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February 29, 2008
Fans of Ditmas Park favorite the Farm on Adderley, get ready: The newest venture from co-owners Gary Jonas and Allison McDowell, a French bistro dubbed Pomme de Terre, is on the verge of opening. Apparently the regular customers at the Farm are jonesing for another mid-range restaurant in the neighborhood, and it's unlikely a recent shooting on the very same corner will deter them. Jonas and McDowell have teamed up with restaurateur Jimmy Mamary,...
Continue Reading "Eagerly Awaited Bistro on the Way in Ditmas Park"
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If you work on the west side near 14th Street, consider your lunch plans settled: the Papaya King on 7th Ave. and 14th is giving away free hot dogs to the first 500 customers today and tomorrow. As of 11:06am, just 32 customers had taken advantage of the deal, which is part of a promotional for Unhitched, a new Farrelly brothers sitcom starring Rashida Jones, who plays Jim’s ex-girlfriend on The Office. As this sentence...
Continue Reading "Papaya King Handing Out Free Hot Dogs"February 28, 2008
When you order chocolate mousse in a restaurant, the result can sometimes be heavy and bland. This mousse recipe is light and buoyant because it is made without any dairy, but luscious because it emphasizes high quality chocolate. Dairy products tend to blunt the flavor of chocolate, so if you want to highlight an exceptionally fine chocolate, it is best to substitute water for cream when making your emulsion. Anyone who has worked with chocolate...
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The area of Brooklyn’s Atlantic Avenue that stretches through the East New York/Stuyvesant Heights area isn’t exactly a culinary destination, but what it does have is the Carolina Country Store, a one of a kind grocery that has been covered here before. The tiny storefront is also favored by chefs like Zak Pelaccio, primarily because it specializes in southern style ham and cured meats that are hard to find elsewhere in the five boroughs. Salty,...
Continue Reading "Ham Hocks, P-Cheese and Smilin' Jacks "
Anyone who’s ever gotten off the 7 train in Flushing and walked to the Queens Botanical Garden knows that the majority of the area’s Chinese eateries and businesses are clustered around the northern end of Main Street. As you move further south, Indian sari shops, chaat houses and grocery stores start to appear. But lately a handful of Chinese restaurants have elbowed into the southern end; one such newcomer is Oriental Express Food Garden,...
Continue Reading "Korean and Northern Chinese Blossom in Flushing Food Garden"Advertisement: Gothamist Continues Below!
February 27, 2008
At the Ethnic Market highlights international specialty foods and ingredients you're very unlikely to find at your local Gristedes. Although the English part of the label references the famous Dylan song, the exact translation of Kaze ni Fukarete Tofu-ya Johnny, stamped on the blue-and-white tubs of premium bean curd, translates to “Johnny the tofu maker blown by the wind.” It’s one of several products made by Kyoto’s Otokomae Tofuten or “handsome guy tofu shop," and...
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Whether it was a PR stunt or a legit "teach-in" on espresso, Starbucks shut down for three full hours last night to train baristas --leaving the 5:30 to 8:30pm coffee crowd out in the cold. Today they are back, with a new take on "the customer is always right" policy posted about their stores; it reads: "Your drink should be perfect, every time. If not, let us know and we'll make it right." Reportedly they'll...
Continue Reading "Starbucks Closes, Dunkin' Donuts Profits"
Today the Times’s Keith Dixon, a self-described “clumsy, overambitious cook,” offers tips for cooking dinner in a crowded city apartment made even more cramped by a newborn baby. Dixon has adapted his cooking technique to accommodate a light-sleeping baby who, awakened by a clattering spatula, derails dinner plans as he and his wife “labor to get her back to sleep.” So he’s evolved into a “Silent Chef” with “ninja stealth” and suggests, among other things,...
Continue Reading "Wednesday Food News: Early Edition"February 26, 2008
It's a no-brainer: Most recipes need exact measurements. But do you have what it takes to tackle that cookie recipe? Maybe, maybe not. With NYC apartments being so tiny and kitchen cupboard space being non-existent, some of you might be relying on your liquid measuring cup to appraise how much sugar or flour you need, which would make Alton Brown cringe! The difference isn't so much about the volume - pour flour into a liquid...
