2020-04-01 Bon Appetit

42 – APRIL 2020

PHOTOGRAPHS: DINA AVILA (LAVKA); ROBIN ROSE HILLEARY (FLOW

ERS); DENNY CULBERT (COOKIE). FOR DETAILS, SEE SOURCEBOOK.

Your Spring Checklist

Our slightly obsessive picks for this month’s finest things to eat, drink, and buy

Away – Highly Recommend

Social Media
Manager

EMILY
SCHULTZ

I’ve been counting down the days

until I could finally buy Kachka’s pelmeni.

Now I can, thanks to the little Eastern

European grocery that Bonnie and Israel

Morales opened above their Russian

restaurant in Portland, Oregon. Lavka has

everything Bonnie grew up with—beet-cured

salmon, Georgian natural wines, pelmeni

(duh)—and it’s all going in my suitcase.

Who would have thought that among

all the buttery biscuits and croissants

on offer at Levee Baking Co. in

New Orleans, my favorite thing would be

vegan? The salted chocolate olive oil

cookie has the ideal crispy outside and

chewy inside, due to an emulsion of

olive oil, oat milk, and sugar. Plus, it’s

aggressively chocolaty, in a good way.

Pastry chef Christina Balzebre sources

70 percent cacao Barataria Blend

chocolate from Acalli, a local bean-

to-bar company that uses no stabilizers

or lecithin. “I’m just obsessed with the

chocolate that we use,” she says. Same.

Digital Director

CAREY POLIS

on

The Perfect Cookie

Dried pampas

grass is camping up

new NYC restaurants

like Ernesto’s—

as well as my own

apartment. Robin

Rose Hilleary, owner

of Fleurotica and

mastermind behind

these arrangements,

shares her tips on

replicating the look

for your home.

1. GO WILD

Pampas grass is

an invasive spiky-

stemmed species

often found along

the beach. Run with

this information

(just be sure to take

thick gloves and

gardening shears),

or check out a local

flower market, crafts

store, or Etsy.

2. LIVE IN COLOR

Hilleary prefers

dyed grass for

maximum impact.

Soak in food

coloring or natural

dye, then hang

upside down to dry

for at least a few

days for full feather

effect. Fluff, then

finish with hairspray

to prevent shedding.

3. MIX IN

LIVE PLANTS

Dried pampas will

last for months,

so Hilleary updates

arrangements by

adding in textural

plants like stiff palms

and waxy anthurium.

Place them in a

cup of water inside

the vase to keep the

pampas dry.

Assistant

Editor

ALIZA

ABARBANEL

on

The Coolest

Florals