Restaurant Week: L'Ecole Review

After six years in New York, I feel like a veteran Restaurant Week eater. Each time it comes around, there are new restaurants added to the usual roster, but the list of places I get excited to make reservations for is now often composed mostly of old favorites that I can rely on returning to for a good meal. But this time, a coworker mentioned that L'Ecole, the restaurant at the French Culinary Institute, was on her to-try list. So, I thought I'd check it out.

The space is lovely, elegant and comfortable. And the RW menu was extensive with many options for each of the three courses.

Lunch even began with an amuse bouche — a delicious potato and chive ball topped with crème fraiche and salmon roe.

The seasonal salad was better than your average boring mix of lettuces. It had watermelon radishes, shimeji mushrooms, pickled cherry tomatoes and sherry shallot vinaigrette that made it all a bit tart, in a good way.

Small Bites

— These days, frozen treats go way beyond ice cream — ice cream sandwiches, shaved ice and popsicles are in.

— Grant Achatz talks about the next act (following Paris 1906) for his restaurant Next: present-day Thai food.

— The brilliant technology of the evolving pizza box.

— The SodaStream is making fizzy drinks popular at home.

Mexicue Review

Mexicue is one of those food trucks that I had heard of and wanted to try, but I just hadn't yet caught up with it. The idea of melding Mexican food and barbecue seemed like a good one. I signed myself up for the mailing list as a reminder to myself to try it. As a result, I was able to get an early (free) sampling of the food when they opened up a storefront on Seventh Avenue between 29th and 30th Streets.

I tried an Alabama chicken taco and a Berkshire pulled pork slider. Each would normally be $3.50, which seemed a bit pricey for the small portions. But I also wasn't crazy about the food. The meat in both could have been more tender. The taco was dry (maybe they forgot the barbecue sauce) and tasted mostly of the two layers of tortilla. The pork slider came with avocado and pickled onions, which was a nice combination in theory. But the barbecue sauce on the meat was too sweet. I did like the Arnold Palmer to wash it all down though. Not having tried the food from the truck, I can't say if this is how Mexicue serves all their food. But I hope that the new restaurant, which has a nice, casual seating area upstairs, works through the early phase and improves.

Steve's Ice Cream Review

A small, new ice cream shop, Steve's Ice Cream, opened recently in Midtown. In addition to an interesting selection of ice cream, the shop also sells an assortment of local pastries (including Scratchbread brownies, which I've had at the Brooklyn Flea and loved). The staff was friendly and let me taste several flavors — blackberry honey, too sweet; and olive oil pine nut, delicious — before I settled on Tea Time.

The ice creams had strong flavors; the tea had a great citrus burst to it. The texture visually resembled slightly melted candle wax, but was smooth on the tongue. It's a bit pricey — this mini size was $2.50 — but the portion is just right when you want just a little bit of ice cream to cool off. I welcome new spots to get good ice cream and only wish that they would stay open later. The shop is open until 8 p.m. on weekdays and 7 p.m. on weekends.

July Custard Flavors at Shake Shack

The weather feels like summer now and so do most of Shake Shack's custard flavors for the month.

Monday: Peaches 'N Cream
Tuesday: Mud Pie
Wednesday: Sour Cherry Cinnamon
Thursday: Blueberry
Friday: Salted Caramel
Saturday: Chocolate Chip Cookie
Sunday: Sweet Corn

On the Road Eats: Bottega

Yountville restaurants are all about the star power. It's almost impossible to avoid it. And so my dining companion and I ended up at Bottega, which belongs to Food Network star Michael Chiarello, for lunch.

The food was pretty good, though I imagine that in a few months I won't remember what I ate there. The service was memorable — because it was terrible, slow and inept. It started with our having to ask for our drinks twice before they finally arrived.

We began the meal with the shaved artichoke salad with Parmigiano Reggiano. The artichokes were served two ways, braised in lemon olive oil and fried. It was tasty and showcased, once again, the terrific produce of the area.

