket full of many varieties of world-class vegetables and herbs. The rows and rows of fragrant lavender will make your grab your heart with joy.

Today, chefs are helping others to discover the native plants like foraged sea rocket and purslane!

Early on, hunters found game plentiful.

Flocks of duck soon became a brand for Long Island.

And the herds of smiling goats produce happy, world-class cheese.

The waters that hug Long Island give both the sports and commercial fishermen seasonal fresh fish that help define the culinary culture with its razor clams, oysters, sea bass, porgies and tuna.

Its garden history is the stuff of legend: from the estate gardens in Westbury and Bridgehampton to the vineyards of the North Fork to the cottage gardens in Sag Harbor.

From the early Dutch and English settlers to the Italians, the bouillabaisse of homegrown cuisine makes for a food tradition that, coupled with the proximity of a sophisticated New York City influence and clientele, the area’s artistic inspiration fuses an extraordinary culinary oeuvre.

It’s a vacation mecca. It’s an artistic muse.

It’s an enigma. It’s a story I couldn’t wait to tell…

For about two months, I read restaurant reviews, travel pieces, real estate overviews, historical literature, Edible East End magazine and talked to food experts in Manhattan and Long Island in order to secure outstanding chef recommendations to add to the list of five chefs I already had secured as part of the New York City Homegrown book.

The original five are Chef Joe Realmuto, Nick & Toni’s; Chef Michael Rozzi, Della Femina; Chef Eberhard Mueller, Satur Farms; Ted Conklin’s American Hotel and Anna Pump from Loaves & Fishes and Bridgehampton Inn and cookbooks and …. (THE best orange marmalade anywhere. I promise.)

By February and March, I had narrowed the search to produce a very solid list of about 16 to 18 possible chefs I was proud to call “my chefs!”

Here is the original list, below.

The asterisked names are those who didn’t make it to the final manuscript. The reasons for almost all were due to either bad scheduling or lack of or non-communication. Couldn’t confirm in time or to meet deadlines.

In the case of Ina, she initially agreed, as part of the first book and then… pouf.

“No.”

Perhaps she got too famous … I thought she’d be noticed by her absence or omission from a book about master chefs and cooks from Long Island…

Believe me, I tried. I sent congratulations peonies (her favorite flower) when she was awarded the Matrix Award from Women in Communication. I asked her florist to put in a good word for me. I asked Chef Joe from Nick & Toni’s to put in a good word for me when he appeared on her show last year. I promised to work with her schedule, and against my better judgment to use a standard bio she already has for the profile (dull, I know but I thought I’d make the exception.) But despite the most wonderful assistant in the world, the PR folks went silent. Nada. Sorry.

But really, who cares?!

With only a few modifications, the list was an enduring one straight through to final manuscript.

But it’s another story about how we got to that point. J

List of Long Island Homegrown Chefs for the book:

North Shore

Bistro M, Chef Mitchell SuDock Glen Head

18 Bay, Chefs Elizabeth Ronzetti and Adam Kopels, Oyster Bay/Bayville

South Shore

The Lake House, Chef Matt Connors, Bayshore

The Grey Horse Tavern, Chef Meredith Machemer, Bayport

North Fork

North Fork Table & Inn, Chefs Claudia Fleming and Gerry Hayden, Southold

Jedediah Hawkins Inn, Chef Keith Luce, Jamesport

Satur Farms, Chef Eberhard Mueller, Cutchogue

* David Intonato, Jamesport Manor Inn

* Hank Tomashevski, The Frisky Oyster

South Fork

Nick & Toni’s, Chef Joe Realmuto, East Hampton

Della Femina, Chef Michael Rozzi, East Hampton

Loaves & Fishes, Chef Anna Pump, Sagaponick

The American Hotel, Chef Jonathan Parker, Sag Harbor

Almond, Chef Jason Weiner, Bridgehampton

Foody’s, Chef Bryan Futerman, Water Mill

* Kevin Penner, 1770 House

* Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa

Hampton Bays

Starr Boggs, Chef Starr Boggs, West Hampton

OSO Restaurant, South Hampton Inn, South Hampton

* Christian Mir, Stone Creek Inn

Now I had to start talking to the master chefs to learn the details of their amazing culinary stories…

How Did Your Kitchen Design Get That Way? Psst - Find Out at MoMa

2010-12-08T13:41:00.000-08:00

You’d think with all the kitchen photography for the Homegrown book, not to mention my own obsession with cooking, that I’d be less than eager to visit the New York Museum of Modern Art - MoMa’s “Frankfurt Kitchen.”

But nothing could be further than the truth.

The description in the Arts’ section of The New York Times noted the exhibit is “a point of reference,” and explained the show “explores the 20^th –century kitchen and its relationship to food, labor, consumerism and female identify.”

I couldn’t wait to see what was cookin' at the museum about this unique topic.

So right after it opened in September, I eagerly made it an afternoon at MoMa and a respite in the musuem's unparalleled sculpture garden.

By today’s McMansion uber designs, the kitchen dynamic curated in this exhibit might seem puny.

Long before the kitchen became the center of many homes with “aspirational” kitchen technology that rivals industrial kitchens, there was the kitchen that was buried down below for the kitchen staff to maneuver, or tucked away where women toiled.

(I say aspirational for today’s kitchens because so many homes are outfitted with amazing culinary gadgets only to sit idle. People too often eat out or order in or use processed food.)

That phenomena is changing, right?!

I learned that standardization after World War II was a defining feature of modern kitchens.

There was a hopefulness about the promise of technology.

Adjustable stools allowed women to sit and peel vegetables without standing.

Progress is glacial J

The kitchen was also moved closer to the living quarters to Mom could keep her eye on the children while working in the kitchen.

Architects aimed to show the admiration for scientific reason and the desire for a more utopian society as well as transform daily life.

Generally, government and society looked to improve the collective social well-being.

I observed so many of the exhibit-goers pointing out kitchen items and images on the scrims that reminded them of their childhoods spent in the kitchen.

Squealing, some were elbowing others in their group, saying, “I should’ve saved Mom’s ___, fill in the blank; whether it was the blender, Tupperware or Melmac.

I got a mixed message reading the goal at that time was that “every available piece of land must be cultivated.” That's good. (And I loved the show's posters.)

But I couldn't help think this also led to the Levitt-towning of America with all those cookie-cutter tract houses along with ripping the heart out of our small, local farms...

I recommend visiting the exhibit. It explores food culture – it helps explain a lot of what one of my book’s Homegrown chefs described as a food generation lost to Betty Crocker!

In many ways, the mid century kitchen did indeed become the heart of the home.

It did accomplish the goal of transforming society.

With the benefit of hindsight, not all that change made life better though.

I could see the timeline of processed foods, diabetes, and fast food, just, well, fast-forward before my eyes.

But for the time it takes to view the exhibit, you can’t help feel the happy promise that the new kitchen and “liberated” Moms and food technology would not only fuel prosperity but also imbue the “Kitchen Debates” of Nixon and Khrushchev and the entire culture.

MoMa curator Juliet Kinchin and Davin Stowell, founder and CEO of the design consultancy Smart Design were both on the Leonard Lopate, WNYC radio show discussing the exhibit.

Kinchin’s curated a show that produced a combination of a heretofore-unexplored issue fusing history, feminism, architecture, and food.

MoMa’s description of the exhibit is as follows:

Counter Space explores the twentieth-century transformation of the kitchen and highlights MoMA’s recent acquisition of an unusually complete example of the iconic “Frankfurt Kitchen,” designed in 1926–27 by the architect Grete Schütte-Lihotzky. In the aftermath of World War I, thousands of these kitchens were manufactured for public-housing estates being built around the city of Frankfurt-am-Main in Germany. Schütte-Lihotzky’s compact and ergonomic design, with its integrated approach to storage, appliances, and work surfaces, reflected a commitment to transforming the lives of ordinary people on an ambitious scale. Previously hidden from view in a basement or annex, the kitchen became a bridgehead of modern thinking in the domestic sphere—a testing ground for new materials, technologies, and power sources, and a spring board for the rational reorganization of space and domestic labor within the home. Since the innovations of Schütte-Lihotzky and her contemporaries in the 1920s, kitchens have continued to articulate, and at times actively challenge, our relationship to the food we eat, popular attitudes toward the domestic role of women, family life, consumerism, and even political ideology in the case of the celebrated 1959 “Kitchen Debate” that took place between Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev in Moscow at the height of the Cold War.   Featured alongside the Frankfurt Kitchen is a 1968 mobile fold-out unit manufactured by the Italian company Snaidero. These two complete kitchens are complemented by a wide variety of design objects, architectural plans, posters, archival photographs, and selected artworks, all drawn from MoMA’s collection. Prominence is given to the contribution of women throughout the exhibition, not only as the primary consumers and users of the domestic kitchen, but also as reformers, architects, designers, and as artists who have critically addressed kitchen culture and myths.

The MoMa kitchen exhibit runs through March14th. 212-708-9400

http://moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2010/counter_space/credits

After touring the exhibit, I visited the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller sculpture garden, naturally.

It is a quintessential urban garden, punctuated by all those sensual Picasso and Giacometti.

(As an aside, recently I read, "Angeology," a thriller of a story where Abby Rockefeller's guiding help and the garden at MoMa play a critical role. A great read.)

In 2004 architect, Yoshio Tanaguchi redesigned the garden, expanding it yet again.

The garden area is sunken with water reflecting pool or ‘canals” as Johnson called them, weeping birch and beech trees.

It is a peaceful place. A contemplative garden where one can think about and reflect upon the fine art exhibit one has just experienced.

On this day, I saw that Yoko Ono had placed her Wish Tree where visitors could write their wish and place it on a tree branch; with the “promise” the wish would come true.

That was too irresistible and I made a wish for my father…

Next up “must see” at the MoMa is Paula Hayes, Nocturne of the Limax maximus now through February 28, 2011. It features incredible work of landscape designer artist Hayes. Curious and gorgeous living gardens in glass!

According to MoMa:

Since the 1990s, New York–based artist and landscape designer Paula Hayes (b. 1958) has produced botanical sculptures—organically shaped vessels made from blown glass, silicone, or acrylic and filled with a rich variety of plant life—that expand upon the classic terrarium, both through their imaginative containers and the microcosmic universes within. Hayes has conceived an installation for the Museum lobby that includes a fifteen-foot-long, wall-mounted horizontal sculpture for the west wall, and a free-standing, egg-shaped, floor-to-ceiling structure nearby. Organic in form and containing a variety of living plants, the vessels will add a joyful vitality to the lobby, enlivening the space during the winter season.

And Garden Design magazine just wrote about the exhibit too. Kudos for spreading the good word about beautiful gardens.

http://www.gardendesign.com

Great Grain Lecture at The New School

2010-12-03T12:24:00.000-08:00

Great Grains

I was excited to see the invitation to The New School lecture in New York City for three reasons: it featured Gramercy Tavern restaurant Executive Chef Michael Anthony, who is a featured master chef in my book, New York City Homegrown that celebrates Gotham’s culinary revolutionaries and leaders of the farm to table movement.

Second, the topic was “The Educated Eater: Regionally Grown Grain.”

