“I make ice cream for two reasons: I want to introduce these wonderful things we have in Asia and in Thailand to people, and I also miss these flavors. So, I make them because I miss them too.”

Meet Sutheera Denprapa, the ice cream designer and co-owner of Sky Ice, a small, artisan, all-natural ice cream shop based in Park Slope, Brooklyn. When Sutheera was a young girl, she hoped her parents would one day own an ice cream shop. That was her day dream, her little kid wish. It also tells you just how much she loves the stuff. As her husband, Jonathan explained, “few people are as passionate as Sutheera on ice cream”. I believe it. Get her talking about new flavors she’s inventing, and she could go on and on.

I came across Sky Ice on a food message board one day last fall, someone was flipping out over an ice cream flavor they’d just tried, and it immediately piqued my interest: Sky Ice Black Sesame Seaweed. As soon as the words rolled off my tongue, I was half way out the door ready to taste it. It seemed so daring – such a curious, savory idea for a flavor. And I had to know it. I had to understand it. So off to Park Slope I went, to this little, corner ice cream shop that smelled, oddly, like Thai food.

Sky Ice, you see, doubles as a Thai restaurant, explaining the scent confusion and the unique flavor selection: lychee rose, mangosteen, Thai iced tea, Thai coffee, toasted coconut, cherry blossoms and green curry, to name a few. They even carried a hard to find durian flavor – the fruit my Filipino mom says, “smells like hell and tastes like heaven”. Right away, you understood that someone making the ice cream had roots, a more tropical taste vision. A new take on flavors based on a childhood somewhere far away. This wasn’t going to be a normal ice cream experience. This was something different. And it was Sutheera’s plan all along.

So enjoy her story! Some new flavors that’ll blow you away: wasabi peanut butter, dark chocolate campfire and their white miso with sliced almonds, you won’t want to miss. Definitely my new favorite ice cream shop. I hope you make it out there!

Thanks for watching food. curated.! Happy eating!

“I eat a lot of cookies. I KNOW cookies.” -Gail Dosik

For a little treat today, I thought it might be nice to hear from THE Tough Cookie about her favorite cookies in New York City. Enjoy hunting these down:

1: Jacques Torres’ Chocolate Chip Cookie. Hands down, my favorite make myself feel better, reward myself, hey, I’m just walking past Jacques Torres’ place kind of cookie. It’s the right ratio of crisp/chewy, dough/chocolate chunks, sweet/salty.  And, it’s more than just 3 bites.  It’s practically a meal, if cookies were a meal, of course.  I vote this THE best chocolate chip cookie in NYC.

3. Bien Cuit’s Almond cookie. One of the most delicate, buttery, almondy, delicious tea cookies I’ve ever had. It reminds me of cookies that a family friend would bring us…Windmill cookies, but only 10x better. This sophisticated little gem deserves to be served alongside a lovely cup of freshly brewed tea, with each bite slowly savored.

“My cookies are better than ordinary. It’s a decorated cookie an adult wants to eat.”

Meet Gail Dosik, the founder and cookie aficionado behind One Tough Cookie, a specialty, decorated cookie baking business based in New York City. Gail is a walking talking cookie library of sorts. Ask her anything about cookies, and she could talk to you for hours. She’s one of those people who has to know anything and everything about cookies. No cookies go unturned with her, if you ask me, and I think that’s why her cookies are so great. She does the research.

So, over 8 years ago, when she decided to launch her own decorated cookie company, after spending over 25 years in the fashion industry, you can bet she started with really high standards…for herself most of all. Gail explained to me that there really are only a handful of people in the city who do decorated cookies right, 5-6 well-known cookie makers of her pedigree. When I asked, then, what makes hers extra unique, she was quick to say that of all the decorated cookies out there, she knows her recipe “is the best” in flavor and texture. It’s a pretty cookie, you won’t spit out. In fact, you’ll eat the cookie and kinda nudge Gail for another, like me.

I had a hoot of a time filming with Gail, mostly because, I liked that she called me: Toots. You’ll love her not only because she’s got a healthy serving of New York sass, but also because she’s got a ton of heart. So enjoy the video! Have fun getting lost in cookie world.

To work with Gail to design your own personal cookie or “cookies on cake” for a loved one, for your kids, for an event or holiday, please visit her website One Tough Cookie.

Thanks so much for watching and supporting food. curated.! Happy cookie eating!

“A good fried chicken comes down to being seasoned all the way through the meat. Ours is more than an 11 herbs and spices recipe.”

Come see a behind-the-scenes peek into the prep work and concepts behind some of the unique foods offered at The Great GoogaMooga food and music festival this weekend in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. Meet the cast at Joseph Leonard, a West Village neighborhood restaurant claiming to have perfected the fried chicken sandwich. This one’s got quite the crunch too. I hope you’re hungry… Enjoy! I’ll see you at the festival.

Thanks for watching food. curated.! Happy eating!

“We’re planning on selling close to 3500 egg sandwiches in 3 days.”

Come see a behind-the-scenes peek into the prep work and concepts behind some of the unique foods offered at The Great GoogaMooga food and music festival this weekend in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. Meet the cast at Northern Spy Food, a farm to table restaurant in the East Village, serving up a soft yolk packed, eggy chimichurri sandwich bomb for those looking for a delicious, meatless option. I hope you’re hungry… Enjoy!

