When water and yeast meet barley and hops

Coopers is Australia's largest brewery and is 100% owned by Australians.  Under the leadership of the fifth-generation descendants of Thomas Cooper, the family-owned company produces 12 beers and a range of home brews, and it maintains a 5% share of Australia's beer market.

Mercifully you can buy Coopers here in the US - I've seen it at Whole Foods but also at The Australian pub in New York.  And when I'm back home, I am definitely a loyal customer (though I admittedly can't decide which of their beers I prefer).

If your exposure to Coopers has only ever been from the consumption side, you might be interested to know that you can tour the brewery and see what makes this South Australian icon tick.  Even if you think you don't like beer, give tour guide Frank one hour of your time and he'll take you though the impressive fermentation facilities, bottling and distribution, and quality control centre at Coopers.  You'll work up a thirst, but your tour ends with a tasting of 10 delicious beers - and Frank is a generous pour.

Tours cost about $30 and can be booked online here.  All proceeds go to the Coopers Brewery Foundation, to support a range of philanthropic projects across Australia.

I did a tour of the brewery on my recent visit back home - check out my photo album below:

Post by The ABCs of NYC.

Come with me and you'll be in a world of pure imagination

I left the Adelaide sunshine behind on 23 December, and New York welcomed me home with bleak grey skies and drizzle.  Equally unpleasant is the fact that I'm now battling jet lag, finding myself wide awake at 4am and staring at the ceiling.

So I've decided that a perfectly acceptable way to pass these sleepless hours is to work my way through the stash of Australian chocolate that I brought back with me, and I'm not talking about supermarket chocolate either.  The calorific wonder food that I'm referring to is an Adelaide family legacy - an icon, 99 years in the making.  That's right, folks - I'm talking about Haigh's Chocolates.

Beehive Corner in Adelaide
Image credit here

In 1915, Alfred Haigh opened a chocolate shop on King William Street, in the commercial centre of Adelaide.  His operations were modest, but customers were faithful and business boomed. Two years later, Mr Haigh purchased his family home in Parkside, just outside of the City, and he set up a small chocolate factory there.  By 1922, there was such a demand for Haigh's Chocolates that Alfred Haigh was forced to move to bigger retail premises at Beehive Corner, and that heritage-listed gem remains the flagship store for Haigh's Chocolates today.

When Alfred Haigh passed away suddenly in 1933, his son took over the store and the notion of the Haigh's family dynasty was born.  You can chart the history of Haigh's by looking at Australia's own history - from the war years, to the early days of Australian cinema, through to the advent of television, and the subsequent expansion of Haigh's interstate.  But even though you can now buy Haigh's products in Sydney and Melbourne, the chocolate is all still made in Adelaide and that's a great source of pride for the city.

Haigh's is still a family business too, with fourth generation descendants of Alfred Haigh steering the company to great success - locally, nationally, and even globally.  In 2014, Haigh's was internationally-certified for its commitment to sustainable cocoa farming and the company has also been a long-time fundraiser for the protection of Australia's native species, including the bilby.  All of this is well and good but let's face it, millions of us eat Haigh's Chocolates simply because they taste amazing - plain and simple.

On my recent trip home I actually got to see how the Haigh's magic was made, by doing a free guided tour at the Visitor Centre in the converted old family home at Parkside.  On the 20-minute tour, our guide Tara-Jane talked us through the breadth of the company's operations, and we got to see the chocolatiers in action.  Tara-Jane spoke so fondly about her colleagues and the family atmosphere at Haigh's, it's little wonder you have to wait until someone retires before a job vacancy gets advertised.  Why would you leave, when you can eat as much chocolate as you want all day!?

For me though, the best thing about the Visitor Centre is that there is also a retail store attached and you can load up your shopping basket with items from the extensive range of Haigh's merchandise, including chocolate frogs, truffles, aprichocs, drinking chocolate, and more.  I'm not even going to list my favourites because we'd be here all day.

Haigh's turns 100 years old next year and I can only imagine the big celebrations they have planned.  I would be delighted if they would agree to export their chocolates, at least to the United States.  That way I could keep a steady supply of peppermint chocolate frogs in my fridge - perfect for addressing 4am jet lag, or when that everyday chocolate craving strikes.

To market, to market

In the wee hours of the morning on 23 January 1869, a group of market gardeners found their way to the centre of Adelaide and began to sell their fruits and vegetables.  By 6am, about 500 customers had cleaned the vendors out, and Adelaide's "City Market" was born.

Fast forward to today and Adelaide Central Market is more than just a couple of gas lights and rudimentary fencing.  It's now home to 80 permanent stalls and over 100 other shops, visited by more than 8 million people per year.  It brings the best of Adelaide's produce, and the gourmet foods of our wine regions direct to the centre of the City, and its location next door to Adelaide's Chinatown precinct makes it a perfect place to celebrate Adelaide's multiculturalism in the most delicious way possible - through food.

Check out the photo album below:

Post by The ABCs of NYC.

A girl in every Port

About 20 minutes northwest of Adelaide's CBD is the beautiful area of Port Adelaide.  As its name suggests, "The Port" is the headquarters of South Australia's maritime history, and historical architecture and heritage-listed monuments abound.

