Seared Octopus with Dashi Broth and Kaffir Lime Marinade
il Buco Alimentari & Vineria
Executive Chef Justin Smillie


Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 octopus (1-2 pound each)
1 recipe Dashi Broth (recipe below)
1 recipe Kaffir Lime Marinade (recipe below)
2 pieces cheesecloth, cut 12 by 12 in.
2 pieces string

Method:
1. Clean the octopus. Cut the head, and remove the beak.
2. Lay the cheesecloth down on a cutting board. In the center, place the octopus, tentacles down, and bring all four corners of the cheesecloth together to create a pouch. Tie the pouch closed with a string.
3. In a medium rondo, lay the octopus down in one layer. Cover the octopus with the dashi broth.
4. Cook the octopus over a low flame for 2-3 hours or until tender.
5. Let the octopus cool in its own liquid.
6. Remove the octopus from the liquid and from the cheesecloth. Wipe as much liquid off the octopus as possible, and allow it to dry.
7. Cut the octopus in half and marinade the octopus in the kaffir lime marinade (make sure you cover all tentacles in the marinade).
8. Over medium-high heat, sear the octopus, tentacles down, until golden brown, then flip and continue cooking until warm throughout (approx. 4-5 min.)

________________________________________
Dashi Broth Recipe

Ingredients:
5¼ cups of water
8 teaspoons of konbu
8 teaspoons of dried bonito

Method:
1. Heat a large stockpot with the konbu until almost boiling, about 10 minutes (it is important to never let the konbu boil).
2. When konbu is soft, the dashi will be flavored sufficiently.
3. Strain, add the bonito, and allow to steep for 10 minutes.
4. Strain again, chill and reserve.

________________________________________

Kaffir Lime Marinade Recipe

Ingredients:
½ tablespoon Kaffir lime leaves
½ cup parsley
1½ teaspoons oregano
¾ teaspoon Calabrian chiles
½ clove garlic
¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil
1½ teaspoons crushed coriander
1½ teaspoons crushed fennel seed
4 teaspoons of orange juice
¾ teaspoon of honey

Method:
1. Toast coriander and fennel seeds, and crush in mortar.
2. Blend the spices, Calabrian chilies, and garlic with half of the EVOO.
3. Add the kaffir, oregano and one third of the parsley.
4. Add the rest of the EVOO and the rest of the parsley one half at a time.
5. Stir in the honey and OJ until smooth.
6. Season with salt.

As part of our partnership with American Express for their #AmexInspires initiative, Prabal recently travelled to Anguilla with a group of friends to find his inspiration for coming collections.

He found Anguilla to be one of the most beautiful Caribbean islands he had visited, the vibrant colors and tropical landscapes resonating enormously. We have logged the four favorite moments of his stay as a travel reference for those of you who may find yourselves there in the near future..

To Stay - Without a doubt the Viceroy Anguilla. One of the American Express Travel Insider properties, our villa at the Viceroy was spectacular. I had heard so much about staying here and totally lived up to expectations.

To Eat - Veya. Nestled in a luscious tropical garden amidst the trees on top of Sandy Ground Hill, with candlelit stairways and a canopied veranda, the ambience was breathtaking. I had the tamarind glazed roast chicken, Christophene gratin, tropical fruit chutney, followed by warm chocolate cake with chili, caramelized bananas and roasted banana ice cream.

To Visit - Sandy Island. A tiny off shore cay accessible by fishing boat. Populated by charming brightly colored huts, with one beach restaurant serving freshly grilled fish, and rum punches.

To Relax - The Spa at the Viceroy Anguilla. It has everything, amazing massages and a spectacular infinity pool from which you can watch the sun set.


Americanexpress.com

Viceroy Anguilla

Monday mornings in the studio, we like to compare notes about what we cooked over the weekend! Caitlin, our VP of Communications noticed recently over a morning coffee that her favorite Cafe / Food Boutique Haven's Kitchen actually offered small, cosy looking cookery classes.

