The Streetwise Gourmet (Page 2)

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The resilience of the restaurant business

No business sector had been so adversely affected by a force majeure as the global COVID pandemic of 2020-23 as restaurants.

Lets Have a Dinner Party

Planning a dinner party is not as easy as it might seem.

Addressing the Icon!

Want to separate an Authentic Philly Cheesesteak from the also rans, the fakes, the me-toos, the inedible and the downright despicable? Read on. For me the cheesesteak’s claim to true greatness has always been its ability to withstand all efforts to gentrify it. It is a trencherman’s lunch,

My Most Important Kitchen Tools

Ask any inveterate professional or serious amateur cook about their favorite (tool(s) in the kitchen and you will get myriad and disparate answers. Actual tools rank high of course. Almost all of mine are ancient, handed down to me from my mother and grandparents. Nothing quite like my black

The Best Meal I’ve Ever Had

Driving north on A1A, before Interstate-95 was built, out of Miami in ’64 in our brand new Mustang, we slowed through Daytona Beach looking for a lunch spot. It was almost Noon and we were famished. Daytona then was not the heart of auto racing in America and hive of

Neighborhood

In today's America, where urban and rural are indistinguishable, the idea of a “neighborhood” is difficult to conjure. Life in the Fifties, in the microcosm called a neighborhood went on relatively undisturbed as the unseen commonalities that held us all together proved impenetrable to outside influences. Ritual prevailed.

Secret Sauce

It is always with a bit of chagrin and bewilderment when I come across the term “secret sauce” when I read an article about food and restaurants. Is it an actual sauce that chefs use to give their food the appeal that draws customers and acolytes? Or is it the

Why it’s Essential to Drink Wine

My family fed me wine at the dinner table at an age that would summon family services today in a blink. Not just dainty store-bought ersatz chablis but hard-core dago-red (most Italian winemakers accept that term as a legitimate description of what they make every Fall). My grandfather made his

Linguine and Crabs

This dish is an Italian-American invention that most likely originated in the Mid-Atlantic region around the Chesapeake Bay. The Chesapeake Blue Crab makes a fish sauce that, in my opinion, and the opinion of many, is unparalleled for fish sauce across all cultures. My father and two uncles kept a

Madelaine’s Country Bread

I made the bread pictured. My grandmother made this bread twice a week. Even after a stroke compromised much of dexterity of her right arm.It has all the characteristics of Italian bread which is different than equally wonderful French bread. While French bread has a signature glass-like crispness, italian