Our first stop was the Port Adelaide Lighthouse, which was first lit in 1869 and went on to serve South Australian mariners for the next 143 years.  The lighthouse stands 69 feet tall, or 21.03 metres. In 1985 the South Australian Maritime Museum acquired the lighthouse and restored it as a permanent exhibition.  Queen Elizabeth II opened the lighthouse to the public in 1986, as part of the celebrations for South Australia's Jubilee year (150th birthday).   We climbed the 70+ stairs today, and had a wonderful view from the exhibition deck.  A bit blustery, to be sure, but well worth the huff-and-puff climb.

Around the corner, we passed the historic tall ships, the Falie and The One And All.  Their glory days may be behind them, but the boats are still available for private events, charters, and sailing training.  There is also the incredible City of Adelaide - The Splendid Clipper Ship that is moored at Dock One.  Constructed in 1864, the City of Adelaide was recovered from Scotland and is destined for a 10-year restoration, currently being funded by private individuals and corporate donors.  The City of Adelaide is intended to the centerpiece of a seaport village, where visitors can learn about Australia's colonial history.

Continuing the nautical theme, we spent a happy few hours in the South Australian Maritime Museum, whose collection dates back to 1872.  Spread out over 3 floors, the Museum has fantastic exhibits - many of them interactive - and all of which immerse you in the maritime journeys that brought people to South Australia.  I particularly loved the current exhibition called "Rough Medicine" that looked at life & death in the age of sailing.  Some of the horror stories of disease and death aboard those long sea journeys were incredible.

After a bite of lunch, we realised we only had time left to see one more Museum, so we drove over to the National Railway Museum.  It was a first for all of us, which is pretty rare.  I'm so glad we went there because the Museum holds a fantastic collection of train carriages, engines, and artifacts from railway operations not just in South Australia, but across the country.  You get to see model trains that run across a fantastically-detailed miniature landscape.  You can also ride one of the gauge railways at the Museum, but it was just doing its last circuit as we arrived so we missed out on that one.  Next time, for sure.

We only just scratched the surface of Port Adelaide's offerings today.  There is so much to see down here.  I'm coming back to this hood next week, so I'll have another opportunity to see a few more sites then.  In the meantime, check out my Port Adelaide photo album below.

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Danke schoen, darling!

Hahndorf - 20 mins SE of Adelaide
Image credit here

One of the great things about Adelaide is that you're pretty much 20 minutes from anywhere - from a major shopping centre, from a beach, from a winery, or from gently rolling hills and fresh country air.

Case in point: drive for 20 minutes south-east of the CBD into the Adelaide Hills and you'll come to the lovely town of Hahndorf.  Even when the city bakes in the summer sun, Hahndorf remains a lush and green place.  It is also classified as Australia's oldest German settlement.

But Hahndorf was an area steeped in history well before the Europeans arrived.  For over 2,000 years the Peramangk people occupied the land where Hahndorf is today and they were sustained by its plentiful supply of native flora and fauna.  By the early 1830s the Europeans had settled in Adelaide and in 1838, a South Australian businessman named George Fife Angas went to London to promote colonisation here.  On his travels he met a man named Pastor Kavel who was trying to help German Lutherans who were being persecuted by the King of Prussia.  Angas persuaded Kavel that South Australia was an ideal place to escape to, and the first cohort of German settlers arrived here the following year.  Thirty-eight families established their homes in Hahndorf, and while it was originally a farming village, Hahndorf ultimately became a major service centre for the surrounding region, and businesses prospered.  These days, Hahndorf remains one of the most popular tourist destinations in the city.

We started our day with a visit to The Cedars, one of Australia's historic and artistic treasures.  It was the home of Hans Heysen, master of the Australian landscape and also showcases the work of his talented daughter, Nora Heysen.  An accomplished artist in her own right, in 1938 Nora was the first woman to win the Archibald Prize.  At the Cedars, you can tour the Heysen family home, and even look through the famous artist's studio, which is now the oldest purpose-built artist's studio in the country.

With our bellies growling, it was time for lunch and we drove along the Main Street, under the 100-year old elm trees that line the sides of the road, shading the heritage-listed homes and stores.  There were signs up everywhere celebrating the 175th anniversary of German settlement in the area so we felt it was rather fitting to snag a table inside The German Arms, which was established here in 1839.  Their chicken schnitzels, German beers, and crisp ciders are all pretty amazing - you heard it here first.

We walked off lunch by dawdling along the beautiful Main Street, weaving in and out of the old stores.  The architecture here is so charming and many of the stores even sell old-time goods like boiled sweets, home-made candles, and freshly-made ice-cream, prepared with recipes that haven't changed for generations.  Local artists are thriving here and their works are on display in tiny galleries lining the Main Street.  I found the indigenous artwork at The Aboriginal Art House to be particularly impressive, but you know that I am a huge sucker for colour.

At this point in the warm afternoon, hydration was essential so we called into the beautiful, brand new cellar door location for Handcrafted by Geoff Hardy.  Geoff's son Seb took great care of us and made sure I sampled the delicious Fiano 2014, which of course I had to purchase at the end of the wine tasting.  Make sure you call in to see the Hardys when you're in Hahndorf - they will not steer you wrong.

On the way home, we called in to see another South Australian family dynasty- the Beerenberg Family Farm.  We chose not to pick our own strawberries (though you can, from November to April); rather, we left such sporty activities to the young families.  Instead, we just browsed the storefront area and came home with armloads of fresh jams, chutneys, and sauces.  Definitely worth a look to score some tasty treats at the end of a long day.

