Tastes of the Week

October 23 through October 30, 2011

First taste treat goes to the mushroom pizza I had last night at my high school reunion at Sue Schwartz and Howard Muchnick’s beautiful apartment on East End Avenue. For take-out, it wasn’t bad. Rather great, really. But maybe it was the wine, or the nostalgia, being with friends I haven’t seen in 42 years. Friends from Fresh Meadows, Queens, New York –where I spent my childhood. Fresh Meadows is the subject of a marvelous new book called “Fresh Meadows” — part of the “Images of America” series created by Arcadia Publishing. Written by Fred Cantor and Debra L. Davidson, it pays homage to what Paul Goldberger called “the quintessential suburban housing complex.” Thirty years prior, Lewis Mumford hailed the community as “perhaps the most positive and exhilarating example of large-scale community planning in this country.” It was where I cooked at my mother’s knee for almost 50 years.

And here’s a vicarious taste experience. My husband and his best friend Bob Kern had lunch at Ciano this week. They loved it and thoroughly enjoyed the food, the focaccia gently warmed in the fireplace, and the human warmth of the maitre d’ who chatted them up, poured their wine, and brought them more good bread. Three excellent dishes:  a casserole of Tuscan beans, smoked fennel sausage and garlicky breadcrumbs; fusilli with broccoli rabe and sweet sausage in a creamy sauce of that broccoli; and  a thick slab of roasted eggplant “Amatriciana” topped with cured pork cheek, tomato and pepperoncini.  Super-star chef Shea Gallante is the man at the stove. Prix fixe lunch (for three courses) is an awesome $20.95. You just can’t beat that.                           

That same day I was having lunch with my good friend Robin Adelson Shinder, executive director of the Children’s Book Council and the Every Child A Reader national program. We had lunch at the newly opened Kibo restaurant on East 18th Street. Kibo is another flag in the kingdom of Steve Hanson’s restaurant empire — which include eateries such as Blue Water Grill, Atlantic Grill, Bill’s Burger Bar and Dos Caminos . Our waiter, David, was a rock star who was so professional at orchestrating our meal and sharing a bit about himself. He had just passed his bar exam (no, not a mixologist but to be an attorney) and his positive energy added lots of fun to the experience. We began with spicy, salt-licked fried shishito peppers, a refreshing japanese cucumber appetizer, and good-enough ramen noodles in a porky broth that needed a bit of the chili paste that accompanied it. The items from the robata grill were the real thrill, however, and I wish there were more of those on the menu! We had the filet (steak), chicken, and huge perfectly-cooked shrimp with a dab of
kimchee aioli. I could easily put the chicken on the very top of my favorite tastes this year.

Desserts were Japanese-inspired, yet decidedly American, and very delicious. A green tea panna cotta with smoky almonds, and a wonderful pumpkin tofu cheesecake with bananas and salted caramel ice cream anchored by what looked like crushed malted milk balls. The consulting chef on this lovely, big project was, unexpectedly, one of the most respected chefs in the world, Joel Robuchon, who has more Michelin stars than any other chef in the world. Amazing, really. And while the essence of Robuchon is French, he does own a Japanese restaurant in Monaco, called Yoshi. There is a simple price-fixed lunch offered at the remarkable price of $14.95 for two courses. The front-of-the-house personnel, btw, are better-trained, and more charming, than most anywhere. At night, I hear, Kibo becomes an energized, public/private club with DJ and all, and lots of people popping champagne corks. I, myself, will stick to the affordable, thirst-quenching, chilled sake on draft, and go again for lunch.

Bargain breakfast at L’Express on Park Avenue South and 20th street. For almost 10 years now, I use this wonderful bustling French bistro as my “city office.” I order a “tartine” — which is nothing more than a 1-1/2 foot long slender slice of well-toasted baguette.  Butter and orange marmalade (which you must ask for), on the side. It reminds me of the days in Paris when I stayed near the Sorbonne at the Hotel Pierwige for $9 a night. They too served well-toasted baguettes in the morning. Unlimited pour of very good coffee. See you there.

Late afternoon snack at abckitchen — in the back parlour — where they offer a limited menu and lots of interesting things to drink between regular meal times. Very nice to sip fresh mint tea (Moroccan-style), drink coconut water, share their famous roasted carrot salad, and nibble on cookies. It’s like eating in a museum cafe; there is just no store like abc home in the whole wide world.

