Recent Eats

Finding a good neighborhood restaurant, the kind that can be a go-to place, when you live in Midtown is a tougher task than it seems like it should be. Artisanal is in a perfect location, not too far away, but I've always found that it's just a little too expensive and is often hit or miss. It's most suitable for a cheese and wine occasion. And if you like cheesecake, they make a darn good one.

Vegetable quiche with wild mushroom, spinach, taleggio cheese and a side salad. It's a large portion and because it's so rich, half of it was enough to fill me for lunch. There are lots of mushrooms in it so you don't feel like you're just eating eggs and cheese.

Artisanal cheesecake with pecan praline and caramel sauce. This is the only place where I've eaten cheesecake and not forgotten about it. It's light and not too heavy or sweet; the nuts and caramel pump up the sweetness. The cheesecake also has a bed of crumbs for a crust that provide just the right texture contrast to the cake.

Recycle Your Corks

I've always felt a little sad throwing out the corks from wine bottles, as though they should have some other fun purpose or at the very least be destined for a better end than the garbage can. Well now, here's news for those of you who may have felt the same way however odd it may be: Whole Foods stores will be collecting customers' corks and working with different companies to recycle them in various ways.

Small Bites

- Tel Aviv is Israel's culinary capital.

- The Village Voice interviews the executive chef of Gramercy Tavern.

- Photographing food and posting it online for others to see (seem familiar?) is an exploding phenomenon.

- Yelp, a source of many customer restaurant reviews, is changing the way it posts reviews.

- A study of Dairy Queen.

 - The Boston Globe publishes the first of a three-part series about a couple opening a restaurant on a budget, in a recession — are they to be admired for pursuing their dream or considered foolhardy for "misguided idealism"?

- The last sardine cannery in the United States, in Maine, is to close this month.

- Why eating oysters isn't inconsistent with being a vegan.

- People have complicated relationships with food.

Custard Kick

With the weather getting warmer, I've found myself swinging by Shake Shack more often to fill my custard cravings.

On a gloriously beautiful day this weekend, I actually found a line for the B line for the first time. But not excruciatingly long, unlike the main one, which wound around the curvy paths of Madison Square Park for what must have been a two- to three-hour wait. 

But now, on to the Pancakes & Bacon custard. It looked like vanilla, but perhaps we had to break in for the surprise. It turns out this was pure disappointment. Where oh were the bacon bits? Or the buttery flavor of pancake batter? If my dining companion and I hadn't known better, we would have assumed this was a creamy vanilla with sporadic salty pockets.

***

Mondays are Shack-uccino day. The custard was flecked with what I assume were espresso bits and had a mild, creamy coffee flavor with light undertones of cinnamon. It was tasty, though I could go for a more robust coffee note to it. But the ample helping of custard was appropriately refreshing for a warm day.

Recent Eats

Typically dessert is a post-meal snack. But last weekend, dessert was my version of pregaming. My evening began at Shake Shack for a double dose of custard. It was my last chance to try the Shack's Saturday March flavor, chocolate peanut butter pretzel. So, despite the unfortunate chill in the air, my dining companion and I stepped up to the B line for a single scoop. There was also a sign for a special "Standing Order Concrete," vanilla custard blended with fresh strawberries and orange-poppy seed caramel. Could we eat all that? Well, we couldn't resist trying.

The chocolate peanut butter pretzel was luscious, firmer than the Shack's custards usually are and, as a result, more my style; I attributed the better texture to the peanut butter mixed in. I'm also not normally a fan of chocolate ice cream, but this wasn't too sweet and had a strong peanut butter flavor. Unfortunately, most of the pretzel bits were soggy, with only a few crunchy pieces. Perhaps thinner pretzels would hold up better. And my dining companion wished they had added even more salt to the whole mixture. But overall, we loved this flavor.

In an afternoon of opposites at Shake Shack, the normally thick concrete was unappealingly soupy. Aside from that issue, this tasted like a slightly sweet strawberry shortcake in a cup! I had a few passing moments of orange flavor and a few glimpses of poppyseeds. With a stronger freeze, I could make this a repeat concrete.

Small Bites

- A review of Jamie Oliver's new television show. Oliver goes to Huntington, W. Va., to try to change the eating habits of the unhealthiest and most obese city in America.

- American culture is obsessed with competitive eating.

- A shortage of slaughterhouses puts a crimp in the eat-local food movement.

- Things are looking up for restaurants with the arrival of spring, returning customers and a bounty of certain crops.

- Learn how to be an urban forager; you can start by finding edible day lilies.

April Custard Flavors

No fooling around here — it's Shake Shack's April custard menu. And today seems like a good day to get out there and grab some!

Monday: Shack-uccino
Tuesday: Gianduja
Wednesday: Strawberry Blonde
Thursday: Milk & Honey
Friday: Fluffernutter
Saturday: Pancakes & Bacon
Sunday: Carrot Cake

The Authenticity of Chinese Food

A Slate blog post earlier this month asked whether authenticity in Chinese cooking is an overrated concept, after The New Yorker and the Oxford American ran articles about the nomadic Chinese chef Peter Chang and the following he has garnered. And an essay on Open Salon also considered the idea of whether dishes can authentically reflect a particular ethnicity. These both had me pondering my experience of Chinese food.

What exactly is an authentic Chinese food experience? By the dictionary definition of the word authentic, it’s something that is “entitled to acceptance or belief because of agreement with known facts or experience.” And in the case of Chinese food, the known experience presumably would be that of Chinese people. Guess that includes me!

Korean Fried Chicken: The Midtown Lunch Perspective

The long-awaited Kyochon fried chicken finally opened earlier this month to middling reviews with which I agreed. Midtown Lunch took the opportunity to do a side-by-side comparison of the three Korean fried chicken places that will soon occupy spots within a block of one another. For now, Bon Chon's 38th Street location stands in for the coming Fifth Avenue branch.

