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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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Dirt Candy did the Let Us Eat Local event last year, and this year’s we’re doing it again, because repetition works.

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It’s going to be next Thursday, Sept. 16 over at the South Street Seaport, Water Taxi Beach at Pier 17. Tickets are $175 each and they’re still available. Other participating restaurants include Dovetail, the Tipsy Parson, Blue Hill, Northern Spy Food Co. and Gramercy Tavern, among a bunch of others.

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Therefore, let it be known that Dirt Candy will be closed on Thursday, September 16 since we’ll all be down at the event working our fingers to the bone in order to provide tiny portions of food to hungry people who yearn to eat local. I’ll be open again on Friday, Sept. 17.

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Back from Italy and Dirt Candy is back in business, starting tonight (August 3). I stayed in Tuscany with my husband’s family and right now I feel like I’m a fleshbag stuffed with 200 pounds of pasta, I sweat olive oil and when I cry my tears are made of Chianti.

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During the trip: my sister-in-law was chased by wild boars, I turned my 14-year-old nephew into a wine snob who now says things like, “It’s hard to taste anything beyond the sugar in this disappointing white,” I got all MISSION IMPOSSIBLE on an ATM machine in Rome and managed to extract my jammed card using nothing more than a bobby pin, I ate a burrata pizza in Florence that makes all those fancy NYC pizzerias look like a bunch of punks, I learned that my mother-in-law is a brutal and ruthless poker player who likes to make people cry and I drank. A lot. After the jump: pictures!

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From July 23 (today) until August 2 (not today) Dirt Candy will be closed for summer vacation. We’ll reopen on Tuesday, August 3. But between now and then I’m off to Italy, staying down around Tuscany, but don’t be too jealous. It’s a family vacation and we’re all staying in one big house in the country together and I imagine it might get all Agatha Christie and only one of us will live to see morning. If I’m not the one who lives to see morning, then Dirt Candy will be closed indefinitely.

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This…

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…plus this, equals…

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…my summer vacation!

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P.S. – Hope I don’t fall in love

and never come home again.

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Our holiday hours are a complicated and crazy thing, so pay attention or you’ll get lost and we’ll have to start all over.

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Dirt Candy will be closed from Dec. 24 – Dec. 29 for the holidays.

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We will re-open on December 30. But only on Dec. 30. Then we’ll be closed on Dec. 31.

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We’ll be back in business for normal hours starting January 1, 2010.

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Between now and January 1 we probably won’t be posting much on the blog, but we will be updating Facebook. So Happy Holidays to all of you from all of us at Dirt Candy! Your support has been the non-denominational Christmas/Hanukah present that lasted all year long. And here’s a gallery of Holiday sweaters to get you into the true spirit of the season.

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Good.

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Better.

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Confusing.

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Best.

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Thanksgiving comes late in America (up in Canada we do it about 6 weeks earlier) but you guys do it up big (in Canada we barely notice it). I’ve always had bad luck with Thanksgiving – whether it was making a ton of food for a guest who decided not to show up, or being trapped at a dinner table where we were supposed to go around the circle and give a sentimental speech about what we were thankful for. This year, however, I do have something to be thankful for: a day off. Dirt Candy will be closed on Thursday, November 26.

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Also, just a quick note to let people know that I’ve been asked to be part of Salon’s “Kitchen Cabinet” which is a panel of food folks who have been asked by Francis Lam (formerly of Gourmet) to consult on cooking questions and food issues throughout the year. There are a bunch of people on this panel including Grant Achatz (Alinea), Tara Thomas (Wine and Spirits magazine) and Wylie Dufresne (wd-50) and our first question is what we recommend for a Thanksgiving drink. My answer: Wild Turkey. A bottle of it.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

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From August 28 – September 9, Dirt Candy will be on vacation. It’s been a hot, wet, sticky summer and we all need a break over here. In fact, Kristen has already gotten a jump on her vacation and she bailed out on us earlier this week! But don’t worry, dear customers, she’ll be soundly beaten for her disloyalty when she returns. Actually, I’ll probably just start locking her in the basement and paying her in kitchen scraps.

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I’ll be vacationing in Paris, and I’ve heard it’s full of French people, which is exciting.

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My new friend. He is French.

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Dirt Candy will be open again for reservations starting September 10th. Have a happy rest of the summer!

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Dirt Candy has finished its secret summer mission and we’re now open on Tuesdays again. So, if you were feeling like only eating vegetables on Tuesdays but were down and blue because we were closed, or if you always wanted to try us but the only day you could leave your house was Tuesday due to your court agreement, then you’re in luck! So, just to review, Dirt Candy’s real hours:

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Tuesday – Wednesday we’re open from 5:30pm – 10:00pm

Thursday – Saturday we’re open 5:30pm – 11:00pm

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Go ahead! Make a reservation.

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“Heeeeeere’s veggies!”

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Starting Tuesday, June 16 and then for the next several weeks, Dirt Candy will be closed on Tuesdays. Why? All I can say is that we’re working on a top secret project and need the extra time. Before the year is through the world shall know what’s going on behind these closed doors but for now, curious parties can only lurk outside and wonder at the strange grunts and screams that come from behind our window as we think the unthinkable and do the unreasonable.

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Dirt Candy: closed Sunday, Monday and now….Tuesdays. For secret ninja reasons.

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El Santo and the Blue Demon enjoy

teaching children about Cinco de Mayo.

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From all of us at Dirt Candy…

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Happy Passover!

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Happy Easter!

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And…..

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Have a happy tax day!

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We’ll be open for normal hours this Friday and Saturday (5:30 until people stop coming through the door) and closed, as usual, on Sunday and Monday. Then back for more on Tuesday, etc.

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