Writing about food since 2004.

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  • I’m a Top Chef Hypocrite

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    Last week I groused about too much Top Chef coverage and here I am, one week later, and I really want to blog about it. So call me a Top Chef hypocrite, I can take it; the show is good, I can’t lie. And tonight’s episode was a good one. But I’ll just make a…

  • Cream Scones, 1 2 3

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    Cream Scones, 1 2 3

    We are about to conduct an experiment. For this experiment you will need a person; the person should be a person who: (1) loves scones; (2) is a self-professed non-cook. The purpose of this experiment is to prove that a self-professed non-cook who loves scones can whip up a batch of cream scones so quickly,…

  • Gourmet’s Pre-Opening Preview of Susur Lee’s Shang

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    Gourmet’s Pre-Opening Preview of Susur Lee’s Shang

    If Gourmet Magazine ever invites you to a party–and I’m still not convinced Gourmet Magazine’s ever invited ME to a party, they must think I’m someone else–three words of advice: go go go! First comes the fancy cardboard invitation in an envelope with erotic Chinese drawings; then there’s the event itself at the new Lower…

  • Madhouse in a Boathouse

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    Madhouse in a Boathouse

    It’s a nice thought: eating Sunday brunch in Central Park’s boathouse, overlooking a peaceful lake, watching the yellow and red leaves fall from the soon-to-be-naked branches. Certainly, it’s not an original idea; certainly, lots of tourists will be there. But can’t it still be enjoyable? How crazy can it get?

  • Baked Red Kidney Beans with Chorizo

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    Baked Red Kidney Beans with Chorizo

    Is cheating on a recipe like cheating on a test? I wondered that as I made the “Red Kidney Beans Baked with Chorizo, Chilli, Garlic, and Olive Oil” from Simon Hopkinson’s sequel to “Roast Chicken & Other Stories,” “Second Helpings of Roast Chicken.” Simon, or Mr. Hopkinson (that feels more appropriate), calls for dried kidney…

  • Almond Cake in a Food Processor

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    Almond Cake in a Food Processor

    You know the author photos you see on the back flap of cookbooks? Imagine if one of them started talking to you. That’s how I felt last week when I announced on Twitter that I was making Amanda Hesser’s almond cake (one of my all-time favorite desserts, recipe here) and Amanda Hesser herself, who’s a…

  • Too Much “Top Chef”

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    May I gently suggest that there’s a bit too much “Top Chef” coverage out there? It’s a fine show, pretty entertaining, but there’s only so much I’m willing to read about the first eliminated contestants or “Team Rainbow” which, it should be said, is now being promoted by Bravo’s P.R. team in e-mails to bloggers.…

  • Esca

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    Esca

    It’s hard to write about Esca because Esca doesn’t seem real. The first time I ate there, it was for Chapter 8 of my book, the chapter where I met Ruth Reichl for lunch. I was so nervous that day, so focused on the person I was about to meet, that the restaurant didn’t feel…

  • Food Blog Methodology

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    I’ve been known to write essays about the art of food blogging, most notably: How To Start a Food Blog and More Blogging Advice. For those of you who enjoyed those essays and are working on food blogs of your own, I’d like to tell you a story. Monday morning I woke up and I…

  • Quesadilla at The Brooklyn Flea

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    Quesadilla at The Brooklyn Flea

    Hyperbole is the crutch of the lazy food writer. Take the post below this: