What says Valentine’s Day more than The Big PIg Gig at Daisy May’s BBQ? Not much, really. Have a happy V-Day y’all — don’t forget to spread the love.
"Sweet Heart" Necco Conversation Heart sculpture by Nathan Sawaya, who made me some of the best valentines (and flowers) I ever received, just for the record.
Well lookee who we have here — The Lovely Miss Katie, on the left, chatting away with me, on the right, at Dennis Foy last Thursday night. Two photos in the Times within two weeks — woo hoo! Mr. Bruni gave it one star — seems right to me. Here’s my brief write-up on Gothamist. Gotta get that new camera.
Photo by Evan Sung for The New York Times
So the second fun thing that happened last week is that I got to interview Mario Batali. At Otto, no less. I finally invested in a digital recorder, so was able to just talk without taking notes. We sat down over a cappucino and talked about philanthropy (go to CelebrityPastaLovers.com and download the celebrity pasta cookbook he just finished with Giada DeLaurentis — Barilla pasta will donate $1 per download, up to $100,000, to America’s Second Harvest), pasta, and neighborhood favorites. The one section of the interview that I didn’t post was the part when I asked him why he replaced the fritti at Otto with pasta. Bottom line — it wasn’t making any money. Plus, as Mario noted, "this neighborhood needed pasta." I still miss the ceci bottarga. You can read the interview here.
Photo courtesy of New York Observer
And on a completely unrelated note — nothing better in this ridiculous Nanuk of the North weather than, you guessed it, swim class.
Here’s one of the two very interesting things that happened this week. I was interviewed and photographed for this article in the Sunday Styles section of the Times. Apparently I didn’t give him any quotes that were on point enough to use in the article (which isn’t surprising, given the angle of the story), but at least I’m in the picture! They also put a link to Gothamist Food in the sidebar.
Photo by Joe Fornabaio for The New York Times
UPDATE: Wow, now that I’ve seen the print edition, with the subtitle on the second page "food bloggers, gossipy and competitive," I’m even more happy that I wasn’t quoted! That’s not what Gothamist Food is about. But I do like the placement of the picture. And here’s a link to all of my columns (over 472 and counting), in case you were interested.
From Michael Pollan in this week’s New York Times magazine: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." and, to clarify on the "eat food" point: "Don’t eat anything your great-great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food." Guess my fiber bars are out, huh?
Still dealing with the number crunching, but managed to fit in some fun this weekend. Friday night I had sushi with Gabe at Le Miu, a spot in the East Village. Some of the chefs have Nobu pedigrees, and although they are trying to do some inventive things with the cooked dishes, I think we both enjoyed the sushi the most out of everything we tried. I got a good night’s sleep on Friday and woke up Saturday for a great workout. The rest of the day I did some work and cooked a carrot and potato soup out of this month’s CSA bounty. At 5:30 I met up with members of my Gothamist Food team, including the three new writers who I hadn’t yet met in person — it was great meeting them all and getting a chance to chat over drinks. Afterwards, I moved on to meet John B. for dinner at Momofuku Ssam Bar — that place absolutely rocks. It even got the John B. plate-licking seal of approval. If you don’t know about it, check out this NY Mag piece on David Chang, and then hurry over there for the three terrine sandwich, the brussels sprouts, and the pork buns. I’m going to try to gather a group for the whole pork butt that he does — who’s in? Dinner was followed by drinks at various and sundry bars in the East Village, where we were joined by Matt, the Lovely Miss Katie, Meg, Jenn and others.
Today I met up with a gaggle of food writers/bloggers for dim sum: Augie, David from Thrillist, Alaina and Ed from Serious Eats, Jen from Snack, Andrew from Gothamist, and Jennifer and Chris from Savory NY. It was great fun, and I plan to organize a similar gathering in the not-too-distant future. After some quality couch time, I cooked up some more CSA stuff — I roasted a half-chicken and more of the veggies. I’ll have plenty of food for lunch this week! And now, maybe a bit of work, but then early to bed — gotta hit the gym before work.
