The Best of 2009

I am obsessed with annual Top 10 lists—I love making them and reading other people’s perspective on what was great in a year. So, it should come as no surprise, I am ranking my Top 10 meals / food experiences of 2009. This is a difficult list to make. Meals are fleeting experiences—unlike a great song, you cannot eat to it over and over again (unless you are willing to shell out for it over and over again). Anyway, here were my favorite meals of the year:

January 2009: Tom’s Tuesday Dinner. It’s crazy to think back when my brother was still working for the Craft empire, but he was able to wrangle us a four-top for Tom’s Tuesday Dinner. My experience with set tasting menus is that about 75% of the plates are great and the rest are either average of failures. The meal definitely had some high notes (pig’s trotter, lobster) and some low notes (undercooked lamb, brebis panna cotta). One of the more memorable moments came when Chef Tom came over to our table and we are stared blankly at him, completely starstruck. Chef Tom later fell down during the service and our table had to bit our tongues to refrain from laughter.

April 2009: Corton. I actually was rather impressed with Corton. The space was really warm and inviting, especially considering the price point and managed to retain a downtown feel while serving high-end cuisine. My memory of the meal is somewhat hazy—but I do remember really enjoying all aspects of it. Strangely enough, the two items that made a huge impression on me were the petit fours (salted caramel, delicious) and the butter selection. I actually caught myself at one point eating butter straight from the plate. Rest assured, I had my cholesterol checked over the summer and all is well.

March 2009 / May 2009: Scarpetta. I really enjoy Scarpetta. The first time I went, I was really impressed with the pasta dishes and the wine selection. My general quip with the place is the $20+ priced spaghetti, but it is the best spaghetti I’ve eaten, Italy included. Other standouts include the black cod, which is hard to think of outside the Nobu context, but it is nicely acidic and deliciously Mediterranean. Interestingly enough, one of my favorite desserts of the year was served to me here: a coconut / passion fruit panna cotta that blew my mind away. Still dreaming about that one.

July 2009: Market Table. This West Village restaurant had always been on my radar but there was always someplace else that I wanted to try first. A friend and I went during the summer and I was thoroughly impressed with the locavore cuisine and the impeccable service. The skate wing was by far my favorite, lightly sautéed, perfectly crispy and tender. Like many New York restaurants, the price was the downfall of the meal—but all and all, a great spot, especially for the organic, locally grown food lovers.

July 2009 / October 2009: DBGB. I was ready to crown DBGB my favorite new restaurant of the year (until Maialino complicated matters for me), but it definitely is still a contender. This is one restaurant that my friends and I are mixed on. For me, the appeal of DBGB is the sausage. I do not consider myself an aficionado of sausage, but at DBGB, sausage is why you go. My two personal favorites are the Vermont and Beaujolaise, but I intend to continue trying more varieties in 2010 (New Year’s Resolution!). The feedback I’ve heard on the burgers is mixed—I thoroughly enjoyed mine though. Lastly, the ice cream sundaes are perfect for grownups who love eating like children (aka me).

August 2009: Aldea. I’ve written about my experience here, so I will keep it brief, but I adored this place. It is worth a visit alone for the arroz con pato (rice with duck) which ranks among my top 10 dishes of the year (maybe a post on that will come over the holiday break). I am definitely interested in going back to Aldea sometime in the New Year (once the crowds disappear for a few months) to see what other interesting dishes the chef is putting out…but honestly, the arroz con pato, with its classically Spanish ingredients is the star here.

August 2009: Locanda Verde. I’m loco for locanda. I was wowed by this neighborhood Italian place in the Greenwich hotel. I’m still thinking about the crostini with ricotta or the unbelievable lamb sliders or rabbit terrine. I hate the fact that this place is perpetually mobbed and I have yet to return (though I have tried on numerous occasions). It’s a great example of the restaurants that were great in 2009: straightforward, reasonable, delicious cooking…with a cheap wine list to boot.

Weekly, since Spring 2009: Num Pang. I cannot exclude this restaurant from my list. If an establishment can manage to capture my business upwards of thrice a week, they deserve a gold star. The sandwiches at this place never cease to amaze me. The old reliable, Duroc Pulled Pork, is probably the most important sandwich I’ve ever eaten. The brisket sandwich is decadently fatty, rich, and juicy. The catfish is a lighter option that benefits from a nice drizzle of sriracha. The shrimp, a slighter sweeter option perfect for a hot summer day. I order the corn, the lentil soup, and the grilled vegetables. All are winners. I cannot hype this place enough.

November 2009: Maialino. One of my more recent posts was about Maialino, so I do not really have much else to add here. I definitely need to try Maialino again before I bestow more effusive praise upon it, but I am confident in Danny Meyer’s ability to get a restaurant right (see: Gramercy Tavern, Union Square Café, Shake Shack, etc.). If you visit Maialino, be sure to get the namesake entrée…it is the best piece of pork I’ve eaten to date.

The Best Meal of 2009
July 2009: Cinc Sentits. What a cop out. My favorite meal of 2009 was a meal I had abroad! In Barcelona, my other favorite city in the world, my friends and I went to Cinc Sentits. Everything about this restaurant was flawless. The foie gras I had melted and was perfectly crisped in its sugar shell. The cochinillo (suckling pig) was near perfect (just one notch below Maialino’s). The canneloni’s were perfectly cooked, not too chewy and rich and hearty. The wine list started at 10 euros. My absolute favorite part of the meal was the amuse bouche: it was a shot of warm maple syrup, cream, finished with rock salt. I have never tasted anything it like before and am doubtful I will taste anything like in the near term. Definitely among the best meals of my lifetime.

The Folly of Buzz

Ever since the John Dory closed, everyone was clamoring for the low-key sister restaurant situated in the Ace Hotel called the Breslin. Myself included, having been enamored with The Spotted Pig (same proprietors), ever since my first visit 4 years ago, I had high expectations for this place. I would have to say that while my meal at the Breslin was delicious, and some items I thought were amazing, it fell just short of what I had envisioned.

First off, the Breslin is packed. I went with my brother around 6:45, hoping to beat the 7:00 rush. We did, just barely, and were seated in about 25 minutes. The setting is nice--not anything revelatory, but comfortable nonetheless.

The menu was a nice length--I loathe menus that are chock full of dishes. I am of the opinion that a restaurant can only do so many things perfectly and they should serve only those items. As it was my brother's birthday, we decided to cover the gamut of dishes: scotch egg to start, plate of terrines, pig's foot, and fries. For those averse to swine, options are more limited. This place is definitely a palace of pork and they are very unapologetic about that fact.

The scotch egg rolled out first and probably was my favorite of the night. It was caked then crisped in a luscious breading and sausage stuffing, the egg oozed perfectly when you cut into it, and had a delicious, almost breakfasty flavor. Both my brother and I are still talking about it.

