Sandwich - - Page 16

by BS

ES Local: The Top 10 Most Anticipated New NYC Restaurants of 2010

2009, as we all know by now, was more a year for restaurant closings than openings. But with the economy kinda-sorta-maybe turning a corner-ish, here’s hoping that 2010 will be a banner year for eating out once again. With that thought in mind, take a look at the top 10 rumored/confirmed/dreamed up/maybe really happening NYC restaurants we’re crossing our fingers for in 2010.

10. No. 7 Sub

Fort Greene’s inventive No. 7—called one of 2009’s best new restaurants in America by Bon Appetit—is heading to Manhattan, of all places, to debut a more wallet-friendly menu. Rumored to open early this year inside midtown’s Ace Hotel, the take-out-only offshoot will feature a selection of under-$10 sandwiches made on house-baked bread and topped with yummy extras like kimchi pickles and Japanese kewpie mayo. 20 W. 29th St.

9. Three More Shake Shacks!

One day, there will be more Shake Shacks in New York than Starbucks. Until that glorious, heart-stopping moment arrives (we’ll set the over/under at February 2014), those not near existing shacks at Madison Square Park, the UWS, and Shea Stadium can get their burger fix at three new locations: downtown (Prince and Mulberry Streets), midtown (8th Avenue and 44th Street), and UES (86th Street and Lex). In the randomest restaurant news ever, there will also be one in Kuwait.

8. The Sam Talbot Project, Continued

The New York foodie set is certifiably obsessed with this Top Chef reject/pin-up model/chef at Long Island’s seasonal Surf Lodge. But despite being constantly seen all over town and rumored to be making a bid on every space that comes on the market, we’re still waiting for the great Sam Talbot restaurant. Supposedly, and emphasis on supposedly, Sam will be cooking at an as-yet-unnamed over-the-top eatery inside Chinatown’s upcoming Mondrian Hotel. Here’s hoping! 150 Lafayette St.

7. DessertTruck

It’s been a full five months since the truck that started the upscale mobile restaurant trend traded in its wheels and then announced it’s transformation into a permanent LES eatery. Let’s get this thing going, guys! New Yorkers can’t be expected to go without $5 rosemary-caramel goat cheese cheesecake for much longer, can we? 6 Clinton Street.

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 tvff

Bachelorhood is the Mother of Invention

Having been married for almost three years now, I forgot how much of a mess my cooking was when I was flying solo.

More than anything, it was a matter of laziness. Laziness when it came to picking out and shopping for ingredients, and laziness when dinner time rolled around and I balked at the notion of busting my hump on a meal for one. So there were plenty of simple pasta dishes and takeout, accompanied by by an occasional flash of inspiration that foreshadowed the foodie I would become once I was cooking for an audience.

One such bit of creativity was the “Hot Dog Sandwich.” Typically, I’d stop at the Wawa on the ride home from work, pick up an eight inch Italian roll and fill it with a couple of boiled hot dogs and the usual condiments. If this doesn’t strike you as particularly creative, then you understand how dire the whole situation really was.

This all came back to me last month as Mrs. TVFF headed off for a press junket in New Orleans and I quickly regressed to my old self, relying on leftovers from earlier in the week and whatever mismatched ingredients happened to be sitting around the house. Arriving home after work and not having a plan, I noticed a couple of hot dogs in the freezer — Trader Joe’s Uncured Hot Dogs…good stuff. I quickly began scouring the kitchen for an appropriate delivery device.

As you can tell from the photo, the only available option was a couple of orphaned hamburger buns. Although aesthetics aren’t everything to me, I realized I needed to do something to overcome the problem posed by the round bun and the long sausage. This is where a little flash of improvisation came in.

in Sandwich 6 comments

by Russell Warnick

Breadless BLT

Living a block from the 14 & U St. Farmers Market and working a few blocks from the White House Farmers Market there is little reason for me to venture to any of the other markets in the city, unless of course ES’ own Gansie is working it. This past Saturday I battled the rain and headed north to Mt. Pleasant, and let me tell you, the weather was not so pleasant. The market might be smaller than most in the city but it doesn’t stop short of selling everything the others do, I went in search of chili peppers for a cook-off at work- but that’s for another post.

