Category: You Are What You Eat

Name: Deb Perelman

Occupation: Reporter

Borough: Manhattan

Relationship status: Hitched

What did you eat today?

One of my miniature bagels with a tiny bit of butter. [Your husband is a lucky, lucky man. --Ed.]A small coffee from the cart outside my office.

What do you never eat?

Fish. I thought I'd get over my aversion to it one day but I'm beginning to think it will squick me out for all eternity. Also: beets, chai, 99 percent of teas, cilantro except in rare circumstances, power/cereal/luna/anything bars and those tri-colored pastas. Wow, I better stop here or people are going to think I'm picky or something.

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

Eggs, butter, yeast, some fruit my husband has determined inedible because it has actually ripened and a few containers leftovers of an indeterminate age we're in a standoff with, waiting for last month's blog entry to throw itself out. Hasn't worked yet, but we're a hopeful bunch.

What is your favorite kitchen item?

It's like asking me to choose a favorite child! Cover your ears, okay? Mommy loves you all equally: Mandoline, digital scale, our g'normous Staub cocotte and its twin, a one-cup version that does nothing but sit there looking cute all day.

Where do you eat out most frequently? Le Singe Vert or Momoya on 7th Avenue, though lately it's been Tia Pol on 10th.

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

I want to eat at the Bread Bar at Tabla. I want one bite of every single dish on the menu, a bowl of spiced popcorn, two pomegranate gimlets and a vanilla bean kulfi pop. Would it be great to leave this world buzzing with inspiration? Or at least gin?

Why not both? Visit superstar Deb at her incredible, edible website, Smitten Kitchen.

Name: Kurt Wolf Langer

Occupation: Activist

Borough: Brooklyn

Relationship status: None

What did you eat today?

Ham and cheese on rye, salt’n’peppa kettle chips, coffee

What do you never eat?

Eyeballs, Chinese food

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

Home made pesto

What is your favorite kitchen item? Mortar and pestle, cauldron

Where do you eat out most frequently? Jackson Heights / Woodside

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

Champagne and oysters with THC-infused lemon sauce, pumpkin soup with opium cream, warm beet and goat cheese and spinach salad with balsamic Owsley LSD dressing, prawns vindaloo with peyote masala, fruit soup with vodka, spring lamb chops with magic mushroom reduction glaze, cheese and PCP plate, crack-cocaine and cardamom dusted warm chocolate soufflé with home-made vanilla ice cream, Louis XIII cognac and a clove cigarette.

Name: Jerusha Klemperer

Occupation: Slow Food Minion

Borough: Manhattan (but I left my heart in Brooklyn)

Relationship status: Single, uh-huh yeah

What did you eat today?

Oh jeez. Some days are good days and some days are bad days. Breakfast was a Luna Bar, lunch was Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken Salad from Rice, and dinner was Stonyfield Frozen Yogurt. A fairly bad day, foodwise.

What do you never eat?

Fast food—no way, no how.

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

Dijon mustard, organic eggs, butter, vanilla soymilk, chocolate soy milk, frozen bananas. [Interesting. For banana bread? --Ed.]

What is your favorite kitchen item?

My 6 inch kick ass chef’s knife.

Where do you eat out most frequently?

Lately, Ditch Plains.

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

First I’d like to thank the world for ending during peak growing season. I’d like a farmers’ market smorgasbord: a last-of-summer’s-beautiful-tomatoes salad, an ear of fresh corn, some handmade pasta with fresh basil pesto, finished off with a slice of rich, moist chocolate layer cake and a tall cool glass of milk.

Visit Jerusha's blog, eat here 2.

In memory of the 2nd anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, YAWYE comes from a relocated New Yorker in the Big Easy this week.

Name: Elizabeth Oldman

Occupation: Visiting Assistant Professor, Early Modern Literature, Tulane University

Borough: Uptown New Orleans. Moved down here August before last (Originally from UES Manhattan, for like a year, and the West Village for a decade before that. Soho before that)

Relationship status: Single

What did you eat today?

