Eats around town
January 13, 2016 § Leave a comment
A delicious brunch with Bohee at Claudette, right by Washington Square Park, consisting of their chicken liver mousse with soft, squishy pain Tunisien and a super juicy lamb burger
Another solo visit to Via Carota in the middle of a day of errands. The bartender highly recommended the lemon grilled chicken and though it didn’t sound particularly thrilling on the menu, I was impressed (and it’s so cute!)
Craftbar with co-workers – delicious burrata, kale (meh) and winter squash salad, duck hearts and dumplings and of course, the oozy pecorino fonduta, my favorite item on the menu
Lunch at old reliable, Charlie Bird – diver scallops with brown butter and Sicilian lemon and mezze paccherie with suckling pig and saffron ragu (and their addictive house-made chili oil). I should probably start trying more new places but am a huge creature of habit.
Out and about
October 11, 2015 § Leave a comment
Family dim sum at Chinatown classic, Jing Fong:
Drinks at Dead Rabbit right by the office:
More dim sum, this time while working from home and ordered from Nom Wah:
A lunch of white wine and fresh, grilled seafood at Via Carota before my trip to Croatia:
Square pizza at Harry’s Italian as my first meal back in the U.S. after Yacht Week:
Simple summer meal at home with tomatoes and basil from the Union Square Greenmarket, Murray’s Cheese ricotta and Blue Ribbon country bread:
Late-night drunken eats at Crif Dogs on St. Mark’s:
Ordering in Xi’an Famous Foods for Laura’s birthday meal:
The #1 at Black Seed Bagels in Nolita (so good):
Via Carota in Late Summer
September 28, 2015 § Leave a comment
From an impromptu dinner at the Via Carota bar sometime in late summer:
Juicy, fresh heirloom tomatoes with bottarga and scallions; thinly sliced beef carpaccio with porcini mushrooms, sharp parmesan and black truffles
Garlic scapes with grilled polenta and pancetta, something that would be equally great for breakfast (maybe with the addition of a fried egg)
Two classics – the fried rabbit with rosemary and garlic and the pappardelle with wild boar ragu, a killer pasta dish
Beautifully set panna cotta with olive oil, sea salt and macerated sour cherries – a perfect dessert with great texture and not too much sugar
Our view from the beautiful bar
Truffle tasting menu at Babbo
April 24, 2015 § Leave a comment
Nothing like a black truffle tasting menu lunch at Babbo in the Greenwich Village to start off a relaxing weekend:
Beef carpaccio with shiitake and parmigiano, showered with black truffles – paper thin beef paired with sharp, nutty cheese made for a flavorful but surprisingly light start
Agnolotti filled with braised beef, covered in black truffles – probably my favorite course of the four because I am a pasta slut…especially when it comes to any version that comes dressed in a buttery sauce
Porcini-rubbed hanger steak with new potatoes and shaved black truffles – a pretty small portion but super generous with the truffles (as were all our courses, actually). Cooked perfectly.
Tartufo of vanilla gelato with cherries, Sicilian pistachios and black truffle shell – simple and straightforward dessert use of black truffles that I wouldn’t have considered
Mignardises
February food randomness
March 22, 2015 § Leave a comment
Artemis and I took advantage of the BYOB offer at Union Square Cafe during one of the several snow storms that pummeled NYC this winter: fried calamari with spicy anchovy mayonnaise and chicken liver crostini with shaved brussels sprouts salad; Berkshire pork with winter squash and polenta, the winter beef entree and a side of broccoli rabe; two bottles of Italian red
Weekend lunch with Melissa at my favorite neighborhood spot, Lupa: black and white tagliatelle with mussels and jalapeno; succulent heritage pork arista and a plethora of sides (fingerling potatoes, more broccoli rabe and brussels sprouts)
Catching up with Hussam over the braised beef tongue tacos at Empellon Taqueria, another one of my go-to’s in the Village:
Galentine’s Day dinner of linguine alle noci and eggplant involtini with a dessert of Molly’s Cupcakes courtesy of Alice:
Snow day lunch with Laura at Do Hwa: seafood dolsot bibimbap and the daeji bulgogi with watercress salad
A belated Chinese New Year’s lunch with the family at BQ-HQ: roast duck and pork, fried whole fish, lots of greens and Mama’s dumplings
Murray’s Melts
February 23, 2013 § Leave a comment
I’ve always loved Murray’s Cheese Shop in Greenwich Village (such an amazing selection of cheeses, cured meats, and other gourmet items and super-friendly staff), but it took me a whole summer of living literally right down the street to discover their Murray’s Melts. Probably for the best; otherwise I would’ve been there all the time and eventually unable to fit through the door. The owners also just recently opened Murray’s Cheese Bar, which I’ve heard great things about, but this is probably a better idea if you want something quick and on-the-go.
