I am beyond honored and deeply humbled to announce that I’ve been nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award, the category of Visual Storytelling for my BACK OF THE HOUSE photo essays on Craft, Keens, Savoy / Back Forty in Edible Manhattan. I can’t thank everyone involved enough, from the chefs and their crews, to all the restaurants that have let me behind the scenes over the past decade, to Edible for publishing my series for the past 5 years, and of course the James Beard Foundation, whom 7 1/2 years ago let me hang my BACK OF THE HOUSE project on their gallery walls, where I not only met my girlfriend of 7 1/2 years, but also realized I could bring a camera into the kitchen and share my POV about food and the great culinary community. With all this, it feels like I’ve already won, but we’ll see what May 4th has to bring, hopefully one of these …

“Good Enough To Eat” piece in PDN’s Emerging Photographer Spring 2012 about my time as photo editor of Edible Brooklyn and Edible Manhattan.

Thanks to Christopher Testani, Carolyn Fong, and
E. Conor Hagen for contributing photographs to the article.

Part 2 of my interview on food culture website Hogsalt, complete with my ONION JAM recipe! Great for grilled cheeses and more …

Part 1 of my interview on Hogsalt, a wonderful new website preserving food culture. Thanks Kari! Part 2 coming next week (with my Onion Jam recipe).

http://www.hogsalt.com/2012/02/food-eye-photographer%C2%A0michael-harlan-turkell/

*cover photo by Michael Gross

2012 rings in a new beginning and an end. EDIBLE MANHATTAN 21, Jan/Feb 2012 marks my last issue as photo editor.

A last look into the BACK OF THE HOUSE, we enter a legend. Bemelmans Bar, anchored in The Carlyle, the walls adorned with the art of illustrator Ludwig Bemelmens, best known for authoring Madeline, and the bartenders don regal red blazers mixing classic martinis.

It’s the Alcohol Issue, so we sip on sake, spirits, suds, and round up the top shelf Negronis around town (my favorite cocktail).

After 5 wonderful years of working with Edible Brooklyn and Manhattan, I can’t thank all my cohorts and collaborators enough. From the chefs to the farmers to the artisans … CHEERS!

*cover photo by Susanna Blavarg

Edible Manhattan 20, Nov/Dec 2011, our premier design issue, covers the span of wares to accent a meal and sate a hunger.

On the tails of a three star NYTimes review, we witness a decade of influence that Tom Colicchio’s Craft has put forth on the NYC dining scene, via the http://harlanturk.com/album/2/back-of-the-house“>BACK OF THE HOUSE.

We warm up with glogg at Smorgas Chef, meet the mavens behind Chilewich, OXO, Built NY, swing in my favorite store The Global Table for all your tabletop needs, custom decorate cookies with Baked Ideas (as seen on the cover), and round out the year celebrating the Japanese New Year with elaborate bento boxes known as Osechi.

*photo by E. Conor Hagen

EDIBLE BROOKLYN 23, Fall 2011, our first even Kings County “travel” issue, takes us to the Philippines via Purple Yam in Ditmas Park for our BACK OF THE HOUSE.

Travel from Court St. to Africa for some ice cream with Blue Marble. Potluck at the International High School in Prospect Heights, where food was savored and shared in 28 languages. Let’s not forget the Mast Brother Chocolate voyage to the Dominican Republic and back with a boatload of (cacao) beans. And if you’re in Vienna, stop by Leopoldstadt, Brooklyn’s sister city, and have a debreziner (wurst) for me.

Get ready to span the globe in to EDIBLE MANHATTAN 19, Sept/Oct 2011, our first Travel Issue! Yeah, you might think Edible’s all about localization, but it’s also an epicenter, of inspiration (and ingredients) which come from far and wide.

Experience aromatic Malaysian cuisine through Zak Pelaccio’s Fatty Crab in our BACK OF THE HOUSE series.

Travel to Spain with Alex Raij of Basque restaurants Txikito and El Quinto Pino, as she fishes for fresh anchovies to make her famed “pinxtos” bar snacks.

Follow Kurt Gutenbrunner to his homeland Austria, sourcing a vast array of flavors, from vinegars to wine.

You can also take a bus to Vermont for a weekend away, sail off to the Cayman Islands, or go Greek for a new take on the classics. No passport needed as it’s all here in (Edible) Manhattan!

*photo by Moya McAllister

The heat is on, and EDIBLE MANHATTAN 18, July/August 2011 is out. Kind of makes you hungry for the simple ease of al fresco dining. But first you need the plateware, so we visit Fishs Eddy to get a proper set. Then a quick trip pre-service trip to the Union Square Greenmarket with Chef Dan Kluger and Jean-Georges to find the freshest of ingredients for their “local, organic, original food” at ABC Kitchen for our BACK OF THE HOUSE feature.

We hit rooftop gardens, upstate orchard (for currants/cassis), educate ourselves via a new curriculum of Food Studies classes, and of course feed ourselves with a conscious via our local artisans. Come celebrate the summer with all things Edible!

Check out our online edition, http://onlinedigeditions.com/publication/?i=73894

*Cover of Marie Viljoen berry foraging near the Brooklyn Bridge by Vincent Mounier

It only makes sense that to stay cool (both physically and figuratively), Edible Brooklyn’s Summer 2011 issue hits the streets as the heat breaks.

We’re in the BACK OF THE HOUSE of Roebling Tea Room, where Dennis Spina, an “accidental” chef who puts out food with purpose. In the same vein, we celebrate farmers, foragers, distillers alike. June 24-30 is Eat Drink Local Week where many restaurants will highlight the ingredients, landscape and people behind our food and drink. Take the Challenge, and document your EDL week to win prizes!

Check it out online with our digital edition, http://digitaleditions.sheridan.com/publication/?i=72028