It felt like everyone I know traveled to Greece this summer. Friends chose Zakynthos, Crete, Naxos, Ikaria. I opted for Sifnos, one of the Cyclades’ most celebrated food destinations but still, thankfully, relatively under the radar internationally. Greece’s culinary culture can’t be grasped fully on any one island; across the Aegean, distinct growing conditions and cooking traditions have produced individual cuisines entirely their own. Sifnos just happens to have a particularly delicious reputation. 

Our trip landed in the middle of August — peak tourist season in the Mediterranean — but it never felt cramped. And now that summer has come to a close, what crowds there were have thinned and temperatures are more forgiving, yet peak-season produce is still finding its way into dishes across the island. So now is an even better time to experience Sifnos.

Getting there means starting in Athens, where ferries come in and out of the port of Piraeus from all across the Aegean and Ionian seas. The 2.5-hour trip from Athens to Sifnos is a thrill — worthy of a few Dramamine tablets if you’re prone to seasickness — with incredible views of the islands you pass along the way. The Aegean really is a different shade of blue; it’s tempting to gaze into it from the deck the whole way.

When I travel, my priority is getting a real feel for a place. Given the choice between a beach club with lounge chairs or a rocky cove hiding a strip of sand, I’ll happily rock scramble towards the latter. An olive grove, a local cheesemaker? I’m there. I’ll shell out for a pricey tasting menu, too, but only if it’s thoughtfully rooted in its surroundings. Otherwise, I don’t need the pomp and circumstance. I’d rather idle away an afternoon fumbling through my practically nonexistent Greek at a local taverna over taramasalata and charcoal-grilled prawns.

Turns out, Sifnos was the perfect fit.

---

Day 1

Ferry Snacks: Yorgos Souvlaki

Get to Piraeus with an hour or so to spare before your ferry boards and slip into Yorgos Souvlaki to provision. This is a special shop, really nothing more than a grill behind a counter perched on the corner of a side street that happens to be one of the last places serving bifteki-style souvlaki in pita the old-school way: without tzatziki. Around 1970, the tangy yogurt sauce, along with the addition of fries, became a ubiquitous accompaniment to the street snack. Here, the grilled beef patties and the pillowy pita warmed by their juices come with nothing more than a bit of fresh tomato, slivered onions, and a scattering of parsley. Order two per person.

Dinner: Loggia Wine Bar

After a few hours at sea, you’ll dock at your 28-square mile destination, and it’s best to make your way to the little village of Kastro. Lodging is limited to a handful of Airbnbs and a hotel or two, but staying here means you can park the car and forget about it, exploring this special corner of the island, which was once Sifnos’s ancient capital, on foot. Head to Loggia Wine Bar — literally the side of a cliff with amphitheater-style seating carved into it. Settle into the island over potatoes roasted on charcoal and paired with tarama aioli, or panzanella tossed not with hunks of bread but crumbled Sifnian anise cookies. Pair that with something you wouldn’t be able to find anywhere else — like an unfiltered red made from old-vine Mouchtaro grapes grown at high altitude in the Geraneia Mountains — from the extensive bottle list.

---

Day 2

Breakfast: Diporto Shop

Wake to the sounds of crashing waves and the chitter of coastal falcons and head up into the tiny streets of Kastro to Diporto Shop, a beloved cafe that feels more like you’ve ambled into a family member’s kitchen. Grab a table in the shade and order a freddo cappuccino — Greece’s answer (and a better one) to an iced latte with cold foam. You’ll likely be served by one of the owners’ young sons, who can balance a tray full of coffees better than I ever could. Opt for the yogurt and fruit bowl. Crowned with heaps of sunflower seeds, dates, sliced apricots and banana, it’s certainly enough to sustain a hike down to the Church of the Seven Martyrs afterwards.

Lunch: Ammoudia

Head north to the village of Cheronissos. Between the rocky hills on either side where goats roam and graze, find a patch of sand or smooth rock and set up for the day. When you get hungry, it’s just a few steps to Ammoudia — exactly what you might picture if I told you to imagine a taverna on the edge of the beach in a tiny fishing village: wooden tables and chairs planted directly into the sand, close to the water’s edge. Order the revithada, a soul-soothing Sifnian speciality of stewed chickpeas in olive oil with onion and herbs. Families traditionally make revithada on Saturday before bringing their prepared pot to a communal oven where it will cook through the night ahead of the Sunday meal. Luckily, at Ammoudia you can get revithada any day of the week. Guaranteed to cure hangovers and jet lag. To order seafood, walk up to the case with your server and point to what intrigues you. He’ll weigh it, discuss how you want it cooked — which, in my opinion, should be over charcoal with lemon and olive oil and nothing else — and before you know it, you’ll have a beautiful Sifnian lobster or sea bream placed before you.

Dinner: Cantina

A visit to Sifnos is incomplete without dinner at Cantina. Chef Giorgos Samoilis is a local legend on this island (and throughout Greece), yet somehow, none of that has gone to his head. Known for his zero-waste approach and menus that are deeply connected to the local network of farmers and fishermen, he and his team create an experience at this little restaurant by the sea blessedly free of pretension in the food or the setting, even though, with the care and craft put into all of it, there certainly could be. Poached monk fish fillet comes in a delicate fig leaf sauce. Okra grilled over charcoal comes topped with pumpkin seeds and smoked red pepper. Mizithra ice cream is drizzled with local honey and scattered with a brown butter crumble made with yesterday’s bread.

---

Day 3

Breakfast: Theodorou Pastry Shop

Sifnos is synonymous with pottery, but the island also has deep traditions around almond sweets. Head to the family-owned Theodorou Pastry Shop in Artemonas for almond confections like kourabiedes, delicate cookies made with almond flour and dusted in confectioner’s sugar, still made by hand as they have been for three generations. Continue south, stopping to browse if a ceramics studio happens to grab your eye, and head toward the little cove near the base of the island known as Faros. Continue past the first beach, Paralia Faros, and around the corner to the more secluded, much calmer Vlicho Beach where the shadows cast by wispy salt cedar trees and the cove’s perpetual breeze make the perfect conditions for a nap between dips.

