Donna D at A Brooklyn Biergarten
September 24, 2012
Radegast Hall & Biergarten in Williamsburg, Brooklyn conveniently located right next to one of my favorite chocolate stores, Mast Brothers Chocolate, is a great place to bring friends and family for afternoon of eating and drinking. With a wide selection of beers and traditional German fare, I often end up spending hours laughing with friends new and old. The pretzels and pickles are a must.
Munich Pretzel with Spicy Mustard and Cornichon
German Folk Band
Beer, Bratwurst, & Radegast “Easter” Sausage
Beer on Tap
Pickles & Bratwurst
Friends
Life is too Short to Eat Cheap Chocolate
May 21, 2012
Here’s a little post from Donna D on desserts!
I don’t consider anything to be dessert unless it is chocolate and am usually happiest when I am consuming it. I don’t waste precious calories on any type of chocolate. For starters “white chocolate” is an insult to the chocolate family and should seriously be renamed and second of all I really can’t stomach generic mass produced chocolates. At the end of the day, life is too short to eat cheap chocolate. If you share my proclivities, you should be stopping by Mast Brothers Chocolate in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Their chocolate is orgasmic. My favorite is their Maine Sea Salt which is the perfect balance of salty and sweet. If for some reason [which I really could never understand] you don’t care for chocolate, visiting their factory is an experience in itself. You get to see the entire chocolate making process from bean to package. Speaking of package; I am in love with their packaging and design. I seriously couldn’t get enough of this place and can you believe that I just happened to stumble upon it?
Mast Brother Chocolate Factory
Samples of Chocolate
Mast Brothers Double-Chocolate Cookie
Mast Brothers Baker
Bags of Cacao Beans & San Martin Chocolate Samples
Truffles
Chocolate Making Machinery
Mast Brothers Double-Chocolate Cookie & Truffles
Mast Brothers Assorted Chocolate Bars
Macroons
Donna D Goes to SmorgasBurg
May 1, 2012
While I ventured Upstate for the weekend, Donna D stayed local, and spent her Saturday taste-testing Williamsburg. Check out her great shots!
Every Saturday on the Williamsburg waterfront between North 6th and North 7th St., from 11am to 6pm, Smorgasburg brings together food entrepreneurs and established purveyors from New York City and across the region selling both packaged and prepared foods, fresh produce, and other food-related stands. The market is open rain or shine, and man-oh-man, did I get my eat on this past weekend. As you can see from all the photos, I sampled a lot of food. I think I managed to hit up 50 vendors. Some of my favorites were the Lime-in-the-Coconut candy bars from Liddabit Sweets, the S’morgasm from S’more Bakery, braised Pork Belly with sliced cucumber, pickled jalapeno, scallions and hoisin from Bite Size Kitchen, and a shot of Vichyssoise soup from Sea Bean Goods [they are a micro-soupery which I’m dying to try their soup subscription]. If you don’t already know, I have an obsession with carbonated water – so obviously Brooklyn Soda Works‘ Apple Ginger Soda was a major hit to my taste buds. I also picked up some of Grady’s Cold Brew which is a New Orleans–style coffee concentrate and the best staple for a girl that doesn’t have a coffee maker.
FIELD Beef Jerky
March 5, 2012
A few months back I introduced you to my friends’ new all-natural beef jerky, FIELD. In the months following, they’ve grown tremendously, distributing nationwide and becoming ever more popular. Saturday afternoon we all met in Williamsburg at Moon River Chattel, an enchanting antique shop near the waterfront that is filled with inspiring treasures and the perfect backdrop for our shoot. Capturing not only the uncut beef jerky, it was fun to shoot the other ingredients and spices used in their three flavors, Original No. 3, Honey Spice No. 11 and Teriyaki No. 23. To keep up with their latest news visit their facebook page, website or get yourself to the grocery store for a taste!
Original No. 3
Ginger root and other ingredients
Jerky and spices
No preservatives, added MSG or nitrates
Ginger root
Original No. 3
Garlic and Dube Putz homemade red pepper flakes
Honey Spice No. 11
Beef jerky
Jerky and spices
Photo Montage of the day
Homemade in Red Hook
December 10, 2011
My roommate and I took the ferry over to Red Hook last weekend, an eclectic little community in Brooklyn, and one of my favorites. Stumbling upon Homemade, we couldn’t help but go in for a quick bite to eat. It’s warm, welcoming and has great food. I love their attention detail, like the leather and wooden tie around the coffee carafe. Sitting on the comfy white couch, we split the delicious special, charred filone with a ricotta spread.
