Applewood
501 11th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11215
718-768-2044

www.applewoodny.com

Leaders in sustainability and fine dining, Applewood is among a select few in the NYC area that practices what they preach to absolute perfection and detail.  Many restaurants these days preach sustainable, organic, local, and all of that, but very few make the effort to make sure their entire offering is indeed just that.  Applewood is no longer a well kept secret weapon in the restaurant scene in New York. For those of us who are in Brooklyn, and specifically the Park Slope area, we just simply cannot believe that one of the city’s finest food and eating establishments is right in our own backyard! Applewood’s passion for food and sustainable agriculture combined with making intimate connections with the food they use and serve both through their relationships to the growers and the purveyors is a rarity in the world today. While many restaurants advertise the use of local, organic, and sustainable ingredients “whenever possible,” Applewood makes that possibility a daily reality, and they do it with ease and eagerness. Their support of local farmers year round, their exclusive use of hormone and antibiotic free meats and poultry, and their use of only wild fish are all commendable in a world where talk is cheap. The farmers are credited at monthly farmers dinners where the public can come meet and learn about them as well as enjoy an excellent dining experience. Everything on the menu is explained and questions about where and how food is grown seem to get quick and detailed responses from the staff.

Their wear a seasonal style, focusing on simplicity and respect for the inherent flavors of the wholly natural, organic, local, and sustainable products they use.

We are fans, not only for their amazing ability to impress us every time with delicious taste and flavor, but also for their usage and incorporation of fresh herbs in almost everything they do. It is truly a rarity in the restaurant world today. Their unique use of herbs as an everyday ingredient impresses us totally. When you walk in, you first see little vases with fresh herb sprigs on every table. Then, you open the drink menu to find drinks like the tomato basil martini, or the tarragon Tom Collins. The appetizers can include things like heirloom tomato salad with English peas and purple basil syrup, and the entrees include grilled cobi, golden zucchini, and fennel with honey herb broth. Their decadent desserts are filled with herb concoctions like fresh mint ice cream sandwiches.

Applewood is a truly delightful experience that should not be missed whether you are a local or just visiting the New York area. There is so much in Brooklyn that is to not to be missed, but Applewood truly tops the top of the list!!

Leda Meredith
www.urbanhomesteader.com

This month in the name of foraging and the great time we had foraging for the watercress and rosehips we decided to feature Leda Meredith, author of “The Locavore’s Handbook” and “Botany, Ballet, & Dinner from Scratch” and the driving force behind urbanhomesteader.com.  Leda  knows a thing or two about living sustainably in a sprawling urban wasteland. In 2007, Leda embarked on a 250-mile diet, drawing a circle around herself and barring food outside of those limits from consumption.

For Leda, this meant nixing bananas, avocadoes, lemons, soy sauce, chocolate… Old fallbacks could no longer be relied upon to fill meal gaps, and planning meals took great precedence over other activities. She learned that the process is easy if you just make the effort to follow through with it. A New York food must is to make like an urban homesteader. It’s irresistible to find opportunities to become more self-reliant and independent in a city that is both alive with possibilities but a place where it’s difficult to forge an identity and sense of stability.

So what exactly does an urban homesteader look like? The point of homesteading is to become more self-reliant by finding ways to do more for yourself, building skills that will allow you to rely less on mass-produced items adding to your overall security. This can take on many forms from growing your own vegetables, preserving your foods, butchering skills, beekeeping, learning to keep and prune trees, foraging in the park, and the list goes on. In Brooklyn, there are many resources available to localize your lifestyle. Look into urban foraging tours in city parks. Ask questions. Go to the farmer’s market, and learn to preserve some local goods at home. Challenge yourself. Check out Leda’s website for new ways you can learn to rely on yourself, to see the surrounding community, and take some burdens off the environment!

The New Amsterdam Market is a gem in the dense food world of New York City. Located on South Street & Peck Slip of Lower Manhattan, the market boasts a beautiful range of vendors in a setting that sends you back centuries, when industrialization was a new concept, and people took to the streets to scour for their goods. Founded in 2005, the market filled a gap in the neighborhood to promote small businesses and regional farmers and vendors, enhancing the community and our palates. When you visit, expect to find a fine selection of fresh, smoked fish to the products of an apiary habit (local raw honey to pollen) to rich New York-bottled wines from long-established organizations and so much more including season fresh and local fruits and vegetables. There are always events to enjoy as well ranging from a Smorgasbord (or as they authentically promote, SMØRREBRØD) & Beer Garden afternoon hosted by the consulate of Denmark to Sunday Flapjack Breakfasts benefitting local hunger programs.  The quality is never lacking, the mood never hampered, and a NYU student-founded bike delivery organization will gladly tricycle your finds to a drop-off location of your choice if you are so inclined.