Lunch: Pelicanos

For your midday meal, head to Pelicanos, the second restaurant from chef Giorgos Samoilis, with more of a beach bar vibe. Pelicanos is known for its crab and bottarga cacio e pepe with thick, chewy, bucatini-like noodles, but whatever the fresh aguachile on special happens to be, don’t skip it. Spend the rest of the afternoon on the beach. If you get restless or tired (somehow!) of swimming, there’s a little rocky hike that takes you up to the sweeping views surrounding Panagia Chrysopigi, a monastery dating back to the 1600s.

Dinner: Omega3

Finish up the day on the southside of the island in Platis Gialos, a buzzier seaside town with no shortage of shops and bars to dip into before dinner at Omega 3. Seafood lovers, especially those who gravitate toward the raw or cured, will feel as though they’ve died and gone to heaven. If sea urchin — usually served in pickled tomato water that tastes like some sort of elixir from the gods — happens to be on the menu, don’t blink. Same goes for whatever the ceviche happens to be; local sea bream, shrimp, or amberjack dotted with vibrant cilantro pesto make frequent appearances. Finishing dinner, you may find yourself wanting to take a quick dip in the water you’ve spent the entire meal looking out at. I did, and realized how fortunate I was to have spent almost every single meal this trip with the sea right there in front of me.

Where I want to go next time:

Say Cheers!, the bar in a van at the hotel Oniropagida, perched atop one of the highest points on the island, offers unmatchable sunset views and, from what I’ve heard, pretty good cocktails. Tsikali, the restaurant on the beach on the west coast of the island, is where many say they’ve had the best chickpeas of their life. I can’t believe I missed Kavos Sunrise, the Cuban rum bar with scrawlings on the wall that reminded me of El Batey Bar in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Next time!

---

Check out more editor-recommended restaurant picks on the Eater App, and follow me for more recommendations from my travels and favorite cities. (Subscribe to our travel newsletter, too!)

from Eater https://ift.tt/FxIBR3X

Stainless steel cookware is experiencing a cultural renaissance. This isn’t to say that the genre of cookware ever disappeared, but, once upon a lockdown, it felt like an ad from a nonstick cookware brand was always a scroll away. Now that the dust has settled from the post-pandemic online shopping boom, the tides are shifting, and consumers investing in cookware sets want to be sure that what they buy will last both in terms of function and looking good year after year. For many folks, and especially those working in professional kitchens, that’s where the craftsmanship of great stainless steel pulls its weight. 

So, why is virtually every commercial kitchen stocked with stainless steel cookware? Eater spoke with Carlye Lester, the sous chef at HAGS, a queer fine dining restaurant in New York City, about why she loves to reach for it at her restaurant, and so many other chefs and cooks do at theirs. The main benefit? Reliability. “I love that it gets super hot and heats evenly; it is [easy] to get a good sear on whatever you are making,” Lester says, explaining that she’s using stainless steel pans to sear and crisp a mustard marinaded-cod at HAGS. “[And] I love that stainless steel can be more reliable than a nonstick if you’re using the correct methods.”

That’s one of the greatest misconceptions about stainless steel cookware: that it is not nonstick. In actuality, if you heat up stainless steel cookware to the right temperature (around 400 degrees Fahrenheit, or once a few water droplets in the pan start beading instead of evaporating), and add a bit of oil, it creates a nonstick effect due to something called the Leidenfrost effect.

As for pan aftercare: Make sure you let your pan cool before washing, and dry it with a microfiber cloth afterwards to prevent water spots. Other than that, quality stainless steel (at least 3-ply, but 5-ply is recommended for oven use and high heat) is ideal for commercial kitchens because it’s nonporous, and the material won’t react with acidic ingredients like tomatoes or wine. You can also whisk away to your heart’s content in a stainless steel saucepan and use metal spatulas and tools because there’s no nonstick coating to scratch. (Unsurprisingly, that ability to withstand wear and tear is also part of why Eater chose to create a 5-ply stainless steel cookware line when we collaborated with Heritage Steel; we would only put our name on a cookware line that’s chef-approved, hardy enough for all kinds of use, and built to last.)  

If you let it, Lester says, stainless steel cookware can actually become a great cooking teacher in and of itself. “I think people think it is hard to use,” Lester says about the hesitation new cooks might have around stainless steel, “But there are countless YouTube videos/TikToks/Reels [out there], and if you’re friends with a chef, we are always happy to pick up the phone and walk you through [it].” 

As for the consumer shift back towards stainless steel, Lester sees it as natural after the initial selling points of nonstick pans have been compromised; many home cooks complain that they eventually lose the efficacy of their slippery coating, and thus their main point of appeal. “I think we are entering a new era of cooking,” she told Eater, “where people are less interested in the shortcuts.” In that context, she explains, the appeal of steel is not just that it looks great, but that it has the potential to last for decades when cared for correctly. 

Even the Instagrammy cookware companies that were once staunch slingers of ceramic nonstick have started offering titanium and stainless steel collections that promise both style and enduring craftsmanship. Stainless steel never really went out of style in commercial kitchens, but, as the cost of living skyrockets, its enduring appeal becomes pretty enticing. 

“It is a pan that asks for your attention and intuition,” says Lester, “but that is always my favorite way to cook.”

---

from Eater https://ift.tt/9Yw8tPe

Where were you last weekend? If you live in Los Angeles (or will travel for great food parties), we hope you joined us at Eater Off Menu, our annual celebration of all the chefs, dishes, food trends, and cocktail crazes that we’ve been eating, drinking, and writing about all year long, in partnership with Cathay Pacific.

This year, we decided to throw a one-of-a-kind party at the legendary Tam O’Shanter, an Old Hollywood haunt in Atwater Village with an interior aesthetic that falls squarely between a 19th-century Scottish tavern and Snow White’s house (it was Walt Disney’s favorite restaurant, after all). Inside, we gathered a (frankly insane) lineup of Eater faves, including Holbox, Thunderbolt/Night on Earth, Pasjoli, Café Telegrama, Lawry’s, Quarter Sheets, Ji Rong, Kidori, Molly Baz for Mister’s ice cream sandwiches, and even flown-in out-of-towners including New York City hotspot Dean’s and Gregory Gourdet of Portland’s Kann. Frankly, there’s never really been a food party quite like this. 

