This Needs Horseradish

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, I had two wonderful Passover Seders. One of the things I love about this holiday is how customizable and relevant it is. We included this reading in our haggadah and there was not a dry eye at the table. It's a real opportunity to combine traditions and start new ones, all around a table full of great food (and 4 glasses of wine).
 
Something to make:
I've got a massive collection of Passover recipes to share. If you don't celebrate Passover, just know these recipes don't include wheat, barley, oats, rye, or spelt. They also taste good.

For the seder plate:
We loved Trader Joe's Horseradish. It's nice and sinus-clearing and I have a little extra that I'll put on top of veggies (this sugar snap pea dish looks great).
Made this traditional Ashkenazi Charoset (a combo of apples, walnuts, wine, cinnamon, and sugar) and it's so good. Make sure to toast the walnuts.
Roni also brought a delicious Sephardi haroset with dates and other dried fruits. 

Savory:
This salmon with a miso glaze got rave reviews at my family's seder. Zeke also recommended this salmon recipe with an avocado salsa that sounds great. 
No Seder is complete without The Salad, which makes great leftovers as well.

On the second night seder, I made this springtime salad and was reminded how good blanched asparagus tastes. I added sugar snap peas and it's so pretty.
This potato kugel is super impressive and works well with any brisket. A food processor makes grating potatoes much faster and you should top it with horseradish.
I made this quinoa salad for lunch this week and it's so good. I ran out of dates but the little cubes of cheese are a real treat and I'm obviously going to add avocado.
Matt made this tomato eggplant dip which is nice and smokey to spread on matza or real bread. 

Desserts:
Passover desserts are a prime situation in which limitations breed innovation. We had a great selection and none of these taste like a compromise.
Julia made a fudgy flourless chocolate cake and we now own a springform pan. It's mandatory to top this cake with powdered sugar, raspberries and fresh whipped cream (take some cream and whip with an electric mixer and a bit of vanilla extract until peaks form).
Roni's made a fabulous pavlova, a meringue dessert topped with whipped cream and berries. So good.
I can never get enough Matza crack. It's impossible to just eat one piece.
Nicole made a delicious pistachio almond cake (we always add vanilla extract and used 400 g of almond flour) that looks and tastes great.  

Breakfast:
Thanks for your breakfast suggestions!
I made these muffin cup frittatas for the week and they should do the job.
My cousin Amy shared her Passover granola recipe and Linlin recommends this frittata recipe.
See you next week, oatmeal.

Something to order:

A highly situational recommendation: If you're running late to a show at the Knitting Factory (go Shiffley), grab an Arepa at Caracas Arepas Bar two blocks away. Get the Pabellon if you eat meat and the La Mulata if you don't, full of plantains, beans, cheese, and vegetables. The house hot sauce is delicious and arepas are fairly easy to eat while walking. 

After a show at the Knitting Factory, or really anytime you're in Williamsburg, grab a drink at the Larry Lawrence Bar. The entrance is kind of hidden and I got really excited about showing this place to some friends and did a game show style flourish as I opened the door at the end of the hallway which was visible to everyone inside. It was pretty embarrassing but worth it.

I visited the recently opened Hungry Ghost on Metropolitan and the space is gorgeous. The furniture is from Restoration Hardware, all the wood is walnut (fancy!) and the espresso machine is apparently so rare that another customer was freaking out about it. They have wifi, Ovenly pastries, kombucha on tap, and lots of seating so you know I got a punchcard. 

I went with Sophia to Korean Gallery 32 which has tons of options. The kimbap one was a solid choice. 

If you're looking for an ice cream cone to enjoy as your last piece of chametz before Passover, you can do A LOT worse than a jamoca almond fudge cone from Baskin Robbins.
Julia and I wanted to do something nice after a frustrating day, so we went to the Tuffet for wine and cheese. Their house white wine is natural and slightly effervescent and the spicy olives are great. We got a really good gouda and a brie adjacent cheese and felt a lot better after sending some sassy text messages. 

Have to give Win Son another shoutout because it's one of my favorite places to hang out. I had some wine and pea shoots and read at the bar today and wound up talking to the other customers about how much we love the restaurant. A very special place. 

Something to read: 
Make it work, Tim Gunn judges a cookbook competition.

The most important wines are the ones you drink every day. 

I miss the old Kanye food instagram.

For any bread nerds: I learned a lot from this write up about tangzhong, a partially cooked dough technique.

There are too many flavors, discuss.

Wow, a young (female) social media manager invented Black Tap's viral shakes and her older (male) boss refused to give her any credit (or even a raise!) 

