Corporate Bagels

It used to be bagel shops were family owned businesses.Everyone worked there, from grandparent to grandchildren with aunts ,uncles and cousins helping out. Tha'ts all changing. Investment companies are looking at this humble business and seeing dollar signs .It's an interesting yet disturbing trend.

Regular contributor Julia Moskin wrote about this in yesterday's New York Times Wednesday Food section. For years bagels were nothing more than mom and pop stores dotting mostly big city main streets.New York was the capital of this,  with Polish Jewish bakers first bringing them over in the late 1800's. They became something of a phenomena during the pandemic. Also a new generation of trend obsessed consumers want the true style, hand rolled and then boiled and baked originals.New chains featuring these are in need in the SOuth and the Sunbelt where there is a demand. With that comes big business, namely investment firms looking to make more money. The big change came in 2023  when Stripes a food focused equity company invested eight million dollars in Pop Up Bagels, a once small privately owned bagel shop.It does offer what a traditional mom and pop store offers. There are five types of bagels and customers can get a schmear of cream cheese or salted butter. Yet it also has trendy toppings like  cake cream cheese and berry butter.

What else spurred this interest? Americans are eating more and breakfasts on the go. Doughnuts, cinnamon rolls and bagels are the quick bite of choice. It also makes sense for bagel shops to serve the much wanted bagel sandwich.This usually consists of bacon, cheese and egg on a bagel, a sandwich not many smaller bagel shops will make. These are the money makers according to Andres Samper, the founder of Manhattan Bagel Equity Fund , a bagel specific investment fund that is focused on acquiring,  rebranding and scaling high performing bagels shops across the US. Butter bagels that only cost tow or three dollars are not going to keep a business alive.It;s these sandwiches, sometimes costing as high as fifteen or sixteen dollars , is what will keep a bagel shop running. Another aspect is that the money also feeds the cost of high tech ovens to make the perfect bagel whenever they are in the country . The Turbofan oven can quickly bake bagels throughout the day . Bagel affectionados may not be impressed by this They feel all this fanciness will flatten profits and the bagels themselves. Stores could wind up being run into the ground.

Bagel shops should be what they were in the past. They need to be family owned businesses who care for their food and their customers. Fancy bagel stores come and go. Family ones can last for generations.

The Frugal Gourmet Cut Up

 Any home chef of a certain age  will tell you about Jeff Smith , the famed "Frugal Gourme" who had his own PBS cooking show and cookbooks. Yet there is a new documentary that shows his dark side and allegations against him. Despite it all his recipes are still being made thirty years after the scandal.

Regular contributor and cookbook author as well, Julia Moskin, wrote about Jeff Smith in yesterday's New York Times Wednesday Food section. There is a new documentary series (as there is with all past crimes these days) 'i Bid You Peace', Chef Smith's signature sign off. will be available at the end of this month(platform to be announced) that delves into the sexual allegations that cost him his career. Several teenagers from Tacoma where his restaurants were. Gone was his popular series that drew in a whopping seven millions viewers at the time and his cookbook sales which are still more popular that the best selling In a Garten ones, tanked.Hos show was riveting , a Sunday afternoon gem that drew in all sorts of people interested in cooking and food. He was bubbly and avuncular .He traveled with his camera crews to Greece and China, encouraged viewers to cook from immigrant traditions and made food interesting and approachable. He was an ordained Methodist minister who became captivated by restaurants while preaching in New York City.He returned to his undergrad alma mater after getting his master's at New Jersey's Dew University .He taught interesting classes - Food as Sacrament and Celebration.He was popular.

His love of food expanded when he opened up Chaplain's Pantry in Tacoma. He introduced diners to sun dried tomatoes and Szechuan peppercorns. He quickly became a sought after caterer, creating canapes for the future Tacoma mayor Harold Moss .However he had a dark side, he drank, even showing up to his television show dead drink at times. Chef Smith got fifteen and sixteen year old boys working for him drink.There was inappropriate  touching" and "groping" as it was deemed back then. He was considered a monster, probably due to the heavy drinking. Bridget Charters, now a chef  worked with him when she was a teenager., and then became his assistant She remembers producers telling him to"cut out drinking gin at noon and switch to white wine." This became a rule.Yet there are still loyal fans who make his recipes and watch his shows on YouTube. What will they make of Chris Johnson's documentary? That remains to be seen. It will shed some light on what happened and why Chef Smith was accused. The chef died at the age of sixty five in 2005. 

Great chefs are always remembered. Most are remembered for their recipes and their impact on the culinary world. What will Chef Jeff Smith be remembered for? The good or the bad of his career?

 

Return To The Gilded Age

 It was bound to happen. Blame it on the popular HBO series "The Gilded Age" or Trump's tarting out the White House to resemble a gaudy Newport summer home. What is this trend?Restaurants offering glitzy and lush dishes in a time when most are struggling.

Regular contributor and chef ,herself, Julia Moskin wrote about this in Wednesday's New York Times Food section.Despite the economic downturn and food struggles of a very large portion of Americans,Manhattan eateries are featuring recipes that would be very in place in Julian Fellowes HBO series about the real life Astors s and Vanderbilts and the fictional Van Rhijn family. Silver paplates across the city are suddenly discovering the lush and sometimes delicate flavors of foie gras, Dover sole and seafood towers, the last chock full of the Gilded Age favorite  - oysters,flanked by shrimp and lobster. There are also towers featuring hipper tastes like crudo)seafood drenched with olive oil and citrus juice like ceviche)toro fatty bluefin and the best cut of the fish and uni - sea urchins. The restaurant Le Grande Boucherie is offering a suckling costing $600 (!!!!). The Waldorf Astoria's refurbished restaurant Lex is offering a sixty-eight dollar lobster covered with caviar and truffles.

