• Farewell Diana, Hello New Banner

    A full year has passed since Diana and I moved into our apartment here in Park Slope. It’s been a fantastic year–with brunches, bargains, pork shoulders, trips to Maine, near-death experiences, and food in threes; there were discussions about ethical eating, pound cakes that threw up, and the best cookies of our lives–but life marches…

  • My Alice Waters Moment

    After watching that Alice Waters video last week and reading the accompanying article, I was determined to recreate the meal she made for NYT author Kim Severson. I’m not sure I recreated it exactly–I added too much oil to my aioli so it broke a bit; and I used purple carrots just because they were…

  • Perry Street

    Perry Street

    If you leave a restaurant happy, does it matter if the meal itself was anything but perfect? Yesterday I had this very experience at Perry Street, Jean-George’s oft-ignored Greenwich Village outpost where savvy diners can enjoy a three-course lunch for $24. I’d been meaning to try Perry Street for a long time–ever since it opened–but…

  • The Secret To A Successful Dinner Party Is A Big Pot of Food and Dessert

    The Secret To A Successful Dinner Party Is A Big Pot of Food and Dessert

    Friends, I’ve made a discovery. If you want a fun evening of food, camaraderie, and drinking, you needn’t fuss over a really lavish dinner. You need only do two things: (1) make a nifty, crowd-pleasing dessert; and (2) prepare a big, simmering pot of something delicious.

  • Mexican Coke

    One of the highlights of my trip last week to Arthur Avenue with Julie had nothing to do with Italian food: it was the Coke you see above. That’s a Mexican Coke–Julie told me I had to try one (they sold it at a Mexican grocery store in the middle of all the Italian places)–and…

  • Me in the Window & WOR

    Me in the Window & WOR

    Tonight, I went with Craig to see “Superbad”–my second time, his first–and on the way we passed the Park Slope Barnes & Noble and saw this in the window: Hey, that’s me! I guess this reading is really happening. So, just another nudge: come on out tonight–Monday at 7:30 PM–and see me in the flesh…

  • LIVE Book Reading this Monday in Park Slope

    Mark it on your calendar: I’m reading from my book this Monday at the Park Slope Barnes & Noble at 7:30 PM. You’ll get to hear the words straight from the horse’s mouth, plus you’ll get to meet my friends, ask me questions, and have me sign your book. It’ll be tons of fun: I…

  • Seasonal is the New Pink (An Essay with Visits to BLT Market, Park Avenue Summer and Blue Hill Stone Barns)

    Seasonal is the New Pink (An Essay with Visits to BLT Market, Park Avenue Summer and Blue Hill Stone Barns)

    Can you imagine going to a restaurant 10 or 15 years ago, sitting down at the table, glancing at the wine list and enjoying the surroundings, only to have the server set down a plate–no, not a plate, a wooden box–with spikes jutting out and on the top of each spike a tiny tomato? That’s…

  • Alice in Marketland

    This video of Alice Waters shopping at the Union Square Greenmarket is unbelievable; like watching Jimi Hendrix buy a guitar or Picasso in a paint store. This is a genius in her element, surrounded by the very thing that inspires her. Look how delighted she is by that striped eggplant, by the taste of that…

  • Welcome Home Pie

    Welcome Home Pie

    HIs favorite dessert is cooling on the counter (for the record: apple) while he rides a taxi back from the airport. Craig’s been gone for two and a half months shooting his movie and tonight he returns. If the blog goes neglected for the next 48 hours, you’ll understand why: we have to hunt down…