Attendees entered to find a winding wonderland of food creations, from a 40-foot-long, snaking sheet cake by pastry chef Hannah Ziskin of Quarter Sheets to a tabletop-sized stargazy pie from Dean’s. The smell of juicy roast meat filled the air as Ji Rong carved Peking duck and a Cathay Pacific flight attendant passed out flutes of champagne, and guests slurped scallops straight from the shell at Holbox’s counter featuring its award-winning Mexican seafood. Pasjoli carved French dip sandwiches smothered in a delectable poivre sauce straight from Lawry’s The Prime Rib’s iconic carving carts, while Lawry’s made their famous spinning salad to order.

At the bar, Thunderbolt and Night on Earth dreamed up drinks exemplifying Punch’s top drink trends of the year, including banana (in the form of a banana-miso carajillo), the return of Hpnotiq (in a neon passion fruit refresher), and tiny ’tinis (classic and Gilda). A truly conceptual ice sculpture, embedded with fish, radishes, beets, and tins, loomed over the game room.

On the patio, Café Telegrama served sweet and savory versions of its cult-fave ricotta pancakes from a pop up outdoor diner. Steps away, the line snaked for the Majestic photobooth to capture the moment, and chatter flowed from the cozy Cathay Pacific outdoor lounge where guests enjoyed yakitori from Arcadia’s Sumibiyakitori Kidori. If you hung out for a bit, you’d be blessed with passed salt bread from Out of Ordi, filled with sweet corn or ube cream. If guests needed to cool off (or wanted to indulge their sweet tooth), they could enjoy a Mister’s ice cream sandwich, topped with sweet-salty crunchy brittle and handed over by founder Molly Baz herself. 

All guests left with a gift bag packed with delights from some of Eater’s fave brands, including Luxardo’s beloved cocktail cherries, Unreal’s better-for-you chocolate candies, Giadzy’s celeb-chef-approved gluten-free pasta, Fly By Jing’s noodles seasoned with its cult-fave chile crisp and sumptuous sauces, and a coupon to pick up your favorite flavor of Molly Baz’s signature mayo, Ayoh (we especially love the dill pickle one). 

So, just how wild will we get next year? Download the Eater app and make a profile to get first access to events like this in the future. 

---

Did you attend Eater Off Menu? Thanks for coming, and we hope you had as much fun as we did. Fill out this survey about your experience for your chance to win a $100 gift card.

from Eater https://ift.tt/KukSC1r

This excerpt was originally published in Pre Shift, our newsletter for the hospitality industry. Subscribe for more first-person accounts, advice, and interviews.

This is the second installment of our series Getting on the Map, presented by Apple Maps. Over the next three weeks, we’ll be sharing how some of the most creative bars and restaurants are marketing themselves to stand out in a crowded hospitality scene.

---

Guest shifts—where visiting bartenders pop up at host bars to serve signature drinks or collaborate on a limited-edition menu—are ubiquitous if you live in a city with a popular nightlife scene. But in recent years, some figures in the industry have been criticizing the practice. Complaints include the fact that they can be confusing to guests, dilute the quality of both teams’ drinks, and sometimes prioritize brands and influencers over loyal regulars.

After a few experiences with their own guest shifts, the team behind Oslo’s Himkok knew they wanted to do something different. Their solution, dubbed Nordic Sessions, aimed to address the criticism of the typical bar takeover, create more genuine connections between people in the industry, and spread the word about their bar and the products they use and love. I asked Himkok’s head of R&D Paul Aguilar how it works.

---

Mary Anne Porto: Can you explain what Nordic Sessions are?

Paul Aguilar: Nordic Sessions are cultural immersions where we bring bartenders, journalists, and brand partners together to experience the places, traditions, and ingredients that inspire our bar. We wanted to give people a deeper understanding of who we are and create relationships through shared experiences. Bringing people into those environments helps them understand the thinking behind the bar and our drinks. They generally take place over two to four days and [past sessions have included] cross-country skiing, mushroom foraging, hiking, [celebrating] midsummer by the coast, and spending time in a Norwegian cabin.

Besides the cultural immersion, how do these sessions impact your business?

Norway is an extremely restrictive market for alcohol marketing, so the usual promotional value of a guest shift [aka a bar takeover] is limited for us and our partners. Nordic Sessions allow us to create high-quality films and photography for partners to use in other markets where permitted [and for us to use] on social media. 

Have you been part of traditional guest shifts or bar takeovers? What have you liked and disliked about the format?

We have hosted many guest shifts. We enjoyed welcoming people and returning the hospitality of those who had previously hosted us. But we received repeated feedback from guests who had come to experience Himkok and found something different. 

Sometimes they were disappointed with the cocktails, and we have to take that seriously. A visiting bar’s drinks and working methods do not always translate smoothly into another venue. Hosting another team also means changing preparation, service, and organization, which puts pressure on our staff; we are 12 people for a 350-person capacity bar.

There is a considerable investment of time, travel, and accommodation [that goes into a guest shift], and we began questioning how much value remained once the evening was over. Sharing several days [together during Nordic Sessions] creates space for conversations that are difficult to have during a busy service. It is a better fit for how we want to host people and work with our partners.

How do you decide which cultural immersions to organize?

We want participants to leave with a better understanding of the culture and something personal to draw from afterwards. We started with things that are part of Norwegian life: skiing, hiking, cabin culture, foraging, food traditions, and the way people spend time together. Something that feels ordinary to someone living here can be completely new to a visitor.

What has been your favourite Nordic Session so far, and why?

Each one has brought something different, but hiking Trolltunga [a cliff in Ullensvang, Norway] really stands out. The group included Gabriele Armani, a legend in the World Class [bartending competition] community who loves hiking, alongside Shay Waterworth from Drinks International, [and bartenders] Shingo Gokan and Nóra Földvári. 

The hike was tough, mainly because of the weather. We got soaked, and everyone had to push through and support each other. Johnnie Walker sponsored the session, and its “Keep Walking” message made perfect sense for the experience because we were going on a challenging hike together. Some of the best conversations and friendships grew from that moment.

How do your brand partnerships work? Are there posting requirements?

We work with [spirits], nonalcoholic brands, glassware companies, food producers, and retailers. We are open to collaborating with anyone whose products or expertise can contribute meaningfully to the experience. We approach potential partners [and explain] why their involvement makes sense and what we can achieve together. Some relationships grow naturally from products we already use [at the bar].

We work with our filming partner, Oioioi, to create a main film, shorter edits [for social media], and photography that brands can use. We discuss the formats, usage rights, and publishing plans [with sponsors], and the deliverables vary by partnership. Participating bartenders are also asked to share their experience and publish a simple drink featuring the sponsors’ brand.