As I was perusing for the great deal on habaneros, poblanos and jalapeños, my eye wandered over to the fresh meats, since I needed some beef round for my chili. Instead it was the bacon that caught my eye, naturally. A whole slab of bacon, I’d seen these before but not really thought much of it, I bought some anyway figuring I could make a delicious treat- and that I did.

Before heading home I went over to Gansie to show her what I had bought and she too marveled at the bacon, immediately, without hesitation she suggested I make a breadless BLT, and without hesitation, I said OK.

in Bacon / Breakfast / Endless Bacon / Featured / Recipe / Sandwich 4 comments

by BS

Feed Us Back: Comments of the Week

– If you were impressed by LC’s lamb roast, you’ll want to hear from Shannon, who writes in to one-up her:

Your lamb on a spit post reminded me of this photo. We’ll be trying to roast our own gator on a homemade contraption this weekend for the Florida/LSU game. FYI, you can buy gator from farms down here. They mostly raise them for the skins, so the meat is really cheap. A four foot gator runs $30-$40.

HOT DAMN. All ES readers should feel free to keep writing in with any new roast-animals-on-a-stick discoveries.

– Fine, so no one agrees with my high-minded call for better bread at Jewish delis. Adam says the sub-par bread is the whole point:

I would agree that the bread at delis like Katz’s is sub-par, but I think the reasoning is because it’s meant to be as unobtrusive as possible. With other sandwiches, the bread is important. When it’s surrounding a pound of pastrami, it’s job is to make the pastrami go into my mouth, while slightly lowering the amount of grease and mustard I get on myself.

And Mike B will have none of it:

Pastrami on *toast*? A baguette? An everything bagel?! I’m… I’m speechless….

But Karen from French’s Mustard writes in with a novel idea I can’t believe I hadn’t previously considered:

Next time you go into a Jewish deli (I do loves me some Katz’s), demand they put it on a nice, thick and toasted piece of challah. They’ll charge you more, wayyy more, but I promise it’ll revolutionize your sandwich. And as far as where to put your mustard? I have an idea for that too…but, you have to make your own first.

Challah-pastrami, that’s it! I am on board. It will probably cost $30 at 2nd Ave, though.

So we don’t often post PR requests here, but since Karen wrapped hers up with a sweet ‘strami suggestion, we’ll make an exception. Go and enter French’s homemade mustard contest and win some big $$$! Deets after the jump…

in Sandwich 2 comments

by BS

Burns My Bacon: Jewish Deli Bread

Britannia got our mini-rant series going last month with his admonishment of the salt and pepper shaker filler-uppers, and now I’d like to tell you yell about something else that burns my bacon, er…pastrami.

I think we can all agree that an old-school, New York-style Jewish deli is just about the best place in the world to get a serious sandwich. Pastrami from Katz, corned beef from 2nd Avenue Deli — wherever it is, you know the deal: some form of exquisitely cured beef product piled far beyond reason and then shoved between two slices of bread; mustard, pickles and slaw on the side.

But there’s one thing that has always bugged me about Jewish delis, and I’ve been afraid to ever say it, fearing an outpouring of anger from the traditionalist eaters. But I just can’t stay silent any longer.

in Rants & Raves / Sandwich 9 comments

by BS

Pick of the Pics: Best of the ES Flickr Pool

Recognizing our weakness for all things avocado, bluecresendos hits us up with this beautiful roasted carrot and avocado salad. The full recipe is over at smitten kitchen.

After the jump, green tomatoes are coming into season, beets are moving into ice cream, and cupcakes are migrating into our mouths…

in Cheese / Desserts / Photos / Sandwich 2 comments