Recipe Sketchbook: Barbecue Pork Banh Mi Sandwich

Hosting a picnic for about twenty people, I needed to come up with a few sandwich ideas.  Sandwiches that would be big taste ‘bang’ for the buck, that people would like and, most importantly, that I was interested in making.  Immediately I thought of the Vietnamese Banh Mi.  One of my all-time favorite foods.  but [...]

Restaurant Review: Blue Hill at Stone Barns

It took some doing but we finally summoned the courage to leave the safety of the city and head north into the wild country.  Specifically our destination was the Pocantico Hills and the storied Blue Hill at Stone Barns restaurant.  From the train station it was easy to get a cab to the farm.  As [...]

In Line at Starbucks: Brand Interaction Dunkin’ Donuts Can Learn From

If you are a westerner with a pulse you have most probably been in a Starbucks.  With its over 11,000 stores in the US alone, Starbucks has grown to become the assumed go-to location when someone says, “let’s get a coffee”.  In fact, they might even say ‘I want a Starbucks”.  Very few brands can [...]

Restaurant (Week) Review: Dovetail

Another chapter of New York Restaurant Week has begun.  And with that another case of the butterflies for me.  I see Restaurant Week as a dual-edged sword of incentives.  The cheaper price fix is an incentive for more diners to eat out.  As well as an incentive to try restaurants they might not normally go [...]

Fancy Food Show 2010: ‘Design Thinking’ or ‘Stomach Thinking’?

I took the opportunity recently to speed through the Fancy Food Show, the great confluence (purportedly) of all things gourmet and culinarily high-brow held every summer at New York’s Javits Center.  At first blush the floor of the show looks like a mash-up of Disney’s Epcot Center, Whole Foods, The Euro-Zone Dairy Farmers Union, an [...]

‘Modern Views’: to Benefit Farnsworth House and the Glass House’

The National Trust For Historic Preservation is launching a major exhibition this evening at the iconic Four Seasons Restaurant in New York to raise money for the restoration and repair of Philip Johnson’s Glass House and Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House.  The exhibition, entitled ‘Modern Views: A Project to Benefit Farnsworth House and the Glass House’ [...]

Restaurant Review – Di Fara Pizza

I finally made it to Di Fara Pizza on Friday.  After hearing about it for so many years.  I finally felt pious enough to make the pilgrimage.  Actually, the boss was taking the day off so instead of her hanging around the apartment all day playing games with the mini boss and keeping me from getting [...]

The Armory Show 2010 – A Safe Bet

The 2010 installment of The Armory Show has come and gone.  Hundreds of galleries from around the world all packed tightly together for a few days on the piers jutting out over the Hudson.  A fitting location as it felt like a sort-of sardine cannery for art.  I walked the entirety of the show on Saturday [...]

Restaurant Review: Braeburn – A Casual Brunch

We recently met some friends at Braeburn for an enjoyable birthday brunch.  It was a sunny day, there was a table big enough for all of us, we weren’t being hurried, the conversation was good.  A very nice time.  I wish I could say that I loved the food.
The vibe I get from reading through Braeburn’s [...]

Restaurant Review: Sal & Carmine’s Pizza

I moved into the neighborhood early last year.  It was then not long before I found Sal & Carmine’s pizza.  Tucked away in a nondescript storefront on the West side of Broadway between 101st and 102nd Streets, and no more than ten feet wide, it is easy to miss.  And miss it I did.  Until our [...]