By Bread Alone

Walnut raisin roll from Sullivan’s Bakery

Whether you prefer the softness of a sweet brioche or the crunchiness of a great baguette, there’s nothing like fresh bread. You probably have a place in your neighborhood where you like to buy your bread. Or if you’re really ambitious, you may bake your own.  There are two places that are worth venturing out of your way for.

Sullivan Street Bakery

The first is Sullivan Street Bakery  Headquartered in Hell’s Kitchen, with an outpost in Chelsea, Sullivan Street offers a range of Italian breads and rolls.

Truccio Doni – a loaf from Sullivan Street with large pieces of green olive.

You can also get bomboloni, an Italian doughnut;  a variety of panini; or owner Jim Lahey’s famous pizza. You can sit and savor some fresh bread in the shop or take some home with you.

Amy’s Bread on 46th and Ninth

Not far away is Amy’s Bread, another bakery worth visiting. Like Sullivan’s, Amy’s has multiple locations and the breads are also sold at a variety of retailers.  I like the Hell’s Kitchen location, site of the first shop, because it feels most like a neighborhood bakery and cafe.

So many bread twists choices

Amy’s Bread is committed to “baking wholesome, hand-crafted bread.” They make over 20 different doughs, then form each into a variety of shapes and sizes. Their signature bread is a Semolina with Golden Raisins and Fennel, Other favorites are French Baguettes, and Organic Miche. I loved their range of sweet and savory bread twist choices.

Baguettes at Fairway

If you can’t make it to Sullivan Street or Amy’s Bread, then stop into a Fairway and pick up a fresh baguette. The baguettes are baked daily on location,  Often you can pick up one just out of the oven. It’s hard to resist eating half of it on your way home. And for $1.99, you can’t go wrong with this bread option.

NYWCA: A Professional Culinary Find

Pasta boiling on the stovetop of the JCC kitchen with salad makers in the back

To commemorate Martin Luther King Day, I and 14 members of the New York Women’s Culinary Alliance (NYWCA) joined together to cook for 200 women and children of a Women in Need (WIN) shelter on the upper east side. I’ve been a member of NYWCA for two years,  For a culinary professional living in NYC, this organization is a culinary find. The alliance celebrated it’s 30th anniversary last year.

Celebrating NYWCA’s 30th anniversary with a potluck dinner

NYWCA fosters networking, education and cooperation for women in the culinary and beverage fields in the NYC area. The Alliance provides members both educational and social experiences through ongoing food and wine tastings, hands-on workshops, field trips and business-related seminars. NYWCA is also very committed to giving back through outreach programs and fund-raising for women’s health and nutrition issues. Additionally, NYWCA members work with adults and children in need to teach them the basics of nutrition, food buying and healthful meal preparation.

Cookies we baked for the WIN families

The MLK Day cooking was just one of the many community projects that NYWCA members take part in. This project was organized and hosted by Irene Yager, NYWCA member and Assistant Director,Culinary Arts at the JCC Manhattan.

Stimulating Your Senses in Chinatown

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There are many wonderful things about visiting Chinatown. You truly feel transported to a different place. The sights, smells and sounds of the streets are so stimulating. Many people go to Chinatown for a meal at one of the many authentic Chinese restaurants. I like to go and walk the streets; looking into windows or admiring a display of fresh produce or seafood; as if the whole neighborhood was one big museum. But there are two stores I enjoy re-visiting each time I’m in the area.

The New Kam Man Store, at 200 Canal Street, was founded in the early 1970s, and according to their website, was the  first and largest Asian supermarket in Chinatown.  On the first floor the store offers an array of Asian food products.

Soy sauce and hot sauce varieties

I love the second floor even better where there are rows and rows of bowls for rice, teapots and teacups, chopsticks and dipping bowls.

There are also loose teas and teabags for every tastebud, containers for carrying dumplings, and bamboo mats for rolling sushi.

Ceramic spoons for holding tea bags

Another store I love returning to is Aji Ichiban (at 37 Mott Street), a confectionery store which is part of a Hong Kong based company .

It’s a relatively small store with everything from packaged candies to loose dried fruits, nuts, and other exotic items

On top of each case, there are samples to try and clear cellophane bags to fill up with the things you like.

This time, I chose dried honey ginger to sample.

Chobani Yogurt Bar

You can find many different kinds of frozen yogurt stores around the city. One of my favorites is 16 Handles where you can choose the flavors you want and the amount of each one. The Chobani Store in Soho, is one of the first to serve fresh yogurt with a selection of fresh ingredients. The small store, which opened last summer, is Chobani’s first retail store. And while you can get many of the products sold in the supermarket, what makes this place special are the interesting sweet and savory combinations made on the spot.

I gravitate towards the sweet ones. On my first visit, I had pistachio and chocolate that was also flavored with honey. orange and fresh mint. On my second visit, I went with one of the “combos of the day,” which was walnut, pumpkin jam and pumpkin seeds. Next time, though, I want to try the peanut butter, jelly and grapes combination.

Walnut and pumpkin combo of the day

Each yogurt is served in a glass dish with a cloth covering for take-out. If you don’t mind sitting on a large window sill, then you can stay and eat your yogurt in the store. You receive 25 cents off your next “yogurt creation” if you return the glass jar.