JamieEats

I'm Baaaacccckkk!

 

Who would have thought? Really good hot chocolate in a gelato place! OK, it's not what you would call traditional hot chocolate. After all, they make it by steaming the milk with an espresso steamer. Oh, and they mix in some marscapone ice cream by the way. But damn, this stuff is good. It's called Affogato alla Cioccolata Calda. To tell the truth, it wasn't very hot because the gelato cooled it down too much and it was pretty rich. However, it was one of the best things I have put in my mouth lately. The place? L'Arte del Gelato in the West Village on 7th Avenue South.                                                                   

75 Seventh Ave. South, New York, NY 10014 at Barrow St

 212-924-0803

Of course, I saved the best for last. Get aload of this pic.

  

 

 

 

Random Thoughts on a Saturday Night

One of the best things about a blog is that you can say whatever you want and you don't care what anyone thinks. Fortunately or unfortunately, I am a baby boomer. That means that certain smells, sounds, and sights turn on my nostaglia senses. Tonight I listened to the Allman Brothers. It brought me to a different place and time. I'm sure you all have your senses set off by one stimuli or another. By the way, Jessica, by the Allman Brothers is awesome, if you have never listened to it. What does this have to do about my food touring business? Probably nothing but that's the mood I'm in. It's Saturday night and I'm staying home. My wife is cooking seared tuna with sesame seeds on a rice cracker with spicy mayo and cilantro.

 

The reason we are staying home is my back. Thirty years ago, I used to get lower back spasms that were extremely painful. I always wondered why, no matter what happened, they never came back. My bad. I should have kept that thought out of my head. Hello!! Welcome back. No pun intended. So while I sip my medication (a bombay martini, extra dry, with olives) my wife is making a mushroom brushcetta
served on french bread that has been sauteed in extra virgin, unfiltered, first press Olive Oil.

My back feels better already! This stuff is MUCH better than Advil. My job is to light a fire. Staying home on a winter Saturday night in front of the fireplace is not such a bad thing. My wife is still cooking. This time its Roasted Peppers sauteed with Parmesan and Toasted bread crumbs, handmade mozarella, and anchovies marinated in oil and vinegar.

 

OMG! My medication is kicking in! I need another one as the pain leaves my back and I start to sing and dance. By this time, my wife (the caterer) is working on the Roasted dates with Monchego cheese.

 
The second martini is kicking in. It's time to eat!

I call it carbo loading others call it eating Pizza

There is no way I can make it to every place I want to try. I am sure enjoying the effort however. That being said, I think it would be interesting to discuss places on my radar from time to time and maybe you could help me out by getting there before I. Remember, I am looking only for the best so if the taste is not something special I have to know. Sending my followers to taste something good but not spectacular is not what I am about.

In the foodie world Pizza is kind of overdone. New style Pizza places are popping up quicker than organic offerings at Whole Foods. This is New York however and Pizza must be given it's proper respect. Therefore, I have listed a few places I want to taste. If you're in the neighborhood drop by and let me know whether to make the effort.

1. Sullivan Street Bakery - 533 West 47th Street.

I'm told the mushroom slice here is not to be believed.  It has Cremini mushrooms, onions, thyme, olive oil, and sea salt; thin, crisp crust. Not too bad, huh?

 
2. Grand Daisy Bakery, 73 Sullivan Street

Grand Daisy is known for everything. The one thing I want to try is Pizza con schiacciata d'uva and also the Cauliflower Pizza. Schiacciata (pronounced ski-ah-CHA-ta) con L'Uva is an Etruscan grape bread or pie and is made to celebrate the grape harvest in Tuscany in the fall. Pizza Cavolfiore is the other one.   It's Cauliflowers and Gryuere cheese on top a thin-crispy pizza.  
 

3. Artichoke Basille, 328 East 14th Street

 How does a great Sicilian slice sound? Or a signature artichoke slice? Or the crab slice? I'm told all are somewhere between excellent and fantastic.

