Food Wednesday, running a little late
Sep. 14th, 2006 07:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lsandersonSeptember 13, 2006
Espresso’s New Wave Hits Town
By PETER MEEHAN
YOU might first notice the guy behind the counter with the pirate-worthy tattoos or the chromed-out espresso machine he’s operating. Your attention might be momentarily drawn to the name of the beans he’s using — like Agrica BV Calama Marka or Platinum Blonde: The Rowdy Gals’ Espresso Blend.
But at the best cafes in New York — like Café Grumpy in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, or Gimme! Coffee in Williamsburg, Brooklyn — it’s the coffee itself that will grab you. More
From a Long Tradition, Small Sips Quickly Brewed
By HARRIS SALAT
IN the Chao Chiu Association clubroom three floors above Canal Street in Chinatown six men are seated around a table. They are there to play mah-jongg, read the paper and drink tea the way they did back home — kung fu style.
Louis Truong, a retired travel agent, stuffs a tangerine-size clay teapot with his prized tea, Iron Goddess of Mercy. A spry 86 years old, Mr. Truong has used this same worn vessel for more than 40 years. More
Tea’s Got a Brand New Bag
By FLORENCE FABRICANT
THE tea bag, a clever enough idea at first, went terribly awry somewhere along the way, at least in the view of people who love to savor their tea. Now it is in the process of large-scale reinvention, and some of those who currently shun it with almost ostentatious disdain are very likely to be won over.
At age 100 or so, the old bag is increasingly being filled with fine whole leaf tea, the kind connoisseurs brew in their teapots, and the bag itself has been redesigned in shapes that are not only elegant but constructed to allow those flavorful leaves to show what they’ve got.
With tea sales in the United States now four times what they were a decade ago — about $6.2 billion annually, according to the Tea Association of the USA, a trade group — the American tea drinker seems ready for a change for the better. More
Adrià May Be Relaxing, but His Obsessions Are Still Abuzz
By MARK BITTMAN
MUCH has changed in the last few years at El Bulli, the trendsetting restaurant on the Costa Brava, about a two-hour drive northeast of Barcelona. Ferran Adrià, the head chef, who is celebrated for his astonishing and often baffling technical accomplishments, now has disciples and imitators worldwide.
Meanwhile, Mr. Adrià moves forward. His food, as I realized on my most recent visit, has become — to use a word rarely applied to it — accessible. More
The Minimalist
For Perfectly Cooked Chicken, Use Both Sides of the Grill
By MARK BITTMAN
IT took me years to learn how to grill chicken, and I pretty much had to invent my own technique. Standard advice from standard grilling sources too often left me with badly charred chicken or its equally unpleasant underdone cousin.
My technique is not original, I’m sure, but it isn’t intuitive either. I assure you it will result in grilled chicken at its best: smoky, crispy and moist, good right off the grill or the day after. In the waning days of summer, these precious last grilled dinners might as well be done right. More
Food Stuff
Cupcakes and Tartlets Cavort With Croissants
By FLORENCE FABRICANT
Joyce Quitasol tried a number of careers, including art restoration and forensic psychology, before following in the footsteps of her grandmother by going into baking. Now she and her husband, Mo Chin, a photographer, have opened Joyce Bakeshop in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, joining a number of good new bakeries in that borough. More
Espresso’s New Wave Hits Town
By PETER MEEHAN
YOU might first notice the guy behind the counter with the pirate-worthy tattoos or the chromed-out espresso machine he’s operating. Your attention might be momentarily drawn to the name of the beans he’s using — like Agrica BV Calama Marka or Platinum Blonde: The Rowdy Gals’ Espresso Blend.
But at the best cafes in New York — like Café Grumpy in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, or Gimme! Coffee in Williamsburg, Brooklyn — it’s the coffee itself that will grab you. More
From a Long Tradition, Small Sips Quickly Brewed
By HARRIS SALAT
IN the Chao Chiu Association clubroom three floors above Canal Street in Chinatown six men are seated around a table. They are there to play mah-jongg, read the paper and drink tea the way they did back home — kung fu style.
Louis Truong, a retired travel agent, stuffs a tangerine-size clay teapot with his prized tea, Iron Goddess of Mercy. A spry 86 years old, Mr. Truong has used this same worn vessel for more than 40 years. More
Tea’s Got a Brand New Bag
By FLORENCE FABRICANT
THE tea bag, a clever enough idea at first, went terribly awry somewhere along the way, at least in the view of people who love to savor their tea. Now it is in the process of large-scale reinvention, and some of those who currently shun it with almost ostentatious disdain are very likely to be won over.
At age 100 or so, the old bag is increasingly being filled with fine whole leaf tea, the kind connoisseurs brew in their teapots, and the bag itself has been redesigned in shapes that are not only elegant but constructed to allow those flavorful leaves to show what they’ve got.
With tea sales in the United States now four times what they were a decade ago — about $6.2 billion annually, according to the Tea Association of the USA, a trade group — the American tea drinker seems ready for a change for the better. More
Adrià May Be Relaxing, but His Obsessions Are Still Abuzz
By MARK BITTMAN
MUCH has changed in the last few years at El Bulli, the trendsetting restaurant on the Costa Brava, about a two-hour drive northeast of Barcelona. Ferran Adrià, the head chef, who is celebrated for his astonishing and often baffling technical accomplishments, now has disciples and imitators worldwide.
Meanwhile, Mr. Adrià moves forward. His food, as I realized on my most recent visit, has become — to use a word rarely applied to it — accessible. More
The Minimalist
For Perfectly Cooked Chicken, Use Both Sides of the Grill
By MARK BITTMAN
IT took me years to learn how to grill chicken, and I pretty much had to invent my own technique. Standard advice from standard grilling sources too often left me with badly charred chicken or its equally unpleasant underdone cousin.
My technique is not original, I’m sure, but it isn’t intuitive either. I assure you it will result in grilled chicken at its best: smoky, crispy and moist, good right off the grill or the day after. In the waning days of summer, these precious last grilled dinners might as well be done right. More
Food Stuff
Cupcakes and Tartlets Cavort With Croissants
By FLORENCE FABRICANT
Joyce Quitasol tried a number of careers, including art restoration and forensic psychology, before following in the footsteps of her grandmother by going into baking. Now she and her husband, Mo Chin, a photographer, have opened Joyce Bakeshop in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, joining a number of good new bakeries in that borough. More
