At A Voce Columbus Circle, after marveling at the verdure, their stellar small vegetable dishes meant as appetizers, I realized how convenient it would be to keep such snacks in my refrigerator either for lunch or to appeases those hunger pangs when I’m super busy and can’t cook. And though I am not able to recreate A Voce’s offering, I can certainly make my own renditions of stellar snack food to keep on hand (see, also, my earlier post on tzatziki), as is the case with this orange, vitamin-rich dip that goes perfectly with flat bread. It’s made all the more inviting with cayenne pepper and a sprinkling of nigella seeds. Serve warm or at room temperature with flat bread and other goodies, like olives and cheese—and perhaps a glass of your favorite wine.

Sweet potato and chickpea dip

Ingredients
1 medium sweet potato, scrubbed
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 small clove garlic
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus a dash more for drizzling
fresh ground pepper, to taste
nigella seeds, to taste (optional)

Make the dip
Preheat oven to 425°. Prick sweet potato several times with a fork. Place on a cookie sheet and roast until flesh is tender, about 50 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Combine chickpeas, garlic, cayenne pepper and salt in large bowl. Mix with an immersion blender until smooth. Scoop out sweet potato flesh, and add, mixing for another minute. Slowly add olive oil and mix until combined.

Transfer to a serving bowl. Grind pepper over dip and drizzle with extra olive oil. Sprinkle with nigella seeds (optional).

I love how chefs are using old recipes from their parents and grandparents. Check out my article in Hautliving.com

Titan Foods in Astoria is one of my favorite shops for Greek goodies, but I can’t believe I used to drive all the way there to buy tzatziki when it’s so incredibly easy to make. (But please do visit the store for other things, like the large variety of feta cheese and olives). I even drained regular yogurt so that it would have the thick consistency of its Greek cousin. Chop up some garlic. Slice half a cucumber. Combine olive oil and lemon juice. Add yogurt. The creamy and tangy dip with only five ingredients is ready in minutes…it’s that simple.

Tzatziki

Ingredients
2 cups thick Greek yogurt
5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup diced cucumber
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons lemon oil

Make the tzatziki
Chop garlic and dice cucumber. Mix oil and lemon in a medium-sized bowl. Fold in yogurt to mix completely with oil. Add garlic and cucumber. Mix to combine. Serve chilled with flatbread.

For olives, feta cheese, peppers and more food to go along with dips and flatbread, I highly suggest visiting:

Titan Foods/2556 31st St/Queens, NY/718-626-7771

To most, canella is the same thing as cinnamon, but in fact, it isn’t; anella is cinnamon’s more subtle, more aromatic sister—and it adds an interesting nuance to scones.

To read more about this spice, and for an easy scone recipe, check out my article on Deandeluca.com

Who doesn’t love truffles? They can make the most mundane dish an elegant one.

Find out where to eat truffle dishes in NY restaurants in my article on Hauteliving.com

Check out my review of Spot Dessert Bar in Papermag.com

My recommendations: Vietnamese coffee cupcake, yuzu eskimo and the jackfruit cake. And definitely order a Thai milk coffee!

Mustard cream is one of my favorite sauces for salmon. I absolutely love the flavor of mustard, its pungency and the way it adds a bite to the cream. And any time you have mustard and cream, you have to add wine and shallots. They all just work together so nicely over the mildness of salmon.

I popped into Citarella on Sixth Avenue for the mustard and the salmon, but these are ingredients you can find anywhere. Strange as it seems (I guess if you can’t get away from your computer) Citarella does offer online ordering.

Salmon with mustard cream sauce

Serves 4

Ingredients
2 tablespoons heavy cream, chilled
1 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup dry vermouth
3 shallots, minced
1 cup whipping cream
4 salmon fillets
1/4 cup unsalted butter, in pieces
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup fresh chives, chopped
Salt
Ground pepper

Make the dish
Whisk 2 tablespoons cream in small bowl to soft peaks; cover and refrigerate. Combine wine, vermouth and shallots in a heavy large skillet. Boil until liquid is reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Add 1 cup cream and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Add salmon. Cover and simmer until just cooked through, about 10 minutes. Transfer fish to plates using a slotted spatula and cover with foil to keep warm.