There have always been rich people spending exorbitant amounts of cash on food yet today that spending is reaching dizzying heights.Expensive places to eat just aren't in Manhattan anymore. Travel to  Dallas, Las Vegas, Miami and Aspen and order truffles or  Wagyu beef. Parc in Aspen offers celebrities and millionaires offers the last at $120 a plate while a simple dish of polenta with oyster mushrooms and afarm egg(??) is twenty-eight dollars.It seems lesser prices restaurants are jumping on this trend too.Some are pairing caviar with potato chips or even chicken nuggets at Cocodaq, an innovative Korean restaurant in Manhattan's Flatiron district.  This last sold the combo for one hundred bucks a box!!! last summer at the US Open. It's no secret that most of the country can barely afford groceries let alone expensive nuggets. EConomists are calling it "K shaped economy with two tren likes diverging in opposite directions. Income and net worth have risen rapidly for the one percent, namely those working in the tech business. The less affluent are the victims of a stagnant economy and inflation. Yet offering high priced meals with extravagant ingredients are the only way to stay afloat according to pastry chef and partial owner of Manhattan restaurant Contra, Fabian Von Hauske Valtiera.

There will always be be the rich. They need to eat too. Yet they do it in disregard to what is happening around them.It seems eateries are for them these days.not the hardworking American.

Sushi The New American Classic

How did a Japanese classic become one of Amerca's favorite foods?Surprisingly the pandemic had something to do with it.Add in the easy transportability of seafood adds to it being popularity.It's also tasty, being more flavorful than pizza and CHinese.

Regular contributor Julia Moskin wrote about this phenomenom in yesterday's New York Times Wednesday Food section.Forty years ago it was regarded with a raised eyebrow. It had a mystique yet it didn;t pique enough of America's curiousity. It was common init;s native country with it being sold in gas stations and vending machines.Kroger, the Midwestern supermarket giant started selling it in 1991. Now it's everywhere from expensive omnikase restaurants to Target.The pandemic was the dish's biggest booster. People wanted a different flavor. Sushi, with its'briny, sweet and hot flavors did the trick.Also playing into the need is that the generation who were children in the Nineties  when sushi became common , were craving it as adults. There was a whole new slew of consumers according to Richard Barry,, f the National Fisheries Institute The millennials grew up with it and tastes donl't change. If they loved it in childhood, then they'll continue living it into adulthood.

It's not just them heading to expensive sushi bars for three hundred dollars dinners. They're buying it everywhere from big box shops to gas stations. Even bowling alleys and stadiums are selling it to fish hungry Americans. Retail sushi , also, called deli sushi because of its'location in supermarkets , is the fastest growing segments in the stores. Retail sushi brought in close to three billion in sales. Because of this high end sushi bars are also investing in this to go phenomena. At Sugarfish, located both in Manhattan and Southern California, each order is packed in a patterned box by Clement Muk, Chef Kazumori Nozawa fills them with warm rice, cool fish and sauces brushed on at the last minute, He approves for sushi being eaten right after it's made. Healso tested dozens of cardboard take out boxes that didn't absorb soy sauce and kept warm rice from being sticky. Sushi is also number one in the catering industry , letting vegans and pescatarians enjoy fun ,delicious foods. Keep in mind that ist's also becoming more Americanized. Raw fish is being replaced with cooked .

Sushi is the new American classic. Will it replace a burger and fries? Actually yes. People love it more than the standards.

A Meal And An Egg Cream

 Phil rosenhal is best known for being one fo the creators of the great comedy "Everybody Loves Raymond." Yet he's also a  foodie, loving every high and low end place. he now has another season of his popular season and a diner all set to open.Then there's the egg creams. Every episode ends with a delicious glass of foam and chocolate.

Regular contributor Julia Moskin contributed the article about him in today's New York Times Food Wednesday section.For Ray ROmano fans, Mr.rosenthal's name is well known.He produced and wrote the show's episodes while his wife Monica Horan played Amy, Ray's sister-in-law on the show.Yet he also had a soft spot for food - all kinds.It's surprising ,considering his background. His parents, both escapees from Nazi Germany (his mother and grandmother spent time in a French concentration camp) stuck to basically bland food. He didn't;t taste garlic until he was an undergrad at nearby. Hoftsra University His father  only care for one dish - scrambled eggs. In fact his question about them -"Are they fluffy?" is on his tombstone. When Mr Rosenthal was an aspiring actor he saved up for months to eat at such gourmet Meccas like the famous La Lutece and The Quilted Giraffe.He then could afford to eat anywhere after he moved to Los Angeles and garnered success with Raymond.

After his TV show ended, he became wrapped up in  food reporting. He hired the late  Anthony Bourdain's production company Zero Point Zero for his own show "Somebody Feed Phil."It first aired on PBS and then moved to Netflix. He had originally pitched another comedy but that didn't take off so he turned his attention to food. He traveled around more and spent more time with food experts., chef Nancy Silverton who now also cooks for his diner Max and Helen's .named for his parents. There was also the late Los Angeles Times food critic Jonathan Gold. He adopted  Mr. Gold's philosophy of showing what other people eat , clsoign teh gaps between ethnic groups. Mr. Rosenthal even has cookbooks and a new one "Phil'd favorites  is coming out in November. Being from the New York area every episode ends with an egg cream. This is a sip of heaven for egg cream lovers. His recipe calls for the classic city soda shop syrup Fox's U-UBet and milk mixed with a plain seltzer (although it';s sheer perfection blended with a cherry flavored seltzer).Use three tablespoons of syrup to one half cup of milk and add seltzer to taste. Cut down on the milk for a truly foamy, fizzy drink.

Does the world need another foodie exploring restaurants and countries> Yes, if the foodie in question is Phil ROsenthal. He brings sweetness and dedication along with a love of food and people to a great show.

