UPDATED: Top New York healthy, plant-based dining

Eating plant-based food in New York has never been easier. Across Manhattan the eco-friendly choices now include delicious gastronomic vegetarian and vegan restaurants, vegan sushi and hip plant-based bars. Some are casual eateries, while others cater to trendy foodies and true fine dining lovers. All inform customers more diligently about their menu and transparent sourcing.
Mediterranean dips carrots
I rigorously multi-tested the most popular vegetarian and vegan eateries in the metropolis and selected the best. As a non-vegetarian, an occasional fish or meat eater balancing health and sustainability, my palate is more sensitive to the flavours in the vegetarian food in New York. My choices below kept quality on a high roll over the past years of my plant-centric investigation. Such a broad offer of meat, seafood and dairy-free food in New York reduces our cravings for flesh and our carbon footprint when staying in the fast, global metropolis.

Celery Cheesecake at Dirt Candy in NYCDirt Candy Manhattan

Dirt Candy

Gastronomic vegetarian

Vegetables play leading role in Amanda Cohen’s cuisine. The first vegetarian chef to contest the Iron Chef title on the US television. A gourmet twist render her original veggie-centric creations impressive even for the most demanding foodies. Curious visits by members of the carnivorous population is on the daily menu at Dirt Candy in China Town’s upcoming strip. Cohen is poised to prove that meat is redundant in our daily diets. Showing the greatness of vegetarian food in New York, she seduces through her sophisticated savoury plates, as well as vegetable desserts like Celery Cheesecake or Carrot Meringue for which she is known for. Insisting on reasonable portions, mostly organic ingredients and culinary creativity shifts what used to be an outlier, to one of the most creative vegetarian restaurants in New York. Her challengers sprung from the high culinary ranks such as Jean Georges Vongerichten, the plant-guru Matthew Kenney, so diversity makes veggies fun on Manhattan.
MUST HAVE: Brussels Sprouts tacos, vegetable desserts
Read more
ABCv vegetarian restaurant in NYCIndian dosa

ABCv

vegetarian, trendy, top chef

Jean Georges Vongerichten is an established name on the New York high-end culinary scene. His venture into purely vegetarian dining involves the most revered homeware and design department store in New York. The ABC is for the rich, but the clients squeezing into his Union Square Farmers Market sourced eater do not seem to mind. The food is bright, delicious and original. From breakfast, all day, ABCv is packed also with non-vegetarians as the laurels of the Michelin chef lure them in. My every trip to New York includes a meal in this Zen-faced cafe, where Thich Nhat Hanh’s quotes contrast the loud city crowd. You hardly find inner calm here, but the food is superb and changes frequently as the seasons dictate the creative menu.
Read more
MUST HAVE: Dosa with condiments, seasonal vegetable starters such as beet carpaccio, lettuce tacos, ‘superfood’ cocktails.

Thumbnail Beyond Sushivegan sushi in NYC

Beyond Sushi

Original vegan sushi wholegrain rice bowls

The seasonally inspired rolls and rice buns indeed go ‘beyond sushi’. Most ingredients are sourced locally from the Union Square farmers market and sustainable New York State growers. Improved nutritional value of their sushi together with superb taste rend Beyond Sushi’s creations even more attractive to millenials. Flexible choices between healthier, whole-grain rices (brown, six grain, Forbidden black rice) and cholesterol-free plant ingredients in tasteful preparations turns the meal into a guilt-free sushi treat. The Roll and the Piece of the Month reflect the changing clocks of nature, but there are all-year staples like miso soup, hot or cold noodle and rice bowls. At most branches you can eat in, at some only take-out is possible, yet non-recyclable plastic was cut out. Souen in East Village also does overwhelmingly plant-based (little fish is included) Japanese menu, and its SoHo base has been very casually catering to macrobiotic clients since the 1970s.
MUST HAVE: The Spicy Mango and Mighty Mushroom Roll, Spicy ‘Shroom’ Wrap, seasonal ‘Piece of the Month’, avocado edamame rice bowl
Read more
vegan and raw food Live Jicama and Avocado Tartare with kale chia crackersvegan and raw food

Candle Café and Candle 79

Local green plates

A sake, wine bar an a restaurant in one, all organic, makes for the ideal healthy veggie meal. A brunch on weekends offers egg-less vegan “Nuevos Rancheros“, tofu scramble and fruit-packed pancakes and waffles. Sourcing directly from the farms and local farmers markets the original Healthy Candle was ahead of its times. The veteran of vegetarian food in New York was renamed as Candle Café and became so popular that a more upscale Candle 79 was additionally born. As the first “Certified Green Restaurant” in New York, everything from washing up the dishes to decoration is conscious of its environmental impact, including the eco cocktails. The latino roots of the executive chef Angel Ramos penetrate most recipes. California Mexican ingredients such as avocado, chipotle as well as Asian influence on modern American cooking all talk on the menu. Daily cut fresh pasta bring a breeze of Italy into the smart dining room. With gluten-free options abound, Jorge Pineda, the pastry chef at Candle 79 is recognised as making one of the best vegan desserts in America, so at least try his plant-based gelato.
MUST HAVEGuacamole Timbale, Angel’s Nachos, Live Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms, Live Plum Pie, house-made ice creams, sorbets
Read more

Autumn vegetablesKajitsu New York

Kajitsu

Vegan organic gastronomic Japanese Michelin star

For a purely vegan Japanese gastronomic experience go to Kajitsu, whose shojin kaiseki tasting was awarded one Michelin star. Kajitsu is a temple of the monastic Buddhist cuisine a few block from the New York Public Library. It’s counter suits solo diners and the relatively quiet dining room offers the rare calm in the midst of Manhattan. A multi-course set menu includes seasonal highlights, presented at the start of the meal in a vegetable basket. Everything else is a pure symphony of restraint and flavour.
MUST HAVE: Tasting menu only, but dietary requirements will be met with an advance notice.
Read more
Korean herbsbest Korean food in Manhattan

Hangawi

vegan Korean tea herbal infusions

Take off your shoes and shuffle your feet along the wooden floor to your low-set table. The interior is like a wallpaper pulled off a traditional Korean room. Dimmed lights, brisk service, the room is humming with the international foodies of Manhattan. Hangkawi is a more upscale Korean sister of Franchia further on the East side. Both offer a generous and comforting vegan bibimbap in a stone bowl, sizzling tofu and vegetables served on hot lava stone, brown rice, and a wide menu of snacks. Most dishes are ideal for sharing as the portions are still American-sized. The Korean herbal brews healthily accompany any meal.
MUST HAVE: Assortment of wild Korean vegetables (share), bibimbap, Korean herbal infusions.
vegan food

Avant Garden

vegan natural wine

Avant Garden in its dimmed East Village bar setting, kept impressing us with its Italy-meets-American-abundance over the years. Open only for dinner, the vegan food has been always delicious, finely tuned to abundant flavours, reasonable portions, and a smart selection of natural wines. From its original success in Brooklyn, the  has thrived. Sadly, the founding chef’s recently passed away, therefore its future is in the hands of the creative and diligent team. The service can be slow since the tiny, open behind the bar kitchen is modestly staffed. Sharing cuts the waiting time. Ahead of its time, Avant Garden does not look like a vegan hangout, the cosy room is as hip as any trendy bar on Manhattan.
MUST HAVE: Grilled mushrooms, pasta, grilled toasts

Tofu skin

Yuba: tofu skin at ABCv


As meat is less trendy, even plush steak houses offer more plant-centric plates. In my musing on the future of food I provide evidence for the increased number of meatless plates served even at the world’s most coveted restaurants from Paris to New York. Being vegan is in vogue and that is great news for animals as well as the environment. If it is healthy for you though depends on the nutritional balance of the dishes and the preparation techniques. Too much oil and sugar will make us fat or diabetic. So, carefully enjoy and savour the plant bounty that even the millennial trends chasing chefs lovingly fell for.
flower vegan NYC
Most of these Manhattan based restaurants use mainly local organic ingredients. Globally, plant-based dining is on upswing, therefore keep an eye on the newcomers, still, I dined at the above healthy restaurants on multiple occasions without a single disappointment, so I keep coming back for the comfort of knowing that the risk of failure is low for me.
Bloom, Dimes, Lady Bird (sister of Avant Garden) and the Matthew Kenney‘s (his Asia-bound Arata was hit and miss, the same plate-dependent experience we had the Mediterranean XYST) growing empire of plant-based restaurants, are also worth trying. Afterall, each of us has different taste preferences and these should not be judged but embraced.
Enjoy the top New York healthy, plant-based dining, as I did!


