Robert Stolarik for The New York Times Tile fish at a seafood marketIt’s the eternal question when ordering fish, whether at the sushi bar or the fried-fish shack: is this really the fish I ordered, and would it matter if it wasn’t?
In a new report issued by Oceana, an international ocean-protection group, the seafood merchants of New York City fared poorly at accurately identifying their products. As in previous studies in Boston, Miami, and Los Angeles, the group used anonymous sampling and lab testing to identify the DNA of seafood from supermarkets, seafood markets, and restaurants. Thirty-nine percent of the 142 samples obtained locally were mislabeled. According to the study, the list of targeted sushi bars and restaurants “was based on recommendations from Yelp and others,” but it does not identify the sources, nor does it point fingers at chefs or vendors for deliberate substitutions. (However, there were no cases in which a more expensive fish was mislabeled as a cheaper one.) Read more…
For many wine lovers, the news that Robert M. Parker Jr. is planning to sell a portion of his influential newsletter, The Wine Advocate, to a group of Asian investors and step down as editor in chief does not so much signal an end of an era as acknowledges changes that have been under way for a decade.
The article, by Lettie Teague in Monday’s Wall Street Journal, also reports that the print edition of The Wine Advocate will soon be eliminated, and that Lisa Perrotti-Brown, a correspondent for The Wine Advocate based in Singapore, will take over editorial control. Mr. Parker will assume the role of chairman, and he will continue to write for the newsletter, primarily covering the wines of Bordeaux and the Rhône.
Mr. Parker is still the world’s most influential wine critic, at least in the sense that his words help set the prices of the top-flight Bordeaux market and Châteauneuf-du-Pape, as well as the auction market for old benchmark wines. In a larger sense, though, the peak of Mr. Parker’s influence, when he along with other publications like Wine Spectator shaped how several generations of Americans thought about wine, has passed. The move recognizes a new reality, that the center of orbit for critics like Mr. Parker is now in Asia rather than North America.
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December 10, 2012, 10:28 amBig changes at The Wine Advocate: Robert M. Parker Jr. will sell the consumer newsletter to Asian investors and step down as editor in chief. He will become chairman and continue to review Bordeaux and Rhône wines, The Wall Street Journal reports. Its headquarters will move to Singapore, and Lisa Perrotti-Brown will become top editor. The Times’s wine critic, Eric Asimov, will have more on this development later.
Dan Neville/The New York Times Boxed wine.LA Weekly: Apples as art. — Jeff Gordinier
NPR: No, really, bag-in-the-box wine can be much more than just O.K. But a new research report in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (yes! Box-wine research!) reveals that it absolutely must be kept cool enough, in storage. – Glenn Collins
Ideas in Food: Dark and Stormy Brownies with fresh ginger, dark rum and lime oil: brilliant or jumping the shark? T.B.D. — Julia Moskin
Decanter: Andrew Jefford on the global issue of difficult-to-pronounce wine names. Öküzgözü and Boğazkere, anybody? — Eric Asimov
New York: Rum, whiskey, gin – all made in New York (mostly in Brooklyn, of course) and sampled here, distillery by distillery.
– Patrick Farrell
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Raymond McCrea Jones for The New York Times It was a close race, but as of 5 p.m. today readers said they preferred Kim Severson’s menu of edible holiday gifts over Julia Moskin’s. We asked the two perennial rivals-slash-cooking buddies (they wrote a book together) to come up with a menu of gift-worthy treats, and asked readers to pick which one they preferred. Slightly more readers chose Ms. Severson’s Southern-inspired sweet spiced pecans, cheese straws and hot fudge sauce. When they appeared on the “Today” show on Wednesday, the host, Willie Geist, picked Ms. Moskin’s menu. “All I can say is that the readers of The New York Times are among the smartest people on earth,” Ms. Severson said upon hearing the news of her victory.
In this week’s video and column, I share a recipe for an herbed crown roast of pork scented with fennel, garlic, lemon, and rosemary. The combination of flavors isn’t random; I borrowed it from a classic Tuscan porchetta.