Like I said, if you really want to woo me on Valentine’s Day, it’s all about the heart-shaped truffle pizza.
But filled with fun stuff, as usual! Friday night I met up with the folks who handle the PR for the Modern Mexican restaurants and had some drinks and snacks at Pampano, then headed out to Brooklyn for dinner and catching up nwith the lovely Miss Katie, Kim, and Rachel. Saturday morning I headed to Chinatown Brasserie to check out the fabled dim sum with my aunt Ellen, who was visiting from DC and my cousin Sara, who had recently returned from her Christmas break from college. We then headed down to Soho for some shopping. After some modest success, I returned home to relax for a while before hitting the gym. Saturday night Roopa and I went to Ditch Plains for dinner, where we sat at the bar and were entertained by Rob, the bartender. After dinner we headed to Otto for a glass of wine to finish off the evening.
Sunday I went to the gym first thing before making some brunch and then attempting to visit the Brooklyn Museum to see the Annie Leibovitz exhibit with Rodez. I say "attempting" because the line was ridiculous — after waiting for about 20 minutes, they made an announcement that the wait would be well over an hour. We gave up and headed to the Botanical Garden instead. Certainly not the best weather for it, but fun nonetheless. I then met up with Jenn, Carolyn, and some others for salsa lessons on Smith Street — this woman gives lessons out of her father’s barber shop — it was a blast! I managed to pick it up fairly quickly despite the fact that it was my first time. When we were done shaking our groove thangs we met up with a crew on an Atlantic Avenue bar crawl. We were so hungry from salsa-ing that we skipped some of the bars I really wanted to visit because I haven’t yet been (Floyd and Last Exit), but it was probably a good decision. We met up with the crew at the Brazen Head. At this point Jon had joined us — the Brazen Head was really loud (I swear, I’m turning into an old woman when it comes to noise level in bars — my voice just doesn’t carry in a loud bar, and it’s frustrating), so I was very relieved when we went to our next stop, the Brooklyn Inn. It’s a gorgeous old bar on the corner of Hoyt and Bergen — Jon and I liked it so much there (and could actually hear each other talk), so we stayed even after the bar crawl team left for the next stop. We ultimately met up with them for a bit of music at Hank’s to finish up the evening.
Luckily, it was a three-day weekend for me. I was determined to make a vat of chili for the week, so I did some grocery shopping, and ran into Augie, Lauren and Rob on the way home. They were headed to Pearl Oyster Bar, so I joined them for some lunch (how could I resist, really?). I had a very domestic afternoon — tidying up, making chili (I used a bit more chipotle than the recipe calls for), and doing laundry. I wound up the weekend at a dinner party at my friend Matt’s, which was quite fun and delicious — Silvia, a business colleague of his, was visiting from Italy, so she cooked us an Italian feast of panzanella, risotto, and a roasted pork loin with dried fruit. It was a great meal, but I got to bed a little later than I had planned.
On a side note, the Food Network show that contains footage of the 2005 Vendy Awards (for which I was a judge) finally aired last night. Some of my family saw it, but I’m DVR’ing it tonight, so I haven’t seen it yet. Be sure to tune in!
After sleeping for 11 hours, I geared up and wandered across the Seine to the Jardin du Luxembourg, where my Dad told me that he saw many Parisians jogging. I got completely lost on the way there, but had a lovely walk, and after a good run I wandered back along a different route, taking in the sights and sounds of the city on my way back. I landed back in the ‘hood just in time to wander through the market, catching a whiff of some delectible roast chicken as I walked through. I was tempted to buy some scallops, as they were gorgeous, sitting in their shells, but I passed, and headed home for a shower.
Carlos had invited me to join him and some friends at the racetrack that afternoon. As we attempted to coordinate, I realized just how much I take my cell phone for granted. Dad and Joan had given me a calling card, so I was able to use a payphone to call Carlos’ cell phone, but of course he couldn’t call me back. He was off having brunch, so I wandered around some more, stopping for a falafel sandwich along the way, and checked in with him every so often to check on his progress. Despite the telecom difficulties, we finally were able to meet up at the Hippodrome at the Bois de Boulogne. I opted out of the gambling, but enjoyed watching Carlos and his friends lose all their money (probably about 10 euros combined).
