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What is dirt candy? Vegetables, of course. When you eat a vegetable you’re eating little more than dirt that’s been transformed by plenty of sunshine and rain into something that’s full of flavor: Dirt Candy. It’s also the name of my restaurant, which opened in October, 2008.

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Thursday night’s Iron Chef Dinner was plagued by a few last minute glitches (the PacoJet decided to blow a gasket, I had a hell of a time remembering recipes from a year ago and went into a panic when I thought I’d forgotten some, one table didn’t realize it wasn’t a vegan dinner – something I probably should have made more clear up front, but after that televised butter battle I thought everyone would assume there was no way this meal could be made vegan – but apologies to those who didn’t realize it – my bad!) but overall it went off like gangbusters.

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What my station looked like about

halfway through service that night.

Yes, I was busy.

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After the jump…a special National Geographic style Super Photo Round-Up…

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(UPDATE: I hate to say it, but in just one day the Iron Chef Dinner has completely sold out! If you wanted to come and couldn’t get in, I’m really sorry. But please don’t miss the Iron Chef Viewing Party on August 29! It sounds like everyone is going to be there and I get a feeling things are going to get raucous!)

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The bummer about food on TV is that you can’t taste it. But I’m always trying to make your lives richer, deeper and more meaningful, and so after you watch Dirt Candy compete on Iron Chef America on Sunday, August 29th at 10pm you can come into the restaurant and taste the food I prepared for the judges!

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On Thursday, September 2 Dirt Candy will be hosting an Iron Chef America Dinner where I’ll recreate the five-course meal served to the judges. And frankly, I’m a better chef now than I was then and so what you taste is going to be even better than what they had.

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“Even better?!? Impossible!”

Even better!?.

The meal is five courses (including dessert, of course) and it’ll cost $50/person (alcohol, tax and tip not included). I’ll also be answering any questions about the Iron Chef experience (that I’m legally allowed to answer). So come on down, and eat like an Iron Chef judge with us on Thursday, September 2. To make a reservation, just call the restaurant (212-228-7732).

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On Sunday, August 29th, Dirt Candy is going to be competing on Iron Chef America, going up against the real, original Iron Chef himself: Masaharu Morimoto!

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Yuck it up, big boy. On the 29th

you’re going DOWN!

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Come watch the show with us and get drunk! We’re having a viewing party and you’re invited!

(I’ll also be doing an Iron Chef Dinner, recreating the meal for customers, after the show airs. There’ll be an announcement about it tomorrow.)

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Sunday, August 29th starting at 9pm (show starts at 10pm)

Angels and Kings Bar (500 East 11th Street – on the corner of 11th Street and Avenue A, entrance on 11th)

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It’s a cash bar, but I think the booze’ll be pretty cheap. Just bring an ID to get past the doorman.

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Iron Chef Chairman, Mark Dacassos, is the bomb!

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When’s the last time you got to watch Iron Chef America with one of the competitors? Never! So come on down and cross this off your bucket list!

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Two days ago was Jesus’ birthday! I’ve been working with him for years, and despite the fact that we occasionally butt heads, there’s no one I trust more in the kitchen. Every time I go to a new job, Jesus is the first person I hire, and having him backing me up gives me a sense of security. No matter what, I know Jesus has got my back.

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Danielle and I baked him a red velvet

tres leches cake.

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I asked him what he wanted for his birthday, and he said he didn’t want to make family meal for a month. So, starting this week, we’re doing family meals differently. For the next 30 days, Danielle, AJ and myself are responsible for it. Yesterday it was my turn and so I went to the Mexican place down the street and bought family meal, and we’ll figure it out for the rest of the month, but we could use you.

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Yes, you!

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From now until the end of July, let me know what you want to see us make. I’ll even take pictures. Because, frankly, I’m out of ideas. Consider this my attempt to outsource my responsibility for family meal to you. This isn’t a meal there’s much appreciation for – it’s mostly us sitting in opposite corners and not talking to each other for five minutes. And you don’t have to limit yourself to just making suggestions. If you want, come to Dirt Candy and make family meal, or order us family meal, or make family meal at home and bring it on down. Just email or call the restaurant in advance and we’ll set it up. And you can post your suggestions on Facebook or via email.

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Birthday family meal!

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There are five of us, and we’re vegetarian. And there always needs to be a vegan and a wheat free option. Hope to hear from you – because I hate making family meal. I hate thinking of what to make for family meal. And actually, I just plain old hate thinking.

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This took forever to get online, but it’s been a hectic couple of weeks. That said, the sake dinner on 5/20 was a huge success. Both seatings sold out in about a day and we got a lot of nice press about it, but more than that it was fun to work with our neighbors down the block, Sakaya, one of only three retail sake shops in the US. Sakaya is owned by Rick Smith and Hiroko Furukawa and they were already open when I started building Dirt Candy, so they got to see the struggle up close and personal.

