July 2008
July 29, 2008Fifteen Minute Meals—or Shameless Self Promotion?
A reader writes: “I have an idea for a future column, for either the magazine or your blog. As a fairly new mom (my son is 11 months old) who works full-time, I'm wondering if you could do a story along the lines of ‘Simple Meals Ready in 15 Minutes or Less’ or something like that. I think this would be invaluable to the busy readers who are strapped for time (but who would rather make a healthy dinner than hit the drive-thru). I hear you. Eating a healthy dinner that takes less than fifteen minutes to prepare is pretty much the Holy Grail of parents with infants or toddlers. My first best idea involves shameless self-promotion: How about you pick up Real Food? It’s a recipe magazine that’s free in all the Lunds and Byerly’s, and... Read more » Posted on Tuesday, July 29, 2008 in Dear Dara | Permalink | Comments (15) |
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July 24, 2008Pierre’s Last Stand?
Is Pierre’s Bistro on its last legs? A reader wrote in to tell me that things look bad: “Pierre’s Bistro on 50th and Penn has had a tough time keeping viable with the construction on 50th the past couple of months,” wrote Chris B. “So much so that the owner, Pierre Gardien, recently let the kitchen staff go. He’s projecting that if things don't change, he’ll be closing the doors in 60 days. I am doing what I can to keep this great little place around for people to enjoy by encouraging family and friends to return to Pierre's or give it a shot if they've never been. It would be really sad to lose another chef-driven place in town.” It would be sad. I was hoping Chris was mistaken, or at least exaggerating, but I called Gardien and,... Read more » Posted on Thursday, July 24, 2008 in Dear Dara | Permalink | Comments (2) |
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July 18, 2008Bayport Cookery’s New Wine Bar
If you had asked me what the Bayport Cookery’s big problem was, I’d have said: “No one has enough birthdays.” What I mean by that is chef and owner Jim Kyndberg’s elaborate prix-fixe multiple course menus are wonderful, creative—and fascinating—but they kind of seem like something you should only do on your birthday. Well, it seems that Kyndberg has done some hard reckoning with the extremely small number of birthdays you are likely to have in a year and has decided to do something about it. He is converting half of the Bayport Cookery to a wine bar and casual eatery. How casual? He told me there will be lots of pizzas and burgers on offer, starting at $9. If that sounds antithetical to the Bayport’s habit of making quite deluxe... Read more » Posted on Friday, July 18, 2008 in Dear Dara | Permalink | Comments (2) |
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July 15, 2008Buffets That Are Really Good, And Not Just Good “For a Buffet”
I spent the past two days cleaning off the top of my desk. Posted on Tuesday, July 15, 2008 in Dear Dara | Permalink | Comments (10) |
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July 14, 2008All the Fresh Mozzarella News That’s Fit to Print
A reader writes: “Where do you go for good burrata?” What’s a burrata? It’s fresh mozzarella cheese stuffed with a fresh mozzarella curd, which maybe doesn’t sound very good, but it is. It’s really, really good. How good? Russ Parsons in the Los Angeles Times said it best: “Burrata is to mozzarella as foie gras is to chicken liver.” (His 2006 article also tells you everything you’d ever need to know about burrata.) If you are not in the mood for reading, let me sum it up for you: Picture everything you love about fresh mozzarella—the creaminess, the lightness, the... Read more » Posted on Monday, July 14, 2008 in Dear Dara | Permalink | Comments (2) |
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