I got a bit snap-happy today too, and I've done my best to write captions against most of the photos in this album.  Check out the Hahndorf photos in the album below.

Post by The ABCs of NYC.

A pukka lunch is money in the bank

When I lived in London, I worked at Australia's High Commission and our offices were in the beautiful Australia House building on The Strand.  It's down the road from St Paul's Cathedral, though I have to confess that old ladies selling birdseed on the front steps for tuppence a bag are long gone now.

The area around the Cathedral is called "The City" and it's a bit like Wall Street in New York - full of bankers and financial institutions.  But there's also a fancy shopping centre there called One New Change.  I spent a bit of time in that shopping centre - not for commercial reasons, but for culinary ones.  Because inside this modern, glass building you'll find Barbecoa, one of the restaurants in Jamie Oliver's ever-growing empire.  The number of cocktails and heaped plates of BBQ I devoured there are lost to history, but I will never forget our work Christmas lunch in 2010 when, quite by chance, Jamie Oliver came into the restaurant and was gracious enough to have a photo with us.  I was never lucky enough to meet Jamie again, either at the restaurant or at his Recipease place in Clapham, the restaurant/school/retail store around the corner from where I was living for a time.  But suffice it to say that my admiration for Jamie, his cooking style, and his approach to food, continues.

In light of all this, it will hardly surprise you that I found myself dining today at Jamie's Italian, his new restaurant in Adelaide's CBD.  There are now 30 "Jamie's Italian" restaurant worldwide, including 4 others across Australia. I wasn't expecting to see Jamie here either of course, but his influence is all over the menu, especially the use of fresh, local produce including Australian lamb.

The restaurant has also breathed life back into a gorgeous piece of Adelaide's architectural history.  The Art Deco-style building was designed in 1938 and housed a number of banks over the years.  It has now been heritage-listed, and Jamie's developers have obviously been very sympathetic to that.  The opulent marble flooring and imposing columns are all still there, but downstairs the bank vaults have been converted into the toilets (authentic, porcelain "Crappers" too - check out the photos below!).

My parents and I had lunch at Jamie's at 2.30pm, which is pretty late in the day, but it was the earliest we could get in.  And that's on a Monday, which says quite a lot about how positively Adelaide diners have responded to Jamie's latest venture.

In spite of the hour, our stomach grumbles were totally worth it.  The menu reflects the breadth of Italian cuisine - meats, fish, vegetables, cheeses, and tasting plates/boards too.  How was I expected to narrow it all down?  So we didn't - we just ate a bit of everything.  In addition to the amazing pasta, you definitely need to try the polenta chips, the risotto balls (arancini) and the tutti frutti lemon meringue pie...so good!  But of course, you also need to do as we did and wash it down with local South Australian ciders and wines - a total treat!

As we were leaving today, a small crowd had already gathered on the footpath outside to come in for the start of the dinner rush.  I got the sense it was going to be another busy evening for the cheerful, charming staff.  The phrase "laughing all the way to the bank" also sprang to mind, but that seems totally appropriate, given the restaurant's previous tenants.  This new restaurant is a great addition to Jamie's food family, and a real coup for the city.

There's no place like home

Welcome to Adelaide, dear friends!  It's so great to be home.

I've spent the last 20+ hours travelling, and the twinkly Christmas lights that are shining in Bryant Park and Rockefeller Center in New York are literally half a world away now.

After delays getting out of JFK and LAX, and a missed connection out of Sydney, it was wonderful to finally get off the plane in my home town and be met by this fantastic gingerbread village, right inside Adelaide Airport.
 

If Adelaide has done something like this before, I've never been lucky enough to experience it.  I mean, come on!  In addition to the little gingerbread houses, there were two model trains, and a giant mountain of royal icing that stands at least 2 metres high and took 200 kilograms of icing/confectioner's sugar and hundreds of lollies/candies to build. 

The delicious display is the excellent work of the patisserie students at the Regency Campus of TAFE (Technical & Further Education) SA and will be on show until 5 January.  Snowy landscapes aren't exactly a feature of Adelaide at Christmas time - or at any time really - but I'll celebrate edible talent any way I can!

On the subject of Adelaide landscapes, I was a little dismayed to see how yellowed and crunchy the countryside looked as we commenced our descent into Adelaide this afternoon.  The meteorologists have already predicted that Adelaide will have blistering summer heat waves this year.  Days over 40 degrees Celsius (104F) aren't exactly uncommon during summer, but the dry heat can get awfully uncomfortable for people, pets, and gardens.  Such a contrast to my other home town, huh?

Now I know we're  all on vacation here, and we're not meant to be using our brains much,  but before we throw ourselves into Adelaide tourism I think it's worth giving you some quick information so you can get your bearings.

British colonists (not convicts) first settled in South Australia in 1836, but the Kaurna (pronounced 'gah-na') people have been the traditional owners of the land in the Adelaide Plains area for millennia.  The Kaurna people lived a nomadic existence on their land, which also include the area where Adelaide's central business district is now situated.  We'll revisit Adelaide's indigenous history and culture in a couple of days time.

Fast forward to today though, and there are 1.67 million people living in South Australia, which is basically the population of Nebraska living in an area bigger than Texas.  But 77% of South Australians reside in the "Greater Adelaide" area - which includes the capital city of Adelaide, and its surrounding major suburbs.  We've basically clustered around the capital and the coastline - but when I show you photos, you'll understand why.

