Author Archives: David

There’s Pie In My Ice Cream

I discovered banoffee pie when I was searching for a dessert to serve to one of my English friends. It’s a simple dish: pie shell filled with toffee, layered with sliced bananas (hence the hybrid name “banoffee”), and topped with … Continue reading

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Letting the Chips Fail

As a child raised in an Italian family in lower Westchester county, my experience with Chinese food was nonexistent until I went to college. Under the patient tutelage of friends and the staff of the Joyce Chen Small Eating Place … Continue reading

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Call Any Vegetable

I may have a prodigious memory, but when it comes to cooking for friends with various dietary restrictions I keep a database of likes, dislikes, and food allergies so I don’t make a potentially dangerous mistake when planning menus. I … Continue reading

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The Adventures of Samurai Shark

When we weren’t eating or sleeping, the remainder of our Chicago trip was devoted to the science fiction convention that provided us with a convenient excuse to travel. During one of our visits to the dealers’ room we spent some time talking … Continue reading

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Chicago: The Odd Bits

The dinners at Next and Alinea were the high points of our Chicago trip, but we dined well for the duration of our stay. In a week dominated by the closing of Charlie Trotter’s eponymous restaurant we managed to avoid … Continue reading

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Dinner at Alinea

Although I swore I would eat at Alinea after dining at Boka last summer, my hopes were dashed when I learned that the restaurant would be switching to the same ticketing system used by Next, and that the transition would … Continue reading

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Dinner at Next (Slight Return)

We made the decision to attend Chicon 7, the annual World Science Fiction Convention, for two reasons: we would get to spend time with friends we don’t see very often, and we would get to eat in Chicago again. I … Continue reading

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Taking the Cure

When I learned that Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn, the authors of Charcuterie, were planning a follow-up book, I knew I’d be buying a copy for two reasons: I wanted to see which subset of charcuterie they would be treating … Continue reading

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St. Julia’s Day 2012

Wednesday would have been Julia Child’s 100th birthday. For this year’s St. Julia’s Day dinner (previous efforts here, here, and here), I wanted to pay tribute to what I used to call “god’s pantry”: her seemingly infinite supply of ingredients … Continue reading

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When the Ice Cream Gets Weird, the Weird Turn Pro

Much to my surprise, my post about prosciutto ice cream was featured in a Huffington Post article and slideshow about “weird” ice cream flavors. I am, of course, thrilled to be mentioned, but I’m having a hard time classifying any … Continue reading

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