Category: You Are What You Eat

Name: Jenny Feddersen

Occupation: Web designer

Borough: Manhattan

What did you eat today?

A bowl of kashi go lean crunch for breakfast, a glass of fresh squeezed (by someone else) orange juice, and a coffee from out of the kitchen with milk and an accidental pump of hazelnut coffee that wasn't so good.

Lunch: snap peas! carrots, yogurt, choc chip cookies, turkey sandwich, diet coke

Dinner: chicken tagine with prunes and apricots from Cafe Mogador, choc chip cookies [I love Mogador's chicken tagine -- I always get it with preserved lemon and olives.  YUM!  As a lunch special, it comes with a huge fresh mesclun salad with lemony vinaigrette, making it one of the best deals in town at only $7.50.  Take that, Rachael Ray! -- Ed.]

What do you never eat?

Liver

Complete this sentence:   In my refrigerator, you can always find:

Milk, leftover Thai, cheese and tortillas

What is your favorite kitchen item?

The garlic press




Where do you eat out most frequently?

SEA Thai
Saigon Grill
Esashi
Blue 9 Burger

World ends tomorrow.   What would you like for your last meal?

A big juicy cheeseburger grilled by my dad with onions, etc., corn on the cob, a flourless chocolate cake, and a tall glass of milk.

Name: Shannon Darrough

Occupation: Designer

Borough: Manhattan

What did you eat today?

Breakfast: coffee
Lunch: One of those salads where you pick what you like. At Cafe Metro near my work on 52nd and 5th they have a deal where it's $7 for unlimited toppings (don't forget that you have to limit yourself to only 1 meat and 3 cheeses) so I got a spinach salad with albacore tuna, raisins, roasted almonds, corn, avocado, cheery tomatoes, kidney beans, croutons, cucumbers, olive oil, balsamic vinaeger, salt, and pepper. I know I've forgotten a few. The thing weighed a pound.
Dinner: Sat at the bar at Amuse and had a turkey burger with fries and a bellini martini (vodka, peach nectar, champagne). Two bellinis. Yum.

What do you never eat?

Beef. I gave it up a few years ago. When I lived in San Francisco, I used to have an out clause that allowed for In-N-Out burgers but I gradually began to dislike the taste. I also steer clear of strong, stinky, multi-colored cheeses.

Complete this sentence: In my refrigerator, you can always find:

Limes.

What is your favorite kitchen item?

My lime-squeezer from Williams-Sonoma.  I also love our global knives. Great for cutting limes.

Where do you eat out most frequently?

The single sit-down restaurant I find myself at most is L'Annan on 28th or 3rd. My mom and I probably probably eat there once a month (she lives a block south). Spice on 21st and 8th might be a contender also.

World ends tomorrow. What would you like for your last meal?

I'll be completely unrealistic and create a "food orgy" made up of my all-time favorite foods and dishes.

A handful of pistachios
A few shiso leaves to nibble on between courses
Green papaya salad
Fresh Japanese tofu with soy sauce and bonito flakes
Bolet mushroom terrine from Les Jardins des Sens
Souvlaki (on pita) from the local corner taverna in Pefki
Okonomiyaki from cute little okonomiyaki hut in Sangenjaya
Al Pastor burrito from Balazo on Haight Street (with lettuce)
Lamb chops from Slanted Door
Chicken tikka from Bengal Village in Shoreditch
Rainbow roll from Osaka on Castro
Tonkotsu ramen from Men Kui Tei in midtown
My grandma's chocolate chip cookies
Fresh mango
Pocky candy (the original kind)

As for drinks, I'd start with a margarita (my own), move to a Montrachet, end with a Sauterne.

No, it's not a very harmonious smorgasbord.

Shannon's website is fancier than yours.

Name: Sirion Skulpone

Occupation: Research Analyst

Borough: Manhattan

What did you eat today?

Breakfast: cottage cheese and a pear & a cup of Tetley's English breakfast tea; Snack: Dannon Light n Fit smoothie in peach passion fruit and a banana; Lunch: Boca cheeseburger on multi-grain english muffin with spinach and tomato; Snack: Laughing Cow light cheese on Kavli 7 grain crackers and an apple; Dinner: Baked chicken breast with onion and baby creamer potatoes in broth, garlic, and lemon juice & white rice; Dessert: leftovers from my boyfriend's birthday cake (yellow cake with vanilla buttercream frosting).   

What do you never eat?

Tripe.  Even thinking about it makes me break out in hives.

Complete this sentence: In my refrigerator, you can always find:

Land O Lakes nonfat half and half, Dannon Light and Fit Smoothies [What the hell is nonfat half and half made of? You are a much more trusting eater than I.  --Ed.]

