On the Road: Homecoming Spareribs and Raw Cheesecake

Hello from Teaneck and New York! Oh, it's so good to be home. Back. Home. Whatever. New York for me is like plugging in - I get a unique jolt of energy, recharge my batteries. I suddenly feel like doing five things at once. I talk faster. Lunch in Paris is officially on the road for the next month - New York, Melbourne, Sydney, San Francisco - so instead of trips to my Parisian butcher, I'll be scooping up carrot cake with cream cheese frosting at the Magnolia Bakery and a super drippy hamburger with fried onions at Five Napkin Burger.

Augustin only threw up twice on the plane. The first time, he hit the lovely gay guy with a camel colored ascot and a monogram on the cuff of his shirt. I'm sure this gentlemen would have preferred to sit next to the hot fashion guy with the director's cut glasses across the aisle. Instead he was stuck next to me, and Mr. Vomit.

Homecoming dinner - as usual - was spareribs and chow fun from Empire Hunan. They are on my parent's speed dial. Into the city yesterday for lunch with my agent and a meeting with my publisher. NY makes me feel like such a working girl - break out the shoulder pads. The reviews of the book are starting to come in, even thought Lunch in Paris doesn't hit the stores till next week. It's not quite real yet. From conception to dust jacket, it represents three industrious (and charmed) years of my life. Here's the latest review from USA Today. You'll be able to follow the reviews, events and updates as they come in on the Facebook page - stop by and become a fan.

New York makes me hungry. I'm always walking by something I haven't eaten in a long time - like one of those street cart sausage and pepper sandwiches that sends a cloud of luscious greasy perfume 30 feet in all directions.Last night I had dinner with a dear friend, an editor at ArtNews magazine. She and her boyfriend have been following a mostly raw food diet - and as I'm game for anything, foodwise - I couldn't wait to hear all about it. As soon as I got there she pulled out a Ziploc bag of the most fabulous homemade granola, made with millet, groats (wonderful word, groats), sunflower and pumpkin seeds and grated apple - all stuck under the dehydrating machine, which looks like a larger version of my childhood Easybake oven.
We were going to make the Chicken Tagine with Two Kinds of Lemons from the book - but the pull of NY takeout culture and the lure of a fridge full of fresh veggies steered us toward a big spinach salad instead. My friend did make a raw dessert - the most luscious looking chocolate "cheesecake". The filling is made with soaked nuts and cocoa, ground and whipped to such a fine consistency that it resembles cream cheese. It was the crust that truly wowed me - a moist crumbly mixture of raw cocoa nibs, raisins and nuts that had a more satisfying bite than any Oreo cookie crust I've ever tasted. I could only finish half a piece - the nutty richness was palpable in every bite - but if this is fad diet food - sign me up.