The terrines rolled out next. I have been more willing to give terrines a second chance lately. When done correctly, they really are amazing...when done poorly, they are loathsome. The Breslin nailed the four terrines we ordered: Guinea hen with morels / Rustic Pork / Rabbit & prune / Head Cheese. I pretended to forget what head cheese is, but it was still tasty. My favorite was probably the rustic pork or the guinea hen with morels...mostly because I adore morels. At this point in the meal, I was full, but alas, we had a beast (literally) of an entree heading our way.

On our servers recommendation, we opted for pig's foot. This name is misleading, as our server pointed out, as the dish is really the pigs lower leg, from knee to hoof. It is stuffed with more pig and is probably the most pork-tastic dish one could conceive. This is when I was a little let down. The dish is meant for two and could be easily shared amongst a foursome. The meat was tender and flavorful. However, it was too mushy and there was too much of it. The texture was kind of like really rare hamburger meat (though it was cooked properly) and there was not enough balancing items to add a crispness or crunch to the dish. When I did add some of the sides, it improved the dish, but not by enough. It was almost like glorified baby food.

The side of thrice cooked chips, however, were a totally different animal. They were very salty (not necessarily a bad thing btw), had a crispy shell with a warm and soft interior. The dipping sauce that accompanied tasted of something from India, but I still can't pinpoint what. They were awesome. The fries were recently dubbed the best in New York--I do not agree with that (Pommes Frites still does it for me), but they are definitely in the outstanding category.

So, all in all, I would given the Breslin a good not great. In the Breslin's defense, this was the second week of dinner service, so the kitchen still may be working through recipes and ideas. I would probably go back--certainly after the initial craze wears off.

Tis the Season (New Restaurants!)

Sorry for the hibernation: a looming work deadline impaired my ability to dine around town. Now that time has come and gone and I can resume my culinary pursuits.

First stop was Maialino, the new Danny Meyer restaurant located in the Gramercy Park Hotel. The space was formerly Wakiya, a critically panned, pan-Asian restaurant. Meyer took over the space earlier in the year and made a quick turnaround to get the spot up and running by the holidays.

I managed to snag an 8:30, Friday night reservation a week after opening, which ranks highly on my reservation coup list. Expectations were high: early buzz was strong and I was eager to eat some real food as opposed the seamless web grub I had been relegated to over the past few weeks.

Our foursome was sat in a spacious booth. We decided family style was the best to experience this place, so we covered the menu, hitting antipasti, pastas, and entrees.

We started with some cured meats (can rarely go wrong here), octopus, and fried artichokes. The restaurant also graciously sent over a plate a special pate that they were offering that night. Everything was spot on--though my favorite were the artichokes. They were lightly fried, perfectly crispy, but still retaining their earthy flavor. I could have eaten them like candy.

Next up our pasta and entrees emerged from the kitchen. The house speciality is called Maialino, which is a suckling pig. I fell in love with suckling pig when I visited Segovia, north of Madrid. It is unabashedly fatty, tender, and delicious when prepared right. Maialino's blew me away. It was an epic piece of meat (meant for two, our foursome was handily defeated by it) but it was the most tender piece of pork I had ever eaten in my life. I'm still thinking about it two weeks later. To complement, we ordered the half chicken. We all agreed that ordering chicken at a restaurant is certainly a faux pas, but this was chicken re-imagined. It was perfectly cooked, with a crispy skin and tender breast meat. It was a perfect companion to the Maialino. The pasta was also a triumph, freshly made, perfectly cooked, and wonderfully flavored.

Full from our feast, we opted for apertifs in lieu of a more sugary afterthought. My experience at Maialino was one of the more positive I've ever had in New York. The atmosphere is wonderfully unpretentious, the food delicious, the prices reasonable. I read an article that mentioned Danny Meyer wanted to make this a neighborhood restaurant and that he is not trying to cultivate an elitist reservation regime that certain restaurateurs (ahem, McNally, Carter) seem infatuated with. This is a wonderful breath of fresh air for New Yorkers and I think Maialino is an exciting new place that will be around for a while.

Seafood on Sunday

It has been a while since I had the privledge of eating a great, new restaurant in New York City. Finally, on Sunday night, myself and two friends went to Marea, the new restaurant by Michael White (Alto, Convivio). Marea is Italian-inspired like Alto and Convivio, but definitely bent toward creatures of the sea.

The space did not seem like it had a huge makeover since the restaurant's previous tenant: San Domenico. The room is comfortable and warm with a more mature crowd (this was Columbus Circle, not Washington Square after all). We were seated promptly and perused the (too) extensive menu and decided the best way to experience it was a reasonable $89 prix fix menu that hit the main areas of the menu (antipasti / crudo, pasta, main, dessert). The menu was plentiful in lobster and octopus, which garnered no complaints from anyone.

I opted to start with the lobster and burrata. A sucker for lobster and for any cheese, this was a match made in heaven for me and was executed perfectly. The lobster was tender and delicate and not stringy in anyway. The burrata soft and creamy--an interesting contrast to the crustacean. An impressive first start to the show. My only quip with this dish was that it seemed more apropos for a summertime meal, rather than a mid-autumn's supper.

Up next was the pasta course. A slight aside, I have never been a huge pasta lover despite my Italian heritage, though I do enjoy a great pasta course when it's done right. I opted for the fusili with octopus and bone marrow. It was in a spicy, tomato sauce that sometimes had a little to much heat for my palate. The fusili was chewy--I'm on the fence about whether this inhibited or amplified the dish. It was hard for me to taste the marrow. My friend who ordered it as well had similar comments on it: good, not great. I have to admit, I was a tad envious of my other dining mate who ordered lobster ravioli (always a great call)--though it was described as being very heavy, in a good way.

Main courses rolled out soon thereafter (the restaurant had great pacing, btw). The branzino was great: tender and moist. I wish there could have been a little more flavor to the actual fish but it was surrounded by sides that more than compesnated. It came with pancetta--which you can never go wrong with (I would have preferred mine slightly crispier) and brussel sprouts. It was a pleasing course that left me satisfied but not stuffed. However, I would not consider it revelatory--especially because I had something similar at Alto a few months prior.

Oddly enough, my taste for dessert has virtually dried up over the past few months. But off we went to the final course. I asked the server for her recommendation and she immediately chimed back with the Polenta (which was not something I had even considered) but I went with it anyway. She was spot on with this choice. This dessert was inspired. The crispy polenta reminded me of a high-end doughnut / fried dough / funnel cake and it had a rich marscapone ice cream that really just made the dish even better. My friend got an affogato, which she had been talking about since dining at Convivio over the summer which was also amazing (think an amazing rich and delicious iced coffee).

So, the final verdict on Marea. Glad I went and tried it. The food was great but not some place I'd rush back to given the variety of other places in New York. It's an ideal place to take the parents (or have the parents take you) and is a nice addition to the city's fine dining scene.

