“On an acre-for-acre basis, mussel rafts produce hundreds of times more edible food than cattle ranching, making mussel farming a leader in food production.” – Taylor Shellfish Farms

I’ve eaten a lot of mussels in my life. Slurped them down without a care in the world, letting the wine-soaked, or sometimes, coconut milk-soaked juices run down my fingers and drip onto a discarded shell plate. There’s no elegant way to eat mussels. In my opinion, it’s one of those things like fried chicken – you just “get into” them. It’s a sloppy, joyful existence eating a bowl of mussel meat. And when they are plump and fresh, not scrawny and sad, it’s food bliss.

So why then did I never stop to think about how mussels are grown? I guess it never entered my mind to think beyond the 5lb bags I was buying at the seafood store. They came that way and that was that. Well, talk about being happily enlightened. Until I filmed this story, I didn’t realize mussels go through quite a bit before they reach your plate.

This summer, I spent some time with Gordon King, a sustainable mussel farmer from Totten Inlet in South Puget Sound. Now, besides looking like a more muscular version of Sean Connery, he was charming, engaging and really really passionate about his mussel crop.

Over a million pounds of hatchery-raised Mediterranean mussels are grown via suspension culture every year under his supervision – harvesting up to 25,000 lbs per week and shipped locally along the West Coast and to Chicago and New York. From July to early fall, the mussels are the fattest. In fact, they say this species of mussel, compared to blue mussels or New Zealand green-lipped mussels, is sought after by chefs for its high meat content. And after you see the video, you’ll also understand from the surroundings why their flavor is always fresh.

So seek them out now!

In New York, these specific Mediterranean mussels can be found on the menus at Marea, BLT Prime, Celeste and Convivo. And if you want to know how to get your hands on them yourself, you can contact W&T Seafood locally in New York or Taylor Shellfish Farms out West.

And if you ever need a mussel eating-partner here in NYC. Don’t hesitate to contact me on Twitter!

Thanks for watching food. curated. Happy Eating!

**And much gratitude to the Taylor Shellfish family for help making this trip possible.**

Here are two stories that show how far a helping hand can go to make people happy. And thanks again to Ed Levine for asking me to be his Serious Eats storyteller. It was a blast to witness these charities in person and meet the wonderful people who dedicate so much hard work for the benefit of others. Enjoy and hope you get inspired.

1. God’s Love We Deliver (NYC) – and be on the lookout for “Natalie”…she makes this story sing…

2. City Harvest (NYC)

Happy volunteering! Or if you ever would like to volunteer together in New York, give me a holler. I’m game!

1. King of Falafel & Shwarma

Freddy, what can I say about Freddy. He was a dose of infectious happiness. “Yeah, baby!” Hanging out with him, you’d think he was the mayor of Astoria! His food was moist and juicy, and so full of great Middle Eastern spices and secrets that you don’t even question the lines and crowds in front of his food cart. It just makes sense, all of it. And Queens couldn’t have anyone better to represent them at the Vendys. Hopefully for him, 3rd time’s a charm…

2. Bistro Truck

Yassir’s whole concept behind his Bistro Truck is to serve gourmet, restaurant style food in a casual setting. And he’s totally achieved it. I love the ever-changing daily specials menu inspired by what’s in season at the Union Square Farmer’s Market just a few blocks away. Funny story, he didn’t have any time to test his recipes for his permanent menu! The menu was driven by the pressure from his printer to get something up and done in time for his food truck launch, and those were the dishes he came up with from the top of his head. But not to worry, the menu is a masterpiece of flavors and personality. Seriously, don’t leave without trying the saucy dijon chicken over rice. Yassir dredges his food with his love for Moroccan spices, and the most inspiring part is that he is true food talent, he taught himself how to cook!

3. El Rey del Sabor

Rosa is just plain adorable. When I shot with her, I thought she’d be shy and nervous, but she was a ball of energy and excitement all ready to throw down and share why she believes her food is the best! She comes to work with a smile everyday, and loves showing New Yorkers what she believes authentic Mexican cuisine should taste like. Customers love her. And the close up meat shots speak for themselves. Just try to resist going there. Just try!

4. Patacon Pisao

Well, I’ve never been past 135th street on the Upper West Side to eat, so hiking up to 202nd street in Inwood better be worth it…and it was…and then some. I always delight in trying something truly original, and eating a patacon with heavily shredded, dripping with flavor spiced meats sandwiched with special sauces between two pounded and deep fried plantains was the NYC experience I’ve been searching for this summer. Liliana and Adolfo are quite famous in the neighborhood, serving up typical Venezuelan street food to night owls and club goers. They tell me sometimes their lines are longer then the lines for the clubs! Honestly, it’s such a great NYC moment to go eat here. You experience the whole neighborhood just standing and eating in front of their gated food truck. It’s just one of those filming experiences I’ll not soon forget.

