French Connection

Maybe NYC has always been awash in French restaurants; maybe we just never frequented the right neighborhoods; maybe they were out of what I considered our price range for a non-occasion dinner; or maybe they were just too friggin' snooty for my black jeans and black T-shirt wearing self.  Whatever it was, it seems the tide has turned, and that "reasonably priced" (of which there's no such thing any more in Manhattan) Italian trattoria that was opening on every other block (oh, how I long for the early days of 'ino, 'inoteca, Lupa with Ladner not mario, etc. etc.) has morphed into that more casual French bistro, and ain't that dandy? I mean, Italian food cooked at home is just so much better than the dreck served up at lousy Italian restaurants dotting the city (I'm currently looking at you, Serafina), that I'm happy to be donning my Francophile hat now, when Significant Eater and I head out for dinner.

Don't get me wrong - these won't necessarily be inexpensive nights out; but if you choose your drink(s) wisely, very nice dinners may be had without breaking the bank. Three additions to the French scene have opened recently (though you might have to hurry to one of them), in addition to the openings over the past few years of Le Coucou, Mimi, Le Coq Rico, Le Turtle, and Rebelle (sadly, closed). The latest batch includes La Mercerie, helmed by Marie-Aude Rose, and reviewed here by my friend Danny B.; Frenchette, in Tribeca, which opened at the beginning of April; and though it's not new, Racines, where they've brought in chef Paul Liebrandt, late of The Elm and Corton, for a residency expected to last through the end of May.  And having tried all 3 of this latest batch, I'm happy to report that the French bistro is alive and well here in NYC.

La Mercerie you read about by following that link above; certainly delicious food, but I think better for a nice lunch than dinner out. And certainly great if you've got $23,000 burning a hole in your pocket for that couch you must have!

Next up, Racines, where the short-term residency of chef Paul Liebrandt had us smacking our lips in anticipation. Racines (in my opinion) has always had an identity problem; is it a wine bar with restaurant style food, or is it a restaurant with a great wine list? Right now, with Paul, it's certainly a fancier restaurant with a great wine list. This is far from casual bistro fare, however. And it's got, to my taste, a lot of elements from both Japanese and Nordic cooking happening - Japanordica? For instance...

Kampachi at Racines via Paul Liebrandt

A first course of not so simple kampachi, with smoked yogurt and ossetra caviar, of a 5-course tasting menu, which included a crab/foie dish, turbot with Comté gnocchi, aged duck, and a fine chocolate dessert.  Serious Paul Liebrandt food, gorgeous plating, no punches pulled, for $90...a veritable bargain in our city today.  As I mentioned, the wine list is deep, and loaded with value.  Those who know way more about wine than me will study this list, and surely find something amazing. We were happy with a bottle of a 2010 Alsatian riesling blend at barely above retail, followed by a 2014 Janin Moulin-a-Vent, which went nicely with the duck (and chocolate), and also was bargain priced.  Here's the catch: if you want to eat food from a Michelin starred chef - go soon...he may be gone in the blink of an eye.

But then there'll always (we can hope) be Frenchette, perhaps my favorite of all the openings; certainly of the current crop, though it's hard to get Le Coucou off my mind. If you don't know the story of chef partners Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr, read a little about it here. And from the welcome at the front door by a few of the industry's finest vets, to the casual yet pro service in the dining room, to the wine list "curated" by Jorge Riera (profiled recently in The Times), it's all good food & fun. The room rocks, and not with music that's too loud. I've been 3 times already, and can't get enough; other than the Italian food I cook at home, this stuff hits my sweet spot.

So, for instance, start (as I did on my first vist) at the bar with pig's foot croquettes, served atop a beautiful sauce gribiche. The roast chicken for 2 is no slouch either, all crispy skin and juicy meat, with a pile of pommes puree that's either half cream or half butter...or both. Try eating that at the bar (we did), and watch your neighbors covet your plates.  Last night, in the dining room, we more sedately started with a rare treat...

Goose neck barnacles at Frenchette

Percebes, or goose neck barnacles, all saline and finger-licking good, with a sauce meant to be sopped up with the excellent (FREE!) bread. You can't come here and not order the scrambled eggs...

Brouillade at Frenchette

No, I mean the brouillade, scrambled eggs so soft and creamy, you'll wonder why you don't make these at home (hint - they're a pain in the ass). Currently, they're topped with a taste of snails, but it's really all about the eggs, and brunch may never be the same. Now, it being spring, I must have lamb...

Spring Lamb Stew at Frenchette

In the form of a delicious lamb stew, with a sauce to die for. At home, I make lamb stew with lamb neck; here, I believe they're using leg, and I'm gonna give that a try the next time. Perfectly sweet peas, asparagus, baby turnips, carrot, and potato made this dish seem positively healthy. 

Dessert last night was a merely delicious mille-feuille...

Mille-feuille at Frenchette

Made all the better by its tri-star strawberries, from where I don't know.  But - does it really matter?

Digging once again at the low end (price wise) of the wine list, we opted to open with an Alsatian riesling, this one from Julien Meyer, and barely double the retail price (if you can find it).  We followed that up with another 2014 Beaujolais, this one a Fleurie from Marcel Joubert, and also priced to sell. In case you're thinking Sig Eater and I always down 2 bottles of wine at dinner, be good - there were 3 of us!

If we're entering into an era of moderately priced, French bistro-style restaurants (bistronomy?) here in NYC, I'm all for it. If these are places where sharing isn't "recommended" by the kitchen, and where the food comes out on normal plates when it is supposed to, then I'm all for it. After all, isn't it about time we all learned how to dine like grown-ups? Or, more to the point - let's make that French Connection.

Bronx Tales

Every now and then, in my continuing quest to explore "the boroughs" (and no, I haven't gotten to Staten Island yet, other than multiple trips to a friend's house for great dinners), I decide to head north and that borough up there, known colloquially as: da Bronx.

