Things are very busy at Chelsea Market Baskets now… I am traveling to ISM or the International Confection Market in Cologne, Germany to see and visit with people we do business with and see if there are new “sweets” which is very broadly inclusive, that we can import to CMB and expand our assortment of inspired foods.  I find this show to be one of the best ones in that it is a worldwide show of anything related to sugar and food and beyond, so it has very good implications for our business.

In addition I hope to be in Paris for a few days, where I have not been in many, many years, experiencing one of the better “food towns” of the world.  I look forward to reporting back on my travels.  Also we have a shipment coming in on Monday which includes Prestat Chocolate from London, England, that we will be selling at Henri Bendels on 5th Ave, starting on Tuesday.

We also have an exciting chocolate line that we discovered at the Chocolate Show called Comptoir du Cacao (www.comptoircacao.fr) from outside Paris coming in… more to come and to taste.

Bi-Rite is run by Sam Monagnnnam. He grew up in the store which was owned by his father and uncle. In the 1980′s Bi-Rite was a working man’s grocery store that sold some food and a good deal cheap wine. After college,  Sam had a variety of food related jobs, including working in Europe, where Sam experienced how food is primarily sold in smaller stores and shoppers had fewer choices than in the US. But the products offered in those small European stores had more quality and integrity.

Back home in San Francisco, Sam bought out his father and uncle, and transformed Bi-Rite into one of the most influential community markets in the nation. Now, when I visit San Francisco for the Winter Fancy Food, I always make it a point to stop there and see the business. And as I browse this great little store, I always recognize a few other food professionals sniffing around.

Sam will be in our store October 29 starting at 2 pm to sign his just published book Bi-Rite Market’s EAT GOOD FOOD. Come meet Sam, learn about his business that includes a farm and an adjoining ice cream business and pick up a copy of this Californian original’s passionate words about food and what we should eat.

I am happy to report that it makes for a bit more of a rigorous walk to 30th street and visually has a very different look to Phase One of the High Line Park(section that was opened in 2009).  The walk is generally narrower, and does kind of meander through new and old architecture, with urban views that are both very different and very New York.  The design of the walkway is attractive yet understated, and allows you to enjoy the buildings that surround the walkway. Similar to the more southern section of the High Line, the walk is well landscaped.

I did go up to 30th street and descended into what is being called-The Lot, an area with live Hispanic music, lots of people, beer on tap, play ground and an interesting collection of trendy food trucks. In addition, AOL has funded the Rainbow Lot with very animated inflated amusements. Now there is lots of life on 30th and 10th Ave, a neighborhood that had been very remote in the past!

For more about the High Line Park – www.thehighline.org

The new Fedora, Jeffrey’s Grocery and Joseph Leonard are all new; the oldest, the latter, beginning in 2009, are all doing capacity business. They all are about quality food and drink, good service and have a gentle old fashion look that does not have much flash and in addition they appear as though they are already deeply rooted as West Village neighborhood haunts.

Gabriel Stulman came New York via the University of Wisconsin after graduating in 2003.  During school he worked as bartender, and upon arriving in New York he was taken with the restaurant and food business. He developed a plan and worked with Joey Campanaro, a chef and opened Little Owl and then Market Table, which quickly became two of New York Cities hardest reservations. They split up and Gabe has gone on to open 3 new, different and small restaurants in a short period of time, which has garnered a good bit of media attention including The New York Times alluding to the fact that three have become “Little Wisco” or a small taste of Wisconsin in the West Village based on.

I would be very keen to visit the Wisconsin that these restaurants represent. There is little attitude, an open and friendliness that do not happen that easily in the cool big city, good drink and a focus on very good food that is carefully prepared, though not inexpensive. They work to appeal to locals by having a no-reservation policy or, in the case of Fedora, a same-day only reservation policy.

Fedora has been reincarnated from the celebrated original, often spoken about in this paper. Very early on, as a speak easy, and at a later point, a gay hang out, the place has history and as the recent press goes, Gabe and his associates have been courted, teased and vetted to take over the helm. Brian Bartells, GM and a partner with Gabe on Fedora, a buddy from Wisconsin, has developed the bar both from a mixology point of view and particularly as a warm and friendly place. On a recent Thursday night, at a little after 7 pm, the place was loud, booming, with 2 or 3 deep at the bar.  Brian was warmly working the room yet was very sympathetic and engaging to older people’s concerns about the level of noise and offered to soften the music. I will say that if you are looking for quiet conversation, Fedora or for that matter all three of these places are not your best choices. Brian did spend a bit of time speaking of the philosophy of the revolution and he spoke of the love and camaraderie of staff along with the attention to all the details in a very humble way.

