NYC - - Page 10

by BS

Bacon Goes Big

You know how all you across-the-pond folks always brag about how thick and delicious British bacon is and love to deride our streaky American bacon as weak, flimsy, and not worth it? Well, I’m putting you all on notice.

I recently sat down at the bar at The General Greene, one of the many farm-to-table, haute barnyard chic restaurants that has opened in Brooklyn over the last few years. I wanted a little snack to go with my $9 handcrafted cocktail, so we ordered a side of candied bacon. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much—maybe a bowl of crumbled, caramelized bits that would be gone in 60 seconds.

Um, no. Candied bacon here is basically an entire meal. It’s your standard smoky, salty, American-style bacon (with an added sweet touch), but instead of slicing it into thin, fryable strips, they just serve you the whole damn belly, and you eat it with a knife and fork. Seeing a big, streaky hunk of pig belly served like that is cool because it kinda shows you how they get those tiny slices of bacon out of a big slab of pork. I think I even said out loud “oh, so that’s where bacon comes from.”

OK, so it’s basically like eating five slices of bacon in one bite. So maybe don’t order the whole thing for yourself, or more than once a year. But I gotta give credit to anyone who can still surprise me with bacon.

More: The Best of New Brooklyn Cuisine

More Bacon: Recipes, raves and other bacon bits in Endless Bacon.

(Photo: The General Greene)

by BS

NYC Tour De Poutine

It was during a visit to Montreal some eight years ago that I first discovered the glory that is poutine. This French Canadian specialty is a heart-stopping, gut-busting treat that somehow manages to out-America American food, topping crispy French fries with mounds of fresh cheese curds and thick brown gravy. Delicious. Frightening. Genius.

The dish is so popular Up North that it’s even served at McDonald’s in Montreal. Now it’s quickly proliferating New York restaurant menus and appears set to become the next Bahn Mi/Fried Chicken/obsessive over-the-top comfort food trend. So I set out to explore every New York restaurant currently serving poutine. With a little (OK, a lot) of help from some friends, I’m delighted to share this exhaustive report, along with the news that my internal organs appear to still be intact…for now.

Drunken Poutine: T Poutine

The first NYC shop to make poutine the focus of their menu, this Lower East Side newcomer sees Canada’s challenge and raises it, offering artery-clogging options like the steakhouse poutine (topped with caramelized onions, blue cheese and thinly sliced steak) and the morning glory poutine (applewood smoked bacon and sunnyside up egg). The gravy (which also comes in a veggie version) is nothing to write home about, but this party-area spot, which is BYOB and open til 5am on weekends, is more about the alcohol-soaking extras. You can ramp your poutines up even further with add-ons like Essex pickles and panko fried cheese curds. 168 Ludlow Street, $7.25 – $9.50

Update: T Poutine has sadly closed

Everything Poutine: Corner Burger

After returning from an eye-opening holiday trip to Montreal, the owners of this Park Slope burger and sandwich shop have updated their menu with an astounding 13 varieties of poutine. The Americanized takes—pepperoni, mozzarella and marinara make up the “pizza poutine”—are in our opinion unnecessary, but Corner Burger hits a home run with the hearty classic versions, such as “poutine galvaude,” a popular Quebecois take that adds shredded chicken and peas to the standard dish, which features a delicious housemade chicken gravy. 381 5th Avenue, Brooklyn. $6 – $7.50

Extra Cheese Poutine: Dive Bar

This long-standing Upper West Side establishment has been serving poutine for years, and there’s nothing fancy or inventive about their take. (The bartender found it hilarious/adorable that I wanted to take a photo.) The possibly canned gravy is mediocre, but as you can see that’s not really the emphasis here. Dive Bar wins the most-cheese-curds-for-your-dollar award by a long shot, and gets extra props for the fact that the extra-crispy fries hold up well under all that weight. 732 Amsterdam Avenue, $8.

Next: The poutine only gets crazier…

in Bacon / Cheese / Eggs / Endless Bacon / Featured / Fowl / Red Meat / Restaurants 20 comments

by BS

Top 10 New Things to Put in Your Drink

We’ve certainly never been against drinking here at ES — it just traditionally takes a back seat to eating. However, in the last year we’ve found ourselves getting more and more excited about cocktails — because every time we go out we discover our favorite ingredients have migrated from the plate to the glass. From fruits and vegetables to spices and more, here are our top 10 favorite new things to mix in our drinks.

10. Saffron

A saffron ice cube anchors the Venetian, one of several new food-inspired cocktails at Tulio in Seattle.

Not just for paella anymore, the Spanish spice has started showing up in cocktail glasses, too. Saffron Restaurant and Lounge in Minneapolis has mixed the pricier-than-gold flakes into saffron-mango mojitos, saffron-blood orange martinis, and their current offering, the gin-based Saffron Rose. Tulio, an Italian restaurant in Seattle, recently introduced The Venetian — a vodka cocktail poured over an orange-y saffron ice cube. For those experimenting at home, the folks over at Video Jug have a video on how to mix a saffron vodka martini. (Tulio photo: Evan Johnson)

9. Beets

Fresh beet juice, ginger and vodka make up the Beetnik at Colorado's Dogwood Cocktail Cabin.

