Late this spring, Culture: An American Yogurt Company opened one block from my apartment. I surmised it would be yet another amalgamation of overexposed Pinkberry and Red Mango. I supposed it would quickly become a page in the prodigious book of failed NYC eateries.

Color me mistaken. Their fro-yo is off the hook, kids! Sweet and smooth, tart and tangy, it is like crack for 99.9% of customers. With toppings like key lime pie (lime curd, honey and graham crackers), fresh or muddled fruit, dark chocolate chunks or pina colada (fresh pineapple, caramel sauce and coconut macaroons) and flavors that run the gamut from mango strawberry to white peach to Nutella, they blow the competition out of the water with creativity and flavor.

The yogurt is made in Culture’s back room from hormone-free and antibiotic-free milk. The eatery itself is a certified New York State dairy, which means they make their product on site, soup to nuts, including milk pasteurization.

Not only have I become a regular patron, I’ve got a full-on, unequivocal addiction. They post their daily specialty flavors on a sidewalk chalkboard, an evil little ploy to add patrons to their already long line. And it works; the sign, in pretty pastel colors, begs you to “come hither” like a sexy sea siren luring lost mariners. It takes a heaping bucket of willpower not to fall prey to a Culture yogurt habit.

To ward off the demons, I decided to play yogurt god in the kitchen and create my own evil-good fro-yo masterpiece- lemon meringue frozen yogurt “sundaes.” I made a fairly simple vanilla bean and white chocolate yogurt from thick Greek yogurt and wrapped it in a coat of silken, creamy lemon curd. The addition of sweet white chocolate created more of a creamy semifreddo rather than a tart, icy frozen yogurt. Paired with the sweet-tart lemon curd, the flavors are perfectly balanced although the “sundae” ultimately feels more like a dessert splurge than Culture’s refreshing product.

Culture: An American Yogurt Company
331 Fifth Avenue
Brooklyn

Lemon Meringue “Sundaes” with White Chocolate Frozen Yogurt and Lemon Curd
White Chocolate Frozen Yogurt:
1 vanilla bean
4 cups whole milk Greek yogurt
1/4 cup superfine granulated sugar
1 ounce finely grated, high-quality white chocolate

1. Remove seeds from vanilla bean pod. In a large mixing bowl stir sugar and vanilla bean seeds into yogurt.

2. Melt chocolate in a double boiler and let cool slightly. Incorporate into yogurt, whisking briskly. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

3. Process in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Yield: 4 servings.

Lemon Curd:
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon finely shredded lemon zest
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 3 lemons)
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon olive oil

1. In a double boiler or stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk together eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and cornstarch. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens, about 5 minutes.

2. Remove from heat and immediately pour through a fine strainer to remove lumps. Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk into the mixture. Add olive oil and whisk. Let cool.

3. Cover immediately with plastic wrap so a skin doesn’t form and refrigerate for up to a week.

Yield: 1 1/2 cups.

Speaking of which, I recently heard on the pontifical nightly news that in 2011, by and by, the cupcake will no longer be relevant. Really?!?! Will the iconic cupcake really fall out of favor with eaters? Is it really “so three years ago?” I’m 33 and have been eating them for 32 years! In fact, New York City boasts more cupcake shops than ever and the very hip Sweet Revenge in the West Village even pairs artisanal cupcake creations with wine and beer.

All the same, the tongue-wagers insist the Lilliputian confections have become a bygone trend. In response to naysayers, anti-sweet toothed crusaders and curmudgeons, I would like to give an extremely loud shout-out to Billy’s Bakery. As far as I’m concerned this is the best cupcake in Manhattan and rumor has it, one of the top five reasons my sister moved back to NYC after a year in the South!

The original Billy’s proprietor and baker Billy Reece (now Lauren after her gender reassignment) was trained in cupcake art by the famous Magnolia Bakery. Though I like Magnolia’s cupcakes, Billy’s has upped the ante. They are rich and flavorful without eliciting a toothache. Their batter is not overbeat, resulting in a moist, fluffy but substantive confection. The masterful buttercream frosting is not in the least gritty but whipped until ridiculously smooth and creamy.

Billy’s most beloved cupcakes flavors are, not surprisingly, classic chocolate and the yellow daisy (aka vanilla vanilla). Their menu consists of other retro desserts (which I admit to never tasting because why would I order anything but a yellow daisy?). If the mood strikes, try one of Billy’s other cupcake flavors: carrot, red velvet, banana, German chocolate and coconut. You want an ice box cake? Billy’s bakes ice box cakes. Have a hankering for cheese cake? Junior’s be damned! Billy’s also has a selection of pies, cakes, cookies and bars.

Chelsea
184 9th Avenue
212-647-9956
Monday to Thursday 8:30am-11pm
Friday and Saturday 8:30am-midnight
Sunday 9am-10 pm

Nolita
268 Elizabeth Street
212-219-9956
Monday to Thursday 10am-9pm
Friday and Saturday 10am-10pm
Sunday 10am-6pm

Tribeca
75 Franklin Street
212-647-9958
Monday to Friday 7am-9pm
Saturday 9am-9pm
Sunday 10am-5pm

It has been a while since I’ve posted on this sad and neglected site and what better way to resume than with the best darn cookies in Manhattan! Heck, let’s just go for the gold and call them the best darn cookies I’ve ever tasted (sorry, Mom)!