Thanks for watching food. curated.! Happy eating!

“I like to make food worth lining up for. It’s too much work to make food that’s just average.”

Come see a behind-the-scenes peek into the prep work and concepts behind some of the unique foods offered at The Great GoogaMooga food and music festival this weekend in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. Meet the cast at Landhaus, a farm to sandwich operation in Brooklyn, serving up high-quality, herb infused, melt-in-your mouth, thick cut bacon on a stick. Enjoy! I hope you’re hungry…

Thanks for watching food. curated.! Happy eating!

“When it comes to Filipino food, everything’s gotta be BIG.”

Today, I’m kicking off a week-long food. curated. collaboration series with the fun folks at GoogaMooga!

Come see a behind-the-scenes peek into the prep work and concepts behind some of the unique foods offered at The Great GoogaMooga food and music festival this weekend in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. Meet the cast at Jeepney, a super-creative Filipino gastropub serving up a burger you won’t believe – it’s one part jungle fever and one part FUNK. I hope you’re hungry… Enjoy!

Thanks for watching food. curated.! Happy eating!

“I wanted to make upscale food more accessible, because that’s the way I want to eat.”

Meet Sung Park, the chef and owner of Bistro Petit in Brooklyn, a tiny, unassuming, 10-seater restaurant entirely devoted to unique, bold-flavored Korean French cuisine. Yes. You read that right: Korean French cuisine. Chef Park specializes in the novel – breaking taboos and creating new possibilites in food – proving to doubtful colleagues that you can marry Korean & French flavors and technique. As Chef Park explained to me, “it’s all about balance”. But, achieving that balance didn’t come easy, in fact, it took close to a decade of working and reworking his ideas to finally understand.

I’m telling you now, this is a special place, one of the best deals in Brooklyn too. A place where you’ll discover standout dishes like kimchi bouillabaisse and Korean beef bourguignon. It’s a playground, an on-going test kitchen where Chef Park tinkers and plays around with his secret supply of specialty Korean ingredients – all because, to him, it’s exciting!

Bistro Petit has certainly made an impression on me, which is why I’m excited to share this story. Be sure to check out the $90, 7-course tasting menu served stool side Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. It’s a food experience you won’t want to miss, especially for the price. So, what’s that moment of clarity like, when you finally know why you want to cook? Click play and find out.

**A very special thank you to my pals Mike Thies and Topu Lyo of LIVE FOOTAGE for lending their beautiful, atmospheric music to this story. You can watch them perform live at Apotheke every Sunday night in New York City. Or, just click here!

Thanks so much for watching and supporting food. curated.! It’s the big James Beard Awards week for our little series. Wish us luck and Happy Eating!

“My whole life I thought I was healthy…”

What if you loved food, but the odds were against you? What if foods you knew to be good and nourishing were also the enemy? These are the questions I tackled this week for my short food. curated. series exploring the idea of Why We Cook.  Meet Amie Valpone, personal chef, recipe developer, food photographer and the Editor-in-Chief of The Healthy Apple, a clean eating blog based in New York City. For Amie, food is a long list of wants but cannot-haves. And this is her story about why she cooks.

I hope Amie’s optimism – despite all her challenges – inspires you to take a moment to think about what you put in your body. So many of us eat without thinking, but if you put more thought into it, if you questioned how your body reacts to certain foods, what would you discover? It’s worth thinking about. I’m certainly thinking about it. That’s why I love her story.

Enjoy. Overcome obstacles. Eat. Food awaits you.

Thanks for watching food. curated.! The James Beard Awards countdown begins. I’ve got my fingers crossed for next week! Happy Eating!

“Life’s goal is to beat you down. Our goal is to tell Life, ‘I’m here, I’m stronger than you.’ And for me, that anchor is the kitchen. The kitchen is my constant.“ 

Meet Jennifer Perillo, a.k.a. Jennie, the food writer and cookbook author behind In Jennie’s Kitchen. Over the course of the next few weeks, I’ll be profiling some very special people I’ve met for a short food. curated. series on Why We Cook.

What compels us to cook? That’s a question I’ve been tossing around my head these past few months. I’ve been feeling a bit sentimental these days, spending time in the kitchen to “work things out”. I’ve come to realize, that’s what I do. I come to the kitchen to be fully present in the moment, to not let the past or future bother me, but to have space to just be me. I guess you could say, I cook to help let go. Last week, I made a beautiful salad for a friend I hoped to make amends with, enjoyed the simplicity of finding that just-right recipe, with that oh-so-perfect blend of flavors and ingredients to make ‘em know I cared. Over the weekend, I popped out of bed with a mission to bake fluffy, buttery biscuits, to help erase a heavy night of tears and bad dreams, after a week of some sad, personal news. So for me, the kitchen is where I go to repair and find peace. For Jennie, the kitchen is even more: Food. Family. And Life. Lots of life to be exact. A whole spectrum.

I don’t want to say too much, because I think her video says it all. I hope you enjoy Jennie’s story. I hope it inspires you like it inspires me. Every time I watch it, I’m moved.

To read more about her life stories and to try some of her recipe creations, you can purchase her new – and very first – cookbook Homemade with Love, here.

Thanks for watching food. curated.! We’re honored to be nominated for our 4th James Beard Award for Best Video Webcast 2013. Wish us luck in May. Happy Cooking!