Let's Pickle Some Onions

Hi friends,

Welcome to This Needs Hot Sauce (And Other Food Thoughts), a newsletter sharing something to cook, somewhere to eat out, and something to read. I'm a native New Yorker who spends far too much time thinking and reading about food. I love helping people find better things to eat and solving problems, so let me know how I can help. Let's dive in.

This week was a doozy and I marked some big changes with very special meals and people.

Something to make:
Yesterday afternoon, I decided to make sweet potato tacos for dinner. To make them extra special, I replenished my jar of pickled onions. This is so easy and you can do it in a few minutes and feel oh so accomplished:
Quick Pickled Red Onions
1 cup water
1/2 cup vinegar (I use apple cider or you can use white)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 thinly sliced red onion

Whisk the water, vinegar, sugar, and salt together in a bowl until dissolved (a fork works). Put the onion slices in a mason jar and pour the pickling liquid over it, making sure to completely cover all of the slices. You can add a little more water if needed. The onions will start to taste pickled after about 20 minutes and will keep for a while in the refrigerator. Pickled onions are great on tacos, scrambled eggs, avocado toast, a salad, a rice or farro bowl. You won't just make them once.

These sweet potato tacos are really simple and good. It's sweet potato cubes with a taco seasoning blend over black beans sauteed with onion, cumin, salt, and pepper and smashed with a fork, topped with all the good stuff: avocado, hot sauce, pickled onions. A very solid dinner. 
For the first time I can remember, I made a smoothie for breakfast on Friday (Passover calls for creativity). I used blueberries, kale, banana, chia, peanut butter, almond milk, and cinnamon and it was surprisingly filling. What are your favorite smoothie recipes for a not very fancy blender?

I made quinoa patties for dinner with my parents and they're a great thing to have on hand. It takes a little while to assemble them but we doubled the recipe and froze a bunch. Form all the patties at once and refrigerate them on a cookie sheet before frying. Toppings: harissa, tahini sauce with lemon and garlic, avocado, salsa, a fried egg. 

Zoe, Julia, and I made matza pizza with some really good fresh mozzarella from Trader Joe's. It's partially sliced so you can have even pieces and only costs a little more than the regular one. We made a plain one and a mushroom version. Pita or flatbread pizzas would be a fun throwback to childhood. 

Something to order:

In honor of the end of my job, I wanted to share a roundup of places in the Penn Station/Chelsea/NoMad/Flatiron area I used to spend lots of time in. 

For coffee or tea:
Luna has lots of seating (plus wifi), good oatmeal and great drip coffee. The staff is so nice. Get a punch card.

Paper Coffee in the Made Hotel is coffee with style. The lobby is beautifully decorated and their specialty drinks are a nice treat. The small drip size is really tiny so treat yourself to the larger one.

Variety Coffee (multiple locations) does not charge extra for almond milk and makes a great cappuccino. Lots of seating but it's always crowded.

Toby's Estate is one of my favorite coffee shops and the Flatiron location has a Strand bookstore in the back. They have Ovenly pastries and punchcards.

The Stumptown at the Ace is a great spot to check people out while on line. Always a very stylish crowd. I don't like Stumptown drip or cold brew but the espresso is good. 

Chalait has matcha, homemade almond-cashew milk, and "healthy-ish" pastries. The orange bread is quite good. Get a punch card.

Chandni sells great Indian food and chai for $1 and it's sweet and comforting on a rainy day.

Pondicheri is a modern Indian spot with a to go counter with chai and other teas. If they have the ginger chocolate cookie, you need to get it. 

In the chain realm, I actually like Pret's coffee and they sell some of the cheapest lattes around (though they are single shot). Use their app to earn freebies. 

Finally, the guy at the coffee cart on 28th and 6th is the nicest person around.

For drinks, I like the Haymaker for happy hour. They have a large beer list and a sunny area by the windows to hang with a group.

Friedman's is another nice spot for drinks and the Lobby Bar at the Made Hotel is perfect for a fancy moment. 

Osamil has an oyster happy hour perfect for summer fridays.

For lunch:
Soup Spot is a no-frills hole in the wall by the MSG VIP entrance. They have over 20 kinds of soup each day and each one comes with an apple and a piece of baguette, which has a nostalgic mom packing your lunch vibe. I like the vegetarian chili and my friend swears by the buffalo chicken. 

Inday is a fast-casual Indian spot that's really fresh. The menu changes a lot but I always get the chickpeas, the charcoal eggplant topping, and some of their homemade hot sauce.

NY Pizza Suprema has one of the best slices in the whole city and is open late.

LZ Sushi has a vegetarian lunch special with four types of sushi rolls and miso soup. 

Sweetgreen is still my favorite salad chain. Order ahead because the lines are always insane, even during "off-peak" times. The app has really good rewards, plus a free birthday salad so it's worth a download.

Woorjip has so many Korean options. Try every version of a kimchi pancake.

What are your office food go-to's? It's all about those breaks from the desk.

