AlwaysInvestigating: Seafood Pizzas at ABC and The Mark
Arthur Bovino — May 20, 2010
From left: ABC Kitchen’s Clam Pizza, and The Mark’s Smoked Salmon with “Everything Crust.”
For all the buzz and coverage of ABC Kitchen and The Mark one of the most eye-catching, stomach-growling threads linking the pizza menus at both new restaurants deserves noting: seafood pizza.
HungryChefs: Jean Georges and Anything Peanut Butter
Arthur Bovino — November 10, 2009
Gotham Bar & Grill’s pastry chef, Deborah Racicot.
With all the panels and tasting events that have come with the new season, we’ve talked to a lot of chefs recently. So we’ve had the chance to ask them some questions, namely what they’re AlwaysHungry for and what their current favorite New York City restaurant is. Following is the latest installment of AlwaysHungryNY.com’s occasional feature, HungryChefs, focusing on New York’s great pastry chefs.
AlwaysLearning: Are Critics Important?
The Gluttoness — October 08, 2009
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From left: Danny Meyer, Lee Schrager, Mimi Sheraton, Jean-Luc Naret, Jean-Georges and Kate Krader.
On Tuesday, in honor of the 2010 New York City Michelin Guide, Danny Meyer, Lee Schrager, Mimi Sheraton, Jean-Luc Naret (director of the Michelin Guide), Jean-Georges and Kate Krader gathered at the Borders in the Time Warner Center for a discussion about the state of restaurant criticism. Moderator Mike Colameco’s first question didn’t mince words: do critics matter?
AlwaysInvestigating: New Buns on the Block
The Gluttoness — September 09, 2009
Until now, your best bet for pork buns (not counting Chinatown) was below 14th Street, the Goliaths being, Momofuku Ssäm and Noodle Bar. During the past few months Midtown has sprouted new restaurants that serve Chinese steamed pork buns (char siu bao).
Mantou Chinese Sandwiches, on the East Side (view site), is a sliver of a restaurant specializing in sandwiches on “sesame seed-studded, steamed mantou—a traditional Chinese steamed bread …a staple of Northern Chinese cuisine.” On the West Side is Xie Xie (restaurant page), which is Mandarin for “Thank you.” Xie Xie’s five-item Asian sandwich concept is helmed by Chef Angelo Sosa, who was executive sous-chef at Jean Georges for four years. Both places have a counter for ordering and seating, but these interpretations showcase two styles.
Mantou serves two buns, Spicy Pork or Braised Pork (each costs $3.95). Instead of buying them individually you can opt for the $9.95 Combo Box which includes any two sandwiches with a side salad and shrimp chips. The buns look like Big Mac’s but are soft and luscious like fluffy English muffins.
Mantou’s Braised Pork Bun.
Mantou’s spongy bun envelops thick, tender slices of braised fatty pork. It’s dressed with crunchy slivers of cucumber, cilantro, and hoisin, which ensure fresh well-rounded flavors and juicy sweetness that balance the rich flavor of the salty pork. The first taste (with a little Sambal) was the best. Unfortunately, the next bite included the chewy end of the roast.
HungryChefs: Chefs Love Lupa, Mixed on Hot Dogs
The Gluttoness — June 11, 2009
Roasted Pork Shoulder “Gyro” with Pickled Cucumber & Yogurt from Anthos at Street & Savory
Some of the country’s best chefs attended Citymeals-on-Wheels’ Street & Savory Tasting Event. We’ve already brought you pictures of all the dishes and rounded up our favorite plates, but we were also able to speak with the chefs.
Our questions were obvious: What are you AlwaysHungry for? Which New York City restaurant do you crave? And in keeping with the night’s theme: what would you serve if you opened your own street cart? Some chefs took the easy route, promoting dishes they had prepared for the evening, others were quite creative with their responses.
AlwaysPartying: Top 5 Sweet & Savory at Street & Savory
The Gluttoness — June 10, 2009
“Street and Savory— A Global Street Food Festival for the Benefit of Citymeals-on-Wheels” was one of the most successful tasting events I’ve ever attended, and not because Kelly Choi was hosting. Rather than trying to outdo the next guy with fancier foie gras, the mission at Street & Savory was much simpler: a legion of legendary chefs set out to creatively interpret their favorite street foods. While the dishes weren’t necessarily low-brow, the majority of them kept with the theme, and the most delicious bites were those which could easily be served on the street.