It’s hard to make a drink look more dramatic than when filled up with bright red beet juice, as in the beet sangria at New York’s Tailor or the Beetnik, a vodka-ginger-beet concoction served at Crested Butte, Colorado’s Dogwood Cocktail Cabin. Meanwhile, the gals at The Humble Kitchen have a recipe for their own tequila-based Beetnik. (Dogwood photo: eenwall)

8. Mole

Mole bitters liven up the Palermo Gentleman at Death + Co. in New York.

Mexico’s spicy-sweet chocolate treat is making the surprising transition from tamales to cocktails via Bittermens Bitters newest product, Xocolatl Mole Bitters. A neat way to add quite a substantial kick to any drink, the mole bitters are showing up in new cocktails like the tequila-based Chipilo at Brooklyn’s Buttermilk Channel and several options at Manhattan’s Death + Co. (Photo: Vidiot)

7. Sriracha

Every Top Chef contestant’s favorite secret ingredient can save a cocktail menu too, as in “El Scorcho,” a fiery mix of habanero infused vodka, sriracha, and jalapeno foam at Bend, Oregon’s Blacksmith restaurant. The sauce also makes a great replacement for Tabasco in bloody Marys — the blog White on Rice Couple has a great recipe, and if you want to get super-serious, check out their instructions on how to make sriracha from scratch. (Photo: White on Rice Couple)

6. Chinese Five Spice

A Chinese five spice grilled lemon garnishes the Fortune Teller at Bar Pleiades in New York.

Another ingredient Chinese chefs may be shocked to discover in American cocktails, C5S is showing up both as a garnish, as in the Fortune Teller drink served at the Surrey Hotel‘s new Bar Pleiades in New York, and as the basis of a drink, such as Imbibe magazine’s Five-Spice Fizz. (Photo: Bar Pleiades)

Next: Top 5 New Things to Put in Your Drink

in Drinks / Eggs / Endless Cocktails / Featured / Lists / Trends 13 comments

by ML

Sex on a Plate: The Event

*start shameless self promotion*

For the past few months, I’ve been working with the sexy lady pictured above (Jennifer Iannolo) on what will be a fabulous Valentine’s extravaganza. We want you all there. You by yourself. You with your boyfriend/girlfriend. You with your friends. You with your love triangle. Just come.

And if that picture isn’t enough to convince you…I will be there too!

DETAILS: Step inside the head of food & sensuality maven Jennifer Iannolo, host of Food Philosophy and co-creator of the Culinary Media Network, as she presents a selection of flavors, tastes and textures designed to evoke your senses. Instead of the rote table-for-two scenario, her Valentine’s Day cocktail party in the Penthouse Solarium of the Roger Smith Hotel will be a sultry evening of tastes with the kinds of aromas, textures and flavors that will make your mouth water — and prime you for what she hopes is a most sensual evening.

This event is for singles, doubles, threesomes, or whatever tickles your fancy.

DATE: February 14, 2010

TIME: 6:30 PM – 10:00 PM

VENUE: Roger Smith Hotel, Penthouse: Solarium

EVENT TYPE: Cocktail & Tasting Party

MENU: A series of delectable small plates and adult beverages

EARLY-BIRD TICKET PRICES THROUGH 1/31/10 (friends *or* lovers, darlings):

$100 pp
$95 pp for “doubles”
$92 pp for “threesomes”
$90 pp for groups of 4 or more

Purchase here.

HOTEL SPECIAL

The Roger Smith Hotel is offering a special “Take Monday Off” rate on Valentine’s Day for this event. Please contact Brian Simpson for details on Twitter or via e-mail.

in Holiday 2 comments

by BS

ES Local: New York’s Four-Figure Dishes

We all know that eating out in New York can often be a ridiculously expensive proposition. But what about the times when you want to make that really ridiculous? Recession or not, there are still a good few places around town where you can drop $1,000 on just one dish. Worth it? Umm…we’ll probably never know. The ES accounting department wouldn’t shell out expenses for this story. Anyone out there want to sponsor a $4,000 restaurant crawl?

The $1,000 Dish: Bagel and cream cheese
Where: The Westin New York at Times Square, 270 West 43rd St., but only during the fall truffle season.
Why: Alba white truffle cream cheese, goji berry infused Riesling jelly and specks of golden leaves.
$1 alternative: A schmear to go from H&H’s midtown outpost. 629 West 46th St.

The $1,000 Dish: Omelet
Where: Norma’s restaurant at Le Parker Meridien Hotel, 119 West 56th St.
Why: Six eggs whipped up with lobster and 10 ounces of Sevruga caviar (that’s a lot).
$1 alternative: Sausage McMuffin, now a buck at the McDonald’s around the corner.

That Food Named!

Well we had a lot of good guesses for our most recent Name That Food contest. I especially liked Britannia‘s guess of velveeta cheeese, white bean hummus and hot sauce. As expected, no one knew exactly what this one was — I’d have to say Tracy‘s guess of lemon curd surrounded by white chocolate with raspberry swirls was probably the closest.

So what is this monstrosity? Full explanation after the jump…