The Shepherd is in

cheese and yogurt from Valley Shepherd Creamery

Last night I picked up a few "dairy-licious" products from the recently opened Valley Shepherd Creamery on 79 Sullivan Street in SoHo. I'd previously read about it in New York Magazine and thought I'd give it a try since it's just steps from where I work.

Upon arriving, I browsed the glassed cases, trying to decide what cheese I should try. The first cheeses I noticed were small, individually wrapped triangles of different types of cheeses, placed in a basket, with a sign hanging above them reading: Have a snack or try something new! Moving to the bulk cheese cases and scanning what was visible there, I still couldn't come to a decision. I finally decided upon their blue cheese.

I'd gone with the intention of taking home just one cut of cheese and spending no more than approximately $10. But when the woman behind the counter told me the price for my blue cheese ($5), I decided to pick out a few more goodies.

From the "have a snack" basket, I selected a triangle of oldwick shepherd; the woman told me it was similar to pecorino. I also asked about their yogurt--if it was strained, Greek style. She confirmed that it was and also that, yes, their yogurt is 'full fat.' (we don't do nonfat) I also asked about the bus trip tours of their creamery in New Jersey. (which include cheesemaking classes and a tour of their aging cave, carved into a hillside) She told me the owner hasn't organized the SoHo to New Jersey bus trips yet, but (if you can get there yourself) they have tours there every weekend.

On my way home, I also picked up a bottle of American sparkling, to go along with our 'dairy dinner.'

(Not as nice as I'd expected--I was told by one of my wine professors that Gruet comes close as a Champagne substitute--but I still didn't care for it. Its only characteristic was that it was quite dry, but other than that, there wasn't much character to it. $15)

The first cheese David and I tasted was the oldwick shepherd hard cheese. It was fine. I imagine it'd be nice as shavings on a pizza.

Next, we tried the blue.

Although it was attractive enough, I found the blue cheese, too, to be just 'fine.'

We decided we'd save trying the yogurt for breakfast, the following morning.

Upon opening the container this morning I was quite impressed with the thickness of the yogurt (thicker than Fage).

I scooped out three small spoonfuls. I again noticed its thickness with my first taste; the second thing I noticed was its wonderful tanginess.

At $5 (about the same price as a tub of Fage), I may never buy Fage again.

Overall, I'm not a huge fan of Valley Shepherd's cheeses (of what I've tried so far), but I'm definitely a fan of their yogurt. However, I'll probably continue to buy cheeses from them, perhaps for the mere fact that I'll know exactly where they're coming from. $13 well spent.

You can also order your own half or whole lamb (with a $50 deposit) for just $8 per pound, for a half lamb or $7 for whole. You can specify your own custom cuts and receive them ready to cook, frozen, labeled and wrapped in freezer paper.

Starting at about $250 for a whole lamb, a good idea might be to team up with a few friends and split the cost.

Menier Hot Chocolates

As of late, David's become a tad bit obsessed with Menier chocolates. We recently discovered them at our local supermarket, selling for a mere 99¢ a pop and David decided it was too good of a deal to pass up and placed a bar into our basket.

The bars are meant for making hot chocolate (old-fashioned style, on the stove top), but David's taken to eating them as is, for dessert. He told me he was going to "stock up," but I didn't expect to find a whole stack of them when I opened the cupboard for dessert today!

Tasty Find of The Week

Chateau Ste. Michelle, Riesling (Washington State) $12

Juicy fruit flavor with a touch of sparkle and a bit of acid too. This wine certainly knows how to make an entrance--I told David it felt like a plush couch in my mouth. Definitely not a dry riesling, and you may want to try it both at room temperature and chilled; they're both different experiences.

I remember from my rieslings class that Chateau Ste. Michelle is a "known maker of elegant wines and rieslings." Last night's bottle proved that knowledge to be true.