Not the largest borough (Queens), and not the most populous borough (Brooklyn), the Bronx might just be the most fun borough to visit. (And sorry if I forgot to explain what a borough is; essentially, in New York, the boroughs are counties...but not exactly.)  There's the Bronx Zoo. There's the New York Botanical Gardens.  There are Van Cortlandt and Pelham Bay Parks. There are beaches. Rivers. You get the picture, right? And oh yeah - there's food.

Take Sammy's Fish Box, for example...

Sammy's Fish Box

Located on City Island (yeah, there are also islands in the Bronx), the food is pretty good if you stick with the tried and true, and it's served in what may only be called brobdignagian proportions. It's old school, so everyone gets bread and "crudités." And if soft-shell crabs are in season - they'll probably be as delicious as these...

Soft-shell crabs at Sammy's

But men and women do not live by seafood alone. So when you're in the mood for something a little different, head over to the Pelham Bay section of the Bronx, where you'll find the great...

Louie & Ernie's

The pies rank right up there with our favorites anywhere. In nice weather, you can sit in the backyard and enjoy your pie. The sausage is sourced in the Bronx (where else?), and it's delicious...

Louie & Ernie's Half Sausage Pie

If seafood doesn't move you, and you're not in the mood for pizza, how about Cuban food, at one of the 2 locations of Havana Cafe? 

Havana Cafe

I've only been to the one pictured above on East Tremont Avenue, and only for lunch, but the ropa vieja I enjoyed was sure worthy of another trip for Significant Eater and me in the near future. I'll bet the bar scene there is hopping on a weekend night!

Arthur Avenue, which many call the "real Little Italy" in New York (though that's debatable at this point), is still worthy of a visit and probably another blog post. There are a few great butchers on the Avenue and the fresh mozzarella at Casa Della Mozzarella is superb, but you need to pick and choose your spots, as a lot of what's on offer in the neighborhood is touristy junk.

Up in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, a couple (literally 2) of old-skool Jewish delis still hold out. Liebman's and Loeser's are the big names, though Sig Eater and I have only visited Liebman's so far. It's certainly good enough for a pastrami sandwich, a bissel of this and a schitckel of that, but it won't stop us from continuing our quest for the best. Here's a 2011 story from Back in the Bronx magazine about the remaining delis, with some excellent pictures.

Anything else? Oh, the Yankees, a great Etruscan Museum at Fordham University, Orchard Beach, and lots more to explore in the largest of our 5 boroughs. Me - I'm still looking for the "bodega" called Stubie's that my grandmother used to send me to in order to buy some farmer's cheese. One of these days... 

Zadie's Oyster Room

Zadie's Oyster Room is the latest incarnation of Chef Marco Canora's tiny restaurant space on E. 12th St.  Previously, it was Fifty Paces, due to its location 50 paces from his much larger flagship up the block - Hearth. Before Fifty Paces it was Terroir, a much-liked wine bar, with some good snack-y food to go along; but that was ages ago in restaurant years. And now it's Zadie's. And now it's damn good.

Marco opened Zadie's as a tribute to the great oyster bars that once dotted lower Manhattan as Starbucks does today. As he explained in an interview with local blog Bedford and Bowery:

“I always had it in my mind to make a turn-of-the-century grand oyster bar,” he explained. “I would go to the New York Public Library and did a boatload of research and gathered old menus from that era,” he said, describing his fascination with the oyster industry that thrived in the city’s harbors in the late 19th and early 20th century. During his research, he was struck by their sheer proliferation of oyster bars in Manhattan. “They called them oyster rooms, oyster cellars – because a lot of them were underground, oyster saloons… there was all this verbiage around oyster bars, there were a lot of words for oyster rooms,” he said.

Marco's research also pointed out to him how oysters at those grand oyster bars were served in a variety of cooked styles, and that's exactly what's on the menu at Zadie's. Oysters at Zadie's can be ordered baked, broiled, steamed, fried, pickled, poached, and raw. Each prep is slightly different from another, but they all contain a special ingredient (shhhh - it's seaweed), as Chef likes the way seaweed punches up the flavor of the bivalve.

He's also offering an oyster-friendly wine list, with lots of bubblies, including a half dozen half bottles, as half bottles are a favorite of mine. So Significant Eater and I started off with this...

Cremant de Bourgogne

A fine, dry sparkler that went perfectly with our eats. And oh - the eats.  We began with crab cake sliders, 2 to an order; nice, generously crabby crab cakes, served with a textbook aioli and cucumber for a little crunch.  We also tried the shrimp cocktail, with beautifully poached shrimp and a nice, tangy cocktail sauce...turns out I'm not the only one who can cook shrimp properly.

But - it's an oyster room, so save room for the oysters. I've never seen so many offerings of oysters in different states of recently deceased...

Baked oysters and shrimp cocktail

Starting with the baked oysters (and obviously the shrimp cocktail), which were practically perfect. Oysters topped with prosciutto cotto, seaweed butter, egg, and leeks per the menu, and why can't I get a baked clam prepared as deliciously as this oyster is? Just one please.

See that picture? There are 3 baked oysters ; the cooked oyster dishes are served in 3s ($9.75) or 5s ($16.50) - and it's an arbitration process for Sig Eater and me at this point to see who gets the extra.

Moving on to a couple of glasses of wine to have with fried oysters, which were awesome atop their fennel slaw; we were advised to eat all in one bite with fingers; one delicious, crunchy, messy bite. The fried oysters are a must. The poached oysters, well -  I didn't love as much - though I think Sig Eater qvelled.

There's so much we missed. Broiled oysters, Pickled oysters. Steamed oysters. Smoked whitefish paté. Anchovy butter with brown bread. Even a classic Caesar, which I'm guessing Marco does right. Raw - of course there's happy hour Mon - Fri, with some oysters at half price. We'll be back soon, for a nice, casual, fun meal. If you're oyster fans like we are, head on over - you'll be happy you did.

Zadie's Oyster Room - 413 E. 12th St., NYC

Crazy for Le Coucou

Le Coucou is the new restaurant (opened for reals last week) collaboration between restaurateur Stephen Starr and Chef Daniel Rose of Spring, an acclaimed restaurant located in Paris. That backstory need not be explained here; suffice to say that Significant Eater and I have had the pleasure of dining at both the tiny Spring 1 (once), and the more ambitious Spring 2 (a number of times), and it was always a fun and delicious time.

