Wow, Wow, Wallse!

Hello Foodies,

We went to a fabulous restaurant last night - Wallse - Chef Kurt Gutenbrunner's elegant West Village restaurant. It was the calm in the middle of this holiday storm that has taken over our lives and our city! (FYI - I know that the "e" in Wallse is supposed to have an accent but I do not have access to one with this program - please forgive me.)

The occasion for gathering at this restaurant was a celebration for our dear friend, Karin Lundell, who just made partner at Morrison Cohen LLP. The evening was hosted by her marvelous partner, Frances Cassidy. Karin handles trusts and estates and the perfect person to help you get your affairs in order.

Now back to the food - it is amazing. To see photos of everything that I am about to mention - click on http://www.wallse.com. This is what we all ate for appetizers and highly recommend each: Spatzle with braised rabbit, Brussels sprouts, corn and mushrooms (signature appetizer), Chilled Maine lobster with potato rosti, fennel and lemon vinaigrette, and the Hamachi, avocado and sweet tomatoes with spicy marinade.

For Entrees, two of us had the Crispy cod strudel with braised baby carrots, tarragon and carrot juice (but more like a foam, yummy), and two had the Wiener Schnitzel with potato-cucumber salad and lingonberries. I was never wild about Wiener Schnitzel but now I know that I have been eating it in the wrong places - this WS is perfection.

All of the above was matched with celebratory champagne - a Louis Roederer and followed by a medium-bodied red, a G. Heinrich 2004 St. Laurent.

Then we finished with desserts - three of us shared the Chocolate Sorbet with blood orange Granite and crispy pumpernickel and one of us had a Sheep's milk blue cheese. We highly recommend the herbel teas - peppermint and lemon myrtle, and the melange.

If you go, let us know what you eat at Wallse!

Enjoy,

the Forks

Blogging Downunder!

Hello Foodies,

For the next two weeks, Tour de Forks will be blogging to you from Melbourne, Australia - bringing you most delicious foodie news that Melbourne has to offer.

Stay tuned!

the Forks

Announcing the New Website!!!!!

Hello Foodies,

We're announcing the new and dazzling Tour de Forks website. Now you can enjoy slideshows with fabulous pictures showing highlights from our tours to Sicily and Puglia and Australia. For a sneak preview...look!
For the real deal - all you have to do is click here:

http://www.tourdeforks.com

Let us know what you think about the new Tour de Forks!

Enjoy,

the Forks

Bubbles that Sparkle!

Hello Foodies,

Anybody see the article in the Times on Wednesday about California champagnes? Here's the link - http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/20/dining/20pour.html. I'm curious and ready to taste the Schramsberg sparkling wines. Has anyone out there tasted them? If so, let us know your favorites? I must admit that I've been drinking more sparklings from Italy, Spain and Australia. And French Champagne too, of course! Ooh la la to all of them, especially this time of year.

Let us know if this is something to fuss about! If we find out first, we'll let you know!

Cheers,

the Forks

For the Pretzel Lovers in Your Life!

Hello Foodies,

Of all the holiday treats floating around the office these days, I have found my favorite! Everything Pretzels from Callie's Pretzel Factory in Cresco, PA. But you don't have to go that far to get them, visit http://wwwcalliescandy.com and make your purchases online.

I love them and they do have everything on them - different kinds of seeds, salt, and garlic! Yum! But the best part of these pretzels is that they are baked to perfection giving you the perfect crunch. I'm ready to order every kind they have and work my way down the list!

Happy Holiday Crunching!

the Forks

The Caviar Club!

Hello Foodies,

Everyone knows about the caviar crisis and this is the season when it's wonderful to be eating caviar. Our dear friends, Frances Cassidy and Karin Lundell, brought over some American Caviar that they purchased at Zabars. It's called "Hackleback Sturgeon!" It's priced nicely too. We enjoyed it and enjoyed it again on the second day! You can go to Zabar's online or in person to purchase some. Here's the link: http://www.zabars.com.