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Today Starbucks all over are closing for 190 caffeine-free minutes. The blackout (hold the cream and sugar) is set for 5:30pm, so be prepared for a temporary Venti Soy Latte drought. Even more disturbing for Starbuckistas, however, is the sign above. The "Dear John" letter is from an 8th Street outlet (between 5th and University) and addressed to its loyal patrons. A closing Starbucks? Creepy, indeed. As for the 8th Street regulars, looks like...
Continue Reading "A Starbucks is Closing; Sky Still Intact"February 25, 2008
On Moore Street in Bushwick, you'll be hard pressed to find a better place to eat than Roberta's, the newly opened and very discreet wood-fired pizza haven. A fire engine red wood-fueled oven with the restaurant's namesake painted in white churns out thin and perfectly crispy pizzas (and the occasional calzone) for a spacious wood-paneled room with a cafeteria-table set up that still sports remnants of industrial garage doors. Cash only, and BYOB, Roberta's...
Continue Reading "Camera in the Kitchen: Roberta's"
Tired of squandering your mornings laboriously spreading cream cheese on your freshly defrosted bagel? Kraft Foods, Inc. is here to blast you and your breakfast into the 21st century, with their new line of frozen bagels that come pre-filled with cream cheese! They’re called Bagel-Fuls, and they’re expected to hit stores in April after an “integrated” marketing campaign that’s sure to feature commercials with New York “characters” hailing this new revolution in bageldom, maybe the...
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Any Greenpoint residents still speculating about renovations to the cavernous space on the corner of Franklin and Green – the one with the big silver garage door and the new lights along the northern wall – now have their answer: A bar called t.b.d. Co-owner Diane Foley explains that she finally gave up trying to come up with a name and just went with what she was using for all the paperwork. The future...
Continue Reading "Sneak Peak: Greenpoint's t.b.d."February 24, 2008
After news spread that Upper West Side institution Cafe La Fortuna would close today, many people came by to bid farewell. The restaurant was packed last night and this morning and afternoon, as people enjoyed the sandwiches, Italian coffee drinks and opera music one last time, lamenting the closing of another standby. One woman arrived with a bouquet of flowers and a card for the staff. Owner Vincent Urwand explained that the West 71st...
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Now that the cold weather is likely here to stay, at least until the next freak 60 degree day, you might want to hunker down with a cozy-sounding book. Steven Gdula's The Warmest Room in the House: How the Kitchen Became the Heart of the Twentieth-Century American Home ($29.95, Bloomsbury.), will warm you right up. This whirlwind tour of the past hundred years or so sheds light on how the kitchen was often a reflection...
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February 23, 2008
Olana: The internets are doomed to failure unless someone invents a way to click on a photo at the end of a wet, snowy day and be immediately teleported to the desired location – like those plush chairs clustered around the bar, where one of Olana’s specialty cocktails would be presented at once. A recent visitor to the new upscale restaurant and bar had kind words for a drink called the Corpse Reviver: a “smooth”...
Continue Reading "Openings Roundup: Olana, Eighty One, Weather Up"February 22, 2008
When one hears there are caves at Murray’s Cheese, images of damp, subterranean chasms loaded with mounds of exotic fromage spring readily to mind. As a recent tour revealed, the cheeses aren’t stored and aged in actual caverns, but rather climate-controlled walk-in refrigerators designed by France’s leading affineur, Hervé Mons. Before entering the cheese storage area you’ll be told to wipe your feet on an antibacterial mat. This is to prevent unintended bacteria and molds...
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24-year-old chef Jessica Floyd has been working between 14 and 17 hours a day for the last two weeks at Islero, the new “modern Spanish” restaurant on 50th Street. The chef, who also handles the pastry program, hasn’t had a break since the place opened 11 days ago, and things aren’t slowing down any time soon. Islero will open for lunch service on March 3rd, and Floyd’s working on a bunch of ideas, such as...
