A Week of Excellent Dinners

Crispy caramelized pork with lettuce & herbs, silky summer orzo, Daphne's

Hello! How are you? 

I’ve had a pretty wonderful weekend, which included meeting my friends Hannah and Alex at Otway Bakery yesterday morning for a box of pastries to bring to Prospect Park. (Otway is always worth waiting in line for, if only for the dreamy savory croissant with smoked ham, gruyère cheese, and whole grain mustard.) Prospect Park was at its best, full of sun, families, and dogs, and we gladly joined the scene. The three of us sat on a picnic blanket and attacked our pastries, leaving a sea of croissant flakes in our wake. And then we…didn’t leave. The next few hours were spent lounging and chatting in the park — blissfully agenda-free.

I turned off social media for the weekend on Friday night, thanks to the very effective AppBlock, with the intention of lengthening the hours and giving my mind some breathing room. (I blocked all socials except Substack, which is sadly becoming more and more social media-esque. More on that at some point.) 

Today, I’d like to write about my week of dinners, because it’s been a particularly excellent stretch that I’d like to remember. That’s reason enough, I think!

Sunday at home:

Andrea’s crispy caramelized pork with sticky rice, lettuce, and herbs

Andrea Nguyen is a Vietnamese-American food writer and cookbook author, and my first point of reference whenever I’m craving Vietnamese flavors. I own her very useful book Vietnamese Food Any Day, and one of my favorite recipes within it is for Crispy Caramelized Pork Crumbles, which I made on Sunday at home. In the recipe, ground pork gets cooked down with fish sauce and sugar, and the result is a skillet of rich, deeply flavorful bits of pork. On Sunday, I served the pork crumbles with sticky rice, crisp Boston lettuce, cilantro, mint, and Sriracha to eat in the form of lettuce cups or rice bowls or both.

Sunday at home

Monday out:

Cervo’s work dinner with all the perfectly briny, olive oil-y classics

After a day of workshops with my team at work, we were treated to dinner at Cervo’s (thank you, Lizzie/Jow!). It felt like a full circle moment to dine at Cervo’s with my new company, since the restaurant has seen many iterations of myself: wide-eyed college student discovering NYC restaurants, wide-eyed line cook learning the ropes, and now wide-eyed new 9-5-er dining with interesting people at a work dinner. The food was excellent as always, with all the classics like manila clams bathing in wine-y sauce, grilled prawns, and fried skate, which was served with cherry tomatoes and saffron this time. Although I only knew one person working there that night (times have changed!), I still felt connected to the place and the food. 

Monday at work / at Cervo's

Tuesday at home:

Scallops with butter, tomatoes, & basil + Clare’s soft zucchini-lemon orzo

Teo and I cooked together on Tuesday, starting with a parchment package of lemon (thinly sliced), scallops, cherry tomatoes (halved), and a stalk of basil. We dotted everything with butter and seasoned it with salt and pepper before closing the package and transferring it to the oven to cook. Meanwhile, we made Clare de Boer’s recipe for Soupy Summer Orzo, a soft, brothy, lovely thing with zucchini, lemon, and crème fraîche. There were also shavings of nutty cheese, just because.

Tuesday at home

Wednesday at a friend’s:

Bread, cheese, salads — a signature snacky spread at Devra’s home

My friend Devra kindly had me and another pal over for dinner on Wednesday night, and we enjoyed a snacky spread anchored by bread and cheese. I stopped at the Union Square Greenmarket on my way to work that morning and picked up the goods for my contributions: lettuce for a green salad and berries and heavy cream for dessert. At Devra’s, I made a dressing for the lettuce with peach-infused Tart Vinegar that turned out pretty delicious. I find salad dressings to be fickle things, so I’m always happy when they work in my favor. For dessert, I macerated blackberries and raspberries with a bit of sugar and whipped the cream with a bit of maple syrup and salt, mmmmm.

Wednesday at the market / at a friend's

Thursday out:

A glass of white wine + a plate of pâté, grainy mustard, and pickles with crusty bread

I had somewhere to be at an awkward time in the evening on Thursday, so I filled the time between work and then by meandering through Central Park and sitting at the bar of a nice restaurant for dinner. I ordered the cheapest glass of white wine and the pâté, which came with grainy mustard, pickles, and bread. Dinner!

Thursday in beautiful Central Park - dinner not pictured!

Friday out:

Daphne’s with a friend

Daphne’s is a new restaurant in Bed-Stuy with an elevated Italian-American menu. I met Ethan there, a childhood friend who’s also pursuing food at the moment. The very dim lighting and our constant conversation led me to take zero photos of our meal, but everything we ate was bright and balanced, like the spaghetti with clams and breadcrumbs, and the service was warm and attentive. (I’m writing up Daphne’s for FOUND, so stay tuned for that!)

Saturday at work:

All the things

I took a last-minute private cheffing gig (more like private chef-assisting gig — shoutout to the fabulous Chef Kai) last night, so dinner consisted of tiny, decadent bites as I cooked. Medium-rare steak, roasted spiced carrots, bucatini slicked with tomato sauce, chocolate-olive oil cake. 

And that’s the week! Thank you for reading, and I’d love to hear about the best dinner you ate this past week, if you’d like to share. 

More soon!

x Phoebe