Swanky Sushi in NYC
Plus: A Bear Wedding, College Reunions, and Jonathan Melendez Talks Food and Fatherhood.
Hey everyone,
Live from New York… it’s me!
I feel kind of bad because I’m sitting in this Chelsea apartment that Craig is using while editing his feature instead of being outside on this glorious fall day, but I have a job to do and that job is to tell you about swanky sushi.
Last night our friends Jim and Todd (see above!) made a reservation at Shuko, a high-end sushi spot right near the Strand. We had a little trouble finding it because the place is unmarked: you know you’re in the right spot when you see a door with dried flowers hanging from it.
To start, I had a cocktail called the Milano-Hanahon which had gin, Campari, Rosato, yuzu, honey, and a Shiso flower.
(Is that the best food photo I’ve ever taken? Could be!)
Then came the goods. Our waitress was wearing a mask, even though all the other servers weren’t (which was her right), but it made it almost impossible to hear what everything was. Thankfully, online I can see that this was their signature dish: caviar with toro tartare and milk bread.
I didn’t get a picture of the milk bread in the shot (even though I’m a famous food photographer now) but it brought all of these pieces together in the most decadent way. What an unforgettable bite of food.
Then came the sushi. Again, I can’t tell you what everything was, but I think the pictures speak for themselves.
My favorite bites were probably the scallops on the right in the 2nd to last picture and then the uni in the middle of the picture above. The fact that you can open up a spiky sea urchin from the bottom of the ocean and get something that tastes like butter is either proof of a higher being or a very lucky trick of the universe.
All of this sushi excitement came on the heels of an eventful weekend in Poughkeepsie, New York, where our friends Larry and Ricky got married.
The wedding itself was gorgeous: it took place in their backyard and there was wonderful food and dancing and moving speeches and toasts and cake. What more could you want? We even got this gift from our friend Andre aka Shaquanda of Shaquanda’s hot sauce.
The craziest part of this wedding was that it also operated as a big college reunion for me. I went to Emory from 1997 to 2001 (that’s how I met Ricky: we were in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum together… he played Pseudolus and I played Hysterium which you might consider typecasting). Here I am at brunch with a bunch of old college friends, including Travis who directed that production.
He’s sitting next to my pal Shirin (who I went to visit in Elberton, Georgia ten years ago to write about Eid-Al-Adha) and Kristen, who I stayed with in San Francisco when I was working on my second book. Also present: my friends Lisa and Merideth and Katy and several others. It was wild!
On Sunday, there was a wedding brunch at the Culinary Institute of America, which was a real treat to get to go see (I’ve been aware of it since reading Michael Ruhlman’s books in the early aughts).
All of the food was top notch, as you’d expect.
What a wedding!
Sorry I’ve been away from the podcast for a bit: it’s gotten quite a bit busy with the new book coming out. Have you pre-ordered your copy? It arrives next week! Here’s my niece Ella with hers:
As for the podcast, my guest this week is Jonathan Melendez of The Candid Appetite, who — along with his partner Julian — recently became a dad.
So today we talk all about Food and Fatherhood. You can listen to our whole conversation here or wherever you listen to podcasts:
Now for today’s links:
Chicken in a salt crust? Color me intrigued! (Taste);
Pistachio cake with chocolate ganache… want now (The Guardian);
Edd Kimber spills the tea about The Great British Bake Off (The Boy Who Bakes).
That’s all for this week, folks! If you missed Thursday’s paid-subscriber’s only e-mail, here’s what you missed: corn on a sourdough pizza, pickled mustard seeds in my smoked trout dip, Rent-il soup from the Broadway cookbook, and even more links. Don’t miss the next one!
Okay, time to hit the city streets. See you back here on Thursday!
Your pal,
Adam
Variety of food love
As always ,wonderful.