We signed up for the 'Italian Kitchen' class that promised a lesson in making fresh pasta and sauces, as well as a sampling of paired Italian wines.

The decor of the kitchen is immediately homely and has that fresh, rustic 'organic' kitchen aesthetic. We were given an apron and name label upon entering, there were no more than 12 in the class and everyone has their own cooking station. To our delight (we were starving already wondering how we'd make it to the end of the class), there was a platter of cheeses laid out for immediate consumption, and our wine glasses were instantly filled (and re-filled throughout). A big country style table is laid for dinner at the end of the class

We learned to mix and knead a pasta dough, roll it out through a small manual pasta machine, and form the dough into long ribbony threads of tagliatelle and folded-over little ravioli parcels. We made a brown butter sauce for the ravioli, and cooked the tagliatelle in an oil based skimmed asparagus sauce - learning how to use the starchy pasta water to emulsify the sauce.

The classes offered by Haven's Kitchen are a perfect solution to the lack of casual, practical cookery classes in NYC. They offer other appealing courses - 'All Sorts of Salad' / 'Simple Seasonal Suppers' / 'Boozy Brunch'. You feel like you're cooking in your own home, with friends, nibbling and drinking as you cook. All in all a haven away from salty take-out and cramped New York kitchens...

Havenskitchen.com

Mapping Manhattan: A Love (and Sometimes Hate) Story in Maps by 75 New Yorkers, By Becky Cooper

“Maps are the places where memories go not to die but to live forever.”- Adam Gopnik

Manhattan is a cosmopolis of extremes, people migrate to find the best, in everything- in themselves, in others, and in life generally. Anything is possible, and any new yorker will attest to the intensity and thrill of lifestyle perpetuated by the American Dream...

So Becky Cooper had a thought - Manhattan reimagined as a map of personal thoughts and experiences. She gave out hand printed maps of the island to New Yorkers, asking them to embellish them with their own personal experience of the city, and mail it back to her.

Cooper compiled her results into a book, and we can see from a small excerpt released, the Lower East Side as: 'The first time I was told I was cute' / the Upper West Side: 'chased by a screaming homeless man' / the West Village: 'drugged in a Gay Bar' and The Upper East: 'That painting I loved'.

A narration of interweaving lives being played out through cartography, the results are all at once beautiful and tragic, vulnerable and compelling.

Mapping Manhattan: A Love (and Sometimes Hate) Story in Maps by 75 New Yorkers, came out on April 2nd - Cooper will sit down with New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik—who also wrote the foreward to the book—at the 92nd Street Y Tribeca to talk about the book and New York City

Monday, April 29th, 12 p.m. // 92nd Street Y Tribeca // Tickets from $21

Read more: brainpickings.org

amazon.com

Born in South London, Jessie Ware marks a new era for British POP.

Her work is a mixture of downtempo R&B and British electronic, tempered with a little melodrama. She started singing at school, inspired by the romance of her mother's Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald sings Cole Porter tapes... However she very nearly became a journalist. She wanted to be a football (soccer) reporter.

Jack penate, an old friend, remembering she could sing, asked her to do the backing vocals for him on a Zane Lowe BBC Radio session. One thing led to another, and she was snapped up by label PMR.

Though she started writing for the underground scene, she wanted to combine electronic with classical songwriting. Before releasing her first album she spent some time working out what her own sound, and voice would be. She didn't want to be too of the moment, a 'flash in the pan'.

'I didn’t want it to feel too ‘of now’, so that’s why I went back to beats and grooves of things I loved before, like Prince and Chaka Khan and Grace Jones. i wanted to make downer R&B, and songs that are beautiful and bittersweet, like Sade. it was just about mixing it up in the right way.'

Jessie Ware's work plays with the sweet and the dark, a melancholic and soulful reflection of the double edge..

She will be doing the festival tour in Europe over the summer, playing at Night and Day (Germany) Primavera, Rockness, Wireless and Glastonbury - amongst others.


