Graduation Dinner

This past weekend, I had one of the best dining experiences of my life. As I was sitting at our table in the center of a room that made you forget you were in the middle of Manhattan, I mentioned this to my dad and brother. We were at Restaurant Daniel, and with its four star reviews from the New York Times and three Michelin stars, I felt like somewhat of a groupie saying this, like I was hopping on the bandwagon. After thinking this through, however, the reasons behind my feelings became apparent. Not only was the food flawlessly prepared, but the overall experience was something I had never experienced before. And I’ve been to some great restaurants.

At Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, NY, I had a similar feeling. The food was all so fresh, and precisely prepared.  The fact that so much of it came right off the farm elevated the experience. I wasn’t sure if dinner at Daniel could match the feeling. It did. It was a different experience. They had taken the same care with their food. One place where Daniel separated itself was their sauces. None of the sauces were too heavy, yet each and every one had layers of flavor, extraordinarily developed, complimenting the flavors of the rest of the dish. In addition to this, the service  wowed me. A few months ago, I ate at Picholine in New York City. The room was not as inviting, and the atmosphere seemed slightly stuffy. The servers seemed to be doing everything they should, but it was overbearing. They were not nearly as inviting as the staff at Daniel, and they were awkward in their actions. Placing every diners food down at the same moment was something they did, but it just didn’t fit. At Daniel, I expected to feel similarly about these kinds of orchestrated actions. To my surprise, this was never the case. Servers came to the table unnoticed to deliver each and every course. More important than this, however, were the welcoming feelings they exuded. Each and every member of the staff made you feel happy to be there, answering each and every one of our questions as if it was their priviledge to do so. One commented that we were almost to the end after she delivered our fifth plate of food. My dad quickly responded, “We don’t want to get to the end.” It would be ridiculous to say we felt at home here. I have to say, my home feels nothing like this, but we feel comfortable.  We are having a wonderful time.

To go through everything we tasted might be a little excessive, so I will just mention some highlights from the meal. To start, an amuse bouche was sent out from the kitchen. It was a trio of beet preparations, the favorite of the table being a spoonful of a highly refined borscht. The soup was thick, a deep red color, and allowed the flavor of the beet to shine through with proper seasoning and touch of pleasant acidity.

To start, I had a meyer lemon royale with sea urchin. The dish came out with a meyer lemon royale, a sea urchin royale, an oyster, caviar, a sea urchin emulsion, and one piece of fresh sea urchin. I am an avid sea urchin fan, so I was happy to see it in three different applications. This dish tasted like the ocean, briny and sweet, and the lemon royale was perfectly creamy, the lemon brightening the dish and rounding out the flavor.

Next I had a hazlenut crusted sea scallop served with morel fricasee and swiss chard. The scallop was perfectly cooked, and the earthiness of the morel played well along the sweetness of the scallop. The freshness of the scallop was extraordinary, and the deeply developed flavor of the fricasee and peppercorn sauce brought the dish to another level. The only part of the dish I found unwelcome was a textural issue. There was a pleasant crunch that the hazlenut crust provided, but there was an occasional grittiness that I came across that was slightly unpleasant. In spite of this, the dish still managed to be one of my favorites.

In the next course, I had a black seabass with syrah sauce. It was also served with a leek potato parmentier and roasted and tempura celery. My dad and brother both had yellowfin tuna with hearts of palm and fennel confit.  Each fish was perectly cooked. The tuna was properly rare, and the sea bass was very moist. Again, what I found shining in each dish were the sauces. The syrah sauce with the sea bass was flavorful, glossy and rich. The tuna was dressed with a chicken based sauce. It was perfectly executed, and I was surprised at how well it complimented a fish dish. The flavors came together in such a pleasing way.

For my final savory course, I had a duo of beef, braised short rib and seared tenderloin. The short ribs were falling apart and tender, and the saucing of the dish was again the star. Velvety and rich, the sauce still allowed the excellent flavor of the beef to shine through. The server brought out the dish, mentioning the seared tenderloin, and I had forgotten that the menu stated it would be wagyu beef. But whenI started to cut into it and taste, I knew immediately. This was not a typical unmarbled piece of tenderloin, prized for its tenderness but lacking in flavor. It was a well-marbled piece of meat, rich and flavorful. This is certainly somewhere I don’t mind ordering tenderloin of beef. The flavor is not lost.

