AlwaysHungryOlympics: 17th Street
Arthur Bovino — February 24, 2010
We don’t profess to be athletes, not even of the competitive eating genre. But, we have engaged in our own brand of gastronomic sport. From a restaurant crawl along Clinton Street to food questing in Queens, the Always Hungry Olympics have prompted some awe-inspiring eating. With inspiration running high from watching the nightly feats of the Winter Games, we sought out a significant challenge, and we found it not far from Always Hungry HQ.
On the menu this time, an underrated restaurant corridor: 17th Street. We even amended the Olympic motto: Citius Muneris, Altius Balbutio, Fortius Orexis (swifter service, higher stamina, stronger appetite). Now, the rules:
- We would try to eat at every significant restaurant on 17th Street in one night, necessitating fast eating and a brisk pace.
- Only restaurants that actually opened onto 17th Street were counted. That eliminated places like Cafeteria and Casa Mono.
- There were three Always Hungry eaters, so at each restaurant there were a minimum of three dishes, three alcoholic beverages, and three glasses of water ordered.
- In true Olympics style, we timed it all: orders, food, checks, etc.
Check Out this Epic Eating Adventure >>
AlwaysHungryOlympics: Food Olympics Recap
February 12, 2010
Dishes from past AlwaysHungryOlympics.
Tonight’s ceremony in Vancouver marks the beginning of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
We don’t profess to be athletes, not even of the competitive eating genre. But we have engaged in our own brand of gastronomic sport. From a Clinton Street restaurant crawl to a food quest in Queens, the Always Hungry Olympics have prompted some awe-inspiring eating.
Check out previous Olympic eating adventures, and stay tuned for an upcoming one along 17th Street.
AlwaysHungryOlympics: Queens
Arthur Bovino and Maryse Chevrière — December 08, 2009
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Top left: the ’7.’ Restaurant exteriors, clockwise: stops #1-7 below.
You’ve seen AlwaysHungryNY.com’s Olympics-style eating before, most recently in a New Haven pizza quest with I Dream of Pizza’s Jason Feirman and company. From one Olympics another was born: Destination Queens. It was organized by fellow New Haven pizza-questers and Queens residents, Jason and Deb Scher.
With Sam Sifton’s recent review of Imperial Palace in mind, the timing couldn’t have been better. While we didn’t storm the Palace this time, it was only because we really couldn’t eat anymore.
Mission: Determine recommended dish worthy bites at seven significant Queens’ destinations in one day.
Click Here for Pictures from a Day of Olympic-Style Eating in Queens >>
AlwaysTraveling: New Haven Pie-by-Pie (New Haven, CT)
Arthur Bovino and Maryse Chevrière — November 12, 2009
Top from left: Frank Pepe’s Medium Shrimp Pie with Red Sauce, Large Plain Pie at Sally’s Apizza, and Modern Apizza’s Medium Italian Bomb.
Frank Pepe’s Yonkers location just recently opened so in honor of New Haven-style pizza coming to New York, we’re sharing our recent experience of trying New Haven’s three most well-known pizzerias on one day during a pizza club outing organized by pizza blogger, Jason Feirman of I Dream of Pizza.
Click for Pictures of New Haven Pizza from Frank Pepe's, Sally's, and Modern >>
36 Dishes in Boston, MA
Arthur Bovino — August 10, 2009
In The New York Times weekly column, 36 Hours, a weekend-long itinerary is given for different cities. AlwaysHungryNY.com, is taking a more culinary-focused, food-challenge approach to weekend travel with a new, occasional feature, 36 Dishes. The goal? To eat and drink a combination of 36 memorable dishes and beverages from significant places in a city during one weekend.
Left, Boston from Top of the Hub bar in the Prudential Building. Right, the Tall Ships in Boston Harbor
Today’s feature is a recap of 36 Dishes eaten in Boston over the weekend of July 10-12, when AlwaysHungryNY.com ate everywhere from the South End to Harvard Square. Our weekend of eating began on Friday night at 10:50pm, ten minutes before the Radius kitchen closes.
AlwaysPartying: National Oyster Day
Arthur Bovino — August 05, 2009
It’s National Oyster Day and if there’s one thing we’re AlwaysHungry for it’s oysters. They’re tasty, great with drinks and they’re aphrodisiacs—what’s not to like? New York has had a connection with oysters that precedes colonialism (Mark Kurlansky’s book, The Big Oyster is a great account going back to the Hudson shell-middens of the Lenape Indians) and it continues to be a great place to eat oysters to this day. To celebrate, we compiled the ultimate oyster post so you can take an AlwaysHungryNY.com Olympics approach to this food holiday.
