Eating in New York City and Beyond

Tourtière - a French Canadian Delicacy

2009-12-20T19:11:00.004-05:00

Would you believe that Christmas at the Hum family dinner includes tourtière?

Well, this year we won't get to partake in my aunt's famous French Canadian delicacy as we're not back in Ottawa to celebrate, so I thought I would try my best and make my own here in New York. There are plenty of variations on tourtière (a meat pie originating in Quebec), but this one includes pork, beef and veal mixed with mashed potatoes and wrapped in a homemade flaky pie crust.

We're looking forward to digging in, but are going to wait until Christmas before we cut the first slice. The anticipation will make the pie taste better or build up our expectations too much. Either way, I'm looking forward to perfecting this recipe in the years to come. Here's to hoping this freezes well!

Meats (equal quantities):
(1) Ground Beef
(2) Ground Veal
(3) Ground Pork

Spices:
(1) sage
(2) savory
(3) nutmeg
(4) clove
(3) salt
(4) pepper

Other:
(1) one medium potato per pound of meat ; boiled until soft; drain & mash
(2) "some" chopped onion & garlic

Instructions:
(1) fry the onions
(2) add meat and fry until pink is gone
- add spices to taste .. i.e. add a bit at a time and try it.
- use only small amounts of nutmeg and clove
(3) add enough water to simmer (do not cover the meat)about 20 minutes
(4) remove any excess liquid and add potatoes which should help absorb remaining liquid.
(5) pour contents into pie crust bottom.
(6) cover with pie crust top
(7) brush crust with egg and milk mixture (1 egg + 2tsp milk)
(8) Bake for 10-15 mins at 450
(9) Brush with egg and milk mixture every 10-15 mins for the next 30 mins

WD-50

2009-12-20T19:00:00.003-05:00

Wylie Dufresne takes molecular gastronomy at WD-50 to a level of fun and entertainment without the pretense you might expect in a restaurant that gets so much hype. We prepared our stomachs for a Friday night of experimentation at Wylie's standout restaurant in the Lower East Side.

Opting for the tasting menu, we took a journey with the chef through courses like a mini ice cream everything bagel made of ice cream milk that had been soaked with everything bagels and formed into mini bagel-shapes; perfect scrambled eggs wrapped in a cube of fine egg film, cold fried chicken and cocoa packets bursting with chocolate flavor. Everything was delicious and interesting, though we did find an 'unfortunate' hair in the cold fried chicken course. The staff was quick to replace the dish, but it did tarnish the overall meal slightly.

Despite the set-back in that one course, our meal at WD-50 was certainly memorable both for the food and the mishap. We booked a few weeks ahead in order to get a table, but if you don't mind an early 6pm or late 9pm meal, you should be able to find a table.

Keep on eating.

WD-50
50 Clinton Street (map)
tel: (212) 477-2900
online reservations at Opentable.com

Bouley Restaurant

2009-09-27T20:51:00.006-04:00

Bouley Restaurant in Tribeca gets rave reviews from all the major food guides - Zagat rates the food a 28 out of 30 (extraordinary to perfection) while the Michelin Guide has awarded Bouley 2 Stars.

That said, we were looking forward to a wonderful meal we went for a special birthday celebration on Friday night. When we arrived, they said our 8:45pm reservation was running 15 minutes late and that we could sit in the lounge and enjoy a drink. 35 minutes later, we were still in the lounge waiting for our table. By the time we sat down and started to look over the menu, it was 9:30pm and we were famished. Our waiter asked us if we wanted to start with a cocktail while we decided on our food. Needless to say, we declined graciously.

We decided on the 5-course tasting menu which would let us sample a wide array of Bouley's food. The procini flan, dungenous crab and truffle dashi was flavorful and rich, but the oysters served as the other starter were a bit fishy. As each dish came and went, there were highs and lows, but nothing close to extraordinary or perfection. The best part of the meal was the dessert course, which included a warm, chocolate souffle, a fruit tart, a bonus creme brulee for Sharon's birthday and two side trays of mini sweets. Sadly, we weren't able to finish all of the desserts, but would have skipped the main course and gone straight to the sugar, had we known how lackluster the entrees would be and how divinely sweet dessert was.