Mehdi Brunet-Benkritly is not from Wisconsin, he is from Montreal and worked there as a sous chef at Au Pied de Cochon that Gabe became friends with, and is the Chef of Fedora.  His style is robust, not afraid of offal or organ meat, not fussy and original. Sweetbreads, tripe, “pig’s head,” tongue are all covered on the menu. Do not worry; there is a big pork chop for two, recently profiled in Time Out Magazine and the trendy down home fried chicken. I may go back for those but I can speak about the Crispy Pig’s Head which is in fact meat from a pig’s head prepared as a croquette of sorts and served with greens and a tarragon gribiche sauce, a mayonnaise with hard boiled egg, it was rich, familiar, unusual and tasty. We also tried the Chioggia Beet Salad and the Grilled Calamari. Main courses included the Crisped Duck Leg, with BBQ sauce, Dates and Herb Salad, Sweetbreads and Octopus – as an entrée together, and Tile Fish with Harissa, the Tunesian spicy condiment, a special. They were all carefully prepared, the sweet breads, gently fried and the octopus, tender and gilled working well together. The harrisa, not to strong working with polenta chips and greens. I thought the best of the three was the duck, although the description in my mind was not true to the dish. The duck itself was crisp, tender and flavorful, the dressing underneath, included cauliflower, dates in mélange and a bit a BBQ sauce that gave the dish, many notes of sweet and savory without taking too much attention away from the duck.

We choose to drink some of the Sixpoints beer on tap from Red Hook Brooklyn.  The “Little Wisco Special” developed with and for Gabriel and Brian is inspired by “our memories of Wisconsin and the influence of friends and community,” according to Brian.   The pint was filled with flavor and great with or without food, although I prefer a beer like that with good food!

Desserts are brief and well thought out, highlights were “Cheesecake” Panna Cotta, a smooth and luscious cream pudding, accessorized with passion fruit and graham cracker crumbs, warm lime madeleine’s with sabayon and a made to order apple tart were runners up.

I visited Joseph Leonard, on a cold Tuesday evening in February and to my surprise the place was booming. A different menu, but equally thoughtful food described as “an American brasserie” which translates to some French leaning classics with service in a warm and not fussy way.

Jeffrey’s Grocery, almost across the street from Joseph Leonard, which recently closed for a few days to expand their kitchen, has a focus on more casual dining, small plates and a raw bar but the food also has a continental pedigree about it.

What is this little revolution, having not met the man, I hypothesize that Gabe gets on very well with people and has a very sincere appreciation for all aspects of running a restaurant especially the food and chef and lets others go for it, and everybody wins especially the customer.

In the store we are featuring products from near and far that will help you make a good old pot of hot soup.

Timeless Seeds located in the heartland of USA, Montana, carries organic farmed grains.  Four organic farmers started the company in 1987, with the mission to market their grains.

Currently Timeless Seeds supports, many local farmers and helps them introduce their unique nutritious heirloom specialty grains to the marketplace.

Our assortment includes: Du Puy Style Lentils originally from France, has a stunning blue-green mottled color, with a smooth texture, and a slightly spicy flavor($6.95). Petit Crimson Lentils are little jewels bright red-orange in color, and has a slight sweet taste ($6.95). Black Kabuli Chick Peas, traced back to South Asia these charcoal black beans are great in soup or on a salad($7.95).

These products are not only pretty to look at, full flavored, healthy, and nutritious to eat, we hope they inspire you make soup soon!! www.Timelessfood.com

For the tomato based soup, we just started to stock Jersey Farms Crushed Tomatoes. They are produced by a

cooperative of 6 farmers in southern New Jersey. They are canned withi3n 24 hours of coming off the vine. We have them in both 28oz cans ($3.95) and large 6lb cans ($7.95).

Crimson Lentil Soup

• 1  large Onion, chopped
• 1  tablespoon Olive Oil
• 4  Garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1  teaspoon ground Cumin
• 1  Turkish or 1/2 California bay leaf
• 1  sprig fresh Thyme
• 1  cup  Timeless Petite Crimson Lentils, rinsed
• 3 1/2 cups reduced-sodium Chicken Broth or Vegetable Broth
• 3  cups Water
• 2  tablespoons chopped flat-leaf Parsley
• Accompaniment: Lemon wedges

1. Cook onion in oil with 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 8 minutes.

2. Add garlic, cumin, bay leaf, and thyme and cook, stirring, 1 minute more.

3. Add lentils, broth, water, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until lentils are very soft and falling apart, about 30 to 45 minutes.

