Capital New York

Lost Foods of New York City: Gesztenyepüré, Hungarian Chestnut Puree

The dessert made its way to America with the Hungarian immigrants who settled in New York City from the mid-nineteenth to the early-twentieth centuries. They brought with them a zest for culture and the arts, and the hearty, rib-sticking fare—chicken paprikash, beef goulash, apple and cabbage strudel and, of course, gesztenyepüré, that had graced their dinner tables in the Old Country. More

Posted on April 26th, 2012 9:59am

Fatty Crab's Zak Pelaccio pairs great food with music and drink at a party for his new book (and gives us a recipe)

For a cookbook launch party, last night’s event at Brooklyn’s Powerhouse Arena in honor of Zak Pelaccio's new book Eat with Your Hands (Ecco) was pretty killer. The music, which included a live performance by the Brooklyn-based folk-rock band Woods, was too loud for real conversation, but the perfect volume for dancing. Friends wielding cans of Tiger Beer yelled enthusiastically to each other from across the room. And instead of the usual passed canapés, there was whole smoked pig—a four-foot expanse of leathery, brick red skin and juicy pulled pork holding court on a folding table. The mix of hearty, well-wrought food, plenty of drinks, and good music was an appropriate setting for a book that celebrates all three. More

Posted on April 18th, 2012 12:20pm

Three 'pizza tours' merge history, food geekery and a love of 'New York Style' pizza (whatever that is now)

With 150 years of pizza history and evolution under the city’s belt, there actually is no one definition of New York–style pizza. Depending on where you eat, you might encounter a chewy, thin-crusted Neapolitan-style pie, which comes minimally splotched with fresh mozzarella; or a Sicilian pie, which is bready, sauce-heavy and square; or a beautifully blistered artisanal pizza baked inside a coal- or wood-fired brick oven. With so much variety crowding the field, you might need a little expert advice just to wade through. More

Posted on March 22nd, 2012 8:54am

Lost Foods of New York City: Steak Diane

With the long anticipated return of "Mad Men" scheduled for later this month (season five premieres March 25), America’s collective obsession with all things mid-century New York City is back in full martini-slinging force. What better time, then, to celebrate steak Diane—a dish so quintessentially retro-glamorous, it might as well be called steak Don Draper. More

Posted on March 14th, 2012 9:35am

Lost foods of New York City: Charlotte Russe

By the time it had come to early 20th century New York—especially those in Brooklyn and the Bronx—the Charlotte Russe had taken on dramatically simplified form. There, it was made from a thin disk of sponge cake topped with a lofty spiral of whipped cream and crowned with a Maraschino cherry. Variations included sprinkles, chocolate-flavored whipped cream, or a spoonful of jam nestled between the cake and the cream. The treat was available seasonally, typically autumn through spring while the weather was cool enough to support a food primarily made out of whipped cream. It was sold from pushcarts, candy stores, and bakeries (primarily, but not exclusively Jewish ones) mainly to eager school kids seeking the ultimate afternoon snack. More

Posted on February 6th, 2012 9:40am

In Brooklyn fairy tale, Girl makes cookies, girl meets boy (in the kitchen): The story of One Girl Cookies

A decade on, One Girl Cookies might be more adequately named One Family Cookies. Casale and Crofton are married and have a 2 1/2-year-old son named Nate. The bakery, also located in Cobble Hill, now staffs 17 employees (headed up in the kitchen by Crofton), has added daily breakfast service to the menu, and is about to expand to a second location in DUMBO. Casale said she does not do much professional baking anymore (though she likes to bake cookies at home with Nate, and they do so often), but continues to run the business side of the operation while brainstorming new recipes with Crofton. “We recently discovered this locally-made honey infused with chilies called Mike’s Hot Honey, and are dreaming up ways to use it,” she said. More

Posted on January 13th, 2012 1:36pm

Lost Foods of New York City: Butter cakes from Childs Restaurant

Before there was Chipotle or Applebee’s, and before Starbucks and McDonald’s came to populate every other New York City street corner, there was Childs.

When brothers William and Samuel Childs opened the first restaurant on Cortlandt Street in 1889, they catered to downtown Manhattan’s bustling lunchtime crowd. The brothers’ model of delivering high-quality America-style fare at reasonable prices (which at the time was quite novel) proved popular. Just a decade after that first restaurant (originally called Childs’ Lunchrooms), Childs boasted a total of nine locations across the city, and was well on its way to becoming one of the first national restaurant chains. More

Posted on January 6th, 2012 9:05am

Festival of lights yields a festival of fried potato goodness in Brooklyn

If matzo balls are the proverbial nice old lady of Jewish cuisine (warm, squishy and endlessly nurturing), then latkes—the golden, lacy-edged potato pancakes eaten during Hanukkah—are the enchanting ingenue. And last night at the third annual Latke Fest and Cook-Off held at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the ingenues were out in full force, holding court amid hundreds of fork-wielding attendees in all of their shimmering, oil-drenched glory. More

Posted on December 20th, 2011 12:22pm