Where To Eat in Park Slope

As we close the chapter on my Park Slope existence, it's time to reflect on all the food that I'd eat there, day in, day out. The food in Park Slope is very good, sometimes great, sometimes not-so-great, but almost always consistent. It's best divided into two categories: the food you should eat if you live there and the food you should eat if you visit.

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Tags: A.R.E.A., Al Di La, Bark, Bklyn Larder, Brooklyn Fish Camp, Franny's, Gorilla Coffee, Longtan, Luscious Food, Miriam, Moim, Palo Santo, Park Slope, Press, Stone Park Cafe, Taro Sushi | October 21, 2009 12:24 PM | Permalink | Comments

Outstanding in the Field

[When my friend Jimmy Hilburn told me that he was attending an event called "Outstanding in the Field," I asked him if he'd take pictures and do a guest post. As you can see below, Jimmy went above and beyond the call of duty. Here's Jimmy with the story of an unforgettable dinner.]

Is it still considered “eating locally” if you have to travel over 1000 miles by car, plane, subway and jitney just to get to your “local” destination? I’m going to go out on a limb and say probably not. Environmentalists and socially conscious foodies would probably frown on what my mom and I did, but ours was never a very noble pursuit. We just wanted to have an amazing, unique dining experience. And we did!

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Tags: beets, Hamptons, Jimmy Hilburn, Outstanding in the Field | October 19, 2009 12:46 AM | Permalink | Comments

Gorilla Coffee

The big question, when we finally decided not to renew our lease here in Park Slope, was not: "How will we afford to move?" "How are we going to find an apartment as nice as this one in Manhattan?" "Will we get our security deposit back now that the apartment is caked in cat hair?"

No, those were certainly questions we asked, but the big question--the major hurdle to jump--was this: "How will we live without Gorilla Coffee?"

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Tags: Gorilla Coffee, moving, Park Slope | October 14, 2009 4:15 PM | Permalink | Comments

A Response To C. Kimball

[Last week, Christopher Kimball of Cook's Illustrated wrote a rather nasty Op-Ed in the NYT, linking the closing of Gourmet Magazine to the proliferation of food blogs. Obviously, this hit a nerve with me, so I penned my own Op-Ed in response. I share it with you below, but recommend you read his first (click here), so you get the context.]

A few years ago, as my relatively new food blog began to gain in popularity, I turned to a mentor, John Kessler of The Atlanta Journal Constitution and asked him how I might break into mainstream food media. “Should I pitch stories to the Times? To Gourmet? Where do I start?”

Mr. Kessler’s response was surprising. “Adam,” he said, “What you’re already doing is what every newspaper and magazine is desperately trying to do, unsuccessfully. So just keep doing it and you’ll be ok.”

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Tags: Christopher Kimball, Cook's Illustrated, Gourmet, Op-Ed, Ruth Reichl | October 13, 2009 9:44 AM | Permalink | Comments

How To Paint Your Kitchen

This is the story of how two dunderheads, one who'd never painted a room before, the other who'd only painted a wall, spent a full Saturday (from 11 am to 1 am) painting a bedroom and a kitchen. For the purposes of this post, we will focus on the kitchen; a task that might seem daunting at first, but one that, as will be evidenced by the pictures, is well worth the effort.

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Tags: Apartment Therapy, Benjamin Moore, Desert Sunset, new apartment, painting | October 12, 2009 11:58 AM | Permalink | Comments

Roasted Chickpeas

Let me say right off the bat: this is not a great recipe.

It has the potential to be a great recipe--I really wanted it to be a great recipe--but as it stands right now, it's in need of some serious tweaking. And that tweaking may just be the simple addition of a Tablespoon of olive oil, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

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Tags: chickpeas, Diana, dinner parties, Mark, Patricia Wells, snacks | October 7, 2009 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments

Creamed Mushrooms on Toast

When I'm home alone and making dinner for myself, my standards change dramatically. If Craig's there (and he usually is), I know he has certain expectations about what constitutes a dinner. That's fair, because most people do. But alone? My standards go out the window and I just improvise a meal with whatever I have on hand. And the other night, while Craig was in London showing his movie at the Raindance Film Festival, I happened to have the following on hand: mushrooms, thyme, cream and bread. That's why I decided to make something I'd never made before, something I wasn't even sure constituted a proper dinner. That something was creamed mushrooms on toast.

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Tags: cream, Molly Orangette, mushrooms | October 7, 2009 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments

What's Good?

The waitress, who we loved, responded to our request for a pasta suggestion with enthusiasm. "Get the ravioli," she said. "It's amazing."

I was with my mom last night at the new A Voce in the Time Warner Center, and our waitress was solicitious, funny and helpful. And when we asked for her advice, she gave it with zeal and genuine enthusiasm. But it was only when we were eating the ravioli, which she so heartily recommended, that I began to question the wisdom of asking the server's advice on what to order.