After all of these wonderful courses, the desserts did not disappoint. The chocolate was rich and smooth, and each sorbet was smooth and perfectly textured, not the least bit grainy. And the wine pairings throughout the meal elevated the entire experience. Each of the six courses came with a different wine, and the effort put into finding the right wines for each course was clear. Beginning with a refined and fruity white, we moved into some more minerally whites, onto a lighter, fruitier red with the sea bass, and a rich, robust red came with the beef. It was clear that the people behind the menu believe that great food and great wine go hand in hand.

This is a meal I will never forget. It is something I wish I could enjoy more. It is one of the priciest meals one can enjoy in an already pricey city, but it was worth every penny. The food and service are refined and polished. With all of the stars and accolades that the restaurant has received, including its recent James Beard Award for Best Restaurant, there is a pressure to keep standards high. On this night, the kitchen and staff showed me why they deserve everything they have been given. If I had an award to give out, Restaurant Daniel would be the front runner that all other fine dining restaurants should strive to emulate.

Colicchio and Sons. New York City

This was somewhat of a surprise visit to Tom Colicchio’s new restaurant in Chelsea on a Wednesday night. Earlier in the day, I was planning on heading back to Vermont. I spent an hour and a half lugging an unnecessarily large bag through subway stops, train stations, and seemingly endless walkways at JFK. Arriving at the ticket counter, I soon found that I was not on any of the afternoon’s flights. Spending the next half figuring out the cost of getting on a flight, I decided to head back in to the city. My step-dad would be in town for work, and getting a ride back to Vermont with him seemed like the best option. Luckily, a friend of mine was also able to set me up with a place to stay for the next two nights.

Slightly frustrated with this misfortune, I decided to release some steam. What better way to do this than to head out the door in search of a great meal. Recently, I have seen a few articles and heard of some good things being done at Colicchio and Sons. I hopped on the subway from the Upper West Side and arrived in Chelsea in just fifteen minutes. When I arrived at the door, I was greeted by the front of house staff. There were at least four or five of them, each one happy to see each customer to walk through the doors. On the way to a table for on in the Tap Room, I had a host and a hostess each ask me how my day was, and both seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say.

The decor in the restaurant was striking. The deep browns that dominated the surroundings gave the room character. It was dark but still managed to be inviting. A wall of wine bottles separates the tap room from the main dining room. The bar is on the tap room side of the wall and holds a great number of options with significant variety. There was what seemed like endless choices. The two beers (of about 25 on tap) I had were ones that I had not tried before, and they fortunately complimented the food quite well.

The beers were great, but I was more excited about the food to come. I started with a squid salad with chickpeas, raddichio, celery, carrots, red onion, and a vinaigrette. The salad was well dressed with a nice kick from the acidity in the vinegar. There was a pleasant chew to the squid, but it wasnot tough. My only issue with the dish came from the number of chickpeas served. The dish was pretty heavy on the beans. Don’t get me wrong, I ate every one of them, but I am a fan of chickpeas and could deal with a few forkfulls that were about 90% chickpeas.

For an entree, I ordered the braised rabbit legs over polenta w/ soffrito. The dish came out with two rabbite legs sitting on top of golden polenta, a ring of jus surrounding the dish, and a couple of spoonfulls of soffrito on top of the pair of legs. The rabbit came our well caramalized and was extraordinarily tender. The dish’s aroma was enticing and was begging me to dive in. This was not as hard as I had imagined, the meat eager to be eaten. Needing only a fork, the tender flesh flaked apart and away from the bone. The polenta was creamy, but maybe could have had more corn flavor. It was also a bit loose for my taste. It did, however, compliment the tangy and salty soffrito, contributing to a well rounded dish.

Having been somewhat wowed by the food, I had to change my original plan. This plan involved skipping desert, but I just couldn’t get myself to do it. I ordered a cinnamon raisin pain perdu with grapefuit slices, pine nuts, and rosemary ice cream. The cinnamon raisin bread, with caramalized sugar glistening on the outside, had soaked up the custardy liquid. In cooking, the center set up nicely contributing to a pleasant texture. The caramalized outer layer gave way to a creamy interior. The dessert had some complexity as well. The ice cream was smooth, and the rosemary provided a complimentary herb flavor that did nor overstep its bounds. The grapefruit added some tartness, and the crunch from the pine nuts was a welcome addition. In fact, I would not have minded a few more scattered on my plate.

