Queens: Long Island City
Posted by Joe DiStefano, September 19, 2009 at 10:00 AM
I stopped eating the doughy, half-empty pouches that corner slice shops call calzone years ago. Until tackling this immense one the other day, I’d never eaten a proper Italian style calzone. The brick-oven blistered bad boy is the creation of Massimo Slama, the Trieste-born pizzaiolo at Manducatis Rustica in Long Island City. At $15, it’s not cheap, but is delicious and filling, so much so that I didn’t eat anything else for the rest of the day. “In Europe they’re huge,” Chef Gianna Cerbone told me.
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Posted by Joe DiStefano, August 20, 2009 at 12:00 PM
Masjid al Hikmah’s Indonesian Food Bazaar and Ping Pong Tournament on Sunday was the most culturally immersive food event I’ve been to this summer. Think of it as a Church potluck fundraiser—but with everybody from Indonesian grannies to young men cooking up satays, soups, beef rendang, and other Indonesian delicacies. It took place outside a mosque in Long Island City in the sweltering heat. Many people like this big dude in the Beer Lao T-shirt sought relief in a cold, sweet, shockingly green cup of es cendol. The pandan and palm sugar flavored dessert-beverage is a great way to cool down. I suppose the green wormy things also make it fun to drink.
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Posted by Joe DiStefano, July 24, 2009 at 3:30 PM
There are plenty of places to get a well-crafted cocktail in Manhattan these days: P.D.T., Mayahuel, Macao Trading Co., Death & Co., Angel's Share, Little Branch—the list goes on. But right now, my favorite place for a fine libation happens to be Dutch Kills, which lies on a gritty Long Island City block hard by the Queensborough Bridge. While the aforementioned places fall squarely into the lounge category, Dutch Kills is clearly striving to be a saloon that serves excellent cocktails. I think it was all the dark wood booths and the backroom with sawdust on the floor that led me to this conclusion.
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Posted by Erin Zimmer, June 19, 2009 at 12:40 PM
Photograph (top) from DashDano on Flickr and (bottom) from Mandarin's website.
How do canned mandarin oranges become so pith-free and perfectly segmented? You can finally found out tonight at the NYC Food Film Festival closing ceremony where the Dutch documentary Mandarin will play at 8:50 p.m. The free event at Water Taxi Beach starts at 7:45 p.m. with an awards ceremony for the films that have been playing all week long, followed by a viewing of other shorts, including Save The Honey Bees at 8:30 p.m., starring our very own thespian Ed Levine, and the Power of the Peep at 9:15 p.m. (let's just say some folks take Lord of the Rings-themed Peep dioramas very seriously).
See tonight's full schedule here.
Disclaimer: You may pick mandarin oranges out of your Chinese chicken salads until forever after watching the behind-the-scenes factory visit.
Posted by Erin Zimmer, April 29, 2009 at 3:30 PM
Editor's note: This dispatch comes to us from Annaliese Griffin, editor of Brooklyn Based, who is not afraid of a little Château cardboard. —Erin
Like beer can chicken, box wine has long held court as a trashy-fabulous summer staple of the backyard or rooftop barbecue. But box wine isn’t just White Zinfandel (pairing: Benson & Hedges 100s) anymore.
Over the past few years a number of French winemakers have been exporting boxes ranging from three to ten liters of rose, Cotes du Rhone and other inexpensive, but high quality wines.
At Vine Wine in Long Island City, owner Talitha Whidbee has been cultivating box wine contacts for several years now, with the idea that buying wine in bulk creates less waste and is easier to carry home than the equivalent amount in heavy bottles.
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Posted by Allison Hemler, October 1, 2008 at 3:45 PM
Last night, P.S.1 hosted Autumn Harvest, an appetizer/wine/music event held at P.S.1 celebrating P.F.1, the winning installation of the 2008 MoMA/P.S.1 Young Architects Program. P.F.1 is an urban farm built entirely of sustainable materials, and features over fifty kinds of flowers, vegetables, and herbs. For this event, P.S.1 teamed up with Serious Eats fave Gramercy Tavern and chef Michael Anthony to produce a menu using fresh ingredients from the farm. The menu: Tomato Skewers, Zucchini Soup with Kale, Grilled Eggplant with Pickled Peppers, Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Homemade Kielbasa, and Grilled Corn with Jalapeno and Cheese. The kielbasa was a huge hit—on more than one occasion I was surrounded by a group of hungry urbanites begging for the next batch off the grill.