As promised, last Sunday, our pot luck dinner with friends, including Susy Davidson, exec. dir. of the Julia Child Foundation, at the home of Pat and John Duffy, included copious amounts of smoked salmon and sturgeon from Russ & Daughters, espresso-sized cups of chilled beet soup with creme fraiche and grated lemon, coffee-and-chipotle braised shortribs, a creamy potato gratin, roasted Brussels sprout with bacon, a yummy salad with toasted walnuts and pickled onions, and a beautiful apple tart in a shortbread crust, made by Debbie Freundlich (editor, with Susy of American Express’s Briefing Magazine who just happens to be the mother-in-law of Julianne Moore.)

Wishing you good tastes this week.

Legends in Hospitality: The Power in Front (of-the-house)

Julian Niccolini (Left) and Alex von Bidder (Right)

Twenty years ago, if you can recall, hardly anyone knew the name of a chef in a restaurant. Status and power belonged to the guy at the door (rarely was it a woman). That was who you needed to know and, more vitally, who you wanted to know you.

There was a moment-in-time when you could actually find Danny Meyer running Union Square Cafe, Joe Baum at the front door of Aurora, George Lang holding court near the iconic murals at Café des Artistes, Sheldon Haseltine nodding you in at the über-trendy Joanna’s, or Drew Nieporent opening the door for you at Montrachet (and now at Corton).  Elaine Kaufman ran her star-studded eponymous bistro on New York’s Upper East Side until she died at 81 last year.

But these days, few people know who’s standing at the check-in desk. Celebrity chefs may be off promoting themselves or their latest ghost-written cookbooks or endorsing some new line of cookware, but they’re still the go-to people for the best tables, the generous midcourse freebies, the second round of desserts – and in an age of texting and instant messaging, they’re instantly available.

I was reminded of this reversal of power when I took a dear friend to The Four Seasons for an impromptu birthday lunch last week, since she’d never been there. Now you may say, “The Four Seasons?  I haven’t been there in ten years, not since mother came to town.” Well, let me tell you:  You’ve been missing a level of refinement of both food and space that you hardly find anywhere these days.

Many restaurants drop off the media radar if they aren’t constantly screaming to the blogs about everyday trivialities, or if their celebrity chefs lack an itchy Twitter finger — but at The Four Seasons, hardly anyone knows who’s in the kitchen. Instead, everyone knows the restaurant’s two managerial rock stars, Alex von Bidder and Julian Niccolini. They are the dedicated owners of New York’s fabled restaurant, located in the triumphant Seagram’s building.

Neither of them is a judge on Top Chef nor a headliner at South Beach Food & Wine Festival.  Instead, Julian and Alex, who bought the restaurant in 1995 from another revered pair of front guys – Paul Kovi and Tom Margittai — move from table to table every day, ensuring that service glides unobtrusively, and recognizing their “regular” clients’ gastronomic foibles – and that means the entire room. They are the real “table hoppers” even though at least half the room knows the other half. They yaw when necessary, fawn when appropriate, and do whatever it takes to keep Henry Kissinger and Richard Gere coming to lunch.

We had our birthday celebration in the bar room, home of New York’s “power lunch”, and the place was hopping with confident, deep-pocketed sorts of people who pay little attention to the city’s PR machinations. The place is 52 years old and feels as fresh as a basket of just-picked herbs. Sunlight pours in from double-height windows; tables are large; the Brno chairs, by architect Mies van der Rohe that were controversial when the restaurant’s first impresario, Joe Baum installed them, are capacious and comfortable; multiple layers of cloth smother the clunk of dishes that afflict too many high priced bistros; and Alex and Julian know your name along with every last detail about every item on the menu.

For it is their food as much as it is the chef’s. Read the menu carefully and discover a study in tradition, restraint — and somehow also a bit of magic. You want to order everything because in your mind it all tastes good and, simultaneously, comforting.

We ate real bay scallops as a special of the day; beef carpaccio with mustard greens and aged parmesan-like stravecchio from Wisconsin; soft polenta with wild mushrooms and an excess of truffles, striped bass (real striped bass, not some farmed half-breed) with autumn vegetables in a chorizo-mussel broth.

And that’s the way the menu goes:  “A Selection of Oysters and Clams; Scottish Smoked Salmon, Proper Garniture; Filet of Bison, Foie Gras, Perigord Black Truffle; Grilled Tuna, Roasted Fennel with Feta, Black Olive Tapenade; Filet Mignon, Cauliflower, Sherry-Mustard Sauce.” There’s not much in the way of linguistic fireworks here. There are no farmers names or anything about sustainability or grass fed or non-GMO or other ideological diatribes that clutter menus.  Instead, everything was utterly and quietly perfect. 

