the brindle room/"wonder city" donuts

photo © anita aguilar

if you are so inclined: more photos, a few thoughts here...

happy holiday

it's national cookie day...

thomas keller's chocolate chip cookies

if you're curious how i made these (and if you want to make them, too) visit me here.

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photos © anita aguilar

morandi (let's move)

latte. photo © anita aguilar

more photos, etc. here

i want to move.

i want to move to morandi.

yes, morandi, the restaurant.

it’s a perfect plan—pretty west village spot, right there on waverly and 7th avenue south. (i used to live a few blocks away, i know it will be easy to fall back into a routine...reunite with the dry cleaners on 8th, the guys at the magazine store on hudson. i could start running again, by the water…)

if I lived at morandi, when the weather is nice, i could start the day with breakfast at 8--or ease into the brunch hour-- at a table outside.

i could have a skim latte and something simple—a selection from the basket of sweet breads. everything in it has a distinct and delicious ring, and indeed there are enough for each day of the week: brioche with chocolate and hazelnuts to make the monday less mopey; cherry spirals on tuesday; a simple cornetti, midweek; sweet pistachio bread on thursday; the panetti al forno-–a bit more savory, with prosciutto and raisins--for the friday morning after the night before; bombolini –little italian donuts!--as the precursor to a more luxurious weekend brunch; and, ricotta fritters to celebrate the 7th day.

is it working for you?

there are eggs, served with salt cod or skirt steak or more simply, with grilled tomatoes and country bread.

there’s salad: arugula or escarole, seafood, or spelt.

a more serious commitment can be made--meatballs with pine nuts and raisins, or an egg pasta with a classic meat sauce. (i’m not sure i could make that my first meal of the day—but i wouldn’t dream of messing with you, if you could. in fact, you could wind up being...my hero.)

but that is how a day could start at morandi. imagine where we could go from there?

sounds like a nice little life, ay?

ok, then.

let’s move.

flash food

i made a promise to myself to learn to shoot with flash--not the on-camera kind, but the shoe mount version. i've only ever really used it for events and headshots, when the desired result is very specific (consistent, even light). the photos have been fine enough, but pretty straightforward. i've been consulting a book called speedlights and speedlights; if i can get through that AND figure out the flash manual, i might have some really fun shots to share. but it's pretty technical. i need to become a tech geek. that might take a while.

in the meantime, this is what we're looking at. i took these on saturday. a couple of friends treated me to dinner at a cuban place.
this is exactly the look i don't want. bright, but flat.

plaintain-crusted red snapper....

tostones

another reason why i don't shoot with flash in restaurants? it's pretty obnoxious. i didn't take more time to get better shots because it (i?) quickly became the kind of distraction i disapprove of.

but the photos won't go unused, as my friend allison and i have a started a food blog. it's still in its "beta" stage; it's so "beta" that we haven't even filled in the "about" section. i'm not sure how far we go with it, but for now, the photos will have a home, and i'll get to practice the food writing. i'm pretty rusty--we'll see how it goes. if you have time and want to take a look, i'd love any feedback. you'll be able to tell which posts are mine (she posts as the admin).

thanks...