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''DON'T you know the mayonnaise trick?'' My friend Dori and I were standing in front of Empire Mayonnaise in Brooklyn, the city's first and only artisanal mayonnaise shop, ogling its wares: flavors like lime pickle and, of course, bacon, when she asked me that. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MAYBE it's the suggestive power of the name, but rarely do I use pizza dough for anything else, even though it's perfectly suitable for savory tarts, flatbreads and rolls. Once I get pizza on the brain, it's hard to redirect. Then I got reacquainted with an old friend also made from that same dough: the calzone. Though it was a childhood staple at my corner pizzeria, I hadn't eaten a calzone in years. But at a dinner at Lucali in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, I saw one emerge from the oven, a burnished, puffy crescent oozing ricotta at the seams. On the side was a small bowl of tomato sauce for dunking, garnished with a few fresh basil leaves. It was a much classier presentation than the oil-stained paper plate I would use to transport my calzones of yore, and it tasted better, too. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AMONG cheesecake lovers, there's a sharp divide. Some like their cheesecake New York deli style: rich cream-cheese-filled wedges, the best of which have not been shellacked with neon red bits that may or may not be berries. On the other end of the spectrum are those who prefer an airy cheesecake made with ricotta or fromage blanc or farmer cheese. These cakes, refined and milky, are never slathered with food-coloring-enhanced canned pie filling. They are delicate things. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

LAST spring I was out to dinner at Zenkichi, a Japanese restaurant in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where small dishes of appetizers flew down so fast that I hardly paused for even a sip of sake. Then a bite of something pink and crunchy in a viscous dressing stopped me cold. The texture was somewhere between almonds and raw spaghetti. The flavor was tangy, fishy and pungent -- I recognized umeboshi (pickled plums), flying-fish roe and sweet mirin (rice wine). And I couldn't stop from devouring it. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

OF all the things you can do with a radish -- slice it into salads, chop it into salsa, shred it into slaw or, better, top it with a thick layer of sweet butter and a sprinkling of flaky sea salt -- the last thing I'd thought to do was cook it. But last spring I started noticing roasted radishes sprouting up on menus all over New York City. Even the fancy takeout shop near my house was offering them every now and again. Clearly, there was a reason to cook a radish, and I wanted in. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

I HAD always been under the impression that making duck confit at home was a major undertaking, something along the lines of poaching a whole foie gras or deboning a pig's foot. It was on the list of things to cook in my lifetime, but not necessarily high on the page. The time of reckoning came sooner than expected when I started work on a cookbook with Eric and Bruce Bromberg, the owners and chefs of the Blue Ribbon restaurants in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Duck confit is one of their staples. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

OF all the grilling gurus in my life, from my fire-happy mother (who thinks nothing of grilling lamb chops in January) to the big-time grilling maven Waldy Malouf (with whom I wrote a cookbook), the grill master who made the deepest impression was my childhood pediatrician, Dr. Arthur Ruby. Dr. Ruby was a close family friend and partner in gustatory delights. In winter he brought over pots of gelatinous p'tcha (stewed calves' feet) that we ate with challah to sop up the shimmering, garlicky broth. Summertime meant weekends at the Rubys' second home in Cold Spring, N.Y., where Dr. Ruby had a stone grill built into the patio. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

OTHER than her son, the thing my ex-mother-in-law and I bonded over the most was our love of artichokes. Come spring, Camille bought them by the dozen on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. If they were on sale, she'd buy them by the crate. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article offers information regarding the season of stoop sales in various retail stores of New York City. It states that stores including that of books, records and arts in various areas of New York City including Fort Greene and Park Slope are offering stoop sales. It also includes comments of various sellers and buyers.

The article presents information on the method used by John Magazino, a distributor, to distribute his truffles in New York City restaurants. He conducts his truffle business in his white van, driving it from one destination to other. The chefs of the restaurants rummage through the contents of the van to select the kind of stuff they are looking for. Magazino keeps truffles of all sizes.

Focuses on the quark cheese served at restaurants in New York City. Texture of the cheese; Fat content of quarks; Price of quark cheese in stores; Recipes for quark cheese.

Reports on the dinner in the dark series at Suba restaurant in New York City. Chefs for the series; Concept of the series.

Describes the white peach strudel served at Danube restaurant in New York City.

Evaluates the food and services at the restaurant Chip Shop in Brooklyn, New York City.

Characterizes several cocktail drinks offered at different drinking establishments in New York City and presents cocktail recipes.

Focuses on the lollipops given as souvenirs by several restaurants in New York City in 2000. Description of the lollipops; Flavors.

Reports on trends in cuisine and the popularity in utilizing a variety of salts in cooking. Techniques used by chefs in New York City; Kinds of salts, including black lava salt from Hawaii and African salt; Why the variety of salts has become a source of fanaticism for chefs.

Discusses the trend at restaurants in New York City in which cookies and milk are offered as a dessert selection. How the trend began; Why it is so popular with fashionable restaurant patrons; Comments from patrons and restaurateurs on the trend.

Focuses on flowers in cookery. Identification of edible flowers, including marigolds, nasturtiums, roses, pansies and others; Availability in New York City; Attributes of different flowers; Roses in Moroccan and Mexican cooking; Evanescence of flavors; Recipe for Georgian Stuffed Tomatoes with Walnuts and Marigolds.

Focuses on the role of fat in New York City restaurant cooking. Importance of fat to flavor; Distinctive characteristics of different fats; Comments from chefs at Union Pacific, Eleven Madison Park, Alison on Dominick and other New York restaurants; Amounts used; Recipes for Slow-Poached Atlantic Salmon with Spring Fava Beans, Rhubarb and Black Trumpet Mushrooms, and Avenue's Potatoes Louis.

Features layer cakes. Factors in the declining United States popularity of layer cakes; New York City restaurants that serve layer cakes; Comments from pastry chefs; Cake presentation; Recipes for Granny's Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Frosting, Meringue-Topped Blood-Orange Curd Cake, Blood-Orange Curd, and Meringue. INSET: A Short History of an American Icon.

Provides information on chestnuts. Advantages over macadamia nuts; Some of the restaurants offering chestnut soups; Tips in peeling chestnuts; Shelf life of chestnut flour; Comments on the chestnut preparation at Babbo; Recipe of Castagnaccio adapted from Gina DePalma of Babbo; Cost of a 2.2 pound bag peeled chestnuts from Urbani.

Provides information on the chestnut honey madeleines at Sweet Melissa Patisserie in Brooklyn, New York City, owned by Melissa Murphy. How Murphy created her own chestnut honey madeleines; Basis of her madeleines recipe.

Describes the diner bear claws available at the French Culinary Institute in SoHo, New York. How Dieter Schorner, the school's dean of pastry, make his bear claws; Cost of bear claws.

The article highlighting the best sandwiches in New York City, featuring a variety of unique and delicious options from different restaurants and cuisines, including the bahn mi xiu mai at Thanh Da, the chicken Caesar wrap at Milano Market, the hot ham sandwich at Hamburger America.

The article offers information on topics related to dining in New York. Topics discussed include the seafood charcuterie, an adventurous plate of house-cured fish offered by the restaurant Oceana, the seasonal vegetable side dish based on the Italian idea of contorni, and an application for paying restaurant menu.