I recognized a continuity of style in menu language (American and self-assured), service (invisibly visible) and restaurant’s attitude toward its customers (“friendly, but not familiar,” was what Joe Baum dictated). After Baum left to create more magic elsewhere, the place got run down by its corporate owners, then revived by Tom and Paul, who after many years were succeeded by Alex and Julian.  It was this uncommon continuum – where the power lay in front of the house – that perhaps explains why the place feels fresh and new, but also as comfortable as your bedroom slippers.

Two tables away, some men were finishing their coffee when Alex and Julian appeared with a bottle of champagne, a 16-inch-high “toque” of pink cotton candy and a whispered “happy birthday.” Their business could wait; it was time to celebrate.

It is no surprise that they were feted with the 2011 “Legends in Hospitality Award” just the other night at a gala for the American Hospital in Paris Foundation. Their efforts in the world of food and the good life have been duly noted.

As for me, I may begin to ask upon entering a new restaurant, not the name of the chef in the back, but “Hey, what’s the name of the guy up front?”

My prediction for 2012? A generation of celebrity maitre d’s with a television show to call their own.

Radically Simple Gets Top Honors

In conjunction with the 25th anniversary of the country’s most beloved food magazine, the editors at Cooking Light have established the Cooking Light Cookbook Awards. Beginning with the November 2011 issue (on newsstands now), the 100 MOST IMPORTANT COOKBOOKS of the past 25 years were chosen. Each month will unveil the top picks across 15 categories. In the first category, General Cookbooks, only nine selections were made. I am pleased as punch that Radically Simple: Brilliant Flavors with Breathtaking Ease was one of them.

According to Cooking Light‘s editorial team, more than 50,000 cookbooks will have been published in the U.S. in past quarter-century. Their observation is that, “Cooks love books for their ability to inspire, entertain, excite, soothe, teach — and for their beauty as physical objects. The best are thrilling, whether they’re eye-opening explorations of a single subject, seminal overviews, or beautiful obsessions.” Many of the ones chosen are all of the above.

The CL team looked at best-seller and awards lists, and talked to editors, authors, and experts. For consideration, books had to be published in the U.S. since 1987 and be in print or easily available on line. “Winners emerged after passionate debate about voice, originality, beauty, importance, and a clear mission or vision.” And yes, they went on to say, “We tested the recipes.”

Other choices in the category include:  Martha Stewart’s Cooking School (Lessons and Recipes for the Home Cook); The Essential New York Times Cookbook by Amanda Hesser (which is on my shelf next to Craig Claiborne’s cherished blue-linen bound edition written in 1961); Real Cooking by Nigel Slater (an original voice if there ever was one); Gourmet Today (edited by Ruth Reichl); Cook with Jamie:  My Guide to Making You A Better Cook, by Jamie Oliver; The New Best Recipe (by the editors of Cook’s Illustrated); Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything; and Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller.

In addition to the personal and insightful write-ups of each book, are a few specially selected recipes, which makes this double issue of Cooking Light, especially magical.

Of Radically Simple, here are some highlights: “This is one of those books that make you want to leap up and start cooking.” “This book importantly elevates the quick-and-simple concept to a new level, becoming a benchmark.”

Next month?  Baking.

With heartfelt thanks to Cooking Light and to my readers who dare to be radically simple.

Tastes of the Week

October 16 through October 23, 2011

This past week was an embarrassment of riches at the table. And while I really like eating home best, there is nothing quite like sharing an excellent meal with a friend. At lunch, three hours seems to be the golden rule for maximum pleasure. Dinner is nothing short of four. This is a luxury for me but one that I love. We have a little joke, my husband and me. When I call late at night to check in and say hi (or good-night as the case may be), his first question is always, “Have you ordered yet?” We always laugh. Yes, Michael, I reply. “I’m on the way home.”

For a nice mid-afternoon Sunday lunch for my brother and a dear friend who is an eminent food writer for Newsday, I prepared a radically simple meal of Chilled Beet Soup with Creme Fraiche and Lemon Zest, and, my “go to” recipe for Pork Loin in Cream with Tomatoes, Sage and Gin, accompanied by a potato gratin. Dessert? A new one for me — a lemon tart from Thomas Keller. I swapped walnuts for the pine nuts in the ethereal crust and it worked!  (Check out Radically Simple for my recipes and go to Epicurious for the Keller lemon tart.) I served the tart with a small cookie made from extra crust, topped with a tiny scoop of my lemon buttermilk ice cream (only 3 ingredients!)

