Greetings Dinner: A Love Story readers, old and new. I’m pleased to present the DALS 2022 Holiday Gift Guide, which, as tradition dictates, attempts to keep your family’s and friend’s eating and reading pleasures in mind. (Because, really, who wouldn’t be ok with that kind of gift.) With few exceptions, all of them are all under $50. Happy shopping and happy holidays, everyone!

Flower Griddle

kid * parent * friend * design nerd 

It’s true what they say: Anything can be art, including breakfast. Make things even more fun on Sunday mornings with pancakes molded in the shape of the Japanese artist’s iconic flowers.
Order: Takashi Murakami Pancake Griddle ($40)

Pasta Notecards

friend * mom * secret santa * daughter * pasta lover 

A pack of notecards featuring everyone’s favorite carbohydrate. (Includes farfalle, ravioli, shells, etc.) It’s the kind of gift that you see and think, OMG, I know exactly who to buy that for.
Order: Notecards ($38 for a set of 8)

Bloody Mary Gift Box

host * friend * sibling * coworker * parent * your regular brunch companion(s)

Brighter and tangier (tangy-er?) than your average Bloody Mary Mix, this combo pack works just as beautifully as a virgin drink as it does when mixed with vodka. Comes with pickled green beans and sriracha-pickled cucumbers.
Order: Bloody Mary Kit ($35)

A Book of Blessings

host * partner * bff * grandparent * deep thinker * that friend who just isn't into material things

If you read my newsletter, you know my daughter, an English major, recommended that I listen to John O’Donohue, the Irish poet and philosopher on Krista Tippett’s On Being podcast, where he gave his last interview before he died in 2008. O’Donohue believed in beauty as a human calling, and the idea that if we approach the world with “a watchful reverence” we will be amazed by what it will reveal to us about ourselves. When I wrote about him, reader Deirdre recommended this book of Blessings, which I promptly ordered for Phoebe, but I keep picking it up when I am craving comfort.
Order: To Bless The Space Between Us ($14)

Baking Book of the Year

bakers * parent * host * friend * Gramercy Tavern superfan

The first cookbook in twenty-one years from the legendary pastry chef at New York’s Gramercy Tavern. Don’t miss her take on family’s most favorite cookie ever, the Mallomar. Includes more than 140 recipes.
Order: Delectable: Sweet & Savory Baking, by Claudia Fleming ($34)

Indigo Dinner Napkins

host * friend * mom * secret santa friend

Hand-dyed, one-of-a-kind flour sack napkins –j ust the kind of beautiful thing you’d probably never think to buy for yourself. Which is of course what makes it a great gift.
Order: Indigo Shibori Dinner Napkins ($34 for set of 4)

An Immense World

friend * partner * college kid * grandparent * nature lover * poet

From my intern/husband Andy: “I’ve been giving this as a gift—or, better, a tonic—to pretty much everyone I know since it came out in June, and I’m not going not stop this holiday season. Why? Because Ed Yong’s sense of wonder shines through on every page, but also because this book is the perfect antidote to the relentless acid bath that is my Twitter feed, a much-needed reminder that this world is so much bigger and more beautiful than we can even know.”
Order: An Immense World, by Ed Yong ($20)

Marbelized Tray

mom * best friend * design nerd * that person who has everything

How beautiful is this? Light-weight, made from birch wood and just as practical as it is decorative. My friend Catherine keeps the tray on her coffee table where she uses it to hold books and magazines, but also deploys it for drinks and snacks when company shows up. (She has the metal tray stand, but it’s optional.)
Order: Marbelized Tray (19″ diameter; about $82)

Squeeze Bottle Olive Oil

host * mom * dad * stocking stuffer * friend * coworker * food enthusiast 

I bought the high-quality finishing oil (“Drizzle”) for a gift, from my new favorite local provisions store (shout-out Bloomy!), but ended up keeping it for myself because it’s so grassy and special and…fun. I use it on everything from hummus to soups to pastas. Now I want the whole set.
Order: Graza Drizzle & Sizzle Olive Oil ($35)

Decadent Cookies

host * parent * niece/nephew * grandparent * kid * friend * stocking stuffers * person you've been meaning to thank all year for that favor!

I dream of these NYC Levain Bakery’s famously decadent cookies, which are all gooey, crispy, and cakey. We have bonafide arguments in my house about which flavor is the best (I’m classic chocolate chip all the way) but the truth is, you can’t go wrong with any of them. (I guess that’s what the assortment option is for.) They’re selling a range of holiday flavors and festive tins now, too.
Order: Levain Cookies ($29-$79)

Batched Cocktail

host * neighbor * brother * parent * spouse * displaced detroit native * cocktail enthusiast

Last time I wrote about this pretty, herby cocktail (which was invented in Detroit), I remember thinking that it would look especially festive for this time of year. Especially if paired with a Negroni or batched in a flip-top stopper bottle. Tie a ribbon and note around the neck and you’re set. To make: 1 cup gin (I use Boodles), 1 cup Luxardo maraschino liqueur, 1 cup green Chartreuse, 1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (about 10 juicy limes). Mix all together in a giant pitcher and stir. If you plan to give or serve in the stopper-topped bottle, keep in mind that its throat is very thin, so best to pour your mixed cocktail into it using a funnel or a pitcher with a very thin-lipped spout. Chill until you are ready to give or drink.
Order: Set of 4 bottles ($25) or one ($12), plus approx. $50-75 for gin, Chartreuse, maraschino liqueur

Jewish Food Puzzle

kid * parent * friend * grandparent * synagogue pal * secret santa/hanukkah fairy gift

Black-and-white cookies, matzoh ball soup, bagels, babka, kosher hot dogs…I can’t guarantee someone won’t be starving working on this 500-piecer, but they’ll definitely be entertained.
Order: 100 Most Jewish Foods Puzzle ($20)

Babka

grandparent (esp jewish grandparent) * parent * party host * coworker * displaced New Yorker

Speaking of which. Stock up on these and delight holiday party hosts with their next morning’s breakfast treat. (Or, even better, bundle it with the above puzzle.) I’ve tasted a lot of babkas in my day and imho Zabar’s Chocolate Babka still remains king. Prove me wrong!
Order: Zabar’s Homestyle Babka ($15/loaf, cinnamon or chocolate)

Cookbook + Apron

friend * coworker * sibling * host * meat lover (not a typo!) 

Know someone looking to dial back on meat but just can’t figure out how to start? The Weekday Vegetarians helps out every step of the way — even if you’re cooking for young kids. P.S. Cookbooks make the best “bundling gifts,” i.e. it’s so easy to add something little and special to round out the present. Here, Jodi Levine bundled my latest cookbook with the coolest apron. (Be sure to check out the rest of her extremely creative gift guide.)
Order: Apron ($29), The Weekday Vegetarians ($21)

DALS Newsletter Subscription

mom * dad * older daughter/son just learning how to cook * the friend who always texts you "what are you making for dinner?"

If you’ve enjoyed The Weekday Vegetarians, you’ve maybe also enjoyed my Dinner: A Love Story newsletter, which means, you might know someone else who will also? Consider a gift subscription. For $5 a month or $50 a year, the recipient will get my weekly dispatch of Three Things I’m excited about — easy dinners, of course, but also sweets, treats, cocktails, novels, restaurant recs, vacation ideas, cookbook round-ups, podcasts, and tons of bonus content including personal essays, weekly dinner plans and complete dinner party menus. It surprises, it delights, it goes down easy! Thank you as always for your support.
Order: Dinner: A Love Story: The Newsletter ($5/month or $50/year)

Gift Gides through the years:

Gift Guide 2021
Gift Guide 2020
Gift Guide 2019
Gift Guide 2018
Gift Guide 2017
Gift Guide 2016
Gift Guide 2015
Gift Guide 2014
Gift Guide 2013
Gift Guide 2012

Wow, I’ve been doing this a long time. (Can’t promise that all the older gift links are still active).

Have a great holiday!
Jenny

The post Holiday Gift Guide 2022 appeared first on Dinner: A Love Story.

I’m so used to cooking for two in my recently emptied nest, that I felt almost like I had to re-learn how to cook for four when the girls came home for break. Plus, because I was busy prepping for Thanksgiving — and because I’m a human person — I was in search of dinner recipes for them that were welcome-homey and cozy, but didn’t call on an army of pots and pans that would pile up in the sink like a jenga tower. This one was the winner.

One Pot Chicken with Artichoke & Orzo
Serves 4

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2-2 pounds (about 6 medium-large) chicken thighs
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
dash red pepper flakes
2 cups quartered artichoke hearts (frozen or canned)
2 cups orzo
2 cups chicken stock
juice from one medium lemon (about 1/3 cup)
2-3 cups loosely packed baby spinach
1/2 cup crumbled feta (optional)
herbs such as parsley or chives (optional)

Heat the oven to 350°F.

Set a Dutch Oven or very large pot over medium-high heat and add oil. Season the chicken thighs with salt, pepper, and oregano, and place seasoned-side down in the pot. It’s ok if it’s a little crowded, they will shrink as they cook. Cook on one side until very well browned without touching, about 8 minutes — resist the urge to peek underneath, this is your chance to get a good, lacquered color on the chicken, you want to go longer than you think. Flip and cook on the other side, about 2 or 3 minutes. Remove to a plate, they don’t have to be cooked all the way through.

Turn heat to medium and add onions, garlic, red pepper flakes, and more salt and pepper. Cook 2 minutes, then add artichokes and orzo, tossing until everything is shiny and coated in oil. Add the broth and lemon juice and bring to a light boil, then turn off heat. Nestle chicken on top (you want that brown skin you worked so hard for to be peeking above the liquid — the chicken should not be completely submerged).

Transfer the pot to the oven and bake for 20 minutes, until most of the liquid has been absorbed by the orzo. Place the pot on the stove top and carefully remove the chicken again from the pot. Add feta and spinach to the pot, stirring until the spinach wilts and the feta gets melty. Add chicken back to the pot and have diners serve themselves.

P.S. For vegetarian recipes and strategies on how to dial back on meat, check out my New York Times bestselling book The Weekday Vegetarians. Reminder: All the fun stuff these days happens in the Dinner: A Love Story newsletter on Substack, which is consistently in the Top 10 most-read food newsletters on the entire platform. You can subscribe here.

The post One Pot Chicken with Orzo, Spinach, & Artichoke appeared first on Dinner: A Love Story.

Fun fact: I have only made one Thanksgiving turkey in my life and it wasn’t even on Thanksgiving Day (my mom owns that duty). It was one random afternoon in the middle of July, when I was in the recipe testing phase of my book. (Deadlines are deadlines!) If you’re wondering why you should trust a relative novice with one of the most high-pressure culinary moments of your year, I will only say 1) this is a version of my mom’s recipe that she has been making for years and it always delivers, and 2) having never roasted a turkey, I was intimidated by the task, but what sticks in my mind from the testing was just how simple it was. If you can roast a chicken, you can roast a turkey. I hope you agree.

Simple Herb-Roasted Thanksgiving Turkey and Gravy
From How to Celebrate Everything, where you’ll find the rest of the Thanksgiving menu. Serves 8-10 without leftovers. (Though this recipe accommodates all size turkeys as long as you time the roasting accordingly once the heat is turned down.)

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, plus 4 thyme sprigs for the roasting pan
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage leaves
2 large onions, 1 roughly chopped, 1 quartered
3 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped (about 1 1/4 cups)
2 stalks celery, roughly chopped (about 1 cup)
5 to 6 cups chicken or turkey stock, preferably homemade, kept warm on the stovetop while the turkey roasts
1 13- to 16-pound turkey, giblets and neck removed, patted dry inside and out, at room temperature
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Remove from the heat and mix in the chopped herbs. Set aside.

