Edible Manhattan

Help Us Choose the Winning Caption in Our Cartoon Contest

The Editors — Wed, 16 May 2012 22:29:34 +0000

Illustration by Bambi Edlund: When she's not busy drawing dairy products (or consuming them), Edlund is the designer of Edible Manhattan and Edible East End. http://bambiedlund.com

Well, folks, you dazzled us with your creativity this time. When we asked for captions for this dairy-filled cartoon, you did better than we could have imagined. So good, in fact, we need your help choosing the best entry. Can you help us pick the winner? Just leave your vote in the comments section below by Monday, May 21st and we’ll get that Breville food processor in the mail to our lucky winner. Here are the candidates:

Entry 1: We will be 1% in no time!

Entry 2: Milk: “Pick it up, Cheese.” Cheese: “I’ve aged too much for this.”

Entry 3: There’s got to be a better way to go skim.

Entry 4: Milk was determined to help Cheese reach his fat-free goal.

Entry 5: And to think…all that darned cow had to do was jump over the moon!

Entry 6: Cheese: “This low-fat craze is getting out of hand!” Milk: “Keep up. At this rate, you’ll never pass for organic.”

Entry 7: But you said you loved stinky runny cheese!

Announcing Our Eat Drink Local Week Sponsors and Partners

The Editors — Wed, 16 May 2012 22:28:22 +0000

We’re proud to announce our sponsors for Eat Drink Local Week 2012, which begins June 23rd. Celebrated by Edibles around the Tristate area, the Week is designed to raise awareness about the bounty of products grown in the region, drive customers to the restaurants and other businesses that feature these products, and raise funds for charitable partners dedicated to regional agriculture throughout the state. (For more about restaurants offering Eat Drink Local Week prix-fixe and other events throughout the Week, click here.)

This year Eat Drink Local Week is made possible with help from the following businesses, each of which does its part to support local foodsheds:

And throughout our week of tasty local foods, we’ll be partnering with these charitable organizations:

GrowNYC | City Harvest

Announcing This Year’s 8 Eat Drink Local Week Ingredients

The Editors — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:33:52 +0000

The fourth Eat Drink Local week kicks off June 23 and involves partners from the entire food chain, who urge you to dine out, cook in, and celebrate the ingredients, landscape and people behind our food and drink through a week’s worth of events, restaurant meals and cooking and drinking at home.

Each year we pick one locally available ingredient, food group or beverage to highlight for each day of Eat Drink Local Week, and encourage our partnering businesses and home cooks to try them. This year those ingredients are: Spinach, Eggs, Goat (milk, cheese, yogurt, meat, etc.), Rose Wines, Radishes, Porgy, Fava Beans, and Hudson Valley hops. Learn more about what we’ve got planned for these ingredients as Eat Drink Local Week draws near.

In the meantime, to learn more about restaurants offering Eat Drink Local Week prix-fixe and other events throughout the Week, click here.

Your Vote Could Win $250k to Restore a New York Botanical Garden Waterfall

The Editors — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:14:14 +0000

Photo courtesy of The New York Botanical Garden

We know we just urged you to vote for The Lower East Side Tenement Museum’s project to repair its crumbling walls, but The New York Botanical Garden–whose children’s farming programs and yearly Edible Garden project we’ve written about several times in the past– also needs funding to restore the waterfall in its Rock Garden, a 2.5 acre landscape built under the Works Progress Administration between 1932 and 1936.

But fear not. You can vote for this great project, AND still support the one we asked you to vote for earlier (read our plea to support the Tenement Museum here). You’re allowed to vote once a day in the competition, held by the NYC Partners in Preservation Program, until Monday, May 21st. Then the top four organizations of the 40 vying for the cash will receive up to $250,000 to use toward a historic preservation project in their organization. Folks can cast their vote daily here until Monday, May 21st.

The New York Botanical Garden’s project is currently holding on to third place. Vote today and help keep them in the running!

Your Vote Could Score the Tenement Museum a $250k Grant to Save its Crumbling Facade

The Editors — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:00:56 +0000

We just received an urgent message from Sarah Lohman, a Long Island City historic gastronomist whose work with really old food we profiled in 2010. Lohman also works at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, which stores plenty of city food history and is up for a $25o,ooo grant to help preserve its building, a piece of which just fell off yesterday, Lohman reports. You can do your part by voting–instructions from Lohman below–to send the museum to the top of the heap of those in the running for funds. Since Lohman’s appeal was so moving, we figured we’d just go ahead and share it in her words below, you can also watch this video.

***

Friends:

PLEASE VOTE FOR THE TENEMENT MUSEUM HERE. YOU CAN HELP US WIN A $250,000 GRANT!

I have a mission for you. It involves my favorite place in New York City, which is also where I work: The Lower East Side Tenement Museum.

The Museum is a structure built as affordable housing in 1863. After being home to about 7,000 residents, most of them new immigrants to the United States, the building closed in 1935. It remained abandoned for 53 years, until the Museum took it over in 1988.

A “ruined” apartment, preserved in time, at the LES Tenement Museum

Now, visitors can take tours of the space, learning about immigrants of the past and present, through the stories of real families who called the building home. Each tour explores one floor of the tenement, examining both restored spaces and abandoned rooms that have been frozen in time. It is awesome.

The museum needs your help. They’re up for a $250,000 grant to preserve their structure. But it’s a competitive thing: 40 institutions have been nominated to receive this money. So the museum needs your vote. This grant would help keep this museum–a tribute to the American story of immigration–up and running for many years to come. If you need any more convincing, check out this video above: The Top Ten Reasons to Vote for the Tenementhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QFHOIIH8B2c

The museum needs to be in the top four to receive this grant, and they are currently languishing in fifth place. You can vote once a day, every day, from now until May 21st. You can vote through Facebook here, or through the Partners in Preservation webpage.

We are currently in 6th place; today a piece of our building FELL OFF, so we really need this grant.

Please help us win! It only takes a minute to help preserve 149 years of history. Forward this email to spread the word.

VOTE HERE.

Introducing the New York City Brewers Guild; Sample the Rarely-Seen Flavors of the Founders at Their First Party May 22

Rachel Wharton — Mon, 14 May 2012 19:22:42 +0000

To celebrate the announcement of the New York City Brewers Guild–what, you didn’t know about the new coalition of city breweries?–the Guild is holding a party and tasting on May 22nd at Brooklyn Brewery. The night will feature not just the revival of a true brewing industry here in New York City, but the little-sampled brews from each of the nine founding brewers: Bronx Brewery, Brooklyn Brewery, Chelsea Brewing Co., Eataly Birreria, Harlem Brewing Co., Heartland Brewing Co., Kelso Beer Co., Shmaltz Brewing Co., Sixpoint Brewery and 508 GastroBrewery. In addition to advancing our brewing culture as a whole–nothing to sneeze at–the new NYCBG will also be taking over New York Craft Beer Week. They’ll announce the new date for the week at the event, where you can snap up discounted individual memberships to the Guild. Buy your tickets right here.

What the West Side Campaign Against Hunger Wants You to Know About the Farm Bill

Nancy Matsumoto — Fri, 11 May 2012 17:22:05 +0000

The Fill Our Shelves Luncheon, held in the basement of the Church of Saint Paul and Saint Andrew.

Earlier this week I attended the second annual “Fill Our Shelves Luncheon” for the West Side Campaign Against Hunger, which is housed in the basement of the Church of Saint Paul and Saint Andrew on West 86^th Street and West End Avenue. It was a festive event, where beaming students and graduates of the food pantry’s 12-week chef job training class served up a six course buffet lunch for 135 guests.

Underneath the convivial buzz, however, was an urgent message. As at food pantries across the city, the rising tide of food insecurity in the city is stretching WSCAH’s resources like never before. “I come to you in a time of crisis,” Executive Director Doreen Wohl told the audience. Need has risen 20 percent this year, and 40 percent since 2010. The task of feeding the growing number of New Yorkers who are going hungry, Wohl said, has put the agency $110,000 in the red, The day’s event raised $28,000, enough to provide well over 10,000 meals to the hungry.

For 33 years, WSCAH has been helping fight hunger in New York City using a progressive approach that emphasizes self-determination and dignity. Instead of handing out pre-packaged bags of groceries, the pantry created the first system in the country where customers shop the aisles of a supermarket-style pantry, stocked with donated canned and dried goods and bins full of high-quality produce, the overflow of neighborhood CSAs.

A shopping card allows them to select three days worth of groceries in eight different categories, which promotes a balanced diet with an emphasis on protein, vegetables, fruit and dairy products. Social service counseling, job training, nutrition education, cooking demonstrations and exercise classes help people who have fallen between the cracks find jobs and regain self-sufficiency.

As guests sipped peach-ginger tea and dined on delicious roasted spring vegetables, an assortment of five spring salads and donated Shake Shack frozen custard, advisory board member Daniele Gerard discussed the federal 2012 Farm Bill, which allocates funding for food stamps, conservation practices and farm subsidies. It’s set to expire at the end of September, and the Senate version of the renewed bill includes massive proposed cuts to anti-hunger programs. Gerard asked audience members to urge Senator Charles Schumer to vote against any measures that would reduce the food stamp program, now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Seated at my table was Steve Rogers, board chair of WSCAH, who noted that SNAP is the single most effective way we have now to feed the hungry. What WSCAH does is effective on a small scale, he explained, but not a long-term solution. This year, WSCAH will feed 127,000 people; an all-time high of 1.84 million New Yorkers now rely on SNAP. (Editor’s note: SNAP recipients can also use the program to buy seeds to grow their own food, to read more about one man’s plan to grow SNAP gardens in Edible Manhattan, click here.)

