Restaurants - - Page 33

by gansie

Tricks And Foams May Break My Bones

It’s cold here. Cold! When I booked my flight for Atlanta to see 80P and his parents (and cat, Sophie) I was not only excited about the fun food adventures, but the warm weather.

Yea, no. I assumed the South meant warm. I assumed wrong. It’s just as cold here as it was with my family in Jersey. But I’ll take it because while Jersey may produce Top Chefs it does not lay claim to Kevin Gillespie‘s ode to farm-to-table dining.

On my first night in Atlanta, 80’s parents (minus Sophie) took us to Kevin’s restaurant, Woodfire Grill. We were there not even a full 60 seconds and we saw Kevin! He was posing for pictures with diners, a celebration of celebrity that we would see many times that night.

After a few sips of pre-seating cocktails we were led into the long, narrow dining room—sophisticated, yet warm—and immediately upon entering we saw the tattooed, bearded fellow again. He preps out in the open, ensuring all diners can gawk at this almost-winner.

Maureen, our hysterical server, asked us if we watched Top Ch… and she couldn’t even finish her thought before we enthusiastically nodded. Maureen explained the sustainability mantra and the close attention paid to sourcing of the ingredients. Except for the fish (which is flown in the night before serving, usually from the Pacific Northwest) all ingredients are sent to the restaurant the morning of and are prepped all day for dinner service. The menu changes daily, which leads to another form of celeb worshiping: When 80’s mom asked if we could keep the dated menu, Maureen whips back “And would you like Kevin to sign it? Most people frame their picture with Kevin and the signed menu. And be sure to check the ladies’ bathroom. It’s really cute in there”

by BS

ES Local: Eating Hell’s Kitchen

Just a quick shout-out — check out my latest eating NYC report over at the Oyster Locals blog: Four Classic Hell’s Kitchen Food Stops.

(Pic: Cevic)

by BS

ES Local: Getting Gourmet Meals on the Cheap at New York Culinary Schools

During the boom years, food obsessives like us grew accustomed to the occasional (or more than occassional) elaborate gourmet meal out, and we’re sure as hell not going to let this silly little recession thing slow us down. So we’re always on the lookout for fancy-pants meals at not-so-fancy prices.

At least in New York, some of the best deals can be found at restaurants attached to culinary academies, where you’ll get meals prepared by soon-to-be top chefs — complete with A-list ingredients, white tablecloths, and all the fancy trappings of a five-star restaurant — but at a fraction of the price, because everyone from the kitchen crew to the waitstaff are still in school. These aren’t exactly bargain basement meals, but considering the quality of what you’re getting, they’re some of the best deals around.

L’Ecole: The swanky restaurant at Soho’s French Culinary Institute offers three distinct deals: a three-course prix fixe lunch for $28, four courses at dinner for $42, or a two-plate brunch deal for $19.50. That may not sound super-cheap, but keep in mind you’ll be dining on sauteed sweetbreads, roasted duck confit, and Le Cirque-style creme brulee. 462 Broadway. (Stay nearby at the Soho Grand Hotel.)

National Gourmet Institute for Health & Culinary Arts: If you just gagged at that mention of sweetbreads, you might be more enticed by the Friday night dinners at this all-vegetarian cooking school. The student-chefs use seasonal, market-fresh ingredients in these three-course, $40 meals. The desserts, like poached pear and cranberry tart with almond pastry cream and truffle balls, are particularly enticing. 48 W. 21 St. (Stay nearby at the Gershwin Hotel.)

in Restaurants / Veggie 0 comments

by BS

ES Local: NYC Bars Where the Start of Winter Doesn’t Mean the End of Outdoor Drinking Season

View Where to Drink Outside in the Winter in NYC in a larger map

One of the great pleasures in exploring New York’s bar scene is finding those secret gardens and back patios that make summertime drinking infinitely more enjoyable. But just because it’s about ready to snow doesn’t mean it’s time for boozing hibernation — you just have to look a little harder. With the help of heaters, warm drinks and a little creativity, these six watering holes will have you drinking outdoors all the way ’til springtime.

in Drinks / Restaurants 2 comments

by BS

ES Local: Midtown Momofuku Madness in NYC

If you’ve been keeping up with the New York food blogerati over the past few days, then you know there’s been only one pressing recent world event. Clearly I’m not talking about water on the moon or health care passing the house, but Momofuku’s inevitable march into midtown. On Thursday, David Chang’s much, much, much talked about mini-chain soft opened Ma Peche, its first non-East Village location, inside the trendy Chambers Hotel. The Manhattan food world is basically treating it as a live-blog-worthy breaking news event. Here are a few of the first thoughts:

Midtown Lunch:

“The three terrine banh mi…is out of control good.”

Eater:

“I think it’s safe to say we have a new banh mi king in town”

Hotel Chatter:

“Even if you’re not into the rest of the food, you could order the cookie and a glass of milk and still have a smidgeon of the Momofuku experience. In fact, that’s what we recommend.”

Sorry, TVFF – sounds like the bahn mi trend isn’t dead quite yet.

Since it’s safe to say Ma Peche will be packed to the brim every lunch hour for the next, oh, five years or so, over at Oyster we’re looking at a few alternative spots to grab lunch in this just-south-of-Central-Park slice of Midtown.