Love this pizza party idea for after Passover (via Cup of Jo) 

One of my favorites Jamie Stelter shared her meal strategy and how she wakes up before 3 am every day!!
 
Indie food zines are on the rise and they're so pretty.  

UC Irvine has a food pantry on campus now and I think more schools should follow suit (thanks for sending, Clare)

Adaptogens can't cure everything 

It's true that Ojo de Agua sells avocados at New York prices and it's also true that their juices and salads are great. A guide to healthy food in CDMX.

Lessons from working in a wine shop from Food & Wine 

The competition around restaurant reservation software is fierce.

Tons of vegan restaurants are opening in London 

My writing elsewhere: I wrote a guide to packing lunch for She Spends.

Now, a few weeks back, Julia shared a guide to Wichita. I got a few other regional suggestions that I wanted to share, from Ft. Lauderdale and Charleston. If you've got a vacation coming up or favorite places outside of New York that you want to be featured, reply to this email and tell me all about it.
 "I spent the weekend in Ft. Lauderdale for my sister's birthday, and had one the best mystery pineapple cocktails at Louie Bossi's on Las Olas. Post-brunch, I walked in and asked the bartender for something fruity and refreshing, and he pulled out a strong (both in content and quality) grapefruit martini before following it up with this stunner of a pineapple drink served in a cute mason jar. I highly recommend all of the charcuterie and all of the cheese platters (and I do mean all), and the pasta itself is homemade and perfectly cooked. The ragu missed the mark, but the carbonara was on point, and another NY/NJ friend recommends the squid ink pasta."
Thanks, Bradlee! 
"I am of the strong opinion that 1) you should visit Charleston at some point in your lives, and also 2) when you do go, you should eat only the best food. These are my top three recommendations; the full list is here. My main recommendation to you, above Husk or the latest trendy spot, is that you must eat at one of the places in the “Geechee Eats” network--an informal collection of historically-significant, Black-owned soul food restaurants around town.  Martha Lou’s Kitchen: This wonderful spot serves the second-best fried chicken I’ve ever had (right after Willie Mae’s in New Orleans).   It’s a gem of a place--I called ahead to make sure they were open, and the lady who runs it insisted on taking my order and then staying open until I arrived. I got the fried chicken, mac and cheese, and collards.Hannibal’s Kitchen: I ate here three times--it’s a real Charleston experience, and the food is great.  They’re known for their crab rice (I always got it with shrimp), which is a simple and excellent dish unlike anything I’ve had before; add some hot sauce. Here (and everywhere), get the lima beans and collards and cabbage.NaNa’s Seafood: NaNa’s is famous for their 1) garlic crabs, which are available by the box when they get them for a good price, served until they run out and 2) soft-shelled crabs, which are available only during the season (late spring / early summer). The tip here is to start following their Instagram account a few days before you get there. That's how you when they are going to have the garlic or soft shell crabs.  It's worth a trip to try these if they're serving them. If you do end up going to Charleston, I would recommend reading this great New Yorker article about the politics, racial history, and deep contradictions at the heart of SC BBQ (Ed note: this article is great).  Maurice's, the BBQ restaurant profiled in the piece, is in my hometown; some of the very first political conversations I ever had with my family were about the ethics of eating there.  (I was wrong; my boycotting dad was right.)" 

Thanks, Brian for sharing your Charleston guide! I went when I was in 8th grade and need to go back. 
 Now let's talk signature drinks:

Julianne and Ian are cocktail pros and shared a few favorites:
Mint Juleps: We used a historic recipe from when it was first created so it was a bit intense (we had to learn what "swizzle" meant!) 
Daquiris: Ian made us daquiris one day and we didn't leave our apartment for the rest of the day. Our home became a perfect summertime bar – we could cool off with these on the balcony.
Mojitos: We both agree our favorite/best cocktail is a really good mojito. We recently had them in South Beach after extensive research because we wanted the perfect one. We still debate if the perfect mojito requires a stalk of sugar cane (Julianne says yes). 

Isa and Noah are always drinking well (I've stayed with them and can confirm). 
Her favorites: 
-Aperol Spritz because it makes me feel like I'm on the piazza in Florence every day (#goals)
-At home home (Mexico City), it's a mezcal with a Victoria beer on the side
-In SF it's a glass of red wine from our multiple wine club bottles. 

Frida believes you can never go wrong ordering a tequila soda and I'm inclined to agree.

This week, I'd like to know what you're eating and drinking to celebrate spring. Iced coffee totally counts. Reply to this email and let me know!

Happy eating and thanks for reading.
xo,
Abigail