Summer in NYC invites a constant challenge to beat the heat, but Eastfield's - a new seasonally driven restaurant on the Upper East Side - provides plenty of opportunity to stay cool (and we're not just talking free AC).

Everything at Eastfield's is pretty and relaxed, from the cozy blue booths to the family-sized plates of wilted greens. Take a peek inside New York's latest Brit-flavored American restaurant and plan a visit. If you’re on the east side of the island, pop on over for platter of oysters on ice or this chilled soup we can’t stop craving. If you’re elsewhere (or simply unwilling to brave the city heat) use the gazpacho recipe below to recreate our new fave summer dish at home! Beet gazpacho with fresh herbs may just be the yummiest summer soup you've never tried.

All about those beets? Try this smoked grain salad, gorgeous stacked goat cheese, and grain-less beet ravioil! 

The post Beet Soup + Chill? A Gorgeous Gazpacho Recipe from Inside NYC’s Eastfield’s appeared first on The Chalkboard.

We've been obsessed with this small, gourmet raw food cafe in Byron Bay, Australia for a while now - from afar. God only knows how we stumbled upon them on Instagram, but we've been stalking Naked Treaties' feed full of rainbow-colored raw shakes and smoothies (think liquid stacks of frozen superfoods mixed with local passion fruit and flowers) and dreaming up a life on the other side of the equator full of endless beaches and these raw almond "donuts".

We love the rush of vitality we get from a fully raw meal, and raw chefs have to be some of the most creative health nuts in the world. Ogle the Naked Treaties feed for plenty of raw food inspiration and grab this incredible raw, nut-based, vegan donut recipe to get things going!

The post Our Aussie Food Crush: Get Naked Treaties’ Raw + Vegan Donut Recipe appeared first on The Chalkboard.

What happens when fine dining vibes rendezvous with rural neighborhood-y ones in the heart of Brooklyn? Olmsted is what happens - a new backyard-farm-to-table eatery in Prospect Heights. This seasonally driven gem is co-owned by two friends - one is a farmer, the other has a Michelin-starred resume - and built on the concept of making memorable dishes for those with a high-level palate but a mid-level, nine-to-five budget.

We cannot get enough of the restaurant's back patio mini-farm (which features fruit trees, rows of veggies, and even a tiny pond for watercress and live crawfish) - but the real star of Olmsted is the food. Eater editor, Kat Odell popped into Olmsted for a bite of the buzz. From veggie-forward finger food starters, to an ethereal rendition of fro yo, here are the first-hand deets on this spot to watch...

What I Ate: Olmsted's frozen honey yogurt dessert.

Why I ate It: Imagine the flavor of tangy, creamy Greek yogurt, whipped into a light cloud and then frozen, imbued with the flavor of perfumey, floral honey.

Why You Need It: Newbie Olmsted is going to be a restaurant to watch this year. Greg Baxtrom - an alum of Per Se, Alinea, Blue Hill at Stone Barns and Atera (nbd) - is serving a refined seasonal menu of affordable plates under $24. Early standouts were pickled then fried fiddlehead ferns; an incredibly delicate tranche of perfectly cooked trout; and the guinea hen two ways: roasted and confit, with ramps and morels. But! Don't miss dessert! Pro move: Ask to eat this frozen honey yogurt dessert out on the lush, romantical garden patio.

The post NYC Bite of The Month: Farm-Fresh Fro-Yo At Olmsted in Brooklyn appeared first on The Chalkboard.

We're looking for any excuse to eat more peaches, nectarines and plums this season and we've found just the recipe that'll let us binge on stone fruits in the best way possible.

Seasonally inspired FIG Restaurant in Santa Monica - known for its impeccable cocktails and in-the-know local's happy hour - has mixed up its menu with a new Mediterranean vibe we can’t get enough of. At a recent dinner to try out their new wood-oven-centric eats, we were so focused on this sumac spice-dusted stone fruit salad we barely left room for dessert (the horror!).

This simple dish is all about sumac - a fiery yet sweet-smelling spice made from dried berries, which produce a rich red color. Its sour, citrus-like taste makes sumac a flavor-staple in Mediterranean recipes and enhances the sweetness of stone fruits like magic. Try Chef Yousef Ghalaini's dreamy recipe below or simply sprinkle a little sumac over a fresh peach and be on your way!