What is your favorite kitchen item?

My mortar and pestle which I use to mash up garlic for my mom's garlic shrimp recipe and pretty much everything else I know how to cook.

Where do you eat out most frequently? Saigon Grill

World ends tomorrow.  What would you like for your last meal?

Comfort food, which to me is my mom's home cooking. 
Tom kha gai (chicken coconut galangal soup)
Kanom Jeeb (dumplings)
garlic shrimp
Rex sole with celery in salty bean sauce
garlic pepper pork
thai basil pork
cabbage soup with pork
khao-tom (rice porridge) with bacon
mussamun curry with beef
white rice
for dessert, Viennetta or Ben and Jerry's Heath Bar toffee crunch

It's a big meal but I think I could do it!

Sirion is my one blood relation in New York City.  Of all the kids in the clan, she is the "Successful One", allowing a liberal arts jerk-off like me the freedom to be the "Slacker One" -- for that I am forever grateful.  Don't mess with her or all 182 of her globally positioned first cousins (yours truly included) will rain down on you like a muay thai monsoon.

Name: Jason Kincade

Occupation: Online Editor, Penguin Group USA

Borough: Brooklyn

What did you eat today?

Breakfast: Raw almonds with raisins and iced coffee, Lunch: salami sandwich and a Radeberger from Lederhosen then another iced coffee, Dinner: Tacos de Bistec from Matamoros in Williamsburg.

What do you never eat?

Offal of any kind [Not even chopped livah? -- Ed.], kasha, fast-food burgers

Complete this sentence: In my refrigerator, you can always find:

Various kinds of mustard, Peter Luger steak sauce, scallions, seltzer, cornichons, grana
padano, capers, martini olives

What is your favorite kitchen item?

My Le Creuset Dutch oven and my psychedelically patterned 30s enameled steel salad bowl

Where do you eat out most frequently?

Lunch - Murray's Cheese Shop or Deb's. Dinner - D.O.C., or takeout from the Polish grocery with the tiny food counter in my neighborhood.

World ends tomorrow. What would you like for your last meal?

Vodka martini, king prawn and scallop ceviche, Benton Lane pinot noir, rare venison, sweet Italian fennel sausages from Faicco's, roasted leeks, bitter chocolate mousse.

Name: Robyn Lee

Occupation: Student

Borough: Manhattan (but I'm from NJ, damn)

What did you eat today?

Breakfast: a banana, a few figs
Lunch: Japanese eel rice, some figs, pluots, frozen pudding (I was curious to find out what frozen pudding tasted like...because I have no life), water (I don't drink much else)
Dinner: Haven't had it yet but I'm planning to have more fruit, some yogurt, and more frozen pudding

What do you never eat?

Most fast food chains.  Beef tendon.  Bacon and sausages.  Insects (not that I've had the opportunity, but I'll pass.)

Complete this sentence:  In my refrigerator, you can always find:

Fruit.  Although that's more like in the kitchen, not the fridge.  Strangely perhaps, I can't think of something you'll always find in my refrigerator.  You can bet that my kitchen will at least have fruit and olive oil (not that I eat them together!).

What is your favorite kitchen item?

Not really a favorite as much as a necessity: a small knife for cutting fruit. :)

Where do you eat out most frequently?

In NJ, the Ridgewood Country Pancake House.  In NYC, around Chinatown but not one place in particular (yet).  bakeries get my most repeat business, such as Sugar Sweet Sunshine.

World ends tomorrow.  What would you like for your last meal?

ICE CREAM SUNDAE!  With nuts and hot fudge.  And fuyu persimmons (not on the sundae).  And chocolate chip cookies.  (I hope those three things count as a meal.)

Robyn is The Girl Who Ate Everything.  You can visit her at one of several luxurious internet homes:
--> poofy.net/shop - back in business, kind of
--> diskobox.net - not very disko-esque
--> roboppy.net - it's RAHboppy, get it right, kids

*****

Special shout out to Adam Kuban for pointing me to recently featured YAWYE P.Y.T.s Allen and Robyn.  Know a New Yorker who wants to tell the world (or at least my five friends who read this blog) what they eat?  E-mail me.  Foodies, food-phobes, and everyone inbetween accepted.

Name: Mohan Seneviratne

Occupation: Publishing/Web Development

Borough: Manhattan

What did you eat today:

Yesterday
Breakfast:
3 cups of green tea early morning; oatmeal and honey and a cup of whole milk later in the morning

Lunch:
Spicy tuna sandwich and a rainbow roll from Sunshine Market
Berry cobbler by Ganda for dessert.