Now, a grain may be just a tiny thing, but, hey, size is not everything.

The fact is grains are Big news. They are important.

I can’t make my breads without them, after all.

I have written about Cayuga Pure Organics, a local grain grower in upstate New York. (http://celebritychefsandtheirgardens.blogspot.com

-- February 4, 2010)

The Cayuga Pure Organics miller was on the panel for the evening. So that was another plus.

My curiosity to learn more about grains is unabated. I wanted to learn more.

And lastly, the New School is a mere half a block from the apartment.

Perhaps that is four reasons…

In any event, as Eloise would say, I “skibbled” down the street on a lovely late autumn evening, past the movie-set Gothic beauty of the First Presbyterian church across the street and on the way down the block.

There was lots going on at the New School. I found I had to cross back over the courtyard and up to the top floor

Signing in, I could see the panel discussion drew a fairly good-sized audience.

And the session was being videotaped. www.youtube.com/thenewschoolnyc

It was disappointing Chef Michael was not able to make it, according to the New School registration.

The good food news though was Registration provided flyers announcing Food Studies at The New School: A Cutting Edge Discipline. Citing "Food as a subject of study is becoming increasingly popular... from TV to blogs :) to food-related issues from safety scares to environmental concerns, to Mrs. Obama's campaign about obesity, Food Studies at The New School will include courses on food history, food policy and politics, the environment, sustainable food systems and media...

For more information visit:

http://www.newschool.edu/ce/foodstudies/

The panel was composed of inspired experts, moderated by June Russell.

June’s bio on the handout says she joined Greenmarket in 2004 and learned the market system through managing neighborhood-based markets across the City. For the last four years she has been the organizations Farm Inspections Manager and has traveled extensively within the region, visitor producer farms and production facilities. These experiences have given her background and insight to think strategically on behalf of growers and about steps to rebuild or local food system. Her recent work on facilitating the production of grains and processing in the region highlights Greenmarket’s capacity to be a progressive force in driving farm viability in the Northeast.

She demonstrated her acumen and passion for the subject – and for the panelists’ participation and devotion to their craft.

The discussion was a high point – part of Greenmarket’s Grains Week, November 14-21, 2010.

The moderator, June, provided an overview of grains; how we got to where we are today with pretty much a monoculture of grains used for food production.

Soon, she introduced the three panelists,

starting with Alston Earnhardt, Grower, Lightning Tree Farm, Dutchess County, NY.

After raising bee, pork, lamb and chickens and growing the grain to feed his animals, Alston “realized there was more interest in the organic feed he was producing than the livestock.” He was soon “committed to growing organic grains for animal feed.”

Seems Alston was consumed with grains.

So it wasn’t too much of a stretch when he started “growing food grade grains for his own consumption!

In 2003 he started he started working with Don Lewis of Wild Hive Farm Bakery to scale up this production.”

2010 is the first year the sales of food grade grains have surpassed the sales of grains for livestock, according to The New School material.

Alston pointed out the most common grains used are oats, wheat, barley, and rye.

He saved seeds to grow and clean. He replanted the seeds himself.

Describing his first challenge, Alston said he was told, ‘You can’t grow hard wheat in the east,’

“But that’s what I wanted to do!” he chortled

“For home baked bread, most seed varieties are still for arid Midwest, whereas the east is humid.”

He learned he had to get seeds to work with the climate here in the Northeast.

Now, the varieties of hard and soft wheat he grows are most likely what would have been what was grown here in the 1700’s.

Next up was Greg Moll, the head Miller for Farmed Ground Flower, the “local business that mills grain grown by Cayuga Pure Organics.

Greg told the rapt listeners what grains he’s been milling. “It’s a challenge with spelt, rye, buckwheat, saffron, and hard wheat. I’m still figuring out oats,” he said. Greg went on to explain that oats need to steam and, presently, they don’t have the money to invest in the equipment to be able to do that. He doesn’t have any infrastructure to remove the hulls. “The cost is to truck and have work done, so consequently many growers and millers don’t explore ancient varieties.

The good news is he reports demand is up for greater/more grain varieties. “People feel passionate about new, rediscovered grains. So he is bullish the infrastructure will come.

Moll described how moisture makes modern milling tough to do.

He said milling wheat is most complicated. “Rye and buckwheat are so easy to mill- and they are sustainable. “Eat more buckwheat!” the panelists admonished.

I found it interesting when Greg pointed out that grain growing involves multiple constituencies, including farming and agriculture, millers, and the baking sciences.

“Whatever bakers ask us for, we’ll work with them,” he said, with what sounded like a lot of respect and artisanal pride.

Moll pointed out that the Greenmarket has been “totally instrumental” in making it possible to expand and provide the flours that bakers and chefs and the public are now asking for. Plus, he was able to migrate from part time to full time Miller! He now has the tools at his disposal to offer a greater variety of milled grains and flours.

http://www.cporganics.com/live/

Panelist Nathan Leamy, Baker and Grains Specialist, provided the International perspective.

He looks at how people study food. He works for Slow Food USA, teaches bread-baking classes and has traveled the world studying and reporting on food science and agriculture policy.

He first got interested in grains while in college.

At that time he was keen to learn how alfalfa and Ag policy were changing what we eat in the States.

He was also focused on food consumption and production around the world.

Eventually he transitioned to home baking.

And he’s been spreading the word on grains and bread ever since

According to the literature, Leamy studied politics and managed 152 acres of organically grown alfalfa.

He then attended Oberlin College where he worked with the student cooperative association to develop a housing and dining coop, which focused on educating students to eat well. Upon graduation, Nathan completed a Watson Fellowship studying how global changes in agricultural and economic policy have altered the consumption of traditional breads in Mexico, India, France, Italy and Egypt.

He currently works as the Associate Director of Operations and Human Resources for Slow Food USA.

Leamy emphasized how unique grains are. Using an apple as an example, he said all apples basically have the same genetic makeup, whereas grains change a lot with soil, moisture, etc.

On top of that, grains have to be turned into powder stuff then take to another expert.

There were expert bakers and chefs in attendance :)

“You eat what you have locally. Eat what’s local” were statements echoed by all the panelists.

And now that there is more of a variety of grains being grown locally, there is a choice.

We don’t have to settle for just more white flour. .

And as growers, these leaders know they can set themselves apart in a crowded, overused white-flour world.

So many variables.

Bread today is very different from 100 years ago, the panelists pointed out.

Most notable, they commented that breads today are not heavy breads.

Except for my bread.

Giving Thanks

2010-11-26T13:52:00.000-08:00

The Foreword: Much To Be Thankful For

I am so thankful, honored – and downright thrilled that Brian Halweil has agreed to write the Foreword for my book, “Long Island Homegrown.”

Brian is the perfect candidate and was my number one, preferred choice from the get-go.

Brian wears the Long Island food chain like his very own ID bracelet.

He is the editor of Edible East End Magazine, http://www.edibleeastend.com the “local food magazine of Long Island.”

As the editor of the food magazine that is the bible of the farming, fishing, artisanal food makers, vineyards, and the restaurants of “Pleasure” Island, he intimately knows the kitchens and wine cellars and farm stands and dairies that comprise the food culture that is Long Island.

Brian is also an author, Eat Here: Homegrown Pleasures in a Global Supermarket.

From the Worldwatch Institute Brian's profile reads:

Brian Halweil is a senior fellow at the Worldwatch Institute covering issues of food and agriculture and is currently Co-Director of Nourishing the Planet. He joined Worldwatch in 1997 as the John Gardner Public Service Fellow from Stanford University, where he had established a student-run farm on campus. In addition, Brian has helped set up community-supported farms throughout California and New York, as well as in Mexico, and assisted farmers who were making the shift to organic agriculture. As a food and agriculture expert, Brian has testified before the U.S. Senate on biotechnology, poverty, and hunger, and his research and writing have been featured in national media.

I admire his steadfast commitment to the local, Long Island food community.

To producing a sustainable food economy and foodie culture.

And his work in the broader, worldwide effort to provide safe, sustainable, delicious food to all of earth’s citizens.

I know Brian’s contribution will be invaluable. It will certainly add to the integrity of the book.

Master Chefs in Homegrown Long Island

I also give thanks to the 16 chefs and the gardeners or farmers that inspire these locavore culinary artists.

A special Thanksgiving thanks go to:

North Shore

Bistro M, Chef Mitchell SuDock Glen Head

18 Bay, Chefs Elizabeth Ronzetti and Adam Kopels, Oyster Bay/Bayville

South Shore

The Lake House, Chef Matt Connors, Bayshore

The Grey Horse Tavern, Chef Meredith Machemer, Bayport

North Fork

North Fork Table & Inn, Chefs Claudia Fleming and Gerry Hayden, Southold

Jedediah Hawkins Inn, Chef Keith Luce, Jamesport

Satur Farms, Chef Eberhard Mueller, Cutchogue

Amarelle, Chef Lia Fallon

South Fork

Nick & Toni’s, Chef Joe Realmuto, East Hampton

Della Femina, Chef Michael Rozzi, East Hampton

Loaves & Fishes, Chef Anna Pump, Sagaponick

The American Hotel, Chef Jonathan Parker, Sag Harbor

Almond, Chef Jason Weiner, Bridgehampton

Foody’s, Chef Bryan Futerman, Water Mill

Hampton Bays

Starr Boggs, Chef Starr Boggs, West Hampton

OSO Restaurant, South Hampton Inn, South Hampton,

The chefs, gardeners and farmers gave so generously of their time.

I always cringed a little when sending a follow up email request or reminder because I know they don’t have a salty second to spare.

However, they managed somehow to carve out time for the interviews and the photos shoots.

I knew every chef had a unique story. I wanted to honor that.

At the same time, I want the reader to get as excited as I am about each and every chef.

I want them to read every story. Not read two or three profiles and come to the conclusion: “I get it, they are good chefs and use local ingredients.”

I was compelled to write the profile chronicling the chef’s personal story of how they came to be a chef.

Most importantly, I wanted to write what drives them to secure the best ingredients. When it could simply be so much easier to pick up the phone and order from a purveyor’s list, why do these chefs insist on getting to know their farmers?

And visit the docks when the fishermen haul in the catch?

Or why they labor to produce their own gardens brimming with sultry herbs and tempestuous tomatoes and languid lettuces? It’s hot, it’s buggy and it’s hard work.

I want the reader to know these chefs more than care about where their food comes from. They possess a reverence for the food source. They never bite the hand that feeds them!

In addition, the inspired gardens and artisanal food makers infuse the chefs’ culinary creativity.

These master chefs continually create sometimes curious and always innovative recipes using local food sources on the path to taste nirvana.

By nature, chefs want to share their art. I find this is in contrast to many fine artists.

I give thanks for the generosity of their culinary art.

I thank the chefs for the time they shared for the photo sessions.

There were two sessions on the same day. One of them was in the kitchen preparing the food and the other one showcased the chef in the garden or on the farm visually narrating the relationship linking the chef, the farmer/gardener and the land…

And I thank them for their culinary talent – assembling the amazing food ingredients to ignite astonishing flavors and combined textures that leave you feeling giddy from the first mouthful.

Each chef has generously provided four recipes for the book too.