A celebratory feast at the Taj Pierre Hotel in New York for the launch of a remarkable book “The Taj at Apollo Bunder.” Hundreds of guests, thousands of orchids and festival lights to honor Diwali — an important Hindu holiday. Amazing Indian and southeast Asian things to eat which I will describe at length in another post.

Dinner at Del Posto with my wonderful young cousin Josh Rovner who is the head of training in revenue management for Hilton. He loves to eat in four-star restaurants and we chose the crown jewel in the Bastianich-Batali kingdom. Here’s the menu cooked by chef Mark Ladner:  Abalone Carpaccio with Grilled Asparagus & Young Ramps; Spaghetti with Dungeness Crab, Jalapeno & Minced Scallion: Yesterday’s 100-layer Lasagne alla Piastra; Young Lamb alla Romana, Garlic Yogurt with Ceci & Swiss Chard Ragu; Sardinian Lamb & Roman Artichokes, Bruised Mint & Saffron Potatoes; Sour Apricot & Toasted Cashew Coppettina, Sfera di Caprino with celery, fig agrodolce & celery sorbetto; Sunchoke crema with gelato al lievito. What can I say? Worth it. Unexpected visits from Lidia Bastianich and also Joe. Drank their wine.

Lunch at rooftop at Eataly at La Birreria on a very sunny but slightly chilly afternoon. Their space heaters really work but bring a sweater or a pashmina anyway. My favorite new lunch: Whole roasted Maiitake mushrooms with Pecorino Sardo crema, asparagus and peas;  a salad of chopped mixed kale, grapefruit, poppy seed frico with anchovy vinaigrette; and nubby, fatty, divine housemade cotechino with their signature coarsely-cut kraut. Doppio espresso.

Brunch at Barbounia with psychoanalyst friend (specializes in teenage girls — very helpful because we have one!). This has got to be the hippest, happening brunch in town, especially on a Saturday. Everything looked so good! You can linger for four hours (like we did!) over a mountain of mezze but the green shakshuka, the 1-inch high pancakes, the gigantic fresh salads all looked fabulous. Please save room for the kadayifi dessert — layered with warm cheese, rose water syrup and kulfi ice cream. Oh my gosh.

Village Zendo —  cocktail reception with lovely southeast Asian offerings by the Communal Table catering (nycommunaltable.blogspot.com) — to learn about the efforts of Michael Daube, director of Citta — an organization that builds schools, hospitals and orphanages in the poorest areas of the world including Nepal, India and Chiapas (citta.org).  Talks, slides and lovely photos of the children in Nepal waiting for a school to be built. Bought an ebulllient drawing by 8-year old Tenzin Thiley who looks like a happy, handsome kid.

Dinner at Paros — a new Greek restaurant in Park Slope. Good place for a bottle of Greek wine (a new-to-me delicious dry red — Naoussa Chrisohoou 2008) and a salad. Wonderful waiters, even Saturday night Greek music and a lovely singer. Read between the lines.

A late-afternoon coffee at Nespresso Boutique in Soho (92 Prince St.) — a great place to crash with comfortable tables and chairs. Good espresso but the latte machiatto really looked fabulous.

Dinner tonight at the Duffy’s — with Susy Davidson, the executive director of the Julia Child Foundation, and a few wonderful friends — old and new. It’s a pot luck and we’re all bringing something. More about that next week.

May your coming week be full of good taste (and tastes.)

Popcorn and Patriotism

It has become fashionable for food companies to link with charitable causes. Two noteworthy efforts are those of Starbucks’ Ethos water project which provides children with access to clean water all over the world, and Newman’s Own, whose earnings benefit a slew of children’s causes. But just the other day, I came across a fledgling whose mission is to help the lives of veterans. It got my attention in an unusual way.

At my daughter’s 10^th grade parent dinner two weeks ago, I sampled some really good popcorn and the best version of cheese doodles I’ve ever had. Not quite Proust’s “madeleine moment,” the puffy, fluffy, cheddary bits stopped me in my tracks. “Wow!” I said, on the way to my first glass of malbec. An indulgent childhood memory had me begging my hosts, “Where did you get these?  They’re fabulous!”  I never expected the answer I got.

As an emergency room volunteer, I had just spent the morning talking to a young veteran who was suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome prompted, no doubt, by the recent news that his best friend had shot himself. This was just two weeks after his army buddy went to his local VA hospital complaining of depression. He was sent home without a plan and came up with one himself.

