At the end of his 2004 article for Gourmet on the Maine Lobster Fest, “Consider the Lobster,” the brilliant and untimely late author David Foster Wallace issued a challenge for epicures. Is being extra aware and thoughtful about one’s food, its source and contexts, what makes a true gourmet, or merely an aesthetic pleasure in eating? Having bought, killed, and cooked my own lobsters for New Year’s Eve, it’s a question I can’t ignore. That’s because unlike Foster Wallace, I did it all myself– all of the gruesome, delicious business.
I don’t pretend that I’ll be able to answer his challenge here. Instead, I will merely share my experiences as I confronted the life and sustenance reality in my own New York kitchen.
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Tags:
Food,
Hive Cooking,
lobster
Welcome to my first Hive Cooking post on Neighborbee. What’s my deal? Well, I’m not a pro, I’m not officially trained even. I just love food- cooking it, eating it, learning about it. And I’m cheap too, and lazy. Definitely lazy. I’m more apt to cook food that’s easy and flavorful, and not too expensive. Culinary voyeurism of this kind is not what you’ll read about here.
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Tags:
epicurious,
Fennel,
harold mcgee,
Hive Cooking,
home cooking,
leeks,
New York City,
potato gratin
On the border of Harlem and Morningside Heights, next to the unending Fredrick Douglas circle redesign at 110th Street, you’ll find a unique neighborhood café that’s already gone through a name change in its five short years. I’d only visited its earlier incarnation as Saurin Parke, and so when I returned recently under the Café Amrita moniker I was afraid that what made the old place so great would be gone.
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Tags:
cafe amrita,
frederick douglas circle redesign,
harlem,
morningside heights,
New York City,
saurin cafe
On November 4th, if you were having a house party anywhere above 110th street then this is where you bought the good stuff. These aren’t just shops that are ok for the neighborhood. Any one of them can stand with any wine shop in town, at least. What you get at the first two is an eclectically curated selection in sleek surroundings. At the third, a wine encyclopedia that made GQ’s top 50 in the country.
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Tags:
harlem,
harlem vintage,
Manhattan,
PJ wines,
the winery,
Uptown,
wine
As Mulberry Street was to Italian immigrants, Mott to Chinese, and Manhattan Avenue to modern Poles, so is West 116th to immigrants from the West African nation of Senegal. It’s a place to shop for clothes, buy plane tickets, pick up a some music, pray, celebrate, eat. All you want from the Old Country, basically, between 5th and 8th Avenues in Harlem.
Every day offers a glimpse into another world. Women promenade dressed in purple, orange, or yellow iridescent robes, their hair wrapped up in turbans higher than Marge Simpson’s beehive. And often, you hear the quick bursts of French or Africanized Creole. If you want to practice your high school français, there’s probably no better neighborhood in New York to do it.
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Tags:
africa restaurant,
Food,
les ambassades,
mafe,
Manhattan,
nem,
senegal,
sokhna,
thiebou djenne,
west 116th street,
west african,
yassa