KISMET: turning Hollywood dining upside down

KISMET is a locally sourced, contemporary bistro turning in food savvy Angelenos. Brisk, unpretentious, yet unique, past the star-studded boulevard on its quieter strip, at KISMET Eastern Mediterranean traditional cuisines meet contemporary expression. The James-Beard Award nominee stamps abundant vegetarian choices over spare animal protein on its creatively and nutritionally balanced menu. Still, vegans move on (Moby’s plant-based restaurant is not far) since dairy is a staple in the authentic Israeli, Persian and Turkish cuisines from whose culinary traditions KISMET whipps mouth-watering adaptations.
floral designrestaurant design
KISMET invites East Hollywood into its noodle-stretched, naturally hued dining room cum counter bar that with your stride melts into an open kitchen. A neighborhood eatery, you arrive to truly enjoy the ingredients-zoomed food at your leisure. Creative, talented, working crowd of all ages communally munches in its light, polished wood-clad, and minimalist room. Simple flowers crown each table and random plant pots pop along the walls.
Unlike the nearby, hip SQIRL, there are no day-cutting lines. We welcomed the proper, old-school reservations. After the strenuous drives around LA, comfort with one’s food is key to sanity. Urban life calls for efficiency for a smooth ride.
LA diningKISMET in HOLLYWOOD
CREATIVITY WITH COMFORTING FAMILIARITY AT KISMET
It is said that our tech-age, gunned with rarely ceasing stimulation, demands constant newness. Yet, human biological cravings also seek the familiar. Welcome, at KISMET most of the menu morphed into staples. Since the opening, we went three times so far, retasting old favourites and sampling those left yet to be discovered.
One of the repeats, the crisp Tokyo turnips with looots of raw golden butter are better ordered with the house barbari bread, a focaccia-like savory sponge. One just cannot eat a log of soft butter in one meal, so share it as most of the dishes. Preserved lemon, fresh oregano and toasted crushed cumin sprinkle curates the otherwise simple, you-would-have-never-served-it-that-way plate. Also indulgent are the Freekeh fritters covered in fluffy strings of cheese with a pickley green sauce dip. The ancient cracked wheat replaces chickpeas in this falafel-like nibble. Starting with a long strained, dense rosewater labneh with parsley seed za’atar or the outstanding, luscious tahini with green or spicy condiments like Israeli zhoug, order either the barbari or the flaky Middle-eastern bread.
KISMET food
Seasonal playfulness enters the game, suitably altering the menu. The most refreshing starter – Persian cucumbers included sweet, ripe persimmons in fall, in April fresh mint and za’atar spiced it up. Both perfect renderings over the sesame-rich tahini.
Not just the “SALAD-Y” bowls of seasonal bounty, decadent in most preparations, the “DISHES” are mostly veggies too. The wholesome Carrots roasted with chickpeas, spices, cilantro in an almond broth warmed us up. An evolved Kabocha squash was served in a chickpea curry, peanuts, with citrus and aleppo pepper. Infused with Japanese nuances, the spring-fresh Oyster mushrooms, leeks, bloomsdale spinach, pickled prune and yuzu cream, called for a side dish balancer. The granate-red barberries topped Jeweled crispy rice worked with almost any plate. Comfort squared, hiding a melting egg yolk inside, the baked delicacy radiates a strong Iranian influence on the menu.
EAT LAKISMET HOLLYWOOD
In the meaty realm, a must order to start are the Lemony chicken and pine nut pies. Served golden, the two flaky triangles were stuffed with the minced bird in the Moroccan pastilla style, the coating of sesame and addition of a creamy tahini bed enriched the pastry. Buried under generous greenery of fresh parsley, these snacks are lighter than most and perfect for sharing.
I recommend the juicy plate of steamy clams in a broth with canelini beans and spinach or mussels when on the menu and the fat-streaking lamb belly for ketogenic dieters. Living in the desert area, a rabbit on the menu is a sustainable choice. There are way too many bunnies running around Southern California, and if the coyotes cannot keep their numbers in check, then chefs should. KISMET cues to “go big” with the whole rabbit for two. The “feast” includes a flaky bread, seasonal greens, house pickles and the unique Eastern-Med twist of tahini and labneh. No need for extra sides, still, the indulgent jeweled rice is too good to miss.
ancient grainsKISMET
KISMET does lunch (until 5pm) and weekend brunches too. A twist on granola, toasts with Bub and Grandmother’s superb bread, egg shakshuka, and “honestly, the best scone”, the recipe of which changes daily. Curious as a former Londoner, I got a perfectly crumbly blackberry scone with an orange zest labneh, to go. A few minutes later thumbing it up with joyous mouthfuls.
For a breakfast-y feast order the “Turkish-ish” have-it-all assortment of mezzes for a pre-hike fuel or as a shared adventure. Lettuce, herbs, Persian cucumbers with house labneh, tip-top marinated olives, spicy Israeli zhoug to dip in the corners of the springy barberi bread, a soft-boiled egg in spicy olive oil, delicate crumbled feta with sweet grapefruit over roasted marinated tomatoes, spinach and cheese dip and dried dates round it sweetly up. It was not too heavy for American standard, so the two of us added a luxurious, sesame crust sourdough, toasted and soaked in moist labneh, all piled up with tenderstem broccoli, spices and fresh mint leaves. It was less messy than it looks as the sharp knife cut through easily.
mezzeVegetarian brunch inLA
An evening dim invites candle lights in ushering in a cosy meal.
The qualitative consistency of the food at KISMET is impressive. The trio of desserts recently included a Bay leaf custard. The perfect balance between unique, not too sugary (salted caramel), light (rhubarb) dessert spiced with a dash of black pepper. Almond eyed cookies are served with tea or coffee after the meal.
East LA eatsbest eats in LA
The beverages focus on natural wines that the passionate team loves. These low-intervention wines, with a minimum added sulphur, oak, chemical vineyard treatments address authentic winemakers. From the concise (one page), laser-focused list. We ordered a glass of dry Hungarian Furmint from Tokaj, some off-the-beaten path American loves, while a bottle of the Austrian Gut Oggau one evening, and a Macon from Southern Burgundy another as a better value than its grand cru Northern cousins.
Natural wine workdays (noon-6pm) highlight three changing wines by the glass $10 each or a half glass of all three for $15 to taste more for less. North American apple wine is included for a local quirky twist. I had my taste in Charleston once (anything from blueberry through cherry wine), but I prefer grapes.
natural winenatural wine
For nonalcoholic sips, tap water is free, aromatic rosewater lemonade (can be blended into a spritz) and a tulsi (sweet basil) tisane from San Francisco’s superb Song Tea get a non-caffeine hydration. Sugar-free iced and hot teas from New York’s organic Tay Tea and coffee by Parlor, a Brooklyn hip roaster boost you up. The Turkish style coffee served on the rocks was popular at lunch.
If you do not live nearby, then make the drive worth either by coming on weekends when the traffic is more lose or before a show at the Greek Theatre or the Hollywood Bowl. These concert venues are minutes drive from KISMET and this is how how we make our LA stay more enjoyable. Uber helps when wine is involved.
Weekdays: 11am-10pm Weekends: 10am-10pm
+1 323 409 0404
4648 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027


CLOSED American Tea Room: talking and sipping tea in coastal California

The American Tea Room was a shining diamond sparkling just off the Pacific coast. After closing its first branch in Beverly Hills, the other two – Downtown Los Angeles and Newport Beach also closed down for business in 2018. The concept tea store that has pioneered the American tea revolution in the health-focused California for 15 years.
tea in Beverly Hills
Here is my interview with the late founder of the best concept tea room in America to date. His battle with cancer took its toll. Hopefully, some passionate tea connoisseur will take inspiration from his visionary approach to tea.
The philosophy of the American tea Room is inspired by “America as a melting pot, which does not have its own tea culture, but is curious about blending different cultures and tastes together”, said the cofounder of the American Tearoom David Barenholtz during our interview.
American Tea Room
Iced tea is hugely popular in America. “It is more like a cocktail with a wonderful flavour“, he added. Iced teas do not need to be loaded with sugar and lots of chemicals like most of these sold bottled in stores. “If you buy our teas, you can infuse them and make without the negative chemicals at home, put it in the fridge to cool and then taste the wonderful natural flavours that are intensely fragrant on their own.” No need for any artificial additives and flavours, nature has it all.
Their fabulous recipes for homemade iced teas from the American Tea Room blends pioneered the recent trend in tea cocktails. Tasting the real kick of ginger, the sweetness or tartness of dried fruits, spices and the other natural ingredients in these tea blends gives you an entirely different quality perspective about iced tea.
David spoke very passionately about his teas and as he fired his know-how I wondered, why he has opened a tea room after being a businessman for years? “When I was traveling to Europe I had so much great tea, I liked the tea houses in France, Austria, Germany and wanted something like that in the US.” So, he went for it with his partner, and now the American Tea Room can rank amongst the best tea rooms in the entire America.
Tea bar by the American Tea Room
The redesigned store in Beverly Hills opened at the beginning of 2017 with a more appealing, cleaner and hip to hang out at space than was its previous layout. As all my photos show, the space is now brighter and more fresh. “We try to change the image of tea not being just something healthy to drink, but we want to show the great taste and encourage people to try new things that are actually thousands years old.” Further, the company aimed at teaching people about each tea and how to brew it correctly. There were Tea*vents on the premises, but also when you bought tea, you were advised in detail about the preparation on the label. David explained the main challenges:  “People are sometimes intimidated by tea, as they do not know much about it, but I always tell them – you also do not know much about all food and still go to restaurants and try it. The tea business is now like the wine business in the 1970s US, people do not know the differences between tea from Assam in India and tea from Yunnan in China. But, luckily it is evolving and there are more people like us educating our customers about our products.
For my favourite blends by the American Tea Room check my earlier post on the American Iced Tea.
American Tea Room

Global tea accessories at the American Tea Room

Serving tea in style was not only important for the Victorian ladies in England, but the modern tea accessories have never been as diverse and practical as they are now.
Alongside the established global and innovative manufacturers, the American Tearoom shop in Beverly Hills also introduced their own range of tea pots, cups, tins, spoons, strainers, and other accessories.
The company is not afraid of technology and I always found an interesting gadget making my tea enjoyment easier. From temperature controlled tea kettles to smart and stylish ice tea jugs.
They also pack your teas in elegant bento boxes with a wrapping paper in the tea spirit. The wide selection of teas including their house blends make a nice gift.
Cast iron tea potAmerican Tea Room

Tea Trends

We spoke also about the current tea trends in America, and David confirmed that: “Cocktails with tea are now increasingly popular with bar tenders, baking with tea is also the new trend and even in cosmetics tea is being used.” Like with wine, tea infuses our everyday life not only from the inside but also from the outside. Matcha has caught the palates of healthy lattes fans, but at the American Tea Room it is also prepared pure as a concentrated shot served with a slice of orange.
Chocolate with tea is also very popular. The American Tea Room offers Mast Brothers chocolates and further works with the chef Valerie Gordon, who creates scones and other sweet and savoury tea pastries.
tea pastry and chocolateMatcha shot
As people travel much more now and visit countries like China and India they come to contact with tea more and bring it back from their travels. Then they seek these teas back home.
Even tea drinkers in countries like Taiwan, that has one of the most refined tea cultures and uses high technology, they import a lot of tea (or they buy lots of Indian tea plantations in Darjeeling) and import the tea to drink it at home. The Japanese do that as well since they only produce about 5% of all tea in the world.
This all considered poses a significant challenge to the further supply of high quality tea. Since tea cannot be grown elsewhere, its price will inevitable rise. Thus, rise your cup and enjoy it in full before it gets too pricy! Cheers.
In Beverly Hills, there is a large Persian community accustomed to drinking tea all day long. Tea has a huge potential to appeal to the local palates more than coffee. Tea consumption is now blooming even in the country of Starbucks. The coffee giant acquired Teavana, a specialty tea and tea accessory chain originating in Atlanta and merged its products into its own branches. So, what is next for tea business in LA?


Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare: #foodporn² in low-carb, luxe tasting menu on Manhattan

The Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare has entered a legendary status on the New York culinary scene. The whispers of the hedonistic tongues have tipped the heavily Japan-inspired, in French-cuisine-trained chef Cesar Ramirez as the gastronomic revelation of the metropolis for years.

three Michelin star NYC

Chef Cesar Ramirez and Head Sommelier of the Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare

Many firsts filed the tasting menu only gastronomic restaurant into the golden stash of the Big Apple. Not the counter concept since Robuchon had already coined that joyful affair with L’Atelier, and Momofuku ko took more affordably further, but as a fine dining staged inside a deli, the signature trait of New York, and being the first three Michelin star restaurant in Brooklyn.

Either changed though three years ago. The Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare relocated to Manhattan where the gastronomic competition is rife. The once intimate counter does not square around the kitchen any more, it is larger and there are also regular tables in the second line along the wall. Hell’s Kitchen is not far from the high-earning offices of Midtown, the media giants around Times Square, the residences in Chelsea, and a dart drive to both Upper Sides. More money can pour into its pockets (menu excluding beverages comes at $400 per head, plus tax).

Were the Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare in Tokyo, the experience would be less eye banging. Counter restaurants serving about the same quality of seafood and meat, are tossed around like rice grains at a sushi joint there (whereas you hardly find any carbs on the menu at the BF). To par his three Michelin star tasting menu with Tokyo’s Kanda, Sushi Saito or Yoshitake is unthinkable for the regulars at either.

three Michelin star NYCThree Michelin chef Cesar Ramirez

Low-carb, ultra-luxe tasting menu on Manhattan

“Won’t I get even a small bread roll or a sliver sourdough?” I asked the waiter, my stomach overwhelmed with the fat and high protein sixth course at the Chef’s Table.  The restaurant will not accommodate seafood allergies, vegetarian or vegan diets. We found the tasting menu off balance. Dining twice in the new Hell’s Kitchen location, the highest echelon of gourmet hedonism in Manhattan served a vitamix of animal, mainly seafood flesh, full stop. “We do not serve bread, madam”, was the answer. It seems that the pricey restaurant keeps some business for its namesake deli that in a speakeasy fashion ushers the well-heeled diners into its fancy troves. As after the previous four digit meal for three, we roamed the grocery aisles of tortilla chips and glutenous crackers to balance the fatty affair. I wished there was a great pizza joint next door, any carb would do. Owned by Moe Isa from Kazakhstan who also runs the three namesake delis, the Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare is a savvy deal as each time we spent extra $$ buying snacks to fill in for our no bread, rice or pasta dinner. It was fun though, and getting a breakfast ahead without going off your way is practical. 

The Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare is the exemplary embodiment of the #foodporn tag on social media. The orchids decorating the tables, caviar, sea urchin, even the langoustine plating, all resemble human reproductive organs. Galloping along the frantic pace of New Yorkers, the entire meal is faster than at most three star establishments. Over just two-hours the meal is over. Two seatings, first at 5 pm. Our 7:30 booth for four diners was the last layover wiping the plates at 10:30pm. The counter seats face the open kitchen, and additional low chair tables are less discrete than the two booths.

Japanese influence

Chef Ramirez was the right hand at David Bouley for eight years, where the food is strongly influenced by Japanese cuisine. Then he went to Osaka in Japan to exchange culinary ideas. He came back creating a rich, simple, yet high-profile ingredients listing tasting menu. The presentation is not Instagram-friendly, but orgasmic on the foodie terms. High in cholesterol (seafood and red meat), vegetables barely feature on the overwhelmingly in Asia-sourced menu (up to 90 percent in some seasons).

Starting with ovations, the signature Tartlet of saba (Japanese mackerel) was at both meals my favourite bite. It’s oily quality is balanced with a sour flesh of a lemon segment – extraordinary!

Uni lovers rejoice, the Hokkaido sea urchins nesting on a two-bite brioche (a little carb insert) topped with marinated Australian black truffle are insanely decadent. This is a Sex in the City dish. Yet, as we are getting extras for our missing companions the second time we dine here, we learned that one is enough. Too much of the super-charged mouth filler.

A Grilled wild trout (Pennsylvania) served with its skin in an oily dressing freshened by enough of grated ginger was nice.

Table service of farmed caviar

Now some show. The server brought a giant box of Kaluga Queen Caviar. Spooning out the farm raised cross of female kaluga with amur sturgeon, the Chinese roe topped a bowl of crab, sansho puree in a wine-based creamy sauce so rich that a pumpernickel bread would make it more palatable for me. Our palate and my stomach started to crave some carbs or neutralising flavours.

An egg custard with foie gras chunks and diced black truffles where acidity and fat again mingled made me hallucinate. I need bread! Sardinian pane-crassau or light crackers at least could be served on the table, I dreamt, or rice please!

The superb Scottish langoustine with root puree (reminded me of Toyo in Paris), blood orange segments and foam (a cliché late in 2018) distracted me more a year before as a morsel of Koshihikari rice was served with it. Stonington Maine Lobster steps in when available and in season.

A Japanese fish chosen according to the season. Agamutsu – red sea perch from the Chiba prefecture in fall. Topped with sliced Matsutake mushrooms, the dish was delicate as in Japan, but in a more salty broth for the American seasoned palates.

Two meat courses continue the paleo gourmet feast. A very fatty, chewy local duck from John Fasio farm Upstate with roasted brussels sprouts, chanterelle mushroom and cabbage confit creamy purée in 2019, while celery root provided a bite-size vegetable fix in fall 2018. The wagyu-like rich duck was not to either of our trio’s liking. On Manhattan, we much prefer the duck served at Momofuku ko and Cosme.

Next, the real thing – the Japanese wagyu beef from Miyazaki Japan, horseradish purée. I much prefer a top yakiniku as well as Kanda’s more meaty and juicy cuts of beef in Japan. At our second meal at Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare, a crisp yet smooth Black Cod with smoked eggplant purée added a mini taste of vegetables into our menu. I prefered the previous version with Oregon Matsutake mushrooms.

three Michelin star diningThree Michelin star diningThree Michelin dessertThree Michelin deserts

Chef Ramirez decides all proposals from the team for the deserts. In the mildly sweet finish of communal creativity a palate-refreshing (much needed) pre-desert of Sea buckthorn ice cream and Komekome sake jelly was superb. Another time Pink Grapefruit with Sake Gelée freshened it up as did another ice-cold treat of Sobacha (roasted buckwheat) Sorbet. The main dessert of Bichontan charcoal burlet pear with pure milk ice cream was not sweet and the sour caramel sauce was interesting.

For the final desert blast a frozen milk Matcha souflé (no eggs) like Japanese shaved ice with powdered matcha all over revealed a three star surprise of salted crisp white chocolate balls hidden inside. A light ‘Japanophobia’ that I loved. Previously my final tea accompanied a soft Chocolate Custard.

Scharzhofberger Riesling Spätlese rare champagneChambolle-Musigny

Tipples at the Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare

To start, a $35 glass of blanc de blancs Grand Cru (Mesnil sur Oger) champagne by Robert Moncuit impressed with its complex and characteristic chalky intensity. Partially (about 30%) aged in oak, the floral and citrus tones of the Chardonnay were preserved. The wine list was successfully curated to the current tastes. A grower champagne out-rules the commercial giants by the glass, off the beaten path producers balance the big names. A rare nod from a seasoned wine drinker lie myself, the cellar at the Brooklyn Fare excites me as much as the Playboy magazine turns on teenage boys. The sommelier (former of Momofuku ko) knows his game so perfectly that he balances trends with the essence.

Natural wines could not escape his attention. Tschida’s Austrian rose, a red Cornas by Auguste Clape, the pioneer of  bottling his own estate wines in Northern Rhone’s Cornas. A great selection of Japanese sake reflect the eastern inspiration (a carafe of dry – Junmai DaiginjoDaishiki Minowamon worked with the seafood well). Most sommeliers today have a penchant for Mosel, so the recommended white German bottle of Scharzhofberger Riesling landed on our table. The late-harvest off-dry 2009 Spätlese from the slopes of the Mosel river is usually not our first pick as dry wines are more tuned to our palates. Made by the legendary bull-headed Egon Muller, it was drinkable, but the $613 + tax tag stung. Balancing the sheets at the next meal, the decade old Gevrey Chambertin (Premier Cru of the astute Les Charmes site) by Hudelot—Noellat was a masculine affair with a smokey nose, forest needles, hummus and ‘ooh nature calls’ horse shit perfect Burgundy.

three Michelin star diningthree Michelin star dining

With desserts a wisely chosen tea list complements the liquid menu of Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare. Japan-focused Kettl tea (Brooklyn and now a branch in NoHo) provides soba cha, a roasted buckwheat soother, Fukuoka sencha and black tea for caffeine boost, while the mint infusion came from the BF deli. Served in a Hering Berlin pottery touched a modernist feel.