My ER patient, a construction worker, had blacked out that morning under a load of heavy glass. He was shaken and decided to come in. We started to talk, he started to unload, and I started to understand what happens to our veterans when they come home.

Nothing. No transition, no financial assistance, no 12-step program about how to integrate into a world oblivious to the perils of your most recent life and blind to your wounds. “Sometimes, it’s worse than that,” said the handsome vet, probably in his late 30’s. “You are vilified by others who learn that you have killed in the name of honor and your country.”  “I risked my life in Afghanistan, I held a dying comrade in my arms, and then I volunteered again.”

So it was no small coincidence that I learned that the host of the party was, in fact, the creator of the Five Point Snacks meant to address the needs of my patient – financial support, awareness, respect, and job opportunities for veterans. My heart skipped a beat.

Advertising mogul Alan Blum, along with creative director, Charles Herbstreith, conjured up the idea — five snack foods, each honoring one of the branches of the US Armed Forces. The hope? That America’s veterans will have better opportunities to  return to civilian life. Mr. Blum will give 11% of profits to organizations that support, care for and benefit veterans from all branches of the military. And who better than veterans to become the sales-staff-and-spokespeople for the Five Point Snacks.

Said Tiffany Taylor, the snack buyer at BJ’s headquarters who bought the entire product line for all BJ Warehouse stores, nationwide, within a week of the company’s inception, “This is far more than a great snack with a mission, it is a great mission with a snack.”

Alan Blum, whose brainchild this was, helped develop the game-changing ad slogan “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile,” along with major campaigns for Absolut Vodka and Air France. Perched on top of the movement to partner advertising and entertaining (err, product placement), he created brand integration models for shows such as The Apprentice.  Fixated on consumerism and its future, Mr. Blum believes brands today need to be as much about the purpose as the product itself.  The best example of this right now, he says, is Tom’s Shoes. Buy one pair and give one away to someone-in-need. “If all things are equal,” he says, “why not do something good?”

Within 24 hours of bagging their first products, Duane Reade ordered all five snacks for 240 stores in the tri-state area.  Gristede’s just bought it, as did the 189 BJ’s Wholesale Club stores.

During their co-packer search, Mr. Blum and associates tasted products from all over the country, sampling upwards of 200 different varieties to select the ones that would ultimately define the Five Pont Snacks brand. And while the snacks themselves are really delicious, as any great ad man knows, the heart of a brand is the naming and packaging of the message.

The line-up?  There are Major Murphy’s kettle-cooked potato chips, nutty-tasting Sailor Knots pretzels, upscale G.I. Crunches cheese twists, credible Flotilla tortilla chips, and superlative Airmen Popcorn. “Eat. Live. Give.,” is the slogan of Five Point Snacks.

Sounds like the future to me.

The Promised Recipe

Here it is:

Smoked & Fresh Salmon “en chemise”
Fresh salmon enrobed in a layer of smoked salmon and roasted at a high temperature is rich and elegant with a subtle smoky perfume. An instantaneous room-temperature sauce, made from tomatillos, basil, cilantro, and lime, is a striking accompaniment. And like the book it is adapted from, the recipe is Radically Simple. 

6 thick salmon fillets with skin, 6 ounces each
9 ounces, best-quality, thinly-sliced smoked salmon
16 ounces tomatillos, at room temperature
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
large handful of pea shoots or microgreens to garnish

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F. Remove any bones from salmon and season with salt and pepper; place on a rimmed baking sheet. Completely enrobe the top and sides of each fillet with a thin layer of smoked salmon, pressing down firmly and tucking ends under the fish. Roast 12 to 14 minutes, until just firm. Do not overcook. Meanwhile, cut the tomatillos into 1-inch pieces. Add to a food processor with the oil, basil, cilantro, onion, lime juice and 1-1/2 teaspoons salt. Process until very smooth. Spoon a puddle of sauce onto 6 large plates. Top with the salmon and garnish with pea shoots or microgreens. Serves 6

Serve with a chilled crisp sauvignon blanc. Enjoy!

Tastes of the Week

October 9 through October 16, 2011

As promised, below, is the recipe for the salmon dish featured in Al Hashulchan — Israel’s number one food mag. It was chosen as the best of the 100 recipes offered in this month’s issue. Lovely with a glass of sauvignon blanc to integrate all the flavors.

A lovely vegan carrot cake at GustOrganics on 6th Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets. Good coffee, too. It’s an interesting place — an open-to-the-street cafe — full of plants and wooden tables with an appealing full menu if you happen to be in the neighborhood; or happen to be a vegan!

