Featured Dessert: The “Shacked-Up”
Arthur Bovino — July 13, 2010
“Shacked-Up,” an off-menu mash-up of three new concretes.
SHAKE SHACK THEATRE DISCTRICT
Starring Danny Meyer
OPENING NIGHT: A SHAKE SHACK LINE!
A musical about tourists and zealots alike!
The new Shake Shack in Midtown West has created opportunities for burger headlines, pun-ridden show titles, and at the least, the names for three new menu-standard concretes: the Great White Way, Pretzel! The Concrete, and Jelly’s Last Donut. Those new menu items have also created the opportunity for a new over-the-top off-the-menu option, a mixture of all three.
AlwaysInformed: Shakes Coming Soon to Baoguette
Maryse Chevrière — May 24, 2010
It’s no secret that Michael Bao is constantly adding to his ever-expanding empire. From the looks of a freshly painted menu above the register at the Baoguette on St. Marks, the latest addition is milkshakes.
Though not available yet—representatives from the restaurant said that they were waiting on equipment—it appears that flavors like Toasted Sesame, Black Sesame, Avocado, and Durian will be on the offer. No word on exactly when the new frozen treat program will be launching, so be sure to keep on the lookout.
36 Dishes in Houston, TX
Arthur Bovino and Maryse Chevrière — April 01, 2010
In The New York Times weekly column, 36 Hours, a weekend-long itinerary is given for different cities. Always Hungry takes a culinary-focused, food-challenge approach to weekend travel with an occasional feature, 36 Dishes. The goal? Consume at least 36 memorable dishes and beverages from a city’s significant places during one weekend. Boston was profiled last time. Up next: Houston, TX.
Clockwise from top: Houston skyline overlooking David Adickes Sculpturworx, musicians at El Hidalguense, and a cowboy taking a break at the Houston Rodeo.
The food scene in Houston: Barbecue, chicken fried steak, fajitas. Sure, it has them all. But this is America’s fourth largest city, one with an international business community where, one local confided, “fortunes can be made, and the good life can be had.” Sure, there are boot-wearing cowboys, but besides the large Mexican population, there are also significant Vietnamese and Arab communities. So, when visiting H-Town, it’s best to leave culinary preconceptions at home.
We did just that, during a recent weekend, tackling significant dishes in Houston (3/20-22), from Pig’s Ear Cake to Chicken Fried Meatballs on a stick. Eating began on Saturday afternoon at 12:20pm, just less than an hour and a half after touching down at George Bush Intercontinental Airport. And yes, a lot of time was spent on Westheimer Road. For the record, the number of dishes (and hours) well-surpassed the title of this feature. Don’t make us say it. Everything is bigger…
AlwaysPartying: A Shamrock Shake and a Whiskey Witch Walked into a Bar…
Maryse Chevrière — March 17, 2010
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Clockwise from top: McDonald’s elusive Shamrock Shake, Fat Witch Bakery’s Whiskey Witch, and Baked by Melissa’s St. Patrick’s Day Cupcakes (image courtesy of Baked by Melissa).
Greensanity continues. This time with green sweets. As reported, the Union Square McDonald’s is serving the Shamrock Shake, a tasty minty green confection not normally found in New York. It’s good, get it while you can (though maybe not between stops on your bar crawl!).
If you’re in the Union Square neighborhood with a sweet tooth, make a pit stop at Baked by Melissa for their festive green cupcakes. Or if you’re by Chelsea Market, Fat Witch Bakery is offering some St. Patrick’s Day-themed brownies, like the Whiskey Witch: “a wee bit of whiskey in a Fat Witch.” It’s a sly, guilt-free way to booze at your desk if you can’t be out amongst all the drunken tomfoolery.
Always Hungry: The Perfect Chocolate Malted
GutterGourmet — January 28, 2010
A Banana Chocolate Malted at Eddie’s Sweet Shop in Forest Hills, Queens.
Growing up in Queens, little league baseball was life and death. To lose a game invoked serious thoughts of suicide. Fortunately, the coach, who was the father of one of my teammates, knew the perfect way to get us over our shame and mentally prepare us for next week’s game: chocolate malteds! As we only got to go for malteds when we lost, I must confess I might have looked at a few too many strikes.
The thing about the perfect malted is that to construct one, you need specific ingredients and even more specific equipment. The places that have these things are soda fountains like Lexington Candy Shop, Hildebrandt’s in Williston Park, and Eddie’s Sweet Shop in Forest Hills, which has been around since 1909. Never drive through Queens without stopping for one (for a great variation, try their banana chocolate malted).
Of course, you could always make yourself a malted at home. If you do, keep in mind the following:
Featured Desserts: Guinness Cake and Shake Pairing
The Gluttoness — October 30, 2009
Left, Guinness Chocolate Cake at Vinegar Hill House ($8.00). Right, MARK Burger’s Guinness Milkshake ($6.50).
We totally agree with Celia Cheng’s latest craving: Guinness Chocolate Cake at Vinegar Hill House (view). We too crave its dense, fudgy flavor. The cake is supremely chocolatly, but with a tempered sweetness, one supplemented by its cream cheese frosting. It almost mimics an Oreo, coating the mouth with that nostalgic combination of chocolate and cream. Milk is the obvious accompaniment, but we stumbled across an even more perfect pairing. Something with Guinness, of course.