Check it out, be inspired!

www.newamsterdammarket.org

If you ever want to escape the concrete jungle that is New York City on the weekends to find some green, you can always head north a short distance to the Bronx.  Right now you’re thinking, the Bronx?  The green I speak of is the New York Botanical Gardens (NYBG), where at anytime spectacular seasonal exhibitions await you.  With 250 acres and 50 gardens and plant collections, there’s something to see in every season across the Garden’s landscape.

This weekend in particular is family weekend at the NYBG, which will be loaded with fall themed events and showcases, everything from Halloween gags, goblins and ghosts, pumpkin patches and scary scarecrows.  The family can also partake in the Edible Garden experience, which welcomes the best chefs in town, making dishes using fresh ingredients and teaching all about preparing and growing fruits, herbs and vegetables.  While at the Garden, visitors can enjoy plenty of samples at the Tasting Terrace, book signings, home gardening demonstrations, guided tours, and family activities. If you love food and want to learn more about it, this is the affair just for you.  This weekend is also about the spending time with loved ones, so bring yours out! Kids get inspired to learn all about good-for-you food that tastes good too, they’ll be able to get a little dirty and get digging in the vegetable gardens and sample from the Greenmarket, all promoting healthy habits within the future of America. 

About two months ago, I was asked to participate in the Edible Garden event, celebrating locally grown, seasonal food, of course I was delighted and agreed to help out and take my part center stage.  This weekend, I will partake by doing a demonstration at 4pm, located in the Conservatory Kitchen, where  the featured ingredient is Pumpkin.  I will be showcasing my casual culinary talents by making a velvety Pumpkin Maple Soup alongside my specialty of mix ‘n match herbal pestos, including Cranberry Sage Pecan Pesto and Red Basil Almond Cinnamon Pesto.  If you’re lucky, you might snag a sample.

For more information, visit http://www.nybg.org/eg/#family

or just come to the New York Botanical Gardens located at:

The New York Botanical Garden
200th Street and Kazimiroff Boulevard
Bronx, NY 10458-5126
Phone: 718.817.8700

Miriam
79 Fifth Avenue
Park Slope, Brooklyn
718-622-2250
http://www.miriamrestaurant.com

 Brooklyn Brunch

There are few restaurants that can deliver consistency & excitement while still holding onto the feeling of your local family and friends gathering site for lazy weekend brunch jaunts. Miriam is just such a restaurant, their brunch service is one of the most reliable and dazzling brunches Brooklyn has to offer. With their straightforward, consistent, Mediterranean/Middle eastern dishes with an Israeli influence, your pallet is intrigued time and time again, and the local ambience of “knowing thy neighbor” provides a comfort level like that of being at a large happy family gathering. The energy in Miriam on a Saturday or Sunday morning just simply feels right, although you typically will have to wait for a seat, as reservations are not taken, you will surely comingle with folks you know and meet new friends as well.

Once inside, you are immediately comforted by the sophisticated yet completely unpretentious artistry of the place. Arabic style hand crafted lanterns hang throughout the restaurant, and handcrafted dried herbal glass lights from Israel drape the bar with a wonderful ambiance of a feeling of an artist’s home. Warm brick walls with handmade drapes from Israel made by one of the partners mothers, Miriam, whom the restaurant was named after, offers deep subconscious warmth to the experience. The overall feeling of comfort & camaraderie with is important as the restaurant is extremely crowed for brunch and without this ambience that the restaurant evokes the experience would not be the same.

