917-604-7591 [email protected]

Mercato: Perfection in Red Hook, New York

Beyond Brooklyn, there is another Red Hook. Red Hook Village is nestled in Dutches country among berries and apple trees. East of the Hudson, you can see the Catskills a dozen miles away, without being buried by the snow. There is only one stoplight in Red Hook. And...
Fort Definance in Red Hook

Fort Definance in Red Hook

  This is not a trick question: where is Red Hook? Oh, and, part two, where would you eat in Red Hook? If you are in Manhattan, you might, just might, get an answer about “in Brooklyn.” If you are in Brooklyn, they’ll point and say “over there.” Kinda. There is a Red...

Spur: Incomparable Food and Beverages

A couple of weeks ago Brian and I looked at our DVR and selected the 100th show of No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain. His first show had been in Paris, and so was his 100th. Rather than hit the four star restaurants, the show celebrated a key shift in fine French...

Eleven Madison Park: World Class Cuisine

Culinary greatness, true greatness, is actually not hard to achieve. You just need perfect ingredients, perfect kitchen staff, perfect techniques, perfect serving staff, a mega wine cellar, an elegant setting. On second thought, I understand why greatness is so rare....

Where Not to Eat in Chinatown, Part 1

Cooking by the Book is a short fifteen minute walk from Chinatown in New York City. Chinatown is just what you might imagine: a maze of winding streets lined with shops and restaurants. Except it is more. Because those shops and restaurants aren’t just Chinese...

Gifford’s Ice Cream in Maine

Ice cream. It’s a food, of course, but I believe it deserves to be classified as a vitamin. Vitamin IC. And the best source for IC is New England, the world’s capitol of IC. If you travel the roads here, you are always stumbling on local, seasonal ice creams stands....