May 2008

Week in Reviews: Best Bites

Editor's note: Everyone on the web does review round-ups. But when it comes down to it, SE:NY doesn't care so much about keeping tabs on who gave what place how many stars. Instead, our weekly review roundups focus on the... More

Market Scene: Sugar Snap Peas!

In Union Square today there are sugar snap peas, strawberries, fiddleheads, and ramps [Lucy's Greenmarket Report] More from Union Square... Honey Hollow Farms still has giant morels [Greenmarket Report] Tasting Vermont cheese at the Williamsburger Greenmarket [Brooklyn Cheese Mongers] A... More

News Spread: Chef Musical Chairs

Fried chickpeas from the now Raij-less Tia Pol. Photograph by The Wandering Eater Chef Alex Raij leaves Tia Pol and El Quinto Pino [Strong BuzzEater -->] Chef Jody Williams leaves Morandi [Eater] Thomas Keller to helm U.S. team at... More

Casellula: A Down-to-Earth, Cheese-Driven Spot Whose (Unfortunate) Name Says It All

Wine bars with cheese programs are cropping up everywhere, but even more exciting to a cheese freak like me are the places that put the proverbial cart before the horse, or, in this case, the cheese plate before the wine bottle. The year-old Casellula actually calls itself a cheese and wine bar, so you know what its owner, Brian Keyser, considers most important. Amen, Brian. More

A Guide to Soup Noodles in Manhattan's Chinatown

Manhattan's Chinatown is a huge neighborhood that just seems to keep growing. Although it's a good thing that the neighborhood offers a nearly endless number of eateries, you may be overwhelmed by all the choices. Where do you go on an empty stomach? What do you order? More

Weekend Excursion: Pupusa Patrol

I don't know where you'll be this weekend, but I will be on pupusa patrol at the Brooklyn Flea in Fort Greene, where according to Brownstoner, the Salvadorean snack (yes, I consider it a snack!) will be sold by... More

Using Aleppo to Za'atar from Kalustyan's

Editor's note: Please welcome Serious Eats community member BaHa, aka Barbara Hanson, who will be checking in now and again with dispatches about the various little one-of-a-kind food stores and markets in New York. Here is her recipe for A-Z... More

News Spread: Ko; Weekend Food; Gridskipper

Momofuku Ko is now open on Tuesdays [Eater] Williamsburg is the most obese neighborhood [NYDN via Gothamist] Looking for something to do this weekend? Here's a great list of food-friendly festivals. [Eating in Translation] Gridskipper, relaunched, posts menu from... More

Sugar Rush: Coffee Pocket

Editor's note: I don't know how things work at your office, but around this time of day, our collective sweet tooth starts acting up at Serious Eats HQ. Enter Sugar Rush. Every afternoon, we'll point you to something sweet—so you... More

Week in Reviews: Best Bites

Editor's note: Everyone on the web does review round-ups. But when it comes down to it, SE:NY doesn't care so much about keeping tabs on who gave what place how many stars. Instead, our weekly review roundups focus on the... More

Salumeria Biellese: The BYOB Hero Review

In my capacity as the official reviewer for Serious Eats New York, I feel it's perfectly within my rights to invent a new category of Italian sandwich emporium: the BYOB deli. The B in this case stands for "bread," not "bottle." That's right, I'm advocating--in fact I'm telling you flat out--that if you would like to eat the finest mixed Italian cold-cut hero to be found in New York, you need to bring your own bread to Salumeria Biellese. More

Welcome to Serious Eats New York

In the last couple of weeks you might have noticed we've been doing things a little differently at the site formerly known as Ed Levine Eats. What was once my personal blog focusing mostly on New York food has become a group endeavor devoted to helping serious eaters find everything delicious in New York City. Welcome to Serious Eats New York! More

Miang Kum: The DIY Thai-Wrap Kit

"Like so much else about Thai cuisine, making the perfect miang kum is all about balance." When I picked up the above package of miang kum at Sugar Club, a wonderful Thai grocery store in Elmhurst, Queens, I asked the... More

NYC Weekend Food Events

Tribeca al fresco. Photograph from tasteoftribeca.org Taste of Tribeca Saturday, May 17, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sample tasty eats from more than 50 New York City restaurants, like Chanterelle, Bouley, The Harrison, and Blaue Gans. Admission is $40... More

Week in Reviews: Best Bites

Eighty One serves a wild striped bass with strips of skin that are "so crunchy and rich they seem to be emulating pork rinds." [Bruni, NYT] The sliced veal strip is "as good as you'll find" at Olana, and... More

The Roasting Plant May Be the Future of Coffee

"... The beans whirred through pneumatic tubes overhead, sorted by the Selectifier (yes, Willy Wonka references are common)" Strange brew. (Photographs from roastingplant.com) The Roasting Plant 81 Orchard Street New York, NY 10002 (map) 212-775-7755 roastingplant.com The Roasting Plant, at... More

