HUNGRY GERALD

The Prince Edward Island tourism folk are trying to entice foodies to visit. They are calling PEI “The Food Island” and pointing out that after a sunny day of biking, beach walking and swimming, much good food awaits. Yes, PEI oysters are great; mussels are renowned; fresh sea scallops, clams (hard and soft shell) abound;fishing boats pull into Naufrage Harbor (a few miles from HG/BSK’s oceanfront home), laden with cod, hake, haddock, mackerel and sole. There’s superb tuna during its season. (Alas, the majority is shipped to Japan). A score of boats pluck lobsters from traps a few hundred yards from HG/BSK’s shore. (June is the season. After that, lobster arrive daily from Nova Scotia). Excellent organic lamb, beef and free range chicken is raised on PEI. There is tasty pork, ham, bacon and sausages produced from local pigs. Local cheese makers and bakers are offering world class products. Smoked salmon and peppered smoked mackerel are Island specialties. The characteristic red soil is famous for potatoes and the variety of local greens, lettuces, herbs, etc. is vast. Blueberries, strawberries, tomatoes and corn will soon be harvested. (HG/BSK eagerly await). Local shops display scores of natural jams and jellies plus outstanding mustard pickles. The restaurant scene is improving. Creative young people are opening places and in the PEI capital, Charlotteown, there are good Vietnamese, sushi and Indian restaurants. HG is yet to try the dim sum being offered at a little Szechuan bistro. Happily, excellent beer and ale, Gahan’s, is brewed locally. Myriad View distills fine gin, vodka, pastis and whiskey. The culinary abundance has made HG/BSK confirmed locavores. HG/SK’s son-in-law Marc Meyer, the renowned New York chef (Cookshop, Hundred Acres, Rosie’s, Vic’s) has been a pioneer in the farm-to-table movement. HG/BSK are following Marc’s lead.

Dined at daughter Victoria’s latest venture, Rosie’s Sunday night with HG’s nephew Paul Freeman, his wife Vicki, daughter Staci—plus BSK, SJ, EM and family. Rosie’s is the result of Victoria’s husband/partner/head chef Marc Meyer’s immersion into and love for the cuisine of Mexico. First things first: The space is vast and joyous. Feels like a plaza in front of a Mexican cathedral with enticing food aromas scenting the air. It all opens up in summer weather to create a fiesta atmosphere. The drink: Margaritas as they should be. Food: Mexican– not Tex-Mex. Ceviches (scallop and swordfish). Guacamole of the gods. Shrimp in robust sauce. Calamairi enhanced by unusual varieties of chiles. Fish, mushroom, pork and chicken tacos. This isn’t Taco Bell. Each taco has succulent, original flavor. HG tasted and mused: “So, this is what knowing Mexicans have been eating all these years while we ignorant gringos have been eating pallid imitations.” The tacos are freshly made each day and cooked on a traditional taco grill. You can taste the difference. HG is lucky. Loves his family (and hopes they tolerate him). Dining en famille gives HG great pleasure. Wishes it could happen more often.

Lucky Peach describes itself as a “cult food magazine” born out of Chef David Chang’s Momofuku empire. The magazine has published its first cookbook: Lucky Peach presents 101 Easy Asian Recipes. The book is a winner. Don’t miss it. Peter Meehan is the writer. He is one of HG’s favorites, a very down to earth guy with a delightful wit. Loves food (and drink). With HG daughter Victoria and Victoria’s husband/chef Marc Meyer, Meehan authored Brunch: 100 Recipes From Five Points Restaurant, published by Rizzoli. In the Lucky Peach book, the recipes he presents, created by the Lucky Peach editors, reflect the realities of present day life: “We chose favorite dishes and recipes that were naturally simple. We tried to put together a folio of kitchen ideas you can turn to for easy eating on a real-life schedule and budget.” There are cold dish appetizers — “Chineasy Cucumber Salad” and “Silken Tofu Snack” are two. Great group of Asian pancakes including “Apam Balik”, a semi-sweet treat that utilizes brown sugar, corn and chopped peanuts. Lots of soups including “Slow Cooker Pho.” HG’s faves are the vegetable dishes featuring asparagus, string beans, celery, bok choy, eggplant, etc. HG/BSK will be doing lots of all vegetable dinners (plus a pot of rice) using these recipes. And, when feeling carnivorous, HG/BSK will dig into Meehan’s “Cumin Lamb.” Chinese egg noodles and a bottle of California Cabernet will accompany.