Meghan's Kitchen

 It takes guts to marry into any royal family.It takes a lot of them to begin your own brand and show the world your recipes, yet Meghan, Duchess of Sussex has done both. She has done it with aplomb, Her recipes are being copied , cooked and baked the world over.

Regular contributor Julia Moskin interviewed the duchess as well as sitting in on creating a tempting dessert in today';s New York Times Wednesday Food section.Meghan has always been known for creating delicious dishes , first for her college friends at Northwestern then for her blog  The Tig and later for her future husband Prince Harry. Now she has her own lifestyle show AS Ever on Netflix (who is also one of the backers of the new products line) and a brand that features such yummy products as a shortbread mix with flower sprinkles, crepe mix and a raspberry spread. It all comes out her Southern California home in Montecito. even though she has faced criticism, - mostly from the British - she can cook and cook she does. Meghan seems to have inherited her grandmother Jeanette's love of it.Her grandmother grew tomatoes and collard greens in her backyard,, not unlike her granddaughter with her garden, She loved to cook making Meghan's grilled cheese sandwiches with Kraft slices , white bread and a ton of butter.

The Duchess of Sussex is a bit more  sophisticated and even playful with her recipes. She has guests in each issue ,from famous chefs like Alice Waters and Roy Choi but also friends such as Abigail Breslan and Mindy Kaling. Her drinks are cooled with ice cubes speckled with flowers. There is always a plate for crudites around for  nibbling along with an herbal tea to drink. Ms. Moskin includes two of her recipes.One is a Spring garden salad, rich with cherry tomatoes, snap peas and zucchini along with kale stems and Swisschard. The greens are cooked in olive oil and garlic. . It's mixed with already cooked rigatoni.It's finished with freshly squeezed Meyer lemon and  a good dusting of Parmesan or Manchuga cheese.The next dish is a tribute to her grandmother with a topping dedicated to  her daughter. It is a banana pudding , made with homemade vanilla pudding topped with "Chantilly Lili,' a chantilly cream named in honor of her daughter Princess Lilibet.

Meghan < Duchess of Sussex has proved that she can transcend all the criticism thrown her way. She is not only a influencer. She is a creative chef who knows how to produce a good meal.

Dairy Shaken Up

 Despite all the nut and oat milks Americans consume, the cow variety is becoming popular again. There are several factors behidnd  it . Although maybe the best reason is it does taste good and brings a sense of nostalgia to drinking it.

Regular contributor Julia Moskin wrote about the dairy phenomenon in today's New York Times Wednesday's Food section. Milk is being rediscovered by Gen Zers who were basically raise don plant milks. Tiktokkers like twenty-six year old Peggy Xu has filmed her self drinking glasses of it. she present s the old school version of the unhomogenized kind in traditional glass bottles. There even a layer of cream at the top. she does have to explain why this happens .Homogenization is the process that evenly distributes the cream through the milk. She also explains that pasteurization is the process that rids the dairy of bacteria, first done by the famed Louis Pasteur in the 1850's. Ms Xu found that people were curious. They genuinely didn't know what milk was anymore.Now raw milk, much touted by Robert F.Kennedy Jr. is also making its' way onto to Tiktok. Many like Ballerina Farms' the newly famed Hannah Neelman are giving their children raw milk to drink.

However raw milk can be tricky.. Yes, it's full of a lot of good stuff like probiotic bacteria which helps in gut health but it also can contain such life threatening bacteria such as salmonella E.coli, campylobactor and listeria. Now there is the added scare of contacting the H5N1 virus, a strain fo avian flu. through it.Many dairy workers wound up with the virus after handling raw milk. Raw milk proved to be a health threat in the 19th Century when it was responsible for the deaths of thousands of children in New York City.Even Yje Times istelf declared that raw, in pasteurized adulterated milk "was a danger becoming intolerable to civilized society." Luckily that all changed in the Twentieth Century when milk has to be both pasteurized and homogenized along with being infused with Vitamin D. People believed a steady stream if milk in the diet made Americans everything from stronger and taller to fitter to lead the new world. order. Now athletes are even drinking whole chocolate milk instead of manufactured Gator Ade fro better on field performance. There is also the idea of sexy milk made made famous by Ms Neelman as she milks her cows. She and fresh milk show off what everyone has always thought milk to be fresh and pure.

Is dairy milk the new drink of choice? Possibly, Yet drink it not for its' popularity but for its'; benefits. It 's just a good and tasty glass of nutrition.

Staff Dining

 Every restaurant is more or less like a big family. There are times when there's fighting and tenseness and times when there's sitting down to eat like a proper clan. Nowadays many eateries are making sure that their employees eat together as opposed to feud,

Regular contributor Julia Moskin wrote about this perk in today's New York Times Food section,Many restaurants are featuring this however it;s not new. The great and legendary French chef Auguste Escoffier implemented this in  restaurant kitchens during the NIneteenth Century. There eateries served the three meals, from breakfast to dinner..Cooks ate while they sweated above their stove top. The communard, an employee who ranked only slightly below  the "kitchen boy" was tasked with keeping them with food and drink over the long hours. The low status of the meal was in place until only very recently. Long before food waste became a public and  chef's concern, cooks were preoccupied with how to use up every scrap of an ingredients. Scraps and trimmings were used in making some kind of dinner for waitstaff and sous chefs.it was usually bulked out wit some kind of pasta or rice.However this was not the case in fast food joints and casual restaurants. Employees usually had to pay  - at a discount for their food.