Add Sweet Talk and Running to your playlist


jessieware.com

We at PG love food, most food, especially good food. There are so many restaurants in NYC, and so often that irrational mind block - where shall we go - too often back to the same old place.

And so, every Monday, we will give at least one good idea of somewhere worth trying. This week - Il Buco Alimentari e Vineria. A little overshadowed by its mothership restaurant Il Buco, one block away, the Alimentari e Vineria does have its own quite distinct identity. The italian grocery / deli / restaurant has been around for about a year, but a recent experience was just so good it made it into The Journal.

As said so aptly by Pete Wells for The New York Times - 'IS it crazy to fall for a restaurant because of a handful of chickpeas??'

We actually fell in love with the salumi board (the meats are cured and aged in the basement) - the prosciutto, salami and cured hams melt on the tongue. The cheeses are also each varied, delicious and perfect.

We waited for our table for no longer than ten minutes, and were swiftly presented with little tumblers of white wine on the house. Our waitress was attentive throughout, suggesting good wines for each course.

Favorite dishes had to be the Bucatini Cacio e Pepe (so creamy and delicious, the smell of melted cheese and pepper floated over from the next table), Roasted Gnocchi (light and fluffy with foraged mushrooms) and Spit-Roasted Short Ribs, tender and perfectly peppery. The Grilled sausage was also surprisingly popular, and Crispy Polenta Parmigiano..

Prior to Il Buco, Justin Smillie spent time at Jean Georges, Mercer Kitchen and Gramercy Tavern, before landing with Jonathan Waxman at Washington Park, and later as the chef of Barbuto. 'It was during his 6 years under the attentive eye of Waxman that Justin fell in love with bold flavors, rustic technique, open fire, and farm to table cooking.'

A reservation needs to be made at least 5 days in advance to ensure you eat at a reasonable hour, but it's worth it. And you can book through Open Table, which always makes things even easier..

To follow this week - a chefs tip from Il Buco Alimentari e Vineria..

ilbucovineria.com

We recently had the pleasure of meeting with the Robin Hood team, and wanted to share what we discovered about this innovative and wholly influential New York based philanthropic organisation.

The Robin Hood Foundation - legacy of hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones - works with more than 240 nonprofit organizations in New York and surrounding areas. Using metrics to measure effectiveness of grants, they strategically support and develop organizations that provide direct services to the poor whilst also improving their earning power and long-term prospects.

They identify poverty in three forms:

Body - '1 in every 6 New Yorkers (1.4 Million) rely on daily emergency food

Mind - '40 percent of NY's Public School students won't graduate on time'

Education - '365,000 New Yorkers look for work today but didn't find any'


40,000 New York City school children don't have a place to call home

The Robin Hood foundation is not a charity in itself, but more like a 'fund of funds' - Charity of charities. They granted over 200 of the most effective poverty fighting organisations in NYC more than $146 million in 2011 alone.. As well as constant site visits and management assistance (strategic planning / marketing / finance / technology and legal) they also have 1.3 million square feet of real estate, ensuring that all grantees have somewhere to carry out their work.

92% of people who enter a Robin Hood-funded housing programme don't return to shelters, and Robin Hood programs increase the chances of passing the GED by 75%..

Click here to learn more - www.robinhood.org/

Did you know that..

- Otters hold hands while sleeping so they don't float apart

- Blind people smile despite having never seen someone smile before. It is just a natural human reaction

- The voice of Mickey Mouse and the voice of Minnie Mouse got married in real life...

- A group of flamingos is called a flamboyance

- A group of ferrets is called a business of ferrets

- A GROUP OF PUGS IS CALLED A GRUMBLE!

- When you were born, you were, for however brief an amount of time, the youngest person on the planet

- Puffins mate for life, and baby puffins are called 'pufflings'!

- Cows have best friends

-The Beatles used "love" 613 times in their songs

- Some window washers at children's hospitals surprise the kids by dressing up like superheroes

- There's always a new food that you haven't tried...

- Somewhere, someone is always having the best day of their life...

- And someone is accidentally pushing a door that says "pull."