Yes, HG is very much in favor of the new stress on local farm-to-table eating. Alice Waters started the trend at her immensely influential California restaurant, Chez Panisse. Marc Meyer, HG/BSK’s favorite chef, is a leading advocate of this philosophy at the four New York restaurants he owns with wife/partner Victoria Freeman (HG’s talented daughter) : Cookshop, Rosie’s, Vic’s and Hundred Acres. However, when dining at home, HG/BSK bend the locavore rules A LOT and certainly do utilize imports. Last night’s meal mixed local and imported foods and was outstanding. Started with a platter of tomatoes and basil (both from BSK’s New Mexico garden) plus mozzarella (An import, sadly, Not to be compared to the fresh made daily cheese HG would purchase at Belgiovine’s Grocery in Montclair, N.J.). Main dish was lamb chops (Featured at Trader Joe’s, they are a New Zealand import. Superb. Comparable to the chops HG/BSK would savor at the long closed Coach House Restaurant in New York’s Greenwich Village). Accompaniments were fingerling potatoes (local) and a big surprise, haricot verts imported from Guatemala. BSK steamed them and then gave them a quick sauté in Sicilian olive oil with a melange of herbs from BSK’s garden. These were the best haricot certs HG ever tasted, far superior to Paris’s best. (go figure). HG mixed a bowl of Fage Greek Yogurt (Despite the name, it’s made in the United States) with garlic, olive oil, sumac cumin, zaatar, smoked black pepper. All of these imported spices gave the yogurt a Middle Eastern flavor that enhanced the tastes of lamb and potatoes. Before the meal, HG drank Polish vodka. With the meal there was Spanish Garnacha red wine. International and local dining at its best.

