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.