Overall, our Bouley experience was forgettable and not worth repeating. If you do choose to try out Bouley Restaurant (and I'm hoping we had an anomalous meal) I hope you all have a better experience than we did.

Life's too short for disappointing meals, so we'll have to make up for it this week.

Bouley Restaurant
163 Duane Street
Tel: (212) 964-2525

Doughnut Plant

2009-09-17T15:27:00.005-04:00

Doughnut Plant on the Lower East Side offers two heavenly types of doughnuts for gluttonous consumption - yeast doughnuts and cake doughnuts.

They open at 6:30am and sell doughnuts until they have none left - then you'll just have to wait for the next batch to be ready the following day, unless it's Sunday, which means you'll need to wait until Tuesday for your next Doughnut fix. We sampled 4 different sweets that left us giddy. The creme brulee doughnut is filled with a sweet, smooth custard and has a nice crisp sugary exterior. The peanut butter doughnut is huge and filling, stuffed with the jam-of-the-day flavour (on our trip, it was fresh apricot jam). Tres leche was subtle and not too sweet, while the chocolate glaze was also filled with yet more chocolate.

Doughnut plant is a sinfully delicious treat in the LES that everyone needs to experience. We loved our trip to the plant and would go back in a heartbeat.

www.doughnutplant.com
379 Grand Street

Craftbar Restaurant

2009-09-02T21:19:00.007-04:00

Our Saturday night with friends visiting from Ottawa was made even better with a wonderful Italian meal at Tom Colicchio's Craftbar restaurant in the Flatiron District.

Built as the more casual, fun and more affordable restaurant from the Craft empire, without any of the pretension of a fancy place, this was a perfect setting for us and our friends after a busy day out on the town. We started with a couple small plates (polenta fritters and risotto balls) for the table which were easily shared and fun to eat. You really can't go wrong with anything that is fried and Colicchio's kitchen makes a great fritter.

Main entrees at the table included a great assortment of pasta: Seafood Linguini (“Cacciucco Livornese”), Zucchini Ravioli, Veal Ricotta Meatballs on Linguini; and two wonderfully tasty meat dishes: Colorado lamb shank and Berkshire Pork Loin. Everything was delicious. The seafood linguini had a nice bite of spice and garlic, while the veal ricotta balls were made moist and soft by the combination of meat and cheese. Veal shank braised for hours was fall-off-the bone and the flavors in the pork loin and zucchini ravioli were fantastic.

Not wanting to miss out on dessert, we had a warm brownie with fresh, homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream and an apricot and mascarpone tart. The ice cream had been made with fresh mint and drizzled chocolate - yum, while the tart had a crisp shell and soft apricots.

The kitchen at Craftbar executes all their dishes with care and precision. Their emphasis on fresh ingredients and quality flavors makes every dish a wonderful experience. We would highly recommend a meal at Craftbar the next time you're in the mood for fun, tasty, Italian food.

Thanks for feeding us and keeping us eating in New York.

Craftbar
900 Broadway
Tel: (212) 461-4300

For a list of Tom Colicchio's Craft restaurants, you can visit craftrestaurant.com

Public Restaurant

2009-09-02T20:40:00.007-04:00

Sometimes you're disappointed with a meal and other times you're pleasantly surprised.

This weekend was one of the disappointing times.

Our Friday night out with friends visiting from Toronto was supposed to be a nice meal at Public Restaurant (210 Elizabeth Street) in the NoLita district of Manhattan. We had read great reviews on Chowhound about Public Restaurant and the fine critics from Michelin recently awarded the restaurant with a Michelin star, so the outlook was definitely promising.

Our table in the loud restaurant was tucked in a corner, between a cement post and surrounded by bottles of wine. For one diner, it meant being crammed up next to a cement pillar for the evening.

We started our meal with grilled scallops with sweet chili sauce, crème fraiche and green plantain crisps. My first choice of the Fried Barron Point oysters with shiso, sansho pepper, and wasabi-yuzu dipping sauce were sadly sold out for the evening. The scallops were nice, but nothing special. Our dining companions had a nice side of sliced watermelon, feta and basil salad with toasted pumpkin seeds and shichimi which was refreshing and had a nice bite between the spice of the shichimi and the softness of the feta. Entrees included roasted lamb sirloin, crispy tofu and Australian barramundi with vanilla celeriac puree. The lamb was moderately tough and lacked real flavor, while the barramundi had a nice crispy skin, but no outstanding taste. The vanilla celeriac puree was the best part of the fish dish.

