"[A] fantastic blog... which ranges from opinions on food and wine to daily adventures in a culinary-related profession."

Friday, March 30, 2012

Bring Home a Bit(e) of History with a Three Tarts Bakery + Boutique Chocolate Bunny!

Three Tarts makes these Easter treats with heirloom molds
brought over from Germany at the turn of the century


































I know one thing that will be in loved ones' Easter baskets this year--everybody loves a chocolate bunny at Easter and when I'd heard about these one-of-a-kind candies available at Three Tarts Bakery + Boutique, I knew I'd be hopping down there before the big day...

These limited edition milk chocolate Easter bunnies are made from a blend of the finest European chocolates, using heirloom molds on loan to us by Grandpa Gruning. 
Gruning’s Ice Cream and Candy Company was a family run chain and local institution from 1910-1987. The first location was where the Apollo Theatre now stands, while seven other shops dotted Central New Jersey. The chocolate molds we use were brought over from Germany by Grandpa Gruning’s father at the turn of the century. They have stayed in the family ever since, and were the only items kept when the Gruning’s chain was sold. We are grateful to have the opportunity to bring back a sweet bit of local history. Thank you, Grandpa Gruning!

Have you ever watched a chocolate bunny being made before? If not, do watch this video!



Ready for slaughter

































Three Tarts' chocolate bunnies are made in very limited quantities and are quite possibly the rarest Easter chocolates in New York! Get yours at Three Tarts Bakery + Boutique online, or in "bunny" at their shop on 164 Ninth Avenue @ 20th Street, Chelsea.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Good Takeout in West Chelsea (& Non-Brut Brut)

pretty good for takeout
Tuesday: another day off. I, again, ventured downtown and while there decided to pick up some takeout for a "surprise" dinner with David. (I'm a self-proclaimed "non-cook") In West Chelsea, I decided to stop at Cookshop, whose takeout has previously proven to be good. From the lunch menu, I simply selected the hearth stone pizza and country pâté

Walking east on 20th Street, my parcels suddenly seemed a bit scant for a party of two. Earlier in the week, I'd told David about a new Punjab deli I'd discovered on 9th Avenue. I decided to stop there for a couple of samosas. ($1.25 each and seasoned with fennel seeds, they're quite possibly the best I'd ever had!)

clockwise from top: samosas, provolone piccante and caramelized 
onion pizza, homemade hummus, pâté and pickled vegetables

All in tow, I headed back uptown for a final stop at PJ Wine for some bubbly to go along with dinner (per David's request). Riding the A train and envisioning the assembled dinner, I decided we needed one more thing... I'll make hummus!

homemade hummus with tahini, ground 
cumin and extra-virgin olive oil

Once home, I searched online for hummus recipes and came up with my own variation based upon several I'd read. (I mainly followed the one I found on Food & Wine) I posted on Facebook: I just made hummus! I can't believe how fun and easy it was! Minutes later, a friend me asked for "the recipe"; here's what I'd sent:

I just combined various recipes I'd read online... 
Combine: 
1 cup chickpeas, drained, but not completely (allow about 1 tsp to remain; set aside the remaining liquid) 
2 tbs tahini 
1/2 garlic clove, crushed 
Puree in blender into a chunky consistency. Add 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil. Puree until smooth, add a little more water from the chickpeas if needed then keep adding a little olive oil at a time until you reach your desired consistency. At the same time, also add 1 tsp cumin, a pinch of paprika (smoked if you have it) and salt to taste (up to about a 1/2 tsp). And this 'recipe' is just for one serving. Most of the recipes I'd found were for a full 15 ounce can, so you can just about double everything if you want a larger portion.

I thought my hummus tasted fine and the consistency was pretty much spot-on. After assembling the table, I called David into the kitchen from which he was banished for an hour or so. Seeing it all together, I thought, Maybe it's too much food after all. Yet, David and I managed...

WE BEGAN with the samosas from Dil-E-Punjab Deli, which David agreed were quite good, complimenting its pastry shell. (however, I didn't notice any fennel seeds in my samosa) Next, we tasted Cookshop's hearth stone pizza with provolone piccantecaramelized onionsarugula and cracked black pepper--the aroma of the provolone piccante was irresistible! As I tasted my first bite of the slightly chewy pie, a lot of flavor was packed into that first bite; I even thought it rivaled The Plaza Food Hall's pizzas, which in my opinion (as far as "restaurant pizzas" are concerned) are pretty hard to beat.

Cookshop's country pâté with three mustards

Moving clockwise, we went on to taste the country pâté, with toasted bread (placed delicately in a recycled Mondel chocolates box, lined with paper). I'd previously had Cookshop's (country) pâté and while I always thought it tasted fine, this one surpassed the others with a density of flavor. The three mustards, as always, were good--but they never state on the menu what the different preparations are... We enjoyed the pâté and hummus, side by side, before finally moving onto the pickled vegetables (included with the pâté) which we were both mad about! (although I shouldn't have let them settle to room temperature)

what's wrong with this picture?

