This week, we’re leaving the excitement of our usual routine behind in favor of a moment of charity.

Bullfrog favorite Sara Moulton is a Food Network veteran, an established cookbook author, longtime Executive Chef of Gourmet Magazine and Food Editor for Good Morning America.  She has a lot on her plate, and come March 7^th, she’ll have a fair bit more.

That night marks Sara’s debut as MC of the 5^th annual Just Desserts Benefit, organized by the Voices of Women Organizing Project (VOW).  All proceeds from the event will help to support VOW’s efforts to hold abusers accountable for their actions and improve the systems to which battered women and their children turn for safety and justice.

In addition to delicious desserts, hors d’oeuvres, wine and treats from some of New York’s finest restaurants and bakeries (like Del Posto, Chanterelle, Hearth, Cake Man Raven, Kee’s Chocolates and The Chocolate Bar to name a few), guests can look forward to a short theatrical interpretation by Outside the Box and Little Angel Productions, of the 1977 Tony Award nominated play “for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf,” written by one of the pioneers of the women’s movement, Ntozake Shange.  The VOW Singers will also perform an original song by singer/songwriter Bev Grant, celebrating the courage, perseverance and activism of survivors.                                    

For more information about the event or to make a donation, please visit VOW’s website or call 212 696-1481.

As your resident Frog Blogger rounds out year one of dedicated service in the pond, her mind turns to the changes she’s seen at Bullfrog & Baum. 

We began our tenure sitting perpendicular to top frog Jennifer Baum at a cozy little loft on 23^rd Street.  We met new Frogs, like the lovely Kate Schwab and Miss Melissa Flores, a long-locked master of spin, and settled into a comfortable diet of deadlines, soft openings and industry buzz.

In May, we left our roommates behind and moved a few blocks downtown to our new 19^th Street digs.  The move brought lots of changes—among them the arrival of more smiling faces—from the nervy candor of Kay Lindsay and Amanda Hathaway, to the subtle Southern inflection of Ellen Fobes—and enough elbow room to ease comfortably into the summer months.  We met our new roomies, the illustrious wedding and events planner Marcy Blum and her team of gracious aides.

Evyn Block arrived on the scene in autumn, flanked by Lindsay Weiss and Pamela Spiegel, a trifecta of beauty and lifestyle experts who ushered in the next generation of Bullfrog & Baum with admirable élan.  Charlotte Melcher hit the ground running in October, followed soon after by Becca Brown.  And in addition to a plentiful crop of new clients, we’ve most recently welcomed Alexandra Hynes and Jen Russo into the fold. 

So as we prepare to enter a new season and contend with the challenges of openings, placements and proper usage of our shiny new toaster oven, we’re delighted to know we’re backed by a team of industry pros, primed as much for a press event as they are for a foie gras terrine.  We’ve a crowded lily pad here at Bullfrog & Baum, but we’re happy to be on it! 

No amount of BLT Steaks could have padded our ribs enough to contend with last night’s chill.  While our sister frogs in L.A. are carousing in the California sun, here in New York we’ve been left to tuck our faces ever deeper into our scarves and brace our tender forms against the bitter cold.

We pulled our thickest knits from the closet, swathed our legs in warming, if unfashionable, long johns, hunched our shoulders and rolled our hands into tight, unforgiving fists jammed into the recesses of our coat pockets.  And still we’re shivering.  There’s only one clear course of action here and it’s not a new pair of mittens (not that we would mind a new pair of mittens actually, ours are looking a bit tatty).

No, we’re going for a more ancient salve—the heat that launched a thousand "BAMS" and made Bobby Flay an international culinary star.  Chili peppers—those spicy little nightshades that have a way of warming our brow, stinging our palate and generally upping the ante on any number of dishes—from chocolate to vindaloo.  

Here are some of our favorite spicy finds, sure to keep the cold at bay for at least the length of a meal!

Mesa Grill

Chocolate Caramel Parfait with Muscovado Orange Sauce and Spicy Caramel Shards

Clio

Enter the Dragon cocktail made with Stoli Oranj, Kalamansi lime juice and cayenne pepper  

Aquavit

Hot Smoked Trout with salsify, chive-mushroom and apple horseradish broth

Toro

Patatas Bravas (fried potatoes with aioli and spicy tomato sauce made with dried smoked chili peppers)

Spice Market

Cod with Malaysian chili sauce and Thai basil

And, not that they need it, but we couldn’t leave our West Coast kin out of the mix.  Here’s what’s happening on their end:

Boule

Beckam Milk Chocolate Truffle with curry gianduja, and Scotch Bonnet Pepper-infused Fatale truffle

Sona

A take on s’mores—Red yuzu with kosho marshmallow, homemade graham cracker and bittersweet chocolate sorbet