"feast" news and stories

Brunch menu at No 7. Photo: Arthurohm, Flickr

Bon Appétit's September issue has hit newsstands with its annual list of the nation's Top 10 Best New Restaurants. Featuring mouthwatering top dishes from Cleveland to Decatur, Ga., there are some interesting picks in the mix.

If you're located in -- or traveling to -- any of the cities mentioned, keep in mind that in this era of seasonally shifting cuisine, the dishes Bon App editors loved back when the issue was being put together might not be available right now.

We called Tyler Kord, chef and co-owner of No. 7, in Brooklyn, N.Y., to inquire about his pumpkin-seed-encrusted tofu, which editors sampled last winter and adored. A different rendition of tofu is on his current menu, but the pumpkin-seed version is gone. "I've never repeated anything," Kord says. Will he consider putting it back on? "Maybe."

Was Kord -- a fellow whose menu has featured luxe choices like bavette steak and grilled arctic char -- surprised by the editors' choice? "Yeah, definitely. I mean, they picked tofu. It's a delicious dish, but it was a little surprising."

The top 10 new eateries and dishes are after the jump.

Photo: Danny/Food in Mouth

There are tarts, and there are Macau-style egg tarts. They're creamy little puddles of custard, and their sweet, eggy flavor has an almost lulling effect: eating one is like looking at photos of baby animals or listening to Pachelbel's Canon in D on continuous loop. This one, immortalized by Danny at Food in Mouth, appears to be a worthy representative of the breed, which is also referred to as a Portuguese-style tart.

Maybe it's the lighting, but it looks like a pool of sunshine; it's likely that its consumption resulted in a beatific glow.

[Via Food in Mouth]

These wild blue shrimp have our tummies growling. Sara's Kitchen made them for her parent's 34th wedding anniversary. She details how she used just a little olive oil, salt, pepper and juice from a Meyer lemon for the saute. But we think it's the paring with an herb salsa verde (made from Suzanne Goin's "Sunday Suppers at Lucques" recipe) that really makes the dish pop.

Thanksgiving can be a tough holiday for vegans, as the meal is centered around turkey, with stuffing that is either cooked inside the bird or has turkey stock added, and lots of dishes with egg and dairy added to them. If on side dish is vegan, that is hardly the same feast that others are enjoying. For vegans in LA, there is an alternative to scanty side-dish fare. Real Food Daily is offering a vegan Thanksgiving To-Go, full of lots of flavor that is 100% plant-based. The dinner includes: Butternut Bisque, Faux Turkey Breast, Corn Sage Stuffing, Candied Garnet Yams, Mashed Potatoes and Parsnips, Golden Gravy, Herb Roasted Vegetables, Baby Green Bean Salad, Cranberry Relish and a slice of Pumpkin Pie with Tofu Whip. The whole meal is just $36.95 per person, but there are only a few days left to get your order in by calling the restaurant. They also have organic, maple-syrup sweetened vegan pies, Pumpkin and Pecan, that would be great for dessert if you want something to share with the whole family, as well as an Apple Pear Spice Cake with vanilla maple cream.

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It seems early to start thinking about Thanksgiving, but as the holiday season approaches, the weeks begin to roll by remarkably fast. While some look forward to the holiday as a way to spend time with family and enjoy good food, others just think about it as a setback for their diet plans. Because of the family aspect, it is hard to turn down such good food (especially if you have a grandmother whose only goal in life seems to be to get you to eat another slice of pie), so it never hurts to get a head start on burning off some of those calories. Plus, if you get in some of the extra walking before hand, you won't feel so bad about sitting around and watching football for several hours the next day.

When you're planning your Thanksgiving indulgences, take a look at the Thanksgiving calorie calculator, which will ballpark the amount of energy you'll take in and tell you how much far you'll need to walk to burn it off. Useful, right? Once you see the numbers, you'll know why we're suggesting you get a head start!

[Thanks, Punisher2K!]

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