I had a favorite uncle who lived in Washington.  He served on a Navy ammunition ship during the War, and when it ended, he became part of a little group that created the Consumer Price Index that measures inflation in the U. S.  Later he entered liberal politics and became the head of Americans for Democratic Action, […]

I’ve always loved making dinner. Cooking has never felt like a chore to me – it’s always been fun. When my sons were babies and I was married, I used to pretend I was doing my wife a favor by taking over dinner duty, playing the part of the thoughtful husband. But the truth is, […]

In 2014 I came back to the Forest Hills neighborhood of Washington to open Bread Furst. It wasn’t the first time I had spent my days (and nights) here. The first was in 1962, when I was new to Washington and living in a townhouse on Wisconsin Avenue, next door to what is now Bistro Lepic. I […]

A year or so ago, I let go of some of my cookbooks. I took them to the bakery, and our manager and partner, Scott Auslander (always the entrepreneur), offered them to our customers for a dollar each. I had brought in perhaps 50 books, and they went very fast. I first bought a cookbook […]

Last week I flew to San Francisco to celebrate the 90th birthday of my friend Joyce Goldstein, one of the giants of American food. On the plane I found myself thinking yet again about the moment food began to matter more deeply to us – as a country and to me. I have written about that […]

When I was a child, my family ate bread at every meal. At breakfast we served ourselves toasted Thomas’ English Muffins. We took to school sandwiches we made for ourselves, generally on soft white bread that was delivered by our milkman. At dinner we were served a light rye and a dark rye from Silber’s […]

When I moved to Washington in 1961, people would tell a joke to each other: If you want good food in Washington, they said, eat in the homes of your friends.   There was some truth to that.   I think back to that time, and in my mind, go through the restaurants of that era. It’s true: we […]

I am too old to do what I do, but I cannot help myself. On Saturdays and Sundays, I stand behind the service line at Bread Furst, to the back of the espresso machine. When a customer asks that his (or her) bread be sliced, I operate our rickety, noisy slicer, wait for it slowly to […]

I have been traveling a bit, able at my advanced age to do that, eating a lot of breakfasts in hotels and also on a ship.  And wherever I go, I have been offered copious breakfasts with a range of choices.  I am reminded all the time that we Americans are not at all brave with our […]

There’s something deeply satisfying about a sandwich that’s both simple and refined. A Jambon Beurre—just very good ham, very good butter, and a very good baguette —is one of those simple classics that prove that great ingredients make all the difference.