We much prefer to dine at Momofuku ko Downtown or the Single Thread in California since the tasting menu is much more exciting and complete.

The reservations are very specific so check their website for details. A warning, $200 per person is non-refundable upon reservation, so show up!

Two Tuesday-Saturday dinner seatings only at 5 and 7:30pm

 431 West 37th Street, Manhattan, NY 10018
+1 718 243 0050 

The Single Thread experience: seamless Japanese omotenashi hospitality in the agrarian California

There is nothing comparable to Single Thread in the complex genre of seasonal kaiseki in America. The Chef’s Table famed N/naka in LA, curated by Japan-born chef Niki Nakayama nods to this culinary art form, but bellow the level of the Single Thread experience. The restaurant and inn are like a twin dart striking the centre of your heart where excellent ingredients, Japanese food culture and innovative culinary techniques that elevate rather than ridicule the plate are one’s passions.

Decades of expertise, dedication, and an open mind with boundless curiosity, yielded bounty of unparalleled fecundity back home in the Sonoma County. Ever since the inspectors stepped into the few months-old restaurant, the veteran of French, Japanese and molecular culinary techniques and the chef cum owner Kyle Connaughton engraved his two stars on the California Michelin map. In 2018 a third star landed promptly.

chocolate cakeSingle Thread inn HealdsburgSingle Thread kaiseki
Healdsburg is finally worthy of a special journey for fine dining voyagers. The farmers’ den of Sonoma County gathered pace, showing off what the region grows in the creative edibles served at Shed, the casual shop and event space cum café in town. Single Thread is more, a farm, luxury inn and a gastronomic eden in the agrarian California.

The husband chef and wife farmer on their home turf

Kyle and Katina Connaughton employed omotenashi, the Japanese concept of anticipating and fulfilling people’s needs in advance, so“every service is from the bottom of the heart – honest, no hiding, no pretending”, wrote Mandy Li for the Michelin guide. The Connaughtons had a taste of this cultural wholesomeness when work landed them in Japan. At Michel Bras’ Toya in Hokkaido, Kyle mastered kaiseki, izakaya, soba, and sushi. Later, as head chef of research and development at The Fat Duck Experimental Kitchen in England the chef penetrated the penchant of Heston Blumenthal for molecular cuisine. He also assisted with publication of culinary masterpiece The Big Fat Duck Cookbook. Katina developed her gardening and farming skills in Japan, learning ikebana and haiku poetry, that in her personal style – handwritten on a small card joins the menu with a seed bag to plant at your home. This gift along with the charming, mini floral arrangement inspires wonder and fascination with nature.

restaurant in Healdsburg, Californiarestaurant in Healdsburg, California
kitchen

The Single Thread experience

From entering through the massive wooden doors you are visually welcomed by the kitchen hum. The smoothness of the cooks’ moves strikes you immediately. After the host strips away your coat, you are invited for the first bite and a sip by the kitchen counter. A gallery of Japanese artisan donabe pots displayed along the open kitchen’s walls evoke nature’s palette. Stone grey, clay gris, silvery steel counters, together with the chestnut, ginkgo and oak hues spanning earthenware, the later mostly unique pieces brought over from Japan personally by the team. Some cups and plates were designed by the acclaimed Shinichiro Ogata‘s Simplicity in Japan. A collector’s passion for donabes nudged Kyle Connaughton to co-author (with Naoko Takei Moore) a cookbook that most home cooks utilise more than his gastronomic complexities. Staying upstairs at the inn is a privilege, as a guest you can enjoy comforting in-room dining starring the hotpot of your choice (seafood, meat or tofu).
rooftop Healdsburg

Weather allowing, an elevator lifts you up to the rooftop. Like in a cinema veritè, the low-built Healdsburg reveals one of the smallest towns in America. Surrounded by crawling vines and ripening tomatoes, seated by a cracking fire, an aperitif of your choice marks the special occasion about to pamper you.

A few moments later, descending to the design awards-winning dining room, you are seated in comforting, cushioned chairs and double-sofas at a silky smooth walnut table. Japan-inspired linen lanterns lit the living room that feels eons more private than the communal loudness popularised by the Nordic dining concepts recently. Now, the orchestra of cooks takes over. The curtains of culinary hedonism are lifted with an assortment of small, mostly one-bite appetisers. Arranged on and around a massive, real bark tray, some cushioned on a carpet of moss, others beautified with flowers, leaves or shoots or nesting in dried grass, the Autumnal Equinox (September), Early Autumn in Sonoma (October) and other cold and warm seasonal produce whets your appetite. Plants, local and Japanese seafood caught sustainably, and a triptych of Single Thread farm eggs: a custard topped with sustainable caviar, Hokkaido uni over an egg, and an ultra-smooth potato mash with seasonal fish.

Next courses highlight local catch in its pristine rawness. Akebana kanpachi followed by shima aji sashimi course or Bodega bay wild king salmon followed by Monterey Bay abalone were flawless.
In a warm pot arrives silky Homemade tofu ladled over heirloom tomatoes, Jimi Nardello pepper, Saikyo miso and olive oil.
Squash or Tomatoes from the farm underline current harvest. The tomatoes with shiso tofu, serpentine cucumber, and charred negi (bunching white onion) were delicate and balanced.
A grilled fish course like superbly cooked Black cod, sweet corn, kohlrabi, and wild nori seaweed moves the kaiseki to larger plates. We ad cod also the previous year. Prepared as a homage to Fukkura-san with leeks, vegetables from the farm, broth of young lettuces and gyokuro green tea it was very different, but also exquisite.
Custom-handmade cutting knives by Bloodroot Blades (the waitlist is years-long) are paraded for your personal choice of tool to cut the protein about to be served. Perfectly hearth roasted lamb loin or Texan marbled wagyu in the meat course are accompanied by obscure, but delicious in exotic Japanese titles presented ingredients like Kanpyo (dried shavings of calabash gourd), Komatsuna (Japanese mustard spinach), Chingensai (bok choy), Kamo Nasu (lilac, ball shaped eggplant) stirring the travel bug. You can supplement the meat for fish or vegetarian course. My Aka Amadai with spaceship spinach, Hakurei turnip, and soy cream was superb.
Sonoma Grains always come with a seasonally creative twist. The heirloom grains with lamb breast connected with he previous course, added black garlic, and Matsutake mushroom “tea” like a true gohan fill you up as the last savoury course. Better even than at the Kyoto’s three Michelin stared Kikunoi! LA’s n/naka can silently observe and note the perfection.
Golden Sesame Semifreddo with Fig and Pinot Noir Grapes
wagashi sweetstea and wagashi
The 10-course kaiseki tails off with two cold desserts and an assortment of wagashi, the mildly sweet morsels to savour with a cup of tea. Blue hyssop, Medjool date and walnut, and spearmint to freshen your mouth during our first 2017 visit, yuzu and Thai basil after Roasted fig leaf and walnut treacle perfect with the smoky roasted houjicha I sipped recently. Brooklyn’s Kettl supplies the superb Japanese tea, while the herbals mostly come from the farm. Elderflower granitè with cucumber and peach pre-dessert was a lovable treat and so was the palate invigorating melon sorbet, melon liquorice, plum marshmallow, and sunflower seed the previous fall. The desserts were all centred around being frozen, like the pennyroyal “laychee” sherbet, whipped lemon posset, fig compote, and apple this October or the richer golden sesame semifreddo with fig and Pinot Noir grapes, pickled, jellied and jammed served last September. Staying at the inn? Peak into your freezer as more frozen delectables wait for your spoon.
The wine list is very good, but the pairing is focused on curiosities than local experiences. Nevertheless, our whims were catered to as the head sommelier curated purely US-sourced wine tasting each night. A white wine from Ridge Monte Bello and Rhone-blend by Tablas Creek next to Ceritas Pinot Noir and the rare white Sauvignon Blanc by Eiselle Vineyards took even the chef into the backstage.
ikebana ikebana
Staying at the Single Thread inn turned us into fans. For three nights nesting in a luxe corner suite with a fireplace, enjoying the bounty of its farm through countless amenities, with a yoga and pilates studio across the street, cycling and running trails along the Russian River we felt like at home. Balanced, indulged and happy.
Single Thread
Bringing Single Thread to life, the husband and wife duo seem to have found their ikigai, the purpose driving their life forward. Any guest can feel the authentic, wholesome love and care invested into the project. The creation of perfection with strong emotional input. Every detail like the ikebana flowers from the farm, candles and toiletries in the bathrooms, lovable slippers, Japan meets local production curated minibar (think kombucha, yuzu soda, superfood snacks developed for Render where Kyle also lends his creative know-how with other award-winning chefs, daily ground coffee, even riesling in a can, …), daily fresh pastry from the two Michelin stared kitchen (reminds me of the best French chefs’ five star lodgings), and daily free of charge platter of local Shigoku oysters, charcuterie and cheese, seasonal fruits. Practical tolls like iconic knives by Laguiole help to cut and open anything. Only the caviar comes with an extra surcharge.Healdsburg hotel
A bottle of local wine custom-made for Single Thread by Davis Family Vineyards (a smooth, mature Syrah for us) for your in-room cravings. Still and sparkling water is filtered by the Vera system for sustainable hydration. A gem hides in your freezer, the house-made seasonal sorbet, Thai basil and pear for us ticked all the boxes of hedonism. In the bathroom, Aesop pampers your skin, binchotan charcoal towels purify your face, bath salts and candles sooth your weary travel bug, and Botnia organic gift bag hydrates your face. We soaked in the XXL bath daily. Oh, and the breakfast, otherworldly. We tried almost the entire menu – an assortment of the multi-course Japanese (the homemade yuba and tofu were extraordinary and the seasonal rice donabe filled us up), Sonoma (top notch California cheese), à la carte warm fruit scones, superb Sonoma grains porridge (wholesome) and the best avocado toast we had in California. We could have it every day – served on a sourdough, the poached running egg with sesame, flowers and green perfection. We only skipped the bacon-laden English breakfast created as a tribute to Heston Blumenthal.
donabetofu skinegg rolls
The five rooms were like the restaurant designed by AvroKO, and the entire building embodies the feeling of being “lived in, homey and residential” to Connaughton’s liking, but its far more. There is no interior like Single Thread of such artisan excellence in the Sonoma County, not even in the established riches of the Napa Valley opulence. The visuals mirror the experience.
Sonoma grain bowl breakfastLa Muse Blue enjoys her breakfastbreakfast at Single Thread
Recently, Single Thread expanded their dining options to weekend lunches, so those who do not stay in town, can savour the omotenashi without a compromise.
 SingleThread: 131 North Street, Healdsburg, CA 95448
+1 707 723 4646