WSCAH is part of a coalition of advocacy groups that supports this set of Food and Farm Bill Principles, and everyone can do their part by signing on here.

Want to Make New Amsterdam Market More Permanent? Attend Community Board One’s Next Meeting

The Editors — Wed, 09 May 2012 13:00:20 +0000

Next Tuesday night, May 15th, is a big one for Robert La Valva, the director and founder of New Amsterdam Market, and he’d like you to join him. The market currently hosts food sellers and farmers from the region each Sunday on the waterfront just north of South Street Seaport, but next week La Valva presents a proposal to the Seaport and Civic Center Committee of Manhattan Community Board One. His goal is to house New Amsterdam Market year-round within the old Fulton Fish Market buildings you see above.

“Community Board One was instrumental in launching our campaign for the Fulton Fish Market through its Resolution of September 19, 2006,” says La Valva. He believes public support is needed to move the market foward–in his view, to becoming “a great Public Market of the world, in an iconic public site”–and that means your presence. “The more people who show up,” he says, “the more we stand a chance of making something really great out of the old Fulton Fish Market.” If you’d like to attend, save the date of May 15th–the meeting will likely be around 6 pm in Lower Manhattan–and let La Valva know at rsvp@newamsterdammarket.org and stay tuned to New Amsterdam’s site for more details.

Get 40% Off Your Subscription, for a Limited Time

The Editors — Mon, 07 May 2012 16:55:29 +0000

Subscribe now and get 30% off the cover price. Sign-up for two years, and get 40% off!

That’s right. Get the essential guide to your local food community–delivered to your door–for less than the cost of a pound of lox.

With your print subscription you get access to the online digital edition of every issue, regular updates on giveaways and invitations to subscriber-only events. Click here to subscribe now and take advantage of this great deal. *Offer good through August 2012.

Good Dairy In Photos

Michaela Johnson — Fri, 04 May 2012 15:48:37 +0000

Last week local cheesemongers, milk purveyors, ice cream makers and butter churners took over the giant white space–fitting for a dairy-filled evening–at The Openhouse Gallery in Soho. From the sweet to the savory, the endless samples reminded us why we love all things dairy.

Things started out simple, with pure, delicious milk from Five Acre Farms, but quickly got wild. There was tangy yogurt from Organic Valley topped with juicy mango and granola. Stinky Bklyn laid out some fabulously funky, yet smooth blue cheese. And The Chocolate Room dished up scoops of heavenly Fresh Mint Chip Ice Cream, which was a far cry from the dyed green stuff you find in the supermarket. Of course, we’ll never forget the fancified Chocolate Puddin’ Pops from The Vanderbilt, topped with a dash of sea salt, or Momofuku Milk Bar‘s Milk Bar Cookies with Cereal Milk.

A night of feasting on cheese called for strong drinks. There was beer on tap from Kelso Beer Company, wine from Wölffer Estate Vineyard, a fizzy Gin Collins from Brooklyn Gin and Hudson Milk Punch–a brilliant collaboration between Five Acre Farms and Hudson Whiskey.

Whether you want to relive the night of dairy deliciousness or are curious what you missed, check out our slideshow.

Announcing Our Enewsletter Giveaway Winner

The Editors — Fri, 04 May 2012 03:09:31 +0000

Congrats to Taylor Kuhn, who won a Breville food processor for signing up for our free enewsletter in last week’s drawing! Stay tuned for our refer-a-friend drawing when we’ll be giving away more of these sweet prizes: a Breville immersion blender or blender, a Bodum Frykat grill, a bottle of Brooklyn Brewery’s latest Brewmaster Reserve, Rick’s Pick’s tasty pickles, tickets to our events, or a free Foodie Special subscription to Edible Brooklyn, Edible Manhattan and Edible East End.

Your Favorite Street Meats Get a Sustainable Makeover

The Editors — Thu, 03 May 2012 14:59:19 +0000

There’s kind of running joke among certain city chowhounds about how the mandate to eat humanely raised meats and locally sourced produce is lifted for street food, immigrant-run holes in the wall and food trucks. This Sunday, readers, you’ll have your chance to earn both locavore and food explorer points at the very same time. In what we consider a genius idea, this Sunday (May 6; 11:30 am to 2:30 pm) The Vendy Awards will partner with New Amsterdam Market on International Meats Local.

Five Vendy-loved vendors will head to New Amsterdam Market at the Seaport to cook their usual specials with ingredients from Union Square greenmarkets, Marlow and Daughters and Bobo poultry. Better still, we’ve got a special code – local0563 — that’s good for the first lucky 20 readers to get 25% off the ticket price. And…. the menu includes:

Taiwanese beef and kimchi dumplings by A-pous
Mexican egg and chorizo dumplings by Eggstravaganza
Pork tamales by Guadelupes Tamales
Chicken pupusas by Solber Pupusas
Jamaican Jerk Chicken by Veronica’s Kitchen.

http://www.newamsterdammarket.org/events.html

The Great “Pinch Tail, Suck Head” Crawfish Feast

The Editors — Wed, 02 May 2012 22:24:42 +0000

If you like to get your hands dirty while you get your grub on, roll up your sleeves and join us for a night of beer drinking and crawfish peeling at the Brooklyn Brewery. Nick Suarez and Theo Peck of the Food Experiments will be masters of the spicy boil, made not just with crawdads but with potatoes, corn, sausage and mushrooms. Then, while you stuff yourself with Louisiana’s little lobsters, we’ll have cans of Brooklyn Summer Ale, Brooklyn EIPA and Brooklyn Lager on hand to wash it all down. Get your tickets here.

VIP Passes to Brooklyn Uncorked Still Available; Regular Tickets are Now Sold Out

The Editors — Tue, 01 May 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Our sixth annual local wine tasting in downtown Brooklyn promises to be bigger and better than ever, so it’s no surprise regular tickets sold out fast. Lucky for you, VIP passes–the first we’ve ever offered–are still available at Thrillist. For $55 you get access not just to the main event, but to a private room where you’ll enjoy special vintages from Lieb Family Cellars, Palmer Vineyards, Mattebella Vineyards, Roanoke Vineyards and Shinn Estate Vineyards. You’ll also dig into treats from Stinky Bklyn and take home a goodie bag from Whole Foods featuring Arirang Kimchi. We might be biased, but that sounds like a steal, considering the night is already one of the best for food and wine enthusiasts in town.

A Video Interview with the Bilingual Brewer Behind Eataly’s Rooftop Beer Garden

The Editors — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:00:54 +0000

Brewer Brooks Carretta knows how to brew in two languages.

This week with the help of NY1 we visited the Italian-American brewer behind the cask ales made and served on the rooftop of Eataly. And when we say Italian-American, we mean that literally: Brooks Carretta was born in Arkansas but moved to Rome when he was nine. (His mother is an American; his father an Italian.) He learned to brew in Europe, and was working an Italian brewery outside Rome when the owner was tapped by Eataly to join a partnership of breweries (two Italian, the other Dogfish Head in Delaware) to open Birreria on its roof. Carretta actually worked at all three companies that now get together to brainstorm Birreria’s beers, which steal ideas from both countries’ brewing techniques.

Beyond his own interesting backstory, there’s another tale behind the operation. (Pig tails, in fact.) Carretta also gives his spent grain to both Eataly’s bakery (which makes a spent grain loaf you can sample in the rooftop beer garden and buy on the supermarket floor below) and to its butcher shop, in the form of pork chops. The spent grains get bagged up and delivered to pigs just outside the city, which Eataly then buys after they’re fully grown: The keg to farmer exchange is featured in our upcoming issue, which hits streets this week. Until then, check out our video interview with Carretta right here.

A Video Tour of Inwood’s Best Bizcocho Bakery

The Editors — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 21:31:27 +0000

Bizcocho de Colores' much loved tres leches cake.

Our current issue features a story on the tres leches–literally “three milks”–cakes made by Bizcocho de Colores, a 23-year-old bakery in Inwood run by Daisy Lebron and her family. With help from NY1, we took a peek into their cake bakery and party supply store to learn more about bizcocho, or what the Dominicans call cake. Check out the video right here.

Photos from our Food Truck Drive-In Dinner

Michaela Johnson — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:29:14 +0000

Not even a little bit of rain could stop one and all from having a blast at last Wednesday’s Drive-In Dinner at the Brooklyn Brewery. Bongo Brothers, the Red Hook Lobster Pound, Feed Your Hole, the Morris Truck and Coolhaus transformed the block outside of the brewery into the tastiest place to be in Williamsburg.