Add the chopped onions, carrots, celery, and the thyme sprigs to a large roasting pan. Stir in about 3/4 cup of the hot stock. Place a rack inside the roasting dish (on top of the vegetables), and place the turkey on top, stuffing the cavity with the quartered onion. Tuck the wings tightly underneath the bird, trussing the turkey legs with twine if the cavity feels too exposed. Brush herb butter all over the surface of the bird. Generously salt and pepper the skin and place the entire thing in the oven on a low rack.

After 30 minutes, baste with turkey juices and tent with foil; reduce heat to 325°F.

Here’s a good rule of thumb I learned from food writer (and Thanksgiving author) Sam Sifton: From this point, at this temperature, the turkey will cook 15 minutes per pound or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thigh reads 165°F; set a timer accordingly.

Baste the turkey every 30 minutes with it’s own juices, supplementing with hot broth from the stovetop if the vegetables look like they are drying up.

Remove the foil for the last half hour of roasting and brush with any remaining herb butter. (You’ll need to warm up the butter on low heat.) When a thermometer stuck in the turkey’s thigh reads 165°F, and when the skin has reached the golden burnished color that will invite admiration, transfer to a cutting board and let rest for 30 minutes before carving.

Meanwhile, strain the pan juices into a medium saucepan for the gravy.

Gravy
(continued from above)
Serves 8 to 10 (drizzling portions)

pan juices
reserved hot stock from turkey recipe (you should have about 1 1/2 to 2 cups, but if you don’t add a little reserved stock)
3 to 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Turn the saucepan heat to medium low. In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk 3 tablespoons of flour with about a quarter cup of the hot stock to make a kind of sludge, then add this in to the saucepan along with the butter, whisking vigorously until it reaches what you consider desired gravy consistency. We like ours on the thinner side, but do what makes you happy. (If you want it thicker, whisk in more of the flour-stock sludge using a tablespoon of flour at a time.) Taste constantly and add salt and pepper accordingly.

Arrange the turkey on your most beautiful platter and serve with gravy on the side.

The post Your First Thanksgiving Turkey appeared first on Dinner: A Love Story.

Honeynut squash is like a butternut squash’s best version of itself—sweeter and more intensely flavored. This recipe, Rigatoni with Honeynut Squash, Chard & Hazelnuts, which essentially adds vegetables to a peppery cacio e pepe–style sauce, is a simple, healthy, warm-your-bones way to enjoy it. If you can’t find honeynut, butternut or kabocha would be a fine swap-in, and the pre-cubed varieties you can find in most produce aisles are your weeknight self’s best friend. Here’s the recipe.

Rigatoni with Honeynut Squash, Chard & Hazelnuts
From The Weekday Vegetarians

Kosher salt to taste
2 small honeynut squashes (about 3 pounds total), peeled, halved, seeded, and cut into 1⁄2-inch cubes (6 to 7 cups)
1 small onion, roughly chopped
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1⁄2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 pound rigatoni or tube pasta of your choice—just don’t use noodles
3 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 garlic clove, minced
5 cups roughly chopped Swiss chard (including stems), amaranth, kale, or spinach
1⁄2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (about 2 ounces)
1⁄3 cup crushed or roughly chopped toasted hazelnuts

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Combine the squash and onion on the prepared sheet pan and drizzle with 3 tablespoons of the olive oil. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes, salt, and black pepper and, using your hands, toss until every piece is coated and shiny. Roast until the squash looks crispy around the edges, 20 to 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, when the salted water comes to a boil, cook the rigatoni according to the package directions until it’s al dente. Reserve about 1⁄2 cup of the pasta water, then drain the pasta and immediately toss it right in the strainer with 1 tablespoon of the butter.

Set the pasta pot back on the stovetop over low heat. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, and the garlic. Cook until the garlic is golden, about 1 minute, then add the chard, salt, and black pepper, tossing until the chard has softened and wilted, about 2 minutes. Toss in the rigatoni along with the Parmesan, more salt and black pepper, and about 1⁄4 cup of the reserved pasta water to help distribute the cheese and make the pasta saucy. (Add more pasta water, a tablespoon at a time, as needed.) Toss in the squash-onion mixture, then serve in bowls topped with hazelnuts.

P.S. For more simple vegetarian recipes like this one, check out my New York Times bestselling book The Weekday Vegetarians. Reminder: All the fun stuff these days happens in the Dinner: A Love Story newsletter on Substack, which is consistently in the Top 10 most-read food newsletters on the entire platform. You can subscribe here.

The post Warm-Your-Bones Fall Pasta appeared first on Dinner: A Love Story.

Last year, I wrote about a half dozen fall vegetable love stories: Cabbage Loves Apples, Beets Love Dill, Chinese Greens Love Ginger, and I’d like to add a new one to the list: Squash Loves Tahini. Specifically delicata squash; I’ve been making this salad above for lunch almost every day: Greens, roasted delicata, tahini dressing, and store bought dukkah, a Middle Eastern sesame-nut-spice blend that lends an addictive crunch to every dish it graces. The salad is filling and comes together fast, especially when I roast the squash ahead of time.

Greens with Roasted Squash, Tahini, & Dukkah
This recipe serves 2 but can be doubled and tripled accordingly. I imagine it could easily be turned into dinner by adding baked tofu or crispy-spicy chickpeas. VEGAN

14-16 pound delicata squash, halved, seeded, and sliced into moons (you do not have to peel)
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Maple-Tahini dressing (below)
2 large handfuls fresh greens (this is a pre-mixed bag from the farmer’s market)
2 tablespoons finely minced red onion
2 tablespoons dukkah, I like west-bourne brand (or, alternately, crushed pistachios)

Heat oven to 425°F. On a parchment-or foil-lined baking sheet, using your hands, toss squash slices with olive oil, paprika, salt, and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes or until golden. (I find they are more toasted and golden on their undersides; you could flip halfway through if you want, but I never do.) Let cool.

Meanwhile, make tahini dressing.

Divide greens between two bowls and season lightly with salt and pepper. Top each with squash slices, minced onions, a nice drizzle of dressing, and a sprinkling of dukkah.

Maple-Tahini Dressing: Whisk together 1/4 cup tahini (I love Soom premium), 2 teaspoons maple syrup, 1 tablespoon olive oil, dash hot sauce, 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1 tablespoon water at a time (up to 4 tablespoons) until it reaches drizzle-able consistency. (Depending on your tahini, it might seize for a bit, but keep adding water and whisking, and it will loosen.)

You can find dukkah in Middle Eastern specialty stores, the spice aisle of better supermarkets, or online.

The post This Salad, on Repeat appeared first on Dinner: A Love Story.

When I had young kids, a lot of activities fell off the priority list — happy hour drinks with coworkers, catching the newest Wes Anderson movie in the theater, general self-care — but I was determined to continue having people over for dinner. For whatever reason, it was the kind of activity that reliably brought me joy and connection, not just with friends and the community but with my old pre-mom self. As a result, I was always in search of easy, no-stress menus for entertaining, and the words “make-ahead” generated the same kind of endorphin rush that, say, “sample sale” once had. And I managed to land on a menu strategy that seemed to work. As I wrote ten years ago in Dinner: A Love Story:

One strategy I fall back on when I’m menu planning for dinner guests is to “Cook a Signature,” i.e….a much-heralded recipe that has been developed by one of the Greats (Julia, Jacques, Marcella), a time-tested, guaranteed showstopper that has already been ingested and enjoyed in millions of homes before yours, sometimes even on holidays and special occasions. They’re sophisticated. They’re special. They’re classic. They say, “I know something about food.” Of course, you still have to cook it…but there’s a lot less stress involved when you know you’re going with a sure thing.

There’s another way to say Sure Thing these days. Kristen Miglore has been writing Food52’s “Genius Recipe” column for over a decade, devoted to this very concept of the tried-and-true, and has just come out with her third collection in cookbook form: Simply Genius. I like it more than the first two — and not just because Our Pork Ragu is in there! — but because she focuses on iconic, dependable recipes that teach. As Food52 founder Amanda Hesser writes in the introduction, “a genius recipe is one that changes the way you cook, and one you’ll want to cook for the rest of your life.” And unlike the kinds of signature meat-based meals I used to rely on a decade ago (Julia Child’s Coq au Vin, Marcella Hazan’s Bolognese, Nobu’s Miso-Glazed Black Cod) there are tons of vegetarian, 21st-century feeling recipes in this book, like Go Get Em Tiger Ria Dolly Barbosa’s Soccata with Tomatoes and Kale, which uses hydrated chickpea flour instead of eggs to create a custard-like quiche. As the recipe headnote says “This is the rare recipe where it really doesn’t matter if your brunch crew is vegan, omnivore, or anything in between.” Also, it’s mostly make-ahead! A descriptor that still warms my heart all these years later! I think those of you who are more in the brunch party lane than the dinner party lane will especially appreciate it.

Chickpea Soccata with Tomatoes & Kale

Serve 4-6

Olive oil or nonstick cooking spray
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
6 medium or 3 large shallots, thinly sliced
1 1/4 teaspoons fine sea salt, plus more to taste
1 bunch Tuscan kale, stems removed and leaves cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
Freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups chickpea flour
1 3/4 cups water

The night before, get ready to bake: Heat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the center. Coat the inside of a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan with olive oil or nonstick cooking spray. Line the pan with a parchment paper sling, so that the paper extends slightly up over the long sides of the pan (this will make the soccata easier to lift out. Oil the parchment.

Cook the vegetables: Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the shallots and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring often with a wooden spoon, until soft and golden, 7 to 9 minutes. Turn up the heat to medium and add the kale and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring often, until wilted, 2 to 3 minutes. Slide the pan to a cool burner (turn off the hot one), add the tomatoes, a pinch of salt, and a few grinds of pepper and stir until evenly mixed. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper to taste—it should be pleasantly salty. Scrape into the prepared loaf pan and spread evenly.

Make the batter: In a large bowl, whisk the chickpea flour and 11/4 teaspoons fine sea salt. Add 1/2 cup of the olive oil and whisk to combine. Add the water, 1/4 cup at a time, whisking well after each addition to smooth out the mix—it will look like pancake batter. Slowly pour the batter into the pan over the vegetables. Tap the pan on the counter to pop any air bubbles, then cover tightly with foil.

Bake the soccata: Bake until set, about 1 hour—a table knife inserted in the center should come away with no liquid batter on the blade. With oven mitts, uncover the pan (save the foil) and bake until the top is golden brown in spots, another 15 to 20 minutes. Cool in the pan on a wire rack or cool stove burner until just warm, then cover tightly with the same foil and refrigerate overnight to set.

In the morning, slice, crisp, and eat: When you’re ready to eat, using the parchment sling, lift the loaf onto aa cutting board, and, with a chef’s knife, slice off as many 1-inch thick slices as you’d like to serve. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil shimmers, use a wide (not metal) spatula to add the slices, spacing them apart (you may need to do this in a couple of batches or use more than one skillet). Cook, flipping once, until browned and crisp on both sides, about 5 minutes total. Serve hot.

P.S. For simple dinner recipes, check out my New York Times bestselling book The Weekday Vegetarians. Reminder: All the fun stuff these days happens in the Dinner: A Love Story newsletter on Substack, which is consistently in the Top 10 most-read food newsletters on the entire platform. You can subscribe here.

The post Soccata for All appeared first on Dinner: A Love Story.

One of my more favorite mini NYC itineraries when the girls were little was a walk on the High Line, a stop at the magical Books of Wonder on 17th Street, then, of course, a hot chocolate (or the iconic “cold hot chocolate”) and pretzel croissant at City Bakery, just off NYC’s Union Square. For decades before it closed in 2019, City Bakery helmed by chef Ilene Rosen, seemed to a place I always just ended up — for outings with the kids, for business lunches and breakfasts (the lychees at the yogurt bar!), for coffee dates, for afternoon writing sessions when I started working for myself and all I needed to fuel myself was a plate of their famous pretzel-crusted mustard chicken, maybe a giant chocolate chunk cookie, and a table in the loft-like upstairs so I could have the best angle to people watch. I was thinking of this at dinnertime recently because my mom’s golden fried chicken cutlets were on the menu for Sunday Dinner, and as I was setting up my dredging stations I realized that I had just a few dusty bread crumbs left in my panko can. I know I could’ve whirled just about any kind of bread in the food processor to make homemade breadcrumbs, but a bag of Trader Joe’s honey pretzels inserted themselves into my line of vision and then, all I could see was City Bakery’s famous dish. The result, I texted my daughter at college, was maybe the best thing I’ve made all year. “It’s like the bougiest kids menu item!” she replied, and then, “I’m getting on the next train home.”