Continue Reading "Chef Jessica Floyd, Boulud Protégée, Opens at Islero"
It would a bit too simplistic to blame the impending closure of La Fortuna, the Upper West Side café that first opened in 1976, entirely on the skyrocketing rents of a turbo-gentrifying neighborhood. While the ever rising rental tide was certainly a factor – the building was taken over by a real-estate group after the previous landlord died – three years still remained on the lease. According to amNY, the closure has more to do...
Continue Reading "John Lennon’s Local Favorite, Café La Fortuna, to Close"
Everything's coming up rosé on Staten Island: on the heels of the new aquarium unveiling in the ferry terminal, plans for the island’s first vineyard are coming into focus. Borough President James Molinaro (pictured, right) has pledged $2 million for the project, which will establish a 2 acre vineyard and demonstration winery at the Staten Island Botanical Garden. The organic vineyard will yield its first wine about four years from now; it’s the brain-child of...
Continue Reading "Staten Island Vineyards Get Big Cash Fertilizer"February 21, 2008
Barbecue and sushi aren’t the first two cuisines you'd expect to find cohabitating under one roof. Leave it to Jim Goldman, a.k.a Brother Jimmy, to open Lucky Mojo, which features that oddball pairing – plus Tex-Mex and New Orleans fare. An eclectic, highly uneven menu isn’t the only challenge this new Long Island City spot faces. Lucky Mojo’s space has been afflicted with bad juju of late. In the ’90s it was home to the...
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After busy weeks of hype surrounding high profile restaurant openings like Adour and Bar Boulud, which feature a laser projected bar menu and standalone charcuterie kitchen, respectively, it's now time to catch your breath with some chefs who are mixing their concept food with a trace of nostalgia for after-school snack-time. (And opposed to the trendy new kids on the block, you can actually get a table to taste these fun foods.) At Pamplona, Alex...
Continue Reading "Chefs Raid Corner Store Shelves for Menu Ideas"
A judge has finally ruled on a long-simmering dispute between a restaurant and its deliverymen. Last March deliverymen at the popular Vietnamese restaurant Saigon Grill, which has locations in Greenwich Village and on the Upper West Side, demanded a raise from owners Simon and Michelle Nget. The deliverymen reasoned that since the chain was pulling in more than $2 million a month, they ought to earn more than $120 for a 75-hour week. They were...
Continue Reading "Deliverymen for Saigon Grill Get Some Payback"February 20, 2008
About a year ago, Village Voice restaurant critic Robert Sietsema attended a taping of Iron Chef America at the Food Network's Chelsea studios. Thanks to a friend's invite, the Food Network had no idea he was watching and waiting to blow the cover off the whole phony operation once the episode finally aired. Now Sietsema is here to report that the series is “more bogus than even I had imagined.” How bogus is it? Well,...
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Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay doesn’t give a damn about you, your girlfriend, or the special Valentine’s Day dinner you had planned – so drop your fork and get the hell off his set! That seems to be the way things went last Thursday night when diners at New Jersey’s fancy Hannah and Masons restaurant were summarily evicted – mid-meal – to facilitate production on Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA series. No matter how romantic the rabble,...
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February 20, 2008
These thin, crispy cookies are the perfect garnish for any creamy dessert and, fair warning, they're absolutely addictive on their own as well. Try them with chocolate mousse, perhaps, or shape them into tiny cones to dish small bites of ice cream as an hors d'oeuvre. Pumpkin Seed Tuiles 1 1/3 C pumpkin seeds 1/2 C + 2 tbsp sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract A pinch of cayenne 2 egg whites 2 tbsp butter 2...
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Today the Times’s Frank Bruni marvels at Manhattan’s new wave of high tone restaurant openings during a recession, and pins the trend not on entrepreneurial bravado but on the fact that it takes years to get a fancy eatery open, and most of these new places were envisioned in flusher economic times. It is true that in 2005, the top fifth of earners in Manhattan made 52 times what the lowest fifth make – $365,826...