Place skillet with poaching liquid over high heat. Boil until reduced to 3/4 cup, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Gradually add butter, whisking until melted. Add mustard and chives and whisk to blend. Remove sauce from heat. Add chilled heavy cream. Season with salt and pepper and spoon sauce over fish.

New Yorkers are known to be on the lookout for the next best thing, and that’s certainly the case with coffee. There can never be too many odes to caffeine in our high-adrenalin city and lives. Those jones-ing for a buzz (myself included) have yet another option for a high-caliber cup: RBC NYC in Tribeca. With their extra special Slayer Espresso machine that costs $18,000 (notably the only one on the East Coast; you can read more about the machine here), the baristas at RBC are brewing beans from a variety of roasters, not just one as is often the case at other coffee shops. Their current brew: fair trade beans from Dallis Coffee in Queens and The Brown Coffee Company. But they, like the rest of us coffee fans, are keeping their taste buds on high alert for other amazing beans.

RBC NYC/71 Worth St at Church St/212-226-1111

Cornelia Street. You could easily get lost finding this one-block street that spans from Bleecker to where West 4th juts up to Sixth Avenue. But once you stumble upon this charming, minuscule street that feels removed from the hustle and bustle of Manhattan, you’ll find several must-try restaurants. I don’t think there’s another block in the city with so many places to dine. It’s the West Village’s answer to a restaurant row, albeit one with cozy, intimate restaurants.

Let’s begin at the West 4th Street end with a visit to Le Gigot. This quaint, romantic bistro makes a great first date choice, with classic French dishes like the namesake dish: leg of lamb served with flageolet beans. Flambéed bananas with cognac are a good choice for dessert. Next is Pearl Oyster Bar, where I like to sit at the counter and enjoy the fruits of my native New England with oysters, chowder and lobster. I love Home for their brunch, but out-of-town relatives will like the mellow ambience and heart, homey dishes like molasses double cut pork chop or braised short ribs. With smoked salmon, bufala ricotta with honey and baked brioche French toast, Palma also serves a stellar brunch, but dinner is a good choice, too, with rustic Italian cuisine served in a farmhouse-type setting. Who doesn’t love a glass of Sangria once in a while? At Little Havana you can order it by the pitcher and then enjoy Cuban specialties like ceviche, shrimp with saffron rice and bacalao, dry cod fish. On the opposite side of street is Po, where Mario Batalia was the founding chef. Although he departed years ago, the food still stands strong, with authentic Italian antipasti, primi and secondi. Some highlights: veal marsala with crimini mushroom and truffle. White bean ravioli with brown butter sauce. Linguine with fresh clams, pancetta and chilis. For dessert, share the Po Sundae with your date: fresh mint gelato, cinnamon spiced pine nuts and chocolate sauce.

Although New Yorkers are always looking for something new, you won’t find that here on Cornelia St. What you will find are tried and true places that charm over and over again—a veritable romantic restaurant row.

Le Gigot/18 Cornelia St/212-627-3737

Pearl Oyster Bar/18 Cornelia St/212-691-8211

Home/20 Cornelia St/212-243-9579

Palma/28 Cornelia St/212-691-2223

Little Havana/30 Cornelia St/212-255-2212

Po/31 Cornelia St/212-645-2189

I was disappointed when his restaurant P*ong closed so was thrilled to hear that pastry wizard Pichet Ong is back, now with a dessert bar called Spot. I recently stopped in with a friend and Miss Toddler S to review it for Paper Magazine.

Here are two highlights, but stay tuned for my full review, or better yet, stop by and try one of Pichet’s imaginative desserts.

My recommendations:

White miso semifreddo
Yuzu eskimo
Vanilla caramel Vietnamese coffee cupcake
&
a Vietnamese coffee

Spot Dessert Bar/13 St. Mark’s Place b/w 2nd & 3rd/212-677-5670