February 26, 2010
From Serious Eats: New York
Posted by Katie Quinn, February 25, 2010 at 3:00 PM
Butter Lane vanilla cake with raspberry buttercream, one of the many treats available through the Scoop Street deal this weekend. [Photograph: Kathy YL Chan]
Let's Talk Cheese
Thursday, February 25, 2010, 12:00 pm
Food writer Francine Segan will lecture about cheese and cheese history. She'll talk about how the ancients created cheese as well as a variety of international production techniques. More than a dozen cheeses will be available to sample with condiments such as chili marmalade and fig and nut jam. $20. 92Ytribeca; 200 Hudson St (between Desbrosses and Watts Streets); 212-601-1000; event website.
An Evening with Marc Meyer
Friday, February 26, 2010, 7:00 pm-9:00 pm
If you want a first-class cooking lesson while you give to a good cause, join chef and restauranteur Marc Meyer (Cookshop, Five Points) for a demonstration and tasting to benefit P.S. 91 and Seeds in the Middle, an initiative to combat childhood obesity. The menu will be Mediterranean-influenced and will include dishes such as spiced chickpea soup and yogurt-and-curry-braised leg of lamb. $85. Bowery Culinary Center, Whole Foods Market; 95 E Houston Street (at Bowery); 877-365-3836; event website.
New York Wine Expo
Friday, February 26 through Sunday, February 28, 2010
Join fellow wine connoisseurs for the 3rd Annual New York Wine Expo. In the Grand Tasting you will have a chance to sample over 600 wines from over 170 winemakers from around the world. Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, 655 West 34th Street; 212-216-2000; event website.
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Posted by Erin Zimmer, February 25, 2010 at 3:00 PM
Piroshky (or pirozhok—but not to be confused with pierogi) are the Russian version of an empanada, calzone, or any other stuffed hand-held pie. Common fillings include poppy seeds, sausage, cabbage, or whatever else the babushkas over the years had lying around.
Smoked Salmon Pate Piroshky
At Piroshky Piroshky in Seattle's Pike Place Market, they add a Pacific Northwest twist with a version that rolls up smoked salmon pate ($4.50). The dill-flecked dough pocket is filled with the soft fish paste. They also have plenty of sweet flavors, like the Apple Cinnamon Roll ($3.70) or Fresh Rhubarb Piroshky ($3).
There don't seem to be any rules on the piroshky shape. Some come in triangles, others in braids, and the most fun to watch through the window—the cinnamon roll-like spirals. Walk by at the right time and you'll see someone on rolling duty. There are also no rules on when to eat them. It's not meal-specific, so basically it's always piroshky time.
Piroshky Piroshky
1908 Pike Place, Seattle WA 98101 (map)
206-441-6068
From Serious Eats: New York
Posted by Kathy YL Chan, February 25, 2010 at 2:00 PM
[Photo: Kathy Chan]
At the recently opened Golden Steamer on Mott Street there are many, many baos. Most for only $.70 apiece. Start with a savory—perhaps the sausage or pork and vegetable bun. But make sure to finish with a sweet one. I'd recommend the Pumpkin Bun.
A look inside, after the jump.
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From Serious Eats: New York
Posted by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, February 25, 2010 at 12:00 PM
Editor's note: In this great city of ours, one could eat a different sandwich every day of the year—so that's what we'll do. Here's "A Sandwich a Day," our daily look at sandwiches around New York. Got a sandwich we should check out? Let us know.
[Photo: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt]
Not to be confused with the other two inferior Ali's Roti Shops in Brooklyn, Ali's Trinidad & Tobago Roti Deli Grocery in Bed-Stuy serves what are probably the best doubles ($1.25) this side of Trinidad.
For a quarter of the cost of a Di Fara slice, you get a sweet and spicy chickpea curry that's flavored with tamarind and sandwiched between two disks of turmeric-scented deep-fried, naan-like bread known as "bara." Unlike the dozens of other Trinidadian bakeries in the neighborhood (most notably Royal Bakery & Roti House, and A&A; Bake & Doubles Shop), Ali's curry and bara boast an herbal kick that somehow makes deep fried bread taste bright and fresh.
