Food & Wine January 2018

GOLDEN BEAR BITTERS The Spring Botanical Tonic Syrup from Golden Bear Bitters is a bright combination of bitter greens, wild sage, lemon balm, and other ingredients gathered along the California coast. Just a dash transforms plain seltzer. $11 for 8 oz.; goldenbearbitters.com SPINDRIFT Fresh-squeezed juice gives this sparkling water, which tops out at 15 calories, an extra boost of flavor. We love the strawberry, grapefruit, and cucumber. $36 for 24 (12-oz.) cans; spindriftfresh.com. TICKLE WATER Created with kids in mind, these subtly sweet sparklers were a hit with grown-up editors as well. The cute cans hold nostalgic flavors like grape and green apple. From $15 for 12 (8-oz.) cans; drinkticklewater.com. TOPO CHICO The big-bubbled, cult-favorite mineral water from Mexico is now even easier to find, including the zippy lime-flavored version. From $1.50 for 12 oz.; topochicousa.net. DRAM APOTHECARY Shae…

HOLIDAY CHEER My entertainment style is probably the antithesis of Food & Wine. My holiday party starts after 9 p.m. so I don’t have to deal with feeding everyone. I have noshy stuff around that you pick on later after you’ve had enough to drink—my parties are really about drinking. DREAM TRIP I love Brazil, especially the small beach town of Trancoso and the Fasano hotel in Rio. The people are beautiful and the energy is amazing. I was there recently for John Mayer’s 40th birthday, and on the last night of the trip he performed in São Paulo. It was just incredible. RINGING IT IN I’m so excited that this year I’m co-hosting New Year’s Eve with Anderson Cooper. At most parties you have at least one TV tuned to CNN so you can…

THE NEW OLDSCHOOL EDITION FINDING A GREAT BOWL OF PASTA is serious business among American gastronomes. But lately, we’ve seen stateside chefs giving Italy’s iconic carb the fast-food treatment, from the Pasta Sisters takeout empire in Los Angeles to the hotly anticipated Pasta Flyer in New York City. “I always wanted to do a concept like the Italians: quality ingredients, simply prepared, very fresh and fast,” says Pasta Flyer honcho Mark Ladner. The chef is a legend among pasta-obsessives, earning serious accolades at Mario Batali’s fine-dining temple Del Posto. Here, Ladner breaks down the nuts and bolts of his innovative enterprise. pastaflyer.com. PASTA FLYER, BY THE NUMBERS: 20 YEARS LADNER HAS BEEN MAKING PASTA—HE GOT HIS START AT OLIVES IN CHARLESTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS 5,000 BOWLS OF NOODLES LADNER HAS ALREADY DISHED OUT DURING PASTA FLYER’S PREOPENING…

LOOK AT STILL LIFES by Ann Street Studio (annstreetstudio.com), and you’ll do a double take. Did that fly on a pile of oranges just move? That’s the beauty of the cinemagraph, a Harry Potter–like animated image invented by artists Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg. “A still life, in fact, is not still,” says Beck. “Light, bugs, and plants move, and we wanted to bring that dimension into our work.” So the two blended together a classic aesthetic with modern technology—the drama and beauty of baroque paintings in an Instagram context—to create their arresting moving images. But for their recent residency in Provence, the two went back to basics, using ordinary objects to achieve their extraordinary look. Here, Beck shares tips on how to up your own food photos with things…

EVERY SEASON NEEDS A FLASHY STUNNER OF A DISH—massive hams in spring, plump birds in fall. Winter’s answer: an ice-cold tower of briny oysters, meaty crab legs, and mignonettes. Chefs are taking it up another notch with over-the-top plateaus at restaurants like Whaley’s in Washington, DC, and The Darling Oyster Bar in Charleston. But at Chris Cosentino’s Jackrabbit (gojackrabbitgo.com) in Portland, Oregon, the offal-obsessed chef gives his a surf-andturf touch. “We use both bivalves and crustaceans with a rotating mix of local, imported, and housemade charcuterie,” he says. “The pairing of pork and shellfish is the backbone of many cultures’ cooking, and this is our nod to that.” Lox and Loaded First, there was the rise of the modern delicatessen, led by pioneers like Mile End Deli in New York City.…

CHARLESTON Monarch Wine Merchants Justin Coleman, formerly general manager at The Ordinary, wants to be Charleston’s first caviste, the French term for someone who runs a neighborhood wine shop: “I have a connection with each bottle and can speak to the wine with every person who walks through the door.” He stocks what he loves—mostly European selections, from Piedmont to new-wave Beaujolais. monarchwine merchants.com. LOS ANGELES Helen’s Wines At the back of Jon & Vinny’s, a pizza hot spot from 2009 Best New Chefs Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo, you’ll find this closet-size shop packed with 300 bottles curated by wine director Helen Johannesen. “It’s a gem box, a showroom, a meeting place, a sanctuary,” says Johannesen, who often leads classes in the retail nook. It’s been such a hit that there’s another outpost in…