Posted in America, appetizer, cheap meal, chives, easy, lower fat, peppers, Philadelphia, pistachios, restaurant, shrimp, soup, Spain, tomato, vegetables, vinegar on Aug 13th, 2014
The longer we live, the more we understand that our lives, especially now that we have two children, are about compromises. These are often in the form of compromising what we want to do, more or less completely, because our children are either unwilling or unable to do it. Recently though, a new kind of […]
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Posted in appetizer, Barcelona, blood, boudin, chick peas, Chorizo, hearty, Meat, morcilla, pork, Portuguese, racione, restaurant, sausage, Spain, tapas, tourism, travel, watercress on Apr 15th, 2014
Barcelona’s La Boqueria is perhaps the most famous food market in the world, and the most famous of its bar/restaurants is undoubtedly Pinotxo (pee-not-cho), run by the equally famous Juanito Bayen. His immaculate sense of dress and reputation for treating his guests like family have made him and his 14-stool establishment legendary. Indeed, such is […]
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Posted in appetizer, chick peas, chickpeas, Chorizo, cilantro, grilled, grilling, octopus, Olive Oil, pork, sauce, sausage, Squid on Mar 8th, 2014
I know that I am the best cook(er) in the world because my three year-old son tells me so when I make him fridge surprise for dinner. (The surprise being that there is anything remotely edible in our fridge.) Naturally, this makes me exceedingly happy, especially so since he tends to eat such meals with […]
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Posted in appetizer, Bourdain, cabbage, caldo, cheap meal, chicken stock, Chorizo, cocido, dining, hearty, kale, Philadelphia, Portuguese, Potato, soup, thyme on May 9th, 2012
Right before it was yesterday’s news and tossed on the cultural junk pile as passé, everything was the next big thing. Devotees of Anthony Bourdain will know that as of two weeks ago, Croatian cuisine is the new black. Prior to all this, somewhere between Spanish food blowing up into our collective consciousness and the […]
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Posted in America, Beach, Caribbean, cilantro, fish, fried, fritters, history, octopus, patriotism, Puerto Rican, pulpo, restaurant, Restaurant Review, South America, tourism, tradition, travel on Mar 20th, 2012
Conventional wisdom dictates that one should never eat at an empty restaurant, especially early in the week, but if there is absolutely nowhere else open and you have no choice, do yourself a favor and avoid the seafood. Happily, Vieques, a 55-square mile island off the east end of Puerto Rico, and former bombing range […]
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Posted in adobo, alcaparrado, Argentina, avocado, beans, Brooklyn, chicharron, chicken, cilantro, crispy, culture, diversity, fried, New York City, oil, plantains, Puerto Rican, restaurant, Restaurant Review, rice, spices, tostones, unhealthy on May 25th, 2011
While Queens may have the reputation for being the most ethnically diverse area in the United States, our very own borough of Brooklyn is certainly not bereft of global flavors. From the side-by-side Mexican and Chinese neighborhoods of Sunset Park to the century-old Italian areas of Carroll Gardens and Bay Ridge, to the more recently […]
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Posted in America, Brooklyn, cafe, history, Italian, Italian-American, meatballs, octopus, offal, Park Slope, pulpo, restaurant, Restaurant Review, ricotta, tradition on Mar 18th, 2011
When you think of old-style Italian-American restaurants does red sauce spring to mind? Red check wax table cloths, family-style servings, a free salad with your entree, rotund red-faced guys with their sleeves rolled-up, going “ey!” and slapping each other on the back? Sure, it’s a cliché, but it’s also close to the truth in a […]
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Posted in chicken, Coco Lezzone, egg, Florence, Genoa, ham, herbs, holiday, Italian, Italy, Liguria, Meat, Olive Oil, pancetta, prosciutto, rabbit, travel, Tuscan, tuscany on Oct 3rd, 2010
In the very infancy of this blog, back when we had no appreciation for plating, lighting or anything else remotely aesthetic, my wife wrote about the first course of a truly memorable dinner we shared in the famous Florentine trattoria, Coco Lezzone. What she didn’t mention was that even though we were getting towards the end […]
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Posted in British, celery, cheap meal, chicken stock, curry, easy, England, Indian, lentils, lime, soup, spices, yogurt on Feb 13th, 2010
One finds mulligatawny soup on an Indian restaurant menu the same way one always finds buffalo wings or nachos on a bar menu. It just has to be there – if it wasn’t on the menu you just know there’s something wrong with the place. But how many of you have ever ordered it over […]
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Posted in Argentina, barbecue, beef, Buenos Aires, Food Commentary, french fries, Garlic, grilled, grilling, holiday, Meat, parsley, Restaurant Review, Steak, tongue, tourism, travel on May 15th, 2009
No, friends, let me reassure you that you have not accidentally stumbled upon some weird, faux-rustic “pron” site. For good or bad, the only p0rn you’ll find here is daring, ultra-close-up pics of the juicy, young flesh of pasture-fed Argentine cattle. And the only things being roasted (or stripping for that matter) are long strips […]
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A few years ago, my local favorite Thai take-out royally f’ed me. Ok, I’m exaggerating a bit. Have you ever had a restaurant you used to love and then horrible customer service just made you reconsider your obsession with them? Did you feel personally offended because over the course of many, many years of patronage […]
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Posted in America, arepas, caldo, chicharron, Chorizo, Colombian, diversity, eating, empanadas, indulgent meal, podcast, red beans, restaurant, Restaurant Review, rice on Feb 5th, 2009
This podcast is an interview with our friend and native Colombian Juan Camilo Osorio covering not just the Colombian restaurant – Cositas Ricas – we visited together, but also some background on Colombian food and how it is eaten.