Pretzel Chicken and Greens with Creamy Honey-Mustard Sauce
I used Trader Joe’s honey mustard rods for the pretzels, but you can use any kind. Just make sure there are some chunks, you don’t want it to be pulverized into powder because it’s all about the crunch. Serves 4 (FYI: The picture shows a serving for 2)

Chicken & Greens
6 tablespoons olive oil, plus more as necessary
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cups plain or panko bread crumbs
3/4 cups crushed pretzels (pulse them in the food processor about ten times)
1 tablespoon dry mustard powder
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 pounds boneless chicken breasts; if they are large, thick pieces, slice them in thirds horizontally
4 large handfuls of fresh greens, any kind
3 tablespoons finely minced red onion

Dressing
2 tablespoons Dijon
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon hot sauce
1/4 cup plain yogurt (any fat content)
2 tablespoons olive oil
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Add oil to a large skillet set over medium heat. Set up your dredging stations: one rimmed plate for the eggs, one plate for the flour, and one plate for the pretzel and bread crumbs seasoned with the mustard powder, salt and pepper. Using a fork coat your chicken pieces first in the flour (shaking off the excess), then in the egg, then in the crumbs pressing the chicken into the crumbs to thoroughly coat.

Fry each breast in the oil for 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Try not to crowd the pan. The cutlets are cooked when chicken is firm to the touch but not rock hard.

Remove and pat the chicken dry with a paper towel, then place on a cookie rack to cool. (This helps the pretzel crust stay crunchy.) Add more oil to the pan and fry the remaining breasts. Once all the chicken is cool enough to handle, slice on the bias into pieces as shown. Divide greens and red onion between four bowls and place chicken on top.

Combine all dressing ingredients in a jar and shake. Drizzle on top of chicken and serve.

The post Pretzel Chicken with Honey-Mustard Sauce appeared first on Dinner: A Love Story.

In what has become something of a Rosh Hashanah tradition, I’m delighted to once again feature a recipe from cookbook author Leah Koenig on Dinner: A Love Story. Leah writes the wonderful newsletter The Jewish Table, and even if you’re not celebrating the Jewish New Year next week, even if you are not looking for a modern, seasonal, delicious main dish for the holiday table, even if you are just someone who loves fall comfort cooking — and, um, isn’t that all of us? — you will want to try out this roasty, homey fig-glazed chicken with apples, which I think was pretty much invented for Sunday dinner.

From Leah:

My favorite autumn chicken dishes (yes, I think they deserve their own category!) always include apples. Fall’s most iconic power fruit soaks up all of the chicken’s savory goodness, while lending its own delicate floral perfume to the mix. In this recipe, I gild the lily by brushing a thick fig jam glaze over the chicken skin as it crisps. The sticky, sweet, schmaltzy combination is pretty irresistible. I like to make this chicken to celebrate the first day of school, and on crisp autumn Sundays, after an afternoon of apple picking with my family. But it shines brightest on Rosh Hashanah (aka the Jewish New Year), when apples and other sweet foods are served to symbolize our wishes for a sweet year ahead. Whenever you make it, serve it over pearled couscous, egg noodles, or mashed potatoes, and alongside plenty of squishy challah to sop up the flavorful juices left behind in the roasting dish!

P.S. Leah is offering a 20% discount for DALS readers this week — I encourage everyone to take advantage of this, but especially hosts who find themselves constantly on the hunt for modern, creative recipes for Jewish holidays throughout the year.

Fig-Glazed Chicken with Apples

Serves 4 to 6

2 medium, sturdy baking apples, unpeeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
2 medium onions, peeled, halved through the root, and cut into 1/2-inch slices1 head of garlic, cloves peeled but left whole (or halved lengthwise, if large)
8 thyme sprigs, plus more for garnish
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 chicken (3.5-4 pounds), cut into 8 parts (or use a mix of thighs and drumsticks)
1/2 cup fig jam
1 tablespoon maple syrup (you can leave it out if your jam is already on the sweeter side)
1 tablespoon soy sauce (or coconut aminos)
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup chicken broth

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Arrange the apples, onions, garlic cloves, and thyme sprigs in the bottom of a large roasting pan. Drizzle generously with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat.

Arrange the chicken pieces over the apple and onion mixture, and season lightly with salt and pepper.

Whisk together the fig jam, the 2 tablespoons olive oil, maple syrup, soy sauce, and vinegar in a medium bowl. Brush half of the fig jam mixture over the chicken pieces.

Pour the chicken broth into the roasting pan and roast for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and lower the heat to 350˚F. Spoon some of the pan juices over top of the chicken pieces. Brush the chicken with the remaining glaze and continue cooking until cooked through (a meat thermometer should register 165˚F), 15 to 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven, and transfer the chicken pieces to a plate. Return the roasting pan to the oven, turn the heat back up to 400˚F, and let the apples and onions continue to cook, stirring once or twice, until fully tender, another 10 to 15 minutes.

Transfer the onions and apples to a serving dish, arrange the chicken pieces on top, and pour any juices from the roasting pan over everything. Serve hot, garnished with additional thyme.

The post Fig-Glazed Chicken with Apples appeared first on Dinner: A Love Story.

Hot take alert: I don’t know if I’ve ever had a pasta salad and thought, Wow, this is a great pasta salad. Have you? They always seem to be just too pasta-heavy and…room temperature-y. Well, after trying this one from Odette Williams’s wonderful Simple Pasta last week, I am on my way to changing my mind. Why? Well, for starters, the noodle she mixes in with the other ingredients is bite-size ditalini, which means, as she writes in the recipe intro, “every time you take a bite…you’ll get all the big, bold flavors of an antipasto platter—salami, chickpeas, fontina, pepperoncini—in one mouthful.” She’s right, I found myself eating it like cereal with a spoon to optimize the flavor-explosion effect. And since it’s actually delicious at room temp, I picture the dish being a regular in my rotation for potlucks, tailgates, picnics, and no-brainer weeknight dinners.

Chopped Pasta Salad
Makes 4 servings
From Simple Pasta, by Odette Williams

2 tablespoons finely diced red onion
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
A splash of extra-virgin olive oil, plus 1/2 cup
10 ounces dried ditalini or other small pasta
2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
4 ounces salami, cut into matchsticks
2/3 cup coarsely chopped pepperoncini
6 ounces fontina, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
2 cups coarsely chopped radicchio or arugula
1/2 cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon whole grain mustard
8 sprigs thyme, stemmed
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper

In a small bowl combine the onion, vinegar, and lemon juice and let marinate while you cook the pasta.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, according to package instructions. Drain the pasta in a colander, place in a large bowl, and add a splash of olive oil to stop it from sticking together.

Add the chickpeas, salami, pepperoncini, fontina, radicchio, and parsley to the pasta and toss to combine.

Whisk the 1/2 cup olive oil, honey, mustard, thyme, and salt into the onion-vinegar mixture and season with pepper. Pour over the pasta and toss to combine.

Serve the pasta on a platter and season with some cranks of pepper.

The post A Pasta Salad to Get Excited About appeared first on Dinner: A Love Story.

When Hannah Che’s The Vegan Chinese Kitchen first arrived on my desk, it was a 90-degree morning in July. I started flipping through the pages, and I’m not kidding, within 10 minutes I was putting together this dinner you’re looking at above: Cold Vermicelli and Cabbage Salad. It just so happened I had leftover rice noodles and the rest of the ingredients are pretty much staples in my house — cabbage, cilantro, carrots, scallions. It took under 20 minutes to get it in the refrigerator where the chilling and the melding of flavors happened as I just went about my work day. (Why is this so satisfying?!) I found myself making a version of the salad for the rest of the summer, particularly when I was cooking for a vegan or a vegetarian was at the table — it’s just the kind of centerpiece that I’m always looking for on that occasion, 90 degrees or not.

Cold Vermicelli and Cabbage Salad
The only thing I didn’t have on hand was MSG, so I used mushroom powder. I think it would still be fine to omit, though you might need a little more soy sauce to compensate. [Excerpted From The Vegan Chinese Kitchen by Hannah Che with permission]

½ medium head (1 pound) napa cabbage
1 small Persian cucumber, thinly julienned
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
2 ounces mung bean vermicelli noodles, soaked in warm water for 10 minutes
½ medium carrot, finely julienned
1 scallion, both white and green parts, cut into 3-inch segments and thinly julienned
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons pale rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon MSG (I didn’t have MSG, so used mushroom powder)
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
½ cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

Separate the cabbage into leaves. Lay out one leaf and slice it horizontally through the white stem portion to make it thinner. Repeat with the remaining leaves, then stack and cut them crosswise into ¹⁄₈-inch shreds. Place in a colander with the cucumber and toss with the salt. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the vermicelli and cook according to the package instructions. Rinse under cold water and drain. Snip with kitchen scissors into shorter, more manageable lengths.

Squeeze out the excess liquid from the cabbage and cucumber by pressing them between your hands. Drop each squeezed handful into a large bowl without rinsing it. Add the vermicelli noodles, carrot, scallion, garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, MSG, and sesame oil and stir well. Taste and adjust the salt and other seasonings as needed.

You can enjoy this immediately or chill it in the refrigerator, covered, for a few hours to let flavors meld. Stir in the cilantro just before serving for the freshest flavor.

P.S. For more simple dinner recipes like this one, check out my New York Times bestselling book The Weekday Vegetarians. Reminder: All the fun stuff these days happens in the Dinner: A Love Story newsletter on Substack, which is consistently in the Top 10 most-read food newsletters on the entire platform. You can subscribe here.

The post Cold Noodle & Cabbage Salad appeared first on Dinner: A Love Story.

Over 1500 posts acrosss ten years on Dinner: A Love Story, and somehow, not until today have I ever written up the most classic, most satisfying thing you can do with tomatoes this time of year: Make a fresh tomato sauce and toss with pasta. Do you even need a recipe so simple? I don’t know, but not giving it to you after all these years feels a little like I’ve handed you a bunch of jewelry to wear to the party, but never a black dress.

As you can imagine, this recipe is endlessly riff-able. You can add toasted pine nuts, you can stir in ricotta, you can dollop with burrata, switch out the Parm for Pecornio. You can obviously serve it with any kind of pasta, but I will say that orecchiette is the best because they’re like little pockets that scoop up the chunky tomatoes. Short pasta in general is a good idea, as is a crisp pan-fried gnocchi.

Pasta with Simple Fresh Tomato Sauce

16 ounces short pasta
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 large garlic cloves, minced (or more, to taste; we aren’t a huge garlic family)
1/2 small onion (or 1 shallot), minced
1/2 teaspoon Calabrian chili powder or red pepper flakes
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 cups tomatoes (any kind, but preferably ripe and sweet; here I used yellow and red cherry)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/2 cup basil, shredded or torn
optional: ricotta, burrata

Prepare pasta according to package directions. Strainer and toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil while it’s in the colander. Place pasta pot back on stovetop over medium heat and add the remaining olive oil. Add garlic, onion, chili powder, salt, and pepper and cook until aromatic and wilted, about 3 minutes.

Stir in the tomatoes with their juices and turn heat to medium-high. Cook for 10 to 30 minutes (the longer the better, to allow for more concentration, but 10 will do!) to allow for tomatoes to break down. Turn heat to low and add pasta back to pot. Stir in basil and cheese. Serve with more freshly ground pepper and dollops of ricotta or burrata if using.