The service in the dining room did not veer from professionalism and warmth I felt from the front of house. The wait staff was not intrusive, but they also did not skip a beat. They were well trained, made you feel comfortable, and their attitude and professionalism contribute to your ability to enjoy the food as much as possible. Chef Colicchio was speaking on a panel uptown that I was disappointed to miss. Knowing that he had an event, I had not expected to see him in the restaurant. To my surprise, he walked in the dining room buttoning his chef’s coat, around 10pm. After a couple quick hellos, he headed back to the kitchen. It was refreshing to see a celebrity chef making this kind of effort to be around. If this keeps up, the restaurant is sure to have a bright future. Upon exiting the restaurant, I was handed a carrot muffin for the morning and was wished luck for safe travels home. I thanked them and assured them that I would be back, hopefully sooner rather than later.

01/27-01/28 in New York

These past couple days in New York, I have enjoyed some food that was interesting and delicious. On a few separate occasions, I ate until I was full, and I did so without putting too much stress on my wallet. Last night, I went out for a nice run in Central Park. I had planned to do this at a reasonable hour, but spent a couple of hours going back and forth on whether or not it was actually going to happen. Finally, a friend and I decided to hop on the subway to Central Park. It was 7:45pm, so I was getting pretty hungry. It was relatively nice out, and by the time I was done, I had run ten miles, it was 9 o’clock, and I was starving. I finished the last mile or so of my run, having left the park, on the streets.

The final destination? 53rd and 6th. I pulled a bit of cash from a pocket in my jacket and proceeded to order chicken and rice from the famed truck occupying this corner from 7:30pm until the very early hours of the morning. In an assembly line fashion, three men quickly put together a meal, starting with rice, then some lettuce, a couple slices of pita bread, and finally piling on a healthy portion of chicken. The tin of food was heavy, and I needed every bit of it if I was going to be happy at the end of the meal. My friend and I each paid six dollars and headed to his sister’s apartment to enjoy the food. I made a quick pit stop at the side of the cart to put some of their red hot sauce over the chicken and rice. When we reached the apartment, we both ripped open our containers and started to pig out. The chicken was tender, the rice cooked well, and the thing I was most intrigued by, everything was flavorful and seasoned very well. The red sauce was very spicy, and I had piled it on, so i was able to enjoy the burning sensation in my lips long after the food was gone. Both my friend and I finished completely satisfied, and I think we both will be heading back to the chicken and rice cart very soon.

This morning my friend and I woke up at his sister’s apartment, and I had slept much later than I have in a long time. I don’t think it was the air mattress I slept on, so I am going to attribute it to the stomach full of food I went to bed with. On any other day, I would be awoken long before I needed to get out of bed by a grumbling stomach. I got out of bed a little before ten though, and took my time getting ready to head out for brunch. After hearing a fair amount about the Jamaican Dutchy cart on 51st and 7th, I suggested we make our way over there. When we finished the 20 min. walk, I sufficiently hungry and ordered a small Curry Goat (9$) and the Thursday breakfast special, hominy porridge (4$). The goat came with rice and peas, a small portion of steamed cabbage, and a slice of fried plantain. Fortunately, there was a good portion of both the goat and the rice. The curry had a good flavor, and the rice was well seasoned. The goat was a little difficult to eat because there was a fair amount of grissle and bone to get around. Other than that, the meat was actually pretty tender.

While enjoying this dish, I also had a large serving of the breakfast porridge. It consisted of stewed hominy and corn with coconut milk and spices (cinnamon/nutmeg). This was excellent. I very much enjoyed the creamy texture as a breakfast item, and the spices added a lot to it. On any given day, this alone could feed somebody on the way to work. For the price you pay, it is quite the deal. Unfortunately, it is only sold on Thursdays…

As the day wore on, and my walking through the city began to stir my hunger, I found myself in Chinatown. More specifically, I was heading down Mott St., and was two blocks from Tasty Hand Pulled Noddles. I had heard very good things, so I decided to make my way over. I looked over the selections, and I chose to get the hand pulled noodle soup with chicken and tripe. As I sat waiting for my order, the door to the kitchen was open, and I watched as a man flung noodles around, pulling them to the desired thickness and consistency. It is somewhat of an art, and it certainly makes one appreciate the food they are about to receive. And for only 5 dollars…? Yeah, for around 5 dollars you receive a large portion of broth, the protein of your choice, and a healthy mound of hand pulled noodles that were made seconds ago. This was another great deal. The noodles were tender, the broth was flavorful, and the chicken and tripe made this a substantial meal. White meat chicken was shredded apart, and the tripe was tender while also providing a chewy contrast to the chicken.