Perhaps the only flub of the night was the California "champagne" I'd picked up at PJ Wine. (my own fault for being too much of a bargain hunter) I was planning to bring home a bottle of Jaume Serra "Cristalino," which sells at PJ for a mere $6.97. (it is "decent"--I'd seen it served at more than a couple of gallery receptions and my wine professor has served it for large parties at his summer house) Alas, they were all out of the Cristalino. However, I did notice Tott's "brut," on a lower shelf for a mere $6.43. I was apprehensive (I'd never tried it before), but it was only about a dollar less than the Marquis de la Tour--Brasserie 8 1/2's house sparkler. Maybe it would be alright...

I poured a glass for David and a taste for myself. Brut it was not. It was more like a sec or perhaps even demi-sec! It was disappointing to drink this throughout our meal, but I would have it again--for an end of dinner toast or with dessert--but never again with dinner, or as an apéritif. Mon Dieu!

Friday, March 23, 2012

AQ Kafé: A New Favorite Place!

A dining room that's nicer
than you'd expect 
Yesterday, I had the satisfaction of enjoying the second of two consecutive days off of work. I had to run an errand on the Upper West Side and decided to take a long walk, to lower midtown, from there. I thought I might stop in somewhere along the way for lunch, but found nothing that piqued my interest. Instead, I walked back uptown to Columbus Circle and in much need of some rest, decided to lunch at AQ Kafé. (it was the closest decent-looking eatery)

I began with a glass of Mionetto prosecco ($8) while I perused the menu. The two items that caught my eye most were the German 'bauernwurst' sausage and the herring plate. I opted for the latter. ($12)

Herring plate

When the dish arrived I was pleasantly surprised--the presentation was so much more than I'd expected from a coffee-counter café! (however, I'd wished the runner had told me what each herring preparation was) The herring plate included three different preparations: pickledtomato-horseradish and dill-mustard. I selected my first piece of herring and dressed it with a bit sour cream and a few red onion shavings. It was my first time eating herring and I loved it! I went on to taste all three varieties, which were all enjoyable, while also sampling the Swedish cheese and boiled potato (both good as well). My lunch reminded me of something that David would prepare at home... and also of the cafeteria food at Ikea--but three steps above.

AQ Kafé éclair

Finished with my plate, my server asked if I'd be interested in coffee or dessert. I decided on an éclair

chocolate-filled!

I closely examined my éclair upon arrival, and was pleased to see that the hand-frosted éclair was also prepared with thoughtful care; what I didn't expect was that it would be chocolate-filled (I'm used to  custard-filled éclairs)--perhaps I'd missed that on the menu. The fresh éclair was satisfyingly good and substantial. It easily could have been shared. 

FROM THERE I headed west to the Ana Tzarev Gallery, on ... read more » 

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Emily Post Circa 1969


“Napkins are put at the side only when it is necessary to put food on the table before seating the guests. To put the napkin at the side of the empty plate in order to display the plate is very much like wearing a ring over a glove... 
The old custom of wrapping a roll in the napkin was most impractical. When the diner flicked open the napkin, he generally also flicked the roll right onto the floor.”

I RECENTLY got my hands on an old, "50th Anniversary Edition" of Emily Post's Etiquette. I'd been enjoying flipping through the manual with--at times--a bit of hilarity (GIFTS TO AVOID ... the cruelty involved in unsolicited gifts of baby ducklings and rabbits at Easter should be obvious... SUGGESTED GIFTS FOR ... a nun [top suggestion] Check or cash). But I've also found some inspiring tips as well:

FINISHING THE TABLE ... Dishes or compotes filled with candy, fruit, fancy cakes, or other edible trimmings are put at the corners, between the candlesticks or candelabra and the centerpiece... They are left there through the entire meal and are sometimes passed around after dessert is finished. Nuts may be put on the dinner table [in small individual dishes at each of the places], but they are removed with the salt and pepper shakers after the salad course... Olives and celery are passed during the soup course and placed on the edge of the plate under the soup plate.

WINES ... Sherry is the first wine offered at dinner, and then usually only with a soup which contains sherry in the preparation... [It] should be put into a decanter at room temperature and poured into small V-shaped glasses... Sherry, which is also served at lunch or supper, or as a hospitable refreshment at any time, is often included as an alternate choice with cocktails. (and remember to have some tomato juice on hand for those that aren't cocktailing)

I can't wait to do some formal entertaining at home... or plan my graduation dinner--again at The Food Hall, perhaps?

