Featured Brunch: Seersucker
Arthur Bovino — August 13, 2010
Fried Chicken Livers and Gravy, a killer brunch dish at Seersucker in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.
You may have already been to chef Robert Newton’s new Carroll Gardens restaurant, Seersucker, for dinner. You may have tried the Pan-Roasted Quail, the Crispy Pig’s Foot, Country Cassoulet, Shrimp and Grits, even pitted their Deviled Eggs against another stellar Carroll Gardens rendition, those at Clover Club. But if you haven’t done brunch, you’re missing out on one of the City’s best new dishes. The space is down-home and hip, but crisp, with lots of cement and awesome air-conditioning. Go all-cotton and you might be cold. You also may have trouble deciding what to order.
Egg person? Which of these choices? Opt for what is essentially a Fried Green Tomatoes Benedict, or go with the two eggs served with either 1) Country Ham, Grits and Red Eye Gravy 2) Biscuits and Sausage Gravy 3) Pork Hash and Biscuit? Not into eggs? Do you go Catfish Po’boy, or Fried Chicken Livers with Gravy? The answer? Basically look at these options and say, “Yes.”
Featured Dessert: Pies ‘N’ Thighs’ Molasses Cookie
Madeline G. Muldoon — August 03, 2010
Pies-n-Thighs’ Molasses Cookie.
Though it hides from the limelight in a case near the T-shirts and beer koozies, the Molasses Cookie at Pies ‘n’ Thighs possesses just as much star power as the famed menu standout, the chicken biscuit.
At $2, the Molasses Cookie is certainly a deal— it’s as large as a man’s hand. And it satisfies both soft and crispy cookie lovers with a thin, chewy texture and spots of sticky, caramelized molasses. And perhaps best of all, in addition to the candied taste there’s a racy streak— a kick of seasoning.
Pies ‘N’ Thighs’ Molasses Cookie presents a triple-threat of sweet-salty-spicy that most desserts can only dream of attempting. That is, if desserts do dream. We were too busy vacuuming up every last crumb of this humble treat to find out.
Featured Brunch: Roberta’s
Arthur Bovino — July 23, 2010
Clockwise from top: Duck Egg and Mortadella Sandwich and Iced Tea at Roberta’s in Brooklyn.
The concrete jungle sizzles in summer. Light twinkles off the glass condo windows through waves of heat. You get jostled by sweaty sidewalk-denizens. The City is too much. Too full, too busy, too— too much. It’s Saturday. Almost noon. Or maybe Sunday and already past two. You’re hungry. Need food. Brunch. Breakfast. But you don’t want French toast. Enough Eggs Benedict. You laugh in the face of omelettes. You want something different, somewhere else. It’s time to flip this meal upside-down. You need to head to Brooklyn— to Roberta’s. You need pizza for brunch.
Featured Brunch: Traif
Arthur Bovino — July 16, 2010
Clockwise from top left: patio and Crispy Braised Bacon with Soba in Smoky Miso Broth with Sunny Egg, at Traif in Williamsburg.
It’s a good sign when you look for reasons to visit a restaurant. With Traif, chef Jason Marcus’ ode to all things unkosher in Williamsburg, that reason was a hunch that it might be a great unheralded brunch spot—a hunch inspired by the Seared Foie, Fingerlings with Sunny Egg, Ham Chips, Maple, and Hot Sauce, and the Braised Berkshire Pork Cheeks with Polenta, both sampled on a previous visit.
Featured Brunch: Vinegar Hill House
Arthur Bovino — July 02, 2010
Reuben Sanchez: braised corned beef, sharp Cheddar, Tomatillo-Jalapeño Jam.
Sometimes brunch is better on Saturday. Sometimes, it’s better to do the far end of the brunch stretch. If you don’t mind lounging in bed, wait and let that 11 o’clock start pass in favor of a 2 o’clock meal. On those occasions, one of the perfect brunches is at Vinegar Hill House in Brooklyn. Outside, inside, wherever you want, there’s less of a wait and the food is just as good.
Featured Dessert: Five Leaves’ Ice Cream Cart
Maryse Chevrière — June 22, 2010
Clockwise from top: The new ice cream cart outside Five Leaves in Greenpoint, a single scoop cone of Bitter Chocolate Mint, a cup of Salted Caramel Pretzel.
There are few occasions when Five Leaves doesn’t fit the bill for all your Greenpoint dining needs. There’s a menu for those who appreciate both good sardines, and a burger topped with beets and a fried egg. Outdoor tables serve as spots for a romantic meal. And the bar is a great place to meet up with friends for a round of Southern Belles. With the launch of an ice cream cart, it’s now where you go when it’s 90 degrees out and Mister Softee won’t do.
