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The Herald Scotland
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
A chef's favourite restaurant for Chinese food in Edinburgh
It was named "Restaurant of the Year" by the Asian Catering Federation in 2023, and Au was named "Best Asian Chef in Scotland" by the Asian Catering Federation in 2024. At only 27 he has been identified as 'one to watch' by the industry, making Code Hospitality Bulletin's 30 Under 30 list for 24/25. This week, he answers our chef Q&A. Pictured: Jun Au, chef patron at Pomelo in Edinburgh (Image: Supplied) What was your first kitchen job? The Grain store in Edinburgh. It was such a great place to start out as a young chef. Carlo Coxon taught me quite a lot, and had lots of patience with me. Where is your favourite place to eat out? Casually? China Bowl in Newington is a great Chinese food spot. If we are celebrating something, either Fhior as I think Scott Smith is a great chef or Fazenda on George Street. It's such a good deal, I love all you can eat restaurants. What is your guilty pleasure meal? Chippy steak and chips! It tastes so good, but for my health? I can compare it to putting diesel fuel in a petrol car. Can you share a memory of your worst kitchen disaster? I was in charge of making roasties when I was younger at a pub and used sugar instead of salt. It was so brutal, I had to throw away around four gastro trays. Hand-ripped noodles! I don't think I would be doing what I'm doing without this dish. Who would you say is your biggest inspiration? It's a cliche, but my parents. In the industry? It's Calvin Eng, author of Salt Sugar MSG and Brandon Jew from Mister Jiu's in San Francisco Brandon Jew or Calvin Eng. They are the people I aspire to cook like. What is one of your pet peeves working as a chef? Making a mistake, then trying to hide it or make excuses. If you messed up or made a mistake, own it. If you weren't a chef, what do you think you'd be doing with your life? Something to do with sports, I loved playing sports at school and being in a competitive team environment. Pictured: A selection of dishes from Pomelo in Edinburgh (Image: Supplied) What's your favourite trick for making cooking at home easier? When making sauces, take time to reduce stocks a little more than you think. It increases the depth of flavour of the dish What has been the one highlight that stands out in your career so far? Probably being named in CODE's 30 under 30 this year, or being in the OFM awards 2023.
New York Times
12-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Rolling With Their Babies
On a warm Saturday morning in March, while the 20-something influencers and young finance bros of Williamsburg were still asleep, a group of more than 30 men gathered in McCarren Park. Some were coming from as far as the Catskills and others from a few steps away. Greetings transitioned to talk of sleep training and stroller envy, and the bonding happened quickly. After all, they all had one major thing in common: babies. 'How old is yours?' they asked one another as the group grew. Benjamin Velez, 32, jogged up to the crowd with his 1-year-old daughter, Wynter, fresh from working an overnight shift as a switchboard operator and receptionist. One of the other men commented on the Monster energy drink in his stroller, and Mr. Velez pointed out that it also contained coffee. Victor Ayala, 36, a quality control inspector, and his 2-year-old, Cassius, pulled up to the park in an Uber from Cobble Hill. The pair was praised for their style: Mr. Ayala was wearing a jersey, a white canvas jacket with black stripes, yellow sneakers and a Brooklyn Stroll Club hat. Cassius was kicking back in a Bape x Airbuggy stroller that his dad's friend had shipped from Japan. As the group prepared to take a lap around the park before heading to Canopy, a Williamsburg play space for children ages four and under, Calvin Eng, 30, the chef and owner of the Cantonese restaurant Bonnie's and author of 'Salt Sugar MSG,' joined the pack with his 2½-year-old son, Levi. He was greeted by Joe Gonzales, 32, who treated him like they'd known each other for years, except it was their first time meeting. Walking, after all, is what the Brooklyn Stroll Club does best. The group was started in October by Mr. Gonzales, a senior producer at a creative agency and first-time father to a 10-month-old son named Sol. 'Moms have been holding it down for so long and are so great at building community,' Mr. Gonzales said. 'I didn't have a lot of dad friends in New York, and I really wanted to connect with people who were going through a similar experience,' he added. The group has grown into a community of dads who have actually become friends. And the buzz is growing. 'When Joe releases an event, it's like a sneaker drop,' said Colin Rocker, a 28-year-old content creator and the father of a 9-month-old son named Isaiah, adding that he had not been able to snag the free tickets for the February meetup. In the colder months, the dads had to get creative and gather indoors, but with an indoor space came limited capacity. Mr. Gonzales shares the events on a Discord channel he created with more than 1,000 members, and when the 50 tickets are released at noon, there's a mad dash to snatch them up. Everyone was on time, a notable feat when you're dealing with getting a child out the door. The dads cross the street in a herd of about 35 babies and men, swapping stories about what their partners are up to that morning. Somehow, no meltdowns had occurred. Yet. The line to get into Canopy almost wrapped around the block. 'We used to wait in line to get into the club,' remarked Mike McGlarkner, a 38-year-old construction flagger from Harlem, there with his 2-year-old son, Jackson, to the dad behind him. Slowly, the dads and their children pile into the elevator. Once they're checked in, dads and children removed their shoes. A pair of baby Air Jordans are tucked inside an adult pair. Mr. Rocker, the 28-year-old content creator, feels like a young dad by city standards. 