Use the right lingo: "slight pepper" or "extra pepper" denotes how hot you want your sandwich (ranging from mild to moderately spicy), while "extra napkins please" indicates that you've eaten one before. They're like trying to eat chili out of a paper bag with no utensils: a hot, messy, deliciously finger-licking affair.
Ali's Trinidad Roti Shop
1267 Fulton Street, Brooklyn NY 11216 (map)
718-783-0316
From Serious Eats: New York
Posted by Nick Solares, February 25, 2010 at 10:30 AM
Chef Floyd Cardoz. [Photos: Nick Solares]
Tabla
11 Madison Avenue, New York NY 10010; map); 212-889-0667; tablany.com
Setting: An ornate (some might say gaudy) decor benefits from daytime dining; sunlight pours in through the large windows
Compare to:Tamarind, Amma
The Deal: Two three-course lunch menus, $24.07 and $31 (each menu offers two selections for each course)
I am a big fan of Chef Floyd Cardoz's cooking at Tabla, the Danny Meyer-backed restaurant he has run for over a decade. He deftly combines seasonal American ingredients, often locally sourced, with French technique, Indian spices, and global influences. The result is a highly evolved fusion cuisine that comes at a correspondingly high price.
But dine at Tabla during lunch, and you can choose from two three course prix-fixe menus priced at $24.07 and $31; each menu offers two selections per course. The $31 menu features more up-market ingredients like cod and flank steak—but I couldn't resist the cheaper option, which I bet had just as much flavor.
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From A Hamburger Today
Posted by Brad Japhe, February 25, 2010 at 10:00 AM
A few weeks after his last post about Meridian, Brad is back with another Berkeley burger review. Today he tries a contender for the Best Burger in the Bay Area at 900 Grayson.
[Photographs: Brad Japhe]
900 Grayson
900 Grayson Street, Berkeley CA 94710 (map); 510-704-9900; 900grayson.com
Cooking Method: Grilled
Short Order: Their bacon cheeseburger topped with crispy fried onions and housemade barbecue sauce packs a smoky punch. Cooked rare, the burger may be too juicy for the bun.
Want Fries with That? The burger comes with deliciously crispy herb-coated shoe strings.
Prices: Grayson Burger with fries, $12
The quest to find the Bay Area's Best Burger is no simple task. There are nine counties and hundreds of restaurants in this part of California, each offering its own take on the most classic of American fare. I'll travel as far away as Sacramento—some 75 miles to the northeast en route to Tahoe—just to taste a noteworthy burger, as long as it's ski season. So imagine my surprise when I heard just this week about a possible "Best Burger" served a few blocks from where I've worked for years: 900 Grayson in West Berkeley.
The Grayson Burger is of the bacon and cheese variety: Nueske's Double Smoked Bacon and N.Y. white Cheddar melted atop roughly five ounces of grilled Creekstone Natural Beef, to be exact. Crispy fried onions and housemade barbecue sauce smother the patty, which comes on a lightly toasted and buttered brioche. These toppings combined with the smoked bacon to give the burger a unique tanginess. I immediately noticed a robust and smokey punch. It merited a pause of culinary satisfaction—okay, not that long of a pause. No burger is good cold.
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From Serious Eats: New York
[Photo: Front Studio ]
- Bombolini from Tarallucci: "So fresh and light and airy that we wished we had gotten two." [Front Studio]
- "Irish Breakfast to go" at The Butcher Block in Sunnyside [Under the 7 Train]
- Fried pickles at Bravest, "being chip-style and not spear-style, were super crunchy and crisp." [Feisty Foodie]
- Complimentary crab dip at Choptank [Goodies First]
From Serious Eats: New York
Posted by Kathy YL Chan, February 24, 2010 at 4:00 PM
[Photo: Kathy Chan]
Yes, that's right, Apple Sass ($8.75). The folks over at Anarchy in a Jar in Brooklyn have been turning out some memorable marmalades and jam: Strawberry-Balsamic, Ginger-Pear. But only with the Apple Sass can I pack away the entire jar in a sitting. A mix of heirloom apples from upstate New York, cinnamon, cloves, and just enough sparkling apple cider to sweeten. Some people many call it apple butter or apple jam—but break down all the fancy names, and it's the best kind of smushed apples you could imagine.