Dessert was only moderately better - a sticky toffee pudding with Armagnac ice cream and hot caramel sauce which was fine, but again, nothing special and a British and Irish cheese plate. The cheese plate had strong cheese smells, but as none were made in house, I can't say whether these were the best options to offer diners.

Overall, we were disappointed with our meal at Public Restaurant and aren't sure whether we'll return. After all the great reviews and award wins, you would hope for a better experience. Hopefully you have a better experience than we did.

www.public-nyc.com
tel: (212) 343-7011

Julia Child and Jacques Pepin

2009-08-20T23:27:00.008-04:00

I remember seeing Julia Child cooking classic French food on TV when I was a little kid. I didn't really understand what she was doing, nor did I understand half of what was going into the dishes, but I knew that she was entertaining. In her distinctive voice and pearl necklace, Julia Child definitely had a presence in front of the camera. Quite likely, it was simply her stature, but there was something fun about watching her cook her way around the kitchen. In later years, it was hard not to notice that she often drank alcohol during each show. One particular show that I remember distinctly, was a Julia Child and Jacques Pepin episode where Julia had a large beer stein full of booze which, by the end of the episode, was empty and Julia was tipsy. Amazing! To watch a grown adult, drink on TV while cooking French food and be drunk by the end.

Many years later, I saw an episode of Julia and Jacques' Cooking at home where they made a wonderful looking fish stew served in large artisanal bread. That one show inspired me to buy my first cookbook, "Cooking at Home" by Julia Child and Jacques Pepin. I've only tried a handful of recipes from the book (including the puff pastries), but it sits faithfully on the shelf as constant inspiration to keep cooking. Unlike Julie Powell (from Julie and Julia), I don't know whether I'll get through all the recipes, but I'll certainly keep working on it.

Thanks Julia, you've inspired many generations of food lovers.

Julia and Jacques cookbook can be found on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Julia-Jacques-Cooking-at-Home/dp/0375404317

Nathan's Famous Hot dogs at Coney Island

2009-08-17T11:42:00.006-04:00

Nathan's Famous Hot dogs are an institution at Coney Island. One of the first places you see on the boardwalk as you exit the subway station, Nathan's Famous offers everything from burger, fries and chicken tenders to fried seafood and raw clams.

Every year on July 4, Independence Day, the world famous hot dog eating competition takes place on Coney Island and contestants are required to scarf down as many Nathan hot dogs as they can in 10 minutes. This year's winner - Joey Chestnut, managed to get 68 hot dogs down in 10 minutes!

We went for the light two standard franks and cheese fries (pictured right). The Nathan's Famous beef franks were thick and juicy (hmmmm) and bursting with hot doggy goodness. The cheese fries, weighing in at a whopping 440.00 calories, packed a warm cheesy punch with oozing cheese sauce on thick, ridged, super-cut french fries. Our hearts and stomachs were a little worse for wear after the meal, but nothing that a large soda couldn't temper. Our next adventure in NYC hot dogs will have to be the "dirty water" franks that Anthony Bourdain so lovingly describes on his show "No Reservations."

Here's to more healthy eating in New York!

nathansfamous.com
Click here for a list of Nathan's Famous locations in New York

Sweet Sugar Sunshine Cupcakes on the LES

2009-08-17T11:23:00.010-04:00

We know that food is subjective, so these are just my thoughts and feelings on what I think is the best cupcake in the city.

This is my second post on Sweet Sugar Sunshine because it's a spot that we just keep wandering by and are never disappointed. Located on Rivington street between Essex and Norfolk, Sweet Sugar Sunshine continues to deliver on value-packed cupcakes ($1.50/each) for the cupcake fanatic. On this visit, we continued our journey down cupcake alley with a Pistachio, Lemon yummy and Red Velvet dessert.

The Lemon Yummy and Pistachio offer a light cakey base topped with medium thick frosting. Subtle nutty flavors come through in the pistachio while a soft lemon tang can be tasted from the lemon yummy.

By definition, the Red Velvet is going to be a bit heavier as the cake dough contains cocoa powder. Again, topped with a vanilla icing that was not too sweet provided a nice contrast in flavors and textures to a more dense chocolaty cake.