HG/BSK participated in a joyous, uninhibited, super abundant feast, a tribute to natural Prince Edward Island produce,meat and fish. The feast is FireWorks and it is served at the Inn at Bay Fortune, a beautiful inn overlooking a glistening bay. The meal is the brainchild of Michael Smith, a towering figure in Canadian cuisine.(Figuratively and literally. He’s six feet seven). Smith made his culinary reputation at the Inn some years ago before opening Maple, a Halifax, Nova Scotia restaurant, that had a two-year run (One of HG/BSK’s favorite dining places). His PEI restaurant and Maple were selected as among Canada’s ten best restaurants. Smith gave up his restaurant career to concentrate on writing cookbooks (He’s written eight with a ninth due this autumn) and launching a television career. His program on the Canadian Food Network and other channels soon made him Canada’s best known chef. Earlier this year, Michael and his wife, Chastity, returned to their PEI roots and purchased Inn at Bay Fortune. (the stunning building and grounds were once the summer home of actress Coleen Dewhurst). Michael expanded the Inn’s adjoining farm and herb gardens while building one of the most unusual kitchens in North America. The centerpiece is a 25-foot long brick wood burning grill. Everything at the Inn is cooked on or in “the fire monster.” It combines the functions of a smokehouse, open hearth, grill, oven, rotisserie and plancha (a metal plate). No dials. No switches. Just burning wood and a dedicated crew under the skilled leadership of chef Cobey Adams. Meals are served at two long tables facing Fortune Bay (each seating some 30 diners) and at tables in the Wine Library and “Fire Kitchen.” Here’s what HG/BSK ate at this rustic grand bouffe. The duo strolled among three outdoor stations: One offering cocktails made from locally distilled gins; another providing PEI Gahan’s beer and ale and one tempting folks with chunks of barbecued pork sausage enhanced by a savory beer mustard (HG, knowing that much awaited, ate only a few). Then inside to the “Fire Kitchen,” where glasses of Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc in hand, HG/BSK nibbled smoked salmon with lemon caper aioli on thin rye toasts while watching the cooks busily at work on “the fire monster.” Appetites properly honed, HG/BSK moved to an adjacent room. Delight awaited HG. All you can eat oysters. And, not any old oysters. Two expert young men busily shucked Johnny Flynn’s Colville Bay oysters. When in season (and these had just entered their glory) Colville Bays have distinctive green hued shells and are incomparable. Michael Smith thinks they are the best oysters in the world (HG/BSK agree). They combine brine with a faint sea sweetness and a firm, succulent texture. HG succumbed to mad oyster lust. HG ate some 40 oysters. (Hey, that’s not too greedy. Diamond Jim Brady would often preface his huge meals at Rector’s with four dozen oysters). The FireWorks shuckers dabbed some of the oysters with “Bloody Mary Ice”, but HG passed, not wishing to mar the pure oyster experience.With appetite barely sated by the bivalve overindulgence, HG sat down to some serious eating. (BSK was so busy taking photos that she only managed to score about six oysters). First course was “12 Grain Red Fife Sourdough Bread–Whipped Brown Butter.” This had such a tangy, grainy taste ,that HG could have knocked off an entire loaf with butter and red wine and gone home happy. But, HG behaved with restraint. Much more to come. “Taste of the Island Board” (Lonzino, Pork Rilette, Glagow Glen Fenugreek Gouda, raw carrots, tomatoes and green beans; arugula pesto, flax crackers). HG found this uneven. The pork rilette was very good. The lonzino would have been better with some of the beer mustard served outside. Some of PEI’s great mustard pickles would have enlivened the plate. HG gave the cheese only a nibble though it’s an HG/BSK favorite. (HG likes cheese at the end of a meal, not at the beginning). Next up (was “Chowder Kettle” (Island mussel broth, bar clams, Fortune Wharf she-lobster.)” The chef eliminated lobster (BSK’s allergic) from BSK’s serving. HG’s had plenty of juicy lobster and mussels in a lushly herbaceous chowder. The bowl was marred by a rubbery bar clam. (HG would have preferred quahogs in the chowder.). Next course was the high point of the meal, a dish which will long be recalled, with pleasure, by HG/BSK. This was “Hot Fish” (A duo of Blue Fin tuna–seared loin and tartare, black garlic aioli, sea rocket pesto, cabbage slaw, duck fat poached egg). This was tuna recently caught off HG/BSK’s north shore home (HG had watched a big blue fin tuna brought into Naufrage harbor and then eviscerated with expertise). The dish combined tender, meaty tuna with unusual sauces and textures. It worked beautifully. Next up was “Garden Salad” (Home grown salad containing 35 savory greens, tender leaves, herbs and flowers, apple cider and honey vinaigrette). HG, not usually a salad lover, gobbled this up joyfully. BSK, a salad fan, thought it was just so-so. The food climax was “Smoked Belly & Seawater Brined Loin” (Purple potato mash, seared zucchini, charred tomatoes, steamed beans & peas, smoked apple sauce, beet and ricotta salad.) The pork belly was a nice portion of pulled pork, some of it crisp and some moist and juicy. Some barbecue sauce would have been helpful. The loin was tender but tasteless. It needed a spicy chutney to give it life. The purple potato mash was sensational (even better than BSK’s great smashed spuds). The beans and peas were fine.The zucchini was watery and insipid. BSK liked the beet salad. Appetite running down, HG gave it a pass. Dessert was “Caramel Apple Shortcake” (Lemon basil and blueberry sorbet, Chantilly cream, plum cherries). A very refreshing climax. HG topped it off with one of the best coffees ever. HG/BSK drank Oyster Bay with the first courses and then a very good California Hahn Cabernet. Cost of the “FireWorks Feast” was $80 per person. Wine (HG/BSK drank six glasses) was $90 at $15 a glass. There was a lusty provincial tax. A 20% gratuity. All of these numbers are in Canadian dollars so with the strong US buck it cost HG/BSK about $200 US. It was well worth it. (Considering that HG/BSK ate oysters that would have cost about $150 in New York, the meal was an astounding bargain). The atmosphere, service, happy diners, pleasant conversation with Canadian table mates all contributed to a joyous evening. The food? Good. Not great (except for the tuna and the oysters). When it comes to locavore cooking , HG’s hero is chef Marc Meyer. Marc and HG’s daughter, Victoria, own and run four well regarded New York restaurants — Cookshop, Hundred Acres, Vic’s and Rosie’s. Marc has pioneered farm to table cooking. He is a master. Because of his rigorous sourcing of the best ingredients and precision cooking, even the simplest dishes become extraordinary. HG recalls watching two elegant Italian art dealers at Cookshop (at 10th Avenue and 20th Street it is in the heart of an art gallery district). They ordered chicken salad and a bottle of red wine. No, this wasn’t a mayonnaise and celery mess. It was chunks of crisp skinned free range chicken served on lightly dressed greens and dusted with herbs. In accented English, one of the men told the waiter how he wished something this simple and delicious could be found in Milan. Alec Lobrano, the premier critic of Paris restaurants (“Hungry For Paris”), dined at Cookshop and wrote that he wished Paris had a restaurant like Cookshop. HG is clear-eyed about food (if about little else). HG ‘s opinion of Marc’s cuisine is not skewed by family ties. HG calls them as he sees them.

