Food: September 2010 Archives

Last Wednesday, my friend, Deirdre Corley, and I decided to put our freelance hours to use by hitting up Mario Batali's new Italian behemoth, Eataly. "All in the name of research!" we decreed while trying to figure out the best way to eat our way through the place on a limited budget. I can tell you right now that our wallets (and tummies) were extremely happy.

Now, I know there's been a bit of a backlash (this being New York, of course) that Eataly is too big and brash. That it's a vanity project. That it's nothing more than a gimmicky mega-store ready to rob your soul. Really people, this is midtown. Aren't we used to this by now? Also, who doesn't want freshly made mozzarella, interesting varieties of pasta you can't find in this country, and a vegetable butcher who'll cut your stuff for free? Yeah, maybe it all sounds a little "boo-zhee." Maybe you don't care about silky chocolate gelato or honey robbed from a eucalyptus tree. But maybe you don't know you want this stuff yet. Maybe you just need to try. it. Trust me when I type this: you do. You really, really do.

Upon opening the heavy metal doors on 23rd Street (or 5th Avenue or 24th Street--this place wraps around the block), you're greeted by bright lights and a culinary wonderland explosion. There are lobster mushrooms mingling with morels, white asparagus pointing at eggplants; there's a cheese man who'll tell you what you want based on what you like, and a vegetable butcher waiting for you to throw her some artichokes. If you're overwhelmed at this point--we were--you can take a breather at any one of the dozen standing tables next to the mozza man and order yourself a glass a wine and some freshly sliced cheese and meat. We would have done this if Martha Stewart hadn't been taking over the place with her camera crew and whatnot. Thanks for nothin', Lady M!

Once you're out of the cheese n' veggie area, you're confronted with more dairy delights to your right as well as mini desserts behind glass, a panini station, honey and jams galore, a gelateria, and the Lavazza coffee bar beyond that which seemed to be packed on our way in and out.

Lots more after the jump...

Happy Post-Labor Day to you! This is my favorite time of year. Everything starts to take on a newer, cooler sheen as we glide out of summer and into fall. This back-to-school time of year is all about new beginnings. It's about sloughing off the mosquitos, preparing to layer back into the cozy, and really mapping out how you want to live out the latter part of the year. For me, the end of summer and beginning of autumn should always be celebrated with brunch.

I gathered with some of my friends in the backyard of a sleepy, homespun cafe nestled within Brooklyn's forgotten Navy Yards. We sipped Bloody Marys and thick coffee in the shade of a birdhouse tree while the sun made lazy patterns across the metal table. It was breezy and quiet, the air often punctuated by the sounds of our laughter or the constant clanking of forks on the one plate with the vanishing sourdough pancake. We strolled onto the cobblestoned street, said hello to bikers in their braids and Belstaff, and then made our way to the Admiral's Mansion.

Then, via bike, truck, and taxi, we journeyed to the more industrial part of Brooklyn to tap dance along the concrete, pastel popsicles in hand...