Anarchy in a Jar
Sold at Various Locations in NYC including the Greenpoint Food Market, Brooklyn Flea Market, No. 7, and Northern Spy Food Co.
anarchyinajar.com
From Serious Eats: New York
Posted by Carey Jones, February 24, 2010 at 1:45 PM
[Photo: Midtown Lunch]
We're equal-opportunity eaters here at SE:NY, and we've got no problem with foods that cost a dollar. Like cheap pizza. Or falafel. Or things that are, you know, cooked. But even we're a little wary of the dollar-store sushi sampled by Mamacita from Midtown Lunch, who stopped by Jack's 99¢ Store:
Two containers of raw discount store sushi came to a grand total of $3.98. A bargain basement deal! The avocado in the salmon roll was tainted with little brown specks... the salmon all in all didn't look too shabby, but the rice was dry and so was the seaweed wrapper. This was also true of the spicy roll.
Our best wishes for a speedy recovery.
From A Hamburger Today
Posted by Damon Gambuto, February 24, 2010 at 1:15 PM
[Photographs: Damon Gambuto]
3 Square Café + Bakery
1121 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90293 (map); 213-629-1765; rockenwagner.com
Cooking Method: Grilled
Short Order: A nicely balanced burger that makes great use of the pretzel bun.
Want Fries with That? Yes please. These are very tasty fast food style fries.
Prices: Pretzel Burger with fries, $12.50
Notes: Grab some of the superlative baked goods to go at the store next door.
Despite his long and (mostly) successful career, Hans Röckenwagner is rarely mentioned as one of the iconic Los Angeles chefs. When I was a younger (but still serious) eater, his now shuttered, upscale eatery Röckenwagner was a meal I looked forward to biannually.
Back in my days of answering someone's phone for a living, I rarely had the opportunity to sample a high-end meal. Even less frequent was my actually picking up the tab. Those few times I had the money (or, more likely, the lack of fiscal restraint) to lay down my own credit card for a fancy meal, it was automatically an occasion. You'd imagine that I'd have spent my meager funds trying out a new place each time, but what wound up happening were repeat visits to Röckenwagner.
Now the classically-trained chef has left fine dining behind in favor of simpler, more straight-forward meals that embrace a quotidian aesthetic. 3 Square Café + Bakery on the once genuinely bohemian—now bohemian chic—strip of Abbot Kinney on Venice tells you what it's up to just from its name. Simple and straight-forward nourishment is the plan, but it's the trained chef's execution that sets it, and more importantly its burger, apart.
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From Serious Eats: New York
Posted by Kathy YL Chan, February 24, 2010 at 1:00 PM
[Photo: Kathy Chan]
During the winter, the seats inside Tarallucci E Vino in the East Village are especially cozy. I like the tables all the way in the back, against the wall. Here it's nice and warm—warm enough in fact, to start with the Espresso Shakerato ($2.75), espresso, sugar, a bit of milk and plenty of ice, shaken and poured into a martini glass.
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From Serious Eats: New York
Posted by Carey Jones, February 24, 2010 at 12:00 PM
Editor's note: In this great city of ours, one could eat a different sandwich every day of the year—so that's what we'll do. Here's "A Sandwich a Day," our daily look at sandwiches around New York. Got a sandwich we should check out? Let us know.
[Photo: Carey Jones]
What makes a really good roasted chicken sandwich? Really good roasted chicken. That's what you'll find in the pollo hero ($6.50) at Milanes, a Dominician lunch counter in Chelsea. Roasted with lemon, spice, and plenty of salt until crazy tender, almost rotisserie-tender, then pulled apart—skin, fat, and all—and tossed on a hero roll that's been griddle-browned both outside and in. This sandwich doesn't need mayonnaise, but if you go for it, be aware: it's squeezed with a heavy hand.
Milanes Restaurant
168 West 25th Street, New York NY 10001 (b/n Sixth and Seventh Aves; map)
212-243-9797