It all changed with the farm to table movement.in 1999 even The French Laundry Cookbook by Thomas Keller included recipes for "staff lasagna" and salad dressing. In 2000 David Wattuck co founder and chef of Chanterelle in TriBeCa dedicated a cookbook to the subject "Staff meals from Chanterelle." Dinners can also be a testing ground for chefs trying out new recipes. Sometimes it provides restaurants with signature dishes.,At LA's Budonowskl , chef Dan rabiwongse created charred sweet potato  with miso butter and chives for his staff along with fried chicken wings tossed in a SOuth Asian style sauce similar to Disney's Bengal Barbecue Stand.Some chefs even encourage their employees to bring in their cooking styles to the staff meals.Lala Bazahm, chef at Austen Texas's El Ravale wants to try  her staff's family recipes and to see how they're cooked Her'staff's international background from Vietnam to Senegal to Thailand influenced many dishes on her menu.

Restaurants are not just for outsiders eating in.They're also for staff to get to know each other and their recipes. It'sa great way to experience restaurant life.

Chefs Dishing

 If you want the real scoop on any restaurant or the industry , ask a chef. They have a million opinions on what should be done and what should have been done. They rate patrons as often as patrpns rate their dishes .it's interesting to hear just what the people who feed America have to say.

Regular contributor Julia Moskin complied thirty chefs opinions and observations in today's New York  Times wednesday Food section. It is compelling as to what those who influence food trends and cook dishes to suit diners' tastes have to say.Most strong opinions have to do with pricing and tipping.Many diners usually order the cheapest which on a dinner menu is a burger. If one person orders one for the entire night that's fine.If most of the patronage orders them , t en the restaurant has a serious losss. Restauranteurs also comment about the price of drinks versus the places of entrees. People will easily hand over eighteen dollars for one cockail but will grumble about spending money for a very expensive plate.This isn't just in New York or LA , this is throughout the entire country.

There's also an obvious culture shift .Hispanic chefs such as Ana Castro and Aaron Verdoza , amongst others complain that diners will pay two hundred dollars for expensive Italain food but will expect the samel quality and lower pricing for soul, Asian, African and Caribbean food. There's a definite and glaring disprepect for the chefs creating these dishes.Others reminisce about their time coming up. This attitudes goes into tipping as well. People were generous during the pandemic but not anymore.Diners won't tip if their water isn't instantly refilled or their meal took a little longer than usual to reach the table. Yet diners cannot be changed and they , especially locals and regulars are the backbone of any eatery's business. Would many chef's recommend the job to a younger generation? Not many. Thye would tell wanna bes to skip the culinary school which can be seen as predatory and take the culinary courses at their local community college. (If they're not happy they can always switch to another major) would they want their children in the inudtry? Absolutely not! As chef Kelly Whittaker puts it, if the kids want to go into the industry then the chefs have failed at being parents.

what does this say about the people who prepare our food?All chefs and waistaff need to be respected . Diners need to treat them with the same amount of care and acknowledgement as they do with other professionals.

Recipe Queen Or Trouble Maker

 Tiegan Gerard is a dichotomy. Some see her as the queen of cozy recipes. other see her as a racist trouble maker of sorts . One thign is for certain. She is one of the growing culinary stars of Instagram. Celebrity and ordinary home chefs value her word and how she puts together dishes.

Regular contributor Julia Moskin wrote about this latest social media phenom in today's New York Times Wednesday  Food section. Her Half Baked harvest site draws in scores of recipe hungry admirers and followers , all looking for an easy recipe. Thanks to  star fans such as Emma Roberts,Gigi and Bella Hadid and Blake Lively who all extolled her recipes. Ms Gerard has becoming something of a celebrity herself.Her recipes are both approachable and aspirational. It started as a chronicle of the big family dinners Ms. Gerard cooked for her large slew of brothers and sisters. Her lifelong anxieties have kept her near to them in the Colorado Rockies, with her rarely leaving the area. (save for when her brother Red Gerard won gold at the Pywoingchang South Korea Olympics) To be honst think of her as a culinary Emily Dickinson where both, small almost fragile women who  became famous because of their work along with  never leaving home. Like Dickinson she has a loyal cadre of followers , mostly women betweeh the ages of twenty-five and forty-four.

However Ms. Gerard is not without controversies and pretty serious ones too.Her recipes can be racially and ethnically insensitive. Her blunders were calling tacos with pineapple Hawaiian and noodles with honey and peanut butter Chinese. Her biggest error to date regards pho, the classic Vietnamese soup. Her recipe was wildly unrelated to the original and received flack. it happened again with a banh mi rice bowl,last March so much that NBC News covered it. Another mistake was creating a Thai beef stew and adding pomegranate juice, a typically MIddle Eastern ingredient.Many have called her out on this, such as Hannah Selinger who writes a bout food and restaurants. Bloggers  like Gaby Salkin of What's Gaby Cooking and Adrianna Guevara Adarme , creator ot A Cozy Kitchen have accused her of stealing their recipes. At the very least give credit to where the recipes originated - a standard practice amongst food bloggers. Other critics say her unearned privledge comes from her whiteness and wealth. She now has a small team to deal with all the negative criticism. How are her recipes anyway?Ms. Moskin includes her coq au vin meatballs and a pumpkin spice cake with coffee frosting. They look tasty enough and good for any fall dinner party.

Is Tieghan Gerard the new face of Americna cooking. Surprpsingly yes. It's the followers that m,ake the chef  - which is her story.Only time can tell whether she will be a long lasting influence.

An Ice Cream's Semi Sweet Story

 Ample Hills Ice Cream is a comeback brand. This Brooklyn based frozen dessert has had more spins and turns than a swirled cone. It was successful . Then it wasn;'t, Then it was. then another low point. Now' it's coming back, stronger and better than before.