'Cupcakes by Fabiana'

chocolate and peanut butter cupcakes by Fabiana Duarte

SATURDAY was the second annual New Music Bake Sale held at the Irondale Center in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. I spent the day there, with David, manning the TRANSIT table which was selling "Savory Finger Foods" (by David) and "Cupcakes by Fabiana Duarte."

David's 'deconstructed quiche' with 
egg, asparagus and cheese

The daytime maître d' at my restaurant recently told me she wanted to start selling cupcakes at the Brooklyn Flea Market. She already had the recipe (pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting), she just needed to find out about how to get a table.

One night, while David was deciding upon the menu items for his 'savory finger foods' menu, Fabiana and her cupcakes instantly came to mind. "Maybe Fabiana would be interested in donating some cupcakes for the bake sale." I texted her to ask if she'd be interested and she instantly replied that she'd love to. So, Saturday morning, I was up at 8 a.m. and heading downtown, on the A train, to Queens.

I picked up two boxes of cupcakes from Fabiana: one pumpkin and one chocolate; and two containers of frosting, on the side.

after caramel cream cheese frosting

ready to go

David and I couldn't frost cupcakes fast enough and the 'savory finger foods' were guilty of vanishing acts as well.

David, trying to keep up with the sales

Also at the New Music Bake Sale were some great performances by Dither with Mantra Percussion and Kathleen Supové (a favorite new music pianist of mine), among others.

Mantra Percussion and Dither

I had a fun time at the New Music Bake Sale and towards the end, even received a complimentary cupcake from composer, Angélica Negrón, who clearly had the cutest table there.

Arturo en el Barco cupcakes by Angélica Negrón

For inquiries about 'Cupcakes by Fabiana,' email: duartefabiana@yahoo.com

Benoit and the Blue Ribbon Renaissance Party

Wednesday night was the launch party for Blue Ribbon's partnership with Renaissance Hotels in which they will offer their "famous comfort cuisine at upscale Renaissance Hotels throughout North America." The event took place at the new 'R Lounge,' overlooking Times Square, at the Renaissance Times Square Hotel.

But first, I stopped at Benoit on 55th Street for a brief dinner.

The chef at Benoit (Pierre Schaedelin, formerly, of Le Cirque) is the boyfriend of one the managers at my restaurant; I was urged to go sooner, rather than later--he has plenty of upcoming projects, one of which includes collaborating on a cookbook with Martha Stewart.

I arrived ten minutes before dinner service began and the maître d' directed me to have a seat by the bar,"I will come get you."

Upon entering the dining room, I was awash in an atmosphere of elegance and charm: plush red banquettes lining the perimeter and soft, gold light furnished by a scattering of chandeliers. The maître d' asked if I'd like any wine to which I replied, "a sparkling white."

I started with the duck foie gras terrine with toasted Parisienne brioche. Tasty; and lovely on the brioche.

Always opting for something new [to me], next I chose: tarte flambée (flammeküeche).

Satisfying as well and much larger than I'd expected, this dish could surely be shared with another.

I ended my meal (I didn't want to eat too much before the next event) with "Our Baba"--baba au rhum!

The baba arrived in a silver, dome covered bowl which my server uncovered to dispense rum and whipped cream on and into the baba.

As if the baba was not already perfect enough, a small dish of truffles also arrived, alongside my cup of espresso.

These decadent little cubes had the consistency of butter and a dark and powdery feel on your tongue. And at last, when I'd asked for the check, it arrived beneath a dish of sweetly candied almonds.

Next on the evening's agenda was the Blue Ribbon/Renaissance Hotels party. I arrived a few minutes early and sauntered to the bar to order a French 75. The R Lounge began filling up quickly, just in time to catch the first round of Blue Ribbon hors d'œuvre.

The launch party was also the debut for a few, selected, items which will be featured on the "Blue Ribbon Classics" menu at select Renaissance Hotels throughout North America.

The signature menu, which features twelve items tailored especially for Renaissance Hotels and their guests, includes: northern fried chicken wings, manchego and honey toast, smoked salmon toast, grilled cheese panini, BBQ pork sliders and fried rock shrimp. I tried all of them, except for the chicken wings--too messy.

