Latest news with #GrubStreet
Time Out
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
The Four Horsemen is finally getting a follow-up restaurant, a whole acclaimed decade later
Ten years after James Murphy and crew quietly revolutionized the wine bar scene with The Four Horsemen, the team is finally ready for their sophomore act—and they're not straying far. I Cavallini, a 70-seat Italian(ish) restaurant, opens Wednesday, July 16 just across the street from their Williamsburg cult classic, with chef Nick Curtola again at the helm. If The Four Horsemen is a cozy vinyl-spun whisper of a restaurant, I Cavallini is its roomier, moodier sibling with a passport full of Italian stamps and just enough swagger to pull off eel toast. (Yes, that's a thing—crispy-fried with pine nuts and golden raisins.) The name translates to 'the little horses' and the vibe lands somewhere between Florentine trattoria and downtown wine haunt with vintage glassware, reclaimed ceiling beams and an actual sculpture nicknamed Randy. While the initial vision leaned entirely Italian, Curtola and his team wisely zagged. 'A lot of that food works because you're in Italy and you're in some beautiful city in some beautiful old restaurant and there's a nonna in back doing the cooking,' Curtola told Grub Street. 'It felt weird being in Brooklyn trying to re-create that.' So instead of rigid authenticity, I Cavallini channels Italy's soul with a Brooklyn filter: mussel panzanella with lovage and pickled green tomatoes, nervetti salad tossed with chive-blossom vinegar and a bluefin tuna dish with chervil gremolata and rare risina beans imported from Umbria. On the drinks side, it's a full pour: a 100-bottle all-Italian natural wine list (assembled with a wink to late partner and wine savant Justin Chearno) and original cocktails by JoJo Colonna of Attaboy. Think: a Prosecco-meets-absinthe Milo Spritz, a tomato-gin Pomozoni and the mezcal-soaked Cavallo Giallo. Desserts are anything but an afterthought. Honey gelato and melon sorbet get served in Depression-era glassware, while the tiramisu, inspired by Florence's famed Trattoria Cammillo, gets built to order with overnight-soaked ladyfingers and espresso from cult roaster Maru. Many Four Horsemen day-ones are crossing the street to help bring this new vision to life—chef de cuisine Ben Zook, sous-chefs Jonathan Vogt and Max Baez and wine director Flo Barth among them. And with music-geek-worthy acoustics, a menu that sidesteps clichés and just enough sentimental detail, I Cavallini already feels like more than just a sequel.
Herald Sun
03-07-2025
- Health
- Herald Sun
What is protein washing?
It seems like everyone is focusing on meeting their protein goals more than ever, and food companies have noticed, adding 'high protein' to even the most seemingly unhealthy snacks. Protein is constantly talked about by everyone from gym bros, podcasters, to wellness fanatics and celebrities. While a high-protein diet used to rely mainly on servings of bland chicken and rice, it feels like we have more brightly packaged, sweetly flavoured options high in the macronutrient available to us than ever before. No matter which aisle of the grocery store you walk down, you're likely to see countless products loudly stating their protein content as a marketing point. From yoghurts and bread loaves to bars and popcorn, you don't even need to inspect the nutrition facts on the box anymore – many products printing their protein content in larger, more eye-catching text than the brand or product name. Selling the world on the high-protein diet Fitness and health podcasters say protein is the key tool to improve muscle function and maintain strength as you grow old for the health-conscious and aging, while women are encouraged to up their intake during menopause to reap its benefits. No matter what demographic you fit into, it's likely there's a line of marketing for why you should eat more protein. There's money to be made via the protein washing of regular pantry staples. With the popularity of strength training coinciding with the returned glorification of thinness, some people are turning to protein snacks to inch them closer to their aesthetic goals. And food manufacturers are cashing in, promoting even the most seemingly unhealthy food as 'high protein' to entice the protein-conscious consumers. Food-and-beverage expert, Andrea Hernández, told Grub Street this trend of repackaging unhealthier foods as nutritious feels like 'just a rebrand of Y2K Atkins'. She suggested that advertising's current focus on selling 'high-protein' foods is just the latest buzzword, after the eras of 'low carb', 'low fat' and 'high fibre'. 