Big Apple Life

A collection of posts on Life in the Big Apple along with interviews with foodie friends

Jimmy Bradley

Earlier this summer, a friend took me to The Red Cat for my birthday, and owner Jimmy Bradley noticed us and came by to give my friend big hug. At the end of the meal, having heard about our celebration, Jimmy sent out a decadent chocolate dessert with a lit candle. Nice touch. I've learned that's Jimmy's style. Or I should say, The Red Cat's style. They work at making you feel special, so you'll return. I did so a week later with my visiting niece to discover the menu had changed. The fresh peas that were offered the week before, were no longer fresh enough for Jimmy to keep [...]

By |2017-09-03T12:08:10-04:00August 2nd, 2015|Foodie Interviews|0 Comments
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Elizabeth Karmel

Elizabeth Karmel and I met as her grilling career caught fire. She was handling the PR efforts and culinary initiatives for Weber grills (actually for Weber-Stephen Products Co.).  In that position, she honed her skills at the grill and taught the rest of us food professionals to cook over charcoal or gas, too. She did that in our own backyards, or on press trips where she had other culinary experts demonstrating the art of the grill. Since Elizabeth went out on her own, she's been teaching grilling and barbecue 101 to anyone who would listen. She's been a cookbook author, food columnist, executive chef and TV authority on all things [...]

By |2017-09-03T12:10:02-04:00July 16th, 2015|Foodie Interviews|0 Comments
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Dan’s Taste of Summer, Hamptons, NY

Dan's Taste of Summer annual food & wine festival takes in the Hamptons beginning on Friday July 17th with GrillHampton, a competition pitting 8 NYC chefs vs 8 Hamptons chefs in the ultimate grill off. Located at Sayre Park, 156 Snake Hollow Road, Bridgehampton. Tickets available for $125 (inclusive of all food & beverage). Saturday July 18th is the fifth annual Taste of Two Forks, the biggest celebration of East End restaurants bringing together more than 40 spots under one roof, hosted by The Chew's Michael Symon and Hamptonite Katie Lee (also co-host of Food Network's The Kitchen). Also located at Sayre Park, with tickets from $170 for general admission, [...]

By |2017-09-03T08:11:01-04:00July 10th, 2015|Rambling, USA Restaurants|0 Comments
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Carolyn Wente

Carolyn Wente came to mind recently, as the wine I was served inflight was from Wente Vineyards. We had met decades ago when I was on the board of a professional culinary organization where we both belonged. I hadn't spoken to her in eons, even though she's a fellow Dame (that's a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier, a philanthropic society of professional women leaders in the food, wine and hospitality industry). I reached out to find out what Carolyn's been up to and ask whether I could feature her. She's currently the president of the California Wine Institute — the third member of her family to lead the organization that [...]

By |2017-09-03T12:10:31-04:00July 1st, 2015|Foodie Interviews|0 Comments
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Gale Gand

When I first met Gale Gand umpteen years ago, she was the amazing pastry chef (and partner) at Chicago’s Tru. Her career was just beginning to skyrocket. Since then she’s been recognized as Outstanding Pastry Chef of the Year by The James Beard Foundation and by Bon Appetite magazine, been inducted into the Chicago Chefs Hall of Fame and for eight years hosted the Food Network series “Sweet Dreams,” the first nationally televised all-dessert show. Earlier this spring, I sat next to Gale at the 2015 James Beard Foundation media awards dinner at Pier 61 and got caught up on her amazing career. She has another Chicago restaurant — Spritzburger [...]

By |2017-09-03T12:11:27-04:00June 8th, 2015|Foodie Interviews|0 Comments
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Chris Jaeckle

I didn't know Chris Jaeckle until after I had dined at his Venetian /Asian restaurant All'onda in my hood. I had stopped Ai Fiori Restaurant back at the restaurant when writing my review as I had some questions about the preparations. His staff, who were amazingly helpful and welcoming, spoke to Chris to get me the info I needed. I asked to meet with him, which is when I decided to feature him here on BiteoftheBest.com as our Guest Foodie. Chris has worked for some of the very best during his burgeoning career — Larry Forgione,  Danny Meyer, Morimoto and Michael White. When Chris was Chef de Cuisine [...]