I grew up in this Greater Adelaide area and when I was at school, I was friends with "Aussie" kids, but also kids whose parents had moved here from Greece, Italy, and countries all across Asia.  Over the years since, Adelaide has become home to a vibrant Filipino community, and families from Afghanistan, South Sudan, and beyond.  Mass migration has been part of Australia's way of life for decades - very similar to New York, in that respect.  And just like New York, Adelaide has become a more diverse and (I'd argue) a more interesting place for it.  You can see this diversity reflected in our food, music,  religious and sporting cultures.

But we will discover this all in good time.  For now though, I'm going to unwind with a glass of local South Australian wine and attempt to sleep off this jetlag.  We've got a busy couple of weeks ahead!

Come fly with me!

Image credit here

Have you ever had one of those "lottery fantasies"?  You know, the kind where you list all the places you'll go, or the things you'll do if only your lucky numbers would come up?  A lot of my American friends have said that visiting Australia is one of their top "lottery fantasies" and I'm always pleased to hear it.  That most Americans only get 2 weeks of annual leave a year always seems so unjust to me, not least because to see Australia in just 2 weeks would be as challenging as if you tried to see America in the same amount of time.

So here's what I propose.  For the next two weeks, we'll take a hiatus from New York and I'll show you around my little corner of Australia.  We're going to tour my home town of Adelaide, where it's the early days of summer and quite frankly, we could all use a bit of sunshine anyway.

Adelaide is known as the City of Churches, and it's the capital city of South Australia - the driest state on the driest inhabited continent on earth.  From 7-23 December, from the privacy of your own computer screen, mobile phone, or hand-held device, you can join me in one of the must-see places in Australia.  Of course, because I'm from Adelaide I'll always be biased in this regard but Lonely Planet, NY Magazine, and Wotif reviewers have also praised Adelaide as one of the best cities in the country.  In spite of this, Australians often have different views about the town.  Mention Adelaide to any of your Australian friends and there's every chance they'll laugh and tell you that the city is super boring, or really conservative, and generally not worth the visit.  All I'm asking is that you trust me to show you what Adelaide has to offer.  It will be just like our travels together in New York, only in totally different weather conditions and where the toilet water flushes in the opposite direction (we won't spend too much time studying this, however).

Along with my family and friends, I'll show you some great restaurants, museums and galleries, cool pubs, and tourist icons.  We'll have wine and seafood, wander the enviable beaches, and make friends with the local wildlife.  And who knows, we may find that Adelaide has more in common with New York than first thought.  Either way, by the end of our trip I'm sure you'll want to add Adelaide to your Aussie lottery fantasy.

So ladies and gentlemen, return your seat back and tray table to their upright positions, fasten your seatbelt low and tight, and let's get ready for take-off!

Thanks a lot, weekend!

At 6.45am this morning, my alarm woke me from such a deep sleep that I thought the Rapture had come.  I've never been a morning person, but it was especially hard to put my feet on the floor today.  I guess that's what you get after an extra long and very happyThanksgiving weekend.

All things considered, I was remarkably well behaved over the holiday.  Normally I indulge in every mashed potato I can find, on my plate or somebody else's.  I usually enjoy copious amounts of red wine, roasted meats, and lashings of pan-juice gravy too.  But this year, I wanted to do something a little different.  I've been working really hard since August to lose weight, and through Weight Watchers I'm down about 17 pounds (or 7.7 kilograms).  I just knew that Thanksgiving had the delicious potential to derail those efforts, so I took the rather drastic step of having a solo Thanksgiving this year, and I cooked for myself at home.  This was not a one-woman pity party either; rather, the necessary efforts of someone who has never won a staring competition with temptation in her life.

I even had every good intention of going to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thursday morning, but I woke up too late and realised I'd slept through a large portion of it.  Not a very disciplined start, was it?  I got over that quickly enough, once I had poured some super-strong coffee and watched a few feather-light snowflakes fall outside.  Very pretty.

The night before Thanksgiving I'd been out to a rehearsal of the New York City Ballet production of The Nutcracker (one of my holiday favourites).  As we were leaving Lincoln Center, the theatre staff gave me a copy of the soundtrack CD and it provided the perfect background noise while I fired up all the kitchen appliances.

Before long, every pot and pan in my tiny apartment was filthy but the tasty, Weight Watchers menu was ready.  Because I'm not a turkey fan, I prepared herbed chicken (but without the wine), brussels sprouts (with bacon instead of almonds, obviously), and this truly delicious sweet potato dish that is now my favourite way of preparing them.  Dessert was a store-bought vanilla mini cheesecake that I devoured embarassingly quickly.

With my pants stretched to capacity and The Nutcracker score on repeat, I settled down to do some afternoon reading, which turned into extensive napping, which was everything the day was supposed to be.

But Thanksgiving is also about being grateful for the blessings in your life - whether they are edible or not.  Foremost in my mind over these past four days, I've been especially thankful for good health - mine, as well as for my friends and family.  I gave thanks for hard work - not just in my day job, but also working hard at weight loss, and on this NYC blog that is growing so well each week.  And I gave particular thanks for the opportunity to spend another Thanksgiving in this beautiful city with no alarm clocks required.

Democratic Dining

Image credit:  NY Times

The right to vote is a fundamental tenet of any democratic society. And one of the best things about living in a democratic society like New York is that we get to vote on the things that really matter - like the best restaurants in the City.

