catch of the day: honest fare

In the blogosphere, I find there are two main types of websites: (1) that we like to peruse and (2) that we actually use.  This seems especially true with cooking – as everyone-and-their-mother vies to be bookmarked in the limited attention span of the public's food-porn reel.

I’m a total peruser.  I can spend hours on TasteSpotting, tagging photos linked to recipes - sometimes in languages I don’t even understand - that I would never in my wildest dreams actually want to cook.  Part of this stems from the fact that, in reality, I don’t even like recipes.  I tend to use them as inspiration, rather than actual instructions.  But every once-in-a-while, I fall upon a website that straddles the two worlds - fun to peruse and practical to use.

I discovered Honest Fare the week that Hurricane Irene was heading toward NYC.  My photographer sister and I decided that if we had to hunker down for a few days, we might as well dine like kings.  After a cyclone of a shopping trip through Eataly (there were literally women buying shopping carts full of high-end water bottles), we cooked our first apocalypse-worthy supper : my grandmother's anchovy/walnut pasta & a warm endive and fennel salad from Honest Fare.

On Saturday, friends living in the flood zone came to join our Midtown camp-out.  Again, we turned to Honest Fare, this time to an easy-to-assemble vegetarian tartine.

From there, we drank wine, sang songs, watched reruns and tried to remain sane.  Irene never (really) came, but we had still feasted like gourmet peasants -  upon the fresh, simple (and well, honest) food of Honest Fare.

catch of the day: bellocq tea atelier

There is something about the art of craftsmanship - an elusive je ne sais quoi or mysterious familiarity - that seems almost a memory of things we once wanted, but had somehow forgotten.  In the face of this exceptional attention to detail, we are mesmerized, lured in by the sense of purpose in each word, scent, symbol or flavor. Occasionally, a small company offers us the opportunity to own a modern memento of this dying culture of cultivated skill and taste.  Such is the case with Bellocq Tea Atelier.

I first discovered Bellocq on a chilly Sunday at the New Amsterdam Market.  As a frequent NAMarketer, the new arrival or return of season-sensitive purveyors is always an exciting occasion, so I eagerly wandered over to check out their wares.

The first thing that struck me was the gorgeous design of the Bellocq tea canisters and paper packets - not to mention the "accessible luxury" vibe of the whole set-up (artfully crafted by former Martha Stewart Living stylist - and Bellocq co-owner - Heidi Johannsen Stewart).

As if this visual enticement weren't enough, the very knowledgeable "tea sommelier" (a name I gave him, but he humbly dismissed), Ravi Kroesen, graciously and enthusiastically answered my varied tea questions (tea blends vs. single estate teas, boiling temperature of water, etc.) - all while serving me the most delicious Afghani Chai.  Needless to say, I was hooked.

The happiest news of all is that Bellocq, (already available at the Bellocq tasting room in Greenpoint, at the New Amsterdam Market, and a number of other specialty stores) will soon be available at the very convenient Haven's Kitchen, opening winter 2011 near Union Square.  In the meantime, I will be actively dwindling down my already over-sized tea collection, in anticipation of (much) better teas to come.

catch of the day: bread & chocolate

Working with, around, or in a field generally related to food usually comes with perks.  And sometimes, the perks are mouth-dropping, drool-inspiring, and downright genius. Today, I received an email to the tune of "come pick up a free loaf of Bread & Chocolate".

I'm  not the first to discover this dense, chocolate-filled, sourdough-tangy, perfectly-salty boule.  It has already appeared on Food Network’s “The Best Thing I Ever Ate,” and in Bon Appétit's list of America’s 10 Best Bread Bakeries.

The breakdown: -This isn't your grandmère's flaky pain au chocolat.  This is the sumo wrestler of chocolate bread, with 1/3 its weight coming from Callebaut Belgian dark chocolate.  So unless you're a real masochist, there's not much of a risk of eating the full loaf in one sitting. -The sourdough boule is a unique, tangy spin on the traditional combo.  In high school, my French teacher used to feed us Hershey bars on butter-slathered baguettes, which she claimed her children ate daily for snack. This is a sophisticated one-up on that classic.  You've got the salt, the dark chocolate, the oil/butter - but now with an acidic, tangy aftertaste.  In other words, this bread won't evaporate into your stomach without notice.  It commands (and deserves) that you slow down and recognize its full flavor profile.

Oh - and did I mention that this bakery is dangerously close to a holistic/Ayurvedic retreat center?  I guess we don't have to think twice about where those lost little campers ran off to...