Results tagged “delposto”

      

Last night at the Hiro Ballroom was Cochon 555, a sort-of sisterhood of the traveling pork event that supplies five chefs in each visited city with a 70 to 80 pound heritage breed pig; chefs are told to do whatever they’d like, and the results are judged. Wine, beer, cheese, and pig themed (or flavored, really) candy are also served. Last night’s Cochon 555 pitted the following pitmasters against each other: Mark Ladner of Del Posto, Corwin Kaye of Fatty Crab, Juan Jose Cuevas of EightyOne, Bobby Hellen of Resto, and Michael Clampffer of Mosefund Farm. Lardo and headcheese were in abundance, followed by terrine like things and boudin blanc. The air smelled like bacon.

Even after only being open since October, Dell'Anima, the brainchild of some Babbo and Del Posto alums, is already tough to get into. Sure, it's partially because it's a small space, with seating for just over forty, but it's also due to the cozy, warm and inviting atmosphere, friendly and knowledgeable staff, and for the delicious rustic Italian fare.

This week in the Times, Bruni goes to Shorty’s.32 and Smith’s, awards each restaurant one star. Says that at both, “Skill, standards and a few well-chosen grace notes lift what might otherwise be favored neighborhood charmers into a slightly loftier league.” Loves the chicken and all side dishes at Shorty’s, though says the chef is “overly fond of wet fish and wet food.” Um, yuck. At Smith’s, says the lamb and lobster are the way to go.

What’s worth watching on food-TV this week? We're definitely setting our DVR to record The Martha Stewart Show. She’s got a three great New York Italian chefs on today: Odetta Fada of San Domenico, Lidia Bastianich of Felidia and Del Posto, and pastry chef Gina DePalma of Babbo. On Tuesday she’s got cookbook editor Judith Jones, and on Wednesday, New Orleans chef Susan Spicer (Monday-Friday, 1pm, NBC). But the prime time highlight might be a...

Community Food & Juice: If you like the Clinton Street Baking Company, you'll like Community Food & Juice. DeDe Lahman and Neil Kleinberg bring the magic uptown with not only the same delicious comfort food, but this time with spot that meets Green Restaurant Association guidelines. 2893 Broadway, between 112th and 113th Streets, 212-665-2800.

October 11: Restaurant Reviewing in New York City

In time for next week’s Columbus Day festivities, the Post’s Steve Cuozzo lets his Ital flag fly with two gushing columns on Italian cuisine. He points out that Italian restaurants outnumber all other kinds of restaurants in New York by a big margin (and that’s not because of the ever-metastasizing Olive Gardens.) He cites seven “marvelous” eateries – Del Posto, A Voce, Abbocatto, Insieme, Fiamma, L'Impero and Alto – that “establish Italian as the cuisine to beat.” Nobu can sleep with the fishes.

Languishing in cardboard boxes near the mushroom sections in local Fairway stores these next few weeks are Sea Beans, mysterious short stalks of a dark green vegetable, looking like something you might find washed up on the beach, but maybe a bit more edible. According to Elizabeth Schneider’s Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini, Sea Beans (aka Salicornia) grow wild in warmer months all over- in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. “Salicornia is not seaweed, as it is often described,” she writes, “nor is it a cactus, which it slightly resembles.” Eaten raw or cooked, its flavor can best be described as sea salty intense, with a sort of grassy asparagus aftertaste. When fresh, Sea Beans are crunchy like snap peas. At the tail end of their one-week refrigerator shelf life, older sea beans can be revived with a five-minute soak in ice water. In addition to their current availability at Fairway (a pricey $8.99 per ½ pound), farm-raised boxes of the vegetable show up every June at NY greenmarkets, often leaving perplexed customers headed for more conventional items like pretty garlic scapes, or local strawberries.

• Ken Friedman, owner of the Spotted Pig, has been approved for a liquor license in a space between Craftsteak and Del Posto over on 10th Avenue, reports the NY Post. Not sure what it will be yet, but apparently it will be named after a different animal.
• Down by the Hipster reports that Danny Meyers' plan for a second Shake Shack in Central Park is a no go: "The sticking point was the lease term, with USHG wanting a long-term deal, but the parks department not willing to give any more than 5 years."
• Gridskipper brings us two excellent roundups this week for anyone looking to take a trip to the outer boroughs: Queens Eats under $10 (including Vendy Award winner Sammy's Halal, pictured) and Staten Island Eats -- sounds like a trip on the ferry is in order.