Aging Gracefully

In honor of turning 24 a couple years ago, I took a group of my friends to Craftbar in the Flatiron. It was an average meal: large meals are difficult to negotiate, but the food was pretty basic and not that interesting.

However, I have returned to Craftbar a couple times since and each time have been impressed with the food, menu selection, and atmosphere. I definitely got the impression that the Craft empire decided to devote more resources to its more casual outpost and it has paid off. I recently went on a Thursday night. The restaurant was lively and warm. The menu was seasonal: lots of hearty vegetables, sturdy proteins, and heady sauces.

The starters at Craftbar are great: they have risotto balls, which are delicious morsels of rice with pecorino laced throughout. I went for a mushroom and fontina bruschetta which had a nice variety of hearty mushrooms. For the main, I went for a classic, or at least a classic in my mind: duck confit with chestnuts. When I walked into the restaurant, I had intended to order fish, but the duck and server sold me on it. The duck confit was great, the chestnuts a nice accompaniment. All and all, a perfect meal for the chilly November night.

It's rare I give restaurants second chances after an average experience...Craftbar is one of the few I have given another go and it has succeeded. Mercat is another restaurant which I think has improved a lot since its opening a few years back. It's a lot of fun when you can see tangible progress in a restaurant but in a city where there are so many dining options, first impressions still are most important.

Pumpkin Party

It is no secret I love pumpkin flavored anything. However, I feel very strongly that pumpkin should only be consumed in the autumn months (from late September to Thanksgiving to be exact). A sort of tradition has emerged where my friends and I spend a Saturday in October consuming the finest pumpkin treats NYC has to offer. It also has become tradition that the weather be as unpleasant as possible. Here is a breakdown of Pumpkinfest 2009.

First we started with "old reliable," Sugar Sweet Sunshine. This Lower East Side bakery is legendary for its cupcakes, cakes, and trifles, and the pumpkin trifle here is the gold standard by which pumpkin desserts should be measured. It is essentially pumpkin cake, vanilla pudding, and whipped cream, all mashed together in a cup. It is amazing. What makes it for me is the vanilla pudding because it adds silkier and denser texture than just whipped cream would. I only opted for a few bites as we had to pace ourselves given the ambitious agenda we had ahead of us.

Next up, we realized our proximity to Doughnut Plant, an NY establishment known for having some of the best doughnuts in the country. I had never been, so I was thrilled to sample it on Pumpkinfest of all days. DP offered two kinds of pumpkin doughnuts: cake (think old-fashioned) and yeast (think glazed). The man running the shop that afternoon recommended both, and who were we to turn him down? I was partial to the cake doughnut, because it reminded me of the doughnuts I used to eat at cider farms growing up and I like the denser consistency. This was a matter of preference however, as my friend preferred the yeast. Aside from the out of this world doughnuts (which I would eat anytime, by the way), the store was a great place to people watch.

Our final destination was Stand, a Greenwich Village diner I've mentioned before. I had read they had a pumpkin milkshake that was delicious (after all, the toasted marshmallow comes from there), so off we went to try. Stand was definitely the most controversial outing of the day. First of all, the service was pretty deplorable, though we learned it was our server's first day. As for the shake itself, reviews were decidedly mixed. I liked it, another friend thought it was fine, and another thought it was down right terrible. It definitely tasted more like pumpkin the squash as opposed to pumpkin in pumpkin pie, if that makes any sense. It was not a heavy on the nutmeg and cinnamon so typical of pumpkin desserts, but I appreciated the brightness of the pumpkin flavor on its own. We also managed to scarf down a plate of onion rings, which gave our palates a nice break from nonstop sweets.

After it was all said and done, my consensus winner was the donut plant pumpkin cake doughnut. Last year, I gave the milkshake at Ronnybrook in Chelsea Market the blue ribbon, which still haunts my dreams. Until Autumn 2010!

On an unrelated note, secured Marea reservations in early November!

Lunch Break!

Aside from all the great restaurants that New Yorkers have access to, most of us eat at them no more than a few times per week. There are a plethora of ordinary, boring, restaurants which sustain me throughout the work week, especially when it comes to trying to figure out what to eat at lunchtime.

I gave up long ago to try and find routine lunch spots that are unique, savory, and cheap. The point of a work lunch is to sustain you until dinner; gustatory sensibilities are not something to consider.

However, once and a while, I try to make the midtown lunches a little less monotonous and try something new. Yesterday I finally ventured to the Schnitzel Truck, stationed for the day at 52nd and 6th. I already had tried to visit this truck before, but was confronted with a formidable queue. I still battled a line of about 30 minutes for Schnitzel, but have to say, it was one of the better lunches I've had in midtown to date and would hurry back next time they were around.

For those unclear about what Schnitzel is, it is a deliciously fried, paper-thin pounded piece of protein. Austrian by birth, it traditionally is veal (Weiner Schintzel), however the truck offers chicken, pork, and cod. I opted for chicken, and got two sides: mesclun salad and chick pea salad for $10. The price seemed steep, but the portions were admirable, even bountiful.

As for the food itself, wow. I was impressed--as apparently many were because the truck won Rookie Food Truck of the Year at the most recent Vendie awards. The meat was perfectly thin, crispy, but not greasy and really tender. The mesclun salad was--well a mesclun salad, but the chickpea salad added a nice taste of the Mediterranean through balsamic vinegar and olive dressing. As I mentioned, the portions were huge and I felt really satisfied afterward, but not immobile for the afternoon. In fact, I never slipped into my afternoon food coma which has been haunting me lately.

I'm a big believer in the food trucks (both savory and sweet), and will be devoting more blogtime to them. They are uniquely New York and really add a layer to our food scene that no other city can really rival.

Back to Ssam

With a friend visiting to New York for the first time since January, all the talk I heard about Ssam Bar at the Bruni event on Friday, and my general longing to have a delicious meal close to my apartment, I ventured back to Ssam Bar for the third time on Sunday night.

Ssam Bar is the second David Chang restaurant in Manhattan, after the Noodle Bar. Ssam Bar started off having these odd korean burritos, which I cannot say I ever managed to try. It morphed over the years and became a famous swine peddler after putting the pork bun on the map sometime in 2007. It has since lost the korean burritos and has ascended the ranks to join an elite grouping of restaurants that has earned 3-stars from the New York Times. The food is always compelling and interesting when I go, and as Frank Bruni aptly said, it is a great restaurant to go to understand what is going on in the New York dining scene right now.

I do have my quips about Ssam Bar. First off, my friend and I got sat at the bar. The tables are not that much more appealing since the chairs are basically tiny stools, so comfort is not a priority here. Momofuku Ko was actually more offensive on this point truth be told. Second, paper napkins, and lots of them. This was actually useful because the food gets messy, but it creates additional clutter on an already crowded surface.

