The Importance of Being...Inspired

...I'm trying to take better advantage of the city, and see what other chefs are doing from my ever-growing list of restaurants to check out.  On a line cook's pay, that's certainly not easy, but at least on my birthday, Boyfriend was picking up the tab!

So for my birthday dinner I chose Degustation, one of the top restaurants on my list.  Serving a menu of small plates from an open kitchen surrounded by only 19 seats, it's definitely a restaurant designed with industry folks and food & wine enthusiasts in mind...

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Lemon Cucumber & Tomato Salad

My zucchini plants keeled over last week. I had so much hope for them, cared for them, and resisted eating the flowers so that they could produce fruit. Alas, after battling off fungus gnats, aphids, and even maggots, it was stem rot that finally did them in. I stared sadly at the orange fungus that had eaten halfway through the base of the plant and knew there was nothing I could do to save them.

The zucchini plants weren’t the only ones I mourned last week. I’m also growing an heirloom cucumber known as Lemon Cucumbers (when they’re ripe they are the color and shape of lemons)...

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Call Me Cookie

Mike*, one of our garde manger cooks just took a few days off to help his girlfriend move from Syracuse to Brooklyn. When Mike returned, Javier, the Spanish-speaking pastry cook greeted him with a loud and enthusiastic “Cookie! We missed you Cookie!” The sous-chef turned to me and asked, “Why do you guys call him Cookie?” ...

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Watching my Garden Grow

Yes, outside of working a lot, all I’ve been up to these days is obsessing over my plants. It’s hypnotic, relaxing and exciting all at the same time. Every morning before work I tend to my little urban garden – watering if necessary, and cleaning up any dried leaves and flowers. Afterward, I leave the balcony door open, sit down at the dining room table with my coffee and my laptop and just watch. I love seeing honey bees come and go. If they’re doing a good job of pollinating, maybe we’ll actually get some zucchini or cucumbers soon.

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