A lovely mutual friend, Mei Zhang, who is the founder and owner of Wild China, the best purveyor of interesting trips there, introduced me to Anissa Helou, the foremost food writer, cookery teacher and passionate lover of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean Basin food. We met on a wet, wintry New York Saturday morning at City Bakery for a cappuccino and bun – an appropriate venue, I thought, as it is near the Union Square Saturday Greenmarket. Not a day for sorting mushrooms and learning the fine points of 22 different potatoes, we opted for a long chat and many laughs. Anissa had just been to Napa for the World of Flavors conference, and then a road trip in the Valley, all of which you can read about in her delightful – and tastily illustrated – blog.
Anissa grew up in Beirut and spent her summers in Meshta al-Helou in Syria, her father’s ancestral home. She left home many, many years ago and has lived in London in a gorgeous loft in Shoreditch ever since, with stints in Paris & Kuwait. And, of course, that Shoreditch loft has a fabulous kitchen in which she plies her crafts. For more, go to:
http://www.anissas.com/blog1/?m=200912
Metta, Norberto Piattoni's Fort Green neighborhood restaurant[/caption]
Francis Mallmann, the revered Argentinian chef made famous by his many restaurants around the world, a couple of books on his cooking style and a hit television series, Chef's Table, has ensured his legacy with a diaspora of chef proteges, two of whom have rolled up in New York. Norberto, better known to his friends as Negro, recently opened Metta, a neighborhood restaurant located on a quiet corner two blocks from the Fort Greene farmers market in Brooklyn. It offers sustainably sourced, vegetable-forward dishes all cooked in a custom designed, open-fire kitchen, using South American asado techniques, utilizing all aspects of the fire (smoke, flame, ash and embers) to create layers of flavor in dishes. Packed with happy diners the night I went, it is relaxed, delicious, interesting and fun.
[caption id="attachment_8248" align="alignnone" width="500"]
Flora Bar, Ignacio Mattos' third opening in New York[/caption]
Ignacio Mattos was born in Uruguay and learned to cook in the kitchens of Mallman and Slow Food legend, Alice Waters. His two other restaurants in New York, Estela, with its bold, Mediterranean-inspired cooking, and Altro Paradiso, with its Italian cuisine, are favorites of mine. Now, Ignacio has come with his team to the Met Brauer on 76th and Madison, offering small bites as well as main dishes in a comfortable setting either indoors or on the open terrace. Service is superb, wines delicious and the food captivating. The space, in my opinion, could do with some tlc - easily accomplished. If you can serve food like that, a bit of flower planting and decorating should come easy.
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