The omnivore's dilemma, indeed. Would Michael Pollan eat squirrel? Photograph courtesy of Alia Malley

Todd Kliman, food and wine editor

• Mmmm, just what I want to dig into on a cold, winter day: ash, the new It ingredient. And not just ash—artisanal ash! Key Ingredient: Ash 

• Crunchy-trendy types think eating local is all about cheeses and chickens from local farms. This Seattle woman has a more traditional notion of local—one that Michael Pollan and others might turn up their freshly exfoliated noses at, but which speaks right to the heart of what they so high-mindedly champion. I can almost taste her risotto di rodentia now: Eastern gray squirrel braised in Lopez Island white wine, with mushrooms and rice. Dinner gets very local for squirrel-eating Seattleite

Melissa Clark is not afraid of a little fat. Photograph by Lucy Schaeffer

As far as food writers are concerned, Melissa Clark is living the dream. She is a New York Times columnist, a culinary mag contributor, and the author of more than 30 cookbooks, including collaborations with top toques like Daniel Boulud and White House pastry chef Bill Yosses.

Clark recently visited Washington to promote her latest work, Cook This Now, a personal record of seasonal recipes she compiled over a year of making her favorite meals for her husband and three-year-old daughter. We caught up with her at KramerBooks & Afterwords Cafe, where she dished about the essentials of good cookbook writing, favorite New Year’s Eve dishes, and which local chef whips up a sauce good enough to be licked off a shoe.

You’ve worked on so many cookbooks. What do you think is essential to writing a good one?

I always say there are so many different paths to dinner. So what I do in this book—which I probably will do in anything I write from now on, really—is to break it down: all the other ways the dinner could have gone. I could have done this if I had this, substituted this, etc. I show people all the roads not taken. I love the roads not taken.

Ramps, also know as wild leeks, flood farmers markets and restaurant menus for a few brief weeks every spring. With all the hype, it’s tempting to snap up a bunch in the short time they’re available. But what’s the best way to prepare the garlicky-tasting vegetable?

Ramps are versatile, which is part of their attraction, and are found in everything from vinaigrettes to pasta. We love Estadio chef Haidar Karoum’s preparation: tossed in olive oil and salt, grilled, then topped with smoky romesco sauce and shaved Manchego cheese. Karoum makes the same dish with young scallions, which hit the market just as ramps fade out of season.

This recipe makes extra romesco sauce, which keeps in the fridge up to a week and in the freezer up to a month. Use it on fish, chicken, steak, veggies, soft-shell crab, or just about anything you throw on the grill this summer.

Washington's best chefs crave a spot in Washingtonian's Best Of issue, and they reach for new heights at the Best of Washington party. We've got pictures of the chefs, and some of the night's tastiest dishes in our Best Dishes slideshow.

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Kenny opens tonight's episode reminiscing about Arnold and Lynne leaving the house. Angelo cozies up to Tamesha while Ed and Tiffany shoot the breeze, and it feels like the director wants us to believe there's chemistry and sexual tension here when there isn't.  Jeesh.  No one loved the Hosea and Leah season, so let's not try to re-create it, shall we?

Photograph courtesy of Bravo TV.

Angelo Sosa

Age: 35.

Hails from: Durham, Connecticut, which he describes as a “cow-tippin’ town.” Works in Manhattan.

Job: Owns Xie Xie, a sandwich shop that turns out Asian-accented lobster rolls and fortune cookies with yuzu cream. He hopes to expand it to many cities, including Washington.

Gael Greene moment: Speaking of that lobster roll, Sosa muses: “The flavors are pounding—like getting into the ring with Mike Tyson.”

Reminds us of: Season-two winner Ilan Hall.

Education: Manchester Community College, Culinary Institute of America.

Mentor: Jean-Georges Vongerichten, whom he worked with for five years. Sosa was executive sous-chef at both Jean Georges and the original Spice Market.

Moment he’d like to forget: He once accidentally set veal bones on fire at Jean Georges, causing the dining room of Trump International Hotel to be evacuated.

Praise from on high: Alain Ducasse has kind words for Sosa, whom he put in charge of Spoon Food & Wine in Paris: “The cuisine of Angelo Sosa tells a story—his story—in a new style of his own, which is at once uninhibited, bold, arousing, and inspiring.” Although Ducasse sounds as if he’s narrating a cologne ad, it’s still pretty badass.

Point at which his publicist should’ve shushed him: Sosa tells the Village Voice that his big dream is “to be a household name” and “exploit” the sandwich-shop concept.

Scorecard: 8 points for years working with the big guys, 3 for being the resident hottie, 3 for ambition and self-assuredness, minus 1 for Jersey Shore levels of hair gel. Total: 13 points.

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