Russian Food Without Pretension

Just when you’d like your next cookbook to transport you to a beach lounge, tall drink in hand, along comes “Beyond the North Wind” by Darra Goldstein, a writer and scholar whose specialty is Russian food, to show “how a harsh climate, poor soil and limited availability of foods” can inspire a cuisine that suits…

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Grab and Go Mango Lassi

This simplest of smoothies, fairly thick, deliciously tart-sweet and fragrant, makes no claims of enhancing your immune system, ridding your face of wrinkles or saving your marriage. Made with high-quality Alphonso mangoes and Ronnybrook Farm yogurt, this new mango lassi is made by Monsieur Singh — a company founded by Karan Gera, an entrepreneur —…

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Dinner Theater California-Style

First, there was “Sideways” the novel, and then the Academy Award-winning film about a guy who takes a friend on a California wine tour to show that pinot noir is better than merlot. Now it will be onstage presented by the Peccadillo Theater Company and Close Quarter Productions. Called “Sideways the Experience,” it was adapted…

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Mexico’s Last Countercultural Coast

Stepping off the plane in Puerto Escondido, on the Pacific Coast of Oaxaca, I gulped the thick, tropical air. After three days in Mexico’s high-elevation capital, inhaling the vital, pungent smell of sea and damp vegetation felt like a resuscitation. I hired an “authorized” taxi and drove northwest from the airport, passing papaya farms and…

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