Taking out poll position in EaterNY's illustrious competition this year was Bȃtard, at the corner of Broadway and White Street in Tribeca.  Bȃtard is not a huge place, but it has been consistently busy since it opened in May 2014. Like the restaurant reviews, Bȃtard's Michelin star has been glowing.

But while the critics have been raving, it is regular diners like you and me that vote in the annual Eater Awards competition.  So why did we, the hungry people of New York, declare Bȃtard the Restaurant of the Year?

Loyalty might have something to do with it.  One of Bȃtard’s owners is chef and restaurateur Drew Nieporent, whose two previous restaurants on this site also took their names from the Burgundy wine region of France – including Montrachet, that was open for twenty-two years; and Corton (which my friend sadly misses), that enjoyed a five-year run on this same spot.  Bȃtard's name comes from the Bȃtard-Montrachet vineyard in Burgundy, famous for its chardonnay. But the name can also refer to a torpedo-shaped loaf of French bread, and the decidedly less palatable French word for "bastard".  New Yorkers clearly respond to something edgy in their choice of restaurant.

A talented chef never hurts a restaurant’s chances in competition either.  Bȃtard’s kitchen is under the expert control of chef Markus Glocker, who hails from Austria but whose cuisine is also influenced by his time working with the late Charlie Trotter in Chicago, and with Gordon Ramsay in London.  Glocker clearly knows his audience too.  He understands that New Yorkers get bored easily and that we want choice, innovation, and freshness in our dining experiences.  Bȃtard’s excellent menu delivers that in spades.

But everyday New Yorkers also want value for money, and the flexible a la carte menu at Bȃtard allows diners to select an affordable 2-course menu for $55, a 3-course menu for $65, or a 4-course menu for $75.  Whatever cost-effective option you choose, you're likely to also pick something from the extensive wine list to complement your meal.

And so it was that our dinner tonight was a 3-course affair, plus a delicious bottle of "silky, elegant" Saint Joseph Offerus (2011).  My appetiser was the salty but creamy "octopus pastrami", which has been getting fantastic reviews.  The spicy wholegrain mustard nearly blew my face off at first, but it was a delicious contrast to the saline octopus, when taken in small doses.  Main course was the perfectly-cooked branzino (European sea bass).  It was sitting on a bed of pureed butternut squash and grilled lettuce, which added a beautiful smoky flavour.  For dessert I went back to previous diner reviews and had the caramelized milk bread, which is kind of like french toast, but with a brûlée coating.  And with tart berries and sweet vanilla ice cream?  Yes, please.

Bȃtard’s victory as Eater NY’s Restaurant of the Year 2014 guarantees you a tricky time getting a reservation, but you must persevere; the effort will be totally worth it.  Democracy has never been so tasty.

Adopt-A-Holiday

"Freedom from Want" by Norman Rockwell
Image credit here

When you're brand new to this City, or even this country, embracing American traditions can make you feel a bit uncomfortable.  Holidays you'd never previously considered suddenly become a "thing", and you're never quite sure the extent to which you're expected to participate.

Take Thanksgiving, for instance - a very topical example.  It's a national holiday that celebrates a uniquely American episode of world history.  What claim do the rest of us honestly have to commemorate that?  But you know what?  You will.  Through a gut-busting menu, an opportunity to stop and reflect on the people and things that make your life wonderful, and two days off work, somehow you make peace with it.

This year will be my 7th Thanksgiving celebration in the United States and I absolutely love it - in fact, I've loved every single one of them.  In 2011, I actually catalogued all my Thanksgiving adventures and it's great to relive those.  There are a couple of gaps in the timeline though.  I was in London in 2012  so I missed it that year, and in 2013 I was in East Hampton and probably too hungover to write about it so the less we say about that, the better.

With my appetite, you'd expect that food ranks the highest on my list of reasons for loving Thanksgiving, but it's not really true.  I adore the smells most of all.  At this time of year, stores and kitchens across the US are full of delicious, seasonal aromas - cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.  All of this fragrance spills over into the food (and into my mulled wine) and I'm a very happy girl.  But looking back over all my adopted Thanksgivings, I know I definitely loved the occasions, but I just can't wrap my arms around everything.

For one thing, I have reservations about the turkey.  I know, it's "Turkey Day" but the centerpiece of the entire table isn't my thing at all.  Sidebar though, I do maintain a soft spot for the Butterball Hotline, thanks to "The West Wing" (and you must watch the clip here).  Turkey is everywhere here in the US - but especially so at Thanksgiving.  I don't remember growing up with turkey meat in Australian supermarkets or deli counters - it certainly wasn't on our dinner table at home.  It might be an acquired taste, but it doesn't really taste all that different to chicken.  But then again, everything seems to taste like chicken, doesn't it?  But have you seen the size of Thanksgiving turkeys?!  Some are big enough to feed 20 people.  They take 3 days to defrost, and almost a whole day to cook.  Could you imagine encountering a turkey that big in nature?  Surely you'd just lay down, play dead, and hope it went away.

While I'm complaining, I'm also not on board with pumpkin pie.  I can stomach pumpkin muffins, or even pumpkin cake, but a pie crust filled with cold, spiced pumpkin - most often from a can, of all places - just isn't palatable in my book.  It can't be a texture thing either, because I love cheesecake and banana cream pie and other things that I imagine have similar mouth feel.  Maybe it's because I grew up only eating hot pumpkin - roasted or mashed or in soup.  Perhaps this is one of those culinary hurdles I will never clear.

