“Is everything ok?” asked the passerby at the sight of shuttered gates and lights off at Russ & Daughters this morning, his voice expressing mild panic as if he had just stumbled upon an unfortunate accident or was shaking someone out of a bad dream.  While we were touched by the outpouring of concern- he was actually not the first, but more like the sixth, person to wonder- we were happy to explain that today the shop was closed for our annual company picnic; we were headed to the country.

We ate, we swam, and had our annual softball match. Amongst other deliciousness,  we feasted on a fabulous summer pasta salad of Russ & Daughters bottarga, tomato, shitake and shimeji mushrooms, prepared by our very own David Wolfe. You can ask him how to make it next time you’re in, now that we’re back in the shop and everything is back to normal.

- Niki Russ Federman