The service at Ssam Bar is delightfully casual. They are not stuffy nor pretentious and when you ask for recommendations, they do so with a fervor that assures you that they actually like the food they are telling you to order. I went with the server's thoughts for both my dishes and have to say, was pleased with her thoughts.

The star of my evening was a rib sandwich that I would say was one of best starters I've had at a restaurant in the past 12 months. The sandwich is Chang's take on a McRib. It has comes topped with slaw and is really messy and tender. The bread is lightly grilled so it comes across as panini-esque. I dabble sriracha gently on the dish to add a little spice. My friend ordered the classic pork buns, which did not seem to disappoint either.

My entree was a monkfish with ham broth and barley. The fish was really gently prepared and tasted great against the ham broth. It was a lot of pork flavor, but the fish held up well against it and the barley added another level of texture to the dish. It was a great autumn dish but was still light and did not leave me feeling immobile afterward. My friend ordered the pork shoulder, which she noted was good, but seemed a tad rare.

We opted to head elsewhere for dessert, though I can recommend the pb&j dessert ssam offers based on a previous visit. As I thought about the meal, I definitely can say I loved my food. I've been thinking about the rib sandwich hourly since then. However, benchmarking the meal against other recent 3-star meals I've been lucky enough to eat over the past year (e.g. Corton, Scarpetta, Alto, The Modern, even Momofuku Ko) I just cannot compare it as favorably. I guess I still think of the star system as requiring elements beyond food--chairs, for example. That being said, I still am a huge lover of the Ssam Bar and will continue to patronize the place...but I better not see any 4-star reviews anytime soon.

Burger Moments

As part of the New York Food & Wine Festival, one of the main events is the burger bash. This event is a tasting of burgers from chefs far and wide. Needless to say, this is one of the hardest tickets in town to get. Aside from the limited quantity, they are pricey: $200 per ticket.

I figured the best (i.e. economical) way to gain entry would be through winning a contest. Eater, my go-to food blog, held a contest to name your favorite burger moment. I had a several moments that came to mind: eating a whopper on Thanksgiving day in Madrid before visiting my friends in London, going 30 minutes out of my way and nearly missing a flight from SFO-LHR to go to an In-N-Out, going to Louis' Lunch for the first time in New Haven after applying for my first NY apt.

I did not win the grand prize, but I did crack the "Top 9". You can check out the winners here. See if you can guess which one is mine. It should be pretty obvious.

Bruni!

Those who know me, know I love erstwhile NY Times food critic Frank Bruni. Frank wrote for the Times from 2004-2009. He covered the rise of the restaurants that would be come name brands for me during my first few years in New York: Per Se, Masa, Babbo. He also anointed new destinations, including the polemic Ssam Bar, Minetta Tavern, and Eleven Madison Park.

His reviews were so fun to read, I could not pass up an opportunity to hear him chat at the Tishman Auditorium as part of the NY Food and Wine Festival. The convo was moderated by Ben Leventhal, the founder of Eater.com.

Ben could have done a much better job facilitating the conversation to cover a wider variety of topics. Ben was fixated on the star-system and understandably so. We got several questions about the scope of the star-system, how a restaurant like Ssam Bar could earn 3-stars yet not offer a formal coffee service. We also got entertaining anecdotes about the lengths people would go to to please Frank. My favorite was a story of an incident when Frank spilled soap on himself at Nobu 57 and the restaurant bent over backwards to correct Frank's clumsy mistake.

The key message that Frank conveyed was that he judged restaurants solely on the merits of their cuisine and service: the true mission of any food critic. Despite these entertaining stories about people recognized the most feared man in food, Frank was quick to point out they had no bearing on his reviews. He also noted that these he wants to be remembered for his integrity and honesty in reviews. Despite having a very public feud with the infamous Keith McNally, he bestowed 3-stars on Minetta Tavern, and the restaurant has been impossible to crack since.

Frank was charismatic per usual and a master of words. He speaks just like he writes: fluidly, melodically, and cleverly. The conversation was short and Frank was a little too diplomatic, but all and all a perfect way to start a 3-day weekend.

I Love Le Fooding

Last night, I was lucky enough to attend Le Fooding, a food event that takes leading chefs from New York and similarly acclaimed chefs from Paris and brings them together at one giant party. The event was at PS1 in Long Island City and was probably one of the cooler things I've done in New York. The crowd skewed French, but not a huge surprise there. The whole scene reminded me of a posh Chelsea (SW3, not 23rd street) party.

We were able to upgrade our tickets which gave us access to the space one hour ahead of everyone else, plus all you can drink clicquot during that hour. We made the rounds pretty quick, alternating between the French and American chefs.

Our first taste was a Mini Henry IV casserole, with creamed cow's cheese from Le Comptoir du Relais. Honestly, this was nothing like I anticipated. I expected little puff pastries, oozing with cheese. Instead, it was essentially a glorified chicken soup. It was good, but at the end of the day, it was chicken soup. It did come with a great piece of toasted bread that sopped up the soup well.

Next was the Bo Ssam--a mythic dish that David Chang serves up at Ssam Bar. Chang was there in the flesh, dishing it out to New Yorkers and French expats alike. The Bo Ssam of course met my lofty expectations. It came on a piece of bibb lettuce and was covered in sriracha. It was juicy, tender, and perfect. I would visit this table twice more before the evening ended.

At some point, Gael Greene wandered into view sans chapeau. We hit another French table, this time with barbecued sirloin steak from Bigarrade. This was a delectable skewer of two perfectly cooked cubes of sirloin. It was light and the chef's intent seemed to be showcase the meat, which he did quite well.

We wandered over to Wylie Dufresne's spot and sure enough, he was serving up chicken necks to the masses. I have mixed feelings on this dish. The protein was certainly a difficult one. It was very bony and difficult to maneuver given the setting (i.e. no tables). However, when I could get a piece of meat of the neck, paired with yuzu marmalade, it was actually pretty great.

One of the more interesting plates was fried corn with scallop butter from Diner in Brooklyn. The corn was plump, flavorful and the scallop butter was rich and smooth and balanced the fried corn well. It definitely inspired me to venture out to Brooklyn to check out this restaurant.

The final chef's table, pork ribs with pineapple teriyaki from Ze Kitchen Galerie in Paris. I found this a gutsy choice for a French chef, given what an iconicly American dish ribs are. However, I appreciated the playfulness of the ribs and they were falling off the bone good. The sauces that came with the ribs further enhanced the flavor, especially an eggplant sauce that was creamy and reminded me of mezze.

On top of all that, there was a delightful cheese course, plenty of champagne, and ice cream from General Greene. The ice cream was awesome, even on a chilly autumn evening. The first flavor was a salted hazelnut gianduja and the second was bourbon vanilla. The vanilla was good and heavy on the bourbon. The salted hazelnut gianduja was awesome. Salted anything is always better (e.g. salted caramel). Despite the fact the ice cream was made without eggs, it still had a great texture.

