What is Dirt Candy?
What is dirt candy? Vegetables, of course. When you eat a vegetable you’re eating little more than dirt that’s been transformed by plenty of sunshine and rain into something that’s full of flavor – candy from the dirt. Dirt Candy. It’s also the name of my restaurant, which opened about three months ago, after a long, long battle with the forces of evil.
I’ve worked in many of the vegetarian restaurants in New York City. I went to the Natural Gourmet Cooking School, was a chef’s teaching assistant at Angelica’s, managed the kitchen at the late Terra 47, was the first chef at Moby’s teahouse, Teany, went from being a line chef to chef de cuisine at Pure Food and Wine and was the Chef de Cuisine at Heirloom (R.I.P.). I also consulted at Blossom and Broadway East (a long time ago). With Dirt Candy I’m trying to do a vegetarian restaurant my way. Most vegetarian restaurants are lifestyle-driven, not chef-driven, and their aim is to present healthy food that conforms to vegetarian principles, often by serving basic meat recipes with soy products replacing the meat portion of the dish.
I don’t care about your health. And I don’t care about your politics either. But I do care about cooking vegetables. Most of the best vegetarian dishes I’ve eaten have been at non-vegetarian restaurants. The gnocchi at Il Bagatto, the vinegar potatoes at Grand Sichuan, the fried watercress salad at Sripraphai (they’ll lose the chicken and shrimp if you ask). I’ve always wanted to work at a place that put cooking vegetables and doing amazing things with them first, and put lifestyle, health and political choices second. It didn’t take me long to realize that if I wanted a place like that I’d have to build it myself, so I did. Just as BLT Fish is dedicated to seafood, and Peter Luger’s is dedicated to steak, Dirt Candy is dedicated to vegetables. It’s taken us almost a year to get here, but we’re finally open, so either sign up for our mailing list (here) or keep checking back to this blog for updates about menu changes and news.
What is dirt candy? Vegetables, of course. When you eat a vegetable you’re eating little more than dirt that’s been transformed by plenty of sunshine and rain into something that’s full of flavor – candy from the dirt. Dirt Candy. It’s also the name of my restaurant, which opened about three months ago, after a long, long battle with the forces of evil.
I’ve worked in many of the vegetarian restaurants in New York City. I went to the Natural Gourmet Cooking School, was a chef’s teaching assistant at Angelica’s, managed the kitchen at the late Terra 47, was the first chef at Moby’s teahouse, Teany, went from being a line chef to chef de cuisine at Pure Food and Wine and was the Chef de Cuisine at Heirloom (R.I.P.). I also consulted at Blossom and Broadway East (a long time ago). With Dirt Candy I’m trying to do a vegetarian restaurant my way. Most vegetarian restaurants are lifestyle-driven, not chef-driven, and their aim is to present healthy food that conforms to vegetarian principles, often by serving basic meat recipes with soy products replacing the meat portion of the dish.
I don’t care about your health. And I don’t care about your politics either. But I do care about cooking vegetables. Most of the best vegetarian dishes I’ve eaten have been at non-vegetarian restaurants. The gnocchi at Il Bagatto, the vinegar potatoes at Grand Sichuan, the fried watercress salad at Sripraphai (they’ll lose the chicken and shrimp if you ask). I’ve always wanted to work at a place that put cooking vegetables and doing amazing things with them first, and put lifestyle, health and political choices second. It didn’t take me long to realize that if I wanted a place like that I’d have to build it myself, so I did. Just as BLT Fish is dedicated to seafood, and Peter Luger’s is dedicated to steak, Dirt Candy is dedicated to vegetables. It’s taken us almost a year to get here, but we’re finally open, so either sign up for our mailing list (here) or keep checking back to this blog for updates about menu changes and news.
Was lucky enough to be taken to Gotham Bar and Grill last night. I've actually never been before (also Union Sq. Cafe, but that's another post.) Food was great. The room is very nice if a little bit 80's. But what really got me was the crowd. Wednesday night at 8:00 and the place was rocking. Completely packed. And it ain't cheap. Good for them.
tivo specials tonight on tcm:
Where was the NYC smells like maple syrup thread? In any case: mystery solved.
any one else doing the neti pot thing?
Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger create a phantasmagoric marriage of cinema and opera in this one-of-a-kind take on a classic story. In Jacques Offenbach’s fantasy opera The Tales of Hoffmann, a poet dreams of three women—a mechanical performing doll, a bejeweled siren, and the consumptive daughter of a famous composer—all of whom break his heart in different ways. Powell and Pressburger’s feverishly romantic adaptation is a feast of music, dance, and visual effects, and one of the most exhilarating opera films ever produced.
5:30 on tcm
5:30 on tcm
The editor of The New York Times has hinted that the newspaper might charge again for access to some of its online offerings, less than two years after abandoning fees to boost advertising revenue.
Executive Editor Bill Keller gave no specifics or timetable, and company officials characterized the internal discussions as general and ongoing.
In an online question-and-answer exchange with readers this week, Keller said that although advertising generates the bulk of online revenue, "a lively, deadly serious discussion continues within The Times about ways to get consumers to pay for what we make."
Possibility include charging for full-access subscriptions, developing a micro-payment model in which readers pay a few pennies each time they click on a page and selling news to be distributed on reading devices, as the Times already does with Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle.
edible landscaping
christian bale is a douche.
Where was that coffee making thread? I can't find it so I'll start a new one here. We decided to stick with our french press and forgo the technivorm mostly due to price. But does anyone know anything about the aerobie?
Yochai Benkler (short version: good guy) on broadband funding in the stimulus package. I'm not hopeful about anything financial these days, but it's nice to see some optimism.
chip of the month
set your tivos on stain. late tonight tcm.
I thought this documentary, Carts of Darkness might appeal to some. And by 'some' I guess I mean Bill.
history of the internet (matt mullican much?)
big shot