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Today is N. Y. C.'s Macaron Day!

Bakeries across the city come together to provide 
free macarons to customers!

Today, on the first day of spring, twenty different pâtisseries across N. Y. C. will be participating in Macaron Day, N. Y. C., started here two years ago by famed pastry chef, François Payard.

In 2010, François Payard, chef and owner of François Chocolate Bar and François Payard Bakery in New York, organized the first annual Macaron Day in NYC. Macaron Day NYC is inspired by and coincides annually with the Jour du Macaron in Paris, created by la Maison Pierre Hermé Paris in association with the Relais Desserts.

To receive your free macaron, tell the shop you are there for Macaron Day and to learn more about the event, including its benefit to City Harvest, visit macarondaynyc.com.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Champange Cognoscenti: Franck Pascal is Here!

"Attention, you have just crossed the doors of a vine grower not like the others…"


PJ Wine has got something special on their hands today:

For those lucky enough to have chased the Champagne dragon throughout France, you might have come across Franck's magical, mythical fizz. If you had the luck to try it, you'd remember it. You would also recall crying when you found out it was a Brigadoon of bubbles; the wines, it would seem, did not leave the guard-house of La Belle France.

Not until today that is. Franck's wines are now available in the States, although in painfully small quantities.

Pain is a fitting word for Pascal's production. 

The yields are painfully low: farmed from under four hectares of land in the Marne Valley--a sliver of terroir, rich in clay, sandstone, flint and limestone.

It's painfully chilly there; the pinot noir, pinot meunier, and chardonnay struggle to ripen and are loaded with teeth shattering acidity.

It's painfully difficult to work in Pascal's vineyard; there is a strict adherence to chemical-free farming, and cultivating an eco-system in the vineyard that requires everything--man, insect, grape--to be in perfect balance or risk total disaster.

But pain can be beautiful.

We [PJ Wine] stick our noses in a lot of bubbly over the course of a year, and no other champagne in recent memory has provided such a microscopic view/taste/experience of the Marne Valley--or really, just about anywhere--than what Pascal has achieved with his limited production wines.

He makes a number of cuvées, but today's offer is perhaps the clearest window into the House of Pascal. The Sagesse ($45is his zero dosage effort (no sugar added at disgorgement) and is as steely, vibrant, focused, and chiseled as any sparkling wine you are likely to come across. This is a serious champagne--one that would benefit from a little air, and is more appropriate for food pairings than as a simple apéritif (there are plenty of those to go around).

Some oysters would be divine, but any seafood dish would prove the depth of potential here.

We are glad our first taste of this wine came at a time when it was already available Stateside, and we didn't have to wait for the day when we could taste it again. Of course, with a production this small and this sought after, it's a problem we're likely to encounter anyway, and soon. --PJ Wine

Monday, March 12, 2012

A Lovely Wedding

Saturday, I had the honor and privilege of attending the wedding of my high school "bff." I must say that she was truly the most beautiful bride I had ever seen...

the groom's father was also his best man

The wedding was held at Perona Farms, in Andover, New Jersey, a landmark estate that once lodged the rich and famous such as Joe DiMaggio, Ethel Merman, Groucho Marx, Betsy Von Furstenberg, Dorothy Lamour, Helen Hayes, Eva Gabor, John Carradine, and Errol Flynn--just to name a few.

the famous "farm" in its heyday

The wedding began at 4:30 in the afternoon, although my sister--who was my date for the affair--and I didn't know that we'd arrived a half hour early. During that time, we briefly strolled the grounds and chatted with the bride's father. Nearer to 5 o'clock, the ceremony began, with the bride descending the grand staircase to "Lara's Theme," the basis of the song, "Somewhere My Love." Post ceremony, a brief cocktail hour was held where Kim and I enjoyed free-flowing champagne and hors d'œuvre--my favorite being the savory spiced pumpkin "shooter" with apple cider foam. Soon, it was time to enter the grand ballroom for dinner.

a lovely salad

As succeeding dishes came and went, we all seemed to be having too much fun... and before we knew it, our attention was being called to the cutting of the (might I add, adorable) cake.

a well-guided hand

in memory of the late "Bun,"
the couple's wedding was rabbit-themed

After finally finding an opportunity to dance with the bride, I returned to my seat for the final course.

cake and treats!

Turning attention toward my plate, I was delightfully surprised by a trio of assorted treats alongside my slice of cake. First, I tasted the petit four which had double, thin layers of marzipan! Next, I tasted the chocolate-shelled "tart," filled with a rum whipped cream. Lastly, I nibbled on a chocolate-covered butter cookie before finally moving on to the cake which was frosted with a decadently creamy and buttery frosting.

As the night drew to its close, I was sad to part, but happy to wish the bride and her groom well...