Posted by Lauren Rothman, February 10, 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]
We're back for a third time to tell you about the sandwich offerings at Spanish cafe La Churreria, located on Mulberry Street in Nolita. (What can we say, we like 'em.) Previously, I sampled the rich fried calamari on baguette as well as the porky Serrano ham served pressed with cheese and quince paste.
Don't despair, vegetarians! Today's featured sandwich is the Escalivada, so named for the classic Catalan side dish of mixed grilled vegetables--in this case sweet red peppers, eggplant, and onions--nestled inside the crisp Il Forno baguette. It's a nice sandwich--the veggies are tender and deftly seasoned, and the good-quality olive oil used to dress them moistens the bread--but if I had to take issue with anything, it would be that this sandwich is just a little one-note. Peppers, onions and eggplant all turn soft and sweet when grilled, and that's a good thing, but some sort of crunchy, salty or bitter element would liven it up. To my mind, some slivers of crumbly aged Manchego cheese would elevate this bocadillo to crave-worthy status, but my suspicion is that La Churreria's proprietors are keen to offer its vegan patrons a dairy-free choice.
La Churreria
284 Mulberry Street, New York NY 10012 (map)
212-219-0400
Favorite this! (2)
Posted by Ed Levine, February 8, 2012 at 8:10 AM
[Photos: Jessica Leibowitz]
Fun is usually not the first thing that comes to mind when I think of tasting menus. Expensive? For sure. Exciting? I hope so. Tasty? Better be. Show-offy? Often.
So when I went to Torrisi Italian Specialties for Rich Torrisi's freshly designed $125 twenty-course tasting menu, I couldn't help but wonder: could the chef's characteristic sense of humor make such a marathon meal a fun experience?
I knew if anyone could do it, it would be Torrisi, an insanely talented and impish young chef with serious cooking chops, a strong sense of what works, and a remarkable ability to be able to laugh at himself.
When chefs and friends Rich Torrisi and Mario Carbone (who had both put in serious time at restaurants like Del Posto and Cafe Boulud) opened Torrisi, they were serving the elevated Italian-American food at lunch they are now serving next door at Parm day and night. The chicken parm of our dreams was succeeded by a $45 four course tasting menu for dinner that is still served to most diners at Torrisi, albeit at $60 these days. Those menus gave us an inkling of the restless culinary intellect of Torrisi and Carbone. (If you're ever there when they're offering the pastrami-seasoned short rib you'll see why.) But the new tasting menu was not put together in a night. Rich Torrisi has spent the last thirteen months working closely with chef de cusine Eli Kulp and sous chef Dan Haar developing the tasting menu that you're about to read about. (Carbone is focusing on Parm at the moment, though according to Torrisi, his partner still supplied general direction and inspiration for the new tasting menu.)
Continue reading »
Favorite this! (8)
Posted by Donny Tsang, February 7, 2012 at 1:45 PM
[Photographs: Donny Tsang]
Kee's Chocolates in New York's Soho makes some of our favorite chocolates in NYC, and in more than 50 flavors; we can't get enough of it. Owner and chocolatier Kee Ling Tong left her corporate job many years ago in pursuit of a more fulfilling and hands-on career. Nowadays you can find her in the kitchen churning out batch after batch of chocolates, all made by hand.
We spent a few hours in the kitchen with Kee herself to see how some of her popular chocolates are made.
Check out the slideshow for a peek into the kitchen.
Kee's Chocolates
80 Thompson Street, New York NY 10012 (map)
212-334-3284
keeschocolates.com/
About the Author: Donny Tsang traded a life of traffic jams in LA for one of crowded subways in NYC, where he's been since 2003. Now he is a Brooklyn-based food photographer and founded the website Foodaissance, where he photographs local artisans.
Favorite this! (3)
Posted by Kathy YL Chan, February 1, 2012 at 4:00 PM
[Photo: Kathy YL Chan]
Poi Doughnuts ($8) at Lani Kai come eight to an order—tiny, puffy orbs dusted in powdered sugar. On the side, a silky rum-spiked caramel, thin enough to justify coating the entire ball with that warm dipping sauce. Poi is a Hawaiian staple, a paste made from pounded taro and water, which is usually eaten plain as a starch. Integrate the paste into dessert doughnuts and we're in completely different territory. It gives the fried-to-order doughnuts a slightly chewy texture and a distinct, creamy taro flavor. A well-browned crust that crunches, and you've got a bowl of doughnuts worth devouring on your own.
Lani Kai
525 Broome Street, New York NY 10013 (map)
646-596-8778
lanikainy.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.
Favorite this! (1)
Posted by Lauren Rothman, January 30, 2012 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.
