[Photos: Kathy Chan]
At first glance, Li-Lac Chocolates looks like your typical old-world chocolate shop, still standing amidst a particularly chic stretch of the West Village. The names of the chocolates, their presentation, their case, and even the signage all look unremarkable and dated. But there's something special hiding inside.
[Photo: Kathy Chan]
We brought you the first word on Pichet Ong's new East Village "Spot" last week and promised we'd be back with more on the housemade sodas, which have since made their way on to the permanent menu.
The soda specials change on a daily basis, but they all share one common ingredient: sorbet. Pichet whips up new flavors of sorbet daily, and those flavors subsequently become the soda flavors of the day. On Friday, I stopped in and tasted both available options, passionfruit and raspberry.
The taste-test, after the jump.
If you missed the pre-order deadlines for a farm-fresh turkey, fear not: Michelle at The Market Report has tracked down a few remaining birds. Where to look? Tamarack Hollow Farms and Di Paola Turkey Farm at Union Square, Hoosick River Poultry at St. Mark's, or an overnight rush from Heritage Foods USA. Full report here.
[Photo: Robyn Lee]
This does qualify as breaking news: venerable smoked fish shop Russ and Daughters, long adherents to a "We Don't Toast" policy, have now gotten a toaster to toast your bagels. Good find from The Feed.
[Photos: Robyn Lee]
Roasting Plant
Dessert Club Chikalicious
We've gone uptown. We've roamed the streets of Midtown. And now, we're eating our way through lower Manhattan in search of the best chocolate chip cookie. After a few preliminary taste-offs, eliminating a few from the pack, we've done a blind taste-test of our favorite cookies south of Union Square.
The contenders: Milk and Cookies, Insomnia Bakery, Jack's Stir Brew, Bouley Bakery, Balthazar, Dessert Club, Paradis To Go, Roasting Plant, Sugar Sweet Sunshine, and the Downtown Cookie Company.
The good, the burnt, and the gooey, after the jump.
Note: This week in Meet Your Farmers we meet KayCee Wimbish and Owen O'Connor two young (and awesome) farmers who are part of a blossoming organic industry in the Hudson Valley.
Name: KayCee Wimbish and Owen O'Connor Farm: Awesome Farm in Tivoli, New York.
How many acres? We currently lease 75 acres, but only use 30 intensively. The other 45 are for cutting hay and back-up grazing. We're looking for a new home base right now, so those numbers could change soon.
Your crew: We hired folks to help us slaughter chickens this year. Dana Gentile and our our friends Jeff Bonhag and Tracey Potter-Fins logged a lot of volunteer hours.
What you grow: Grass and animals. We've done sheep and chickens (laying chickens and meat chickens). From here on out we are concentrating on sheep and cattle.
Ice Cream, For Dogs: Christian Liendo, a teenager from Queens came up with the idea for canine ice cream made from carob powder, soy milk, and lactose-free milk while enrolled in an entrepreneurial program. Early tests reveal that dogs prefer corn and carrot ice cream to chocolate and vanilla. Who knew?
Tuna's Death Spiral: An editorial condemning the international commission that set catch limits for bluefin tuna this year, even though many countries and scientists consider it an endangered species.
The Cheat: This week a lobster bisque and chicken hash inspired by menu favorites from the Cafe Carlyle on the Upper East Side.
Another Suitor for Cadbury: Hershey Chocolate is considering a bid for the British candy maker Cadbury, which would challenge Kraft's existing bid of $16.7 billion.
The Top 10 posts of Serious Eats: New York this week:
1. Worst Meal This Year: Lucy's Cantina Royale
At Serious Eats, we eat an awful lot of meals we don't tell you about. And if there's nothing to recommend, we keep our mouths shut so we don't waste your time. But every once in awhile, we find a spot so egregiously awful that we simply have to write it up. To save you from making the same mistake we did. Case in point? Lucy's Cantina Royale.
