I remember sitting down with bread genius Jim Lahey the very first week his cult NYC pizza place, Co., opened, and having him tell me that he dreamed of projecting movies on the big, blank back wall of the restaurant. The fantasy finally becomes a reality tonight. Lahey and the Co. team kick off the first of what will be monthly movie screenings of pie-inspired flicks. Tonight’s inaugural show will be Les Blank’s Garlic is as Good as Ten Mothers, and Lahey is making a special garlicky pie to serve at the screening. The movie will be played silently during the start of dinner service and then will be shown with sound at 9:30 p.m.
 

Since I always want more late night food choices, I was happy to read Grub Street's report last week that Otto Enoteca in Manhattan was launching a new late-night menu. Served from 10 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., it’s a good deal: For $33 you get a bottle of wine (from a choice of some 15 red, white, sparkling and rosé bottles) plus salumi, house-pickled vegetables and cheese. Otto's wine director Dan Amatuzzi especially likes the 2008 Verdicchio di Matelica Fontezoppa, a white from Italy's le Marche region; for a red, he recommends the 2007 Primitivo Botromagno from Puglia (he says the licorice and spice are good for pickled vegetables and cut through the rich cheese). Mario Batali, Otto's chef/owner, goes in a different direction. He loves the NV Prosecco di Veneto Flor for what he calls "the early part of the late evening," (i.e., midnight).  "With some cheese and salumi, it gives me a springboard into action and fun," he says. You’ll be hearing more from Batali and Amatuzzi about some crazy wine pairings in F&W’s April wine issue; it's just about the same time that Batali's new book, Molto Gusto: Easy Italian Cooking comes out.

After six epic days in the Austrian Alps, I must admit that the highlight involved a sled, not a snowboard. In St. Anton am Arlberg, children and adults alike partake in rodeling (what we know as sledding in the States). One brilliant restaurateur (apparently with no fears of liability) decided to set a restaurant called the Rodel Alm mid-mountain. Adventurous diners take their toboggans up the gondola, sled down the steep, barely lit hill and stop for dinner at this supercozy Tyrolean restaurant with live Tyrolean music and enormous portions of pig’s knuckle (schweinshaxe) with honey-infused sauerkraut, spinach spaetzle and kaiserschmarren (chopped up pancakes topped with warm apples and powdered sugar—a favorite of Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn). Of course dinner is accompanied by fantastic wines and a shot or two of schnapps (we opted for hazelnut) to keep rodelers warm on the 2.7-mile ride back down the mountain. At the bottom, a little hut with a bonfire outside awaits. Locals cheer on the rodelers, passing out celebratory glühwein (mulled wine) and beers. They then dare you to ride a tiny, circular tray down a nearby hill to see who can get the most air off of a jump. Our friend Stefan became a local legend that night, setting a new tray-sledding record. 
 

As Julia Moskin reports in this week’s New York Times Dining section, many yoga traditionalists are not pleased with all the eating and drinking now happening at yoga studios around the country. While austerity is at the core of many traditional yoga practices, personally I’m hungry after a 90-minute Bikram yoga session in a 110 degree room (even if it smells like stinky, sweaty feet).

Here, some fantastic recipes from my favorite chef-yogi (and an F&W Best New Chef 2009), Jeremy Fox from Napa Valley’s Ubuntu restaurant and yoga studio:

Carrot Macaroni and Cheese (pictured)
Lemony Quinoa Salad with Shaved Vegetables
Broccoli à la Catalan

It’s been a good week for me and black truffles. First I got to attend the three-course AC/BT (Andrew Carmellini/Black Truffle) dinner at NYC's Locanda Verde. There Carmellini (an F&W Best New Chef 2000) added truffles to everything from oxtail minestrone to scallops to an ice cream sundae. I even scored an AC/BT "Back in Black" T-shirt that I wore to the gym the next morning, like I used to do in high school the day after a concert. And then last night, I hit the jackpot at Manhattan’s outstanding Eleven Madison Park. There, Daniel Humm (an F&W Best New Chef 2005) is perfecting something he calls a black truffle beignet. It comes to the table in a rice-filled glass, looking for all the world like a solid, thousand-dollar black truffle. In fact, it’s made with pureed chickpeas and enough truffles to make it pitch black. He got the idea at, get this , a falafel stand in Montclair, New Jersey. The beignet is absolutely fantastic; the only thing that can possibly top it would be to find an actual black truffle on my plate at my next meal.