P.S. For more simple dinner recipes like this one, check out my New York Times bestselling book The Weekday Vegetarians. Reminder: All the fun stuff these days happens in the Dinner: A Love Story newsletter on Substack, which is consistently in the Top 10 most-read food newsletters on the entire platform. You can subscribe here.

The post Pasta with Simple Tomato Sauce appeared first on Dinner: A Love Story.

I didn’t meet Aanya until I walked into the cafeteria for snack time after my third soccer session of the day. She was eight years old (but tall enough to look twelve), wore round glasses, and had her hair tied in a low, messy bun. She was sitting at a table with Mahi, my closest co-counselor, talking excitedly. Aanya looked at me, then my name tag — which said “YBBA” obviously, since it was Backwards Day — and says “Hi YBBA!!” This was a sports camp and I had spent all day teaching campers how to do the Maradona, but the topic on the table right now was food. 

“Do you like Idli?” Aanya asked Mahi.

“Yes!” she responded.

“Hmmm…what about Dosa??”

“Yeah!”

“Okra with Tamarind?”

“Chili Paneer?”

The conversation they were having consisted of Aanya asking Mahi if she liked a specific Indian dish, getting an answer (usually positive), and then brainstorming for five seconds about another one, and on and on. I was immediately invested in the conversation not only because it was fun to watch Aanya’s eyes light up, but because I had a feeling I could learn a lot about a cuisine I knew way too little about. 

“Do you like Gulab Jamun???”

“Of course,” Mahi said.

I had a lot of questions. 

I jumped in. “What is Gulab Jamun?” Aanya described it as “a dessert, sort of like fried dough balls that are in a sweet syrup, sometimes rose flavored.” This sounded amazing to me, especially as I chewed the stale off-brand animal crackers that were always handed out for afternoon snack time. Another camper sitting at our table, named Meabh, inspired by our conversation, started talking about the foods she eats at home and in Ireland. 

The conversation continued through dismissal. At that point, I had a long list going on my notes app, where I was writing down just about everything they said. I learned about Mango Lassi (a creamy mango drink), something Aanya’s mom made for her at home all the time, and that sounded better than anything in the world to me at that moment standing on a turf field in ninety-four degree heat. Mahi even gave me the name of her favorite Indian restaurant, where I could try the best versions of all these foods. It was five minutes from her house, and she said she’d been going there for years. Naturally, my family went a week later.

I also learned that Mahi and Aanya were vegetarians, so naturally, the next day, I brought both of them copies of the best vegetarian cookbook (not biased) ever published: The Weekday Vegetarians. I watched Aanya pull the book out of her drawstring bag (day camp essential) and flip through the pages with her mom in her car, trying to show her as much as possible from the backseat, as she drove away. I had a such a warm feeling about our little exchange –- she was different than most campers, who show up Monday and leave Friday, never to be heard from again. Talking about food with her made me lose track of time, which, as a day camp counselor, can be a rare and wonderful thing. For the rest of the week, our conversations wandered all over the place, but food was the thing we always came back to. She would ask me what my mom made for dinner the night before or about my Chipotle order and I would ask about hers. My job at camp was to teach soccer, but also to connect – and with Aanya, food was the best way to do that. 

Aanya’s not the only person I’ve bonded with over food. I went out to lunch a few months ago with a friend from college who I was trying to get closer to, and I asked her kind of out of nowhere: “What would be your ideal breakfast, lunch and dinner to have in one perfect day?” (My answer, if you’re curious, was a good pastry with some in-season summer fruit and an iced vanilla latte for breakfast, sushi for lunch, and some long, eggy noodle with Bolognese for dinner – soup dumplings were a close second). We debated our answers to this question for hours, both of our maple lattes drained.

After reading that, didn’t you just have an instinct to tell me about your day of ideal meals? I know you did, and, obviously, would love to hear about it.

P.S. Reminder: All the fun stuff these days happens in the Dinner: A Love Story newsletter on Substack, which is consistently in the Top 10 most-read food newsletters on the entire platform. You can subscribe here.

Forgive me broader readership, I’m going super local today. Many of you probably know that I live in Westchester County, which borders New York City to the north and is flanked by the sailboat-dotted Long Island Sound to the East and the mighty Hudson River to the West. With the exception of college in Western Mass and a decade in Manhattan and Brooklyn, I’ve lived here for most of my life, and thought that was as good an excuse as any to offer a tour of my regular haunts. To be clear right up front: This is not a Best of Westchester List. It’s my very own, very biased hit list, first compiled in 2016 and now, updated to reflect closings, new discoveries, and my new regular haunts that I can’t believe weren’t even on my radar six years ago. I plan to update this page regularly, so please keep checking back. As with my first round-up, this list is going to be biased towards the Rivertowns (Yonkers, Hastings, Dobbs Ferry, Irvington, Tarrytown) since that’s my hood, and also towards the lower Long Island Sound towns around Larchmont (since that’s where I grew up). But what good is a list if it’s not subjective? ENJOY!

First posted 2016; Last updated July 2022

Part 1: Where I Dine

RESTAURANTS

Boro6 (Hastings) I remember reading that owner Paul Molakides wanted his cozy corner restaurant to feel like a cool, comfortable European hotel bar, where you know you can always get a good glass of wine and be treated like a special guest. It’s all that and so much more at Boro6, with its tight, sophisticated menu of toasts, pastas, fish, salads, sandwiches, small bites like their signature cacio e pepe arancini, plus a beautiful selection of cheese and salumi. Every dish is somehow simultaneously a flavor bomb and an exercise in restraint — always the best sign. We go mostly for dinner, but grabbing lunch with a friend on a Friday over a glass of Riesling is a pretty special way to kick of the weekend.

Fantasy Cuisine (Hartsdale) It’s inconceivable to me that I didn’t even know about this place when I wrote my first Westchester round-up six years ago. We go mostly for the dumpling offerings (pork and soup, wontons in chili oil, shrimp) but the menu has all the traditional Sichuan offerings and the space is bright and energetic. (Abby would like me to point out that you can also chase down your dumplings with Boba, her new obsession.) A favorite of the DALS house for Sunday night dinners when we don’t feel like cooking.

Goosefeather (Tarrytown) We first started hitting this Modern Cantonese spot from Chef Dan Talde (Top Chef, Chopped, etc) in spring 2020 for the pretty (and pandemic-friendly) outdoor space. Located in the Tarrytown House Estate, the restaurant overlooks grand lawns sloping down towards the river and was just the place to grab a drink on a warm night. But as the months went on, we kept returning — for the colorful, cool indoor dining space (how great is that bar?), the vegetable courses that change seasonally, and for two of what I think might make my Top 10 dishes in Westchester List: The Dry-Aged Beef Potstickers and the Crab Rice with jalapeño aioli and tobiko.

La Casa (Bronxville) I know I can be overly enthusiastic about things but I don’t think that’s possible when talking about La Casa, the new-ish Mexican restaurant that has not one but two Blue Hill at Stone Barns alums at the helm: chef Emily Gonzalez serving up simple magic (like lobster tostadas and a chicken enmolada I’m still thinking about months later) and Julio Enriquez crafting cocktails (hi poblano margarita) that make you weep they are so classy and so pretty. This is no longer a well-kept secret — it just won Westchester Magazine’s 2022 Best New Restaurant. Congrats team, well deserved!

Aqui Es Santa Fe (Port Chester) This cafe first entered my radar when Carlos Santos, the son in the mother-son team running it, showed up at the Rivertown Public Market and charmed everyone with his homemade, modern rainbow empanadas. He’s since moved on to Nadas in NYC, but his mother, the warm and welcoming Olga Santos is still presiding over the bright, happy space just across from the Port Chester Metro North train station, dishing up those empanadas along with an array of Colombian specialties — think arepas, fried yucca, and ceviche.

Farmer & the Fish (Purdy’s, North Salem) Full disclosure, I’ve only been here once. But that one night happened to be a chilly winter evening, and as soon as I walked into the bustling bar of the circa 1775 farmhouse, then past the fire blazing in the central stone hearth, and through the cozy, wood-beamed, table-jammed dining room, I knew I was going to love it. The food is A-list — think tavern food meets farm stand meets top shelf raw bar — and the vibe is somehow simultaneously Special Occasion Destination Restaurant and a Local Pub where you can throw back a beer or a martini. P.S. For warmer months, the garden patio is supposed to be especially charming. (P.S. There is also a River outpost, called Hudson Farmer & The Fish, which I love for a drink, overlooking the Hudson and the Tappan Zee.*)

*no I will never call it by its new name

Kishuya (Hartsdale) Abby wasn’t home from college for 24 hours before we found ourselves slurping up the shoyu tonkatsu (ask for it with the “spice bomb”) at our favorite ramen spot, located in an unassuming space in a Central Avenue strip mall. No matter which of the many ramen options you decide to order, you’ll find the broth has that meaty depth you just can’t replicate in your own kitchen. I have yet to find ramen in Westchester that can even touch this place. (But please feel free to prove me wrong in the comments.)

Inn at Pound Ridge (Pound Ridge) When you’re a 30-minute train ride away from the restaurant capital of the country, it can sometimes be hard to justify staying in the burbs for a high-qual celebratory dinner. But then we went to The Inn at Pound Ridge, a Jean-Georges Vongerichten restaurant built in a ca. 1833 inn, in the heart of a more rural part of the county, where lawns are sweeping, the roads are windy, and have names like Old Stone Hill and Twin Fawns. It’s not a “restaurant that could be in New York,” which is the way people tend to describe any place in Westchester that does not use parasols in their specialty cocktail and have the game on behind the bar. With its original stone fireplaces, a menu majorly sourced from the Hudson Valley, and an elegant-yet-somehow-still-family-friendly vibe, IPR is uniquely, proudly Westchester and superior by any standard. The lighting alone — soft, golden, romantic is worth the price of admission. Insider tip: Order the crispy rice salmon sushi and the rigatoni with smoked ragu if it’s on the menu. (Updated 2022)

Bread & Brine (Hastings-on-Hudson) Oysters, steamers, fried fish, and All The Rolls (shrimp, clam, lobster) a Maine-loving-girl could ever ask for, we love the Downeast-inspired menu, but not far behind is the great selection of beer and the counter service with cheery, outdoor umbrella’d tables filled with families, couples and friend packs young and old. P.S. Our daughter Phoebe worked here last summer, and said the staff — and founder/managers Alex Sze and Jeremy McLellan — were as supportive and friendly as they come.

Sushi Mikes (Dobbs Ferry) Whenever we talk about Sushi Mikes with our city friends, they always laugh at the name (we did too when we heard it for the first time); it almost seemed to be going out of its way to sound like suburban, watered-down Japanese food. Turns out Mike Suzuki, the chef and owner here, is the one laughing all the way to the bank. People come from all over Westchester to patronize his warm, always-bustling little corner spot with mermaid murals on the walls. His sushi boats are regular sights at Rivertown parties — kids’ and parents’ alike. Our go-to take-out order, saved on iPhone notes: Six pieces salmon sushi, spider roll, shrimp tempura app, yellowtail scallion roll, shrimp shumai, chicken teriyaki. (Updated 2022)

Plaza Garibaldi (Yonkers) I know it sounds more Italian than Mexican (I still haven’t gotten to the bottom of that!) but this is the place we beeline to when we want table-side guac, chicken chilaquiles, tacos al pastor, and what we feel is some of the most authentic Mexican in the county. Best of all: there always seems to be a table available, even though the dining room is buzzing with a good crowd. (We also do takeout from here, even though it’s a good 20 minutes from our house — what can I say, when food is good, we do what it takes to secure it.)

