C.R.E.A.M.
This is the total amount of money a restaurant brings in from food, drinks, and other sales before any expenses are deducted.
What is revenue?
This community influenced NYC cuisine not only through dishes but through food-service models, including take-out formats, late-night hours, and community-centered eateries shaped by working-class schedules.
What is the Caribbean immigrant community?
These two French-born chefs became household names in America, revolutionizing home cooking with their approachable recipes, charming TV personalities, and decades of culinary expertise. One is famous for “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” while the other has co-hosted numerous cooking shows and authored over 25 cookbooks.
Who are Julia Child and Jacques Pépin?
(The French Chef show)
The flavor and aroma of this spirit are deeply influenced by terroir, soil composition, and traditional roasting practice. Indigenous communities in Oaxaca have cultivated and distilled it for centuries, producing variations that reflect regional soil chemistry, climate, and microbial fermentation.
What is piña / mezcal production?
Literally meaning "recooked,” reflecting its unique production method, it's made by gently reheating the whey left over from cheeses and adding an acid to coagulate the remaining proteins. The result is a soft, creamy and slightly grainy.
What is ricotta?
Often called the “real Little Italy” of New York City, this neighborhood became a hub for Italian immigrants in the early 20th century, preserving traditional markets, bakeries, and restaurants. Its enduring food culture illustrates how immigrant communities shape local economies and maintain culinary traditions across generations.
What is Arthur Avenue in the Bronx?
Identified in the early 20th century by Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda, this taste is primarily triggered by glutamate and nucleotides found in foods like fermented soy products, aged cheeses, and broths, signaling protein-rich nutrition to the brain.
What is umami?
Domesticated over 2,000 years ago in the Mediterranean and Central Asia, this root vegetable’s flavor, color, and nutrient profile are heavily influenced by soil type, mineral content, and climate. Rich in beta-carotene, modern chefs and agronomists study its terroir-dependent sweetness and texture, making it a staple in both culinary and agricultural research.
What is a carrot?
Originating in the Caucasus Mountains, this fermented dairy beverage is made by inoculating milk with a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. It has a tangy, slightly effervescent taste and is prized for its probiotic properties.
What is Kefir?
Originally a working-class food from Naples, this cheap staple went into commercial production as immigrants responded to industrial work schedules, shared tenement living, and American ingredient abundance, resulting in larger formats, heavier ingredient use, and specialized eateries.
What is Pizza?
These delicate flowers are harvested in the summer and often found in Italian and Mexican cuisines. They can be battered and fried, or incorporated into soups and pastas. While their flavor is subtly sweet and vegetal, their tender texture and vibrant color make them a standout garnish as well as a key ingredient.
What is a squash blossom?
This root vegetable related to legumes and sunflowers is rich in the prebiotic fiber inulin and was cultivated by Indigenous peoples long before European contact. Its prized in modern cuisine for its nutty flavor and versatility in both raw and roasted preparations.
What is a sunchoke?
To minimize waste while keeping production flexible, chefs often set these for each ingredient, specifying minimum and maximum quantities to keep on hand.
What are par levels?
Founded in New York City, this nonprofit organization intervenes in the structural precarity of restaurant labor by paying restaurant workers to cook meals for food-insecure communities, reframing hospitality work as dignified, compensated labor rather than charity or surplus redistribution.
What is Rethink Food?
Matt Jozwiak
What is sour?
This rare truffle species, native to France, is considered one of the most expensive black truffles, sometimes called the “black diamond,” and commands very high prices at auctions.
What is the Périgord truffle?
This complex of enzymes, traditionally sourced from the stomach lining of young calves but also available from microbial or plant-based sources, is added to milk to coagulate proteins, forming curds and whey—the essential first step in making many firm cheeses like cheddar, gouda, and parmesan.
What is rennet?
After arriving in NYC as an asylum seeker with no stable home, this Kurdish immigrant worked in kitchens washing dishes and making pizzas while homeless in Grand Central Station and shelters. He saved money, entered pizza contests, won the New York Pizza Showcase, and used that success to open this restaurant
Who is Hakki Akdeniz of Champion Pizza?
Chef Hakki is beloved and locally known for his generosity to those experiencing food insecurity
Both their delicate blossoms and round, shield-shaped leaves carry a distinct peppery, slightly spicy flavor reminiscent of arugula. Popular in salads, as garnishes, and even stuffed or pickled.
The chemical compound primarily responsible for the characteristic aroma of black truffles, discovered in the 1970s, contains a sulfur atom and contributes to truffle’s umami and musky scent.
What is dimethyl sulfide (DMS)?