The Wong Way

Chef Alan Wong and Dole Farm's cacao specialist (chocolate guru), Michael Conway

By Mollie Chen

Hawaii is one of the places where all the cliches come true. It happens the minute you get off the plane: you are greeted by sultry trade winds and the strumming of ukuleles; people smile instead of grimace; and the air smells of pikake and ginger. Because my dad's family lives in Honolulu I get to go out there almost every year -it is hands down one of my favorite places in the world.

Foodwise, the islands have an embarrassment of riches. You can spend your days blissfully gorging on pineapple and papaya, or you can delve into more gluttonous pleasures like malasadas, plate lunch, and spam musubi. But Hawaii also has a thriving gourmet culture, led by star chefs such as Roy Yamaguchi, Sam Choy, and George Mavrothalassitis.

The arguable leader of this group is Chef Alan Wong, whose eponymous Honolulu restaurant made Gourmet's Top 50 last year and whose other two island eateries--Honolulu's Pineapple Room and the Big Island's Hualalai Grille--consistently rake in the accolades.

A few months ago, on a whirlwind trip to Oahu, the Big Island, and Maui, I had dinner at the very busy Hualalai Grille at the very opulent Four Seasons Hualalai. (Note to potential suitors: although the way to my heart is through food, this resort is a close, close second.)

I loved his take on the "soup and sandwich"--chilled heirloom tomato soup with a foie gras, kalua pig, and grilled cheese sandwich (really you can't go wrong with slow-roasted pork and fattened liver) and spicy ahi tartare with avocado salsa. For dessert there was an absolutely ridiculous chocolate, banana, and peanu concoction that (for me) was happiness on a plate.

For our July Islands issue, Chef Wong told us about the best "tastes" in Oahu (check it out on newsstands now). A champion of local producers, he has gone so far as to take his kitchen staff to some of his favorite farms so that his chefs can meet the folks who grow their tomatoes. Here, he makes a strong case for booking a one-way ticket to the aloha state.

Tee Time

By Nandita Khanna

Height of fashion: Diane von Furstenberg's T-shirt for the cause.

It's an undeniable fashion truth: the little white T-shirt permeates our wardrobe day in and out. And why shouldn't it? T-shirts are comfortable, easy to wear, and can be paired with just about anything. In fact, I've amassed quite a collection of tissue tees from some of my favorite designers (adampluseve, Splendid, J.Crew, James Perse). But what happens on those days when you don't really want your T-shirt to play second fiddle to the rest of your outfit? Or you want to look chic on the plane, but more effortless than dolled-up?

As it turns out an event called Limited Editions New York (L.E.N.Y.) speaks to our sartorial woes. L.E.N.Y. is a twice-yearly exhibition during New York's Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week that will call upon the design talent of some of fashion's boldest names to create limited-edition pieces made available at only the hippest boutiques around the globe (Colette in Paris, Harvey Nichols in the UK, Milk in Los Angeles, and Intermix in New York).

The Nation That Ate Everything?

By Mollie Chen

Last night, while talking to my sister on the phone, she proceeded to make me completely jealous with stories about her birthday dinner at Toro (which is quickly becoming her second home). "The foie was amazing," she said rapturously. "And the chef sent me out sweetbreads!" This from the girl who used to subsist on a diet comprised exclusively of bagels, cream cheese, and French fries. Annie has lost some of her culinary inhibitions and it would seem as though the American diner has as well -at least to some extent.

Recently, while researching a feature for our September issue (the super duper special 20th Anniversary issue), I got to do two of my favorite things-read about food and then talk to smart people about it. One of the things that kept coming up was offal - meaning all the "other" parts of the animal besides bones and muscle: tongue, feet, stomach, brains etc. Andy Smith, editor of the Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink, says that this really isn’t anything new. "Up until 60 or 70 years ago, that is what Americans would be eating anyway. I don't know when we lost that. Historically, nothing was thrown out - look at old cookbooks, they have everything in there from cow tits to anything they could possibly eat."