More El Quinto Pino

Just a few days ago, I posted my review of El Quinto Pino, a tapas bar in Chelsea that I've come to like a lot. Now, there's even more opportunity to squeeze EQP into your day: Grub Street reports that they will open for breakfast beginning tomorrow.  

No. 7 Sub Review

Have you ever thought about what to have for lunch, considered a sandwich and then concluded that a plain old turkey and cheese with wilting lettuce and a soggy tomato just seemed boring and uninspired? No. 7 Sub is attempting to change that attitude by offering crafty sandwich combinations. It's just a small takeout-only joint on Broadway near 29th Street, around the corner from the hip Ace Hotel, joining Stumptown Coffee and The Breslin restaurant in making this the new "it" neighborhood.

After perusing the menu that includes both options for vegetarians or omnivores, I narrowed my choices down to the Braised Lamb and the Ceviche. Upon asking for a recommendation, the woman at the counter offered not her preference, but her approach to choosing a sandwich: She tries to tailor her choice based on what kind of day it is. Given that it was rainy, to her it was a ceviche sort of day; she wished to be on an island somewhere, so she'd want something refreshing. Though I had been leaning toward lamb, I let her convince me. And I figured if I went with the one I was feeling less and it impressed me, that would be that much stronger of a statement.

El Quinto Pino Review

El Quinto Pino has quickly became one of my favorite places in the city and in a little more than a month I have already returned twice. A narrow room made charming by the low lighting and dark wood, and chalkboard menus up and down the far wall and the center column. Seating options are limited to stool seating along a curved bar or along the opposite wall and a single, friendly waiter manages to keep everyone happy. Our party of four lucked out and managed to get one small bit of table that juts out from the wall. But the best way to guarantee yourself a space is to visit in pairs, or go early or late.

We started with a few dishes at a time and slowly worked our way across much of the menu, adding a couple more every time the waiter passed by. The food was fantastic and the reasonably priced drinks put you in a happy mood. I'd recommend the Pomada — Frozen Basil infused gin lemonade from Mallorca — or the sangria.

We started with the marinated lamb skewers — chunky pieces of lamb with a deep musky flavor — and the bocadillo de tortilla espanola. A sandwich of potatoes and eggs coated in a light mayonnaise sauce between two pieces of delectable doughy bread from Tom Cat bakery seems like a crazy carb overload. But this is an excellent combination, filling and wholehearted.

Small Bites

- A tour of New York restaurateur Michael Huynh's favorite places in Ho Chi Minh City, where he grew up.

- Harvard University gathers some big-name chefs, including Ferran Adria and Jose Andres, to teach a course in culinary physics.

- You can't visit North Korea, but you can eat at Pyongang, a North Korean restaurant chain, in various places throughout Asia.

- NBC's blog, Feast, interviews Thomas Keller. In Part II, Keller talks about how the recession has primarily hurt private dining at his New York restaurant, Per Se, and how he would like to open a Bouchon Bakery in Brooklyn.

- Eating fat might not be such a bad thing, as long as it's the good kind.

- It's often been said that eating many small meals throughout the day rather than just three meals speeds metabolism. The Really? column says there's little difference.

- Pepsico plans to test out a "designer salt" that it hopes will help consumers reduce sodium intake while retaining the same salty flavor in its snacks.

- The health care bill passed this week includes a requirement, like one that already exists in New York City, that all chains across the country post calorie information on their menus,

- Not only have real portion sizes grown over time, but also the size of entrees in various depictions of the Last Supper has increased.

Recent Eats

This weekend I popped back in to a few of my favorite places and tried out a new food cart.

Casellula Cheese & Wine Cafe is a great Midtown wine bar hidden off to the side of restaurant-heavy 9th Avenue, on 52nd Street. It's an easy place to return to because it falls into an all-purpose category: If you want a casual dinner, a menu of small and large plates makes it easy to achieve. Wine, cheese and/or appetizers? You'll find any and all of that here with good quality. If you're looking for a late night drop-in spot, Casellula is open until 2 a.m. everyday.

On this particular visit, my dining companion and I ordered light — the stuffed peppadew peppers with buffalo mozzarella and speck; white anchovies with fennel and pickled shallots; and a plate of three cheeses chosen by the restaurant. Salty, sour and sweet. The cheeses are each paired with an appropriate and fun accompaniment. We got a mild goat's milk cheese with an orange honey, a hard cow's milk cheese with sweet and sour onions, and a sharp sheep's milk cheese with prickly pear ketchup. A perfect warm-up spot for the evening.

****

Biryani Cart

A post-play late night snack of Bombay Spicy Chicken Biryani. This was unlike any biryani I've had in a restaurant. The rice itself was plainer; the sauces on top added the spice. The chicken was pretty good and there was a hard boiled egg in the center. It was similar to the chicken and rice dishes you get at other halal carts. It likely also makes good post-drinking food.

K! Pizzacone review

 K! Pizzacone: Today was your chance to convince me, a pizza lover, that despite your silly name, your concept of pizza in an easier-to-eat form would woo me. You had been teasing me for weeks as I walked by. This was your day only because I missed my chance with No. 7 Sub, which ran out of bread by the time I returned on its first day. Your open doors were welcoming and my stomach too weak today to pass you up. The bossa nova playing in your bright yellow room was novel for a fast food joint. You offered so many choices, but I finally settled on bbq chicken with tomato sauce. You made me wait, but you came out looking quite nice.

Let's Try That Again

Midtown Lunch reports that Kyochon, which has been open for just about a week, has closed to retrain its staff after poor initial reviews.

Small Bites

- As if there weren't enough types of food contamination to worry about, add spices to the list. The FDA is urging the spice industry to find better ways to reduce the risks.

- Slate tells us what whale meat tastes like. I had my own sample of Minke whale on a trip to Norway a few years ago.

- Frank Bruni shares his thoughts about restaurateur Donatella Arpaia's move into television. Bruni also had a story in last weekend's New York Times Magazine about Katie Lee Joel, former host of Top Chef and aspiring food celebrity.