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Spaghetti squash is a dream come true for grain-averse carb-cravers out there. While making pasta from plants is a genius idea we never cease to be excited by, this recipe from chef to the stars, Mikaela Reuben, really stands out as something special. As a culinary nutritionist, health consultant and plant-based chef, Mikaela's food offers balanced nutrition in addition to crave-able taste. In this vegan and gluten-free recipe, we're not only getting a healthy dose of filling fiber from spaghetti squash, but a natural boost from flavor-packed garlic, almonds, herbs and spices.

Whip up this easy recipe for an impressive plant-based date night dinner, or just as a healthier alternative to kick a pasta craving to the curb. All it takes is a handful of fresh ingredients and a few minutes in the kitchen. For even more of Mikaela and her gluten-free goodness, try out her zucchini fritter recipe here!

The post Stop Eating Pasta: This Roasted Spaghetti Squash Is Giving Us Life appeared first on The Chalkboard.

Top chefs across L.A. this month are going overboard with avocado dishes and we couldn't be happier about it. Gather a girlfriend and starting checking off our hitlist of best avocado eats to try as part of DineLA's partnership with the California Avocado Association (can we join this association?).

This summer's Restaurant Week is July 18th - July 31 this year and these five local mainstays will be serving up culinary creations worthy of their "avocado ambassador" titles. We're talking avocado ice cream, avocado cocktails, and avocado push-up pops. Dozens of other top restaurants across the city will be offering exclusive prix fixe lunch and dinner menus as part of the special week, offering Angelenos the chance to sample the best of LA's food scene (and an excuse to break away from our usual restaurant rotation).

Read on for our personal picks from those glorious avocado themed menus and where you can find them... and us.

The post 5 Avocado Themed Menus At Top L.A. Restaurants appeared first on The Chalkboard.

Acai to Adriana lima, we have yet to be disappointed by an export from Brazil. The newest addition to our list of likes? Market Ipanema in NYC. With two other locations in Brazil, this tiny chain serves up healthified, modernized Brazilian cuisine made with locally sourced, organic ingredients.

Eater editor, Kat Odell, went to check out their "healthy but conscience gastronomy" and reported back with very brightly colored photos and (equally) glowing reviews on her fave dishes. Here's what you need to try and why...

What I Ate: Market Ipanema's beet-stained cassava crepe, filled with banana jam and coconut flakes.

Why I Ate It: Market Ipanema, a Brazilian cafe and micro retail shop in Nolita, sells a healthy assortment of Rio staples like acai bowls, coconut yogurt and pão de queijo, the ubiquitous Brazilian cheese puff made from gluten-free, grain-free manioc flour - what we in the U.S. know as cassava, or tapioca. Also fashioned from manioc flour are an assortment of Brazilian "crepes," loaded with a bevy of sweet and savory fillings, from avocado, tomato and cashew cream to apples with cinnamon.

Why You Need It: If you're keen on the chewy texture of mochi, then you'll dig these crepes. In Brazil, this breakfast staple is found at almost every cafe, prized as a healthy option devoid of gluten and grain. While cassava crepes are traditionally white, at Market Ipanema owner Beatriz Lobato adds fresh beet juice for a colorful twist.

The post NYC Bite of the Month: Banana Jam Crepes At Market Ipanema appeared first on The Chalkboard.

Nothing tastes as good as a home cooked meal - unless you're one of the kitchen-challenged among us, in which case most things probably taste better and you eat out a lot.

We get it and recently tried SaltedEats, a new food delivery service that's perfect for the restaurant obsessed. They've partnered with some of L.A.'s top chefs and restaurants (think Stella Barra, Eveleigh, Petty Cash Taqueria) to deliver recipes for the best dishes on their menus - including all the ingredients needed to quickly whip them up at home! The experience is like a private, on-demand cooking class you can take wearing sweatpants and a face mask, slash a top-ranked restaurant reservation that you can enjoy without crosstown traffic trauma. Win, win, win.

The concept comes from Salted, a video-based online cooking school that features some of the top culinary innovators across the country. Each of their SaltedEats deliveries match up with step-by-step video tutorials taught by the pro chefs themselves; even if you've never cracked an egg in your life, you'll know exactly what the process should (and shouldn't) look like from start to finish!