In other news, Julia and I prepared for an extremely emotional Lorde concert with prosecco at Sisters, a very pretty restaurant with better drinks than food. 

Summer destination alert: City Winery's Vineyard at Pier 26 is a gorgeous wine spot on the West Side Highway in Tribeca. There's a covered outdoor space and the views are insane, particularly at sunset. They have wine on tap, oysters, comfy couches, heat lamps (unfortunately necessary for now), and it's dog-friendly. I'm sure it's mobbed on weekends but consider it for a special weekday evening if you're willing to take a walk west. 

I've mentioned how important keeping Passover is to me and equally important is breaking Passover with a supremely satisfying carb experience. This year, I went to Emmy Squared with my neighborhood crew and it was incredible. Emmy Squaredserves Detroit Style pizza which is baked in an oiled sheet pan with the sauce on top of the cheese. We split three pies, the Emmy with an herby ranch dressing, the Colony Squared with pepperoni and honey for the meat eaters, and the Marn Blanc with caramelized onions and three kinds of cheese, plus a broccoli salad with a miso-peanut dressing that I want to recreate ASAP. The wine on tap comes by the carafe, which is a great deal (try the GSM blend). Anyway, these pizzas. The crust is thick and light and crisp on the edges and you really taste the toppings. Maybe it was a week of Passover that made us appreciate it more but we all high fived at the end of the meal so I'm calling it a huge success.
Pro tip: It can be hard to get reservations here but Julianne snagged one the night before so set a notify on Resy or check last minute. They just opened in Nashville so my sister and I both broke Passover at the same place, 900 miles apart. 

I had a zippy ginger cider from Citizen Cider company at the Well and will be scanning menus to order it again.

The Cava on 24th and Park isn't as big as the Union Square one but the food is still good. Always get extra banana peppers. 

Something to read:
This video about how to make pasta is a soothing use of 25 minutes

A Danny Meyer taco stand is coming to Williamsburg

Not the least bit surprised that Dunkin Donuts fans are loyal

One powerful way to deal with difficult customers (thanks for sharing, Nicole) 

Julia Turshen launches EATT, a database for marginalized voices in food 

A beautiful essay about a pastry with influences from France and Syria 

These vintage water glasses are so pretty 

A new Pizza place from a former Rubirosa chef is opening in Long Island City. Family outing this summer?  

I read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn last week and highly recommend. It's also sort of a food book, with great details. I loved this passage in which they try avocado and really dislike it, saying they'd rather eat a tomato.  

What a beautiful end of Passover tradition from Morocco

19 ways to make cookbook publishing more diverse

A pomegranate mezcal harissa cocktail sounds like my jam

Grubstreet Diet Alert: Natasha Pickowicz works at two of New York's hottest restaurants and eats really well  

LOLed at this attempt to make oat milk  

I've watched two episodes of Ugly Delicious on Netflix (on pizza and tacos, respectively) and really enjoyed it. The major blind spot is the lack of women on the show which sucks, especially in 2018. I heard an interview with Dave Chang who admitted this and wants to improve it if they get a second season, which seems likely. Despite this, the show is really cool, with each episode focusing on one dish and the social issues that intersect with it. Looking forward to watching the rest. 

Rules to live by: always order pancakes for the table  (Thanks, Julia). Some of my favorite pancakes: Shuka in Soho, Cafe Lift's lemon ricotta pancakes in Philly, Upland in Flatiron.

Julia Turshen interviews Cecile Richards of Planned Parenthood (Thanks, Hillary)

This is so cool: a 21-year-old black woman from East New York just opened a sliding scale vegan cafe in Bushwick. Definitely want to visit.

Three British families let the kids set the rules for a weekend and many of them involve junk food.

Morning buns deserve more respect in the pastry world. Still dreaming about the one I had at Tartine Manufactory in 2016 with Kaitlin. 

Last week, I asked you all about spring plans. Friday was gorgeous and Julianne and I walked over the Williamsburg Bridge (my first time) to take advantage of spring. Seeing three boroughs at once with cars, subways, bikers, and pedestrians each in their own lane offers such a dynamic view of this crazy city. Highly recommend doing this. Wear comfortable shoes since there's quite an incline. 

Alicia wrote in to share that there's a Caracas Arepas at Rockaway Beach and offered this perfect pre-spring itinerary: "Last night my bf and I sat on the grungy patio atCobra Club in Bushwick for a drink. It was the perfectly seedy-yet-cool spot we needed for an early spring day. It's one of those spots where nothing but a beer and a shot combo will do, imho."

Julianne is always finding the best spots, like this outdoor beer garden in Greenpoint. Need to visit once the sun is fully out. 
This week, I have summer travel on my mind. This summer, I'll be in Philadelphia and hopefully Napa for the first time. Where are you planning to go? And what are you excited to eat once you arrive? Reply to this email and tell me all about it.
 
It might be 80 degrees this Friday, so put on Cardi B's new album and buckle in. I'll be patiently drinking Albariño while I wait for warm weather.

Happy eating and thanks for reading.
xo,
Abigail