***cover photo by Marie Viljoen

Well, Happy New Years! Can you believe it’s 2011? Why not ring it in with our first of Edible Manhattan of the year. There’s no better way to raise your “spirits”! Yup, you guessed it, it’s our Alcohol Issue.

The BACK OF THE HOUSE brings us into the warm glow waiting down a back alley that is Freemans. With taxidermy on the walls and tinctures in the drinks, it’s quite an oasis for the early eves of Winter. We also explore their sister restaurant Peels, do try the sensational build-a-biscuit breakfast sandwich program, and their ethereal baked goods.

Still parched? Try Haus Alpenz’s Averell Damson (Plum) Gin Liquor made exclusively with stonefruit from Red Jacket Orchards, red & white on tap at The Breslin, lessons from a DIY flower wine maker, a place of record in East Harlem (Vinyl Wines), one of the first wine bars in NYC (Morell Wine Bar), sip some Mexican mezcal that came north for the winter, come “In The Kitchen With: the godfather of the modern cocktail revival, Dale Degroff“, an sample an array of housemade bitters from bars around the city, and there’s even more beer (Kelso) and booze (Comb) to boot.

Craziness, it’s almost 2011. Don’t pull your spirit muscles during this “holidaze” stretch, relax, and let someone else do the cooking for you. EDIBLE BROOKLYN’s 20th Issue (Winter 2011), starts with a throwback piece of cake on the cover (photo by Stephen Gross, ssgphoto.com), the ooey gooey Brooklyn Blackout Cake that used to be made by Ebinger’s Bakery since 1972, but we’re sure glad it’s making it’s comeback.

One of my favorite finds of the year, NORDIC DELI (nordicdeli.com), the nation’s largest Scandinavian food importers and mail order business, regale us with tales of yesteryear, when a strip of land in Sunset Park and Bay Ridge used to be called “Little Norway”, and was home to over a quarter million Scandinavians. No, they don’t serve reindeer (joika) anymore, but they do house-cure their herring (sursild), and make one of the best holiday bread’s (julekaker) around.

We also visit CONVIVIUM OSTERIA’s BACK OF THE HOUSE, a true family-style trattoria in all senses of the word (the Pulixi’s live above the restaurant, and their children home-schooled, ensuring they eat “family” meal together everyday).

For those unable to make their own food, Citymeals-on-Wheels comes to the rescue, be it tamales in East Harlem, or bok choy in Chinatown, they’re there to provide homemade foods for homebound elderly. And if you’re thinking about volunteering, also read our “In The Kitchen With: Joel Berg, one of the country’s leading anti-hunger advocates.

That’s not all, a Soup Party, a tour of Chinatown with Buddakan’s chef, and a chock full of small-independent entrepreneurial food business burgeoning in Brooklyn.

Hope you have a December to remember and see you next year!