Bongo Brothers led the caravan with Cuban sandwiches filled with smoked ham, mojo marinated roasted pork, swiss cheese, mustard, and homemade pickles. The Morris Truck dished up classic grilled cheese sandwiches, garnished if you wanted with habanero salsa and tangy pickled onions and radishes. Coolhaus–sandwiched between The Morris Truck and Feed Your Hole– wowed the crowd with their wacky ice cream sandwich flavor pairings. The favorite combo? Fried chicken and waffle ice cream with red velvet cookies. Feed Your Hole’s Porky’s Dogs reminded us that everything is, in fact, better with bacon. And last, but far from least, the Red Hook Lobster Pound jazzed up the classic BLT by adding lobster and chipotle mayo.

The food was amazing, but we would be remiss if we didn’t mention the beer–Brooklyn Brewery supplied pairings for each course. We washed down our Cuban sandwiches with Brooklyn Lager. The Guinness chip ice cream sammies were dreamy with Black Chocolate Stout. The Porky’s Dogs intense flavor matched the hoppiness of Blast!, one of Brooklyn Brewery’s more potent ales. The chipotle mayo on those lobster BLTs was a match made in heaven with Sorachi Ace. And the grilled cheese sandwiches went down great with Brooklyn Brown Ale.

So there you have it. For a visualization of this awesome event, check out our slideshow with some great shots from Clay Williams.

Thanks to all the vendors, the Brooklyn Brewery and our guests for making it a successful evening!

Don’t Get our Email Newsletter? Sign Up to Enter our Monthly Product Giveaways

The Editors — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 20:09:36 +0000

Don’t yet get our weekly email newsletter? Sign up to get the latest Edible tips, stories, and event invites before anybody else. Plus, you’ll be entered in our monthly drawings for one of these sweet prizes: a Breville food processor, immersion blender or their brand new blender, a Bodum Frykat grill, Rick’s Pick’s tasty pickles, a bottle of Brooklyn Brewery’s latest Brewmaster Reserve, tickets to our events, or a free Foodie Special subscription to Edible Brooklyn, Edible Manhattan and Edible East End.

Transforming Cities: The Education Series

The Editors — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:09:31 +0000

Feeding the more than 8 million hungry mouths in New York City is no small task. Join us on Wednesday, May 2nd as BioCities.org and the Zofnass Program for Sustainable Infrastructure host a daylong seminar to tackle this complicated feat. This event, the first of many seminars to come in an educational series entitled Transforming Cities: How Food Systems Shape Cities, will focus on the ecological, social and economic issues surrounding our ability to feed cities. Participants will also enjoy meals prepared with foods produced in our region and have the chance to earn credits from ASLA, GBCI and APA.

The seminar–which will take place in Manhattan–is divided into two sessions: daytime (8-5) and evening (6:30-8). Panelists include Viraj Puri of Gotham Greens, Robert LaValva of the New Amsterdam Market, Ken Jaffe of Slope Farms, Carolyn Steel, author of Hungry City, and Brian Halweil, our publisher! Get your tickets here.

Tickets Going Fast for Brooklyn Uncorked, The City’s Best Local Wine Event

Michaela Johnson — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 07:00:56 +0000

A party without wine…well, that’s hardly a party. But a party with wine from more than 30 of New York State’s top wineries and vineyards, plus food from 30 of the city’s best restaurants and artisans? All held in the old art deco Williamsburgh Savings Bank building? Now we’re talking. It’s the sixth annual Brooklyn Uncorked, it’s in two weeks, and tickets are going fast. (Get yours here.)

From whites like Bloomer Creek Vineyard’s 2009 Chardonnay to reds like Roanoke Vineyards’ 2007 Merlot, and even non-grape wines like Big Apple Wine NV from Wolffer Estate Vineyard, our annual wine fest features dozens of varieties to suit any palate. And teetotalers will love the assorted fizzy drinks from Bruce Cost Ginger Ale.

But it wouldn’t be an Edible event without some good food, too. Blaue Gans joins us this year with pork belly with white cabbage salad and spring carrots, and Colonie is bringing Normandy duck balantine with fennel and bing cherry marmalade. From the sea, we’ll have poached mussels with ramp aioli, lemon jam and dill from Northeast Kingdom and smoked shrimp and terrine de saumon (along with Mousse Truffée and Venison Pâté) from Les Trois Petits Cochons. Vegetarians will dine well, too, on the array of cheeses from Local Roots NYC and Osteria il Paiolo’s gnocchi di ricotta e spinaci con salsa ai pomodorini misti (which is Italian for homemade spinach and ricotta gnocchi with heirloom tomato sauce).

All this and more on Wednesday, May 9th at the bank building (aka Skylight One Hanson) in Downtown Brooklyn. Check out the complete list of wineries and restaurants who’ll be serving and get your $45 ticket here while they still last!

Good Dairy…or Excellent Dairy?

Michaela Johnson — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 16:31:40 +0000

Perhaps next week’s Good Dairy event should’ve been called Excellent Dairy. Judging by the lineup of decadent dairy and delightful drinks our vendors will be serving on April 25th, it looks like we’re in for a fabulous evening. And what could be more appropriate for our nightlong ode to dairy than the big, white space at the Openhouse Gallery on Mott Street in Nolita?

Crazy about ooey gooey melted cheese? Stinky Bklyn will be there dishing up grilled cheese sandwiches prepared with a variety of funky fromage. Obsessed with yogurt? Organic Valley will tempt your tasted buds with their creamy yogurt topped with Whole Foods Market granola and fresh fruit. Need a breather from all the dairy? Step over to Wolffer Estate Vineyards’ table for a glass of Chardonnay or Rosé.

If you haven’t already purchased your ticket, you’d better hurry because they’re selling out fast. At $25, tickets are a steal and you can get them here. Hope to see you on the 25th!

Four Leaders in Sustainable Ag Tackle Co-Packing, Dairy, Livestock and Grains

The Editors — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 21:44:43 +0000

If you’re spending this Earth Day (it’s Sunday) north of the city–hiking or biking the Hudson, perhaps–consider an afternoon stop off at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie. At 4:30 the Glynwood Center is hosting a panel called Local Food Pioneers: Cultivating the Future of Farming in the Hudson Valley. It’s free (just RSVP) and will feature Glywood’s four 2012 Harvest Award winners, or four businesses that are spearheading sustainable agriculture in our region: Farm to Table Co-Packers; Wild Hive Farm; Hudson Valley Fresh; Northeast Livestock Processing Services Co.

Details on the discussion are below:

Local Food Pioneers: Cultivating the Future of Farming in the Hudson Valley

Sunday, April 22

4:30 panel discussion followed by a casual reception to meet the winners

For event details and to register: localfoodpioneers.eventbrite.com

The Good Dairy Cartoon Caption Contest: Winner Gets a Breville Food Processor

The Editors — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:56:41 +0000

: Your Caption. Here. [Illustration by Bambi Edlund: When she's not busy drawing dairy products (or consuming them), Edlund is the designer of Edible Manhattan and Edible East End. http://bambiedlund.com]

New Yorker, we love you. But we’re so fond of the cartoon our graphic designer made for a contest last year, we’d like to keep doing it. This illustration–the first of many to come!–was inspired by the Good Dairy issues we did for both Edible Brooklyn and Edible Manhattan and our upcoming Good Dairy party. Submit your caption ideas below in the comments by Wednesday, May 9th and we’ll choose one lucky winner. The prize? This fabulous food processor from Breville.

Illustration by Bambi Edlund: When she’s not busy drawing dairy products (or consuming them), Bambi Edlund is the designer of Edible Manhattan and Edible East End.

http://bambiedlund.com/

On the Events Calendar – Dairy in Manhattan and Wine in Brooklyn

Michaela Johnson — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:26:38 +0000

Delicious dairy, wonderful wine–it’s all coming up in the next few weeks on the Edible events front.

There’s still time to get your tickets to Good Dairy, our bash in celebration of our current issue devoted entirely to dairy goodness. If you join us on Wednesday, April 25th at 6pm at the Openhouse Gallery in Nolita, you’ll be treating yourself to plenty of sweet and savory dairy nibbles, plus several dairy-inspired cocktails and some wine and beer for good measure. Tickets are just $25 and you can get them here.

May might seem far off, but it’s not. Tickets to Brooklyn Uncorked are flying, and with good reason. We’ll be welcoming over 60 food and wine vendors to the gorgeous Skylight One Hanson for what is shaping up to be the biggest and best Brooklyn Uncorked ever. Tickets for this not-to-miss event are $45 and you can get yours here.

We also hope you’ll come find us at other weekly food events around town we think are pretty Edible, like the ones below.

From our Events Calendar: April 18 to April 26

April 19: ioby’s April Supper Club Pinot en Blanc at iCi Restaurant

April 20: The Commons Brooklyn Presents The Re-Emergence of Traditional Western Herbalism with Matthew Wood

April 21: The Commons Brooklyn Presents Weekend Intensive: The Practice of Traditional Western Herbalism: Muscular Skeletal System, Detoxification and Clinic

April 22: City Winery Presents Malbec World Day

April 24: Heifer International in Greater New York Presents the 3rd Annual Pass on the Gift Benefit

April 26: Edible East End and the Brooklyn Brewery Present The Quarterly Carousal

GET ON THE LIST. To be the first to find out about our events and the ones above, sign up for our enewsletter, follow us on Twitter or Like us on Facebook.