Taco Project (Yonkers, Tarrytown) Anyone who follows me on instagram will not be surprised to see the Taco Project here. (Or, if you live in our house, “the Taco Proj”) This place rules. The tacos, of course are amazing: fresh, authentic, perfectly sized. But what I love is that it’s counter service with a few tables and a perimeter counter for casual eating. The room itself, with its brick-exposed wall and bright, happy teal and orange palate, is a reminder that it doesn’t take a lot to make a space come to life. When we want to go out to dinner, but don’t want to a) drop a load of cash or b) eat pizza, this is an awesome option. It’s also an awesome option for after-school churros. Just sayin! (Updated 2022)

Harper’s Restaurant and Bar (Dobbs Ferry) We love Harper’s for it’s seasonal menu, pressed tin ceiling, string-lighted garden patio, and most of all for its bar. I mean the drinks, of course — their cocktail menu is fresh and inventive without being gimmicky — but what I really mean is the bar itself. When we find ourselves with a kid-less evening, or when I just want to meet a friend for a quick weeknight dinner, I’ll shoot down here to have, say, a Smoked Orange Boulevardier and a sampler of small plates. (Updated 2022)

LUNCH/BREAKFAST/CASUAL

Cosmo-Alex Pisano Deli (Mamaroneck) Known only in my family for as long as I can remember as just “Cosmos,” the sandwich and Italian specialty shop is our pick for the kind of Italian combo that one might call a day-ender (see above) as well as a wide array of imported Italian olive oils, jarred treats like roasted red peppers and giardinieria, pastas in all shapes and sizes (that’s Abby’s favorite section), dried beans, and classic Italian prepared foods that belong wedged in between seeded rolls with mozzarella and sauce — meatballs, chicken cutlets and breaded eggplant. Call ahead to order (lines can be long), then take your to-go sandwiches to Harbor Island Park down the road to have a picnic.

Stanz (Larchmont) I love this place for the breakfast menu — omelets, egg sandwiches, bagel platters, French toast, yogurt parfaits, avocado toasts, paralysis of choice is real, Kids! — but I love it more for the people watching and random run-ins. Lots of good coffee-infused vibrancy, parents coming by after dropping kids off at the elementary school across the street (my alma mater!), friends meeting for lattes, and fathers and daughters (hi Dad!) catching up over lox.

Rocky’s Millwood Deli (Millwood/Briarcliff Manor) When you live in Westchester you spend a lot of time on parkways — truck-less highways that often snake along rivers and lakes, and were built about a century ago in an effort to make trip into New York City a more scenic experience. (Think: The Anti-Bruckner.) Unless it’s rush hour, most of them live up to the mission, but in our house, it’s the Taconic, which cuts through the Hudson Valley straight up to Albany, that wins the prize for most fave. Mostly this is because we can make a pit-stop at 50-year-old Rocky’s Deli to pick up their famous Chicken Cutlet Sandwich. Rocky’s is an institution — equally popular among families on their way to soccer games, cyclists who hop off their trails (the North County Trailway runs right by it), travelers on their way down or upstate, and regulars who take advantage of its decidedly non-suburban hours: Open 24 hours, seven days a week. Honorable Mention for Crispy Chicken Sandwich: Scaperrotta’s Deli, or “Scappy’s,” Dobbs Ferry. (Updated 2022)

Walter’s Hot Dogs (Mamaroneck) I’ve had a lot of good luck in my life, but right up there at the top of the list has to be the fact that I went to high school across the street from Walter’s, home to what Gourmet magazine once awarded America’s best hot dog. (The locals were both honored and outraged by the accolades — as if the lines weren’t already long enough!) I know what you’re thinking: It’s not very hard to make a hot dog taste good — even the water-soaked limp dogs they pull from a street cart in Midtown is going to have its own special appeal — so really, how much better can Walter’s really be than most? Let me tell you the answer to that: A LOT BETTER. To begin with, they go with a blend of beef, pork, and (eek) veal, so right away it tastes a thousand times more flavorful. On top of that, they split the dogs, then fry them cut-side down in butter before slathering them on toasted buttered buns with their signature brown mustard. Lastly, they’re sold through the windows of a nearly 100-year-old Chinese Pagoda (below), deemed a National Historic Landmark in the 30s. I mean…how can you top that? (Insider tip: Lines are a lot shorter in the rain.)

Another Walter’s photo because I’m not sure you registered this properly: They sell hot dogs from a one-hundred-year-old Chinese Pagoda.

Bagel Round-up (Scarsdale, Hastings, Bronxville, New Rochelle) A common complaint from recent New York transplants is often: I miss the food. We were those complainers. We still are. But one thing you’ll never hear us complain about are the bagels. I can’t seem to drive more than five miles without finding world class options. Two minutes from our house is Hastings Own Bagels; in New Rochelle there’s Sammy’s New York Bagels; In Bronxville there’s Park Place Bagels (above) which also happens to win my heart for best egg sandwich in Westchester. (Get it on a roll, not a bagel!) But after careful consideration and much consumption, the DALS family is in agreement that you’ll find the best Westchester bagel in a strip mall in Scarsdale at Bagel Power. Most of the time they’re warm (key), the flavor is slightly, subtly sweet, the crispy outside and doughy inside offer the ideal contrast, and most important for the under-12 set: They Have Rainbows. Insider tip: You won’t regret picking up a bag of the bagel chips or the rainbow cookies by the register. (Updated 2022)

Coffee Round-up (Hastings, Tarrytown, Mamaroneck) I don’t have any one favorite, but I tend to return to the same handful depending on my mood. Antoinette’s (Hastings) is presided over by the charismatic Kus, who roasts his own small-batch blends (Giacobean) in nearby Yonkers. Though you can no longer lounge around on a Saturday morning at an inside table (since the pandemic it’s counter-service and outdoor tables, weather permitting) just waiting on line here (it can be a long line) will quickly disabuse you of the notion that everyone in Westchester walks around in tennis whites and Lululemon. The line is packed with screenwriters and media types and I find it’s just the right place to connect with locals who I otherwise wouldn’t see. I used to visit Coffee Labs (Tarrytown) a lot, mostly because it was convenient for me to sit there while my kids (who loved the cute latte art) were at some practice or camp nearby — unlike Antoinette’s they have Wi-Fi — but my husband will drive out of his way to go here for the coffee, his top pick in the area. (They blend their own as well.) A shot of espresso at Boiano’s (shown above; see bakeries) is not going to let you down either. (Updated 2022)

PIZZA

Pizzeria La Rosa (New Rochelle, above) Where do I begin with this one? I guess the logical place would be the absurdly good pizza which is wood-fired and Neapolitan-style and baked in a 100-year-old oven that has been lovingly restored by founder Matt DiGesu and Frank Pinello of Williamsburg’s Best Pizza fame. (Let is just be said: This is hands-down my most favorite slice in the county.) But what really makes it special is that I can start the evening with an expertly crafted Negroni or Manhattan; and round out a few beautiful Margherita pies with a roasted beet and ricotta salad that feels like a main event (as opposed to a “I guess we have to put salads on this pizza menu”) And the crispy-not-mushy Eggplant Parm — don’t sleep it! We think of them for special occasions (they have a sorta semi-private room that we filled with balloons for Andy’s birthday last year) or just a weeknight dinner with friends. When La Rosa is in the calendar, it’s all I can think about all week long. (FYI on parking: They have a small lot, but it’s often packed, and street spots can be tricky. I find I get lucky on John Street, which runs parallel to Main St.)

Sal’s (Mamaroneck) You should just assume that the foods I grew up eating while wearing ribbon barrettes and cut-off Esprit sweatshirts, are going to be the ones that instantly rise to the top of a lists like this. That is definitely the case with Sal’s in Mamaroneck, where I went for lunch almost every day in high school to eat a regular slice and throw back a Dr. Pepper. (For reasons that remain mysterious, it is still literally the only place I ever order a Dr. Pepper.) But here’s the thing: when I dragged Andy there soon after we met in college, he grew just as attached to it. As the years went on, we fell in love…with their salad pizza, which features tomatoes and shredded romaine tossed in that oregano-heavy oil and vinegar you can somehow only ever get at a legit Italian American restaurant. That slice alone makes it a destination spot for me, especially since it’s right in the heart of bustling Mamaroneck, and afterwards I can walk up and down Mamaroneck Ave procuring ingredients and Italian speciality items for all my future meals. Insider tip: In high school, my brother, Phil, famously said, “There’s always a parking spot in front of Sal’s.” And it’s true! It’s like magic! (But maybe it only works for those of us who grew up here; keep me posted.) (Updated 2022)

The Parlor (Dobbs Ferry)  Dave DiBari (of Cookery fame, and something of a celebrity chef in Westchester) opened up The Parlor eight or nine years ago and ever since, we’ve been mauling his wood-fired artisanal pizzas topped with brussels sprouts and bacon, light-as-air polpette with ricotta, béchamel and hen of the woods, the David Chang-esque fried Brussels Sprouts salad with chili-honey and Rice Krispies. The brick is exposed, the space is industrial, the music is loud. On Thursdays and the weekends it can be a long wait, so if the weather is cooperating, we often order take-out and bring it down to the Dobbs Ferry waterfront, three minutes away, for the world’s greatest picnic.

Al Fresco Dining at Dobbs Ferry’s Waterfront Park Almost every Rivertown has a waterfront park with dramatic views of the Hudson and Manhattan skyline, twenty-ish miles south. But only Dobbs Ferry’s has this picnic table (located at the northern-most point in the park) that is always covered in shade and offers the perfect perch for sunsets, skylines, and sailboats. When the kids were young (this photo makes me all weepy) and we didn’t want to deal with having people over for dinner, we’d invite friends here, throw tablecloth on the table, order our favorite take-out, while all the kids played soccer or cavorted on the playground. I miss those days, but it ain’t so bad on those nights when just Andy and I sit here for glass of chilled rose before heading home to dinner. (Updated 2022)

WHERE I DINE, LIGHTNING ROUND

Favorite Drink with River Views: The roof or terrace at Red Hat on the River (Irvington)
Favorite Hibachi Birthday Party for Kids: Osaka (Tarrytown)
Favorite Egg Sandwich: Park Place Bagels (Bronxville) on a roll, not a bagel!
Favorite Pizza Party for Kids: Frank Pepe (Yonkers)
Favorite Pancakes: Pondfield Cafe (Bronxville) CASH ONLY
Favorite Secret Sushi Takeout: Fjord (Larchmont)
Favorite Cinnamon Bun: Coffee Labs (Tarrytown)
Favorite Food Incentive: Blue Pig Ice Cream (Croton-on-Hudson) after kayaking
Favorite Place I’ve Been Meaning to Hit: Burgers, Shakes, and Fries (Greenwich, but basically Port Chester!)

Part 2: SPECIALTY/MARKETS

Note: It might strike you as somewhat odd that there is no general supermarket on this list. That is not because I don’t shop at general supermarkets. I do. In fact, in my line of work as a food and cookbook writer, I do almost every day, which I understand is not the way most people shop*. Instead, I chose to focus on a few special places that I go out of my way to patronize, markets and specialty stores that transform errands into events.

If I had to tell you what my go-to shopping spots were, I’d say it would be some combination of MOM’s Organic Market (Dobbs Ferry, an especially great resource for gluten-free, dairy-free, hard-to-find products, but on the pricier end), H Mart (Hartsdale, such well priced organic produce, Trader Joe’s (Hartsdale, my family would not survive without their nuts and olive oil/condiment aisle) and, of course, the local Stop & Shop for everything else.

