Cycling
Cyclist
I remember as a child the first moment I could get on a bike and can ride far away from my parents, so far I couldn’t hear them call my name. This moment gives freedom, excitement, adventure and the feeling of flying. The wind, the smells, it’s a first taste of real freedom. I have enjoyed the journey back to the bicycle and the clarity, focus and exhilaration it still has every time I go for that ride or adventure.
Chefs Cycle
Chefs Cycle is a fundraising endurance event I’ve been involved in for a number of years featuring award-winning chefs and members of the culinary community fighting hunger outside the kitchen. Chefs Cycle has engaged culinary talents who want to push their limits by completing a three day, 300 mile ride while raising funds and awareness in support of No Kid Hungry. Their goal is to have 250+ chefs riding to help raise $2M, which translates into 20 million meals for kids facing hunger.
My Cycling Program
I made a conscious decision to work with brands that work hard toward better long term environmental impacts in their production, and all facets of how they do business. From sustainable rubber farming and product production, lifetime warranties, availability to be serviced and repaired or recycled when it’s time to let it go. All of these things help me offset my recreational environmental impact.
Heritage, Precision, & Heat Treated Steel
A tour of Shimano’s home town with Chef Chris Cosentino
From the moment I hit the ground in Japan, the excitement is so thick I can cut it with a knife. I’ve touched down in Sakai, a small manufacturing city outside of Osaka and the hometown of Shimano, to explore the culinary and cycling heritage of the region. I’m here to see what makes this part of Japan so special.
The Perfect Roubaix Experience
Paris–Roubaix always falls around my birthday and as I watched on TV every year I’d think: “I need to go there for my birthday one year.” I wanted to cheer on the racers as they battled the cobblestones in the Arenberg Forest—although the idea of actually riding Paris–Roubaix seemed unthinkable for mere mortals. But then I learned that there’s a sportif the day before the real race and anyone with 40 euros and masochistic tendencies can sign up.
Why Japan? Why Ramen? Why Ivan Orkin
IVAN ORKIN and I met on a street in Manhattan eight years ago. We knew of each other but had never met. I was on my way to eat and invited him along. We went for an incredible impromptu offal meal at Takashi and talked about Japan for hours. Then, two years later, we bumped into each other in Shibuya, Tokyo, and he spent the day touring us around. Ivan’s love of Japan is infectious. What follows is just a taste of our conversation.
Shells & Clams
Growing up in New England, my staple Italian dinner was spaghetti with clams, garlic and white wine sauce. It is delicious but I always felt it was hard to eat and messy—you were for sure going to ruin your shirt. So, when I made this recipe, I thought about putting the clams in pasta shells, allowing the shells to hold the sauce and the chopped clams—and saving your clean shirt. This makes a classic a lot of fun and it’s much easier to eat.
Fava Beans, Strawberries, & Pecorino
As spring hits in full force, we see amazing fava beans and sweet strawberries come at the same time in California. Here is a perfect combination of the season, featuring sweet, tart, salty and rich ingredients all together in one simple salad. It serves four.
A Monument To Life
The idea of being able to go back to Tuscany was inspiring. Besides cooking and eating, I’d be butchering with fellow chef Dario Cecchini and having dinner with an Olympic gold medalist before watching and riding Strade Bianche. A first highlight, in Florence, was finding the most amazing street cart, whose proprietress Beatrice, I later learned, had worked for Dario for years. She was singing Madonna’s “Material Girl” while making panini. Her sign read: “I will not cut the sandwich; it makes a mess; get your own.”