Wildwood: Good but Inconsistent Barbecue

With barbecue joints seemingly sprouting up on every corner these days in New York, it's easy to forget what a barbecue wilderness Gotham was for so many years. When I arrived in New York in 1973, there was precious little real barbecue. Then came the 'cue explosion of the '00s, the latest of which is Wildwood BBQ. More

Sugar Rush: Best Vegan Desserts

Cookies, jam-filled biscuit, and cupcakes from Babycakes. Yesterday, Restaurant Girl Danyelle Freeman posted her list of the best Vegan Dessert Spots in New York City. We are well aware that for most people the words "Vegan" and "dessert" and... More

Where to Get Free Häagen-Dazs Today

Midtown Lunch reports that only one Häagen-Dazs location in Midtown is offering free scoops of its Vanilla Honey Bee flavor ice cream today between 4 and 8 p.m. However, outside of Midtown there are many Häagen-Dazs shops participating in the... More

New Yeah Shanghai Deluxe

Although I had passed Chinatown's New Yeah Shanghai Deluxe innumerable times (as it is conveniently located just a few doors down from Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, one of my most frequented ice cream shops), I never felt compelled to... More

Events: Taste of the Nation NYC

Or, 'Pig Out to Feed Hungry People' Hunger relief organization Share Our Strength's annual Taste of the Nation New York City benefit is this Wednesday, May 14, at the Roseland Ballroom. SOS is a terrific organization that supports hunger-relief efforts... More

Events: Brooklyn Uncorked at BAMcafé

Edible Brooklyn is having its second-annual Brooklyn Uncorked tasting party this Wednesday, May 14, from 4 to 8 p.m. at the BAMCafé (30 Lafayette Avenue; Fort Greene, Brooklyn). Tickets are a reasonable $50. Offering tastes will be 30 Long Island... More

Inside Momofuku Ko's Bathroom

Momofuku Ko's bathroom Momofuku Ko has been extensively written about and photographed, but one thing that no one's mentioned is the bathroom. What kind of literature does one find at Ko?... More

Josh Ozersky in 'Edible Brooklyn'

Josh Ozersky, editor of the food blog Grub Street and recent burger-book author, was interviewed [warning! PDF!] in the spring issue of Edible Brooklyn. Based on the number of different kinds of salt he has in his apartment, some might... More

Mother's Day Brunch Recommendations

Ouest: Another great housemade bread basket (Tom Valenti was trained as a pastry chef) and let's face it, Valenti knows how to make homey, sophisticated food better than anyone. 2315 Broadway, New York NY 10024; 212-580-8700; ouestny.com Eleven Madison Park:... More

Life Without the Momofuku Pork Bun

Earlier today, three of New York's finest chefs gathered at a New Yorker Conference panel moderated by Bill Buford, where Momofuku chef David Chang confessed that even he's surprised how popular his pork buns have become. He admitted that... More

When Food Adverts Chase Away Your Appetite

Copyranter Advertising blogger Copyranter points out some urban visual noise in the form of really narsty-lookin' gyro poster ads: In a reversal of the usual menu photo vs. the real thing food dynamic, these poster gyros look exponentially worse... More

Tiny's Giant Sandwich Shop

Editor's note: Robyn Lee, is also known as the Girl Who Ate Everything, and that's not far from the truth. She's out and about so much around the city that I asked her to write about some of favorite New... More

Terroir

Editor's note: Starting this week I am going to post a restaurant review every Tuesday night. Why? Because it's fun to do and because I think serious eaters could use a little guidance when they're searching for something delicious to... More

Momofuku Ko: Does the Service Matter?

Or, 'Hi, My Name Is David and I'll Be Your Waiter Tonight' When a Wall Street Journal reporter detailed her experience at Momofuku Ko and questioned her overall experience there, I thought it was an exercise in needless complaining. But... More

Dried Cantaloupe from Economy Candy

Editor's note: Please welcome Serious Eats community member BaHa, aka Barbara Hanson, who will be checking in now and again with dispatches about the various little one-of-a-kind food stores and markets in New York. She makes her debut with a... More

Market Scene: New York

--> I have to admit, reading the Market Scene last week for San Francisco inspired serious amounts of dismay in this New Yorker. Despite their lovely flavor and appealing looks, I am so. Tired. Of. Hearing. About. Ramps. As is,... More

Tom Valenti's Neighborhood Eats

Ouest chef-owner Tom Valenti is certainly one of New York's greatest chefs, but he also truly loves to eat, and he really enjoys exploring food in his Upper Broadway-Riverside Drive neighborhood known as Sugar Hill. Sugar Hill is south of... More

Cubist Masterpieces

Grub Street Oft overlooked is the humble ice cube. But when presented just so in a rocks glass, with a pour of good bourbon or a well-balanced cocktail, a carefully crafted hunka frozen H20 can be a work of art,... More