We will continue to eat up the cupcakes at this lovely bakery. Yummy eating in NYC.

126 Rivington St
Tel: (212) 995-1960
sweetsugarsunshine.com

Shake Shack - Burgers and Fries

2009-08-13T23:16:00.009-04:00

"Burgers and Fries in moderate portions"

The original Shake Shack is in Madison Square Park in Midtown Manhattan where people will line up around the park for hours just to get their hands on these tasty little burgers. These shots were from the UWS location at 366 Columbus (@ 77th street). Simply delicious and freshly prepared, these moderately sized, hand-packed burgers are slightly bigger than a traditional slider, but not as large as a giant pub burger. The Shake Shack 'shroom burger is two portobello mushrooms wrapped around muenster and cheddar cheese, breaded and deep fried, then tucked between a bun with shack sauce, lettuce and tomato.

I'm dreaming about it right now and wish I had ordered one last night as we walked home along Columbus from Times Square.

Shake Shack's traditional cheese burger is everything it claims to be, good 'ol beef, cooked medium and topped with cheese. Ask for everything if you like pickles, tomato and lettuce. For the Canadians reading this, the fries are like the ones that that "Jay" ate in the McCain Superfries commercial from the late 90's (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aR9X_LcC7yQ). Crisp on the outside and tender on the inside.

Enjoy burger lovers - see you in paradise. Keep on eating in New York city.

shakeshack.com

Katz's Deli

2009-08-13T22:12:00.007-04:00

Katz's Deli - 205 East Houston Street (btw Orchard and Ludlow) - needs no introduction.

Equally famous for its wall of celebrity photographs, site of Meg Ryan's fake orgasm in "When Harry met Sally", and it's pastrami/corned beef/brisket, Katz's Deli never fails to deliver on it's $15 sandwich.

Definitely not a cheap meal, the $15 is well worth it for a pastrami sandwich that can easily feed two. For an extra $6, order Katz's fantastically delicious, thick steak French fries and a Dr. Brown's cherry cola. All sandwiches and meat platters come with a side of pickles that are a nice complement to any meal here.

While I can't vouch for the desserts at Katz's Deli, I'm sure the cheesecake here is tasty - I promise to try a slice next time. For now, we'll keep eating in New York.

Vanessa's Dumpling House

2009-08-13T22:09:00.004-04:00

Vanessa's Dumpling House at 118 Eldridge St (btw Canal and Hester) is a little gem on the LES that serves a simple menu of dumplings, sesame pancake sandwiches and soups (including noodle soups). For under $10, you can get a great meal here with a variety of flavours, textures and delicious fillings both for vegetarians and carnivores alike.

We ordered three dishes to split between two people: a Peking Duck sandwich, Fried Pork Dumplings and Steamed wontons with spicy sauce. For those of you who like duck, there's nothing nicer than some thinly sliced and shredded duck, batoned cucumber and hoisin sauce, tucked between a large fluffy sesame pancake that has been fried in a huge skillet and let to rise. One of the cooks is solely responsible for all of the sandwiches on order and these come nice and hot as each huge pancake is finished cooking and transferred to her station. She then slices the pancake into pizza-like wedges cuts each wedge in half (like a bagel) and fills it with the required filling. There are other fillings like roasted pork, roasted beef, veggies and tuna, but why eat anything other than duck?!

The fried pork dumplings were a bit dry, but the chive and pork filling was delicious. Dipped in a bit of soy/chili sauce, these dumplings come to life. The steamed wontons with spicy sauce were absolutely delicious. I wish I had a picture to share with you, but imagine 6 dumplings that are perfectly steamed and served on a fancy white Styrofoam plate. Then these are drizzled in chilli oil, sesame oil, burned garlic and chives. The shrimp and pork flavours blend wonderfully and are moist delicous. We've been back once already for the pancake sandwiches and hope to come back again for the dumplings. You go Vanessa!

(On a side note, I'm pretty sure none of the Chinese staff working at Vanessa's Dumpling House are named Vanessa, but who cares? With prices this low and food this tasty, it doesn't really matter). Deliciously eating in New York city.