[Photographs: Jessica Leibowitz]
Last week I wrote about Nolita newcomer La Churreria and their luscious Calamares Fritos sandwich. This week, I'm here to tell you about the Trio ($6), so named for the holy trinity of ham, cheese and fruity spread found within. Thickly sliced jamon Serrano, melty, oozy Mahon cheese and the lovely Spanish quince paste membrillo are tucked inside griddled, buttery white bread. The three ingredients play very well together, but because they are all so rich and because the bread is somewhat greasy, I wished for a little arugula or onion to cut through the overall heaviness of the sandwich. Still, though, the flavors are undeniably authentic and compelling. Coupled with the smell of fried dough wafting out of the kitchen in back, they had the ability to transport me to Spain, where I have had the good fortune to travel (and eat) extensively.
La Churreria
284 Mulberry Street, New York NY 10012 (map)
212-219-0400
Favorite this! (1)
Posted by Carey Jones, January 30, 2012 at 11:45 AM
[Photo: Maggie Hoffman]
We were big fans of Jamaican restaurant Miss Lily's when it opened last year, so we expected good things of the adjacent sandwich shop and juice bar Melvin's Juice Box. The sunny, cheery lunch counter serves sandwiches and Caribbean lunch plates, as well as quite a number of juices and smoothies from Melvin Major. His long beard and megawatt smile make him unmissable behind the counter, as he was before when juicing at the organic grocer Lifethyme.
After trying a few of the juices, we can see why. They're pricey, let's be clear—$8-$10—but that's (sadly) the going rate around New York these days at juice-everything-from-scratch spots (which'll always be pricier than Jamba Juice and its ilk). Melvin's creations are dense in flavor and true to taste, not watered-down or sugared-up.
Continue reading »
Favorite this! (0)
Posted by Kathy YL Chan, January 26, 2012 at 3:00 PM
[Photo: Kathy YL Chan]
Housemade doughnuts are $2.75 each at the recently opened Bowery Diner. They're hefty creatures of the yeast variety, on the oily but oh-so-satisfying side. Look in the right case for the classics—sugar glazed, cinnamon-sugar, and chocolate glaze with rainbow sprinkles. But the left case holds all the exciting doughnuts. Think flavors like pistachio glaze (pictured above) with a chocolate filling. The milk chocolate is piped in tight, a voluptuous pudding cocooned by the fluffy interior. Chocolate streaks run along the pistachio surface, and while the pistachio flavors are faint, it's true to taste. If stuffed doughnuts are your style, they also do a peanut butter glaze with jelly filling and strawberry glaze with vanilla pudding filling. As for my favorite non-filled doughnut? The very sophisticated and (un-diner-like) combination of lime and orange blossom glaze.
The Bowery Diner
241 Bowery, New York NY 10002 (map)
bowerydiner.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.
Favorite this! (0)
Posted by Kathy YL Chan, January 25, 2012 at 4:00 PM
[Photo: Kathy YL Chan]
Instead of changing the menu seasonally at Dominique Ansel Bakery (which was the original plan), the bakery will be introducing new sweets and pastries every few weeks. All the more reason to check in. Just the other day we dove into this Salted Pistachio Religeuse ($5), a downright delicious take on the French classic. Here, two textures of pistachio cream come into play. A white chocolate-pistachio ganache is piped into the top choux ball and you'll find a silky, voluptuous pistachio moussline in the bottom ball. Crunchy salted pistachio bits crown the top; you'll want to keep this dessert all for yourself. Also new to the bakery is the Arlette ($3), a buttery crisp palmier cookie, baked a deep golden brown and scented with cinnamon. The taste of a cinnamon roll locked into the body of a palmier. Doesn't get much better than that.
Continue reading »
Favorite this! (1)
Posted by Lauren Rothman, January 24, 2012 at 12:00 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.
[Photographs: Jessica Leibowitz]
As its name implies, the newly opened La Churreria in Nolita specializes in churros, serving the habit-forming, sugar-coated batons of fried dough all day long, accompanied by coffee or the more traditional choice of hot chocolate. But I was most eager to sample the small Spanish cafe's tempting sandwich offerings, which promised luxurious fillings such as serrano ham, aged Mahon cheese, and my favorite of the choices, fried calamari, which stars in the Calamares Fritos sandwich ($9.50). Tender rings of squid come nestled in a nicely flavored but slightly chewy baguette from Il Forno, coated generously in a rich, garlicky aioli. I couldn't detect the pimiento mentioned on the menu, but I did appreciate the tiny green flecks of fresh parsley running through the sauce, which brightened the homemade mayo and (just barely) kept this indulgent sandwich from being too over-the-top heavy.