JOIN THE PARTY. And for those chefs, food artisans, beverage makers and other companies interested in serving at our events or sponsorship opportunities, please write us at events@ediblemanhattan.com. And please see our event sponsor kit. To suggest an event to add to our calendar, send the details in an email to info@ediblemanhattan.com.

Earth Dinners in the City

The Editors — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 21:24:31 +0000

In an effort to promote local, sustainable and organic foods, Chefs Collaborative and Organic Valley have teamed up to host a series of Earth Dinners. A portion of proceeds from the meals will go to helping Chefs Collaborative–a non-profit network of chefs working to celebrate local foods and foster a more sustainable food supply–achieve their mission. Even better, Organic Valley has pledged to match all contributions to the organization up to $10,000 (don’t forget to stop by Good Dairy on April 25th to sample Organic Valley’s goods). The Earth Dinners are taking place at restaurants around the country, including some nearby. To take part in Manhattan, call for a reservation at Mexico Lindo Restaurant this Thursday, April 19th, or Telepan on Sunday, April 22nd .

UPDATE: Through Sunday The Green Table will be offering this Earth Dinner special and donating ALL proceeds to Chefs Collaborative: Local asparagus with Riesling Sabayon, paired with a glass of Thirsty Owl Dry Riesling from Cayuga Lake.

Get Your “Eat More Kale” T-Shirt, While You Can

The Editors — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:00:06 +0000

Earlier this month we were talking kale salad with Christophe Hille, who co-owns Northern Spy Food Co. with Chris Ronis. The E. 12th street restaurant is revered for its version–the recipe has been featured by local publications at least three times. The dish, shown above, includes a hefty sprinkle of aged Cheddar and roasted squash, usually butternut or kabocha.

Hille (he and the restaurant will be featured in our upcoming Eat Drink Local Issue) had just bought a bunch of individually-made “Eat More Kale” shirts from Bo Muller-Moore, a funky Vermont artist. Muller-Moore’s hand-printed handiwork is being challenged by Chick-fil-A, the fried chicken sandwich chain that shares a similar motto, albiet a more protein-centric one.

Hille was snapping up the tees with the thought that they might soon be off the market. You might want to do the same, and while you’re at it, maybe sign Muller-Moore’s petition to stop the company from preventing him from spreading the gospel of leafy greens.

How to Spend a Spring Saturday? Visit the City’s Newest Farm Supply Store

The Editors — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 13:00:40 +0000

The turquoise shovels aren't for sale, but everything else is at Hayseed's Big City Farm Supply, which opened on the border of Brooklyn and Queens last week.

Hidden off an industrial street near the Brooklyn/Queens border, the week-old Hayseed’s Big City Farm Supply in Greenpoint, Brooklyn will be open through June. We visited the space–mere blocks from entrance to the Midtown Tunnel–for this week’s NY1 segment. If you missed it, watch for it again Sunday morning, or catch online in perpetuity right here.

The pop-up shop is the collaborative effort of beekeeper and urban farmer Megan Paska (aka Brooklyn Homesteader) and Brooklyn Grange Rooftop Farm (which is technically just over the Pulaski bridge in Queens). They found it hard to find good quality farming and small animal supplies in the city, says Paska, and got to thinking that what the city needed was a place to buy them, albeit a very small place, and for a limited time.

With help from the company Domestic Construction, who let Hayseed’s use the front room of their north Brooklyn office space for the summer and also designed the nifty space, now we have one. Be sure to visit in early May, when the shop will be selling seedlings for lazy gardeners who haven’t yet started their seeds; they’ll also be teaching classes throughout the season.

Hayseed’s Big City Farm Supply: 218 India Street, Brooklyn, NY 11222; G train to Greenpoint Ave; bigcityfarmsupply.com

Just in Time For Greek Easter (It’s Sunday), a Taste of True Peloponnese Traditions

Donna Paul — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 12:00:04 +0000

If a peek at Dean & Deluca’s Easter catalog had you yearning to taste Greek traditional foods, there’s a reason. Maria Romer, the food buyer for for the company, tells Edible that the pages were inspired by her trip to the Messinia region on the west coast of the Peloponnese peninsula, an area that is known for having fertile, mineral-laden soil.

After tasting products from a new line of Greek artisanal food products called Navarino Icons, Romer was hooked: So she forged an exclusive relationship with Costa Navarino, the new sustainably minded resort on the Bay of Navarino where the products are made. That’s why the pages of the catalog encourage all food-lovers (Greek or otherwise) to celebrate Greek Easter, too, which falls on April 15^th.

I can understand Romer’s passion for the place. My own recent journey to Messinia was a vivid reminder of the food culture I witnessed on the island of Crete some 15 years ago. There I saw people devoted to making simple artisan foods, always using methods that had been handed down in families for generations. I found the same way of thinking in Messinia. Not to mention that visually it’s unspoiled and breathtaking: The Ionian Sea lies adjacent to lush farmland; the landscape is covered with thousands of olive trees. Of course Messinia is also blessed with the idyllic Mediterranean climate, where fruits turn naturally sweet from the sun, and air filtered by salt gives anything growing in the earth an extra kiss from nature.

I saw that the local people in Messinia were still connected to the land. They had not abandoned their old ways; they were proud to be involved in the production of their own traditional foods. Here artisanal food has always been integral to the way of life. How could it not be? In every season, the land bestows the cook with its gifts; the landscape, in subtle shades of green, is a tapestry of olive trees.

Capt. Vassilis C. Constantakopoulos, whose vision it was to create Costa Navarino, included in his plan a way to give back to the people who live in the villages there. They were to be given jobs and encouraged to work the land as had been done for centuries. Today, his son, Achilles Constantakopoulos, managing sirector of Costa Navarino oversees the Icons food line, as well as making sure that the largest reforestation project in Europe, which took place on the property, was done with integrity. Some 6,500 olive trees were successfully replanted. There are a total of 16,000 olive trees on the property. Most are Koroneiki olive trees, which is considered to be one of the best varietals in Greece. It is from these trees that I observed the olive harvest last autumn.

I watched as a group of young Greek workers carefully began with laying nets around the trees. Next, they used long sticks, known as debles, (that looked like hockey sticks) to strike the branches, forcing the ripe olives to fall onto the net-covered ground. Sometimes the workers had to cut the heavily laden branches and remove the olives by a gentle beating with a smaller stick. Everything was done by hand. The sun shone overhead creating dappled light through the olive trees, and the fruit falling in a steady rhythm, as it hit the ground, sounded like primitive music. I marveled at the simplicity of this ancient ritual. I had never before noticed how elegant olive trees are. So full of life. The more gnarled, more ancient trees, stood even more proudly, as if they had some secret wisdom to share, along with their abundant olives.

Once the olives were off the trees they were sorted for twigs and sticks then placed in burlap bags and driven to the nearby mill. I was mesmerized as the olives were washed quickly and then transferred to a very high-tech machine that used a cold extraction method known as decanter configuration. Essentially the olives were crushed, for 20 minutes at room temperature, into a fine paste. The paste was then pumped into an industrial decanter, where it was separated into pulp, moisture and olive oil.

This was a morning of juxtapositions: ancient meeting modern. It was heady, to say the least, to take part in this process and to then share with the mill owners the tasting of the just pressed oil. They toasted fresh bread in the kitchen fireplace and served fresh feta cheese. That was one of my personal high moments in terms of pure food, it doesn’t get much better. I wish this for everyone at least once in life, and now you can get a taste at www.deandeluca.com, which now carries Eleon Extra Virgin Olive Oil, which I saw being pressed. (500ml $24.00; 1 liter $30.00).

And then there are spoon sweets, also known as spoon fruits, which have long been a symbol of Greek hospitality. When entering a Greek home, one is immediately offered a teaspoon full of a “spoon sweet,” which traditionally has been homemade. Although in today’s fast paced world, the tradition has become less prevalent.

According to legend when the custom began, everyone took his or her spoonful from one common bowl to assure that it was safe to eat.

In the Navarino Icons version, as is common in Greece, the story begins with a mother. Maria Balafouti runs the Folklore Museum (that I visited) in a small village named Yalova. She started to make spoon sweets to treat the guests of the museum. Soon she began to makes spoon sweets for Costa Navarino. They now have a small company employing five local women that make what you’ll find at Dean & Deluca.

Spoon Sweets are not quite jam, nor jelly. The consistency is looser and with a smoother texture. The fruit in spoon sweets retains its original color, taste, and aroma. In cooking softer fruit and vegetables, a pickling lime bath is often the first step to firm up the produce. I watched Maria stuff the Kalomon olive with an almond, and then cook it, slowly, in dark syrup of thick grape must.

Maria and her team gently simmer locally grown fruit over several hours, or sometimes several days. They will only work with what the season allows, as the fruit must always be fresh. At different times of the year the flavors of the spoon sweets change.

The choices may surprise you, especially the Kalamon olive with herbs and honey. It’s sweet and addictive.

I urge you to buy some fresh Greek yogurt and place a dollop of Maria’s spoon sweet on top. It will almost feel like you’ve gone to Greece.