Some readers may remember back in the early fall when we posted about Bandeja Paisa, […]
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Posted in Brooklyn, chops, Coco Lezzone, easy, Europe, Florence, Garlic, herbs, Italian, Italy, Olive Oil, pork, Recipe, Recipes, rosemary, sage, thyme, travel, Tuscan, tuscany on Dec 11th, 2008
I feel kinda cheesy. I admit it, I feel cool about using a butcher. I understand this is lame and that butchers have been around for ages, but, truthfully, in the recent year, we’ve really gotten to know our neighborhood butchers. Growing up in the ‘burbs, meat was only bought pre-cut and pre-packaged. Yes, every […]
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Posted in animals, British, dining, duck, eating, England, family, Fergus Henderson, Food Commentary, Gabrielle Hamilton, holiday, London, lunch, mutton, parsley, pigs, podcast, Prune, restaurant, Restaurant Review, tourism, travel, trotter on Dec 3rd, 2008
Since Amy and I have been together I think we’ve only spent two Thanksgivings in America – not because we don’t enjoy turkey, but because it is often the cheapest time of the year to leave the country as many expat Americans are returning home. And true to form, this year, despite a sizable delay […]
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Posted in restaurant, Restaurant Review on Sep 22nd, 2008
Last month, on August 21st to be exact, we were surprised by our family with the best anniversary present ever – a trip to the beautiful, fabulous, famous and highly-priced restaurant, The French Laundry in Yountville, California (near Napa). Here we enjoyed a once-in-a-lifetime-meal (although we hope to make it at least a twice-in-a-lifetime meal), […]
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Posted in beets, Brooklyn, butter, cheap meal, healthy, Italian, Italy, Potato, Recipe, Recipes, restaurant, vegetarian on Jun 6th, 2008
The first time I ate a version of this very old Venetian meal was at a very popular restaurant in my neighborhood in Brooklyn called Al Di La. The restaurant serves simple Italian food at it’s best and this is precisely why it is so popular. But since that dinner, a few years ago, I […]
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Posted in calamari, Clams, easy, fish, healthy, lemon, Madrid, meal, peppers, Recipe, Recipes, restaurant, rice, soup, Spain, spices, Squid, tomato, vegetarian on May 5th, 2008
On our final day in Madrid, it was pissing down with rain. We spent about 4 hours walking around the Reina Sofia drooling over Picasso’s Guernica (the size of a giant museum wall) and the large amount of Dali and Miro works. We’re not really artsy-fartsy folks, but that museum made me wet myself with […]
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Posted in alcohol, America, batter, bone-marrow, Bourdain, butter, celebrity, chefs, cornichons, delicacy, dining, diversity, eating, England, Fergus Henderson, Food Commentary, Gabrielle Hamilton, game, gherkins, indulgent meal, London, Mark Bittman, offal, philosophy, podcast, Prune, quail, rabbit, restaurant, Restaurant Review, squab, sweetbreads on Apr 24th, 2008
Normally, when I think of prunes my first thought is the familiar TV commercial showing the side-by-side comparison of someone experiencing “bloating and discomfort” and someone enjoying the verve and gaiety brought on by just one bowlful of California prunes. However, since last Thursday, my first thought is now “when can I have some more?”. […]
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A few weeks ago, Mario Batali’s ridiculously famous and popular New York City restaurant, Babbo, was named the #1 Italian restaurant in the whole city. Whoa… that’s pretty much an honor considering the amount of Italian restaurants here. I believe there are more Italian restaurants in the 5 boroughs than any other type of cuisine. […]
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Posted in beans, black beans, Brooklyn, cheap meal, chicken, chile, chili, chilli, drink, easy, fried, Garlic, Los Pollitos, Meat, Mexican, New York City, Park Slope, pinto beans, red beans, restaurant, Restaurant Review, salad, soup, spicy on Dec 20th, 2007
Many a New Yorker has been heard to complain that the cost of living in the city is spiralling out of control, but there are very few residents who have complained that something is too cheap or that they get too good value for money. Well, this blog post is not a complaint, but it […]
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Posted in Food Commentary, indulgent meal, Italian, New York City, offal, Pasta, Restaurant Review, salami, tripe, tuscany on Oct 29th, 2007
This review won’t be long, and I won’t make it fancy. It’s been almost 24 hours since I left A Voce, the upscale modern Italian eatery in a strange part of the Flatiron district of Manhattan run by a former chef at Cafe Boulud, Andrew Carmellini. My body may have left there at 11PM Saturday, […]
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I’ve lived in New York City for nine years and I still feel as though I am always discovering new things. Besides the diversity of the people and the culture of the city, my favorite part about living here is the diversity of the food. Where else on earth can you find a Haitian, Oaxacan, […]
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Posted in bread, Coco Lezzone, culture, Europe, Florence, Food Commentary, healthy, hearty, Italian, Italy, language, Olive Oil, Recipe, Recipes, restaurant, Restaurant Review, soup, tomato, tourism, tradition, travel, Tuscan, tuscany, vegetables, vegetarian on Oct 2nd, 2007
When we were in Florence this past July we had one of the most memorable meals of our life. The simplicity of the dishes, the gruff, “don’t ask too many questions cause everything is good here” service and the down-home ambiance (mama in the corner, the owner is the host, the server and one of […]
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We love New York-style pizza, but after returning from three weeks in Italy we really miss the ultra thin-crust personal pizzas we ate almost daily (with a liter of vino bianco frizzante) for lunch. So we decided to seek out a pizza as good as those we’d had abroad. Many places claim to sell Napolitano-style […]
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