Joe's Shanghai

2009-07-21T22:54:00.014-04:00

Down among the vegetable and fruit vendors of Chinatown lies as small yet popular Chinese restaurant called Joe's Shanghai (9 Pell St
(between Bowery & Doyers St). They are written up in all the travel guides as a great place for Pork Soup dumplings, which they will bring to your table in a bamboo basket lined with lettuce leaves. Don't worry, you won't be eating the lettuce - it just keeps these little guys moist. Inside each pocket of dumpling is a ball of minced pork meat and pork soup broth. Be careful as you eat these or else you'll end up with greasy soup in your lap. Hint, carefully place a dumpling in your soup spoon, add a bit of sauce, bite the top or side and quickly slurp up the soup inside. Then you're free to consume the rest of your now soup-less dumpling.

When you're on your own or in a smaller party, the hostess at Joe's Shanghai will put you at a communal table (typical of busy restaurants in the East. Sitting at a communal table with 8 other strangers makes it feel like you've ordered tons more food as you can see what your eating companions order that might tickle your fancy. When we sat down, a family of four were digging into a spicy looking noodle dish (pictured here). After a quick "Hey, what are you eating?" and some translation by their 12-year old daughter, they quickly pointed to Peking Noodles on the menu. We were sold. These noodles come slathered in a spicy sauce, thickened undoubtedly with cornstarch (the Chinese equivalent of a roux-butter and flour), minced pork and mini-cubes of tofu. While tasty and flavourful, the whole meal still left us with slightly uneasy stomachs (as most Chinese meals do). We had also ordered mixed veggies and tofu which had been fried in a wok with too much oil and oyster sauce. Maybe our iron stomachs can't deal with the oil, or we're just lightweights.

Otafuku (Osaka delights)

2009-07-21T10:54:00.005-04:00

You don't need to fly across the Pacific ocean to get a quick taste of Osaka's well-known Okonomiyaki-お好み焼き(cabbage pancake) or Takoyaki-たこ焼き(octopus balls).

Instead, head down to the East village for authentically prepared street food from this tiny take-out joint on 9th street, btw 2nd and 3rd ave. Made of shredded cabbage, ginger, flour, eggs and green onions, Okonomiyaki (a Kansai-based pancake) comes topped with kewpie mayo, brown-okonomiyaki sauce, aonori (green seaweed) and bonito flakes. Try it as Combo B and you'll get a side of Tako-yaki with it.

Takoyaki octopus balls are a well-known street food in the Osaka region. Made on a hot skillet with circular craters, the chef adds batter, ginger, green onions and octupus to the skillet and deftly turns and molds the batter into a ball using chopsticks or a tiny, pointy needle-like object. Once ready and brown on all sides, 6 balls get put into a tray, covered in okonomiyaki sauce and kewpie mayo and topped, once again with aonori and bonito flakes. The hot steam from the takoyaki literally makes the bonito flakes come to life as they slowly sway back and forth as though alive. Be careful not to burn yourself as these have come right off a hot skillet.

Also prepared at Otafuku is yaki-soba, a standard saute of soba noodles, seafood including shrimp and octopus, sometimes meat, cabbage and yakitori sauce. Topped with aonori and a side of ginger. For noodle-lovers, this simple dish fills the stomach and satisfies your craving. The yakitori was tasty and flavourful, but nothing special.

We'd come back for the okonomiyaki and takoyaki, but may leave the noodles to one of the many other options in the city.

Halal - Chicken and Rice or Lamb and Rice

2009-07-16T23:48:00.010-04:00

Halal meat is available in NYC from street carts on every other corner in the city. Anywhere from $4-6 per platter, might this tasty dish give the Hot Dog and Pretzel carts a run for their money?

These delicious smelling carts can be found all over the city with various levels of quality and flavour from each one. It would seem that there's a monopoly on this local, middle eastern cuisine, but with each stand putting their own twist on this veritable favourite, it's hard to compare one from another. Some offer variations on the type of rice you get (basmati, spicy, white, mixed) while others have a different consistency to their "white sauce". I shudder to think what's actually in this non-refrigerated white sauce. Best to leave that in the lower levels of your unconscious and act on blind faith hoping that you won't get sick. Truthfully, I think the turnover on this food is so fast and frequent that no food has long to go bad. All carts will offer a choice of chicken or lamb on rice or a combination of both.