Earlier this year when Gothamist visited executive chef Doug Psaltis at Geoffrey Zakarian’s Country, we learned that French Laundry vet Hsing Chen had just been named Executive Pastry Chef for the fine-dining restaurant upstairs, as well as for the downstairs, more casual Cafe. “My focus is more on light, fruit based desserts, with different textures and temperatures,” Chen told Gothamist. She also mentioned her desire to locate, soup up, and outfit a dessert cart from Country’s vast arsenal of fine dining service ware. Laden with sweets and confections, the cart would make after dinner stops at every table upstairs at Country; customers could pick and choose anything from lemon macaroons to miniature pots de crème, in addition to the regular dessert course.

- Florentine specialty gundi gets the Sunday treatment in the Daily News from Irene Sax. April Bloomfield speaks about the “fluffy little bites of love”, Iacopo Falai calls them a “woman's dish”, and Mark Ladner’s recipe from Del Posto is included. Hit DiPalo’s to find the sheep’s milk that is essential for a winning dish at home.

Bruni one-stars The Waverly Inn, writing the review in the form of a letter to Graydon Carter. He doesn't get to the food until about halfway into it, first covering the space (cozy), the scene, the $55 mac and cheese (no, you can't order it without the truffles) and the difficultly in getting a reservation. While "it's not attention-getting cuisine," he likes it. Calls it "a modest menu of comforting favorites."

Adam Platt has started of 2007 with a bang -- New York magazine has released his "Where to Eat 2007" lists, a compendium of his picks for the year, divided into categories. "Haute Barnyard," a phrase that Platt coined a while back, is his term for restaurants focused on suppliers and the origins of the food, with countrified leanings. Cookshop, Peasant, Hearth, and Blue Hill qualify, among others. He takes us on two rambles, one through Brooklyn, stopping at favorites Franny's, iCi, and Applewood, as well as at newcomers The Farm on Adderly and Porchetta, and the other for breakfast, with stops at Balthazar, Egg, Cafe Cluny, Crema, and more.

Sometimes all you want is a slice of pizza. Chefs know this, and try occasionally to answer our basic cravings. Case in point: tarte flambée. With its French pedigree, it’s fancy enough to stand up on high-end menus. The Modern’s bar room offers it, as do Café d’Alsace and August. But the best example yet to hit Manhattan may be at Klee Brasserie, which opened in Chelsea last month. Called “Alsatian pizza” and presented as a first course, this version is irresistibly crisp, as thin as a cracker. It comes with the traditional toppings of lardons, crème fraîche, and onions. You’d swear there’s cheese involved. But it’s just that the onions have melted into a sweet mass with the cream—which will drip tantalizingly from the edges as you raise a slice.

- Ed Levine wonders aloud if there is such a thing as a "cheap 4 star" eating experience, and then tells us about his, at the Del Posto Enoteca.

That would be Michelin stars. The 2007 guide was released today, with ratings for 526 restaurants, including several newcomers from the past year. Del Posto debuts with a bang: two stars, joining the ranks of Masa, Bouley, and Daniel (Danube, which also had two stars last year, dropped down to one). All of those who earned three stars last year (Le Bernadin, per se, and Jean-Georges) held their ground with the exception of Alain Ducasse at the Essex House. According to the New York Times it "was dropped from the guide this year because it plans to close and relocate in early January."

7 Square, which bills itself as "a modern chophouse," may just breathe some new life (or at least some good food) into Times Square. Alvaro Perez, the president of Metromet, a restaurant production company based in Tokyo, is taking his first stab at the New York market. Gothamist got a sneak peek the night before it opened to the public, and we liked what we saw -- a sleek and modern yet warm and comfortable atmosphere, designed with care by Glen Coben, the man behind Del Posto and Sacha. Even more importantly, we liked what we tasted for the most part.

Bruni one-stars Chinatown Brasserie; it's uneven, but he loves the dim sum. Especially the dumplings. "What's better than dumplings?" asks Frank. Gothamist has at times asked ourselves that same question.

