Here’s my segment on Food Trends from Fox 5 today:

http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/food-trend-predictions-2012-20111227

Looking for the products:

Resveratrol WineTime Bars: http://www.winetimebar.com/

Korean Food: https://www.facebook.com/TasteofKoreaNYC?sk=info

Francesco Rinaldi To Be Healthy Pasta Sauce: http://francescorinaldi.com/products.php

Sweet & Sara Marshmallows: http://www.sweetandsara.com/

Swanson Certified Organic Vegetable Broth: http://www.swansonbroth.com/ourproducts.aspx

Holistic Select Natural Pet Food: http://holisticselect.com/

Organic Avenue Cleanse: http://www.organicavenue.com/

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked what I feed my 13-month-old, Alexia.  Heck people were even asking me when I was pregnant if she was also going to be a vegetarian, and if so how would she get protein, iron, etc.  Well I am very happy to say she is indeed a vegetarian and her annual blood work shows that she is perfectly healthy.  This shows, it’s not only possible to give a toddler a great vegetarian diet, I truly believe it’s also helped keep her extremely healthy during her first 13-months.  She hasn’t even had so much as a cold!  The worse she has had is a runny nose from teething and shots.  Oh and she sleeps like a champion.  I also think that has a little to do with how well she eats (12 hours a night straight through since she was three weeks old).

So what does my sweet angel eat?  The easy answer is almost anything and everything I eat.  Actually she probably, in some ways, makes me an even better eater because I always make sure we are having balanced meals (meaning a protein, veggie and often a starch at every meal).   Alexia gets her protein and iron from things like dark leafy vegetables.  She eats kale, spinach, this week she even had swiss chard and loved it.  She also gets protein from beans.  Eveything from edamame to white beans to lentils.  She loves avocado and guacamole, macaroni and cheese, veggie lo mein, Lightlife Smart Deli, broccoli and zucchini.  The list just goes on and on.  She is a great eater! 

I don’t give her a lot of “sweets”.  It’s not that I’m totally against it, I just don’t want her to develop a sweet tooth like her dad and I have.  She will have the occasional bite of dessert here and there, but that’s it.  Luckily she doesn’t seem to care yet. 

TYPICAL DAY:

Breakfast might be blueberries and multi-grain cheerios. 

Lunch could be a Lightlife Smart dog (cut up into tiny diced pieces) and green peas.  Oh yes, green peas are her favorite food!  It may be because pea puree was the first thing she ever ate.  So glad my doctor told me to start her on veggie purees, before fruit.  She loves veggies so much more than fruit.  I literally can’t give her enough green peas.  I use the frozen kind (defrosted and just a little warm).  Don’t use the canned peas.  The frozen ones are so much more appealing to the eye and the taste buds.  You also don’t have to worry about any added salt with the frozen variety. 

Dinner might be a pasta I cooked with white beans and swiss chard with olive oil and garlic. 

She usually snacks on little crunchy puffs or has a yogurt or apple sauce.

As for milk, I don’t do whole milk.  Alexia drinks enriched rice milk and absolutely loves it!  One of the best things I heard in a class during culinary school was an argument against drinking cow’s milk.  Basically the point is that a cow can weigh up to 1600 pounds.  Baby cows drink their mother’s milk in hopes of one day weighing 1600.  Do you want your child to weigh that much?  No!  So why are they drinking whole milk?  Of course, the other argument is that the dairy industry is, for the most, awful.  The cows are treated horribly by a lot of factory farmers, loaded with hormones, their calves taken from them and just generally miserable.  So there are a lot of reasons to avoid cow’s milk. 

I will admit that I am vegetarian, not vegan so I do occassionally eat cheese & eggs.  I have given Alexia some cheese, yogurt & eggs too.  I’d say we are basically 95% vegan (with the last 5% being vegetarian), but I don’t call myself a vegan because of that last 5%.  So I’m not perfect, sue me (I know cheese comes from mistreated cows too and that is awful to think about)!  

I am proud, though, that Alexia hasn’t had any meat products and hopefully never will.  She will, of course, decide when she is old enough what kind of diet she wants.  I do think armed with the knowledge she will have had since being born that she will be a lifelong vegetarian.  That hopefully means a long, healthy & happy life too!

Crispy Bok Choy

We had the Crispy Baby Bok Choy with Lemon Pepper.   The dish was totally different then I thought it was going to be, but so yummy anyway.  It reminded me of kale chips.  They honestly transformed bok choy in a way I could never have imagined.   I may try to recreate this one at home!