The only guidelines I provided or suggested were these:

A seasonal recipe – not just from summer’s bounty, either.

Preferably from the winter or shoulder seasons.

And one that uses local, fresh ingredients.

Perhaps they could provide a family or cultural recipe – such as that prized stuffed peppers dish from Aunt Imaculata (18 Bay).

Another suggestion was to provide a signature dish – something their diners have come to embrace on the menu and that they just can’t live without. Like the pistachio crusted halibut with asparagus, fava beans, oyster mushroom and a lemon beurre blanc (Bistro M).

And finally, a brand new recipe, created just for the book.

Seeing the chefs’ email with Recipes attachment arrive in the In-Box created a happy anticipation every time one cycled in – not unlike that sparkly-wrapped surprise gift from your new love.

Opening each recipe and scanning the ingredients was an exercise in orchestrated joy.

I can’t wait to try them out.

I am committed to preparing one recipe a week for the next year – and two a week for two months (I’m thinking June and July of 2011) in order to cook all 64 recipes that will be offered in the book. This schedule should allow me to thoughtfully and respectfully preview and write about the extraordinary recipes prior to the book’s launch date next year.

This will be very exciting. And fun.

I will share my cooking adventures with you here. The good, the bad and the triumphant.

I also give thanks to my photographer, Jennifer Calais Smith. . www.jennifercalais.com
Her photographic art is outstanding.

We worked very hard together to produce enduring photographs that amplify the profile I wrote about each chef.

I often said, “We need to tell the story about the relationship the chefs have with their gardens and farmers -- in pictures. We need to visually illustrate how the relationship and commitment drives their culinary art and fuels their creative imagination.”

It’s a lot to ask of a photographer, I know.

And while we storyboarded out the shots as a team, Jennifer was the one that was “on” for the shoot.

She had to jump through garden beds, dodge flying pizzas and hot oil, not to mention knife-wielding prep teams, hot, hot gardens and steaming kitchens.

The food stylists and me could indulge in the just-picked vegetables and fruit. Jennifer couldn’t.

For me, a Sun Gold cherry tomato is just this side better than candy. Sweet and juicy. Perfect for snacking.

I am captivated by oh-so-many of the Long Island gardens’ heirloom cherry tomatoes, whether a Black Plum, Isis Candy or local variety.

In a paradox of epic garden proportions, Jennifer does not like/eat tomatoes!

Along with her camera, Jennifer sprinted and crouched and scampered, staying ahead of the sun and shadows and sometimes the rain.

Chef Matt Connor, The Lake House, Bayshore

Chef Frank Lucas on the rooftop garden of Starr Boggs restaurant, Westhampton

Chef Matt & Jennifer at St. Peter's Farm

Chefs Elizabeth Ronzetti & Adam Kopels with Karen Lee, Sang Lee farmer

Chef Bryan Futerman, Foody's

She shot waaayyy too many photos J all in an effort to honor the chefs and the gardeners.

But don’t think it was all tough labor. It was fun too. And we ate like sultans.

Our story was chronicled by Sarah Kinbar on the blog, Good Garden Ideas:
http://www.goodgardenideas.com/?p=3390

I am also thankful for my editor, Kari. She is smart and creative – and most supportive.

I cannot thank her enough for being in my corner during last year’s change in book direction to focus the first book on Long Island.

She’s been a peach negotiating, revising and finalizing artist contracts – even when it got crazy, dodgy at times!

Mostly, I am thankful for her unwavering support after the hard drive crash in June.

She massaged the schedule and modified the deadline so I could rewrite the book’s manuscript that was destroyed in the crash. I am eternally grateful.

I am thankful to the farmers for their noble work.

I am grateful for the time they took away from their tractors and farm stands and planting and harvesting to graciously pose for the photos. They did so with shyness but much integrity.

The farmers are:

Ian Calder-Piedmonte and Alex Balsam - Balsam Farms

Scott Chaskey - Peconic Land Trust’s Quail Hill Farm

Jennifer and Jim Pike, Pike Farms, Sagaponick

Karen Lee – Sang Lee Farms, Peconic

Rottkamp Farms, Glen Head

Bob and Denise Andrews Family Farm, Wading River

The Gardeners are:

Chef Frank Lucas, Starr Boggs Restaurant, Westhampton

Stephanie Evanitsky, Mastic Beach

Anna Pump, Sagaponick and Bridgehampton

Peter Garnham, American Hotel

Eberhard Mueller and Paulette Satur, Satur Farms

Linda & Irene, Grey Horse Tavern, Bayport

Jon Snow, Hayground School, Bridgehampton

Chef Keith Luce, Jedediah Hawkins Inn, Jamesport

A special thanks to Rob Salvatico, Hotel Indigo, Riverhead (www.indigoeastend.com), who had just opened his refurbished and fabulous new hotel and restaurant. (I had a dream about the hotel last night! Must be good karma).

Rob’s opening week hospitality was generous and very much appreciated.

I could see him working even as he sat and talked to me for an interview.

His attention to detail was omnipresent.

He is sincerely ambitious. His vision is transparent. I will write more about his hotel soon. His hotel’s restaurant, Bistro, recently celebrated its formal opening.

Menu and operations were managed by Lia Fallon, executive chef, Amarelle, and contributing food stylist for the Homegrown Long Island book.

You can see how talented and passionate everyone associated with the Homegrown Long Island book is.

I am most thankful to each and every one of those who touched the book in their own special way.

And of course, to my cousin Maryann. She lovingly read and critiqued each chef profile as I raced to complete the second/rewrite of the manuscript following the crash. Her academy-award winning aesthetic and opinion meant more to me than I can summon the gravitas to say...

She is an angel. Writing can be a solitary endeavor and her contribution on the other end of the email communication kept me grounded and in touch with some small part of the world!

Merci, gracias, and molto grazie.

But on this most American holiday, Thanksgiving, allow me to just simply say, Thank you.
From the bottom of my garden-loving, food-passionate heart....

Greenmarket's Nevia No, Bodhitree Farm, Returns From Terra Madre Slow Food Conference

2010-11-21T12:42:00.000-08:00

Bodhitree Farm’s Nevia No is back from the Slow Food international organization’s bi annual Terra Madre conference, held in Turin Italy, October 21 through 25^th.

As previously reported here, Nevia is one of two Greenmarket farmers from New York City nominated to represent the Union Square Greenmarket. The other nominee is a Vermont maple syrup farmer.

I adore Nevia’s farm fresh vegetables. They are exquisitely pristine.

She takes extraordinary care with the growing – and the presentation.

The produce is clean, clean, clean. It is arranged with the care of a Saks Fifth Avenue fashion window, beckoning to the keen passerby and seasoned restaurant staff alike.

Every greenmarket and food book signing or culinary benefit I attend where the top chefs provide food tastings invariably note Bodhitree Farm as the preferred farmer.

The chefs’ reverence for her produce is not a surprise.

The care and love she invests in farming, growing the tastiest, most flavorful veggies results in the best produce. www.bodhitreefarm.com

Did you know the word Bodhi-Tree is a wisdom or world tree and is a symbol of enlightenment? How perfect.

She – and her associate, Debbie – are unfailingly helpful and nice. Always smiling.

There is usually a cooking demo going on too.

This way, once you’ve been seduced by the day’s neat-as-a-pin, colorful display, you can test drive the sweet potato curiosity you’ve never heard of.

Or the purple cauliflower you didn’t think was real.

The variety of vegetables and herb is the tatsoi, red mizuna, Tuscan kale,

Delicious, tempting treats are made by Nevia or most often, Alissa Dicker Schrieber from The Kitchenista (www.thekitchenista.com).

It’s always a food adventure at the Bodhitree farm stand at the Greenmarket.

I asked Nevia how the trip to Turin, Italy for the Terra Madre international network of food was for her.

She described an extraordinary experience.

I could see it in her eyes. She looked like she’d been to the “other side.” Transformed.

Just being in a place where everyone has the same passionate devotion to food must be a religious experience of sorts.

Nevia attended the lectures and panel discussions to learn more about the next generation of sustainable food producers of which she is one.

She also learned that while most small farm laborers are women; very, very few women actually own the land they work…

She said she was most impressed by a group of Asian women who risked prison and death over many years in order to claim their farm land.

Coincidentally and timely, I was just introduced to the “Women Wearing the Pants” (WWTP) organization that is dedicated to supporting the work of the Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women and the commitment to Free Trade Zones and Fair Trade. The Asian women who fought for the farm could have used this support.

I was particularly intrigued with Experimental Gardens. According to their website. http://tiny.cc/ibpf “In December 2010, WWTP will help research and finance 15 experimental subsistence gardens for impoverished women headed households in Nicaragua through affiliations with ww.IDEORG.org. The International Development Enterprise.

Following a discussion about fair trade, gender issues in food production and indigenous food, I asked Nevia what was the most interesting food she experienced at the conference.

She said she was so busy attending all the scheduled events that the food item that really captivated her was the bread she discovered the local Italians use.

Nevia brought out a shrink-wrapped bread from her truck cab to show me.

Soon, others were marveling at the unique, stylish bread design. Leave it to those fashionable Italians!

Slow Food International was founded 30 years ago as a non-profit organization that promotes the preservation and growth of environmentally sustainable and socially responsible food worldwide. www.slowfood.com

It’s crazy that we have to even have such an organization as a watchdog and promoter – or reminder – of what “real” food is. Sigh. But we must.

And I for one, am most sincerely grateful for their amazing work, given the topsy-turvy world of industrialized, corporate food production that purports to provide “food” while delivering no less than laboratory-created “nutrients” rather than safe, pure, food.

Don’t get me started.

As noted in the Introduction to my book, “Long Island Homegrown” to be published next year (working hard to complete the last details now J)

Much of the effort was launched as a reaction, nay – a rebellion against the industrialization of food production and food offerings as presented by restaurant chains and supermarkets. The Slow Food movement was started in Italy – not surprisingly – by Carlo Petrini --to combat fast food. In 1986, Petrini was resisting a McDonald’s planned near the Spanish Steps in Rome. His Slow Food movement claims to preserve the cultural cuisine and the associated food plants and seeds, domestic animals, and farming within an eco region. It was the first established part of the broader Slow movement. The movement has since expanded globally to hundreds of thousands of members all over the world, and the biannual food conference is a coveted invitation

Coveted indeed is an invitation to the Slow Food conference.

So raise your glass and let’s toast Nevia No, Bodhitree Farm, for representing Greenmarket. For making us so proud.

For all the crazy hard work that she does with such integrity – and making it all look so elegant.

To continue to provide us outstanding leadership, sustainable “veggies with spirit” as she notes on her business card. – And unmatched, flavorful food.

We love you, Nevia. The USPS needs to start issuing a series of stamps that celebrate Farmers as heroes and leaders.

And I vote for you to be the first cover girl stamp!

You can learn more here about Slow Food Movement:

The Best Cookbooks of 2010

2010-11-09T12:48:00.000-08:00

The Best Cookbooks of 2010

Cookbooks2

2010-11-05T12:37:00.000-07:00

Cookbooks2

I saw the invitation with the double billing and was so keen to attend the double-feature cookbook signing with food writers Amanda Hesser and Melissa Clark.
It was like the old Doublemint commercial: “Double your pleasure, Double your fun!”