Zuni Café: slow food in San Francisco is worth waiting for the best chicken in America

Zuni Café is to San Francisco what Chez Panisse is to Berkeley, an institution where locals gather over sustainably sourced superb food. Like Alice Water, Judy Rodgers was authentic with her extraordinary ingredients sourced mainly from California. After she passed away recently, her co-chef and for decades a regular Gilbert Pilgram took over. His Chez Panisse pedigree upholds the “vision of honest, local, seasonal food” that Judy created. Taking over most of the open kitchen, the brick wood-fired oven highlights the bounty with a gentle roast and country comfort. An ultra thin crust pizza at lunch, hourlong roasted chicken, even the country bread sniffs the char. The butter is frenchie, decadent a la Waters’ Berkeley style, where both chefs polished their farm-to-table rustic style.
pizza oven

Fire cooking, simply delicious

At lunch the wood-fired pizza crust, one of the best in America, is patted with homemade organic tomato sauce, sprinkled with salted dry ricotta cheese and oregano. I like to sit near it the oven in a small dining room past the bar on the street level, it is noisy down there but adoring the works by emerging and well established Bay Area artists on the walls soothes my mind. Curated by HMxAA and Britta Campbell since 2015 the artworks infuse a genuinely cultured spirit into Zuni Café.
The two female chefs, Rogers and Waters, inspired the now widespread authentic food movement in the Bay Area and true to their California socially liberal outlook support equality and immigration. Zuni’s current team boldly informs on your bill that “immigrants make America great”. The two level restaurant, enlivened by the American bass and cello chatter joined nightly by piano music is always packed. Even the leafy stretch of Market street facing bar open to walk-ins hives from brunch till late night.
autumn in San Franciscopiano bar

History like no one else in San Francisco

Zuni Café was founded in 1979 by Billy West next to Red Desert cactus store. The succulent display was swallowed by the growing  restaurant and inspired the adobe interior of what was initially a Mexican café. The name came from the Zuni, Pueblo peoples of Arizona and New Mexico. The latin food was later transformed by its most iconic chef/partner Judy Rodgers. Her culinary repertoire included working with the Troisgros clan in France, yet back in San Francisco Rodgers started the signature Europe meets California comforting, simple food. Firing up the new brick oven her team roasts what we think is the best chicken in America. The organic bird is cut into pieces for two ($59). In Europe an entire family would feast, but once you stretch your belly in America you manage as we did while licking our lips with a shameless pleasure. Sourced, not in California, but from Hoffman family farm in Indiana, it is worth the uncompromising 60 minute wait – succulent and flavourful. Like a turkey towering over toasted bread slivers soaking in the chicken fat and jus, garlic and scallions, it is tossed with seasonal greens like mustard greens, pine nuts and raisins. The no waste approach (leftover bread) of Zuni Cafe in this recipe lures in packed house every day and night. With it, order like a local the shoestring potatoes. The wafer thin fries turn you into an automated cruncher.
Zuni CafeZuni Cafe

Local farmers are celebrities at the Zuni Café

While waiting, start with the iconic Zuni Caesar salad, one is enough for two diners, split the sublime Wild Arugula with goat cheese and ripe grilled peach or the shaved pecorino with rucola and smoked almonds. You need to try the pasta too. Always on the menu at Zuni Café are the fluffy pillows of Bellwether Farms ricotta airy gnocchi, not at all starchy but flying on their ripe tomato clouds. Any fall season lands in mushrooms blended with any shapes of hand-cut pasta.
gnocchiseasonal fresh pasta
Mexican heritage smokes through the mesquite wood grill flavouring the sea bass, sausages and the house-ground grass-fed hamburger on grilled rosemary focaccia with aioli and pickles. Country-cooking is indulgent. The daily changing menus play with seasonal organic ingredients incorporating traditional French and Italian cuisine. Nearly all of the produce is farmed or harvested in a sustainable manner. The endangered yellowfin tuna should not appear on the menu though!
best chicken in America

Europe inspired, California grown

If you do not get the large chicken, keep space for the Gâteau Victoire crowned with dense whipped cream, the decadent chocolate cake is rich and moist as I like it. For a lighter treat go for the signature chocolate granita. Each season inspires new sweets with local fruit.
The wine list covers briefly California, France and Italy. By the glass the Zuni clean, oak-free Chardonnay by Sandhi Wines and fruity New World style Pinot Noir, both made down the coast in Santa Barbara, accompany perfectly the starters, pasta and chicken. There is also cider, champagne, sparkling wines and other well curated picks au verre.
A corkage of $30 entices bringing a good bottle from your cellar. We brought an excellent biodynamic Pinot from Sonoma’s Littorai that was hard to match by the California inventory at Zuni. Scotch, gin, mescal, rum, tequila and whiskey fit the bar scene straight up or in cocktails. Gluten-free potato vodka from Pennsylvania caters to the celiacs.
chocolate cakecountry bread
The Zuni Café Cookbook won the James Beard Award, Zuni Café as the Outstanding Restaurant in the country, and finally Judy Rodgers won the James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Chef. It is wise to book ahead but all the bar and outdoor tables are available to walk-ins.
1658 Market Street, San Francisco, US
+1 415 552 2522
Lunch Tuesday – Saturday: 11:30 am – 5:30 pm; Sunday: 11:00 am – 4:30 pm

Dinner Tuesday – Thursday: 6:00 pm – 11:00 pm; Friday and Saturday: 6:00 pm – midnight; Sunday: 5:00 pm – 11:00pm

Closed on Mondays


Shizen: trendy eco-minded sushi and izakaya in the Mission

Shizen is a plant-based sushi and izakaya eatery in San Francisco catering to eco-conscious diners with great taste, patience and penchant for Japanese cuisine. Priding itself to be “fully vegan sushi bar and izakaya” sets Shizen apart from most of the highly competitive sushiyas in the Bay area. An increased environmental awareness next to the health benefits of plant-based cuisine lure teenagers, millennials, straight, bi-, trans-, gay, together with the 1960s hippies.
eco-diningvegan sushi
Hawaii-raised chef Kin Lui took the evolution of sustainable sushi from his tenure at San Francisco’s Tataki seriously. Tomatoes, eggplant, tofu et al. are treated as if they were prime filets of tuna, minus the high carbon footprint and animal suffering.
The nightly lines forming in front of the restaurant affirm the popularity of plant-based cuisine in San Francisco. Limited reservations policy open to walk-ins, plus opening only for dinner can cause headaches to scheduled diners used to planning everything though. I had to be savvy about how to get into the narrow dining room, lest the sushi counter at Shizen. I went on Monday. Flying in with an ease of a fruit fly at half past five, the two of us were seated at a spacious foursome table. Ha, I thought, I would be silly to battle for seating here on a weekend!
vegan nigiri sushi

At Shizen Japan meets California in a sustainable coat

The striped-shirt clad service was well-informed and attentive. And the food – order most of the nigiri (two per order) and a roll (a log cut into eight pieces) or two, but skip most of the izakaya plates. We tried much of the menu justifying our verdict. Yakimono grilled skewers, a spicy trio of eryngii, shiitake and enoki mushrooms were quite boring. Toban-hot pan searing brussels sprouts too salty. Yet, the tofu and vegetable gyoza killed the undercooked, bland dumplings we returned twice just a week later at Matthew Kenney‘s Arata in New York. Slightly pan-fried, the cloud-shaped perfect dumplings were stuffed with a mince of tofu that had all the textural characteristics of pork, tasting succulent. Vegan cooking got so good that one does not have to call things “mock meat”. Tasting as good if not better than the animal recipe met the challenge of comfort food.

A bowl of nameko mushrooms miso soup was a solidly wholesome bowl with tofu and seaweed umami. Gluten-sensitive eaters will rejoice since many dishes are naturally free of this allergen or can be adjusted. Eater praised the vegan ramen. Broths without pork – instead flavouring it wholesomely with shio, shoyu, or spicy garlic miso – proved the skills and yummy-grasp of deliciousness by the chef. Egg-free handmade noodles, soy milk replaces the egg, and no pork belly chashu tops the bowl. Since I do not like anything pork in Asian cuisine, this ramen at Shizen is an easy winner.