The retro, airstream-shaped cart debuted outside the restaurant on June 13th, where it will serve homemade ice cream on Sundays through June from 12:00pm to 11:00pm, and every day in July and August. Selecting from the four flavors presents a difficult choice: Salted Caramel Pretzel, Honey Vanilla, Coffee Amaretti, and Bitter Chocolate Mint. They’re the creations of Nick Morgenstern of the General Greene, which also has a cart. Five Leaves stocks their ice cream year-round.
Bitter Chocolate Mint is the hip, sophisticated cousin of that familiar, bright Green Mint Chocolate Chip flavor you’re used to. The chocolate is dark, rich, and not too sweet. It’s plain appearance belies an in-your-face mint flavor— it’s like chewing on a mint leaf. For those experiencing withdrawal from Shake Shack’s Salted Caramel custard, this rendition actually improves on it. The base is super salty and faintly sweet. Pieces of crushed pretzel are folded in to order so they retain their crunch. The only thing that would make it even better? Chocolate-covered pretzels.
Featured Restaurant: Traif
Arthur Bovino — June 07, 2010
Pork Belly Confit, Lentils, Artichokes, Tomato Marmalade, and Moroccan Whiskey Cocktail at Traif in Williamsburg.
Just when you thought this let’s-hang-yarn-from-a-window-and-take-photos-of-it-from-the-sidewalk neighborhood couldn’t give you yet another storyline there it is. Unkosher food nonpareil on the edge of Satmar territory from a Jewish chef with experience at Eleven Madison Park and Le Bernardin. The south labeled streets’ most recent newcomer, Traif, makes good on its name— and man, is it good.
Featured Cocktail: reBar’s Summer Savory Cocktails
Arthur Bovino — May 26, 2010
Retini: Gin, House-made Pickle Garnish and Pickle Juice.
There are a variety of good cocktails by bar manager, Luke Wheeler, at reBar in Dumbo. The Coney Island Iced Tea is a welcome, non-sweet alternative, there’s an understated Cucumber Martini, and they serve classics like the Pimm’s Cup. There are “Beer-Inspired” cocktails too, like the reBar Root Beer with lager and root beer schnapps. At the least, matching drinks and moods is easy here.
But two of reBar’s best drinks— for savory-lovers at least— aren’t on the menu yet: the retini, and the Buffalo Wing Martini. We recently tasted them as part of a preview of reBar’s summer cocktail menu.
AlwaysInformed: New Spring Menu at reBar
Arthur Bovino — May 18, 2010
Consommé with free-range organic Chicken Broth, Ramps, and Parsley Root.
Spring. Regrowth. Resurgence. Revamped. Newly installed chef Jeremy Leech has been at the helm of reBar, the cavernous DUMBO bar and restaurant for about two months, and we’d heard buzz about it at the LUCKYRICE Night Market. So we were intrigued by an invitation to sample the new dishes the former Flatbush Farm sous-chef had devised.
Inside the brick space, floors creak, communal tables buzz, and vaulted ceilings allow conversations other diners can’t hear. There are good cocktails. Take the serious Coney Island Iced Tea— it actually tastes like unsweetened iced tea, with punch, and stirring does thankfully little to its complexion. There’s a Cucumber Martini, with Crop Organic Cucumber Vodka, a Blood Orange Margarita that tastes like orangeade, and the Ginger Smoke, one of those strong, sweet cocktails where you don’t taste the strong. Beer cocktails too, like an Irish Black Russian that was bittersweet and refreshing.
Photographs of Food and Drink at reBar >>
Featured Brunch: Clover Club
Arthur Bovino — May 14, 2010
Clover Club’s Brunch Bacon Tasting: Pepper Bacon, Duck Bacon, and Maple Bacon.
A recent newsletter from Clover Club that announced forthcoming news about a lunch menu was a reminder that this spot isn’t just for Cobbles, Swizzles, Bracers, Punches, Royales, and Bucks. It’s also great for brunch. Light pours through floor-to-ceiling windows, space for ten-tops, and more cocktails than needed to replace every forgettable brunch mimosa you’ve ever had. Liquid Brunch, hell-o.
From left: Sloe and Low Cobbler, Rhubarb Spritz Royale, and Barman’s Bloody.
Booze. Five Bloody Mary’s, four Royales, three Swizzles, and more. Where to begin? Remember the Maine isn’t a bad place to start. The eponymous Clover Club? Too many choices!
Featured Dessert: Downtown Atlantic’s Devil’s Food Cupcake
Arthur Bovino — May 11, 2010
Downtown Atlantic’s Devil’s Food Cupcake.
Poll friends about childhood and Hostess and it’s likely they fall into the same categories as those kids allowed to eat sugar cereals, and the ones who gummed on with shredded wheat.
Whether you were allowed to eat Twinkies, Ding Dongs, and Sno Balls doesn’t really matter anymore. One of the most amazing things about being a grown-up (or pretending to be one) is that you can eat Corn Pops with your Ho Hos if you want, then not go to bed until 3:00am. The transporting sweets to help you achieve such noble goals can be found in one of Boerum Hill’s most enticing bakery windows. Downtown Atlantic and their homage to the Hostess Cup Cake goes next-level.