But after eating this appetizer, the waitress informed us that the kitchen didn't have the main course we had ordered. We're not sure why she waited that long to tell us this and why she didn't immediately bring a menu so we could choose a replacement dish. When she finally gave us a menu, she didn't return to take our new order for quite some time. 

For a second appetizer, we had the green egg and ham olive oil-poached Delta asparagus. It came with a crispy soft-boiled egg, prosciutto bits and Cambazola crema. The coating on the egg was a bit too thick and the fried taste overwhelmed it. The asparagus was fresh, though I wish it had been crunchier.

Sunrise Grill Review

Life is definitely interesting when I can get Jamaican food twice in one week from two different food trucks in Midtown. Early last week, I tried Jamaican Dutchy. I told a friend about it and her coworkers mentioned another nearby truck, Sunrise Grill. For some time now, I've walked by the bright yellow truck with its flashing sign nearly everyday, but hadn't had a chance to stop by to see what they were serving. So I decided to go for my second Jamaican lunch of the week.

The handwritten menu advertised the day's offerings. Like Jamaican Dutchy, they also had stew chicken, but I decided to try the oxtail instead.

Jamaican Dutchy Truck Review

Last week, I passed by the Jamaican Dutchy on 38th Street near the corner of Broadway. The truck wasn't serving food yet because they'd had some trouble parking, but I grabbed a menu and hoped it would be back. Today, it was there again and they said they would be at this location daily. The truck had a steady flow of interested customers, but there wasn't much of a wait for my food.

There are several items to choose from, including oxtail or curry goat, but I decided to try a small stew chicken for $8. The portion was huge and the chicken came with rice and peas, a plantain and some cabbage and a bag of chips. The tender chicken was smothered in a brown sauce with a heavy flavor of spices, which was quite good. I wasn't crazy about the rice (and that's coming from someone who loves rice), but there's plenty of chicken to fill and still have leftovers. I'm looking forward to going back to try the Midtown Lunch-approved goat curry.

On the Road Eats: Ad Hoc

Yountville, California, is Thomas Keller's town. For those who can't get into The French Laundry, the options to get a Keller experience abound. There's Bouchon Bakery and the adjacent Bouchon Bistro. And a bit farther down the road, Ad Hoc (which happens to sit right next to Redd).

Ad Hoc, originally intended as a temporary casual dining restaurant, has continued to live on as a permanent spot serving one simple four-course menu, family style, that changes every night. So, this is one for those who are ready to take their chances with what might be served. You'll likely have made a reservation in advance, but on the day of, you can check the Web site to see what your $52 will get you.

The interior is comfortable and without pretense or stuffiness. It's the right place to unwind after a day of touring wineries.

On the Road Eats: Redd

For the food-focused, a visit to San Francisco should include a side trip to Napa Valley if time allows. My Napa experience was centered in Yountville. The town is small  and though the "downtown" is just a small strip along Washington Street, it's disproportionately filled with great restaurants, the most famous being The French Laundry. There's also a branch of Thomas Keller's Bouchon. While I wasn't lucky enough to count myself as a diner at The French Laundry, my dining companion and I stumbled upon a wonderful lunch place called Redd. The menu lent itself well to making a meal out of several appetizers.

The crispy calamari was a huge portion tossed with a little bit of parsley. It was filling and delicious.

The shrimp salad with shredded butter lettuce and tomatoes was fresh — the produce really does taste better there. There were several pieces of shrimp, large and perfectly cooked.

On the Road Eats: San Francisco

Though it's hard to shun dim sum when in Chinatown on a weekend, congee (Chinese rice porridge) is a good alternative. And Hing Lung specializes in it. My dining companion and I ordered two bowls — one with pork and preserved egg and the other with salted pork bone — along with a Chinese fried doughnut. Two bowls was too much and we could have done with just one. But they were both delicious and the doughnut tasted fresh — a crisp crust with a chewy, doughy inside.

On the Road Eats: San Francisco

After having read about Humphrey Slocombe in The New York Times (and given my love of ice cream), I knew it was a must-try spot during my trip to San Francisco — an ice cream shop serving up some truly wacky flavor combinations that dare you to try them.
 