I am very glad to have found these places in the city. I am coming closer and closer to making the city my home, and I have a feeling these inexpensive meals are going to contribute greatly to my ability to survive here.

More on NYC Trip

As fantastic as my culinary adventures over the holidays were, it was inevitable that disappointments would be a part of it. I always hope the disappointments are outweighed by the positive experiences. During this week, they were, overwhelmingly so. The few sub-par experiences did not ruin my trip by any means. In fact, if I had a flawless three meals a day for an entire week, I would have considered it a failure in a different sense. Trying new things and exploring the city is something that I love to do, but I came across a few things that I will not try again, and some that I hope will find redemption the next time I do.

Something that I have tried at home is baking falafel. I have had limited success, and I actually have never baked them 100%. I have quickly fried them to get a crispy exterior, then cooked them the rest of the way in the oven. I have also recently cooked falafel in an ebelskiver pan. Both of these produced acceptable final products, but neither approached the quality that has been reached when I fully deep fry the balls of chickpeas and herbs. When I heard about chickpea and its few locations in New York City, I was intrigued. They bake their falafel, and this healthy alternative seemed worth a shot. When I arrived, I looked over the straightforward menu, and ordered two items. I ordered a chicken sandwich served in a pita. I chose between the four different kinds of hummus, original, roasted red pepper, basil toasted pine nuts, and jalapeno and scallions. I chose the jalapeno and scallion hummus, and it was served with lettuce and tomato. The vegetables were fresh, the chicken had a nice flavor and was cooked well, and the pita was of decent quality. What I was shocked by was the quality of the falafel. I had imagined what baked falafel might be like, and I thought that one should be able to produce something satisfying, even if it was not on the same level as fried. What I did not expect was something so dry that they practically needed to be submerged in sauce to absorb enough moisture to be palatable. Not only did they need to bake and not fry their falafel to achieve this state, they needed to severely overcook them. They probably needed to add too much flour and leave them out for too long as well. These were so far away from an acceptable falafel.

The next morning I woke up at my friend’s apartment and was ready for breakfast. It was 6:30am, and I was starving already. My friend would not be up for hours, so I had a little food at his apartment and hopped on the subway to the lower east side. I had never been to any of the Momofuku establishments but have been interested in much of what they are doing. Something that people seemed to be excited about were the steamed pork buns. I wanted to try them, and I saw that they served them for breakfast at Momofuku Milk Bar. I walked in at 9am and ordered them to go. I walked a couple blocks to a Starbucks, ordered a coffee, and sat down to enjoy the slow cooked pork belly in the soft, tender bun. What I experienced was by no means outstanding. The bun had a very pleasant texture but was a little overwhelming only because the bread to pork ratio was too high. The pork had clearly been cooked a long time, as the fat had become pleasantly tender. Unfotunately, the meat of the pork was a little dry and chewy. The sauce was okay, but it lacked a certain brightness. It just fell a little flat for me. Part of me thinks that 9am isn’t the best time to go get these buns. It was very quiet in there, and I am not sure when the pork was cooked, when the buns were cooked, and whether or not you might be able to expect a higher quality product during dinner service at one of the David Chang eateries.

The last evening I spent in New York, I went to Kefi for dinner. I had been there on a couple of occasions previously, and I was returning because of how much I enjoyed the food. I have had fantastic octopus, pasta, and meatballs, and I was never disappointed with a dish. On this visit, I would not come across a dish that satiated any of my expectations. I ordered the octopus appetizer (described in a previous Kefi post), a sweetbread appetizer with spinach, garlic, and crispy shallots, and the pork souvlaki. The octopus appetizer was so good the last time I went, but on this visit it was like I had been given another dish. The octpus was a little tougher than I remembered, and the tomatoes and bean salad might as well not have been there. On my last visit, it was extremely flavorful, the cooked tomato serving as an acidic sauce mellowed by a generous drizzle of olive oil, and the beans were well cooked while still holding onto some of their texture. The beans this time were undercooked and it seemed like they had run out the saucy tomatoes and thrown in a couple reconstituted sun dried tomatoes. I am not saying they did this, but they might as well have. The pork souvlaki was also not what I remembered. The pita was okay although a little soggy, the pork was slightly overcooked, and the tzatziki sauce was hardly that. It needed to be thinned out and freshened up a bit. The herbs seemed to have lost some of thier freshness, and the cucumber was a bit soggy. I hope to return to Kefi at some point in the future not because of this last experience, but because of what I remember from my first two trips. I want to give their food a chance to wow me again.