What are your plans for future sessions?

We want to take Nordic Sessions beyond Norway while keeping that connection to local culture. We are currently working on an experience in Iceland for November. The idea is to apply the same approach in another place, learning from its people, traditions, and surroundings.

There is room to develop what happens after each trip, too, [through things like] follow-up events, trade dinners, or workshops in relevant markets. We want the relationships, drinks, and stories to keep developing once everyone has gone home. Welcoming consumers into selected experiences is also part of our plans for the near future. We would love to share this side of Himkok with people beyond the industry.

from Eater https://ift.tt/xy7Cb8w

A food-loving visitor will quickly learn that sardines, cod, and the iconic pastel de nata are great, but the Lisbon restaurant scene can offer much more. Portuguese cuisine draws on global flavors from the country’s centuries of trade, and Lisbon’s restaurateurs have access to top-quality fish and seafood, unique cheeses, lovely wines, and vegetables from organic farms just outside the city. In a capital experiencing lightning-fast growth, Lisbon’s food scene mediates the collision of old and new, weaving together trendy wine bars, Michelin-starred restaurants, traditional and casual venues, and neo-tascas (modern neighborhood restaurants) that combine aspects of all of the above. 

We update this list regularly to make sure it reflects the ever-changing Lisbon dining scene. Our write-ups include insider tips from our experienced writers and editors, as well as a rough range of pricing for each destination — ranging from $ for quick, inexpensive meals with dishes largely under $10 (or the equivalent in euros), to $$$$ for places where entrees exceed $30.

New to the map in Spetember 2026: Fall is when Lisbon starts to quiet down after the summer rush, while the days are still warm enough for sidewalk tables and long meals outdoors. This season’s additions capture different sides of a restaurant scene that continues to stretch beyond the usual definitions of Portuguese cooking.

In Madragoa, Swedish chef Peter Nyström’s Familjen brings big flavors and plenty of spice to a sharing menu that happily strays from the Nordic rulebook. Copo Largo, near Largo do Rato, looks instead to the Portuguese tavern, with an ever-changing chalkboard menu and plenty of Portuguese wine to wash it all down. Near Lisbon Cathedral, former Boi-Cavalo chef Hugo Brito has revived the longtime Alpendre around what he calls “Lisbon food,” bringing old city classics back to the table. And Porto chef Vasco Coelho Santos has headed south with Lamina, where whole-animal cooking, charcuterie, and dishes cooked over fire give his first Lisbon restaurant its identity.

Rafael Tonon is a journalist and food writer living between Brazil and Portugal, covering the restaurant industry in Lisbon for outlets like the Washington Post, Epicurious, and leading Portuguese publications. A contributor to Eater since 2008, he is also the author of Food Revolutions (published in Portuguese and Spanish).

from Eater https://ift.tt/d1s54UJ

This excerpt was originally published in Pre Shift, our newsletter for the hospitality industry. Subscribe for more first-person accounts, advice, and interviews.

This is the first installment of our series Getting on the Map, presented by Apple Maps. Over the next three weeks, we’ll be sharing how some of the most creative bars and restaurants are marketing themselves to stand out in a crowded hospitality scene.

---

When I spoke with Cyed Adraincem, he apologized for stumbling over any words; he’d been up at 4 a.m. to wash the sidewalk in front of his forthcoming restaurant. “I wanted to beat all the foot traffic,” he said. 

Adraincem seems to have brought that same dedication to outfitting Hoy, which will serve Filipino street food in a Manila night-market-like space. Though not yet open, the restaurant has already garnered a lot of attention for its loud and off-kilter aesthetic, smart pop cultural ties, and behind-the-scenes peeks into R&D. I asked him about designing the space, the merch plan, and how opening is going.

Mary Anne Porto: Can you tell us about the restaurant concept?

Cyed Adraincem: It’s Filipino street food, super fast casual. I’m trying to introduce Filipino food to a broader audience because I feel like we’re underrepresented in New York City. We’ll be serving barbecue skewers, lumpia, and a couple different sandwiches. It’s a pretty simple menu, nothing too fancy, mostly traditional, with chef techniques that we’ve learned over the years. I think the New York dining scene wants something more casual, more affordable right now. They don’t want something pretentious; they just want to eat and have a good drink. 

The space is based on American diners because I love them. I’ve also been working in cocktail bars for the past seven years. So if you come into the restaurant, it’s kind of a mashup of the two. Those two things [feel similar] to the Manila night market [theme] we’re going for. It’s very high energy; everyone is front-facing; it’s loud and fun. Since everything is counter service, everything is front-facing. The kitchen is open, so I think the energy will keep going throughout the restaurant. We’ll communicate in front of everyone, and it’ll be like a street-market affair. 

How did you come up with the branding and logo for Hoy?

My designer is Kristofferson San Pablo. He’s a Filipino American, and he’s actually my cousin. He’s a well-known artist in LA. We decided on this design based on all the intense fun of a Manila night market. So there are a lot of different colors, a lot of visually stimulating stuff, without being too overwhelming. The pattern on the walls comes from one of the oldest textile patterns in the Philippines. It was an easy choice to showcase our culture in a cool way.  

[We have] shelves of snacks that are supposed to mimic a sari-sari store in the Philippines. They are usually on every street corner and typically operating right out of the owner’s home, selling an assortment of everyday essentials. Cookbooks [on the shelves were] passed down from my parents. Some of them are very old. They are the baseline of what we will be creating for the restaurant. We also have cookbooks from our local favorites.

We tried to stay away from the typical Filipino [branding] stuff, like the star and the sun and barong tagalogs, things that are very obviously Filipino. We wanted to use things like the barrel man, carabao [water buffalo], farmer life, which are a little bit different from the mainstream.

I love the barrel man.

It’s super Filipino culture. And the other fun part of it is I get to teach people who don’t know about this. These barrel men were made-to-sell souvenirs for poor people to make money. But it’s also how Filipinos act: It’s fun, it’s a gag gift.

I also have a bunch of art pieces from different artists around the city and LA as well. We’re going to try to stick with as much Filipino art as we can, but I’m open to [any artists]. As long as it’s local and made with community in mind, I’m happy to support them.