After the races, I returned back to the apartment to warm up and got ready for dinner. I decided to take a chance and headed to L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon. Arriving at 9:30 on a Sunday night, I was dismayed to hear that I’d have to wait for over an hour for a seat. Apparently, in Paris they eat as late as we do in New York, even on school nights. After a short walk and a half a glass of wine in the adjoining hotel lobby, the hostess called me in — I don’t even think it was 1/2 hour. I sat at the sleek bar and examined the menu. I decided to stick to the tasting portions, so I’d be able to try more dishes without getting too full. I began with the foie gras (take that, Gothamist commenters!), and got a glass of sauternes to accompany it. My next course was a delicate lobster ravioli with black truffle butter atop green cabbage. I had to sop up every drop of the sauce with my bread — yum. At that point, I couldn’t decide if I wanted to go for another tasting course, so I chose conservatively, and headed straight for dessert, a pair of pots au creme — one chocolate and one vanilla — accompanied with a glass of moscato. The entire restaurant is bar seating, which is nice — I ended up chatting with the couple to my right in a mix of French and English about their dining adventures in New York — Daniel, Jean Georges. Clearly I should hang out with these people the next time they come to town. The bartenders/waiters were very friendly as well, and for whatever reason, they not only comped my moscato, but gave me another glass on the house. I took a cab home and, pleasantly full, slept quite well.
As my mom pointed out in an email, I must be very busy this week since I haven’t updated the blog. She’s right — I’ve been busy and tired, so I apologize for the slow posting.
I’ve gotten a bit of grief from the peanut gallery that I haven’t given a detailed rundown of my Paris trip, so here goes. As a bit of background, with the exception of my last night, I stayed at a studio apartment owned by Blue Marble, the company through which I’ve done my bike trips to Provence, Tuscany, and Galicia. It was very centrally located in the 2ieme arrondissement, close to the Chatelet les Halles metro. I’ve been to Paris a number of times before, so really didn’t feel the need to do a whole bunch of touristy things — I really just wanted to unwind, decompress, see a few people, and see what it was like to travel alone. Aside from the bike trips, which are with a group, I really haven’t done much solo traveling.
I left New York on the day after Beaujolais day — the day when the Beaujolais Nouveau is released. My friend John has an annual party celebrating this day every year, and although I was sad to miss it, I was offered my own mini-bottle on the plane, so I felt like I was there in spirit. I was also excited to learn that my seat was upstairs on the plane — a new flying experience for me (next time, I wouldn’t mind a first class upgrade instead, but we’ll see). I arrived around lunchtime and was pleased to discover that Carlos, who led my Galicia trip, was not only closeby, but literally in the apartment next door. We caught up over a cup of tea and then I set out to do some shopping for provisions for breakfast and snacks for the week. I picked up the staples (bread, cheese, red wine) and then got the rest. After dropping off the goods at my apartment, I went to meet Robyn, a fellow food blogger who is currently spending a semester in Paris. While she’s there, she contributes weekly to Parisist. We had agreed to meet up for pastry at Ladurée on the Champs Elysées. We finally found each other and shared delicious pastry and coffee while chatting about her ongoing quest to sample all the pastries in Paris. I strolled home after dark and took in the lights of the city, and when I got home, recruited Carlos and his friend Catalina (which I may be spelling wrong, so please forgive me) to help me drink my bottle of wine. The jetlag finally hit and I headed off to bed.
More to come, but for now, Gothamist calls. I should have made more time to post over the weekend, but it was a bit of a whirlwind, with the first holiday party of the season, dinner with Mom, our monthly girl brunch, a great deal of time in the outer boroughs, some major paper purging (I can see my dining table!), and completion of the first season of Lost. Tonight, I’m off to join Jon for a close up view of Wheelhouse Pickles in the making.
