Storm King is one of my favorite arty-zen places in upstate New York, and it’s as good a place as any to chill out and search for one’s photography mojo. The outdoor museum, located about an hour’s drive north of Manhattan, features mammoth sculptures scattered over 500 acres of fields, woods, hill, and ponds. (more…)
Reading the New York Times‘ review of Nicoletta was a little like watching a particularly nasty football tackle. I mean, the guy had it coming, since he was all mandexed out, helmeted, and running into a wall of eleven other guys. But—ouch! It still hurt to watch. (more…)
When I drink a saison beer I feel like my mouth is having a very dry and witty and natural conversation that I wish could keep going forever, without resulting in hungover self-hatred the next day. But, seeing as this is the perfect summer beer for people who are a little bored with pilsners and hefeweizens, I gave myself a pass this weekend (for the sake of research!) (more…)
Bad tomatoes are everywhere. They’re the bland, wet layer on your $12 burger and the mealy red crescents in your otherwise sprightly salad. They’re on grocery store shelves puffed up like water balloons, and at your higher-end chains, they’re laquered scarlet and clustered on the end of a promising-looking vine. These tomatoes always taste like nothing, yet we eat them again and again. (more…)
I never fell hard for a vegetarian sandwich until I met the Scuttlebutt from Saltie. Two of my most hated ingredients–black olives and capers–lurk within this sandwich and I don’t even care because it’s that good. In fact, I wouldn’t eat my scuttlebutt without black olives and capers. Pile them on! (more…)
Unfortunately I never really acquired a taste for banh mi. Which is a shame, because these Vietnamese sandwiches are probably the best bang for your buck when it comes to a flavorful under-$5 meal. I’ve had banh mi from Saigon Bakery and elsewhere that I’ve mostly enjoyed. (more…)
While we’ve all been tossing aside our jackets and admiring blooming trees, maple syrup producers have been cursing this freakishly early spring. Maple trees need cold nights and warm days for the sap to flow, and many in the syrup industry are saying this is the worst season ever. (more…)
The old fashioned’s recent resurgence may have something to do with Don Draper hopping behind the bar to mix a couple in season three of Mad Men. But this cocktail has been kicking around since at least 1806, when the recipe was first printed in a Hudson, NY newspaper. The original recipe called for “a stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water and bitters.” Over time, whiskey became the spirit of choice and the drink simply became known as an old fashioned. (more…)
After-work cocktailing should be as easy as possible and I can’t think of an easier, more refreshing beverage for this sudden spell of warm weather than a dark and stormy. This concoction originated in Bermuda after World War I, but the name is trademarked, meaning if you’re making a true “dark and stormy” you are only supposed to use the trademark-holder’s brand of booze: Goslings Black Seal Rum. (more…)
Deep fried pizza. The words made me think of regrettable trips to street fairs, of zeppole hangovers and cheesestick mistakes. But when New York Magazine crowned the montanara sarita at Don Antonio the best pizza in New York, I started to think maybe I was missing out on some exciting new pizza frontier. How could I say that this was my favorite food while ignoring some raved-about part of pizzadom? I resolved to eat the fried pie, but quietly planned to start another juice cleanse once the experiment was complete. (more…)