(but my friend, Chris, didn't seem to think so)

My favorite was the grilled cheese panini, which all my friends and I were trying to figure out what kind of cheese was in it. (I thought I tasted at least four different kinds). And the manchego and honey toasts were interesting as well.

As the night wore on I was eventually joined by friends Andres and Cynthia as well and also met two lovely writers from The [New York] Times and Condé Nast. After we'd all finished our cocktails, we hopped into a cab and headed downtown for Amanda Lepore's 'Big Top' party at Carnival. But after just two corndogs between Cynthia and myself from the popcorn vendor, we both decided to part ways with Andres and Chris and instead, called it a night.

Tomorrow!

This Saturday, September 25th, David and I will be manning one of many booths at the second annual New Music Bake Sale in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.

David's new-music ensemble, TRANSIT, will be participating in this fundraising event along with dozens of other "new music" groups--many of which will be participating in the live performance set.

The event starts at 5 p.m., at the Irondale Center and goes until 11:30. $15 gains you admission, two drink tickets and re-entry throughout the evening.

Additionally, my co-MD (and part time prep chef in our kitchen), Fabiana, will be premiering "Cupcakes by Fabiana." On the menu: pumpkin cupcakes with caramel cream cheese frosting and chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting. Home made. From scratch. You won't want to miss out.

Pizza Party: Williamsburg Style

With her roommate gone for the weekend, Cynthia decided to have a last minute dinner party. I, of course, had to be there.

I arrived early, at six, to help with the cooking while Cynthia and I sipped on Casal Garcia rosé, vinho verde.

It wasn't our favorite rosé, but I think it might do 

well as an 'instant sangria'...

First on the menu was prosciutto wrapped asparagus which Cynthia's friend, Albee, prepped while I worked on the tzatziki sauce. Later, while Albee (a former makeup artist at San Diego Opera) was applying Cynthia's "face," we all got a bit sidetracked and nearly forgot about the asparagus cooking in the oven. Luckily, they were still safe.

Just as I was finishing up the tzatziki sauce and about to start on the pizzas, another friend, Libby, arrived carrying a grape tomato and basil (both fresh from her garden) pizza and mint and almond paste canapés.

While Cynthia welcomed Libby with a glass of wine, I went to work chopping onions and bell peppers for the shrimp and chorizo pizza. Soon enough, both pizzas were in the oven and ready to go.

The first pizza to finish was the smoked salmon pizza.

I don't exactly remember everything that was in the smoked salmon pizza (and on it), but I do recall portobello mushrooms, basil and goat cheese. (plus more basil and goat cheese, thrown on top, after cooking)

The happy hostess and her creation

Unfortunately, I had to skip out early, but I did stick around long enough to also try the shrimp and chorizo pizza--deliciously spicy!

I never did care all that much for cucumbers, but was nearly mad, Saturday, for Cynthia's tzatziki sauce--everyone kept saying how refreshing it was! It takes only minutes to prepare.

Ingredients:

1 17.6 oz. 2% Fage greek strained yogurt

1 small bunch fresh mint

2 Persian cucumbers (for optimal flavor)

Sea salt and garlic powder (to taste)

• First, wash and finely (but not too finely) chop the mint; leaves only
• Empty the Fage into a medium sized serving bowl; add half of the mint, to start, more if desired
• Stir, place in refrigerator
• Removing both ends of the cucumbers, slice each lengthwise, once
• Thinly slice the four halves
• Add cucumbers to mixture, season with sea salt and garlic powder to taste
• Cover with plastic wrap; store in refrigerator until ready to serve
• Serve with pita bread, crackers or grilled meats

She's Gone Gaga

CHATTING with David over lunch the other day, our conversation subsequently meandered towards Lady Gaga's meat dress. I'd, then, yet to see Gaga's latest bespoke revelation and opened my laptop to Google lady gaga meat dress.

