• All That Work and It Tastes Like Vomit! (Torta di Mandorle, Limone e Ricotta)

    All That Work and It Tastes Like Vomit! (Torta di Mandorle, Limone e Ricotta)

    Life’s been good lately–I’m sailing through my summer quite well, thank you–so please don’t assume that this negative post and the negative post below it are due to anything sour going on in my life–I am not, by nature, a Negative Nelly. The sad truth is that sometimes when we touch, the honesty’s too much.…

  • They Blinded Her With Science: Laboratorio del Gelato (A Poem)

    They Blinded Her With Science: Laboratorio del Gelato (A Poem)

    When young Clotilde devoured New York she went to a spot-o that I hadn’t been yet where they sell gelato. On the Lower East Side near Katz’s deli Walk south on Orchard Hear the growl in your belly. Outside it’s humid you feel yourself sag “Gee, how much further?” Aha! Here’s the flag! Inside it’s…

  • Sunday is for Brunching: Sunday Brunch with Seth & Amy at 9th Street Market

    Sunday is for Brunching: Sunday Brunch with Seth & Amy at 9th Street Market

    One nice thing about my web site is that it brings people back into my life who fell out of orbit. Seth and Amy are high school friends who knew me before I was the glorious specimen you see above you now in a red sweater holding a pot. Amy and I e-mailed a bit…

  • Foodplace Revisited: Back to Sapporo & R.U.B.

    Foodplace Revisited: Back to Sapporo & R.U.B.

    One thing that should make you raise an eyebrow at my food reviews is that, unlike the critic for the Times (and most reputable papers), I only visit a place once before I do a write-up. This gives you a nice instant capture of a dining establishment at a specific moment in time in a…

  • How To Open A Bottle of Wine When You Don’t Have A Corkscrew

    How To Open A Bottle of Wine When You Don’t Have A Corkscrew

    Wine is trickling its way into my foodie consciousness: after dinner with Clotilde where the Babbo waiter paired some dishes with wine, I’m really starting to understand how wine enhances the overall dining experience. I like this Hemingway quote posted today on Gothamist Food: “In Europe we thought of wine as something as healthy and…

  • Your Good Humor Personality

    Your Good Humor Personality

    I have a memory. I am in my room in Oceanside, NY–I’m about 9 or 10 or maybe even 11. I remember the Beaches soundtrack playing on my low-grade tape player (or was it Dirty Dancing?) (and people wonder if homosexuality is genetic?); I remember my Apple IIgs sitting on my glossy beige desk; and…

  • Food Wars

    Check out the new feature on the upper right corner. I got rid of “Kitchen Queries” because that’s all it was: queries! No answers! Not very helpful. Plus it’s fun to vote on things throughout the day. And feel free to post comments on why you voted what you voted. Happy warring!

  • John Eats Peru

    Remember my friend John? Last time you heard from him he ate Iceland. Now he’s gone and eaten South America. Well not the whole continent. He spent his Spring Break (a few weeks ago) in Peru and he’s been kind enough to write all about his eating adventures. (SNEAK PEEK: John eats a household pet!)…

  • Mediterranean Summer Plans Revealed

    Dear Audience, I’ve kept something from you. In less than two weeks I’m flying across the Atlantic Ocean to Venice where I begin a summer Mediterranean odyssey with my family. We are cruising for two and a half weeks and rumor has it that Judge Judy may be on our boat. But that’s irrelevant. There…

  • The Most Momentous Meeting of Food Bloggers EVER: Clotilde “Chocolate & Zucchini” & Adam “Amateur Gourmet” Dine at Babbo (PLUS wine at Cru)

    The Most Momentous Meeting of Food Bloggers EVER: Clotilde “Chocolate & Zucchini” & Adam “Amateur Gourmet” Dine at Babbo (PLUS wine at Cru)

    Helicopters circled overhead, newsvans hugged the curb as I made my way down 6th Avenue to meet Clotilde at her hotel for our 8:30 dinner date. Clotilde, that beloved Parisian, had descended upon New York a few days earlier, making her first appearance at Otto where her fans (myself included) came to greet her and…