The Insatiable Cookie Chase FREE Contest Begins Here: Sponsored by Gael Greene of Insatiable-Critic.Com and Alexandra Bruskoff of Alexandra’s Cookie Dreams. For complete instructions and decription of gourmet prizes click here or scroll down to the next blog entry. Contests ends Wednesday December 10th 2008, winner will be selected on Thursday December 11th 2008.
Feast Your Eyes On This Life:
I want to absorb life in all her sweet glory, I want to eat the best food, created by Michelin chefs from around the world, be schooled in the art of cooking, travel the world and stay in 5 star hotels and I want engaging conversations peppered with debate, humor and lust. Don’t you?
I think most women (and men) fantasize about a life filled with adventure, occasional decadence and a pen to keep a journal if life pauses long enough. While some of us will experience a fragment of this fantasy: perhaps on a vacation titled, “Eating trip to Paris”, or a private cooking class from the chef of our favorite restaurant, few of us will live this life. To clarify, I am not saying this lifestyle defines a person; in a bolder gesture I am suggesting a person defines this style of life.
Her name is Gael Greene, synonymous with champagne and oysters, foie gras and Chateau Margaux, intrepid cuisinary travels, amorous leaps with seemingly no regrets lovers and restaurant reviews that make us hungry. (Photo by Dan Wynn)
Ms. Greene’s first restaurant review was published in New York Magazine in 1968. Since then she has been covering the chic and happening spots as well as neighborhood bistros and delis, mostly in New York but with detours to France and Italy, and South East Asia. In their opening weeks, two of my favorite restaurants in New York City, Bond St and Fresco, were lucky to have Ms. Greene sneak in anonymously using another name and credit card, to eat and critique. Reading her vivid detail of ambiance, crowd, service and flavors gave readers a sense of being there, foodie or not. You can read these vintage reviews on her website, Insatiable-Critic.com, look “Holy Mackerel,” 1998 and “Penne From Heaven”, 1993.
Born in the 1970’s, I was too young to indulge that raucous decade, so I relish Ms. Greene’s “Vintage” write-ups that document those early days of the dining revolution in New York with her observations of fashion and sociology.
It was an era framed by establishments’ like Elaine’s and Regine’s, filled with individuals quietly screaming look at me, long before every hot young girl would decide she was something special because she had a “Facebook” page and a cool pair of Louboutins. It was long before everyone decided they were a food-critic (me included) because they had a blog, a subscription to Gourmet Magazine and a budget for $14 cocktails and small plates.
When you read, INSATIABLE: Tales from a Life of Delicious Excess, Gael Greene’s latest book and personal memoir, and BITE: My Journal on her website www.InsatiableCritic.com, I know you will agree that woman today can learn a lot from Ms. Greene about seizing your life and living it every moment.
Recently, I had the opportunity to interview Ms. Greene and here’s what she “dished”.
1. If you were 28, what advice would you give yourself?
Ask yourself what do I really want? And go for it. Spend more money on shoes.
2. Would you rather indulge in the most decadent meal of your life, with an excruciatingly boring and unappealing male dinner companion or be forced to eat the most revolting food followed by the best sex of your life?
I’d endure the boring guy for the greatest food and meet the great lover for a drink later.
3. This question is from my friend, Chef Lauren Braun Costello of Gotham Caterers, who has two books coming out, one is in the spirit of her eponymous food column. “The Competent Cook”, “What are some of the worst food trends you’ve reviewed?”
The excesses of nouvelle cuisine after the first lessons had been forgotten. Desserts with herbs in them…or lawn cuttings as I have written. Ridiculous combinations of ingredients in food just to be different. Laboratory cookies when it’s the science not the taste that counts.
What are some of the best old ideas in cooking that have stood the test of time?
Fresh ingredients. Lighter sauces. Less sauce. The importance of a great dessert. Regional cooking. Cooking most fish and sea creatures less. Acid balance in a dish. Attractive presentation.
4. My biggest pet peeve is when I am dining and a waiter clears my plate before my dinner companion is finished eating. Can you comment how manners and dining elegance has changed since you started reviewing restaurants in the 1960’s?
I do not let them clear any plates till everyone at the table has finished. If you want to know more about service today, do a search on my website for peeves. My main peeve is that waiters are too obtrusive, restaurants are too dark or badly lit and the noise is unbearable.
5. Any tips on how a young lady can score an awesome table without having your connections?
Reserve under the name: Principessa Brandolini. Come with Brad Pitt or a local celebrity or someone who always eats in that restaurant. At the end of the meal, ask the Mâitre De for his card, give him yours…ask for him next time when you call. Look beautiful, even sexy, but not like a streetwalker.
6. Favorite type of dessert? (I had to ask this one!)
To find the answer to question #6 and enter The ‘Insatiable’ Cookie Chase FREE Contest with one of three chances to win a personalized, autographed copy of Ms. Greene’s memoir, Insatiable: Tales from a Life a Life of Delicious Excess and dozens of Alexandra’s Cookie Dreams gourmet cookies, please go to www.Insatiable-Critic.com to continue your foodie adventure. Find the answer and then email me your response and your contact information (name, email and/or other contact info) at Alexandra@AlexandrasCookieDreams.com.
Good luck and have fun!
Sweetly,
Alexandra
Last September 30th, Rich and I became parents to our amazing daughter Georgina Hille. It has the been the most surreal and incredible journey. People have babies every minute (even two, three or eight at a time!) 
and honestly, I still can’t believe where babies come from. I have a new found respect for my parents and all good parents in this world. It is not an easy job, but one that pushes all other accomplishments in my life to the sideline (sorry ACD!). Thank you to my family, friends, customers, vendors, colleagues and employees for your patience, enthusiasm, generosity and advice during the last few months. And of course the biggest thank you to Rich for being such a loving, supportive, fun and incredible father to Georgie and husband to me! I’m sure I will be sharing lots of my adventures in parenting on my blog, and I’d love to hear from you too. For example, I used to text my mom when I found an awesome pair of shoes, now I text her when Georgie makes a poop! Oh how times have changed!
