Cool Hunting

Cochon Butcher
On a recent trip to New Orleans, I had the mouth-watering pleasure of grabbing an early lunch at Cochon Butcher, the meat shop and wine bar opened in January by Cochon chef Donald Link and partner-chefs Stephen Stryjewski and Warren Stephens. Located in the still-burgeoning Warehouse District—home to hotels, galleries and museums—Cochon Butcher makes for an ideal snack stop while exploring the neighborhood's hotspots. Though...

Black Garlic
Asian cuisines have long incorporated Black Garlic, but only more recently has this fermented version of the bulb been commercially available in the U.S. and Britain. Eaten as a snack or used as an ingredient in cooking, it boasts a vinegary sweet flavor and health benefits. After fermenting in clay containers for a month—with no additional ingredients added—the result is a mellower-tasting clove with...

San Francisco's Sustainable Tataki Sushi and Sake Bar
by Laura NeilsonWhen you're a seven-table sushi restaurant—in San Francisco, a city overflowing with sushi joints—how do you stand apart from the others? San Francisco's Tataki Sushi and Sake Bar took this obvious challenge to task by being the country's first and only sustainable sushi restaurant. Co-owners Raymond Ho and Kin Lui, who opened Tataki earlier this year in San Francisco's Pacific Heights neighborhood,...

Cho-Cho San Restaurant
What happens when an Italian opera director and a Japanese chef collaborate on a restaurant? Cho-Cho San, a new culinary hot spot in NYC's Greenwich Village, is the result of famed Metropolitan Opera director, Fabrizio Melano, and Jun Nagano, of the venerable Taste of Tokyo, joining forces. Named after the heroine of the opera Madama Butterfly, Cho-Cho San's menu combines traditional Japanese fare with...