Tempura Mushrooms

Next up the Tempura Maitake Mushrooms with a Sweet Ponzu Dipping Sauce.   A traditional type of tempura, but kind of a popcorn shrimp type of size.   I couldn’t believe how many came in this order.  Talk about a cup runneth over!   The sauce was good too, it was similar to the light sauce used for pot stickers.

Sweet Corn Cakes

Another dish that was totally different than I expected was the Sweet Corn and White Miso Tempura Cakes.  I expected something like a crab cake, but got these crunchy balls of goodness.  I didn’t really taste the white miso that much, but it was still a very welcome treat.

I’m usually bored by the veggie roll that is standard on a lot of sushi menus, but this colorful roll was great.  It was a Veggie Roll with asparagus, cucumber and scallion.  Topped with roasted sweet peppers, avocado and truffle oil.  Definitely one of the best vegan sushi rolls I’ve ever had!  

Last, but not least we got a more traditional, hearty Kimchi Fried Rice with a sunnyside-up egg (I know you can get this dish without the egg, but I’m assuming it has butter in it, so it’s not for vegans).   Fried rice can be boring or dull, but this one offered enough of a twist to keep us interested.

All in all I can’t remember the last time I was this surprised by a meal.   I went in expecting nothing and walked out wanting to return as soon as possible.  I especially love that almost all the dishes I got were vegan.  I think just the rice and the dipping sauce for the corn cakes contained egg or dairy.  You could forego the dipping sauce and then that would be vegan as well.  So yep, this is a place I can’t recommend enough to my meat-free friends looking to try something new and exciting!

The bigger point, though, is that they were willing to lose a customer over a silly credit card minimum.  As far as I knew these minimums were not Kosher with credit card companies either.  I just googled it, though, to find out the exact violation and learned that as part of a financial reform bill from last year companies can actual set minimums (this article explains it well).  I am bummed to hear that this is no longer against the rules, because restaurants need to know that this practice isn’t good for business.   It’s not just Chelsea Thai either.  I know other businesses that do this too.  In the future I am honestly going to try to avoid these places.  I just think either you take credit cards or you don’t. 

Oh and don’t get me started on places that don’t take credit cards at all because they are missing out on a lot of business too!  I know credit card companies charge businesses fees, but isn’t it better to have something of something, than nothing of nothing?

In the movie SJP plays a very busy working mom.  She is trying to juggle long work days and business trips with her two kids and her husband!   It’s a movie (and book) millions and millions of women can surely relate to.  I know I did.  I’ll admit, though, I have it pretty easy, as far as working moms go.   I usually don’t have to work more than 8 hours a day and I only work out of the home three days a week (anchoring at NY1).  The rest of my work (TV Chef related) is generally done from home, in my down time.  Yes I’m one of the lucky mother’s who has down time because my Alexia sleeps like a champ (12 hours at night and couple hour+ naps during the day).  With all that said I still related to so much in the movie and lots of the things us moms talked about with SJP and the author of the book the movie is based on Allison Pearson.   Some of the messages I loved, that were either touched on in the movie or in the Q&A with SJP afterward were:

*You don’t have to be a perfect mom, just love your child & do what you can do.  They’ll appreciate it!

*If you don’t get a lot of time with your child on a certain day, just try to be present when you are there.  Hug them, play with them, talk to them.  It’s quality sometimes, that matters over quantity.

*Sometimes it’s harder for you to be separated from your child, then it is for the child herself.   Your child may stop crying a minute after you walk out of the door, but you may be left feeling sad about it all day.

*Get over the guilt.  This is something I have been able to do easier than most moms I know.  I don’t feel guilty for working, going on a vacation or having a dinner out with my husband because.  When I do go out, I know Alexia is in good hands, with people she likes.  Whether it’s her grandparents, friends or her nanny she is having fun and learning more about relationships.  I love Alexia more than anyone in the world, but leaving her sometimes is okay.  It doesn’t mean she is loved any less than a mom who spends 24/7 with their kids.  I actually think it is a healthy part of life.  You need to maintain some sense of self. 

*While I may bring baked goods to school or home make things for Alexia’s party (after all I’m a Chef), it’s perfectly okay to bring something store bought!