The menu is exotic, yet diverse and has plenty to offer all pallets, including children. The brunch menu differs a bit from the dinner menu and incorporates many more of the basic brunch staples that are less Mediterranean and Middle Eastern, like eggs Benedict, eggs Florentine, and whole wheat, Swedish and chocolate chip pancakes and French toast. (I must mention the French toast is a Challah French toast and is a Miriam Brunch specialty, extremely fluffy and sweet and simply decadent.) They also offer many dishes that are more American but seem to still maintain an Israeli influence, like the burgers and sandwiches. One of my favorites is the grilled chicken sandwich, with a spicy harissa style sauce and grilled onions, lettuce and tomato served in a pita. Truly finger licking good, with the spicy smooth flavors from the grilled chicken and the spicy sauce.

Some of the more Mediterranean & Middle Eastern dishes on the brunch offering are the real draw for many of the repeat neighborhood folks who can be seen almost every weekend throughout the year. The Israeli breakfast, two eggs, lebanah cheese, Israeli salad (cucumber, tomatoes, parsley & lemon) home fries, and pita bread is one of the most popular dishes amongst the crowd. Other favorites include, Mediterranean Crispy dough served with 2 eggs, spicy simmered tomatoes and spicy harissa sauce and pickles, Shashuka, originally a Libyan dish, widely adapted throughout the Middle East including Israel, is basically eggs poached in a spicy pepper sauce, and at Miriam it is served with a side of pita and hummus. (The hummus does not disappoint). They now offer a traditional Jewish Cholent, a spicy stew of meat, potatoes and beans, stewed overnight, and captures and excellent flavor and traditionalism of Jewish food. And then there is my personal favorite, the Buerekas, flaky puffed pastry pockets stuffed with warm feta and olives, served with two eggs, lebanah cheese, Israeli salad and green tahini (tahini with cilantro and spices). The Buerekas for me symbolizes an extremely decadent, yet comforting meal

I cannot discuss the brunch menu at Miriam without mentioning the tasty condiments that come with almost every dish, each paired so perfectly with the meal, and the ingredients. Some of my favorites include the green tahini sauce, the spicy harissa sauce (excellent on the fresh cut French fries), the spicy harissa mayonnaise served on burgers, chicken sandwiches and I have seen some order it for their fries as well, there is a cilantro chili pepper kind of paste that I love on my eggs and on pita or anything for that matter including mixed in with my lebanah, it is cilantro and chilies, and a lot of Middle Eastern Spices. The mango chutney, which they serve on the chicken shwarma is unbelievably spicy and sweet and simply magnificent.

If you haven’t guessed by now with the small clues, I am one of “thy neighbors” to Miriam. For the last 6 years I have been frequenting the place, (first the original Hill Diner and which became Miriam in Cobble Hill (which is now closed) and then this one on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope). I am not a brunch fan which is why Miriam is so extremely appealing to me. Not only do I enjoy seeing my neighborhood friends and familiar faces often, but I enjoy the diversity of the menu, it is not just another egg place. It is easy to serve eggs for brunch, it is just as easy to serve sandwiches, but to offer a much more exotic brunch menu with “the brunch staples” done with an exceptional flavorful and exotic twist is for me what New York brunch should be about. Good food that dazzles us yet is consistent, eaten in a place that feels like home with friends and family, this is how most of us in the neighborhood feel about Miriam.

Kalustyan’s

123 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY 10016

212-685-3541

www.kalustyans.com

When looking for inspiration in general, I often find the best thing to do is simply move and the inspiration will perhaps just find you.  This is true for when I am out traveling through the world…I find walking around is the one thing that really inspires me to witness what I am experiencing as opposed to searching for something specific.  I rarely make plans to go visit specific locations, restaurants and destinations. Instead, I simply just go and experience, and like a good treasure hunt, the people and places I encounter lead the way to greater and more unique experiences.

I find New York to be one of those places in the world where if you just begin to look, something will eventually occur that is truly either magical, or at least certainly memorable.   Interestingly enough I find the internet to be very much like NY… if you start searching where you end up is very different than where you started!

One a recent rainy Saturday I was running some errands in the city, a rare thing for me (venturing into the city for recreation) but I was having lunch with a friend and getting a haircut.  I had started walking from the Union square farmers market, which is utterly inspiring on its own, and decided I would just walk as the rain had subsided a bit. I began to wander and through wandering in NYC I often discover so much about the appearance of the city… the buildings, the people, the filth, the eclectic-ness, all of it really.  On this day’s journey I was walking further and into areas I had never been, I ended up on Lexington and began to meander through it and suddenly stumbled upon a pretty bizarre storefront that captured my eye.  At the same exact time I took a phone call from a foodie friend and asked, “have you heard of the store Kalustyans?” He told me he had, that it is amazing, and if I was to go in to be prepared to leave hours later!  As my favorite shopping experience is specialty foods stores I was immediately excited about what would happen to me upon entry to this place that, just from outside, appeared to be peculiarly & exotically mystifying.

