Non-Glossy Food Mag
Unlike the rash of new vanity restaurant publications (BLT Living, David Burke Magazine, etc.) Diner Journal, published by the owners of Diner and Marlow & Sons in Williamsburg, is part cookbook, part memoir, and more interested in promoting farmers and purveyors than the restaurants themselves. The winter edition of the quarterly can be found at McNally Robinson bookstore in Soho for $7.50, and is illustrated, in the style of Chez Panisse publications, with old menus and arty food photos. Features on Evans Creamery in Norwich, New York, and Fleishers grass-fed beef shop in Kingston are followed by relevant recipes for eggnog and beef brisket cooked in Chimay, which makes the Journal a good stopgap until Diner publishes its first cookbook.
Drink Local
Sixpoint Craft Ales, the Red Hook brewery, will not be changing its name, despite the fact that it’s just perfected its first lager, called Poppa’s Pilz. The new brew is refreshingly dry and hoppy and fairly cries out for a nice bratwurst, which is exactly what it will be paired with at Kettle of Fish (59 Christopher St., nr. Seventh Ave. S.; 212-414-2278) on February 20 to celebrate Sixpoint’s second anniversary. Poppa’s Pilz sans German sausage will be available in early February in a 64-ounce growler for $14.99 at Bierkraft (191 Fifth Ave., nr. Berkeley Pl., Park Slope, Brooklyn; 718-230-7600) and American Beer Distributing Company (256 Court St., nr. Butler St.; Cobble Hill, Brooklyn; 718-875-0226).
Where’s Sandro?
There are antsy chefs, there are chefs who can’t stay put, and there are chefs who get bored easily. And then there is Sandro Fioriti, the celebrated, gym-pants-wearing, spaghettini-al-limone-slinging Roman expat whom even nomadic tribesmen find to be a tad restless. His current post is at Quattro Gatti on the Upper East Side (205 E. 81st St., nr. Third Ave.; 212-570-1073)— or at least it was at press time.
Pigs at the Pig
To celebrate the Chinese New Year in proper porky fashion (it’s the year of the pig, after all), the Spotted Pig’s April Bloomfield will be roasting whole suckling pigs by the truckload the entire weekend of February 18. You won’t be hungry an hour later (314 W. 11th St., at Greenwich St.; 212-620-0393).