Articles — Larissa Zimberoff

The gluten-free bandwagon is becoming a little cramped these days. Pizza Hut offers an alternative pizza crust in 2,400 of its stores; the Girl Scouts introduced a gluten-free peanut butter oatmeal cookie; and this July General Mills is launching five of its best-known cereals in g-free versions. If ever there were a bellwether that gluten-free has become mainstream, it’s Cheerios. But thanks to an ingenious method of harnessing the power of gourmet mushrooms, we may once again be able to embrace that problematic ingredient: wheat.

ViceLarissa ZimberoffApril 8, 2015Munchies, MycoTechnology, agtech, foodtech, g-free, gluten-free, mushrooms, wheat

Profiles In Obsession: Mike Countryman

The first thing Mike Countryman told me about ice wine was that it was like trying to make wine from marbles. Ice wine is hard to make, hard to find, and expensive to buy. The reward for the intrepid seeker is a golden-hued liquid that brings forth the essence of the grape, which, when finally picked, looks like a plump brown raisin. The first sip has a layered sweetness from its extensive hang time on the vine, and an acidic mouthfeel from an equally high level of citric and tartaric acids.

Game of Scones

Is there any reason our weekday breakfasts can't be as delicious as our Sunday morning's? Emily Elyse Miller, founder of creative agency Trends on Trends, rarely digs into brunch, but breakfast—that's a whole other thing.

A (70s) Macrobiotic Cooking School is Brought Up to Date

When people talk to Anthony Fassio about his new role as CEO at Manhattan’s Natural Gourmet Institute (NGI), he tends to field the same question: “Isn’t that the vegan school?”

The Cookie Jar

That it was glass was the only thing keeping me from thin.

It wasn’t a brightly hued ceramic statue where the head was also the lid. Also, it wasn’t cutesy, like say in the likeness of Garfield or a chicken. Glass with a chrome lid and a round black handle, it was a plain cookie jar. Ascetic. If it were a font it would be Helvetica.

Paste MagazineLarissa ZimberoffMarch 1, 2015Keebler, cookie jar, cookies, elves, paste magazine, personal essay

SciArt: Artist Ellie Irons Profile

Larissa ZimberoffFebruary 26, 2015Bushwick, Sci Art, SciArt in America, SciArt, artist profile, artist, ellie irons, invasive weeds, weeds

How To Get An Education In Meat

It’s a cold night in December and John Poiarkoff, the executive chef at The Pines in Gowanus, Brooklyn, takes me outside to their large walk-in refrigerator. Inside are cases of wine and five ducks hanging from their feet. I see their black eyes, their beaks, tiny holes below their heads. Underneath is a tray to catch drips of blood. Rusty pink and bumpy with raised dots, the ducks will age for two weeks before hitting the menu. Poiarkoff gets his ducks from John Fazio in the Hudson Valley. His ducks are not shot in flight and retrieved by a cute dog, but rather walk into a machine that loops their legs, flips them around, and shoots a bolt up into their neck and out through the back of their brain. I pull my eyes away from the birds and glance further into the walk-in.

ViceLarissa ZimberoffFebruary 18, 2015Brooklyn, John Poiarkoff, gowanus, happy valley meat, sustainable meat, the pines

Conversation Starter: Sweethearts

You probably remember those candy conversation hearts you got when you were a kid, and maybe, like us, you're nostalgic for the glow of young love (ah, young love). Or maybe you just like biting into sugary hearts that say "TXT ME."

6 Offbeat Foods You Should Add to Your 2015 Diet

January is like one big month of Monday’s. There are no more holiday parties, no days off and definitely no more gifts. In an effort to make your January plans more interesting, I'm bringing you six hot foods that will perk up your resolutions to eat right in 2015, or at least that first week.

NYC's First Cat Cafe: Meow Parlour

On their walk home one evening after closing up their Manhattan macaron shop, pastry chef Christina Ha and her husband, Simon Tung, heard the cries of an abandoned cat. The workaholic couple, stressed with running their 8-month-old fledgling business, found the emaciated cat with white paws, had him checked out by a veterinarian and gave him a name: Mr. Socks.

