BurgerMonday doubles up for El Doble

No one has to sign up for a BurgerMonday meatup to have a burger at any of its host restaurants. That’s why at every BurgerMonday I offer an event sweetener or two not available to the general public.  For the two sold-out sittings of El Doble Night, a celebration of the double cheeseburger at Byron on 24 May, everyone got to spoon youngandfoodish El Doble sauce on their DCB as well as take home a jar of that homemade Basque-style condiment.

I’d like to think my sauce was responsible for this meatup’s success. But in the end it is the shared experience, more than the exclusive extras, that make BurgerMondays truly special. The buzz is in the numbers, the rows of burgers on two sides of long tables, the community of focused food enthusiasts who come together for a single purpose or, in the exceptional case of El Doble Night, a double purpose.

The next BurgerMonday, VCBC Night, is 7 June at Bob Bob Ricard in London’s Soho.

epic steak frites dinner: sizing up the cuts

The next youngandfoodish Steak Frites Tasting Dinner will be Tuesday 25 May in the private dining room of Racine Restaurant in London.

The menu will again feature three steak classics – onglet aux échalottes, filet au poivre, côte de boeuf – prepared by chef Henry Harris with the finest cuts of dry-aged, grass-fed beef selected by Darragh O’Shea of the great London butcher O’Shea’s of Knightsbridge. Each steak will be matched to a red wine selected by Peter Lowe of Berkmann Wine Cellars:

  • onglet aux échalottes <–> Morgon Domaine Jean Descombes 2008
  • filet au poivre <–> Antinori Santa Cristina 2008
  • côte de boeuf with béarnaise <– > Côtes-du-Rhône Saint-Esprit 2007
  • Space is limited. Book now.

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    Mastering the cutswatch the videos

    Why do you love steak frites?see the winning response in #steakfrites twitter competiton

    PizzaTuesday begins 02/02 at Datte Foco

    You don’t have to be a pizza obsessive to attend a PizzaTuesday but you do risk becoming one if you do. With this series, youngandfoodish.com elevates the pizza experience via informal tastings, demos and discussions at London’s most distinctive pizzerias. There is, however, an ulterior motive: by assembling groups of passionate eaters, no one is limited to trying 1 or 2 varieties. Pizza is best played as a team sport. [Read more...]

    7th & 8th #vongole videos: Yes to parsley, no Parmigiano-Reggiano

    vongole detailIn parts 7 and 8, the concluding videos of linguine alle vongole – the finer points of a perfect pasta, Francesco Mazzei suggests parsing the parsley, adding it only at the last moment, but warns against topping this pasta – as well as other seafood dishes – with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. A notable exception to the no-cheese-with-seafood rule:  cozze al forno (“baked mussels”) from his native Calabria. [Read more...]

    6th #vongole video – “emulsione” with “emozione”

    linguine alle vongole tossIn part 6 of linguine alle vongole – the finer points of a perfect pasta, Francesco Mazzei prepares a creamy emulsion by tossing the linguine with its starchy cooking water and the clam sauce. [Read more...]

    5th #vongole video – the vongole “aperitivo” (dry white wine)

    why do you love linguine vongole?In part 5 of linguine alle vongole – the finer points of a perfect pasta, Francesco Mazzei of London’s L’Anima says you should open the white wine BEFORE you open the clams. But should you pour 1 glass of wine into the pan and another, more slowly, into your mouth as you cook the vongole? Francesco does not say, but I think he would approve. [Read more...]

    4th #vongole video – extra virgin understatement

    Calabrian extra virgin olive oilIn part 4 of linguine alle vongole – the finer points of a perfect pasta, Francesco Mazzei stresses the importance of cooking with an understated extra virgin olive oil that won’t overpower the vongole. [Read more...]

    3rd #vongole video – bronze die pasta: the rough cut with the right grooves

    bronze die pastaIn part 3 of linguine alle vongole – the finer points of a perfect pasta, Francesco Mazzei explains why he and his vongole sauce cling to a bronze-cut pasta that’s been pushed through a bronze die. [Read more...]