But trust me, the savoury side dishes are all mine.  Pass me the green bean casserole (fried onions from the can are essential).  I'll take heaping mounds of sweet potato casserole with the toasted marshmallows on top.  And I will fight you for the corn pudding and turkey gravy too.  I can usually take or leave the stuffing (which is often cooked separate to the bird), but if it's made from corn bread and cranberries, gimme!

Food is just part of the Thanksgiving tradition though.  And although I'm not a touchy-feely person at the best of times, I'm quite partial to the tradition of going around the Thanksgiving table and taking it in turns to declare the one thing for which you are most grateful.  Does anyone ever stop at one thing?  I think that's a really important part of the Thanksgiving pageantry - and it's a custom that anyone, from anywhere, can adopt.

Oh and once the meal is over, and your stretchy pants are at capacity, there is nothing more wonderful than lounging in front of the annual Thanksgiving football games.  Even after all this time in the US, football is another tradition that I'm still appropriating, but I'll get there eventually.  I have also adopted my friend Jeff's tradition of watching "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" on Thanksgiving afternoon.  It never gets old.  What a way to give thanks for all the blessings in life!

Given the blogging hiatus of the past two years, I'll definitely be writing about my 2014 Thanksgiving.  As a heads up, it will not feature turkey or pumpkin pie, but there will still be plenty of food, gratitude, stretchy pants, and food coma hallucinations to be had.  And for that, and for so much more, God Bless America!

NYC loves the lad from Liverpool

It's no secret that New York has a special place in its heart for John Lennon.  On December 8th, 1980 the music legend was shot and killed in front of his residence, The Dakota on West 72nd Street on the Upper West Side.

For the next five years afterwards, Lennon's widow, Japanese-born artist and musician Yoko Ono, worked with local landscape architects to designate a quiet zone across the street in Central Park, and the infamous Strawberry Fields site was dedicated on 9 October 1985.  But Lennon's memorial doesn't just belong to New Yorkers.  In fact, 121 countries around the world have declared Strawberry Fields in Central Park, with its "Imagine" plaque, to be an official Garden of Peace.

Image credit here

Peace activism was certainly a very prominent part of Lennon's life with Yoko Ono.  Indeed its a very strong theme that British-Australian artist John Waters explores in his wonderful production of Lennon: Through A Glass Onion, showing at the Union Square Theater on East 17th Street (until 22 February 2015).

Now I grew up watching John Waters on Australian TV, and he seriously hasn't changed a bit.  I'd probably watch him read the phone book though, so I'm a biased reviewer.  It is therefore quite reassuring to me that the critics at the New York Times felt as positively as I did about this production.

Waters does not impersonate Lennon during this show, but he does tell his story in a first-person narrative.  And Waters has been performing Glass Onion since 1992, across Australia and in London's West End, so he's had plenty of time to polish it up.  While Waters belts out excerpts from some 34 tunes on guitar and maintains his strong vocals throughout, piano accompaniment and harmony is provided by the excellent Stewart D'Arrietta, whose theatre pedigree includes a recent stint as musical director for The White Album Concert at the Sydney Opera House.

The show plays without an intermission, but if you're a fan of the Beatles, or the magic combination of Lennon & McCartney, you'll love this play.  I came away thinking it's just the kind of retrospective production that I could imagine Lennon doing, had his life not been so dramatically cut short.  The tale Waters spins is frank, and at times rather humorous - but always very self-effacing.  The songs complement the plot and as such, their lyrics take on a poignancy you might not have previously attributed to them (such as in the case of "Julia"about Lennon's mother, and "Beautiful Boy", about Sean Lennon - the son that John wasn't sure he and Yoko would ever have).

The show revealed Lennon to be a talented, complex, thoughtful man who loved his wife and his family, and had great times making music.  But it's clear that John Lennon always knew there was more to life than being a rock star.  Indeed, the Lennon/McCartney song "Glass Onion" pokes fun at those people who were inclined to look too deeply for meaning in Beatles lyrics.  In Lennon's mind, there were much more serious issues to be concerned about in life.

Throughout the show, I remember thinking how much I wanted to buy John Waters and Stewart D'Arrietta a beer afterwards.  But I think what I really wanted to do was to pull up a barstool alongside John Lennon.  It will forever be a shame that on that cold December evening 14 years ago, we were all robbed of the chance to ever do that.

Midtown is alive with the sound of music

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A stone's throw from Carnegie Hall, and just off the lobby of the Le Parker Meridien hotel in New York you'll find Klavierhaus Recital Hall, a recording studio and concert space.

The Recital Hall is actually affiliated with Klavierhaus Corporation, which maintains an amazing collection of antique, hand-crafted and restored concert pianos - including famous names like Hamburg, Steinway, and Fazioli.  Some of the Klavierhaus collection is now at Carnegie Hall, in Lincoln Center, and even at the White House - but you can see their full inventory here.

The Recital Hall itself isn't flashy from the outside - if you didn't know it was there, you'd easily walk past it.  But it seats about 70 people and its unique design, from the caramel-coloured floorboards to the minimalist decor, ensures that sound fills the entire space.

I was fortunate to come to the Recital Hall yesterday to marvel at the talents of my colleague Peter, his wife Hilda, and their friend Tim, who played a free concert arranged for clarinet, piano, and cello.  The carefully-curated concert was an excellent opportunity for all three instruments - and all three musicians - to shine.

