Posted by Rob Sobotnik, February 9, 2012 at 11:15 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.
[Photographs: Jessica Leibowitz]
A new edition to the Lower East Side, Sauce, is serving up Italian-American style sandwiches done right. Similar to a sloppy joe, the Heritage Pork "Raguboy" ($5.95) is a small but super-rich sandwich, which we had topped with provolone, on a sesame seed brioche. The pork is unbelievably tender; cooked in a sauce enhanced with the drippings of the meat, all of which the fluffy, buttery brioche instantly begins to soak up. While bun was a little too big, the incredibly savory sauce and the richness of the sandwich was enough to leave anyone who ordered this craving it again in the future.
Sauce
78 Rivington St, New York 10002 (map)
212-420-7700
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Posted by Carey Jones, February 7, 2012 at 12:30 PM
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.
[Photographs: Jessica Leibowitz]
The bad thing about turkey is that it often doesn't contribute much flavor to a sandwich. But the good thing about turkey is that, due to its mildness, it can take on plenty of stronger flavors. That's what it does in the Turkey Tonnato ($10) at Zoë, where thick slices of moist turkey breast are smothered in a more-or-less classic vitello tonnato–style sauce; tuna, caper, and parsley in a thick, olive-oily creamy sauce. On a baguette with peppery arugula, it's a lot more exciting than turkey sandwiches usually get.
Zoë
245 Eldridge Street, New York NY 10013 (map)
646-559-5962
zoerestaurantnyc.com
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Posted by Lauren Sloss, January 30, 2012 at 9:00 AM
[Photo: Alice Gao]
There are a lot of reasons to dread February in New York—the cold, the slush, and maybe even that fickle holiday mid-month. Fortunately, we've got the Clinton Street Baking Company on the Lower East Side to give us plenty of reasons to look forward to February's fast approach.
February is Pancake Month at Clinton Street, and if you've ever braved the line at this always-packed spot for a weekend brunch, you understand why. Airy, hearty, and crisp-edged, the Clinton Street Baking Company has won awards for their flapjacks, beat Bobby Flay in a "Throwdown," and even impressed Martha Stewart. In February, they add nine special pancakes to the usual suspects (blueberry, banana walnut, and chocolate chunk), that show up for 1- to 3-day stints on the menu. Even better news: you can eat the pancakes for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. (Or all of the above; we won't judge, we promise.)
We sat down with Clinton Street Baking Company's owners, husband and wife team Neil Kleinberg and Dede Lahman, to sample this year's pancake month offerings ($15-17). (Dede has her favorites, but is quick to point out that chef Neil "is the man behind the pancake craze and all its splendor.") Check out 8 of the 9 in the slideshow above, and the dates the specials will be running. Keep an eye out for Pancake Month's "wildcard flavor," which will be served on February 17 (the flavor will be announced day-of on Clinton Street's website).
Clinton Street Baking Co.
4 Clinton Street, New York NY 10002 (map)
646-602-6263
clintonstreetbaking.com
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Posted by Carey Jones, January 27, 2012 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: 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
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Posted by Ben Fishner, January 13, 2012 at 12:00 PM
[Photos: Alice Gao]
Motorino's Mathieu Palombino has a knack for genre-hopping, having left fine dining to open one of our favorite pizzerias in New York. So it didn't seem that unlikely when Palombino decided to open a diner on the Bowery. We stopped by for an early look at the new restaurant's offerings this week. The space's designs take its cues from mid-century diner tropes we're all familiar with: aluminum-coated walls, chairs that look like they were bought from a nearby middle school, and the color teal all feature prominently in the layout.
As for the menu, it ranges from dressed-up diner fare like a Reuben with house-smoked pastrami ($16) and a béarnaise burger ($15) to fancier fare like a New York strip steak ($24) or a duck salad with confit gizzards and smoked magret ($17). There's also a full bar, cocktail menu, raw bar, homemade desserts, and a mean milkshake service. Click through the slideshow for a closer look at some of the items the kitchen will be serving when they open for dinner this Sunday. Of course, this is a diner, so look for breakfast and lunch service to commence in the coming months.
Bowery Diner
241 Bowery, New York NY 10002 (map)
bowerydiner.com
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Posted by Nancy Huang, January 5, 2012 at 3:00 PM
[Photographs: Nancy Huang]
The opening hype surrounding Sons of Essex, a new restaurant/club from nightlife brander Matt Levine, has been equally adulatory and vitriolic, perhaps a result of the shameless and sometimes cheesy promotion of the Lower East Spot spot. Somewhere in between the lavish praise and sneering cynicism lies the truth (or at least my dispassionate version of it): Sons of Essex has at least a few respectable bar dishes.