The shop is located in the Mission District, a newish storefront among the many established places with old-fashioned signage and much of it in Spanish. Though there were just a few people when I first arrived, the line grew quickly behind me. You can try flavors, but it's hard to limit your tastings to just a few of the 10 or so flavors offered on that day. But the staff was patient and friendly, singing along to the pop music playing. And if you pay by credit card, you sign by scrawling your signature with your finger on an ipad.

The final combinations: kumquat poppyseed and cucumber ice milk sorbet, and hibiscus beet and strawberry Szechuan sorbets. My favorite was the kumquat poppyseed — there was a playful balance between the fruitiness and the dark nuttiness of the poppyseed. I didn't care for the cucumber ice milk, but I don't particularly like cucumber flavor except in its original form. The hibiscus beet had a strong beet flavor that worked surprisingly well. The strawberry Szechuan wasn't spicy as I thought it might be but the strawberry flavor had a peppery undertone.

The Latest Shake Shack News

The newest branch of Shake Shack opens today in Battery Park City. Eater tells us that besides the location-specific concrete mixtures (Wall-nut Street: brownie sundae with cherries; Lower West Side: chocolate with marshmallows and Mast Bros. cocoa nibs; Downtown Butter Brown: hazelnut brown butter streusel and fresh fruit), they'll be the only branch in New York offering half-sized portions of concretes.

If you want to stick to scoops, here are the flavors for June:

Monday: Boston Cream Pie
Tuesday: Raspberry Granola Crunch
Wednesday: Strawberry Cheesecake
Thursday: Black Raspberry
Friday: Honey Roasted Peanut
Saturday: Coffee & Donuts
Sunday: Banana Bread

On the Road Eats: The Slanted Door

For just about as long as I've been interested in food and restaurants, I've associated San Francisco with The Slanted Door. The upscale Vietnamese restaurant in the Ferry Plaza building has established its reputation quite well over the past 16 years and, from my experience, it seems that the reservations for dinner in the large dining room are still being easily filled.

Unable to get a table, I thought I might try my luck as a walk-in at the bar. But as it turns out, my dining companion and I ended up here at lunchtime just as the restaurant was opening. A line was already forming at the door. We tried our luck and were able to get in and were seated at a lovely table with a view of the water.

The long, overwhelmingly intriguing menu nearly guarantees that your eyes will be bigger than your stomach. But by ordering several appetizers, we were able to several things.

The spicy vermicelli rice noodles with chicken, green cabbage, cucumber, mint, peanut sauce and lime was a nice first plate. The tangy mixture was flavorful, though I did wish the chicken had been marinated longer so it tasted less of meat and exuded more freshness.

On the Road Eats: Chez Panisse

When I travel to a new place, my first thought turns to food and what new places I might be able to try. As soon as I found out I would be headed to Berkeley, California, for an intense weeklong workshop, I sought a reservation at Chez Panisse, the esteemed restaurant of Alice Waters, a leading advocate of local and sustainable food and the slow food movement.

I was able to get a late reservation at the upstairs cafe, the more casual side of the restaurant. I was warmly greeted by the host and taken to a corner table. The menu I received said that it was inspired by Colman Andrews, one of the founders of Saveur magazine. As it happens, the following week would be Chez Panisse's 40th anniversary. So, for each of the 40 weeks leading up to it, the menu would recognize the inspiration of 40 different chefs.

Recent Eats

It was a gorgeous Sunday not to be wasted. I eat like a maniac and thankfully have some friends who love to indulge in the same. What you are about to read did take place within a few hours in just one afternoon.

First up, Diner in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

I'd heard rumors of long waits for brunch here and when I called the restaurant to ask when that typically began, I was told 11 a.m. My dining companion and I aimed to be there by that time and we made our deadline. We were rewarded with no line. Diner sits inside of an old dining car, but we passed up the charming interiors to bask in the sunlight.