When I asked him afterwards, Peter indicated he most enjoyed playing the first work - by Jeanne-Louise Farrenc.  In fact, Farrenc was the only composer on the program whose name was unfamiliar to me.  Born in France in 1804, Farrenc came from a family of sculptors, and while she was a prolific composer during her lifetime, she did not compose for opera - which was definitely the popular thing to do (certainly if you wanted to make any money).  As a result, Farrenc has enjoyed posthumous fame for her instrumental compositions and chamber music.  I sat in the front row for the concert, so I didn't take any photos - but if you are curious about Ferranc's work, and the piece that Peter particularly enjoyed playing, click here for a video of Canada's Amici Chamber Ensemble playing it.  You will see what I mean about it being a beautiful piece to showcase all three instruments.

After Farrenc, Peter took a break from his clarinet duties so Hilda and Tim could play a four-minute piece by Sergei Rachmaninoff.  Being more familiar with the Russian composer's work, I was expecting Hilda's fingers to go flying off the keys, but Romance in D major, Op4 No3 was, for the most part, a dream-like, relaxed piece and a great duet.

To close the program, Peter took the stage again and the trio collaborated on a Mikhail Glinka pice called Trio Pathetique in D Minor.  Glinka is perhaps most famous for being the first Russian composer to gain wide notoriety in his own country.  This particular piece is most often played by clarinet, piano, and bassoon - but of course I only know this after having poked around the internet a bit.  During the concert yesterday, the cello seemed like the perfect instrument to join in; they all fit together seamlessly.  And in THIS piece, I reckon Hilda played all 88 keys on that piano - her fingers were literally dancing across the keyboard; it was really great.

I suspect that little Recital Halls like the Klavierhaus are dotted all around New York, but my enjoyment of them is always maximised when I can celebrate the talents of people I know up there on stage.  Encore!

Has US history always been this delicious?

So last week I was obsessing over the idea of pan-fried scallops (and thank heavens Pearl Oyster Bar in the West Village could provide).  This week's culinary craving was pork crackling, and I don't mind admitting that I was rather resolute in my commitment to ugly-cry if I didn't get it.

I needn't have worried though, because I have been assured that pork cracklings will forever remain a staple on the menu of King Bee - a wonderful new restaurant in the East Village that opened in early October. 

The restaurant specialises in "Acadian-inspired cuisine" and if that sounds unusual to you, you're not alone.  Without geeking you out entirely, Acadian cuisine basically dates back to the late 17th/early 18th Century.  The Acadians were the descendants of French colonists living in the Canadian Maritimes provinces (modern-day Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick).  They refused to pledge allegiance to the invading British forces, and in August 1755 over 11,000 Acadians were basically kicked off their land.  While some fled to Georgia, many of the Acadians ended up in Louisiana, and there they developed what we know as Cajun culture - the language, the music, and especially the food.


The Arrival of the Acadians in Louisiana, by Robert Dafford (Image credit here)

King Bee pays homage to this chapter of American history by adapting Acadian-inspired recipes for more modern palates.  The concept totally worked for me but then again, any restaurant whose menu leads with pork cracklings gets a gold star in my book!  The minimalist decor and white-washed walls with funky canvas art allow the food, the bespoke cocktails, and huge wine list to be the real stars of the show - and the formal reviews and informal write-ups from diners have so far been very positive.  This review from the New Yorker had me ready to camp out at the restaurant early.

Our table of four tonight was pretty keen to share a bunch of dishes to maximise our enjoyment.  With excellent service to take care of us, we sipped glasses of tasty Beaujolais (two excellent recommendations) and stuffed ourselves with the pork cracklings and rabbit rillette, plus some faro salad, baked oysters, gumbo, roast chicken, poutine with lamb neck, lobster, and earthy mushroom risotto.  Dessert was a shared piece of the traditional Cajun gateau de sirop - so sweet and tasty.  Definitely "food coma" material.

I had not heard of Acadian cuisine before my visit to King Bee, but I totally loved it.  I really enjoyed the mix of heady spices, and the big flavours present in each dish we tried.  But I'm especially pleased that King Bee has proudly classified itself as "Acadian-inspired" rather that simply "Cajun" or even "Southern" or something more generic like that.  The unfamiliar reference to Acadia made me curious, it got me Googling, and I learned a bit more about US history and the diversity of cuisine available in New York.  And what a tasty lesson that turned out to be.

Art lives here

Walk along Washington Street in the West Village and you'll be struck by the beautiful old brownstone buildings nestled amongst some of the coolest coffee shops and little restaurants in the City.  It becomes very clear that this part of the West Village is a real residential neighbourhood - the traffic is quieter, the sidewalks are less congested, and everything seems more calm somehow.

But it wasn't always like this.

Westbeth Inner Courtyard
Image credit here

At the corner of Washington and Bethune Streets, you see a maze of 13 buildings that occupy an entire city block.  From the 1860s, this was the headquarters of Bell Laboratories, the largest industrial facility in the world.  They were responsible for innovations like televisions (black & white and colour), radar, vacuum tubes, and they also masterminded the first broadcast of a baseball game. But did you know they also hosted the headquarters of part of The Manhattan Project during WW2?  Atomic bomb research, you guys!  Serious stuff happened here.  No wonder NYC has preserved the building as a landmark and added it to the US National Reigster of Historic Places.

