Rebel Features communal tables as seen in this overhead shot. “Dear Bon Appétit”, wrote Phyllis Follet of Cambridge, Massachusetts, “My husband and I celebrated our 44th Wedding Anniversary at Ribelle in Brookline, MA.  The caponata was astounding. Would the…

      The Comfort Family Farm Stand on Lumber Lane, Bridgehampton NY As much as I love sweet corn and as much as I’ll eat of it between now and the first frost, I am no fan of corn on the cob. I find…

         I’ll let you in on a little secret.  Of all Ina Garten’s cookbooks, “Barefoot in Paris” (Clarkson Potter 2004) was the least successful in terms of sales.  That came as a complete surprise to me because I find it one of the best “French”…

         Melissa Clark is one of my all-time favorite recipe makers. I look forward to her weekly columns in the Times one of which is called “A Good Appetite”.   I sometimes think it also be called “Playing with Your Food” because Melissa…

      Richard Landau is a chef in Philadelphia at a vegetarian restaurant called “Vedge”.  He and his wife, Katie Jacoby, are also authors of a cookbook by the same name (The Experiment 2013).  In the run up to the book’s publication, Rich contributed this…

Mark Bittman, “The Flexitarian” Mark Bittman calls himself “The Flexitarian”.  He writes about his food philosophy in The New York Times Dining Out Section once a month.  I am happy to report that from the start Bittman promised that, first and foremost, his new column…

On a recent “Chopped”, the Food Network TV show that pits four chefs against a basket full of incongruous ingredients, a very sad fact was served up to the audience.  Americans throw away 40 percent of the food they buy!  The dollar amount is staggering: …

         A bowl of chilled soup can really start a summer meal off right. Make enough of it, and anytime you want, there’s a bowl of cool comfort waiting in the fridge.   As to today’s side, it’s a terrific way to have vegetables on hand…

          Long Island Mushroom company is the brainchild of two Rhode Island natives who grew up in the same town, became High School Sweethearts, parted ways and re-kindled their romance thirty-two years later.  Jane Maguire and John Quigley are their names and…

Asparagus season is here and we can’t get enough of the stuff. I’ve already served it in last year’s spicy stir-fry with chiles. http://chewingthefat.us.com/2011/05/spicy-pork-with-asparagus-and-chile.htmld. And then as a dinner salad that makes a meatless meal  http://chewingthefat.us.com/2011/05/spicy-pork-with-asparagus-and-chile.htmland then of course, there’s roasted asparagus which can be…

Balena 1633 N Halsted St  Chicago, IL 60614 (312) 867-3888 As Sam Sifton recalls, when the waitress at Chicago’s Balena restaurant approached the table with a steak knife, everyone’s eyebrows went up. No one had ordered steak.  The waitress explained the knife was for the mushrooms. …

Last week, I had the strongest craving for a Patty Melt.  I confess that the Patty Melt is far and away my absolute favorite chopped meat sandwich. You must never call a Patty Melt a hamburger because to purists, the Patty Melt is emphatically not…

Alice Waters’ Spicy Cauliflower Soup Above Cousin Bar’s Pear and Parsnip Soup with Red Pepper Puree          This morning I got an email from an old friend and devoted reader of Chewing the Fat.  He lives in Weehawken, NJ, which is one of the areas…

            I love a little side of history when I am serving up a dish with roots as deep as Fried Green Tomatoes.  With the exception of grits and hominy, what’s more southern than this all-over crunchy firm tomato that’s been battered into a deep-fried…