Assorted Pocky (green tea and coconut) for snacks from Jason

Dinner:
Adapted from the recipe “Macaroni with 4 Cheeses!” by Emeril Lagasse:
Macaroni with gold cheddar, gruyere, fontina, and parmigiano-reggiano cheeses and minced garlic served with cold prosciutto and steamed broccoli. Got the cheeses and the prosciutto from Murray’s on Bleecker Street. There were a lot of people ahead of me. While waiting, I found some expensive, organic, gourmet garlic, which turned out to be the best garlic I’ve ever used. Most of the flower stalk was still attached to the bulb and it was hard to break off cloves by hand. So I used a knife to cut the bulb in half. The flesh of each clove had the color and texture of an unripe pear. And it was sweating, it was almost juicy. Not at all like the smooth, white garlic you find in the supermarket. I ate a thin slice raw. It was rich and nutty, but not super-hot. I saved 2 cloves to plant, minced the rest, and mixed it with the macaroni before adding the shredded cheese. Wanted to serve the macaroni and cheese with white wine, but I forgot to buy wine on the way to my sister’s apartment in Brooklyn. So we had cranberry juice and club soda leftover from a party she had the weekend before.

What do you never eat?

Licorice

Complete this sentence:  In my refrigerator, you can always find:

Juice

What is your favorite kitchen item?

Global Vegetable Knife

Where do you eat out most frequently?

Sun Dou Dumplings on Grand Street. It’s 3 dumplings for $1 at the window and they’re very salty and oily.

World ends tomorrow.  What would you like for your last meal?

Mango with sticky rice

Name: Allen Wong

Occupation: Student/Overall Amateur

Borough: Brooklyn

What did you eat today?

Breakfast: Two eggs, beaten with half-and-half and then fried. A glass of milk.
Lunch: From home: Rice, sweet potato shoots, and cold chicken smothered in Thai sweet chili sauces and sriracha.
Snack: A yellow peach.
Dinner: Rice, bittermelon and beef, chicken with two types of mushroom, and a packet of ready-to-serve jellyfish (don't get this - ever).

What do you never eat?

Fast food chains, instant [noodles, oatmeal, rice,], and KRAFT products are in my ICK! list. Nothing alive.

Complete this sentence:  In my refrigerator, you can always find:

Ginger, scallions, eggs, and fruit.

What is your favorite kitchen item?

That would be the trusty wok; if all else fails, the wok can do it.

Where do you eat out most frequently?

Recently: Ba Xuyen
Chef Liu's (A shanghaiese place a block away from home)
Cho Lon
Not So Recently: Ocean Port (is now named World Tong after a dispute between the owners)

World ends tomorrow.  What would you like for your last meal?

Nom yu braised pork trotters with taro, xiaolong bao, and some fried rice with an egg cracked in the middle.

Now you've got me hungry.

Read more of whippersnapper Allen's food thoughts at The Impetuous Epicure. 

Name: Nicolette Wagoner

Occupation: Urban Planner

Borough: Brooklyn

What did you eat today?

A large coffee w/ milk and 1 equal from Oslo. I'm so glad it was cooler this morning because I hate iced coffee and swear that it has no caffeine in it but some people think it's weird to drink hot coffee when it's 90. I also had a Blue Sky muffin. Blueberry and mango.  A calorifically delicious way to start the day.

A big bottle of Poland Spring.

For lunch I had a grilled vegetable salad with balsamic from Mocca.  Just writing about it makes me want another one.

Nature Valley granola bar, oat and honey. I have a tiny addiction.

11 almonds, unsalted.

A bowl of Pacific Foods roasted red pepper and tomato soup w/ some fresh spinach thrown in to give it that false yet wholly satisfying feeling that I cooked dinner. Accompanied by a few Carr's cracked pepper water crackers with some Emmenthaler cheese. Mmm.

What do you never eat?

Lamb.
McDonald's. Most other fast food, except for Runza and Amigos (in Nebraska)
Ice cream
Flan - ugh.
Chicken that looks remotely vein-y. Double ugh.

Complete this sentence:  In my refrigerator, you can always find:

Tamari
Seltzer
Spinach
Tofu
Amy's burritos (for emergencies)
Silk soy milk, unflavored
Vodka  [Yeah, baby.  -- Ed.]

What is your favorite kitchen item?

It's a tossup between the Scripto lighter i use to light my tiny, scary stove, and my wine key from Cakebread Cellars

Where do you eat out most frequently?

Mostly in the neighborhood - Diner, Bonita, Acqua Santa, SEA. I also tend to end up at Pastis and Schiller's a lot - it's beyond my control.

World ends tomorrow.  What would you like for your last meal?