LUCKYRICE Festival: Night Market
Arthur Bovino — May 03, 2010
Clockwise from top: Spicy Pork Sandwich from Mantao for American Airlines, Little Poh Pohs from My Brooklyn Kitchen, the scene at the Night Market.
“Yeah, smell that?” exclaimed one excited festival goer of the pungent smells wafting out from The Archway Under the Manhattan Bridge. “Now that’s what I’m talking about!”
Brooklyn. David Chang. Asian Street Food— add those ingredients together and what do you get? A recipe for a sold-out event. If you didn’t make it to the LUCKYRICE Festival’s Night Market hosted by the Momofuku master on Friday night, you missed out on a scene.
A dedicated Malaysian Pavilion meant attendees could eavesdrop on Zak Pelaccio as he explained to one of the camera crews on hand how to prepare Roti Canai as it was stretched out before them. There were Barbecue Rainbow Carrow Buns by Dirt Candy, Tuna Tartare Spicy Rolls from Buddakan, and toppings for ice cream from the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck like Cayenne, Ginger Syrup, Sriracha, and of course, Wasabi Peas. But the delicious Crisp Pork Belly with Kim Chee and Island Creek Oyster by The Setai was perhaps one of the best tastes of the night.
Photographs at the LUCKYRICE Festival's Night Market >>
Featured Cocktail: Five Leaves’ New Cocktails
Arthur Bovino — April 22, 2010
Clockwise from top, the Tijuana Brass, a new drink on the cocktail menu at Five Leaves in Greenpoint. Bartender Dan Sabo pours another new drink: Bee’s Knees.
“It all started with the Southern Belle,” said Dan Sabo, a bartender at Five Leaves, of the popularity of their cocktail menu. And don’t most of us wish we could say the same thing? “We got this sweet tea vodka, and it sat, and it sat,” said Dan. “We didn’t know what to do with it. It was one of those things, a purveyor was like, ‘Buy a bottle of this, we’ll give you something else, free. I gotta move this.’”
They tinkered, mixing the tea vodka with lemon juice, simple syrup, mint, and sparkling white wine, as a special for a few days. “My first night off, I got three calls from staff asking, ‘How do you make this?’” Dan noted. “People had come by asking for it by name.”
They called it the Porch Swing at first, then switched it, but it didn’t matter what they called it— it sold. “A table of five guys will come in here, and four of them will order Southern Belles, and no one has a single problem with it. It’s so awesome. And they’ll get wasted on them too. These inked-up, tatted-out guys in tight jeans and flannels, and they’re just like [Dan switched to a low voice], ‘Yeah, I’ll have the Southern Belle.’ I’m like, that’s cool.”
With spring, Five Leaves has revamped their cocktail menu. Joining the Southern Belle (left) are four new drinks: Tijuana Brass, Bee’s Knees, Pimm’s Cup, and the Farmer’s Daughter.
AlwaysFresh: Brooklyn Flea (4/11/10)
Maryse Chevrière — April 14, 2010
In Always Fresh, Always Hungry visits the City’s farmers’ markets to seek out the seasonal ingredients which inspire the culinary genius of locavore chefs and amateur gourmets alike.
Margherita Pizza from Pizza Moto.
It was a long winter, but it’s finally over. People look happy and slinky. Everyone is shedding layers, and brimming over with the goodness that is spring. That means it’s time to welcome back Always Fresh, Always Hungry’s greenmarket photography series wherein we hit the farmers’ markets in search of seasonal ingredients in neighborhoods around the City.
This weekend, we were at the Brooklyn Flea Market in Fort Greene. (No, it’s not a greenmarket, but there was a lot of good food to be had). The mobile pizza aficionados from Pizza Moto were there, and not surprisingly, long lines could be found stemming out from the Red Hook Lobster Pound and Red Hook Food Vendors stands, for lobster rolls and huaraches. And the folks from People’s Pops deserve praise for the market’s best cool treat— freshly shaved ice doused in syrup.
Click on the thumbnails below for pictures from our tour of the Brooklyn Flea. Remember, you can use Always Hungry’s Seasonal Calendar Page to find out what is currently in season.
More Photographs from the Brooklyn Flea >>
AlwaysInvestigating: 1 or 8
Arthur Bovino — April 12, 2010
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Sushi Omakase at 1 or 8.
That 1 or 8 opened, says something— that it’s not what it could be, does too. It’s not as if Bedford-area denizens have been bereft of sushi during Williamsburg’s condo boom and restaurant rush. Wasabi, Samurai, and Miyako are respectable spots for locals to get edamame, spicy rolls, and assorted nigiri. (Wasabi even has tables near the sidewalk for people-watching.) But 1 or 8’s introduction of ‘upscale sushi’ to the dining scene could have meant taking Williamsburg’s already successful, casual approach to seriously good food to a new level.
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