For the people who have missed reading this compendium of clips (hi, Aunt Lynda!), know that you can find my scribbles every day over on Grub Street/Nymag.com, where I’m now an editor. See the full archive of stories here.
July 14th, 2010
Beny’s Delice, a Sweet and Savory Bakery, Open in Clinton Hill
This story originally appeared on Grub Street.
French bakery Beny’s Delice opened July 9 in Clinton Hill, joining restaurant Autour de Monde and wine shop Olivino on the increasingly Euro blocks of Fulton Street near Clinton Avenue. Owner David Benizeri was a caterer in New York and the south of France, and did a stint in the kitchen at Ten Bells before deciding it was time “to have a window on the street.” The former barbershop has a dark counter made of reclaimed wood, a shiny black tin ceiling, and four high stools for those who wish to dine in. The bakery is open daily between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.
Benizeri’s savory offerings reflect a Mediterranean influence. There’s pan bagna, bread filled with a mix of tuna, olives, cucumbers, boiled egg, radish, and other veggies (“like a Nicoise salad but without the potatoes,” he says); a selection of salads, classic jambeur (ham, cornichons, and butter on baguette); and a rotating selection of friands filled with things like spiced ground beef or pear and goat cheese. Tarik Slamani, Benizeri’s former catering collaborator, oversees the sweet side of the operation with a “very, very, traditional French” pastry case. Look for berry tartlettes, puffy religieuses filled with chocolate pastry cream, and a selection of madeleines and other small cookies packed to travel in tiny cellophane bags. Coffee is La Colombe and the bread comes from Pain d’Avignon.
Beny’s Delice, 903 Fulton St., nr. Clinton Ave., Clinton Hill; 646-704-1315.
Read the original story on Grub Street.
July 14th, 2010
Who Dat? New Orleans pops up in Williamsburg
This story originally appeared on Tasting Table.
If we have to put up with New Orleans-style mugginess this summer, we should at least do so in the company of NOLA-style cuisine and bon temps.
Both can be found at Tchoup (“chop”) Shop, a pop-up party that throws down Sunday afternoons at d.b.a. Brooklyn. There, chef and NOLA native Simon Glenn prepares a dozen or so dishes each week on his makeshift grill.
The chef’s down-home touch has attracted a cadre of regulars and Louisiana ex-pats. Some come for Glenn’s more contemporary creations: A recent Sunday brought a memorable grilled boudin sausage (shipped in from Breaux Bridge, Louisiana) topped with his homemade pickles and Cajun mustard; sweet-sour chicken wings coated in homemade Cajun pepper jelly; and divine duck-fat-roasted asparagus punctuated with Chinese sausage, walnuts and blue cheese.
And there are others who just want to grab an above-par burger and some peel-and-eat shrimp accompanied by a sweaty mug of beer and listen to the tunes of a live Louisiana band.
Is it Sunday yet?
Tchoup Shop takes place every Sunday through October from 2:30 p.m. until the food runs out (usually around 8 p.m.). d.b.a. Brooklyn, 113 N. Seventh St. (between Berry St. and Wythe Ave.), Brooklyn; 718-218-6006 or tchoupshop.com
Photo: Alex Solmssen
Read the original story on Tasting Table.
June 27th, 2010
NYC Food Film Festival: Food Truck Drive-In
This story originally appeared on Metromix.
Honk if you’re hungry! A blockbuster lineup of munch-mobiles and food flicks in Dumbo.
Street food fans found their fondest wishes realized at the sold-out Food Truck Drive-In Movie, the marquee event of the fourth annual NYC Food Film Festival. More than 20 trucks parked inside the sprawling digs of Dumbo’s Tobacco Warehouse—from the savory stylings of Schnitzel & Things and the Bistro Truck to the beloved offerings of the Red Hook pupusa vendors to the healthful leanings of the Cinnamon Snail (vegan, organic baked goods) and the tropical-themed Green Pirate (fruit and veggie juices).
