Writing about food since 2004.

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Stories and Rants

  • Peppermint Soap Burns Your Balls

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    Mint is a lovely herb. The Greeks pair it with lamb; Martha Stewart infuses it in her lemonade. A chiffonade of mint graces Babbo’s glorious “Mint Love Letters,” a pasta that confirms mint’s extraordinary versatility. I applaud the use of mint in the kitchen, both restaurant and home. Where I draw the line, though, is…

  • My Impression of Top Chef

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    For this Bravo TV Quick Fire Challenge you’ll use your Kenmore stoves in your Kenmore kitchens to turn this Kraft mayo into a tasty snack for Queer Eye’s Ted Allen whose new book, “The Food You Want To Eat,” is available at Borders Book Store in the Time Warner Center in Mike Bloomberg’s New York…

  • Snacking

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    Once I had friends over to watch a movie. I made brownies. When the friends finished the brownies, one friend–a new friend–went into my kitchen and looked around. He opened the fridge, he opened the cabinets. “Aren’t you supposed to be some kind of gourmet?” he said. “Yes,” I replied. “Then how come you don’t…

  • Service

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    Tonight I met Craig’s mom and sister for the first time (they’re visiting from Washington State) at one of my favorite restaurants, Prune. The reservation was for 8:30 and Craig and I arrived at 8 to have drinks at the bar. When Craig’s mom and sister arrived (at exactly 8:30, perfectly prompt) the hostess told…

  • Why Do We Pay So Much For Breakfast Food?

    Why Do We Pay So Much For Breakfast Food?

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    Every Sunday it’s the same, whether you’re in Atlanta (where I used to live) or New York (where I live now): people wait an hour to pay too much money for breakfast food. Sunday Brunch is a ritual–an excuse to see old friends, to get out of your borough, to eat cake and call it…

  • Thoughts on Tonight’s Episode of Top Chef II

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    We ask the same thing of a TV show that we ask of a restaurant: consistency. I want the burgers at Shake Shack to be just as good every time I eat there; I want Steve Carell to be just as jerky every time I watch “The Office.” Tonight’s episode of Top Chef disrupted what…

  • Dornenburg & Page, Part Two: In Which I Learn About Wine and Eat Terrific Food at Bar Carrera

    Dornenburg & Page, Part Two: In Which I Learn About Wine and Eat Terrific Food at Bar Carrera

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    After my embarrassment at having stood Andrew and Karen up on Sunday (and if you click here you can see they actually wrote a play about it! Funny!) I was sure to be early on Monday for our rescheduled rendezvous. The place, this time, was Bar Carrera in the East Village: I pressed Karen to…

  • The Last Supper & The Big Move

    The Last Supper & The Big Move

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    This is the last thing I cooked in my Chelsea apartment: The dish was Braised Chicken Thighs with Saffron, Olives and Mint from “Molto Italiano.” I made it a few days ago before I started packing up my kitchen. It’s a pretty terrific dish. It begins when you season chicken thighs, dredge them in flour…

  • Sorry From Sirio

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    My mom got home today (to our house in Boca Raton, FL) and found a FedEx package at the door. She took it inside and opened it and inside was a copy of Sirio Maccioni’s autobiography and this letter (click the picture for a bigger version):I suppose Sirio (or his team) tracked down my family…

  • The Real Mauro?

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    People are asking if the real Mauro Maccioni (son of Sirio) is leaving comments on my Le Cirque post. Friends around me right now say, without question, that it is “definitely him.” (Their reason is: “Why would someone pretend to be the son of Sirio? If they were going to pretend they’d pretend to be…