Below is a round-up of good restaurants with raw bars, a fried oyster round-up and a list of oyster happy hours. If you’re interested in some of the city’s notable oyster preparations check out AHNY’s Oyster Odyssey, a checklist of some of the city’s most significant oyster dishes.
Oysters on the Half Shell and Long Island Little Necks at The John Dory.
If you’re Downtown and want oysters with dinner, use the Very Advanced Search to generate a list of good restaurants with raw bars by selecting B+/A- and above, and Downtown from the “By Grade” and “Neighborhood” drop down menus, and Raw Bar in the expanded “By Features” blue box. Of course, you can do this for any neighborhood.
Before venturing out, a few words. First, we can be grateful the Kumomoto craze is over and every Tom, Dick and Harry has stopped saddling up to the bar wielding this word to impress dates. Second, Rowan Jacobsen’s The Oyster Guide is a great resource for learning about oysters in the States. Generally, East Coast oysters are more mild than West Coast ones. There are five categories of edible oysters.
Belons Salty with mineral finish. Indigenous to Europe. In US: Maine, California and Washington.
Eastern Salt, taste, texture vary. Canadian Maritime to Gulf of Mexico. Same type, regional names.
Pacific (Gigas) Sweet, slightly fruity and mineral. Available around the world.
Kumamoto Small, sweet, citrusy, often creamy. Originally from Japan. Also grown along West Coast.
Olympia Small, assertive flavor. Native to the Pacific Northwest.
CLICK HERE for AHNY’s list of GOOD DOWNTOWN RESTAURANTS WITH RAW BAR.
Pearl Oyster Bar’s fried oysters.
Fried Oysters. Crunchy. Juicy. Salty. Goodness with tartar sauce. Enter, “Fried Oysters” into AHNY’s Very Advanced Search to generate a round-up of some of the city’s best renditions.
CLICK HERE for AHNY’s FRIED OYSTER LIST.
OYSTER SPECIALS & HAPPY HOURS
Aquagrill:
Daily Happy Hour: 4pm-6pm, $1/Blue Point Oyster.
Cercle Rouge:
Sun-Thur: 4pm-7pm, $1.50/Oyster.
Ed’s Lobster Bar:
Tues: 5pm – Close, Sunday: 12pm-6pm, $2/Oyster.
Fishtail:
After 10pm, $1/Oyster.
Lure Fish Bar:
Mon-Fri: 5pm-7pm, $1/Oyster.
Shaffer City:
Daily Happy Hour: 4pm-8pm, $1.50/Oyster. Includes one type from each coast.
The John Dory:
Daily, 3pm—5pm $25/Dozen Oysters and Glass of Cava or a Half-Pint.
AlwaysPartying: Cinco de Mayo Restaurant Crawl
The Gluttoness — May 04, 2009
Clockwise from left: Café Habana, Pinché Taqueria, Mexican Radio, La Esquina Taqueria
Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo, the anniversary of the Mexican Army’s defeat of invading French forces at the Battle of Puebla, in 1862 (and Corona’s greatest marketing campaign ever). Rather than choose one spot to celebrate all night, AlwaysHungryNY suggests taking an AlwaysHungry Olympics approach to the holiday. We’ve created the route for an exemplary Mexican restaurant crawl, noting some of the best food and drink along the way. All you’ve got to do is throw on a sombrero and start building a base for your night of boozing.
AlwaysHungryOlympics: Clinton Street Eating
The Gluttoness — April 24, 2009
The AlwaysHungry Olympics is a feature dedicated to gastronomic feats that defy normal human boundaries. These expeditions are a true test of strength, endurance and concentration that can only be achieved through practice and dedication of the mind, body and soul. The AlwaysHungry Olympics demonstrates how some can turn eating into a sport, and on that rare occasion, into an art form.
Clockwise from left: Fat Hippo’s Steak & Eggs, Cube 63’s Sushi, Frankie’s Rabbit Pappardelle, Falai’s Exterior [food not pictured by request]
It had all the makings of a glorious night. The AlwaysHungryNY Council of Eaters was heading out for a meal at Fat Hippo. The name alone had us excited considering that we essentially share a logo (though their hippo is much fatter than our silverware-wielding cartoon). Our anticipation for the evening evaporated when we realized that the Burger Fondue’s itty-bitty burgers were the menu’s only worthwhile bites. An hour hadn’t even passed before it was obvious that we couldn’t allow this to be the end of our night but rather an awful amuse bouche to our next destination. Our location on Clinton Street inspired an AlwaysHungry Olympics— a hopeful Tour de Gluttony of this narrow Lower East Side street’s numerous eateries.