I guess I never looked at the actual tickets I purchased online nor the event’s scheduled agenda because as I approached the book signing venue at Chelsea Piers in NYC, I was not surprised to see growing crowd tag-teaming the check in staff positioned on both sides of the line.
But I was surprised to step inside to find a food and beverage tasting!

I thought it would be the usual – a talk by the authors, followed by the actual book signings.

But this was a delightful amuse bouche!

(In fact, I saw more food tastings than book signings...)

First, I attended to business and purchased the two books so I’d be ready when the authors actually pulled out their autograph pens, poised mid-air to ask, “Who do I make it out to?”
I am developing quite a nice culinary library of autographed books that will soon rival my autographed garden books.

The only problem with buying the two books right off the bat was Amanda Hesser’s revision of the classic New York Times cookbook is very heavy.

I wasn’t thinking of that as I confidently took the book-filled bag from the two nice lads writing up the sales.

It was an exuberant crowd that filled the candle-lit, two-tiered venue. A DJ was already laying down the music tracks. Camera-toting Papparazzi. But here, the stars are the food!

Now this was a book party! Barnes & Noble – take note.

Food related merchants from Edible Manhattan and East End magazines

to the incomparable Van Leeuwen’s artisanal ice cream to
Russ Daughters egg cream

and other spirits lined the sides of the cavernous room. The center and back were punctuated every few feet like those traffic cones - with those high cocktail tables.
Here, the master chefs were greeting the attendees and chatting it up while staff scurried platters of their hor d’ouevres, pop in your mouth sized food creations.

It was one giant pu pu platter!

I thought I’d be methodical about it. Down one side and up the other.

However, I am easily seduced. So my strategy ended up a bit more like a pin ball – traversing the room when something caught my myopic eye. Or when the crowd parted like schools of fish at a chef table.

I missed two of “my’ Chefs from the Homegrown book: Chef Michael Anthony, Gramercy Tavern, and Chef Dan Barber, Blue Hill.

But I did get to see and talk to the amazing, ubiquitous Chef Bill Telepan who was standing guard enjoying everyone enjoying his pork shoulder served on the teeniest bun you’ve ever seen – more like serving the delicious strands of pork on a macaroon.

I got to meet some wonderful new chefs that I can consider for the New York City Homegrown book: Chef Dan Silverman from the Standard Hotel.

That hotel has some of the sexiest views in town – over the High Line and the Hudson River. Love the rooftop. Chef Dan offered Mondrian-looking Heirloom carrot and Goat Cheese Terrine. Beautiful and tasty.

I also met the adorable Sisha Ortuzar, Riverpark restaurant, one of Tom Collicheo’s latest.

“What kind of name is that, I can’t help ask, while finishing a surging pop of sweet/sour flavor from his Pickled Shrimp creation. I am startled it’s so good. I learned he made a brittle of the pickling spices and crowned the tops!

Chef says, My name is Chilean. But I am not.” Oh, how did you get the name then, I ask while trying his other offering, mackerel and cod balls coated with spice crumbs.

“My name is Sanskrit.”

Huh?

We practically both nod in unison and say in stereo, “hippie parents.”

Chef Sisha says Riverpark restaurant will soon have its own garden. They even gave out cute little seed packets at the event.

It wasn't long before Columbia University TV journalism students were interviewing chef:

I will surely go and visit these two chefs at their restaurants for follow up.

Meanwhile, there is the Apple Picker Punch from Cienfuegos to be refreshed (made with lime, ginger, Ron Zacapa Centernario 23-year, allspice dram and apple butter, and topped with soda);

vegetable sushi from Blue Ribbon Sushi to try, along with Marc Murphy’s Shrimp Toast. Heading for the Luchy’s Whey center table featuring cheese from Cellars at Jasper Hill,

I see Nora Ephron. I love her!

I had to tell her I loved her feature article in the December issue of Town & Country.
She smiles and says a sincere “thank you.” She looks great in person too. (No neck thing whatsoever!) The T&C story is a Q&A with Ina Garten. (BTW, Ina’s publicist won’t return my emails anymore – I asked her to be in the Long Island Homegrown Cookbook about master chefs and their inspired gardens but I give up. I have the best Long Island chefs included and I think she will be noticed by her absence... So Ina’s not on my favs list. But Nora is.)

And I will make point to attend Nora’s latest play, “Love, Loss & What I Wore."

*Also, in the same issue is the T&C List, highlighting “The Quietest Restaurants in the World.” The New York (City) list features eight restaurants – half of which are in my New York Homegrown book about culinary artists and their inspired gardens and farms! A big "Shout Out" for the restaurants Annisa www.annisa.com, I Trulli, www.itrulli.com, Marea, www.marea.com, and Savoy www.savoy.com

Shhhhhh.

The old-fashioned, homemade egg creams served by Russ & Daughters was sinfully delicious- made with Fox’s chocolate syrup.

I tasted my way back to the front of the room hoping to get my now slightly burdensome books signed by the authors.

The two book lads told me Melissa was to have done her books first but Melissa deferred to Amanda, saying she could do hers first. But no sign of either of them…

At the next table was the Van Leeuwen artisanal ice cream tastings. Uh oh. I know and love their ice cream and visit their truck that is parked on Fifth Avenue and 16^th street too often. Before I knew it, the very confident and pretty woman was handing me their egg nog and pumpkin pie ice cream confection.

It gave meaning to waiting for the books to be signed. Ahhhh..
With her charming Australian accent, she told me Van Leeuwen is owned by her -- Laura -- and her husband, Ben and his brother, Peter. They have a few trucks and have started to stock their this-side-of -heaven ice cream in some Whole Foods stores. She pointed out not yet at the Whole Foods in Union Square, which is too bad as that is my local store. But I have the truck to visit and get the goods.

In the time it takes to finish off a Dixie cup-size sundae, Amanda was there to sign books.

She is so very petite – almost elfin. The contrast with her hefty tome couldn’t have been more pronounced. Laughing, I asked her how she stays so thin producing such a weighty, recipe-filled cookbook. “It’s a secret,” she giggled back.

Here I am with author, Amanda after she signed my book!

Amanda is a New York Times columnist and former editor. She also runs the popular cooking site: www.food52.com

Be sure to purchase this once in a lifetime, must-have classic cookbook: “The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Classic Recipes for a New Century.”

You can’t call yourself a real cook without this guide. Amanda solicited readers’ input on favorite recipes to include in the book’s more than 1,000 offerings. It’s fun to see which ones made it and how they reflect a period of time. It’s also a history of great American cooking.

Food defines a culture and this labor of love cookbook is a cultural touchstone.

Amanda cheerfully signed my book. And then like a sprite was off.

Joined by Melissa and Amanda,
I soon heard Chef Bill Telepan speaking with microphone to the entire room about childhood diabetes, the fact that now, more than 40% of New Yorkers are obese. He is a tireless crusader to secure healthy, fresh, unprocessed food and meals for all our citizens, especially those in underserved neighborhoods. Chef Bill is to be applauded for his generosity and devotion, making appearances seemingly everywhere: from the Martha Stewart radio show to NPR to Greenmarket events. I told him his is ubiquitous!

The two food writers also addressed the guests, thanking the chefs and their publishers and all who helped put the evening together.

Following Chef Bill’s remarks, Melissa made her way to the book-signing table. She too is a thin pipsqueak! See, there is something to eating –and writing about good food – that must keep foodies healthy and thin…

Melissa is a food writer for the New York Times, a James Beard Foundation Award winner, has written nearly 30 cookbooks and runs her popular web site and blog: www.melissaclark.net

And her daughter’s name is Dahlia! I love that she is named for a flower. How charming J

Melissa cheerfully posed for a picture with me

and autographed the book, “In The Kitchen With a Good Appetite” that is a synthesis or curated compilation of her New York Times’ column.

I was the first to secure Melissa's autograph. Soon a line was at the table

Soon it seemed that “half-time” was over. An announcement was made that the second shift of chefs and their tastings would be coming out soon for the second half. A quick run down of the roster, if you will, told me I’d recently seen and tasted the fantastic food from these chefs. It was getting later and since I wasn’t really dressed for the occasion, I decided to scoot home – with my goody bag and my signed books.

A delightful, delicious evening!

Thank you Ladies, for a wonderful food surprise.

GrowNYC Greenmarket Nominated Local Farmers to Attend Slow Food Conference in Terra Madre

2010-10-21T14:18:00.000-07:00

From the city that never sleeps and where things get done in a “New York Minute,” the Greenmarket delegates will be immersed in the Slowww way of life…

For the next few days, at least.

Applause, Applause!

What greater honor could there be for a dedicated, local farmer and artisanal food producer than to be acknowledged as a representative for the Greenmarket at the biannual Slow Food Conference?

It makes all those early mornings setting up in Union Square, endless hours of washing the baby lettuces, tapping the maple trees and boiling the sap, fretting over the storms and heat and water count for something.
It’s not just the trip to Torino, Italy, nor the opportunity to mix and network with food artists from around the globe, or even all the great food tastings and samplings.

I think it’s also the recognition that all the hard work, dedication and standards of excellence in honor of fresh, local food matters.

This is important, noble work and just like the Oscar or the Emmy or the Tony, foody peers will forever have respect that you were selected.

I was admiring the pristine lettuces and sassy greens at one of my favorite Greenmarket “boutiques” yesterday when I learned from Bodhitree Farms (www.bodhitreefarm.com)

owner, Nevia No, aka the Greenmarket Goddess, that she was leaving for Terra Madre later that day. Wowsy!

I was so excited for Nevia. Questions spilled out of me along with the kudos.

Nevia explained that she is one of two farmers selected to attend the Slow Food conference by GrowNYC Greenmarket Farmers Market (www.grownyc.org/greenmarket.org

The other delegate is Howie and Stephen Cantor of Deep Mountain Maple, Vermont – because “the Italians don’t have maple syrup.” No said.

The exotic, sexy elixir is sure to cause a scene in Italy…

The Greenmarket Goddess didn’t have to explain to me why her Bodhitree Farms was chosen.

No is usually eager to explain that Bodhi means enlightenment in Sanskrit. A visit to her Greenmarket display with its pure, clean, variety of colorful and delicious vegetables will elevate anyone to a higher consciousness.

Greenmarket Goddess Nevia No’s Bodhitree Farms is located in the Garden State, naturally. She grows hundreds of varieties on 70 acres in Burlington County. The Farm is a darling of all the New York City Master Chefs and Bodhitree was noted on most of the menu cards at the recent GrowNYC Greenmarket benefits.

The Farm is famous for green and hard to find Asian vegetables including baby lettuces pea shoots, mustard greens, tatsoi, mizuna and some of my favorites too are love her Hawaiian sweet potatoes grown from seed here, and shisito peppers.

I went back to take Nevia’s picture and Debbie said I just missed her L She was on her way to JFK.

So here is Debbie! She is there every day of the market along with Nevia.

The theme of this conference is indigenous food and what we can learn from them.

Both Bodhitree and Deep Mountain Maple will have the other delegates swooning.