By |2017-09-03T12:13:21-04:00May 25th, 2015|Foodie Interviews|0 Comments
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Pat Mack

When I met Pat Mack umpteen years ago she was the food editor for The Record, New Jersey’s second largest daily newspaper, which was my hometown paper. Loving the rhythmic sound, I always refer to her as Pat Mack from Hackensack (as that's where The Record offices were located!). She was their food editor for 20 years. Pat is now Gayot.com’s regional editor for Greater New York Metro/Eastern Canada, New Jersey restaurant reviewer and an at-large travel writer for Gayot, and a cookbook author. Dividing her time between her homes in New Jersey and Florida, Pat wrote “Delicious Grapefruit" out of inspiration from an ancient grapefruit tree in her southern [...]

By |2017-09-03T12:14:29-04:00May 11th, 2015|Foodie Interviews|1 Comment
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Rick Smilow

I met Rick Smilow when serving on the board of the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) soon after he got involved in the food business (just after he purchased Peter Kump’s New York Cooking School in 1995). Since that time, Rick's been an unstoppable force in the education of those wanting a culinary career. His school, the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) has launched more than 10,000 creative careers in food. ICE offers eight to 13-month career training programs in culinary arts, pastry & baking, and culinary and hospitality management. In both 2008 and 2015, the school won the  IACP's Award of Excellence for Culinary Schools; in 2011 Rick was [...]

By |2017-09-03T12:15:35-04:00April 26th, 2015|Foodie Interviews|0 Comments
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Practice Makes Perfect Spring Fling

Practice Makes Perfect Spring Fling will be held May 6, at Midtown Loft & Terrace (267 Fifth Avenue, New York City) from 7-10 pm. The event will have dancing, food, an open bar and an auction that includes Yankees tickets, a 2-night stay at the Las Vegas Cosmopolitan  Delta Voucher, Knicks tickets and a private dinner provided by Celebrity Chef Gabe Kennedy, winner of ABC’s The Taste. Guests will enjoy beverages from Gunhill Brewery, Banfi Winery, Lagunitas Brewery, and food from Kitchen Provance, Shake Shack, and Joanne’s Restaurant. A 100% of the proceeds go to Practice Makes Perfect to allow them to provide summer educational programming in low-income neighborhoods. Practice [...]

By |2017-08-31T14:10:59-04:00April 22nd, 2015|Rambling, xyz misc|0 Comments
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Joanna Pruess

Joanna Pruess, like many of us in the culinary world, has juggled many creative food projects. She created Kings Super SONY DSC Market (NJ) cooking school, she taught in under served schools and the prison system, she is a food and travel correspondent for “America Weekend with Ed Kalegi” on Envision Networks and is a regular contributor to Specialty Foods Magazine, where she develops recipes for gourmet retailers and food markets. I smiled when Joanna shared that she's always using her guests as testers, trying out the latest recipes on them — as I had done the same thing while writing my cookbooks and creating recipes for my [...]

By |2017-09-03T12:16:42-04:00April 13th, 2015|Foodie Interviews|3 Comments
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Harlem EatUp! Festival 2015

Harlem EatUp! is a new festival celebrating the food, culture and spirit of Harlem on Thursday May 14th through Sunday May 17th, representing the renewed spirit of the area while paying homage to its roots. A variety of events will be held throughout the weekend featuring nationally and locally renowned artists from the culinary, fine arts and performing arts worlds. As part of its mission and dedication to Harlem, net proceeds from ticket sales will benefit Citymeals-on-Wheels and Harlem Park to Park. On Friday, “Dine In Harlem” will pair Harlem chefs and restaurants (including The Cecil, Streetbird, Jin Ramen, Vinatería) with national chefs who have ties to Harlem (including Carla [...]

By |2017-09-02T09:29:55-04:00April 11th, 2015|Other happenings|0 Comments
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Karen Page

Karen Page is a prolific writer, who has penned many award-winning books with her husband Andrew Dorenburg, including Becoming a Chef, The Food Lover's Guide to Wine and The Flavor Bible. Forbes magazine named the latter "one of the 10 best cookbooks in the world of the past century." Karen's most recent book, The Vegetarian Flavor Bible (October 2014) has already received much acclaim. It appeared on many of 2014's best lists, specifically Bloomberg’s Peter Elliot (Top 5),  Chicago Tribune (Top 10), The Globe & Mail (Top 20) and Food & Wine (Top 40). Andrew Dornenburg provided the photographs for this book. Karen and I know each other mainly from [...]

