Urban Honking

Come late January, we’ll occasionally perk our ears to talk of “super bowl this, super bowl that.” It has something to do with sports, that much we get (we’re not aware of any games) but more importantly, it’s become a glutinous food holiday for much of America, and that we can get behind! Now, our […]

Whoa. Time really flies when you’re crazy busy. As you all may or may not have heard — we’re opening a third cafe. The location is at 724 SW Washington St. in downtown Portland, just around the corner from the food carts on 9th and Alder. The spot was occupied for almost eight years by […]

Happy New Year! If you haven’t heard, it’s been unusually rainy in L.A. I’m on a serious soup kick (as evidenced on this blog). I’m like Jamie on Top Chef; have you noticed how she’s always making soups? I bet they’re delicious, even though she should have gotten kicked off already for underdone chickpeas/hospital visit […]

Cold winter months are for hibernating. And marinating. And mascerating, reconstituting, leavening, braising…We spend so much time hunkered down in our kitchens during winter we sometimes forget to exercise at all. (Unless flexing our abdomens on the way to the fridge counts, which it doesn’t.) This seasonal sloth, combined with so much time spent with […]

Having no god and preferring few gifts, all we have is food when it comes to the holy days of winter. And so we tend to rev our ovens with reckless abandon. But if there’s just one complaint we have with Thanksgiving and Christmas cooking, it’s the general lack of hot sauce. Fruit cake spices […]

Recently, my dad gave me Around My French Table as a gift (yay!). It’s a beautiful book, with countless recipes I’m eager to try. Predictably, I was most interested in trying out the desserts first. This spice-poached pears recipe is delightful and perfect for a winter dinner party. I might even call it vanilla-spiced pears, […]

For years and years, I’ve been trying to figure out how to make Squash Soup good. The best version of it I ever had was at Milk on Beverly (seriously). I’ve made decent versions, but none were great. What do bad squash soups have in common? They’re BLAND. After trying all kinds of flavorings and […]

This was originally published on Digest, the Urban Honking food blog on June 13th, 2006. I’m reposting it at the request of Robert Cantor. People are so skeptical. When I first announced my plan to build a Fractal Pizza I was called crazy, insane, and most hurtful of all, “a hopeless romantic with delusions of […]

Recipe adapted from Mark Peel’s NEW CLASSIC FAMILY DINNERS This recipe isn’t hard, but it has a lot of steps. This is great to make when you feel like being in the kitchen for a bit. This recipe is not great if you’re in a rush to get food on a table. Also, this soup […]

I could watch Julia all day. The omelette is tricky. It’s satisfying to execute it perfectly. I like to use a spatula to mix up the eggs as they set. It seems to make my omelette a little fluffier. Julia is right (always). She’s especially right about needing a good omelette pan. It makes all […]