This last plate was by no means a bad dish, but it is one that I have read so much about recently. Over the past few months, I have seen so many rave reviews of the sea urchin toast at Marea. I had a fantastic meal when I went, but I would not say that the sea urchin toast was a highlight. The sea urchin is served on a piece of toast with a thin layer of lardo over the top, sprinkled with sea salt. I am a huge fan of the briny, oceany flavor of sea urchin, so all of the reviews I had seen excited me. When I took the first bite of this first course, I was not blown away. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it, and I cleared the plate. Regrettably, I did not find that the dish as a whole offered more than high quality sea urchin served on vinegared rice by a sushi chef. The addition of the lardo varied the texture some, offering a fatty film to coat your tongue. The sea urchin was fresh and flavorful, but I think a well toasted piece of bread with the same slathering of roe could be enjoyed to the same extent without the lardo and sea salt. The entire meal was surely a highlight of my trip, and this dish did not want to take away from the experience. I enjoyed the sea urchin, but after all that I read about it, I did not share the same feelings as some. The dish, in my eyes, was not a revelation.

Disappointing experiences clearly have much to do with one’s expectations. I experienced disappointment on a number of different levels while investigating many different kinds of food in New York. At Marea, the sea urchin toast was good, if not great, but I may have sat down that night with unrealistic expectations. At Chickpea, I was looking for decent falafel, not expecting anything close to the best falafel I ever had. I did, however, leave disappointed nonetheless. After having the Chickpea falafel one night and the disappointing meal at Kefi the next, I felt compelled to search the city late at night to make up for these meals. This is where my trip to Minetta Tavern from my last New York post fits in. It was one thirty in the morning, and I was elated to find the best burger I have ever had, only to leave the meal, cross the street, and order a surprisingly good falafel from Mamoun’s for $2.75. This was a perfect way to end my New York trip. I may have been up until four in the morning, but it more than made up for any of the dishes that had let me down.

NYC Recap

After a busy fall trying to balance a full time job, taking classes, and keeping to my track coach’s training schedule, I knew that I wanted to take some time during the holiday season to get away. Living in the northeast, my first choice is always New York. When I think about going out of town, my thoughts immediately turn to what food I might be able to eat and explore while I am there. New York has so much to offer, from what you find at the market, to the seemingly endless number of high end restaurants, to the equally unique and special “cheap eats” that are essential to survival for one in my position. On this trip to New York, I would be spending some time with family, some time with friends, and some time exploring the city on my own (mostly in the morning when friends were asleep and I would sneak out for a couple hours…). My parents were kind enough to take me out to dinner at places I cannot afford due to the ever dwindling bank account of a college student, and this added to the excitement of the trip. Meals included dinner at Michael Psilakis’ Anthos, a seafood centered, Greek inspired restaurant a block and a half from Bobby Flay’s Bar Americain (just an example of the culinary power that is so prevalent in the city), dinner at Ouest on the Upper West Side, New Year’s brunch at Norma’s at the Parker Meridien, breakfast at Shopsin’s in the Essex Street Market on the Lower East Side, and dinner at the new and highly acclaimed Marea. I would have felt lucky to dine at just one of these establishments on my trip to the city, so being able to visit them all felt like somewhat of a miracle. Even more unbelievable is the list of places in the city where I hope to eat in the future, and how this list managed not to reduce in size after this trip, but to grow…

In addition to the meals I enjoyed with family, I was also on my own (with a friend) for a great number of meals. I had saved some money from my work this fall in anticipation of this trip, but for the most part I attempted to restrain myself as I wandered the streets in a state of wonder and amazement. It seems strange to speak of these feelings while waiting for a subway, watching the rats scurry across the tracks, but I had moments while exploring the streets when I was struck by all this city has to offer for someone as captivated with food as I am. During the rest of my time in the city I ate at falafel “joints,” I ate at Barney Greengrass and Kefi (another Michael Psilakis establishment) on the Upper West Side, and I ventured to the Lower East Side to try David Chang’s pork buns at 9am. I met friends for lunch at Ocean Grill and enjoyed (maybe a little too much) a late night trip to Minetta Tavern. I also spent some time at a number of different markets where I would discover some new foods ingredients, some of which I am very glad I did.