Another product to try are pasteli bars: It’s a Greek food, so of course there’s a legend tied to it. I’m told the original Olympians ate pasteli bars for nutrition and strength during early marathons. It is the simplest of snacks: the ingredients are sesame and honey. Sugar averse New Yorkers have become hooked on them, and they have already become the ‘it’ candy at Dean & Deluca.

At Costa Navarino’s kitchen I watched as Panagiota Karambatou and her husband made the pasteli bars. Her family has been in the pasteli making business since the 1920s. Their young daughter observed every step, knowing the end result would bring her a treat.

Watching the honey and sesame seeds being stirred with a wooden spoon, and slowly unite into consistency that would result in pasteli, I could easily imagine this being prepared over a fire in centuries past. It’s the minimalism that makes pasteli such a perfect food. Protein comes from the sesame seeds and sweetness from honey. After it’s cooked, it’s poured into a flat pan and rolled out to harden, before being broken up into bars. (A 55 gram pasteli bar is $6 at Dean & DeLuca.)

On the Events Calendar-Food Trucks, Dairy and Local Wine Galore

Michaela Johnson — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 05:34:31 +0000

In case the word hasn’t yet reached you, the folks here at Edible have been busy lately. We’ve been drumming up food trucks, local wines and dairy galore for these awesome upcoming events we’re sure you’ll enjoy.

On April 18th, food trucks will unite at the Brooklyn Brewery for the Drive-In Dinner. Where else can you get five courses of food truck eats paired with different brews from the Brooklyn Brewery for $40? Some of our favorite trucks–Bongo Brothers, Coolhaus, Feed Your Hole, the Red Hook Lobster Pound and the Morris Truck–will be there, feeding you Cuban sandwiches, ice cream sammies, Porky’s Dogs, Lobster BLTs and grilled cheese sandwiches. Get your tickets here.

We’re so excited about our current Dairy Issue that we are throwing a party to celebrate it. Join us on April 25th at Good Dairy, our festival of all things milk-based and delicious at Openhouse Gallery in Nolita from 6pm to 9pm. Brooklyn Gin will feature Brooklyn Gin Carbonated Collins, Murray’s Cheese is bringing a selection of cave-aged cheeses and The Chocolate Room will be dishing up fresh mint chip ice cream…and that’s just the tip of the cheese block! Tickets are only $25 and you can get them here.

On May 9th come on out for Brooklyn Uncorked–the wine bash to top all wine bashes–from 6pm to 9pm at One Hanson Place. In the spectacular space that is the former Williamsburgh Savings Bank, 60 vendors will be pouring some of New York state’s best wine, along with tasty fare from local chefs and foodmakers. Tickets are flying, so hurry up and get yours for $45 here.

We also hope you’ll come find us at other weekly food events around town we think are pretty Edible, like the ones below.

From our Events Calendar: April 11 to April 19

April 14: EscapeMaker.com’s Local Food & Travel Expo

April 15: The Lazy Baker at the Bowery Culinary Center

April 17: The City Winery Presents the Willamette Valley Tour – Dinner with Winemakers

April 19: ioby’s April Supper Club: Pinot en Blanc

GET ON THE LIST. To be the first to find out about our events and the ones above, sign up for our enewsletter, follow us on Twitter or Like us on Facebook.

Whole Foods Says, “No More Red-Rated Seafood”

Jessie Cacciola — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 21:18:23 +0000

We were pleased years ago when Whole Foods launched sustainably-minded color-coding at the fish counter, as per the Blue Ocean Institute. Green=best; yellow=so-so; red=avoid, as these fish are deemed as overfished or caught in way harmful to species living around it. But we still wondered–why carry the red-flagged fish at all? Starting Earth Day, or April 22, they won’t.

Celebrate the growing appeal of those green-lighted species by buying trout (it’s fast-growing), tilapia (it’s responsibly farmed), squid and snapper, to name a but a few, as well as small swimmers like sardines, and filterers like oysters and clams. Though that does mean you’ll have to say bye to bluefin, at least at Whole Foods.

The Manhattan Cocktail Classic: 5 Days of Boozy Fun, in 4 Boros

Amber Benham — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 18:58:15 +0000

Photo Credit: Philip Anema Photography

Spring brings with it many delights for the senses–garlicky ramps, crunchy asparagus spears, and sunny sidewalk brunches. But there’s perhaps no better way to shake off the chill of winter than stepping into the warmth with a refreshing cocktail in your hand. Whether stirred or shaken is your preference, The Manhattan Cocktail Classic–our city’s annual 5-day celebration of cocktails and culture–is a fantastic way to sip, learn and enjoy tipples of all varieties. This year the festivities kick off on May 11th. The near 100 events–including seminars, tastings, cocktail demos, and culinary pairings–will take place throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and even Staten Island. We can’t fit all the festival fun in this paragraph, but let us tempt you with a few highlights: a Tour de Jerez (the famed home of sherry), a hands-on distilling workshop in Red Hook and a pairing of Peruvian pisco and cebiche. Tickets to the events, which range from $25-$125, are on sale now and selling out fast, so get yours here now! For more info, check out the festival website or visit its Facebook page.

Wanted: Your Suggestions for the 2012 Ingredients of the Week; Those We Keep Score a Free Subscription

The Editors — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 12:00:10 +0000

Our fourth annual Eat Drink Local week begins June 23rd, which means we once again need your help choosing the Seven Ingredients of the Week.

To jog your memory, Eat Drink Local Week is celebrated by Edibles around the Tri-state area. It’s a week of events, special meals and other activities designed to raise awareness about the bounty of products grown in our region; drive customers like you to the restaurants and other businesses that feature these products; and raise funds for charitable organizations dedicated to regional agriculture throughout the region.

The Seven Ingredients are meant to showcase the best of our region and this season, and will be spotlighted at our events, as well as at the restaurants and retail shops that participate in the Week. Should we be celebrating the first bunches of parsley? Jersey tomatoes? Rooftop greens? Brooklyn sausages? Strawberry wine? Hudson Valley hops? Long Island nano-brews?

Check out the lists from the past two years below for inspiration, then add your suggestions right here in the comments by May 1. A few lucky contributors (hopefully seven) will score not just the honor of having their favorite food served all over town for an entire day, but a free year’s subscription.

In the meantime, stay tuned for more information about this year’s Eat Drink Local Week events, and maybe RSVP for an Eat Drink Local meal at our partner restaurants in Manhattan, Brooklyn and on the East End. You can search our whole Eat Drink Local guide–which also includes locally minded shops and other retailers–by neighborhood right here, too.

2011 Ingredients of the Week

Strawberries
Peas
Chives and Green Garlic
Rhubarb
Lamb
Oysters
Yogurt

2010 Ingredients of the Week
(This one was technically 11 days, in case you were wondering.)

Clams
Whole grains
Brown ales & lagers
Duck
Concord grapes
Rose & Riesling
Cauliflower
Farm stand cocktails
Squash
Dairy
Apple cider

Brooklyn Grange Apiary Project on Kickstarter

Amber Benham — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 21:49:28 +0000

Brooklyn Grange may have single handedly propelled the rooftop farming movement into headlines, creating a tipping point of sorts for urban agriculture. And now the folks behind rooftop fresh lettuce have set out to alter the ecosystem once again, this time by saving some fellow plant lovers–the bees!

Through their latest Kickstarter project, the people behind the Brooklyn Grange Apiary Project hope to raise $20,000 to start a full-scale beebreeding operation. The funds they raise will cover the cost of bees, hives and bee keeping equipment like smokers and safety masks. It’s a hefty sum, to be sure, but the idea is to create an apprenticeship program where “aspiring urban beekeepers” can sign up for free to learn how to raise bees and then go on to care for their own bees (a local breed suited for New York City’s climate) and mentor other future beekeepers. What’s not to love about an idea like that?

Learn more about the project here and if you’ve got a few bucks to spare, why not put ‘em to good use? Save the bees!

Disounted Tickets to The Upcoming Farm and Food Travel Event

The Editors — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 17:16:29 +0000

Don’t forget! Tickets are on sale (and discounted if you buy them online) to the only travel event we know of designed for people obsessed with where their food comes from. For more details on the Local Food and Travel Expo at Skylight One Hanson on Saturday, April 14th, click here.

Road Trip: Taste L.I.’s Best Small Food Producers and Craft Beer Culture at “The Quarterly Carousal”

Brian Halweil — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 16:36:17 +0000

Calling all beer aficionados willing to hop on the LIRR for a good brew. Edible East End (the shore-based sister to this magazine) and the Brooklyn Brewery invite you to the Bellmore, Long Island craft beer bar Effin Gruven on Thursday, April 26, to celebrate the Nassau and Suffolk County rollout of the latest Brewmaster Reserve release from the brewery. (Register for the free tasting here, as space is limited.)

Garrett Oliver, the celebrated brewmaster and editor of the new Oxford Companion to Beer, created the Reserve Series for seasonal, limited-edition, tap-only beers that allowed him to continue spinning off creative riffs on traditional beermaking, without it distracting from his higher volume offerings (what the brewery calls its perennial offerings), and as a further complement to the seasonal, small-release bottle-fermented beers like Sorachi Ace (made with a rare, lemony Japanese-bred hop), Brooklyn Local 1 (a combination of “Belgian flair, Brooklyn fortitude”) and Mary’s Maple Porter (made with Empire State syrup), that restaurants might offer as part of beer dinners or for tables that want to pair beer—instead of wine–with their courses. A new Brewmaster Reserve is released every quarter or so, and lucky restaurants and beer bars have been pouring them for eager patrons.