'In New York, having a baby at 28 is a teen pregnancy,' he said, adding that none of his friends are currently sharing his experience. Nearby, Samuel Ourlicht, a 28-year-old father to a 1½-year-old daughter, Zuriah, who lives in the South Bronx and works in a cookie shop, related. 'I was looking for something like this, but I didn't think I'd be able to find it, and then I found Joe on Instagram,' Mr. Rocker said, sitting on a couch under a bookshelf while Isaiah slept on his chest. 'The kid can't hang,' he joked. By the windows, some dads took a break to feed their children a snack. Luis Cisneros, a 34-year-old small business owner who says he 'waited' to have children, sat on the floor with his son Noah, who took his very first steps that morning. And a few feet away, past a rocking horse and conversations about 'Bluey' and 'Miss Rachel,' Rene Jimenez, 31, the assistant dean of students at the Dalton School, balanced his 19-month-old daughter, Aubrey, on his hip. 'Fatherhood was a very isolating experience at first,' he said, and a nearby dad nodded in agreement. Mr. Jimenez had traveled from East Harlem for the meetup. 'To be in a community with other men who are trying to figure out how to be really good dads and break cycles that have been repeated for years — it's really important,' he said. As the inevitable silent countdown to sleepy temper tantrums began, the buzz of the play space shifted to a bright, airy side room. Eganam Segbefia, a trumpet player known as ÉGO, broke out his instrument to wrap up the festivities. While his typical gig involves playing at halftime during Knicks games at Madison Square Garden, on this day he played songs like 'Bare Necessities' from 'The Jungle Book' and 'Under the Sea' from 'The Little Mermaid.' There was a lot of dancing, plenty of smiles and before long, some tears. After a long day, the children needed a nap. The dads, fighting off their own yawns and heavy eyelids, silently agreed they could use one, too.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Spring's best new cookbooks, from pizza to pastries
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. This season's batch of new cookbooks are wanderers. You could head to Pakistan, the Caribbean (two times) or bop from one friend's dinner party to another's with the optimal dish in hand for sharing. Marie Mitchell is the child of Jamaican immigrants and lives in the United Kingdom. Her debut cookbook is a collection of recipes that celebrate the flavors of her ancestral Caribbean and the diaspora it has influenced. That means honey-shellacked jerk wings with cassava fries, tomato curry and coconut buns. (out now, $35, W.W. Norton) One impactful aspect of the best cookbooks is their ability to overturn your thinking. With this new book, Maryam Jillani shows the complexity of Pakistan, a country too often in the West lumped with its neighbor to the southwest, India. "Pakistan" is part travelogue, part cultural study and a compendium of Pakistani recipes that showcase the singular diversity of the country's cooking. (out now, $40, Bookshop) "It's about the delicious places that live in between American and Chinese traditions," said chef Brandon Jew of Mister Jiu's in San Francisco about Calvin Eng's cooking in "Salt Sugar MSG." The chef at Bonnie's in Brooklyn, named for his mother, Eng plays well with both classic Cantonese and American dishes. Taro steps in for potatoes in diner-style hash browns. Pork schnitzel is seasoned with salt and pepper and served with ranch. "Some chef-authored cookbooks feel fussy in a way that's ultimately unfriendly to cooking at home, but 'Salt Sugar MSG' feels cheffy in a more accessible way," said Bettina Makalintal at Eater. (out now, $40, Clarkson Potter) The world needs another pizza cookbook like — well, most everyone loves pizza, so bring it on. This debut cookbook from Scarr Pimentel, the mind behind the beloved Manhattan pizzeria Scarr's, celebrates New York-style pizza, with an emphasis on natural and organic ingredients. The results are both classic and modern; now you can achieve the same at home. (out now, $30, 4 Color Books) One great cookbook: 'Snacking Cakes' One great cookbook: 'Solo' One great cookbook: 'The Zuni Café Cookbook' Nina Compton has had a peripatetic cooking journey. Born in Saint Lucia, she lived in Jamaica and Miami before settling in New Orleans. In the Crescent City, she opened Compère Lapin and Bywater American Bistro, restaurants that sing the pleasures of her distinctive Caribbean-centered cuisine. The book, coauthored with Osayi Endolyn, is organized around those four locations — Saint Lucia, Jamaica, Miami, New Orleans — to show how the quartet shaped Compton. (April 1, $37.50, Clarkson Potter) Zaynab Issa, a recent member of the lauded Bon Appétit food team, is known for her smart, big-flavored cooking. In her first cookbook, her style is dubbed "third culture cooking" — not wholly that of her Tanzanian-Indian beginnings, not strictly American but a hybrid and reconsideration of all of it. French onion ramen, udon carbonara, tandoori tacos, baklava granola: "Issa's recipes are mashups of everything you'd want to eat," said Jaya Saxena at Eater. (April 1, $35, Abrams) Nicole Rucker, owner of the Los Angeles bakeries Fat + Flour, is the rare pastry person who is beloved by both other pastry people and the baked-goods consuming public. Any cookbook from Rucker is cause for clanging together your measuring cups with glee. In her latest, she walks you through how to make superb pies and cookies, and does so with clear, lighthearted instructions. (April 8, $35, Knopf) If you have ever been invited to someone's house and felt exhausted at the notion of meekly proffering yet another bottle of wine when you arrive, this book by Casey Elsass aims to revitalize your guest obligations. The book is divided into eight sections, and each tackles a different occasion, including tailgates and brunch. The recipes are accessible but will still impress every kind of host — and the other guests in attendance. (May 20, $30, Union Square & Co)