Bread and Cheese
Bread, cheese and unlimited coffee
How could you not want to visit this place?
Our mess of food
Do or Dine
August 18, 2011
Saturday afternoon I biked to Brooklyn to visit a friend who recently moved to Bed Sty– not exactly a neighborhood I’m most familiar with, nor do I usually think of when I want to go out for a great meal, but hidden behind the doors of what appears to be an old, run-down Indian fast food joint, is actually a recently opened restaurant, Do or Dine. With dishes like deep fried deviled eggs or the controversial foie gras doughnut, it’s worth the trek out for an evening. The owners and wait staff have fun with the place, giving off personable charm to their customers. It’s BYOB, so drinks won’t drain your wallet, and the back patio is a great place to spend an evening.
Lamb Breast, with cumin and lime
Octopus tacos topped with nori strips
Prawns with cherry tomatoes in clam broth
Deep fried deviled eggs with bacon and culantro
Smoked salmon spread
Foie Gras Doughnut
Kaz An Nou
March 27, 2011
After leaving an opening yesterday for Jane Talcott and John Lloyd’s, Prospect Park Landscapes exhibition in Park Slope, the girls and I ventured down to Kaz An Nou, an intimate little French Caribbean restaurant in Prospect Heights. The food was delicious, the atmosphere home-like and the chef/owner Sebastien, came out himself to take our orders and give us the full description on how every dish was made uniquely with the flavors of the French Caribbean.
Poire et Bleu, maple roasted pear with bleu cheese
Dombrés Crevettes, traditional Guadeloupe shrimp and dumplings and Ratatouille Exotique, squash, zucchini and eggplant in spicy pineapple tomato sauce, served with plantains
Poulet l'Estragon, smoked jerk chicken breast with goat cheese, tarragon and honey sauce
One of the dessert specials for the evening, spicy chocolate cake with coconut frosting
Welcome
November 19, 2010
A traditional Sunday meal with friends at Lucia's casa.
Fruit smoothies at a café on a rainy Milan day.
Salads, fruits and cheese at Seebad on Lake Luzern. While in Zurich, I had time to spare while my friend was at work, so enjoyed an afternoon at a neighboring town, basking in the Swiss sun at this bathhouse with an amazing view.
A fresh loaf of bread from Jones Dairy café. A hidden gem on a side street off Columbia Road, host of London's Sunday flower market. Quite possibly my favorite place in the world to be on a Sunday afternoon.
Modern English cuisine at the industrial chic, Wapping Project restaurant in East London. Once an old hydraulic power station, this half art/half dining venue was perfect for a dinner catch up with the old crew from Amelia's Magazine.
Hot summer evenings on my roof, with a pitcher of Pimms and Lemonade, garnishing the leftover fruit with mint, and smoked salmon bruschetta.
Mac and cheese at Montauk's Navy Beach for a mid-summer escape to show my friend from Sydney a taste of our local beaches and sunsets.
Lobster rolls at the restaurant at Rowayton's Seafood. While my parents were in town visiting we spent a day dining by the Long Island Sound.
A backyard barbeque in Brooklyn at my friend, Geordie's home. All vegetables and mint for the mojitos grown locally, right from the back garden.
Fresh vegetables
An italian dinner at Margherita's Pizza & Café in Hoboken. I love taking summer ferry rides across the Hudson to relax, enjoy the view of the city and visit my friend, Beth.
Sandwiches, soups and salads at Cathryn's in Cold Spring, NY with some friends to celebrate my birthday and explore the small town about an hour north of the city.
Perfect autumn meals
And the party continued back in the city as we prepared stuffed squash boats, roasted potatoes and much more for a dinner party that evening.
The ingredients for the feast
Fresh fruit from Santa Monica's farmers market. By far the best fruit I've ever tasted.
While taking a mid-October break out on the west coast, we prepared a dinner with a couple old friends, new friends and family. Buying fresh from the market, we enjoyed pumpkin pasta, prosciutto wrapped pears and roasted potatoes.
a camera in the kitchen 