*Don’t worry about what others think of how you parent.  Honestly, when Alexia was born it was like a light switch.  Do I take advice from other moms?  Sure, but I still march to my own mothering beat.  For example: I didn’t care if another mom said “don’t take her outside and expose her to germs”.  Heck I took Alexia on the subway and all over NYC at an early age.  She loved it, and knock on wood has never been sick.  Of course as a vegetarian I get all the time “aren’t you going to feed her meat”?  The answer is still no and I don’t care what you think of that.  Is Alexia happy and healthy?  Yep and that’s what matters.  I don’t care what you feed your child, but Alexia eats meat-free and nothing you can say about that will bother me.  I mean I’ve never been one to give into peer pressure, but it’s especially true now that I’m a mom.  In the movie SJP seems to want other moms to be okay with how she parents.  Of course there comes a turning point in the movie where you cheer her on when her opinion on this changes!   You want to say “you go girl” (but of course you are in a movie so silence is golden).

*Stop with the lists.  Lord knows with a baby there is always tons of things to do, but you know what?  Everything isn’t going to get done and that’s okay!  You’ll get to it when you need to and you shouldn’t let it stress you out.   (Unless it’s the baby’s enriched rice milk and you need it right away and Whole Foods is out of it, but I digress!)

Anyway the bottom line is that if you are a working mom (or a stay at home mom) you should see this movie.  If not for a little time away, then just for the simple fact that you are sure to relate to many of the things in the movie.  Enjoy!

Friday, September 09, 2011

Goodbye, Serena

I think I’ll miss our evening walks the most.

The time could vary — it could be 10p, it could be midnight, or if I was watching a late-night degenerate special on ESPN, it could be much later. Serena would wait patiently until I said, “c’mon Sweet Pea, time to go walking.” Then she would scamper out from whatever spot in the bedroom she was in and head for the door.

Our younger dog, Bernice, hates the late-night walk as much as Serena looked forward to it. I’m fairly certain Bernice taught herself tremendous bladder control to avoid stepping out into the dreaded Manhattan night.

Bernice knows something’s wrong. It probably doesn’t help that I’m still crying like a fool, more than 24 hours since Serena died.

She was getting up in age, but otherwise in good decent health. Our old girl’s body simply betrayed her.

In less than two weeks, paralyzing seizures robbed Serena of most of her bodily functions. As the accidents increased, the look on her eyes would seem to be saying, ‘I’m sorry for the mess, daddy. I can’t control it.’

I knew she was in trouble when she was too weak to muster the slightest bit of excitement when I walked through the door Wednesday.

That’s one of the 84,567 reasons why dogs rule. Their purpose in life is to make your life better. They live to give you a hero’s welcome. And Serena’s Welcome Home’s were epic.

I could be gone an hour or a week, and Serena would greet me the same way: with unrestrained joy and slobber knocker kisses. Seriously, the dog’s tongue was a force of nature. It was like a red carpet.

Serena was with me through a half-dozen job changes (some less voluntary than others), and many other trying times. As well as all the great moments. It’s impossible for me to remember my life without Serena in it.

She was born two days before Cindi and I were married. We got her six weeks later, the first of many great decisions my wife has made for us the past dozen years.

She was there for so many life-changing moments; our all-in move to NYC a few weeks after 9/11; getting her a sister – Bernice, which Serena struggled to adjust to for awhile, to be honest; And the biggest moment: The birth of Baby Alexia last year.

Serena was there for all of it. She was the rock-steady backbeat in our life song.

Through all our dinners and parties, she was always there – usually at one of our friends’ feet, hoping to use that impossibly cute face to score some snacks (it usually worked).

We desperately wanted Alexia to have enough time with Serena to form memories of her. As we sat in the vet’s office, the realization that pictures would be all that Alexia would have of our beautiful little Bum…. well, it crushed me.

[Side note: Bum was one of Serena’s many nicknames, because she never met a nap she couldn’t take.]

We made the only decision left to make.

We were there with Alexia because we had to rush her to the vet, and there was no way Cindi wasn’t going to be there for Serena. She loved her as much as I did. We sat in the room with her, shared a few memories of this wonderful, quirky, cantankerous dog that brought us so much joy. But mostly we just cried.

Then something incredible happened.

Serena and Alexia haven’t had much interaction. At her age, Serena just wasn’t up for getting manhandled by an infant. But as Cindi said goodbye, Alexia reached out and put her tiny hand on Serena’s head. It was a beautiful moment, and I’m grateful that I held it together long enough to take a picture.

Then it was time.

I sat there and stared at my loyal companion. I kissed her cheek like I’d done countless times before. I did what I imagine most people do at the death beds of their loved ones; I said I was sorry, for those times I lost my temper with her, for not giving her as much attention as I could have.

Our vet, who’s cared for Serena for years, administered the injection.

I told Serena I loved her one last time. I wish I could say that she gave me a sign that those words registered, but the truth is, I saw nothing in those big, soulful eyes. The illness had taken its toll.