The New American menu translates to "crowd pleasers," hence whole sections dedicated to Grilled Cheese and Mac and Cheese. But start first with the Hen and Waffle ($15), two fried wings of maple-glazed hen atop a homemade Belgian waffle. Crispy skin encased perfectly juicy meat, which paired well with the barely sweet waffle.
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Posted by Nancy Huang, December 22, 2011 at 10:00 AM
[Photographs: Nancy Huang]
Any bar that offers a $3 beer-and-shot combo and has an open call for go-go dancers posted on its website is not typically one where you expect to find good eats. But 169 Bar is not your typical LES dive. Owned by former New Orleans musician Charles Hanson, the bar boasts a salty Crescent City vibe unabashed in its neon lights and leopard-print pool table.
169 Bar also boasts a Southern-inspired menu at "tavern prices," which translates to Steamed Atlantic Blue Spicy Crab Legs (three whole crabs) for just $6. Slicked in a delicious, oily mixture of Old Bay seasoning and tangy hot sauce, the crustaceans appeared at the table on a flimsy paper plate with a single glass. "Sorry, I know we have a shell cracker around here, but I can't find it," the server shrugged. Perhaps a bit of an issue with a more expensive dish, but at $6, it was only a passing annoyance. The shells gave in just fine with a crack of the teeth, all the more excuse to enjoy that Old Bay flavor.
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Posted by J. Kenji López-Alt, December 6, 2011 at 10:00 PM
[Photographs: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt]
Family Recipe
231 Eldridge Street, New York NY 10002 (between Stanton and E. Houston; map); 212-529-3133; familyrecipeny.com/
Service: Friendly and familial
Setting: Small but comfortable
Must-Haves: Menu changes regularly
Cost: $6 to $25 per dish
Grade: B
Tokyo-born chef-owner Akiko Turnauer has a pretty solid resume of restaurants under her belt, including stints at Nobu and SoHo's former Kitchen Club. Eschewing the high-end fusion trappings of her former employers, she's decided to go back to her traditional roots to bring homestyle Japanese cooking to her new Chinatown restaurant Family Recipe.
The food is not Japanese per se, but it's not meant to be. Rather, it draws on Akiko's childhood travels throughout the world with her food-obsessed father. Ingredients are strongly seasonal and high quality, while cooking techniques remain simple, mostly drawing from classic Japanese homestyle method—grilling, sauteeing, simmering, and steaming.
A small amuse of cucumber slices topped with a bit of well seasoned, smoky sauteed shredded cabbage set the tone for the meal. There's no question that this is home cooking. Not fancy, about as un-rarefied as you can get; straightforward and simple in its flavors. I'm not sure who the eponymous Alice is for the Alice's Pickles ($6) but I do like her style.
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Posted by Christine Chung, December 5, 2011 at 1:15 PM
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: Alice Gao]
There are several crucial components to a perfect grilled cheese sandwich. The right amount of melted cheese. Toasty warm bread. And of course, generous amounts of butter to hold it all together. The Asiago, Parmesan, Muenster, Butternut Squash, and Sage Brown Butter ($8.75; what a mouthful) at Little Muenster does all this, and more.
The grilled cheese is a tempting combination of Asiago, Muenster, and Parmesan, which is melted deliciously between two thick, toasty slices of peasant bread. There's no panini press at this joint; all the sandwiches are made using a counterveyor toaster. There's subtle undertones of the sage brown butter that just peek through. The mildly sweet and smooth spread of butternut squash puree provides an ideal accompaniment to the intensity of the cheese trio, balancing out the flavors nicely. It's a creative flavor combination that works surprisingly well, and we're eager to try the rest of the "super fancy grilled cheese" options" on the menu.
Overall, it's a simple and sophisticated sandwich generously portioned for a hearty lunch, dinner, or post-drinking snack (they're open til 4 am...). All sandwiches come with a side of crispy chips, your choice of seasoned or salted. For $1, marrow butter can be added to any sandwich, and an additional dollar will buy you a side of tomato soup. Welcome to the neighborhood, Little Muenster!
Little Muenster
100 Stanton Street, New York NY 10002 (map)
212-203-7197
littlemuenster.com
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Posted by Paige Brocious, November 30, 2011 at 1:00 PM
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: Alice Gao]
"Gourmet" grilled cheeses can often be a let down. The gratuitous addition of fancy ingredients might look nice on a menu, but can get in the way of a solid crusty-bread-melty-cheese foundation. So it's comforting to know that Little Muenster, the newly opened Lower East Side sandwich shop, is out there advocating for fancy grilled cheese sandwiches everywhere. So far we've tried three of their buttery, toasty creations, and we were not disappointed.