Street cart veterans, like Roy Choi of the famed Los Angeles Kogi BBQ Truck, served Kimchi Quesadillas alongside Jean Georges, Daniel Boulud and Charlie Palmer, who took on the format with impressive results. With a little under forty booths, there was much to be eaten. Our award for creativity goes to Park Avenue Summer’s “3-Minute Picnic.” Of course, this wasn’t a contest, and ultimately, the real winner was Citymeals-on-Wheels, which raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to help feed the homeless, but of course we had our favorites among the many stands.
A quick round-up of the best of the bunch follows.
SEARCH: A+ Restaurant to Suggest to Boss for Romantic Date?
March 30, 2009
Use our very advanced search engine to always find the perfect place. Do you need to suggest to your boss an A+ date place for a romantic evening? Here’s what is AlwaysHungry Approved:
1. Babbo 110 Waverly Place
Recommended Dishes: Warm Lamb’s Tongue Vinaigrette, Black Spaghetti with Rock Shrimp, Pork Chop
2. Blue Hill @ Stone Barns 630 Bedford Road
Recommended Dishes: Everything
3. Del Posto 85 10th Avenue
Recommended Dishes: Lobster Salad Fra Diavola, Baked Ricotta Nudi, Garganelli Verdi al Ragu Bolognese, Beef Tenderloin For Two
4. Dovetail 103 W. 77th Street
Recommended Dishes: Corn Bread, Crispy Sweetbreads, Monkfish with Curry, Brioche Bread Pudding with Bacon Brittle
5. Il Mulino 86 W.3rd Street
Recommended Dishes: Clams Casino, Linguine with Clam Sauce, Truffle Ravioli, Veal Milanese, Lamb Chops, Chicken Special
6. Jean Georges 1 Central Park West
Recommended Dishes: Egg Caviar, Uni with Black Bread, Foie Gras Brulée, Jean-Georges Chocolate Cake
7. L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon 57 E. 57th Street
Recommended Dishes: Langoustine Carpaccio, Gazpacho, Tomato Cappelini with Caviar, Beef & Foie Gras Burgers, Kaffir-Lime Meringue
8. Le Bernardin 155 W. 51st Street
Recommended Dishes: Kampachi Tartare, Peruvian-Style Geoduck, Poached Escolar in Red Wine Bernaise, Sea Urchin Risotto
Always Partying: A First Look at 3 New Concepts
The Gluttoness — March 11, 2009
Time Out New York’s Dining & Libations Event revealed a trio of introductions. First, the unveiling of ‘Woodson and Ford.’ The sexy speakeasy, located beneath an unmarked black staircase on the corner of Bleecker Street and Broadway. Secondly, a look at Johnny Iuzzini (Executive Pastry Chef at Jean Georges) and Dave Arnold’s (Head of Technology at FCI and the mad scientist of liquor) experimental bar concept, and lastly as a first-look at Chef George Mendes’ much delayed, yet forthcoming restaurant Aldea (now slated to open in April).
The most impressive cocktail from Iuzzini & Arnold was dubbed the “Sgt. Fruity Peppercorn.” It included pink peppercorn, Rhum Clement (Martinique rum), grapefruit, Creole Shrub (an orange liqueur by Rhum Clement) and an edible twist. To make this complex cocktail, they mixed pink peppercorns with grain alcohol and re-distilled the mixture to remove the bitterness, leaving behind just their nose and pungency. The inclusion of grapefruit wasn’t cut-and-dry either. The duo fashioned ice cubes out of clarified grapefruit juice then used them when shaking the drinks to provide a subtle grapefruit essence. Even the garnish was highly technical. First, blanched chervil and tarragon were blended with negative 234º liquid nitrogen. Then, the frozen, smoking mixture was poured into a fine chinois, which was lightly tapped over each glass. Herb-infused snowflakes sparkled as they floated down to the stiff drinks. Finally, the bottom of each Sgt. Fruity included an “edible twist”—a slice of orange rind that had been put in a pressure-cooker so that it resembled a sweet, orange fruit snack.
Interview: Leyla Marchetto of Scuderia
Arthur Bovino — March 10, 2009
There’s a new Italian trattoria in the West Village, Scuderia, right across from Da Silvano. This chic, but casual, bar/restaurant is the creation of Team Scuderia: famed restaurateur, Silvano Marchetto; his daughter, Leyla; his long-time manager, Alessandro Bandini; and friend and musician, Fabrizio Sotti. In anticipation of last night’s opening, AlwaysHungry stopped in to talk with Leyla about her new place.
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AHNY: How would you define Scuderia’s concept?
