Text Your Friends, Have a Dinner Party

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.

This week we're talking about dinner parties and I'm getting excited to head to Philadelphia with some friends for Memorial Day Weekend. Do you have any grilling plans? Reply to this and tell me all about them.


Something to Cook: 

I hosted May's This Needs Hot Sauce Supper Club at New York's hottest restaurant: my apartment. We had a great time and raised money for a cause that's very close to my heart (more on that later).

Here's what we ate (and how I managed this):
I approached this trying to do lots of work in advance. I made a grocery list over the weekend, did the shopping over two days, and cooked the day of and the day before, which made everything much easier.

If you'd like to have people over (which you should), break it down into smaller tasks and count your wineglasses. 6 glasses = 6 guests. Everyone brought something (wine, pita chips, dessert, etc), which helps a ton— don't be afraid to ask for support.

To start:
Champagne or Prosecco or Anything with Bubbles
Union Square Cafe Bar Nuts (made in advance)
Hummus (made in advance) with carrots, cucumbers, red pepper, and pita chips. I always plate my hummus in a pie pan or shallow bowl and top it with parsley, olive oil, cumin, and paprika. It's so much more fun that way.

The main course:
Red Wine 
This broccoli salad that made a self proclaimed non broccoli fan go back for seconds. Raw broccoli is not great so I quickly steamed the broccoli and added some sugar snap peas. You can make the dressing in a blender if you don't have a food processor (*raises hand*).
Pad Thai Quinoa (can't share this one as it will be in Serena's upcoming cookbook but it was great). Another fun quinoa idea.

Dessert:
The ultimate chocolate chip cookie, freshly baked. Julia made the dough the night before and baked them after we finished our dinner. Don't skip the sea salt on time and if you don't yet own Maldon salt, the amazon link is right here. Worth it.

I also asked each guest to share something great they've cooked recently and am pleased to share reader -tested recipes for buffalo chicken dip or nachos, meatballs (ground beef works) and fennel salad (add green apples), sweet potato peanut stew, and slow roasted salmon this week. And Emma, Michelle, Rachel, Zoe, and Julia, thanks so much for coming <3

Earlier this week, Tilden and I made these excellent noodles. The sauce is so good you might want to eat it with a spoon. Fry the tofu for extra texture and go heavy on the herbs. We purchased fresh ramen noodles from the fridge at Whole Foods but you could use any egg noodle. Recommended pairing: dry Riesling and The Greatest Showman. Zac Efron forever.

And for lunch this week, I made this extremely easy quinoa salad. It's really good and I usually add avocado or white beans to bulk it up. 

Something to order:
If you want a cheap lunch in the West Village, the hot bar at Lifetyme Natural Marketis an important spot to consider. It's very old school healthy and there's a spacious eating area upstairs. I'm a big fan of their soups. 

Ops, right off the Dekalb stop, should be your go-to for pizza and wine (sorry not sorry Roberta's). The square pie is the best thing they have, but the thinner, round pies are great too. They'll let you try lots of wines before you order and tip is already included. Four people can have a really nice dinner, with wine, for less than 30 dollars a person. Cheers to that. 

We celebrated Julianne's birthday with brunch at Guadelupe Inn, which is great for groups. The space is huge, with large booths, and there's live music at night that I'll be back for. The bloody maria is an ace brunch cocktail and the entrees are filling and flavorful, and pretty much all under $15. Crowd favorites in our group of 11 included chilequiles, huevos con chorizo, and enfrijoladas. Ask for the habanero hot sauce.


My friend Sarah quit her job (congrats, bb) and we celebrated at 169 bar, where happy hour goes till 7:30 and you can text in your drink order. 

Greenpoint sometimes feels like a city unto itself and if you're taking a stroll there, Troost is a great bar to hang in. They have happy hour till 8 with discounts on carafes of wine and tons of cocktails. Plus, prosecco on tap. 

