The New York Diet

Radio Host Leonard Lopate Skips Lunch But Enjoys Bone Marrow in the Evening

“On weekends I make a big mug of coffee instead of a regular cup.”Photo: Shanna Ravindra
Besides interviewing his share of Nobel, Pulitzer, and Oscar winners for his eponymous WNYC show, Leonard Lopate has picked up a few commendations himself, including a James Beard Award for a conversation in which Ruth Reichl and his favorite chef, Daniel Boulud, explored the relationship between scent and taste. This past week, the Park Slope resident treated his nose to some of the city’s finest bagels and (possibly) the best baguettes outside of Europe.

Thursday, December 7
I had a hunk of bakery white bread, a fried egg, and coffee grinded from a combination of French Roast from Starbucks and beans from the new Fairway in Brooklyn.

I don’t eat lunch. I’m on the air from noon to two. We have pretzels. Today I had some kind of health bar.

Wednesday, December 6
I had a piece of baguette with butter and sugarless jam that I bought in Berlin in October.

I was running to see Dreamgirls, so I picked up a Cuban sandwich at a place on Chambers Street. I ate in the subway.

Tuesday, December 5
The baguette, only this time I had cheddar and some Emmenthaler.

That night, I went with a friend to a nice Greek place, Molyvos. I had sweetbreads and Greek osso buco with the bone and the marrow and orzo. We had two wines: some Greek grape — reserve — and then a Barolo. The chef came by so we had a baklava ice-cream sundae and some Greekified crème brûlée.

Monday, December 4
That night I went to Cipriani 23 because I was a table host for a 92nd Street Y event. The main course was trout; I guess because there were a lot of Jews there, they didn’t do a meat course. They had raspberries with whipped cream and individual chocolate soufflés. I probably took about two bites of that.

Sunday, December 3
On weekends I make a big mug of coffee instead of a regular cup. And I bought a baguette: Pâtisserie Colson, a Belgian dessert place, has very fine baguettes, almost as good as Europe.

There was some rotisserie chicken that one of the kids had. He only eats white meat, so I pulled some of the dark meat off.

Saturday, December 2
I had gotten bagels from the Bagel Hole on Seventh Avenue; some people think it’s the best in New York. I had whitefish salad with an onion bagel.

That night we went to Little D Eatery. I started off with a regular green salad. The Berkshire pork chop is made with a little more fat than they do these days. I usually order things that nobody else in the house would eat — sweetbreads, for example. Who makes osso buco at home? Actually, my ex-wife did …
As told to Daniel Maurer

Radio Host Leonard Lopate Skips Lunch But Enjoys Bone Marrow in the Evening