January 28, 2012

This Week on Serious Eats New York

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1. 12 Brussels Sprout Dishes We Love in NYC
2. First Look: Talde, 'Top Chef' Dale Talde's New Brooklyn Restaurant
3. 11 Eggplant Dishes We Love in NYC
4. First Look: Fort Reno, a New Barbecue Spot in Park Slope
5. Exceptional Shojin-ryori at Kajitsu in the East Village
6. Vegetable Heroes: Craft
7. First Look: Butcher Bar in Astoria
8. Date Night: Manolo Tapas
9. Fast Food International: Pie Face
10. Calamares Fritos at La Churreria

Sugar Rush: Japanese-Inspired Chocolates at Chocolat Moderne

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[Photo: Kathy YL Chan]

Flatiron-based Chocolat Moderne, a favorite among many chocolate aficionados, has always kept a low profile. You might have seen their chocolates in Dean & Deluca's and other specialty shops, but for the best experience, go straight to the source. They're now officially open to the public seven days a week from 12-6pm.

Tucked in the 9th floor of an office building, you'll walk straight into the production facilities where you can select from a number of freshly made bonbons ($2.50 each). The flavors are seemingly endless, but I'm currently in love with the six Japanese-inspired flavors. Imagine a caramel (center) kissed with both miso and Tamari soy sauce, umami gone sweet and haunting. There's also lime and fresh shiso leaves infused into a dark chocolate ganache (right) and another caramel number with fuyu persimmons and white peach. The caramels here are silky and slow, a sure competition to the chocolates and excellent pralines. But whatever you do, finish with the sesame praline (left) crushed into a milk chocolate ganache with chili, ginger, and a secret blend of spices.

Chocolat Moderne

27 West 20th Street, New York NY 10011 (map)
212-229-4797
chocolatmoderne.com

About the author: Originally from Honolulu, Kathy YL Chan blogs at Kathy YL Chan, where she chronicles her eats and travel adventures between Hawai'i, New York and beyond. She firmly believes that there is always room for dessert.

Talk!

(Relatively) Reasonably Priced Omakase?

Midnight Snack: 3 Great Burgers in Manhattan's Yorkville

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[Photo: Robyn Lee]

A mix of hospital workers, students, the well-to-do and remnants of the area's immigrant past, Yorkville is far more diverse than the howling hoots and hollers of its local meatheads would imply. There are Irish pubs, British pubs, German beer bars, hookah bars and Hungarian pastry shops-cum-restaurants. Despite all this, the Upper East Side is still fancy-pants burger territory—at least until a certain hour. After other restaurants have donned their wagyu nightcaps and snuffed their truffled candles, the funkier burgers around town let their hair down.

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Enter The Next Big Small Brand Contest

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Loren Brill of Sweet Loren's, last year's winner, bakes cookies at home. [Photo: Jenny Lee-Adrian]

The annual The Next Big Small Brand contest selects one small-scale food and drink entrepreneur each year, and grants them complimentary branding, PR, event opportunities, and (perhaps most importantly) shelf space at Whole Foods. Last year, Loren Brill of Sweet Loren's Ready to Bake Desserts won the competition; Eric Childs of Kombucha Brooklyn was the winner before that.

This year, they're expanding from New York-area restaurants to accept applications from the San Francisco Bay Area, too.

Applications are due February 5th. Got a small food business yourself, or know someone who does? Get applyin'!

Talk!

Wings In NYC

Daily Veg: Radicchio at Salumeria Rosi

Editor's note: January is Vegetable Month on Serious Eats: New York! Every day this month we'll introduce you to a different vegetable dish we love. Do you have a veg dish to nominate? Let us know!

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[Photo: Christine Tsai]

A winter special, Salumeria Rosi's braised radicchio manages to capture the rich warmth of a comforting cold-weather dish without being heavy. First braised, then baked, in red wine, balsamic vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil, the radicchio maintains a crunch despite the slow cooking. The immediate sensation is a burst of sweetness from the wine and balsamic, quickly followed by the cutting bitterness of radicchio. Roasting gives the leaves a nice char, further adding to the hearty depth of the dish.

Salumeria Rosi

283 Amsterdam Avenue, New York NY 10023 (map)
212-877-4800
salumeriarosi.com

A Sandwich A Day: Italian Sub at Pulino's

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.

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[Photo: Robert Sobotnik]

Given that it's a sit-down restaurant on Bowery and Houston, not an outer-borough sub shop, there's no reason to expect that Pulino's is going to serve up cheap overstuffed sandwiches. But their Italian Sub ($12) gets a lot of things right. There's mortadella, prosciutto cotto, and salami in there, a lot of them, a meaty core with a good bit of provolone to balance it out. Olive oil-soaked peppers and pickled chilies add more heat than you might expect, but the shredded iceberg cools it down. I've got to admit I'm a sucker for shredded iceberg in sandwiches like this—there's something so classic-feeling about it.

Pulino's Bar and Pizzeria

282 Bowery, New York NY 10012 (map)
212-226-1966
pulinosny.com

Talk!

