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BREAKING: Beer Delicious; Carrots Healthy.

There are two recession specials lurking in Brooklyn right now, and I wouldn’t feel right not sharing them.

One is Old Rasputin Imperial Stout, from North Coast Brewing. It’s not that it’s a new beer—it’s twelve years old—it’s that it’s an incredible beer, and on tap (a rare thing hereabouts) dangerously close to my abode. When asked to describe it I got so excited I sputtered, “It tastes like smoke and 1962 and tuxedos and bitterness.” (Yes, someone’s been watching too much Mad Men.)

Anyhoo, this velvety stout—which its website more sensibly proclaims “has a robust coffee and chocolate flavor profile”—is available two ways in Cobble Hill. At Bar Great Harry, where the taps are always changing, the dark-as-night elixir comes in a 12-ounce mug for only $5. Or wander into microbrew haven American Beer Distributing to buy a bottle for $2.25. These beers are 9% ABV (alcohol by volume), folks. That’s two Guinnesses in one little glass—a glass, no less, with a handle, which you will require after drinking two of them.

Not wishing to feel so, well, blurry? Get thee some carrots. Grampa Van Buren used to tell me carrots would improve my eyesight, and I figured an ophthalmologist would not lie to me. I was wrong. I held it not against him, but against carrots, for years—especially that ubiquitous, often dreadfully-stringy carrot soup. So I was shocked to find a silky version I loved at Ted & Honey, a tiny shop on Clinton Street. The giant bowl you see below, a steal at $4.50, uses local produce and is puréed with a hell of a kick of ginger. My very professional food-writerly notes read: “dill, ginger, strong black pepper, $4.50, three hunks of garlic Italian bread, the bomb.” The caliber of the peppery, gingery goodness was reminiscent of Manhattan’s new health-centric eatery Rouge Tomate, where they are currently serving a killer squash soup with licorice foam—for twice the price.

Bargain, thy name is Brooklyn.

 

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nog in my backyard

So while you were at work on Friday, gazing balefully at the snow out the window or cursing your boss for not letting you go home early, I was eating nog ice cream. Because that’s just how I roll.

Ice cream shops are open through the winter, y’know, including cutesy artisanal micro-chain Blue Marble, where new seasonal flavors include eggnog, chai, and peppermint. I love me some ice cream, so I feel good about supporting the joint through the off-season. I typically snag a cup of fair-trade coffee with organic milk and a bagel, but on Frozen Friday—blame perverse New Englander instincts—I wanted ice cream. Pictured here is a petite globe of sweet, cinnamony chai under a swirl of Blue Marble’s addictive hot fudge sauce, but as we edge closer to the holidays, I crave nog.

My aunt Gere Lou, a lovely, softspoken woman with a fondness for chardonnay, was kind enough to send me nog shot glasses a few years ago. She noticed that when the rest of our cacophonous Thanksgiving party was several bottles of Shiraz to the wind, I would procure a tiny water glass, fill it with nog, apply a dusting of nutmeg, and bolt the whole thing down my craw so I could immediately concoct another potion in the same glass. I would repeat this process three to four times. Gere Lou observed, judging silently. The glasses arrived weeks later.

So nog ice cream—my God, what a beautiful thing! My fix, frozen, as though for all eternity. Blue Marble’s version delivers a solid hit of nutmeg and allspice rounded out by that eggy flavor one either loves or despises, with sweetness from amaretto, organic sugar, and a bit of rum. It’ll be at the shops as long as it lasts (owners estimate mid-January.)

Support the frozen folks while it’s frigid out, ok? They often have cocoa and coffee, too, and no doubt feel as lonesome and neglected as you did at prom while “Stairway to Heaven” was playing and you had to stand there allll alone.

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be a grinch for your holiday party

Holiday entertaining, in my extended family, often consists of Bing Crosby on the stereo, kaleidoscopic veggie platters with a ginormous centerpiece of some sort of pasty dip, and overcooked steak for dinner. To fortify myself for such things, and because I am a snob, I bring hostess gifts I love: Cato Corner’s Hooligan cheese; a bottle of Riesling; black-and-white cookies for my mom (which I loathe, but she loves). In doing so, I am invariably dubbed “the fancy foodie cousin.” I can live with that,  since I have a knack for procuring pricey-tasting grub for relatively cheap.

Over the course of researching my InStyle article, I surveyed some other “fancy” folks—a few of America’s top tastemakers, if you will—to find out their best cheapskate holiday party tricks.