2. Ma Peche, 'Momofuku Midtown': Tien Ho Is a Peach of a Chef
Momofuku's Tien Ho may be the best chef in New York that you've never heard of. That's going to change when Má Pêche opens in 2010 in the basement of the Chambers Hotel. Chomping at the bit, waiting for the dining room renovations to be completed, Ho--a former sous chef at Cafe Boulud--and his crew started serving lunch in a sort of makeshift restaurant in the mezzanine lounge of the hotel last Thursday. And our meal there left us very, very happy.
3. Locavore Thanksgiving: Your Guide To Holiday Shopping At Farmers' Markets
The Pilgrims didn't head to Fairway for their first holiday meal. If you're looking to draw from our land and support our local farmers, hit up the farmers' markets for your Thanksgiving spread. Here's our guide to Thanksgiving shopping at Union Square, Grand Army Plaza, and the New Amsterdam Market.
4. Chocolate Chip Cookie Championship: The Midtown Edition
This week in our hunt for New York's best chocolate chip cookie, we tasted from 14th to 60th Street, stopping at bakeries, chains, and venerable cookie shops. Our favorite? The answer may surprise you.
5. The Making of the 'Uovo in Raviolo' at Manhattan's SD26
It's nearly impossible to imagine a more decadent pasta dish. Each enormous raviolo, the size of a tennis ball, houses a whole, soft egg yolk along with a ricotta-spinach filling; cut it open, just like sliding your fork into a perfectly poached egg, and the yolk oozes out--joining the pool of browned truffle butter, Parmigiano, and shaved truffles in a single marbled sea of deliciousness. How does it work? We had to know--and so we present you the making of uovo in raviolo.
The East Village's newest dessert bar, our new favorite Italian bar snacks, and more, after the jump.
[Photos: Highlands; Laren Spirer]
In my mid-20's, I used to think all Scotch was the same. It was something that old men drank, and something that my male friends were "learning to drink." Every time I tasted it, all I got was heavy peat and smoke, so I assumed that's what Scotch was all about.
Flash forward to the present. Not only have I matured greatly since then (or so I'd like to think), but during the course of my spirits education—both formal and informal—I have learned just how wrong I was back then.
Highlands, New York's West Village Scottish bar, is a perfect place to educate yourself about Scotch whiskies. Take some time to taste and learn which ones suit your personal preferences; they've chosen about thirty, and compliled brief tasting notes on each, but their selection goes beyond the printed list. That said, Highlands isn't all about the Scotch. The comfortable, sophisticated atmosphere lends itself to a visit just to perch at the bar, no matter the type of tipple you prefer. They offer beer, wine, and a handful of seasonal cocktails, as well as modern Scottish-influenced small plates, like a lamb sausage roll and House Cured Loch Duart Salmon (haggis is reported to be coming in the not-too-distant future).
A recipe for my favorite Scotch cocktail, after the jump.
[Photos: Joe DiStefano]
With the notable exception of Go Go Curry there is probably no Japanese restaurant in Manhattan more obsessed with New York Yankees left-fielder Hideki "Godzilla" Matsui than Go Sushi. Sports pages featuring Matsui are pasted above the sushi bar at this Saint Mark's izakaya, whose name means "five" in Japanese. To honor the newly minted MVP who has worn the number 55 since his days at the Yomiuri Giants, and in recognition of the Yanks World Series win, Go introduced the Yankee Roll. My team loyalties—such as they are—lie with the Mets, but only because I love Queens. Nevertheless, I decided to cast aside my loyalty to the home team and try the $5.50 creation.
Momofuku's Tien Ho may be the best chef in New York that you've never heard of. That's going to change with Má Pêche, the company's first foray into Midtown. Chomping at the bit, waiting for the dining room renovations to be completed, Ho serving lunch in a sort of makeshift restaurant in the mezzanine lounge of the hotel last Thursday. And we liked what we tasted.
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