Plenty of restaurants open in New York City; often they come with lots and lots of hype. Le Coucou is certainly one of them, as the PR bandwagon got rolling a while ago. And normally we like to give restaurants at least a little while to get their footing, but with this one we just couldn't wait, so off we were to Lafayette Street - on night two of service. I didn't even know if we'd get a table, since we were sans ressies, but we figured we could just grab a cocktail, even if we couldn't have dinner. But arriving early, we were offered a table by the charming Maître D' and lovely hostesses and hosts, though we did have a drink first, in their rather intimate lounge area.

Now, I'd introduced myself and Sig Eater to Daniel at Spring years ago, as a friend of a friend. And again, when we were lucky enough to dine at the new Spring. But here, even before I was seated, Daniel (who had zero idea we were coming to have dinner) was by our side, greeting me by name and with hugs and cheek kisses - you know, that lovely French way. And even though he looked like he wanted nothing more than to pass out on the extremely comfortable banquette, he returned to our table any number of time during our meal, to make sure we were enjoying our dinner, to see if there was anything we'd like him to "whip up." Basically the consummate host.

French has been seeing a serious revival in NYC over the past couple of years, and that makes us happy, as we love French cooking.  I mean, one need look no further than Rebelle, or Racines, or MIMI, or Chevalier, or...well, you get the picture. And here, with classic French technique executed almost flawlessly, we were in heaven. One of our favorite dishes is a simple Poireaux, poached leeks served in a bracing vinaigrette. Here, chef adds a little something extra, topping the leeks with sweet, roasted hazelnuts. What about fried Delaware eel? Normally, my eel exposure is limited to sushi bars, where the earthy eel get a sweetish topping. At Le Coucou, the Anguilles frites au sarassin are as light as a feather, the eel's buckwheat batter playing well with curried vinaigrette and a subtle brunoise of citrus.

Mimolette is a French cheese that as recently as a few years ago had its import halted by the food police, aka the FDA. It's back, and here it graces Asperges au vinaigre de bois. It's a simple lightly-roasted asparagus salad, made special by a smoked wood vinegar sourced somewhere in the wilds of Canada.

Asparagus salad

One of the dishes chef sent to our table was a knockout - a whole sea bream stuffed with lobster - and my guess is the menu is changing daily, because as I look while writing this, it's not on the online menu now. But here's a picture anyway.

Lobster stuffed sea bream

 A classic of the French culinary canon is Quenelle de brochet. As Julia says in Mastering the Art I, "A quenelle, for those who are not familiar with this delicate triumph of French cooking, is pâte à choux with a purée of raw fish...formed into ovals or cylinders and poached in a seasoned liquid. Served hot in good sauce, quenelles make a distinguished first course. A good quenelle is light as a soufflé..."

Quenelle de brochet, sauce américaine

Yes it is. And indeed it was. Our main course, which we shared because we wanted to save room for cheeses, was Bourride, a Provencal fish stew that might be known in places like Nice as bouillabaisse. Here, the fabulous fish fumet is stocked with halibut, mussels, clams, and Santa Barbara spot prawns. Served alongside, a thick slice of toasted baguette, slathered with aïoli. Suck the head of those prawns, dip the bread, and pretend you're somewhere other than Chinatown - it's easy enough, once inside, because this is a lovely space.

Our 3-cheese selection (all American) was swoon-worthy to Significant Eater, and served alongside was an accompaniment of 3 different beverages, which I don't really know if everyone gets - or if Daniel was just being extra nice to us.

Speaking of nice, the service staff is super. There was a horde of people working on both the floor and in the kitchen. The front of house people were professional, yet casual. There have a been a few notable restaurant openings this year, where service has been a bit "clumsy." Not here, where everyone is on the same page, and that enhances the experience greatly.

What else can I write? Well, I am sad we didn't get to enjoy dessert - we just ate too damn much, but next time! And while we were unexpectedly treated like old friends, with 3 comped dishes from the kitchen and a couple of glasses of champagne when we sat down at our table, I looked around the restaurant any number of times, and everyone sure looked happy. The wine list is extensive - maybe that's part of the reason? There are tablecloths on the tables. There are comfortable chairs. Reservations are taken. All grown-up stuff. But most of all, once you taste this cooking, I think you're going to be happy as well.

Le Coucou

Go To Goto - Bar Goto, That Is

Ahhh, July. Summer vacation. I always looked forward to July with great joy; it meant school was coming to a close (I kinda didn't like school), and that the next two months would be all about enjoying summer vacation with my friends. Of course, now that I'm older and allegedly wiser, there are many months I like much more than July and August - you know, it's not the heat, it's the humidity. Whatever. All I know is that I haven't posted in over a month - I guess I was reliving those great old summer vacation days. And then, all of a sudden, it hit me - I'd been to a half-dozen or so new places, or at least places we hadn't been before, and hadn't muttered a word. Time to get back to school. work. okay - blogging.

Let's start with drinking. A few nights ago, Significant Eater and I, along with a couple of friends, were some of the first (post f&f) customers at Kenta Goto's brand new Bar Goto, in the Eldridge Street heights (okay, upper Eldridge - you know, the block between Houston and Stanton streets). Kenta and his hired hands have transformed a space that was formerly a restaurant, into a serene, lovely drinking spot. With some tasty bar food as well. Have a look at the interior, in a shot provided by Bar Goto...

Bar Goto (provided by Bar Goto)

I originally met Kenta when he working at NYC's Pegu Club (he was the first bartender to ever make me a Jasmine), where his zen-like approach to bartending, and his perfect rapport with customers, assured him of always having an audience. Now, like many others who mastered their trade behind Pegu's stick, he's an owner himself.

I don't want to say that we drank a lot. But, we drank a lot. Why? Well, because there was so much to try...

