Carrot Soup. ”Festive but light – I try not to start with anything too heavy, as there is much more to come!”

Turkey. “I like to keep the turkey simple and classic.”

Sweet Potato Pie. “A family favorite. I’ve been making this one as long as I can remember.” [See the recipe here]

Apple, Apricot and Sausage Stuffing. “This is as good as it sounds. The apples and apricots compliment the sausage perfectly.”

Fresh Cranberry Sauce. “My kid’s like canned, but I insist on fresh. It is so much tastier – and fun to make,”

Roasted Root Veggies. “I’ll usually roast parsnips, carrots, beets and potatoes. Sprinkle them with a bit of salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil and rosemary. Delicious and festive.”

Grandma’s Strudel. “My mother is Viennese, so strudel is a family classic. Her recipe is the absolute best – with a little vanilla ice cream of course.”

*Photo courtesy of ABCNews

“Le Pain Quotidien. A mainstay for bowls of strong coffee and chocolate croissants.”

“Pepolino in Tribeca is the best-kept secret for casual Italian dining downtown. (Well, not anymore…). Perfect spot for a family dinner.”

“Babbo for the best pasta I have ever tasted. The black spaghetti with rock shrimp is phenomenal.”

“Bemelman’s Bar in the Carlyle Hotel for Martini’s and atmosphere – very old New York.”

“Cafe Cluny for a cozy dinner or low-key brunch. I have never had a bad meal here.”

“Bergdorfs on 7 for the ever popular gotham salad. I’m here quite a bit for work lunches, but I never get tired of it.”

“Gramercy Tavern is always spot-on for a special meal. I love that they use local and seasonal ingredients – The food is clean and elegant but still comforting and hearty.

WHAT TO BRING:

Michael Kors Red Pants, Marni Cardigan, & Chloe Flats: This will be my go-to outfit for a European weekend in September. Italian women are so creative in the way they dress, and always inspire me to wear color. I’ll pair my red pants with a neutral Marni cardigan (goes with everything!). Walking and exploring a city is one of my favorite things to do when I’m traveling, and these Chloe flats are chic but comfortable.

Moleskin Notebooks: I’ll carry these with me in case inspiration strikes.

Rebloom Natural Sleep Drink: I rarely use anything to help me sleep, but in this case I’ll use all-natural Rebloom to beat the jet-lag.

WHERE TO SHOP/SEE:

10 Corso Como, Milan: The selection at Corso Como is so well curated – from clothing to accessories and gifts, I always find something special here. They also have a wonderful gallery and outdoor cafe that will be perfect for this time of year.

Via Monte Napoleane, Milan: The best window shopping, particularly in early September when all of the Fall collections are in stores.

Assouline, Paris: The Assouline in Paris feels more like a gallery than it does a bookstore. The displays, as well as the books, are beautiful and unique.

Maison & Objet Show, Paris: An exciting International trade show for home and interior design, happening from September 9-13.

WHERE TO EAT:

Trattoria Da Giorgio, Florence: The perfect place for a leisurely lunch.

Mamma Gina, Florence: Authentic Italian food with the best lemon cake I’ve ever tasted.

Paper Moon, Milan: This restaurant is worth the hype. A favorite for fresh pasta and grilled fish.

Laduree, Paris: Though an outpost recently opened on Madison Avenue, nothing compares to visiting the original for tea and macaroons.

As the dog days of summer draw to a close, there is nothing like an August dinner party to mark the end of the season. Whether you plan an elegant dinner by candlelight or a casual barbeque, planning the menu is always (in our opinion) the most fun. Here, we share Monica’s menu for an upcoming summer soiree:

To Eat:

Shrimp & Soft Shell Crab, Marinated and Grilled with Olive Tapenade

Leg of Lamb grilled with Portobello Mushrooms

Arugula Salad with Parmesan Curls

Fresh Baguettes with Olive Oil for dipping

Meringue Cookies

Vosgues Frozen Dark Chocolate Bars

To Drink:

Rose Wine

Chilled Pinot Noir

Limoncello

To Play:

Carlos Santana

Photos (from top): PrettyStuff.Tumblr.com, MarthaStewart.com, Stylemepretty

Certain foods in America have as much of a stronghold on our country and culture as does the iPhone and reality TV. One such food is the sandwich. When hunger strikes, the easiest solution most often lies between two slabs of bread. It’s too simple a formula to pass up. Don’t think chef Tom Colicchio has. In fact, Bravo’s “Top Chef” head judge has discovered a way to improve upon the classic American recipe at his delicious sandwich chain, ‘wichcraft.

As part of Colicchio’s celebrated Craft Restaurant empire, ‘wichcraft approaches the construction of the classic sandwich with the finest ingredients, keeping in line with his renowned culinary integrity, which has earned him the 2010 title of the nation’s top chef from the prestigious James Beard Foundation. With 12 locations in Manhattan alone, ‘wichcraft has become the obsession of every rush-to-lunch New Yorker. You can also find the shop in San Francisco and Las Vegas.

