AlwaysInformed: Despaña’s Bocadillos
Arthur Bovino — December 15, 2009
Assorted bocadillos from Despaña.
As The Times noted last week, Despaña, Broome Street’s Spanish food retailer, recently opened a tapas café with three communal tables at the rear of the store (Grub Street reported plans to serve wine and beer too). This should serve as a reminder that they make some of the city’s best bocadillos.
If you haven’t visited Despaña (view) in a while, there are fifteen sandwiches. There’s something about the bread that recalls true European sandwiches. They’re tough and chewy in a good way— something you really have to just bite into and pull at. Savory selections range from the Vegetariano ($8.00) to the Iberico Ham ($25.00) with toppings that include bonito, boquerones, and lomo embuchado.
While they’re all very good, some of the best include: Traditional Chorizo, Chorizo Picante, the “Despaña,” and Iberico Ham. Not to be forgotten, especially by sweet sandwich lovers, is the warm, pressed “Nocilla,” a melted Spanish chocolate hazelnut spread ($5.00).
AlwaysInformed: Aureole’s Grilled Burger
AlwaysHungry — November 11, 2009
In today’s Dining Section, Sam Sifton wrote that the food at the new Aureole is “meh,” that is, except for the “extremely good” Aureole Grilled Burger. We totally agree. Below is AlwaysHungryNY.com’s post of July 21, 2009, lauding Chef Christopher Lee’s recommended dish-worthy burger:
Aureole Grilled Burger with Onion Rings.
There is no denying that New York Magazine assembled an epic slideshow of New York’s 82 Most Notable Burgers. While their round-up was ridiculously thorough, there may be a few burgers worth noting that have popped up since the list was finalized. Case in point, #83: Aureole’s Grilled Burger.
That Charlie Palmer’s Aureole (view) even has a hamburger on the menu shows how it has evolved from its stuffy, Upper East Side past. The “Aureole” Grilled Burger ($19) is available at lunch, and à la carte as a “bar room snack,” at dinner. It’s topped with Smoked Bacon, Vermont White Cheddar and Pickled Ramp Dressing.
AlwaysInformed: World Series of Food
Arthur Bovino — October 28, 2009
Garlic Fries at Yankee Stadium ($5/small).
Yankees vs. Phillies. Call it the Amtrak Series, the I-95 Series, the Liberty Series or Cheesecake versus Cheesesteak. As long as the Yanks are back in the Fall Classic, you can call it what you like.
Even haters must admit, it’s cool that Yankee Stadium is hosting the series in its inaugural season. While Shake Shack and the Acela Club have garnered CitiField more praise for its food (we mourn the loss of the pastrami dog), you could argue the Bronx has a better signature dish: Lobel’s Steak Sandwich.
AlwaysFresh: The New Amsterdam Market
Michelle Kiefer — September 17, 2009
Beautiful handmade pastas made by The Ravioli Store in Long Island City.
We really enjoyed wandering through the debut of the third annual New Amsterdam Market (view site) this past Sunday on South Street by the Seaport, and not just because of all the free samples of bread, chocolate and sausages. If you haven’t been yet, you have to check it out. There are more than 70 vendors selling everything from farm fresh produce to baked goods and cooked foods in the bustling atmosphere of legendary public market halls like London’s Borough Market.
You’ll be pleased to come across familiar names like Marlow & Sons, Saxelby Cheesemongers, and Sullivan Street Bakery as well as newcomers like Basis, which Grub Street noted is planning to open a retail store late fall, and Saltie, former chef Caroline Fidanza’s (Marlow & Sons and Diner) takeout spot/bakery, which is slated to open tomorrow in Williamsburg (378 Metropolitan Ave).
If you missed the market check out our great pictures, then get down there from 11am to 4pm on one of the next three remaining dates (10/25, 11/22 and 12/20).
AlwaysInvestigating: Dunkin’ Donuts’ Toffee For Your Coffee
The Gluttoness — September 02, 2009
Dunkin’ Donuts’ Create Your Own Donut Contest winner: Toffee For Your Coffee Donut.
The 2009 winner of the Dunkin’ Donuts Create Your Own Donut contest has been unleashed for public consumption and appraisal. Toffee For Your Coffee was one of 130,000 entries. It was dreamt up by Jeff Hager, an accountant from Hoover, Alabama, who combined his favorite donut and his favorite candy bar, topping glazed sour cream cake with chopped bits of Heath Bar.
Hager’s donut doesn’t sound as tasty as some of the those created by other finalists. Consider, as Grub Street reported, the “Sm’OREO,” a marshmallow-filled donut with chocolate icing topped with OREO cookie pieces and graham cracker crunch. But he did have the wherewithal to intertwine the name of his donut creation with Dunkin’s signature product—“coffee”:http://www.alwayshungryny.com/thought-for-food/tag/Coffee/!
