Brian Halweil

Brian is the editor at large of Edible East End, Edible Long Island, Edible Manhattan and Edible Brooklyn. He writes from his home in Sag Harbor, New York, where he and his family tend a home garden and oysters. He is also obsessed with ducks, donuts and dumplings.

The Editor of Edible East End Visits Isa, the First Brooklyn Spot from the Owners of Freemans

For this Long Island boy Brooklyn sometimes seems endless. Like when you can exit the Bedford Avenue L station in Williamsburg, as we did last week, and head half a mile south on Wythe Avenue and come upon a whole neighborhood of little food shops and new and renovated condos that didn’t seem to exist a few years go. Perhaps its this vast newness–realtors citywide, we’re told, are now pushing the part of Williamsburg called the Southside–that was part of the inspiration for Isa on South Second Street.

No Fauxtalian Here: Led by Batali, the City’s Top Italian Chefs Cook for James Beard

On Wednesday night, at Guastavino’s under the 59th Street Bridge, we tasted the new face of Italian food in New York, like salumi from Cesare Casella of Salumeria Rosi. What tied all these dishes together wasn’t just their Old World inspiration, but their locavore sensibility: They were all made from mostly New York grown ingredients: In fact this batch of sopressatta was Casella’s first made with Empire State meat.

More Door Prizes Announced for our Edible Escape Event on Wednesday: I Heart NY Booty and a Few Gallons of Organic Valley Milk

On Wednesday night at our Edible Escape at the Angel Orensanz Center there will be wine, spirits, cheeses and veggies from across the state. ILOVENY will be bringing some swanky farmers market totes and t-shirts to give away. And, to sweeten the pot, we will be giving away prizes to attendees. We’ve already told you about the mixed case of New York State wines, and some other lucky ticket holder will get two gallons of Organic Valley New York Fresh milk. In other words, something for the evening and something for the morning.

Win a Case of South Africa Wines: One Lucky Eater at our Edible Escape Will Do Just That

As a teaser for all you ticket holders to Edible Escape–our mouth-watering, border-crossing food and drink party next Wednesday, we’ve been leaking selected menu items over the past weeks. But now we’d like to tell you about some giveaways that a few lucky attendees will receive. (Yes, tickets are still available here. Our first prize is a mixed case of wines and the Cape Wine Braai Masters recipe book, courtesy of our friends at Wines of South Africa. We have two of these to give away, and we’ll be choosing winners at random from our ticket holders.

The Honest Man Group Presents the Flavors of East End Farms in 6 Courses at the Beard House Tomorrow Night

Honest Man, the restaurant group that comprises Nick & Toni’s in East Hampton, Nick & Toni’s Café on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, Rowdy Hall in East Hampton, La Fondita in Amagansett and Townline BBQ in Sagaponack, will cook dinner on Tuesday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. at the James Beard House in New York. This “Hamptons Classic” dinner will feature tastes from all five restaurants in a six-course meal of Long Island ingredients–Montauk lobster, Iacono chickens, North Fork peaches, Balsam Farms strawberries–paired with Long Island wines.

Mark Bittman Gets it Really Right: Good Food is Cheaper

I’ve been a fan of Mark Bittman’s cooking and eating advice since I first saw his quirky, easy-to-follow “Minimalist” recipe videos. But he really knocked it out of the park with his latest column in the Sunday Times where he argues decisively, with nifty infographics, that good, healthy food can in fact be cheaper than the fast food alternative.