Coffee (black). Tropicana orange juice, lots of pulp. A nectarine. An Oyster po’boy, fully dressed (lettuce, tomato, mayo, pickles, Louisiana Crystal hot sauce). A handful of tamari-baked pumpkin seeds. Spaghetti with tomato sauce (Classico, Tomato and basil). Freshly-shaved parmesan. Baby spinach with oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. ½ bottle of Sauvignon blanc. Later I’ll have peppermint tea (a nightly ritual), and oatmeal raisin cookies.

What do you never eat?

Muffins. Swordfish. Chicken combined with cheese. Dill. Seaweed salad. Black licorice.

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

Koop’s spicy brown mustard, Heinz ketchup, Hellmann’s mayo, Perrier Lemon-flavored (b/c there’s no seltzer at my local market, Zara’s), Lurpak Danish butter, Heinekin, Coca-cola Zero.

What is your favorite kitchen item?

My sweet blender (Kitchen Classics by Waring, copper base).

Where do you eat out most frequently? In NOLA: Parasol’s for roast beef po-boys, Rice and beans at Felix’s, Acme for oysters, Slim Goodies for toast, hash browns, and bacon (I’m not a big egg fan), Galatoire’s when my mom and bro are in town. In NYC: Thomas Beisl (across from BAM), Hasaki for sushi, BLTs at Joe Jr’s (extra pickles).

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

A high-end Burgundy, steamed artichokes w/lemon and beurre, steak frites, béarnaise sauce, crème brulee, strawberries. [Bon Appetit! --Ed.]

On a separate but related note, my friend Mark Schwartz has created a public service announcement to raise awareness of what's happening (and not happening) with the reconstruction of New Orleans. To learn more, visit happybirthdaykatrina.com. You can also read about my trip to New Orleans on the 1st anniversary of Katrina here.

Name: Katherine Steinberg

Occupation: Programming Manager at AOL Body

Borough: Manhattan

Relationship status: I’ve been tamed.

What did you eat today?

Stonyfield farms plain yogurt, Amy’s stir fried rice noodles with vegetables and tofu, a smores Luna bar, a couple of California rolls and a Wonka bar.

What do you never eat?

Fruit pie. I can’t handle the texture of baked fruit.

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

Amy’s frozen bean and cheese burritos, and that’s about all. I’m a grab-and-go kind of gal.

What is your favorite kitchen item?

The corkscrew. Sometimes a girl just needs a glass of wine.

Where do you eat out most frequently?

Ginger for sushi, Saigon Grill for their yummy Curry Ga and Old Devil Moon for brunch.

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

I would start with the baked eggs and goat cheese skillet and a biscuit at Clinton Street bakery. I’d also probably get a burger from there. And I know this is against the foodie grain, but I’d get a four cheese deep dish pizza from Pizza Unos. There, I said it.

Name: Charlotte Druckman

Occupation: Freelance journalist

Borough: Manhattan

Relationship status: free as a bird

What did you eat today?

Sesame-banana cake from Birdbath bakery; Greek yogurt with honey from Honey Gardens Apiaries in Vermont (so very good) and blueberry granola; two glasses of rosé at Village; two crawfish dumplings, edamame & jicama salad, gai lan, miso-glazed salmon over mesclun and one diet Boylan’s rootbeer at Mooncake Foods; half of a coconut cookie from Birdbath.

What do you never eat?

pecans, walnuts and EYEBALLS

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

Homemade Greek yogurt and fig confiture from The Yogurt Place II; Ronnybrook Farms yogurt (vanilla and/or maple vanilla); a hunk of Ewephoria and whatever other cheese struck my fancy at Murray’s; an assortment of mustards; a bottle of prosecco, champers and/or rosé; diet peach Snapple; lemons; garlic; unsalted French butter; white miso paste; mango salsa from Citarella; Moroccan olives; soy sauce; ketchup; brownies and fat-free Reddi Wip

What is your favorite kitchen item?

wooden spoon

Where do you eat out most frequently?

