10 FEBRUARY 2021
EDITOR’S LETTER
A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO, my younger
daughter fished an heirloom Eye of the
Goat bean from Rancho Gordo out of a
pot of soaking water. I watched skepti-
cally as she nestled the speckled beige-
and-brown bean into a damp folded
paper towel, placed it into a plastic bag-
gie, and tied the baggie to the latch of
our kitchen window with a pipe cleaner.
A few weeks later, her science project yielded a sprout. Eureka! We potted and staked the
seedling, now a wispy foot-high tendril that leans into the morning light streaming into the
kitchen. With a little care and some luck, we’ll plant it outside this spring in one of the half
whiskey barrels that are currently home to a few cabbages and collards wintering over. Peace
out, brassicas. Let’s grow some beans.
It took the events of 2020 to force me off the road after years on the go, affording me more
time at home with the kids and a rascally dog. And now that I’m seeing my 54-year-old
house through different eyes, I’ve been giving small spaces inside and out more love—among
them a side yard–turned–kitchen garden. Last spring, I planted a couple of flats of seedlings
as a newbie gardener; this year, we’re expanding the garden’s footprint. If my 7-year-old
can sprout a magic bean, surely I can level up and start 100% from seeds, right?
I’m not alone in this strange new era of home improvement. Sales of building supplies like
lumber went through the roof in 2020; carpenters and architects have been in high demand.
Like me, many of our F&W friends, including 2018 F&W Best New Chef Julia Sullivan, of
Nashville, have been getting their hands dirty and putting down literal roots. Sullivan col-
laborated with her friend Sara Gasbarra, a garden consultant to chefs around the country,
to share lessons on how to get started with your own garden project, no matter the size or
your ability, in “Ready, Set, Grow!” (p. 76), by Senior Food Editor Mary-Frances Heck, an
experienced gardener in her own right. Led by ace Deputy Editor Melanie Hansche, we’ve
filled this Home Issue with expert ideas to inspire not just your gardening spaces, but also
your cooking, living, and entertaining ones (once it’s safe to entertain again). Join LuckyRice’s
Danielle Chang in her airy Manhattan penthouse to roll, fill, and pleat dumplings for a Lunar
New Year celebration (p. 62). Heed the advice of Restaurant Editor Khushbu Shah and re-
member to praise your aunties, those wise angels from every culture who lift us up and make
our worlds go round (p. 88). And, after nearly a year at home, you might not be ready to raise
chickens in the backyard just yet (wait, should I get some?), but you should adorn your
breakfast pizza with a barely cooked fresh egg, à la Culinary Director Justin Chapple (p. 32).
Hold steady, folks. The days are getting longer. The forecast is calling for sun. Why not
plant a few magic beans and watch them grow?From the
Home OfficeCool
Beans
These upgrades have made
my kitchen, garden, and patio
spaces feel more connected.BRIGHTER NIGHTS AHEAD
These heavy-duty Hampton
Bay string lights fill my patio
with the warm glow of a bistro. I
watched tutorials on YouTube to
learn to hang them with sturdy
picture-hanging wire for more
support. ($50 for 48-foot string
lights, homedepot.com)THE SHARPEST KITCHEN
SCISSORS
Coutelier, a pro cook’s dream
store in New Orleans, sells
these Silky brand kitchen
scissors. They’re as good for
snipping herbs and harvesting
vegetables as they are for peel-
ing and deveining shrimp. ($30,
couteliernola.com)MULTIPURPOSE POTTING
BENCH
This utilitarian blue Demeter
potting bench pinch-hits as
an outdoor bar, a spot for my
Sonos speaker, and a staging
area for grilling ingredients and
tools. ($100, gardeners.com)TOOLS FOR EVERY JOB
Hida Tool & Hardware Co. in
Berkeley sells gorgeous Japa-
nese kitchen and gardening
tools. I’ve got my eye on a bird’s
beak paring knife for kitchen
finesse work this spring like
hulling strawberries, and a hori
hori for all-purpose garden
work like weeding, digging, and
transplanting. (hidatool.com)Subscription Help: foodandwine.com/
myaccount or email us at FAWcustserv@
cdsfulfillment.com or call 1-800-333-6569.HUNTER LEWIS
@NOTESFROMACOOK
[email protected]photography by RAMONA ROSALES