My New Book—Ice Cream: A Global History

Chocolate Sauce: Grown Up Kids Stuff Hits the Mark

Yes, it still feels like November out there, but ice cream season will soon be upon us. If you’re a chocolate sauce fanatic like I am, you may want to enrobe your ice cream with chocolate topping from Grown Up Kids Stuff. Why? Like so many other chocolate sauces, it’s not cloyingly sweet. And [...]

Easter: Chocolate Bunnies and Marshmallow Chicks at Three Tarts

OK, these adorable Easter candies weren’t created on the Upper West Side.  They come from Three Tarts, an outstanding bakery in Chelsea, which, after all, could be considered the Lower West Side. In this charming shop overseen by two former designers, you’ll find their individually crafted Easter marshmallow chicks or “peeps,” $18 for six pairs, [...]

Haroset Recipe: The Diaspora Approach for Passover

This haroset recipe combines ingredients from Jewish communities around the world, some thriving, some near extinction.  Chef Renee’s haroset draws from several Jewish cultures—from Indian as well as from Ashkenazi and Sephardic culinary traditions.
Why is this night different from every other night? Because this haroset celebrates Jewish multiculturalism.
Diaspora Haroset
Serves 8
Preheat oven to 350F
INGREDIENTS
½ cup [...]

Upper West Side: Kosher Restaurant My Most Favorite Food Opens in Time for Passover

It seems strange that it’s taken until now for longtime kosher eatery My Most Favorite Food to set up an outpost on the Upper West Side. Regardless, the restaurant will be throwing open its doors March 25 at 247 W. 72nd Street just in time for Passover.
The eatery is counting on Upper West Siders of [...]

Lox Gets a Thumbs Down from ultra-Orthodox Rabbis

Is nothing sacred? Grub Street reports that a group of ultra-Orthodox rabbis has deemed lox nonkosher. Why?  Because salmon — and fish like cod, tilapia, flounder, and halibut — harbor a tiny parasitic worm called anisakis. Read more here.