The trip had so many high points, and not all came along with the high price tags. I had a smoked Sturgeon appetizer at Ouest which brought exactly what I had wanted. I never ate smoked sturgeon before this trip to New York, and I knew that New York City was where I wanted to try it. I expected to find what I was looking for at Zabar’s or a deli, somewhere that specializes in in this kind of thing, but I found the sample I had purchased at Zabar’s to be lacking. The flavor was slightly fishy and lacked a noticeable smoke. The appetizer at Ouest however, far exceeded my expectations. Being in a high end restaurant, the dish was more refined, served with frisee, a poached egg, and lardons, but what accompanied the dish was not what defined it. The sturgeon had a velvety texture and retained a certain fresh quality in addition to a gentle smoke.

On a previous trip to New York, I visited Taim Falafel and Smoothie Bar. I had a falafel sandwich and tried each of their three flavors of falafel. They have a green falafel with parsley, cilantro, and mint, a roasted red pepper falafel, and a harissa spiced falafel, all of which I enjoyed the flavor of. One late morning while I wandered the city alone, I stopped by for an early lunch and decided to try their Sabich Sandwich. The sandwich is served in a pita and includes slices of fried eggplant, a sliced hard-boiled egg, hummus, Israeli salad, marinated cabbage, tahini, and a mango chutney. It sounded like a lot to me, but I found that when eating it, something was added to the experience by each ingredient. The fried eggplant was meaty and flavorful. The hard-boiled egg added to the “meatiness” but contributed a subtle eggy flavor that was not at all overwhelming. The Israeli salad and cabbage added freshness and crunch. The hummus and tahini added great flavor and creaminess, and the mango chutney added a touch of sweetness. Over all, it was a very satisfying sandwich, and for six dollars, it was certainly a highlight of the trip.

Also a highlight of the trip was an unexpected late night trip to Minetta Tavern. A friend of mine and I had split a couple bottles of wine and had two rounds of drinks at the bars before we made it to an eleven o’clock showing of Fantastic Mr. Fox. The movie was fairly entertaining, but I decided midway through the film that I was going to borrow my friends phone and look up somewhere to find good late night food during the middle of the week. I ended up on the Minetta Tavern website, and their closing time was listed as 2am. I had heard so much about their Black Label Burger, and could not think of anything I might want more than to have a great burger experience. I have spent some time looking for this experience in the past, and I always manage to some up short of what I hope. We get out of the movie at 12:30am and hop on the L train to Washington Square Park, three blocks from Minetta Tavern. We were not concerned about time, and this was nearly a problem. We made our way to the door at 12:55am, only to see that the listed closing time was 1am… The man at the door confused us for drunk college students who had made their way across the street from Mamoun’s Falafel, so we informed him that we were actually looking for a table. The hostess saw us come in and immediately sat us down, as the kitchen would be closing in five minutes. I ordered quickly for both my friend and me. I told him this was to be my treat, and I quickly grabbed his menu away. I ordered two appetizers, squid stuffed with salt cod, piquillo pepper, olives, and preserved lemon, and a trio of tartares, one beef, one lamb, and one veal. The appetizers were much enjoyed. The filling in the squid was excellent and made of for the fairly chewy exterior. The tartares were great. Each had a distinct flavor, and the texture was perfect. None of the three were the least bit chewy, and all had good “mouth feel.” Next we had the Black Label Burger. I had not ventured out for a burger in quite a while. I was a little sick of coming up short of my expectations so consistently. This time would be different. The burger was mix of prime dry-aged beef loosely held together by its own fat. It came on a custom made brioche bun and was served with caramelized onions. I am a big fan of caramelized onions, and I appreciate the sweetness they bring to any burger. The brioche bun was buttery and soft, very light and did not have as much sweetness as an ordinary brioche. But this burger was all about the meat. It had a nice crust and was thick and juicy. It was meltingly tender, a result of both the dry aged beef and the fat that had melted into it. The meet had a superb beefy flavor and an almost nutty quality that can only be obtained through careful dry-aging. I savored each bite, and though time has passed since, I still feel as though I can just barely taste that last bite. The memory remains on the tip of my tongue, although it is unfortunately not accompanied by the satisfaction that was in the moment. The only shared feeling is one of longing. I cannot wait until I can have the burger again, or at least another like it, wherever it may be. I had begun to doubt that I would find such a satisfying burger, but this trip gave me hope. I was not dreaming of some unattainable beast.