 
4. Motorino - 349 East 12th Street

Motorino is all over the internet for having a terrific product. It is my fault I have not gotten there yet. I have a list of two pies to try. First is the basil and oil or Stracciatella. The second is the Sicilian, once again.

 
5. Luzzo's - 211 First Avenue

The last pie I have on my radar is Luzzo's.  The pie to get here is the napoletano. My plan is to try em all but hard to do in one day.

 

Below is a picture from one of the places. When you get to them guess which one this picture is from.

 

 

 

 

Perogi, Kreplach, Gyoza, Ravioli, or Dim Sum - I love em all

Dumplings, Pizza, burgers, and ice cream are all in my pantheon hall of fame as the best creations known to man. Some people may think the written word or the printing press were a step up the evolutionary ladder but I would beg to differ. Where would we be without dumplings? Every culture has a version of them so it must be germane to the human condition. I heartily agree. I have been spending a fair amount of time on Asian creations lately so it is time to move west to Poland and the land of Perogi. In Manahattan, I believe that neighborhood to be the East Village. Vaselka is known for their Perogi. I recently was there and went for the fried Cheese perogi and the Potato with fried onions and sour cream.

 

I have been eating perogi as long as I can remember. I enjoy Polish food because it is hearty and sticks to your ribs, especially in the winter. The perogi at Veselka are fried (or boiled) to order and served immediately. The ingredients are high quality and seasoned appropriately. The result is a terrific perogi. Just mix in the onions and sour cream and enjoy. Definitely a keeper.

 

Veselka

(212) 228-9682

144 2nd Ave
New York, NY 10003 40.729191 -73.987238

I can't believe I never tried Banh Mi before!

To those in the know I don't have to tell you what this sandwich is. A Banh Mi is a Vietnamese hero sandwich. The Baguette is made of both wheat and rice flour. The sandwich has pickled carrots, daikon, cucumbers, cilantro, chili peppers, pate, mayo, and different kinds of meat fillings. They can be roasted pork, chicken, sardine, or meatball. While the thought of this combination may or may not get your juices flowing I'm telling you it's good. Even delicious when you know where to go. My philosophy is always to go after the authentic experience. That is how I ended up at Banh Mi Saigon Bakery on Grand in Little Italy. Trust me there was not an Italian to be seen in the place.
As soon as I saw the Grass Jelly Drink in the cabinet I knew I was getting the real deal for better or for worse. In any case, I plunged ahead and ordered the #1 Roast Pork and the #4 Pate and waited for my order to be ready. The cost? $3.75 each. A total of $7.50 for two subs. When I got the order I opened the bag with anticipation. 

  

  As you can see Banh mi is not about the individual ingredients but the mixture in your mouth. The big bite is the way to go. It's interesting how all these flavors can taste so good. One word of warning. Banh mi is traditionally supposed to have some heat and it should. If you can't take it order it without the hot sauce. My recommendation: A keeper.

  Banh Mi Saigon - Saigon Bakery

198 Grand St
New York, NY 10013
(212) 941-1541

 

The best buns I ever sunk my teeth into

You never know when you are going to run across something tasty. Sunday my wife and I took our daughter into New York for some eating as I conduct my tasting for the future food tours I would like to start. Actually, my daughter was leaving for Florence for a semester abroad and she wanted to get one more bite out of the Big Apple before she started on a steady diet of Italian. Sunday 
was freezing and my usually routine is to walk everywhere so I don't have to re-park the car. We started out for the Lower East Side from Nolita by way of Chinatown but bailed and ducked into a bun place that was on my radar.

 

 I have to tell you a secret. I cannot stand Almond Joy. I hate coconut. So when my notes dictated getting the coconut buns I was a little concerned. No need. Even I can appreciate a good, fresh, warm, succulent, round, chewy, coconut bun. These things were fresh!

 

I don't know if I would make a special trip for these things but if you are in the area definitely worth it for something a little different and good.