When Bell Laboratories relocated to New Jersey in the 1960s the buildings were renovated to become self-contained loft apartments.  At the time, the Greenwich Village/West Village neighbourhood was a haven for artists and musicians, so when the building was transformed (and federally-subsidized) into the Westbeth Artists Community, and they advertised affordable housing, tenants came running.  Before long, Westbeth became the world's largest artist residence and home to a creative community of visual, literary, and performing artists from across the country.

Forget about trying to get an apartment in the building these days, because the housing waiting list closed in 2007 (bummer).  Nevertheless the artists in residence are still producing some beautiful work that the building cleverly displays in its corridors and on its walls. 

I would also recommend you visit the Westbeth Gallery, the building's dedicated exhibition space.  The Gallery is a non-profit site that showcases the talent of its resident artists but also hosts independently-curated exhibitions.  The Gallery is open from Wednesday to Sunday, from 1-6pm and admission is free.  

From now until 29 November, the Gallery is exhibiting the work of the Bowery Gallery Founding Members.  The Bowery Gallery was born on Halloween 1969, as a gallery of artists for artists.  The founding members argued that they didn't need to exhibit their work in fancy galleries or be represented by big-ticket agents with lots of money. The figured if the art was worthwhile, it would find its way to an audience.  It is a group exhibition featuring the work of 19 artists from the late 1960s to the present day.  I loved the mixed media, and the bright colours and diversity of the artwork in this exhibition - it was great to explore watercolours, sculpture, drawings, and oils all in one space.  You'll see the link to my photo album at the bottom of this page.

And if you're in the neighbourhood this coming Saturday (15 November), you must visit the Flea Market in the basement for their $5 bag & box sale.  For a $5 donation, you can take an empty box or garbage bag and fill it up with all manner of goods that the artists and their families have donated.  You'll find clothes, books, shoes, furniture, homewares - only jewellery and fine art are exempt from the bargains.  Get there early to avoid disappointment!  All proceeds go towards the upkeep of the Westbeth Housing Community and surrounding public areas.

Post by The ABCs of NYC.

To market, to market

You might recall a couple of weeks ago I headed to Park Slope in Brooklyn and learned about the Farmigo company and their farm-to-table food deliveries.

Well fresh food has been on my mind, and yesterday I headed into Union Square Park for a trip around the regular Farmers Market.  It started as a Monday-only affair but has grown in popularity with vendors and customers alike.  These days you can find the open-air market in Union Square from 8am to 6pm every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.

There's even a map of the market online so you can plot your adventure ahead of time, but there is something equally enjoyable about just strolling between the stalls and seeing what is available and fresh on the day.

With a cup of warm apple cider in my hands, I did exactly that.  I just wandered from stall to stall and marvelled at the bounty before me.  Every vegetable you could think of was represented - and the colours and varieties seemed endless.  But beyond fruits and vegetables, stalls were selling meat and fish, cheeses, wine, honey, merino wool, and even wheatgrass shots.

There were just as many tourists as locals at the market yesterday - and I could see some people there who were well-known to the vendors, chatting amiably and heading straight for the produce they wanted.  Regulars just doing their weekly grocery shop, I guess.  We are very spoiled in New York to have access to such wonderful farms and local providers a short distance away.  And don't forget that Union Square is serviced by numerous bus routes and subway lines, so you should definitely come to see the Market when you're here.

Post by The ABCs of NYC.

A gem in the West Village

I don't get food cravings often but when I do, they are very specific.  Earlier this week I needed to eat a half-dozen natural oysters.  I was willing to be flexible on toppings - lemon juice or vinaigrette would be fine, but I just knew that oysters had to feature somewhere on my menu.

Now, I've been to a couple of good seafood restaurants in New York, but to satisfy this particular craving I was keen to try somewhere new.  Enter Pearl Oyster Bar on Cornelia Street in the West Village.  It's a vintage restaurant by New York standards - it has been going strong for 17 years already, but I had never been there until tonight.

I have to say from the outset, Pearl Oyster Bar suits its name from top to bottom - it is a real neighbourhood gem.  Walk by too fast and you'd probably miss the place, were it not for the crowds of people milling around and waiting for a table.  The bartenders that manage the beautiful marble bar at the front of the restaurant keep everyone well hydrated while they wait, so nobody seems to mind much.

Despite its obvious popularity, I didn't discover this restaurant by word of mouth; rather, I simply Googled "best seafood in New York", et voila!  The internet is full of diner reviews and articles singing the praises of Pearl's chef-owner Rebecca Charles, particularly for her lobster rolls which seem to be the restaurant's best-seller (and not just for lunch).  Rebecca spent some time in Maine and she's recreated the state's signature sandwich for hungry New Yorkers, but her repertoire also includes a number of other seaside-inspired recipes, including those in her fantastic cookbook, Lobster Rolls and Blueberry Pie.

The lobster rolls will have to wait for next time though, because tonight I only had eyes for six plump oysters, laid out on the half-shell and spritzed with a bit of lemon.  Blissful.  Main course were delicious pan-fried scallops with asparagus, mushroom and creamy mashed potatoes on the side.  And for dessert?  A quinelle (oh yes, I know my cooking terms) of the most decadent and rich chocolate mousse, with the lightest of whipped cream perched on top.  A perfect combination.

I can never say where my next food craving will take me, but I can assure you that I will come back to Pearl to revisit the very affordable food and wine menu, and to enjoy the friendly service that greeted me tonight.