And speaking of the best, I have a hard time labeling anything “the best.” Unequivocally once something is branded the best, a host of “the better” crop up. I should know. I’m a hard-core judgmental eater: never fully satisfied and always on the prowl for the Holy Grail of eating.

Without a doubt, however, I have never ever tasted a more perfect cookie than those made by Levain Bakery on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. I stand by my bold statement (and feel free to play devil’s advocate). My cookie monster husband and I both agree- Levain makes the most bang-up cookie in town.

Each cookie weighs a whooping six ounces. Though their choices of chocolate chip walnut, oatmeal raisin, dark chocolate peanut butter chip and dark chocolate chocolate chip seem limited, once you take a bite out of any one of them, you will crave anything but diversity. My Achilles heel is the dark chocolate peanut butter chip but all varieties leave their competition in the dust. Each are perfectly chunky mini-mountains of dough, slightly crispy yet tender on the outside and if warm, gooey (read: almost raw) and soft in the middle.

A Levain cookie costs $4 and worth every cent, ample enough to satiate even the most consummate sweet tooth.

The bakery itself is a petite and uber-French-looking subterranean hole-in-the-wall on 74th and Amsterdam. The sweet aroma of chocolate morsels, decadently fresh baked bread, baked jelly doughnuts, scones, and cinnamon brioche wafts onto the street level, making it difficult for anyone, even exclusive salt lovers, to resist.

Mr. Allan Benton, talented and dedicated owner of Benton’s, told me that one of his customers recently asked him how to remove some of the salty, smoky goodness from his bacon. “Remove flavor from my product? I consider that quite the compliment,” he says.

Benton’s hams are slow cured using salt, brown sugar, and sodium nitrite and aged to perfection, typically 9-10 months. This is a time-honored practice, dating back to the days before refrigeration, when meat preservation was a necessity. Benton insists he isn’t doing anything remarkable by upholding the traditional dry-curing process. “What I’m doing is what my grandparents and most of their neighbors did in their backyard,” says Mr. Benton. “We cure bacon and ham in a 180 year-old smoke house. We do everything exactly the same way.”

Benton has been curing hams since 1973, elevating the process to a magical culinary art form. He makes mouthwatering pork products such as prosciutto, smoked country bacon, aged whole country hams, unsmoked country hams and hickory smoked country hams, all of which have garnered him a reputation as a national treasure, and a favorite among professional chefs across America.

Benton’s bacon is seriously and extremely intense. The meaty, marbled slabs are addictive, with a smoky aroma that is no less intoxicating. The individual strips are thick, with a heavy ratio of fat to meat. Benton suggests undercooking, rather than overcooking the meat, in order to maintain the hickory smoked flavor and for an unctuous mouth-feel, closer to pork belly, rather than the crunchy, lifeless strips of bacon to which we’ve grown accustomed. That ethereal hickory flavor lingers in the back of the throat, a powerful confluence of salt and smoke.

Benton’s Smoky Mountain Country Hams
2603 Hwy. 411
Madisonville, TN 37354
423-442-5003

https://bentonshams.com

Although Mediterranean oils are generally esteemed as the world’s finest, highly valued for their full bodied flavors, deeply rich hues and fragrant aromas, California is at the apex of quality oil production, a vital member of the industry. Spanish missionaries first brought olive trees to California towards the end of the 18th century and the modern market is thriving. American producers are giving the Greek, Spanish and Italian oil makers a run for their money, harvesting a diverse crop that yields dynamic and respected oils.

On a trip to the Santa Barbara wineries a few years ago, I made a stop at Rancho Olivos in Santa Ynez after being beckoned by a sign offering olive oil tasting. The proprietor, Shannon Casey, greeted us with warmth, hospitality, rustic bread, knowledge, and a few very friendly dogs. We were offered generous tastings of her olive oils and were thoroughly wowed by their complexity on the tongue, the intense strength of their fragrant aromas. Yet we somehow managed to leave without a purchase.

I thought of the superior oil every time I cooked so I finally contacted Ms. Casey and ordered a few bottles, which ended up being some of the most vibrant, richly flavored olive oils I have tasted. I continue to use her oils, which coax deeper flavors from ingredients and really stand out on their own, soaked up simply with bread.

At the moment, Rancho Olivos is selling three types of oils: Arbequina Extra Virgin, Italian Blend Extra Virgin and Garlic flavored. In the past, they have featured a wonderfully fruity Meyer Lemon infused olive oil.

Arbequina is a Spanish olive varietal. Rancho Olivos notes that this oil is “renown for its round buttery flavor.” They state that “Arbequina’s ability to pollinate itself allows the oil to be called by its own name”. While the Arbequina oil has a somewhat creamy flavor, the Italian blend is far more sharp, peppery and earthy. It is made from a blend of Frantoio, Leccino and Grappolo olive varieties.

Lastly, the garlic flavored oil displays the bold taste of roasted garlic. Rancho Olivos notes that since “there is no organic matter in the oil, it will keep like a regular olive oil.” The flavor is so upfront, so powerful, the garlic flavor anything but subtle. They have really captured the essence of garlic in a bottle and it is almost good enough to drink!

Rancho Olivos
2390 N. Refugio Rd.
Santa Ynez CA 93460
Phone: 805-686-9653
Website: http://www.RanchoOlivos.com