'The protein aisle is basically the Wild West right now' Director of the Institute of Sports Sciences and Medicine at Florida State University, Michael Ormsbee, told Men's Health, 'there's no universally accepted definition' of 'high protein'. While there are of course some limitations to what products you can sticking a 'high protein' sticker on, Nutritionist Brooke Kelly tells Body+Soul 'the protein aisle is basically the Wild West right now — brands have gotten so good at slapping 'high protein' on everything that you start feeling virtuous just by looking at it.' When faced with a regular or protein-heavy option of the same product, you're of course likely to reach for the latter if you're trying to meet your macros for the day. But while higher in the nutrient than the classic version of the food item, 'high protein' doesn't always mean the product will get you noticeably closer to hitting your daily recommended intake. As one Body+Soul writer found, some products appear to be charging consumers a 'protein tax', upping the cost of near identical products with slightly higher protein levels (some as little as a gram or two). This isn't a particularly new phenomenon either. There was a lawsuit over alleged misleading marketing of Cheerios in 2018, after claims that its protein variant only contained marginally more protein than the classic product. Other brands' serving sizes seem to be geared more toward promising the highest possible serve of the nutrient, instead of the serve the average consumer is more likely to eat. And when it comes to the health side of the high-protein market, Kelly says a lot of the products sold as protein-rich are essentially 'candy with a protein sticker.' 'Just because something says protein doesn't mean it's doing your body any favors. Some of these 'protein bars' are sugar bombs in disguise, packed with fillers and ingredients that sound like they were invented in a chemistry lab', she notes. 'And plant-based meat alternatives? Love the concept, but sometimes they're so processed they might as well come with a warning label.' Her advice? 'We should read the label and ask: Is this protein from real, simple food, or just junk with a protein boost? Because quality always beats quantity. Don't let marketing fool you.' Originally published as What is protein washing?
Irish Examiner
21-06-2025
- General
- Irish Examiner
Darina Allen: It's time to give gooseberries and elderflowers their kitchen spotlight
Quick, the 'catch it if you can' gooseberry and elderflower season is here, but it'll be gone in a flash. I'm sure you've noticed the fluffy white blossoms on the elder trees, not just in the hedgerows around the countryside, but there are plenty in the cities too. Elder is one of our native Irish trees. The flowers have a musky smell which isn't exactly enticing, so some think it's reminiscent of cat urine. But don't let that put you off, both the flavour and aroma are transformed to a wonderfully muscat richness during cooking. Furthermore, the combination of green gooseberry and elderflowers is a marriage made in heaven. Nature has cleverly arranged for the gooseberry and elderflower to be in season at the same time. Wonder who first discovered the combination? I first read about this magical combo of flavours in the late Jane Grigson's Good Things, one of my most treasured cookbooks, the fourth edition has just been republished by Grub Street, bang on time for the gooseberry season. Jane devoted a whole chapter in Good Things to gooseberries. I was thrilled when it landed on my desk a few weeks ago, it brought childhood memories flooding back of picking the green gooseberries off the prickly branches with the promise of gooseberry pie for supper. Something I am perfectly happy to do because the reward is so delicious. However, a few years ago, one of the gardeners showed me how to strip the berries from the bush without getting scratched, so here's the tip: cup your hand over the leaves on the branch close to the main stem, then pull your hand firmly towards you. The leaves cover the thorns, protecting your hands. Otherwise, you'll need to wear a leather glove to protect your hand from the spikes, a much slower method. You'll need to top and tail each gooseberry before cooking. A zen activity provided you're not in a hurry – lean into it and enjoy. At present, gooseberries