Below is a “Da Bomb” sandwich that’s unfortunately no longer on the menu – short ribs, Murray’s secret cheese blend, caramelized onions, and fresh arugula on Pullman bread – but you really can’t go wrong with any of their melts. The current ‘Shroom Melt (brie, mushrooms, truffle-pesto aioli) and the Mayflower (smoked gouda, turkey, bacon, cranberry chutney, and a “stuffing” aioli) sound especially delicious.
Look at that gooey butteriness… Just this side of too rich for me, the sandwich’s arugula and sweet onions did a good job of complementing all that dairy and meat.
Afterwards, a walk on the beautiful High Line is the best way to work off the cheese bomb you just ate.
Murray’s Melts (at the Murray’s Cheese Greenwich Village location)
254 Bleecker Street
New York, NY 10014
212.243.3289
Recette
September 26, 2012 § Leave a comment
One of the most memorable, delicious meals of the summer took place at Jesse Schenker’s Recette in Greenwich Village. The place had been strongly recommended to me by the same co-worker, Artemis, who said I had to visit Fatty ‘Cue, so after that meal, I knew to trust her completely. Laura had just finished a grueling exam for her summer engineering?architecture? class and we decided to take our time at dinner, ordering a number of small and large plates and 2 desserts…
The meal started with a cocktail, the J’ardin d’Eden – Hendrick’s gin, cucumber, basil, and ginger syrup – perfect for the summer and so refreshing when paired with all the rich, flavorful food we were about to dig into. Plus, anyone who has had drinks with me knows how much I love the gin and cucumber pairing.
For our “snack” plates, we ordered the salt cod fritters with lamb sausage ragu and curry aioli, the “buffalo” sweetbreads with pickled celery and blu di bufala dip, and the foie gras terrine. Each dish was so different yet all of them tasted amazing…The sweetbreads were cooked just right, with a crispy exterior and creaminess inside and the slightest offal flavor to remind you that you weren’t simply eating fried “stuff.” I, being the comfort food obsessive that I am, also really loved the genius riff on the classic wings and blue cheese combo. The cod fritters (which I usually associate with Spanish tapas) sounded the most interesting of the three, mainly because they’d been paired with lamb and curry of all things, and somehow, all the elements came together to create yet another fried food that I find myself craving at the most random times. The star, by far, however, was the foie gras terrine. It looked absolutely gorgeous on the plate, with this crazy gloss and tiny flakes of sea salt, and tasted even better…everything that foie gras is supposed to be – smooth in texture and uber-rich in flavor…drool.
Our next three plates (yes, we went a bit overboard) were the fresh cut spaghetti with sweet shrimp, stewed tomato, chili, and sea urchin, a duck breast with confit leg, spring peas, and arugula (I think?), and the Berkshire pork belly with rock shrimp, turnips, romesco and sherry caramel. It really was a meal where every, single effin’ dish blew our minds…and we managed to really slow down and take our time savoring every bite. The pasta was sweet from the tomato and incredibly luxurious due to the sea urchin, the duck breast (my favorite of the three), had the required crispy skin over a thin layer of fat and the meat was cooked medium-rare – it really didn’t even need all the other garnishes and accompaniments in my opinion because it was so flavorful, and the pork belly may have been the best of many, many pork belly dishes in the city.