I'd start with bacon-wrapped dates. I'd probably skip the salad unless there was some really fresh arugula around. Then I'd have Humboldt Fog with a loaf of Amy's currant bread, a veggie burrito from El Cid in Chicago, and a filet mignon from my dad's grill. To drink, a dirty Ketel One martini to start and then cabernet with the steak. And for dessert, chocolate peanut butter ice cream from Baskin-Robbins and an espresso. I don't eat ice cream, but it's the end of the world so what the heck.

Name: Dan Nishimoto

Occupation: Musician, Writer, Educator

Borough: Brooklyn

What did you eat today?

~ Breakfast: Kashi Crunch with Silk (Regular).

~ Breakfast, pt. 2: a Carrot Cherry Cream Cheese muffin from Blue Sky Bakery. I have liked all of their muffins except for the Blueberry; for some reason, it's a bit drier than the rest. i suppose they're all pretty dry, being branny and all, so the cream cheese is a welcome ingredient. [2nd breakfast is one of my favorite meals of the day -- Ed.]

~ Lunch: Leftover Squash'n Tomato Pasta. sauce is made from garlic, green and yellow zucchini, and hothouse tomatoes. I was too lazy to grate, so a glob of mozzarella found its way in. penne pasta, rigate to catch the sauce.

~ Snack: Dried Mango (of the Key Food variety), Sour Cream'n Onion Dirty Chips

~ Dinner: Nachos w/ Guac, Black Beans, Cheddar'n a white cheese I can't recall, Baked Mac'n Cheese, Grilled Asparagus, Hush Puppies, Corn on the Cob (salted), and Peanut Butter Pie from Bubby's. Black 'n Tan for the delicious mismatch.

What do you never eat?

~ Anything that can carry a conversation.

Complete this sentence: In my refrigerator, you can always find:

~ Batteries.

What is your favorite kitchen item?

~ Mortar and Pestle. I never learned a particular "pestling" technique, but it's hard not to love something that has blessed me with pesto.

Where do you eat out most frequently?

~ NYC: Grimaldi's. LA: Grand Central Market and the Thai temple out in the valley. [That's my temple, yo! -- Ed.] Bay: Should've been the Thai temple off University, but was Intermezzo.

World ends tomorrow. What would you like for your last meal?

~ Steak made by my maternal grandma. Stir-fried Edamame and Bean Curd (the real taut, chewy type). Maguro (tuna) sashimi, fresh out the Mexican Pacific Coast. Spinach Salad w/ veggies yadda*3, Armenian String Cheese, and a splash of Tartuffo Bianco Olive Oil as a dressing. Misoshiru flavored with pork and consisting of gobo, daikon, carrots, crumbled tofu, and the gray, chewy stuff. Natto with nori. A fresh crop of steamed white rice. And brown rice. Mirin Cider and Aqua Frizzante. Those waffle ice cream sandwich bars with the chocolate inside. And Bubby's Peanut Butter Pie. And gelato from that large joint in Rome, near Piazza Navona; any flavor, surprise me.

Read Dan's writing here.

Name: Tracy E. Hopkins

Occupation: Journalist specializing in music, entertainment, and lifestyle.

Borough: Brooklyn

What did you eat today?

For breakfast, I had a carton of Special K with soymilk.  For lunch, I had various salad and cold pasta combinations from the Union Square Whole Foods salad bar.  And for dinner, I ate at Cubana Cafe on Smith Street in Cobble Hill, where I had two delicious-but-deadly mojitos that were only $6 each and for my entree I had a tasty grilled shrimp dish with rice and beans.  My boyfriend had the red snapper with mango salsa and pureed plantains.  The whipped plantains tasted a bit like baby food, but the snapper was good.

What do you never eat?

Liver and onions or any type of red meat. Although I love seafood, I'm also not too crazy about shark -- I don't want to eat a fish that could eat me.

Complete this sentence:  In my refrigerator, you can always find:

A bottle of ketchup, mustard, or mayo.  I have the condiments, but usually not anything of substance to put them on.   

What is your favorite kitchen item?

Dish detergent.  I'm not home that often, so I like to make sure I wash my dishes before I leave.

Where do you eat out most frequently?

In the Cobble Hill or Fort Greene sections of Brooklyn, and in Chelsea near where I work.  But I recently found two great Italian restaurants in areas I don't usually frequent -- Basso Est on Orchard Street and Pesce Pasta on Bleecker.

World ends tomorrow.  What would you like for your last meal?

Although I love Italian, Thai, and Latin food, I would probably want to keep it simple and have a veggie burger with cheese and all the fixins' and sweet potato fries. But since this is my last meal, I'd probably pig out and have that for an appetizer.  Then for the main course I'd have a big plate of Pad Thai with vegetables or Frutti di Mare.  And top everything off with a pint of Ben and Jerry's Heath Bar Crunch ice cream.