are hard and green, the recent rain helped them to swell on the bushes, but they are still super tart. They will soften and ripen to a rich red colour later in the summer. Certainly not for nibbling raw but perfect for tarts, compotes, crumbles, jellies, fools and fritters. By the way, gooseberries freeze brilliantly. Just fill them into strong Ziploc plastic bags, they won't adhere to each other and are easy to top and tail while frozen. For best results, use within 6 months. Gooseberries are also super nutritious Elderflowers too, are not just a pretty flower, they have many essential vitamins, including vitamins E, B1, B2, and B3 complex and a little vitamin C. They're known for their anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antioxidant properties. All very important. Later in the year, elderberries have a whole other set of nutrients and a much higher vitamin C content to help protect against winter colds and flu. The substantial amount of fibre helps to prevent constipation but they're not around until autumn so let's enjoy the elderflowers and gooseberries while they last. Roast Pork with Crackling and Green Gooseberry Sauce recipe by:Darina Allen You will need to order the joint ahead to ensure that the rind is still on – no rind means no crackling! Servings 8 Course Main Ingredients For the pork: 2.25kg loin of organic free-range pork with the skin rind intact coarse salt or Maldon sea salt 2 tbsp chopped herbs (parsley, thyme, chives, marjoram, savoury, perhaps very little sage or rosemary) salt and freshly ground pepper For the sauce: 275g fresh green gooseberries stock syrup to cover - 110ml water, 75g sugar – 175ml approximately a knob of butter (optional) Method For the pork: Preheat the oven to 190°C/Gas Mark 5. Score the skin at 5mm intervals running with the grain – let your butcher do this if possible because the skin, particularly of free-range pork, can be quite tough. This is to give you really good crackling and make it easier to carve later. Dry brine the pork. Put the pork skin-side down on a chopping board, season well with crunchy sea salt and black pepper and sprinkle with freshly chopped herbs. Allow to dry brine for several hours or overnight. Dab off with kitchen paper. Roll the joint tightly and secure with a slipknot, then repeat at the other end of the loin. Work your way towards the centre, tying the joint at about 4cm intervals. Sprinkle some salt over the rind and roast the joint on a wire rack in a roasting tin. Allow 25-28 minutes per 450g. Baste here and there with the rendered pork fat. While the meat is in the oven, follow the recipe to make the gooseberry sauce. Just before the end of the cooking time, remove the pork to another roasting tin. Increase the oven temperature to 230°C/Gas Mark 8 and return the joint to the oven to further crisp the crackling. When the joint is cooked the juices should run clear. Put the pork onto a hot carving dish and leave it to rest for 10-15 minutes in a low oven before carving. Serve two slices of pork per person with some gooseberry sauce and garnish with rocket. Rustic roast potatoes and a seasonal green salad would also be great. For the sauce: Dissolve the sugar in the water and boil together for 2 minutes. Store in a covered jar in the refrigerator until needed. Top and tail the gooseberries, put into a stainless steel saucepan, barely cover with stock syrup, bring to the boil and simmer until the fruit bursts. Taste. Stir in a small knob of butter if you like but it is very good without it. JR Ryall's Green Gooseberry Tartlets recipe by:Darina Allen This is a terrific recipe to have up your sleeve. These tartlets are ideal to serve after a simple lunch or even a formal dinner. Servings 30 Course Dessert Ingredients 1 quantity Cream Pastry (see below), chilled flour, for dusting 700g green gooseberries, topped and tailed 220-290g caster sugar softly whipped cream, to serve For the pastry: 110g plain flour 110g cold salted butter, cut into 5mm cubes 150ml cold fresh cream Method For the pastry: Place the flour into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and then add the butter. With the mixer on low speed, rub the butter into the flour. Keep an eye on the mixture as it is being worked by the paddle. If overworked, the mixture will form a shortbread-like ball! Before this happens, when the butter and flour are on the cusp of coming together, pour in all of the cold cream and continue to mix on a low speed until a smooth pastry forms, about 1 