But amazingly, we weren’t done yet. I think our waiter must’ve been a bit shocked by how dedicated we were to this dinner. For dessert, we ordered the “s’mores” – graham cracker ice cream, toasted marshmallow, and hot chocolate ganache – and another dish that’s unfortunately no longer on the menu but included passionfruit creme with pastry, diced mango, and orange (?) sorbet…this took place so long ago that my memory’s a bit foggy. Anyway…as much as I tend to like savory food more than sweet, these were both excellent and perfect conclusions to our long, super-indulgent meal.
Recette
328 W. 12th Street
New York, NY 10014
Fatty ‘Cue
September 14, 2012 § 1 Comment
Damn, just saw that these photos were taken on June 28…boy, am I behind.
Anyway, this was a meat-centric dinner with Laura and Katie at the amazing Fatty ‘Cue in West Village (just a couple blocks from my summertime apartment), one of Zak Pelaccio’s many awesome restaurants. By the way, I liked this a lot better than Fatty Crab, which was still pretty good in itself. Lament the lack of greens and fiber all you want, but at the time, we were in the mood for juicy, Asian-influenced barbecue and little else.
Ham, jam, butter and bread
Toasty pretzel rolls served with rosy, fatty ham, a condiment called cincalok made with itty bitty fermented shrimps, and dry-fish-dusted butter. So many funky elements in one starter…
1/2 pound deep-fried bacon with sweet and spicy salsa verde
Yes, you read that right, and it was bleeping delicious. Slightly charred pork belly with layers of fat and lean meat, paired with a picante, acidic sauce to balance everything out.
Heritage pork ribs with Indonesian long pepper, fish sauce, and palm sugar
Incredibly tender and running-down-your-arm juicy…Pelaccio emphasizes palm sugar, fish sauce, and lime juice as the holy trinity of Southeast Asian cooking and it comes across the most in this simple-looking dish. The best part was tearing meat off the rib with our sticky fingers and dragging it through that sweet, sweet jus.
Fermented sausage with asparagus, ginger, chili, toast and poached egg – more funk (in a totally good way)
Lamb shoulder with yogurt dip and grilled pita
For a primer on Southeast Asian cooking with Zak Pelaccio, Bon Appetit has a pretty cool feature which you can find here
Fatty ‘Cue
50 Carmine Street
New York, NY 10014
212.929.5050
Kinshop
August 15, 2012 § Leave a comment
Dinner at Kinshop with Cahill girls began with a bottle of crisp white wine, a perfect pairing with the brightly-flavored meal to come…
Starters included a (very) spicy duck laab salad with toasted rice, ground chili and romaine hearts. Acidity from fish sauce, rich meatiness from the duck, and cool freshness from the lettuce – so many different elements playing off each other in a seemingly simple dish.
Our second starter were the grilled prawns with fresh lime and “Phuket-style” black pepper sauce. Loved sucking on those brain-filled shrimp heads a la Anthony Bourdain, and the sauce was so good that we kept it for other dishes.
This fried pork and crispy oyster salad with celery, peanuts, mint and chili-lime vinaigrette was probably the dish I was most excited about (based on reviews) and yet, it thrilled me the least when I finally tried it. Don’t get me wrong, it was still mighty tasty but I think the flavors didn’t meld together as well here as in other dishes.
This was the runaway favorite – fried broccoli and Chinese sausage with young coconut-gooseberry chutney and fermented plum vinegar. Yes, the broccoli is fried so it’s probably lost all its health qualities, but none of us cared. It was surprisingly light and ever-so-crisp and went so well with the tartness of the plum vinegar and sweetness of the chutney. And who’s going to complain about Chinese sausage with their vegetables?
