A Not So Simple Salad

Caffe Falai on Lafayette Street in Soho is one of my favorite New York eateries. Today I tried a new salad there for the first time and fell head over heels for the presentation before I'd even tasted the delicious mix of trumpet, shitake and portobello mushrooms under that canopy of parmeggiano.

Pullino's Public Patio

Word on the Bowery is this: Pullino's, Keith McNally's new Nolita hotspot, opened its "patio" last night by placing chairs and tables on the sidewalk at the corner of Bowery and Houston. Thing is, that corner is extremely popular with hipsters, but also with the homeless. And, sure enough, a homeless man came around and began asking Pullino's patio patrons for donations. When a security guard asked him to move on, he became angry and began throwing his body against the nearby busstop. Needless to say, the two patrons he'd been plaguing decided against dessert and called for their check. Talk about a turf war!

Death for Dieters: Artisinal Ice Cream Truck

Van Leeuwen's artisinal ice cream truck is testing the willpower of New Yorkers from Williamsburg to the East Village. One source on the Lower East Side told Editor At Large: "Every night I come home and it's parked outside my apartment. It's ruining my diet!" Well, at least if said source does succumb, she should feel better about the fact that Van Leeuwen uses hormone-free milk in their flavors. Read more about them here.

Better than Magnolia: Butter Lane

Last night was a carb-fest: I cooked rigatoni with gorgonzola, artichoke hearts, asparagus and cream and my guests brought over organic cupcakes from Butter Lane in the East Village.

Seriously, if Carrie wasn't frozen in a certain New York minute, she'd dump Magnolia Bakery's overly sweet offerings in a heartbeat for these organic culinary orgasms.

Butter Lane owners Pam Nelson, Maria Baugh, and Linda Lea offer up frosting flavors like key lime, pumpkin, raspberry, or blueberry. We had popcorn flavor adorned with a couple of popped kernels, dark chocolate, chocolate with raspberry frosting (topped with a fresh raspberry), and vanilla with cherry frosting (crowned with a fresh cherry). I also hear that the banana cake with cream-cheese frosting and the grapefruit ginger is divine.

123 E. 7th St. (near Ave A)
Tel: 212-677-2880

Cart Smart

Editor at Large makes no attempt to hide her addiction to lemon curd ice cream, so it was with much excitement that she spotted this cart outside Cookshop in Chelsea.

Find refreshment on your way to the galleries on the corner of 10th Avenue and 20th Str.

Chocolate Secret

If you're as obsessed with Mast Brother's chocolate as I am -- especially the dark chocolate with almonds, sea salt and olive oil -- you'll be glad to know that you can get a slab for just $7 direct from the factory. Two blocks away, at the Bedford Cheese Shop on Bedford Avenue, they retail for $8. And at Wholefoods and Dean & Deluca you'll pay a whopping $9.

Mast Brother's Chocolate Factory
105 North 3rd Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211-3927, United States
(718) 388-2625

Israeli Food Find

Went past Israeli chef Einat Admony's new Nolita restaurant, Balaboosta (A Yiddish term meaning the perfect housewife, homemaker). Very swish compared with Taim, her much smaller joint in the West Village. Must-have appetizers include the fried olives with labne and the humus which is served guacamole-style with mortar and pestle for DIY chickpea crushing. Delicious.

Find it at 214 Mulberry St. near Spring.

Ricotta Star

My new favorite brunch: The Sheep's milk ricotta served with burnt orange toast at Locanda Verde in Tribeca.

locandaverdenyc.com
377 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10013
(212) 925-3797

High Five

Best brunch in Williamsburg/Greenpoint: Five Leaves.

