Chida!

Tessa Liebman, private NYC chef and foodie extraordinaire, has been doing a lot of food research in Mexico lately. Now she's back and has launched and AMAZING new business I think you should all know about called "CHIDA". Chida (which means "cool" in Mexican kid slang) serves up "Nieves" (snows), a frozen treat that lies somewhere between ice cream and shave ice, and is inspired by Mexican Market Ices. These frosty cups of goodness that are churned by hand come in a variety of innovative seasonal flavors including 'smokey vanilla', 'strawberry' and 'jamaica'. She uses local ingredients such as Evan's Farmhouse milk, local berries and goat's milk caramel (cajeta) made fresh with Kortright Creamery goat milk. When local flavors aren't available, she makes sure what she chooses is at least sustainable.

Right now you can taste her goods at the Brooklyn Flea on weekends for only $4 a pop, well worth a trip out to Ft. Greene on a warm summer day!

Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest

I had to see what all the hype was about, at least once...so I joined the massive sweaty crowd this year in Coney Island at the Annual Hot Dog Eating Contest. Joey Chestnut won by eating 64 hot dogs in just over 10 minutes! Disgusting and amazing, all at the same time.

Power to the Farmers!

The New Amsterdam Market was held for the 3rd time last weekend at the historic site of the now defunct Fulton Fish Market at South Street Seaport. The New Amsterdam Public is a group that is backing the effort to turn this site into a permanent forum for local purveyors. The market featured tastings, goods for sale and demos. They state that they "propose that both market halls be restored with public and philanthropic funds and dedicated as a new market for sustainably produced food, sold by purveyors and sourced regionally".

To read more about which local farmers, butchers, grocers, and fish and cheese mongers participated, click here.

Lemon Basil shaved ice and berry yogurt popsicles from 'People's Popsicle':



Poultry prepping demo:



And of course, there was an amazing view of (all 4!) of Olafur Eliasson's waterfalls:

Johnny Iuzzini: Dessert at Jean Georges

Johnny Iuzzini makes the most beautiful desserts I think I've ever photographed. Seriously, they were so stunning that as I left our shoot on the patio of Jean Georges, I couldn't wait to get home and look at them. It's dishes like these that really make me love what I do. (And they were DELICIOUS too! I got to try everything.)

Johnny Iuzzini (or as Kayoko calls him, "Hottie Iuzzini"), is the executive Pastry Chef at Jean Georges, in NYC. He has worked at both Daniel and Payard among other places, and in May 2006, The James Beard Foundation awarded Johnny “Outstanding Pastry Chef of the Year”.
Don't wait! Head on over to Columbus Circle for dessert. His creations are not only gorgeous, but completely innovative and sinfully delectable.

Click here to see Johnny's 1st cookbook, Dessert FourPlay.





This Rhubarb inspired dish was my favorite:



All Photos copyright Erin Gleeson, 2008

Jean Georges
1 Central Park West
New York, NY 10023
T: 212.299.3900