Greenmarket director Michael Hurwitz answers several questions from City Room readers, like how vendors get assigned to specific boroughs and what Integrated Pest Management does to your make your fruit look funky.
Posted by Erin Zimmer, July 24, 2008 at 1:30 PM
Today's Meet & Eat is with two brothers who quit their day jobs (Michael was in finance for independent films, and Rick, a chef) to become artisan chocolate makers. Producing about 200 bars a week in a 500-square-foot Brooklyn commercial kitchen, the Mast brothers are part of a bigger movement honoring small-scale, locally produced delicacies. Please join in getting to know Rick and Michael!
Name: Rick and Michael Mast
Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Occupation: Founders of Mast Brothers Chocolate
Favorite nonchocolate comfort food? Corn on the cob, prepared any and every way.
Favorite type of chocolate, or chocolate permutation? Cocoa nibs.
Wackiest chocolate you've tried? We made steak truffles. Inside was the red wine jus of our evenings pan-seared steaks, enrobed in dark, dark chocolate.
Thoughts on white chocolate? If nondeodorized cocoa butter is used, you can maintain a true chocolate flavor profile.
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Posted by The Serious Eats Team, July 15, 2008 at 4:00 PM
Editor's note: This week's Cook the Book feature on Serious Eats highlights The Food Life, a new book that goes inside the world of Fairway, a beloved New York grocery store that's practically an institution in the Big Apple. The author of the book, Steven Jenkins, is a legend himself, having served as a buyer for the store for more than 20 years. We talk to him in today's Meet & Eat.
Name: Steven Jenkins
Location: Fairway Market
Occupation: Cheesemonger, grocer, author
Favorite comfort food? My wife's omelets.
Guilty pleasures? I have no guilt about eating (or drinking) anything. Ever.
Food you won't eat? Wraps. Chain pizza. Olive Garden. KFC. Etc.
What would you like to try but haven't yet? Whale. Baby seal. Spotted owl.
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Posted by The Serious Eats Team, July 1, 2008 at 11:30 AM
Eric Ripert is the executive chef and co-owner of three Michelin star–winning French restaurant Le Bernardin, and in 2003 was awarded the James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef of the Year. If you can't make it to his restaurant, check out his cookbooks or try the recipes on his blog, Avec Eric. Get to know Ripert in this week's Meet & Eat.
Name: Eric Ripert
Location: New York City
Occupation: Executive chef and co-owner of Le Bernardin
What is your favorite meal of the day and where do you get it? It's lunch and I usually eat at the restaurant—however, from time to time I sneak away for a pizza at Serafina on 55th and Broadway.
Favorite comfort food? French fries.
Guilty pleasures? Where should I begin? Let's start with dark chocolate....
Describe your perfect meal. A perfect meal to me is being surrounded by my family and friends in a beautiful location—and of course enjoying great food and drinking fantastic wines.
Food you won't eat? Food that lacks freshness.
Best restaurant recommendation you've ever gotten? And who was it from? My wife, when she told me to go to Spigolo, and Jean-Louis Palladin, who told me to go to Peasant.
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Posted by The Serious Eats Team, June 26, 2008 at 1:45 PM
If you watch Iron Chef America, you'll recognize Anne Burrell. She the spiky blond-hair sous chef who assists Mario Batali as he battles challengers. Well, Burrell's going to be stepping out of the background and into the limelight this Sunday as her own show, Secrets of a Restaurant Chef, debuts (Sunday, 9:30 a.m., Food Network). We talked to Burrell for our Meet & Eat series.
Name: Anne Burrell
Location: New York City
Occupation: Executive chef of Centro Vinoteca
What is your favorite meal of the day and where do you get it? Breakfast for dinner: poached eggs, crunch toast, and bacon at Centro Vinoteca.
Favorite comfort food? Hot dogs.
Guilty pleasures? Fries and gravy.
Describe your perfect meal. Outside with warm ocean breezes, perfectly fresh, perfectly seasoned food—very flavorful and fresh—like seafood with plenty of wine and good company.
Food you won't eat? I'll try anything.
Is there anything you wish you could cook better? Everything. There's always room for improvement.
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Posted by The Serious Eats Team, June 17, 2008 at 11:30 AM
Name: Bobby Flay
Location: New York and beyond
Occupation: Chef
URL: bobbyflay.com
Favorite comfort food? Cheeseburgers.
So what's your favorite burger then? J. G. Melon.
What about your guilty pleasures? Ice cream, especially frozen custard.
Any food you won't eat? Brains.
Is there anything you wish you could cook better? Pastry and breads in general.
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Posted by The Serious Eats Team, June 10, 2008 at 2:15 PM
Name: Tom Colicchio
Location: New York
Occupation: Chef and restaurant owner
Everyone has a go-to person they call for restaurant recommendations. Who's yours? No one in particular.
What is your favorite meal of the day and where do you go for it? Breakfast at home (peace and quiet).
Is there anything you wish you could cook better? Thai food.
Favorite comfort food? Sunday gravy.
Guilty pleasures? Ice cream.
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Posted by The Serious Eats Team, June 3, 2008 at 1:30 PM
Name: Gail Simmons
Location: New York City
Occupation: Special projects director, Food & Wine magazine, and judge on Bravo's Top Chef
Favorite comfort food? Matzo ball soup, chicken pot pie (I buy them from The Cleaver Co. in Chelsea Market and keep them in my freezer at the ready), anything mashed—potatoes, peas, plantains.
Guilty pleasures? Salt and vinegar chips, extra spicy buffalo wings, dark chocolate.
Describe your perfect meal. I am longing for summer so cannot help but dream of grilled lobsters with lots of lemon and butter, fresh corn on the cob, heirloom tomato salad and a mint-chocolate chip ice cream sandwich for dessert.
Food you won't eat? There is nothing I truly won't eat, but a few foods I prefer not to eat if given the choice. Veal is one of them. I will not refuse to eat it if someone cooks it for me but will never choose to buy or order it. It just does not appeal at all. And black beans. I have a strange aversion to them. A black bean soup made me sick once when I was younger. Oh, and I despise root beer. It makes my skin crawl.
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Posted by Ed Levine, May 20, 2008 at 1:45 PM
Editor's note: Each week on SE:NY, we'll be talking to notable and interesting serious eaters as part of our Meet & Eat series. Today's subject needs little introduction, but we're going to give one anyway. You may know David Chang from such hits as Momofuku Noodle Bar, Momofuku Ssäm Bar, and the 3-star-anointed Momofuku Ko. Here, he namechecks his favorite go-to spots and some undiscovered gems and addresses the rumor that Ko will open for lunch.
Name: Dave Chang
Location: East Village
Occupation: Overrated pseudo chef
Everyone has a go-to person they call for restaurant recommendations. Who's yours? Wylie Dufresne.
And what's the best recommendation he's ever given you? L'Astrance, in Paris.
What's your favorite meal of the day and your go-to spot for it? On my day off, either stay-at-home delivery from Grand Sichuan (dan dan noodles, ma po tofu, braised chili beef). If I do go out, it's Oriental Garden and whatever Uncle Choi recommends.
What do you wish you could cook better? Everything. I wish I were a better butcher.
Favorite comfort food? Fried chicken.
Guilty pleasures? Popeyes fried chicken.
Favorite burger? In 'n' Out—the secret Ozone Park branch.
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In a Q and A with New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni, Jean-Georges pastry chef Johnny Iuzzini admits that he has a "hard time with male animal reproductive organs." That is, a hard time eating them. Some of us won't eat licorice or mayo, others male reproductive organs. He probably wouldn't appreciate this place.