(Photo: Food in Mouth)

in Restaurants / Sandwich 1 comments

by BS

The Ultimate NYC Hot Dog Crawl

Wherever you live, you’re surely familiar with the lure of The New York Hot Dog. And if you consume any kind of food media, you’re also probably aware that there’s no longer any reason to limit your NYC hot dog intake to those slimy wieners sold from carts in Central Park – or even to the recession special at Gray’s Papaya. Hot dogs are this year’s comfort food gone gourmet, and every hot NYC chef seems to be adding the once humble frankfurter to their repertoire, usually topping it with something new and more outrageous than the last guy.

Over at Oyster Local this week, I took a look at four of the best new high-end hot-dog shops in Greenwich Village, which inspired me to dig a little deeper and come up with this list of NYC’s best new gourmet hot dogs (along with a few classic stops) for the ultimate, 20-link New York Hot Dog Crawl. No, I have not actually completed this crawl, at least not all in one day, but if anyone’s up for the challenge I think I have a few free Sundays coming up. Let’s all just make sure our health insurance is up-to-date first.

1. Nathan’s Famous

Duh! The basic classic, just for starters. 1310 Surf Avenue, Brooklyn (Photo: Meg Zimbeck)

2. Willie’s Dawgs

Park Slope gets a little crazy with Niman Ranch beef dogs (or tofu ones — this is Park Slope, after all) stuffed in challah or rye rolls and finished with some inspired toppings like baked beans and salsa. 351 Fifth Ave., Brooklyn (Photo: Stumptown Panda)

3. Bark Hot Dogs

Gourmet hot dogs get the brownstone Brooklyn treatment, sourced from locally-raised meats, doused in a classed-up cheese sauce, served in an eco-friendly environ, and paired with Six Point ales. 474 Bergen St., Brooklyn (Photo: Cherrypatter)

4. Smoke Joint

Fort Greene’s favorite BBQ spot brings the hot meat-on-meat action by topping a Black Angus dog with pulled pork, beef or chicken (and some homemade coleslaw). I know you can’t see much of the dog, but trust me, it’s worth the mouth-work to get there. 87 S. Eliott Place, Brooklyn (Photo: Senorjerome)

5. Asia Dog

New York’s hippest hot doggery is, of course, not one restaurant but a rotating curated party for those in the know. These bahn mi dogs are found at Williamsburg’s Trophy Bar, but only on Tuesday nights. They also pop up elsewhere in Brooklyn and LES throughout the week. 351 Broadway, Brooklyn, On Tuesdays. (Photo: LadyDucayne)

6. San Antonio Bakery 2

Slip into Queens for the Chilean take on hot dogs: slathered with avocado puree, mayo, onions, tomato, and just a little bit of hot salsa, on a crusty homemade bun. 3620 Astoria Blvd., Queens (Photo: Pabo76)

7. Frankie’s Franks

Like the marathon, we’ll dip into the Bronx for a moment just to say we did. At FF’s, you get two fried hot dogs stuffed in one roll, topped with onions, peppers, AND potatoes. They actually call this a Jersey-style dog; I’m not sure if that’s authentic Jerz, but that’s a whole ‘nother post!) 2330 Arthur Ave., The Bronx (Photo: Kay::Snyder)

8. Fatty Crab

Hotshot chef Zak Pelaccio makes the case for the $13 hot dog: homemade pork sausage topped with pickled chilies, cucumber, radish and cilantro, then laced with a spicy Asian aioli and stuffed in a toasted potato bun. 2170 Broadway (Photo: Scaredy_kat)

9. Brooklyn Diner

When size matters, it’s hard to beat the foot-plus-long frank served at this midtown Manhattan (confusingly, not Brooklyn) institution. The 15-inch dawg comes on a comically small but beautifully buttery bun, along with onion rings, relish, mustard and kraut. 212 W. 57th St. (Photo: Jeffery and Rachel Vanneste)

Continue Reading: the next ten hot dogs

in Bacon / Cheese / Eggs / Featured / Fowl / Pig / Red Meat / Restaurants 14 comments

by BS

ES Local: Six LES Food Stops, Old and New

View LES Food Stops, Old and New in a larger map

You know we usually like to think of ES as a huge, important international operation. Actually, scrap the ‘usually’ — I’ll stand by that. But sometimes we also like to obey the whole “all Internets is local” mantra. So over the next few months we’re going to be teaming up with the folks at new travel website Oyster to bring you some local NYC food content. Twice a week, we’ll be posting mini-guidebook style posts about our favorite New York food stops. You can read the posts both here on ES, and over at the new Oyster Locals blog.

First up, we’re looking at the Lower East Side, a neighborhood that serves as NYC’s ultimate dichotomy. With shiny new hotels and condos rising next door to rundown tenement buildings, it’s the new Manhattan plopped down right on top of the old Manhattan. Actually, it’s a really effing weird place right now. But for food lovers, that means a wondrously schizophrenic smorgasbord. Here are three of the best classic LES food stops still standing, along with three newcomers that are worth the hype.

Old LES: Katz’s Famous Delicatessen. Sure, New York’s oldest deli has become a bit of a tourist trap ever since Meg Ryan had “what she’s having” here, but the circa-1888 salami shop deserves credit for keeping their sandwich prices relatively reasonable, unlike some other brand-name NY delis. 205 East Houston St.

New LES: WD-50. The immigrant Russian family who founded Katz’s would likely roll over in their graves if they saw the passion fruit-filled foie gras and scrambled egg ravioli that mad scientist chef Wylie DuFresne whips up here. But if you’ve got $100 to throw around, NYC’s most playful 10-course tasting menu is a worthy diversion. 50 Clinton St.

in Desserts / Restaurants 6 comments