The seafood-free nigiris are the best thing since sushi was invented in Japan. Unless, you dine at the best sushyias, Shizen makes the neta topping on the bun of sticky rice tasting better than most fish and seafood at restaurants. Marinated tomato with shiso brought to my mind the flavour of superb maguro tuna, the luscious avocado topped with a smoked beetroot “aioli” and lemon zest nods to Sushi of Gari opulence, while the eggplant with vegan miso mayonnaise and scallions could match an eel or wagyu beef neta. The pickled green mango with citrus-avocado mousse was too far off any seafood I recon, perhaps an egg omelette, but uni, the luscious and creamy sea urchin, would be a hard call to abstraction.
The rolls are served by eight pieces so you need at least one partner to share them. We were not impressed by the crispy lotus roosters, but the spicy “tofuna” roll with cucumber as well as the speciality “open invitation” roll with pumpkin were exquisite. The best rolls at NYC-based Beyond Sushi would challenge them. The “candlestick” roll is served on a fire, beware!

The bar feel that opens to anyone

Although izakaya bars in Japan are boozing with alcohol, you can stay “clean” at Shizen. Tea, a peppermint tisane, sugar-free iced tea, Ginger and shiso lemonade, Matcha and yuzu soda or Spicy pineapple and lime for the adventurous teetotallers all sound decadent. Cocktails, and Japanese or local beers on tap, in can or bottle, including ciders, cheer up the rest.
izakaya
Shojin ryori, the Buddhist plant-based cuisine, gives some base, yet Shizen is not formal. The line-forming, first come, first serve, long bar and bare, tightly spaced-out seating is very common in Japan. Shizen brings the dense, disciplined feel of Tokyo to San Francisco, and it is worth the wait. I will be back – on a Sunday or Monday for an early supper – but I am too time-sensitive to stand in a line for hours just to eat. In the city of Uber’s headquarters, I rather turn to what the app offers, even though Shizen is not the order in option, yet.
 370 14th St, San Francisco, CA 94103
Daily 5-10pm; Closed on most holidays.


The Charter Oak: "simple is the hardest thing in the world", declares the culinary star of Napa Valley

The Charter Oak restaurant is a relative newcomer to the indulgent Napa Valley dining scene, yet the historic farmhouse has already lifted up, literally, the ceiling of culinary experiences around Saint Helena. The massive hearth headlining the triple high-ceiling dining room injects rustic simplicity to almost everything edible on the sharing-style menu. Ready yourself for something special. Enveloped in the pursuit of the highest quality produce, chef Christopher Kostow of Meadowood confessed: “Simple is the hardest thing in the world”

Three star Napa chef goes simple: essential respect for ingredients

Charter Oak is overseen the Meadowood’s three Michelin star chef, yet the accent at his new, pared down restaurant is on the essence of the ingredients highlighted by hearth cooking and on dining conviviality. “This was the greatest challenge of my career”, announced the chef at the International Chefs Congress in Brooklyn recently. Adding that, “Cooking over roaring fire cannot be controlled as easily as in the modern three Michelin kitchen. Plus, you can hide more ingredient imperfections in complex cooking”. The inconsistency of the fire element must be embraced with openness Charter Oak, hence this is not three, two or one Michelin star restaurant. You cannot compare the hearth mastery with that of the Etxebarri master in Spain, but the Napa Valley ingredients are respected with bare-it-all honesty.
International Chefs Congress Charter Oak Saint Helena
The minimalist cooking is directed by skilled female hands of Katianna Hong (Korean roots). The former sous chef at the Restaurant at Meadowood befriends the hearth in stripped-down, abundance of local, seasonal, and sustainably-grown produce.
Switching from the three Michelin cooking to simplicity was challenging for both chefs. The two restaurants could not be more technically different, but sharing only the impeccable produce connects them. I made it to The Charter Oak three times, to the Restaurant at Meadowood once. Formal, tiny-sized, multi-course tasting menus contrast with the loud mood and generous helpings at the Charter Oak. Yet, they share the same top-notch organic produce from the Meadowood farm. As the chefs explained during their cooking demo in Brooklyn: “Respect all that nature gives us. Our job is to show it as best as we can.”
farm to table Napa ValleyVegetarian dining Napa Valley

Rustic provisions: bread, dairy, eggs and fire

The country levain baked at the Charter Oak is offered to fill you up before moving to the deserts at the three star Restaurant. The loaf is superb, moist with a crunchy crust, worth paying the extra 5 or 10$ for large as you rarely get this quality at your local US bakery unless you for to San Francisco’s Tartine. At the Charter Oak it can charred too much to my taste (lately it was blackened),  served with house “cultured” butter, the bread was presented perfectly at the Meadowood.
Local dairy like buffalo butter and mozzarella from Petalumba, browned butter, fermented soy whipped with crème frâiche, fresh cheese, herbed cream and buttermilk elevate most plates. Butter tops steamed white rice, spreads over the Pretzel bun sandwich with hearth-roasted ham and horseradish. Locally renown Andante dairy supplies cheese accompanied by honeycomb and grilled bread. Most “Vegetables and Grains” on the menu incorporate cheese to fatten your palate for more vino or beer. Like in the decadent POLENTA under vegetable bolognese sprinkled with fresh cheese that we enjoyed at brunch.
The lunch and dinner menus are identical, but the weekend brunch introduces more breakfast-style, funked up bowls and plates like GRAPEFRUIT grilled over the fire with rosemary sugar, GRILLED TOAST with either tahini, honey or goat cheese, kumquat marmalade, APPLE PANCAKE with brown sugar, SUMMER SQUASH and cheese baked omelette, Soft SCRAMBLED EGG with avocado, furikake seaweed with Danish rye bread, BUTTERED ENGLISH MUFFINS jazzed up with crème frâiche, celery and spring onions. “The eggs taste different depending on the time of the year”, alerts Katianna Hong pointing at the natural seasonal variations. To show this, the simply boiled eggs are served with top quality local olive oil.
crudites

Balancing animal and plant cuisine through quality with original twists

Sparely anything garnishes the roasted plates at The Charter Oak. GRILLED yellow and green CUCUMBERS were simply matched with dill and sea beans. Sliced into biteable chunks we relished the well-oiled, toasted levain TARTINE, dressed with succulent sun-dried tomatoes, roasted crushed almonds and ricotta, sweetened with fermented honey from their farm’s bees, fresh basil and mint. American sizes would be a feast for an Asian family and one-plate-is-enough for most Europeans.
Root-to-frond or a holistic use of plants is now popular on the US menus. The FERMENTED SOY DIP paired with all edible parts of seasonal raw vegetables delivered fresh from Meadowood’s farm is so delicious that the recipe was featured in Dine & Wine. The sour, yet lighter than typical créme fraîche dip has its umami accentuated by a dash of house-infused chive oil.
The hand-cut, skin-on fries authentically taste of superb potatoes, and for $8, they should! Crisped to such a perfection, that Gott’s Roadside, the temple of fast food nearby, is seriously challenged.
napa valley organic farm to table
From the hearth emerge smoked, with dripping fat-layered beef RIBS, aged RIBEYE, BUTTERMILK CHICKEN, BLACK COD grilled in corn leaves, even vegetarian plates like FIGS with LOCAL HONEY, CHARRED AVOCADO with rhubarb, ember oil and mayo, buttered CAULIFLOWER with raisins, or EGGPLANT with PEA SHOOTS and TOASTED ALMONDS. Sides like MUSHROOMS, SUNCHOKES and CARROTS are roasted in its throbbing fire, are well oiled to satisfy your cravings. Not all the produce comes from the 2.5 acre Meadowood farm or from California though. The monthly special BBQ WINGS were trucked from Colorado recently.
The Family sharing, multi-course dinner is a feast, but good value for the quality, and it differs from the à la carte.
feast in Napa Valley
At Charter Oak, their locavore wine list is segmented by growing areas — Howell Mountain, Spring Mountain, Saint Helena, Oakville, and more. Gewurztraminer from the Stony Hill winery was as fragrant as its Austrian model, while Dunn‘s Cabernet Sauvignon had a modest alcohol level (13.2) and mellowing, supple tannins after two decades of bottle age. The cocktails also cater to large eight-table setups. For $100 each choose from the original punch, gin and lavender, a pitcher of margarita, mezcal and hibiscus,. The mulberry shaded courtyard hosts winemakers dinners, so keep an eye on them.
Local and imported beer like the decadent, dark, coffee and chocolatey Fuller’s London Porter I ordered on tap suit the hearth wholesome flavours. The dark beer felt as if I ate a loaf of bread, filling up to the top of my head, no growler for me, a small glass was enough. Broadening the choice, cans and bottled beers round the hearty meal. Truly sustainable jars of local tap water are distributed free of charge.
Napa restaurants
A meal at the Charter Oak comes with caveats. By no means this rustic eatery is cheap, but the land for cultivating in Napa is expensive (with gratitude to the vines), so be generous. Twenty percent will be added to your bill as an involuntary gratuity that swept the American dining scene recently (following the British model). The enthusiastic, but inefficient service did not deserve such a reward at our meals. Delivering twice cold grilled mushrooms, and lukewarm “coal roasted” cabbage with clams was not worth the generous tip. We will be back, demanding more attention to the prompt delivery of the exquisite produce. Respect.
Charter Oak Avenue 1050, ST. HELENA, CA 94574
 +1 707 302 6996


Golden Door: let in inner peace, recharge and upgrade yourself at the iconic California retreat