We have to stick together in this caviar crisis so please let us know your caviar favorites and where you're purchasing from.

Enjoy,

the Forks

Break Out the Brisket!

Hello Foodies,

Today I've been hearing about everyone's Hanukah parties with lots of latkes and best of all - the brisket. Everyone seems to have their own special recipe with one designated supreme brisket-maker in the family. I can't believe I have never made one. I can almost remember my Mom's recipe - using Lipton's onion soup mix and ketchup - sounds strange but it came out delicious! I'm feeling challenged....it's time for me to make a brisket. So send me your brisket recipes and tell me why yours is the best!

Thanks!

the Forks

If It Takes A Village - Let It Be Congee Village!

Hello Foodies,

I know that everyone in the City has their favorite Chinese restaurant and I wanted to let you know about ours and that is Congee Village. Last weekend, a group gathered there for a farewell dinner for our friend Tj Robinson who is moving from NYC to DC for his job - Director of New Product Development at Salt Pig Publishing. The group included TDF alum, Jackie Chasey and her boyfriend, Dan Griffin, and Julie Rupprecht (Real Estate Diva), and of course, the Forks.

We ate Congee, a hot Chinese rice porridge and you can choose what you want in it - everything from lobster, ginger, duck, etc. Yummy. The House Special Chicken is amazing. So are the Razor Clams in Black Bean sauce and the Leeks with pork and the Duck and the Beef with spicy sauce. I don't think that you can make a bad choice at Congee Village.

Congee Village has a cool lower Eastside address with Chinatown prices. The address is 100 Allen St. between Delancey St. and Broome St. Be prepared for a wait but the drinks at the bar are good!

Enjoy!

the Forks

Lox & Eggs with Love!

Hello Foodies,

Apologies for the break in the blogs but we're back! It's a busy time of year isn't it? That said, it was nice to take a break last weekend to enjoy a special brunch made by my Dad. I never realized how seriously he took his lox and eggs until we started helping him. We didn't chop the onions fine enough. When we told him the onions were getting brown, he wanted it that way. And when I asked if I could cut up the lox - well, that was the ultimate insult. The answer was that you had to break up the lox with your hands and with lots of love. He also doesn't put in too much lox because that would ruin it. He knows what he's talking about because he's had many years of practice to perfect it. It was a sweet moment for me to realize how much love he puts into the preparation of this dish!

Our recommendations: French butter, farm fresh eggs (purchased at the farmer's market) and lox (however you prefer - salty or not)!

So this is a great dish to start perfecting...if you do .... let us know!

Enjoy,

Lisa

Hearty Breakfasts!

Hello Foodies,

It seems we are no longer being globally warmed in NYC and are back to winter. This cold makes me hungy in the morning for hearty breakfasts...how about you? Today I had a craving for pancakes and I found this marvelous recipe in the New York Times. Here's the link...NY Times I haven't had the chance to make these pancakes yet but I intend to. I wanted to share the recipe with you and then we can compare notes.

Here it is:

Cornmeal-Cranberry Pancakes

For the compote:
2 gala apples 2 Granny Smith apples ½ cup packed light brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt 3/4 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice 2 cups apple cider
2 teaspoons cornstarch
For the caramel-butter sauce:
2 teaspoons cream cheese 2 tablespoons sugar ½ cup heavy cream
½ tablespoon butter Salt

For the pancakes:
10 tablespoons butter, cut into chunks, plus more for greasing pan
2 cups milk 4 large eggs 2 cups flour ½ cup yellow cornmeal
2 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons salt 1 ¼ cups chopped fresh cranberries Maple syrup, optional.

1. Make the compote: Peel, core, quarter and cut the apples into 1-inch pieces.
Place the apples, sugar, salt, spice, cider and 1/3 cup water in a saucepan and
bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer until the apples are soft and the juices
thick, about 75 minutes. In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in 2 teaspoons water.
About 5 minutes before the compote is done, stir the cornstarch mixture into the apples.
Keep warm.

