AlwaysStrong: Bonanza’s (Oyster Bay, Long Island)

Arthur Bovino — March 12, 2010

Bonanza Fries at Bonanza’s in Oyster Bay on Long Island.

Location: Bonanza’s
Address: 25 Shore Ave, Oyster Bay, NY 11771
Contact: (516) 922-7796
Hours: Winter, daily, 11:00am-4:00pm; Summer, 11:00am-close (usually around 8:00pm).
Grade: A-
Always Hungry Recommends: Bonanza Dog, Bonanza Fries, and Raspberry and Peach Ices Combined.

Long before the Western, the name Bonanza on Long Island has been associated with homemade Italian ices. Given that Bonanza’s was started by John “Chick” Bonanza 115 years ago, this family-run business almost stretches back to a time when the Old West existed. These days, their little red shack is just as associated with dogs and fries doused with great, messy, piles of dripping chili and cheese. They’re made the way you would have made them for yourself when you were a kid if someone had let you.

More Photographs of Bonanza's in Oyster Bay >>

AlwaysTraveling: Copenhagen Pastries

Arthur Bovino — March 09, 2010

Chocolate Croissant from Sankt Peder’s Bageri in Copenhagen, Denmark.

“Pastries to make the birds cry,” a stranger confided to me on one cold, wet night on an otherwise empty bus as it pulled away from Central Station. “Copenhagen has pastries that can make the birds sing,” he restated.

How could anyone interested in pastries, in food at all, resist that setup? If a stranger gives you pastry advice in the dead of night, it’s likely to be good—that’s a universal rule or something. And, Simon’s two bakery recommendations didn’t disappoint. Hey, these things are called Danishes for a reason. As for the birds, who knows if they liked them or not. Why share?

Pastries to Make the Birds Cry >>

First Look: Pies ‘n’ Thighs

Arthur Bovino — March 02, 2010

From top clockwise: Literally, Pies (Key Lime and Tarheel) and Thighs (Chicken Box with Biscuit), inside, and outside.

It is one of the reassuring quirks of a city that is constantly changing that occasionally it returns something once given up for lost. So it is with Pies-n-Thighs, Williamsburg’s own Mary Mac’s.

The original (literally under a bridge down by the river), by Sarah Buck and Stephen Tanner, was a place that people felt they had discovered even after it was trendy. You couldn’t be mad at it for becoming popular. And when it closed, you felt as if a good friend who knew how to perform miracles in a kitchen smaller than yours, had moved.

Everyone knew it would be a hit when it reopened. The question was, “When?”

Pies 'n' Thighs >>

Featured Dessert: Momofuku Milk Bar

Arthur Bovino — February 16, 2010

Clockwise from top: Self-constructed soft serve and cookie Ice Cream Sandwich at Momofuku Milk Bar, Carrot Cake, PB & J Soft Serve, Candy Bar Pie.

We rejoiced in the English Muffin breakfast sandwich and mourned its move to the special board, got ourselves out of bed on weekends to get a Volcano before they disappeared, tasted the Cornflake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookie and lied to Mom that her cookies are the best.

We’ve made soft serve-and-cookie ice cream sandwiches, put coffee milk in our coffee, and debated the use of Crack Pie as the base for a potential power portmanteau dessert. We’ve eaten the menu item-by-item with girded determination, our challenge being not eating favorites over and over. Yes, along with many New Yorkers, we learned long ago that Momofuku Milk Bar may be one of the City’s best snack spots.

A visit to taste the Carrot Cake, Cinnamon Bun Pie, PB & J Soft Serve (looks like jelly, tastes like peanut butter), and Salt and Pepper Soft Serve, added several photographs to our collection. With recent news of a Milk Bar cookbook in 2011, it seemed like time to enjoy all these desserts. And because we also enjoy eating savory snacks after dinner, we’ve thrown in a few of those too for good measure. Feast your eyes.

Click for Full Slideshow of Momofuku Milk Bar >>

AlwaysInformed: Valentine Cookie Imports

February 10, 2010

Alexandra’s Cookie Dreams’ Limited-edition Valentine’s Day cookie flavor: “Love At First Bite.”

If you have exhausted the sweet options that New York has to offer, here is a serious Valentine’s Day power move for the cookie lovers out there. The Love at First Bite, Valentine’s Day Cookies from Alexandra’s Cookie Dreams. ACD is located in Austin, TX, but its founder, Alexandra Bruskoff, was until fairly recently a local New York schoolteacher.

ACD’s signature cookie is the “New York Cowgirl,” fudgy Ghirardelli chocolate dough laced with chili powder and pretzel bits. Other intriguing flavors include “The All-Nighter”* (chocolate, espresso, cayenne, and walnuts), and “Toffee Doodle Dream” (vanilla with toffee and semi-sweet chocolate). You can try three or four flavors at once by ordering the signature collection (two dozen/$74.00).

But it’s Love at First Bite that you’ll want to order for your honey. An order of six chocolate cookies that are spotted with dried cherries, blueberries and cranberries, white chocolate chunks, topped with kosher salt and sugar.