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The honey dinner back in February was a lot of fun, and now it’s time for a dinner I’ve wanted to do for a long time. It’s summer and time for lighter drinks than wine and beer and so get ready for the…

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Dirt Candy Sake Dinner

Thursday, May 20

with Rick Smith from Sakaya

a four course meal with sake pairings

$55/person

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Just up the street from Dirt Candy is Sakaya, one of only three retail sake stores in America. It’s run by Rick Smith and Hiroko Furukawa and it opened right around the time I started building Dirt Candy. Sake is one of those things that I wish I knew more about. I’ve had it warm and I’ve had it crappy and I always thought of it as a novelty drink until a few years ago when I went to Jewel Bako and had a sake tasting with dinner. The sake sommelier spent about five minutes giving me an introduction to sake and suddenly, I got it. Sake was like wine, only different, and what had previously been completely incomprehensible to me, now seemed slightly more comprehensible. I had gone from being totally in the dark to just being slightly in the dark and that little bit of illumination made all the difference.

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It’s Sakaya!

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I can’t promise enlightenment, but I can promise a good, boozy meal where you’ll come away somewhat educated, and also drunk. A cross between infotainment and drunk-u-tainment. Rick and Hiroko will be here all night, and they’ve paired the entire menu with different sakes. It’s not a set menu – you can order whatever you want – but everyone will get hush puppies, an appetizer, an entree and a dessert, each paired with a bunch of different sakes that Rick and Hiroko will explain, and they’ll also give you some basic sake info, the ground rules of sake, so to speak. There aren’t set seating times, but you should decide if you want to come early (reservations from 5:30 to 6:15) or late (make a reservation from 8 to 8:45). Rick will speak twice that night and you’re guaranteed to catch him if you make your reservations in those windows.

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People have been getting smashed on sake

for hundreds of years. Isn’t it time you started

drinking it , too?

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By the time you go home, you’ll know the difference between a junmai and a junmai daiginjo, you’ll know how to pick a sake without adult supervision, you’ll know the basic rules of sake and hopefully, you’ll feel like sake’s no longer a closed, mysterious club, but a party where you now have an invitation.

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To make a reservation for the Dirt Candy Sake Dinner, just go to Open Table or call the restaurant (212) 228-7732.

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See you there!

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Sakaya’s website

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(Quick note: the $55 per person does not include tax or tip. Sorry!)

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Dirt Candy was closed last Friday to do the LuckyRice Night Market out in Dumbo. This was an outdoor market, hosted by the ubiquitous David Chang, where a bunch of folks would have stalls and either sell food or give away free food to Dumbo people. Despite the argument I had with two city employees at the Department of Consumer Affairs when I was getting my temporary permit, Dumbo is an actual neighborhood and it does actually exist (I was initially told I couldn’t get a permit to a “made-up” neighborhood).

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Sign on hardware store in Dumbo.

Not exactly sure what’s going on with the

Chinese guy angry to have white

paint dumped on him.

But this is definitely a real sign,

in a real neighborhood.

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Dirt Candy will be closed this Friday, April 30, because we’ll be in Dumbo!

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We’ve been invited by David Chang and his minions to set up a Dirt Candy stall at the LuckyRice Night Market in the archway under the Manhattan Bridge in Dumbo (that’s in Brooklyn – the city worker where I got my temporary outdoor food permit claimed that Dumbo did not exist and that I couldn’t have a permit to a “made up neighborhood”).

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What I’m hoping the Dirt Candy

Night Market stall looks like.

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The event runs from 6:30pm – 10:30pm and it looks like tickets are sold out, which is too bad because all of us at Dirt Candy are committed to having the tackiest stall in the market. I’ve even bought an army of robot lucky cats to add some visual pizzazz to my stall. Watch this space for plenty of magical pictures after the event is over.

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Event info.

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April is Emotional Overeating Awareness Month and to celebrate, Dirt Candy is running a special for anyone who wishes to overeat emotionally.

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Order one dessert and receive your second dessert free. This offer is not per table, but per person, so please don’t try to share your two desserts. This is not about economizing, it’s about overeating. Emotionally. We want to create an environment where you can eat a full order of Red Pepper Velvet Cake, salted with your own tears, and then disconsolately consume a plate of Sweet Potato Puffs while wondering Where It All Went Wrong.

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Sometimes things are just hard, you know?

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For too long, emotional overeating has been a source of shame and sorrow, but let’s face it: sometimes the choice comes down to drug abuse or dessert, and we want to help you choose dessert.

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So celebrate emotional overeating with Dirt Candy and remember: there is no problem so big that food cannot help.

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Offer good from April 6 – May 1

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Just wanted to throw a belated photo up on here of the mousse I made for Choice Eats last week. This is Acorn Squash Mousse with Maple Smoked Butternut Squash and Curried Pumpkin Seeds and this may be the last time I make it for a while because it’s incredibly labor-intensive.

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It is pretty, though.

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