Regular contributor Julia Moskin wrote about this remarkable company in today's New York Times Food section. The company was first started by Brooklyn couple Jackie Cuscuna and her husband Brian Smith. The original idea came about when the couple moved from their careers, she as a teacher and he as a B movie screenwriter. He was also an ice cream hobbyist with a dream. Mr. Smith hand cranked their product and made up the business as they went along. They finally opened a brick and mortar store in Prospect Parjust before Memorial Day in 2011. he had to close the sotre for a week after, being overcome with exhaustion and elation. Their ice cream Ample Hills , taken from another Brooklynite Walt Whitman's poem, the famed Crossing Brooklyn Ferry was becoming Brooklyn's destination ice cream parlor. Customers fell in love with such flavors as  Snap Mallow Pop and Cherry Cola. It even caught Oprah's attention thanks to her friend  Bob Iger,disney chief executive. He even enlisted the couple to make Marvel and Star war themed ice creams for their theme parks.

Anyone would think that their success would last. It didn't . The smiths failed.The costs of their expansions in 2020 swamped their revenues and in March 2020 the company had to be sold.Mr. Smith  was heartbroken. Ten years of his life had been devoted to creating new flavors and making good and unusual ice cream. The couple declared personal bakruptcy and had to move to a smaller apartment. They worried what they'd do next. They enrolled in a pivot workshop held by the North Brooklyn chamber of Commerce which led them to whuskey wednesdays, a regular networking event held by Norm Brodsky. Mr. Brodsky was a high profile entrepreneur who could sympathize with th esmiths. His courier business created in 1979 went boom then bust in the 1986 stock market crash. Armed with new cash the couple (who also were the subject of a Harvard business course entitiled entrepreneurial failure) opened up the social in 2021.It's lack ofcustomers provided its a second bankruptcy  thanks to opening it at the end of the pandemic.That they ae coming back in Manhattan and Brooklyn with new flavors lik e Morning In Paris that has ground croissant in it and bananpudding which has the ingredients of banana pudding.They want stores and parlors where people cna enjoy their ice cream and they can talk to their customers.

Ample Hills will be back, Loyal customers will return. It's due for a comeback and this time it will be stronger than ever.

Frozen Pizza It's Getting Fresher

Frozen pizza is one of those quick meal or snack bites.It's great if you don;t want the bother of going out or calling up for a hot pie. Yet it's not as tasty as fresh , hot pies. That's changing. You can have  good quality and flavor right from the freezer.

Regular contributor JUlia Moskin wrote abut this in today's New York Times Food section. She even enlisted her feloow TImes workers to jou=in her in a taste test of some of the more "boutique" brands. The new generation of frozen pies are nto like the ones everyone grew up on. The bigger companies like DiGiorno and Red Baron make their pies with dough conditioners, additives and processed cheeses. all engineered for freezing. The crusts are infused with sugar and oil, the dough is parbaked and the cheese and sauce are applied raw to be cooked in your oven.However this infuriates pizzaiolo like Manhattan's Anthony Mangieri, founder of Pizza Napoletana has created a frozen pizza that meet his standards.It would have to be wood fired, slow rising and fashioned from all natural and all Italian ingredients, He founda plant in Northern Italy that could give him the perfect pie.The first tries didn;t exactly work out, The dough was extreemly gummy and the managers were vexed by his high demands. It wass only when he compared his pies to Ferraris made nearby that they listened. More mom and pop pizzerias are following his lead, relying on a delivery company like Goldbelly to deliver the goods.

How did these new breeds of frozen pizza measure up? Ms. Moskin, along with Erik Kim who also writes for the Times Food section and VaughVreeland,  a supervising producer for the paper  judged them. She also included editor Cathy Lu.They sampled many , but all were from independent pizza makers dedicated to Neopolitan pizza. They came from all over, from the artesenal pizzerias in Manhattan and the boroughs  to the ones in San Francisco and Phoenix alognw ith ones from Atlanta and San Antonio. They found that some were not as good as some of the superamrket brands. WHich ones did pass muster? There was Robert'a from Bushwick Brooklyn. It did have lovely puddles of cheese which everyone loved however there was a skimpy layer of tomato sauce and a crust that had dried out in the freezing process.There was also another New York pizza  Table 87. Mr Kim  loved the tomato puree yet Mr. Vreeland thought it too sweet and comp[ared it to LUnchables. Talia of Napoli had a great crust. , the perfect char as Mis Lu said. yet the toppings were faint in taste. The best was Mr. Mangieri's Genio pizza which was perfect in all aspects. It was a combination of salty and oily.

These are the Next Gen of frozen pizza. Try them for a more authentic fresh fromthe oven flavor/Its the next best thing to having a homemade pie.

The Food Moguls

 There is a new holy trinity of cooking. It's not ingredients but  two chefs and their investor. This trio of chefs Mario Carbone, Rich Torris and their investor Jeff Zalaznick are chaning the way the New York  and Miani are eating and partying. They are taking over and doing it in a remarkably short time.

Regular contributor Julia Moskin wrote about this trio in today's section of the New York Times Food section. Not since Warner Leroy took over Tavern on the Green in the Seventies have three entrepreneurs made such an indelible mark on Manhattan's culinary scene. Their group, Major Foods, is also a powerhouse in Miami, moving their headquarters there.who are they and how did they get this much clout?Chefs Torrisi and Carbone are from the outer boroughs. They grew up with homemade Italian cooking which was and still is a huge influence on what they make.They were fledgling chefs when they met Mr. Zalaznick, just emerging form such known eateries as Da Posto and Boulud. Chef Carbone cooked Italian while Chef Torrisi leaned more to the French, Their partner comes from a family worth billions.Mr. Zalaznick's grandfather is financier and real instate investor Paul Milstein. His name graces the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life in the Museum of Natural History, Milstein Hospital in Upper Manhattan and the Milstein Division of the New York Public Library. There are connections to the city's most powerful families like the Tisches and the Le Fraks.