We're giving away one month of the SaltedEats experience below. This week's recipes include a healthy seared yellowtail salad from Chef Jason Fullilove and Sotto's date-night-ready ricotta gnocchi with sage. But, for our giveaway, we're jumping ahead and sharing a recipe from dreamy Eastside French bistro, Canelé (available for delivery on August 4th). Get the recipe and our SaltedEats exclusive discount code for TCM readers below, and enter to win a full month of free deliveries! [olists num=2][olists num=1]

The post How to Cook L.A.’s Best Dishes At Home (No Talent Required) appeared first on The Chalkboard.

Epic Coastal views and idyllic cozy vibes have our team visiting the islands just beyond the Seattle skyline regularly these days. There's something about Seattle and the surrounding area that has left a mark on us Angelenos and we're hooked!

Our most recent jaunt to the Pacific Northwest included a trip to Whidbey Island and local's favorite - plus travel press darling - the Inn at Langley. Named one of the top 500 in the world by Travel & Leisure, the Inn's popularity has a little to do with its incredible two story suites just feet from the water and a lot to do with Chef Matt Costello. Chef Costello is a James Beard nominee who's journey through the restaurant world has included a few of our favorite Seattle staples, including the Dahlia Lounge and the stunning Four Seasons.

Dinner at the Inn is served just once a night and includes seven courses of inventive and locally-driven dishes that would impress the most jaded of foodies. Our dinner with Chef Matt included courses of seafood so fresh it could bring a girl to tears, impressive wines from Washington and Oregon vineyards, a thin melting dome of chocolate, and a vintage purse full of edible hankies, coins, and other trinkets.

We asked Chef Matt to tell us his latest food inspirations, what he thinks defines the region now and what we can expect next on plates at the Inn at Langley...

The post Berries, Foam + Dungeness: Our Chat With A Top Seattle Chef appeared first on The Chalkboard.

When Nicole Richie isn't hanging inside the exclusive (seriously, it's invite-only!) Revolve HQ on Melrose where her House of Harlow collab lives, she can be found in the following surprisingly familiar locations: hoarding guac at Gracias Madre (same - get our marg recipe from the resto here), sharing avocado toast with friends at Zinque, or making emergency stops at Pressed Juicery shops across town for green juice and almond milk ice cream.

We trust Nicole's taste in fashion and her picks for healthy L.A. spots didn't disappoint either. Where are you hanging these days? Leave us notes on your favorite local hangs in the comments below and check out our recent picks for beauty destinations in the city too.
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Want more of our July Guest Editor, Nicole Richie? Check out our interviews from travel tips to rap mantras and her healthy living tips at home.

The post Nicole Richie’s Favorite L.A. Hangs Include Our Fave Spot For Guac appeared first on The Chalkboard.

Belcampo Meat Co. is leading the herd in providing sustainable, artisan meats. We've been ordering up their bone broth to-go and finding many friends and neighbors among the L.A. restaurant's dinner crowd.

Belcampo co-founder, Anya Fernald has a new cookbook named Home Cooked that celebrates food beyond the butcher counter, but made with the same locavore values. The book is a perfect match for hyper-local delivery service, Out of The Box Collective and the two have collaborated on a stunningly delicious delivery box we can't wait to get our hands on! The rustic recipes in the book capture the delicious imperfection of real food made the old fashioned way. From a lemony fennel salad to the ricotta stuffed zucchini blossom recipe below, the Home Cooked Box from OTB delivers everything necessary for a week of memorable meals, made from the heart. Learn about what's in the box and how to order it for your own local food experiments! 

For all of us who experiment in the kitchen, we know the greatest joy of a home-cooked meal is that feeling of breaking bread around the table with our friends and loved ones, not how perfect the final product is.

We love Anya Fernald’s unfussy approach to cooking and her goal of making unpretentious food with the best fresh local ingredients. We can’t wait to source the local ingredients for our customers to cook recipes like these Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms and Spatchcocked Chicken. Your week of dinners will, as Mario Batali says, “rejuvenate your passion for cooking, and remind you of the excitement and poetic deliciousness of handmade food – both emotionally and physically.”

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The post This Delivery From Belcampo Will Make You Want To Cook Again appeared first on The Chalkboard.

We spent a recent summer afternoon piled into a stunning beach house in Malibu to celebrate Pressed Juicery's new watermelon juice flavor. What can we say? We'll take any excuse to throw a summer cocktail party.

Joining us for the warm weather bash, Chef Jeffrey Nimer of Haute Chefs LA stole our hearts with tons of tiny dishes incorporating Pressed's latest flavor - a cooling combo of watermelon, jicama, cherry, mint and lemon. Everything from these adorable poke bowls to the brazil nut mousse cups were spiked with the sweet stuff - even our bright pink cocktail with SelvaRey white rum and fresh mint.

