Waiting for Ice Cream Weather

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.

May is around the corner and the city has an air of anticipation about it.  With lots of travel and big celebrations coming up in the summer, spring is a great time to cook a lot and save some $$$. Let's dive in.

Something to make:

Tilden and I put our own spin on Bon Appetit's best vegetarian sandwich. We deviated from the recipe and made a spread of goat cheese with lemon, salt, pepper. That was the glue. On top, we layered sliced and roasted sweet potatoes with all the spices (curry powder, sumac, paprika), shredded beets (bought pre-cut), pickled onions, parsley, and mint. This was a great exercise in patience since you have to wait for the sweet potatoes to cool before assembling, or else the other ingredients will wilt. Pair these with your second or third viewing of Queer Eye and a Gruner Veltliner. 


I took over She Spends' Instagram last Thursday and cooked a lot.

Here's a recap:

Overnight oats for breakfast (I combined oats, banana, strawberries, slivered almonds, chia seeds, cinnamon, a pinch of salt, peanut butter, and water in a mason jar)

For lunch, I had a Mediterranean farro salad inspired by something my friend Sophia made. I use 1/2 cup of farro and made enough for three meals (two lunches and one dinner). 
Here's what it included:
1/2 cup of farro (cover with 1 1/2 cups water, bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for ~25 minutes)
Sauteed broccoli and kale with garlic, red pepper flakes, and balsamic
Some kalamata olives I found in the fridge
Cherry tomatoes halves
Toasted walnuts (from the bulk bin at Whole Foods)
Crispy chickpeas with za'atar (I used this method)
A few cubes of cheddar cheese leftover from making this salad
I tossed this all with a dressing of lemon juice, dijon mustard, olive oil, salt and pepper and it kept really well. Farro is super chewy so it doesn't get soggy and it's less boring than quinoa (no disrespect).

For dinner, I made two types of tacos: sweet potato and cauliflower. I also made some refried beans by sauteeing onion and then adding a can of black beans. I sauteed them with cumin and chili powder and then smashed them with the back of a spoon. You can use storebought refried beans too. I always heat my tortillas on the stovetop and served the tacos with lime wedges, cilantro, sliced avocado, and pickled jalapeños (La Costeña is a good brand). 

Alicia brought this delicious cobbler with strawberries for dessert, Amanda contributed wine and facemasks, and Julia made great guacamole (avocado, lime, jalapeño, onion, tomato, lots of salt) that she served with plantain chips. An incredible combo and a reminder that having people over for dinner is the best.


Something to order:
My mom suggested we grab a glass of wine before meeting my dad for dinner and how could I say no? We went to Vin sur Vingt Nomad, a French wine bar with an extensive list. They also have oysters and mirrored ceilings and happy hour deals on bottles of rose, if that's your jam. 

Our glass of wine somehow included a free glass of champagne so we rolled up to dinner at Pondicheri in a very good mood. This Indian restaurant does a great job with dosas and uttapams, two different types of pancakes. Favorite dishes included a pistachio apricot naan that I want to eat again soon, oysters with chutney, a special dosa with fried eggs (it's called dosa dreams and the kitchen warns their imagination may run wild), and the chicken 25, with that many spices. Pondicheri is open all day and I recommend their baked goods if you're in the area and want chai and a chocolate ginger cookie.

Your coffee shop update for the week:
Returned to Hungry Ghost, which is truly a gem and always has room for laptops, books, and friends.

If you're taking the F at 2nd Avenue, go to the 1st Avenue Entrance so you can stop at Mudpark, a coffee stand in a neighborhood park. The staff plays good music and there are picnic tables. Five stars. 

I also tried East One Roasters, a suggestion from Sandra's bar studying days, which has lots of room for laptops and a full food menu. It's nice and airy with a small laptop free zone if you just want to hang.

Velvette is a great spot that seems a little under the radar (thanks Sarah for finding it). There are outlets everywhere and Wifi works so much faster in a cafe with 3 customers. 

Cafe Beit in Williamsburg has good coffee, laptop spots and a backyard. They have housemade almond and coconut milk which I'm sure is delicious but also $1.25 extra so cannot confirm.

I also got coffee on Friday morning at Ladies Get Coffee, an event at Hotel Chantelle hosted by Ladies Get Paid. I recently joined Ladies Get Paid, a community (newsletter + slack channel + events) for women and really like it. The networking event was not intimidating and everyone I spoke to worked in different industries, from a sock designer to a tax associate to a freelance filmmaker. The space was really pretty and I hope to attend future events.

Isa was in town from SF and we got dinner with Sandra at Bar Moga. I'd heard great things about their vegetarian ramen and it was so good. There's homemade soy milk in the broth, which made it rich and creamy and the noodles were perfectly cooked. We also had really good cocktails (get the mezcal one) and a little gem salad. Sandra got this crazy chicken omelet over rice (the Omu rice) that required two servers and melts before your eyes and the atmosphere was lively but not too loud (do I sound old?), perfect for catching up.

Did some more drinking with Isa at bibi, a tucked away wine bar in Alphabet City. Their happy hour, which goes till 8, has bottles for $24 which is a crazy deal. 

PSA: Larry Lawrence bar takes reservations for groups. Spent a few hours catching up with friends while drinking various tequila cocktails. I'm having a tequila soda moment and leaning into it. Make sure you tell your friends that there's no sign and to keep walking down the hallway. 