- Hipsters using food stamps to support their foodie lifestyles — are they scamming the system or being resourceful?
Update: One of the people featured in Salon's article defends himself.

Sweet News

In happy news for those addicted to sweets, the city's dessert options continue to expand. The Dessert Truck and the Van Leeuwen ice cream truck opened up storefront branches and Doughnut Plant and Shake Shack announced plans to open additional stores. Now, Il Laboratorio del Gelato, a fabulous gelato place in the Lower East Side, will bring us a new larger location with seats in June. The bigger store will allow them to offer more of their flavors at once and will stay open later.

Kyochon Review

After being away for a few days, my first meal back in New York City of course had to come from the newly opened Kyochon. Judging by the line out the door, it seemed many other people had the same idea, even late in the evening. The wait was for the upstairs dining room. So we opted for takeout, where the wait was only as long as it took for our order to be filled. In a walk-by at lunchtime today, the takeout line was nearing the door. Eater has gathered the early reactions from around the Web. And my experience was not too much different.

From the Archives

In case you missed them, a look back at some of my favorite posts.

Reviews:
Alinea
Blue Hill Stone Barn
Per Se
O Ya

Reflections:
On Chinese New Year.
On Thanksgiving.
On grandma.
On rice.
On ice cream.
On supermarkets.

Small Bites

- Finding a good grocery store in New York City is a tough order because many are small and dirty or have little stock while others are just plain expensive. In a grocery comparison between Gristedes, Food Emporium, Fresh Direct and Whole Foods, which would you guess is the most cost-effective option? The answer might surprise you.

- The people behind the recent documentary Oscar winner "The Cove" are part of a sting operation on a California sushi restaurant suspected of serving whale meat.

- A Chinese herbal treatment may help curb the rising number of people reporting that they are afflicted with allergies.

- Musicians are foodies too. Several own restaurants.

- Fluorescent lights at supermarkets may help make spinach healthier for you.

- Why healthy stuff costs more than the bad stuff.

- An interview with Daniel Humm, chef at Eleven Madison Park.

Recent Eats

Some scenes from good eating in Vail, Colorado, earned after hard days of skiing. Given the large group, not all dishes were documented; these encompass primarily things I ordered or tasted.

****

An excellent meal at Sweet Basil. There were few complaints among the very tough crowd and in fact there was much praise for both the food and service. The one minor complaint being the lukewarm temperature of the main courses, but the quality and flavor of the food made for room for forgiveness. But as we ate dinner, there were often moments of silence at the table — just the sound of happy diners.

Caesar Salad

Creamy garlic vinaigrette, organic egg, reggiano parmesan

Jumbo Lump Crab "Mac and Cheese" 

House-made ricotta agnolotti, parmesan brodo, orange, black truffle

This was the first thing my hungry heart gravitated to on the menu and a solid recommendation from waiter sealed the deal. It was an excellent appetizer with a great helping of crabmeat and several agnolotti in a terrific truffle-flavored broth.

Or Not

The wait goes on for Kyochon to open. The grand opening is now scheduled to take place Friday. I had actually hoped to get some Korean fried chicken for dinner Wednesday night. If only you could have seen how fast my face fell when I spotted the paper still up in the windows! And only moments earlier, I had been imagining the crowds and how long the line might be. Sigh.

Small Bites

- After failing to open a lower Manhattan outpost, Grimaldi's Pizza plans to open a 24-hour branch in the Limelight Marketplace, in a former church on W. 20th Street.

- Tipping is always a hot topic for debate, or maybe, just complaint. Also, a North Carolina customer was refused service for being a bad tipper and in return, she calls for a boycott of the restaurant.

- Dining at Blue Hill Stone Barn is a meal to treasure, especially when you think about all the fresh fruits and vegetables of the spring and summer. But can a meal at this local farm-based restaurant still be as interesting in winter? The Washington Post finds that even in cold weather, Blue Hill still finds a way to pull off its inspired cooking, and that a trip there should include an exploration of the surrounding area.

- Flavorwire comes up with a fun little guessing game for these artistic photographs of typical breakfasts from various countries.

Kyochon Opening Imminent

 

The long-awaited Kyochon is finally slated to open tomorrow! 

Recent Eats: Part II

Brunch at Joseph Leonard

At a tiny place like this, in the West Village, even arriving early in the day for brunch can't stave off a wait, albeit a short one for us. This atmosphere was welcoming, homey, decorated like a rustic cottage with knick knacks scattered around and black and white portraits on the wall. It turns out all of my food blog reading came in handy — I recognized the owner, Gabe Stulman, eating here. He moved from spot to spot visiting tables that must've been filled with regulars or friends. (It was recently announced that he'll be opening another restaurant just across the street.)

Joseph Leonard's clientele was dominated by women who had obviously spent much time putting together classy outfits and making themselves up, which seemed uncharacteristic of such a casual atmosphere. While it made for good people-watching, it left my dining companion and me feeling rather out of place. I usually try to avoid places filled with such people — they're often not as focused on the food they put out. And had we anticipated it, we might have used that as a hint to what our meal would be like.

Pork and garlic sausage, fried eggs, hashbrown, crème fraîche and arugula

Shake Shack's March Flavors

What better way to start off the week than with a new month of Shake Shack custard flavors. Hooray for the return of Coffee & Donuts!