By |2017-09-03T12:17:01-04:00March 31st, 2015|Foodie Interviews|4 Comments
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Virginia Willis

Virginia Willis and I befriended during a press trip to France more than a decade ago. It was an unusual trip that included only one other journalist. We three started in Dijon, trained to Paris and then were let let loose, basically with the company credit card. I recall us savoring a 5-hour multi-course lunch with matching wines at Le Grand Véfour. Since that time I've watched her career soar. She's authored Bon Appétit, Y'all; Basic to Brilliant, Y'all; Okra; Grits and — her just published — Lighten Up, Y'all. This most recent book celebrates the healthy and wholesome side of Southern fare. Virginia now practices what she's preaching.  By following [...]

By |2017-09-03T12:19:05-04:00March 16th, 2015|Foodie Interviews|2 Comments
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Prasad Chirnomula

Nutmeggers have had a love affair with the flavorful culinary creations of Prasad Chirnomula since 2001 when he started Thali, his first innovative Indian restaurant in Connecticut. He continued to change Americans opinion of Indian food by opening four more Thali restaurants each with a unique menu — one in Ridgefield, one in Westport and two in New Haven - an upscale one and Thali Too, a casual vegetarian one on the edge of Yale's campus. Prasad then stepped outside of India to create Oaxaca Kitchen, a Mexican restaurant downtown New Haven. As a local food writer who had become a friend of his, I had to ask why. This artist [...]

By |2017-09-03T13:12:15-04:00March 2nd, 2015|Foodie Interviews|0 Comments
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Richard Grausman

I first became acquainted with Richard Grausman in the 80s when I worked as a copy editor on his first book, At Home With the French Classics (Workman Publishing, 1988), now in it's sixth printing. Like others in the food field, Richard and my paths have crossed more times than I could possibly count. Richard isn't known as much for his cookbooks as he is for C-CAP (Careers through Culinary Arts Program), the national non-profit organization he founded in 1990. This program works with public schools to prepare at-risk high school students for careers in the restaurant and hospitality industry. In 1997, Richard received the President's Service Award, the highest recognition given [...]

By |2017-09-03T12:22:02-04:00February 16th, 2015|Foodie Interviews|0 Comments
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Jacques Torres

At the recent party introducing the new food service at the new United Airlines Terminal C at Newark Liberty International Airport, I bumped into Jacques Torres, fondly referred to as Mr. Chocolate serving some of his chocolate goodies. In addition to his hot chocolate and chocolate pieces, I took one of his chocolate chip cookies, planning to take a bite and then toss it. One nibble and I couldn't!  Yes, they are that irresistible. If you'd like to try them, either bake them using the recipe provided, or stop by at one of his many NYC Jacques Torres Chocolate locations or order them (or any of his other chocolates) online. You [...]

By |2017-09-03T12:21:23-04:00February 1st, 2015|Foodie Interviews|0 Comments
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Carnevale at Tommaso’s, Bay Ridge, Brookyn

The celebration of Carnevale at Tommaso’s (1464 86th Street) in Brooklyn continues it's 42nd year of tradition. The festival celebration — from Friday, February 6th through Fat Tuesday February 17 —  features a  food, wine and music from a troupe of classically trained singers, who perform Italian arias, folk songs and Broadway standards. The feast begins with a parade of 15 hot and cold antipasti — many prepared only for Carnevale — and continues with a choice of pasta and entrée, followed by coffee and dessert. The fee is $45 to $60, depending upon the day. For information visit their website or call for reservations call 718-236-9883. - Guest submission [...]

By |2017-08-31T14:10:59-04:00January 22nd, 2015|Rambling, xyz misc|0 Comments
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Michele Scicolone

This week's guest is Michele Scicolone, an award winning food writer, the author of 20 cookbooks, a friend, a Dame (fellow member of Les Dames d'Escoffier) and the recent recipient of the Distinguished Service Award from the Italian Trade Commission. Michele, queen of slow cookery, had written a number of books on the subject including The Italian Slow Cooker, The Mediterranean Slow Cooker and The French Slow Cooker cookbooks. That's why Craftsy.com (a company that describes itself as providing education and tools to help add creativity to your life) reached out to her to do a 7-lesson “Slow Cooker Cooking School” video series. The series will be available this March. She's [...]

By |2017-09-03T12:23:22-04:00January 19th, 2015|Foodie Interviews|1 Comment
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