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Spoilt for choice

Manhattanite foodie Reggie Nadelson was born and lives in downtown Manhattan, and is always being asked by friends and visitors where they should eat. While the area has been invaded by celebrity chefs, their restaurants are rarely in her recommendations: "I prefer to eat in a place where the chef is actually in the kitchen and not on TV, and where the staff are friendly no matter who you are," she says. "I don't have time to join a six-week waiting list or a table, or the inclination to go to a …[Read more]
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New Yorkers stock up for Passover

Passover, one of the most important occasions in the Jewish calendar, begins on Friday. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt. And it's also a very busy time at New York's Jewish delis. (first published by the BBC) I am on the phone to Russ & Daughters - trying to order food for a party - and a quiet, familiar voice says: "Hello, Reggie, this is Sherpa Lox. How can I help?" "Oh, good," I think. Sherpa knows his way …[Read more]
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Mastering the Art of Cake Decorating

For her latest culinary escapade, pays a visit to Ron Ben-Israel for tips on crafting a dessert almost too pretty to eat. "Elton John’s people just called and asked me to make his birthday cake—what should I do?" says Ron Ben-Israel when he calls to postpone my cake-decorating lesson. For Elton, I let him off the hook. A few weeks later I’m in Ron’s Manhattan loft where he designs and makes voluptuous, witty works of edible art—bowers of flowers, replicas of designer shoes. In the sunny …[Read more]
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Mastering the Art of Gelato

I love ice cream. I mean, I really love it, as much as sex, almost as much as Frank Sinatra, more than Manolos. I'll eat anything sweet and frozen (and have): yogurty vanilla ice cream in Red Square in the dead of winter as Soviet soldiers ate their own; an exquisite prune-and-Armagnac flavor at Berthillon, on Paris's Ile St.-Louis; Vassar Devils (hot fudge and marshmallow sundaes served on brownies) accompanied by many gin …[Read more]
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Mastering the Art of Fried Chicken

For her latest culinary adventure, intrepid cook-in-training Reggie Nadelson heads to Harlem, where she learns an authentic southern specialty from a revered master. The oil sizzles, snaps, crackles in the seasoned black cast-iron pan. The skillet feels a hundred years old, something seasoned with depth and age and history. Tentatively I pick …[Read more]
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Steak Heaven

Steak is to Buenos Aires as chocolate is to Paris. Not only is it everywhere but beef is also part of this city's history and soul. Reggie Nadelson reports. Midnight at La Dorita in Buenos Aires and a friend, call her Luisa, arrives from her shrink and consumes a pound or two of bloody and delicious rump steak. On the terrace the crowd eats meat and drinks red wine from old-fashioned, thick-necked carafes. In this neighborhood restaurant, almost no one speaks English. Cigarette smoke drifts on …[Read more]