Before even opening, you’ve channeled these pop-culture moments through some of your designs, like your Knicks-themed choking sign. How quickly can you and your designer put together this art, and what’s the process like?

Everything’s on the fly, baby. Kris’ art is very pop-culture heavy. For him, it’s kind of second nature. I bring things up, and he’s like “Oh yeah, I’ve already been working on something like that.” He keeps up with all of it. He works fast.

What merch are you planning to have?

A bunch of different things. We entertained the idea of making our own barrel man, or barrel man key chains, and even house slippers. Our standard products we’ll probably carry are shirts, hats, and totes, and we’ll probably cater to the season. As we get open and understand the space better, we’ll start producing more merch. It’s going to be fun, and most of this merch is going to be collaborative with other artists and creatives, too.

Some restaurants open with a bare-bones design while they get their footing, then expand into merch as they grow. But it seems like you’re going all-in with your opening, with a very designed space and a merch line. Why did you decide to do that?

I’ve been in the industry for almost 17 years. And working in cocktail bars for seven of those, I saw that merch was flying off the shelves. Bartenders were always wearing other bars’ shirts, representing other industry spots. I think more people are wearing clothes that [signify] places that they love. I see Kikkoman jackets and T-shirts from all of my favorite restaurants, and that’s all I wear, too. So I thought it was important to spread the word, and eventually have it as another outlet of revenue.

How did you approach the inside of the restaurant?

Realistically, [furnishing a restaurant] is a lot of legwork. Everything is so expensive right now. It’s probably the worst time to open a restaurant. So it’s about doing your due diligence and comparing prices. I go to Home Depot, Amazon, The Container Store and see who has the best price, then go from there, so it’s a lot of searching and researching. And everything on the shelves is pretty personal: knickknacks and art from friends and family. 

We’ll also have a lot of vegetation to try to mimic the tropical Philippines. We made a pot pond out of a large planter pot, and we’re currently growing lemongrass, a calamansi tree, and labuyo chiles in a garden next to the pond. We’re in a corner building, so we get lots of light. We’re going to make a jungle and grow and eat what we can.

What’s your path to opening look like right now?

We have an issue with our gas firing with the DOB [New York’s Department of Buildings] right now, so we can’t cook onsite until it gets all sorted out. Until then, we decided to open up for the community and have a residency in the space. We’re [hosting] Arellano Pandesal from Queens, which does Filipino pastries, while we do the beverages. We’re also planning to launch a community market place with local vendors and friends and family. It’s a good way to get people in the space and get people excited.

from Eater https://ift.tt/PDfsZ6r

A version of this post originally appeared in Eater Today, which spotlights the freshest news and stories from across the food world every day. Subscribe now.

“There’s a rock in the sink!” That was the takeaway last winter after the East Coast contingent of the team that writes this newsletter met for brunch at Flynn McGarry’s stylish, Scandi-inflected Gem Home in lower Manhattan. While the rest of us waited for our plates of Danish breakfast, Francky Knapp had shuffled off to the bathroom, then returned to the table with newfound excitement at this unexpected find. Naturally, I, too, had to see it for myself. The slab of stone occupied the entire industrial-style basin, a patch of rust-colored mineral deposits at its center where the water hit. Weird! I thought, then I put it out of my mind for months. 

That was until I met a friend for coffee at the location of Rhythm Zero in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, which looks more like a room in an art museum than a coffee shop. There, a large hunk of stone sat in front of a large mirror next to the counter. Yet another imposed itself in the bathroom, positioned between the sink and the toilet, as though natural absorption for dripping hands making the trip to the hand dryer. Two establishments with big decorative rocks: a coincidence, or an affectation?

But then, I found myself in Pizza 4P’s, an ambitiously and intricately designed pizza import from Vietnam for which six literal boulders were transported into the restaurant from a stone wholesaler in New Jersey. Now three spots? There’s something going on there.

It’s at Pizza 4P’s, which opened this summer in Brooklyn in a high-ceilinged industrial space, where this trend can be found at its extreme. When you open the door, you’re greeted by a host stand in the form of a large, tablelike boulder. The stone, which was forklifted in, was chosen for this usage because of its waist height and the natural notch in its corner, perfect for holding menus. An adjacent stone, lower and smaller, acts as a bench for diners waiting for their table. 

Four more boulders erupt from the space, forcing the layout of the large dining room into a snaking path. “After we found the stones, we changed the position,” global branding director Kazuya Kubota explained to me over a tour of the space. None have been cut into shape; they have all been chosen for their size and form, and then the restaurant designed around them. Some of the stones sprout thick metal support wires, allowing them to weigh down the wooden frames along the walls that hold hanging plants. The largest stone — at around two tons, toward the center of the dining room, with a table butting up against it — is comparable in weight to the pizza oven, according to Kubota. Along with all the hanging plants, the stones give the otherwise industrial space a semblance of nature, bridging the gap between Brooklyn urbanism and the pastoral settings of the farms listed on the menu.

For her rocks, Ivana Somorai, who owns Rhythm Zero, was inspired by the use of natural materials in Japanese design. She told me over email that she also wanted to bring a “natural, unexpected element” into the shop’s interiors. Initially, the Greenpoint location featured several rocks, minimal seating, and a large tangerine tree. When she redesigned the interior — it now features a large couch and more seating — the rocks stayed, mostly because they were too heavy. “I knew they would not be leaving the space for a while,” Somorai wrote.

Since then, rocks have become a memorable feature of the cafe. (Every location looks different; all are very stylish, some feature stones.) The one next to the mirror “unexpectedly became a favorite sitting area for our regulars,” Somorai explains. “The rocks began as part of a specific design moment, but they ended up becoming part of the life of the cafe and the way people use the space.” 

As for why the second rock ended up in the bathroom… well, isn’t that kind of the last thing you’d expect? “I wanted people to be surprised when they opened the door: The bathroom is dark, and then there is this large rock. I wanted them to be like, ‘Why is there a rock here?’” Somorai wrote. (Yes, I had that thought.)

I imagine this desire to pique curiosity is part of the rationale at Gem, too. While I couldn’t get ahold of McGarry to know more about the Gem stone [ba-dum-tss], his representative told me via email that, to his recollection, “Gem Home, [the now-closed] Gem Wine, and I think Cove all had/have rocks in their restroom sinks.” This really only opens up more questions though; if only I could have asked them!

