On today’s wintery mix episode of THE FOOD SEEN, we chat with Jono Pandolfi, whose whimsical tablewares grace the tables of NYC’s hottest restaurants. ***Check out the profile I wrote about his pillow plates for Edible Manhattan

Joined by Will Guidara, GM of Eleven Madison Park, hear how Jono navigated his potter’s world, and ended up “throwing” together a signature line for elite chef’s amuse bouches.

Feast your ears to THE FOOD SEEN on HeritageRadioNetwork.com, every TUESDAY at 3PM!

***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.

Welcome to Winter, oh wait, that’s over a month away, well it seems like time to gather around the hearth and eat pie. At least that how I feel. Edible Manhattan’s Nov/Dec 2010 cover worthy apple pie is that of Gramercy Tavern’s pastry chef Nancy Olsen, and is undeniably one of the best in the city. Lucky for me, I didn’t just stay for pie, but covered the BACK OF THE HOUSE, of Chef Michael Anthony’s hyper seasonal restaurant (“where you know the day of the year by what’s on the plate”) as well.

As the daylight hours begin to wane, and Greenmarket shopping turns to roots, you can still buy your baking good at Broadway Panhandler, a bottle of booze at Park Ave Liquors, stop by Chop’t for quick business lunch, or shop at Agata & Valentina for gourmet groceries, all whom are profiled in our pages. But if you’re looking to get out of the houses, check out MOMA’s German influenced kitchen exhibition, or stop by Dutch-affected restaurant Vandaag, to sample some pine essence (in a bottle and/or on a duck), and feel like the holidays are almost here.

Either way, it’s cold outside. Keep warm.

In Edible Manhattan 13th issue (Sept/Oct 2010), the “harvest” has arrived, “issue” that is, chock full of ingredient driven chefs like in our BACK OF THE HOUSE at Jonathan Waxman’s Barbuto, and well as picking local apples (then mixing it with honey for a sparkling mead), visiting New York state vineyards, marking the growth of farm to table children through the Sylvia Center, returning to the city for a dizzying sunrise to sunset work day at the Union Sq. Greenmarket, all washed down with classic Egg Creams, not to mention we “clam” it up with Alec Baldwin. Not a bad end to summer.

Go drink up the horchata cover shot on Edible Manhattan’s July/August 2010 issue (at Pinche Taqueria, photo by Michael Gross). Heck, read it and down the whole roundup!

From the BACK OF THE HOUSE at il laboratorio del gelato, to the upstate inspired ice creams of Adirondack Creamery, we’re doing all we can to keep you cool this summer.

We’re “In the Kitchen With” renowned photographer Mary Ellen Mark, on a staff party field trip with Zak Pelaccio of Fatty Crab, drinking the “green fairy” (absinthe) at Delaware Phoenix Distillery, not to mention a poignant piece about the need for local grains.