This does provide money to experiment and expand as it has for th e last ten years with them. They were able to open up Carbone in Greenwich Village and the sandwich shop Parm, They exploded on the MIami restaurant scene with  Carbone's South Florida extension. There is ZZ's Club,a private and posh food club that offers such dishes as the supremely tender Wagyu beef at $250 (!!!!) a plate and salmon teriyaki at $48 a plate.It also has a cigar and backgammon terrace. They also have Sadelle's, a homage to Jewish cooking in New York ,Miami and now Riyadh, Saudi Arabia along with the Dirty Laundry and The Grill which celebrate American cuisine.(their prices for a sit down Thanksgiving meal are outrageous - even for New York)Some fellow restauranteurs are skeptical of their success. Kevin Boehm and his business partner Rob katz are going for a low key approach and tailor their restaurants  like the Girl And Goat chain to the communitiues they're in. They also feel that expanding in different markets will be challenging down the road. However Major Food Group seems impervious to tis, even thriving in Miami during the Covid lockdown.

Will this trinity overtake the market? Probably on the high end range for a while. It's their time to shine and it shining brightly.

A Different Type Of Cooking Show

 There are no shows about what it;s like to cook in a restaurant. yes there are cooking shows . There are no dramas, like there are about doctors and lawyers. Until now. Hulu has produced an interesting series about chefs.

Regular contributor Julia Moskin wrote about this new TV show in yesterday's New York Times Food section.It's called "The Bear" and it's streaming on Hulu and FX. Jeremy Allen White who was a regular on Shameless and has appeared on "Law and Order" plays the main character Carmen Berzato, a high profile chef. He comes home to Chicago to run his family's Italian beef sandwich shop after his brother Mikey has committed suicide. He has also left a thirty thousand dollar debt but no note.Carmen has a lot going on. He has no time to grieve as he has to retain employees along with trying to make good food. The scripts and acting are riveting. Carmen is running on a hamster wheel of tasks. He's dicing carrots, breaking up fights and peddling his vintage denim  collection to buy meat. Worse he inherits hid brother's prickly crew who are loyal to his brother's memory along with his spaghetti recipe. There's also a raging , grieving manager (who's also a friend " who calls him Bobby Flay and much worse

Is this an accurate picture of the industry? It seems to be. The track record on these kind of shows isn't great according to Christopher Storer, co-showrunner of "Bear". He is no stranger to filming the food industry. His multiple documentaries  were about the food business before turning to fiction with  movies like Eight Grade and "Ramy".His friend, Canadian chef, Matty Matheson ho also produced and wound up with a small part said he wanted an accurate description that showed both the good and bad side of the industry. Some of the best scenes involve sharp accuracy along with reality. The show is sort of based on one of Mr/ Storer's childhood friends, Christopher Zucchero who is Italian beef royalty. His father and uncle opened Mr.  Beef on Chicago's North Orleans Street in 1978 and now he's an owner. "Bear" was filmed there,a warren of small rooms complete with sharp knives, high shelves and hot pans. The actors also added authenticity to the show. Mr. White and the actor,Ayo Edebiri who plays the sous chef both went to LA's Institute of Culinary Education to learn more about the industry and to work in the kitchen,

"Bear" will be an interesting watch. The restaurant industry rarely gets seen on TV. That's about to change.

Cheese Fest

 Who doesn't like or even love cheese? It's a food that's fun to share or to be savored on one's one, perhaps with a good hunk of artisinal bread and a glass of wine. Now there are even contests centering on it.Cheese nerds can rejoice over this.

Regular contributor Julia Moskin wrote about this great even in today's New York Times Food section. It was the 2022 Cheesemonger International held in Brooklyn where many artisinal cheeses and cheese shops are these days.The event began back in 1999 when a powerful cheese cartel collapsed. Cheese maker Adam Moskowicz created this festival/competition.. His family's  background is in food, with his grandfather selling butter and eggs at Washington Market and his father owned a wholesale produce market in Manhattan;s meatpacking district along with starting Larkin Cold Storage. Although he and his father have had a difficult relationship, Mr Moscowicz chose food  after a varied career of rapper and actor. He is also a recovering addict whose rehab coincided with the competition. Cheese saved him, He started as a cheesemonger at Formaggio Essex on the Lower East Side and joined his father's business in 2007.  He discovered a passion in the nascent farmstead cheese movement in Switzerland.

Now he 's in charge of the Coachella of cheese contests.It started in 2010 when he staged the first invitational as a kind of after party for the Fancy Food Show, This is where global cheese manufacturers descend on Manhattan. That was debauched according to Mr. Moskowicz who barely remembers any of it. The recent gathering was open to anyone . Any working cheese maker could join; the only requirement for the competitors is that they show up three days beforehand, This time is packed with demonstrations, tastings and lectures, Most of the competitors value this and the camaraderie more so than the actual competition. There are different competitions. In the salesman one judges pose as customers and ask all sorts of questions , Then there is the blind tasting one where cheese mongers compete to identify cheeses from around the world. They have to sort through five primary characteristics such as  milk type, milk treatment, style, country of origin and name. There' sort of like wine tasting but without the classist attitude.

This is the perfect contest for cheese lovers. It shows all the different kinds in the world and appeals to all sorts. Cheese isn't just for the elite. It's for everyone.

Fall Dishes Part Two The Sweet Side

 One of the best parts of fall is getting back into the baking groove.The cooler air draws us inside to the warmth of a cozy kitchen.We feel more energized too , ready to rake on rolling out dough and whipping up batters and  frostings>Luckily The New York Times has included some yummy dessert recipes in their fall guide. I'ts time to get baking.

Yesterday we covered the savory side of fall cooking, Now here's the treat  - the sweet side that would make the perfect after for those lush and ribsticking meals. These are perfect for ending a Sunday dinner or on a holiday dessert board. Times regular contributor Tejal Rao adapted  San Francisco chef's Elizabeth Prueitt's sweet potato tea cake with a meringue topping. Serve this instead of the usual sweet potato pie at your Thanksgiving dinner. The cake is made like a spice cake with the sweet potatoes married to a blend of spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Brown sugar gives the cake a mellow flavor. wile the addition of orange juice gives it some zing. The meringue is the traditional recipe made with egg white, granulated sugar and vanilla.You could sub in aqua faba or chickpea water for the egg white.Another treat to make that requires no baking is apple jelly.Yewande Komolafe contributed this recipe perfect for the apple picking days ahead. Use Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Jonagold, Braeburn or Honey crisp for this. Lemon and sea salt are added to blnce the sweetness. Homemade croissants or brioches would be perfect for this for breakfast or an afternoon snack.