Monday: Chocolate Chuckles
Tuesday: Mango Madness
Wednesday: Peppermint Patty
Thursday: Coffee & Donuts
Friday: Lemon Meringue
Saturday: Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel (mmmmm...)
Sunday: Pineapple Nut Brittle

Just for comparison's sake, this is what March looked like one year ago:

Monday: Giggles
Tuesday: Peppermint Patty
Wednesday: March Mango Madness
Thursday: Strawberry Blonde
Friday: Cinnamon Toast
Saturday: Coffee & Donuts
Sunday: Piña Colada

Recent Eats: Part I

A Day in Brooklyn

Being the foodie that I am, my visit to the Brooklyn Flea market was focused mostly on the food options. Even in the indoor winter location, there are several food vendors to choose from. We went for a $10 sample platter from the Red Hook Vendors: a chicken tamale, a zucchini pupusa, chorizo, rice and beans and all the condiments (cabbage, jalapenos, pickled onions). There was so much food it was enough to leave two people stuffed. The disadvantage of being indoors — the food wasn't being cooked to order, but was being prepared somewhere else and brought to the stand and kept warm in various containers. But, in fact, after tasting the food, it didn't seem to matter. The masa on the tamale was light and had a deep corn flavor and the tamale was filled with a generous helping of tender braised chicken. The pupusa was fresh and soft and the zucchini was a nice ingredient for it. The chorizo was flavorful with a bit of spice, but was the one thing that wasn't hot. 

Of course something sweet must follow the savory. The buttercream brownies with sea salt and cocoa from Scratchbread were just too tempting to pass up. It had a soft, creamy texture just verging on fudginess, with a bittersweet flavor. It managed to be light and salty and just a tad messy with cocoa powder drifting off with every bite. But we couldn't get over how amazing it was, agreeing that it might have been one of the best brownies we had ever tasted.

Ice Cream News

Diner's Journal reports that the Van Leeuwen Ice Cream's expansion to an actual storefront in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, has been completed and was to open yesterday. It may be time to go see if I can procure more Earl Gray tea ice cream!

Van Leeuwen Ice cream
632 Manhattan Ave between Bedford and Nassau Aves
Greenpoint, Brooklyn 
(718-701-1630)

Small Bites

- The owner of Porchetta in the East Village fulfilled a challenging request to feed Marines in Afghanistan.

- For fans of the Treats Truck: A peek inside Kim Ima's West Village apartment.

- It's been too long since we had a good ice cream post. Many ideas for what seem like original ice cream flavors are just stolen from other places, says Toscanini's Gus Rancatore. Corby Kummer's article on ice cream from 2000 that is linked to within is an interesting read as well; burnt caramel was unusual 10 years ago, but I'd say it's pretty common now.

- Eliminating BPA, a chemical that may be linked to various health problems, from food containers is no easy task.

- Do you keep your fridge clean and neat? No? Maybe you could use a little help, but you aren't the only one.

- A bribery scheme allowed tomato products that did not meet quality standards, including some of which were moldy, to make it into the food manufacturing industry. 

- I have to admire the courage of someone who would try sushi from Jack's 99 cent store for the sake of a blog. To have lived to tell the tale = automatic bragging rights.

- Calvin Trillin has a fun article in this week's New Yorker about Chinese chef Peter Chang who has a groupie-like following. Only an abstract is available online.

Marea Review

Marea: If you haven't heard about this sweet spot on Central Park South, then you haven't been paying attention. This name has recurringly popped up as a place worth mentioning —on twitter feeds with people spying celebrities dining here or food industry notables posting about their amazing meals. And, if you want to take it from a lowly food blogger, the hype is justified.

A dinner at Marea should come with a warning — you may develop a love/hate relationship here. This is the type of meal that leaves you feeling like you can't breathe at the end because you need to unbutton those pants. You'll be in pain but a pain that you wish you felt more often. Even when you are so full you can't take another bite, you urge yourself to do so because you don't want to miss out on a thing. You'll curse those extra pounds at the end of the week, but use the memory of the meal to motivate you to run harder at the gym so you can eat here again. It's pricey and you might be inclined to lament how much this will lighten your wallet, but you'll be overwhelmed by an appreciation for how far your money goes and how much a good meal can do to bring you happiness.

Shelf Life

Ever wonder whether the food that's been sitting in your fridge for some time is still edible? I know I often do. I usually make a determination based on a glance at expiration dates and a possibly risky sniff. Slate tells us why we shouldn't pay much mind to sell by dates. But I've also often made use of a handy Web site called Still Tasty to get a better idea of just how far I can push my luck or just to find out how best to store certain foods (i.e. in the refrigerator or in the cabinet?).

Through a Chef's Eyes

Yes, we foodies are a bit obsessed with the closing of El Bulli. Diner's Journal has a short essay by Grant Achatz, of Alinea, on his first experience dining at El Bulli 10 years ago. There is a strange irony in reading how in awe Achatz was, given that today, it is probably similar to what many people feel when they dine in his restaurant, including myself:

"What the hell is going on back there, I thought. I know cooking, but this is the stuff of magic."

Small Bites

- Not all Chinese food is that familiar greasy Americanized glop you too often find in restaurants everywhere these days. Chinese food has a great diversity derived from the many different regions in China. The Times puts some focus on Dongbei food from the northeast part of China, which you can try in Flushing, Queens.

- Can macarons displace cupcakes as the sweet treat of the moment?

- Frank Bruni expounds on the wild interest of diners in the exclusivity of El Bulli and other coveted reservations. And the Wall Street Journal wonders whether molecular gastronomy will be a lasting trend.

- Why do many people become lactose-intolerant as they grow older?

- A former owner of Cafe des Artistes offers her ideas on the reasons for bad service and surveys people in the restaurant industry for their ideas on how to make it better.

- Chef Gabrielle Hamilton of Prune restaurant in New York defends salt lovers.

- Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver wishes to overhaul the American food system and is awarded the TED prize to help him pursue that cause.

- For all the criticisms Walmart has endured, could its efforts to be a serious competitor in the market of sustainable food sellers be laudable? Corby Kummer investigates on The Atlantic Food Channel and even pits Walmart products against Whole Foods groceries in a taste test.

- Slate takes a stab at explaining why calorie counts might not help people to eat healthier.

A New Year, A Full Belly

My food choices for the first day of the Lunar New Year were reflective of my Chinese-American self: American brunch (followed by a visit to the Museum of Chinese in America) and snacking in Chinatown.