4. Discard bay leaf and thyme sprig, then purée 2 cups of mixture in blender (use caution when blending hot liquids) and return to pan. Stir in parsley and season with salt.

Adopted from 2007 issue of Gourmet magazine.

“We are fully committed but you are welcome to eat at the bar” was the answer I got when I just assumed there would be a table available for 2 at this new restaurant that opened  6 weeks ago, on a cold February Wednesday night. At the bar also means in the kitchen where there are some ringside seats for watching the action in the kitchen.   Interestingly as I have reported, there are many new French, Italian and beyond restaurants opening the neighborhood. Not sure of the economics here but a good bit new and in this case, very good things are happening in food!

Spasso means fun and amusement in Italian, and indeed it was very lively and not quiet, filled with children, George Capsis would say. Children, who work downtown, pay a good bit of rent in the west village and help nourish the economy.  Matter of fact, Wall Street in this case is more directly helping Main Street, which needs to happen more around the country but we enjoy it here. Spasso’s genealogy is part dell’ anima and L’Artusi, where Bobby Werhane – managing partner, worked previously, with the current sibling restaurant Choptank.  Craig Wallen the chef, worked previously with Michael White – Convivio and Mario Batoli – Lupa, making him trained by the best Italian food maestros in our city.  The setting is rustic and pleasant, in a location that previously was Alfama, and many before that.  A location that has not been lucky but Spasso may just be the right ticket!

Stracciatelli, featured on the Spasso blog with a recipe, was one of our three appetizers.  It is a variation on Mozzarella but  “fresher” softer, and with more butter fat.  Basically it is a freshly made cheese using curd that is softened, pulled and steeped with heavy cream, served with green extra virgin olive oil, good salt and crusty toasted bread – simply good!  Grilled octopus, with yogurt, cucumber and mint lived up to an older, sometimes cynical Greek gentleman’s expectation – George you know who I am speaking about.  Crispy Arancini with ricotta and tomato, no rice, was a very pleasant way to eat eggplant, nice crispy texture and supple eggplant flavor.

The menu is broken down into boxes that include Meats and Cheeses, Pesce and Vendure  antipasti ($9 to 15), Primi – Pasta ($15-20), Secondi ($22- 29) and Contorni – side dishes, allowing you many options. You can eat more simply without spending too much which I think the restaurant looks to offer but it is easy “to go to town” based on the enticing menu. We had the Macceroni die Busa, with a pork ragu, goat cheese and fennel fronds.   Tightly woven pasta shells in a rustic, rich, flavored sauce with a nice spoonful of soft goat cheese. This dish has a reference to “nonna,” I would say you would be quite lucky if grandma served this.  The service was very good, with young helpful waters that had a good share of passion for the food.  Recommended was a Trout Saltimbocca, an unusual dish that was a prosciutto-wrapped piece of moist and gently but nicely flavored fish in a sage flavored butter sauce. We also get the Cauliflower Caponata, which used crafty cauliflower in a more inspired way; it had a good savory quality along with some white raisons for sweetness.

Dessert included a chocolate, salt and caramel tart which rode the caramel salt trend nicely. An apple tart that included layers of spiced, nicely flavored apples was a good counterpoint; it was less about sweetness and more about spice. An Italian wine list that included Traditional and “Surprising” wines was extensive and well composed.  A manager helped us select a not too dry, full-bodied red wine named on our receipt, de Leonardis, which was an excellent value at $38.

All this said, means that the young are enjoying better food, paying for it and you should call ahead and go!

Yes, there are and continue to be many chocolates, many ethnic and regional foods, many whole grains and beans, gluten-free products, many in new smart packaging. I have maintained that the food show is about more than just meets the eye or taste buds, doing business is getting to know who are you partnering with and whether the chemistry is right for what you want to develop. There is a good bit of chocolate happening around with a focus on dark chocolate and where the cocoa beans come from.   Three players in this market are TCHO Chocolates, Scharffen Berger and Pure Dark.  TCHO came on the scene with a few players from the technology world that have taken some of their Wired Magazine fortune and created a “bean to bar” business that is trying to carve out a piece of the large chocolate pie for themselves in a new age kind of way. Hershey’s chocolate purchased Scharffen Berger a few years ago to diversify their chocolate holdings, going upscale and for a particular quality. Scharffen Berger is maybe not the same thing but it continues to flourish and we carry a bit when we get it.