The simple sandwich transforms into a sensation at ‘wichcraft, where a grilled cheese, a PB & J, or a Woody Allen mainstay like pastrami on rye become plush products of Colicchio’s impressive gastronomic vision. In his book Think Like a Chef, Colicchio emphasizes great ingredients and their ability to set culinary creativity into motion. He learned this from his first job at an open-air food market in the Italian neighborhood of Elizabeth, New Jersey. There, they were selling what he calls “pretty mundane stuff” to Italian immigrants, who, using all five senses, took incredible care in their selection process.

And Colicchio himself is living proof of how far classic ingredients can go or how far one can take a sandwich. And really, why have American cheese slapped on white bread when grilled gruyere and caramelized onions on rye is perhaps waiting for you down the street? Pastrami on rye becomes obsolete when sauerkraut, gourmet Swiss and whole grain Dijon are slathered on top. The gauntlet’s been thrown down to anyone looking down on proteins smooshed between carbohydrates; they should pack their knives and go.

For more information, visit ‘witchcraft.

[Photography courtesy of Wikimedia and Facebook]

Summer spells s’mores. Warm weather and starry nights beg red-blooded Americans to build a campfire and start roasting marshmallows while swapping stories with family and friends. As if the nostalgic experience weren’t enough, then you get to eat the delicious toasted white balls squeezed between gram crackers with a piece of chocolate. Aptly named “s’more”—as in “I want some more”—this tasty treat invites adults and kids alike to test the limit of just how many one can handle in an evening.

Though the origin of these summer sweets is not clear, the three-ingredient recipe for “Some More” first appeared in the Girl Scout of the USA’s Tramping and Trailing book in 1927, according to the National Historic Preservation Center. In 1940, the recipe was renamed “S’mores” in the official Girl Scout Handbook. Popular belief says campers were also responsible for spreading the word about this sugary delight.

Today, there are so many variations of this simple recipe, include substituting the chocolate by adding fruit, such as apple slices or peanut butter, creating banana s’mores, and even making ice cream ones. There is an Allrecipes.com version that has received more than 2,000 rave reviews using butter along with the other ingredients and baking the mixture in the oven. Choco-giant Hershey also has a video displaying the ultimate s’mores where you can create your own virtual version of the gooey goodness, though it’s not as fun as making the real thing.

Get outside, while it’s still beautiful, and starting roasting. If you don’t have access to a backyard or campsite, get your fix at ones of these top six local s’more shops, according to the Huffington Post. Or swing by one of the 100 Cosi chain restaurants in 16 states that also offer a unique tableside s’more experience. Bet you can’t eat just one!

[Photography by The Long Experience on Flickr]

For me, coffee is a timeless tradition with a rich history. Part of my excitement in being a part of that tradition is traveling to the great coffee growing areas around the world where one can find the best possible product.

My most recent trip was to the Indonesian Island of Sumatra.

Indonesia produces a lot of coffee, and most of it comes from Sumatra. This was my first visit to the island and I flew into the capital of Medan and immediately was on the road to the mountains above Lake Toba – I believe it is the largest volcanic lake in the world.

Once there, I witnessed a method of processing I had never seen, or fully understood before. Semi washing, a method of coffee preparation that removes the skin surrounding the seeds (which are the coffee beans).  Most coffee is either ‘fully washed’ or ‘dry prep’.  The method affects the flavor of the coffee in the cup.  Fully washed tends to be bright. Dry tends to be earthy, and semi-washed can be a bit of both. It is just one of the things making Sumatra coffee unique in the cup.

I also found varietals of coffee I had never seen growing commercially – for example Catimor – a hybrid coffee that seems to be almost 50% of the Arabica bean production in Sumatra. Seeing the variety of Coffee from region to region in Sumatra allowed me to learn geographically what I had been tasting in the coffee cup all these years – that the coffee from one (Lintong) area has a certain flavor distinctly different than the coffee from another (Lake Tawar) and another and another. So literally a coffee tasting of different varieties is like an overland expedition of regional discovery.

In effect, as you consider the beans and blend in your morning coffee, enjoy the geography and journeys that coffee growers have been making for decades to create traditions that have endured the test of time.

Oren Bloostein is one of the leading experts in the specialty coffee industry and has appeared on NBC and FOX NEWS. He is also the owner and roast master of Oren’s daily roast which received a 24 score from zagat with the following quote.” this worthy local franchise pours flavorful coffee that’s freshly roasted at their jersey facility and impeccably brewed.” For more information visit orensdailyroast.com.

A bit of culinary mayhem took place Wednesday night on a quiet stretch of Bleecker Street in New York´s West Village. People were clamoring to get into their neighborhood favorite, restaurant August. There would be a tasting menu starting at 6 PM cooked up by none other than Marcus Samuelsson, the recent winner of Bravo’s reality TV show ¨Top Chef Masters.¨ As everyone was buzzing about Samuelsson, a man in a flannel shirt pushed by the consumed, distracted diners that were straining to catch a glimpse of the chef. Little did they know that he had just arrived.