Brunch was at Jo's in Soho. When you first walk in to this restaurant, you see a bar and a few tables and stools up front. It looks like a New York closet-sized space. But then you are led back through a narrow hallway into the back dining room that feels like a cozy cave. 

The small menu here is fairly simple with pretty standard American brunch items, but very gently priced. My dining companion and I decided to go for a savory/sweet split. We shared an order of poached eggs Benedict with potato hash and buttermilk ricotta pancakes with warm cherry maple syrup. 

 

The eggs Benedict were good, but not lukewarm by the time they arrived on the table. They also curiously came with a side of really tasty jam that didn't have any apparent use on this dish. The potatoes were well seasoned and qualified as a decent hash (it's a pet peeve when the menu lists hash and you get what essentially boils down to roasted potatoes).

  

The real star was this amazing plate of thin pancakes — buttery and so hot they were still steaming when we cut into them (maybe the eggs sat waiting for these to cook). The cherry sauce wasn't too sweet, but added a nice tartness to the stack. These pancakes were probably some of the best I've had in the recent past and it was a nice change from the more common pile of two or three thick, fluffy pancakes.

Gung Hay Fat Choi!

Happy Chinese New Year!

My family gathered for the traditional New Year's Eve dinner this weekend and indulged in a 10-course banquet meal at Ping's Seafood. Everything is served family style atop the bright red tablecloths, and because our family spans three large round tables, there are three sets of every dish. I managed to capture every dish on our table, though not all before they'd been dug into; this is not a crowd that waits for photo shoots!

 Assorted platter of Chinese cold cuts, jellyfish (center), tofu, and the best parts — fried squid and roast pork. Oh, and the sliced vegetables that are garnish — no one eats those.

A Tasty Thursday

Thursday was made up of good eats that I share with you here.

Not in the mood for cafeteria salad, I decided to consider something new in the work neighborhood. I've often passed by an intriguing little black sandwich board sitting on the sidewalk outside a freight entrance on the corner of 39th Street and 7th Avenue. It lists specials in fluorescent colors for Nick's Place. I had seen it written up on Midtown Lunch and not long ago a coworker told me she had gotten some tacos from there that turned out to be quite tasty.

I warily pulled open the heavy metal doors to the freight entrance and walked to the back of the hallway where I found this tiny, quaint restaurant that even had a few tables. I was somewhat skeptical given that the menu consists mostly of generic deli food like wraps and paninis. But I was set on an order of chicken tacos — they come three to an order for $7.50. The other options were salmon, skirt steak or vegetarian, but if you wanted to mix your three tacos, it would cost more money. The people in the kitchen behind the counter were frantically whipping up lunch orders; it looks like they do a brisk takeout business. Unfortunately it meant that I waited about 15 to 20 minutes for my order.

When I got back to the office, famished, I tucked in to my hot lunch. These are not Americanized tacos, these are the real deal. I was surprised to find that the delicious shredded chicken covered in guacamole was wrapped in soft blue corn tortillas — all the better. I drizzled a little hot sauce on top for some spiciness and finished this off in minutes. This won't be a one-time visit, but next time I just may call ahead.

El Bulli Makes a Sad Announcement

Ferran Adria has decided to close El Bulli permanently. It makes me sad I never had a chance to eat there, but given the competition for reservations, I probably never would have made it. My Alinea experience will suffice.

Small Bites

- Robert Sietsema, the Village Voice restaurant critic, writes in the Columbia Journalism Review about the history of restaurant reviewing from the formal newspaper review to today's multitude of food blogs.

- Salon takes a mouthwatering tour of hand-pulled noodle shops in Chinatown.

- Food writer Josh Ozersky, in his column for Time magazine, wonders if chefs' efforts at natural cooking have gone too far.

- What Alice Waters does with her Sundays.


- An interesting thought: Does food packaging, by helping food to stay edible longer, help to produce less waste than eschewing packaged products because of the materials they come wrapped in?

Restaurant Week: Bar Room at The Modern

When you spin the roulette wheel of reservations for Restaurant Week, hope that it lands on the Bar Room at The Modern. This is another one of restaurateur Danny Meyer's very successful restaurants, with a kitchen helmed by Gabriel Kreuther, last year's winner of the James Beard Award for Best New York City chef. Big names or accolades don't always add up to consistently great food, and you never know what you'll get during Restaurant Week, but the Bar Room shows that it can be done by producing an amazing and worthwhile dinner. 

With 11 options for course one, 10 for course two and seven more for dessert, I could easily return to the Bar Room multiple times without exhausting my choices. And the restaurant offered the Restaurant Week menu exclusively during this time. Who can argue with that?

Tarte Flambee: Alsatian thin crust tart with creme fraiche, onion and applewood smoked bacon

I was excited to see this giant pie set before me; I'd at least ordered well for value based on portion size. Though it was thin crust, this pizza-like dish was filling and I actually had to stop myself from polishing the whole thing off (I saved a couple pieces for later) so that I ensured I would have room for everything. The shredded bacon had me skeptical at first — the small pieces might have translated into a puny flavor. Instead, the smoky taste was bold and present in almost every bite, mixing in perfectly with the creme fraiche.

A Splash of Creativity

As if it the news that Ferran Adria is going to close El Bulli for a couple of years wasn't enough to shake the food world, there's been talk of Grant Achatz (the chef of Alinea) applying his culinary inventiveness to cocktails by opening a bar with an alcohol tasting menu. While foodies are probably already prepared to jump on reservations, the whole thing is still just a dream. But the rumors did spark an amusing and embarrassing mistake for the Independent. Until the dream becomes a reality, the Wall Street Journal article about chefs and their ideas for new ways to imbibe that prompted all the speculation is worth a read.

Restaurant Week Extended

If you missed out on the two weeks of Restaurant Week, you have a little more time to grab some good meals for less. Restaurant Week has been extended until February 28.

