This appeared in the Toronto Star in 1993 when “The Mafia Cookbook” was published by Simon & Schuster. Former U.S. mobster Joe “Dogs” Iannuzzi wrote the book and phoned me from parts unknown when he was under the Witness Protection Program after he was an FBI informant. He died in Texas in 2015. Read more…
The Stuffed Carrot Cake I baked was obviously a failure but it was extremely tasty as a pudding
First, a little first-person backstory.
I quit my job as food editor and columnist for the Toronto Star, Canada’s largest newspaper, after 18 years in 2007. It was arguably the best job for a food journalist in Canada. Four years later, I re-invented myself as a freelance Food Sleuth. Meanwhile, I did a couple of community cookbooks with residents of Toronto public housing and for an advocacy non-profit group called FoodShare. Read more…
It was May, 2004, during a glitzy dinner celebrating that year’s James Beard Awards at a mid-Manhattan hotel.
Gabriella Gershenson, at that time a fledgling food writer living in New York, was seated next to me. I discovered that I and this soft-spoken young woman with thick, wavy black hair and a winning smile were kindred souls. Read more…
In Memoriam: Anthony Bourdain – an inspiration to me and the huge number of devotees who followed his ground-breaking, intrepid and wondrous work – committed suicide while filming an episode of Parts Unknown in France on June 8, 2018. He was one of a kind. RIP dear friend. Read more…
“I dedicate my work every day to the colleagues I lost on 9/11” – chef Michael Lomonaco.
Michael Lomonaco loves food and people. But it was an act of hate that pushed him into the spotlight: the tragic events of September 11th, 2001.
Michael was executive chef of Windows on the World: a restaurant once on top of the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. Following the attacks, he helped raise $23 million for the families of foodservice workers killed that day. Those included 79 of his staff working the morning shift and a hot dog vendor on the ground outside. I interviewed him in May 2002. Read more…
Martinson coffee, founded by my great-uncle Joe Martinson, and a coffee cake to go with it
This appeared in the Toronto Star in 2002. I was reminded of it when I was at a Wegmans supermarket in New York State and bought a can of Martinson’s coffee.
A cup of joe.
Who would have thought I am related – albeit distantly – to the “Joe” of that famous culinary phrase.
It all began, as is often the case, almost by accident. Read more…
Chef David Garcelon and his Waldorf Salad Read more…
The sold-out scene at the Isabel Bader Theatre in downtown Toronto on a recent dark and stormy night was akin to a Bob Dylan concert (firsthand experience) or a gathering to hear the Dalai Lama (only hearsay). Read more…
I recently spent four glorious days in midtown Manhattan.
For two of those, I was pretty much closeted in the Roger Smith Hotel attending back-to-back seminars at a cookbook conference. Read more…
In Memoriam: Judith Jones died on August, 2017, in Vermont at the age of 87
I arrived at the door of Judith Jones’s compact, six-room apartment in a classic brownstone on New York’s Upper East Side to the sounds of enthusiastic, high-pitched barking on the other side of the door.
It was her little white and furry Havanese dog Mabon who was happy to see me and proceeded to jump up and down as I entered the cozy place where she’s lived for several decades. Read more…
