Umami Mart

– Hopefully you got a chance to eat at Hawker Fare Oakland before it closed last weekend. Chef James Syhabout (who also opened Oakland’s Michelin-starred Commis) opened the original location of his Issan Thai restaurant in 2011, but Hawker Fare closed due to Oakland’s “rising wages, pricey real estate and competition for customers.” Although Hawker Fare was popular and garnered great reviews, Syhabout […]

Fact: A gin and tonic is the quintessential summer cocktail. My grandmother Margaret knew this and would serve the iconic drink from a gallon handle of Gordon’s gin topping it off with a lime and Schweppes tonic water. She made the switch over from Rye Manhattans after Memorial Day and it was gin and tonics […]

When selecting a mid-March cocktail for this article, I was tempted to go the easy route with a St. Patrick’s Day whiskey drink. Then this weekend, I had the fortune to dine at Magasin Wells (aka M.Wells), the critically acclaimed Québécois-American diner in Long Island City, Queens. M.Wells’ haute comfort food menu and greasy spoon […]

  Last week I wrote a post on the CKTL Jam event that took place at the Astor Center in NY, and I promised that this week I would share the recipe for the second of the two improv cocktails I created, as soon as I figured out what to call it.  I still haven’t figured out […]