Hastings Farmer’s Market (Hastings-on-Hudson) You can pretty much always find us here on Saturday morning, prowling around for our favorite local treasures like lions on the hunt. Located in the local library’s parking lot, the market has breathtaking views of the Hudson and the Palisades, and under the guidance of superwoman Pascale LaDraoulec over the past decade, has exploded. You can almost always track down whatever Fetishy Food Find is in season (think: garlic scapes, ramps, rhubarb, favas), but more important, you can’t walk an inch without running into a friend or neighbor. Don’t leave without: Pomegranate chutney from Bombay Emerald, Duck breasts from Hudson Valley Duck; the eggs and cider doughnuts (that one is Abby’s pick) at Wrights Farmers; any of the produce from Taliferro or Neversink; sweet Italian sausages and grass-fed burger patties from Southtown Farms; and whatever is local at Pura Vida Fisheries — Grab a bag of Little Necks, soft-shell crabs, striped bass, or grey sole for the best Sunday dinner. (Updated 2022)

Frontier (Hartsdale) Whenever you see sushi or raw fish on this blog, there is a 100% chance that it came from this market, a diamond in the rough on strip-mall-city Central Park Ave, the main drag that runs north-south in Westchester and essentially cuts the county in half. When it’s sushi night (or poke night or sushi bowl night) in our house, we do a one-stop shop here. Not only is the fish the freshest (there is virtually no smell in the seafood section of the store in the back), but they sell beautiful, hard-to-find produce, like shiso leaves and the skinny Japanese cucumbers that are perfect in sushi rolls. My kids will tell you, they also offer an impressive selection of Wacky Pops, which somehow always end up in the shopping cart as well. (Updated 2022)

A. Mercurio Sons (Italian, Mamaroneck) I grew up on this old-school Italian market’s offerings — my childhood freezer was stacked with boxes of cheese ravioli and little plastic pints of bolognese — but it took moving across the county for me to really appreciate it. Now, whenever I’m on that side of Westchester I LOAD up on so much more than I used to: the ravioli and bolognese of course, but also the prepared lasagna, baked ziti, chicken parm, the rigatoni they sell in the freezer at the register, their house-made mozzarella, and loaves of long Italian breads that I’ll slice and freeze (and top with that mozzarella) for the lunch box all week. As the dudes in The Incredibles said, “No School like the Old School.” Insider tip: While you’re on Mamaroneck Ave, head down the street to Cosmos and pick up sausages or Italian heroes or just to check out the ambitious offering of Italian speciality goods like olive oil and one-of-a-kind dried pastas. (Updated 2022)

Rochambeau Wine & Liquors (Dobbs Ferry) From Andy, who is the chief wine patron in our house: “It’s our favorite but not just because they sell great and varied and well-priced wines. It’s great because they care, and because they actually know what they are talking about. There were days when I used to browse at wine stores, looking for things I recognized, trying to learn. Those days are gone. Now I just walk right up to the register and say, ‘Hey Jeff [Jeff Wooddy, the man in charge] we’re having people over for a BBQ tonight and we’re gonna sit outside and eat a bunch or ribs. I’m looking for a good rose.’ And then I will watch Jeff’s eyes light up. He will leave his perch behind the counter and show me what is new, tell me what he likes, and why it’s special. As he talks, I take mental notes so that I can then casually mention all of this to our guests, who will, in turn, assume that I actually know something about wine. The people who work at Rochambeau don’t just work at Rochambeau: they also buy for Rochambeau, and meet with all the best vendors and winemakers, and that kind of passion and knowledge is hard to come by. You can find it here.” (Updated 2022)

La Placita (Port Chester) A one-stop-shop market for authentic Central and South American ingredients, plus a secret weapon for well-priced, hard-to-find quality produce, I never leave without a bag of dried chiles (above, a small sample of the offerings), tortillas, frozen empanada shells, Maseca brand masa harina (for homemade tortillas on ambitious nights), a jar of dulce de leche (I buy a different brand every time for the express purpose of drizzling over ice cream), and various fruits and pulps that you just can’t reliably find anywhere else, like passion fruit and papaya.

Bhavik Market (Elmsford) If you live in Westchester, you’ve probably driven by Bhavik a thousand times without realizing it — on Rte 119, on the way to the Bed Bath and Beyond and Home Goods and Starbucks and Whateversville Strip Mall USA. Next time, do yourself a favor and program your GPS to this small, cheery market, packed with Indian spices, condiments, dry goods, chutneys, a small, but well-curated selection of produce (tamarind pulp, ginger, mangoes, etc), and an assortment of prepared chaat at the register. Fun fact: They also sell classic British biscuits and chocolates — I always stock up on Cadbury Flake bars when I’m there.

Dobbs Ferry Lobster Guys (Dobbs Ferry) These days, every time I walk by the mile-long line for local fish at the Saturday Farmer’s Market, I scratch my head. I mean, the purveyor at the market is excellent, but…do those people in line not know about Dobbs Ferry Lobster Guys? Considering DFLG’s so-small-you-could-miss-it shingle hanging on their storefront on the very outskirts of town, I guess it’s conceivable that people don’t yet, and I really need that to change because I do not want this place to go out of business. I’ve come to depend on it for just-off-the-boat sole, swordfish, scallops, clams every single weekend. The place, run by third-generation commercial fisherman Anthony DeMeglia is as no-frills as it gets, all the better to highlight his show-stealing display. Check their instagram for updates on hours, but usually they are only open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Yaranush (White Plains) This place reminds me of the home in The Little House, by Virginia Lee Burton. A few blocks away from a I-287 junction, sandwiched in between car dealerships and gas stations, sits this old-school little Armenian-owned gem that offers everything you want a Mediterranean market to offer: dried fruits, grains and spices in bulk, hummus, babaganouj, home-baked pita, halvah, olives, honey, baklava, halloumi, an entire section devoted exclusively to tahini, heirloom dried beans, some of the most beautiful olive oil you’ve ever seen. We like load up on all their apps (stuffed grape leaves and an assortment of pita and dips) when we’re entertaining. Insider tip: Their olive oil selection is truly special; I often pick up a few for birthday and housewarming gifts. (Updated 2022)

BAKERIES/TREATS

By the Way Bakery (Hastings-on-Hudson) Though we can no longer count this as Westchester’s own, we are inspired and proud that Helene Godin’s gluten-free empire has expanded into Manhattan and beyond. (The corporate-lawyer-turned-entrepreneur has come a long way in a few short years!) We are obsessed with her almond cloud cookies and her marble tea cakes, but she seems to have gained a sizable following for big-ticket special occasion cakes, too, like this one we ordered for my mother-in-law’s 80th birthday last year. (Updated 2022)

Boiano’s Bakery (Mamaroneck) Last time we went (um, yesterday), we spied Joe Torre sauntering into the back kitchen to a room full of ayyyyyyys and embraces. But dare I say it, even a Red Sox fans will feel welcome at the always bustling old-school Italian bakery with an entire wall of display cases showcasing the Italian dolci of your dreams: rainbow cookies, chocolate-dipped, sugar-dusted, sprinkle-coated butter and jam-filled cookies, chewy almond amaretti cookies (Andy’s favorite), old-school birthday cakes, fruit tarts, cannolis, biscottis by the billions! With its chrome-framed chairs and a group of regulars clad in full-on warm-up suits always parked at the tables out front, it feels like you’re in both Rome and an episode of The Sopranos.

Galloway’s (Scarsdale) You gotta love a place that is only open on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. This old-school bakery (ca. 1956!) is famous for its pies (chocolate cream and apple crumb specifically), but if we’re in the hood, we forgo those for their fresh-baked warm doughnut holes dusted with cinnamon sugar. Be warned: The place is packed floor to ceiling with a ridiculous array of baked goods, so if you go with kids, you’ll walk out with way more than just doughnut holes. (Updated 2022)

WHERE I SHOP, LIGHTNING ROUND

Favorite Pop-up Sourdough Scavenger Hunt: Hudson Oven (above)
Favorite Birthday Cakes: Riviera Bakehouse (Ardsley)
Favorite Chocolate Twists: Kneaded Bread (Port Chester)
Favorite Cider Doughnuts: Wright’s Farm stand at the Hastings Farmer’s Market
Favorite Persian Market: Shiraz Mediterranean (when Ash Reshteh calls!)
Favorite Shelves Spilling Over Shop: Mint (Tarrytown)
Favorite Cheese Pop-Up: Bloomy Cheese and Provisions (inside HudCo, in the Palisade Building in Dobbs Ferry)

PS: I’m almost afraid to ask: What am I missing? Please clue me in below.

Photo credits: Harper’s Bar: 3Industries; Walter’s Hot Dog: Westchester Magazine; Walter’s Exterior: Purdy’s: Hamlet Hub; Walter’s Hot Dogs; Inn at Pound Ridge: The New York Times; Hudson Oven: Instagram.

One of the unforeseen benefits of having two kids in college is that their expanded social circles now encompass friends from the wider New York area, plus visitors to the New York area, plus friends just interning in the New York area for the summer. All of this translates to more guests at the dinner table, which means the weeknight kitchen has been generating a parade of summer crowdpleasers: two weeks ago was a Veggie Burger spread (with fixins) and corn on the cob for Ron; last night, for Nate, was a cold vermicelli and cabbage salad (from Hannah Che’s new book The Vegan Chinese Kitchen, coming in September); tonight, for Jazzy, is Tagliatelle with Corn, Tomatoes, and “Onion Bacon” from page 87 of The Weekday Vegetarians. There was also a platter of the ever versatile golden fried chicken cutlet for Grace. I love this one in particular when I’m feeding meat-eaters because it’s make-ahead and there are endless ways to jeuje them up. Such as:

10 Ways to Serve a Chicken Cutlet

1. Serve with a dollop of Maggi Tamarind Sauce or your favorite chutney
2. Serve with a dollop of spicy mayo, 3:1 mixture of mayo to Sriracha with a squeeze of lime
3. Serve drizzled with an herby ranch dip (page TK The Weekday Vegetarians)
4. Serve drizzled with a limey-soy sauce (juice from one lime, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, chopped scallions)
5. Serve alongside Peruvian green sauce
6. Serve with homemade barbecue sauce
7. Serve tossed into any green salad, but particularly one with arugula, fresh summer tomatoes, red onion, Parm, olive oil, and a squeeze of lemon
8. Serve showered in fresh herbs: chives, parsley, dill, mint, tarragon
9. Add any of the following to the breadcrumbs before you dredge: 2 teaspoons mustard powder, a pinch of cayenne, fresh thyme leaves, sesame seeds, or freshly grated Parmesan; 1 tablespoon curry powder
10. In between potato rolls and packed with slaw.

Basic Chicken Cutlets (in case you forgot!)

6 tablespoons olive oil, plus more as necessary
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups plain or panko bread crumbs (see note)
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 pounds boneless chicken breasts; if they are large, thick pieces, slice them in half horizontally or pound them to create an even thickness throughout (place chicken in between plastic wrap and bang using a rolling pin or a meat pounder); you could also buy thin sliced cutlets

Add oil to a large skillet set over medium heat. Set up your dredging stations: one rimmed plate for the eggs, one plate for the flour, and one plate for the bread crumbs seasoned with the salt and pepper. Using a fork coat your chicken pieces first in the flour (shaking off the excess), then in the egg, then in the crumbs pressing the chicken into the crumbs to thoroughly coat.

Fry each breast in the oil for 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Try not to crowd the pan. The cutlets are cooked when chicken is firm to the touch but not rock hard.

Remove and drain the chicken on to a paper-towel-lined dinner plate tented with foil if you have more pieces to fry. Add more oil to the pan and fry the remaining breasts. Once all the chicken is cool enough to handle, slice on the bias into pieces as shown. Do you have to do this? No, but it makes serving a little easier.

P.S. I’m really glad you’re here, but just a reminder: All the fun stuff these days happens in my newsletter on Substack, which is consistently in the Top 10 most-read food newsletters on the entire platform. You can subscribe here.