minute. Wrap the pastry with baking paper and place in the refrigerator to chill overnight. Always roll cream pastry straight from the fridge. If the pastry comes to room temperature it will be too soft to handle! For tartlets: Place the cold pastry on a generously floured work surface. Sprinkle flour over the top and roll to a thickness of 3mm, using a rolling pin. Cut the pastry into disks using a 7.5cm round cutter. Transfer the disks of pastry to a shallow, flat-bottom bun (muffin) pan, lining each well with a circle. Place the lined pan in the refrigerator to rest for 15 minutes. Shake excess flour from the pastry scraps, gather them together, wrap in baking paper and place in the refrigerator. The scraps can be re-rolled again when they are properly chilled and used to make another batch of tartlets. Cut the gooseberries in half and arrange them cut side up on top of the pastry. It takes 7-8 halves to fill each tartlet depending on the size of the berries. Sprinkle a scant teaspoon of the sugar over the berries in each tartlet and bake straight away for about 20 minutes, until the sugar begins to caramelise and the pastry is a deep golden colour. While the tartlets are baking, line a heatproof tray with parchment paper and sprinkle a thin layer of sugar over the paper. Remove the tartlets from the oven and transfer them from the bun pan to the sugared baking paper while still hot. Arrange on a pretty plate and serve warm with softly whipped cream. From Ballymaloe Desserts by JR Ryall published by Phaidon Elderflower Fritters recipe by:Darina Allen These are super easy to make, very crispy and once you've tasted one, you won't be able to stop! Serve these straight away with delicious elderflower cream. Servings 4 Preparation Time 10 mins Cooking Time 10 mins Total Time 20 mins Course Dessert Ingredients For the fritters: 110g plain flour pinch of salt 1 organic egg 150ml lukewarm water 8-12 elderflower heads caster sugar sunflower oil for frying For the cream: 300ml cream 1-2 tablespoons elderflower cordial Method Sieve the flour and salt into a bowl. Make a well in the centre and drop in the egg. Using a whisk, bring in the flour gradually from the edges, slowly adding in the water at the same time. Heat the oil in a deep-fat fryer to 180°C. Hold the flowers by the stalks and dip into the batter (add a little more water or milk if the batter is too thick). Fry until golden brown in the hot oil. Drain on kitchen paper, toss in caster sugar and serve immediately with elderflower cream. For the cream: To make simply add the elderflower cordial to the cream and whisk lightly. This should be very softly whipped. Seasonal Journal Common Knowledge – Introductory to Fermentation on June 28 This one-day course takes place at the Common Knowledge Centre in Kilfenora, Co. Clare. Enter the realm of plant and fungi-based knowledge to explore the ecology of microbes, engage in discussions on how to reduce food waste, incorporate food medicine, decolonise our food-ways, as well as take home new skills and ferments to steward and share. How to preserve and transform fresh vegetables How ferments play a role in a healthy gut biome and nutrition The science behind fermentation The diverse cultural practices and lifeways that inform contemporary fermentation — to give you a foundation rooted in historical, cultural, and practical methods.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
NYC restaurateur claims Patti Smith reduced waitress to tears over bread service: ‘The James Corden of her day'
New York City restaurateur Keith McNally has claimed that singer Patti Smith was 'incredibly rude' to his waitstaff. McNally owns a number of famous food spots in the city, including Balthazar, Pastis, and Minetta Tavern. He also made headlines in 2022 when he briefly banned James Corden from Balthazar after the actor was allegedly 'abusive' to the restaurant's staff. In an excerpt of his forthcoming memoir, I Regret Almost Everything: A Memoir, shared with New York Magazine's Grub Street, McNally remembers working at the One Fifth restaurant in the Seventies. As the restaurant's at the time, he often saw Smith and her then-boyfriend, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Mapplethorpe's ex, the late Sam Wagstaff, dining at the iconic spot. According to McNally, the then-famous couple were not the easiest customers. He made multiple claims about the 'Gloria' singer's unkind behaviour at the restaurant. 'Smith and Mapplethorpe could be very difficult to wait on,' the restaurant owner writes in the memoir. 