At Effin Gruven, we’ll try the new Brooklyn Gold Standard, according to the brewery, “unusually hoppy an unfiltered lager made with Spring in mind.” Part of the collaboration between Edible magazines and Brooklyn Brewery around the region, including in Boston, New Jersey and Queens, these Quarterly Carousels are celebrations of food, drink and stories. The Effin Gruven event will feature selected locally made bar snacks curated by Edible. (Thus far confirmed makers are Hormans Pickles, North Fork chips, Taste of North Fork, Uncle Jerry’s Pretzels, Slant Shack beef jerky, and Cornell oysters.

The April 26 tasting is also a chance to try Effin Gruven, mentioned briefly in Ben Keene‘s Long Island beer bar roundup for Edible East End, but admired by beer lovers in Nassau and Suffolk Counties alike. Keene added that Effin Gruven is “a very no-frills bar with a deep selection of craft beers, especially from the Northeast.” Edible East End beer contributor Niko Krommydas had this to say: “I love Effin Gruven. Joe, the owner, possesses immense passion for New York beer and his bar, displayed through his local-dominant beer list, and frequent rotation of his drafts.”

We hope to see you there.

The Quarterly Carousel at Effin Gruven, Thursday, April 26, 7-9 p.m. Admission is free, but space is limited. Register here.

On the Events Calendar – Dairy, Food Trucks and Wine

Michaela Johnson — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 04:43:03 +0000

We’ve got dairy, we’ve got food trucks and we’ve got wine! Basically, your taste buds will be spoiled rotten over the next few months.

On April 18th from 6pm to 9pm, some of the best food trucks in the city will be parked outside the Brooklyn Brewery. Why? For the Drive-In Dinner, of course! We’re teaming up with the Brooklyn Brewery for 5-courses of delicious food, courtesy of the trucks. Even better, each course will be paired with a beer from our hosts. Join Feed Your Hole, the Red Hook Lobster Pound, the Morris Truck, Bongo Brothers and Coolhaus for a sit-down dinner of on-the-go foods. Tickets are $40 and available here.

Vegans and those who are lactose intolerant might want to avoid this event. On April 25th from 6pm to 9pm, we’re hosting Good Dairy in celebration of our current issue, which is devoted entirely to gloriously milky goods. Murray’s Cheese, Five Acre Farms, Momofuku Milk Bar and more will be serving up some delicious dairy treats that you won’t want to miss out on. We’ll also be serving booze, so be prepared for drinks from Brooklyn Gin, Hudson Whiskey, Kelso Beer Company and Wolffer Estate Vineyard. Get your $25 ticket here!

Looking ahead to May, we’ve got wine on our mind as we gear up to host our 6th annual Brooklyn Uncorked on May 9th from 6pm to 9pm. This round of Brooklyn Uncorked is bigger and better than ever (so big we had to find a new venue!), with sips and nibbles from over 60 food and drink vendors, including Blaue Gans, Gramercy Tavern, Osteria il Paiolo, Channing Daughters Winery, Ravines Wine Cellars and Sparkling Pointe Winery. Join us this year at Skylight One Hanson. Your $40 ticket can be purchased here.

We also hope you’ll come find us at other weekly food events around town we think are pretty Edible, like the ones below.

From our Events Calendar: April 4 to April 12

April 4: 61 Local and Kelso of Brooklyn Present the Meet Your Maker Tasting Series

April 10: Brooklyn Brewery and W&T Seafood’s Sip ‘n’ Slurp

GET ON THE LIST. To be the first to find out about our events and the ones above, sign up for our enewsletter, follow us on Twitter or Like us on Facebook.

Our Editor-in-Chief Gabrielle Langholtz Talks Maple on Fox News’ Good Day Cafe

Rachel Wharton — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 16:35:49 +0000

Cooking with maple syrup: MyFoxNY.com

If you missed Gabrielle Langholtz, our editor-in-chief, on Fox News this morning talking about maple syrup–how it’s harvested in our foodshed, how to cook with it, how this has been one of the shortest seasons in recent history–take a look-see right here. Not only did she make everything you see on screen (maple cake, maple vinaigrette…), but Gabrielle is about as thorough a researcher as it gets: After prepping for the show we’d wager she probably knows as much about maple than most tappers working the trees, not to mention how to properly bake a Niman ranch spiral cut ham with a maple glaze. Fox has the recipes, too.

Williams-Sonoma Launches Agrarian Line

Amber Benham — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 17:43:59 +0000

Chicken coop (Photo courtesy of Williams-Sonoma)

At Edible nothing warms our hearts like somebody learning to grow their own tomatoes or make their own ricotta. We’re all about empowering home cooks to take control of their food, both where it comes from and how it’s made. So when Williams-Sonoma told us they’d be launching a new line this April to help customers take their food from seed to table, we couldn’t have been more pleased. The new line, Agrarian, will launch this Thursday, April 5th online and then on April 9th in a few stores across the country (none in New York just yet). We got a sneak peak at the products included in the new line and thought we’d share a few.

Shiitake Mushroom Log (Photo courtesy of Williams-Sonoma)

For home gardeners, or wannabe urban farmers, there are raised bed planters, heirloom seeds, live plants, slate garden markers from our own Brooklyn Slate and even chicken coops! Kitchen enthusiasts will love the home canning tools, DIY cheesemaking kits, and kombucha kits. Our personal fave? The shiitake mushroom log. It’s just so cute and boy, wouldn’t it be nice to pluck a few homegrown shiitakes off your window sill when you’re making dinner?

Raised beds (Photo courtesy of Williams-Sonoma)

“There’s a wide range of people who live in the suburbs or in the city who maybe aren’t growing their own herbs or food and here’s a way for them to get started,” said Shannon Gomes, public relations manager for Williams-Sonoma. “We’ve got a DIY cheese kit that only takes a gallon of milk and one hour and you’ll have your own mozzarella and ricotta cheese.”

In addition to the 275 products being featured in the new Agrarian line, for the past year or so Williams-Sonoma has been experimenting with something called “Artisan Market”–an initiative to highlight and bring local food purveyors into its stores. On the first Saturday of each month at six locations around the country, including our Columbus Circle store, local food and drink makers are invited to show off their goods. The selection of vendors changes quarterly, but some of the folks that have turned out so far include: Brooklyn Seeds, Brooklyn Slate, Kombucha Brooklyn, Brooklyn Brine, Early Bird Granola, Rough Confections, Saucy Sauce, Emily’s Homemade, One Girl Cookies, Dulce Nona, Crown Maple, and Kyotofu. The program has been a big hit so far, resulting in robust sales, according to Allison O’Connor, Williams-Sonoma’s vice president of merchandising. So far there are Artisan Markets in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco, Austin and Portland, Oregon.

Earth Day Entrepreneur Showcase: Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

The Editors — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 22:47:54 +0000

This Earth Day, April 22, Slow Money New York City is putting on a program to help readers like you figure out how to invest in the local food scene. The two-hour program will take place at Stone Barns Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture in Pocantico Hills, NY (cool!) and feature pitches from these 5 awesome food and farm entrepreneurs looking to raise funds for their big ideas: Brooklyn Grange (a rooftop farm in our own city); First Field, (an organic farm making value-added products like ketchup and relish); Farm to Table Co-Packers (a local food processing facility); Windowfarms (makers of a DIY kit for growing food in your very own apartment window) and New York Mouth (an online store featuring products from local, indie food makers like jam-maker extraordinaire Anarchy in a Jar). Who wouldn’t wanna give money to these guys?

Tickets are $75 and you can buy them he re.

On the Events Calendar: Drive-In Dinner and Good Dairy

Michaela Johnson — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 18:00:05 +0000

Food trucks are synonymous with on-the-go eating, but wouldn’t it be even better if you could sit and savor your meal for a while? At our Drive-In Dinner on April 18th you can do just that at the Brooklyn Brewery in Williamsburg from 6pm to 9pm. Your $40 ticket (available for purchase here) gives you access to a 5-course meal consisting of stellar food from trucks such as the Morris Truck, Red Hook Lobster Pound, Feed Your Hole Truck and the Coolhaus Truck. Better yet, each course of the dinner comes with a beer pairing from the Brooklyn Brewery.

If cheese and soft serve are more your thing, we’ve got you covered at Good Dairy on April 25th from 6pm to 9pm at the Openhouse Gallery in SoHo. Our dairy issue will come to life with food and drinks from Bambino’s Ravioli, Stinky Bklyn, The Chocolate Room, Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery and much more. Tickets are $25 and you can get them here.

We also hope you’ll come find us at other weekly food events around town we think are pretty Edible, like the ones below.

