September 2, 2010
Posted by Carey Jones, September 2, 2010 at 5:00 PM
Editor's note: Yes, we've been yapping a lot about Eataly, Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich's Italian food mega-emporium, which Adam referred to as "the Italian aisle of your supermarket, on PCP." But there's a lot to say—and trust us, it's more fun to read about Eataly from the comfort of your desk chair than it is to fight through the opening week crowds.
[Photo: Christine Tsai]
Ah, cured meats and cheeses—exactly why I'd want an Italian specialty store in my neighborhood. While Eataly stocks all the heavy hitters, prosciutto and Parmigiano Reggiano and all the rest of it, they don't, perhaps surprisingly, fetishize Italian ingredients as such. Across the store, the offerings are split between imported and domestic; milk for the mozzarella from upstate, eggplant and peaches from New York and New Jersey. It's very much in the Italian tradition, really, to sell high-quality local products.
But you can't get prosciutto di Parma from anywhere other than, well, Parma—and some of the imported meats and cheeses are worth whatever markups they're given. A few taste-tests, after the jump.
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Posted by Tom Sullivan, September 2, 2010 at 4:00 PM
Learn to make Korean dishes at A Homemade Korean Feast. [Photograph: Robyn Lee]
Saturday (September 4)
Brazilian Cultural Parade & Festival
Saturday September 4th, 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Come to check out the colorful parade, but be sure to stick around for the equally enticing food. Vendors all along 46th St. will serve up everything from moqueca, a traditional seafood stew, to vatapa, a paste made from bread, shrimp, coconut milk, and a variety of other ingredients. Free. 46th St btwn. Madison and 5th Aves., New York NY; no phone; event website
Snout 'N Stout
Saturday September 4th, 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Join BKLYNYard on North 3rd St in Brooklyn for a sidewalk pig roast, complete with beer, coleslaw, and several sauces for your dipping pleasure. If you want in on the food, however, you'll need to buy advance tickets on the event website. Tickets for food range from $10-$15/person. 50 N 3rd St., Brooklyn NY; no phone; event website
Sunday (September 5)
The New York Jerk, Yam, & Roti Jam
Sunday September 5th, 11:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
This festival, located at Brooklyn Tech, opens with a Caribbean Gospel Brunch. Later in the day, Jerk Chicken, Yam, and Roti vendors will be serving traditional Caribbean and Jamaican food until late in the evening. Vegan food is also available. 496 Clermont Ave., Brooklyn NY; no phone; event website
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Posted by Kathy YL Chan, September 2, 2010 at 3:00 PM
[Photo: Kathy YL Chan]
This is one messy cupcake, best eaten with a fork to pace the unstoppable ooze of the gooey, salty caramel center. Sweet Revenge's Fleur de Sel Cupcake ($3.50) sports a matching frosting of salted caramel buttercream, dotted with pecans. The final crown of salted caramel drizzle, however, can be fairly labeled as excess. But if it's too much for you, scrape it aside, and dig in with confidence, straight down the very dark Valhrona chocolate cake—good enough to be dessert itself. They've certainly improved on their cakes, which used to be a bit dry for my taste.
I order my cupcakes to-go most of the time, but be warned if you're getting them for a gift—they put the cupcakes in lidded plastic cups, which are great for storing, but ruin the look of their signature tripled wave frosting design.
Sweet Revenge
62 Carmine Street, New York NY 10014 (map)
212-242-2240
sweetrevengenyc.com
Posted by Sara Markel-Gonzalez, September 2, 2010 at 2:00 PM
[Photo: Sara Market-Gonzalez]
It's perfect beach weather again—and a perfect week to again combine two of my favorite summer activities: going to the beach and looking for great tacos. (Although that last is a year-round activity). I took the ferry out to Staten Island in search of this combo and found more than I imagined.
South Beach on Staten Island is an amazing place. I admit that I was surprised to find such a nice boardwalk, clear water, and fine sand in view of the Verrazano Bridge, but I've barely spent any time in Staten Island. That's definitely going to change, though, since there are lots of taco-eating opportunities to be had in this borough.
After getting my feet wet, I walked a few short blocks from the beach down Sand Lane to La Canasta Bakery Grocery, a small shop that sells Mexican products, bread, and food to order. (It was featured in Serious Eats this year in a Staten Island Eats post, but I wanted to go back for a closer look at the tacos.)
I got a good feeling as soon as I walked in the door. The place just felt right, and I could tell I was going to get some great eats.
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Posted by Carey Jones, September 2, 2010 at 1:00 PM
Fried ginseng from M&T Restaurant, who will be at the event. [Photo: Robyn Lee]
As Serious Eats readers know, Queens is a culinary wonderland, a United Nations of food stuffed into a single borough. And this Labor Day, the Asian Feastival will bring together a vast number of Asian regional foods—from Malaysian to Sri Lankan to Taiwanese to Thai—into a single event. More than 20 restaurants have already signed on to participate, serving tasting portions at the main event; there will be beer, wine, and sake tastings as well, in addition to cookbook signings, an on-site Asian farmers' market, panel discussions, and cooking demos throughout the day.