I feel like I’m rooting for the home team!

Deep Mountain Maple was hailed as home town heroes in their local news:

www.bartonchronicle.com/index.php/food-ventures

The biannual Slow Food conference is called Terra Madre held in Torino, Italy from October 21^st – October 25^th.

This is the Fourth conference.

Delegates attend events, sample indigenous food, cheese, bread, vegetables, they also attend workshops, -- brings together small food producers, farmers chefs,

Carlo Petrini started the Slow Food movement as a resistance to a McDonalds going up in Rome and as a backlash to fast food and bad food and the erosion of convivial dining. He has celebrated the importance of real, wholesome food, saying that to regain sovereignty we must rebuild it through an alliance of fisherman, farmers, livestock breeders, chefs, and academics from around the world.

Petrini recently visited the Union Square Greenmarket – and American universities as president of the Slow Food Organization and to promote his new book that highlights the future of food and biodiversity.

The new book is a follow up to Slow Food Nation (2005). “Terra Madre – Foraging a New Global Network of Sustainable Food Communities” is available now.

No usually offers cooking demos for Greenmarket buyers to sample the delicious and sometimes new and curious vegetables. She often does the cooking herself. Sometime she features a guest cook.

I can’t wait to see what gastronomic surprises she will bring home with her, along with the great stories and learning.

Taste of Greenmarket

2010-10-07T11:44:00.000-07:00

Sweet Taste of Success

This year’s Taste of Greenmarket was a delicious triumph!

They say the third time’s a charm and it proved true last night for this, the third annual food tasting event to benefit GrowNYC.

The rain that had been showering New York City for the better part of two weeks stopped.

The location of the event in the Altman building on 18^th Street between 6^th and 7^th Avenue allowed me to walk to and from the event, which made it all that much nicer.

But only slightly more important, J it allowed our host, Grow NYC, to present the entire Menu’s tasting and imbibing stations all in one room.

It made for a dazzlingly dramatic stage for the real stars. The Food.

I counted 24-plus chefs who were working very hard – while making it look so fun and easy – creating mini masterpieces from local farm-fresh food.

And I caught up with one of my favorite Greenmarket farmers, Morse Pitts from Windfall Farms who told me it was a wonderful summer for the crops this year, especially compared to last year’s rainy season. We enjoyed our photo shoot for the Homegrown book at the farm last Harvest Season when we were privileged to photograph Chef Peter Hoffman there as the site of his inspired farm. That day was also the Farm’s annual, magical Harvest event, (that I wrote about last autumn.)

Be sure to visit the farm this Sunday: (www.windfallfarm.com)

And don’t miss them at the Union Square Greenmarket every week. They still have beautiful squash and pretty pea blossoms!

I attend the Greenmarket event to support the cause. And “my” chefs that are featured in my “Homegrown New York City” book about chefs inspired by their gardens and/or farms.

The chefs in the book that were there last night include Chef Michael Anthony, Gramercy Tavern, Chef Dan Barber, Blue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Chef Peter Hoffman, Savoy and Back Forty, Chef Patti Jackson, I Trulli, Chef Marc Meyer, Cookshop, Hundred Acres, Five Points.

Since I got the good news a few weeks ago that the Homegrown New York City book, which will be published after the Homegrown Long Island book comes out next year, is to be expanded to include more chefs, I wanted to meet new-to-me, master chef candidates who are inspired by the farm-fresh local ingredients.

Sweet success never tasted so good!

I met a clutch of inspiring chefs. Their calling card was the delicious sample food, presented like bijou in a jewelry store window.

The finger food was served on compostable plates or as shooters in tiny glasses.

Executive Chef James Tracey from Craft (www.craftrestaurant.com) composed a crazy good hot Jerusalem artichoke soup with lamb sausage and pumpernickel croutons (how did they get the squares so perfectly cubed and sooo small?!) using ingredients from Paffenroth Gardens and 3-Corner Field Farm (went back for seconds!) It was spicy and crunchy first impression, followed by the delicately seasoned soup.

Marco Canora, from restaurants Hearth and Terroir, (www.restauranthearth.com) created a silky-smooth panna cotta with teeny, tiny diced autumn vegetables and crunchy, nutty spiced pumpkin seeds from Paffenroth Gardens, Bodhitree Farms, and Migliorelli Farm.

I couldn’t admire him more: Chef Peter Hoffman, (www.savoynyc.com) was there to support the Greenmarket, naturally.

Chef Peter was one of the culinary pioneer’s in establishing the city’s farmers markets way back when. And today, all who see him peddling on his custom-crafted bicycle to the Greenmarket in Union Square know there will be great food served later at his two restaurants Savoy and Back Forty.

Last night, Chef Peter served a hearty and tasty cranberry bean stew with seared squid and Trinidad pepper salsa from Maxell’s Farm, Berried Treasures, Eckerton Hill Farm, and Blue Moon Fish. What a lineup! See the variety of food and farms he combines into a “simple” recipe. Fantastic.

Chef Patti Jackson from I Trulli (www.itrulli.com) was busy sassily shaving fresh cheese for her Grano e fagioli with autumn greens from Cayuga Pure Organics (I love their stone ground flour for baking bread), Berried Treasures, Mountain Sweet Berry Farm, Paffenroth Gardens, and Dancing Ewe Farms.

I always like to meet woman chefs – I still don’t know why there are so few of them. In the New York City book there were only two: Chef Patti and Chef Anita Lo, Annisa restaurant (www.annisarestaurant.com)

But I am hoping to add to that category with Julia Jaksie, chef at Employees Only restaurant (www.EmployeesOnlyNYC.com)

She is so engaging; while serving up the melt-in-your-mouth short rib terrine with red Russian kale and tomato jam, she told me she grew up cooking – her father was a butcher. She also said there is a tribe of female chefs she is happy to be a part of. Albeit a small tribe: with herself, April Bloomfield from the Spotted Pig, The Breslin and The John Dory Oyster Bar, and a few others, it’s a good club. I’ll say exclusive, rather than small…

The ingredients in her menu sample was from Grazin’ Angus Acres, and Migliorelli Farm.

And while we’re on the subject, I was delighted to meet two glamorous farmers:

Erina and Melissa (I hope I got their names right. I thought the names would be on the business card but alas… and I can’t read my writing of course.) Melissa is from Coach Farm where they make goat’s milk, cheese and yogurt (www.coachfarm.com) Yes, the same Coach who inhabit my closet-full of handbags and boots and sunglasses! This is a great story how they got into the farm business and I will tell that one on another day. Erina had wanted to be a veterinarian and now works on the family-owned farm – not too far from the Coach farm in Columbia county, New York.

Last night these two smart farmers told me how much they support each other’s farms, how dedicated they are to making small, independent farms successful and how it’s a good career choice.

I met the playful and talented Chef Marc Forgione, Marc Forgione restaurant

(www.marcforgione.com) He served an amazing sopes de gallina – bean stuffed tortillas with stewed hen from Tello’s Green Farm. It was a fabulous mix of texture and taste.

Chef Marc just received an excellent two-star New York Times’ restaurant review from Sam Sifton, October 5, 2010 Dining In column (http://tiny.cc/ezsay)

Chef Marc comes from good stock too: his father is Larry Forgione, arguably the pioneer in creating American cuisine from fresh, local food at his aptly named restaurant, An American Place.

I missed seeing Chef Dan Barber. But his menu creation was monitored by a dedicated team of professionals behind and in front of the table. Before you could stop to wonder what is in those perfectly poised little glasses, you are courteously told it is Blue Hill V7 with green tomatoes and faro. It is deceptively light and oh-so-good. The farro toast is so ephemeral. I took another glass to taste. Ingredients were from Blue Hill, Migliorelli Farm, Paffenroth Gardens, ad Cherry Lane Farms of Roadstown.

Oh, and at the Silent Auction I had to buy the dinner for two and the tour of Blue Hill at Stone Barns (www.bluehillfarm.com). I’m fortunate to have been there several times, but who could resist the kind offer and the chance to go back? And all for such a good cause.

Chef Marc Meyer served up a succulent spit-roasted pork with fresh and dried beans and kabocha squash. It was tooo good. Ingredients were from Norwich Meadows Farm, Bodhitree Farm, Paffenroth Gardens and Cayuga Pure Organics.

You will always enjoy a complex layer of flavors in the simply prepared meal at any of Chef Marc’s restaurants.

We especially love Hundred Acres – for the food and the variety of the perfectly appointed décor. (Gossip Girl thought so too and shot a segment there last year!)

(www.hundredacresnyc.com)

I was also thrilled to meet and talk to Chef Bill Telepan, Telepan restaurant (www.telepan-ny.com)

I follow Chef Bill on Twitter and on his frequent appearances on the Martha Stewart Sirius radio show. I knew I would like him right away.

I was also keen to meet Chef Bill because he played a leading, mentoring role for one of my Long Island Homegrown chefs: Bistro M’s Chef Mitchell SuDock, who worked with Chef Bill at Gotham Bar and Grill and JUdson Grill restaurant.

Chef Bill is all smiles and when I say I listen to him on the radio, he jumps right in to explain how much fun the segments were to do.

When I describe my book’s format of gardens inspiring chefs, he doesn’t miss a beat – telling me and the book’s photographer, Jennifer Calais Smith, who had joined me at this point, about his daughter’s harvest in their little garden!

His food offering was apple pie with apple butter compote. Yummm. And the only dessert of the evening, that I could tell. The fresh ingredients were from Locust Grove Farms, Breezy Hill Orchard and Flying Pigs Farm.

I was coming back around to the front of the room, having completed the full circle or “Ring of Food” and was heading for the wine tasting, when a chef came up to me, took my program, asked me my name and proceeded to autograph my evening’s playbill next to his thumbnail head shot.

Like a sprightly gnome, he was off. I looked at what he wrote, addressed to me: “Enjoy the Market,” and saw that he was Chef Kurt Gutenbrunner, Wallse, Café Sabarsky, Blaue Gans (www.KG-NY.com)

So I went over to where he now was by the Silent Auction and properly introduced myself and then told him about the book. I haven’t been to Wallse since we went for a Valentine’s Day dinner some years ago. I told him I remember the restaurant was very romantic. He advised me to come back for a visit soon. I will do that.

I put down the $20 for a chance to win the bike knowing I wouldn’t win. But here’s Chef Mary Cleaver, The Green Table, The Cleavor Co. making it all so fun and helping to sell a few tickets perhaps.

I don’t usually sample the cocktails at events like this but the offerings were too good to pass up. I’m a traditionalist and have a pure and simple martini every night. However, having tasted the fresh herbal and fruit concoctions dreamed up by these alchemists, I may have to revisit that habit.

“The Almanac” featured Farmer’s Gin (a botanical, organic gin) and fresh thyme from Stokes Farm. A tad spicy and sooo refreshing.

Leo Robitschek, Eleven Madison Park created the “Red Delicious” combining Michter’s Bourbon and apple cider from my favorite, Red Jacket Orchards. (we love the Tart Cherry Stomp! www.redjacketorchards.com)

But hands down for taste and pure excitement was the “Prospect Park Sour” from the Clover Club (www.cloverclubny.com

It was quite a show watching head bartender Brad Farran and his associate, Tom Macy shake up the Michter’s Rye, Luxardo Amaro Abano and maple syrup.

