Take Yourself to a Wine Bar

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 weekend it was in the 40s and I walked places and felt great about it. I hope you got some sun.

Something to make:
I made this delicious Thai quinoa crunch salad for lunch this week and need to share. The ingredients are super customizable and the dressing is fantastic and very quick to assemble.

Thai Quinoa Crunch Salad (for lunch) via Cookie and Kate
Dressing:
1/4 cup peanut butter
3 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons grated ginger
Pinch of red pepper flakes
Lime juice, from 1/2 a lime

Salad:
3/4 cup quinoa
2 cups red cabbage
1 packet sugar snap peas
1 large or 2 small carrots
1/2 cup edamame (frozen is perfect)
4 scallions
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
1/2 cup cilantro

Dressing:
In a small cereal sized bowl, combine the soy sauce and peanut butter. Then add the rest of the ingredients and stir until it's smooth.

Salad:
Cook the quinoa in a pot with 1.5 x the amount of water (a little over a cup in this case). Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes. Fluff with a fork. While it's cooking, grate the carrot with a grater or vegetable peeler. Defrost the edamame and shred or thinly slice the cabbage. Combine in a large bowl, add the cooked quinoa, and toss with dressing. Sample a bit and add salt if needed. Store for up to four days in the fridge.

Before serving/when packing each morning, add a few sprigs of chopped cilantro, a small handful of chopped scallions and a few peanuts for crunch. Pack a lime wedge to brighten it up before you eat. 

Other things you can add: Tofu, shrimp, cashews instead of peanuts, grilled chicken, red bell pepper, snow peas. The sky is the limit.

Here's a reminder that pickled red onions can happen in a mere hour. 

On a similar note, the best broccoli of your life is ~20 minutes away. 

If you need a soup recipe, I want to re-up two from last week's newsletter that got raves from readers: this coconut curry lentil soup with tomato (add kale) and this super easy sweet potato black bean chili. Let me know if you give them a try. 

I roasted some eggplant this week and topped it with a version of this miso tahini dressing that I'm obsessed with it. Pretty much improves any food. 

Emma made Jesse a very impressive Swedish princess cake that I was lucky enough to sample. Marzipan is so cool to decorate with. 

Something to order:

In a beautiful meeting of the brands, SoulCycle released a cookie called SoulFuel with Milk Bar and I got to try one after class this week. They're going to cost $5, but mine was free cause of the launch. It's gluten free and dairy free, of course, and the dominant flavors are macadamia and coconut. There's also a bit of pineapple powder, according to the label. It's very crumbly which is better than a rock hard packaged cookie but pretty messy. They're touting the relatively low calorie count, but 1 cookie is 2 servings, which is absolutely absurd. 

I had some time to kill before meeting some Townsend friends for dinner in the West Village and it was way too cold to wander. I decided to grab a solo glass of wine at Lelabar and highly recommend you do the same. They have a U shaped wooden bar and really good wines. I read the New Yorker, which was devastating as usual, sipped a great Chenin Blanc, and worked up an appetite watching the waiter prepare cheese plates for other customers. More solo happy hours to come. 

The best thing to eat on 23rd street is a baguette from Eataly. I was at a She Spends panel (shoutout to closing the wage gap, the board gap, and the investing gap) and there was lots of wine and no food. Our very wise friend Tarn braved the cold to procure delicious baguettes, which are only $2.19 a piece! I had a snack and fresh bread to take home.

 
If you're looking for a non-chain, quick meal near Union Square, I'm a huge fan of Taboonette. There's room to sit and the food is fresh and interesting. I normally get the kruveet pita which has cauliflower, eggplant, spaghetti squash and tahini sauce but today tried the shakshuka, which came in the cutest little pan with tahini sauce. It's on this list of 17 great shakshuka's in NY (I've tried 5 of them). Their side salad was great too, with fennel, cabbage, dill, almonds, raisins, and arugula. They ask every customer if they want hot sauce and the answer is yes: it's schug, the Israeli hot sauce made of jalapenos, cilantro, and other herbs. 

I'm not always a cider fan, but Cardiff Giant in Clinton Hill had a really delicious one, the Patina from South Hill Ciders, which is aged in bourbon barrels. All their alcohol is made in NY State and it's named after a crazy 19th Century hoax (read this wikipedia page).

Big fan of City of Saints Roasters in the East Village, even more so when I saw that they sell coffee from Huehuetenango in Guatemala. Their roasting plant is right near me and I need to pay it a visit.

Really want to try Bad Saint next time I'm in DC (living vicariously through Zeke's Instagram)

Something to read: 
A Liberal CEO with a very different customer base navigates the Trump Era (he's in charge of Sonic).

The history of coffee in New York City

This Indian couple took their engagement photos at all their favorite restaurants (via Buzzfeed's cool international newsletter run by This Needs Hot Sauce Reader Delia.)

A longread on Soviet Cooking

Really want to try L'Imprimerie in Bushwick. 

The most recent Bon Appetit foodcast featured a really interesting discussion of restaurant culture and how to create a supportive environment. 

Oat milk was everywhere in London and I'm seeing it a lot here too. Find out more and see a really disturbing gif of oats being "milked." 

I'm going to Nashville next month with Julia and would love your suggestions! 

Thanks for sharing your bad day restaurants!
In Atlanta, Anjali goes to Superica on bad days (or good days or any days). The mole chicken enchilada is to die for, and the waiters say the kitchen spends over 24 hours making each batch, and over 80 different ingredients/spices!

Hillary: My bad day restaurant is going to Ippudo by myself and drowning my sorrows in ramen. I did it once, and nothing turns your mood like waiting five minutes when everyone else is waiting two hours. (Thanks for sharing your secret). For bad day cooking, I make the biggest bowl of linguine I can handle with olive oil, garlic salt, red pepper, and an obscene amount of Parmesan. 

Okay, let's talk dating, a part of many of our lives that brings its own series of food and drink quandaries. Date food is about vibes as much as the food and most first dates don't even involve food these days. 

Below are a few of my favorite date spots. Please reply to this and tell me yours/share your biggest dating frustrations. I'm all ears. Valentine's Day is coming up and while it's a totally fabricated holiday that makes many people feel terrible, good date spots are useful 365.

In Brooklyn: The Topaz, Fresh Kills, Mezcaleria La Milagrosa (call ahead on weekends and it's cash only), Hanson Dry, Larry Lawrence Bar.  

Best Pizza has cozy corners for a pizza date, too and for dinner, you can't go wrong with Hart's,LaRina Pastificio, Olea and pretty much anywhere semi-dark, which includes most Brooklyn restaurants. 

In Manhattan, I have far fewer recommendations but Bar Goto, Lois, Lelabar, Mermaid Inn, Vin Sur Vingt, and Narcbar,  and Los Tacos no. 1 after The Tippler, are good bets.

If you're looking for something different, a couple I love recently went to City Bakery for a mid-afternoon hot chocolate date, which sounds lovely. 

Dating is weird and often really hard but it does offer a chance to see lots of new places and meet new people. And remember, you can always take yourself on a nice date, no shame in that.

Happy eating and thanks for reading.
xo,
Abigail