One of the sandwiches ($9) featured a medley of chopped anchovy, caramelized onion, Portobello mushroom, and sweet red pepper, on melty manchego and peasant bread. And it was outstanding. The saltiness of the anchovy paired well with the sweet pepper and onions; all doused in olive oil, it almost melts together. The manchego cheese merged seamlessly into the bread and added a richness to the whole equation. And the bread, though hearty and crusty, was softened by a generous amount of butter and perfectly charred on the edges. (The chips that come alongside are pretty great, too.)
Little Muenster
100 Stanton Street, New York, NY 10002 (map)
212-203-7197
littlemuenster.com
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Posted by Carey Jones, November 21, 2011 at 2:45 PM
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: Robyn Lee]
I didn't think that anything I ordered at kebab shop would be healthy, exactly, but I appreciate that I can get a greasy sandwich of the veggie-heavy sort, too. The Fried Eggplant sandwich ($3.50) is as oily as it sounds, a stew of fried sliced eggplant and peppers with tomato sauce that's rich-tasting and a little greasy but balanced by the tomatoes' sweetness and acid. I'm all for sloppy, indulgent vegetable eats, and this isn't a bad example.
Bereket Turkish Kebab House
187 East Houston Street, New York NY 10002 (map)
212-475-7700
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Posted by Carey Jones, November 14, 2011 at 11:45 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: Robyn Lee]
I have to admit that until last week, I'd never eaten a Doner Kebab ($6) at the Lower East Side's Bereket Turkish Kebab House sober (nor, frankly, noted much about it, besides "this is warm" and "in my two hands"). From a slightly more critical standpoint, it's not quite perfect; the thin cuts slices of lamb and beef have a pronounced lamb-y funk and an awful lot of salt (which I don't mind) and the pita's quite stiff around the edges (which I do). Still, as a total package, it's quite satisying, and a nice late-night alternative to a sloppy piece of pizza. Bring on the hot sauce.
Bereket Turkish Kebab House
187 East Houston Street, New York NY 10002 (map)
212-475-7700
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Posted by Carey Jones, October 28, 2011 at 1:45 PM
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: Robyn Lee]
I like tuna salads whose flavor and moisture is based on something other than mayonnaise, like the American Pole-Caught Tuna Sandwich ($8) at Heritage Meat Shop. The tuna filling here is lemony and well-salted and not at all dry, on a simple just-crusty roll from Roberta's that cradles it perfectly. Heritage may be a specialty meat shop, but this less meaty sandwich is worth an order, too.
Heritage Meat Shop
Essex Street Market
120 Essex Street, New York NY 10002 (map)
212-539-1111
HeritageMeatShop.com
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Posted by Kathy YL Chan, October 26, 2011 at 4:00 PM
[Photo: Kathy YL Chan]
We were at BabyCakes for mini-mini doughnuts last week, and we're back today, this time for Earl Grey Cupcakes. This was my very first time spotting these cupcakes at the Lower East Side bakery and it turns out they don't make this flavor very often. So call ahead to check before going. And if they're available, put them on your must-eat list; you'll be rewarded with a bergamot-scented cake and matching frosting. Earl grey-flavored sweets are quite common nowadays, but this is my first encounter with an earl grey cupcake! The tea leaves are ground very finely and whipped into the frosting, delicate and light. For those concerned, these dairy, egg, and soy-free cupcakes are sweetened with agave.
BabyCakes
248 Broome Street, New York, NY 10002 (map)
212-677-5047
babycakesnyc.com
About the author: Originally from Honolulu, Kathy YL Chan writes A Passion For Food, where she chronicles her eats and travels adventures between Hawai'i, New York and beyond. She firmly believes that there is always room for dessert.
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Posted by J. Kenji López-Alt, October 26, 2011 at 12:45 PM
[Photo: Jessica Leibowitz]
The good news about newly opened Brooklyn Taco: the fillings are really good. Chilorio Brisket is shredded brisket braised for four hours in a smoky, spicy sauce. Cola and Orange Braised Pork Shoulder is perfectly moist, tender, and flavorful, though it would be nice if it had a bit more crispness to the edges. The citrus-cilantro salsa is neon green and tasty, with some genuine heat. Lightly Chipotle'd Chicken is about as good as chicken can be on a taco, which is to say, not that great, but hey, it's chicken, what do you expect?
Now the bad news: The problem with Brooklyn Taco which is frankly a theme in NYC, is poor tortilla prep. It's fine to use store-bought tortillas, but you've got to reheat them properly. These were steamy, yet stale, with not a hint of color on them. It's like being served perfect meatballs on an underbaked sub roll. The ratio of meat to filling was low as well; a few tablespoons of meat inside a vast expanse of steamed tortilla.
Brooklyn Taco: you're doing good. Just give us a bit more filling and let the tortillas cook just a bit longer!
Brooklyn Taco
Essex Street Market
120 Essex Street, New York NY 10002 (map)
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