After all the Le Fooding fun, you'd think we'd make haste to the 7-train back to Manhattan. We instead decided to hit Dutch Kills, the LIC speakeasy spot from Sasha Petraske of Milk & Honey fame. I opted for the bartender's choice, which was a great call. My favorite drink was a blackberry bramble which was sufficiently boozy but still retained an amazing blackberry flavor. Cocktails were a more reasonable $10 (in Manhattan they are now approaching $25 at spots) and it was a great way to cap of the night.

Sunday Fun Day

Sunday's always bring an interesting variety of food options. The meals are least structured and they are great days to try various bites of food from around town.

My Sunday started at Hundred Acres. Brunch and I have an ambivalent relationship. However, Hundred Acres is one of the few restaurants I enjoy eating brunch. I had poached eggs with homemade sausage, gravy, and jalapeno grits. This was my second time ordering this and neither time disappointed. The sausage is a nice, spicy patty that is vaguely reminiscent of chorizo. The grits are smooth and act as the "english muffin" in this eggs benedict reinvention. The gravy is hearty and plentiful. Finally, heaps of fried onions top the dish. My brother had the chilaquiles, which I have sampled before and which are also delicious.

After Hundred Acres, I watched the 1st set of NFL games at The Blue Seats. It was a pretty sweet setup as each booth had a set of 6 TVs where you could watch simultaneous games. The sliders earned raves, though my self-restraint inhibits me from personally opining on them.

After seeing the Pats falter, I headed back to my apartment to wrap up some errands. I stopped at Veloce along the way. Veloce is known for its Sicilian style pizza and has received strong praise. It definitely is a different taste than conventional Neapolitan slices but I really enjoyed it. The pizza crust is very soft and chewy but the cheese and sauce are perfect. It was a nice little snack between lunch and dinner. I don't know if everyone will love it, but it is a nice change from the ubiquitous Neapolitan options out there. Plus, they may even deliver to me.

The capstone to this wonderful day of eating was Ippudo. Ippudo is the acclaimed ramen restaurant steps from my apartment. After eating at Ippudo weekly last autumn, we parted ways for a few months. Tonight marked the return to Ippudo!

I went with a group of food lovers. We ordered a round of apps including peppers, potatoes with a miso anchovy sauce, and of course, pork buns. The apps were all homeruns. The peppers were nicely cooked and came with a citrus sauce that helped make them pop. The roasted potatoes were awesome, mostly because of the miso anchovy sauce that accompanied them. And the pork buns were delicious. I had realized it had been months since I last had a pork bun, and despite how oversaturated they have become in New York, I still adore them. These are great and by adding a little mayo they are more creamy than the usual iterations.

As for the ramen, I can't really claim to know much about ramen but dish itself is simply awesome. I've had the ramen at least 6 times which speaks volumes to its quality (and I hate ordering the same thing at restaurants). The dish is completely nostalgic for me. I don't think about the flavors, but rather the memories of returning to New York last fall with a new job and apartment, facing a new economic reality. Anyway, needless to say, when foods take on this status, it is implicitly understood they are delicious.

Dessert was to be had at the Milk Bar, another vice of mine. I sampled the watermelon ice cream which was good but a little to sweet for me. I wanted something that more subtly watermelon. The horchata was quite good but not too imaginative. I opted for the strawberry cake which was awesome. It had the classic "sweet-salty" duality which is why I keep coming back to the Milk Bar.

Mondays are usually filled wtih cereal, salads, and grilled chicken, so I'm glad I got to make the best of my Sunday.

Cue Town

First off, apologies for the lack of postings. With fall in full swing, expect more updates about food happenings all over the tri-state.

Despite being one of my favorite cuisines, I never am eating as much barbecue as I would like to be. As luck would have it, barbecue is on my dinner list twice this week.

My first journey was to Fette Sau, a Williamsburg bbq spot that has garnered raves from the NYC bbq community. This was my second visit and it continues to impress me for having some of the best meat around.

Fette Sau is not huge on ambience, but that is really not a factor when you are eating bbq. Each visit, I ordered across the board, meaning a little bit of everything on the ever-changing menu (seriously, the menu changed twice in the hour we spent there). Standouts were the pulled pork and pork belly. The pulled pork was smoky and not overly fatty and the bbq sauce that you can douse it in is a delicious complement to the protein. The pork belly surprised me. On my first visit, it was too much belly, not enough pork. This time it was charred well and was a nice blend between fatty and lean. The pork tenderloin was a nice, leaner option that was juicy and well-seasoned as was the brisket. The pork sausage is spicy and savory, but too rich for more than a few bites. The short rib was probably my least favorite. It was difficult to maneuver and did not have fall off the bone quality I was seeking.

Fette Sau is all about the meat. The sides are not the focus. My dining mates loved the burnt end baked beans. Previously I had the broccoli salad, which was so unsatisfying matched against the richness of the meat.

Following Fette Sau, we took advantage of the Van Leuween ice cream truck. I tried the cinnamon ice cream. It was intensely cinnamon. It had a grainy texture, likely from the ground cinnamon and both my friend and I agreed lack the classic creamy texture of ice cream. My other friend had the root beer float and I definitely was envious. All and all, a delicious excursion to Williamsburg.

Heading to Blue Smoke tomorrow. Should be an interesting comparison.

Autumn Excitement

Autumn is the absolute best in New York. After the brutally hot and tedious month of August, September refreshes the city and its inhabitants. With autumn, comes new clothes, new music, new TV, and of course, new restaurants. Here is a great list that Eater put together. My mission is to check out all these places in the next 4 months. Ambitious? Absolutely. Delicious? We'll see.
http://eater.com/archives/2009/09/fall_tracking_the_10_restaurants_to_watch_this_fall.php

Liquid Poundage

I have appreciated the NYC Health Department's effort to inform consumers of the caloric content of their food. I am an advocate of the program. The rule is a restaurant with 15 or more nationwide locations must post calorie information for all items on the menu. Now maintaining a healthy diet and lifestyle goes far beyond calorie counting (an entirely separate post) but I think the program has forced vendors to re-evaluate their products as consumers are confronted with jaw-dropping, 4-figure calorie numbers in their favorite pastry or latte.


Pre-Calorie law, someone in my office found out that Chipotle burritos can contain 1,000 calories or more. People were flabbergasted. I was flabbergasted that they were flabbergasted. How could they not realize that giant tortillas, meat, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, beans, and rice were not low calorie? At this moment, I realized a lot of misconceptions exist about food, no matter your background.


I first encountered a new calorie-law menu when I came back from London for Thanksgiving. As someone overly obsessed with calorie counting, I would often seek out this information via company websites. Still, looking through the food case at Starbucks and seeing no calorie counts below 400 is a pretty eye-opening experience.