Try the house made Bircher muesli with poached pears, sugar plums and spiced creme fraiche or the Ricotta pancakes with honeycomb butter, sliced banana, blueberries, strawberries and maple syrup. Even the house cured gravelax is scrumptious, right down to the sourdough roll it is served on. And we haven't even sampled the lunch offerings yet, but we hear that the BLAT sandwich with bacon, kettuce, avocado, tomato and cumin/lime mayo is a winner as is the radicchio and watercress salad with roasted acorn squash, feta and red onion. For gorgeous pics of the place by Will Femia, go to www.fiveleavesny.com and click on gallery.

18 Bedford Avenue
Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NY 11222
(718) 383-5345

Chocolate Worth Traveling For...

It may seem unreasonable to suggest going all the way from Manhattan to Westport, Connecticut for a chocolate fix, but Cocoa Michelle is worth the trip. Situated across the street from the train station on Main Street, the tiny store with one or two cafe tables serves up hand made chocolates and delicious hot chocolate topped with milk froth.

Salivate at www.cocoamichelle.com

Into Woodstock

If you go down to Woodstock today, you're in for a big surprise (sorry, couldn't resist):

On Albert Street, don't miss Saturdays and Sundays at the Old Biscuit Mill, an organic food market cum flea market filled with delicious nibbles and great finds. Lunch, every week day, at Superette. We recommend the mushrooms on toast and the berry, seed and Belgian chocolate muffins. Pop into What If The World Gallery for an art fix and to David West for a fashion fix.
On Darling Street don't miss the Goodman Gallery and Michael Stevenson Gallery.

PS: That's Woodstock in Cape Town, not you know....

Steenberg Wine Estate

Steenberg's new Bistro 1682, named after the year the wine estate was first established, is a fantastic brunch and lunch venue. And the best part is the complimentary wine tasting in the Wine Tasting Bar (notice the glass chandelier mimicking red and green grapes) and Tasting Lounge before the meal, just so you can be sure of what bottle you'll order. I had the rose which was very dry and very good R34/ carafe (about $5).
I ordered the very good smoked trout sandwich and my lunch mate tried the more complicated steak, grilled to perfection. The only complaint: If you're offered a dessert wine by the owner, ask the price before accepting. Ours was R125/ glass (about $17).

After your meal, step outside to marvel at the foothills of the Steenberg Mountain (Stone Mountain) and the spectacular views across the vineyards.

+27 21 713-2211
www.steenberg-vineyards.co.za

This Just in: More on Hokey Pokey...

Food technologist and author Jennifer Yee Collinson, who also happens to be a born and bred Kiwi, sent Editor at Large this missive:

"Hokey Pokey Ice Cream is as iconic as Whittaker's Chocolate Peanut Slabs and Buzzy Bee's in NZ." [You might recall images of Prince William playing with said Buzzy Bee when he visited New Zealand as a child with his mother and father].

"Hokey Pokey is what kiwi's call honeycomb - made by cooking sugar and golden syrup to a toffee and stirring through bicarbonate of soda so that the mixture bubbles and foams up. The resulting hokey pokey or honeycomb is light, airy and crispy with slight burnt caramel notes. Hokey Pokey Ice cream does not contain nuts but nuggets of this honeycomb blended into vanilla ice cream."

NZ Nibbles

1. Vogel's bread -- the recipe hasn't changed since the '50s and who knew they knew about healthy stuff back then?
2. Manuka honey -- thick, delicious, creamy and good for you.
3. Flat white -- not as milky as a latte, not as frothy as a cappucino. Perfect.
4. Hokey Pokey ice cream -- vanilla ice cream filled with crunchy toffee and nut bits. Yum.

Forget Your New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc....

Word on the beach in Waiwera, New Zealand is that Sauvignon Blanc is old news. Instead, Kiwis recommend their Pinot Noir. Try Mt. Difficulty or Saddleback, both from Central Otago in the South Island, or the delicious Cloudy Bay.

Village Style

Head to St. Heliers in Auckland, New Zealand for some of the most inspired ice cream around. You'll find it at Village 88 ice cream, a father and son business in a tiny building, that serves up sensational flavors like Lemon Curd and Bourbon and Brown Sugar. Grab a cone or, even better, take a tub or two home.