Golden Door is the blueprint for holistic spa retreats in the Americas. More than just a detox launderer of life’s dirt, here you will be able to connect to your authentic self though supportive environment, challenge your fitness and the mind, perhaps even your life’s purpose. Each retreat is personally tailored, when almost eight decades of a wellness knowhow guarantee a transformative, holistic health supporting experience. On every step of your journey, you will be reminded of the golden moments to happiness.
Golden-Door-spa-Californiameditation labyrinth
The Golden Door story started in Tecate, Mexico in 1940. From there, the eco-friendly rustic grounds of Rancho La Puerta founded by Deborah Szekely and her European husband evolved into an exclusive venture to California. Just about two-hours from the Hollywood glamor of Los Angeles, close to the San Diego airport and a stone throw from the healing waters of Carlsbad (hydrating you for the entire stay), you are encouraged to “turn your dreams into your story”, as the golden pen in your spacious zen room reminds. The green gardens facing patio enshrines all the comforting aspects of a ryokan, the Japanese country inn where weary urban travellers have recharged in the healing hot springs, soaked in the enlivening spirit of kami residing in trees and nature, and nourished their bodies though balanced, generous, seasonal cuisine for centuries.
Golden-Door-spa-CaliforniaGolden-Door-spa-garden-California
The loving, soulful embrace of the superbly maintained property and the generous, passionate staff comfort you within hours of stepping through the majestic golden door gating the living grounds. No more than 42 guests at a time support solitude or communal rejuvenation if that is what your heart desires. Precious Japanese art fills the serene property and your Tv-free room soothes you with unique paintings. Above a flower ikebana arrangement hangs a scroll typical for Japanese tea houses. You can meditate or mindfully enjoy this altar of zen while eating your breakfast (a choice from vegan porridge, yogurt with granola or daily changing savoury dish such as an egg frittata) always in the room. All meals can be served in privacy or communally outdoors – at lunch by a koi pond, exercise pool, and once per week in the biodynamic garden, while dinners encourage socialising in the dining hall. I recommend checking out the scene the first night and then decide what comforts you more – solitude or community? A wifi access and phone can be used in your seclusion, but technology is discouraged in the public spaces.
Golden-Door-spa-CaliforniaGolden-Door-spa-retreat

Bliss from sunrise till sunset

After a drive through the desert, the lush surroundings sustainably irrigated from reclaimed water surprise and cocoon at the same time. Leaving my husband behind the door, I poured myself into each moment at the Golden Door mindfully and effortlessly, steeped in the flow of authenticity encouraged by journaling every day. I stayed at the chalk-pale, gravels art adorned Azalea court, facing a wooden swing recalling my childhood. The sway of an effortless, regular movement pacified my mind in turbulent times, and now the seven-years-old me was awakened reminiscing about the sheer simplicity of happiness.
For most of the year, the Golden Door welcomes women only (staff includes men), but coed, and six men-only weeks let the male competitiveness in. The female weeks are very special though. Unnecessary worries drop off your brain – make-up free and wrapped in a Japanese yukata (summer kimono) thrown over your clothes you are sheltered from any sartorial faux-pas and liberated from judgement. I enjoyed this decisions-sparing mindset previously during my Ayurvedic retreat in the Maldives, where I wore nothing but a blanc cotton tunic over a bikini. At the Golden Door, I was not on a sandy island but in a shaded desert valley (chilly mornings, hot midday and cool nights) so slippers to treatments, yoga and meditation, daily washed leisure and workout clothes (provided in your rooms), and my own sneakers for hikes and workouts sated my humble cravings for dressing up. You also get a water bottle, a mini line of Golden Door natural beauty care, and a sunscreen to splash on inside the bathhouse. My jewellery never left the safe, and my mind and physical body had not crossed the gate of the property for the entire week, how strangely liberating!
Golden-Door-spa-CaliforniaGolden-Door-spa-CaliforniaJapanese art
Connected to nature ahead of the spark of a sunrise wonder, the five-mile, daily changing 5:45am guided hikes or gentle three mile walks start each precious day outdoors. Trailing the avocado, pomegranate (ripening in October, I hit the right time!) and olive orchards up on the mountain on the 600-acre private property, you watch the Pacific fog dissipate, the fauna awaken and the sun lightening up the horizon. An eastern jet lag for most guests eases the strain from such an early morning. I woke up naturally before the dusk illuminated each day, while others (locals, some living on the same street!) were nudged by a phone alarm. The rewards on the top of the mountain were postcard-worthy. All the voluntary participants loved the hikes.
The Golden Doorhiking CaliforniaCalifornia hikeshiking California

Listen to yourself and do what you love

Empowering my desire for space, the oasis of the Golden Door replenished my thirsty soul. I was literally levitating at the end of the “women’s classic week”, and my private yoga teacher Madhu deserves all the credit for this energetic awakening. Some ladies have been returning for decades for the “feeling more at home at the Golden Door than in the hectic world outside”. Arrive open to whatever arises from your essence, show up at the life-changing afternoon talks lead by distinguished authors, doctors, even shamans, and if exercising (four gyms, two small pools, plus a yoga studio) or hiking bring two pairs of sneakers (the trails are quite dusty). At the Japanese ryokans bathing, dining and a mindful refuge from the taxing urban noise take priority, but the Golden Door also caters to the Western intensity so newest fitness trends entertain the movement-hungry get-goers. This is neither America nor Japan, but a spiritual place supportive of manifesting your authentic goals. You decide what you really want it to be, as only you know what your needs are. Each week the program changes slightly, but there are so many activities that you will feel over-catered to. Athletic swimmers will find the lap pool too short, yet the daily rotating water classes will improve your fitness and strength more holistically than just crawl or breast strokes. My favourite discoveries were the Aqua tabata (HIIT joint-gentle water exercises), Aqualogix with watermill-like ankle straps and helmet-shaped hand resistance tools, and the elegant dance moves of Taichi with DJ, a master of his craft. “Don’t think, just move like me”. The best advice anyone has ever given to my organic movement craving mind.
Challenge strengthens us, but woking out hard in a gym was not on my to do list. Jet-lagged and seeking solitude, recharging in nature though hiking, and gentle yoga for my injured (too much writing, boxing and Chaturanga Dandasanas) wrist, next to meditation and a mind-opening talks were all I set to do. Yet, I felt such a tremendous rush endorphins from the HIIT training interrupted with focused strength exercises that my fit trainer Sandra prepared for me, that I did not skip a session with her. Like all the Golden Door trainers, at the departure day she gave me personal training plan adjusted to my current needs. Most classes and sessions last 45 minutes so you catch the starts of your next thing. Still, some women came for a marathon and squeezed in as many classes as possible. I was in the different realm, though, pacing myself according to what my body and mind whispered. Empowered by the daily meditation, I listened.
Golden-Door-spa-Californiasunrise hike

Good for all at The Golden Door

Every little detail was perfected over the six decades since the Golden Door spa opened to the rich and/or famous in 1958. Recently, the property was bought by an American billionaire to his wife and a longtime Golden Door guest Joanne Conway who upgraded the facilities without taking away anything essential as those returning for their X-teenth time revealed. “It’s just getting better”, many agreed. The $2000 all inclusive day excludes the less fortunate from the pampering, self-improving or hard training, yet all profits are donated to charity alleviating child abuse, so the karma of both the owner and your own is balanced by simply staying here. The paper key cardholder is fully biodegradable, further it contains an embedded seed from the property that you can sow in your garden or a flowerpot with a surprise growing from this remnant of your retreat.
healthy bento

Balanced and personalised meal plan

During a phone interview preceding your stay, amended on daily menus delivered to your room in print nightly, you specify your diet. Cross off the dessert, ask for seasonal organic fruit instead, demand more cheese or no tofu in the vegetarian meals. Inspired by Italy, Japan, Mexico and the estate’s produce, the food is good enough to enjoy, for the ingredients are exquisitely sourced. The young, passionate chef is charming, and someone not accustomed to dining at the best restaurants around the world will be thrilled. A guest nicknamed him the “the chef yam-yam”. In spite of the 1,200, 1,400 or 1,600-calorie meal program offered, he encourages indulgence. Pre-hiking gluten-free mini-muffins (taste as they sound), succulent organic berries, almonds and cheese wheels are served in the lounge, a potassium-rich vegetable broth, berries and juicy vegetable sticks for a mid-morning snack, while a juice for insulin boost in the afternoon kept us cravings-free until dinner at 6:30 each evening. Well, I sneaked some chocolate into my suitcase, just in case. Weight-loss is not the selling point, but returning women of all ages have transformed their body radically. The activity-packed schedule and healthful meals shed the fat pounds naturally. Sugar is included if you want it, although in-house honey is served with your breakfast, so is poultry and other white meat, but red meat is not provided. Addictive substances like alcohol is tolerated (a wine list can be delivered discretely to your room), while smoking is heavily fined.
Golden-Door-spa-CaliforniaGolden-Door-spa-CaliforniaGolden-Door-spa-California