Though there is a short printed menu put down on the table, it's bare bones and there are no decisions to make until the real menu arrives —a recitation by your server who fills in the blanks, listing all sorts of ingredients for each dish and scribbling crib notes on the paper tablecloth. Ordering brunch turns into a memory game, which isn't the thing most people are in the mood for on Sunday morning. Restaurants, if you want to change your menu constantly, at least give us a chalkboard.

The raisin scone with creme fraiche and rhubarb compote was the most worthy thing we ate at Diner. It was delicious, from the buttery scone topped with large crystals of sugar to the creamy center and the fruity accoutrement.

Melt Bakery Review

Opening weekend at the Hester Street Fair was a sea of people. By the time I arrived, much of the food was sold out. And I couldn't even get close to most of the stands that still had food because there were so many people trying to make their way around in the small space. My hunger was becoming urgent. I spotted a promising place across the street that might fill that need — North Dumpling. There was a short line, but it moved fast and the food was produced quickly. The fried dumplings (10 for $2) and the steamed dumplings (8 for $2) were delicious and wonderfully hot. The sesame pancake with beef was just okay; too much bread and too little meat, which was fatty as well.

Having sated my stomach some, I was better prepared to deal with the crowds, which I needed to do so I could try one of the ice cream sandwiches from Melt Bakery. I gleefully handed over $4 for the "Lovelet" — two soft red velvet whoopie pie cookies cushioning cream cheese ice cream. This baby was well frozen and needed several minutes to thaw out, but it'll be nice when the sun really starts to heat up this summer. I loved the flavors in this. The cookies were fluffy and very recognizably red velvet flavored and the ice cream was smooth and creamy. Melt's Web site lists several interesting flavor combinations of cookies and ice creams that can be ordered for delivery or picked up from their location on the Lower East Side. They'll be opening a storefront soon as well. I hope to try more in the coming months to keep me cool.

The Smoke Joint Review

After a long evening show at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, finding a spot open for a late dinner or drinks turned out to be a little harder than I thought it would be for Fort Greene. It seems that many of the places nearby close around 11 p.m. or midnight. Luckily, my dining companions and I slipped in to The Smoke Joint just before the kitchen closed. The restaurant was still full, so we were seated at the bar. We ordered fast and after a minor glitch, the food came soon after. 

I had ordered a half portion ($8) of the tender smoked chicken, but they were out of the dark meat. As a result, we got two huge portions of white meat. I was a bit disappointed as I prefer dark meat, but once I tasted this, my doubts evaporated. The chicken was extremely juicy and flavorful. A light layer of barbecue sauce coated the skin of the chicken, but there were bottles of barbecue and hot sauces on the counter, so you could season to your taste.

Small Bites

 - Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation, defends foodies who focus efforts on improving the agriculture of eating against those calling them elitist.

- Pick up some tips to improve your food photography.

- Sbarro's declaration of bankruptcy in April seems unsurprising given its tendency to cater to indifferent eats, and this Slate piece confirms it.

- The U.S. Department of Agriculture has created a fascinating "food desert" locator — it shows low-income areas with little access to grocery stores — based on Census tracts. DCentric notes that Washington, D.C.'s food deserts are areas with high concentrations of children.

- Among odd eating experiences — dinner served on the L train from Manhattan to Brooklyn.

Coolhaus Early Review

Several blogs had posted about the food truck promotion last weekend between Coolhaus and Firefox (yes, as in the Internet browser). They teamed up to give out several flavors of ice cream sandwiches in a few different locations around the city. Coolhaus was debuting in New York and this was a great way to introduce its product amidst the burgeoning food truck movement. I liked the sound of the unique ice cream flavor combinations (the mention of Earl Gray ice cream is nearly enough to make me an immediate fan). And, honestly, what could be better than getting one of my favorite things to eat for free!

So I decided to try out one of the ice cream sandwiches at its near-Bryant Park location. Though I got there at noon, when it was supposed to open, it took another 15 to 20 minutes before they actually started serving customers. And by that time, a decent line had formed. They were actually waiting for the ice cream to soften up a bit. And the Firefox promotional people were just arriving to hand out swag. Though the offerings were limited to four flavors, the ie ice cream sandwiches weren't premade, but rather, scooped upon ordering.