AlwaysInformed: New Bar Artisanal, Same Pan con Tomate

Maryse Chevrière — May 18, 2010

Pan con Tomate at Bar Artisanal.

Today’s news that chef Terrance Brennan’s Bar Artisanal has been reincarnated as a “Spanish restaurant and tapas bar,” means the former menu’s French-bent dishes are gone.

The popular goat cheese-stuffed Lamb Burger has been dropped, and the Pissaladières reintroduced with new ingredients as “Pa Cocas.” New items like Sea Urchin Crema, Liquid Foie Gras, and Manchego Tempura sound intriguing, but then, we could have told you Bar Artisanal did Spanish well.

Some of the original menu’s Spanish dishes remain, most importantly, the Pan con Tomate. It’s offered classic-style, with Boquerones, or with Jamón Serrano. The rendition ranked number two on our Top 5 list of the City’s best. Its thin application of rubbed tomato strikes an appropriate balance with garlic-heavy bread. Of course, there’s the bonus of a side of juicy tomato purée.

Top 5: Pork Chop

April 28, 2010

Introducing Pork Chop as a truly viable contender in the pantheon of meat.

Jimmy Bradley set the bar years ago with his pork chop at The Red Cat, Babbo has been rocking one for a long time as well. A few years ago, Little Owl jumped into the mix and seemed instrumental in raising the bar for New York’s pork game. Now there’s an embarrassment of riches.

Chops seared, sliced, and served bloody like a steak. Chops, still on the bone, but expertly Frenched, and twice the size of your fist. Simply-seasoned, or dressed with sweet glaze, and good crust. Welcome to New Pork (Chop) City. After exhaustive research, here is Always Hungry’s Top 5.

Click here to find out Always Hungry’s Top 5 Pork Chop

Have an idea for a Top 5? We’d love to hear from you. Go to the bottom of a Top 5 page and enter your suggestion into the “Suggest a Top 5” field along with your rankings and your email address.

AlwaysPartying: Tater Day

Arthur Bovino — March 31, 2010

Tater tots. Fried, salty, cylindrical, grated perfection.

Today, March 31, is National Tater Day, which gives reason to celebrate Tater Tots. Whether eaten as bar food or breakfast, while creating a hangover or recovering from one, there’s something comforting about Tater Tots. Fried, salty, cylindrical, grated potatoes — perfection.

Not too long ago, we sought out the City’s best rendition. In honor of this taterific day, check out Always Hungry’s Top 5 Tater Tots.

Top 5: Matzoh Balls

Jeff Zalaznick — March 29, 2010

An unexpected contender, and a forgotten favorite have finally established a Top 5 Matzoh Ball list.

Last year’s Top 5 quest to find New York’s best matzoh balls, uncovered an amazing and disturbing discovery: some of the City’s supposed best Balls were no longer living up to their reputation. New York had only three contenders. A host of issues sunk classics like Barney Greengrass, Blue Ribbon Bakery, Bubby’s, Carnegie Deli (the worst in class), and 5 Napkin Burger. Most were plagued by underseasoning, and/or bad texture. It was a sad state of affairs for both the City and the Jewish culinary community.

But, the clouds have parted, and in the last year, the addition of an unexpected contender, and the reminder of a forgotten favorite, have finally rounded out a list worthy of exalting this Passover. We have a Matzoh Ball Minion!

Happy Passover! Now go do like the Persians do and smack each other with some scallions!

Click here to find out Always Hungry’s Top 5 Matzoh Ball Soup

Have an idea for a Top 5? We’d love to hear from you. Go to the bottom of a Top 5 page and enter your suggestion into the “Suggest a Top 5” field along with your rankings and your email address.

Top 5: Bone Marrow

March 18, 2010

Warm and buttery, spread on bread that’s toasted or fresh, bone marrow is an unctuous treat.

Meat jelly. Meat butter. Quasi-solid meat oil. Bone marrow as a condiment. The new butter. The new lardo, even. Go back a few years and it was rare to find it anywhere but in the middle of an Ossobuco, the part that your grandfather loved, but no one else explored. In the last few years it has exploded as an ingredient of choice. There is no doubt that Blue Ribbon was the first to the party when they paired it with Oxtail Marmalade, and created a drunken chef’s best friend, but now it is everywhere, running rampant at great restaurants across the country.

When it comes to marrow, there is marrow as an ingredient, as in the Fusilli and Bone Marrow Pasta at Marea, or the Marrow Poppers at Employees Only, and then there is marrow in its pure sense— served as the main event. It’s the latter that we’re talking about— the bone of the fore shank (though the bone from the hind shank can be used too) veal or beef, that is, typically, sawed in half, seasoned, roasted, and served with toast, and an accoutrement that is most often a variation on a lemony parsley salad.