This week NYC started a new campaign specifically targeting soft drinks (http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/galleries/dont_drink_yourself_fat_new_nyc_health_dept_ads/dont_drink_yourself_fat_new_nyc_health_dept_ads.html#ph0). I applaud the effort to raise awareness about soft drinks. They are absolutely delicious but have zero nutritional value whatsoever. Despite this, people continue to drink them in mass.


If I were in charge, I'd add salad dressing to this campaign. Perhaps most readers are aware that salad dressing is full of calories but I feel the general public is blissfully ignorant as they lather ranch or french dressing all over their salads. The reason for this is that if they knew the salad they are chomping down has the same caloric content as a Whopper, they would opt for the Whopper. I would. What I am not so eloquently trying to say is while I appreciate raising awareness about sugary beverages what might be more effective would be to raise awareness about foods that come with a healthy connotation.

Starting Off the Week Right

An inevitable part of living in New York is the constant coming and going of friends. Most of my friends have been going lately (though I myself have come and gone once). Today, another good friend of mine marched out of Manhattan. For one last hurrah, myself and other ex-bankers convened for lunch in midtown.

Lunch has always been my favorite meal and midtown has dozens of options for those intrepid enough to venture away from the desk for an hour (or two, or in today's case, three). I perused Opentable options quickly this morning and alas, there it was: Jean Georges, 12:00 PM.

Jean Georges is a 3-star Michelin, 4-star New York Times restaurant in Columbus Circle. I had been to Nougatine, the more casual restaurant in front of JG, in the springtime and that was delicious on it's own (another lunch for a departing friend). Normally this meal would start around $100 for food only, but they are known for their amazing lunch menu, which is $28 for 2 courses (year-round, not a restaurant week special). I've been wanting eat here from the moment I heard about it (the mid 00s) and unexpectedly, today was the day.

First off, I loved the space. The room was much more intimate than I had imagined. It was decorated in light grey and white and was nestled up against the Central Park West / Broadway wedge of Columbus Circle. The menu was broad. Many different protein options across two courses. My friends and I ordered across the spectrum of the menu: myself, I went for foie gras brulee (pictured, upper) with strawberry and panko crusted rabbit (pictured, lower).

As expected, amuses arrived at the table. There were three: a sliver of madai, some sort of corn fritter in spicy alioli, and clarified gazpacho. All three were homeruns. If you forced me to choose a favorite, I'd go with the gazpacho, which despite looking like apple juice, had an awesome flavor that one would never associate with something lillet-colored. The corn fritter exploded corn once you bit into it (and I mean that in the best way possible). The madai was a light morsel of delicious fish that was less bold than its bouche brethren, but a nice way to start the plate.

The meal was paced like a dinner rather than lunch, so the time between courses was sizable, though we were easily able to fill it with conversation about the group's recent travels. The first courses arrived. My foie gras brulee instantly ranked among my top 5 courses of 2009. This may sound like a strange comparison, but it tasted like toast and strawberry jam that I used to eat as a child. But imagine the best bread and best strawberry jam ever. Add to it luscious foie gras. It did not have the whimsy of Ko's foie gras shavings but the flavors were spot on. It had something caramelized on top that added a nice crunch as well.

Onto the main courses. I elected the rabbit, something I started eating frequently in Spain. This rabbit had the consistency of chicken--a preparation I'd never quite seen before. It was white meat, free of all the minuscule bones of the garden beast (the main drawback of rabbit). The flavor was subtle--too subtle. The panko crusting was nice, but it did not adhere to the meat enough. I liked this dish, but the texture of the crusting was reminiscent of a soggy chicken cutlet. The saving graces were the garbanzo beans and saffron that accompanied the rabbit. These added huge flavors to the dish that compensated for the sad texture.

Dessert was an additional $8. The menu was split into four "notions" of dessert: Summer, Cherry, Chocolate, and Strawberry. Our table went 3x chocolate and 1 cherry. I opted for the chocolate. According to NY food lore, Jean Georges is the restaurant responsible for creating the molten chocolate cake. This is the same cake that Domino's pizza is now peddling. This is indicative of the impact a single dessert at a fine restaurant can have on the entire nation's culinary landscape. The molten chocolate cake was probably the best one I have eaten--it had shell like exterior and once you cracked it, it oozed. It was accompanied by an unconventional chocolate and peppermint dish with chocolate noodles. This portion of the dessert was more interesting than delicious. The chocolate noodles were certainly a unique taste and I had envisioned the peppermint tasting more like a candy cane and less like toothpaste than it did.

Would I go back to JG for lunch? Certainly. Would I for dinner? Certainly, if someone else was paying. All in all, I'd say my expectations were met (not exceeded) but for a spontaneous Monday lunch, you'd be hard pressed do much better.

6 or 11?

Rolling the reservation dice is a game I find myself playing too often. When I first moved to New York, Babbo was the spot. Every day for a week, at 10:00 AM sharp, I went dialed my office phone furiously, hit a busy signal, hit re-dial, until you heard that melodious ringing. It is very similar to trying to win a radio contest. One day, I was the right number caller, and a reservationist took down my details. Huzzah.

I think with the opening of the Waverly Inn, something changed. It now was no longer enough to have the fortitude to spend a week hitting redial, it was about who you were. I fundamentally have a problem with this mentality. If are looking to create an exclusive environment, call it a club and charge dues. Restaurants are for everyone and everyone should have an (relatively) equal shot of getting in.

This is precisely the reason why I am a strong advocate of David Chang's Momofuku reservation system. It's all run via the Internet (meaning instant gratification) and there is no way to tell a VIP from a "regular" person. Rumor has it, Chang subjected his parents to his reservation system. It creates an equal playing field for diners and eliminates the high school cafeteria mentality of fretting about which table the staff deigned to seat you at.

Unfortunately, the Waverly has been a successful venture, so alas, Graydon created Monkey Bar, a similar type establishment in its exclusivity in midtown. Reviews are pretty tepid on the place, but the most interesting thing I read about the restaurant was how it judges its patrons based on how they are seated. The "pretty, young people" are seated in the worst tables in the "pit". These people are essentially typical diners around the city. The rest of the spots are saved for self-gratifying Conde Nast employees and celebs.

My last rant is reserved for the restaurant I'm most interested in trying: Minetta Tavern. I have tried on more than several occasions to get a reservation at what Bruni deemed the best steakhouse in New York. I approach it like Babbo but when I call in, at 9:00 AM sharp, I'm only offered tables at 6 or 11. This simply cannot be true based on the information that is given out to the public. Now reservationists seem to hold prime tables during prime time for VIP. To me, this is most aggravating at all. The Waverly owns the fact they are clannish, Minetta does not. I frankly would not care about the Minetta Tavern were it not such a food destination. At this point, I may just brave the horror of dining at 6 or 11.