Friends and juice lovers were delighted to receive these sweet floral wristlets made by the new Thistle and Seed as they arrived in the home's courtyard. We included a few other of our L.A. obsessions for this event too: The Now provided their heavenly mind-body experience with chair massages overlooking the ocean and TCM darlings, Energy Muse, gave guests one-on-one crystal readings over tables piled with gemstones. Each party-goer left with a beautiful rose quartz stone.

We were so grateful to have gifting partners like Tom's and Compartes join us out in Malibu too. Our gift totes included Tom's sunglasses, juice (of course!), sprouted watermelon seeds and bars from Go Raw, bath salts from new float tank hotspot Pause, Biossance's rose face oil and a chocolate matcha bar from another local favorite, Compartes.

Try our watermelon poke bowl recipe from the party below and stay glued to this space for the forth-coming watermelon cocktail recipe (trust us!).

The post Poke Bowls + Crystal Readings: Inside Our Malibu Beach Party With Pressed Juicery appeared first on The Chalkboard.

'Tis the season for Sundays spent at farmers markets, filling our totes to the brim. The season we're talking about is tomato season, of course - a top highlight of the hotter months for veggie fiends like ourselves.

While we enjoy summer tomatoes in any capacity, we go crazy for simple dishes designed to let their gorgeous color and natural sweetness shine. This heirloom tomato tartine recipe from Market Math - a cookbook from the editors of Food & Wine Magazine - lets the raw fruit do its thing. Whip up the toast as a fresh breakfast or snack (sorry avocados!), or make them as mini tartines for the summeriest appetizers ever...

The post Better Than Bruschetta – A Tartine Recipe for Tomato Season appeared first on The Chalkboard.

We rarely drink coffee these days. That is, we rarely drink it black without doctoring it up with protein and superfoods or tweaking it Bulletproof-style. Espresso shots have become less of a beverage and more of an ingredient to us as we find ways to pack in more medicinal foods and nutrition into our diets.

Lately, we've been making tonic runs to the new Lifehouse Tonic bar in Hollywood. Their modern menu includes probiotic tonics and tea elixirs, but most notably, they're blending up these coffee and nut butter shakes spiked with their own stock of medicinal mushroom powders.

We snagged this shroomy shake recipe from the team ahead of their Mushroom 101 class detailing the Chinese medicine, Ayurvedic practices, and herbalism that inspires their passion for these powerful adaptogens. Get the details below!

The post Why You Should Be Making Lifehouse Tonics’ Superfood Shakes appeared first on The Chalkboard.

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Talk about a dream come true (and yes, we actually dream of these things): Eater editor, Kat Odell, recently introduced us to a new Manhattan hotspot that specializes in customizable, South American zoodle bowls (cue the internal fangirl freakout) and we're absolutely obsessed. Merging our infatuations with zucchini noodles, meals in bowls and brightly colored natural foods (more neon beetroot sauce, please!), Latin Beet Kitchen has taken the work out of prepping and enjoying the eats we love most - and is destined to be a lasting staple in our NYC restaurant rotation...

What I Ate: Latin Beet Kitchen’s customizable zucchini noodle (zoodle) bowl.

Why I Ate It: Lately, I’ve been all about savory veg-based bowls. For a taste of India (and some damn good cauliflower “rice"), I hit up Inday, and now, thanks to super newbie Latin Beet Kitchen, for a taste of South America, this is my joint. Can you say zucchini noodles? Yes, indeed - topped with a bespoke spread of veggies and proteins, from pickled radish and roasted sweet potatoes, to Peruvian rotisserie chicken and anticucho steak. This is a fast-casual concept from those behind Flatiron’s Peruvian staple Raymi, and here all dishes are gluten-free and made from both organic and non-GMO ingredients. Score.

Why You Need It: Well, because it’s both healthy and delicious. While I love the idea of spiralized veggies (pro tip: Don’t miss chef April Bloomfield’s spiralized raw veg salad at Salvation Burger), they’re a pain to prep at home. But Latin Beet has done the work for you, if that’s the base you choose. Basically, you’ll pick a base (other options include kale, brown rice and quinoa) and then add both protein and veggie toppings. But, as co-owner Roger Torres states, “It’s all about the sauces.” Options range from a neon-pink beet dressing to zippy Peruvian staples like aji rococo and aji verde.