Read more on BuzzFeed's 'The 30 Happiest Facts of all time' - buzzfeed.com

“NYC 1993: Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star”, an exhibition that serves as a collective time capsule, fills the New Museum on Bowery from top to bottom.

If you start on the rooftop, and work your way down, the first encounter on the fifth floor is a set of 12 TV boxes (each dedicated to a different month) that spin through the events of each day of the year. The facts that emerge range from the mundane to the well known and gradually provide a surprisingly compelling portrait of 1993. *1993 Timeline / by This Is Our Work - text - Claire Lehman

The social and economic landscape of the early ’90s was a national and global cultural turning point, with issues of - European conflict / Gay rights / gun control / peace in the Middle East / AIDS all prevalent.

'The exhibition takes the form of a kind of vertical cross section of artistic production in New York City—capturing both the familiar and the forgotten, and bringing together individuals who may have originally inhabited radically different positions.'

As exclaimed by The Huffington Post:

'Essentially a time capsule chock full of art relics from exactly 20 years ago, but what a year! Cindy Sherman's portraits, Matthew Barney's video art, and Felix Gonzales-Torres' ceiling-to-floor installation'

Visit 1993 this weekend!

The show runs from 02/13/13 - 05/26/13 @ The New Museum, 235 Bowery


newmuseum.org

White Collar Crimes is a group painting exhibition curated by Vito Schnabel (eldest son of artist and film director Julian Schnabel), currently on show at the Acquavella Galleries - one of New York's most prestigious institutions.

On view - new and recent work by Rita Ackermann, Tauba Auerbach, Stefan Bondell, Joe Bradley, The Bruce High Quality Foundation, Dan Colen, Rashid Johnson and Josh Smith.

Described by Vanity Fair as a lot of new - and very downtown - names the show features a body of work that has been produced in New York by New York- based artists, over the last 5 years.

The exhibition applies the notion of the ‘white collar crime’ as a vehicle through which to analyze the cerebral works on view. White-collar crimes are concealed, silent crimes veiled by wealth, higher education and social status that eventually emerge as vivid public scandal. Similarly, upon first glance, the abstract works communicate on a surface level however, after closer observation themes such as identity, historical erosion, commercialization and political satire emerge from densely layered visual codes. (acquavellagalleries.com)

The collaboration between a team of emerging artists and a well established Upper East Side gallery essentially known for blue chip exhibitions of modern masters has invited distinct intrigue and anticipation.

Schnabel says of the (to some) seemingly unlikely collaboration 'I’ve always thought of Acquavella as a real painting kind of gallery—whether it was Lucian Freud, Warhol, or de Kooning. They’re having a Pop still-life show right after mine, which is going to be pretty incredible. So in that sense it’s the perfect venue.

And Acquavella assert that 'By presenting these artists here Vito Schnabel is putting the work into a new context. We respect Vito tremendously as a curator, dealer and as a friend – all of his projects are thought provoking and innovative'

And so.. one of the more interesting and high profile shows currently going on in NYC - one to see


Acquavella Galleries located at 18 East 79th Street (between Madison and Fifth Avenues)

February 21 - March 27, 2013

Acquavellagalleries.com

VANITY FAIR


***The Bruce High Quality Foundation
"The Wives"
2012
Silkscreen, paint on mirror
Ten panels, each 40 x 30 inches
Image courtesy the artist and Vito Schnabel

#PrabalForTarget #OliviaThirlby #Love #NewYork #Target

We're all captivated by this melancholic snowy scene in Helsinki’s Kaivopuisto Park, 1967 and wanted to share with you as part of Inspiration Series we're doing with American Express for #AmexInspires..

A sudden snowstorm buffets May Day revelers during a stroll through Helsinki’s Kaivopuisto Park in 1967.

A staff photographer for 33 years, George F. Mobley worked on projects on every continent. He loved the outdoors and was especially interested in the Arctic regions, covering Greenland, Siberia, and northern Canada in addition to Scandinavia.

This image is taken from The National Geographic's Vintage Collection