Another Evening with Batali

Can anyone really ever get tired of Mario Batali? If so, then they are not my kind of person. The other night, I got to hear him speak at the Jewish Community Center in a far more intimate setting than I ever have before. He and food columnist, Amanda Hesser, did a Q&A type session that was really terrific.

Amanda's journey is pretty cool and one that I relate to in terms of truly just being fascinated by what goes on in a kitchen. She's had some very cool experiences and hearing her speak was really neat. The discussion flowed nicely between her and Batali and I learned a great deal more about what kinda fuels Batali as a chef. He's so witty and articulate which really appealed to me. He's the kind of guy with vision and talent that's just inherent. That's the kind of chef I hope to be one day.

I get a lot of inspiration from Batali in terms of his "less is more" approach. Both he and Cesare Casella are chefs I look up to in this regard because they have a love of raw, natural ingredients in their pure form that I respect totally. Some of the greatest dishes I've had in Batali's restaurants are as bare bones as you can get in terms of ingredients but have flavors that knock your socks off. Case in point, using fantastic olive oil DOES make a difference. ;) I particularly liked one of the things he said about having confidence in making solid decisions without getting every opinion under the sun. He said making a really good idea a collective decision never works and I completely agree with that. Of course you need solid people to bounce things off of at times but, in the end, when you're passionate about building something important to you, somewhere along the line you just need faith and confidence in who you are and what you're doing. I really did enjoy getting to hear more about his journey as a chef, though. Quite an informative and enjoyable evening:

By the way, as a fun side note, Batali and partners plan to open a beer garden on the roof of Eataly soon which I think is just so cool. I truly love living in New York sometimes where there is so much opportunity and such unique experiences.

Eataly

I've been talking with people about Italy a great deal recently and about going sometime in the near future. It's so exciting to think about it and imagine what life is really like there! In the meantime, I finally went to Eataly on Saturday afternoon and spent the day pretending I was already overseas. For those who don't know, Eataly is Mario Batali's newest venture in the city and it is awesome. Taken from their website:

Eataly is more than a supermarket with restaurants. It is an energetic marketplace, an opportunity to taste and take home the products of artisans who till, knead and press to bring you the highest quality products at fair price. We have assembled the absolute best Italian producers from every region under one roof and the absolute best chefs to cook their wares; Eataly is the heartbeat of Italy.

There are several of these locations throughout Italy and finally we get a taste of this in the US. It's so fantastic! We waited only 15 minutes or so to get in and, once inside, it's like a true lively and buzzing marketplace. I swear to you, I think I died and went to heaven. Everything I love about food and Italy and the Italian culture was right there in my face in the heart of New York City. The smells, the energy, the fresh homemade products, the rows and rows of olive oils...I was so completely in my element:

We walked around for a good while to browse all the products while forcing ourselves not to drain our bank accounts. I came across some black pepper olive oil and it was like crack - I had to have it. After roaming around, we managed to score a spot at one of the stand-up table areas. We were definitely ready for some wine and food after drooling over everything we saw. We ordered the most amazing meat board and cheese plate. They also brought us spicy glazed figs and candied lemon peel, both of which were unreal:

 MMM, lambrusco:

I tell you what, I am READY for some Italy. After that tiny glimpse into what the markets are like over there, I'm just about to get myelf on a plane immediately. It's so so so fun to think about! All in due time... ;)

Fun with Guy Fieri

So, there are a plethora of chefs that I admire and adore for many different reasons. There's Mario Batali with his brilliance in simplicity, Bobby Flay with his flair for fresh and vibrant flavors, Scott Conant for his unmatched precision...I won't even continue talking about the chefs I love. The list could go for miles. My personal opinion is that, in the culinary world, you can't always take yourself too seriously. I think it's vital that you take the craft seriously but that you remain relatable and approachable. Nobody encompasses that more than the free-spirited and fun Guy Fieri.

I love Guy. I think he's hilarious and completely original. I think his entire "schtick" is 100% real and that he truly is insane in the best of ways. While he's not at the top of my list for chefs I look up to, he's definitely at the top for chefs who know who they are and stay true to that. So, when given a chance to see him live at the NYC Food and Wine Festival, I happily jumped on it.