Look, I like the Waverly and I was lucky enough to be gifted the clandestine e-mail to secure a table there. If I had carte blanche access to all these restaurants, this post probably would not even be written. New York has plenty of exclusive and clubby institutions, we do not need our restaurant's to adopt the same mentality.

August Lull

One of the pleasures of being in NY during late August is that restaurants that normally require a couple weeks foresight to book magically open up. With a sizeable portion of the city's food cognoscenti out east, I was able to secure a reservation at Aldea, an Iberian restaurant in the Flatiron on 24 hours notice. Another benefactor of positive reviews, Aldea has been open for a few months now. If you don't know, having lived in Spain, I have an automatic bias toward anything remotely Spanish (though Aldea is a mix between both Spain and Portugal), so this was a treat.

A foodie friend of mine and I met at 7 sharp and had a wonderful meal. While perusing the wine list, I noticed bottles of wine starting at $25! This is practically unheard of at finer establishments in New York, but this is indicative of restaurateurs being mindful of the more frugal diner in the face of the "recession." We ended up splitting a Bordeaux blend and ordered the foie, shrimp, arroz de pato, and scallops.

The atmosphere of Aldea struck me as a little strange. The restaurant itself is very nicely apportioned and I found the noise level perfect (i.e. between library quiet and 27th street club deafening). The space was rather narrow and it sort of felt as if I was dining in a wide hallway. That being said, it had a lovely open kitchen which added nice theatrics to those diners seated nearby.

We started with the foie terrine and the shrimp alhinho. I found the foie to be a little on the bland side. It came with cocoa nibs and a fig sorbet. The sorbet complemented the foie well but I still did not get enough of the richness I would expect from the PETA-maligned delicacy. The shrimp alhinho was lovely. It had a smokiness and taste that took me right back to Spain. It reminded me of the pulpo I used to eat from tapas bars near Puerta del Angel. It was cooked perfectly and was a perfect opening course. My friend actually preferred the foie to the shrimp, so on the appetizers it was a tossup.

The big guns came out for the entrees. The arroz con pato (duck rice, top pic) was simply awesome. First off, duck confit is basically a kryptonite for me. I'll eat it at any occasion. Sidetracking, when Duke lost to UNC in 2006, my friends and I commiserated at L'Express. I'm pretty certain I took to duck confit to console myself over this embarrasing defeat. The rice comes with duck confit, duck crackling, and chorizo (!). The rice itself is worth mentioning given its expert preparation. It was crunchy in the best possible way, but still tender and full of flavor. The chorizo married well with the duck and the drops of sauce off to the side added a soft flavor to counter the proteins. My only quip, and my companion agreed, is that this dish is not best suited to a warm August night, but rather a chilly November evening, when winter is fast approaching.

The scallops, which I did not adore as much as the arroz, were the more seasonal option, and still pretty delicious. The scallops were seared nicely, though a tad gritty. From watching plenty of Top Chef, I have learned that cooking scallops well is something I should not take for granted. What really made this a standout dish for me was the faro that the scallops rested on. I first took note of faro during a dinner at Al Di La in Park Slope last December. Faro is certainly more unique than rice, couscous, or even quinoa and trickier to execute. I once made the mistake of taking a faro salad from a cold buffet at midtown restaurant and suffice to say it was like eating stale jelly beans. Anyway, this faro was nice and aldente and flavored ever so softly with orange. By the time entrees were cleared, Aldea had won me over.

Dessert menus were brought. One of the items I gravitated toward was the Strawberry Tasting (bottom pic). Some may decry strawberries as pedestrian, but I still adore the fruit. It essentially was Aldea's take on strawberry shortcake (the quintessential summer dessert). The semifreddo was smooth and light and had a familiar taste which I unfortunately could not place. Also on the plate was a biscuit sheathed in strawberry hibiscus jam. Both items were very unusual in flavor but both positively refreshing. My friend ordered the sonhos (aka donuts) which came with three delightful saucing options: spiced chocolate, apricot with paprika, and hazelnut. It is hard to mess up donuts, so no surprise that these were a hit. The sauces added more complexity to the dish, elevating them from ordinary to delectable.

When the check arrived, I was not surprised by the total, but needless to say, it was steep for a Wednesday night. That being said, we ordered a significant amount of food and a nice bottle of red, so I'd say the restaurant was fairly valued. Splitting an appetizer, getting two entrees, and splitting a dessert, no alcohol, and you could escape for about $40 / pp (with tax and tip). All and all, Aldea met my somewhat lofty expectations. The arroz con pato wins the gold medal but I think there are plenty of other interesting and savory options on this menu across the spectrum of courses.

Let me count the ways

The eatery I frequent most in New York, asides from the faceless, nondescript midtown venues I lunch at most weekdays, is Num Pang.

For background, Num Pang is an offshoot of a Cambodian restaurant on the LES called Kampuchea. I've never been the the mother restaurant but it's offspring certainly makes me wonder whether a trip is worthwhile.

So here is a list of why Num Pang has changed my life.

1. Pulled Pork Sandwich. Having been educated in North Carolina, pulled pork has a dear place in my heart. While I would never benchmark this sandwich against any Carolina sandwich, this is a special sandwich. The pork is tender and is slightly sweet. The sandwich (as all their sandwiches are) is dressed with chili mayo, cilantro, carrots, and cucumber and with a little sriracha, the sandwich is simply the best in the city. It's messy, rich, a little spicy, a little sweet. I could go on...

2. All the other sandwiches. A plethora of other sandwiches round out Num Pang nicely. The Catfish is my second in command: it is lighter, nicely grilled and marinated in soy sauce. It does not hold up as well to the sriracha as the pulled pork, so use with caution. The coconut shrimp is another go-to. The coconut shrimp is not caked and deep fried in batter like so many are these days, so you get the nice flavor of the shrimp and the coconut. The meatball sandwich is also a standout, but I tend to order this less frequently for health reasons. I have it on good authority the vegetarian option is also pretty delicious.

3. The corn on the cob. Covered in chili mayo, topped with coconuts, and grilled, this corn on the cob is a perfect companion to the sandwiches. This kind of preparation is not particularly novel for NY--you can generally find it at any street fair in the summer--but Num Pang's is executed perfectly.

4. I'm lazy. The place is one block from my apartment.

5. Pricing. Ok, so it is not dirt cheap--but for $8.15 you get a delightfully, delicious, and portable sandwich.

6. Special menu. I've yet to partake any special, but someday I will, and I know it will be delicious.

It's gotten so out of hand that I have eaten at Num Pang thrice a week, for several weeks in a row. Certainly check it out next time you are in the village. You can bring it over to my house to eat, so long as your bring a sandwich for me.

