Here’s a familiar restaurant scene: Dinner is over, the plates have been cleared and the server discreetly drops the bill on the table. But there’s something less familiar at the bottom of the check — a service charge, tacked on with little explanation. Questions immediately swirl. Is this a tip? Does it go to the…
There are two kinds of carrot cake. The first, often found next to the bran muffins, emphasizes the carrot as vegetable and icing as frippery to be rationed, and firmly declares itself to be a healthful baked good. The second uses the carrot as an alibi for a generous spackling of cream cheese frosting so…
In the early 2000s, Roger Dahle attended an outdoor pancake breakfast cooked on a commercial flattop at his local Rotary Club, a civic organization, in Utah. “I love cooking breakfast outdoors, but you couldn’t buy an outdoor griddle for home use,” Mr. Dahle said. So the entrepreneur set out to create one. He experimented with…
Good morning. Happy Mother’s Day to all who celebrate. My mom sure didn’t. She called it a Hallmark holiday and resisted all efforts to take her to brunch, a meal she loathed with passion and eloquence. Once I tried serving her a mimosa. She gave me a withering side-eye and didn’t touch it. For my…
As hungry Italians at the Festival for the Fava Bean lined up in a field in the Roman countryside to order fava and pecorino cheese, fava and porchetta, cream of fava on top of pasta or simply brown bags loaded with fresh fava, the manager of an adjacent garden spoke of the witch-fingered legume with…
Mother’s Day approaches, and whether you gather with loved ones or ignore it altogether (or, if you’re a mom, slink off to spend the day doing whatever you like, all by yourself — a thrilling thought), it never hurts to have something good to eat. Last week, I asked whether you all go out or…
In 2018, Jing Gao opened a holiday gift guide in an online newsletter from the organic spice purveyor Diaspora Co. to find a happy surprise. The soon-to-be-launched first product from her new company — the Sichuan chile oil brand Fly by Jing — was among the featured picks from Diaspora’s founder, Sana Javeri Kadri. After…
Good morning. Is there an American cuisine? My friend Ned says there is: It’s the food Americans eat. That’s kung pao chicken and spaghetti with meat sauce. It’s fried chicken, cheese enchiladas, latkes and blueberry muffins. We forage for deliciousness. We celebrate what we find and make it our own. So: oxtail and butter beans.…
The technique is wonderful, even in Western preparations, and solves many problems home cooks have with salmon, namely the spatter when searing, the potential for sticking to the pan, and the struggle to keep the fish moist and juicy inside while developing plenty of browned flavor or crisp skin. To get an idea, I bought…
During a recent weekday lunch rush at his restaurant on the Upper West Side, Richard Lam hurried around the dining room fielding orders from his regulars for dishes like wonton soup, General Tso’s chicken and fried rice. Moments earlier, Mr. Lam recommended a plate of crispy chicharrones de pollo to a first-time customer who learned…