 
64 Bayard St
(between Elizabeth St & Mott St)
New York, NY 10013
(212) 966-7866

Major buzz at this noodle place. Is it worth it?

 Hung Ry opened recently on Bond Street. It immediately got a lot of food buzz from all over because of the original noodle soups made from organic ingredients and high end sourcing of the meats and fish. It was put on my list to try and lo and behold my daughter and I stumbled in about 2:30 the other afternoon. I understand the wait to eat at night can be painful and I have a low threshold for waiting in line. My recent wait at the Shake Shack of 45 minutes is not to be repeated.

 Anyway, I sat down with my notes instructing me to taste the tongue appetizer and the duck noodle soup.

 
Let me just say, I love beef tongue. I don't like it, I love it so this dish was right up my alley. There is a certain queasiness that a lot of people have about tongue. Too bad. More for me. The dish is described as Beef tongue, black chickpeas, carrots, in pickled garlic broth. The tongue melted in my mouth is was so tender. Unfortunately, the flavor was cooked away at the same time and it did not have that rich taste I crave. The soup was flavorful but I just felt that my expectations were too high.

 
The Duck Breast Soup fared a little better I thought. We ordered the thick noodles and I found the broth better than the tongue soup. The duck was done just the way I like it and was very good. I would like to try a few more dishes at Hung Ry. I found the food interesting and original but I don't know if I'm going to run back. Especially if I have to wait. I did notice that the menu changes often and there are new selections. Worth a trip at some point if you're in the area.

 

 

Time to get down to business

 

My first post mentions my desire to start a food touring business. The concept is to take a group of people around an area of their choosing and eat only the best items at 4 or 5 places. The tour should take about 2-3 hours and cost about $68 including food. I would throw in my own wisecracks for free. Tell me, is this too much to charge or too little? I could use the feedback so I price things properly. What areas would you be interested in? Please drop comments.

Gelato in the Winter? Definitely!!

 
 
I am one of those people that believes that gelato, ice cream, ices or any cold dessert is appropriate any time of the year. It is like chocolate. I will eat chocolate in 120 degree heat and I will eat gelato in -20 degree cold. If it is good it is good. This brings me to Popbar. The concept is frozen gelato on a stick in a variety of flavors. They include vanilla, chocolate, coffe, hazelnut, pistachio, and many others. At this point you have the option to eat it as is or coat it in white, dark, or milk chocolate.

 

Wait, I'm not done. The next step is to dip the chocolate covered pop into a choice or mixture of coconut, pistachios, hazelnuts, granola, or biscotti crumble. The result is a conglomeration of tasty goodness. I went with a chocolate gelato dipped in milk chocolate and then in crushed almonds. Reminded me of my favorite chocolate bar. My wife tried the Pistachio dipped in chocolate and crushed pistachios.

 
As you can see my wife ate it before I got a picture. I guess she liked it.

We were with my sister in law at the time. Her feeling was that chocolate covered nuts on the bar were not the way to go. She also felt my technique of sucking them was wrong as well. My wife and I assured her that was the best way to go.

 

Popbar, 5 Carmine St., nr. Sixth Ave.; 212-255-4874

I Eat Chocolate in the Movies, not Popcorn!

 
Let's just say I can eat a lot of popcorn. However, I like it with butter and salt. Not good! So I eat chocolate instead for health reasons. I am such a good boy! Chocolate has known health benefits. I decided last night after a heated discussion in a meeting having nothing to do with food that my chocolate palate needs improvement. One of my quests is to try hot chocolate in the Winter. Good idea. The summer is my gelato time. Anyway, Kate (my daughter) and I trucked (an old term) down to Peels to try the chocolate with homemade marshmallow. That was the best, chewiest, sugary, marshmallow I ever had! Oh, the chocolate. I forgot. It tasted like a melted chocolate bar. Too thick. I can melt my own. But the marshmallow was terrific. A keeper. Not so much.

 

 
  Regional American Restaurant

325 Bowery (Corner of 2nd St.)
New York City, NY 10003
646-602-7015