San Marzano Brick Oven Pizza called to us from the other side of 71 Clinton Street, but the address just put Wylie Dufresne on the brain. WD-50 is unfortunately closed on Tuesday night, so we opted for a table at Cube 63 to sample their specialty sushi rolls. Considering it’s BYOB and we had no booze, we were compelled to cross the street afterwards for pasta and wine at Falai. Clerkenwell was debated as our next stop, but the ridiculously small menu and even smaller crowd sent us packing. A totally empty Sachiko’s on Clinton wasn’t enticing either.
We ended up at Frankies 17 Spuntino, the busiest spot on the block. Admittedly, we stopped eating short of Clinton St. Baking Co., but we feel safe declaring Frankies as the clear-cut victor for the best dinner on Clinton Street. This conclusion can only be understood through the context of each restaurant experience, so follow the links below to learn all the juicy details.
1. Fat Hippo 71 Clinton Street
At first glance it was clear that the entrées would outshine the appetizers. Burger Fondue and a Duck Cuban sounded far superior to House Cured Salmon with Potato Latkes…Click Here For Full Review
2. Cube 63 63 Clinton Street
Owners Ken & Ben Lau, brothers with a fondness for booze-infested fun, had a recipe for success with their low prices and creative specialty rolls. You’re not going to Cube for an omakase, but rather to binge on inspired spicy tuna rolls with eel sauce and extra crunchies… Click Here For Full Review
3. Falai 68 Clinton Street
The bread was impressive. Some rolls were stuffed with stewed black cabbage and others with sautéed onions and fennel. But the amuse, a Parmesan Cheese Marshmallow with Capers and Anchovies was nauseatingly salty and nearly impossible to eat without destroying… Click Here For Full Review
4. Frankies 17 Sputino 17 Clinton Street
Both dining rooms were full. One of the things that keeps both Frankies Sputino locations packed is their dedication to sourcing only the finest ingredients. When ingredients aren’t up to their standards they make their own… Click Here For Full Review
AlwaysHungryOlympics: Shinji Nohara Hits the Big Apple
Jeff Zalaznick — February 19, 2009
The AlwaysHungry Olympics is a feature dedicated to gastronomic feats that defy normal human boundaries. These expeditions are a true test of strength, endurance and concentration that can only be achieved through practice and dedication of the mind, body and soul. The AlwaysHungry Olympics demonstrates how some can turn eating into a sport, and on that rare occasion, into an art form.
Shinji Nohara embodies the spirit of AlwaysHungry. As GastroGuide to any American food dignitary who arrives in Tokyo, Shinji is the man to call when you arrive in Japan hungry. Thus, it is no surprise that when I landed in Tokyo last October, he was there to greet me. A ten day Tour de Gluttony ensued, which took us from Tokyo to Kyoto. I left with not only an incredible understanding of the best food Japan has to offer, but also with a great friend who quickly earned the honor of being called AlwaysHungryTokyo. When Shinji emailed me last month and told me he was coming to NY for a night, I knew things had to get serious. Let the games begin:
7 p.m. – Hors D’oeuvres
We met in the Meatpacking District, and walked over to Morimoto as I thought that true Japanese American fusion would be a good warm up for Shinji.
Drinks: Morimototini & Signature Hibiscus cocktail
- Crispy Rock Shrimp Tempura with Spicy ‘Kochujan’ sauce & Wasabi Aioli
- Tuna Pizza with Olives, Anchovy Aïoli & Jalapeño
The Tuna Pizza is a great example of Japanese, Italian and American fusion anywhere, but Morimoto’s culinary genius is best seen in the Rock Shrimp Tempura; a dish that he first invented at Nobu years ago. This one is special because it is an Asian play on American Buffalo Wings, the spicy red sauce is a replica of traditional buffalo wing sauce while the heat of the green wasabi evokes honey mustard.
7:30 p.m. – Appetizer
For the next course, we walked across the street to Del Posto to indulge in some of New York’s best Italian.
Drinks: Prosecco, Dirty Vodka Martinis & Neroni
- Asaggi: Caviar Canapes, Shot of Honey-Wheat Soup, Fried Parmesan Balls, Chicken Tramezzino
- Bread Basket with Homemade Lardo & Butter (arguably the best bread basket in New York)
- Tris of Pasta: Gnocchi al Pesto, Orecchiette with Rabbit, Penne Pacchu-Picchu
Click to go on to the Main Course >>
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