When Friends Intervene

Yesterday, my friend Jeff and I spent a rainy Saturday afternoon playing foosball at Apartment 138 in Boerum Hill. Though it was the first time we had hung out in their game room, it is a restaurant that we used to frequent before this project started, mostly for their cheap sliders and jalapeno margaritas. I guess some of my friends still go without me (and I have attended a big dinner there while sneaking in my own vegetable turnover from Body & Soul) but I guess they miss it and have become fed up with my limited dining options. Jeff had been introduced to the chef before when he had been toying with the idea of picking up some waitstaff shifts, but yesterday he went to the bar without me and, apparently, asked to see the chef.

His bold move went over well, and within twenty minutes a skinny young guy in his thirties with longish hair and a goatee came over to check in on our game. I looked at Jeff, understood immediately, and introduced myself. Simon is the head chef of Apartment 138, and joined as partner a little after the restaurant opened 4 years ago. Originally from Key West, he worked his way up from dish washer to sous chef before deciding to brave a move to New York, figuring having both Key West and New York on his resume would get him a job just about anywhere else he wanted. Little did he know how well, and how quickly, it would work out. And now that he's head chef, building the menu for 138 and now for their sister bar in Williamsburg, he's stuck for a while. Things could be worse, I think.

Simon was incredibly welcoming and forthcoming with stories about his small kitchen, and I think plenty happy to have a new (returning) customer. Jeff and I celebrated with a slider.

Mother's Day on "The Program"

Despite a lack of recent posts, the project does continue and slowly becomes part of the daily routine. Lunches from Body & Soul, shopping at the Coop and the Farmers Markets, and lots of Brooklyn Lager and Makers Mark, of course.

My parents were in town for a Mother's Day visit and I did my best to keep them in line with the project guidelines (or "the program" as my mother adorably calls it -- does she think I'm twelve-stepping? I guess there are similarities....). Apparently Lucali, the local pizza phenomenon that I started to get to know, has had insane press recently so when we went at 8:30 on Friday night in the pouring rain there was a three hour wait. For the sake of my "no starving, no alienation" provisos, I accepted a "gift" from my parents and went to a restaurant, Crave, across the street. Aside from that blip however, I got them to make breakfast at home, took them on a whirlwind Saturday afternoon excursion to the Park Slope Food Coop to shop for dinner and made a huge stir-fry and salad, and then got my friends together to take mom to Counter for Mother's Day brunch this morning, which everyone loved. With some careful planning, and patience, my mission to know where all my purchases come from is proving possible.

We also checked out BklynDesigns on Saturday morning, an annual furniture and craft fair showcasing local designers. I took some serious notes should I decide I need to upgrade anything this year as there was some beautiful work made right here in my borough.

Coming up this week: I'm meeting with Allen Zimmerman, Produce Buyer for the Park Slope Food Coop, and Harold Butler, founder of Brownstone Beans. Plans for a June roadtrip to Tom's of Maine's factory and Seventh Generation's headquarters in Vermont are also in the works as well.

Daily Decisions

I've been asked how much this project is affecting my every day life. Are there things I used to buy that now I don't? Is this easy or hard? Have I cheated yet?

The honest answer is that I'm finding it affects everything. Generally, I haven't sacrificed anything major (a cup of coffee while out and about, using hair product since I've run out) but it has changed how I buy things, and I've definitely started making substitutions. I make coffee at home everyday, with coffee from the Co-op. I buy lunch for the week from Scott at the Body & Soul booth at the farmer's market and keep it in the refrigerator at work. Last weekend I had friends over to my apartment for both brunch and a pot-luck dinner to avoid carelessly eating out while still maintaining a social life. I drink only beer from Brooklyn Brewery. It is constantly on my mind; add in dozens of emails and phone calls to make arrangements to visit manufacturing plants and local entrepreneurs, and it's almost a full time effort.

I've made an exception once: our friends in a band (shout out to Kind Monitor) threw a birthday party for my boyfriend at MonkeyTown in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I had no opportunity to eat before I arrived and knew we'd be out drinking afterwards, and it was 9pm on a Friday night–not a time to try to get in to meet the chef at a busy venue. So I allowed an exception (rather than trying to rationalize) and enjoyed the burger. With a Brooklyn Lager.

An Organic Progression | Finally, a real personal connection

Last night I brazenly stopped into Counter, the East Village organic/vegetarian restaurant that serves up the wraps and turnovers I've been devouring from the Greenmarket for months (and exclusively for the last week). Granted it was a slow Monday night, but I was shocked when I asked to speak to Deborah Gavito, the restaurant's founder, and she came out to talk to me a few minutes later. Deborah is an adorable woman with a contagious smile who obviously adores her restaurant and her work. After only a moment of explaining what I was about, she brought me to a table in the back and eagerly told me all about Counter, the farms on Long Island and Upstate New York where all of her greens and herbs come from, as well as her real love -- the vast array of organic wines (300 on the menu) and beers (30) she finds from all over the world. She graciously gave me a tour of the small but immaculate kitchen (I nearly squealed when she pointed out the bread press where the wraps and turnovers that Body & Soul sells are made), extensive dry storage and prep rooms, and wine vaults. I even got a taste of some amazing cocktails served up by her 'mixologist'.

It was truly a pleasure to meet her -- and so much fun to hear someone so enthused about their work. She offered to take me Satur Farms on Long Island on an upcoming weekend to meet a winemaker with her and see where the greens come from! I'm looking forward to many nights at Counter and getting to know Deborah and her team there.

Baby Steps | The learning curve

The project is off to a shaky, but definitive, start. Allowing for a sharp learning curve, and the complete overhaul of my interactions with the world in many ways, is going to take some patience. And nerve.

I've yet to clarify to myself strict guidelines when it comes to food consumption, and it's going to continue to be a process. Friends took me to dinner last night (a cap to a birthday weekend) and it felt like I was cheating right off the bat. Dinners out are going to have to be rare and special.

I regained some confidence in the challenge's feasibility at noon today when I finally introduced myself to Scott, who works the Body & Soul booth at the Union Square Greenmarket. Scott is there Mondays and Fridays and I've been buying vegetable turnovers and wraps from him for months. Turns out Body & Soul is related to the restaurant Counter, founded by local and organic chef Deborah Gavito at 105 First Ave, NY. I stocked up for the week, and look forward to going down to meet Deborah and check out the kitchen soon.