Days of family feasting and then everyone departed, leaving HG/BSK in a suddenly quiet home with not a kiddy toy, book or article of clothing in sight. HG/BSK are left with many happy memories as Prince Edward Island gently segues into early autumn. On a more mundane (but tasty) level, the family feasts have left HG/BSK with a refrigerator nicely stocked with lush leftovers. HG/BSK’s lovely neighbor, Lesley F., dined with the duo and was fed Marc Meyer’s incomparable brandade and savory clam-corn-potato stew. A great meal redux. (Marc’s leftover pasta with broccoli and chickpeas has been reserved for a future lunch). Yesterday was a day of unrelenting rain so HG spent time indoors with his two favorite Canadian women: BSK and Alice Munro. Few writers have received as many honors as Munro (Nobel, Man Booker, etc.) and, surprisingly, these have never been the subject of controversy in the usually rancorous literary world. It’s simple. She is universally acknowledged to be the greatest contemporary master of the short story.(This may be literary heresy, but in HG’s opinion, Munro surpasses Chekhov in the scope of her imagination and her ability to shift past and present in a single story giving it the depth of a novel). HG took time out from literature to pluck every speck of deliciousness out of leftover lobsters. This meant, for HG, lobster rolls for dinner (BSK, alas, is allergic to crustaceans and had to make do with grilled sea scallops served over garden greens). HG rounded out the meal by frying some of Yossi M.’s little potatoes. HG’s lobster rolls were state of the art. Good toasted hot dog buns from a local baker. The buns were lined with garden greens (to prevent sogginess and enhance flavor). Super generous filling of lobster. Melted butter (no mayonnaise for HG), squeeze of lemon, bit of Tabasco. Perfection. HG/BSK drank a BSK discovery: Newman Estate White 2014. An unoaked Chardonnay, this is a blend of Ontario and PEI wines. It’s a revelation.

Toby, The Wonder Dog, breakfasted this morning. Looked around his Prince Edward Island domain. Where has everyone gone? Just HG/BSK seemed to be at home. Toby trotted up the stairs to check bedrooms. Empty. Yes, daughter Victoria, the New York restaurateur (Cookshop, Hundred Acres, Vic’s, Rosie’s) and husband-partner-chef Marc M., left PEI early this morning. SJ, Exquisite Maiko, Handsome Haru and Teru, the wee dynamo, left last night. Unusual quiet reigns. Victoria and Marc braved a ferocious storm to arrive for a three day visit. Much beach fun and lusty feasting took place. It was agreed that chef Marc would cook only one dish, his incomparable brandade, during his visit. He, of course disobeyed. Made an wonderful ceviche of fresh sea scallops in a puree of jalapeno pepper, cucumbers, cilantro and lime juice to jump start the first feast. There were also some briny Malpeque oysters, EM’s signature sauté of sole and bok choy dotted with crisp garlic chips plus a very savory platter of EM’s stir fried shrimp. Oh, my. The next day a birthday party was planned for EM. Victoria, Marc, BSK, Handsome Haru were off to Panmure Island for clamming, swimming and paddle boarding (with a stop in Montague for sweet corn and birthday cupcakes). SJ, HG, EM and Teru were off to the fishing port of Naufrage (EM wanted to pick up some fresh-off-the-boat mackerel in order to make EM’s superb tataki). No mackerel came in that day but the group watched as a 500-pound bluefin tuna was unloaded, quickly processed (this is a gory spectacle involving chainsaws and sharp knives that didn’t faze wee Teru at all) and sold to a dock-side buyer. HG picked up a batch of just cooked lobsters plus Colville Bay oysters at The Lobster Shack in Souris. The clam team had good luck. Dug some four dozen quahogs. Ingredients for a big EM birthday feast were set. Once more, Marc got got busy in the kitchen and constructed a sumptuous stew of clams, corn, potatoes, herbs and plenty of smoked Spanish paprika. Wonderful taste of the sea. This was followed by lobsters with melted butter, loads of sweet corn, little potatoes from Yossi M.’s spud patch. Gifts for birthday girl EM. Much hilarity. Next day was breezy and sunny. (SJ and family left early for Brooklyn with stopover in Rhode Island). At the end of the day, Marc made his lush brandade with fresh haddock (rather than the typical salt cod). Ate it on the outdoor table facing the glistening sea. Magical moments. This was preceded by shucked Colville Bay oysters. Then, indoors to watch the sunset and eat Marc’s pasta with broccoli and chickpeas. More Marc mastery. Finished with green salad. Drank a lot of Spanish red wine. Goodbye hugs for Victoria and Marc. A joyous visit.