But there are many other seasoning possibilities here if fennel isn’t your thing. Here are some ideas. Garlic, by the way, is a given unless noted otherwise.
- Orange zest, chili flakes, and sage
- Cumin, coriander, and thyme
- Scallions, ginger root, soy sauce
- Marmalade, mustard, shallot (no garlic here)
December 7, 2012, 5:12 pmCrain’s New York Business is reporting that the five-year-old marriage between the restaurant group BR Guest Hospitality and the private-equity firm Starwood Capital Group is headed toward a breakup. Citing unnamed sources, the paper says the partners have retained an investment banking firm to find a buyer for BR Guest, which owns Dos Caminos, Fiamma, Blue Water Grill and more than 20 other restaurants. The article is here. (Sign-in required.)
Oliver Strand Parlor Coffee might be New York City’s smallest espresso bar. It opened recently in the back of the Persons of Interest barbershop in Williamsburg. Dillon Edwards, the barista, operates his one-group Speedster espresso machine in a tiny back room that he shares with a display of hair tonics and creams. Mr. Edwards worked for Stumptown Coffee Roasters and Blue Bottle Coffee before setting up shop, and he pulls shots of espresso with beans he roasts himself and sources from the noted importer Coffee Shrub.
Parlor Coffee is one of four additions to the December update of the Scoop, an iPhone app by The New York Times that includes a guide to local coffee establishments. The others are MyWayCup Coffee, an impish shop on East 23rd Street whose motto is “The Change Is Within Your Coffee”; Pushcart Coffee, the Lower East Side standby’s roomy second location close to Gramercy Park; and the Toby’s Estate stand in the Union Square Holiday Market, which will close, along with the rest of the stalls, on the evening of Dec. 24.
The Scoop now has 121 listings in the coffee function. You can download the free iPhone app here, or view the web version here.
Evan Sung for The New York Times David Tanis, who writes the weekly City Kitchen column, is the author of two cookbooks, “A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes” and “Heart of the Artichoke and Other Kitchen Journeys.”
The holiday party season approaches, bringing all manner of baked goods in its wake. Two of my favorite bite-sized treats
from the oven are classic cheese puffs and cream puffs, both featured in this week’s City Kitchen column. The dough, which in French is called pâte à choux, is pretty easy to put together, once you learn the technique.
Another technique worth acquiring is the use of a pastry bag. It comes in handy for all sorts of things, and it’s actually fun once you get the hang of it. The main trick is to use your left hand to guide the bag at the bottom, while your right hand does the squeezing at the very top of the bag (assuming you’re right-handed).
With practice it becomes second nature, and you don’t have to be a restaurant professional to enjoy a little “piping.” Then you can use the pastry bag to pipe out the dough and to pipe in the filling too. (I know many people recommend zip-top bags instead, but save that for emergencies; they’re unwieldy and imprecise.) You can buy inexpensive, so-called disposable plastic pastry bags from most cookware shops, then wash and use them again. Just snip the bottom to make the size hole you need.
Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times Renato BrancaleoniAt a pop-up studio in Grand Central Terminal’s Graybar Passage, bottles of Johnnie Walker Blue Label can be personally engraved in various languages. The studio is open through Dec. 29, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday.
The newly opened Pig and Khao, 68 Clinton Street, on the Lower East Side, will serve $1 beers every day from 5 to 7 p.m. starting Friday.
Il Buco and Il Buco Alimentari and Vineria restaurants, located in NoHo, will host Renato Brancaleoni, the Italian cheesemonger, from Friday through Wednesday with special lunches and demonstrations. Check online for the latest schedule of events and call (212) 837-2622 or e-mail events@ilbuco.com for reservations.
The Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, in Midtown East, throws a traditional Swedish smorgasbord for Santa Lucia during brunch seatings on Saturday and Sunday at noon, 1 and 2 p.m. ($50) and dinner at 6 or 7:30 p.m. ($60). Mulled wine, known as glogg, is included in the prices but not tax or tip. Children 6 to 12 pay half price, and children under 6 are free. The dinner seatings include live performances by a Santa Lucia choir. Call (971) 284-4345 for reservations.
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