Green with envy

One of the more exciting aspects of living in New York is the buzz that comes with a new restaurant. This is a double-edged sword, because with excitement comes the inevitable struggle to secure a table at the hotspot du jour.

A major impetus for restaurant buzz is the NY Times food review. The debate over the relevance of food critics in the age of blogging is a separate topic, but I still believe that the review carries major weight. When the erstwhile food critic Frank Bruni decreed two-stars on Locanda Verde, a new Italian spot in TriBeCa, it certainly cemented this restaurants status as a destination for at least the next few months.

A friend and I decided to brave the buzz and attempt a walk-in this past Friday. Fate smiled upon us, when after being quoted a wait time of an hour, the host seated us after about 15 minutes. It boded well for what would be a great Friday night meal.

The space is open and fairly sizable by Manhattan standards. The noise level was approaching din at times and the bar was three people deep, but this can be chalked up to the aforementioned buzz. It is dimly lit and decorated in warm reds.

The menu was expansive and divided into the usual sections you'd expect to find. My friend and I decided to let the server espouse her favorite items. She suggested two crostini: ricotta and blue crab, the rabbit terrine, lamb sliders, octopus, and the grandmother's ravioli. We took all those suggestions and a bottle of red. Right of the bat, the wine list impressed me. I am far from an oenophile, but I do enjoy my wine. I was please to see bottles starting at $30, a rare find in New York. Our server was well-versed on the wine list and gave good advice.

The crostini arrived swiftly and were exceptional. I was skeptical of ricotta crostini, but was floored by the smoothness of the cheese and the spice blend that covered it. The blue crab was fresh and bright, a cool dish for a steamy evening. Impressed so far.

Following the crostini, the lamb sliders, octopus, and rabbit terrine arrived. The lamb sliders came as a couple, I would have preferred a foursome. They were sandwiched between a fluffy roll and were juicy in the best way possible. Lamb is not a favorite protein of mine but in a slider form, my heart can be swayed. The octopus was good, not great. It was cooked very well, but the flavors were not as bold as I would have wanted. It did have a nice char though. My favorite appetizer was the rabbit terrine and frankly, this was the greatest surprise of the evening. Terrine is a dish I feel compelled to like, but it rarely inspires me to order it again. I find the congealed texture very unappealing but this terrine was rich, smooth, and the rabbit was tender.

Round three was the grandmother's ravioli, which Frank Bruni noted as making him wanting to swap ancestors with restaurant's proprietor came with high expectations. It fell short for me. The pasta was expertly cooked and had a soft, yet firm texture but I did not get a ton of flavor from the ravioli. The sauce was lovely and had a nice acidic taste that I wish I could jar and take home. Perhaps too much buzz is a bad thing.

For dessert, we followed our server's request again. She suggested the corn budino (a cousin of panna cotta) and the pistachio cake. Again, her recommendations were spot on. The pistachio cake was moist and had a nutty taste that reminded me of desserts I ate while in Spain or Italy. The edges of the slice were slightly overcooked and chewy, but the inner segments were delightful.

The corn budino was another story completely. This dessert was flat out delicious. It had a light texture that was airy and refreshing for a summer day. The main constituent of the dish was sweet corn and the seasonal splendor of this ingredient really shone through. The dish was unique and wonderful.

Consider me a believe in Locanda Verde. The major drawback of the meal came when the check arrived at the table. Locanda has been touted for it's shrewd menu in the face of the recession but I still managed to rack up quite a tab. Yes, I ordered a fair amount of food and split a bottle of wine, but still was sticker shocked. The service, food, and atmosphere certainly warrant the cost, but I would not go into Locanda with a "recession-friendly" mindset as I did.

All and all, worth the trip and worth braving the walk in.

My milkshake brings...

I'm not really sure how I stumbled across Stand. My sandwich obsession, Num Pang, sits adjacent to it on E 12 St. and one day while waiting in line for a delicious pulled pork sandwich, I noticed Stand for the first time. I made a mental note to check it out and did not do much since.

Whilst on twitter one day, the incomparable Gail Simmons highlighted Stand's toasted marshmallow milkshake. This immediately got my attention, as marshmallows are one of my favorite confections. One night, desperate for dessert options, and sorely disappointed by Williamsburg's choices, my partners in crime and I hopped back on the L, destined for Stand.

Milkshakes are without a doubt my favorite libation. I have managed to limit my consumption over the years but that does not mean I love them any less. Stand's toasted marshmallow milkshake is one of the most unique milkshakes I have ever encountered. The milkshake itself is thick and creamy, in the best possible way, but still not viscous enough to require a spoon. The shake comes topped with whipped cream and two perfectly browned marshmallows. The marshmallows are toasted as if being filmed for a s'more commercial. The milkshake has a lingering aftertaste of burnt marshmallows, something that draws me back to those rare moments in my youth, when I did in fact, toast marshmallows. I have had this shake twice, and my latest dining companion was appalled by how into the milkshake I was.

That is not to say Stand is only good for milkshakes. The food press on Stand has been mixed, but I am definitely a fan. Given its proximity to my apartment, I do order takeout from Stand on occasion. One of my favorite options, is the salmon burger. Fish based burgers can be extremely inconsistent but they do carry the advantage of being more nutritionally dense than their bovine counterparts. Some tend to be dry and mealy, others are made from too many sea creatures which ultimately confuse my palate. The salmon burger at Stand is moist, flavorful, and comes on a great sesame seed bun. It is topped it tartar sauce, which I recommend on the side, should you be averse to over-saucing (a major problem for many NY restaurants). It is a great midweek option--healthy, flavorful, quick, and inexpensive.

Aside from the salmon burger, the straight up Stand Burger is certainly above average. The meat is mixed with parsely, chopped onions, and worcestershire sauce which gives it a more unique flavor, though it was more subtle than I would prefer. I did not love the special sauce it came with but all and all, it was a delicious burger that hit the spot. The fries, both regular and sweet potato, complement the burgers well. They are crispy, but not overly crunchy and are nicely salted. I would have preferred them to be slightly longer in length and think the sweet potato are the better choice, but this is more a matter of preference.

In summary, Stand is a solid option and worth a trip alone for the milkshakes. The fact it is a block for my apartment makes it a dangerous option for me. Oh yeah, and they are open until 4:00 AM (Only on Friday night's though).

Welcome and Why Now?

After 26 years of eating in New York, London, Durham, Farmington, Spain, and everywhere in between, I have decided to officially start blogging about it. This blog is for my friends, any random people who stumble across it, and for myself. Too many good meals have been eaten that deserve more attention than my usual hyperbole and this blog serves as way to crystallize these thoughts.

As New York is my current home, the content of this blog will be mostly devoted to the food scene in my favorite town, but that is not to say other cities won't receive attention. Also, on occasion, other posts may stray off course should the zeitgeist warrant it. Rest assured, there will never be a shortage of content: as the title suggests, PJ eats a lot.