Farewell wd~50.

The lights are out across the street. For the past three years I have lived across the street from wd~50. For the past three years, before stepping into my doorway, I glanced over to see how things were going––busy, quiet, room at the bar? For the past three years I've felt connected to the restaurant, in some part like it was mine.

Larissa ZimberoffDecember 9, 2014Dufresne, WD-50, Wylie Dufresne, clinton street, dining in NYC, wd~50

6 Questions With The Ultimate Cat Lady

Christina Ha didn’t have cats growing up. She also wasn’t a baker. But both of those things have changed. Early next month the publicist turned macaron baker plans to open New York’s first permanent cat café.

BrewDogs: Beer Is Good.

The Brooklyn “party” brought together people who were so obsessed with the next beer thing that we were willing to stand outside in thirty-degree weather for two plus hours. Many sporting facial hair discussed past flavors, none of which sounded potable: blue cheese, pad Thai, Sriracha, pecan pie and, oh yeah, hog.

Larissa ZimberoffNovember 20, 2014BrewDogs, Brooklyn, Wylie Dufresne, beer, brew dogs, brooklyn brew shop, esquire TV, scotland

This Urban Farmer is Breeding Seeds for Rooftops

Urban farmers in New York City face many obstacles—from high winds, to lack of space, extreme temperatures, and more. But now, there’s a line of seeds made just for them. Zach Pickens of Rooftop Ready Seeds, a small NYC start-up, has been cultivating, packaging, and selling seeds bred specifically for New York urban farms for the past four years.

How an Amish Turkey Farmer Found a Home on the Internet

The Amish farmer stepped into the backseat of the car and placed an old, slightly dusty black briefcase on his lap. “Nice briefcase,” I told him.

“Everyone notices it,” he laughed.

Morgenstern's Ice Cream Launches Pop-Up Flavors

It’s hard to imagine ice cream could get one iota better, but Nicholas Morgenstern has found the one iota. Morgenstern, the former pastry chef responsible for the hot little self-named ice cream parlor in the Lower East Side, has just launched a weekly pop-up of limited-edition ice cream flavors.

Can A Penny Tax On Sugary Sodas Create Change?

This week the residents of San Francisco and Berkeley, California, will be voting on a proposed tax on sugary soda. It’s not the first time soda has come under the firing gun, but it’s possibly the first one poised for success. Northern California, land of edible schoolyards, plentiful farmers markets, and Michael Pollan, already seems like a region that has drunk the Kool Aid, so one wonders: Can a soda tax become the first step in fighting the poor American diet?

Larissa ZimberoffNovember 4, 2014San Francisco, berkeley, coke, mark bittman, northern california, pepsi, soda tax, sugar, voter

How To Eat Like A World Famous Baker

You might think the inventor of the Cronut has enough success and accolades now that he could kick up his heels and relax a little, but the reality is that Dominique Ansel is still waking up at the same time some of us are going to bed (at least on a Friday) and his days are still spent ensuring the quality of every item served at his bakery. I caught up with the pastry chef to find out what a typical day looks like.

How To Make Hard Cider

The rainy season means two things for me: losing my black umbrella in a sea of like-minded umbrellas at my local cafe, and apples. Apples! It's like a blessing and a curse.

Larissa ZimberoffOctober 23, 2014apple cider, cider week, fwx, greenmarket, hard cider, new york city, union square farmers market

Broadway Bites by Urban Space

There’s a new food court in town and it’s sandwiched between Broadway and Sixth Avenue, and 32nd and 34th Streets. The market fits the oblong space perfectly. What's unique about Broadway Bites, and markets like it, is that the small scale allows first time vendors to try something before making a big financial commitment. They also get an opportunity to serve a demographic they might not usually find, a mix of both tourists and office workers.

Larissa ZimberoffOctober 22, 2014Broadway Bites, food court, midtown dining, open market, urban space