These highlights made the trip great, but there was so much more food that added to the experience. I had great food all over the city, and I will post about some of the experience soon. I may also get to some of the disappointments I came across. While exploring any great food city, these disappointments are inevitable. But don’t get me wrong, the positives I found far outweighed the negative, and I can’t wait to do it again.

Back to NYC. Back for More Greek food at Kefi

Another excellent meal at Kefi. I went for an early dinner on Sunday, and it was exactly what I needed. The first time I went, I wanted to try the sweetbreads, but I was sharing with a friend who wasn’t so sure about it. This time, they were all out. I was disappointed, but the feeling vanished completely once I started eating the octopus with bean salad. The octopus  had an excellent sauce, and was extremely tender. I had an octopus appetizer at another Greek place the last time I was in New York, and this was leagues above it. It was as tender as any piece of fish you might eat. I am no longer disappointed that they did not have the sweetbreads… although I will try again with it. For the main course, I had the pulled rabbit pasta. The pasta was cooked well, although some of the noodles were a little stuck together. The tomato-based sauce was extremely flavorful and enjoyable, even if a touch salty, with crispy shallots and some very small, tender onions. The rabbit was extraordinarily tender, it was pulled apart and could not have been better. Overall, a very successful dish that I would love to have again, and I probably will (although have also been craving the pork souvlaki I had here the last time I went).

10/24/2009

Kefi in New York City, NY

I read about this place, looked at the menu, and was staying on the upper west side, so this was an obvious choice for dinner one night. I was about twenty minutes from going to eat when I saw the chef’s name. I recognized the name, and I thought it was funny when I realized that he had been on Iron Chef. But the food?

The food was great. I got a relatively light meal with a friend. We got the meatballs for an appetizer, then I ate the pork souvlaki sandwich. The meatballs were excellent, an extremely moist mixture of beef and pork. The tomato sauce it came in was very flavorful and the tomato flavor was great. The one thing that I thought when eating that I wasn’t the biggest fan of was the number of olives. I think that with all of the olives, the dish was a little bit salty if you had too much sauce with a bite of meatball. If the meatballs are eaten with just a touch of the tomato sauce, it was up there with the best meatballs I have had. The pork souvlaki was great. The pita it is served in is soft and chewy in a great way. It is served with a light serving of veggies, including tomato and lettuce. The pork was not what I expected considering the cuts of pork that are rolled up in pitas in most city establishments. There are large chunks of pork tenderloin, not dry at all, with a nice slightly pink center. I will definitely return to try more of what Kefi has to offer. I had wanted to try the sweetbreads. I really wanted to try them, but my friend, who was providing me with a place to stay, did not feel like thymus gland. He did say that he may eat them another time if I get them and don’t tell him what it is. I will get them next time I eat here, hopefully within a couple of weeks. Obviously I enjoyed the meal, and I would recommend both things I ate, and my friend said the chicken souvlaki was fantastic as well.

09/30/2009

Pio Pio in New York, Upper West Side

So I went here the other night with a couple of friends (including a certain someone who may or may not also write on this blog). It’s a Peruvian place. I had heard a little bit about it, and one of the friends I was going with is a fan. We had a reservation for 8 o’clock on a Saturday night. When we arrived, they told us they would not be able to sit us until 8:30… So we walked up the block and came back a little less than ten minutes before they told us, and they had seated someone in our place already. Then, they told us that we were next on the list. This was about 4 minutes before they sat another group of four (it wasn’t us) at a table.

So this was not a good way to start, but I went to the bar and ordered an appetizer because my friend told me I should. I ordered a purple corn tamale. We were sat by the time I got it, so we shared it right before we ordered. The tamale was not that great. It was a little salty and lacked good flavor. It was a tamale with chicken too and there were two little bits of shredded chicken in it, so it was a little lacking in that regard as well.