Steve Jobs’ former gardener harvests biodynamic bounty at Golden Door

Much of the food is sourced from the biodynamic garden and orchards, the hens lay superb eggs on the property (ask for a boiled or poached egg to calm hunger pangs) and the rest comes from local providers, hunters and seafood from sustainable fishermen.Honeybees provide the golden nectar. The culinary highlight of my week were foraged strawberry guavas ripening in fall, and my co-hikers joined in for a Vitamin C boost that was more exciting than the sweet slice orange moons offered to us by our guide. Most of us loved the chef’s vegetarian eggplant “meatballs” with his marinara sauce that was also demonstrated during the cooking workshop after dinner and nightly digestive walk to on Thursday night. We snatched the recipes with ravenous gratitude. From the aperitif snacks served prior to each dinner, the red lentil hummus with orange zest pampered our palates the most. The cocktail was not a martini but a fruit-based mocktail.
Golden-Door-spa-Californiamandala-vision-board
Unlike at Miraval in Arizona, bursting with group activities in a much less intimate environment, the Golden Door does not offer many artistic endeavours, but clay work and creating your mandala vision board felt extremely liberating, clarifying my deepest intentions through their visual results. I will hang mine in my office to remind me of my ikigai, the purpose to live. The books in your room move the wheel of happiness, heath and longevity in your mind. I’d read the Buddha’s Brain by PhD neuroscientists and the wise philosophy of the Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh already, but the Japanese concept of ikigai was new to me. The book now supports my continued quest for the flow in doing what I love without any distractions. My attitude boost.
longevity
The Classic Week programming includes in-room massages, four facials or body treatments (scrub and body butter – my favourite was the relaxing hinoki bark scent), unlimited rosemary (grown on the property) hot towel wraps to detoxify and release muscle tension, three sessions with a personal trainer, daily sports clothes laundry service, low-toxin manicure/pedicure, a hair treatment or blow dry, talks, sound bathing, meditation, and an endless list of fitness classes, outdoor activities like archery, bootcamp circuit and specials like forest bathing, shaman healing and tarot.
Even seasoned spa junkies I met during my weeklong stay admitted that the Golden Door is a spiritual place most worth your hard-earned money. Transformative on all levels – from physical, mental to social and spiritual. The last night, after a farewell dinner and a glass of wine (for some like myself) under the spell of silence we were taken to the candlelit labyrinth. These meditative circle-paths lead to a centre and the focused walk in and out clears your mind. Symbolism can powerfully encourage some. In a central flame we burned a piece of paper on which we had confided what we discovered wanted to release from our lives or move beyond. After this ritualistic cleanse we retired to our rooms where we wrote a letter to ourselves that the staff posts in about five months to remind of what you discovered and learned, so you reignite your purpose or come back to Golden Door again!

Igniting the female power

One afternoon we were encouraged by the author of Twelve Mindful Months, Cindi Peterson, M.A. Ch.t. to embrace the Japanese philosophy of “kaizen“, embracing small steps of consistent improvement, to connect with ourselves and others through awareness and compassion, to do what brings joy, eat mindfully (high quality, smaller portions), rest and reflect in solitude, and to get rid of what we do not want – such as negative emotions – through deep breathing. She advised creating daily and weekly rituals that bring us to our flow, happiness and reaping success to keep up with what we committed to at the Golden Door.
The women-only weeks empower you by asserting your place in life, while encouraging manifestation of your true nature. Be and do what you love and you will be happy ever after. The Golden Door is very special.
 Golden Door, 777 Deer Springs Road, San Marcos, California
+1 760 744 5777


Fine & Raw Chocolate: life tastes better with chocolate made in Brooklyn

The Brooklyn manufactory of Fine & Raw Chocolate is a spectacle blending in seductive aromas, churning machinery and hand-wrapping that happily ends in decadent chocolate hedonism. Their bean to bar, organic and raw chocolates have been popping up on the trendiest gourmet addresses in New York, through the West Coast to Australia and round to Europe. I have devoured their refined sugar-free goodness for years when visiting New York, while always loading my suitcase for travels to choco-deprived destinations. Compared to the thousands of aspiring raw chocolates on the market in America alone, Fine & Raw Chocolate is by a wide stride the best happy brain booster there. No compromises have been made in their small scale production.
raw cocoa beans Fine & Raw Chocolate

Organic, transparent and truly in love with chocolate production

Burlap sacks of raw cocoa beans pile next to supplies of Indonesian coconut sugar in a contrast to the jewel box display of daily fresh, all organic truffles at Fine & Raw Chocolate manufactory in Brooklyn’s Bushwick. The experientially honed know-how and dedication to the best quality of used raw materials lift this honest American delicacy to the throne of the best morsels of chocolatey indulgence. Daniel Sklaar, the founder of Fine & Raw Chocolate sees the raw form as the celebration of chocolate. The native South African is poetic about his craft, writing; “native chocolate is the artful balance of developing magic in flavours and food alchemy”, therefore “we highly recommend storing at least one on your tongue for 5 minutes everyday”. His humour resonates with my happy life philosophy, since I follow this prescription diligently.
artisan chocolatereal chocolate
Sustainable production cycle at Fine & Raw Chocolate will clean your indulging karma. Inspired by an honest belief: “We like our planet, it’s the only one with chocolate”, therefore, all is organic, “handmade” with coconut sugar, which with its low GI is a healthier alternative to the usual cane sugar in confectionery. The female hands paper wraps them in attractive floral prints or girly Bonnie cartoons. Every ingredient has been certified organic, even the salt as well as the alderwood smoked salt in the 70% bar from the Brooklyn Bonnie Collection. In this range half of the cocoa is raw (for nutritional value) and the other half was roasted for added flavour. These sophisticated tweaks make Fine & Raw Chocolate unique. The dark 70% cocoa formula is beefed up with intense flavours such as the Alderwood smoked salt, which underlines the complex coffee, earth, tobacco leaf depth with a kick of salt at the start and later in the final aftertaste. Superb! The Habanero salt is a bit racier and perhaps to smoothen it a bit palm sugar was mixed in with the usual coconut sweetener. The mineral tasting salt flakes glued on the bottom of the chocolate bar are dominant, the cocoa is just a bystander. Sea Salt, Hazelnut Butter, and Espresso complement the Bonnie range.
Brooklyn chocolate store
The quality obsession reflects itself in carefully balanced flavours such as seasonally changing cocoa beans in their blended chocolates, the finest natural ingredients and not mixing in any animal products. Keeping it plant-based opens the doors to vegans and health seeking indulgers. Rio Caribe in Dominican Republic provided Hispaniola type of raw cocoa beans in winter when I visited last. It shows off in the 83%cacao bar made from only three organic ingredients: cacao bean, coconut sugar and cacao butter.
I have tried their entire range and re-tasted dozen times my favourites. The only cacao invention of Fine & Raw chocolate I do not like is the Mesquite bar. The low GI mesquite has a powdery taste, and its carob-like sweetness overshadows the 58% cacao. Lucuma was added perhaps for an extra superfood effect, but also to balance the intervening mesquite. The Bonbon, and Lucuma & Vanilla bars were also not ideally balanced yet for my chocolatey intensity seeking palate.
Fine & Raw shopFine & Raw Brooklyn store
 
raw chocolate truffles Fine & Raw Brooklyn
The truffles’ flavours change daily so you can find either himalayan sea salt, chipotle,cinnamon, clove essence, dried orange peel, ginger, hazelnuts, lavender, lucuma powder, toasted sesame oil, tamari, dried strawberries, raspberry, rose essence, peppermint essence, espresso beans, matcha powder, whisky, and other delectable inspirations in the adorable dark chocolate concoctions.
The espresso bar offers seductions like the house hot chocolate and luscious shakes not sold anywhere else than at this brick and mortar Brooklyn shop. Plus the occasional “unicorns” show up for excitement.
https://youtu.be/4NqeLKJ4FAs

Chunky: between a chocolate bar and truffle

The marketable proof of how great the Fine & Raw chocolate is are collaborations with other strong local players in the food sector. Mulberry & Vine teases you at their checkout counter with a mini me version of the 70% square embellished with sea salt. At Organic Avenue after your liquid lunch, the Coconut Chunky fixes your craving for a crunchy substance. Like the Fine & Raw Truffle Chunky, the thick layer of dark chocolate coats the heavenly paste made with agave, coconut sugar, and cacao butter creating a caramel melting feel. My favourite from the perfectly sized, one and half ounce (42g), releases is the Almond Chunky where the bits of roasted almonds play the sexiest duet with the cocoa nib rawness of the cacao bean. This morsel is so addictive that I am grateful for the small size packing. Otherwise, I would devour a gallon with a large smile on my innocent childish face.
chocolate spreadraw chocolate
Hazelnut Chunky sourced the nuts from a hazelnut farm in Oregon. The Sweet Hazelnut Butter is also churned from the harvest and with its Chocolate Hazelnut Butter alteration was blended with FINE & RAW 60% couverture. The nirvana on Earth is though the lick the spoon until it melts Marcona Almond & Chocolate Butter. The best Spanish almonds are toasted in olive oil and salted for depth and richness, ground with their 70% cacao chocolate. They make one cocoa-free product. Perhaps inspired by the latin ladies working at the manufacture, the Coconut dulce de leche is made naturally from coconut sugar, coconut butter, water, vanilla, sea salt, and is far healthier alternative to this beloved latino gooey treat.
hot chocolate
You must come in to try also the unctuously dense house hot chocolate, you will lick your lips in a nirvana of earthly pleasures. I have not sipped on a more luscious and balanced hot chocolate yet, making the trip to the industrial edge of Bushwick in Brooklyn worth the ride. The indulgent goodness is served and sold not far from Roberta’s, the Italianate heartbreaker serving superb pizza, plus when inside the manufactory, you can taste the sublime cocoa/nut spreads and buy the freshest truffles.
Mon-Fri: 10am-6pm; Sat: 12noon-6pm
288 Seigel St, Brooklyn, NY 11206


Privacy Settings
We use cookies to enhance your experience while using our website. If you are using our Services via a browser you can restrict, block or remove cookies through your web browser settings. We also use content and scripts from third parties that may use tracking technologies. You can selectively provide your consent below to allow such third party embeds. For complete information about the cookies we use, data we collect and how we process them, please check our Privacy Policy
Youtube
Consent to display content from - Youtube
Vimeo
Consent to display content from - Vimeo
Google Maps
Consent to display content from - Google