Blue Ribbon Bakery, City Bakery, Momofuku Ssam, Mooncake Foods, Peasant, Supper, Village

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

A NYC restaurant crawl accompanied by bubbly and friends with forks at every turn:

Gusto’s octopus (and, if it’s tomato season, the panzanella salad)

Bavette cacio & pepe at Lupa

Momofuku Ssam pork buns, two please + a few glasses of The Black Chook

Bone Marrow at Blue Ribbon Bakery

Bacon-cheeseburger with sauteed onions, rare & cottage fries, well done + a bullshot at J.G. Melon

Joel Robuchon’s beef-and-foie-gras sliders

Uni sushi & toro sashimi at Sushi Yasuda

BOOT & RALLY

[HA! --Ed.]

A flight of desserts:

Balthazar’s tarte tatin

Trio of bread pudding:

- Peasant’s white-chocolate-and-fig bread pudding

- Blue Ribbon Bakery’s chocolate chip bread pudding

- Café Colonial’s chocolate croissant bread pudding

Mrs. Grossinger’s coffee ice cream & praline cake

And, if at all possible, a trough of rice pudding from La Régalade in Paris

(Do you think if I procured a palmier from Carette along with the pudding and saved it until the next morning, right before the execution, that’d be ok? Or, would that count as breakfast, ergo, another meal?)

[It's your fantasy. Besides, a palmier hardly counts as a meal. --Ed.]

Name: Diego Zambrano

Occupation: Art Director (www.workforfood.nu)

Borough: Brooklyn Heights

Relationship status: Unfortunately Single :(

What did you eat today?

Brazilian Barbecue and Pepperoni Pizza Slices...

What do you never eat?

Crap

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

Curry (red, black, green, yellow...), garlic, cheeses, Coke Zero, broccoli, jasmine rice, Haagen Dazs Sorbet Mango, red onion, BBQ sauce, Campbell's Chili, sweet corn, carrot, coconut milk, beer, water, sparkling water, basil, rosemary, wild oregano.

What is your favorite kitchen item?

My Le Creuset pans

Where do you eat out most frequently?

Bocca Lupo, an amazing and simple Italian restaurant hidden in the middle of Cobble Hill just few blocks from my apt (391 Henry St, at Warren St.) and Lovely Day, a tiny and perfect Thai restaurant in Nolita (196 Elizabeth St, between Spring and Prince St.)

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

Chicken with curry, broccoli, mushrooms, red onion, carrots, red pepper, garlic, wasabi, coconut milk, black beer, love and jasmine rice. A huge glass of Coke Zero with a lot of ice and Haagen Dazs Sorbet Mango to my last 60 seconds.

Name: Winnie Yang [Not to be confused with Winnie Chang. --Ed.]

Occupation: Food, obviously. But also: editor, PR monkey

Borough: Brooklyn

Relationship status: Possibly on to something; time will tell.

What did you eat today?

Breakfast: A pint each of blueberries and cherries and four plums, all from the Greenmarket.

Lunch: Roasted beets and carrots and a radish, mizuna, and arugula salad with lemon juice, pumpkinseed oil, and Maldon sea salt. All the produce is either from my Hearty Roots CSA share or the Union Square Greenmarket. The pumpkinseed oil is one of my current obsessions. Great with scrambled eggs. And the Maldon is one of those life-changing ingredients I proselytize to everyone who doesn’t already use it. (And yeah, I’m a name-dropper when it comes to my food. If you’re not down with that, I wouldn’t recommend scrolling down any further. Credit where credit’s due.) [I love me some Maldon too. --Ed.]

Dinner: I made succotash with fresh corn, dried limas, bacon, and Evans Farm milk; sautéed some sugar snap peas from the Greenmarket; and baked off a sformato (with Alleva Dairy ricotta) and topped it with some caramelized scallions. Washed down with Dolianova Vermentino di Sardegna. Dessert: Twig Farm Square Cheese (which, along with the ricotta, came from Saxelby Cheesemongers) and Nevat (from Despaña), which might very well be my new favorite cheese.

What do you never eat?

A wise man once said, “If I don’t love it, I don’t swallow.” I’ll eat anything as long as it was made with love. That said, there is one dish that I just can’t abide – nervetti, which is this Italian dish of chewy boiled strips of calf’s foot and shin served cold and with onions. Tendon is one of my favorite offal cuts, but really, this is akin to eating onion-flavored snot. Not to gross you out or anything. Truth be told, I ate that once. Never again.