Sucking People’s Pops dispensed gratis from a Cooking Channel-sponsored truck, fusion fiends lined up en masse for eats from the Krave Korean Barbecue truck, whose Korean tacos, kimchee quesadillas and Kraver sliders usually require a jaunt to Jersey City to enjoy. A special section featured a tableau of vendors from the Brooklyn Flea, including Red Hook Lobster Pound, AsiaDog, the Milk Truck, McClure’s Pickles and more. Meanwhile, in a blessedly shady tented area, food-themed films screened throughout the afternoon and into the evening. Features of various lengths highlighted everything from LaFrieda Meats to Brooklyn Flea vendors to straight-up pizza and pasta porn. And the refreshments? Well, they sure beat the offerings at Regal Cinemas. Were you snapped?
Photos by Gabi Porter.
June 23rd, 2010
Joyride Enters Fro-Yo–Truck Lane
This story originally appeared on Grub Street.
Last summer’s fro-yo war continues, this year in truck form. Competing with Berry Froyo as of July will be a combination fro-yo–and-coffee truck called Joyride. There are two flavors: original and Buzzed (original, but caffeinated). Expect organic, seasonal fruits for toppings, as well as bittersweet chocolate croquants, coconut shavings, and jaggery, a sweet Sri Lankan palm syrup. “I love everything from the hot-dog vendors to haute cuisine on food trucks, but there’s so much out there that’s just really, really unhealthy. Frozen yogurt is actually pretty healthy,” asserts co-founder Lev Brie.
Joyride will also serve Brooklyn-roasted Stumptown coffee and a selection of specialty drinks like the “flat white,” a New Zealand drink that’s “in between a macchiato and cappuccino,” Brie says. Follow the truck on Twitter to track its launch and location.
June 23rd, 2010
NYC Food Film Festival Opening Night | Water Taxi Beach
This story originally appeared on Metromix.
Now showing: an oyster shuck-and-suck to kick off five days of movies and grubbing
A beautiful summer night, sandy waterside seating, 6,500 oysters, seven short films and a couple hundred hungry slurpers made for a pretty perfect kickoff to the fourth annual NYC Food Film Festival. The Suck N’ Shuck event, held at Water Taxi Beach at the South Street Seaport, featured all-you-can-eat bivalves—a throwback to the days when the critters abounded off the Manhattan shoreline. Arrayed on beds of ice were Malpeques and Beau Soleils from Nova Scotia as well as our personal favorite, Rhode Island Watch Hills. For a break between oysters courses, servers ferried trays of non-raw goodies like Angels on Horseback (bacon-wrapped oysters) from Jimmy’s No. 43 and yellowtail poke on rice crackers prepared by festival Executive Chef Harry Hawk. Plus, an open bar. Yes!
As the slurping began to slow (we, and others, discovered it may be possible to eat one’s fill of oysters), the crowd settled back to watch teams like Peter Hoffman and Susan Rosenfeld of Savoy and brothers Adam and Brad Farmerie—of AvroKo and Double Crown, respectively—compete in the night’s namesake event, the Suck N’ Shuck. After a neck-and-neck contest in which three people shed blood, Jimmy Carbone and his shucker, “Eddie Oyster,” prevailed with 24 oysters.
Read the rest of the story and see more pics on Metromix.
Photos by Gabi Porter.
June 16th, 2010
The Latest in Live Seafood News
This post originally appeared on Zagat Buzz
It seems Sushi Uo’s troubles with the ASPCA may not be over. If you haven’t been following things, a few months back, the restaurant received a visit from two ASPCA agents claiming that if owner Frannie Marchese did not put a stop to her “live sushi nights,” the animal-rights organization would press charges. Then, in May, the restaurateur says she received a letter from the group with an “implied threat” of two years’ jail time. That prompted her to hire a lawyer, who fired back with a missive of Marchese’s own. Since then, there’s been silence, and Marchese’s legal counsel plans to send a second letter asking that the ASPCA either state their case or drop the matter.
Despite the drama, Marchese dismisses the animal-rights group’s assertion that Uo is “torturing animals.” She says the main claim against the restaurant is for the live octopus, which is shipped in tentacle form from Japan. “’Live’ refers to the nerve endings,” she elaborates. “We’ve never had an entire octopus here in the restaurant.”