Bitter's Treachery, Part 2

The Materialist was not pleased. Not only had Bitter tricked her into going to the one place she'd specifically told him she didn't want to go to--the Materialist had only so many meals in which to stuff her face, after all, and she wasn't about to waste one of them on Otoko-dojo--but even worse, none of the staff were especially cute! They weren't even all male--aside from the eyebrowless chef, there was also a healthy sort of pigtailed girl; a laconic, henna-haired boy with a lazy charm but a middle running towards fat; and a scurrying tall thin person with a narrow, rodentlike face and a burst of hair who looked something like a Japanese Clay Aiken. Then there was the bartender, the one genuinely great-looking guy on staff, but he was mostly blotted out by the large, eyebrowless chef, whose face was red-faced and puffy and tender-looking from the heat of the grill.

Taking a holiday (in my mind, at least)

Bathing beauty: A look from Milly's cabana collection.

By Nandita Khanna

Every time I tell someone I work at a travel magazine inevitably first question is always, "Oh wow, do you get to travel all the time?" Forgive me for quashing any dreams, but unfortunately it's not all travel, all the time, as one is (understandbly) be led to believe.

Don't get me wrong, I've had the chance to go to far-flung places like Hoi An, Vietnam to work on a fashion shoot and I've taken a jaunt down to St. Lucia to check out new hotels for our Hot List. But I have plenty to do each and every day that keeps my feet firmly planted here at 4 Times Square. And to think, we have a coterie of brilliant contributing editors who've made traveling on the magazine's dime their livelihood. It's certainly enviable. I'm quickly realizing I have much to learn about this business. Last Tuesday night I headed downtown to preview Milly's resort collection with my friend Jessica Flint in tow.   Jess has never been to a fashion show, so I thought I'd ease her into the veritable mayhem that is attending fashion shows but taking her to a fete for the resort collection. I told Jess that while I might not be able to actually plan a vacation to a warm locale at this very moment to put these pieces to good use, we can pretend we are--for the duration of the 8-minute fashion show.

A Decadent Pick-Me-Up

By Mollie Chen

One of my idiosyncrasies (all lovable, I like to think) is that I hate fruit and chocolate together. Hate it. Love my fruit, love my chocolate, love them separately. "Not even chocolate-covered strawberries?" Negative. I hate how the chocolate masks the clean, ripe juiciness of the berries and how the acidity of the strawberries leaks onto the smooth chocolate. I make exceptions for chocolate and bananas, especially when there is peanut butter in the equation. I do, however, love chocolate with nuts, spices, and other far-flung ingredients. Which is why I was so taken with the gorgeous confections I recently received via one of our fabulous interns, Rosa - all the more appreciated because they came after a hellish Monday.

A Seat at the Table

Chef Gavin Kaysen gives San Diego Charger
Mike Goff a lesson in plating

By Mollie Chen

Ever since I (and seemingly everyone else in the English-speaking world) devoured Bill Buford's Heat, I have suffered a mild obsession with restaurant family meals. In it, Buford describes how Chef Mark Barrett effortlessly whipped up a fantastically good linguine with clams for Babbo staff one day. The same way that Calvin Trillin was convinced that all the best dishes in Chinatown were written in (to him) illegible Chinese characters on the walls, I too believe that the best restaurant food is being withheld from diners like myself. My suspicions were confirmed when my sister began working at Radius, in Boston, and promptly began planning her days around family meal - regardless of whether she was working that day or not. "Guess what I had today?," she would crow on the phone. "Terrine!" Other times it was a full Irish banquet or chicken stuffed with arancini. Buford deboned four boxes of ducks for his family meal; you, well, you only have to pay.

Strap Happy

Sure-footed: The Ginger, one of Bernson's
favorite summer styles.

By Nandita Khanna

During the work week, my practicality when it comes to sensible footwear is pretty close to nonexistent.

It's true, I faithfully (and often painfully) wear high heels nearly every day. Yesterday I hobbled around in these too-tight cobalt blue Celine sandals just because I hadn't worn them recently.

However, when I travel it's the complete opposite. My travels up until now haven't taken me to Paris or Milan for Fashion Week, where one could assume wearing Jimmy Choos or Dior on your feet is de rigueur, however, when I'm traveling I tend to be the opposite of my work self--meaning I am all about the comfort. Eschewing heels for flat boots, on ski trips out west I pack a pair of wedge snow boots and ski boots. No stilettos in the snow (I leave that to J.Lo, and the like, thanks).