Toffee For Your Coffee isn’t available everywhere— we found this limited edition confection at a Dunkin’ Donuts near the corner of Murray and Church Streets (view map) in TriBeCa. The donut was moist, chewy and reminiscent of pound cake with the crushed Heath Bar adding a balanced crunch. Most of us enjoyed it, although it’s hard to wax too poetic, since anything covered with chocolate-coated toffee should be pretty damn delicious. The dense cake held its own against a topping that could have been overpowering. But its simple glaze would have been better with an additional toffee twinge.
Some of us enjoyed the sweetness, others found the combination too decadent for the morning. Perhaps, Hager’s donut would just be better paired with coffee as an after-dinner sweet.
AlwaysInformed: Shangri-La Seating at Checkers (Brooklyn)
Josh Kaplan — July 22, 2009
Shangri-La seating at Checkers’ Court Street location
The burgeoning Checkers (view site) invasion spreading through the city (Bronx, Staten Island and Brooklyn) is scheduled to continue today in Manhattan with a one o’clock opening this afternoon of a Downtown location at 77 Chambers Street. It’s almost enough to make us forget the recently opened branch in the awkward railroad space on Court Street in Brooklyn. Love it or hate it, Checkers has been so packed on several visits that even getting inside is tricky. Since the opening more than a month ago, a craving for the signature Cajun Fries often can’t be satisfied without waiting on a line the length of the one for Disney’s Space Mountain. The cramped indoor space makes for a grim seating scenario.
There are three narrow booths to the left and ten stools lining a narrow counter to the right. Customers on either side are forced to fight for space against the crush of a noisy, irritable line four to five customers-wide knifing through the restaurant’s center.
Inconceivably, salvation from the buzz of a heavily-populated commercial block in downtown Brooklyn can be found to the right of the counter at the back where customers place their orders. A narrow, snaking corridor empties into an utterly vacant, lovely, walled-in back patio complete with shaded picnic tables. It makes for the perfect setting to enjoy a mediocre burger and awesome fries in peace.
AlwaysInvestigating: Aureole’s Grilled Burger
The Gluttoness — July 21, 2009
There is no denying that New York Magazine assembled an epic slideshow of New York’s 82 Most Notable Burgers. While their round-up was ridiculously thorough, there may be a few burgers worth noting that have popped up since the list was finalized. Case in point, #83: Aureole’s Grilled Burger.
That Charlie Palmer’s Aureole (restaurant page) even has a hamburger on the menu shows how it has evolved from its stuffy, Upper East Side past. The “Aureole” Grilled Burger ($19) is available at lunch, and à la carte as a “bar room snack,” at dinner. It’s topped with Smoked Bacon, Vermont White Cheddar and Pickled Ramp Dressing.
A patty of Debragga chuck-sirloin blend was cooked to a perfect medium-rare and served on a house-made toasted brioche bun spotted with black and white sesame seeds. While this mighty burger could easily stand on its own, it was served with a side of three thick tempura-battered onion rings.
The brioche soaked up the burger’s substantial juices, but kept its integrity through the last bite. Crispy bacon was more of a textural compliment than added taste— its the juicy patty that commandeers this flavor profile. The burger patty was topped with slivers of raw red onion and butter lettuce leaves then dressed with a creamy, tangy pickled ramp dressing that was like a high-class version of the special sauce found on a McDonald’s Big Mac. A mild, melted layer of Vermont white cheddar played a supporting role, it’s subtle sharpness occasionally shining through.
Aureole’s Grilled Burger is as painstakingly assembled as Grub Street’s list of #82 burgers, good enough to make us wonder why New York Magazine didn’t go all the way to #100.
AlwaysInformed: Veselkhiarascuro
Arthur Bovino — July 10, 2009
Charnick installing Veselkhiarascuro at the AlwaysHungryNY.com headquarters
Those of you who are fans of Veselka (restaurant page) may remember reading on Eater last August and Grub Street in January that Veselkhiarascuro, the iconic mural by Arnie Charnick, was going on sale. The restaurant’s planned 10-foot expansion through the back wall meant it would no longer fit. All you 24-hour pierogie-eaters need not fear however because the mural has found a wonderful home right here in AlwaysHungryNY.com’s headquarters.
It’s not everyday that an artist walks into your office carrying an epic piece of artwork that when unfurled spans almost twenty feet. When I asked AlwaysHungryNY.com’s founder, Jeff Zalaznick how we had acquired Veselka’s mural he explained:
“When I walked into Veselka and saw that the originally high price of the mural had been lowered and now included the chance to ‘make your best offer,’ I made Charnick an offer he couldn’t refuse.”
And what was that offer?
Continue reading about the new home for Veselka's mural, Veselkhiarascuro >>
<< Back to Thought For Food
"Unleash Your Inner Fat Kid."
Whet your appetite with a daily dose of AlwaysHungry's Thought for Food. We provide content that will improve your knowledge of food, and that will enhance your experiences with food. We do not write industry gossip.
Always Hungry Newsletter