I entered to the most amazing smell… Indian, Thai, Mediterranean all merged together to what was in some pockets delightful and in others a bit less than joyful.  Basically, Kalustyans is a specialty food store, specializing in herbs and spices.  In 1944 K. Kalustyan opened this store in the same location, specializing in Indian Spices and groceries. As time passed, the ownership changed ,and Marhaba International now manages the store.  Its offerings have expanded to specialty foods and food ingredients (with a HUGE emphasis on herbs & spcies) to countries all over the world. Armenia, Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Egypt, England, French, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Holland, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Morocco, Pakistan, Philippines, Romania, Spain, South-Africa, South-America, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Vietnam, West Indies, Yugoslavia and many others.  The clientele for Kalustyans is really all walks of life from chefs to lawyers to immigrants…even Martha Stewart!

I was in the store for over 3 hours, smelling touching and ultimately being inspired!  I can tell you this, it’s a great way to spend a couple of hours trying to be inspired to cook something, I left with so many ideas and so many spices.  I have now since been filling up my famous spice racks from this amazing place.

GO BE INSPIRED!

Clinton St & Bay St
Brooklyn, NY 11231
Red Hook, Brooklyn

There is no better time than summer to indulge in decadent, rich and zesty Latin American fare than summertime.  And there is no better place in all of NYC to accomplish this indulgence than the RED HOOK BALL FIELDS in the Red Hook area of Brooklyn.  Hands down the best street food location in all of New York and hands down one of the loveliest ways to spend a Saturday or Sunday, practicando un poquito de espanol……… .and eating like you are backing through all of Mexico, Central America and South America.

In light of this month’s blog being all about Mexico and specifically central Mexico I began to wonder where we find the best Oaxacan food around.  Yes there are a few restaurants worth mentioning but after about , oh 10 seconds I thought, there is nothing worth mentioning as much as the Red Hook Ball Fields and if you have not yet discovered this place……… (perhaps even as you pass to go to the dreadful IKEA!) …its worth visiting and supporting this summer.  Add it to your agenda, go out and discover something new and you will not be disappointed!

Bordering the soccer fields along Bay Street  you’ll find countless little stands with all different colored tarps and flags from all over Latin America.  The stands filled with charcoal cooking stoves, with pots of beans, rice, stews, meats, corn and of course countless tortillas being made from scratch by hand, both flour and corn.

Here you find no menus, no prices posted and not many English speakers……… but you will find authentic, truly authentic foods from all over Mexico, Central American and South America.  If you think you have tasted every kind of salsa, think again!  I recently tired a Ecuadorian red salsa that was sweet and spicy and like nothing I had ever tasted!

And of course the Oaxaca’s are well represented here, with perfectly spiced moles, deep heavy & spicy red chili sauces, banana leaf pork tamales, grilled corn, Oaxaca fresh cheese, aguas frescas of all kinds, fruit pico de gallo salad and yes… yes… yes… yes, there are even grasshopper tacos to be found here on occasion!

So go head out to the ball fields for not only delicious Latin food but the soccer games and the overall ambience is pretty incredible, the food is cheap, the people are happy and the soccer is the reason it all exists.  So why sit in front our your TV watching the World Cup  everyday when you can head down to Red Hook and see great soccer live and eat like you have never eaten before!

474 Bergen Street
Park Slope, Brooklyn
718-789-1939
www.barkhotdogs.com

This section was highly debatable this time. I pondered with myself on what is it that I really want to share most.  I tend to travel in the same food circles but have pushed myself out of my comfort “food” zone recently as I have wanted to continue my discoveries in New York.  I have a bad little environmentally unfriendly habit, I am a printer, I send myself emails of things to do and places I want to go to and I print them out and place them in a host of to do baskets, right now to do, later to do, perhaps never to do and totally dream land to do!  So I decided a few weeks ago to delve into one of the baskets where I had my print outs, I think it was the must see but have other stuff to do basket.  I pulled one out randomly and it was an article I had read on Bark Hot Dogs in Brooklyn, neither far from my house nor my office so I figured it would venture out and give it a try.  By no means am I a hot dog fanatic or even casually interested in the topic, generally speaking.  But the idea of place dedicated to all hot dogs and hot dog associated “stuff” pulled my curiosity in towards it.  I had known a little bit about the place because I am a long time fan of Franny’s, and I had this ultimate trust in the food Franny’s puts out so I knew even before I went that there was going to be something pretty special about the place.