If you want true decadence then go for Samantha Seneviratne's Mississippi Mud pie. This is a toothsome layering of a buttery graham cracker crust topped with a brownie cake rich with cocoa, , dark chocolate , eggs and more butter. a rich chocolate custard tops this. This is an old fashioned custard made with cornstarch and egg yolks. Processed Dutch cocoa and bittersweet chocolate intensify the flavor.Keep in mind that this is a labor intensive pie. The brownie layers requires whisking the yolks and the eggs separately and melting the butter and dark chocolate in a bowl over a pot of barely similar water.It's baked until the crust is set and the middle is fudgy and moist. You can top this treat with freshly whipped cream for more decadence.Even though it's a savory recipe, Julia Moskin's pretzel recipe  adapted from one from Ann Arbor Michigan's Zingerman Bakehouse could easily be served slathered with jam or honey butter for a dessert.These are laugenbrezeln with lard added to the recipe along with barley malt syrup. If you can';t find the syrup use brown sugar instead. You'll also need food grade dipping lye for the initial dipping before baking,Rubber gloves are also needed for this and you'll need plenty of table space for rolling out the unformed pretzels.

Fall will be here and it's time to get baking. Try a decadent pie or cake or just have a warm pretzel with apple jelly to satisfy your sweet tooth. Any of these are perfect for the cool days ahead.

Trouble In A Culinary Paradise

 Imagine working in the most perfect place one can think up. It has stunning views and comes not just with tantalizing job offers but delicious food. Now imagine it all being a big lie. That's what happened to the workers at the Willows Inn on Lummi Island off the Washington State coastline. The ultimate's chef's dream turned into a worker's nightmare.

Regular contributor Julia Moskin, contributed this eye opening report in today's New York Times Food section. She exposed practices better associated with trendy big city restaurants and crimes  that are not at all uncommon in New York, Chicago, Boston or Los Angeles.It started with the famed chef , Blaine Wetzel falling in love with this tranquil island in the San Juan Archipelago. He was only twenty-four and fresh from a two year stint at the famed Copenhagen eatery Noma. Any restaurant would have wanted this rising superstar in the culinary world. Instead he answered an ad on Craigslist posted by an island chicken farmer who owned the century old inn. Its' isolation appealed to him .It had less than one thousand people living on it. There were unspoiled forests along with local fisheries and farms - all perfect for fresh ingredients. It quickly became a global destination with visitors paying a whopping $500 for a night. The dishes were either foraged or fished not far from it. Yet it was nothing more than a fairy tale.

Ms. Moskin interviewed thirty-five former employees for the article and their stories are horror ones.For one those fresh ingredients weren't exactly fresh nor were they local. They were ferried in from the mainland, namely from distributors and other farms. Pacific octopus came from Spain and Portugal. Chicken was bought from Costco. Venison came from a farm in Idaho. Even more disturbing were the allegations against Chef Wetzel for sexual harassment. Underage teenage girls were given potent alcoholic drinks and drugs. There was inappropriate touching by older male workers while Chef Wetzel himself drove home a drunk underage worker, Sarah Letchworth. He wanted to drive her to his place to do shots. If that wasn't bad enough there were biases against female workers. Jen Curtis was a seasoned chef di cuisine when she joined the restaurant's staff. Chef Wetzel promised her a sous chef position as soon as it became available. She was shunted aside for male sous chefs. Then there was also the racism, with slurs being hurled at Asian American chefs.Interns were also abused, as they were forced to work fourteen hour days. Thankfully the inn's former workers filed a class action lawsuit against the chef who was accused of wage theft and provide rest breaks along with misappropriation of tips. 

The Willow Inn can be redeemed by a more compatible, caring chef. it is a paradise with fresh ingredients waiting to be turned into delicious dishes. It can overcome this bad period and enter a more understanding, honest one.

The Return Of Applejack

 One of the most American of drinks is making a huge comeback. Applejack is returning to bars and homes, bolstered by a new curiosity abut this fruity spirit. It's becoming popular , not only with hipsters but with those wanting to make this drink, as old as the US itself.

Julia Moskin wrote about it and the distilleries making it in yesterday's New York Times food section. She even has included a recipe for an applejack butter pecan Bundt cake with caramel frosting and a wild drink recipe calling for it, These are new applications for a drink that 's usually been just been served on its' own. The alcohol began with early colonists making do with what was grown around them - namely apple trees. The harvest was then jacked , a distilling method that does not involve the usual method of boiling but of freezing. Any household with an abundance of cold weather and apple cider could make this heady drink. With each freeze the water in the cider turns to slush. Each time the ice is skimmed off, the concentration of alcohol grows and what's left in the barrel reaches forty proof.That clear spirit is applejack, not as strong as vodka but potent enough. American legend , Johnny Appleseed or as he was baptized, John Chapman,an apple grower went through the Blue Ridge Mountains scattering seeds. It wasn't for the promise of pie but for applejack. Apple orchards were prime real estate in the 1700's because apples were not only a viable food source but also important for making the spirit.

