Greg Baxtrom is the man behind Olmsted, a restaurant in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Prospect Heights. I stayed in the borough, though I went a few neighborhoods away, to Fort Greene, and to an artist who is deeply identified with the borough, Mos Def. When you pick a Mos Def song, you’re picking something that’s socially aware, brilliantly analytical, and also organized for maximum potency: sort of like good food. I sent Greg “Climb,” a beautiful and abstract song about ambition, aspiration, loneliness, and community.
You can prepare the fritters ahead and then fry them when you're ready to eat.
Over the many years that I've cooked with shiso I've discovered it's the perfect counterpoint to fresh crabmeat.