North America
2 Jun
One of the joys of New York summers is the easier pace. And one of the signposts of the easier pace are lazier park lunches surrounded by children feeding pigeons, dogs playing on the hill, quiet citizens absorbed in a good book. Central Park, often called the lungs of the city, is also its beating heart, its passion point. There are so many...
7 May
Going to New Orleans is like going to another country. The city has a style and a sense of self utterly its own. Never is the generous character of New Orleans more on show than during the ten-day period of Jazz Fest when the headliners read like a who’s who of music. But the night! Oh, the New Orleans night! It is in the backstreet bars...
14 Apr
On Manhattan’s LES resides a moment – an experience of quiet, meticulous proportions that surprises while it comforts. Enter a an oasis of calm on a gritty east 9th street and find a long sushi counter and a scattering of butcher block tables. The interior is not as beautiful as it should be but, perhaps, that is not the point. Here...
5 Apr
Smorgasburg makes it’s triumphant return to the Williamsburg waterfront this Saturday, offering creative prepared foods from purveyors throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn and fresh produce from local rooftop gardens and small farms Upstate. Try Brooklyn Oyster Party‘s local oysters, homemade soups from La Buena Gazpacho, and the famous Blue...
20 Mar
Located at 98 Christopher Street, Uncorked! Wine Co is pocket-sized wine shop with two interesting angles: The first is that it has partnered with some of the more delicious and interesting restaurants in the area, like Blue Ribbon and l’Artusi, to offer the wines that these wine innovative restaurants are currently serving; the second angle...
16 Mar
At home in Big Sky country… One of the transporting qualities of The Ranch at Rock Creek is the vast collection of old photographs and artifacts from the frontier days. Everywhere you turn, you will find an image which provides a window into another time and place: America’s Old Wild West. If you have ever dreamed of what life on a ranch...
26 Feb
The current show at New York’s The Jewish Museum, The Radical Camera: New York’s Photo League, 1936-1951, is a wonderful portrait. It is a portrait of New York street life, a portrait of a tumultuous period in US history, and a portrait of changing photo documentary style. All three portraits are captivating. For a New Yorker, to...
23 Feb
Tell me the stories. Speak to me of the past, that I might better appreciate the now. Repeat for me the orations and whispered conversations of love and intrigue. Play for me the riffs and liquid notes that once escaped through blackened doors on clouds of smoke. Show me the windows of the famous, and the infamous streets — walk them with me — so...
6 Jan
A wonderfully rustic, brick-faced nook serving up unusual and delicious food was the setting for my dinner last night. All those humble foods – kale, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, radishes, even – have been given a makeover that is stunningly good. Deviled Brussels sprouts were one of my favorites. Wrapped in bacon and coated with...
16 Dec
With almost 60 degree weather a week away from Christmas, I’m thinking summer and the glorious Northeast Coast. And my favorite state is Rhode Island,where I have spent much time – a state true to itself, raw-boned..a little like Katherine Hepburn. Ocean House is a find, located in Watch Hill, the enclave of established families, and...
11 Dec
30 Nov
We finally succeeded in getting a table at Marcus Samuelsson’s Red Rooster Harlem last night, a venue evocative of 1920’s Harlem while setting a thrilling new tone for a neighborhood in search of rebirth. Harlem is close to my heart. I grew up in East Harlem, attended Columbia University which sits to the west of Harlem and, as my attachment...
11 Nov
Fogo Island: The landscape is startling and honest, unsentimental and unafraid. The weather is a member of the community…the winds at the edge of the North Atlantic make cheeks burn and eyes water in February, but its breezes are a benediction on a warm July afternoon. Architecture here fights for life. Always poised at the edge, making...
20 Oct
Saturday’s upcoming New Nordic Cookout at New York’s largest greenmarket is further testimony to the huge popularity of ingredients, cooking technique and great chefs. In partnership with GrowNYC, The Consulate General of Denmark will host the New Nordic Cookout in the north plaza of Union Square with participation from the Danish Crown...
21 Sep
The “farm” is a rooftop greenhouse in Greenpoint, Bklyn. State of the art horticultural and engineering techniques optimize crop production, crop quality and production efficiency. Product? The best looking, most nutritious, unmatched quality lettuces and herbs – with more produce coming. Available year round, picked before...
30 Aug
It was like greeting an old friend. Last night, dining at Tertulia, I watched Chef Seamus Mullen stoking his fire, winding up and down the grill to adjust sear and temperature, and serving up beautiful steaks that had been grilled in the coals. This is great cooking and it reminds me of Chef Francis Mallmann’s infernillo cooking so beautifully...
13 Aug
There’s no sign – or, rather, a hand written wonky sign on a grungy street (sorry Ludlow) – so it has been under the radar for a while. I’ve been going for years now (to be honest, it was my son, Jeremy, who schlepped me down first) but after that first visit, greed, disguised as protectiveness, kept me from sharing the spot. Kumain,...
13 Jul
An absolutely delicious meal is to be had in this relaxed West 10th Street restaurant. The menu of Crudo, Verdura, Pasta, Pesce, Carne is composed of locally grown, stunningly fresh produce combined to achieve complex textures and flavors. It’s the kind of place you can happily return to time and again, so appealing are the offerings and so...
9 Jul
For some, a summer in New York is a fate worse than death. It’s my idea of heaven – straight run from north to south in one traffic light, evening reminiscent of times past idling on the stoop, the farmers’ market, burgeoning with produce. It can’t get any better!
9 Jun
I was intrigued; my brain began to tick over… I have a courtyard between my building and its sister building that has racked up one failed garden after one failed basketball court, descending in to a catch-all storage space. And in a city were space is at such a premium! How uncreative… I cannot stomach supermarket eggs anymore after...
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