Want more NYC eats? Check out all of our NYC Bite of the Month features!

The post NYC Bite of The Month: Peruvian Zoodle Bowls (So. Much. Yes.) appeared first on The Chalkboard.

Before we know it we'll be pinning up our beach hair and swapping out bikinis for boots. Autumn may be just around the corner, but these gluten-free zucchini tarts showcase the bright flavors and light textures of the current season in the most delicious way - a perfect sendoff for summer!

This vegetarian, wheat-free recipe from our girl Heather Cox of EatRealFoodNYC calls for zucchini, but any sweet summer squash will do (we're hitting up the farmer's market and grabbing whatever's pretty while they're still in abundance!). Make a few minis for the cutest brunch bites ever, or bake off a big one and keep it in the fridge to nibble on all week...

The post Lemon Ricotta Zucchini Tarts With An Almond Flour Crust appeared first on The Chalkboard.

As we near the end of August, our cozy fall food cravings begin to stir. We know the summer temperatures won't be dropping anytime soon, but we're all tapped out on chilled summer foods. What's a girl to eat in these in-between seasons?

In late August, early September, we love a good pasta salad like this one from one of Los Angeles' healthiest caterers, Heirloom LA. The whole wheat pasta and fresh mozzarella get us cozier than a bowl of straight greens, but the rainbow of fresh herbs and vegetables keep us in a bit of a summer state. The longer this salad marinates, the more delicious it becomes; make it at the start of a lazy weekend so all there's left to do when you're hungry is enjoy!

The post Late Summer Eats: Whole Wheat Pasta Salad With Rainbow Veggies appeared first on The Chalkboard.

We're talking camel milk, green ice cream and twenty dollar smoothies with the CEO of our favorite crunchy luxe grocery store, Erewhon Market. Just one lap around this sustainable and super-natural supermarket always gets us excited - and over-budget.

We recently Snapchatted our way down the aisles of the Venice location to share some of our favorite products with you (incense, beet kraut, almond butter and mineral water included) and thought we'd ask Erewhon's top pro, Tony Antoci, what he sees trending on the shelf right now. Erewhon has been on the health scene since the mid-60's and we consider their over-the-top smoothie bar one of a wellness gal's main hangs in L.A., whether in Hollywood, Venice or Calabasas. Here's Tony...

Top 3 trends of 2016: Fermented coconut yogurt (here's how to make it at home), the medicinal mushroom reishi, and food-grade natural body care. Can’t forget CBD (Cannabinoid – Google it, it's going to be huge!)

Trend that's gone for good: Trusting conventional grocers.

Trend that never goes out of style:  Feeling good and having boundless energy!

Strangest product you stock:  Camel Milk. Strange, but extremely beneficial. Deer antler and beef liver capsules are cool too. Editor's note: when responsibly sourced, deer antler is never harmful to the animal. 

fave products: New Earth 13 Strand Coconut Yogurt, Thorne Research Meriva-SR, Lotus Blooming Herbs Shilajit, Ojai Energetics CBD oils and our amazing all-organic produce department.

Most popular smoothie bar order: The one and only “Superfood Green Goddess” with coconut, herbs and greens -  ice cream style or as a smoothie!

Most elaborate smoothie bar order:  The $30 Jing City Tonic.  This is the starting price, I have seen $100 tonics. Our barista, Truth (yes, that’s his name), created the $30 Jing City six years ago. Truth was famous for making probiotic, power-packed ice creams that reached the $70 to $80 range!

The post Crunchy Luxe: 5 Top Wellness Trends From Inside Erewhon Market appeared first on The Chalkboard.

Nuts, seeds and berries sounds like a woodland critter's dream menu, but let's not discount the simplicity here: this super easy, super satisfying snack by Mikaela Ruben, plant-based personal chef to half of Hollywood, is everything we need for an instant energy boost.

Here's why we're loving this recipe: it includes just about everything we love to whip up snacks and beauty DIY's with! Gather materials, then make this sauce in an instant and enjoy it while you whip up all of this too...

With the chia seeds... Make this chia jam here
With the honey... Try these 3 beauty routine DIYs here
With the almond butter... Try this absolutely insane smoothie here
With the tahini... Try all of our genius ideas with our fave super-condiment here

The post 14 Ways To Use Almond Butter, Chia, Honey + Tahini – All Our Faves appeared first on The Chalkboard.