I had to ask for Brad’s autograph!

He says he researches old time cocktail recipes and updates them using fresh and artisanal ingredients. It’s worth it!

This one was based on an old Ward 8 cocktail he discovered. After two of them, I could’ve ended up in a ward too!

I can’t wait to tell my cousin Missy, who along with her husband Dallas and his family, tap their Minnesota trees and make the world’s best maple syrup: Ole’s (for Olson) that I discovered this sinful new recipe for their maple syrup.

I could toss the amber gold straight back of course, but the addition of the rye and ingredients make it more socially acceptable….

Thank you, Greenmarket. Especially Nicole. She’s a peach. Sorry I missed Michael Hurwitz, Director.

A bit of a commercial for Grow NYC. http://www.grownyc.org/tasteofgreenmarket2010

From their literature: Greenmarket was founded in 1976 with a two-fold mission: to promote regional agriculture by providing small family farms the opportunity to sell their locally grown, caught, foraged and baked products directly to consumers, and to ensure that ALL New Yorkers have access to the freshest, most nutritious locally grown food the region has to offer.

Greenmarket is a program of GrowNYC, a 40-year-old environmental nonprofit organization that operated Greemarkets, builds and maintains community and school gardens, provides recycling education, and offers hands-on environmental education programs.

The event partners need to be thanked too: Edible Manhattan. Applause, applause for a fantastic Eat, Drink, Local week, too.

The sponsors are wonderful: from benefactors Empire Merchants, Green Mountain Energy, and Anolon to patrons, The Durst Organization, American Express, and Animal Welfare Approved to supporters: Community Energy and Natural Gourmet Institute. And there were many donors too.

The Greenmarket canvas goody bag is filled with really cool things including spicy popcorn from The Cleaver Co., a set of whimsical lollipop-colored “Squirrel Whisk” from Kikkerland, an Animal Welfare Approved glazed cookie that is too pretty to eat, (www.animalwelfareapproved.org), a say Yes to carrots lip balm, an Edible Manhattan magazine and lots of literature. And a secret envelope pouch for valuables…

Thanks for a wonderful, important event.

It's Official

2010-09-21T13:26:00.000-07:00

“It’s official.”

I started this entry almost two months ago.

I got my damaged, useless, hard drive returned from the second of the companies who bill themselves as experts in retrieving information from damaged hard drives.

It's official. It is dead. Nothing more they could do.

I feel so betrayed, by data doctors, the first company who sweet-talked me all the way through a month, my account rep Kelly cooing and reassuring me that “It looks good, they are sending out for more equipment.” And “Looks good, starting testing.”

And so on.

Just like someone nervously waiting and clinging to every word the doctor administers to the attendant family members while their loved one lays in the recovery room, I am fearful and at the same time, understandably hopeful.

I hear “Looking good” as the constant refrain. I hang on those words. That’s not surprising is it?

This goes on until I get a call on my mobile a hot afternoon in late July. I recognize the Arizona area code by now. I’m driving so I pull over, foreboding. When I hear a man on the other end, rather than my soothing Kelly, I know it is bad. I should’ve hung up.

This new persona informs me there is nothing more they can do. Dead. Morte.

I say I can’t believe it. Where’s Kelly? Thinking she might be my rabbit’s foot, I resort to the known, the familiar. This pronouncement of finality is more than I can manage.

I refuse to believe there is nothing that can be done. “What if there were state secrets on there? Or the cure for cancer?” I had invented a litany of “what if “scenarios that could be most catastrophic and momentous to the world unless retrieved.

To me, nothing was more important to me than my book. And my pictures.

But I was trying to appear more concerned with the welfare of the world and how a situation I describe could indeed happen and they just needed to take measures now to save the world.

Reality like this crash never really settles in. I had to ignore the “Why me?” explorations and blaming myself and wanting to turn back the hands of time…

I had already started to rewrite the chef’s profiles for the book, “Homegrown Long Island.”

I couldn’t let this disaster get in the way of publishing the book.

I owed it to the noble chefs, their farmers and gardeners and fishermen and herders and dairymen.

And to my family and friends. To my garden design clients.

So many people had supported me throughout the process of the concept – securing the first publisher in 2002, getting the green light from Voyageur in 2008, the contract in 2009, the selection of New York City and Garden State and Hampton chefs in 2009 and 2010, and the change in direction or switch to expand the Hampton and to make the first book focus on Long Island. And to make the book about the New York City chefs, that was such a completed work by last November when the change was made, the second book.

I’d come so far. I couldn’t let this crash derail the integrity of the project.

I had to complete the chef’s profiles for the book.

As I said, we did try another data recovery company and while they read to me from the same soothing script about doing the “testing,” “looking good,” blah, blah… I knew better than to be lulled. While we had to try – figuring it is always necessary to secure the second opinion before declaring it terminal– it was useless. I knew. Dead is dead.

(When this is all over, I swear I want to work with some techies to develop some way there can be a gas gauge kind of meter to alert the user that the hard drive is heading for the cemetery. There must be a way.)

Immediately, I had started writing from the very beginning.

Meanwhile, almost a month had passed since disaster struck.

My wonderful, kind editor gave me an extension to September 15^th.

I had 15 chefs to write about.

The profiles offer an intimate look into what makes these sterling chefs the leaders of the local food movement. And such outstanding cooks.

The profiles chronicle how they doggedly got to the elevated, joyful, frustrating and rewarding position they are in today. How they give back to their communities. How they nurture and develop local food sources to meet their exacting standards. How they respect their terroir and their food relationships. And oh, how they can combine ingredients to create such amazing, over the top culinary art.

It was a very tall order to honor them. Even with a lot more time to do it. Now I had to crunch.

In terms of writing the profile, it is a four-step process for me.

From the notes I took for every chef interview I write the profile overview – a more fully- fleshed out outline, if you will.

Next, I add to the overview draft from the digital recordings I made during the interview. Whether on the phone or in person, the recordings help me capture the nuance that is part of a shared conversation.

Plus my handwriting is so bad and I get so swept up in the interview that oftentimes when I return to the notes, I have to ask myself, “What does that say?”

It’s a little like putting together a puzzle. More so for step three, which is putting the text into some kind of order that makes sense – chronologically, mainly.

Then I have to think. Dream. What makes this chef and his or her vision so unique? Why are they leaders in the fork to table or fin to table movement?

They offered me a very personal look into their culinary art -- what compels them to create delicious food that is full of local flavors – and to want to share their gastronomic alchemy.

The profile narrative has to be sweet to read. So interesting for the reader to want to learn more about each chef and their unique story.

Then I write.

And write and write.

It wasn’t always pretty… The process was filled with more drama and not a few frustrations. I am hoping I will look back at the time and laugh.

It’s too raw to laugh yet….

It's Official also, that I can report the Manuscript is complete!

I prevailed. With help from family – mainly my talented, academy-award winning cousin Maryann who read through the profiles, offering input and support on the individual narratives, I made the September 15^th manuscript deadline! (Those email exchanges could be a book unto itself – the give and take and learning on both sides...)

The profiles are now in the hands of the chefs for them to fact check.

I am now rendering the gardens and farms into the watercolor art for the book and securing the plant lists and the four recipes from each chef.

Getting the manuscript written in time for the deadline was a huge, seemingly impossible task given the amount of time, or lack thereof, the work that had to be done for the extended photography sessions where we photograph the chef in their inspired garden or farm with their farmer or gardener friend, in the kitchen cooking, and of the plated food.

And a myriad of other issues and things to tend to in this, the hottest summer on record in the northeast.

Now that the manuscript is completed, I can take the time to chronicle the making of the book.

It’s been more than an adventure, I can assure you!

So now I can start the Prequel.

If It’s Too Hot, Get Out of the Kitchen!

2010-08-08T21:01:00.000-07:00

In our case, we couldn’t wait to get into the kitchen.

This year’s photography sessions for the book, “Long Island Homegrown” about master chefs and the gardens and farms that inspire their culinary art, began June 22 on the North Shore of Long Island.

In the middle of the east coast’s record-breaking heat wave this summer season, we got lucky and our weather has been splendid for the days of shooting thus far.

I determined we could take the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) from Penn Station to four of the restaurants --two on the North Shore: 18 Bay in Bayville and Bistro M in Glen Head. And two on the South Shore: The Lake House in Bay Shore and The Grey Horse Tavern in Bayport.

After some dodgy, early-morning “meet you at the clock shop” on 34^th Street and 7^th Avenue, as advised by agent Hercules from the LIRR (which is in fact now a Swarovski Crystal shop,) the photography team met and was altogether: Jennifer Calais Smith, the photographer, and Patty White, the food stylist – along with her very talented daughter, Lina. (Lina possesses and innate eye for art and detail – her Italian side of the family are all artists, Lina draws amazing anime, and contributes when she can to the food compositions, having learned from her mother the pro.)

So, tickets in hand and with great anticipation for this year’s adventures, we boarded the train to arrive at our first restaurant stop: Bistro M (bistromrestaurant.com) to photograph chef and owner, Mitchell SuDoc.

(“M” is for Mitchell, in case you overlooked the obvious as I did…Hey, I’m thinking big picture ^:^)

His restaurant is not unlike a garden sprite’s toadstool secret abode, complete with undulating, low sloping gingerbread roof. It just needed a large Elephant Ear or colocasia leaf to hide under.

This former candy store is poised almost on the train tracks. When giving me “directions” on how to get to the restaurant, Chef Mitchell says he tells his customers, if you take a breath when you get off the train, you’ve gone to far.

I replied I won’t “hold my breath” getting to him, thinking I was being funny.

It was only later, after we left Bistro M, that I noted, I was indeed holding my breath, or hyperventilating - which is probably a better way to characterize our departure...

Truth is, I didn’t even look when we got off the train, as for some reason, I thought he was meeting us.

He called my mobile to connect, thank goodness…

As we walked to the restaurant, I was thinking I might need to solve a riddle to be admitted to this lavender-topped confection, just like in a Grimm’s fairy tale.

Shortly, we were whisked away to the Rottkamp farm down the block – Chef Mitchell’s selection for his inspired garden.

As soon as you turn in the shaded driveway, there is no doubt as to why.

The farm reveals itself in row after row of well-tended vegetables to the right punctuated by a cluster of “Bridges of Madison County”-looking barns bordered by a bed of happy yellow sunflowers and jewel-toned zinnias in another bed

The farm beyond seems to rise up in front of you like a bit of heaven.

They were poised and ready for their close up… Or so I thought.

The two Rottkamp farmers married two French sisters, Marianne and Michelle who help manage the 150-acre farm.

We were extremely honored the Rottkamps allowed us to take some of the book’s photo images thee as they have a VERY strict policy of no commercial photography at the farm.

It was not lost on us for a minute. We were doubly committed to honor the farm and its heritage.

Repeatedly they told us it was only because of Chef Mitchell they even considered this first ever photo shoot to take place!

The mutual respect was palpable.