Art in the Winelands

Six years ago Laurence Graff (of diamond jewelry fame) bought a wine estate called Delaire under the shadow of Botmanskop atop the Helshoogte Pass in Stellenbosch, Cape Town. He commissioned the experts -- British interiors guru David Collins, local landscape genius Keith Kirsten -- to create a wonderfully modern restaurant with clever nods to Africa that's packed to the rafters with a magnificent art collection including works by William Kentridge, Deborah Bell and Dylan Lewis. Chef Christiaan Campbell is responsible for a solid menu and winemaker Morne Vrey has every new toy at his fingertips to make sure that the Delaire Graff Estate wines are eventually able to compete with its neighbors -- Meerlust, Ernie Els, Rust en Vrede.

I Heart Oaxacan Almendrado (Almond Mole)

I took a cooking class in Oaxaca with Oscar Carrizosa from Casa Crespo. I followed Oscar to the nearby Sánchez Pascuas local market to buy squash blossoms (zucchini flowers), passion fruit, cactus pear, and corn fungus. Oaxaca is famous for its seven moles (sauces) ranging from the incredibly rich mole negro which contains chocolate, spices and fruits to the delightfully delicate and easy to make almond mole.

Here's the recipe:

1 tablespoon oil
¼ medium onion
2 garlic cloves
¾ cup (3.5 oz/100 g) whole almonds, peeled
1 large slice (1½ in/4 cm) Challah-type bread
8 (2 lb/1 kg) cooked tomatoes, seeded and peeled
1 teaspoon thyme
1 in (2.5 cm) slivered cinnamon stick
2 peppercorns
1 clove
2 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon lard or olive oil
Salt
3 almonds, peeled, toasted and sliced
18 green olives
1/3 cup (60 g/2 oz) pickled jalapeño or serrano chilies, sliced

Heat the oil in a frying pan over high heat. Fry the onion. Once it turns transparent, add the garlic cloves, ¾ cup of almonds, slice of bread and the tomatoes. Cook for about 3 minutes over low heat. Remove from heat and cool. Blend all these ingredients in a blender with the thyme, cinnamon, peppercorns, clove and 2 cups of chicken broth (I find that vegetable broth works just as well for vegetarians).

Heat the lard (or olive oil) in a saucepan with a lid, then fry the blended ingredients. Stir constantly to avoid sticking. Cover and cook for 15 minutes over low heat. Season with salt. Add chicken pieces (or fish -- we used yellowtail).

Garnish the dish with the sliced almonds, olives and pickled jalapeño or serrano chilies.

And here are the details for the cooking course:

Casa Crespo
Crespo 415
Centro
Oaxaca
Mexico

Phone:
From México 01 (951) 514 1102
(Phone reservations between 9 am and 5 pm)
Email: casacrespo@go-oaxaca.com

See Ya Eggs Benedict

Sunday brunch, 1pm, Oaxaca food market. I push my way through the smokey hallway. A woman brandishes her tray in front of me. It is laden with raddishes, avocado, grilled spring onions, jalapeno chillis. I take one small dish of each. I take a seat in a jam-packed booth. Locals are sipping Oaxacan hot chocolate with its distinctive almond-cinammon flavor or tucking into the typical Oaxacan brunch that I'm about to sample: thin slices of beef with large tortillas garnished with raddishes, spring onions, chilli and avocado. Delicious and, at a couple of dollars apiece, one of the most affordable meals in town.

Photos: Paul Nathan

Fear Factor for Foodies

Outside the market in near Oaxaca's zocalo (town square) are soft heaps of succulent grasshoppers which the locals refer to as a "superfood." While I have no doubt that grasshopper's are nutritious, I had a hard time bringing hand to mouth when said hand was filled with little insects. I was much happier at Casa Oaxaca (García Vigil 407, Centro Oaxaca) where the chef has crushed the pests into a pesto.

Photo: Paul Nathan