Because I’m so inspired by the Eat This, Not That series, and because I’ve recently found myself in frustrating situations at restaurants that made me feel that, really, I should have gone to that other place on the next block, I’ve decided to start an infrequent series. And I would welcome similar stories from anyone who reads this blog.

Coming soon on Eat Here, Not There: NYC's Lupa vs. Bar Henry.

The morning after a recent menu tasting at Brooklyn, New York’s Zenkichi restaurant, I woke up with a belly full of shirako cod milt (a.k.a. cod sperm) and no regrets. Available only in winter months, shirako is considered a delicacy in Japan and can be eaten raw or cooked.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t initially freaked out when a small bowl of glistening shirako sashimi (pictured, left) was placed in front of me, but I resolved not to be so squeamish when I saw two brawny guys, both former college football players, dig in without hesitation. Topped with thinly sliced scallions and a drizzle of ponzu sauce, the sashimi was slightly sweet and vaguely briny with a smooth custard-like texture that resembled brains.

Then the waiters brought out delicious, lacy clusters of a tempura combining creamy cod milt and crispy green chrysanthemum leaves, topped with a sprinkle of green-tea salt (pictured, below).

Now I’m thinking about going back to Zenkichi for more shirako before the season ends–and I might even bring a friend with me.

 

Let’s count the reasons why it was awesome to go to the black truffle dinner at Locanda Verde in downtown Manhattan last night (a.k.a. AC/BT, AC for chef Andrew Carmellini). 1) Carmellini's three-course dinner was just $50. 2) It featured black truffles from Primizie Foods’ John Magazino. 3) Reservations sold out within an hour (a haiku won an Eater reader a prime-time res). 4) Among the excellent first courses: oxtail minestrone with foie gras ravioli and truffles and three kinds of truffled crostini; the main course squab came with a terrific truffled duck meatball. 5) Even the desserts included black truffles, our favorite being the black-truffle-filled walnut tart. 6) You could still order off the regular menu. We had sheep’s milk ricotta with our truffled appetizers; the table next to ours had it as a cheese course. 7) The AC/BT Back in Black T-shirts worn by the staff were amazing. And in such high demand that I would suggest that management turn the restaurant's bakery counter into a T-shirt concession stand. 8) Twenty-five percent of the profits from AC/BT went to Doctors Without Borders for Haitian Relief. 9) The after-party was at Boom Boom Room.

In February, New York City will get Jean-Georges Vongerichten's take on farm-to-table cuisine at ABC Kitchen, a roughly 150-seat café inside ABC Carpet & Home that will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner and fresh juices at a juice bar. Vongerichten is working with ABC CEO Paulette Cole on the design, sourcing as locally as possible; that includes plates from Bella Porcelain, made by Cole's childhood friend Jan Burtz. (There are a few exceptions: The bar is made out of a church altar from Mexico.) The menu is still in progress, but Vongerichten would like to source all ingredients from within 100 miles of the store. Dishes will be dead simple, Vongerichten promises—mostly ones he makes for his own family. "We want to do what Alice Waters did in the 1970s," he says. "Handwritten menus, changing daily, seasonal food." Chef de cuisine Dan Kluger won't churn his own butter, but he will make his own yogurt: They had a test batch in the oven when I stopped by yesterday. Pictures after the jump.

 

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When I vacationed in Chicago last weekend, my first stop was star chef Paul Kahan’s latest bar and taqueria, Big Star. The large rectangular bar that dominates the space holds two of Big Star’s three specialties: some 50-odd bourbons and a couple dozen tequilas. The other specialty comes from the kitchen: tacos—hundreds of tacos.

Tapping along to a Loretta Lynn record, I elbowed my way to the bar to order a drink, from a list conceived by the team from the adjacent cocktail haven The Violet Hour. I started with a San Antonio Sling, a bracing combination of tequila, St-Germain and grapefruit. I followed that with the Hud, an Old Fashioned–like lowball heavy on the bourbon and light on the citrus—tangerine, in this case. Then I turned to food. First up was a fondue-like casserole of rajas chiles, house-made chorizo and cheese. A quartet of tacos followed: lamb, al pastor (marinated pork) and my two favorites, poblano with queso (cheese) and pork belly. The food was delicious, and with nothing exceeding five dollars, also a bargain.

When the weather gets warmer, Big Star will offer a huge alfresco dining area. As long as the music remains louder than the nearby El train, Big Star will be a party few will want to leave.