'Smith, unfortunately, was incredibly rude to the servers. It's impossible for me to listen to a Patti Smith song today without remembering her reducing a waitress to tears because she forgot to put bread on the table.' McNally notes that Mapplethorpe, meanwhile, 'never tried to belittle' his waitstaff. The Independent has contacted Smith's assistant for comment. On March 30, McNally also shared an Instagram post about his experience with Smith at One Fifth. In the caption, he reiterated his claims that Smith was 'unbelievably rude to servers' and that the staff dreaded her visits. 'I spent four years at One Fifth and Smith was - by a country mile - the customer least liked by the servers. In fact, there was always a squabble whenever she'd arrive because none of the staff wanted to wait on her. She was the James Cordon of her day,' he wrote. He went on to praise Wagstaff, saying that there are 'only three people' he wished he'd gotten to know better, and 'Sam Wagstaff is one of them.' Back in October 2022, McNally branded former Late Late Show host James Corden a 'tiny cretin of a man' and banned him from Balthazar over his alleged treatment of the staff. He called Corden 'the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago' and said, in true restaurant lingo, that he '86'd' Corden. McNally went on to describe 'two examples of the funny man's treatment of my staff,' including an instance where Corden was allegedly 'extremely nasty' and 'yelled like crazy' at staff. The Gavin & Stacey actor later admitted that he made 'a rude, rude comment' to a restaurant worker and said 'it was never my intention' to upset the staff at Balthazar. McNally rescinded the ban shortly after and claimed that Corden had 'apologized profusely.' 'But anyone magnanimous enough to apologise to a deadbeat layabout like me (and my staff) doesn't deserve to be banned from anywhere. Especially Balthazar,' he wrote in an Instagram post at the time. 'All is forgiven.' I Regret Almost Everything: A Memoir is published by Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, LLC, on May 6.
Boston Globe
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
GrubStreet's executive director to step down
'We have grown and flourished beyond my wildest expectations,' she said in a statement. 'With success at our backs and a bright future ahead, the time is right for me to pass the baton.' Under Bridburg's direction, GrubStreet expanded from a small organization with two classrooms into a writing center that has worked with nearly 60,000 adult students over the years, awarding more than 4,000 scholarships. Advertisement The organization also raised some $8 million to build out its airy new location in the Seaport, where Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up But the Seaport move coincided with what was perhaps the organization's biggest controversy: Fallout from The article roiled the nonprofit, prompting its board to announce it would hire an independent expert to review the situation. 'Bluntly, we are appalled by the disconnect between GrubStreet's stated values and the alleged behavior by some that has come to light,' the board's executive committee wrote in an email at the time. 'GrubStreet is meant to be a nurturing and supportive environment.' Advertisement Four years later, board chair Sharissa Jones praised Bridburg's leadership. 'Under Eve's direction, GrubStreet has revolutionized how we think about access to writing education and how we teach it,' she said in a statement. 'I am confident that we will find another amazing leader to chart our evolution in the years ahead.' Michael Bobbit, executive director of the Mass Cultural Council, called GrubStreet 'one of Boston's most important cultural resources.' 'GrubStreet's mission of ensuring that all voices are heard and that every human story is respected is even more urgent in these times,' he said in a statement. The writing center has worked with thousands of teens over the years, and offered year-long novel and memoir incubators. 'I've watched GrubStreet grow from a scrappy, DIY writing center to a huge and thriving community of teachers and storytellers,' Steve Almond, an author, GrubStreet instructor, and occasional Globe contributor, said in a statement. 'It's supported me and other writers, allowed us to teach thousands of students, and created a space where writers of all sorts have come together to feel more inspired and less alone.' Malcolm Gay can be reached at
