Always Informed: Snacks at Ardesia
Arthur Bovino — May 06, 2010
House-Made Goat Milk Ricotta Crostini.
Recently, the Midtown West winebar, Ardesia, was declared to have New York’s Most Ambitious Bar Food by Time Out New York. Sample the house goat milk ricotta and you’ll agree, the little tastes that Chef Amorette Casaus has created for thirsty revelers at this chic Manhattan hideaway reach high, and most satisfy.
One drawback is that to find Ardesia, you may end up forced to declare yourself ‘Most Intrepid Midtown Spelunker.’ If you haven’t been, head to the Hudson, then when you’re about to fall into it, keep going.
SEARCH: Cozy, Romantic Date at a Downtown Hidden Gem
AlwaysHungry — October 23, 2009
Tagliatelle alla Bolognese at dell’anima in the West Village.
There are certain cozy restaurants that while delicious year-round, are all the more appealing when the temperature drops—as comforting as a cashmere blanket on a chilly night. And with the wind whipping around the buildings who better to share a meal with at a cozy restaurant than your special someone?
We used AlwaysHungryNY.com’s Advanced Search Engine, to find the perfect intimate destinations for your next tryst. We selected downtown, then checked date place and romantic in the “By Occasion” section and cozy and hidden gem in the “By Features” section. Click here for AlwaysHungryNY.com’s recommendations and enjoy dinner. Then go get busy under that cashmere blanket.
HungryHamptons: Snowflake Ice Cream Shoppe (Riverhead, NY)
The Gluttoness — July 17, 2009
There are several hidden gems on Eastern Long Island worth bragging about, one prime example being Snowflake Ice Cream Shoppe, a roadside ice cream shop in Riverhead, NY, which has been open for business since the 1950s. It’s a great pit-stop en route to the Hamptons and a fantastic rainy day destination if you’re out there already.
Restaurant: Snowflake Ice Cream Shoppe (view site)
Address: 1148 West Main Street (Route 25) (view map)
AlwaysHungry Grade: A
AlwaysHungry Recommends: Peconic Swamp Thing, Sorbets
Snowflake is everything you’d expect from a mom and pop roadside ice cream parlor that first opened in 1953. The small space on Route 25 with the giant swirled cone atop it, was purchased in 1987 by Carolyn and Stewart Feldschuh from its original owners, Herb and Joan Kunitz. The ice cream is homemade, and the soft sorbet may be the closest thing to authentic water ice you can find in New York.
Creamsicle and Black Raspberry Sorbet
As for the ice cream, it’s rich and creamy, and comes in about 30 fabulous different flavors. Aside from standard favorites like Mint Chocolate Chip, Strawberry, Cookies and Cream, and Maple Walnut, there are more interesting flavors like: Banana Split and Peanut Butter Cup. The owners’ favorites are Carolyn’s Peconic Swamp Thing: chocolate ice cream, raspberry fudge and brownies, and the Cherry Pistachio, which Stewart Feldschuh is responsible for. It’s a lime green pistachio ice cream riddled with black cherries, an homage to Mr. Feldschuh’s favorite childhood dessert at a local Chinese restaurant in Long Beach, NY, where he grew up. The perfect bite is at the bottom of the cup where the pistachio and cherry flavors eventually meld together.
Cherry Pistachio and Peconic Swamp Thing Ice Cream
Snowflake also offers a flavor of the week. For example, on the Fourth of July it was Red, White & Blueberry. You can send ice cream flavor suggestions to Snowflake by e-mail if you hope to have them turn your dream dessert into a reality. If there were to be a “The Gluttoness” flavor it would include: strawberry ice cream with real strawberries, crushed Butterfinger and a butterscotch swirl.
AlwaysHungryNY: The Cardinal Club
The Gluttoness — May 11, 2009
Ever invited friends over for dinner, cooked them a fantastic meal and bathed in their rave reviews, seriously considering charging for your food as they suggest? We recently dined at the home of one entrepreneurial couple who followed through on the idea. You may have heard of this before. The New York Times called similar dinners, anti-restaurants. The couple, Simon & Paula (both 27), who prepared our meal, call their kitchen turned restaurant, The Cardinal Club. Running a dinner club was a natural evolution considering the couple’s passion for food and the hosting capabilities their garden apartment allows them. Inspired by Spring and an incredible meal that Jeff had attended at the club the week before, he insisted that the CORE return to experience this special place.
The couple named their dinner club for the cardinals that frequent their backyard. They transformed their ample garden into a clandestine dining sanctuary where friends can enjoy a leisurely meal in a homey, relaxing environment—an amazing alternative to the chaos of dining out in New York City. The warm glow of the romantic garden was compliments of Christmas lights and candles. There were plants, trees and flowers, but also fresh herbs, grown for use in Cardinal Club meals. Inside, a vintage record player spun an eclectic mix of tunes, from South African jazz like Startime with the Dark City Sisters to Ghostface Killah’s Supreme Clientele. You couldn’t help but instantly feel blessed to be aware of this hidden gem.
To keep the Cardinal Club private, Simon and Paula (both graduates of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts), only serve one party per evening (up to 6 guests fit comfortably) and all groups must be recommended by former diners. Diners can choose to have three to six course menus. The cost per person is: $50 for three courses, $60 for four courses, $75 for five courses and $90 for six courses. Every menu is ingredient-driven and relies on French execution. The dinners are always BYOB, so we brought two different sangrias, made using AlwaysHungryNY recipes.
Simon, our cook for the evening, acquired his culinary experience at one of the first acclaimed French restaurants in the Southwest, Vincent on Camelback, in Phoenix, Arizona. Simon learned a lot while working there under Chef Vincent Guerithault, but he is still largely self-taught. He has an impeccable knack for combining seasonal and seldom-used ingredients. He thoroughly sources ingredients from the Union Square Green Market, specialty restaurant suppliers and renowned purveyors. He gets his meat from Esposito’s Pork Store, and his fish from The Lobster Place, for example.
Paula, our Argentinean-bred hostess served us consummately—lighting candles and refilling drinks. She even went the extra measure by serving things on a silver platter. While she doesn’t participate in the cooking, her South American background surely influences his cuisine.
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