Results tagged: Video

New Yorkers love pizza, and a bevy of new spots (Co., Keste Pizza e Vino, Motorino, Pizza Mezzaluna, San Marzano, Spunto, and Tonda) attest we're in the Golden Age of Pizza. However, only one--Keste Pizza e Vino--is certified-authentic Neapolitan wood-fired pizza, and if you've ever traveled to Naples or tried an authentic Neapolitan pizza, you remember the difference. Roberto Caporuscio, the American-chapter President of Associazone Pizzaiouli Napoletana, has been making thin, 10-inch pizzas at Keste since March. Recently, I visited Keste to discuss pizza, watch Roberto at work, and taste a little bit of Naples. Roberto has plans to open a pizza making school, but until then, learn from the master.

LM: You are a former farmer and onetime mozzarella-maker, what initially attracted you to start making pizzas?

RC: I wanted a change in my life, so I decided to go make pizza. The foods that I love are pizza and gelato. There's no school for making gelato, so I went to school for pizza and worked in Naples.

How old were you when you decided to start making pizzas?

37 years old.

How many years ago was that?

11.

You serve as the U.S. delegate for the Associazone Pizzaiuoli Napoletani, an organization that seeks to preserve Neapolitan pizza-making traditions and pass them down to a new generation.

More than that, what they try to do, they try to promote the pizza maker. Again, the pizza maker is the most important thing to preserve the pizza. You can't preserve the pizza without the pizza maker.

What defines an authentic Neapolitan pizza?

[Watch this video on YouTube]

Learn more about Forest Harvest on their website.

This video is a part of a series produced for Blue Hill by Savory Cities. View our previous Meet Your Purveyors posts:

• Mountain Sweet Berry Farm
• Cherry Lane Farms
• Herondale Farm

If you've ever visited the Union Square Greenmarket in search of ramps, chances are you've ended up at Rick Bishop's Mountain Sweet Berry Farm stand at one time or another. Rick's the guy with the sign board featuring assorted ramp recipes and the names of his more well known restaurant customers.

In small letters off to one side is the name Blue Hill, home to chef and co-owner Dan Barber, who is not only one of Rick's best customers, he's also one of his biggest supporters. Barber, who took home this year's James Beard Foundation Outstanding Chef award, wrote about Bishop and his science-oriented farming practices in the July 2007 issue of Food&Wine magazine. In the article Barber made note of Bishop's use of a refractometer, a tool used to measure the sugar content of fruits and vegetables, to gauge the optimal time to harvest his crop for the best possible taste. 

On Monday night we had the privilege of helping the James Beard Foundation's editorial team with their live blog of this years awards. We were joined by Jennifer Leuzzi of snack blog, writer Adam Sachs, Meredith Arthur from Chow, Jody Williams of Gottino and Louise McCready of Savory Cities & Huffington Post.

This years live blog coverage chronicled the night from the first arrivals on the red carpet to the best moments on stage to the last bite of octopus carpacio at the gala afterwards. For all the juicy bits check out the James Beard Foundation blog. The JBF also kept a close eye on all of the awards-related Twittering going on and retweeted the best ones. Relive the minute by minute action on @beardfoundation.

Much like at last year's awards we shot video of Jennifer Leuzzi interviewing the bold faced names as they arrived on the red carpet. Find out how award-winning celebrity chefs start their day in the video below and then watch the full set of videos over on the JBF blog.

Want to check out Daniel without spending a fortune? For a limited time you can enjoy a 3-course menu with wine pairings for just $98. The deal is offered Monday through Thursday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Or if you're on more of a budget, stop in after 9:30 p.m. those same days and spend $25 for a glass of Champagne or a cocktail plus a dessert and complimentary petits fours and warm madeleines.

Watch our newly updated Daniel video to learn why these deals are some of the best ones going in this recession-deal obsessed town. In the video, chef and owner Daniel Boulud talks about the recent renovation of the restaurant, his seasonally-driven, tradition-inspired cuisine and why he loves interacting with his customers.

Visit the Daniel web site for full details on the prix fixe and after hours deals.

Get further details on Daniel on Savory Cities.

Danny Meyer has spent decades cultivating good will with diners at his ever-popular set of New York City restaurants. If you've ever dined at Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern or even Shake Shack you've experienced the good vibes attitude that emanate from each member of his staff.

Meyer discussed his not-so-secret formula for restaurant success at the 2007 Good Experience Live (GEL) conference here in NYC. Topics covered include Meyer's definition of hospitality, why it's important to always be mindful of context and why customers flock to his restaurants like moths to a bright lightbulb towering above a sea of low wattage bulbs. Watch the full video below for all the juicy details.

For information on the upcoming 2009 GEL conference visit gelconference.com.

Just west of Taconic State Park where the New York border meets Connecticut and Massachusetts Jerry and Iva Peele raise cattle, pigs and chickens on Herondale Farm. Their British White and Murray Grey cattle, Berkshire and Berkshire cross pigs, and Cornish cross rock chickens are all certified organic and "spend as much time as they want in the pastures."

Unfortunately, Jerry and Iva don't sell at the NYC Greenmarket, but they do supply Blue Hill and also make their beef, pigs and chickens available via mail order. Your can purchase steaks, roasts, sausages, birds and more at their online store or if you're want to bone up on your butchering skills, call or email to ask about picking up Herondale Titan, son of Progress.

Watch last week's profile of Cherry Lane Farms.

It's long been in fashion to name farmers and other purveyors on menus, but we've usually found this to be more of a conceit rather than any sort of effort to educate diners or help suppliers in a meaningful way.

One of the few chefs we've encountered who does take the time to educate the public and and directly help farmers is Dan Barber of Blue Hill in NYC and Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico, NY. For the past several years Dan and his brother and business partner, David, have been outspoken champions of locally-sourced and sustainably-raised animals and produce.

So when Blue Hill approached us last year about producing a series of short videos to showcase the farmers that supply the restaurant, we leapt at the chance. Not only did we love the idea, but it also gave us an opportunity to learn about some of the people we'd been buying tomatoes, potatoes and chickens from at the Union Square Greenmarket.

The complete set of videos are on the new Blue Hill web site, but we thought you might enjoy seeing them here so each week we'll be posting a new video to showcase a local farmer. The first video is of Cherry Lane Farms, a second generation family farm in New Jersey. If you're headed to the Union Square Greenmarket anytime soon, stop by and say hi to Susie and her crew.

A few months ago I wrote a post wondering if Jody Williams was the David Chang of the Italian wine bar. At the time Williams' new enoteca, Gottino, was getting accolades from NY Mag, Time Out and others. A few months later Bruni co-reviewed Gottino and Terroir and pointed to them as indicative of a trend toward thoughtful, high quality food presented in casual atmosphere saying, "they reflect the increasing degree to which distinguished cooking pops up in the unconventional, informal settings that many food lovers often prefer."

It's not just that the cooking is distinguished or consistently well executed that make Gottino a great place to sit down for a drink and a bite. It's also the heavy dose of personal creativity balanced with respect for tradition that that brings people back and gets Williams the kind of media praise that David Chang has been enjoying lately.

Watch the Gottino video below (or here) to hear Jody Williams talk about her sense of creativity and what it means to have no boundaries.

Gottino
Greenwich Village
52 Greenwich Ave
(btwn Perry and Charles Sts)
New York, NY 10011
Phone: 212-546-7892

View Gottino's listing on Savory Cities