This Week in Milk

Gus Van Sant’s Oscar-nominated film aside, milk itself is undergoing a bit of strange renaissance. Milk is hot. Fact is, our recession has accelerated the eternal return to comfort food. And unless you’re lactose intolerant, a tall glass of milk might make you feel better. Here are a few highlights from milk’s current curdle-free moment in the sun:

Raw: The Slow Food, Turin-based supermarket Eataly will soon open their first outlet somewhere in the city. In Italy, the green-supermarket has a raw milk refilling station: customers bring in bottles and fill up. Here’s hoping Joe Bastianich will make a raw milk bar a talking point for the NY Eataly; the illegal import and sale of unpasteurized, unhomogenized milk has long been a thriving trade in the city, complete with drop locations and secret signals. Last year when an Amish farmer’s (read: the dealer) dairy (the lab) was raided by Pennsylvania state troopers, a bunch of raw milk customers in Brooklyn were cut off.

Mixed up: Momofuku Milk Bar chef Christina Tosi, who was interviewed by the Times last week, serves organic whole milk by the glass, as well as the Quik bunny co-opted flavors, wild strawberry and chocolate. The Milk Bar also sells “cereal milk,” which was, of course, co-opted from your childhood. There’s also the more traditional Ronnybrook Milk Bar in Chelsea Market.

With terroir: From 12:30-4:30 p.m. this Saturday (tomorrow!), the non-profit dairy cooperative Hudson Valley Fresh will lead tastings at both Union Market locations in Brooklyn. That’s right: milk tastings. Dairy farmers will be on hand to answer all of your milk questions.

Elsewhere: The 17th annual Hot Chocolate Festival at City Bakery lasts a whole month. New to the lactose-heavy jaunt this year is something called “Lights Out Hot Chocolate.” According to Sweet Freak, the lights go off at 3 p.m. everyday, and customers sip hot chocolate by candlelight. Delivery: Manhattan Milk Company will cart milk right to your doorstep, with a $15 minimum order. And on the page, a book called Milk: The Surprising Story of Milk Through the Ages, which made its way onto many “best-of” lists last year, purports to tell the history of milk in a new whey.