Restaurants to Hit List

I've been so busy lately learning more about cooking I feel like I haven’t had a chance to actually cook OR eat at all the delicious new places popping up or offering “recession specials ”. I've started a list of all the places I want to try to hit when the opportunity arises. Here it is:

Dirt Candy
Owned and operated by a graduate of NGI, and an exciting new concept: vegetables are the focus and are prepared to maximize deliciousness but without concern for health or politics so there are some fatty rich morsels of delight. Can’t wait.

The Farm on Adderly
Ditmas Park may be the new Smith St. as far as restaurants go and this is the one that’s been around the longest. I can see making Ditmas Park being a regular summer excursion ‘cuz it’s so pretty.

Matsugen
All the Jean Georges restaurants are offering a “recession special” $24 lunch $35 dinner. Two of my classmates raved about the Matsugen one so I have to hit it before the recession is over? Will there be a depression special then?

Number 7
All the reviews have been stellar both from friends and the times. Seems especially inviting for brunch?

Scuderia
The more low key little brother to Da Silvano this place looks fun and yummy and worth checking out.

Socarrat Paella Bar
I haven’t been too lucky with most of the “authentic” Spanish restaurants in town but from the pictures and reviews this looks really good. The item in today’s serious eats sold me too. It’s like tapas bento boxes. PERFECTO!

Vinegar Hill House
Newish restaurant started by my buddy Sam Buffa and Chef Jean Adamson. It’s close enough to walk to from my house so why haven’t I gone yet? Cuz I’m an overscheduled maniac! Next time I go to St. Anne’s Warehouse I’m so there. Looks delicious.

Simple Social Graces for 2008

Las Charades 

From Madrid. Awesome girl pop in the vein of Tiger Trap sung in Spanish. I saw them play in Barcelona in January and their show was oddly reminiscent of Tiger Trap too. Their album is out on Bcore and is totally great.  

Delorean 

Ok, my love of Delorean is well documented on my website, but this year they have gotten so smart. They started throwing parties with their friends (mainly DJ K*O) all over Spain called DESPARRAME where sometimes they play and sometimes they don't and have even gone to Moscow to have them there! The parties are a mix of DJ sets and live sets and are totally incredible dance experiences. Hopefully they'll come to the U.S. with them in 2009. Check out their blog for mixes you can download and their funny Spanish posts about new tracks they love. They've also been doing lots of remixes of Teenagers, Big Pink, Lemonade and more. They are all awesome, but I'm just desperate for new Delorean songs.  

Cooking School 

In September I began the Chef's Training Program at the Natural Gourmet Institute. It's a part time program teaching cooking techniques and theory of health supportive cooking. I go Wednesday nights and all day Saturday. It's intense but also intensely wonderful. I've learned a ton of practical information on how to be a fundamentally better cook through proper preparation, but I've also learned so much about ingredients (sugar, fat, soy, corn) and nutrition, it's really mind blowing. I'm working on an essay for my friends with some of what I've learned distilled into an intelligible document so look for that soon!  

Traveling in Central America 

In the last 4 years I've had the luck to have been able to travel to almost all the countries in Central America. So far I've been to Costa Rica (2X), Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico and Nicaragua. Every time I go somewhere in Central America I feel like I learn more about myself than I had planned. I feel guilty about my carbon footprint but I also feel like it reminds me that there is so much to know about other places and so much more to appreciate than what we're taught in school or could learn on our own in books. In 2009 I'm hoping I'll be able to actively work towards a different kind of connection, less tourist, more vehicle for assistance. More on that as it happens I'm sure.

Today's the Day

A year ago I started dreaming about a new future. A future with nature and water and a different kind of life. Somewhere near a beach, with not too many people and space and time. Now this dream takes time and money to make happen but one of the steps towards it was getting some new skills but in an area I already loved. Through my travels in the last few years I've become obsessed with different styles of cooking and different cultural appreciations of food. This has coincided with what seems like a foodie revolution, awareness of ingredients and preparation is much higher thanks to random things like top chef and food network, but we can always go back to our roots and thank Julia Child for her part in raising the bar for us Americans by bringing true obsession to these shores.

But I also started thinking about my work and my skills. I work in an intuitive relationship based industry. While there are certainly facts here and there, the changing landscape in the music business and the media world at large has made the future of this business tenuous at best. I feel like I need to get some different skills, ones that are transferable and possibly useful in places outside of New York and LA. 

So inspired by many people including my foodie friends and my hope that a world in which vegetarianism and natural foods will only become more and more widely respected, and in honor of my 20th year of vegetarianism, I've enrolled in the chef's training program at the Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts. It's a 10 months program (almost 12 with the internship) and a big commitment for me! It's longer than a human gestation period!

So wish me luck as I embark on this journey that begins tonight. I'll keep you posted of course!