I decided not to read up too much or try to understand the allure.  I figured it was going to be High end products and artisanal made ingredients but I wanted to just taste the food rather than the story.

So one day on my way back from purchasing (haggling and fighting for more like it) a sink on Atlantic, I decided it was time to stop by, I grabbed a friend of mine and without any preconceived notions or premonitions went in to eat a hot dog and to tell you the truth the closer I got the closer I craved “the hot dog”.  I imagined all the great things they must have to put on top of their dogs, artisanal mustards, sauerkraut, onions ….I imagined all kinds of good stuff,  I also began to day dream about hot dogs and remembered all the times I had eaten them and the nostalgia it brought back to me, mainly I remember being at the ball park and eating a hot dog worth $0.50 I believe and eating with mustard and sauerkraut! Okay enough of the flashback, but I believe you see my point to that right?

I walked in an immediately was pleasantly surprised.  The design of the place was impressive; after all it was a hot dog place so yes I was surprised. The big wooden tables and the industrial lights were a cool and hip way to surround ones self by hot dogs. The environmentally friendly garbage system was a cute and socially responsible edge, plus they had little flyers on each table highlighting thiersocially responsible DOOS.  I can understand that a bit considering that as I see the menu it is not your normal hot dog cheap, but truth be told I didn’t expect it to be.

The menu which was diverse and a bit hard to decide gave me options like, chili dogs, bacon and cheddar, kraut dog, pickle dog, NYC classic dog and a slew of others including a vegetarian option.  I chose my two favorites a kraut dog and a chili dog and we split a little tray of fries.  The kraut dog which contained oak aged barrel sauerkraut and grainy mustard was pretty u spectacular.  The hot dog itself was flavorful, much more “hearty” than a street dog and you could tell there was actual beef in there and good quality beef at that.  The kraut was certainly the highlight for me on that one, the bun a pretty basic yet not bland was gilled a bit so it was a little crunchy.  The kraut dog is highly recommended.  The chili dog is another story for me, the actual hot dog again pretty spectacular but the chili and cheese on top was a little to “ball park” tasting for me.  I had pictured a much more upscale version of a chili dog and for the price of upscale the expectation should be delivered to, or so I think.  The fries were belgiunesque and done super crispy, just the way many folks dig them.

Over all the place is tasty and worth it. The attention to detail in the products, the eco friendly nature of the joint itself speaks highly of the respect the Franny folks have for their community and the attention to detail is not whatsoever lacking even though this place is just a little hot dog place.  You have this peaceful feeling giving them big bucks for a hot dog, fries and a coke…..all natural of course!

Bottom line when you have a hankering for a hot dog with a more upscale twist, this place delivers.

616 Lorimer Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211
718-389-2982
www.thebrooklynkitchen.com

Being a New York transplant and all, I cannot, not have a section dedicated to all things food and food culture in New York! The food scene is part of the culture of New York. The Brooklyn Kitchen, which I only recently discovered because of a great article written about the Brooklyn food scene in the New York Times is just the place to experience a mixture of food and food culture. What started out as a need for a couple of amateur chefs needing cooking utensils in their own neighborhood has exploded into a haven for food lovers in their hood. Founded by Harry Rosenblum and his wife Taylor Erkkinen, the Brooklyn Kitchen has transformed the neighborhood and the web. Not only do the offer vintage, new, strange and mundane cookware and cooking supplies both in store and online, but they have an amazing blog, a twitter page a face book page, book signings, book clubs and the offer cooking and food classes as well.

The cooking and food classes are what I find to be most fascinating. These are no ordinary classes; they are unique and completely exciting. From knife sharpening, to pig butchering (you get to take home about 6 lbs of fresh pork!) Kambucha making, canning, ice cream making, pie making, soufflés and more.

A definite New York food must, cooking and food classes at the Brooklyn Kitchen!!