Serious Eats: New York
Meet & Eat: Annie Hauck-Lawson and Jonathan Deutsch, 'Gastropolis'
As New Yorkers, we sometimes take for granted that we are surrounded by some of the best and most varied food in the world. But every now and again we should stop and marvel about our rich and deep culinary history. That's where Annie Hauck-Lawson and Jonathan Deutsch, co-editors of Gastropolis: Food and New York City, come in. This book delves into New York's relationship with food and the culinary tapestry that has been woven over time by all of the immigrants who have landed on its shores. Annie and Jon are leading a tour of Brighton Beach as part of New York's Craft Beer Week; full details below.
Names: Annie Hauck-Lawson and Jonathan Deutsch
Locations: Annie: Park Slope native, now of Windsor Terrace; Jon: Marine Park
Occupations: CUNY Food professors and co-editors of Gastropolis: Food and New York City
Website: Annie, foodvoice.net; Jon, culinaryimprovisation.com
Gastropolis is a perfect name for New York City! How did you come up with the idea for the book? We were snowed in at our respective homes on a blustery February Sunday. Our editor had just put out the call for title possibilities. We really wanted to go for "New York Food Voices"--Columbia didn't. Titles, and really catchy ones, started pouring out of Annie's husband Danny's mouth. Gastropolis was first out of the gate. We knew it was a keeper. We wanted to avoid Big Apple puns at all costs.
Why do you think New York has such a rich culinary history? Because New Yorkers raised, gathered, cooked, ate, made, sold, and celebrated food here--and still do! And whether they were born here or traveled from the four corners to become New Yorkers, each New Yorker's ways with food, their foodways, have been imprinted, layer by layer, on the city's vibrant culinary tapestry.
Is there anything you've tried over the course of your research for the book that might be new to Serious Eaters? Halal goat and lamb kidneys, liver and testicles, rubbed with Dinosaur Barbecue's "Cajun Foreplay" and grilled over a wood fire, at the summer meal that the Deutch and Hauck-Lawson families cook together each summer.
The five quintessential New York foods, after the jump.
What are five quintessential New York dishes, either historically or in present day? Jennifer Berg's chapter in Gastropolis, "From the Big Bagel to the Big Roti?" speaks to these iconic foods of New York: hot dogs, street pizza, bialys and bagels with cream cheese and lox or smoked salmon. And more recently, halal lamb over rice.
You're giving a tour of the Brighton Beach boardwalk as part of New York's Craft Beer week. Why did you pick that area and what are some of the highlights? Brooklyn was the brewing capitol of the United States around the 1890s, supporting fifty full-time family breweries. Neighborhood taverns served locally-produced, seasonal beers, and neighbors could bring home growlers of fresh brew. Many of the breweries had adjacent beer gardens. Coney Island and Brighton Beach, as seaside resorts, had many restaurants where Brooklyn beers were served. Feltmann's in Coney had nine beer gardens within its resort complex. A roller coaster that circled its perimeter, as well.
Describe your dream New York meal. Go to the Rockaways on a warm summer early evening with family and best friends. Bring: bathing suits, towels, beach blanket, boogie or surfboards, Katz's hot dogs, hot dog rolls, good bread and a warm cooked rice dish, big salad from lettuces and tomatoes that you grew at Floyd Bennett Community Garden at the end of Flatbush Avenue (dressed in olive oil, lemon juice and sea salt), ice cold beer, seltzer and a thermos of hot coffee.
... And a surf casting rod. Swim. Cast out in to the ocean. Cross your fingers. Catch a tuna (preferably) or a snapper. Gather drift wood. Make a fire. Clean and filet the fish, grill it, serve with all the other food and drink and enjoy.
Favorite pizza? DiFara Pizza. So nice to have a great Brooklyn food destination near campus!
What are your favorite local hangouts or places you might be considered a regular? Annie: Katz's for hot dogs and Russ and Daughters for everything.
Best late-night eats? Katz's.
What's in your fridge that you'd be embarrassed to tell us about? Annie: a couple quarts of albacore that my brother's friend, Chris, a full-time fisherman in Montauk, caught and home-canned. I didn't eat it immediately, and now I'm afraid it's been in there too long but I won't throw it out 'cause of all the effort involved.
Jon: A quart of crème fraiche from my friend Sally's Long Island cow--I just can't get through it but I'm trying!
Food you won't eat? Annie hates liver and now, after two barbecues of grilled testicles, she can say, "Enough of that. For now." Jon's new project is They Eat That: A Cultural Encyclopedia of "Weird" Food for ABC-CLIO. So his list is expanding!
Everyone has a go-to person they call for restaurant/bar recommendations. Who's yours? Annie calls on Harley Spiller and Eddie Schoenfeld for Chinese food recommendations. Jon: Joohee Maeng, former owner of Temple Korean Cuisine on St. Mark's, and now Kingsborough colleague. She's my dining savant--I list number of people, desired atmosphere and price point, and she always chooses right.
[Photographs: Nick Solares]
What's the best recommendation he/she has given you? Annie: Congee at 98 Bowery. Jon: Frankie's 17.
On Saturday, September 19, 4:00pm, Annie Hauck-Lawson and Jonathan Deutsch lead a tour along the Coney Island & Brighton Beach boardwalk. They discuss the food history of the area and its relation to the arrival of the lagering process, when Brooklyn was the brewing capitol of the US. $50/person includes a light meal and a signed copy of Gastropolis. More info here.