A person assisting me and myself were both drawn to a booth with a new chocolate business named Pure Dark, it had a nice look, it tasted good, it seemed easy. We visited the booth together to find out more and maybe place an order. Upon looking closely at the chocolate, or I should say at the packaging and some of the printed material we discovered something that surprised us. Some of the literature said from West New York, some said from 350 Bleecker Street, New York, NY and some said a division of Mars in very fine print. I was turned off because you like to do business with companies with relatable size. I am not keen to do business with a multi-national conglomerate. When I continued and asked if I could order  some product, I was told that it was only available through Hadden House, a large importer distributor that does lots of business with A&P and many other retailers up and down the street. This quickly becomes not a special find but a commodity that is about big guys spending lots of money to pretend like they are growing a company the good old fashioned way,  anyway I lost interest fast, the hunt continues.

These very colorful eggs help celebrate Easter in the most old fashion and delicious way.   A real chicken egg shell, in which the egg has been carefully removed through a  small hole on one end, has been filled with chocolate that is flavored delicately with caramelized ground hazelnuts making them taste as good as they look.

The is a sensational deal on a wonderful addition to your Easter table and for children of all ages!

TCHO Chocolate which is colorfully packaged and does mainly four “varietals” of chocolate, or a “fruity,” a “nutty,” a “Citrus” and a “Chocolatey.” Each variety comes from a different geographic location where the cocoa beans are roasted and the cocoa mass is shipped to San Francisco and turned into covertures and then in to bars and smaller tasting bars. Each place the beans come from contribute a different taste profile which is marketed with different color packaging.  We have a gift box assortment that has a Valentine’s graphic.  www.TCHO.com

Poco Dolce – Sea Salt Bittersweet Chocolate Tiles is a line that I have admired for at least a year, choose to hold off because it is pricey but I succumb at the fancy food show this year.  I do like this stuff, interesting combinations of dark chocolate with burnt caramel, or Aztec Chile to name few in simple handsome packaging.  New for them are the tins and bags of Toffee Squares with similar flavors also including a “Popcorn” flavor. Not heart shaped nor red but these products would make a perfect valentine for someone who like great chocolate! They are also based in San Francisco. www.Pocodolce.com

Idaho Candy Co – Makes Owyhee Butter Toffee and has been making since 1925 in downtown Boise! I think partly the stuff is so good that much of it stays in Idaho and they make quite a bit, next to none gets to Manhattan. In any case, this is American all butter nut toffee with and without chocolate and is priced to sell. The bite size box that I brought back lived up to what it says, we bet you can’t eat just one, with my taste testing with family and co-workers.    Idahospud.com

In addition to this we do have a good bit of Valentine’s Day happening and for those less romantic we feature snacks for Super Bowl which will include product from Katchkie Farm in New York State. Included are salsas, green and red, ketchup, pickles, pickled beets and tomato jam.  This product is an out-growth of Great Performances the New York caterer. www.Katchkiefarm.com

While traveling about in China recently hunting for baskets that we buy, it dawned on me, that food whether prepared carefully in large restaurants served family style to large communal groups or late at night on the street, grilled and at times exotic, is prepared fresh and with tremendous variety. It is enjoyed more consciously and socially, than a good bit of the American food that we know, and at times is responsible for unhealthy relationships that our culture has developed with food. In addition, food in the United States, in relation to our standard of living is inexpensive and at times compromised, without getting into the politics of it, spending a bit more on better food is good stimulus. Good food here, than becomes a very affordable luxury, and a little luxury can go along way.

Expense account living maybe off but maybe food that is not on expense accounts can be enjoyed for its intrinsic value, and thereby help to better connect with what we eat. To me there is something therapeutic about appreciating food from where it comes from, how is handled, prepared and consumed that touches our basic human needs yet gives pleasure to and better meaning to our existence. Or another words, a good piece of well made chocolate that has a bit of story behind it, can ease the tension of our times.

I like to think that visiting our Chelsea Market Baskets where we have an array of product that can be appreciated at varying price points, can put you in better touch with food that is made in an inspired way and even thanks to our “slightly past it’s best before date but still tastes good” corner, can be a great bargain. Our friend George Capsis, the publisher of West View is quick to find good deals here and likes the idea of sharing them with the “locals.” We ourselves particularly like the idea of nourishing and creating community around good food!