Last week, one of my daughter’s college friends was visiting New York for the first time and asked if we had any suggestions for what to do and see and eat over the course of a single weekend. It was fun (if overwhelming) to think about, and reminded me of a loose formula I used when the girls were young and we’d want to explore a new place (cities or otherwise) without completely exhausting them. We’d pick a neighborhood, then come up with a three-part itinerary that included the following 1) a good outdoorsy walk to get the blood going — think parks, hikes, trails, farms, spots with nice views; 2) a culture hit — defined broadly: small, doable museums, book stores, spice emporiums!; and, of course 3) a meal or a treat to keep everyone incentivized. Using this strategy, I wrote up six shorthand itineraries — barely scratching the surface of this great city, but definitely more than enough for a weekend. You should feel free to improve upon them or add any of the other eight thousand neighborhoods in the comment section based on the same formula. I’m especially starving for ideas in Queens and deeper Brooklyn, where food and culture abounds, and one could spend every day of the year exploring something new.

Brooklyn Bridge/Manhattan’s Chinatown: It’s fun to start on the Brooklyn side of the Brooklyn Bridge (or hang in the Brooklyn Bridge Park if you have time), walk across towards Manhattan, then head north on Centre towards Canal Street to the heart of Chinatown. Wander through the streets off Canal, making sure to grab bubble tea (or cannolis; there’s Little Italy overlap!) and shop for novelties at the bustling side markets along the way (I could spend a whole day in Pearl River Mart); lastly, grab dim sum on East Broadway or Hong-Kong-style lo mein at NY Noodletown (re-opening this weekend: 7/1/22)

Upper East Side: Walk the upper loop of Central Park (or the reservoir, or literally wander any trail and get lost); then lunch at JG Melon, the iconic green-checkered-tableclothed New York tavern with famous burgers; no reservations, line can be long, or coffee/treats at Cafe Sabarsky (quintessential UES elegance; Viennese pastries and coffee in the Neue Galerie); then check out the Old Masters at The Frick, arguably the most romantic museum in NYC (*they are renovating as of today 6/28/22, but check back!)

Park Avenue South/Murray Hill: Explore and admire Grand Central for its exquisite Beaux Arts beauty (I’ve commuted through the station for my entire life and I still gasp every time I walk in its main terminal), then order some oysters or a bowl of Manhattan clam chowder at the snakey Oyster Bar counter (or knock back a martini at the Campbell, depending on time of day); walk south on Park Ave and shop at Kalustyans (above) for spices and snacks from around the world (or just ogle the spilleths-over bounty of the place and buy nothing); check out what’s new at the Morgan Library, Pierpont Morgan’s early 1900s mansion-turned-museum, that usually has a literature-related exhibit and a bright beautiful cafe where you can have lunch or coffee. See what’s happening in Madison Square Park (home of the very first Shake Shack) or just sit on a bench and soak in the sunshine.

Soho/Lower East Side: Hit Russ & Daughters (shown up top) for the best bagels, smoked fish, and Jewish delights or a New York slice at Scarr’s pizza on Orchard (or, if it’s dinner and you have time and stamina, wait for an outdoor table at trendy Cervo’s — no reservations, long waits); browse McNally Jackson and buy any book the staffers recommend — they are always on the money; my art-school friend Jodi recommends two galleries in the area: James Fuentes Gallery on Delancey or The Drawing Center on Wooster. “You’re guaranteed to find something surprising at either one,” she told me.

Chelsea/West Village: Walk The High Line which goes from Gansevoort in Tribeca (at The Whitney) all the way to Hudson Yards in the West 30s; If you’re not up for a big museum like the Whitney, the Matthew Marks Gallery and two David Zwirner Galleries (one on West 19th one on West 20th) in Chelsea are going to be good bets (more recs from Jodi); If you head from North to South, you can finish in the West Village and walk over to Via Carota (lunch or dinner for the dreamiest pasta; FYI no reservations, and on the pricier end); or, if you just want a treat, Fabrique on West 14th for coffee and Swedish baked goods like their famous cardamon bun.

Brooklyn Heights/Boerum Hill/Cobble Hill: Walk the Promenade for dramatic downtown views (fun fact: my whole wedding did this after the ceremony on the way to the reception); check out the Middle Eastern markets on Atlantic Ave (between Court & Henry) for shopping and snacks (specifically Sahadi’s and Damascus Bakery) or have pho or bánh mì at Hanco’s on Smith Street; browse the shelves at Books Are Magic, the bright, energetic indie shop, darling of book lovers everywhere.

Midtown West/Chelsea: Walk around the relatively new Little Island public pier (above), set atop Dr. Seussian columns, for great Hudson River views (touristy, but really cool, especially for kids); walk up the High Line (or hop in an Uber, it’s about a half hour walk) to eat at Chodang Gol in Koreatown (my friend Matt, who co-authored Koreatown with Deuki Hong, emailed me “I go 7 to 10 times a year…Tofu is the house specialty, but the banchan is def my fav in Manhattan”); then shop for stationary and design books at Kinokuniya, the Japanese book store just off Bryant Park. The park is an excellent place to rest and people-watch.

What three-part itinerary would you recommend to a visitor…whether that’s a first-time tourist or an adventure-seeking local? Comment below…especially looking at you, Locals!

P.S. When I sorted my iphotos by neighborhood to find a good opening picture, I came upon approximately 150 restaurants and food destinations not mentioned in these itineraries. Looks like this might have to be a running series.

Opening photo credit: Russ and Daughters; Little Island photo Go Love NY.

P.S. I’m really glad you’re here, but just a reminder: All the fun stuff these days happens in my newsletter on Substack, which is consistently in the Top 10 most-read food newsletters on the entire platform. You can subscribe here.

I just returned for the summer from my first year of college. It’s weird and bittersweet to be back in my childhood bedroom, surrounded by relics of my upbringing—including a massive collection of French comic books (pictured above: me at age 5 devouring Les Schtroumpfs, aka The Smurfs). My first night home, unable to sleep, I found myself picking through my dusty bookshelves, and I realized that the most powerful childhood memories rested between the pages of books I hadn’t thought about in nearly a decade. Suddenly, I was hurtled back to middle-school summers, seven-hour road trips to visit my grandparents in Vermont, which flew by as I escaped on strange literary adventures through under-worlds and magical rhubarb farms. Now, I marvel at the clarity with which I can recall both the stories and my delight in them.

I found practically all of my reading material when I was 10, 11, and 12 by scouring the children’s section of the Philadelphia Public Library. While I loved finding refuge from the summer heat in the silence of the stacks and blasting AC, I had to suffer through a lot of bad, corny kids’ books to find the gems that line my shelves today. Here is a list of the books that made the searching worth it. Whether you have a bored tween in the house who’s exhausted the classics (Pseudonymous Bosch, Roald Dahl, Lemony Snicket) or you’re lucky enough to have some summer evenings ahead, there’s a sweet escape for you in each one. —Violette Terjanian

Juniper Berry by M. P. Kozlowsky

In a nutshell: Juniper’s parents are beloved movie stars. But something’s not quite right—they’re not their usual selves. Juniper and her next door neighbor Giles discover their parents have been slowly selling their souls, bit by bit, to a demon under the tree in the backyard. Juniper and Giles explore the underground world to save her parents, encountering temptations and oddities along the way.

For people who like: Coraline or Narnia, stories about secret portals, tunnels, and bravery. Also for fans of Pseudonymous Bosch’s Secret Series.

My Name is Mina by David Almond

Age range: 9-15

In a nutshell: The prequel to Almond’s book Skellig (see next pick; I recommend reading Mina before Skellig). The book is written in the form of a diary, from the mind of a young girl named Mina. She is the OG manic pixie dream girl: Mina is homeschooled and ruminates in the handwritten pages about poetry, myths, and math, dreaming of her dead father and wondering about birds. 

I felt such a deep connection to this book that I wrote a letter to David Almond when I was nine. “I LOVED My Name Is Mina.  Mina thinks just like me! I love to write, and My Name Is Mina made me want to write even more.” (And guess what? He wrote me the nicest email back – “It’s great that the book made you want to write – that’s exactly what I want to happen when people read it.”)

For people who like: Harriet the Spy, poetic and quirky books that aren’t plot based—sort of a character study. Excellent personality-inspiration for misunderstood tween girls who like to dream, write, and escape.

Skellig by David Almond

Age Range: 10-20

In a nutshell: Another mysterious and poetic book by Almond. Michael, a 10-year-old boy, is looking forward to moving into a new house when his baby sister becomes deeply ill. One day he steps into his crumbling garage and discovers a strange creature coated with spider webs, eating dead flies and Chinese take-out, and growing wings. With the help of next door neighbor Mina, Micheal brings Skellig out of the garage and into the light. Creepy but beautiful, entertaining, captivating— I couldn’t put it down.

For people who like: Neil Gaiman fairy-tales such as The Ocean at the End of the Lane, mysterious and eerie but moving.

Drizzle by Kathleen Van Cleve

Age Range: 9-12

In a nutshell: Eleven year-old Polly Peabody lives on a magical, world-famous rhubarb farm. The plants taste like chocolate, jewels appear in the soil, bugs talk to her, and her best friend is a rhubarb plant named Harry. But one day, the miraculously-timed Monday rainstorms suddenly stop and the plants start to suffer. Could it have anything to do with her aunt’s sudden desire to sell the farm, and her brother’s mysterious illness? Polly has to restore the rain and save the farm and her family, before it’s too late.

For people who like: The charm and creativity of Roald Dahl books, specifically Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or James and the Giant Peach. Magic and childlike wonder combined with a family-centered plot.

Beswitched by Kate Saunders

Age Range: 10-15

In a nutshell: Flora is on the train, headed to her new private school in England, dressed in her bright red converse. But when Flora gets off the train, she finds herself in 1935, forced to live as an old-fashioned schoolgirl. In order to return to the 21^st century, she has to figure out why she time-travelled in the first place. Her new friendship with a Jewish girl, about to head home to Vienna, just might hold the answer.

For people who like: The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler, Harry Potter – think dark academia and history with all the juicy tween-girl drama.

The Undrowned Child series by Michelle Lovric

Age Range: 11-17

In a nutshell: Adopted girl Teodora is visiting Venice, the floating city of her dreams, and discovers that things are not as they seem. The sinking city also holds an entire secret world, visible only to her, including an underground printing press run by mermaids, speaking statues, strange translucent ghosts, and librarians which transform into cats. Teodora soon realizes the power rests in her hands to save Venice from the sinister forces that threaten it.

For people who like: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, the Percy Jackson series, or Harry Potter – heavily inspired by mythology and magic, and impossible to put down.

Thanks, Violette!

Even if you think you don’t know Melina Hammer, you probably know Melina Hammer. She’s shot and styled for all the major food players in New York (Food52, NYT Cooking, Julia Turshen ) and when one of her artfully chaotic recipe shots appear on my instagram feed, I don’t even have to look at the name on the handle — that rich, textured vibe that is very much at play in this cake photo, is just so distinctly her. Melina also runs the Catbird Cottage B&B at the foothills of the Shawagunk Mountains in New York, and her latest project — lucky us! — is a collection of the recipes that the seasons and the fertile, local land around the cottage has inspired. As a result, the dishes in A Year at Catbird Cottage, look like the way I would eat every night if I could, which is to say, like all the ingredients had been picked up at the local co-op, or pulled right from a CSA box or the ground itself. Think: A Dutch baby packed with pickles, pea shoots, and craggy cheese; a grand aioli summer feast; French toast with wild blueberry compote, Spanish tortilla with pickles and garlic-mustard pesto; this Double Rye Buckwheat Plum Cake that might just be my new favorite answer to the question I ask myself all summer long, i.e. “What is a simple, but special dessert that I can bring to a summer party?” Melina was nice enough to share the recipe.

From Melina: This short cake makes up for in flavor what it lacks in height. Sweet-tart, juicy, earthy and a little boozy, it feels like a real indulgence. The bones of this recipe belong to Claire Saffitz of Bon Appetit cake fame. Over the years, I’ve riffed on it many times, landed on this version, and now lust for it when plum season arrives. Use very ripe plums: once the cake is ready, they’re basically rendered into jam, in the best possible way. The almonds and sprinkled sugar make a superb textural contrast to the moist cake and fall-apart fruit.