Lunch with the beautiful Ellie Krieger of Food Network fame at Boulud Sud. It was a wonderful meal that made me wistful for the first New York restaurant that fused the flavors of the Mediterranean and the Middle East. It was actually a restaurant I created for a client more than 25 years ago when I was chef/director of the Joseph Baum & Michael Whiteman Co. The restaurant, which still exists, was called Cafe Greco and Tom Valenti (of upper west side fame) was our first chef. Times have changed yet my prediction about Med-Rim cuisine is happening. Daniel Boulud did a masterful job incorporating the flavors of za’atar, ras el hanout, tahini, eggplant, chickpeas, a baccala-inspired falafel, and much more, into his beautiful French style of cooking.

We had one of the best and most celebratory lunches imaginable at the Four Seasons restaurant on East 52nd Street. We hadn’t been for so many years and wondered why. The Grill Room at lunch is “the place to be and be seen.” While Kissenger and I.M. Pei were clearly out of town, there were power-broker tables for sure. But the real pleasure was the food. It felt contemporary yet nostalgic, for its essence reminded me of the food I have been longing for.  Extraordinary bay scallops (the real ones!) on polenta with a truffle sauce; grilled octopus (so tender it melted on your tongue) with a lovely bean and tapenade salad hidden under a tuft of arugula; a fabulous lobster bisque (when was the last time you had that?), a beautiful offering of striped bass with autumn vegetables in a chorizo-mussel broth, and much more to be shared in a future story.

And I was “gifted” today with a steak from our friend Erica, who bought it at the brand new, everybody’s talkin’ about, butcher-shop, Fleischer’s on 5th Avenue and Union Street in Park Slope. It is their signature steak, “sirloin top.” And my brother brought me a box of the best pignoli cookies made this side of Rome, from Giorgio’s bakery in Hoboken, New Jersey.

If you’re at a farmer’s market this week, look for the tiny heirloom eggplants that I spotted at the market near Lincoln Center. Some of them were round and bright red, all different colors and tiny shapes and sizes. They looked like marzipan. Exciting times for vegetables!

Okay, this blog is so long, please look for the recipe tomorrow on this site — with a photo!

Haute Indian: Why here? Why now?

Just two weeks ago, New York became host to three new Michelin-starred Indian restaurants, prompting one to wonder, “Why here? Why now?”

London has long been home to Important Indian Restaurants, with dining establishments such as Amaya, The Cinnamon Club, Chutney Mary, and Benares rivaling some of the town’s best French restaurants. And Vancouver’s upper crust would just as soon eat at Vij’s, an ambitious, upscale Indian eatery of international repute, than at any of the city’s tonier non-ethnic spots.

But for decades in New York, Indian food traditionally has been burdened with a reputation for being “cheap and cheery,” and its restaurants are largely confined to pockets of “curry ghettos” around the city. I’ve believed that the cuisine’s spicing, and its menu offerings, were too esoteric even for foodies to fully comprehend, making it a challenge to tell mediocre meals from good or great. There were a smattering of elegant spots, including Dawat, Devi and the original Tamarind, but they were often treated as “special occasion” places.

In 1998, Danny Meyer opened a spectacular Indian restaurant in New York called Tabla, and I recall enjoying chef Floyd Cardoz’s “interpretive” food there often. But despite great marketing and lots of favorable press, the restaurant never gained traction and  closed after a 12-year run last December.

So it’s highly ironic that less than a year later the Michelin guide has just blessed three Indian restaurants here with a star apiece while Tabla’s former space now houses a Peruvian ceviche emporium. Michelin anointed Junoon, Tulsi (both in their first year of business) and Tamarind Tribeca (an offshoot of an older and unstarred Tamarind not far from Tabla) with the coveted rating. “Holy Cow!  Break the coconuts, sound the Tabla, play the harmonium. Sing that Badwa-Randi song Chamak Challo,” proclaimed the Indian blog SearchIndia.com upon hearing the news.

To put it in perspective, from thousands of restaurants in the city, Michelin chose only seven to receive 3-stars, nine restaurants merited 2-stars, and 46 got 1-star – three of which were Indian. Of course, these three all were in Manhattan, and a trip to Jackson Heights, in Queens, might have revealed a few more candidates – but no matter, the recognition is there.