Only Fools Feed Their Faces

When barbecue restaurant Hill Country announced a gluttonous, perhaps foolhardy food challenge recently, maybe they were trying to lure Man vs. Food's Adam Richman to their Flatiron territory. While I sometimes like to imagine that I could easily take on some of those hefty feasts — if it involves pizza, I think I could go pretty far — Hill Country's challenge is not one to fool around with. Yet, two people have already completed it (although not gracefully) and Grub Street joined the game and documented the experience. It doesn't sound appetizing and I'm pretty sure something like this must kill barbecue for the participants forever after.

Small Bites

- The Wall Street Journal takes a look at regional candy bars, which are now mostly a thing of the past.

- You may think you know ramen, the pre-packaged dried noodles in overly salty broth that got you through college, but fresh Japanese ramen is an entirely different thing. Matt Gross gets a ramen education in some of Tokyo's shops. For a good local option, try Ippudo.

- Give those greens an extra wash, even the prewashed kind. They are found to still have fecal contamination. That's your gross news for the week.

- How handy is the iPhone in the kitchen? Slate's Sara Dickerman tests it out.

- Anyone who has been to a Japanese food court, like the one at Mitsuwa market in Edgewater, NJ, will be familiar with fake food displays. In Japan, the fake food makers take great care to make sure it looks like the real thing.

- With recent concern over salt content in the food we eat, the City Critic finds out just how much salt is in some New York City dishes.

Restaurant Week: Dovetail Review

My second winter Restaurant Week meal took me to the Upper West Side, just around the corner from the Museum of Natural History and next to Shake Shack, to an under-the-radar spot housing an upscale restaurant called Dovetail. Had a friend (who became my dining companion on this evening) not recommended this to me, I might have let this place slip by. Here is a place where you get ultimate value for your $35 meal. Not only did we get three courses for that price, where many of the main courses alone on the regular dinner menu exceed $30, but Dovetail also offers the little "extras" that are a signature of high-end meals.

The atmosphere, a little dark and plain, makes you feel like you are in a fancy place but in an understated way. The service was a little stiff but given that we were practically thieves with a deal this good, I'll give the place a little slack.

Our evening began with a shotglass of an elegant beet puree topped with smoked salmon and creme fraiche, to be eaten with a classy mini spoon. This bright greeting arrived with individual servings of crumbly, buttery, addictive cheddar cornbread. A lovely way to whet the appetite before weaving our way through an alternating path of meat and seafood.

February Flavors

February brings us not only a new month of Shake Shack Custard flavors, but also, Pancake Month at Clinton Street Baking Co., where every few days the Lower East Side restaurant features a different special flavor of pancake. But first, our custard options:

Monday: Chocolate Chip Cookie
Tuesday: Bananas Foster
Wednesday: Coconut Almond Snowball
Thursday: Key Lime Pie
Friday: Lemon Ricotta Cheese
Saturday: Passionate Pineapple
Sunday: Bee Mine

At Clinton Street, you can only get these pancakes on weekdays, but you'll be able to eat them breakfast, lunch or dinner — if you can manage to get in.

1, 2, 3: chocolate & blood orange pancakes w/candied orange glaze
4, 5: poached pears with vanilla bean whipped cream & warm maple butter
8, 9: fresh coconut pancakes with passion fruit syrup and bananas
10, 11: roasted apples with candied walnuts and warm maple caramel
12, 15: chocolate chunks, fresh raspberries, and raspberry-caramel sauce
16, 17: brown sugar pecans, bananas and cinnamon maple butter
18, 19, 22: classic chocolate chunk
23, 24: fresh blackberries, pecan streusel, warm maple butter
25, 26: crunchy bananas with cinnamon-chili-chocolate sauce

If only I could hit both up today, it would be a very happy Monday. Given that Shake Shack closes its B line (custard and drinks only) in the winter, I mind less that three of the flavors are automatically out for me: I hate bananas, to me coconut is only good in savory contexts and I'm allergic to pineapple. I am curious to know what Bee Mine contains though. Anyway, best wishes for a sweet month!

Restaurant Week: Dell'anima Review

There are so many different reasons to settle on a particular place for a Restaurant Week meal.  Dell'anima had never before participated and it was a restaurant that had been on my list of places to try for a long time. But any time I've thought of it and checked for reservations it was always booked. So, this seemed like a great opportunity to check out this West Village nook. After eating at this charming little restaurant that had only 10 tables, I now see why reservations were hard to come by.

Lunch was a delightful experience, the cute room was quiet and not overcrowded with tables, making for a comfortable and relaxing meal. The RW menu hadn't been posted online, so it was a gamble, knowing that some restaurants make their RW offerings boring or limited. Dell'anima offered only two choices for each course, but in this case, with only two of us dining, I was happy because it meant that we could try everything on the menu. The portions were hearty and perfect for sharing. And while the main subject of each dish may have sounded boring on its face, Dell'anima found ways to dress them all up beautifully.

Charred octopus, rice beans, chorizo, chicory

Beet salad, pistachio, tarragon, lime, caramelized yogurt

Small Bites

- A cool visual narrative of the Mast Brothers chocolate bar-making process.

- The New York Times T Magazine blog describes an intriguing, but bizarre-sounding interactive dinner theater experience in Cophenhagen.

- A Wall Street Journal reporter eats his way through all of Danny Meyer's restaurants in a single day.

- The pine nut, an ingredient I have long loved and thought underused, is becoming the latest trendy ingredient.

- Is culinary school worthwhile?

- Marvin's Soul Food in Chicago is a place where black history is remembered.

- Scientists may have created a gel that will help suppress appetite.

- Just because your beef came from grass-fed cows does not mean it's safe from E. coli.

Against Alice Waters?

A recent piece in The Atlantic by  Caitlin Flanagan criticizing the Edible Schoolyards program has gotten a lot of people riled up. Even Flanagan's colleague over at The Atlantic, Corby Kummer, weighed in with his disagreement.