Continue Reading "Weekly Food News: Early Edition"February 19, 2008
The Department of Correction has begun serving New York City’s 14,000 prisoners a healthier diet of fruit, fiber-rich cereals, skim milk and whole wheat bread. Sugar-sweetened beverages are forbidden, and soon unsweetened muffins will replace sweetened ones. Fried foods have been off the menu for years, and has city has drastically reduced the amount of red meat served, placing a greater emphasis on chicken, fish and tofu. “We have no choice but to eat what...
Continue Reading "City's Inmates Get Healthier, Blander Food"
One of the things that makes eating dim sum in New York City exciting is the seeming endless variety of savory and sweet morsels. Even veteran dim sum eaters are rewarded by new discoveries every so often. An initial visit to Chatham Square Restaurant for lunch last Friday yielded just such a find. One of the dessert carts had flaky green pastries that resembled caterpillars. Oddly colored desserts are fairly common in dim sum...
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The incoming president of the Obesity Society has filed a 33-page affidavit questioning the city’s new rules requiring chain restaurants to prominently display calorie information on their menus. Dr. David B. Allison (pictured), a professor of biostatistics and nutrition at the University of Alabama, cites a study indicating that dieters who get distracted by calorie information are more likely to overeat. And even if the daunting calorie details prompt diners to go for lower calorie...
Continue Reading "Restaurants Pay Professor to Oppose Calorie Rules"February 18, 2008
Halfway through that chocolate chip cookie recipe and realize you’re out of brown sugar? If, like many New Yorkers, you’re not on borrowing terms with your neighbors, here are some handy substitutions you can make for common baking ingredients:1 cup buttermilk = 2/3 cup yogurt + 1/3 cup milk 1 cup confectioner’s sugar = 1 cup granulated sugar + one teaspoon cornstarch 1 cup light brown sugar = 1 cup granulated sugar + 1 tablespoon...
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The California based Westland/Hallmark Meat Company is recalling all its raw and frozen beef products distributed since Feb. 1, 2006 – a total of 143 million pounds of ground beef. The largest beef recall in history was announced after an undercover Humane Society video showed workers kicking sick cows, jabbing them in the eyes and using forklifts to force them to walk to slaughter. (See the video here.) Federal regulations require meat companies to keep...
Continue Reading "Moot Point: Most Recalled Beef "Probably Consumed""February 16, 2008
At the Ethnic Market highlights international specialty foods and ingredients you're very unlikely to find at your local Gristedes. What, you’ve never heard of Ranggupnya Biskut Kelapa Tropi Coco? One doesn’t need to speak Malaysian to figure out that this box contains coconut cookies. Unlike the West’s venerable soft macaroons, these little discs are ranggupnya, or crispy. The package’s claim of Malaysia Terkenal, or Malaysia Famous, just screamed "buy me!" The fact that they’re also...
Continue Reading "At the Ethnic Market: Ranggupnya Biskut Kelapa Tropi Coco"February 15, 2008
tre dici STEAK: The second floor of Chelsea’s Italian restaurant tre dici has been transformed into an intimate, 50 seat dining room (pictured) designed in the style of a sexy New Orleans speakeasy, circa 1920. Heavy fabrics covering the windows evoke a feeling of timelessness in the candlelit room, which is lined with luxuriant claret leathers and sensual artwork under an antique silver tin ceiling. The food arrives via dumbwaiter from chef Giuseppe Fanelli’s kitchen...
Continue Reading "Openings Roundup: Tre Dici, La Zarza, Mia Dona"
When restaurants charge larger parties an automatic service fee – usually 20% – it’s generally understood that the money goes to the servers as a gratuity. But some restaurants have been keeping the lion’s share of the fee and passing along just a small fraction to the staff. Now a state appeals court has ruled that the practice is as illegal as it is outrageous. It took a lawsuit brought by the employees of World...
Continue Reading "Restaurants Can't Pocket Waiters' Tips, Court Rules"