My brother from another mother Adam’s Clinton Hill taqueria Cochinita is opening soon — check it out in all its glory on Grub Street!

Hey strangers: I’ve been a combination of busy working, constantly out and about, and on a bit of a spring cleaning diet kick — resulting in some bad food bloggerdom on my part. I hope you’ll quickly forgive and forget when you get a load of this colorful salad idea, cribbed from Williamsburg haute grocery Radish. It’s just thinly sliced peppery radishes (here I used watermelon and black varieties, but whatever you see at the market will do), sweet mango, slightly smoky poblano peppers, and nutty black sesame seeds — finished with olive oil, salt, pepper and a little lemon juice. Simply divine, as far as raw, healthy food goes. I’m working my way up to a juice cleanse next week, so this is one attempt to prepare my system for burger/cocktail-withdrawl. Fun fun!

A pastrami sandwich & poutine, Montreal-style at Mile End

Happy New Rabbit Year! I celebrated at Ft Greene’s No. 7, where Baohaus chef Eddie Huang took the reigns and prepared a massive feast, served family style. After a dinner like that, I am more than ready to say goodbye to the aggro year of the tiger and enjoy a chilled-out bunny year filled with great food, new friends and plenty of wine.

Last night braved the storm for Kaz An Nou: an adorable French Carribbean restaurant on the Park Slope/Prospect Heights border. They just updated their menu, and while the flawless jerk chicken and West Indies burger are still in full effect, they’ve fortified their offerings with curried escargot, cheesy crab-stuffed chayote and a signature riff on Niçoise salad that brings smoked whitefish and okra to the mix. For dessert, we had a Galette des Rois, or King Cake: a traditional French pastry typically served on January 6, the Christian feast day of Epiphany, that contains a bead somewhere inside that turns the lucky recipient into a king (or queen) for a day. Although Kaz An Nou’s take on the cake didn’t include such a bead, I felt particularly regal after the meal. 

Photo courtesy of kazannou.com

Last night I was having an after-work Hudson Buck (or two) at the Vanderbilt, paging through the new Brooklyn Bread Press (basically The Noise meets Patrick McMullan of the BK food nerd world,) and I came across not one, but two photos of yours truly (see page 28) from a recent Kimchee & Korean Pancakes class I took at Purple Yam in Ditmas Park. I kept meaning to share what I learned, waiting until I got around to kimchifying a couple of cabbages chez moi. I haven’t gotten there quite yet, but here you have pics from the fun Saturday afternoon we spent making cabbage kimchi, radish kimchi, brothy kimchi, kimchee stew and tasty pork belly and Korean pancakes to eat with it. 

I recently took my first class at Ger-Nis Culinary and Herb Center, a fair-trade produce importer that has just begun to host cooking classes at their Gowanus HQ. The course I took was called Pre-Colombian Cuisine: Indigenous Foods of the Americas, taught by Palo Santo Chef Jacques Gautier. He put together a roster of recipes using ingredients and methods based on research to pre-Americanized America — so no chile peppers, no rice, hardly any non-indigenous ingredients. We made dishes from three diverse regions:

The Iroquois of North America & Eastern Seaboard: Whole Fish, Stewed Clams, and Pumpkin Succotash

The Mayans & Aztecs of Central America, Mexico, & Guatemala: Turkey and Green Mole, Hand Ground Tortillas, Nopales, and Epazote

Quechuas, Aimaras, & Incas of South America, Peru, Bolivia, & Ecuador: Seco de Venado (Braised Deer), Chunos, Quinoa, and Chicha Morada

It was all so hearty and delicious, particularly the verdant mole. We made tortillas from scratch and played with what felt like exotic ingredients, though they are native to American soil. The space was gorgeous and the class was cheap ($50) — so I’m stoked on taking more super-specialized classes at Ger-Nis, so close to home!

Here we have a chicken parm sub from Sheepshead Bay’s Circles Bistro, a resto known as much for the red sauce specialties as the Betty Boop-inspired decor.

We celebrated Vetivresse’s birthday last night at Fette Sau. Shamefully, I had never been there before! I wasn’t much of a BBQ fan before meeting Guy, who has schooled me in the way of long-cooked smoked meats. So I am a BBQonvert, if you will. Anyway, there was a lot of dilly dallying, waiting in line and waiting for a table, so we spent plenty of time drinking jars of beer and posing for pictures. When the food came, we were ravenous and it was oh so worth the wait. The brisket and the beans were amazing. I bought a 1/2lb each of jowl and belly bacon that I look forward to putting to good use. Any suggestions?

I am pretty lucky. My boyf surprised me with a welcome-home takeout feast from The Vanderbilt last night. He ordered with extreme precision: their can’t-live-without Blistered Shishito Peppers and Golden Pickled Eggs, a seize-the-season Heirloom Tomato Salad, House Smoked Kielbasa, La Placha Fluke w/Olives & Zucchini, and, last but not least, an unbelievable Chicken Oysters & Risotto special dish. In case you don’t know, chicken oysters are two to a bird, succulent dark meat morsels located behind the thigh. Typically regarded as an in-the-know chef’s treat, I’ve never heard of them being served in a restaurant dish, until now. Way to go Vanderbilt (and Guy)—you never cease to amaze. 

A pre-diet lunch at Cafe Shane on Washington Avenue in Prospect Heights.