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Posted by Ed Levine, June 13, 2008 at 6:15 PM
At Serious Eats New York, we love movies almost as much as food, so it's no surprise that we love the idea of the second annual NYC Food Film Festival, which begins tomorrow night at Water Taxi Beach.
Food film festival organizers George Motz and Harry Hawk have found movies about many foods close to every serious eater's heart, including pizza, cheesesteak, and currywurst. They'll be serving up what they've found for an entire week, along with thematically appropriate food that promises to be way better than that stale popcorn and fake butter you get at most movie theaters.
On Tuesday June 17, they're taking their act to the parking lot next to Grimaldi's under the Brooklyn Bridge to screen pizza movies and, of course, eat pizza. After the jump check out the festival's trailer. I promise it will make you hungry.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, April 29, 2008 at 6:00 PM
Or, 'Where to Eat in Liberty City'
After much anticipation from millions of gamers, Grand Theft Auto 4 debuted worldwide today. This being Serious Eats, we did some digging around on the game's website for any food- or restaurant-related material inside the game, which takes place in "Liberty City," a metropolis loosely modeled on New York City. Here's what we found.
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Posted by Ed Levine, September 18, 2006 at 7:27 AM
A number of ELE users commented, and rightly so, that all the places on my Best Italian restaurant list were all pretty damned pricey. So I thought I should take a stab at a list of potential top five neighborhood Italian restaurants. How do I define a neighborhood Italian restaurant?
A restaurant where you can eat two courses and a glass of wine and spend $25. Neighborhood restaurants that don't require as much of a financial commitment and advance planning. You might wait on line because in many cases these restaurants don't take reservations.
The trouble with most neighborhood Italian restaurants is that most often they serve food that is well-meaning but mediocre at best. That said, there are a number of wonderful neighborhood Italian restaurants sprinkled all over NY. The over-all experience at these neighborhood spots will not likely be as satisfying (service and space can often be lacking), but the food can be delicious.
Here is my list of contenders:
Anthony's: Park Slope
Bianca: Noho
Biricchino: Chelsea
Celeste: Upper West Side
Cono & Sons: Williamsburg
Da Andrea: West Village
Frankies 457 Spuntino: Carroll Gardens
Frankies Clinton St. Spuntino: Lower East Side
Franny's: Park Slope
Gennaro: Upper West Side
Il Bagatto: East Village
Inoteca: Lower East Side
Joe's of Avenue U: Gravesend, Brooklyn
Manducatis: Long Island City
Nick's: Upper East Side
Sapori D'Ischia: Woodside, Queens
Sette Medi: Morningside Heights
Tommaso's: Bensonhurst
Via Emilia: Flatiron District
Have I missed any?
Posted by Ed Levine, July 6, 2006 at 10:04 PM
New York is full of hidden culinary and cultural treasures, and I guess that's one of the reasons many of us love the city. Take Long Island City's Water Taxi Beach, a two minute boat ride from the East River at 34th Street.
There the lovably eccentric and civic-minded Harry Hawk, one of the city's true gastronomic originals (he owns Schnack in Carroll Gardens and is a veritable hot dog and hamburger historian), has constructed a beach bar, complete with sand and picnic tables and a fantastic view of the city skyline. The setting alone is worth a trip there, but the fact that Harry is making great food there makes Water Taxi Beach an essential stop on any NYC burger and hot dog tour.
Schnack is making what he is calling a Motz Burger (named after burger auteur George Motz, producer and director of the world's greatest hamburger movie, Hamburger USA. The Motz burger is freshly ground chuck made on a super-hot griddle, so the burgers get that great char we all know and love at the Shake Shack. I actually went with Motz himself to have the burger tonight, and he was mightily offended when I ordered my Motz burger with cheese (Motz is a purist who disdains cheeseburgers). The burgers are just the right size, and though they overcooked my first one (I ordered it rare and it was medium), they immediately cooked another one for me that was perfect. The hot dog was also serious, topped with Coney Sauce (chili for the uninitiated).
Water Taxi Beach is worth a summer evening or weekend excursion any time you get the urge for a burger overlooking the water. Water Taxi Beach doesn't really have a street address. It is closest to 2-03 Borden Ave. Take the number 7 line to Vernon-Jackson. It's about an eight minute walk from there. Or take the two minute water taxi from 34th Street and the East River. The boat runs continuously on weekends, and up to about 8 p.m. on weekdays.
