I started doing my grocery shopping at Grand Central Terminal Market since I’ve begun my work commute to Connecticut. Most days, I go straight down to SoHo to swim anyway and I can pick something up before I head to the gym via the 6 train. Last week, Pescatore Seafood was selling fresh Portuguese sardines. [...]

I know my pantry is well-stocked, but it still surprises me sometimes when I find an ingredient that I’ve forgotten about and it turns out it would work with whatever I’m making. For this salad, from Los Angeles’ Street Restaurant, I needed juniper berries to make the dressing and I was surprised to see a [...]

288 Smith Street between Sackett and Union in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn 718/596.3335 about $125 for two, without drinks, without tip ♥ ♥ We were in Brooklyn to visit friends who were house and dog sitting while on vacation from San Francisco. When it was time to eat dinner, another friend–a Brooklynite–quickly suggested The Grocery. It’s [...]

My father’s from Ilocos Sur in the northern part of the Philippines and pinakbet, or pakbet, is one of his specialties. It’s also one of my favorite Ilokano dishes that he makes on a regular basis. Most recently, I watched as he made a pot full of Filipino vegetables at home and wrote down the [...]

200 Schemerhorn Street in downtown Brooklyn 718/243.0050 $70 each ($95 starting November 2009), BYOB, without tip ♥ ♥ ♥ The Daily News just crowned the area around 200 Schemerhorn “Downtown Brooklyn’s hot pocket”. A friend lives upstairs and got incredibly lucky with one of the market-rate rentals before the neighborhood exploded. This means he’s also [...]