When we ordered at the table, we got the chicken pio, a whole chicken marinated and roasted. It is a pretty good roast chicken. It was tender, not the most tender I have had, but pretty good. We also ordered the Camarones Cuzco, which was a shrimp dish with garlic and white wine and a creamy sauce served with yellow rice.  The shrimp was decent. The sauce was not too memorable, but was well seasoned and complemented the shrimp fairly well. My favorite dish of the night was the Arroz con Mariscos. This was a seafood dish with scallops, octopus, mussels, shrimp, and squid. It is served with a red sauce over rice. The seasfood was all cooked well, especially the scallops. Thery were very tender. The sauce went with the dish while allowing the seafood to shine. The rice was cooked  and seasoned well. We also had the sangria. It was pretty good, although may have been a little sweet formy taste. Overall, the food was pretty good. Nothing was outstanding, but nothing flopped (I wouldn’t call the tamale a flop, but I would not order it again). By far the most upsetting thing about the meal were the birthday celebrations. When someone has a birthday here, they have a recording that they blast in the dining room at an almost deafening volume. It is impossible to ignore. I noticed others in the dining room with their fingers in their ears. There were four birthdays…!

09/29/2009

Dan adds: Don’t forget we ordered a big pitcher of sangria for the table, and we all liked it very much. Also, in my humble amateur opinion, I thought all of the food was fabulous. You seem to have been more lukewarm about it, though. I’d go back.

Awash Ethiopian Restaurant in New York

I had a lot of fun here. I had never had Ethiopian food. I knew things like how they ate without forks and knives and that they used a flat, spongy bread instead. I knew that they used things like berbere that I had never had before. I liked it all. I went with two friends and we got a reservation at 8 o’clock on a Friday. When we first arrived, it didn’t seem like we had really needed a reservation, but the tables were filled ten minutes later. They kept our water glasses full. The waiter was excellent. Incredibly nice. We got the azifa, stewed lentils with onions, lemon, hot peppers, and a good hot mustard, and the meat sambusa with beef. Both were excellent and left us hungry for the main courses that we were sharing. We ordered the awash tibs, an excellently spiced beef dish, great scooped up with some injera. We also got the awash chicken, which was marinated chicken that had great flavor and was well seasoned. And the third thing we got was the doro alicha. This was chicken thighs, bone in, cooked in kibe with onions and peppers. The chicken was moist and tender, and the sauce was great. The injera was something that I really liked. It is not an extremely flavorful bread, but it is not meant to be, as you are eating everything else with it. The spongy texture is great, and they serve the bread on the bottom of the main courses in addition to on the side, which soaks up some of the sauce. I would highly recommend eating the bread on the bottom that is left there after you finish all the meat. It was a great way to end the meal. I would highly recommend eating here period, but especially if you are on the upper west side and you haven’t eaten Ethiopian food before.

09/25/2009

American Bounty Restaurant at the CIA in Hyde Park, NY

I came here on a visit and a tour the other day. Besides being very impressed by the school and everything it has to offer, I was pleasantly surprised to get a 12:30 reservation for lunch just before noon. It was the last table, so we got lucky. The restaurant was great. Attention to detail is not something that is overlooked. Everything was very nice and professional, but not stuffy or uncomfortable in any way. Our server was great. Extremely nice and had a lot to say about the food. One thing about having servers who also spend time in the kitchen, they are very interested in the food and know a lot about it.

I started with a piece of their honey wheat bread, a melon and sweet onion gazpacho, and a blackberry spritzer, which was the drink special. The bread was excellent. It had a great texture on the inside, and had a good crust. The melon and onion gazpacho was fantastic. Cool and refreshing, the flavor of the melon was what really shined. The spritzer was also great. There was a hint of blackberry, blackberry liqueur, and prosecco in the cocktail. Every ingredient stood out. Prosecco is great alone, and that made up most of the cocktail, with the blackberry liqueuer and juice adding a good sweet flavor.

For an entree, I had a pan roasted cod fillet served with a couscous with peas and raisins and a red tomatillo sauce. The couscous was light and fluffy, well seasoned with a hint of curry flavor. The fish was light and flazy and cooked perfectly. The sauce was excellent. It had an almost roasted red peppery flavor with a light smoky flavor that reminded me a chipotle peppers. For dessert, I had a trio of sorbets (mano, lemon, and raspberry). They were great. Not too icy. Very smooth texture, and the flavors in each were all outstanding. I had a great time here, and I am excited to get back, as well as try what else the Culinary Institute has to offer. And, of course, to maybe end up there as a student.

08/17/2009