As for Pizza 4P’s, those big rocks fit into a bigger philosophy. The chain has dozens of locations in different countries. Each location is unique — its art, furniture, and space designed entirely custom (boulders in Brooklyn doesn’t mean stones in Cambodia). Each country is guided by a different theme. In Indonesia, that’s biodiversity; in the United States, it’s the idea of “what the earth told me.” To that end, they thought of the stones like they did ingredients, Kubota explains: The goal is to find something beautiful in nature and then work around it. 

Alas, on my most recent visit to Rhythm Zero in Greenpoint, the rock outside the bathroom was gone. Apparently, that was part of an even more recent renovation. The rocks were moved to the nearby Transmitter Park. Somorai described it as “where they belong, I guess.”

from Eater https://ift.tt/trRX9q4

This excerpt was originally published in Pre Shift, our newsletter for the hospitality industry. Subscribe for more first-person accounts, advice, and interviews.

Now Open is a yearlong series celebrating some of 2026’s most exciting new restaurants. Throughout the year, we’ll check in with teams in Chicago, New York City, and Washington, D.C., to hear what it’s really like behind the scenes of a buzzy opening. Then, we’ll host exclusive meals at these restaurants as part of Dinner Party, presented by Capital One. Read along for challenges, candid reflections, and advice from the proprietors behind some of the country’s hottest new openings.

---

When chefs Justin Ahn and Alex McCoy opened Alfie’s as a pop-up restaurant in 2016, they didn’t expect the road to a brick-and-mortar location to last nearly a decade. The temporary D.C. location where the duo served northern Thai cuisine to the city’s tight-knit service industry and other regulars was open for just a few months. After that, Ahn and McCoy began operating it as a roving concept all around the world, but now they’re finally returning to D.C. with a permanent venue in Georgetown. 

Now the team is settled into a new 25-seat venue tucked in an alley off of Georgetown’s M Street serving Thai dishes made with Mid-Atlantic ingredients and natural wine produced just over the river in Virginia. Still, elements of the pop-up — like its run-and-gun service and chalkboard menu that shifts based on what local purveyors have in season — remain. We caught up with McCoy to learn more about how the team has shifted this scrappy pop-up model into a brick-and-mortar concept while keeping that dynamic energy intact.

Liz Provencher: Why did you decide to launch Alfie’s in a pop-up format?

Alex McCoy: We [already] had a permanent space in Petworth that we were building out [for our brick-and-mortar restaurant]. There was another restaurant space down the street that was slated to be demolished, so we talked to the landlords and they were like, “It’s yours until your space is ready or our project starts.” We thought it was a great opportunity to train our staff, test the food, and work through the menus while our spot was in construction. 

It was in a quiet part of town, and we just really wanted to have fun with it, but it ended up becoming this cult sensation. We were packed for months in advance. We had Vogue writing about us. Bon Appetit called it one of the top new restaurants in America. But it was really only about six months total that we had the place open, which is kind of wild. 

We closed the pop-up in 2017. That Petworth space didn’t end up working out for us, so we had to look for a new space. In the meantime, we were doing pop-ups in New York, D.C., London. We spent a lot of time overseas and some of the bigger pop-ups were in London with our buddies at Carousel. In that time, we were always looking for a new venue, and it was the time in Europe that really evolved the brand into what it is now. 

How did that time on the road shape the concept and operation plan?

After COVID… everyone was struggling to try to figure out how to make restaurants work. With operating and staff costs going up, people were coming up with these creative service styles with [fewer] servers and less table service and more QR codes. The math isn’t mathing, you know? 

It seemed to me that the model should be similar to the way things operate in Europe with these little hole-in-the-wall places in Paris and London. Chefs don’t own six or seven restaurants; they’re in there [in one place] with one or two people. Not only was that the heart and soul of what Alfie’s always was, but it felt to me to be the way forward with the brand. 

After we did our last pop-up in London, we found this funky little spot in Georgetown, which is a neighborhood that feels the most European of anywhere in D.C. to me. It’s this incredible 25-seat space in an alleyway behind the hustle and bustle of M Street. It’s a little gritty. You step down into the alleyway and you have to dodge cars. It’s a really cool, funky space with a lot of character. So immediately it was like, this is the spot. This encapsulates the vibe and the ambiance and the feeling and the energy of what we’re trying to do. 

Have things changed since running the restaurant as a pop-up? 

It’s very much still a pop-up mindset. Justin, myself, and Ian, who is our sous chef, we’re 90 percent of the staff at this restaurant. 

From a cooking perspective, twenty-five seats is perfect because it gives us this opportunity to really [pore] over small batches of food. If we’re making a curry for the day, we’re [only] making 30 orders. We’re able to look at the menu on a daily basis and assess based on what ingredients come in. If our local fishmonger has five beautiful seabreams that he’s bringing in, we’ll just throw them on the menu because we have that ability to be scrappy and change things up and make adjustments and not have to retrain the staff and everything. 

That also plays into Thailand’s market culture, which is the ethos of our brand. We want to challenge ourselves to make dishes utilizing what’s available around here: rockfish, soft shell crab, foraged asparagus from the Eastern Shore, morel mushrooms, things like that. 

Does your drink menu also play off of local ingredients?

When you go to France or Italy or another wine-producing region, you go to a bar or restaurant and you’re drinking what was made in the town or right around it. You don’t often see that in D.C., even when Virginia wineries are making spectacular stuff, literally 15 to 20 minutes away by car. The majority of our wines by the glass are from Virginia and we have more than 2,000 local producers by the bottle too.

Our bottles, for the most part, are between $35 and $75. We only have a couple that top that. I think a lot of people go out to eat dreading the check. But I want people to come in and just get lost in the experience and not have to worry that they can’t take a chance on something that they haven’t tried before because it’s too expensive. They don’t have to be thinking about the price of everything they’re eating and drinking while they’re here. 

Alfie’s also has a wine club. How does that work?

Alfie’s has always [drawn] a lot of regulars, and we’ve always tried to facilitate this vibe of being your other living room. If you love wine, we want this to be a place that you want to spend a lot of your time and cater that a little bit more. Our wine club has 19 spots, and for a monthly fee of $150, you basically get a rack of your own [in the restaurant]. If you have a great collection at home, you can bring it in. Or if you have specific tastes and things that you enjoy when you come here, we can curate the wine locker for you so you can actually purchase wine at a steep discount that we don’t have on the list. If there are special selections that are too expensive for us to put on the menu, we can get those for you, and you’ll pay 50% less than standard restaurant prices.