Bar Goto's Cocktail Menu

One of the things I like about Kenta's drinks are that they are not as "spiritous" as many cocktails can be. Of course, there are those who think the only reason to drink a cocktail is for the ethanol, and that's what makes the world go 'round. But take the Sakura Martini, which is a sake-based Martini, enhanced slightly by the funk of Maraschino liqueur. A great drink, smooth as silk, garnished with a dried Japanese cherry blossom...

Sakura Martini

You can have more than one of these - and still be walking. As I mentioned, there's food; Japanese snacky stuff, to help soak up some of the booze. We tried the excellent house-cured pickles with yuzu pepper paste, and 2 of the 5 varieties of okonomi yaki on offer; I particularly liked the Fisherman's, filled with rock shrimp, squid, and octopus, while Significant Eater and friends enjoyed the Herbivore even more. I'm far from an expert on Japanese food, and even less of an okonomi yaki one, but these seemed to be a great match for the cocktails on offer.

As the night's final drink, I figured I'd try something totally out of my wheelhouse - the Improved Shochu Cocktail, a blend of barley shochu, aged gin, and hop liqueur; in other words, it's a shochu cocktail that's been improved! Quite tasty, if I recall correctly...

Improved Shochu Cocktail

What if you're not a fan of these mostly clear-spirited drinks? What if you like bourbon? Rye? Scotch? Well, have no fear - the bartenders here will mix you anything you desire, and mix it well. Or you can have a Kanpai! - a shot and a beer. Because as Kenta and other great bartenders learned a long time ago, the customer gets what the customer wants. I'm already planning our return trip; there are more cocktails to try, more food to sample. And the graciousness of one on New York City's newest hosts to make sure your evening is a great one.

Bar Goto - 245 Eldridge Street, NYC
(212) 475-4411

P.S. - I have a feeling we were comped a drink or two, but who the hell remembers?

Not-So-Instant Ramen

New York City is loaded with ramen-yas. Barely a month or two goes by without a new one opening, and a quick scan of yelp shows pages and pages of them. No publication can avoid writing about them either; yawnthrillist might actually write something every other week.  For instance, their 10 Absolute Best Ramen Spots in NYC (SEP,  2014). Their 8 Best Under-the-Radar Ramen Spots in NYC (JAN, 2015). Things change dramatically in 4 months, I'm guessing. Don't forget their Secret, Late-Night Ramen (MAY, 2014)...and shhhhhhh...they're a secret...or at least they were.

The Village Voice can't help itself, with The Ten Best Bowls of Ramen in NYC (FEB, 2015). Can Business Insider?  Nope - they found The 9 Best Ramen Spots in NYC (JAN, 2015). Serious Eats was in on it, way before the above yutzes, writing about The Best Ramen in NYC, back in SEP, 2010! Of course, that had to be updated, so The Best Ramen Shops in NYC was published 3 years later (and I think it's time for an update, SE). You don't think the paper of record was going to let this pass without weighing in, do you?  No way - the NY Times was on it, sending out their numero uno food critic, Pete Wells, who wrote: Slurp Worthy: The Top 10 Ramen Destinations in New York (MAY, 2014). And now, we can all rest easy. Many credit David Chang for helping to grow the ramen craze - I'm sure that's debatable, but why argue?

One of my favorite ramen joints has always been Rai Rai Ken, in the East Village, on 10th St between 1 & 2. It opened years before Chang's Momofuku Noodle Bar, for those who care. And I seem to remember ramen places in midtown, even years before that. So, while the craze may die down, ramen was around long before the craze, and will be around long after people are done chasing the next ramencronut.

But what if you don't want to go out for ramen? Obviously, there's always Top Ramen, or one of its close competitors. Might even make you think you're back in college.  Though at 25¢ a package, how good can that stuff be for you, or even just be, for that matter? Yeah, yeah, I know how Mr. Chang likes to eat it right out of the package, and that ramen burgers are great - but...no.

So...how about making a little ramen at home? I'm not talking about making a 12-hour broth, with pork and chicken and dried herring, or even using that little package of flavoring that comes hidden inside your Top Ramen, like some weird Cracker Jack-y prize of sodium and chemicals. It's easier than you think - and even Significant Eater, a salt-lover if ever there was one, likes my homemade, somewhat healthier version.

First - the noodles. 'Cause let's face it - ramen's mostly about the noodles. I'm lucky enough that I can score fresh ramen noodles made by Sun Noodles - the same Sun that supplies many of the ramen places in NYC with noodles. But if you can't, then it's ok to use just the noodles (not the dried chemicals) from an instant ramen package; that way, you can even pretend you're David Chang.

A great thing about ramen - it's a way to use up those fridge leftovers you might have hanging around.  Roasted chicken, a piece of steak or half a pork chop, a carrot or two, some celery, a scallion, ramps (!) - and you're ready to go. Here's part of the mise en place for a ramen I made last week...

Ramen Mise En Place

I started by sautéing a few sliced cremini mushrooms (good umami!) and an onion in a bit of oil. Once they were cooked, I added a cup of chicken stock (homemade if you have it, or your favorite store-bought brand). That simmered for a few minutes, and then I added the rest of the vegetables. While they were simmering away, I cooked the noodles per package directions, and shocked them when they were done.

Now you've got cooked noodles and cooked vegetables in a bit of broth. I don't always want a ton of soup, but you might - be my guest and add more stock or water as you see fit. Season the broth as you like - I don't eschew the chemicals altogether, as that Kikkoman stuff up there might have a bunch of unpronounceable things in it.

Put out a bunch of condiments like hot sauces, Japanese pepper blends (Shichimi), soy, vinegar, etc. on the table. Chopsticks and spoons, too. Portion the cooked noodles into your bowls and pour the hot stuff over. Not-so-instant ramen is yours...

Not-Instant Ramen

Don't forget, you can get really creative with this stuff. A few years back, I even made this ramen on Passover...

Matzo Ball Ramen

Just don't tell my grandmother. Or Chang.