Brunch or Lunch on the UES (80s/90s b/t 2nd and Lex)?

From Slice

Daily Slice: Pizza Roma Now Available at Whole Foods, NYC

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[Photo: Robert Sobotnik]

We've already written about Pizza Roma, the first American outpost of a Barcelona-based chain, on Bleecker Street. As of a few weeks ago, their square slices are now sold at the pizza station of New York's Whole Foods on the Bowery.

Three kinds are available: Margherita, Zucchini, and the Patate. As at their shop, we preferred the two white pies to the Margherita, whose sauce I find a bit sweet. In both of the sauceless pies, the cheeses seem to fuse into the dough with the help of ample olive oil; thinly sliced zucchini (in one case) and potatoes (in the other) both integrate well, a part of the pizza rather than thick chunks stranded on top.

All three of those "double" slices together cost $8, and could each make for a light meal or hefty snack; by the standards of the neighborhood and by those of Whole Foods, a pretty solid deal. Not convinced? They've been occasionally offering samples, so stop by and decide for yourself.

About the author: Carey Jones is the Editor of Serious Eats New York and co-editor of Serious Eats: Sweets. Follow her on Twitter (@careyjones).

Bowery Whole Foods

95 East Houston Street, New York NY 10002 (on Bowery; map)
212-420-1320; wholefoods.com

The Vegetarian Option: Beer Table

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[Photographs: Howard Walfish]

One of the reasons I love Beer Table in Park Slope is that there was obviously a lot of thought and care put into selecting their beer menu. Although they are not currently serving dinner, they recently launched a new lunch service, and thankfully they have put the same amount of thought into the food as they have into the beer selection. The savory part of the lunch menu is separated into three sections: snacks, small plates, and large plates. Though none of the large plates are vegetarian, enough of the snacks and small plates are that you can put together a delicious meal for very little money.

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NYC Food Events for the Weekend and Beyond

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Try mac 'n cheese this weekend at a Brooklyn Takedown. [Photo: Robyn Lee]

Thursday(January 26)

Feeding Gotham: New York City Markets, 1790-1960
Thursday, January 26, 6:30 p.m. Reception, 7 p.m. Lecture
Historian Gergely Baics discusses the history of New York City markets from both a cultural and economic standpoint. At the reception, there will be a tasting of different dishes from the discussed time periods. $25 CHNY and MVMH Members; $22 CHNY and MVMH Senior & Student Members; $40 Non-Members and Guests.Mount Vernon Hotel Museum & Garden, 417 East 61st Street; event website

Friday(January 27)

Craft's Blind Wine Tasting
Friday January 27, 7:30 p.m.
Wine Director Greg Majors is hosting another blind wine tasting following the success of Craft's first wine tasting event. Over the course of the evening, guests will be educated on wine tasting technique, while enjoying a blind tasting of eight wines and accompanying four-course dinner menu. $110/guest (excluding tax & gratuity). 47 E 19th Street; event website

The Mohegan Sun Winefest '12
Friday January 27th- Sunday January 29th, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Mohegan Sun Wine Fest '12, a three day wine-tasting event, will involve tastings, lectures, chef demos, and celebrity appearances set to the theme of wine, beer, and spirits. Chefs Bobby Flay, Todd English, and Robert Irvine are just a few of the featured personalities. Ticket prices vary. 1 Mohegan Sun Boulevard, Uncasville, CT; event website

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From Drinks

All the Cocktails at Le Bernardin, NYC

[Photographs: Alice Gao]

There are plenty of reasons that Le Bernardin has long been one of New York's most lauded restaurants. Chef Eric Ripert has no shortage of star power, and the near-constant accolades his food receives give serious credit where credit is due. The restaurant's lounge, which opened following a major renovation this August, caused a further flurry among eaters and critics alike—the no-jacket-required space was a departure from the formality of the main dining room, and it gave guests a chance to taste Ripert's food without signing up for a prix fixe. (We reviewed the food at the lounge here.)

Add Le Bernardin's cocktails to the already lengthy list of reasons to visit the Midtown institution. Crafted by Greg Seider, mixologist whiz behind the East Village's The Summit bar, Le Bernardin's revamped drink offerings coincided with the opening of the lounge. The cocktails evoke the spirit of the new space by paying homage to classic recipes and technique, while indulging in a little innovation.

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Skip NYC Restaurant Week: 20 Other 3-Course Meals for $35 and Under

Today's Specials

Skip NYC Restaurant Week: 20 Other 3-Course Meals for $35 and Under

Let's talk about Restaurant Week. If you don't dine out often, or if you're used to thinking of New York restaurants as prohibitively expensive, it can seem like a great deal. But in the New York of 2012, it's possible to get an excellent 3-course meal for $35 (the Restaurant Week rate) any day of the year. Here are 20 suggestions.
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First Look: Talde, 'Top Chef' Dale Talde's New Brooklyn Restaurant »

12 Brussels Sprout Dishes We Love in NYC »