5. Schnitzel & Things

And as for Oleg Voss of Schnitzel & Things. All I have to tell you is that his “schnitz” is so good, he coined the word “Schnombies”. It’s Schnitzel + Zombies. Basically what he calls his customers who have eaten so many of his schnitzels that they are meat-thirsty for it on a regular basis. You gotta love Oleg in this piece. He’s a riot. Even just for his enthusiastic cheers… And someone, anyone, please tell me what a deep-fried burger tastes like. I wanna know!

Thanks for watching food. curated. Get your tickets to the Vendy Awards before they sell out. And happy street food eating!

Deep in Brooklyn, there is a special place where people gather with friends and family to enjoy the authentic flavors of Latin cuisine, where food tastes like home, and where recipes have been passed down for generations. This place is called The Red Hook Ball Fields, where a collection of Mexican, Central and South American street food vendors that have been lining the soccer park for decades, sharing a piece of their heritage with all that come to dine there on weekends.

It’s a casual affair filled with many moments of indecision, as the variety of food is overwhelming and the smells from the food trucks tempt you in multiple directions. Some of the best Latin cuisine in all of NYC can be found here. And I spent a day at the ballfields to find out what makes the Red Hook Food Vendors so special.

Happy eating! Thanks for watching food. curated.

**This video was filmed in association with Food Films America and premiered at The 2010 NYC Food Film Festival!**

It’s summer harvest season up on NYC’s newest and biggest rooftop farm!

If you haven’t been, and I know most of you haven’t, you need to see The Brooklyn Grange. I visited a few days ago to see what Farmer Ben Flanner was growing for the summer, and I was quite impressed with the progress he’s made in such a short amount of time. His 40,000 square foot farm (just under an acre) was lush with greens, cabbage, tomato plants, corn crops, carrots, swiss chard, various herbs and root vegetables. I seriously didn’t think the farm would look as finished or as polished as it did when I set foot, especially since they only began planting in late May. But, it did. The plants looked happy and tasted great, further proving the case for more NYC rooftop farms. Watch the video and see for yourself. Plants like rooftops…or it seems that way to me!

Restaurant Accounts & CSAs & Farmer’s Markets

The Brooklyn Grange estimates that they’ll grow close to 16,000 pounds of produce this growing season. Right now, they have enough produce for 3-4 more restaurant accounts in Queens or North Brooklyn (trying to stay as local as possible), so if you know of anyone who may be interested in meeting their $100 minimum give them a call. In addition, Ben will begin offering 20 CSA shares to a few lucky individuals who want a piece of The Grange produce for the entire season. The cost is a little under $20/week and will last for the next 16 weeks until the end of October or early November. So sign up now if you’re interested!

Local cooks can get their hands on the rooftop produce at the many farmers markets they hold throughout the week:

• The Brooklyn Grange Farmer’s Market: Tuesdays & Thursdays: 3718 Northern Boulevard, Queens, 3-7pm
• (NEW) Vesta Trattoria Farmer’s Market: Saturdays, 2102 30th Avenue, Astoria, (time TBD)
• Roberta’s Farmer’s Market: Sundays: 261 Moore Street, Brooklyn, 11-5pm

And if you hate to cook, but want to try the bounty of what’s being produced up on the farm, you can visit Frankies Sputino, Juliette, Roberta’s or Northeast Kingdom and check out their menus for Brooklyn Grange inspired dishes.

Volunteers and interested visitors are also more than welcome on the farm, so to get your hands dirty and help out a farmer just contact brooklyngrangefarm[at]gmail.com.

Happy Eating! And thanks for watching food. curated.

CNN’s Eatocracy food site found out all about my love of food this week. Read the post here!

“It’s the prime rib of clam…”

Geoduck (pronounced gooey-duck). Why aren’t more Americans eating geoduck? They are native shellfish to the Pacific Northwest and grown by the millions of pounds in the same waters as oysters. So, why are they so difficult to find in most seafood markets? And why haven’t most of my friends tried it? Is it because they look strange and prehistoric? Or just intimidatingly over-sized? Maybe Asians know something we don’t. And maybe that’s why Taylor Shellfish‘s sustainably farmed and harvested geoduck crop goes 50% to overseas Asian markets and 50% to domestic Asian markets… Hmmm?

Well, after trying it for the first time, I can honestly say as a seafood lover I felt like I had been missing out my whole life. I tried geoduck sashimi, geoduck fritters, geoduck in chowder and geoduck ceviche in many different styles during my recent seafood adventures in Washington State. And with the image of the beast in mind, yes, my first bite was met with hesitation. But the mild flavors and exciting seafood textures they delivered made the geoduck’s ugliness a lot less intimidating. So, if you ever get the chance to taste it, please don’t pass up the opportunity. I think you’ll be surprised how much you’ll enjoy it.