Not to sound like a broken record, but I went to Win Son again and you should too. Julia's parents took us to brunch which was so much fun.  I love seeing people try the food for the first time. Once again, we spotted staff off duty eating with friends and both of the owners walking around saying hi to people. Read my go-to order here. I'm still obsessed with this place and want to eat clams with basil, scallion pancakes, and pea shoots any time any day. Too bad they're closed Mondays.

Something to read:
GQ's best restaurant list

Is sriracha over? 

An ice cream agenda for the summer

An all American burger and fries is about so much more than that (stay for the Riverdale references)

How to teach Spanish using tacos and pupusas. I remember my 4th great Spanish teacher making us arepas from Costa Rica and it did not hurt my interest in the language.

Wow this mezcal ginger cocktail looks great 

Pancakes are trending, with all the variations made for Instagram. Also relevant is the pancakes for the table rule which also includes a crazy meet cute.

This is a bummer: Jessica Koslow's big Westside project is not happening

Giada de Laurentiis gets very real in this podcast interview. She's very self-aware and makes great points about fame and influence in Vegas. Listen if you can, she's pretty funny. 

The 10 Best Hot Sauces at this year's Hot Sauce Expo. I tried the Hoff sauce in Nashville earlier this year and can confirm it's excellent. 
 
Behind the scenes of Sweetbitter, the tv show that's turned a few subway cars millennial pink. I can't wait to watch.  

If you need more cheese guidance after this epic newsletter, here's Bon Appetit's list of the 25 most exciting cheeses. They have some cheese plate suggestions (and so does my friend Charlotte, a cheesemonger).
 
The evolution of ballpark food almost makes me want to attend a game. 

Online food writing has gone way over the top. How many meals can be that epic? 

What's the difference between dinner and supper? 

What ever happened to sun-dried tomatoes?  They're delicious thrown in this quick dinner. 

In the Rockaways, a group of women entrepreneurs supporting (and feeding) each other year round (thanks, Mom). 

I read this article and panicked imagining how much she must have spent expensed each day. But hey, all day restaurants seem to be the super lovely fancy alternative to coffee shops. These prices though...

Lovely photos and beautiful words about New York's parks in the summer of 1978. 

Some of the world's most prized tortillas will be soon be sold by the dozen in Mexico City

Big questions: who has the right to be at Starbucks? 

One of my favorite articles, about NBA players and pb&j, won a James Beard Award. Give it a read and make yourself a pb&j.

Pack yourself lunch this week with these tips. 

I relate to this view on hiking 

I made a tumblr to organize some back issues of this newsletter. 

Last week, I asked what you were cooking lately and got some great ideas:
 

As for lunches, I usually meal prep a variation of a grain bowl: easy to prep grain, veggies and some protein and mix it up all week. Last week's Mediterranean themed one was so good I might do it again soon: farro with sun-dried tomatoes, za'atar roasted cauliflower, sauteed kale with lemon and pine nuts, chopped peppers, cucumbers and black olives, topped with feta and hummus. Plus avocado (obviously!). I usually have my lunches without meat, but would taste great with some chicken too! I'm thinking next week I want to recreate the spicy Thai salad from sweetgreen with corn, cucumbers, spicy sunflower seeds, etc. for a brighter, more warm weather type of meal. I try to switch it up each week so bringing lunch feels fun and not sad + boring. - Sophia (this totally inspired the farro salad I made, thanks!!)

 

Ian and I made this really delicious (and vegetarian) cherry tomato sauce recipe for dinner that led to lunch leftovers for today and tomorrow! Woo, no sad desk lunches!! We subbed mozzarella this time for parm bc we deserved it honestly And of course we are still doing our delicious tomato/feta (and often bacon but inessential) mini frittatas breakfast meal prep! It's been like two months straight now and I just learned if we use XL eggs we can eat only 2 for the morning, aka our batch will last longer!  - Julianne

Jolie nailed this shakshuka.

 

This week, I want to talk about ice cream. It keeps being almost warm enough for a cone and then it gets too chilly in the late afternoon. But ice cream season is so close and I want to know your favorites: flavors, shops, trucks, share the scoop (I had to). My all time favorite is probably Eddie's Sweet Shop in Queens (coffee chip forever) but I can't resist a Mr. Softee swirl with sprinkles and love the fancy ice creams at Van Leeuwen and Davey's. 

One last thing, I want to share a message from my friend Maddie, a brilliant urban studies queen making the world better: 
I wanted to hype an amazing social impact company I work with called Hungry Harvest. It uses the problem of food waste to help solve the problem of food insecurity. They're in Philly/DMV/Miami/Durham so far (ed note: can't wait for New York),  and for $15 a week (great to share with roommates), they deliver you a box full of produce that would otherwise be thrown away because of size/shape/coloring/over-ordering/etc, and donate 5 lbs of produce per delivery to local food banks/SNAP programs. They've recovered over 4 million pounds of food and donated over 500,000 pounds, and if you use the code "maddieleonard," you get $5 off your first order! 

I hope by this time next week we've all had some ice cream. Got food questions? Reply to this email and I'll do my best to help!

Happy eating and thanks for reading.
xo,
Abigail