Coffee Shop Dispatch:

City of Saints, a roastery with a front cafe and my recent favorite, has excellent donuts. Split amongst at least 5 people on a rainy day.

In NoMad, the lobby of the Made Hotel is a great place to work. Get coffee at Paper Coffee and hang out in the very cozy tables by the front. There are lots of throw pillows and it's less crowded than the nearby Ace Hotel lobby. 

Something to read:
I unabashedly loved the royal wedding. Here are some details on the kitchen's prep 

Natasha Pickowicz, the pastry chef of Flora Bar and Cafe Altro Paradiso, talked about her beauty routine, and a lot more. 

Important news for airplane bloody mary drinkers 

Eisenberg's is hopefully safe. Diners forever.

An ode to Eastern European dumplings and spending time cooking for people you love  

Procrastibaking: do you do it? I love making muffins instead of doing something productive, but layer cakes are next level. 

Would you eat poke from a vending machine? 

Molly Yeh is getting a food network show! So exciting and she'll be one of the network's youngest hosts. 

This ESL program in New York restaurants is so cool and I hope it grows a lot.  

Female couples are really good at running restaurants. 

I was born into the cult of wellness. A great read about cults, of various kinds. 

Meet the fancy pasta bitch, who started making pasta shortly after the election. 

How to make a bad day better, featuring ice cream sundaes. 

Jessica Knoll wrote a wonderful op-ed about being rich and it's no surprise that her grubstreet diet is smart and truly delightful. 

Last week, I asked you for dinner party tips and have some great ideas to share. 

First, some lessons learned from hosting last week:
If there are ingredients in a recipe you won't use again (the broccoli salad had raisins and almond butter, two things I rarely use), hit up the bulk bins. Whole Foods has good ones and you can buy the exact amount you need and pay only a few dollars.

I'm a vegetarian but even if you're not, skipping meat at a dinner party saves lots of $. Consider a baked pasta, different types of tacos, or a tofu stirfry/summer roll situation for a meat free night in.

For a long afternoon of cooking, musical soundtracks are perfect. I had In the Heights, The Greatest
Showman, and Mamma Mia to keep me company. 

From Emma: When I hosted brunch 10 or 15 people, I found that a Mediterranean spread is ideal because you can make EVERYTHING in advance. Dips like hummus and baba ghanoush and tzatziki (which is surprisingly easy to make) and salads as well. Toast some pitas, maybe warm up falafel and BAM, you’re done. A lot of people don’t think of salads as breakfast/lunch food but they do it a lot in Israel and that is my ideal setup. I also love a shakshuka for having people over for brunch (crusty bread is a must).

From my dad: One dinner party tip if you can pull off the storage is to have cookie dough all prepared and put them in the oven as the main course is concluding.  Fresh out of the oven cookies, with ice cream of course, is a crowd pleaser.

Having people over can be stressful but it's like a muscle: you build confidence over time. Remember you're your own worst critic and most people (myself included) are absolutely thrilled to be invited over for a meal. It's a brave and generous act. Give it a shot and be sure to tell me all about. 

This week, let's talk about what you eat when there's nothing in the fridge. What do you put together with the bare remains of a pantry? When I travel a lot, those kinds of meals happen all the time, so reply to this and share your staples. 

One more thing:
I raise money for a cause I care about at every This Needs Hot Sauce Event, and this month was particularly special. I'm proud to support the Puerta Abierta in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala. This school, traveling library, and community center does so much for children in the community, educating them in three languages and fostering a love of learning and a sense of creativity. I used to teach English to their kindergarten class and it was a true joy. I'm mailing them a check this week and if you'd like to contribute, you can do so via venmo @abigail-koffler. Every dollar will makes a difference.

Have a great week and eat some ice cream. Next week's newsletter will be come after long weekend activities in Philly. I can't wait to BYO and walk around the city (get some Philly suggestions here.)

Happy eating and thanks for reading.
xo,
Abigail

P.S. Save the date of June 14th for a This Needs Hot Sauce event. More details coming soon.