Restaurant Partners
At the Chef’s Table
This month, Ben Schmerler is At the Chef's Table.
Ben Schmerler
- First Press Public Relations
How did you get involved with City Harvest?
I was invited to join the Food Council around four years ago. Since a number of clients were already involved with City Harvest, it was a natural fit.
Why is hunger an important issue for you?
I spend a lot of my waking moments thinking about preparing and eating good food. At the same time, I realize that that is a privileged position to be in and secondary to the more fundamental question: Do you have enough food?
What is your favorite part about working in the restaurant industry in New York City?
Helping passionate, incredibly hard working people build successful businesses.
What inspired you to focus on doing PR in the food industry?
I had been an editor at Zagat for many years and wanted to be more involved in the industry. My business partner, Michael Gitter, and I thought that there was a niche for a PR company that gave journalists what they really need from business reps: clear, concise fact-driven information delivered in a timely manner.
What new trends in the restaurant industry are you excited about?
As a Queens resident I’m excited that more high-quality food businesses and serious restaurants are opening in the borough, where, in addition to lower rents than Manhattan and Brooklyn, there’s far less competition. It’s a lot easier to stand out as the best restaurant in Forest Hills or Long Island City than in the West Village. There’s also a far larger audience for smartly conceived contemporary restaurants than many people realize.
Do you cook? If yes, what is your favorite type of food to make?
I cook every night I’m home, mostly Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dishes, but rarely repeat a dish even if my wife and I love it. Unlike some home cooks, who can be dismissive of recipes and prefer to wing it, I love using them and find them an interesting window into someone else’s perfect dish. My favorite cookbooks are: Moro, Casa Moro, Spice: Flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean and Crazy Water Pickled Lemons.
What can you not live without in your kitchen?
Ingredients: Pimenton, fennel pollen, Edmund Fallot mustard. Equipment: food processor, blender, fine strainer.
What is in your refrigerator?
Current notables include: a lot of cheeses with big personalities; chorizo from Greenmarket purveyor Hoosic River Poultry, homemade watermelon-lemonade ice pops for my three-year-old daughter and the other kids in the building.
What is your favorite type of food to eat?
Shawarma. Based on my years of “researching” options around town, my hands-down favorite is the one at Mr. Broadway (37th and Broadway), not far from City Harvest’s headquarters.
What is your favorite junk food?
Popcorn, with kernels from Greenmarket purveyor, John Madura Farms. It’s not cheap, but it’s far superior to anyone else’s.
What was the last best meal that you had?
Sripraphai in Woodside. It’s Queens’ number one destination restaurant. Get the fried watercress salad, the drunken noodles and the fried soft-shell crab with pineapple, pumpkin and green curry sauce.