I decided I wanted to do something special for Allison out of the blue. She's treated me to some wonderful things in the past few months and I wanted to return the favor. I looked up all the events at the festival this year and boy, would I have gone nuts if things weren't sold out. For example, Bobby Flay had this taco and tequila tasting event that I would have killed to attend. Also, Scott Conant did an intimate harvest lunch at Scarpetta where you meet with local farmers and watch him cook. Um, I'm in love with him and wouldn't have been able to speak if I attended that so maybe it's good it was sold out. Anyway, I kept scrolling through the options and there it was - a culinary demonstration with Guy Fieri. I thought, what could be more fun than that?! So, I got us tickets. I am so very glad I did.

It was held in a small auditorium at The New School down on 12th Street. Basically, it was an hour and a half of cracking up at Guy and feeling like you were totally a part of his family. He came out, guns blazing, and it was all about having fun, really. He did cook a couple of things but it mainly felt like you were just hanging out with him. He was totally interactive, bringing people up on stage, and he definitely made a delicious looking cocktail that he shared with a few lucky people stuck in the back row. At the end, he stood around signing so many autographs and talking to people. When Allison and I got up there to meet him, I was just so excited because of how nice he really is. As a bonus, he had his buddy, Gorilla, from one of his 'Diners' episodes come out and I definitely asked him to sign my ticket, too. I think I made his day and he surely did sign my ticket "pork ribs", hahaha:

Seriously, it was so much fun and I'm dying to go again next year! Mark my words...I WILL meet Scott Conant. Until then, enjoy these fun photos that Allison took: 

 We seriously loved Gorilla:

Guy's whole crew was just as much fun as he was:

 Allison's artistic shot of Gorilla in the mirror signing my ticket, hehehe:

I Love Po

This past Saturday was Allison's birthday and we all know how much I looooove birthdays. This year has been particularly difficult in a few areas for Allison so I decided to figure out something that would surprise her, big time. What better way to do that than to have mom fly up to celebrate?! I knew it would be such a special gift for Allison. Also, the fact that mom could join us for our annual birthday dinner tradition was just so fun.

My original plan was to have Allison over for some wine and cheese on the evening mom arrived but silly me never checked to see if Allison was free! She actually had a work dinner the night mom got in, ooops. So, I had to keep mom a secret until I could do a proper "reveal" the next day. Camille and I schemed and came up with a plan to take Allison for drinks somewhere very unusual where she'd find mom sitting there.

We decided on Raines Law Room which couldn't have been a more perfectly confusing spot for Allison. :) It's this great speakeasy that had the most amazing drink concoctions, even though one of Camille's did taste like beef jerky. When you sit down, there's actually a chain that you pull on the wall which is how you call your server over. It really was so unique and different. How fun are these drinks:

I love that antique champagne glass in front! I picture ladies from the 40's wearing long satin gloves drinking out of that. I swear, we could have stayed there all night! Allison was totally and completely surprised by mom and I was just so happy I could make that happen. :)

The real treat was Allison's birthday dinner. Holy crapola, in all my time living in New York, I've never had a dinner so good. Um, I've eaten at a LOT of places so I don't say that lightly. I took a friend's suggestion and booked a reservation at Po on Cornelia Street. I love Mario Batali and will take any chance to eat at one of his restaurants so I was probably more excited than Allison! When we got there, I loved every single thing about it - the simple decor, the small, intimate space, the music (Batali is serious about the music in his restaurants) - I loved it all before even sitting down. Though I could go into detail for days about each thing we ate, I will simply say that my white bean ravioli with balsamic brown butter blew my mind. I took a bite of it and actually had to stop chewing for a second because I was taken aback. It was so delicious, it would honestly be hard to describe. Mom had the linguine with clams and Allison had the spinach tagliatelle with ragu bolognese, both of which were amazing as well. It's been nearly a week and we are still talking about that meal. I actually made a reservation there yesterday for when Brant comes back to visit at the end of the month. Can I really wait that long?!

Overall, it was a wonderful birthday weekend for Allison. I was so happy to celebrate her and to do what I could to make her feel special. She deserved it and I can only hope she'll remember how great the weekend was for a long time. :)