STEVEN MEIR, Sommelier, Bar Boulud, NYC
Crémant du Jura, $23, NV André et Mireille Tissot.
“Crémant is the generic term for a sparkling wine made outside of Champagne. It generally has less bars of pressure, creating a softer, rounder wine. This one has wonderfully refreshing notes of Golden Delicious apples, baking spices, white flowers, and toasted brioche. I love it as an aperitif, with seafood, or with spicy Thai food. Sparkling wines are also a wonderfully luxurious finish to a meal, reinvigorating the palate and balancing the sweetness of dessert.”
SYLVAN BRACKETT*, Chez Panisse creative director-turned-caterer, San Francisco
“Ask your fishmonger for steelhead salmon eggs, which are much less expensive than sturgeon caviar. Buy them in their skeins, run hot water over them to separate them, and cure in very salty water for about 10 minutes. They are translucent and jewel-like. Put them in a crystal bowl over ice and serve with a horn spoon as you would sturgeon eggs, on hot blini (small buckwheat pancakes) topped with crème fraîche.”
HARRY SLATKIN, candle-maker
“I go to flea markets and collect vintage cocktail napkins in sets of ten or twelve. I don’t usually go in for the corny holiday ones; I like browns and greens and embroidered ones. Usually when they’re antique they’re a little bit faded, so they all have a little bit of that holiday moment.”
SCOTT GOLD*, author
D’Artagnan mousse trufféeNew Orleans native Scott Gold, author of The Shameless Carnivore, recommends this truffle-flecked chicken and turkey liver mousse.  “Though not as decadent as the goose or duck liver in a foie gras pate, this is a wonderful substitute. The texture is beautifully silky, and at $7 for an eight-ounce serving, the price is certainly right. Serve with a side of fruit compote (I like peaches).”
EMILY FARRIS*, author, Casserole Crazy: Hot Stuff for Your Oven
“For holiday decorating, I go to the 99-cent store and get the cheap gold and silver balls and hang them at varying lengths from my ceiling with a clear thread or fishing wire. It’s festive without being too flashy or tacky, and it never costs more than $20.”
LAUREN SMITH AND DEREK FAGERSTROM
Co-owners of San Francisco’s Curiosity Shoppe, authors of Show Me How.
“For a cheap and easy cocktail, pick up a case of prosecco (the Italian sparkler that is typically much less expensive than Champagne) and a jar of Wild Hibiscus Flowers in Syrup. Drop a bloom in the bottom of a champagne flute, add a teaspoon of syrup and fill with prosecco. Beautiful, delicious, and your guests will never forget it! We usually buy our prosecco by the case at Trader Joe’s, and it averages out to about $7 per bottle.”
LULU de Kwiatkowski, stylist
“Make an amazing punch. Get a big glass bowl, add bottle of vodka, 2 bottles of sparkling water, a bottle of white cranberry juice, and a ¼ bottle of red cranberry juice, and put 2 pomegranates’ worth of seeds all in the bottom (pre-packaged at many stores). Toss some mint on the top, and add a big ladle. It’s gorgeous, and has those holiday colors!”
* Full disclosure: I count Sylvan, Scott, and Emily among my friends, but their tips were too good to resist showcasing them.

I’m off to find some hibiscus flowers and prosecco now. Have a lovely weekend.

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entertain cheaply and In Stylishly

Winter has arrived with a shiver here in Brooklyn, and I’m ready to buckle down and do some serious nesting. Though my studio is too tiny for parties, I have revived my holiday tradition, much beloved by friends, of inviting myself into their homes. At least I usually show up lugging a bottle of Moscato d’Asti or a jar of paté.

What with the cratered economy, however, we’re all looking for tricks on how to entertain—and be good guests—without dipping into our savings accounts. So I was pleased when In Style assigned me a feature about entertaining frugally and stylishly during the holiday season. The December issue is on stands now; flip to page 366 to learn super-simple cocktails from Huckleberry Bar‘s wonderful Stephanie Schneider, or find tasty wines starting at $17 from award-winning L20 sommelier Chantelle Pabros. Take a cue from adorable do-gooder Jamie Oliver and cook up an earthy mushroom risotto, learn how caterer Peter Callahan throws together cheapie appetizers, or make a glitzy centerpiece of golden spray-painted roses like Michael George. (No, not George Michael—though yes, that would be exciting). Then use the extra moolah to buy your mom some extra-warm mittens this year, or send a ten-spot to the local soup kitchen. Here’s to staying cozy, happy, and healthy through the holidaze.

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I have not crawled under a rock, etc etc.

Hello. So I’ve been busy, I swear, and not just shopping for shoes. One: I am co-writing a book slated to come out this winter. Two: I have three articles coming out in national magazines this December. I will provide details when I can. Meantime, I hope your summer has been like this:

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you & beer all summer, forever:

So the July issue of Players Club, Lenny Dykstra’s mag for pro athletes, should be arriving on the doorsteps of your favorite ballplayers, tennis players, and chess players with an article by yours truly. It’s all about pairing grilled food with fancy beer, a topic dear to my heart and, er, gut.