I'm inclined to agree with Flanagan's critics. A quote from Kummer's essay summarizes how I feel about the issue:

"What we know about gardens is that it opens experiential pathways for kids to learn," he said. "Different learning experiences correlate highly with improved test scores. This gives kids a stronger background knowledge in the kinds of subjects that are likely to appear on standardized tests. They'll see the kinds of ideas, people, concepts, and different languages they're exposed to with the Edible Schoolyard appear on tests. It's very helpful."

This summer, the first New York branch of the Edible Schoolyards program will break ground in Brooklyn.

Num Pang Review

Vietnamese sandwiches, banh mi, used to fall into the realm of New York City's cheap eats, sold from tiny shops in Chinatown, but they soon crept uptown, morphing into more expensive yuppie iterations of themselves. That paved the way for Num Pang, a nook selling Cambodian sandwiches (which is what the place's name means) not far from Union Square.

I stopped in one evening last weekend and tried one of the sandwiches listed under specials — the five spiced pork belly with pickled Asian pear. At first glance, I wondered if the $7.50 sandwich might leave me hungry. But once I dug in, I realized that between the thick, crispy hero and the generous hunk of pork, I couldn't even finish what I had before me. The pork was slightly sweet and flavorful, though it could have been a tad more tender, and heavy. But the cilantro lifted the sandwich, offsetting the pork with a wonderful freshness supported by the long slices of cucumber and the pile of sliced carrots. The subtle sweetness and gentle crunch of the Asian pear was a surprisingly good match with all the other ingredients. The glaze on the meat combined with the chili mayo dripping from the sandwich made for a down and dirty meal. But it's one I'll trust to satisfy my hunger and that I'd happily have again.

From Truck to Storefront

Last summer, the city lost one of its great street food vendors, the Dessert Truck. But they're back, now going by the name of DT Works, having graduated to a Lower East Side storefront. They still have the same menu of desserts for now, but reportedly will add more sweets in the future.

And not far behind, it seems, the Van Leeuwen ice cream truck will be opening up shop in Greenpoint.

Kyochon Gets Closer

Kyochon, on the northeast corner of Fifth Avenue and 32nd Street, continues to tease and entice as the plywood comes down. They really want you to be hungry by the time they open!

UPDATE: Meanwhile, the new branch of Bon Chon on 38th Street is now open, according to Midtown Lunch. It's looking less club-like and a lot brighter than the Koreatown branch was.

Quote of the Day

"So I tracked down the juiciest lamb in Diyarbakir, Turkey; the fluffiest falafel in Hebron and Jerusalem; the richest veal-stuffed agnolotti in Turin; the most vibrant pumpkin-stuff ravioli in Parma. But it wasn't food as a compulsion; it was food as an investigation, an education, a discovery."

- Frank Bruni, "Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-Time Eater"

Small Bites

- When a craving for good Japanese food hits, some people head to the nearest sushi joint or izakaya. But a 72-hour eating trip to Tokyo sounds like a better idea.

- A "gastronomic university" is to open in San Sebastian, Spain, where students can become mini-Ferran Adrias.

- If you have some spare liquor in the kitchen, make use of it by cooking. NPR has some suggestions.

Recent Eats

Chennai Garden: Although this Indian spot in Curry Hill is vegetarian, the food is so good and so filling that I never even stop to think about that fact when I head here. It's a fun place to go with a group, the better to share with; the menu is dense, but the food is very affordable. The combination dinners are a good option for sampling several different items, though it'll take some work to figure out what's included in each because the dishes are listed by their Indian names. Or just go for it and be surprised. The Gujurati combination dinner was a hit for us. The dosas, long crispy crepes filled with some combination of potato and onion, are always a solid bet, especially the masala dosa. On this visit, I was introduced to malai kofta, a punjabi curry with vegetable fritters, and that's definitely one I'll have to have again. Iddly in sambar (rice and lentil flour cakes in a spicy soup) and channa masala (chickpeas, onions and cilantro) rounded out our meal (and us!).

A Voce Columbus: This is the younger sibling of the Madison Square Park original, which has gone downhill since the departure of chef Andrew Carmellini. He was replaced with Missy Robbins, a chef from Chicago's Spiaggia, and this branch opened under her watch last fall. Brunch here was a classy affair — the space is wide-open, with high ceilings and tall windows overlooking Central Park, and everything was bright and shiny. But you feel like you are paying for it.

The Uovo Fritto was a stack of fried egg, a gamey lamb sausage patty and a corncake garnished with arugula and pilacca, an Italian fried chili sauce that added a little kick. It was more filling than I anticipated it to be. The egg crepes with fontina and prosciutto were rolled like a stromboli, cut into three sections and turned on their side; by the time they reached the table, they were lukewarm.

As is often the case at most Italian restaurants, the pasta was the standout of the things we tried. The pappardelle with braised rabbit and hen of the woods mushroom was cooked well. Though generously portioned, I'm not sure it was worth the $25 price at brunch. The biggest ripoff seemed to be the sodas, poured from 8-ounce bottles. So, unless you're dining on someone else's dime, I'd follow Andrew Carmellini to Locanda Verde instead. 

No Reservations

Times restaurant critic Sam Sifton reviewed The Breslin last week. The Breslin doesn't take reservations and Sifton raises the love/hate question over such a policy. Does this provide a fairer opportunity for everyone to try a restaurant or is it just a royal pain?

In New York, a line stretching out the door is a beacon to New Yorkers; if so many people are willing to wait, it must be worth trying. It seems like those restaurants that don't offer reservations do it more for the hype it can generate. I have never been sympathetic to the no-reservations system. Allowing reservations allows anyone with a phone or a computer to get a seat at a restaurant but the opportunity to eat there gives priority to those who plan ahead. On the flip side, perhaps it also encourages those who like to plan ahead a bit too much to make reservations and cancel later, leaving the restaurant with a table to be filled. But it's likely that the restaurant was bound to have some empty tables anyway or that the table would be filled by others looking for a last-minute reservation or walk-ins who take their chances.