My favorite main plate – Northern Thai style curry noodle with braised brisket, cucumber, peanuts, fresh herbs. So comforting, so complex. This is something I’d want to eat on a rainy day while watching television on the couch. Definitely better than a burger and fries.
Our second main – massaman: braised goat with fried shallots, purple yams, mustard greens, and toasted coconut – a very rich dish with tender goat, lots of greens (there’s our fiber for the day) and an amazing coconut brothy concoction. Roti was the ideal vehicle to mop up any remaining sauce.
Desserts: Thai iced tea ice cream, lychee sorbet, coconut cream cake with kaffir lime syrup and toasted coconut. The coconut cake was somewhat bland, but we all fell hard for the ice cream and sorbet, the lychee sorbet especially. It reminded me of being in China, where we’d eat bowl after bowl of that fleshy, sweet fruit.
Top Chef fame aside (the owner and chef is Harold Dieterle, winner of Season 1), this is a great, casual place for a dinner that features a spin on your classic Thai and Southeast-Asian cuisine.
Kinshop
469 6th Avenue
New York, NY 10011
212.675.4295
Dos Caminos and Tertulia (again)
May 28, 2012 § Leave a comment
It’s been a whirlwind first week at work (in only a very good way), and between all the firm lunches and receptions, I still managed to explore some restaurants in the Greenwich Village neighborhood.
First, YJC and I dined al fresco at Dos Caminos on W. Houston Street after she had a long day at work. We weren’t too hungry since it was pretty late, so we shared a huge bowl of guacamole, a trio of salsas ranging from mild to scorchingly hot, and freshly-fried tortilla chips and a side of crispy sweet potato fries (though I’m still partial to the ones at Maxie’s Supper Club in Ithaca).
Dining al fresco at Dos Caminos Soho
I also ordered the chicken taquitos – pulled chicken rolled in crispy corn tortillas with shaved lettuce, queso fresco, and a tomatillo-avocado sauce and YJC got the Mexican chopped salad with a heap of tasty things like grilled corn, poblano chiles, green olives, and toasted cumin vinaigrette. No complaints – I like to think that I make a pretty mean guacamole and the version at Dos Caminos hit all the right notes of creamy from the avocado, sharp acid from the lime, and pungency from the onion with a good seasoning of salt. My taquitos, though on the small side, were filled with tender spicy chicken and the fried tortillas were fresh as can be. We’ll have to go back soon for their margaritas…the frozen prickly pear rendition sounds particularly intriguing.
While walking up 6th Avenue the next day, I happily discovered that Tertulia, Spanish tapas heaven, is only a couple blocks down the street from my summer apartment, so I rounded together some other food-obsessed summers for a dinner because I figured the more people we had, the more dishes we could try.
Radish salad and grilled prawns
We ordered my favorites from the last time I visited – the brussel sprouts with pork belly and mojo picon, the flash-fried shishito peppers and sea salt, and my favorite, the roasted potatoes with pimenton and garlic all i oli, and rounded out the meal with the radish salad with baby rainbow carrots and anchovy vinaigrette and grilled Mediterranean prawns.
Forever favorite dishes at Tertulia
Everything was insanely delicious, from the super crispy taters to the acidic and pork-coated brussel sprouts to the prawn heads, out of which we enthusiastically sucked out the brain juices. I was reminded of Mark Bittman’s quote, “the juice in the head of the shrimp can only be described as God’s soup.” Add two bottles of the house red wine (we are still law students after all) and great conversation, and it was a pretty awesome, noisy night.
The next day, while work was slow, we created a huge Excel spreadsheet of all the NYC restaurants (I think the current tally is around 80) we wanted to visit, so prepare yourselves for a summer of epic eating and good company.
Dos Caminos Soho
475 W. Broadway at Houston Street
New York, NY 10012
212.277.4300
Tertulia
359 6th Avenue
New York, NY
646.559.9909
Notes on Food 