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Tags: A Voce, dining, service | October 5, 2009 11:59 AM | Permalink | Comments

Locanda Verde

My parents and I often get into a quibbling match over the Italian food that they like and the Italian food that I like. The Italian food that they like is the food found at what's typically called "a red sauce joint" with dishes every American who's been to EPCOT or an Olive Garden can rattle off: Chicken Parmesan, Chicken Scarpiello, Shrimp Scampi (a tautological phrase since scampi means shrimp), and so on. I'm not against this food--sometimes, I really enjoy it--but my parents LOVE this food and put it on a higher pedestal than the food you find at the Italian restaurants I love, restaurants like Babbo or A Voce. When I try to explain that the latter food is more authentic, my parents are incredulous: after all, their favorite Italian restaurants are owned and managed by Italians who moved here direct from Italy. So what is the difference? Maybe it's not a question of authenticity, just a question of quality. Either way: the subject was ripe as we sat down this weekend for dinner at Andrew Carmellini's brand new restaurant in TriBeCa, Locanda Verde.

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Tags: Andrew Carmellini, Italian food, Locanda Verde, my parents, octopus | September 30, 2009 9:44 AM | Permalink | Comments

The Burger at Lure Fishbar

For years, I've walked past Lure Fishbar in SoHo. You can't miss it, really: there are portholes for windows and the restaurant, which is below ground, is styled like a yacht.

I can't say I was dying to eat there, but then word on the street was that their burger was one of the best below 14th street. That's what William Tigertt claimed on Eater, and then Adam Kuban echoed it on A Hamburger Today: "This burger really is all that Mr. Tigertt describes."

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Tags: burgers, Lure Fishbar, SoHo | September 29, 2009 9:37 AM | Permalink | Comments

Orecchiette with Broccoli & Pancetta

Here's something for you to cook this weekend, something from the archives. It comes from The River Cafe Cookbook, a book I no longer own, but no matter. It's an easy enough recipe, I have it memorized. So easy: I can squeeze it all into this paragraph. Boil a pot of water, add salt. In a large skillet, add cubed pancetta--about two big slices worth. Add a splash of olive oil, raise the heat and let the pancetta start to brown. When it's getting closer to brown than not-brown, add broccoli florets--about two heads worth--to the salted water. Add 2 or 3 cloves of slivered garlic to the pancetta and some red pepper flakes. (Watch the garlic: don't let it burn.) When the broccoli is just cooked, but still al dente (1 or 2 minutes) lift with a spider into the skillet with the pancetta and garlic. Now drop a 1 lb box of orecchiette into that same salted broccoli water; stir it all around so the pasta doesn't stick to itself. Lower the heat on the broccoli and if the pan is too dry, add some pasta cooking water. Keep it on the lowest flame while the pasta cooks. When the pasta's just al dente (9 minutes later) add with the spider to the skillet with the broccoli and pancetta (it's ok if some pasta water gets in, it helps make the sauce). Toss all around until everything's coated and the pasta's totally cooked through and then, off the heat, add copious amounts of Parmesan cheese and one final drizzle of olive oil. Magnifico! There you have it: Orecchiette with Broccoli & Pancetta.

Tags: broccoli, orecchiette, pancetta, pasta, River Cafe | September 25, 2009 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments

How To Make a Chocolate Souffle

One of the highlights of making our Amateur Gourmet show for Food2.com, was the day we got to visit the kitchen of Le Bernardin--one of the nation's, if not the world's, great restaurants--to learn how to make a chocolate souffle from revered pastry chef (and blogger!) Michael Laiskonis. What follows is the video we made, with step-by-step instructions that result in a chocolatey souffle that's as ethereal as it is delicious. Hope you enjoy! [For the full typed-out recipe, click here.]

Previous Episodes:
How To Cook Fish (A Musical)
How To Make Pasta From Scratch
How To Make the Perfect Steak
How To Cook an Omelet

Tags: chocolate, Food2.com, Michael Laiskonis, souffle, videos | September 23, 2009 9:36 AM | Permalink | Comments

My Secret Cookbook Gems

After yesterday's cookbook slaughter, I thought I'd steer the blog to sweeter waters and talk about a subject I've never addressed on the blog before: my secret cookbook gems.

No, I'm not talking about books that I actually cook from. Those would be my favorite cooking cookbooks and you can find those on the lower right hand corner of the page under the heading "The Amateur Gourmet Recommends." These books, my secret cookbook gems, are the ones with the most sentimental value: the ones that I cherish the most, the ones I'd grab first if the apartment was on fire.

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Tags: Alice B. Toklas, Anita Bryant, cookbooks, Ferran Adria, FN Dish, France, gems, Jon Robin Baitz, Liberace, Marais, Shirin Keen | September 22, 2009 10:13 AM | Permalink | Comments