First-come first-serve open tasting, no reservations…the games had begun. I arrived early at 5:30 PM, strategizing to order at a one-dish-per-hour rate while appearing seemingly deaf to the waitress. Diners were chained to their tables, fending off newcomers clamoring for spots. A man neglected a crucial business call; a woman ignored the urge to take a trip to the ladies room. It was truly every man, woman and child for his/herself on this rare, culinary occasion.

Standing behind me casually pointing and explaining the different dishes, Samuelsson made an incredible tasting menu become not as much a menu as a snapshot of a life. Food questions were answered with stories; as Samuelsson, like many great chefs, realizes that the best dishes are not just made of ingredients, but rather the numerous anecdotes that make him who he is.

Warm kitfo (beef tartar) was an ode to his Ethiopian descent; sumptuous, Swedish hot dogs were summertime with Grandma Helga in Smogen; Foie gras ganache was culinary training in France; and shrimp with basmati rice cake was State Dinner for Obama.

I am both proud and embarrassed to say I tasted every item on the menu. After Samuelsson’s juicy Swedish take on a hot dog or his melt-in-your-mouth Kobe beef sliders with smoked mayo, I may never be able to eat these plain American classics off the grill again. Some would call this an incredible tragedy; I’d call it a sign of an incredible chef. One who takes timeless classics to the next level by making them his own. And more importantly, one who keeps you at the same food spot for five straight hours, hypothetically speaking, of course.

Ask any non-American what people love to eat in United States and most will say “hamburgers.” It’s universally understood that this iconic sandwich is an essential part of American culture—even though it’s originally from Germany.

Back in mid-1800s, German immigrants introduced our ancestors to a popular Hamburg dish that consisted of a bun-less steak. The flat, round patty we all know and love came about when the meat grinder was invented in the 1860s. Two decades later, The New York Sun publicized the German dish’s American version (cooked ground-up steak) as “‘hamburgers’…made from raw meat chopped up with onions and spices and are very good.”

When and who placed the brown beef between two pale pieces of bread is debatable. The oldest U.S. chain restaurant focusing on the hamburger on the bun was White Castle, which opened up in 1921 in Wichita, Kansas. The start-up cost $700 and consisted of a little shack with a window for people to order their food. According to White Castle’s website, the founder E. W. “Billy” Ingram knew he had something special when he made a profit of $3.75 after the first day. At present, the profits for fast food restaurants selling burgers soar into the billions.

One of the newest and more trendy hamburger hots pots is the Shake Shack. The mini burger joint has five shacks stationed in Manhattan and one in Miami. Their notorious menu, which generates lines around the block, includes burgers made with Black Angus beef (free of antibiotics and hormones) and a delectable secret burger sauce. They use fresh locally grown ingredients made to order with genuine hospitality.

Whether you like it grilled, broiled, or pan-fried, rare, medium, or well done, in your backyard or at a restaurant (fast food or gourmet), hamburgers are without a doubt deeply ingrained in American culture. The sandwich has even been immortalized in one of our most beloved comic strips “Popeye.” Who could forget the famous line affectionately coined by the character Wimpy starting in 1931: “I’d gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.”

[Photography courtesy of Wikimedia]

One of the best decisions you could make while visiting Paris is to eat at the Relais de l’Entrecote located at Porte-Maillot. It’s the only decision you’ll need to make, too.

A famous 50-year-old fixed three-course menu (peruse the handwritten sign out front) means all you need to do is get inside. Once you bypass the influx of carnivorous groupies clamoring to grab a seat at one of the restaurant’s crammed tables, you’ll enjoy a serving of the best entrecote—a traditional French cut of premium steak—in town. But not before you try their mixed salad dressed with walnuts and a killer mustard vinaigrette. End your meal with a desert of your choice (OK, just one more decision!). Our recommendation: the profiteroles drowned in a melted fudge and cream mixture.

When you taste the melt-in-your-mouth butter-based steak sauce, you’ll quickly see why crowds of tourists and locals alike form long lines in front of the three different Parisian locations—the second is in the popular district of Saint Germain and the third in the 8th arrondissement (home to Champs Elysee). The secret formula, which is arguably a feat of chemical engineering, hasn’t changed one iota since founder Paul Gineste de Saurs opened the small restaurant about a mile north of the Arc de Triomphe in 1959.

Besides being an innovative chef with an exceptional palate (perhaps inherited from a long lineage of wine-producers), de Saurs’ was a smart business man. Instead of overcomplicating things, he simplified by adding only a “L’Entrecote” sign outside the bistro front, not fussing with the restaurant’s pre-existing Venetian theme, and, most importantly, posing just one simple question to his customers: “How would you like your steak cooked?”

This brilliant business model continues to thrive today under the guidance of de Saur’s children and several franchise owners, who run replicas of the original bistro throughout Paris and France as well as in Bahrain, Barcelona, Geneva, London, Montreal and New York.

For more information, visit relaisentrecote.fr/.

[Photography courtesy of Wikimedia (top) and EightFiveZero (center)]