Tyler Takes on Chinatown
by Rob Willey; photography by Maura McEvoy
All New York City neighborhoods have their culinary quirks, but only Chinatown has frog butchers. "The first time you see a bucket of live frogs, you kind of wonder what's going on," says Food Network star Tyler Florence, who lives in a loft on Chinatown's edge. "But it keeps your senses sharp. You walk the streets here and everything is raw, really fresh, beautiful."
This fascination with Asian flavors is clear when he invites a group of friends to his apartment for a dinner party. Nearing the end of an eight-week tour to promote his latest cookbook,
Eat This Book—an eclectic collection of recipes inspired by places all over the world, from Puerto Rico to Morocco to, yes, China—Tyler is happy about the chance to spend time at home, in his own kitchen, exploring the tastes of his adopted neighborhood. "Asian ingredients have become part of my pantry," says Tyler, who counts sake, chili paste and Chinese sausage as cooking staples. "Once I moved to Chinatown, I figured I needed to master its flavors."
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