Then she was gone.

As I stared at her lifeless body, the tears flowed uncontrollably. I found myself hoping that somehow, my words had registered at some level.

I’m not an idiot, and I’m not insane. I know the mental capacity of dogs. I’m also not very spiritual.

But I’ll be damned if I wasn’t praying that somehow, Serena understood how much she meant to me. That she knew that she will always carry a piece of my heart, from this life, into whatever comes next.

So long, Sweet Pea.

I have eaten at Gramercy Tavern (on 20th Street in NYC) at least a dozen times.  One of the things I always like about the highly rated restaurant is that they have always had a great vegetable tasting menu.  In the past it’s been innovative, but I am so sad to say this past weekend it was lazy.  After being a head above other restaurants, it was just like many other fancy restaurants, an after thought!  It pains me to say this because I have so championed Gramercy Tavern over the years.  I know some people from my culinary school who did internships there and I was one of the people encouraging them to work there.  Sadly though after Saturday night I can’t say I’d recommend it anymore.  Even the service wasn’t what it used to be.

The night started well enough with a nice little amuse bouche (corn fritter, eggplant & pickled skewer).   I loved all three and could have eaten more of these “one biters”.   It gave me high hopes for what was to come.

The second course was supposed to be watermelon salad, but since watermelon is the one fruit I hate, I was allowed to substitute it for the corn ravioli.   The corn ravioli was rather refreshing with subtle flavors.  Things were still going well, for now.

A pole bean salad was the next course, but this is where things started to unravel a little.   It seemed like the waiter was waiting a longggg time between courses so I asked him nicely if he could just fire (put in the orders) for the next course faster because I had a babysitter at home.  He kind of snapped at me and said “I’m doing what I can do”.   Definitely out of character compared with service I’ve had there before.   He also barely poured me any wine earlier in the meal (basically a few sips) and I just felt like he was very short with me in general.  As for the bean salad, it was a decent course.

Now is where the parade of warm tomatoes starts.  Oh and let me also mention there were warm tomatoes on the corn ravioli mentioned above so this is actually the second time tomatoes were served to me (the corn ravioli was a substitution though so I’m trying not to count it).  Anyway this was a warm tomato salad with a buckwheat cracker and artichoke.  It was ok.  The tomato was a little mushy for my liking, but I figured it gave me my tomato fix.   I do love tomatoes!

I thought the next course was described on the menu as an eggplant dish of some sorts.  In reality I was given more warm, mushy tomatoes and a couple small eggplants.  To be honest I just didn’t want another tomato so I took a bite of the eggplant, but then I didn’t eat anymore of this dish.  Also this far into the courses I didn’t really think another “salad” type of dish made sense.  I needed something a little more substantial at this point.  I mean give me some lentils for protein, maybe even some dark greens for iron and protein, just not another potassium rich red fruit!

And……so imagine my surprise when the last course comes and the first thing I see is warm tomatoes.  This time it was the same cherry tomatoes they served with the corn ravioli, but come on get a little creative.  Listen I am all about buying local, in season, etc., but this was just ridiculous.   I promptly moved the tomatoes to the side and ate the pasta.  I have to say though I still didn’t love the dish after that.  I love corn more than the next guy, but it’s not a good topping for pasta.  Also, again, Chefs need to keep in mind that vegetarians like to eat balanced meals too and corn adds barely any nutrients to a meal so this dish just didn’t do it for me. 

So here’s my note to any Chefs coming up with vegetarian menus.  Remember three things: 1) Vegetarians and vegans still like a variety of foods.  As a Chef I could make a different meal all 30 days of a month and never get bored.  This is actually one of the reasons I became a TV Chef.  I wanted to prove that vegetarians eat so many different foods, the options are actually endless.  2) Vegetarians and vegans like protein and iron too.  Our proteins just don’t come in meat/seafood form.  And no all our protein doesn’t come from tofu.  Think about this when crafting menus for us.  We get protein from a bunch of places, from all kinds of beans to tempeh and seitan to spinach and nuts.  3) Taste is still very important.  Contrary to popular belief we don’t all just eat steamed kale.  We love flavor, for me that is numero uno.

As for Gramercy Tavern I am sad to put it in my rearview mirror, but the night I ate at Gramercy Tavern I was tweeting about it and someone tweeted me back saying Del Posto has the most exquisite vegan tasting menu.   So that could be the place to replace my tasting menu fix.  Can’t wait to try it!  