MARK Burger’s (view) Guinness Milkshake is a rich reincarnation of a classic Irish Car Bomb. It’s Chef Erik Rubin’s favorite party drink, and he told me he couldn’t believe no one had thought of this before. Rubin first tried to make it a float, but ultimately he realized that you just can’t go wrong with that classic combination of a milkshake with a burger and fries. His secret method? Rubin reduces the Guinness with a little sugar to create a caramel syrup. Each shake blends four ounces of syrup with Ciao Bella’s Tahitian Vanilla Gelato. The first sip of this thick milkshake has crazy Guinness flavor, but eventually the hint of dark beer becomes lost amongst the shake’s creamy decadence.
Now all we have to do is get these two together.
AlwaysInvestigating: Burger Square-Off (Philly vs. New York)
The Gluttoness — October 06, 2009
SquareBurger’s Classic Hamburger.
Restaurant: SquareBurger
Address: 200 N 6th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106 (map)
Hours: Through October 31st, Mon-Fri, 11am-2pm; Sat-Sun 11am-7pm.
AlwaysHungry Grade: A
AlwaysHungry Recommends: SquareBurger, The Cake Shake, Classic French Fries
The proliferation of Philadelphia’s restaurant scene can be partly attributed to Stephen Starr. After tackling New York City and Atlantic City, he seems to have found himself back in the City of Brotherly Love. As his empire grows to encompass everything from soul food to steakhouses, he unabashedly draws inspiration from his most revered peers. His recent venture, Parc, a French bistro on Rittenhouse Square, is an obvious interpretation of Keith McNally’s Pastis or Balthazar. Starr openly toured the top pizzerias in New York and New Haven for his own Neapolitan pizza joint, Stella. This summer, in an obvious replication of Danny Meyer’s celebrated Shake Shack, he opened SquareBurger (view), a burger stand in Philadelphia’s Franklin Square just off I-95.
The small SquareBurger shack is nearby the Franklin Square Fountain.
SquareBurger is next to a beautiful fountain, but it’s in an area devoid of local foot traffic, which may explain why there were only five people there on a sunny Saturday. While there are differences between Shake Shack and SquareBurger, both pay their due to burgers and frozen sweets. Ultimately, it comes down to a direct comparison between Starr’s Classic Cheeseburger and Meyer’s ShackBurger, between a SquareBurger’s Classic Shake and Shake Shack’s Hand-Spun Shakes and Concretes. The question is, can Starr top Meyer?
OnlyLook: Mother Burger
Arthur Bovino — September 30, 2009
Mother Burger’s Bacon Cheeseburger w/Applegate Farms’ Organic Sunday Bacon $8.50.
You know you should be suspicious when servers at a restaurant with ‘burger’ in the name suggest everything except the burger. That happened at Mother Burger (view site) in the plaza behind One Worldwide Plaza in Midtown when we were recently invited for dinner.
The large, open courtyard should be an ideal setting for drawing office coworkers when the whistle blows. Blockheads Burritos co-owners (and brothers), Don and Ken Sofer, must have had a similar thought when they recently signed their 10-year lease. With outdoor seating, $2.00 beer specials, blue skies, recession-friendly prices and hormone-free and organic meats, there’s reason to be hopeful, albeit skeptical when sitting down to the free peanuts.
AlwaysTraveling: Charlie’s Hamburgers (Folsom, PA)
The Gluttoness — May 20, 2009
Charlie’s Hamburgers was first opened by Charlie Convenry in 1935. When the restaurant was forced to relocate further away from Route 402, Charlie sold it to long-time manager, Bernard “Bunny” McDonald, who opened the new Folsom, PA, location in 1986.
One juicy bite of a Charlie’s hamburger makes it easy to understand how they have maintained a loyal fan base despite a no-frills attitude and an influx of fast-food chains— little besides the location has changed. The same family of Jewish butchers has supplied the restaurant since 1935 and aside from the ice cream, nothing is frozen. The secret behind the beef is that they use meat from the front portion of the stomach. When asked about the smaller than average burger size, it’s explained that things are done the way they were first done and that, “people had smaller appetites back then.”
To compensate for the smaller patty size, most customers order doubles (above). Cheeseburgers are topped with thick slabs of yellow American cheese cut the old-fashioned way, from a giant brick. At Charlie’s, hot dogs (right) mean Philly Franks sliced through the center and weighted so the insides get blackened and extra crispy. Burgers and dogs are served on Baker’s Touch Sandwich Rolls, and the buns are always grilled on the greasy flattop. Condiments include ketchup, mustard, relish, pickles, tomato, onions, but you also have the option of ordering “à la Charlie,” with pickles, tomato and fried onion (top). Charlie’s has always used Potts Ice Cream to make their super thick milkshakes. It’s said that this is in return for Mr. Potts having lent Charlie Convenry part of the stake he needed to originally open the restaurant.
It might seem easy to saddle up to the counter and consume burger after burger with a cool Black-and-White milkshake, but if you’re the competitive type, keep in mind you’ll have to best the current record of 28 burgers if you want the title for most eaten. According to the folks at Charlie’s, this record is the legacy of Pat Ryan, who played the Mayor in The Toxic Avenger. Considering the cult following for these hamburgers, it’s fitting that an actor from a cult classic holds Charlie’s hamburger-eating title.
Restaurant: Charlie’s Hamburgers
Address: 336 Kedron Ave, Folsom, PA (view map)
AlwaysHungry Grade: B
AlwaysHungry Recommends: Hamburger, Cheeseburger, Shakes
Notes: Closed Tuesday.
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