2. Make the caramel-butter sauce: Place the cream cheese in a bowl and set aside. In a small saucepan, cook the sugar over medium-high heat to a dark caramel, swirling the pan as it
begins to brown to distribute the sugar. Do not stir. Off the heat, carefully whisk in the cream and butter. Return to low heat, add a pinch of salt and simmer until the solids dissolve. Stir 3 teaspoons of caramel sauce into the cream cheese. Mix until the cream cheese dissolves, then whisk this mixture back into the caramel sauce. Keep warm.

3. Make the pancakes: In a saucepan over medium-low heat, heat the butter and milk
until the butter melts. Set aside until lukewarm, about 15 minutes. Beat the eggs in a
medium bowl. Slowly stir in ½ cup of the warm milk mixture (it cannot be hot, or it will
cook the eggs). Pour in the remaining milk mixture and stir to combine.

4. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt. Pour
the egg mixture into the flour mixture a little at a time, stirring slowly, just until the dry ingredients are well moistened. The batter should be lumpy and will start to bubble.

5. Heat a griddle or skillet over medium-high heat until a few drops of water sprinkled
on it sizzle. Lightly grease the pan with butter, then add 3 to 4 tablespoons batter to
make a 4-inch pancake. As soon as the batter sets, sprinkle the top with cranberries.
Cook until bubbles break on the surface. Flip and cook for another 30 seconds, or until
the bottom is lightly browned.

Repeat, buttering the pan and adjusting the heat as needed. Serve topped with apple
compote and lightly drizzled with caramel-butter sauce or maple syrup. Makes about
24 4-inch pancakes. Toppings adapted from John Latino at the Bongo Room.
Pancakes adapted from “The Breakfast Book,” by Marion Cunningham.

Enjoy,

the Forks

Falai Away!

Hello Foodies,

We had a spectacular dinner at Falai last Friday night. It's a great Italian restaurant to go for a birthday or to make any day special. Jackie Chasey, Tour de Forks alum, and her wonderful boyfriend, Dan surprised us for a drink. Falai has a fabulous prosecco. Try it!

This is what we ate but I don't think there is a bad choice on the menu. Here goes. We started with pan seared foie gras with braised lentils, marsala glazed chestnut and cauliflower mostarda and an octopus appetizer that was soooo tender. We couldn't get enough of the pasta special - a cappelacci filled with short ribs garnished with quince puree and crosne root covered in a parmesan-horseradish broth. Divine. The gnudi is gauranteed to please any foodie. Then we had halibut for the halibut...but really for the foi-gras sauce. Breads are brought throughout dinner and you have a choice of onion country loaf with fennel, traditional baguette, black cabbage bread, rosemary and brown raisin and a focaccine. Breads are homemade and so is the pasta. We drank a 2000 Lagrein, a smoky, delicious red from Alto Adige. Iacopo Falai, the chef, was the pastry chef at Le Cirque before he started his own restaurant. The Forks are so glad that he did. Falai's staff are Falaibulous too!

Oh, somehow we managed to eat dessert too. You can't miss it no matter how full you are. The Birthday Girl chose a Napolitan baba with dark rum and Florentine cream. Outrageous!

Don't walk, run to Falai Cucina Italiana located at 68 Clinton Street. 212-253-1960. Web site: Falai.

Maybe we'll see you there.

Enjoy,

the Forks

Happy Birthday To You!

Hello Foodies,

Today is Melissa's (founder and prez of Tour de Forks) birthday! We want to wish her a delicious year of eating and traveling! For the birthday dinner, we are headed to Falai Cucina Italiana at 68 Clinton St. We will report on the food on Monday!

Melissa --- Happy Birthday! And foodies, have a super weekend.

Enjoy,

the Forks