Brighton Beach is home to many different people from the former Soviet Union. This restaurant is an Uighur Cafe on Brighton Beach Avenue and one of my favorite restaurants in New York City. Hand Pulled noodles are one of their many specialties. I encourage everyone to make a visit.
Of course most of you know I used to work for Chez Panisse and I like cooking as much as I like making art. Here’s a drawing exercise while I am working on some illustration work for a new farmers market opening in the Uptown District of Oakland, California. These are Meyer Lemons. They are the source of acidity for many of the foods we would make when I lived in Oakland because these little fruit grow just about everywhere and practically all year there. I find these in the markets here in New York but never quite as good as when you can pick them off of your own tree in your garden.
Here’s a Meyer Lemon Tart recipe from the New York Times:
I made this for a friend. I figured it captures the spirit of California cuisine. These herbs are some of my favorites for my recipes through the week. Of course there are other herbs like cilantro, mint, basil, and tarragon but for the sake of design these come to mind first.
The weather man says there is a classic Nor’easter coming in today . This doesn’t mean much to me coming from California except I’ve learned that it’s associated with cold weather. I walked out of my apartment today for the first time since arriving here in August in a coat, sweater, and jacket and I was still under dressed! Tomorrow the weather is threatening to snow. This gets me to think of warm and cozy foods. I’m thinking rabbit stew this weekend but after painting this I can’t help but feel a little bad, then my mouth starts to water when I think of braised rabbit. Yum!
I am fascinated with the the way protests actually work and how the police respond to them. Many years ago I had a chance to see a protest and 
understood that when the police responded they were reacting
and acting against the performance of the protest. To me it made
apparent that the act of protest is intrinsic in the act of policing people.
Anyhow The protest at Occupy Wall Street is interesting. I went down to check out the space and to see what people are doing to organize and maintain their civil disobedience in this little park near Wall Street.
Oddly enough I was there on Columbus day during a festival/street fair. The police made sure to keep the protest from spilling into the festival by placing barricades on and along Wall Street and boosted police presence in the area.
I walked into Zuccotti Park to see how the space was
organized. I found that there is a library with books and even spotted LP’s( It would be cool to have a mix of records and selected recordings of the protesters) and other media to select.
A kitchen is located in the middle of the park with a Speed Rack full of kitchen supplies and dry goods on hand. A dish washing station was operated by two
people. They used a special gray water system from plants, rocks and a system of buckets and compost to deal with the waste water from their cooking and dish washing.
There was some music being played in the park by a loose group of performers and there were lots of different organizations present in the space. Many protesters were sleeping and others were busy keeping the space clean by sweeping around the park.
I witnessed their voice intercom service that seemed to work as a way to 
communicate with the rest of the park protesters. They would repeat the news that was relayed by the person next to them and then send it forward to the next person as a way of getting news out without an intercom or loud speaker that they are apparently not allowed to have.
It’s very interesting to see how the police are dealing with the space. People are not allowed to block sidewalks and the police seem really uneasy about the whole protest. They constantly tell people along the sidewalk that they need to move on and to keep the traffic flowing. As long as you are not blocking the sidewalk you are allowed to be there. It all hints at how precarious this space is as a place that is allowed for such a protest. I immediately ask myself when will the police just get tired of them and kick them out? I also feel that there are forces not seen that are keeping the protesters from being moved out of the
park. Apparently the mayor and the owner of Zuccotti park among others are allowing this protest to happen.
Soon after I moved to New York from Oakland, California I contacted Vera and Mirem of the Edible Schoolyard in Brooklyn to see if I could volunteer some of my time down in the garden. My goal is to get my hands dirty and get some sunshine, connect with nature(believe it or not there is lots of nature in NYC!), get to know the folks and the neighborhood here at this new garden/classroom project.
I spend once a week pulling weeds, turning compost listening and learning about how this garden develops. It’s only been around for a year but day by day there is something new. It’s really exciting to see how the combination of community, teachers, gardeners, activists, friends, and children all work together to start a wonderful garden space where there once was pavement and cars.
The garden is situated in a tree lined neighborhood called Gravesend at Public School 216 on Avenue X near Coney Island. The character of the neighborhood is Italian, Jewish, and pretty much anyone from the Soviet Union. Here you can find Italian delicatessens making hero sandwiches with mortadella next to Russian markets selling Central Asian Uzbek flat breads and Vodka.
The Hoop House and Garden
Walking around New York City offers so much architectural history. I stumbled upon this little neighborhood or what’s left of it. Most of it has been bought out by Columbia University. If you walk around here you can get a sense that Manhattanville was a city separate from the rest of Manhattan. This bridge spans Mother David’s Valley the scene of The Battle of Harlem Heights in the War of 1812 where George Washington had been involved. The area feels like a scene from another time earlier in the 20th century. For the most part there aren’t many people who walk around here. Most people stop around Broadway unless you’re walking down to the Fairway Market, Dinosaur Barbecue or the Hudson river waterfront. There is an old cove here that was the entry point to this area and to the rest of Harlem.
Another image that is iconic New York is the hot dog stand! There are lots of vendors in the city like the Middle Eastern Shwerma and gyro vendors, or the fruit and vegetable stands scattered all over New York City. One of my favorites are the roasted nut vendors. In the winter here you can smell them from a block away! A polish sausage vendor saved my life once- Well not really, I was lost and drunk coming from my friends bar called Pacific Standard in Brooklyn, on my way to Washington Heights. I stepped off the train and went for a walk and I found myself downtown near “Ground Zero”. I stopped for the best sausages on a bun I’ve ever had! Unlike the gourmet vendors all over Portland, Oregon these are very simple places usually serving the most industrial food available. You don’t generally know where the food is from and you can be pretty sure it’s not organic!