The same could be said for the summer months in New York. Weekends spent traipsing through the West Village or Central Park are done so in the most practical fashion.

This season I'm loving Matt Bernson's gladiator sandal and snakeskin flats in green. I discovered Matt Bernson's Indian-inspired sandals more than a year ago thanks to one of my best friends entrepreneur/Vanity Fair editorial associate Jessica Flint who mentioned that his shoes were the talk of her office. And after buying one pair I was hooked. They're lightweight, flexible, comfortable, and easy to pack. Plus they don't take up nearly as much room as some of my clunky wedges, so I can still pack smart and look pulled  together. I'll bring these with me on weekend trips out to Fire Island, and even on winter jaunts to much warmer destinations. Read on for the scoop on how Matt started the line and some of his favorite pieces for summer.

Back in the Saddle Again

Well, here is how all the Materialist's travels end: with a whimper. That's right: the Materialist is back in this hellhole called NY, awaiting grimly the approach of summer, her least favorite season.

One would think, wouldn't one, that returning home after three and a half weeks would feel refreshing, full of tiny revelations and unexpected surprises. But in fact, the Materialist is surprised at how easy it is to fall back into the slipstream of one's daily, workaday life, and how quickly it washes away all the benefits of an extended period away. Any surprises--should they in fact exist--have also eluded the Materialist, who was dully disappointed to return to an existence identical to the one she left. Coworkers: still crazy. Friends: still beset with tedious neuroses. Wardrobe: still tired. Apartment: still dusty, small. Debt: still not magically repaid by mysterious and benevolent forces.

All of this is the Materialist's way of apologizing for the radio silence of the past two weeks--boy, no longer is the Materialist able to pretend that each transpacific flight doesn't age her another year or two. But before she returned to her Bartleby-like existence, the Materialist got to cap off her SE Asia trip with a few days in Tokyo, which, as loyal readers are by now aware, is her favorite city.

Eat Dessert First

By Mollie Chen

Along with small plates and farm-fresh dining, the food trend that I am most excited about is all-dessert-all-the-time. I'll admit, I have an abnormally large sweet tooth (must make up for my abnormally small common sense meter) - but this food revolution is one that even salty freaks can latch onto.

Dessert menus are getting more elaborate and more thoughtful, integrating complex flavors from the world of salty, savory, and spicy - for example, WD-50 (whose former pastry chef Sam Mason is poised to open the hottest restaurant of the summer) weaves ingredients like edamame and parsnip into its confections. Not to mention restaurants that shun entrees altogether, such as Room 4 Dessert, where Chef Will Goldfarb will happily talk you through his four-course tastings, and Kyotofu, a fantastic Hell's Kitchen spot where two former i-bankers have joined forces with a Japanese chef to produce ethereal tofu-based desserts.

The hardest working man in this new landscape of sweets is Chef Pichet Ong, who recently opened P*ong, in the West Village. The menu is divided into "savory," "sweet and savory," and "sweet." Many of the savory dishes are light - "I wanted to save the carbs for dessert," jokes Ong - even decadent-sounding offerings like the stilton souffle with basil-arugula ice cream.

Desserts are both experimental and accessible, displaying Ong's trademark Asian fusion - Vietnamese espresso and tapioca affogato is a twist on bubble tea, while the miso ice cream and evoo cake sandwich reminded me of light-as-air sponge cakes I used to pick up in Chinatown. Even more exciting is the forthcoming ("hopefully sometime late summer," according to Ong) Batch, which will open in the space next to P*ong and will sell baked treats and logs of cookie dough (labeled according to which "batch" they are). Once the shop opens, Ong says to look for the peanut butter or cherry spiral cookies. If that weren't enough, Ong has a brand-new cookbook, The Sweet Spot. The recipes are wide-ranging - from traditional Asian desserts like mango sticky rice and red bean ice cream to updated inventions like chocolate kumquat spring rolls and condensed milk poundcake - and are bound to inspire. Here Ong gives us his round-up of the best things to eat in New York, Los Angeles, and beyond.