I’m also not a big fan of sun-dried tomatoes. But I’ll eat them.

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

Sriracha, Dijon mustard, beer, wine (right now: Prosecco and Lambrusco), whatever’s peaking at the Greenmarket, heaps of CSA veg, sourdough starter, ice cream custard base chilling for imminent churning, Ronnybrook whole milk and cream (hanging around until they become custard base) and also their whole-milk yogurt, Tello or Knoll Krest eggs, capers, pickles, kimchi, six pounds of Tamarack Hollow slab bacon, and the best butter in the world, salted La Baratte des Gourmets. A lot of fermentation going on in there. [Where do you get that butter? I must try it! -- Ed.]

What is your favorite kitchen item?

The Cadillac of home ice-cream makers, the Cuisinart ICE-50BC. Well, until I can afford the Musso 4080 Lussino. Which would be the, what, Maserati of ice-cream makers? [Winnie's Guinness ice cream with chocolate stout cake is the stuff that dreams are made of. --Ed.]

Where do you eat out most frequently?

Flushing (J&L food court, Nan Bei He, and the lamb-on-a-stick street cart), Momofuku Ssam, Prune, Marlow & Sons.

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

A couple dozen oysters right at the water’s edge somewhere in the Cote d’Azur or Brittany.

A taste each of:
country ham (a sampling from Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee, and definitely some from Allan Benton), prosciutto di San Daniele, jamón iberico, jambon de Bayonne, culatello, porchetta, lechón, cochon de lait, cochinita pibil, the suckling pig and Middle White at St. John, my mom’s spare ribs, Peking duck, a thigh piece of the fried chicken from Bon Ton Mini Mart, a perfectly roasted Bresse chicken.

A perfect, ripe peach, just picked and still warm from the sun.

Mangosteen.

My mom’s potstickers.

And definitely a random leftover from my fridge that I didn’t even know was there. That’s sometimes the best stuff, and since the world is ending, a pleasant surprise might be nice before, you know, annihilation.

Visit Winnie's blog, thatswhatyouthink.wordpress.com.

Name: Yuzhi Yang

Occupation: Web producer and translator

Borough: Queens

Relationship status: Taken

What did you eat today?

A Larabar (Cherry Pie flavor). Green tea.
Chicken vindaloo for lunch.
Cold soba noodles at a Korean place, with lots of wasabi.

What do you never eat?

Sea cucumbers and chicken feet, the former look too wormy, the latter too hands-like.

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

Chili sauce, tofu, preserved radishes, uneaten boxes of chocolates.

What is your favorite kitchen item?

The fridge.

Where do you eat out most frequently?

King 5 Noodle for its beef noodles, Sentosa for its Chicken Rendang, and Happy Buddha has a wonderful seafood casserole with yummy “fish” made of soy.

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

Red bean and milk popsicles, flaky and chewy scallion pancakes, jerk chicken, leek and egg buns, and a bubble tea.

Name: Jenni Ferrari-Adler

Occupation: Writer and Editor

Borough: Brooklyn

Relationship status: Married

What did you eat today?

Scrambled eggs with scallions. Sautéed shishito peppers and grape tomatoes in olive oli with sea salt. Stonyfield mint chocolate chip frozen yogurt with almonds.

What do you never eat?

Peanuts.

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

Sriracha hot sauce. Mustard. Capers. Lemons. Plain yogurt.

What is your favorite kitchen item?

The chef’s knife.

Where do you eat out most frequently?

The Boerum Hill Café for brunch.

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

I’ve been at Diner thought it would be a nice place to be if the world was ending tomorrow. And if the world was ending I’d definitely get the chocolate cake for dessert.

Jenni Ferrari-Adler is the editor of Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant, a collection of short-attention span essays on dining alone. It's the perfect beach read for people like you and me. I especially love the essays from Jeremy Jackson, on the glory of the lowly black bean, and Rattawut Lapcharoensap, who wrote a hilarious food memory about "idiot" ramen.