I went on a mini (well, mini for me) spree at spice emporium Kalustyan’s and Japanese importer Sunrise Mart yesterday. Any suggestions on how to use Grains of Paradise or Juniper Berries?

A few nights ago, I went to The Fat Radish for a Kanon Organic Vodka pairing dinner with drinks by David Clelland of Apotheke. They were nice enough to share the drink recipes, so I’m passing them along below. The Gripsholm Ginger is almost to the note what we served at our party (minus the bubbly) and The All Things Nice will definitely make a showing at my THX dessert table. 

Bergamot Cooler: 2 oz Kanon Vodka, 4 Cucumber Slices,  ½ oz Lemon Juice, 5 Drops Bergamot Mint, Dash of Vanilla Essence, ½ oz Agave Nectar

Gripsholm Ginger: 2 oz Kanon Vodka, ½ oz Fresh Yuzu, ½ oz Ginger, ½ oz Agave Nectar
 
All Things Nice: 1oz Kanon Vodka, 1 Cinnamon Stick, 10 Cloves, Nutmeg, 1 Vanilla Pod, 2 oz Heavy Cream, 1 Spoon Muscovado Sugar, Served in an Espresso Cup

I hadn’t been to Cookshop in so long that I stayed there for four hours last Friday night. I had one friend meet me for an early evening cocktail and snacks, another pal meet for another cocktail and an app, and then my boyf joined us for wine, dinner, salad and dessert. Perched in that front booth was a lovely way to spend the evening, if I do say so.

Restaurant Week is on its way! July 12-25, save on haute-Portuguese lunch at Aldea, upscale downtown dinner at Apiary and Scandinavian Sunday Supper at Aquavit—and that’s only in the “A”s, people. Get in there and make this NYRW count by eating every meal out on the town for those two weeks. And for the record, if anyone is interested in taking me to lunch at Esca or SHO Shaun Hergatt, my schedule is wide open.

I had the good fortune of attending City Harvest’s A Taste of Summer party, organized by their hip young contingent Generation Harvest. It was (nearly) impossible to sample all the lovely dishes, which were served up by dozens of the city’s restaurants that participate in City Harvest’s main initiative of getting their kitchens’ excess food to the city’s hungry instead of throwing it out at the end of the night. Good idea, right? I did my best to try as many as I could, including dishes from La Esquina, New Leaf Restaurant & Bar, Dickson’s Farmstand Meats, Rye, Motorino, Yerba Buena, The Stanton Social, The Meatball Shop and Ron Ben-Israel Cakes. All in a day’s work, folks.

Mex-hattan/South of the Brooklyn Next time a Californian or Texan disses New York’s Mexican food, send them my way. In fact, in honor of all our city’s great casas de lish, today is officially Mexivore Day here at NewYorkavore. Hola Haters!

Check out the official Mexivore resto-guide after the jump…

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A New One For The Spice Rack Mastiha, a resin harvested only on the Greek island of Chios (Xios), is making its way into the US culinary lexicon with the release of the new cookbook Mastiha Cuisine by Pylos’ consulting chef Diane Kochilas. Mastiha, also known as gum mastic, masticha or μαστίχα, has been used for thousands of years in cooking as well as medicinally, and has a distinctive rooty, warm, spicy, vaguely piney/minty flavor. It makes a nice chewing gum and toothpaste flavoring, and is traditionally used in Easter cakes and more recently as a curious undertone in tomato-based sauces for fish and meat. Visit the EU-funded US flagship store on the Lower East Side, where you can pick up the cookbook, which is full of creative mastiha recipes, as well as mastiha-flavored olive oil (perfect on a fava bean/mint salad) and of course, the resin “tears“—which you grind with a mortar and pestle prior to using. They’re expensive, but a little goes a long way.

image via hammerl.com

So I guess today is Greek Day on NewYorkavore Pylos in the East Village is one of my favorite dinner spots. It’s somewhat spendy and there’s always a wait to sit down, but I love it still. The more people you can rustle up to go with, the better. Then you can order a ton of plates to share—Artichoke Moussaka, Pan-Fried Meatballs, Zucchini & Eggplant Chips, Classic Grilled Sardines—I could go on…Otherwise, if it’s just dinner for two, you’re forced to over-order and overeat rather than go through the harrowing narrowing process. 

Some things I’ve been eating/liking/taking pictures of at Boston’s LTK (Legal Test Kitchen), Midtown’s Le Pain Quotidien and Chelsea’s El Quinto Pino. 

Another tasty lunch from Soba Totto Soba & Yakitori Bar Salmon roe & sea uchin don with nigiri and pea shoots. It comes with pickled vegetables and a little pitcher of hot dashi to pour over and make it soupy and salty. Very fun to eat.

So I guess it’s officially Japanese Day at NewYorkavore I recently happened upon the Japanese Culinary Center in Midtown, and though the prices are a bit steep on kitchen equipment, it’s still inspiring and fun to explore. And I’d definitely check out one of their ramen classes sometime.

I heart No. 7 Sub Being equally fond of fresh bread, seasoned meats and fabulous condiments, there’s really nothing not to love about No. 7 Sub, adjacent from the Ace Hotel. Seriously folks, this is the stuff sandwich dreams are made of. I ordered the Lamb Meatloaf w/Strawberry Pico de Gallo, Curried Crema, Cheddar & Pappadam. Most of the sandwiches have a crunchy X-factor: BBQ chips in the case of the Eggplant Parm; Pickled Daikon on the Turkey Cubano; House-Cured Bac-Os on the Roasted Asparagus/Pickled Ramps number. Damn, this place is awesome—and it’s right around the corner from Stumptown, so I pretty much can’t even deal.

Uni lunch at Soba Totto

Hello Herring! You know spring’s in full swing when the New Catch Holland Herring hits New York. This tasty, healthy, oily fish is at its fresh best this time of the year. I just bought tickets to the upcoming New Catch event with Russ & Daughters, WD-50’s molecular master Wylie Dufresne and avant-jazz musician John Zorn at Astor Center. It’s going to be epic.

photo courtesy of Cornell University

Opa! Flaming food at Uncle Nick’s Ouzaria.