La Churreria
284 Mulberry Street, New York NY 10012 (map)
212-219-0400
Favorite this! (1)
Posted by Kathy YL Chan, January 20, 2012 at 4:30 PM
[Photo: Kathy YL Chan]
Ceci-Cela offers a variety of fruit danishes, including pear, plum, and apricot, but the one I keep returning for is their Cherry Danish ($3). I love the way the bakers crowd in the pitted cherries—sometimes with order, but more often with abandon, each one offering a cheerful pop, a pucker of fruit. Every bite sinks into that layer of lush vanilla pastry cream, and if you come early enough (which you should make a point to do!) the flaky pastry is still warm, golden with buttery layers. The danish is fairly large in size, but no worries, I guarantee you'll wolf down this pastry in no time.
Ceci-Cela
55 Spring Street, New York, NY 10012 (map)
212-274-9179
cecicelanyc.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.
Favorite this! (1)
Posted by Laura Togut, January 18, 2012 at 1:45 PM
[Photographs: Laura Togut]
I had heard people gushing about La Sirene for quite a long time, as it has a stellar reputation for being a cute, French, BYOB date spot. And that it certainly is—but consider yourself warned upfront that it is decidedly a splurge, so perhaps you should take extra precautions to make sure you really like your date first.
Having secured said date, I ventured to see if a cute, romantic, BYOB French (read: meat-centric) place could manage to put out vegetarian meal worth its salt. On the upside, the restaurant's signature item is a completely un-meaty goat-cheese tart, so that was encouragement enough for me to go ahead and give it a whirl.
Continue reading »
Favorite this! (2)
Posted by Erin Zimmer, January 16, 2012 at 10:30 AM
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!
[Photo: Alice Gao]
This salad ($14) could really win a Miss Beet Salad pageant. Fork up the watermelon-resembling hunks of candystripe beets and the darker, sweeter red beets. They're sitting on a shallow lake of cool yogurt packed with fresh herbs like dill and chives.
It's all about the little details in this salad, like the soft egg crumbles. At first you assume, oh just some egg crumbles, then realize how ridiculously smoky each speck is. The egg is first boiled until it's just set, then it gets the cold-smoke treatment. Tart apple slices and thin wisps of celery rib add a delicate crunch and the fresh horseradish shavings on top give the salad a little bite. Sunflower seeds are scatted about. It's a very refreshing summer-reminiscent-in-freezing-winter salad.
The Dutch
131 Sullivan Street, New York NY 10012 (
map)
212-677-6200
About the author: Erin is the national editor of Serious Eats. You can follow her on Twitter: @erin_zimmer
Favorite this! (0)
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
Favorite this! (2)
Posted by J. Kenji López-Alt, January 13, 2012 at 11:00 AM
[Photographs: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt]
I'm always on the lookout for a decent new burger or sandwich for lunch, so on Thursday, I found myself at Onieals, just a couple blocks away from my office. Walking in, first impression was dark wood, low music, and completely empty. I mean, there were three people sitting at the bar during lunch hour at a restaurant that comfortably seats closer to 70 people.
Things like this confuse me a bit. I mean, for its Little Italy location, it's a fancy looking place. Nice furniture, good sound system, no nicks on the bars, no chipped paint, a classy-looking joint if I ever saw one. How does a place like this survive in the city with no business? Who's keeping up that facade, washing the windows, reupholstering the chairs, and all that?
Certainly the food we got was a good indication to why the place had no customers. The burger wasn't bad, per se, but for $14, you expect something pretty darn good, especially with stiff cheap-but-good lunch food competition around.
About ten minutes into our lunch, the answer came in the form of a veritable wave of people pouring through the front door. Fifty, to be exact, mostly women, mostly blonde, mostly speaking with foreign accents, each one lining up to the bar and walking away with a pink drink in a martini glass.
What the hell?
Continue reading »
Favorite this! (0)
Posted by Zachary Feldman, January 6, 2012 at 1:45 PM
Fatty 'Cue's Trippa Malaysiana [Photos: Zachary Feldman]
As befits an ingredient so texturally challenging and confounding in taste, tripe is generally regarded with particular revulsion from its dissenters. Those for whom the idea of eating stomach can't be stomached rarely consider trying the chewy stuff. It's an initiation offal, like kidneys or eyeballs—something to eat for bragging rights; the exact opposite of creamy, easy-to-love foie gras. But once you get past the idea of it, tripe becomes quite delicious. Almost always braised, its fortifying qualities also make it perfect late-night food for the winter months.
Continue reading »
Favorite this! (1)