One of the best and most popular carts is at 53rd street and 6th avenue from 7pm-4am (http://53rdand6th.com). This is the first place we went in the city for Halal meat and have been back twice already in our first month and a half. We've also tried stands near Bryant park at Madison and 40th - 3 out of 5 - and around Broadway and 18th 3.5 out of 5. Be sure to ask for extra white sauce and beware the spicy sauce. The first time we had the spicy sauce, we put it all over and our mouths were on fire. Again, each stand has a different spicy level for their hot sauce. The stand at 53rd and 6th is killer (you've been warned). The safest approach if you have a low spice tolerance is to ask for sauce on the side and dip as necessary.

hmmm... I'm getting hungry.

In search of the perfect cupcake

2009-07-16T22:46:00.005-04:00

Not satisfied with our first cupcake experience at Crumbs, off we went through the Lower East Side and East Village exploring a previously unfamiliar area to both of us. Though we were not specifically looking for cupcakes, we did find two noteworthy bakeries - Sugar Sweet Sunshine and Butter Lane.

Sugar Sweet Sunshine was, as the name indicates, a ray of sunshine in our young cupcake journey. Fair prices, a delicately soft, moist cake and a not-too-sweet, but just-sweet-enough buttercream icing made this $1.50 treat a welcome sight. The Bob, a yellow cake with chocolate almond buttercream was delicious, so much so that we talk about going back almost daily. Our next venture to the LES will undoubtedly yield expanded waist-lines as we stuff ourselves on these delicate clouds of sugar sweetness. 126 Rivington Street (212) 995-1960 www.sugarsweetsunshine.com

Another standout cupcake shop is Butter Lane at 123 East 7th Street. This tiny shop in the middle of a quiet street offers local, organically sourced ingredients including real vanilla beans and local, organic dairy. You mix and match the bottom cakes (vanilla, chocolate, red velvet) with an American or French buttercream icing. American buttercream icing is the most common type of icing and does not require the addition of eggs - its main ingredients are powdered sugar, butter and milk, while French buttercream is made of granulated sugar, butter and eggs. The consistency of the French meringue icing is quite different than the American, but a smoother, more creamy texture makes for a nice contrast with the standard cupcakes found in the city. On par with the other prices in the city - $2.50-3.00 each.

Oh Taisho

2009-07-14T09:54:00.011-04:00

This Japanese yakitori restaurant on St. Marks Place is a standard haunt for students and Japanese expats alike. Sit at the bar for a view of the Yakitori master grilling skewers of beef, chicken, chicken hearts, pork, negi, and scallops. Everything gets coated in the same sauce, but feels like you're in the heart of a barbecue.

We had an assorted yakitori plate of beef, tsukune, aspara bacon, scallop/bacon and mushrooms, kara-age (fried chicken) and spicy tuna on a bed of rice. While the yakitori wasn't anything special, the spicy tuna and kara-age were really nice. Not too greasy, big chunks of dark meat chicken were dredged in flour and deep fried. A big dish of spicy tuna on rice is easily shared by two or three people and is a nice texture and flavour contrast to the grilled meat skewers.

Crumbs Bake Shop

2009-07-05T12:15:00.010-04:00

East 93rd and Lexington

Mint Chocolate Chip cupcake from Crumbs bake shop.

While wandering up the Upper East side, we stumbled up this bake shop, which we later found out was a chain throughout Manhattan. These dense, large cupcakes look sweet and delicious. They are definitely sweet, but too dense for my taste. I like my cupcakes light and fluffy with a soft butter cream icing.

That said, this was a nice treat on our walk up to 125th.

Paty's Tacos (Truck)

2009-07-05T12:12:00.007-04:00

Longing for a quick snack as we wandered up to Harlem from the Met, we stumbled upon Paty's Tacos, a Mexican food truck on the corner of East 86th street and Lexington Avenue.

Served on the street, like much of the best food in New York, this place wasn't dirt cheap, but reasonably priced tacos ($2.50) and Sopes ($4) were homemade, fresh, and authentic. The bistec (steak) sopes had a thick tortilla shell and was topped with chopped lettuce, onion, and salso verde. Two enchilada (spicy pork) tacos were a bit dry, but made better by hot sauce and salsa.

With so many mexican choices in the city, we'll be on the hunt for more goodies to eat.