I eventually landed upon this:

While David was a big fan ("I especially love her little meat hat"), I, on the other hand, found it disgusting. But still, I had to give the lady credit. (it takes guts to wear a meat dress to the VMA's and ask Cher to hold your 'meat purse' while you make your acceptance speech)

David was curious about what she'd won a VMA for so we logged onto MTV.com and watched this:

At the end I announced, "I think she's gone crazy."

"Ya think?"

But the best part is: now, I can have the comfort of publicly acknowledging my fondness for Lady Gaga. For, now, she is a bona fide crazy lady.

It's like watching Carol Channing sing "Jam Tomorrow Jam Yesterday"; how can you have any shame in enjoying that?

Do Good For More Than Your Skin

For a limited time, Clinique will donate $10 to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation from every special edition 'Great Skin, Great Cause' Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion. Every winter I'm stringent about following my 3-step moisture regimen which includes Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel; it's the only thing that 'saves my face' every winter.

What better time than now to stock up for winter?

Clinique's 'Great Skin, Great Cause' bottle is now available at Nordstrom

S. Pellegrino meets Missoni & FNO

Friday night was the party for the unveiling of the Missoni for San Pellegrino special edition bottle. The affair was pleasant and low-key, with servers passing with trays of still and sparkling white wine, and hors d'œuvre. (the fresh figs topped with prosciutto were my favorite and the fried olives were interesting as well)

Later, my good friend (and stylist) Cristian Temi met up with me and we headed out for a few Fashion's Night Out parties. Our first destination was the Miu Miu boutique on 57th Street to visit an old friend of mine who worked there, but upon arriving, sadly found out that he's no longer there... (I'll have to look him up on Facebook) But along the way, to and from, Cristian and I passed dozens of other FNO parties that looked equally as enticing. At Louis Vuitton, I shot this video:

Afterwards, we never did make it downtown for the Paul Smith and Patricia Field parties I had originally planned on going to, but as you can hear in the video, it was still a fun night.

Gone; Not Forgotten

9/11/2010

SoHo, New York

Blue Ribbon's Match

Tuesday night I met up with Cynthia and her friend, Carissa, who's visiting from San Diego. Cynthia wanted to take Carissa to Blue Ribbon and I told her I'd go ahead of them and put my name down for a table. Being the day after Labor Day, I expected that it wouldn't be very crowded, but what I didn't expect was that it would be wake-like. I decided to go for a short walk and ended up at Lure. I texted Cynthia to meet me there instead.

The mood at Lure was much more lively than at Blue Ribbon. And as is the case on most nights, they had a great soundtrack playing. Laura set me up with a glass of Schramsberg "Mirabelle," (they recently upgraded their sparkling white) to start, while I waited for Cynthia and Carissa to arrive. Just a few minutes had passed before they both pulled up to the bar, next to me and saddled themselves up for accompanying glasses of bubbly.

Telling Cynthia of my earlier experience at Blue Ribbon, we decided we'd ponder over the idea dining at Lure, instead, while we absorbed our apéritifs. I told her that someone had recently recommended trying Lure's crab cakes and we decided to start with a few appetizers before heading elsewhere, for dinner.

Upon announcing our plan to Laura, she laid out three place mats and settings before us and a small, rectangular dish holding three grilled shrimps. Slightly charred and sprinkled with black sesame seeds, laid on a bed of greens, they were delicious. Quite possibly the best grilled shrimp I'd ever had.

Next, came our crab cakes. They were deliciously fresh and came with a celery root slaw and old bay aioli, on the side. Laura pointed out that Chef Capon only breads them lightly, to which I noticed the sides of the cakes were unbreaded; a nice deviation from the standard.

Cynthia and I also opted for soft shell crab. The style was very Asian and I couldn't imagine it pairing well with many other dishes at Lure, (best as a stand-alone dish, I'd say) but nevertheless, with its carrot salad, I still enjoyed it.