Rebelle - A Touch of Paris on The Bowery

You know, if it weren't for the Bowery Mission directly across the street, or the traffic heading to and from the Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges, or the fact that Significant Eater and I walked to the brand-spanking new Rebelle in under 15 minutes, we could've sworn we were in Paris. I mean, not on the Boulevard Saint-Germain or anything, but maybe, just maybe, somewhere in Paris.

Originally, our plan was to walk by Rebelle, see if if was slammed, and continue walking north on the Bowery to another destination. But when we peeked in, we saw two seats open at the bar, and decided to at least stop in for a drink. Once seated (and it's worth mentioning that Rebelle actually has comfortable bar seats), cocktails in hand, our plans changed and I asked one of the très chic hostesses about a table in the dining room; the next thing you know, we're being escorted to a table into the skylit (well, during the day, anyway) back room, sitting and looking at one of the très gorgeous open kitchens I've seen in New York - like...ever.

Rebelle From Their Website

Rebelle's from the team that also runs Pearl & Ash, right next door. Good start. The chef is Daniel Eddy, who was chef de cuisine, at Spring in Paris, for a few years - yep, he really cooked there, as opposed to showing it on his resume, a la every cook and his brother claiming a stage at noma.

So what does a chef, whose been cooking with great ingredients in Paris, do when he or she gets to New York City? Well, how about cooking in that style, but using many of the great ingredients we have available? I'm certainly not one who insists that ingredients have to be local or grown on the roof; that's fairly impossible here over the winter. And now it's spring, so even if the asparagus or leeks are from California or Mexico this month, I want them. And Daniel's way with these vegetables is damn good. The juicy asparagus, served with charred young (okay, spring) onions, fiddlehead ferns, and roasted hazelnuts, are just fine - especially when they've gotten an unexpected hit of sweetness - from maple. And Significant Eater barely let me have my half of this leek dish, a delicious take on a classic (with ash!)...

Rebelle Leeks Vinaigrette

Chef Eddy's fluke (local) dish was fine, but the scallop dish was a real winner in my book. I'm pretty sure these scallops are local (they should be - we have the best), though the uni that sneaks in the dish is probably from, maybe, Maine? Who cares...

Rebelle Scallops With Sea Urchin

Main courses for us were a duck breast, perhaps a play on duck à l'orange, served with endive, orange sauce and smoked almonds. Once again, showing fine cooking chops, my magret was plainly and perfectly cooked...

Rebelle Duck Breast

Significant Eater ordered the "beet bourguignon;" not totally satisfying to two carnivores, but at least we thought it was good for us. Unfortunately, we didn't notice the menu said "beet" instead of "beef" - that's what happens when you start looking at the food menu after cocktails and that first glass of wine - and I think it would be nice if your waitperson mentioned the fact that you've just ordered beets, not beef!

This being Paris New York City, we figured why not have the special cheese course before dessert?  A big plate of sliced Comté was ours - again, it would be nice if they let you know what you're in for with the Comté - that is - $21.

Desserts are the from the hands of Jessica Yang, who has cooked at some fairly heavy-duty spots. Our Paris Brest, a dessert that is not easy to make (if my attempts in cooking school were any indication), was fantastic - and averaging the cost in with the Comté, we're talking under $15 each - you can do the math.

As reported in all the food media, and as to be expected from the Pearl & Ash crew, the wine list is, shall we say, deep. After cocktails, we enjoyed a nice half-bottle of Alsatian Riesling to go with our first course or two, and then a few by-the-glass suggestions to go with the rest of our food. Any wine geeks - this is the place for you. And on my next visit back, I plan on sitting at the bar and having some "snacks." There's a beef dish that's calling my name.

Go? Are you kidding - of course! Beautiful room, great food, great wine list, nice staff - what are you waiting for? In my opinion, Rebelle's already running on all cylinders...it should only get better.

Rebelle

Hail WASSAiL

I've been complaining (yeah, yeah, I know - what a surprise), about the lack of places to drink good ciders in New York City, for quite some time. Sure - I know there are a few places, each offering a few ciders, around town. There's Huertas, on 1st Avenue; Donostia, on Avenue B; and, you know, maybe some others that I'm either forgetting - or never even knew about in the first place.

Oh, there is also a place in Astoria, that I'd heard/read about over the years, called The Queens Kickshaw - and it easily had the deepest cider list of all - but...Astoria? I mean, we like to occasionally take the drive out to Astoria, hit a Greek supermarket, maybe one of the classic old school Greek restaurants, but it's not exactly in our regular rotation. And I'm certainly not driving there if I'm going to be getting my drink on - I stopped that shit years ago.

So imagine how great it was to read about The Queens Kickshaws' owners going about opening a place on the lower east side - literally a 10-minute walk away. The wait seemed never-ending; the first story I read about it was last August, quoting an opening date sometime around January, 2015 (but we know how that usually goes).

And then there was breathless coverage on all those, you know, food sites. And word-of-mouth. And an invitation to the "soft-opening," via a connected friend (we weren't able to attend). And then finally, this week, WASSAiL opened! Immediately, Significant Eater and I happily found ourselves 2 seats at the bar, right next to another happily ensconced old friend.

I will never complain again. OK - I will never complain about not having a cider bar in New York City again.  Because WASSAiL is the cider bar of my dreams. With somewhere between 80 and 100 ciders available, including about a dozen on draught and a bunch more by the glass out of bottles, I'm a little worried about spending more time here than I should.

About the cider - way more than I could've hoped for. Looking at this list, it's obvious I've got a lot to learn. About the space - really nice.  About the staff - from the owners, to the bartenders, to the manager, to the hosts - pleasant, professional, and excited about sharing their knowledge of cider. About the food - haven't tried any yet, but I think cider matches up wonderfully with food. In California last week, we drank some fine Oregon cider with oysters, and it was a perfect match. About the location - Orchard Street. Orchard - get it?!

We tried Craigies, which was a little locker-roomie, even for me. Nicol. Millstone - tart and delicious. Pacory Poire. Jurancon Sec. And Trabanco. Significant Eater even had a Stone Fence, which is usually a shot of rum in a glass of cider - almost a boilermaker, basically. (Here is David Wondrich's perfect description of How to Make a Stone Fence.) Her's was a shot of rye. And she liked it just fine.