Double Rye Buckwheat Plum Cake
From A Year at Catbird Cottage
Makes 8 Servings 

1⁄2 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pan
1⁄4 cup rye flour
1⁄4 cup buckwheat flour
3⁄4 teaspoon baking powder
1⁄2 teaspoon kosher salt
1⁄3 cup rye whiskey
1⁄4 cup full-fat Greek yogurt
1⁄4 cup melted salted butter, slightly cooled, plus more for greasing the pan
1 1⁄2 tablespoons lemon zest (from 2 small lemons)
3 eggs
3⁄4 cup cane sugar
5 or 6 elephant heart or mix of plums, pitted and cut into halves (see Notes)
2 to 3 tablespoons slivered almonds, for scattering
3 to 4 tablespoons demerara sugar, for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Grease the sides and base of a 9-inch springform pan, then tap the flour to coat the surface thinly, emptying out any extra flour.

In a medium bowl, use a fork to mix together the flours, baking powder, and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together the rye whiskey, yogurt, melted butter, and zest. Use an electric mixer to beat the cane sugar and eggs in a large bowl until pale and fluffy, about 45 seconds. Add the yogurt mixture to the egg mixture and whisk to combine. Use a sieve to sift the dry mixture into the wet a little at a time, folding the dry mixture in fully to ensure there are no lumps. Pause occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. This step takes about 5 minutes. Once fully incorporated, refrigerate the batter for 10 minutes.

Pour half of the batter into the pan and bake for 10 minutes. This is so that the plums don’t sink to the base of your pan, and you can see their cheery faces once the cake is done. Chill the remaining batter until needed. Pour the remaining batter on top of the already baked batter, then nestle the plums cut sides up. Scatter with the almonds and sprinkle with the demerara sugar, being sure to emphasize the periphery (the cake will become nice and crispy at the edges).

Bake 25 to 35 minutes more, until a toothpick comes out nearly clean when inserted into the center. Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then run a thin offset spatula or butter knife around the edge to separate the tacky surface from the cake pan. Allow the cake to cool fully, remove the collar, and serve. Keeps for 2 days wrapped in parchment or foil at room temperature.

NOTES: Always sift dry ingredients as they are incorporated—it is no fun to discover a lump of baking powder or flour as you take a bite. If it isn’t summer but you long to bake this cake, it can be made with fruit from any season—use sturdy fruit, cut in a similar size as the plums for best effect. I have made this using Seckel pears, poached quince, and rhubarb. All are a delight.

P.S. I’m really glad you’re here, but just a reminder: All the fun stuff these days happens in my newsletter on Substack, which is consistently in the Top 10 most-read food newsletters on the entire platform. You can subscribe here.

Want your family to head in a more plant-based direction, but not sure where to even begin? I hear you! In fact I was you…only a few years ago. Here are a few strategies that helped me make the transition, excerpted from my book, The Weekday Vegetarians.

1. Cook What You Know
You might want to start building a repertoire of vegetarian dinners by first thinking of ways to convert the recipes that you know and love into meatless versions. This could be as simple as omitting the sausage on your pizza or the chicken in your stir-fry. The goal, though, is to create a basic level of familiarity with the dish from both the cooking angle and the dining angle (and if you’re cooking for kids, it will be less likely to incite a tableside revolt). This is especially important if you are serving people who like things A. Very. Specific. Way. For example, if you have been making and loving the same turkey chili for decades, it might be worth starting with that recipe (swapping three bean varieties for the meat) instead of, say, debuting the silken tofu with fermented beans that you’ve been meaning to cook since 2003. Your made-over versions of favorite meals will most likely not taste exactly the same, but they will look mostly the same, and that’s a good start. Going vegetarian doesn’t mean anyone has to give up their favorite dish . . . just some of the ingredients involved in making that dish.

2. Build on Your Current Recipe Repertoire
Before this undertaking, as I’ve established, we ate a lot of meat. Like a lot—at least five times a week you’d find something chicken-, pork-, or beef- driven on our dinner plates. On the other hand, there were usually a few days a week when we ate vegetarian dinners without even thinking about it. Black bean burritos, barbecued baked beans, minestrone, salad pizzas, regular pizzas, macaroni and cheese, butternut squash soup, sesame noodles, pasta with basil pesto and on and on. They were major family favorites, and it was good to know that we could build our new way of eating around meals our kids already loved. Take a look at your own dinner rotation wearing vegetarian goggles and see what you come up with. I’ll bet you’re already further along than you think.

3. Don’t Make It a Big Deal
Especially for those of you with young kids, who you wouldn’t exactly describe as the adventurous type, don’t make any loud proclamations about your new mostly vegetarian undertaking. In fact, maybe don’t even mention it at all and see what happens. Sometimes, when you give something a name, it’s easier to mount a campaign against it. Don’t give them a cause. Give them noodles.

4. Or…Make it a HUGE Deal
On the other hand, kids can be way more game to try new things than we give them credit for. When the girls were young, I decided to cook a brand- new dinner every night for thirty days straight and to spin the strategy as an adventure. We were going to try something brand-new every night! There would be charts and games and (don’t tell all those baby food experts) even prizes if they tried new things! You know your family better than I do. If you think positioning weeknight vegetarian eating as something fun and important will help ease the change, pull out the PowerPoints and the pom-poms and officially launch your campaign.

5. Never Reveal the Meal Plan Ahead of Time
This is especially true if you’re making something you know won’t necessarily be received with open arms. The less time they have to organize their resistance, the better.

6. Use Your Hooks
There’s an entire section in The Weekday Vegetarians about this concept, but it’s crucial to always have one thing on the plate that you or your potential convert is excited about, no matter how simple. If you’re debuting Coconut Curried Red Lentils (page 162) for dinner, maybe consider frying up some homemade fresh Yogurt Flatbread (page 222) alongside them. (What, pray tell, is better than warm bread?) If you’re steaming greens like spinach or kale for a side dish, think about drizzling some Spicy Peanut Sauce on top. Your hooks could be crispy or mashed potatoes, a creamy ranch dressing, garlicky croutons on a salad, or buttery garlic bread on the side. They can even be store-bought hooks, like a can of Bush’s baked beans or that bottled ginger-miso dressing your kid would drink like Gatorade if given the option. The point: Capitalize on the power of hooks to cast a warm, happy glow on the rest of the food on the plate.

7. Think Vegetable Forward, Not Just Vegetarian Sure, most of us become interested in vegetarian eating because we want to cut back on meat, omit meat, or do our part to help minimize animal cruelty or the environmental impact caused by the production of meat. But for me, another huge draw of going vegetarian was what I’d be adding to the dinner table, namely the vegetables themselves. If dialing down the meat means amping up the sugar snap peas in May, grilled Japanese eggplants in July, and caramelly Brussels sprouts in October, well, that’s about as convincing an argument as I need. In other words, if you seek out the freshest in-season produce, you’ll find the vegetables themselves are the best advocates for going vegetarian. I love building dinner around superstar in-season produce. I have fresh asparagus, let’s make that chilled asparagus soup. I have tomatoes and corn, let’s make that show-stopper pasta (page 87). And—decidedly less romantic but still just as relevant—I have half a head of cabbage that’s about to go bad, let’s shred it and make Crispy Cabbage Pancakes (page 132). It’s a new way of thinking about dinner. Once you see how easy it is to use vegetables as a starting point, you’ll realize it’s also extremely liberating.

I love the sour tang that tamarind brings to a dish, but buying and cooking with it has always been very intimidating to me. When a recipe calls for tamarind, do they mean the pods? The pulp? The concentrate? The puree? The ketchupy stuffI drizzle on dal? Well I finally conquered my fears back in March when I took on the Pad Thai recipe from Kenji López-Alt’s magnum opus The Wok. (The recipe was very involved which is why it never made it on to this newsletter — who says I don’t look out for you? — but you may recall my love letter to his game-changing Vegetable Fried Rice?) Kenji offered a solid tamarind primer, and guided me towards his preferred way to look for it, i.e. in pulp form, in a block that looks like this:

You can find it at any Asian supermarket and most Latin markets (I found it at H Mart), and it’s usually in the produce section, underneath the fresh produce displays. (I found it underneath the mango bins.) Once you get the block home, you can break off what you need into a bowl, add an equal amount of very warm water and massage it to loosen the pulp, breaking it up with your fingers until, as Kenji writes, it “feels like very loose, squishy mud with fibers running through it.” Run that through a strainer, pressing it with your fingers or a rubber spatula if you have to, until a puree with apple-sauce-like consistency remains.

It was so easy! So liberating! And overnight, my radar was cranked up to high alert for any recipe that called for tamarind. Which is exactly how I found myself clicking through Susan Spungen’s last newsletter (Susanality, one of the most consistent sources of inspiration on substack in my opinion) to find her tamarind-glazed grilled chicken. We just grilled straight-up whole thighs and skipped the kebab-ing, but alongside some surprisingly sweet corn (with miso-butter!) and a green-goddess dressed salad, the line-up was just the ticket for Sunday family dinner. I love that moment when someone takes a bite and says something like “what on earth am I eating…” in the best possible way, like as if they can’t place the flavor but they know they love it. That’s the kind of recipe this is because that’s the kind of ingredient tamarind is. Even if you’re used to it, as this expert now is, the flavor is still a surprise and delight.

Susan Spungen’s Grilled Chicken with Tamarind Glaze 
(From Susanality)

You can also use chicken breasts here but watch carefully and cook for a shorter time to avoid drying them out.

¼ cup tamarind paste or puree (Susan asked Maya Kaimal to go deep on tamarind, and she explains other ways to buy and prep it)
2 tablespoons soy sauce 
2 to 3 teaspoons freshly grated ginger (grated on a microplane)
2 garlic cloves, grated on a microplane 
1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce
¼ cup ketchup 
1 tablespoon honey
8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, (approximately 2 lbs.) 
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Olive oil

Combine tamarind paste, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, chili garlic sauce, ketchup, and honey in a small bowl, and stir well with a fork. Set aside.

Season chicken thighs liberally with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Grill over medium-high heat for 10-12 minutes. Turn and cook for 6 more minutes, then brush with the glaze. Cook for an additional 6-8 minutes, turning and brushing with glaze every 2 minutes. Transfer to a platter and top with fresh herbs.

(Photo by Susan Spungen)

As I was rounding up recipes for your Memorial Day cookout last week, I was shocked to learn that while I’ve prepped and referenced it approximately 100 times over the years, I did not have a dedicated post to the BBQ side dish I’ve made more than any other: Double Mustard Potato Salad. We first found a version of the recipe in a Mark Bittman cookbook — I’m talking like late 90s here, that is how much of a keeper it is — and the beauty of it is that you can swap in any mustard, any vinegar, any herb depending on what you have around, but here is the way we make it the most often.

Double Mustard Potato Salad

3 pounds small firm potatoes (red, white, Yukon gold) peeled, and halved (you want the pieces to be roughly the same size, so if you have a particularly large potato, maybe cut into thirds, use your judgement)
1 1/2 heaping tablespoon whole grain mustard
1 1/2 heaping tablespoon Dijon mustard
⅓ cup red wine vinegar (or Trader Joe’s white balsamic)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 bunch scallions, white and light green parts only, chopped (about 1/4 cup) or minced red onion

Add potatoes to a large pot and cover with generously salted water. Boil gently, until a knife slides through potatoes easily, about 15 minutes. You don’t want to undercook the potatoes, but they also need to retain their structure.  While potatoes are boiling, add mustards to a large bowl. Whisk in vinegar, salt and pepper, then olive oil. When potatoes have finished cooking, drain, and let cool until they can be handled and sliced. Slice them into thick disks as shown, then gently toss in the bowl allowing the slightly warm potatoes to absorb the dressing. Add herbs and scallions (or onions) and toss to combine.

To get my recipes (and podcasts and reading recs and way way more that what is on this blog) delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to my newsletter.