After releasing the first few days of reservations, you immediately had 700 bookings. Were you expecting that kind of reception?

I wouldn’t say I expected anything. [But] I was hoping for it, and I kind of felt it. Sometimes in this industry, you can feel when something is gonna hit. Leading up to [opening] and seeing some of the interest on social media, it seemed like it was gonna go that route so we were trying to plan for it.

Alfie’s scratches an itch that [D.C. diners] haven’t been able to scratch at least since 2020. The city is getting burnt out [by] small businesses being replaced by big corporate restaurant group spots, and we’re very much the antithesis of that. You walk in, and Justin and I are in the kitchen, so we can say hi to you and run food to the table. I think it’s a vibe that D.C. hasn’t had in years.

from Eater https://ift.tt/J82AHwg

Every time I see a meat tenderizer, I think of my mother. Specifically of the way in which she, as someone wary of emotional vulnerability yet full of affection (classic Boomer combo), decided to make Austrian pork schnitzel her love language — and the meat tenderizer her translator. In hindsight, that steel hammer was one of the best, most essential cooking tools in our home; it was also a beginner-friendly tool for me, a Montessori kid used to playing with saws at recess and expressing my feelings via dried bean art. 

That tenderizer has become a staple of my kitchen ecosystem today. But one person’s tenderizer is another’s hand-me-down whisk, Japanese chef’s knife, or grill press. So what do other people consider their ride-or-die cooking tools? What are the baseline peelers, knives, and spatulas that are in constant rotation, the tools that make you feel like a culinary John Wick? I decided to ask not just chefs, but chefs with culinary school teaching experience (aka endless patience and a knowledge of novice-level skillsets) about what they consider to be the best beginner cooking tools.

In addition to a few of my own cooking essentials, I picked the brains of four teachers with experience in a variety of programs, from Hot Bread Kitchen — a New York City nonprofit that helps immigrants break into the food industry — to the legendary Institute of Culinary Education, all in the hopes of answering the inherently relative question of what constitutes an essential cooking tool for beginners. 

Whether or not your new kitchen workhorse is destined to become an heirloom, some dos and don’ts for your search…

Do: Look for tools that don’t just do one thing.

Do: Read product reviews.

Don’t: Spend more than you need to on, say, a pair of tongs. And if you’re lucky enough to have a grandpa with a sick filet knife, maybe ask him about it.   

First, grab a meat tenderizer.

Now, let’s talk essentials. 

---

The best beginner cooking tools, according to Hot Bread Kitchen culinary teachers

Hot Bread Kitchen is a NYC-based culinary institute whose goal is to “uplift women, gender-expansive people, immigrants, and people of color” by helping them launch their careers in the food industry through intensive culinary training. Culinary instructors Kandy Williams and Charlene Johnson are two of the organization’s many acclaimed teachers, and they had some choice advice on the best beginner cooking tools. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Hot Bread Kitchen (@hotbreadkitchen)

A great spatula 

“Spatulas are often one of the first tools that I introduce to my kids to learn to use when cooking because they’re safe and easy to handle,” says Williams. “It’s your all-in-one tool — perfect for flipping, stirring, and scraping every bit of batter from a bowl.” 

“I love to use a silicone spatula to gently fold ingredients like egg whites into batter,” Williams goes on. “As a baker, this is one of my favorite tools in the kitchen. I use it all the time when I prepare my buttercreams, cakes, and alfajores (Peruvian macarons). This keeps the mixture light and fluffy.”

Johnson seconds the tool’s utility for not only whipping up meals, but also allowing you to store your leftovers and ingredients. “It will allow you to get every bit of your food from containers,” she says, “to where they need to be — in your belly!”

Reach for a BPA-free silicone spatula such as this high-rated option that costs less than an order of avocado toast. It’s heat-resistant up to 600 degrees Fahrenheit, has a stainless steel internal frame — just like RoboCop — and a slightly curved blade for scraping and folding with precision. 

---

A workhouse vegetable peeler

At home, Williams relies on a high-quality peeler to prep everything from mashed potatoes to causa peruana with her kids; it makes prep work much faster for her students and more efficient for her as a culinary instructor. “I always show how to use a peeler safely by peeling away from the body and using short, controlled strokes. They use it to peel potatoes, carrots, butternut squash, and more vegetables. It’s also a great tool to introduce them to different textures.” 

Johnson also swears by the power of the classic Swiss peeler, specifically — and not just for veggies. “It’s efficient and precise,” she says. “Use it on chocolate, cheese, or citrus. Get creative. FYI, the purpose of the protruding circle to the side of the peeler is to remove potato eyes.” 

Williams Sonoma’s straight swivel-action, steel blade peeler contours to the shape of whatever potato, pear, or state fair butter sculpture you’re peeling: 

For a classic Swiss peeler, you can’t go wrong with a Victorinox straight blade, which has been GOATed by many. It’s peeler is lightweight, is made with a nonslip textured handle, and is under $10 on Amazon.  

---

A solid paring knife

As Williams says, a paring knife is “small and versatile, perfect for tasks that require precision, like peeling, trimming, or slicing small fruits and veggies.” She introduces the tool to beginner students to use for more delicate tasks — such as cutting strawberries, scoring tomatoes, or trimming herbs — in order to build their knife skills safely. “In classes my students use a paring knife to practice the concasse technique,” she says, “They love to prepare ratatouille. The paring knife is often called the ‘extension of the hand’ because it’s so maneuverable.”

Quality knives can be a costly investment, but beginners will appreciate the affordable paring knife from Quince. Its 3.5-inch paring knife is made out of 33 layers of Japanese Damascus stainless steel — which helps it achieve excellent blade balance — and it features a naturally water-resistant Pakkawood handle.

---

An offset serrated knife

Johnson says her serrated knife is key for cutting bread, slicing tomatoes, and more. “It’s great for anything that has a tough exterior and soft interior,” she explains. “The offset handle provides space so that the blade hits the cutting board before my hand. Efficient and delivers stellar results. 10 out of 10.” 

This 9-inch offset blade sports an ergonomic handle and a serrated blade that does the job of the fancier versions at an entry-level price.