Order now so that they can arrive in time for the big day

Featured Dessert: Balthazar Bakery’s Valentine’s Day

Maryse Chevrière — February 09, 2010

Balthazar Bakery’s L-O-V-E Mousse Cake ($30), cross-section, and Heart Cake cross-section.

It is always tough to decide what to get your loved one for Valentine’s Day, which is why it is so relieving when someone comes to the rescue. This year that someone is Balthazar Bakery. They have put together a roster of stunning Valentine’s Day desserts that will make any sweet-lover swoon.

The desserts on the menu include items like a Red Berry Galette and a rich Red Velvet Cupcake, but the real show-stoppers are the decadent chocolate cakes. The L-O-V-E Mousse Cake says it all for you. Artful “love” marzipan cutouts top this gift-shaped gateaux, which conceals layers of white chocolate mousse, fresh raspberries, and chocolate sponge cake, all beneath a blanket of dark chocolate ganache.

Click for the Balthazar Bakery V-Day Menu >>

AlwaysPartying: National Baked Alaska Day

February 01, 2010

DBGB’s Omelette Norvegienne (Baked Alaska for Two).

Today, February 1st is National Baked Alaska Day. Since this is the month that celebrates dining à deux, why not start early by heading over to DBGB for their excellent Baked Alaska for Two?

AlwaysPartying: National Chocolate Cake Day

Maryse Chevrière — January 27, 2010

The Strip House Chocolate Cake.

Today, January 27th, is National Chocolate Cake Day, and while we’ve visited Portugal and Brazil to taste ‘The Best Chocolate Cake in the World,’ New York deserves praise for its chocolate cake game. Case in point: Strip House’s famous Chocolate Cake, the awe-inspring, multi-layered Holy Grail.

In case you needed a little incentive to celebrate, here are photographs of our some of our favorite, most sinfully delicious chocolate cakes around the City.

Click here for photographs of the City's best chocolate cakes >>

First Look: Led Zeppole

Arthur Bovino — January 15, 2010

Zeppole with Powdered Sugar and Maple Syrup at Led Zeppole.

Last night was the opening of Led Zeppole, Artichoke Basille’s friendly boardwalk dessert stand just a few doors from the crowded pizzeria. The namesake zeppoles are fist-sized, spongy, fried dough rounds with crisp exteriors covered in powdered sugar. The option of a drizzle of maple syrup makes them taste like breakfast. At $1 each, they’re a ridiculously good deal. The funnel cake ($4.00), which wasn’t at all greasy, is what you always wish you’d get at the amusement park.

The cannolis ($3.50/each) were good, with the option of being topped with almonds, chocolate chips, or one on each side, but the real showstopper was the calzone ($5.00). It’s a thin crust covered with Parmesan (you can ask for more if you want) that tears easily so the creamy mozzarella-ricotta mixture can spill out and be slurped up. The folks behind the counter said they’ll be experimenting with some other non-dessert options (pepperoni or ham) as an alternative to waiting on the Artichoke line for something savory, as well as testing out some sweet calzones.

Click here for pictures of zeppoles, cannolis and calzones >>

AlwaysInformed: Ultimate Coconut Cake

Maryse Chevrière — January 15, 2010

Peninsula Grill’s Ultimate Coconut Cake.

We recently caught a rerun of the Coconut Cake episode of Throwndown with Bobby Flay, in which he takes on the signature dessert of Chef Robert Carter at the Peninsula Grill in Charleston, South Carolina. Flay won the battle, but Carter’s looked so good that we decided to order a cake online to taste it for ourselves.

Within 24 hours, a box containing the securely packaged, 12-pound cake arrived. The 6-layer cake is as impressive in stature as it is in heft. The exterior comes completely covered in toasted coconut shavings whose sweet scent completely fills the room. A single slice looks like a coconut version of Strip House’s famous chocolate cake. Thin sheets of moist pound cake are separated by layers of smooth, rich, coconut-infused, cream cheese icing. It has just the right balance of sweetness and you get coconut in every bite. Make sure to follow the instructions on the packaging to slice while cold and serve room temperature, it only improves the experience.

Featured Desserts: Matsugen

Arthur Bovino — January 13, 2010

Grapefruit Jelly at Matsugen.

Sushi. Dessert. Disconnect. The last thing you’d expect when going to eat high-end sushi is that at the end of the meal you’re going to be left thinking about sweets. But that’s what happens at Matsugen. Sure, chicken meatballs with super-spice-your nose heat are enjoyable. Yes, Sea Urchin with Yuzu Jelly is a welcome, smoky palate cleanser. And Hot Soba with Kamo Nanban Duck is a good antidote to repeated, freeze-your-face winter slaps. But aside from the Bakudan (which remains one of Matsugen’s best dishes), it is a trio of desserts that are most likely to resonate.

Click here for pictures of ice cream brûlée and warabi mochi >>

AlwaysHolidays: The Twelve Days of Christmas

Arthur Bovino and Maryse Chevrière — December 25, 2009

AlwaysHungryNY.com’s ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ Food Tree.