Side note: The wait time between courses at Gramercy Tavern Saturday night was so long that the meal clocked in at 3 and a half hours.  I like tasting menus to be a whole night event, but not longer than a night at the theatre!  Also you’d think the restaurant would want to space courses a little closer together so they could turn that table again, at least every three hours.

I always make reservations when going to restaurants (when restaurants take them).  I do it on opentable.com and if the time I want isn’t available, I usually won’t eat there.  Anyway, on two separate occassions, just a few months apart, I made reservations at Tao.   Both times I was required to wait between 45 minutes to an hour past my reservation time.  That is bad enough.   I fully admit I hate waiting more than 15 minutes past my reservation time.  99.9% of restaurants will seat you within 15 minutes, but not Tao.  What has made the situation worse, though, is that the host staff has been so rude about it.  They act like they are doing you a favor to even let you stand in their restaurant.  Oh & did I mention how crowded the bar area is?  Standing isn’t fun there!   I saw how they were treating other people who were also asking about their reservations and it wasn’t nice either.  You know when you go to the hottest club in town and the bouncer acts like he is doing you a favor to let you wait out in the freezing cold for an hour, before allowing you the honor of going inside.  Yep, that’s how the hosts and hostesses at Tao have treated me.   After my last visit there I actually emailed management to let them know about the two incidents.  Guess what?  I never heard back.  That just let me think that was acceptable behavior and that my dears is why I’ve never been back.  Again this was awhile ago, so maybe things have changed.  It still is a story worth telling because service speaks so much.

The importance of service actually came up last night as my hubby and I strolled back from 5 Napkin Burger in Hell’s Kitchen.  We introduced a couple friends to 5 Napkin Burger last night.  As usual we arrived at our reservation time, were greated with friendly smiles and seated immediately.  The waiter was great, the managers were great, etc. etc.  The hostess gave us a friendly smile and said goodbye when we were leaving.   That just got us to talking about how important service is.  Sure I love the veggie burger at 5 Napkin, but the great service is probably what truly keeps us going back so much.  

It’s really something for all of us to think about.  If you are treated rudely at a restaurant the only way you can take a stand is by not returning.  The same goes for good service.  If you get good service (and the food is decent), show restaurants your love by returning there.   As customers this is our way of helping the restaurants with good service rise to the top!

When I set up the reservation one of the owners told me he was also a vegetarian.  So right away I had high hopes for their meat-free options!

First up for my appetizer I ordered the “Guarache Floral”. It’s described as a homemade tortilla with zucchini flowers and huitlacoche salsa.   The menu actually lists it as being guatemalan.   I absolutely loved this.  The tortilla was one of the best I’ve ever had and the toppings were hearty.   I could have had even more of this delicious dish!

There was one other vegetarian appetizer option that I didn’t try, but it also sounds great.  It’s got hearts of palm, beats and passion fruit dressing.

Next up, for the main course, there was only one meat-free option.   It was a Peruvian dish called “Tacu Tacu”. 

This dish is described as a sweet plantain dumpling, black beans, arroz bomba (short grain rice which expands in width rather than length as it absorbs liquids), spinach, mushrooms and charred tomatoes.   When they sat the plate in front of me it instantly had the “wow” factor.  It was a gorgeous presentation and huge!   I dug in and was pleasantly surprised by how all the flavors blended together so well.  I am a sucker for sweet plantains, but never would of thought about encasing anything in them quite like this.  Kudos to the Chef for coming up with this dish.   Vegetarian dishes at restaurants can be boring.  Usually at Cuban restaurants I settle for the old standby: black beans and rice with a side of plantains.   This was far from an old standby.   It was so filling too.  For those who think meat-free food can’t be filling try this dish.  You’ll be an instant convert!

Lastly it was time for dessert.   Since it was my husband’s birthday they brought us several tradition Spanish desserts and all were fabulous.   All were presented great too.  The Tres Leches is shown below.

My husband loved everything and the house band even sang Happy birthday to him!

The funniest part of the night came when my friend cut into a chocolate empanada and the chocolate squirted onto my shirt.  She said she was trying to cut me a bite because it tasted so good. The funny thing is as I cleaned up the chocolate she ate the rest, so I never even got to try it.  An absolutely hilarious chain of events!

We also tried some yummy rum and listened to the band play for awhile.   We would have loved to stay for dancing, but that didn’t start until after 11 and we had to get home to let our babysitter go.  Boo hoo   

All in all I was thrilled with everything at the Copacabana.  I’d be back in an instant and next time would love to stay for dancing!   I’m still thinking about how good that tortilla was.  Muy bueno for sure.

The Copacabana is at 268 West 47th Street (near 8th Avenue).