From our Events Calendar: March 28 to April 5

March 30: 92Y Presents Carnegie Hall Tour and Tea

March 31: Urban Oyster Walking Tour Presents Brewed in Brooklyn

April 1: International Association of Culinary Professionals Presents the Book & Blog Festival

April 3: The Lower East Side Tenement Museum Presents Behind the Scenes: Caroline Schneider’s Kitchen

April 4: 61 Local and Kelso of Brooklyn Present the Meet Your Maker Tasting Series

GET ON THE LIST. To be the first to find out about our events and the ones above, sign up for our enewsletter, follow us on Twitter or Like us on Facebook.

The Drive-In Dinner

Michaela Johnson — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 02:42:51 +0000

Hear that? It’s the sound of food trucks rolling to a stop at the Brooklyn Brewery for the Drive-In Dinner. We challenge you to find another event in Brooklyn (or Manhattan or Queens or Staten Island) where you can get a 5-course meal from food trucks with beer pairings from the Brooklyn Brewery…and all for $40. It’s all going down on Wednesday, April 18th at the Brooklyn Brewery in Williamsburg from 6pm to 9pm and if last year’s event is any indication, you won’t want to miss it.

We’re keeping our lips sealed at the moment as to who will be parked out on N. 11th street, but we can tell you that the Red Hook Lobster Pound is coming, Morris Truck will be there (mmmm, grilled cheese), Coolhaus is bringing tasty desserts and the Feed Your Hole Truck, rumor has it, will perhaps be serving up bacon-wrapped hot dogs for the occasion. Stay tuned for the announcement of the final three trucks.

Like we said, tickets (available here) are just $40 and you can get them here while they last. Hope to see you on April 18th!

The Perfect Pizza: A Lesson from Those Who Know Best

Michaela Johnson — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 21:19:07 +0000

There are those who like pizza and those who love pizza. The lovers were at the Brooklyn Brewery this past Wednesday evening for How to Knead, Top and Toss, the latest installment in our How To series that taught pizza fans all they needed to know about creating the perfect pie. We rounded up some of the most knowledgable people on the subject, Pizza a Casa Pizza School, Murray’s Cheese and Motorino and here’s a little re-cap of what we learned.

Pizza a Casa Pizza School kicked off the evening with a lecture on the foundation of crust. Some of the things we learned? Avoid using a baking sheet–it makes the pizza sweat, resulting in a soggy pizza. Instead, invest in a pizza stone. Your pizza will benefit from having the moisture pulled out. Also, avoid rolling pins, and while it may be tempting, don’t throw around your dough like you see on TV. A pizza peel is a handy way to shimmy your pizza in and out of the oven, but a piece of cardboard will also do the trick. Speaking of ovens, pre-heating is key (an hour should suffice) and as irresistible as it is, don’t open the door while the pie is cooking. If you weren’t at the lecture, bummer! Twelve lucky audience members got to taste Mark Bello’s creation, fresh out of the oven.

Murray’s Cheese was up next with a demo on how to make–you guessed it–cheese! Tip #1: Never, ever, ever use ultrapasteurized milk when making cheese. And lucky for us pizza addicts, mozzarella is pretty simple cheese to make at home. All you need is a gallon of milk, a cup of cool water, a teaspoon of citric acid, 1/2 rennet tablet and a tablespoon of kosher salt. We got to try Murray’s own mozzarella (um…delish) and take a recipe home. One insider trick we learned: though cheese cloth might sound logical for this kind of recipe, try muslin instead. It works better. Who knew?

And last but nowhere near least, Motorino taught us not to overlook the humble tomato when making pizza. In Italy, the sauce changes based on geography. Up north, the French influence seeps into sauce recipes with carrots and celery, while further south, Neapolitan sauce is on the sweet side; this is the sauce that Americans are most used to. Before we learned how to make a proper sauce, Chef Mathieu Palombino walked us through a blind tasting of various brands of canned tomatoes. His recommendation? Don’t rely on a brand name when deciding what tomatoes to use. Even within a brand like San Marzano, which comes from a region where volcanic ash created nutrient rich soil, the quality of tomato varies from season to season. Instead, pop open a few cans and taste to see which one offers the right amount of sweetness and acidity for your palate.

There’s nothing like a pizza lecture to leave you craving a slice. Lucky for us, the Eddie’s Pizza Truck was parked outside. If you missed out on our evening-o-pizza, check out our slideshow. Buon appetito!

Letter to the Editor: A Reader Writes in with Memories of Murray’s

The Editors — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 16:05:28 +0000

A reader writes in to tell about our recent profiles of Alleva Dairy and Murray’s Cheese in the current Dairy issue, remembering several decades of shopping at both of these incredible shops, which now requires half a day’s drive: ”I now live in exile in Maryland and happily drive 4 hours to shop at both institutions.” We appreciate the compliment, and we’ll see you in line at both shops.

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LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

I’ve been subscribing for a couple of years and this issue is one of the best in that time. I especially enjoyed the article on Alleva’s; I am the fourth generation of my family to shop there (my great-grandfather cameto NYC from San Leucio del Sannio in Benevento around 1900). My son will hopefully make it five. Also, I’ve been shopping at Murray’s since I lived The Summer of ’83 on Cornelia Street when the store was down a door from the corner of Bleecker. It was a tiny little place with cheeses and accoutrements piled on top of each other which added to its charm. Zito’s Bakery on Bleecker was still around then and the combination of the finest cheeses and theCity’s best Italian bread made for some incredibly romantic summer evenings. Alleva’s is a holdout in the Little Italy wilderness but Murray’s is still part of a small hold-on Italian enclave. I now live in exile in Maryland and happily drive 4 hours to shop at both institutions (and others like Faicco’s on Bleecker). Thanks for the articles. Keep up the fine work.

A Peek at Momofuku Milk Bar’s New Spring Soft Serve Flavors, Coming in May

Rachel Wharton — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 20:23:25 +0000

We just knew it was going to be an ice cream kind of day. That’s why this week’s Edible Manhattan NY1 segment covered the incredible soft serve created by Momofuku Milk Bar chef and co-owner Christina Tosi.

It’s our current cover star, as featured in a story by Jamie Feldmar about the relationship between Tosi and Milk Thistle Farm, the incredible dairy operation that shuttered unexpectedly early this year. (Tosi is currently using Evans Farmhouse Creamery, from Norwich, N.Y., but is still evaluating other milks, possibly some from the owners of Maple Hill Creamery, says Tosi, who says they are going to be raising dairy cows on the same piece of land where Milk Thistle operated.)

One cool thing we weren’t able to squeeze into the piece is the roster of new spring flavors Tosi–who you’ll see is as eloquent and intelligent as she is creative in the pastry kitchen–is planning for May 1.

“So far we’re gonna do a strawberry-sesame, a blueberry-miso–which is gonna be really good–we’re gonna bring salty pistachio back to one of our locations, we’re gonna do a pink lemonade, and we’re still working out the last one,” Tosi told us, adding that Noodle Bar will have burnt honey and yellow peach.

Come May 1, we intend to cover the city to try them all: Like Noodle Bar, each of the four Momofuku Milk Bars (three in Manhattan and one in Brooklyn) have their own unique flavor–though rest assured all have Cereal Milk. “It’s the one flavor we can’t take off the menu,” says Tosi.

Watch the NY1 video here: http://www.ny1.com/content/lets_eat/edible/158163/edible–momofuku-milk-bar-taps-into-soft–frozen-treats

Local Painter Puts Edible Spin on Baseball Cards

Amber Benham — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 17:25:05 +0000

Photo by Amelie Mancini

It’s no secret that we at Edible love all things, well, edible. But sometimes even a piece of paper can bring a smile to our faces.

Such was the case with these food-themed baseball cards, part of the Edible All-Stars series created by Brooklynite Amelie Mancini, 29, owner of Left Field Cards. Instead of featuring any old Hall of Fame-bound players, each card depicts a guy from the leagues with a food-related last name–Darryl Strawberry, Jim Rice, and Herman Franks, to name a few–along with a clever illustration. As a bonus, the unique letterpress cards are actually postcards, so you can frame them or mail them to your friends.

Mancini, a die-hard Mets fan and painter originally from France, started making the cards with a handpress at a church in Greenpoint, the north Brooklyn neighborhood where she lives. The process involved carving her illustrations into linoleum blocks, rolling ink on the images and pressing down on a piece of paper using a flat tool. But printing the cards one by one was slow, so when business picked up she switched to using a rented letterpress machine from a studio in Williamsburg.

Food jokes aren’t the only ones featured on Mancini’s baseball cards. She and her boyfriend like to make lists of things that will make them laugh, which led to her other current series–Bizarre Injuries–and soon more, like the upcoming Marvelous Mustaches. “Every series is a just a silly idea,” she said. “The common point that they all have is that they all have a food name, or they all have a funny mustache or they all got hurt.”

She’s only been at it since October, but the Edible All-Stars cards have already made their way into stores and markets in Brooklyn, Chicago, Portland and Seattle. You can check out Left Field Cards on its website, or stop by Artists and Fleas, an indoor market in Williamsburg, this Sunday and meet the artist yourself.

On the Events Calendar: The Drive-In Dinner, Good Dairy & More

Michaela Johnson — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 20:57:54 +0000

Ever dream of having all of your favorite food trucks parked in one spot, serving up all of your favorite bites? Well, on Wednesday, April 18th at the Brooklyn Brewery, we’re making dreams come true with The Drive-In Dinner. You’ll have to stay tuned for more details, but we can tell you now, that for $40, you’ll be in for a 5-course menu courtesy of some of the finest food trucks around, and beer pairings from the Brooklyn Brewery. You can get your tickets here.