When we first got there, we walked into the barn where the wooden tables hold and display the stacks of fresh picked vegetables, fruits and flowers that a Hollywood set designer couldn’t do match for a one-two Technicolor punch that assault all the senses.

I think we were like sleepwalkers, transfixed by the charm and bounty of the farm-fresh food and the artful arrangement.

We started clicking away – digital camera, iPhone, and the professional camera.

It was then we heard “no pictures.” As we say in France – tant pis – or too bad.

So, that means that you my dear reader must take the train to Glen Head, NY and visit Rottkamp Farm first-hand. Believe me, it’s worth the trip.

The experience is a guaranteed nostalgic trip to the small family owned farms of France and America.

And it goes without saying the pristine vegetables; fruits and flowers are worth a king’s ransom.

With parasols, hats, and team in tow, we were able to enjoy a beautiful morning walk up the farm dirt road to the eggplant and tomatoes that were ripe and ready to be picked by Chef for Bistro M and our photo shoot.

Proud of their produce, the sisters Rottkamp and their manager stayed with us, telling us how much they admire Chef Mitchell and enjoy it when he brings his daughter to the farm.

The heirlooms tomatoes were like candy! And looked like jewelry bedazzling in their basket – surpassed only by their moniker: Coeur de boeuf: Heart of the meat/beef – or what we might call, Beefsteak tomatoes!

Back to Bistro M Restaurant where Chef Mitchell will “cook up” or prepare – after all this is summer and we can go light on the cooking element -- a sampling of the recipes he will contribute to the book.

Here he crafted a farm-fresh beet salad, and fried green tomatoes and what he calls the Rottkamp Farm Market Vegetable Salad – using what’s fresh that day.

This morning, Chef Mitchell selected a dish that was a treat for the eyes and the taste buds. My friend Celeste who owns Marquette Restaurant on 12^th Street often reminds me that there is an old French saying that the “eyes eat first.”

And with the bumble bee yellow and American Flyer wagon red watermelons, purple and gold eggplants, crisp red and white radishes, those Rottkamp heirloom tomatoes, fried green tomatoes and fresh basil – the composition was an artful study that was movie-poster gorgeous and delicious to taste.

Chef also made pecan-crusted rack of lamb tapas with lavender-infused ricotta, and buttermilk lemon dressing for the garnish of fresh tomatoes and herbs. This was crazy good.

We photographed the completed plated recipes in the outdoor dining area where Bistro M also offers live music that adds to the sensual pleasure of enjoying a fine dining experience.

Chef Mitchell and I chatted and reviewed a few elements for the profile I write. Jennifer and Patty were busy working with the ambient light and the plates to make certain we capture the best angle.

The images help underscore the narrative about each chef and pay respect to their culinary craft.

The best photographs this morning are a still life of Chef Mitchell’s artistic creation that will inspire the reader to undertake making these recipes…

Jennifer and Patty work so hard in a very time-compressed window. We usually have daily double appointments. Moreover, we are mindful of the chef’s precious time and work very hard not to monopolize their schedule or their kitchen.

We were soon back inside the air-conditioned restaurant – thank you. Especially as Bistro M was closed for patrons. All of us, including Lina, enjoyed the dishes Chef Mitchell prepared. Mmmm.

The last order of business before we needed to hop on the train to go further east was to take Chef’s portrait. I try to get the chefs in a natural yet professional profile to showcase their stature as leaders in the farm to table revolution. We often have them assume an authoritative stance either in front of the restaurant’s logo or sign or some definitive place within the dining room, in order to lend the image an added sense of place.

(I will share a funny aside about taking Nick & Toni’s Chef Joseph Realmuto’s head shot in a future post – ha!)

We elected to photograph Chef Mitchell outdoors where the restaurant’s name and logo are writ large on the side of the restaurant. It was now nearing noonish and the heat was blistering. Especially as there are neither trees nor shade from the building next door. I tried to shade him with my too-small parasol. He suggested Patty grab the outdoor umbrella from the restaurant’s entrance. That worked pretty well and Jennifer worked around the sun issue and the position of the sign and Chef.

I frequently look at the image on the camera, with Jennifer clicking through and tapping into a more focused close up, noting she can clean this up or highlight that or whatever her photographic talent allows her to do once the images are downloaded onto the Mac.

I was trying politely (naturally) but firmly trying to herd our team of kittens to make the train. Granted we were a breath away from the station stop, but we needed to pack up the equipment, take some personal shots with Chef Mitchell; finish cleaning up, and a quick trip to the head.

After numerous admonishments: “We need to go.” “We must go.” “Must go – Now,” Quickening the frequency – “Must go – Now.” became a mantra of sorts.

I scooped up Jennifer and our bags and we headed out.

I was sure Patty and Lina were following right behind us.

We no sooner got to the platform than the train came into view – its locomotive front high beam glaring in the noon day light.

Yikes!

Jennifer and I look to the right and see Patty and Lina nervously exiting Bistro M and looking to us.

The two of them start walking fast, maybe running, down to the platform – but on the wrong side! Jennifer and I are waving like two air traffic controllers to come back and over the tracks, mouthing, “NO. This side”

The train stops well short of the crossing near the restaurant and we anxiously tell the conductor and the engineer our plight. “Our associates are on the other side of the tracks and we need them to get on this train as we have another photo shoot/work appointment a few stops east.”

They kindly tell us, “No problem. We’ll wait for them.” They can see Patty and Lina.

Understandably, they did not want to cross the tracks. (Train track crossing is almost a phobia of mine and even if there is not a train in sight, I have a problem crossing over – whether on foot or in a car! So I am most empathetic to their plight.)

So I now run back down the platform and steps so they can hear me over the roar of the engine and to tell them, “The train is waiting for you. Come on. The engineer and conductor will wait.” They still hesitate. I can’t get them to understand the train will not go until they are on board…. I keep running.

At some point, they do indeed cross the track and are now barreling toward the car door.

Out of breath but now safely ensconced in our seats, the conductor smiles as he comes in to take our tickets.

It was a high drama moment and a quiet train right to our next destination…

The Hardest Part About One’s Hard Drive

2010-07-12T10:16:00.001-07:00

You never, ever think it will happen to you. Ever.

Years of bliss. All the travel and trips in tandem. And late nights and too many all-nighters together.

The infinite projects we coupled; witty emails and shared photos…

There was no warning. No lover’s quarrel. Not a hint that it would soon rip the heart out of my MacBook – and me with it…

Like a spouse who finds out too late about the cheating partner, I never saw it coming.

But it did happen.

I was blithely finishing up writing some gardening notes and had hit the “Send” button. And while it was taking forever, I still didn’t suspect anything more than the usual silly and frustrating wireless internet connection problems we experience (sorry, Verizon), heightened only by the fact that we live in the lee of the mountain.

Then the screen was blinking a white ?

Hmmm, this is new, I thought.

A big white question mark.

How telling.

One’s life becomes one big “WTF” when the nether world “?” appears. (You can’t help but think, am I in a Batman episode?)

I looked up the ? on my Google phone (sorry T-Mobile – you did know everyone would refer to the phone by its Google brand didn’t you…?)

After some Ring Around The Rosy search attempts with Apple, I got a link and phone number for Apple Tech support but it was “after hours” and was directed to call back.

If one is calling directly for support, I am of the firm belief that it’s rather a critical plea for help and some immediate remedy would best serve the customer…

But don’t get me started on “Customer Service.”

Is there not a more poignant oxymoron? Oh wait, we can have fun with this too – e.g. “who put the moron in… “ Never mind, we’ll save that for another, less crisis-plagued episodic blog entry.

Back to what was then a late night search to find out how to get back online.

Ha! The riddles imbedded in the La Turandot opera were a snap compared to what I was in for…

But I was still thinking this was readily fixable – a hassle to be certain – but not life threatening.

The link did say to insert the original software disc back into the computer to restore everything.

I keep all the tech stuff in a basket in the home office such as it is – and go through the basket’s contents once, twice, three times. (at what point does idiocy take precedence over desperation?)

No disc.

It must be at the apartment in Gotham.

At 4 am ish – I kinda call it a “night” and resolve that all will be resolved in the morning, or Apple’s morning – as I’m not paying for the ferry on a Thursday just to get the disc.

I get a great Apple Tech Service Support pro – Jason -- and he walks me through all the steps – several times as he can’t quite grasp why the Mac is not restarting and reloading.

I start my file on this. Not unlike terminally ill patients who need to carry their files with them, I have learned to have all the instructions and names in one place for easy reference. Sigh…

He finally capitulates and suggests I take it in to a local Apple store for diagnostics.

After giving him my zip code, he suggests a location in the Bronx or Staten Island ^:^ Not local…

I thank him and start my own search for Apple stores in the Garden State near me.

Guess what? Not all Apple stores are created equal.

Some are not “allowed” to service Apple products… Really? And that makes sense in what universe?

I finally identify an “approved” Apple store to service the MacBook.

But it was the day of the new 4G I Phone launch – what are the chances?! (and I can’t win the lottery…)

The on-site customer service woman tells me they can’t help me… Sheesh.

They are in line for entertainment. I tell her I have a book on the MacBook and NEED serious help.

I beg. They relent.

“OK. When you get here, come to the head of the line and tell them you have an appointment at the Genius Bar.”

Which I interpret as more code for I am totally stewed…

It’s also the beginning of the record-breaking heat wave in the east/Tri-State area.

It’s like a bazzilion degrees and humid and with thunderstorms and hail predicted.

I am convinced it could truly be the end of life as we know it..

And yet, this was the least of my worries.

I am calm beyond belief. Maybe I am catatonic – or in a nightmare from which I will surely awaken.

Get me back to my life in the bubble!

Toting the MacBook and a golf umbrella (I’m prepared for sun or hail), I fight for a parking spot at the Freehold Mall.

That is, once I found the Mall – my GPS aka “Ellen” named for my British great grandmother - wouldn’t take a mall “address” -- smart Brit that she is.

So with a printed MapQuest and repeated calls to the store, I got there.

The queue for the phone was the same as all the images on the news – eager first adopters anxious, straining for the must have product.

In my Sony days, we would have kissed each and every person on the red carpet.

This day, they were just so much detritus…

The silly “security cop” thought he’d stop me.

Please.

The store was jam-packed. A celebrity premiere that I’m sure everyone there will be recounting to his or her friends and family and Facebook friends for ad nauseam…

I made my way back to the Genius Bar and was lucky to get served right away and by a real pro – compassionate too, far as I was concerned.

Rob the Genius ran the diagnostics and said I need to get to seven.

Craps came to mind. Baby, please, oh please roll a seven.

We get to five.

The bar is not moving.

I am praying.

“Daddy needs a new pair of shoes.” Need a seven.

I am afraid to watch. Afraid not to watch.

I find myself quietly telling Rob that I am writing a book and all of the book’s text and images are on the MacBook.

He is sympathetic but I can read his expression that seems to say, “If it was all so god awful important, why didn’t you back it up?”

I am ashamed and embarrassed.

Without exchanging any words about this, I am already wearing the Scarlet Letter.

I feebly try to explain that I had been backing up till a month or so ago and then things got well, so busy and …

I start to shed more than a few quiet tears.