Obviously, the bread and the accoutrements play a role, but what makes one roasted marrow bone better than another? The sourcing (the inherent animal quality), the cooking (if cooked too long, the marrow dries up, and even the thought of undercooked marrow is disgusting), and of course, the seasoning. There are many factors the play into a great roasted marrow bone, which is why it has become a dish that not only has a loyal following, but a place of honor in the pantheon of Top 5’s.

Click here to find out Always Hungry’s Top 5 Bone Marrow.

Have an idea for a Top 5? We’d love to hear from you. Go to the bottom of a Top 5 page and enter your suggestion into the “Suggest a Top 5” field along with your rankings and your email address.

Top 5: Affogato

February 04, 2010

The Affogato: hot, bitter espresso poured over sweet ice cream. It’s a great meal-ender.

Affogato, it’s Italian for ‘drowned.’ Gelato drowned in hot espresso— coffee and dessert combined. Sounds like a simple dessert, right?

But there’s nuance involved in what constitutes a great affogato. What kind of espresso? What flavor gelato? Vanilla? No? What kind? And what’s the ratio of one to the other? Is there whipped cream, caramel or chocolate sauce? Toppings— sweet or salty variables scattered on top or served on the side? We kept all this in mind as we set out to find the City’s Top Five renditions.

Click here to find out Always Hungry’s Top 5 Affogato.

Have an idea for a Top 5? We’d love to hear from you. Go to the bottom of a Top 5 page and enter your suggestion into the “Suggest a Top 5” field along with your rankings and your email address.

Top 5: Chicken Liver

January 15, 2010

Chopped or smooth, with accoutrements or not, New York has some spectacular chicken liver.

Chicken Liver comes in many forms, the major ones being chopped, pâté, and crostini di fegato. New York has always had a wealth of renditions, but recently, gourmet incarnations seem to be popping up more and more. Regardless of the distinctions involved in their preparation, Always Hungry’s Top 5 Chicken Liver list represents the best in New York.

Click here to find out Always Hungry’s Top 5 Chicken Liver.

Have an idea for a Top 5? We’d love to hear from you. Go to the bottom of a Top 5 page and enter your suggestion into the “Suggest a Top 5” field along with your rankings and your email address.

Always Hungry: Veselka

Maryse Chevrière — January 06, 2010

Artist Arnie Charnick installing Veselkhiarascuro at the Always Hungry Headquarters

In The Times’ Dining Section today, Julia Moskin spotlights East Village cult favorite, Veselka, the perennial go-to for late-night dining and Temple of Pirogi and Kielbasa.

Always Hungry has been a fan of the spot for quite some time. Last July, we professed our love with a grand gesture: buying and installing at Always Hungry Headquarters the iconic Veselkhiarascuro mural that had long graced the restaurant’s walls.

For more of Always Hungry’s Veslka-related content, see where it placed in a list of the Top 5: Latkes in New York and check out the video of Josh Ozersky, who proclaimed Veselka’s burger the best during a blind taste-test.

Top 5: Latkes

December 15, 2009

Latkes: Complicated Simplicity

Where one eats latkes is a very personal thing. This becomes even more important come the Festival of Lights. There are so many factors that go into determining whether one likes a latke or not: thickness, weight, seasoning, size, crispness. So, in honor of Hannukah, we set out to find the five best latkes that embodied different versions of these factors while still adhering to traditional preparation.

Click here to find out AlwaysHungryNY.com’s Top 5 Latkes.

Have an idea for a Top 5? We’d love to hear from you. Go to the bottom of a Top 5 page and enter your suggestion into the “Suggest a Top 5” field along with your rankings and your email address.

Top 5: Uni Pasta

AlwaysHungry — November 12, 2009

Sea Urchin and Pasta, the perfect combination.

Uni. Pasta. Two of our favorite things. Their marriage? Brilliance. The warmth of the pasta. The light, sweet, creamy smoothness of the uni. Their combination is enough to send us into panegyric hyperbole. We often ask chefs what they’re Always Hungry for. Here’s a dish that if it’s made well, no matter how many times we’ve eaten it, we can’t help ourselves. If we see it on the menu we have to order it.

Inspired by another bowl of the Uni Carbonara at Tocqueville, we recently set out to rank New York City’s best renditions. The factors that went into judging them? First and foremost is obviously the quality of the uni. Then there’s the amount of it and how it’s implemented.

Click here to find out AlwaysHungryNY.com’s Top 5 Uni Pastas.

Have an idea for a Top 5? We’d love to hear from you. Go to the bottom of a Top 5 page and enter your suggestion into the “Suggest a Top 5” field along with your rankings and your email address.

Top 5: Tater Tots

October 01, 2009

Tater tots. Fried, salty, cylindrical, grated perfection.

Whether eaten as bar food or breakfast, while creating a hangover or recovering from one, there’s something comforting about Tater Tots. Fried, salty, cylindrical, grated potatoes — perfection. Inspired by a heated alcohol-induced debate, AlwaysHungryNY.com set out to discover who serves the city’s best.