---

The best beginner cooking tools, according to Celine Beitchman of the Institute of Culinary Education

The Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) was founded in 1975, and is ranked as the number-one culinary school in the United States, with locations in New York City and Los Angeles. Celine Beitchman, director of nutrition, tells me that she has been “teaching health-promoting culinary arts for about a decade,” and “became a chef over a 20-year period working in prep kitchens, restaurants, catering, and as a private chef,” first at the Natural Gourmet Institute and now within ICE’s Plant-Based Culinary Arts program. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Institute of Culinary Education (@iceculinary)

A big, sharp chef’s knife

If you don’t know where to begin with your own knife drawer, Beitchman recommends starting with an 8- to 10-inch chef’s knife. As she says, “It’s vital to handle most of the essential vegetable cuts, and for slicing everything from cheese to cake. A good knife will last, and it’s worth investing in one that you are comfortable using — one that’s not too long or heavy for you.” Check out our full guide to the best chef’s knives here, for every budget and purpose.

One of my first kitchen knives was a Made In blade, and I remember thinking, Wow, so this is what it feels like to hold a knife with its own backbone. Or, maybe what I was feeling was the single rod of stainless steel that extends from tip to handle, which is what the brand claims sets it apart. Years later, my 8-inch Made In chef’s knife still chops everything from crunchy cabbage to a tarte tatin with ease, despite my less-than-perfect knife skills.  

---

If you’re shopping on more of a budget, I also can’t recommend Imarku’s chef’s knife enough. This 8-inch stainless steel blade cuts with as much precision as some of my friends’ fancy Wüsthof knives, but it costs under $50. I do need to sharpen it more frequently than some pricier knives (I find that the sweet spot is around every two months), but you really can’t beat the bang for your buck on this sucker. Plus, it ships in a secure, velvet-esque-lined box that makes for a thoughtful (last-minute) housewarming gift. 

---

Spring-loaded tongs

“Spring-loaded tongs with metal or rubber-coated tips can be used to toss salads in dressings or vegetables in seasonings before they hit the oven,” says Beitchman. “When I started cooking, tongs were almost an extension of my own hand and they let me reach further down the stove or up to the salamander.” 

These stainless 12-inch long steel tongs come from one of my favorite affordable cookware brands, OXO. Scalloped edges are a big plus for me when it comes to tongs, because they allow for better precision and grip when I’m flipping whole padrón peppers on the grill or prodding my veggies around in a skillet. Plus, the slight concave of the tongs make it easy to ladle excess oils or sauce from a pan, (which I love to do when I’m frying eggs in chile crisp).

---

Bench scraper

Finally, Beitchman stands by the power of the bench scraper. “[Bench scrapers] are amazingly versatile,” she says, “and can be used to move and lift food off of cutting boards and trays, to scrape flours and shape loaves before baking,” and more. 

Crate & Barrel has gone the extra mile with this stainless steel bench scraper, which includes not only a soft-touch plastic handle that won’t slip from your grip, but a sweet little built-in ruler. It’s always a plus when a kitchen staple can combine more than one tool or function, and being able to measure out and chop your dough with one hand is a clutch time saver. 

---

The best beginner cooking tools, according to chef Vanessa Seder 

Vanessa Seder has worked as a chef, food stylist, cookbook author, and associate food editor at Ladies’ Home Journal — to name just a handful of her culinary accomplishments — in addition to teaching for many years at the storied Stonewall Kitchen Headquarters in York, Maine. She, too, sang the praises of sharp chef’s knives and different-sized spatulas, but she also recommended a few more less-obvious tools. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Vanessa Seder (@vanessa_seder_eats)

A high-quality wood cutting board 

It seems easy enough to remember, but a quality cutting board can sometimes go overlooked when you’re outfitting your kitchen with beginner cooking tools and equipment. Seder recommends John Boos & Co., one of the oldest manufacturers of butcher blocks in the country. She says that she loves the sturdy feel of her Boos board, which is 1.5 inches thick and perfect for rolling out dough while baking or making pasta, and also gives the board a bit of a height boost — a plus that she appreciates, she says, given that she’s on the taller side and doesn’t want to slouch while chopping or rolling herbs. It’s also quite a looker in terms of items that can take up precious real estate on your kitchen counters. As Seder says, “I use it sometimes as a cheese platter when we have guests over.”

---

A whetstone for sharpening knives

Those paring and chef’s knives aren’t going to sharpen themselves. As Seder says, “Learning how to sharpen your knives will save you money and time in the long run. A sharp knife is safer to use in that it prevents slippage, which can result in injury.” But getting your knives sharpened professionally can really add up in cost, she adds, so throwing down for a whetstone can be a great long-term investment. Consider this Japanese-made ceramic whetstone by King, which only costs about $50. There’s a dedicated Eater guide to sharpening your knives like a pro, but suffice to say this kit comes with everything you need: a 1000/6000 grit combination whetstone (with the former for main sharpening and the latter for finish sharpening), an angle holder for blade-sharpening accuracy, and a quick-drying cloth. 

---

A fish spatula

Seder says that she still has her fish spatula from culinary school, a trusty Wüsthof that continues to go the distance. This 6.5-inch slotted fish spatula from the German brand is about more than just fish, and acts as a flexible tool for cooking not only fish, but anything delicate. The Wüsthof version has earned heaps of praise for its being lightweight, angled, and slotted, which allows excess oils to drain through when you’re moving things around. Or as one reviewer writes, “Sometimes it is the small things in life that give you the motivation to be a better cook.” Our thoughts exactly. 

---

One more bonus tip: Invest in stainless steel cookware

A canon event in becoming a (slightly more) serious home cook is graduating from whatever ragtag collection of nonstick pans you’ve been accumulating since sophomore year of college to a proper set of cookware that will stand the test of time. Look in any commercial kitchen, and you’ll see stainless steel, stainless steel, stainless steel. Why? Because stainless steel cookware is durable, versatile, and has great heat conductivity and retention.

That’s why we took our collaboration with Heritage Steel seriously; our high-quality, 5-ply stainless steel pans are ready to take on any and all cooking projects, from perfect pancakes to sunny-side-up eggs to seared salmon (in which case the spatula above will come in handy). The 12-inch pan is the perfect do-everything size, while the 3-quart saucier (which also comes with a lid) can cook pasta, poach eggs, and so much more.

---

---

from Eater https://ift.tt/Z6ygFsR