Duck Duck Goosefeather

Plus: Melissa Clark Talks Weeknight Cooking, My Parents in NYC, and Cookbook Launch Week.

Hey everyone,

I’m in a New York State of mind! Truly, I’m having so much fun here… I’m starting to craft my “Why I Moved Back to NY” essay that’ll be framed next to the “Why I Moved to L.A.” essay that I wrote eleven years ago. Of course I’m kidding because it’s SO expensive to live in NY, we won’t be moving back for a while, but as I get older it’s hard to deny that this city’s in my bones (it helps that I was born here and that 99% of my family lives on the east coast).

Also: we have such great friends here. For example, our friends Mark and Diana moved to Irvington NY from L.A. last year and we zipped up to see them this weekend.

As you can see, they’re thriving! Their new house is so cute and, more importantly, they live near a fantastic restaurant called Goosefeather (the chef is Dale Talde from Top Chef).

I loved the decor of the place.

And the food was fantastic! We ate crispy dry-aged beef potstickers with spicy mustard that singed Craig’s nostrils:

Crispy shrimp bao with pickled daikon, General Tso's sauce, and cabbage.

Crab rice with Jalapeño Aioli and Tobiko.

Char Siu Berkshire Pork Belly with Shaved Apple, Onion, Coconut, Chinese Mustard.

And the duck that you see at the top of this newsletter was a 1/2 whole roast crown of duck with Red Cooked Duck Sticky Rice, Candied Peanuts, Lettuce, Drunken Fruit, Caramelized Hoisin.

Dessert was Mango Shaved Ice with Candied Coconut, Tropical Fruit, Pound Cake, Chili.

What a fantastic meal! It’d be worth moving back to NY just to eat here again.

Before I continue on with my NY trip, I have a New York icon on my podcast this week.

That’s right: NYT cooking columnist and author of the brand new cookbook Dinner in One, Melissa Clark, swings by the pod today and talks all about weeknight cooking: we talk sheet pans, doing dishes, cleaning clams, feeding kids, and how she’d roast a chicken for a Ultimate Roast Chicken Contest.

It’s a great talk! Listen to the whole thing here or wherever you listen to podcasts.

My parents showed up here in NY on Saturday to help celebrate the launch of my new cookbook which comes out TOMORROW!

I met them for dinner on the UES at Bibloquet (one of their favorite restaurants) and then, last night, we brought them downtown to Joe’s Pub to see the incredible Alysha Umphress in her cabaret there.

The show was exhilarating (another thing that made me want to move back to NY! We knew half the audience, including my co-author, Gideon!) and then we had a lovely dinner at the Union Square Cafe.

Highlights included my dad’s heirloom tomato salad:

And my duck (I’m eating a lot of duck this week):

The apple cake for dessert led Craig to recite his “apple cake” monologue from the movie Carrie (ask him to do it sometime, it’s a thing).

As I mentioned in the last newsletter, this THURSDAY I’ll be signing cookbooks with Gideon and our illustrator Justin “Squigs” Robertson at The Drama Bookshop here in NY at 7 PM. Tickets are still available! (Only 9 left as of this posting.)

Get yours now and let’s meet in person!

Also: as your books arrive this week, be sure to post about it on Instagram and tag me in the picture (@amateurgourmet) and I’ll be sure to share it :)

Now for some links:

• Sad account of the final days of Anthony Bourdain (NYT);

• Check out Calamityware… what a hoot for plate-lovers like me (via Ruth Reichl’s newsletter)

• The great food Instagram vibe shift (Eater);

• Is It Ottolenghi Enough? (Taste)

That’s all for today, folks!

Have a great Monday and don’t forget to head out to your local bookstore and ask for “Give My Swiss Chards to Broadway” tomorrow!

Your pal,
Adam