Junoon is extremely elegant, spacious, and cost a rajah’s ransom to build. It serves more-or-less modern Indian food with Frenchified service – of the sort one might find in five-star hotels in Mumbai or Delhi. Its environment only can be described as opulent-and-then-some. Its menu is written primarily in English, its language non-threatening, and its spicing a bit modulated. The chef is good-looking Vikas Khanna, who is no stranger to the TV screen; the owner is Rajesh Bhardwaj of Café Spice fame. New York Times’ former critic, Sam Sifton, loved the notion that you could order a bottle of “2006 Valpolicella Grassi with your monkfish tikka.”

Tulsi, which bills some of its items as “street food” brought indoors, is more traditional, its menu language less navigable, but its food rings truer. The impresario and chef here is the beloved Hemant Mathur, who was an owner and chef at Devi, and headed the kitchen at  other Indian notables such as Amma and Tamarind. His butter chicken, Manchurian cauliflower, and tandoori lamb can bring tears to your eyes. I am personally thrilled for his success and this recognition by Michelin who deemed Tulsi “the incomparable one.”

The new Tamarind in Tribeca, also in spectacular surroundings, goes for highly decorative plating of its dishes – and this is something fairly new among the town’s Indian restaurants where food generally comes wallowing in one sort of sauce or another. In fact, the menu is so elegant and luxurious sounding that you might want to enroll in a graduate seminar in Indian culinary history to fully grasp their intentions. The vegetarian selections alone might encourage you to become one. In addition to their Michelin star, the 2011 Zagat gives an appreciative 26 point rating for the food.

While this is all a far-cry from the $6.99 buffet lunch at Chennai Gardens that I have enjoyed over the years, there’s not much commonality among the  chosen three, other than that none is located in Curry Hill and all are more expensive than your typical Indian bistro

I’ve had many splendid Indian meals, but mostly in India. One of my all-time favorites is Masala Kraft, in the historic Taj Hotel in Mumbai, a high-energy destination for the city’s glitterati, where classic food has been “lightened” without sacrificing authenticity. I long for it to open in New York as it would no doubt add to the list of Michelin treats.

Does this mean that, finally, Indian food is hot? Is there a trend building? Or is Michelin over-reaching? Perhaps it’s all of the above, including a post-recession boom that is allowing us to throw wads of money at previously cheap food, and a willingness to embrace the palate-tingling, exoticism of India’s culinary landscape.

The good news is we no longer have to go to London, or India, to get great Indian food.

Marc Vetri: A Culinary Bodhisattva

Credit: Vetri Gallery

In this world of bug-chomping, mean-spirited, limelight-loving chefs, comes a new breed of nice, clean-shaven, family guys with no tattoos — who actually feel good about themselves and their customers. Ben Pollinger, the Michelin-starred chef of Oceana in Manhattan is one such guy. His buddy Dan Kluger, of abckitchen, recently deemed New York’s best new restaurant, is another. This new crop of chefs cook for the pleasure of their guests (and thereby themselves) and whose goal is for others to experience culinary enlightenment rather than mirror their own hype. These chefs create a kind of dining “sangha” (community) where all participants feel interconnected, whether to some intrinsic food memory, to the earth, to nature, or to other sentient beings. And while I’m certain there are many who fit this description, cooking under the radar in kitchens all across America, by chance I met the kindest, gentlest chef of all.

Just last week, at a small press dinner in New York entitled “Sounds Good, Tastes Good,” I met Marc Vetri from the city of brotherly love, Philadelphia. Vetri is the real deal:  a philanthropic, guitar-playing, accomplished, brilliantly modest chef who owns three restaurants, has two cookbooks, runs a million dollar foundation, and by happenstance embodies the “six perfections” that a Bodhisattva must generate — hence the title of this piece. These are:  generosity, ethics, patience, effort, concentration and wisdom. Never mind that Marc met his wife at a yoga class (he summoned the nerve to talk to her after one year) and has been known to meditate, but his divining attributes shown brightly through the food that night. We ate the intangibles that separate one guy’s food from another’s. More soul, than craft. More you, than me.  Food Network TV producer and host, Marc Summers, a Philadelphia neighbor, who often has holiday meals at Marc’s home, says “Vetri is the sweetest, most generous soul I’ve ever met. I love the guy. And while you couldn’t pay me to eat a liver, I love his rigatoni with chicken livers.  I wanted to dive in the bowl and swim around.”

Marc’s three Philadelphia ventures — Vetri Ristorante, Osteria and Amis — are considered among the best Italian restaurants in America. A new place, called Alla Spina, is on its way. Mario Batali has called Marc the “best Italian chef in the country.” (Big praise from the buddha himself.)  Dana Cowin, editor of Food & Wine Magazine, has said when it comes to Marc’s hospitality and philosophy, “It’s all about the cooks and the cooking. No pretension, just genius food.”   James Beard award-winning Vetri, whose grandmother is Sicilian, trained in Bergamo, Italy and himself has trained several chefs who went on to win their own Beard awards. He treats his restaurant family and home family with equal compassion.