“Next to my father dying, this is the worst thing that’s ever happened to me” I hear myself saying…

Rob waits what must seem to him like an appropriate amount of grieving time (I wonder how often has he done this?) and then very politely tells me he has no problem running the diagnostics as long as I want to, but there is nothing more he can do.

Am I still dreaming I wonder…

No!

He suggests he put in a new hard drive, pack up the existing, two-timing disc and take the MacBook and the two hard drives to the Data Doctors.

What can I do?

I have to go out of the store to get any reception (Steve Jobs, I feel your pain..) and talk to there. After a few phone calls with me and Data Doctors and halted calls with Jim from Data Doctors and Rob from Apple Genius Bar, I head out to what I consider the Emergency Room.

I have no idea where I am and where I’m going but follow the phone directions from the techies and after pulling over to use the Google phone GPS, I find I am, in fact, in front of the entrance to the strip mall where Data Doctors is located.

…Blessed day as I am just about out of battery on the phone and it is my only lifeline.

Upon arriving at Data Doctors, I am resolute.

No one but a technician in the store.

I determinedly take my duct-taped plug for the Google phone (hey, duct tape got the astronauts back from space) and plugged it into an outlet on the far wall.

Immediately, the entire Data Doctors came to a halt.

I am not joking. There was suddenly an eerie silence and darkness in the store.

Nothing. Nada.

The technician there at the computer screen (turns out is was Jim) asked, “What did you do?”

“Ummm. I tried to plug in my phone, “ I oblige.

“This can’t be happening” the bubble over my head is reading. “This tech center is my lifeline and I just brought it to its knees”

What karma is this?

OK, Jim is so kind. Not unlike the absent-minded professor, he puts his eyeglasses back on from where he’d pulled them off to rest on their chain around his neck in order better get a bead on me.

After perusing me and determining I am not here for sabotage, he says he will be right with me once he gets everything back up and running…

We bonded.

I feel safe again.

They will help me. I must believe…

My husband calls for the first time since the early morning status and I tell him of the dire circumstances. Even he can’t believe it.

I start to quietly cry again.

In the other world that is now my seeming reality, I hear Jim whispering into the Data Doctor phone, “Yes, she’s here. She’s over by the window on the phone. Crying.”

Oh, he’s talking about me, I think.

“Gotta go, Bill. And oh, can you find me a place where to buy a new plug for the Google er T-Mobile phone.”

(I wasn’t going to mess with the tech or brand gods now. Call a spade a spade, I say.

T-Mobile knows I am a loyal-Capricorn customer for eons)

Taking the phone from Jim, this is my first encounter with the Blessed Mother or at the very least, an angel, aka Kelly – my customer service account contact.

And I mean this in the truest sense.

Not unlike a good old-fashioned hospital RN, she is authoritative and compassionate.

She could also be the soothing voice of HAL in “2001 Space Odyssey.”

I am hers.

She explains how Data Doctors is entrusted by the United States government, corporations and businesses around the world to recreate or capture data from corrupt or damaged hard drives.

She really did have me at hello.

Time is of the essence as I am on deadline for the Long Island Homegrown cookbook about the area’s master chefs and their inspired gardens, farms, and other local farm to table sources.

I had just completed all the first drafts of the Master Chefs and a number of the finished profile texts to send to my editor. Another angel, Kari..

As a writer, one does not have a formula.

There are those inspired moments that allow me to honor my chefs and write their profiles to capture the essence of their personality and culinary art.

I can’t recreate the profiles despite being intimate with each and every word…

Kelly, my new best friend and Angel was now outlining and describing the sliding price scale for their miracle tech services.

My “can-do” no-holds barred spirit was kicking in to say, “Whatever it takes” when a higher power reined me in.

I heard Kelly say, “and overnight or within three days, the cost is anywhere from $5,500 to more than $9,000….”

I don’t have that kind of money to make that kind of miracle happen so I was grateful I kept listening and didn’t shout out, “Overnight repair.”

I had to balance the need- the overwhelming need and desire --to get this horror over with and fixed so that I’d wake up from the nightmare with the available funds to make this right.

I opted for the two-week lowest cost option…

I am now assigned a case number.

A kidney scheduled for transplant surgery couldn’t have been more carefully prepared and wrapped.

We called Fed Ex – I splurged on the overnight delivery costs to get it to the Data Doctors center in Arizona. I would’ve guessed the destination as Silicon Valley or Austin but Arizona it is…

All is complete. I chat with Jim who in a twist of karma turns out to have been a chef in a number of New York City restaurants, including Bouley’s where I did volunteer kitchen prep after the attacks…

When I tell him what the book – the book that is lying comatose on the hard drive that is packed up for its emergency rush to the Doctors – he is even more sympathetic and we bond over restaurant kitchens and food stories.

That has to be good luck, right? How many chefs end up at Data Doctors? Maybe he is a geekie angel too who traded in his toque for tech…

Armed with the FedEx tracking number, I promise to phone him tomorrow to make certain the drive was picked up. Kelly will call when it arrives there in the Grand Canyon state.

All were asked to pray. I did share my predicament and Scarlet Letter on Facebook and felt a teeny bit better that it has happened to others.

I implored my tech, consumer electronics Friends in the industry -- Why can’t they invent or develop an early-warning signal like a gas gauge that tells you when you are getting low on fuel.

There must be early degradations that could trigger a sign on the computer.

Just think of the business opportunities, not to mention preventing the heartbreak – or suicide ^:^ of creators everywhere.

Think about it, engineers. There must be an App for That!

My Facebook Friends also recommended the automatic back up – with automatic being the magical, operative element. Paraphrasing Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor’s adage (Duchess to Duchess: how’s that for a link to karma?!), my sister admonished that “you can never be too rich or too thin or back up enough.”

Words to live by.

So Friday, June 25^th was Day One of the vigil: The prayers, the waiting for the updates from Data Doctors’ Kelly.

At the same time, I had to focus on moving forward – to complete the chef profiles from the outline texts I did still have. And think about recreating all dozen of the new ones for the Long Island book…

Essentially, the method I have found that works best for me in writing the profiles is to either do the interview in-person or over the phone. Either way, I record the interview.

I explain to the chefs that my handwriting is so bad that I need the back up of the recording and also, there is a lot of nuance in conversation that comes through better “live.”

That is Step 1.

I then write up the profile from my notes as Step 2.

Fill in or add from the recording as Step 3.

I put the profile into chronological order and an understandable narrative.

I have learned more often than not, the chefs’ stories are unknown to them, or they jump around in telling of their training, their leadership and the expression of their art.

It undoubtedly makes for a fascinating discovery and I have learned so very much from them about the early days of the locavore movement and their role in doggedly bringing fresh homegrown food to their customers and to their part of the world; impacting the world of restaurants irrevocably – and for the good of all of us.

In terms of taste – and better health.

Finally, I write the profile.

I write what I hope is a profile that honors the incredible work of the chefs and their inspired gardens and/or farmers and fishermen and dairymen, vintners, and artisanal food makers.

And I write a profile that I hope will compel the reader to turn the page to find out more – to learn about the chef and what made him or her fight so hard to get fresh-picked, local food to the plate vs. picking up the phone and ordering common, and rather tasteless ingredients when that was – and is in many, if not most cases, the norm.

They are all master chefs and fascinating culinary artists.

And interesting personalities who have overcome a lot of hurdles to follow their dreams.

Curiously, and somewhat surprising to me initially, all find time to give back – to volunteer for some charity or cause that celebrates teaching children to garden and cook, to fight childhood obesity or preserve the environment, work to improve business development for the towns, their farmers and their way of life by organizing Farmers Markets, cooking classes, tourism.

I was gobsmacked by their vision and for eking out the time to impact their slice of the world and changing us all in the meantime.

Each profile is utterly unique and writing it is akin to what I imagine giving birth must be like…

Losing those profiles is not an option.

And we are on deadline.

I let my editor Kari know of the situation. She is wonderful and understanding and encouraging. Just what I needed. She lays out the schedule for me with drop-dead dates.

The first Angel Kelly report was encouraging.

In her smooth as silk voice, she reassuringly walked me through the process.

I get like every third word and honestly, the only thing that registers every call is the “So, it’s looking good.”

However, there are lots of steps: reviewing the hard drive, finding a hairline crack in it, sending out for materials to fix it, rebuilding the data…

Like Gunga Din, I end each update call with a litany of prostrating “thank you’s” to her and a special appeal to “please thank the team.” I want them to know how very grateful I am and how much my life is in their hands…

I am haunted by that big blinking ?

I will keep you updated on our progress. Please say a prayer for the book and the hard drive?

Thank you.

Anna Pump Profile for the Homegrown Book

2010-06-21T10:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I completed the first part of the profile for chef and cookbook author, Anna Pump.

http://www.annapump.com

What an elegant and generous professional she is!
She is famous for her bakery, Loaves and Fishes - and with her daughter, The Bridgehampton Inn.
Her three best selling cookbooks, have inspired legions of cooks from my garden design client, Maria Steinberg (who loves her and has all her cookbooks in her cookbook "library.") to Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa and Food Network TV host.

I thoroughly enjoyed learning of Anna's childhood in Germany, near the Danish border; growing up on the farm, her early years in the Hamptons and taking classes with James Beard.

She is a classic!

Master Chefs & Their "Gardens"

The "Push" is on at Empellon Mexican Restaurant

Celebrity Chef David Burke Opens Kitchen and Treehouse Garden Restaurant in SoHo, NYC

Bosie Tea Parlor Opens in Greenwich Village, NYC Serving Panoply of Tea Treats & Experiences!

New York City's Lena Latin Grill Serves Up High Quality, Affordable, Fast-Food

Restaurant Week in Long Island, April 3 through April 10, 2011

American Chocolate Week

New York Chefs and Restaurants Named to James Beard Foundation’s 2011 Chef and Restaurant Awards Finalist Nominees

State of the World 2011 Innovations that Nourish The Planet

Worldwatch Institute’s State of the World 2011 Shows Agriculture Innovation Is Key to Reducing Poverty, Stabilizing Climate

Report provides a roadmap for food security and agricultural investment, revealing 15 high- and low-tech solutions that are helping to reduce hunger and poverty in Africa

Homegrown Long Island Book's Next Chapter

Seeing Red in A Dinner Menu

Danny Meyer On The Red Carpet!

Those Three Little Words

The Start of the Prequel

How Did Your Kitchen Design Get That Way? Psst - Find Out at MoMa

Great Grain Lecture at The New School

Giving Thanks

Greenmarket's Nevia No, Bodhitree Farm, Returns From Terra Madre Slow Food Conference

The Best Cookbooks of 2010

Cookbooks2

GrowNYC Greenmarket Nominated Local Farmers to Attend Slow Food Conference in Terra Madre

Taste of Greenmarket

It's Official

If It’s Too Hot, Get Out of the Kitchen!

The Hardest Part About One’s Hard Drive

Anna Pump Profile for the Homegrown Book

Worldwatch Institute’s State of the World 2011 Shows Agriculture Innovation
Is Key to Reducing Poverty, Stabilizing Climate

Report provides a roadmap for food security and agricultural investment, revealing
15 high- and low-tech solutions that are helping to reduce hunger and poverty in Africa