Heading back - ASAP. And, if you like cider just a wee bit, you should too. Watch out though - we just might be sitting at the bar.

WASSAiL Millstone Cider.

WASSAil - 162 Orchard St., NYC  (646) 918-6835

Cosme

What's better than writing a blog post on the same day as the NY Times' review hits the internets? Either it shows that I sort of know a little bit about something, or that I know absolutely nothing about, well, everything. 

By sheer coincidence, we ate at Cosme last night. Now, I pretty much know next to nothing about Mexican food; I only know what I think tastes good  - and what I like to eat. So the scallop and jicama aguachile was great...

Scallop Aguachile - look at that brunoise!

And we inhaled the seafood stuffed avocado, though I thought it tasted like nothing so much as a classic shrimp cocktail - unsurprising, since its sauce is composed of ketchup and horseradish...

Stuffed avocado - seafood vuelve a la vida.

There's an interesting dichotomy between those two plates, as the stuffed avo is quite rustic, whereas the scallop dish had a brunoise of cucumber so perfect, it brought back sweaty memories of cooking school, although brunoise was nowhere near as annoying as tournée.

And yes, Pete, those tortillas are fine, especially wrapped around the barbacoa of mushrooms and squash, with hoja santa providing a great, complex flavor profile - I counted maybe a half-dozen types of mushrooms, some barely there, they were so tiny...

Mushroom and squash barbacoa.

Significant Eater, due to her many years spent in the desert southwest, had to have the purple corn pozole with pork jowl...and who am I to argue - she gave it a mighty thumbs up...

Purple corn pozole with pork jowl.

By the way, the guacamole to snack on at the start is pretty good, though Sig Eater proclaimed my home-made version to be better.  

Dessert, of course, had to be the by-now famous husk meringue with corn mousse.  Strange stuff to this Jewish guy from Long Island - and strangely good.

This much I also know- we liked the room, where you actually have some personal space, and the service was gracious and knowledgeable. The one cocktail we tried was the Expat Martini; it was chintzy, it was served in a ridiculous glass, and it failed to come with the advertised house pickled tomatillo. See for yourself...

Chintzy Expat Martini Sans Tomatillo.

There are a number of wines by the glass, a bunch of beer, both on draught and by the bottle or can, and a deep wines-by-the-bottle list. That'll be nice to explore, because after I do some research about the foods of Mexico, we're sure to head back.

Cosme - 35 E. 21st St., NYC

Sacre Blue, Smoke

It'd been a while since we'd been to Blue Smoke, and even longer since we'd been to the original, flagship, first, whatever, Blue Smoke, on 27th Street, in the Flatiron neighborhood.  I think our last visit was to the Blue Smoke located in Battery Park City, and that was some time ago. But this past weekend, we attended a birthday party for one of Significant Eater's cousins, which was thrown at Blue Smoke #1; a nice, small party, 30-40 people, in the middle of a busy Saturday afternoon.

If you don't know Blue Smoke, suffice to say it was among the first of the big barbecue restaurants in NYC (and yeah, Virgil's, in Times Square, predated it). There were smaller operators back in the day - I recall a great place out in Long Island  City, called Pearson's Texas BBQ, but bbq had always been but a blip on the NYC restaurant radar.  Enter Danny Meyer, Union Square Hospitality Group, and The Big Apple BBQ Block Party, which brings BBQ specialists from all over the country to Madison Square Park and its environs every June - this year will be the 13th year for the block party - it started the same year that Blue Smoke opened.

In its earliest days, Blue Smoke was uneven. They had to learn how to use the smokers, compounded with the scrubbers, which were a necessary evil due to NYC's, well, smoke and fire laws. This isn't exactly bbqing on a Weber in your backyard - something I love to do, even though I lack both a Weber and a backyard. But every once in a while at Blue Smoke, you'd get a great rib, or a hunk of wonderful smoked pork, and all would be good with the world.

Of course, once a place is successful in NYC, many places open offering similar stuff. Bbq became a "trend," and places popped up everywhere. Some are quite good; some, not so much. Pitmasters come and go - you know the story. As a matter of fact, a while ago Blue Smoke's original pitmaster, partner and co-founder of the BBQ Block Party, Kenny Callaghan, left the organization.

So where would they head? Well, from the food we ate at the birthday party, it appears they're headed in a fine direction.  The new Executive Chef is Jean-Paul Bourgeois, and that's a great name, no? The menu has been condensed a bit - there used to be a bunch of different rib styles...they're no longer there, and that's just fine with me. Because most everything we got to taste made us think we have to come back more often.

Roasted oysters were delicious, not too much topping, allowing the flavor of the oyster to shine through, touched by smoke. On the half shell, these same oysters were well-shucked, fresh and briny. I've always had a soft-spot for the chipotle chicken wings at Blue Smoke (well, wings anywhere) - these are still great. I tasted the kale salad, but don't know why. On the other hand, the gem lettuce and citrus salad was fine, as were the cornbread, deviled eggs and assorted sides like brussels sprouts slaw and butter beans with bacon.

Of course, the star of the show is 'cue, and based on the 'cue Sig Eater and I tried on our recent trip to Nashville, I'll take Blue Smoke's any day. I'm not a huge fan of bbq chicken - I've never had one that was transcendent. And maybe the brisket here could use a touch more smoke, but I'll leave that to the Texas 'cue experts. All I know is that the rack of ribs that was placed on our end of the table was just great. Smoky, tender and just chewy enough from the right amount of time spent hanging out with smoke and heat, these ribs could hold their own with the best I've eaten. And for this alone, we 'll be heading back to Blue Smoke soon...or at least as soon as we need our next bbq fix.

Man With a Mission, Take 2

I was gonna make this pun about a man (Chef Danny Bowien) with a mission, figuring I could tie it to the Elvis Costello song Everyday I Write the Book. Of course you know that song - it has a line which goes: "I'm a man with a mission, in 2 or 3 editions..."