Greek food at Pylos & Tapas at Alta

2009-07-05T00:56:00.027-04:00

Our first few days of eating were made up of a series of communal tables where we, along with the family, could share in some varied dining and order a number of different dishes. Since we had family in town for the first few days, we were looking for something low-key, fun and some atmosphere. Here are the two places that my brother-in-law booked for us and we had great meals at both.

Definitely worth checking out again, once we've gone through the other 15,000.

Pylos Greek restaurant (www.pylosrestaurant.com)
Busy, fun, Greek restaurant with a lively atmosphere that matches its delivery of food. Good service, good food and good company.

On order for our first dinner out included appetizers:
kolokythakia kai melitzanakia tyganita - crisp, fried zucchini and eggplant rounds served with tzatziki (light, fried slices of eggplant and zucchini, piled up on a single dish. Not too many on the plate, but enough to share as part of a series of apps.)
haloumi sote me stafylia kai tsipouro - thick slices of sautéed haloumi cheese finished with greek grappa and served with grapes (I've always enjoyed haloumi, a mid/firm cheese with a subtle flavour. Fried to a light golden brown on the outside, each bite is a little crunch followed by that classic warm, melty cheese texture.)
ta afrata keftedakia tis dianas - diane’s light-as-air meatballs, pan-fried in olive oil (if I had to chose a meal that was purely made up of meatballs, these would be them. Moist, flavourful and dripping with deliciousness.)
saganaki tou merakli - three greek cheeses meltedin a clay pot (more melted cheese, but this time, more like melted mozzerela)
poikilia - a trio of greece’s three best dipping sauces: tzatziki, the thick, tangy yogurt dip; taramosalata, the robust and
lemony fish roe dip; and melitzanosalata, a luscious eggplant condiment made with char-grilled eggplants and extra-virgin greek olive oil

Entrees:
arni kotsi me meli, gigantes skordalia kai psiti tomata - cretan-honey braised lamb shank served with giant bean and roasted garlic puree and roasted tomato
A soft, succulent, lamb shank, with fall-off-the-bone meat. Like little pockets of flavor bursting in your mouth. The subtle bean and garlic puree is a nice contrast to the rich, flavorful meat and helps cleanse your palate between bites.

Alta restaurant (www.altarestaurant.com)
A great restaurant for large groups to share many little dishes. If the tapas craze is going out of style, you wouldn't know it here as the kitchen delivers a broad assortment of tasty dishes that will satisfy any number of appetites.

Marcona Almonds Lamb Meatballs - spiced butternut squash foam, toasted sesame seeds and lebne
Grilled Japanese Eggplant - scallion gratinee, aleppo pepper & toasted sesame seed
Spinach Salad - dried cherries, toasted pine nuts & red onion, garlic cream
New Style Yellowtail Sashimi - passion fruit lebne, almond vinaigrette, guindilla, mint
Tuna Tartare - hearts of palm, chorizo, macadamia nuts
Crispy Brussels Sprouts - fuji apples, crème fraiche, pistachio nuts (crisply sauteed brussel sprouts in a fresh, blend of flavours.)
Crisp Chicken Wings - Agave glaze, chile spice blend, frisee & celery with Valdeon dressing
Sea Scallops - artichoke puree, yuzu mayonnaise, salmon caviar (plump, juicy scallops, cooked perfectly)
2 Enormous Whole Shrimp - simply grilled with sea salt
Ricotta Parmesan Gnocchi - parsnip lemon puree, Prosecco almond espuma, celery leaves
Skirt Steak with chimichurri - oven roasted Jersey Tomato & shoe string potatoes (medium-rare skirt steak, cooked and sliced, topped with a different take a chimichurri, made up mostly of olive oil and parsley in this case. In Argentina, everyone makes chimichurri differently - some with more chilis, some with none.)

Are you ready to grub?

2009-07-05T00:19:00.002-04:00

We moved to New York City just before Independence Day 2009 and are on a one-year journey through the city and its boroughs.

This culinary journey will mostly consist of fun, local restaurants in New York and hopefully include some fine dining on special occassions. Everything from street food, hole-in-the-walls, fancy restaurants (if we can afford them) and random places to pick up groceries.

Eating is a way of life and life's too short not to enjoy it on a full stomach.

Enjoy the ride and strap on a bib.