General admission tickets are $55 in advance, $60 at the door (available online), but we're giving away a pair of tickets right here.
To enter to win, just answer the following question in the comments:
What's your favorite Asian cuisine?
Sheraton LaGuardia East Hotel, 135-20 39th Avenue, Flushing NY 11354 (map); Monday, September 6, 2010; 12:00pm - 5:00 pm; asianfeastival.com
Contest will end and comments will close at noon Friday, September 3, 2010. One entry per community member. The standard Serious Eats contest rules apply.
Posted by Nick Solares, September 2, 2010 at 12:15 PM
Momofuku Noodle Bar
171 First Avenue, New York NY 10003; map); momofuku.com
Service: Downtown casual
Compare to:Momofuku Ssam Bar, Ma Peche
Cost: Lunch Prix Fixe: 3 courses, $30
While Momofuku Noodle Bar has typically been the most accessible of David Chang's restaurants, at least in terms of price, the recent increase from $20 to $30 on the lunch menu is bound to raise some eyebrows. While I think that the cost is actually justified, because of the quality of the ingredients at play, those looking for the most bang for the caloric buck will need to look towards the noodles and pork buns. But with the new-found freedom in sourcing, the kitchen under Kevin Pemoulie is turning out dishes that are more refined and more luxurious than the comfort staples the noodle bar is known for. (The menu changes daily so the meal I enjoyed will probably not be what you get if you go.)
An amuse of Benton's ham with peach put my mouth into gear with tiny doses of salt, savory, sweetness and tartness.
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Posted by Kathy YL Chan, September 2, 2010 at 11:00 AM
In this great city of ours, one could eat a different sandwich every day of the year—so that's what we'll do. Here's A Sandwich a Day, our daily look at sandwiches around New York. Got a sandwich we should check out? Let us know. —The Mgmt.
[Photo: Kathy YL Chan]
At the recently opened Lafayette Espresso Bar and Marketplace in Soho, the petite Herbed Portabella sandwich runs $4.95. Pre-made and served chilled on multigrain bread, the sandwich alternates layers of watercress with basil and portabella mushrooms, thinly sliced, with chives. The highlight of the sandwich, however, is not the mushrooms but the chunky white bean spread, mixing whole white beans with partially smashed and pureed ones. It elevates an unmemorable sandwich to something quite good, if not necessarily destination-worthy. Now if they served it warmed, and pressed with manchego cheese—then we'd be talking!
Lafayette Espresso Bar and Marketplace
189 Lafayette Street, New York NY 10013 (map)
212-431-3538
Posted by Madison Priest, September 2, 2010 at 10:00 AM
[Photos: Madison Priest]
For quite awhile now, frozen yogurt (by which I mean yogurt, frozen, as opposed to the Mr. Softee variety) has been largely in the hands of Pinkberry, Red Mango, and similar establishments; prices, toppings, flavors, even the aesthetic all echo each other, to the point where it seems little more can be said on the topic.
That hasn't stopped Avshar Kirksall from trying. This Turkish-born former computer programmer has just launched what he claims is the first-ever truck of this sort of frozen yogurt—Berry Froyo.
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From Slice
Posted by Adam Kuban, September 1, 2010 at 4:00 PM
[Photographs: Adam Kuban]
Rossopomodoro at Eataly
200 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010 (23rd/24th; map)
Getting there: N/R train to 23rd Street is closest station
Pizza style: Neapolitan-style pizza
Oven type: Two wood-fired ovens
The skinny: Solid if not raving-great (at least not yet) Neapolitan pizza from the pizzeria within the new, much-hyped Italian megasupergrocery store Eataly
Price: Most pies range from $13 to $18, with a $9 marinara pizza and a $20 seafood smörgåsbord version serving as outliers
You've heard of Eataly, right? No? Let me help you with that rock you've been living under. It's the Italian food supermarket that opened in NYC yesterday to unbelievable hype. It's actually a U.S. spin on the original Eataly superstore in Turin, Italy. That store's founder, Oscar Farinetti, partnered with Mario Batali, Joe Bastianich, and Lidia Matticchio Bastianch to open the New York branch. See why there's hype here? Tons of other big names are associated with this thing, too, including L.A.-based wünderbaker Nancy Silverton (La Brea Bakery, Mozza), NYC seafood champ Dave Pasternack (Esca), and Mario's dad, Armandino Batali, who's well-known in his own right for his cured meats at Seattle's Salumi.
The store, located in the lobby of the Toy Building on Fifth Avenue and 23rd Street, is equal parts supermarket, food court, and food-education center (it has a bookstore, and cooking classes are also available). I would say that Eataly is like the Italian aisle at your grocery store on steroids, but that would be A) a cliché and B) inaccurate. No, it's like one those late '70s/early '80s after-school specials where some longhair high on angel dust jumps out of a second story window, breaks both his legs but still manages to assault three cops before being stopped. It is the Italian aisle on PCP.
Anyway, with the madness on Slice centering on pizza, I went for the crusty, saucy, cheesy stuff this afternoon for lunch.
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