The story was a blast to put together; talking to a dude about beer is pretty much the easiest sort of interview to conduct.  I had the pleasure of chatting with Ben Wiley, co-owner of Bar Great Harry, Jimmy Carbone of Jimmy’s no 43 and Garrett Oliver of the Brooklyn Brewery. According to those guys (and to me, a fellow suds snob) if you’re not drinking Japan’s Hitachino Nest White ale all summer long, you’re nuts. The 22 ounce bottle, which is gorgeously designed, pours quite the frothy Belgian-style white ale loaded with flavor: Coriander, citrus, spice, you name it, it’s there. It’s lightly cloudy but eminently more interesting than your average German wheat beer or sugary Belgian ale—it’s light, and it opens up even more as the chill wears off. I threw a bit of lemon peel in mine, though orange would work beautifully, to bring out the citrus-y elements. It’s a natural match for grilled salmon.

I’ll stop waxing so brewtastic now. But check it out before—to quote Homer Simpson—the government takes it away from us.

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here we go, then.

Hi! I’m a Rhode Island–based writer, editor and content strategist specializing in food, drink, travel, culture and parenting. My portfolio, which contains my professional email address, is here. 

My work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Gourmet, New York Magazine, The Daily Beast, InStyle, Bon Appétit, Salon, Food & Wine, Real Simple, Men’s Health,  Grub Street, Martha Stewart Living, MyRecipes, and Everyday Food, among other publications. I write and edit cookbooks (Phaidon; Melville House) and advise on content strategy for companies such as Panna, Pylon AI and Food Republic. I’ve been a staff editor at Yahoo Food, a senior research editor for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, the staff food writer for Time Out New York, and an editor at Da Capo Press.

The videos I hosted, wrote and produced for CHOW, which aired 12 times weekly on NY1, were nominated for an International Association of Culinary Professionals award for best Televised Culinary Series in 2012. In 2009 I spent six months as Blog Editor of Slashfood, and co-authored the original edition of Clean Plates NYC, a restaurant guide. I’ve also done some copywriting for companies including Gilt Taste and American Express Custom Publishing. Most recently, I’ve learned that my essay for The New York Times about the language we use to describe and food and babies will be in the 2020 BEST AMERICAN FOOD WRITING anthology.

I’m on Instagram and Twitter. Here are a few favorite clips:

The New York Times: I was interested in why people talk about babies and fetuses as though they’re edible, so I interviewed a ton of smart academics and wrote “I Just Want to Eat Her Up!”

The Washington Post:  A feature on topics close to my heart: cooking, feminism, and personal freedom. (It’s also a profile of the talented writer Tamar Adler.)

The New York Times: I apologized to new parents on behalf of food writers.

Gourmet: Some weekends you catch a film or make a nice bowl of soup, and other weekends you walk 32 miles under the I-5 freeway with a dinner table strapped to your back. (Click here.)

The Washington Post: I was curious as to whether the madly hyped Instant Pot could triumph over my Dutch oven in a side-by-side taste test, so I wrote a lengthy cover feature story for the Food section of this great publication.

The Daily Beast: An Irish family, Long Island, and a one-legged Thanksgiving turkey caper.

CHOW/ NY1: The New York CHOW Report, an (award-nominated!) weekly segment I wrote, hosted and produced for CHOW.com, aired 12 times weekly on NY1 from 2010 through 2011. Check it out!

MyRecipes: I wrote a thrice-weekly home cooking column for this site all through 2017, and had so much fun with it.

The Kitchn: A 2,000-word reported essay on the state of our protein obsession.

Bon Appétit: My many BonAppétit.com pieces include 10 Weekender travel guides to cities including Boston and Seattle.

Salon: How Gourmet was for the young and the scrappy, too.

Yahoo Food: Why we need to cook for the sick and heartbroken.

Grub Street: Easter egg hunting gone wild, the Anthony Bourdain brand, and some thoughts on crack pie.

Time Out: I interview former New York Times food critic Ruth Reichl and ask whether her hobbies include the WWF. Sort of. A primer on Gotham’s wonderful ramen, and how to use cocktails to salve holiday woes.

InStyle: My features about Hugh Acheson, Katie Lee Joel, Giada De Laurentiis, Chace Crawford and Blair Underwood are available as PDFs upon request.

Metromix: Oenophile Ron Ciavolino knows more about wine—and life—than you do, and here elaborates.

Contact: If you want to discuss an assignment or full-time opportunity, or simply wish to say hello, please leave a comment (or email grublover AT gee mail dot com). Comments are vetted before posting. (NB: I don’t accept free meals in exchange for coverage, nor do I take press trips.) Thanks!