If you’re crazy about all things dairy, both savory and sweet, you won’t want to miss our upcoming Good Dairy event on Wednesday, April 25th from 6pm to 9pm at the Openhouse Gallery in SoHo. It’s in celebration of our latest issue which celebrates all things dairy, so you’ll literally get to taste some of the delicious things you read about. Tickets are just $25 and you can purchase them here while they last. We’re looking forward to seeing what Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery, Wolffer Estate Vineyard, Five Acre Farms and many more are bringing to the table and we hope to see you there, too!

We also hope you’ll come find us at other weekly food events around town we think are pretty Edible, like the ones below.

From our Events Calendar: March 21 to March 29

March 21: An Evening of Craft Beer and Beef Jerky at Jimmy’s No. 43

March 21: Hampton Bays Public Library Presents What the heck is a GMO? A Free Community Discussion

March 22: IACP Presents: Kids in the Kitchen Webinar featuring Claudia Bellini, Phil Gutensohn and Julie Negrib

March 23: Candlelight Friday at Wolffer Estate Vineyards

March 25: Fourth Annual Sunday Supper at Chelsea Market

March 26: Local Roots NYC Presents Fish Butchery Essentials

March 27: Celebrate the Street Vendor Project’s 10th Birthday Party with Food, Drinks and Live Music

March 28: Hampton Bays Public Library Presents Sweet Poisons-The Bitter Truth, a Free Community Discussion

GET ON THE LIST. To be the first to find out about our events and the ones above, sign up for our enewsletter, follow us on Twitter or Like us on Facebook.

Photos We Couldn’t Squeeze into our Current Issue: Blue Hill Cows, Tres Leche Cakes Made Uptown and Casa Mono Croquetas

The Editors — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 13:00:14 +0000

Even a week or two after the release of our first-ever Dairy Issue, we’re still thinking about some of the things we couldn’t squeeze in. For starters, plenty of photographs. The gallery above contains a few favorites that didn’t make the cut, as picked by our photo editor Rebecca McAlpin. The captions you see above are hers.

Also be sure to check out our profile of Murray’s Cheese and our story about tres leches cakes in upper Manhattan, both of which we’ve updated with full photo galleries including images that didn’t make it into the magazine.

Three Edible Manhattan Stories Shot by our Former Photo Editor up for a Beard Foundation Award

The Editors — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 20:14:03 +0000

The James Beard Foundation has just announced the semi-finalists for its 2012 food journalism awards and we’re thrilled to announce that our former photo editor Michael Harlan Turkell has been nominated for the Visual Storytelling category for three restaurant profiles that appeared in this magazine. One was on Keens steakhouse, another on the closing of Savoy, and the third was on the 10-year anniversary of Craft. Each appeared as part of the on-going series he photographed called “Back of the House.” Congratulations to Michael!

The lovely Keen's steakhouse, as captured by Michael Harlan Turkell.

Our First-Ever Good Dairy Issue is Out Now; Get a Taste at our Publication Party on April 25th

Gabrielle Langholtz — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 15:31:12 +0000

Start spreading the news! Edible Manhattan’s first-ever dairy-themed issue has hit the streets and it’s a doozy—oozing everything from tres leches cake uptown and triple-crème camembert upstate to Little Italy’s last best ricotta and a hot Icelandic expat turned Tribeca yogurt don.

But the stories go way beyond delicious. Take that cone on the cover—it’s from our bittersweet tale about Momofuku Milk Bar’s longtime dairy demigod, an innovative but ill-fated young farmer who wrote his own rules until the day he didn’t. Prepare to cry in your cereal milk.

I downed my share of that sweet stuff, plus queso blanco, cave-aged Gruyere and cream-kissed cocktails in the making of these pages, but my mind was as gratified as my mouth. That’s because we meet Manhattan merchandisers who got their goats, explore the mystery—and history—of New York’s best cream cheese, uncover the connection between upstate milk and prison reform (you’ll see), decode Latino dairy cases in East Harlem supermarkets, see how Anne Saxelby grew from curd nerd to dairy queen, go behind the scenes at the mega monger’s mecca known as Murray’s Cheese and hear from Dan Barber about the small-batch wonder he calls single-udder butter.

If all that has you salivating, nab an issue here—and a ticket to our newest party, too: At Edible’s first-ever Good Dairy bash, these stories come to life as we nom, nibble and nosh on sweet and savory milky mouthfuls from the likes of Stinky Bklyn, Organic Valley, Murray’s Cheese, Vermont Butter & Cheese, Momofuku Milk Bar and many more. The party is Wednesday, April 25th at OpenHouse Gallery from 6-9. Tickets are $25, and available here. See you there, where I will propose a (piece of cheese-covered) toast. To good dairy!

Book Your Kid’s Summer Vacation Now: Culinary Camps and Farm Schools

Michaela Johnson — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 13:32:37 +0000

Photo Courtesy of The Sylvia Center

From the James Beard Family Chef Series at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan to the hordes of flourescent t-shirt wearing schoolchildren who fill the Union Square Greenmarket on field trips, it’s no secret that children are curious and excited about the food they eat and where it comes from. To fill them in on the details, happily here in the city there are outlets like the Young Chefs Program at The Sylvia Center, where children ages seven through twelve learn a myriad of kitchen skills and food facts during a six-week course. Additionally, school and youth organizations are invited up to Katchkie Farm, the Center’s 60-acre organic vegetable farm in Kinderhook, New York for more hands-on farming fun.

Meanwhile, out on the East End of Long Island, Edible Schoolyards, the urban gardening program launched by West Coast chef Alice Waters, gives children the opportunity to get their hands dirty and literally create a schoolyard filled with edible, healthy treats; while at The Hayground School in Bridgehampton and the Amagansett School, future farmers or informed eaters are also learning what it takes to plant, harvest and cultivate within the gates of their own institutions. (Can’t make the trip? You can even check out what these schools and others like them are up to in their gardens here.)

But once school is out for the summer, even the most dedicated after-school farmer will turn to sugary popsicles and video games in the comfort of an air-conditioned living room if left to his or her own devices. The good news is parents looking to avoid this now have a plethora of summer camps geared toward food, cooking and farming to choose from. Check out these summer camp options:

At The Ross School in East Hampton, teens whose busy summer social schedules might not allow them to commit to a full week of day camp have the option of enrolling in a Culinary Arts program, which takes place on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1:30pm to 3:30pm either during the weeks of June 25th through July 6th; July 9th through July 20th; July 23rd through August 3rd or August 6th through August 17th. The program emphasizes the use of fresh and seasonal ingredients from local farms. Chances are come September, teens will be forgoing cafeteria food in favor of expertly crafted brown bag lunches they put together themselves. Kids ages eight through 14 can also get in on the kitchen with the “Choose Your Own Major Program,” which offers culinary arts. You can find out more about summer camp at The Ross School here.

Remember The Hayground School in Bridgehampton, NY? They’ve also got a great summer camp for kids interested in the basics of cooking, taught in The Jeff Salaway Memorial Kitchen. Another perk is the school’s organic garden and greenhouse. Camp at Hayground begins on Monday, July 2nd and runs through Friday, August 24th. There are half day and full day enrollment options, and spots are filling up fast, especially for the younger kids, so plan accordingly. You can find out more about Hayground Camp here.

In Westchester County, Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture offers a Summer Farm Camp. First through rising eight graders have the opportunity to channel their inner farmer through farm chores alongside the Center’s staff. Campers get to see the fruits of their labor on the farm when they help prepare healthy snacks, and in the case of the older campers, cook lunch in the professional kitchen. This day camp has several one and two-week sessions. Kids older than 14? There are also Counselor-in-Training opportunities for teens aged 15 through 17. You can find out more about Summer Farm Camp at Stone Barns here.

Here in Manhattan (and at its sister camps on the East End of Long Island), The Art Farm brings culinary curricula to city kids. Their Half Day Hamsters, Full Day Froggies and Full Day Geckos groups offer children the ability to learn how to bake, among many other activities. Should parents be taking a summer vacation from brown bag lunch-packing, there is the option to sign kids up to receive a healthy, organic lunch from Red Rabbit, a NYC-based school meal provider. For those spending time on the East End, there is The Art Farm camp amidst potato fields in Bridgehampton, offering a similar philosophy, with outdoor education, cooking classes and farm animals. The affiliated Green School camp in Sagaponack offers even more emphasis on animal care, pony rides and garden/kitchen chores. You can find out more about The Art Farm here.

Last but not least, consider the sleepaway camp at Hidden Valley in Freedom, Maine. The location is fitting, as Hidden Valley Camp offers kids 8 to 14 the freedom to choose from a variety of program choices: There’s even a Llamas and Animal Care program. You can find out more about Hidden Valley Camp here.

So, let this springlike weather be your reminder that summer is fast approaching and if you want to enroll your child (or let a parent know about all these cool camp options) you’d better act fast. And if you know of any more programs to add to this list, especially here n the city, let us know and we’ll post them here.