In the early days of television (1954) HG and a colleague recently arrived in New York from California, wrote TV news programs that were broadcast nationally. The news was illustrated with still photos (they were called “telops”) which were transmitted by telephone wire to the TV stations (news film was introduced at a later date). HG and his pal were swift and nimble news writers and photo selectors. It was fun. International News Service, the Hearst wire service (later absorbed by United Press) was HG’s employer. INS was housed in the Daily Mirror building on E. 45th Street and HG usually lunched in the hole-in-the-wall Greek diner off the building’s lobby. But, knowing that his California buddy missed Mexican food, HG invited him to lunch at Manhattan’s only Mexican restaurant, Xochitl. A mistake. “This is a bad joke,” he declared in reference to both the food and the high price of lunch. In the 1960’s HG/BSK visited friends in California (their first trip to the state) and were determined to eat “real” Mexican food. Their friends (not foodies) took them to a nearby Taco Bell (then only in California). HG/BSK found it satisfactory but felt there was something missing. HG thought about all of this at a Sopaipilla Factory dinner last night (the eatery is in Pojoaque, New Mexico, a few minutes from HG/BSK’s home). HG/BSK and their visiting eight-year-old grandson, Haru, feasted on menudo, enchiladas, green and red chile of a quality simply unimaginable to a New Yorker of the 1960s. Not so to present-day New Yorkers like grandson Haru, who knocked off a bunch of chicken tacos declaring them to be “awesome” with the caveat that, as a Brooklyn guy who regularly dines in Sunset Park (a Mexican neighborhood near his home), he has devoured many an authentic taco. In fact New York is having such a Mexican food renaissance (with both high end and low down options) that HG’s Californian pal would probably find much to smile about. As part of this renaissance, HG is looking forward to next month’s opening of Rosie’s, Restaurateur Daughter Victoria’s next New York restaurant. This will feature farm-to-table Mexican cooking. (Husband/chef Marc Meyer has just returned from a two-week visit in Mexico with Diane Kennedy, the ultimate authority on Mexican cuisine). Meanwhile, HG will be off to nearby El Parasol to give visiting Haru another taco fix.

HG is so proud and delighted. Restaurateur Daughter Victoria Freeman (Cookshop, Hundred Acres, soon to open Rosies’s) has a big hit on her hands. The first review of her new restaurant, Vic’s, just appeared…New York Magazine gave Vic’s four stars calling the food “Big, Bold and Batali-esque.” Read about chef Hillary Sterling’s flavorful dishes and you’ll get ravenously hungry. Make your reservation now before the wait becomes interminable. Vic’s (31 Great Jones Street near Lafayette) replaces Five Points, the pioneering restaurant Vicki and husband/chef Marc Meyer opened 15 years ago. Five Points was one of the first farm-to-table restaurants in New York and its Sunday brunch quickly became a New York legend. Vicki and Marc thought it was time for a change. A redo of the decor, new name, new chef, new menu. Obviously, a very good idea. The name “Vic’s” is a bow to the past. “Vix” was Vicki’s first restaurant. She hired Marc Meyer as the chef. The rest is New York culinary history. HG/BSK will be in New York for pre-Christmas visit. Will dine at Vic’s. Looking forward.

The changing fashions in food have long fascinated HG. For example, beets, once despised, have become not just chic, but ubiquitous — you can hardly find a menu that doesn’t include some form of a beet and goat cheese salad. HG has always found a beet (like vinegar) to be an enemy of wine. Nevertheless, in Paris the top bistros du vins have betteraves on their cartes. Raw fish was only found at Japanese sushi bars. Suddenly, raw tuna and chopped tartares of tuna and salmon became featured players. Even Italian restaurants (possibly influenced by the massive success of Esca and David Pasternack) have crudos among their appetizers. For a time, steak was dismissed as a boorish, unhealthy and unfashionable food. There was a reaction and carnivores rejoiced as more than a score of upscale steak houses opened in New York. “Small plates” have become fashionable. Is there sticker shock when hearty appetites do some big time grazing on these “small” plates with big time prices? Foam, sous vide, molecular are among the gastronomic buzz words of the past decade. HG, a conservative, is skeptical about these arcane techniques. Restaurants used to take pride in offering imported food from faraway places. Now, the very best chefs (like Marc Meyer of New York’s Cookshop, Hundred Acres and Five Points) are determinedly “locavore,” a trend HG endorses with enthusiasm.

BEET FOAM