Last week’s dinner was a fabulous throw-back to experiences of another generation.  Hors d’oeuvres (homemade fennel salami and artichoke mostarda, gutsy caponata, and even gustier bread), were served “family style” as guests meandered with a glass of wine getting to know each other. The seated dinner was served around one long, farm table that sat 24 generously, in a West Village dining spot owned by The Little Owl group. The meal was one of the most authentically Italian imaginable — both rustic and perfect. Ethereal tuna-ricotta fritters, lusty meatballs, the aforementioned pasta with chicken livers, and the best “plin” — a stuffed pasta from Piedmont — I’ve had.  The roasted lamb shoulder tasted like it came from a salt marsh, the fish braised in olive oil was an exercise in radical simplicity (my mantra), and dessert — an olive oil cake with amaretti semifreddo and chocolate sauce — was a crowd-pleaser. Thankfully, all of the recipes can be found in Marc’s new book, Rustic Italian Food from Ten Speed Press which is hot off the press this month. But the real dessert was the music that followed. Singer/song-writer Phil Roy sang his heart out while Vetri played “sous-guitarist” to his good sounds.

But perhaps it is Marc’s charitable efforts that affords him the Bodhisattva award. Just this past summer, Marc gathered some of the country’s best chefs to come to Philadelphia to raise $800,000 for Alex’s Lemonade Stand (for children’s cancer research.) In 2009, he founded the Vetri Foundation for Children, whose mission is to “support the development of healthy living habits for underserved youth.” The foundation recently launched the “Eatiquette” program whose destiny is to have every school in America serving a fresh, family-style lunch. A kind of eating “sangha” (community) for kids. You see, for Marc, it’s never just about the food. It’s about the people who eat it.

Tastes of the Week

October 2 through October 9, 2011

The season’s new brussels sprouts were evident everywhere in the farmer’s market this week and so I ran home to make my favorite recipe using these adorable little cabbages: Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Medjool Dates. You will find the recipe below.

In one fell swoop, I had some of the most delicious Italian “comfort” food ever — cooked by the maestro, Marc Vetri (award-winning chef from Philadelphia) at a cool dinner he gave last week. Not only did the food rock, but so did his music — he played “sous-guitarist” to the great Phil Roy. The dinner party entitled “Sounds Good/Tastes Good” sure did. Most of the recipes were from Marc’s wonderful new book “Rustic Italian Food” — just out this month and published by Ten Speed Press. We ate:  Tuna-Ricotta Fritters (buy the book just for that recipe!), homemade salumi with artichoke mostarda, rigatoni with chicken livers (I’m still dreaming about it), amazing goat cheese and beet “plin” (a kind of pasta), roasted lamb shoulder, fish poached in olive oil accompanied by a fennel gratin, and an olive oil cake with amaretti semifreddo and chocolate sauce for dessert. As the food filled our stomachs, music filled the room. A wonderful time was had by all.

Great salami from Mario Batali at a 10th grade parents dinner (our kids are in the same class.)

It’s unusual to break the fast at a restaurant and nightclub, but there we were on Saturday night at the legendary SOB’s on Varick Street (after sun-down of course) and after a day of fasting — feasting on pao de queso (delicious Brazilian cheese puffs), great guacamole, seafood swimming in a carved-out pineapple, feijoada, coconut cream birthday cake and caipirinhas. Lots of dancing with the birthday girl, Audrey Appleby and friends.

And the last of the holiday matzoh balls in a greatly reduced, and very delicious chicken broth. The last of the round challah, too.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Medjool Dates
This recipe is from my newest book, Radically Simple: Brilliant Flavors with Breathtaking Ease. A delicious merge of flavors, it is radically simple to make.
Use large, plump, moist Medjool dates. They come from Iran but also from California. You can buy them in Middle Eastern markets.

1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
4 tablespoons olive oil, plus more if needed
6 large soft Medjool dates, pitted and diced
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss the Brussels sprouts with 2 tablespoons of the oil on a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Turn the sprouts cut side down. Roast for 10 minutes. Add the dates to the pan and toss with the sprouts. Roast 10 minutes longer, until caramelized. Transfer the sprouts to a platter. Toss with the cheese, thyme, and remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Add salt and pepper and drizzle with more oil, if needed. Serves 4