On Sunday afternoons, when we're getting slightly upset about the weekend coming to a close and not getting nearly enough done, we find solace in watching Lidia's Family Table on Channel 13. It is, by far, one of the best cooking shows, and that's because Lidia Bastianich is our secret Italian grandmother - and that's not just because she makes a mean beef short ribs braised in red wine. A good part of it is probably kitchen envy - she has a big, bright kitchen (she lives in Douglaston Manor, Queens) filled with all sorts of pots and pans and beautiful Italian dishware to plate the food - but Lidia has a very calm, soothing voice (no fingernails-on-chalkboard Rachael Ray screeching here) and demeanor that makes us believe everything will be all better. And when she talks about food bringing families together, you believe her, since she usually involves her family in the show - there are apperances by her restaurateur son Joe and grandchildren, but the best is when her 84 year old mother Erminia comes in to show Lidia how to cook something. It's just a lovely, escapist yet possibly attainable, hunger-inducing half hour on Sunday afternoons, and after watching one episode, if you're not inspired to cook something yourself, you'll probably be inspired to appreciate what you have more.

Today's New York Times reports that Bistro du Vent, the ugly duckling of the Batali/Bastianich gastro-empire, may be on the selling block. Bistro du Vent, despite its respectable earnings of $2.2 million, is running short of its bretheren, and it seems likely that it is being cut loose in order to secure funding for the $12 million behemoth that is Del Posto, and in particular to fund their ongoing dispute with their landlord. They are being sued over equipment that was allegedly installed in violation of their lease, and there is a chance that they may be evicted rather than given a chance to remedy the situation. A decision is pending in New York State Supreme Court.

Or maybe you haven't. Or, more likely, maybe you've been served poorly. The Daily News highlights the (somewhat obvious) fact that New Yorkers don't like bad service in restaurants. According to Tim Zagat, who is quoted in the article, in the 2006 Zagat guide surveys, 49% of New Yorkers named bad service as their primary complaint.

All the foodies are in a tizzy today as the coveted James Beard Award nominees were announced last night. The actual awards ceremony and reception will be held on May 8, at an event celebrating "the culinary legacy of New Orleans." Reservations for the May 8th event can be made by calling 212-367-9490 or toll free at 1-866-362-6442. Admission is $375 ($325 for James Beard Foundation members/$120 for students - find your old ID cards fast!). A portion of the admission price will be donated to a charitable fund established to support the rebuilding of New Orleans’ restaurant community.

New York Magazine has released its Best of New York issue today, which includes some of its favorite food picks. Some argue that the restaurant pr machine has skewed the results, at least of the five new and noteworthy restaurants, but we're happy with at least some of the more valid-seeming choices scattered about the rest of the list.

But not together (no need to start any wild rumors here). We heard yesterday that Mr. Bruni's review would be hitting today's Dining section. But what would he think? Would he lean towards Steve Cuozzo's take? Adam Platt's? Both of them seemed to think that although some of the food was predictably good, if not overpriced, the decor and sheer vastness of the place combined with some misses on the menu threw the whole experience out of whack. And we'd have to agree for the most part.

As the year winds to a close, we just wanted to share some of our favorite food trends of 2005:

It's all about the latest addition to the Batali/Bastianich empire in this morning's food news. The big one (and we mean really big -- 24,000 square feet between the dining area and the kitchen): Del Posto. Frank Bruni at the Times gives us fair warning of what to expect:

Fall is here, and you know what that means -- Fall restaurant preview time. From what we've read in New York Metro and the New York Times, it looks like we've got a lot to look forward to, including openings from not one but two Iron Chefs -- Batali's Del Posto (85 10th Avenue) and Morimoto's Morimoto (88 10th Avenue). Gothamist is pretty excited about a few others, including Bar Carrera (175 Second Avenue), from Bar Veloce's Fred Twomey, who told us about his new Spanish wine and small plates venture a few months ago at a Spanish wine event; the Fatty Crab (643 Hudson St), the latest from 5 Ninth's Zak Pelaccio, which will dabble in Asian street foods, including Jalan Alor chicken wings and chili crabs served with white bread; and Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction (34 Avenue A), serving a Jewish/Latin menu, which we have to try, if for no other reason, than to taste the Manischevitini, a cocktail made with Manischewitz wine - what would our bubbes think? Then again, any spot where chopped liver, chorizo meatballs, and crab-stuffed deviled eggs can share the same plate is worth a visit. Mo Pitkin's is open; the others are scheduled to open this month, but you know how that goes.