Now apple jack distilleries are making a big comeback one hundred years after Prohibition nearly obliterated them and authorities razed the orchards that produced them. One of the oldest is Laird from Colt's Neck New jersey that actually started making hard cider and apple jack in 1698. Laird's apple jack was so popular during the Colonial Era that even George Washington wanted the recipe to bring back to Mount Vernon ( Laird's longstanding relationship with the White House came in handy during Prohibition when the distillery was granted a "special federal license" to make  it for "medicinal  purposes"). The company today has a good selection of apple brandies made from Winesaps, Jonathans,Delicious and Pippin apples. Many other distilleries use these as well as Arkansas Black. They can't use  big sweet apples like Red and Golden delicious because they were bred for eating and are too sugary in flavor. Applejack is also aged, much like Calvados, the much loved apple brandy from Normandy, The spirit is usually aged in cast off casks from bourbon and scotch makers. Apple jack can be drunk by itself or mixed with dark rum as well as other juices. Ms Moskin puts it into a kicky Bundt cake that's also rich with butter and cream cheese.

The most American of spirits is coming back to lift our spirits. applejack is returning to the homes and bars once again. Try this heady sip and enjoy its' kick and fruity flavor.

Restaurants Lost

 This year has been a truly devastating one. Besides the genocidal loss of life, businesses have also been badly impacted. None worse is the restaurant industry. It's not just the big cities like New York or Los Angeles were hit. Smaller towns' culinary gems were also destroyed thanks to quarantine and the loss of business. It is catastrophic to say the least.

The New York Times Food section devoted most of today's section to this heart wrenching loss. One of the most saddest is Philadelphia's City Tavern which opened in 1773. This was Ben Franklin's hangout where the menu really hand't changed since then. There was  even a tofu recipe inspired by Franklin's 1770 letter to John Battram. Diners raved about  celebrity chef Walter Staib's  roast duck and Colonial turkey pot pie. Chef Staib is also the host of the PBS show A Taste of History  which now will be his salvation . Other famed eateries that everyone thought would go on forever folded. The famed K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen closed its' doors forever snuffing out the memory of the late chef Paul Prudhomme. Both chef and restaurant opened the world's eyes to such truly Cajun dishes as blackened redfish and chicken-Andouille sausage gumbo. Manhattan's Lucky Strike was also one of this year's victims.It was known for its' lychee martinis and tuna tartare.It was one of regular contributor Julia Moskin's favorites. Chicago 's Blackbird is also no more.Like Lucky strike it came into being in the prosperous 1980's with its' sophisticated menu.

Smaller family owned restaurants have also affected.  Honolulu's Like-Like Drive In which opened even before Hawaii became a state closed after sixty-seven years of feeding the city. For three generations the Nako family served teriyaki burgers, Vienna sausages and lemon chiffon pie to locals and tourists alike. Chef Mark Noguchi  remembered his childhood visits there where he had Green River lime soda and the Hawaiian noodle soup saimin.Dallas' Taco Shop may have opened in only 2012 yet this taqueria  in a former gas station was an instant hit with construction workers and suits alike. People went  for their carnitas, barbacoa and picadilo as owner , former psychologist Emilia Flores made everyone feel welcome . Even bakeries felt the virus's bite. Sunny Donuts in San Jose, California created mouth watering buttermilk, blueberry and chocolate glazed ones as well as one with homemade raspberry jam inside. Sales dropped during the pandemic and the owners Chip and Sara Lim decided to retire. They already had gone through a McDonald's and Dunkin Donuts franchises.

We need to be a restaurant culture again when this pandemic ends - and it will. Support your local  family owned eateries , coffee shops and bakeries. We need them as much as they need us.

The Legend Of James Beard

 James Beard was a giant in American cooking, influencing the cuisine in the last century. A new biography on him is out and it delves into the dark corners of his life.  Yet despite it all, his recipes and legacy still endure.

Julia Moskin gave an interesting article on this American master in today's New York Times Food section. Beard is the subject of a new book The Man Who Ate Too Much by John Birdsall. James Beard was a visionary, creating such dishes as a full charcuterie platter long before the Instagram and Pinterest crowds claimed it for their own. Yet not many home chefs use his recipes nor do they know of his enormous body of work. Ms Moskin is familiar with him because her mother both cooked from Beard's and the other great American's cook, Julia Child's cookbooks. Mr. Beard handled the everyday recipes like potpies, potato salad, bean soup and cornbread. However he was visionary with what he made. He was the first to write about sliders and sunchokes,scallion tarts and roasted figs with prosciutto. He also included such international dishes as ceviche, Syrian lentil soup with swiss chard, menudo and basil pesto, the last a radically raw and shocking flavorful sauce not yet embraced by all of America. All modern chefs owe their repertoire to Beard who embraced all aspects of the immigrant melting pot that is American cuisine. He accepted them as Seventies home chefs bought Moroccan tangines , Indian spice blends and Japanese pottery.

Yet , according to his biographer, Mr. Birdsall , it was not all great. He was the only child of Elizabeth Beard, famed for her cooking at the elegant boarding house she ran in Gladstone,Oregon near Portland. He grew up eating Chinese food thanks to Jue Let, a master chef from Guangdong, China who worked for his mother.. He fed Beard congee , steamed salt fish and lychees and both him and Beard's mother gave the young chef to be a good background for food. Yet his mother was not attentive  and more impatient with him. She never accepted or understood his "difference" - his homosexuality. His father was often missing from the scene. Beard was expelled from his college  Reed College in Portland for being caught with a male professor. Later on he was despondent about his weight 350 pounds for a 6'3"  tall man. In later years, he suffered from edema and had to wear stockings. Other health problems plagued him. However he did find happiness later years with his partner Gino Cofacci in Greenwich Village. They had parties and barbecues where he ruled. Ms. Moskin includes his Farmer's Chicken recipe , sauteed chicken with onions and peppers, flavored with red wine , raisins and olives along with paprika and oregano. It's served with toasted almonds , rice or garlic rubbed bread.

James Beard was a driving force in American cuisine. This new biography should pique interest in his recipes and life. It's time for a new generation to discover his philosophy and food.