Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I work in the office building right across the street from this place and it's definitely a new favorite - but I would suggest you try the rainbow cookies there. It's a typically maligned dessert, but Lulu does a really great job, which I guess is their schtick. The cake is almondy and chewy, and they use great raspberry jam to bind everything together. Coffee there is pretty good too. Their cakes are also good, but the cookies are not my favorite. They're all very crunchy and thin. Not bad I suppose, just not my style.

This sandwich is ridiculous. So so good. I love it, but it is pretty spicy, and a little greasy. Still, it's absolutely delicious.

I seriously do not understand the obsession w/ Johnny. He seems like a cool guy for sure, but I've been to JG a number of times and the dessert course there is always just awful. Impressive technique but terrible flavor. And I so want to love it, but it is consistently bad. Am I the only one?

Gotta say - I visited Bee's after the Sugar Rush article because the honey cakes looked so good. Sadly, I can't say I will buy them again. They aren't bad by any means, but they aren't the dense and chewy item the pictures seem to indicate. Instead, they are very light and spongy. I can see how they would appeal to some, but not my cup of tea.

Staff was nice though and it has a good atmosphere - seemed better like a better spot to nurse a cup of coffee and read the paper than chow down.

Frankly, I'm shocked that you missed Agata & Valentina on the Upper East Side - arguably Manhattan's last true full service grocery store that specializes in Italian.

You could get any of the cheeses, cured meats, specialty flours, homebaked cookies, vegetables, homemade pastas, imported cookies, oils, I mean, the list goes on and on. It's about as comprehensive as it gets!

You guys really need to take a trip to 79th and 1st Ave - and you may as well visit Orwasher's on 78th between 1st and 2nd while you're up there.

I think it probably comes down to marketing techniques - adding the organic label to a peach is about the only way to add a story to a piece of fruit while a fancy label, heavy bottle and lots of classifications and ratings help make wine sexy. So, you might say that if a wine has to advertise itself as organic it's probably not that good in the first place. Obviously that's on par with thinking, well Parker only gave this 83 points, it's not worth buying. Somehow I can't picture a USDA seal looking like it belongs on a bottle of Oregon Pinot Noir. The Wine Spectator article I mentioned explained some of the markings winemakers DO use though - which seems like it's mostly a logo-fied world. Think the black roosters of Chianti but for Salmon Safe wine.

If you were making organic wine would you feature the USDA seal on it and if not, how do people know it's not just some fake claim? Especially if you made the wine in Australia or something? I think what we're talking about here is also not so much organic but sustainable. If you pipe in gallons of water to grow vines on a desert, does it matter much if it's organic?

You might check into the Demeter Association, they seem to have some of the toughest certification requirements and I think they take those things into account.

Sounds cool - where am I supposed to get these grapes though? Anyone ever bought grapes out there - where did you get them and how much did they cost? How did you even tell if they were good or not? Other than that I can see it on my tiny balcony in Manhattan now!