Now before you buy, keep in mind there’s a pretty price to pay for a geoduck. I’ve seen them retail anywhere from $20-$25 per pound (which could be part of the Asian allure). But once you see the back-breaking work involved in the harvest, the price makes a lot more sense. So enjoy this short piece I put together about Taylor Shellfish‘s geoduck farm on Stretch Island in Puget Sound. They are the largest growers in the Northwest, farming the native clams from Southeast Alaska to Washington State.

In NYC, you can buy live geoduck from Taylor Shellfish Farms at W&T Seafood or wander the many wet markets in NYC’s Chinatown or Flushing, Queens for a better chance at finding them.

Happy eating! Thanks again for watching food. curated.

**And many thanks to the Taylor Shellfish family for helping make this trip possible**

Yes, it’s a little bit “hippy-dippy”.

Come meet the passionate crew of artisan food vendors hand picked for NYC’s popular year-round antiques & food market: The Brooklyn Flea. Truth be told, it’s way more than just a cool place to grab food, it’s a place where great food ideas are tried and tested. Find out from Eric Demby, the co-founder, what makes The Flea’s selection so unique, family-oriented and special.

If you love food, this is an absolute must eat in your travels to Brooklyn. There’s no place quite like it in New York. Everything is made to order, very sustainable and served to you by the food artisans themselves.

Featuring seafood, sandwiches, meats, sweets, baked goods, pizza and desserts from: The Milk Truck, Crop to Cup Coffee, Liddabit Sweets, Nunu Chocolates, Whismy & Spice, Kumquat Cupcakery, SCRATCHbread, Asia Dog, The Red Hook Lobster Pound, People’s Pops, Pizza Moto, Soler Dominican Pupusas, The Country Boys, Blue Marble Ice Cream, Early Bird Granola, McClure’s Pickles, Rick’s Picks, Salvatore Bklyn Ricotta, Choncho’s Tacos, Porchetta, The Good Fork, Kors d’Oeuvres.

Thanks for watching food. curated. This video was produced in association with Seth Unger & George Motz of Food Films America. Happy Eating!

“It’s all about the water quality…”

Meet Nellie Wu, the oyster specialist and General Manager of W&T Seafood, a family-owned and operated seafood distribution company based in Brooklyn, New York. Nellie’s company has been the link to connecting great NYC chefs and restaurants to West Coast shellfish farms, namely Taylor Shellfish Farms, for the past 25 years – supplying premiere oyster hubs like The Grand Central Oyster Bar with famed West Coast oysters like Totten Inlet Virginicas, Pacifics, Kumamotos, Fanny Bay Oysters, Kusshis, Olympias and European Flats.

Nellie’s passionate about West Coast oysters not only from a sustainability standpoint, but also from a taste standpoint. She firmly believes they are some of the best tasting oysters you can get in North America. And with the local food movement inspiring more NYers to eat locally, she just wants people to understand the need for supporting regionally grown food as well, especially ones with a good mission behind it.

So, I hope you enjoy this piece on West Coast oysters with Nellie Wu, the first of many pieces on seafood and shellfish farming I’ll be sharing this summer.  We traveled together to Hood Canal and Southern Puget Sound and boarded ferries all the way up to Vancouver Island in British Columbia to make sure you saw for yourself where good shellfish comes from.

And to join Nellie in her quest to teach others about oysters, check out the New York Oyster Lovers MeetUp and get started on your own Oyster Life List. Sign up here: New York Oyster Lovers Meetup.

Thanks for watching food. curated. Happy Eating!

**And many thanks to the Taylor Shellfish family who helped make this trip possible.**

If you had a rotted shark and live baby eel in front of you, would you eat it?

Well, there’s a club of 400 people in New York who would take a bite without even blinking… Meet The Gastronauts, New York City’s adventurous eating club founded by Curtiss Calleo and Ben Pauker, two very good friends with an appetite for the weird and bizarre cultural foods of the five boroughs.

They started their eating club four years ago simply because their girlfriends didn’t want to join them anymore on their food adventures. So, for fun, they decided to open up their dinners to other like-minded eaters, friends, strangers, anyone who was “game” for eating what most Americans won’t. And what they discovered was that there were more people out there like them than they thought. Now, with over 50 club “meetings” under their belt from Staten Island to the far corners of the Bronx, they can only say that they still have so much more bizarre food to go.

So enjoy this little story about The Gastronauts. I hope you find, like I did, that their mission goes so much further than finding weird stuff for you to eat, it’s about enjoying the flavor of cultures, meeting new friends, and honoring animals from nose to tail.

For more information on joining or to see past menus and photos, you can visit Ben & Curtiss online at: http://www.gastronauts.net/

Happy eating! Thanks for watching food. curated.