Danny Bowien on Chinatown & Pork Pancakes

Confession.  We spend many hours of the day Chinatown, NYC.  Probably too many hours. 

But, we eat damn well, that's for sure.  It's clear, Chinatown has grown on us.  For the better.

We are smitten with this video of Danny Bowien on Nowness, a chat with the new golden boy chef on the block; his inspiration, what motivates him, why he loves what he does, and what he likes to eat (pork pancakes). 

Danny Bowien: Mission Chinese on Nowness.com.

It is true, the charm of the people of Chinatown is wildly endearing, family owned restaurants that make really good food, with little expectation of fame or notoriety in this crazy city.  It's an inspiration, to say the least. 

And, we know where we're going for lunch tomorrow....

Spodee - Wine With a Kick

We usually abandon red wines in summer for the crispier, somehow more hydrating whites.  But recently we tasted a red we can hang with during the summer (and winter for that matter), Spodee.  It's a bit of a freak wine - it tastes like...chocolate milk.  There's really no way to describe it (we were terrified at first), you're gonna have to try it for yourself.  It's quite delicious, but we're not surprised considering it's made by one of our living legends, Steve Grasse of Hendrick's and Art in the Age fame.

Buy it. Drink it. Mix it with a coke if you're feeling frisky.

Confused how to open the bottle?  No worries, they made you an awesome stop-animation to help you out!!

Your Hump Day Relief: Paula Deen

It's Wednesday (just in case you didn't get the memo), and we are confident our loyal readers of Gastronomista need some relief.  It's been a long day, a hilariously frustrating day full of crises, hero opportunities, and hair raising false alarms.  Ok, maybe it's just a typical day...

None the less...

We bring you... Paula Deen Riding Things::  a blog that offers witty collages of Paula...umm.. riding things AND templates for you to make your own scene of Ms Deen in action.

A few of our favorites:

Yeehaw!

The Very Hungry Paula Deen

Neverending Story, Y'all

Buttermobile

Click to experience one of the best gifs ever created.

That's Wild: The Tastes of the Last Frontier

Today in the New York Times, Oliver Strand and Joe Distefando dig into chefs' hunger for truly seasonal ingredients: wild harvestable fruits, flowers, nuts, leaves, pods and needles. They write, "Increasingly, in an era when truffles are farmed and Whole Foods sells fresh porcini, the ingredients that chefs seek are not the ones anyone can order; they’re the ones that few have ever heard of. They are the most unusual, not the most expensive. And even if they’re plentiful, they’re exclusive: you need either to know where to go and what to gather, or who to call." If you're in search of your own resource, start by talking to the farmer purveyors at your local greenmarket, go online to Vermont's Wild Gourmet Food, or head over to lower Manhattan's regular New Amsterdam Market.

Or head on out for a night out on the town.

Whether it is sea buckthorn sorbet at Toque in Montreal, trout with sumac berry at Tennessee's Blackberry Farm, or licorice fern at Eleven Madison Park, chefs are utilizing the best, most exciting, most unusual ingredients found in the American wild.

Top Row: Nasturtium, Eucalyptus Bark & Lichen, Pine Needles

Middle: Yarrow, Mustard Flowers, Radish Flowers

Bottom: Eucaluptus Leaves, Chickweed, Dandelion Greens
all photos via NYT

Jeff Ross of Blackberry Farm forages nearly 5,000 acres of woodlands for

(clockwise from top) sumac berries, wood sorrel, toothwort, creasy greens

artichokes and American Persimmons

Chef Daniel Patterson of San Francisco's Coi, clipping lemony-tasting sorrel buds

Vermont Black Walnut from Wild Gourmet Foods

Poached mountain trout with sumac berries

Coi's smoked beet with sorrel fromage blanc

scattered with wood sorrel, chickweed, and alyssum flowers