But googling that phrase, it turns out that not only is there a band named Man With a Mission, but everyone from Van Halen to Hall & Oates has used that damn lyric, in one way, shape or form. 

So no pun. And minimal backstory. Because if you don't know the backstory about Mission Chinese Food New York, you've either never read Eater (good for you!) or any of a million other publications which talk food in NYC, or you just don't give a shit (good for you again, I guess). 

Last night, Significant Eater and I ate at the new Mission Chinese Food New York, for the second time since its opening in late December, and last night we had a friend with us, so we were able to sample even more of the menu.

Now, I come to the new MCFNY with a bit of a chip on my shoulder, since its location was the home to a restaurant I really liked (Rosette), with a chef I really like (Nick Curtin). Nick's now cooking in Copenhagen, and Rosette's now just a memory, and I'm not saying a word about that lyric.

I'd rather just remember the delicious food 3 of us consumed last night, and 2 of us had consumed 2 weeks earlier. Cause delicious it was - from a redefined classic or two originally served on Orchard St., to a lamb riblet special that was just great...even though it looked like a Cantonese fried fish when it was brought over to the table.  Instead, it's a portion of rib that contains the chine bone,  and instead of using it for stock, it's braised, roasted, and then deep fried; served with a freshly baked, smoky and puffy flat bread from the wood-burning oven (passed down from Rosette), the idea is to pull off a chunk of lamb, wrap it in the bread, and slather it with a tzatziki like sauce. And then go - holy shit, lamb gyros!

Kung Pao Pastrami (one of those redefined classics) is now stir-fried with home fried potatoes as the starch (did it have rice cakes before? I don't remember); potatoes work, and remind me that pastrami and eggs were a great diner staple way back when - and they were always served with home fries. Squid-ink peanut noodles are dense, chewy and funky. There are oat noodles and wheat noodles on offer as well, but since we'd all had oatmeal for breakfast, we went with the more dinner-like pasta. Turnip cakes? I don't like turnip cakes - but for some reason - I liked these. We repeated the green papaya salad, because its vinegary zip is a perfect foil for these rich, spicy flavors.

So, you got any problems? Yeah, of course I do. There's absolutely no coursing of the order, which the kitchen "likes to get all at once." And evidently they like to send the order out "all at once." So the juggling we had to do at our table was a bit comical at times, since drink glasses, water glasses, plates, and dishes loaded down with food all don't fit on a 24" square table with 3 people sitting at it. I think they can do better with this. The cocktails I've tried don't move me, but that could be because I'm a cocktail snob. I love ciders, so I'd like to see a few more American ciders, those which aren't sugar bombs, on the list.

But I've got solutions to all this.  Right next door is the 169 Bar, where a cheap drink can be had beforehand. And I'll only order 2 or 3 dishes from now on; I figure if I'm still hungry, they'll let me order some more...it's still a restaurant, after all. And since it's right down the street from us, I greedily hope (unlike its short-lived predecessor) it's here for a long time. 

Zabar's, Lox, and a Tribute To A Great Slicer

Yesterday, a friend of mine, founder of The New York Minute, alerted me to a video about Len Berk, an 84-year old Jewish lox-slicer at Zabar's. The video (by Martyna Starosta) is part of a wonderfully written article in the online Jewish Daily Forward; its writer: Paul Berger.

Zabar's is a beloved institution on NYC's upper west side. From caviar to chocolate, Mauviel to multiplanes, if you need something for the kitchen, or for the stomach, it can usually be found at Zabar's.

But really, when push comes to shove, Zabar's is all about the lox; smoked salmon, that is, in its myriad styles and tastes. Oh, there's whitefish, sable, herring and even sturgeon. If you look (and listen) hard enough, there's even lobster...just don't tell your kosher grandfather.

I used to slice lox when I was a kid. One of my first jobs was in the deli department (I know, I know - it's appetizing!) of a Long Island supermarket chain, Hills. They would send me around to various stores to fill-in when a store was short-staffed, or when a new store was opening.  I really learned about lox in the Five Towns; specifically, the Cedarhurst Hills, which had a real appetizing department, and I was pretty good with a salmon knife...but I'd be no match for Len.  Glory Days, baby.

Nostalgia over - so stop kibbitzing, and watch the video from Vimeo and the Jewish Daily Forward, about just what it means to slice lox at Zabar's. And to be the last of a breed.

Locavore, Schmocavore

Everyone talks locavore.

You know, eat locally.

Support your local farmers.

Eat sustainably.

Be eco-conscious.

Only take what you are going to use.

Be good to the planet.

The whole nine yards.

That's why it warmed my heart, when walking up East Broadway yesterday, I spotted this local farmer fisherman...

Locavore Fisherman

As you can tell, Mr. Fisherman cares about the environment. I mean, he bicycles to and from his fishing hole, right? Very little carbon footprint, no? And his product is special...

Product

Of course, I don't know that fish from the East River is what you want to be eating these days (pregnant women beware). And I don't know if it's legal to sell your catch from the East River, on East Broadway, out of a bucket.

But - it's locavore, so what the fuck?  And - at least Mr. Fisherman was nice enough to toss his cigarette before serving you. Rules, you know...

Look ma - no  cig!

Fresh, local fish - Various locations around Chinatown, often East Broadway, Grand St., etc.

Marta, My Dear

Whew - that was a long time off (not that I need time off, but my brain cells needed it). And anyway, it's not like Significant Eater and I have been starving ourselves...actually, we've been eating plenty, drinking maybe not quite as much, and, in general, waiting for the summer to end. I'm always waiting for summer to end, btw - since the complaining about air conditioning gets old. Although, really, it was kind of hard for me to complain this past summer, since it was fairly mellow, what with global warming climate change and all that.

So - of all the meals, what were the latest and greatest? Let me start with Marta...the newest (unless they've opened another Shake Shack in the last few weeks) entry from Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group, helmed by Chef Nick Anderer, who also happens to be the chef at another USHG favorite of ours, Maialino.