After we'd finished our dishes, Cynthia and I were both still shy about the idea of having a main course at Lure. We had dessert instead. We opted for pastry chef, Katie's peach cobbler with ginger ice cream. The cobbler was tasty and the ginger ice cream was a delicious and pleasing contrast for the cobbler.

Cynthia decided we all needed a walk and led Carissa and I east before before finally landing at The Summit Bar. We each had a cocktail at Summit before concluding to return to SoHo, for Blue Ribbon. We agreed we'd walk back, but along the way I suggested we give Crif Dogs, on St. Mark's Place, a try.

I'd recently heard about this place which boasts of deep-fried hot dogs and gourmet toppings. And coincidentally, I was craving a hot dog. Crif Dogs' menu was extensive and if there's one thing I hate about menus, it's long ones. I told the guy at the counter to give me "your wildest, most craziest hot dog." He wasn't very into my enthusiasm and smugly replied, "We have lots of really weird hot dogs with pineapples and cream cheese and..." His effort did nothing to squash my resolution and I asked him to give me "whatever you want."

The hot dog he gave me was one wrapped in bacon and dressed with green onions, everything bagel seasonings and two avocado slices. It was quite tasty, but definitely not wild or crazy... To drink, I had a frozen mint julep which he claimed was "very strong." But what he failed to mention was that it was also undrinkable. (definitely the strongest drink I've had in NYC to date)

I noticed the table next to us enjoying some very tasty-looking tater tots and also placed an order...

Very toasty and tasty...

At the end of it all we all agreed that we fully enjoyed our meals at Crif Dogs. Cynthia and I also agreed that: finally, we'd found a place that we enjoy just as much as Blue Ribbon. (but they really do need to get some cava on their menu)

Late Flavors of Summer

Having just caught the tail-end of heirloom season, David and I have been having plenty of heirloom tomatoes as of late...

My first taste was Wednesday night, when David made heirloom tomato sandwiches, served simply with mayonnaise and a pinch of sea salt. (delicious, but they still didn't compare to the purple ones we'd found a few years prior at the Columbia Farmers' Market) We also had plums, some tasty Irish cheese I'd picked up at Fine Fare and a lovely bottle of sparkling Burgundy from PJ Wine.

At PJ's, I patiently pored over the selections before finally deciding upon Jaillance, Crémant de Bourgogne, Brut (mostly for its A.O.C.) which proved to be a winner. (somewhat surprising, at $12.97)

It had a nice, resonant pop upon pulling the cork and aggressive bubbles in the glass (which I'm actually not a fan of). The wine didn't carry much of an aroma, but where it won was with its creaminess in your mouth and a fine, elegant acid to roll back over your tongue. I'll certainly buy this one again.

Thursday night was time for a long overdue reunion with my good friend, Cynthia. We met at Lure where bartender Laura supplied us both with never-ending glasses of Schramsberg while Cynthia scrolled over pastry chef, Katie's dessert menu and picked out the triple berry sorbet. I usually don't care for sorbets, but in this one, you could really taste the fruit in it--it was like Katie had just returned, earlier that day, from the farmers' market!

Friday night, David decided the weather had cooled off enough to make fried green tomatoes without turning into a sweltering mess. But first, we started with tuna pizza which I had brought home from work, gratis.

It's quite possibly my favorite pizza we serve (another is our black truffle pizza) and quite tasty with fresh ginger, wasabi-mayonnaise and topped with carrots, daikon radishes and black sesame seeds. (it's best when served fresh though; it was a touch lack-luster, having eaten it hours later)

David's fried (heirloom) tomatoes, coated in flour, cornmeal and a touch of seasonings, were delicious, as is. For our final course we had the last of the blueberries we'd previously picked up at the farmers' market, with a dash of vanilla bean infused simple syrup from Dean & Deluca, and the rest of the Irish cheese.

Sadly, summer is nearly over, but at least there are heirloom tomatoes (and David's return) to soften the blow...