To celebrate Christmas, here’s the full food carol version of ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ AlwaysHungry-style, featuring some of the great dishes we tasted in 2009 that we’re willing to sing about. Happy Holidays!

On the twelfth day of Christmas my waiter brought to me…

Twelve beets for eating,

Eleven tasty smoked things,

Ten gourds a-heaping,

Nine pies a-twirling,

Eight, made with milk-in,

Seven soups worth sipping,

Six eggs for feasting,

Five on-ion rings.

Chicks from four birds,

Three fried ‘French hens,’

Two desserts for two,

And Felidia’s pear ravioli.

AlwaysGifting: Despaña Gifting

Arthur Bovino — December 21, 2009

Assorted Turróns. From left, Turrón de Alicante, Turrón de Jijona, and Turrón de Yema Tostada.

Since 2006, Despaña’s Broome Street location has been a great place to get away from crowds in SoHo to grab a quick bite— a bocadillo and a Bitter Kas or La Casera. The only problem is that it’s tough to go inside with enough single-minded purpose to leave without several bags filled with Spanish hams and cheeses, or other assorted products. Spending money at Despaña (site) hasn’t been made any less difficult by the expanded area in the back with communal seating, where tapas is now being served.

This problem can easily be turned to your advantage during the holidays— Despaña is a great place to shop for food gifts for friends and family, especially last-minute gift-shopping. There’s the obvious choice, one of several gift baskets, but even better is to create your own selection of Spanish food gifts. There are botas (Spanish wineskins), olive oils and nuts, salt-cured cod, canned boquerones and other seafood, as well as bottled Spanish sauces like Romesco (for a homemade Calçcotada in Spring), dips (left, Mojo Verde Picante and Mousse de Pimiento Asado) and mermeladas (jams).

This is also the place to go if you’re looking to get your Roscon de Reyes cake ($29.00, includes a toy inside) for the Epiphany. One great gift item for anyone with a sweet tooth is the Turrón Paquete Regalo (Nougat Gift Pack, above). The $32.00 box of 1880 Turrón features three sweet “porciones” (servings) of turrón: Turrón de Jijona (soft almond), Turrón de Yema Tostada (caramel and egg yolk marzipan, and Turrón de Alicante (hard almond nougat).

AlwaysHolidays: On the Second Day of Christmas…

Arthur Bovino and Maryse Chevrière — December 13, 2009

Technically, the Twelve Days of Christmas don’t start until Christmas Day, but we’re already in the spirit. To celebrate over the next ten days, here’s the carol, ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ AlwaysHungry-style, featuring some dishes we tasted in 2009 that we’d be willing to sing about.

Two Turtle Doves. What could be more appropriate for two lovebirds than a dessert for two? Below are two of our favorite sweet treats to be shared with the one you love.

Today, our Christmas food carol would begin:

On the second day of Christmas, my waiter brought to me… two desserts for two,

Left, Dylan Prime’s Chocolate “Porterhouse.” Right, DBGB Kitchen and Bar’s Omelette Norvegienne.

And the rest of the carol would go:

And Felidia’s pear ravioli.

AlwaysInformed: Corner Café’s Cupcake Comeback

Samantha Zalaznick — December 09, 2009

Vanilla Cupcake with Burnt-Butter icing from Corner Café and Bakery.

A horrible thing happened six years ago at Yura & Company, a favorite Upper East Side spot for prepared food and baked goods. They switched their signature cupcake frosting from a perfectly thick, sugary burnt-butter icing to an unfortunate light and smooth buttercream. This regrettable change was the beginning of Yura’s downfall, culminating in the split of its owners, Yura Mohr and Paul Dimino.

Dimino split off taking the Third Avenue location and turning it into Corner Café and Bakery. This split was bad for Yura but amazing for Yura-lovers! Although there’s no longer any affiliation, Corner Café offers almost the identical menu, but in a larger setting with an adjacent sit down café. What’s even more exciting is that THE CUPCAKES ARE BACK! Dimino has asserted Corner Café’s superiority by reviving the old recipe, bringing back to Yura-lovers what once was lost.

“I have been serving Upper East Side residents for over 20 years,” Dimino noted on Corner Café and Bakery’s website. “As my business grew, I have had the pleasure of watching the neighborhood children grow from “strollers to college.” I attribute some of their success to eating my cupcakes”

Yura still exists in its original location on 91st and Madison, but its spirit is carried on by Corner Café and Bakery which continues to expand across the uptown landscape. A new location just opened at 1246 Madison Avenue (b/n 89th and 90th Streets) where Petaks used to be.

Besides the cupcakes, other recommended dishes include: Smoked Turkey Pinwheels, Luca Salad, and Rare Roast beef with Frizzled Onions.

Locations:
-2328 Broadway
(daily, 7am-10pm)
-1246 Madison Ave
(Daily, 7am-8:45pm)
-1645 Third Ave
(Mon-Fri, 7am-9pm; Sat, 8am-9:30pm; Sun 8am-8:30pm)