Marta is the Anderer and Meyer take on the Roman pizzeria; of course, if you were to ask a group of Romans what Roman pizza is, you'd probably start an argument, just like what would happen if you asked a group of New Yorkers the same question. There's the thin, thin, thin and really crispy crust. There's the (usually) long, beautiful flatbread (generally eaten at room temp, sometimes topped, sometimes not) known as pizza bianca. There's Gabrielle Bonci's unique and brilliant Pizzarium, serving pizza al taglio, or by the slice...and you get to pick how big a slice you want. You see - it's not easy - but the nice thing is, there's generally something for everyone. American expat Roman food experts, people like Katie Parla, Elizabeth Minchilli, Maureen Fant, et. al., have all written about Roman pizza. I've probably gotten recommendations from each of them about where to have pizza in Rome. Some were spot on - some not so - at least to my taste (then again, I've given some recommendations that people have thought sucked, so...).

Maybe it's better to divide the pizza wars into two types of places. There's the Pizzarium style (al taglio), where you get a slice or two or three and eat it, generally while standing up. And there's the sit-down place (pizzeria), where you order at table and get a whole pie or two or three, and eat it while at table. At these types of places, there is other food to order in addition to pizza, and if you've gotten this far, that's what Marta is all about.

A week or so ago, Significant Eater and I were lucky enough to be able to join two friends who had scored a reservation at Marta, which isn't exactly an easy task. The menu, with the type of food we love...

Where to start?  Both the suppli and the croquette showed a deft hand at the fryer, and the rabbit meatballs might be a gateway drug leading to coniglio. Though Sig Eater has had her fill of octopus (which is on every damn menu in town), I liked the charred and tender tentacles.

Of course, Marta is a pizzeria first, and it now sets the standard for this style of Roman pizza. I think it easily could hold its own in Rome...

That's the Margherita, but we also sampled the fiori di zucca (zucchini flower, mozzarella and anchovy - yes, please) and, compliments of the chef, the patate alla gricia, a pizza topped with potatoes and the stuff you'd top pasta alla gricia with. Make that guanciale, pecorino and pepper. Spicy, funky and not your mother's Rays, if you get my drift.

Sure, sure, we'd had enough food. But, not knowing when we'd get back, a couple of entrees were "necessary..."

In the foreground - the funghi arrosti, delicious, juicy, meaty mushrooms that can (almost) make one forget about, well, meat. They're served atop a really cool vegetable, that I first saw at the Union Square green market. It's called spigarello, and it's one of the many variants of broccoli raab,  perhaps a little less bitter, though bitter is one of my favorite tastes. Behind the 'shrooms - the beer brined half chicken, another gift from the chef, another winner from the oven. There are those who will probably mention that the chicken is salty, but hey - it's brined, and that's what happens.

Is it possible that we were too stuffed for dessert? Well, yeah, but there are some nice Amari - always a good way to end a big meal like this. (OK, we did share a few scoops of gelato).

Tariff?  Depends on how much you eat, my dear. But I suppose one could get out fairly reasonably; two of the apps were $6 (the suppli and the crochette) and the Margherita comes in at $12. Cocktails are between $10 and $14, wines run the gamut. Not cheap, but not crazy expensive, either.

Another plus - they have these...

And who doesn't love a place with matches?

Can't get yourself to Rome any time soon? Marta (and its older sibling, Maialino) have got you covered. Buon appetito.

Russ & Daughters Cafe - Teach Your Children Well

Everyone knows the story of Russ & Daughters, the 100+ year old appetizing store on Houston Street in New York City, right? And everyone knows what appetizing is, right?  And everyone knows how to pronounce Houston Street, right? Oy - where do I begin?

To start, read the story of Russ & Daughters in Mark Russ Federman's book, Russ & Daughters: The House That Herring Built. Mark is a 3rd generation Russ, whose grandfather Joel started the business over a hundred years ago, from a pushcart on the lower east side.  Here's the timeline. Mark is also a hell of a nice guy, and always with the stories, if you know what I mean.

Next - appetizing.  Or, to put it better, an appetizing store. Appetizing, according to that great Yiddish website Wikipedia, is the food that one normally eats with bagels. Typically, one eats these foods for breakfast or lunch. So what you'll find in an appetizing store is stuff like lox, smoked salmon, herring, cream cheese, etc. And what you won't find in an appetizing store is stuff like pastrami, corned beef, tongue, salami, etc. You want that - walk down the block to Katz's - it's a delicatessen. Oh yeah, it's also on Houston St. - and no,  it's not pronounced like the city in Texas, heathens.

So where am I going with all this? Simple - around the corner and down the block to the newly opened Russ & Daughters Cafe, at 127 Orchard Street. It only took a hundred years, but Russ & Daughters has finally expanded, with a sit-down cafe, nu - and we're all the better for it. Fourth generation cousins Niki Russ Federman and Josh Russ Tupper are in charge here, and if it's possible for Russ & Daughters to be a schtickle better, they've accomplished just that.

At the cafe, you'll find wonderful house-made sodas and cocktails, though I'm not one to drink booze with my bagels. I had some sort of cucumber-y thing, which was perfect on a hot summer afternoon, and my California friends (one's an ex-NYer) loved their chocolate egg-cream and matzo ball soup. We also thought these potato knishes were the real deal...

Knishes

I went back with Significant Eater a few days later, because, well, once she knew I had been, you know the rest of the story. We had no problem enjoying this ice-cold borscht on a sultry afternoon...

Borscht

And these potato latkes were (almost) as good as mine...

Latkes

Now you'll notice I didn't have any smoked salmon, lox, herring - those goodies which make Russ & Daughters famous.  That's because I eat them all the time, at home, with Significant Eater - I'm a Russ junkie, and as anyone knows, that whitefish salad is addictive.

But if you've never been to Russ & Daughters (the appetizers), you don't know what you're missing. I realize that can be hard to do if you don't live in town or you're just here for a visit. But now that there's a cafe a block or two away, your worries are over. Just do me a favor - don't wait 100 years. And Niki and Josh - mazel tov. I'm sure great-grandpa Joel is smiling down on Orchard Street.