LM: The concept is a casual, modern day New York version of an Italian trattoria and bar. You know, it’s not the old world kind of Mom and Pop looking trattoria but it’s casual, we have some of these stools that are more enoteca style. I call them our East Village shout out because they remind me of East Village wine bars. So it’s more casual, more moderately priced, and I think we’re reaching out to some of the clientele that doesn’t actually go to Da Silvano, you know, younger people, or people who can’t afford it. So then we’re able to, in the vicinity of two hundred feet, attract customers, you know, in addition to some overlap that I’m sure we will have. Hopefully we’ll get customers for breakfast and then they’ll take their clients there for lunch or dinner. There’s some overlap, but the menu is very different.
We’re calling it casual Italian comfort food with some American twists. There’s a brioche grilled cheese that has speck and rosemary in it and there’s the Scuderia Hamburger, a luscious, yummy burger with Tuscan fries…
AHNY: Tell me more about the Hamburger della Scuderia…
LM: It is a beef brisket burger, so it’s like heavenly, the right salty juiciness from the brisket. It comes with caramelized onions that are cooked with cilantro and jalapeño. And then it has Monterrey Jack cheese, and it’s served on a toasted sesame bun. It’s really good. It’s very juicy. It’s not a little burger.
AHNY: So what would you consider Scuderia’s signature dishes?
LM: I would say, the Pizza Scuderia. It’s strong. I would recommend that as a sharing item. I mean you can have entire pizza but it’s fig jam, blue cheese and speck, so it’s kind of strong. I would recommend that for sharing. The other one that’s really good, pizza-wise, the Occhio di Bue, translates to Bull’s-eye, in Italian and it’s pizza that has mozzarella and pecorino and then there is pancetta and spinach and then an egg is cooked in the middle of it. And when you cut it…it’s everyone’s favorite.
And then Claudio Cristofoli, the chef, is from Venice, and then Fabrizio is from Padova, so there’s kind of influences from different areas of Italy. The Arancini di Riso, It’s two fried rice balls with pecorino inside, that come in this terracotta kind of thing with tomato sauce underneath it and they have a bit of the braised beef cheeks in them so there’s meat and cheese and they’re warm…I’ve probably had six rice balls in the last four days.
I would also say pasta-wise, I’m kind of partial to the beef cheek ragù. I should kind of switch to another one shouldn’t I? Oh, the squid ink noodles with the seafood is amazing. So there’s black squid ink, a teeny bit spicy, tomatoes, seafood, like there’s mussels and different types of fish…amazing…To go away from the carbs, Claudio makes this skirt steak with three different dipping sauces…The skirt steak is marinated, so soft, ahead the night before and then it comes with these three little sauces. One’s green, one’s red, and one’s yellow. You dip it in and it’s amazing and it’s so tender.
And you could get some of the sides—grilled polenta, I really like. Kind of crispy on the outside, soft on the inside.
Dessert-wise I can give you one really good dessert that’s fabulous. Everyone has had a good response. Instead of tiramisu it’s called a “Tiramelosu”. And it’s a deconstructed tiramisu. So it comes on a cutting board and there are a couple of ladyfingers. There’s an espresso and there’s the zabaglione. So you dip it in and kind of do your own thing. And, it’s really, really good. And I’ve never seen that anywhere. I don’t know if it comes from somewhere in Italy or if he invented it but it’s amazing…[Also,] I would have the Pizza with Nutella and mascarpone for dessert. It’s like a mini 6-inch pizza with a thin layer of Nutella, a little bit of melted mascarpone dusted with sugar and it’s heavenly. Also, good for breakfast with coffee, cause I just had a piece.
AlwaysInformed: FCI Debuts Hot Dog Eating Contest
August 27, 2008
The French Culinary Institute and the Friends of the FCI are throwing a fierce Hot Dog Eating Contest and Condiment Recipe Throwdown at 3:30 tomorrow in the school’s ampitheater at Broadway & Grand Streets. The impressive panel of judges includes Neil Ferguson-“Allen & Delancey”:http://www.alwayshungryny.com/reviews/allen-delancey/, Josh Eden-“Shortys.32”:http://www.alwayshungryny.com/reviews/shortys32/, Dave Pasternack-“Esca”:http://www.alwayshungryny.com/reviews/esca/, Johnny Iuzzini-“Jean Georges”:http://www.alwayshungryny.com/reviews/jean-georges/, Lawrence Knapp-“Quality Meats”:http://www.alwayshungryny.com/reviews/quality-meats/ & Craig Koketsu-“Park Avenue Summer”:http://www.alwayshungryny.com/reviews/park-avenue-summer/. With chefs like these and the possibility of projectile vomiting, what’s a better way to spend your Thursday afternoon?
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