No reservations means a play-it-by-ear evening. Who knows if the wait will be 20 minutes or an hour. Want to make a movie? You'll have to be prepared for the next showing or the one after that.

I'll admit it — I don't like to wait. A restaurant that doesn't offer reservations is less likely to receive my attention. Or I'll only try it at my convenience, when I know I can go at a time when I won't have to wait. Most places that do offer reservations these days do so through opentable.com, so there's the added bonus of earning points that can be redeemed for a check that can be used at any restaurants that participate in the system. A free meal? Yes, please! When I go to a restaurant, I prepare myself for my meal by going hungry. Crowded into a tiny entrance or, sometimes even worse, shunted outside, my stomach growls and my crankiness grows. No thanks.

Midtown Lunch Expands to Downtown and Philly

One of my favorite food blogs, Midtown Lunch, is now devoting sites to Downtown Manhattan and Philadelphia. For some time, there have been Downtown lunches featured on the main blog, but now it'll get its own section. And soon, Midtown Lunch's editor, Zach Brooks, will be moving to Los Angeles and eating his way through that city for us as well.

A New Doughnut Plant

First it was the beloved Shake Shack cloning itself, providing us more opportunities for delicious eating. Now word comes, via Time Out New York's The Feed blog, that Shake Shack's sometime partner in fattiness, Doughnut Plant, will open a new branch in Chelsea that will be larger than the Lower East side location. And you won't have to take it to go; there will be tables to sit at and enjoy the caloric goodness.

Small Bites

- Domino's takes an odd tactic for advertising: criticizing their own product.

- New York City's quest to make people healthier now aims to get food manufacturers and restaurant chains to reduce the salt content in their food products.

- Head to China and try an imperial feast (which may or may not be authentic), if you can afford it. You'll get things like peacock drumsticks or deer's lip.

- Slate's Explainer tells us how food companies determine serving sizes.

- It IS possible to hold a dinner party midweek. Sara Dickerson explains how she does it on Double X.

January at Shake Shack

The cold weather probably doesn't have most people thinking much about eating ice cream and even less so, ice cream you order while standing outside. But it's a new month and there's a new rotation of Shake Shack flavors to consider for those of us who have an obsession with ice cream:

Monday: Gianduja
Tuesday: Blood Orange
Wednesday: Salted Caramel
Thursday: Roasted Peanut
Friday: Carrot Cake
Saturday: Mint Chocolate Chip
Sunday: Cinnamon Toast

A Preview of Southern Eating

Although I didn't enjoy any warmth in the South last week, I did indulge in a lot of good eating. Here's a very small sampling:

 

 

Detailed write-ups to come!

Currently Reading

After many months of waiting, I have finally reached the top of the public library's request list for Frank Bruni's seemingly very popular book, Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-Time Eater. An excerpt from the memoir ran in The New York Times Magazine last summer.

Recent Eats

Some recent weekend eats:

Xie Xie: It remains unclear whether this Hell's Kitchen sandwich shop, which bills itself a "project" is actually some kind of wacky experiment or just another entry in the recent race to popularize Asian sandwiches. The shredded braised chicken sandwich and the Vietnamese BBQ beef sandwich were both tasty and included a little something to make it special. The chicken was smothered in a smoked egg salad with cilantro; a tad on the salty side, but flavorful and original. The beef was more evenly flavored but dressed up with basil mayo and carrot kimchee. And despite the frigid weather, I managed to taste "1000 year old" ice cream sandwich. This was caramel ice cream bundled up in two flaky chocolate cookies with a liquid black salted caramel center. Though the taste of caramel was distinctly there, it was an interesting clash between the eyes and the tastebuds —the bizarreness of the black center could really throw you off. While the sandwiches definitely fall on the more expensive side, this is a decent option for a quick, casual pre- or post-theater meal. (See the review at Serious Eats for some images.)

Oxtails

Maialino: Danny Meyer's lastest creation opened not long ago in the Gramercy Park Hotel. I'm happy to report that he's done it again and presented another terrific restaurant, this time a Roman trattoria. The place has been popular with prime reservations being booked a month in advance. On a fluke I managed to grab a Sunday night one. Maialino straddles the upscale-casual atmosphere so that both those dressing up for a special occasion and those going for comfort in jeans can coexist. Service, something even the most upscale of restaurants often fails to nail, is perfect — enthusiastic and helpful, offering suggestions and explanations. Fried artichokes and marinated sardines kicked off the meal just right; the variety bread basket useful in helping to make the most out of everything on the plates. The malfatti pasta with suckling pig ragu (as close as we got to sampling the namesake dish) and arugula was an outstanding first course and the kitchen kindly split the portion before bringing it to the table. The oxtails with carrots and celery filled me with nostalgia; the dish was similar to an oxtail stew my dad made when I was a kid. Three oxtails, the meat tender and just a little bit fatty, provided fuel to survive the cold. And lastly, who can pass up homemade gelato: a mix of fior di latte, dark chocolate and pistachio served with biscotti. Though it may be hard to return, the bar up front is first come, first serve and it seemed approachable enough. Though it serves a different, more abbreviated menu, I'm sure a taste of any food from here will be welcome and satisfying.

Grand Sichuan: This is usually a good Midtown option for Chinese food delivery, but can also be hit or miss. And on this occasion, it really missed. Next time I'll stick to my solid standbys of Gui Zhou chicken, Ma Po tofu or dry and sauteed string beans with minced pork. The crispy shrimp with Sichuan sauce and the plain (not so) spicy chicken with chinese broccoli failed to quell the craving for a good meal.

Small Bites

- For 22 years, Lazy Lady farm in Vermont has been producing seasonal cheese.

- R.W. Apple's wife is planning to auction his wine collection.

- Salon has an interview with chef Wylie Dufresne, of WD-50.

- Danny Meyer will open a new restaurant in the Whitney Museum, replacing a Sarabeth's.

- Are vitamin supplements actually more harmful than helpful?

Time For a Hiatus

I'll be taking a little break until next week. There may be some light posting, so check back.