Meanwhile, Marchese brings the happier news that Uo has hired a new kitchen chef, Chris Burke (the former one, Christian Aguilar, went to Blue Hill), who’s cooking “mind-blowing” new dishes like uni carbonara with housemade pasta, pork fritters, and tofu with soy-milk caramel. And if you’re still set on live seafood, make note that Sik Gaek, the Flushing-based Korean restaurant that hosted squirming-octopus-eaters David Chang and Anthony Bourdain for an episode of No Reservations, doesn’t seem beset by the same troubles as Uo. The outfit opened a second branch in Sunnyside several weeks back. Guess they never had this guy as a customer.
Read the original story on Zagat Buzz.
Photo courtesy Sushi Uo.
June 13th, 2010
Big Apple BBQ 2010 | Madison Square Park
This story originally appeared on Metromix.
Brisket blowout! Top pitmasters keep the ‘cues smoking and the crowds coming.
June 12, 2010
As the 17 pitmasters at the Big Apple BBQ demonstrated, there’s no right way to cook a pig—or cow, or sheep. Barbecue mavens rolled in from 13 states, including NYC’s own Blue Smoke, Dinosaur Bar-B-Que and Rack & Soul. And, as Charles Grund—who presided over Hill Country‘s1,500 pounds of brisket—explained, ”Barbecue is a thing where everybody does something just a little bit different: their own flavor, and their own different technique. There’s not a whole lot of people doing it exactly the same way, so there’s not a whole lot of cutthroat.”
Indeed, the 125,000 atendees who were expected for the two-day festival chomped on barbecued brisket, whole hogs cooked up two ways, ribs done in myriad technqiues, a smorgasbord of sausages, and even that Owensboro, Ky., special, barbecued mutton. Everyone had set up the night before, and some stayed up all night tending fires and preparing meat.
But it was all worth it the next day, when the hungry crowds showed up toting kids, dogs and Wet-Naps. “Taste the meat, taste the spice, taste the salt,” exulted ‘cue granddaddy Mike Mills, of 17th Street Bar & Grill in Murphysboro, Ill., gesturing at his baby back ribs. “You’ve got a rodeo in your mouth.” …
Read the rest and see more photos on Metromix.com.
Photos by Gabi Porter
June 3rd, 2010
Drink Wine on Tap in Astoria
This story originally appeared on Grub Street.
Order your wine on tap at Vesta Trattoria, an Astoria wine bar that pours glasses from a keg. Four handles draw wine from 28-bottle kegs that are pressurized and stay good for months — not that Vesta can keep it around that long. “I would say 80 percent of the people drinking wine are drinking [from the tap],” owner Giuseppe Falco told Grub Street. The attraction is that you’ll never get a past-its-prime pour, and the absence of bottles and labels reduces waste as well as cost. “Our cheapest wine by the glass went down by a dollar,” Falco said, noting that all the tap wines sell for $6 to $8 per glass.
On tap now are two whites and two reds: a 2008 Cabernet Franc, a 2008 Estate Merlot, a 2009 Chardonnay, and a 2009 Grand Cru Sauvignon Blanc, all from Raphael Vineyard in Peconic. Falco plans to expand his offerings, assuming that he can get other vintners interested in the keg system. “This is what we’ll all be doing soon,” he says.
Read the original story on Grub Street.
Photo: Courtesy Vesta Vino
June 1st, 2010
NYC’s cocktails for carnivores
This story originally appeared on Metromix.
A drink before dinner? Try a drink for dinner with meaty libations that are a boozy meal in a glass.
Meat mania has set in so hard that we’re no longer content to just eat the stuff. Or maybe it’s just that flesh is the last frontier for mixologists, who’ve already added all manner of botanicals and offbeat vegetables to liquor. These days, we’ve fully entered the carnivore cocktail craze, a boozy parlor trick popping up on drink menus across New York City.
As with many trends, East Village curve-racer PDT takes partial credit for getting the party started—their Benton’s Old Fashioned is famously done with bacon-infused bourbon, maple syrup and Angostura bitters. And Brooklyn Brewery even cooked up a bacon beer, though they’ve never sold it for public consumption (brewmaster Garrett Oliver told us about it in January).
Here are five carne cocktails we’ve decided to chew on.
Read the rest of the story, and see more pics, on Metromix.
Photos by Melissa Hom. Pictured: Boqueria’s Gilda Maria.
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