Some “tater tots” fell outside of our parameters and no matter how good they were, were not included. Take for example, the “Tater Tots” on the menus at davidburke’s townhouse and BLT Prime, which must be considered together. Both are excellent, but BLT Prime’s aren’t so much tots as fantastic potato croquettes with smooth, whipped potato centers and bold, tangy, blue cheese flavor. Similarly, the half-moon shaped tots at davidburke’s townhouse have a candied outer texture and are served with an Aji Amarillo Aioli (a Peruvian yellow chili pepper). Both are called tots, but they stray far enough from the traditional idea that we decided they belonged in their own category. Basically, we are judging on the traditional while still allowing restaurants some creative interpretation.

Click here to find out AlwaysHungryNY.com’s Top 5 Tater Tots.

Have an idea for a Top 5? We’d love to hear from you. Go to the bottom of a Top 5 page and enter your suggestion into the “Suggest a Top 5” field along with your rankings and your email address.

AlwaysLearning: Calimocho

Arthur Bovino — September 01, 2009

A half-carafe of Kalimoxto ($15) at Bar Carrera.

Calimocho. Mixing soda and wine might not be the first thing that comes to mind when seeking out something different to sip on as the summer sun goes down, but it’s a pleasant variation of the wine cocktail for those who have tired of sangria.

What it is: Calimocho is a 50/50 mixture of red wine and Coca-Cola. The soda’s carbonation actually dissipates quite quickly, and the cola flavor cuts the tannins in the wine. The result is a slightly sweet, pleasantly refreshing drink.

Where it’s from: Algorta, Spain (view map). Supposedly, Calimocho (from the Basque Kalimoxto) was the brainchild of a txosnas, a drink vendor who was selling wine at a festival in 1972. When he discovered that his wine was off he mixed it with Coca-Cola to mask the fermentation. The drink became a hit. It is said to have become a preferred drink of Spanish teenagers looking for a cheap, sweet buzz.

Where to get it in New York: Bar Carrera serves their version of this Basque favorite by the half-carafe ($15), with an aromatic cinnamon stick sitting upright in the glass. You don’t taste the cinnamon as much as inhale its musky fragrance. It’s well-paired with Bar Carrera’s Top 5 Pan con Tomate, a light, crusty treat. If you don’t want to make the kind of commitment to Kalimoxto that Bar Carrera calls for, you can try a glass of it for $6 at La Nacional on West 14th Street where the beverage —called Calimocho there— consists of a moderately priced Rioja served on the rocks with a spritz of Coke.

Pie-by-Pie: La Pizza Fresca

The Hungry Goat — August 05, 2009

With the proliferation of Neapolitan-style pizzerias in New York City, the debate over who serves the most authentic, wood-oven baked pizza is as hotly contested as where to get the best slice. With the buzz around heavy-hitting newcomers like Motorino and Kesté swelling, AlwaysHungryNY.com decided to see if an originator of Neapolitan-style pizza in New York City, La Pizza Fresca (restaurant page), still held its own. Renowned for being the first New York City restaurant to become certified by the Associazione Vera Pizza Napoletana in 1997, the amount of praise that La Pizza Fresca’s pies has garnered is staggering—most recently including mention in New York Magazine’s Top 20 Pies of the Moment. It makes our negative experience there all the more puzzling.

“La Pizza Fresca” (Tomato Sauce, Bufala Mozzarella, Italian Cherry Tomatoes, Black Olives, Parmigiano Reggiano, & Basil, $18)

The restaurant’s namesake pizza was its best. The sweet, fruity San Marzano tomato sauce starred, acting as a foil to the briny, whole black olives. Slices of fresh buffalo mozzarella added a subtle tang. A meager scattering of cherry tomatoes makes you wonder why they bothered with them at all. Of course, the real draw of a Neapolitan style pizza is the thin crust, and La Pizza Fresca’s limp, chewy base was dangerously close to that of Franny’s, a problem with every pie.

Quattro Formaggi (Bufala Mozzarella, Gorgonzola, Fontina & Parmigiano Cheeses, $19)

Billed as featuring bold cheese, their flavors were muted and overshadowed by heavily charred bubbles in the crust. The plump pieces of mozzarella which featured so prominently in the signature La Fresca pie, had melted into obscurity.

Continue for more pictures of La Pizza Fresca's pies. >>

Top 5: Porchetta

July 09, 2009

Porchetta (restaurant page) put the slow-roasted pork sandwich of the same name on our radar last fall. Italian tradition dictates that boneless pig be arranged with layers of seasoning, meat, fat and skin before being spit-roasted for hours. A heavy hand of salt, garlic and aromatic herbs like rosemary and fennel adds considerable flavor. Since the success of this tiny East Village pork bar, it seems this popular Italian street food has been showing up on more and more menus across the city.

So it wasn’t a surprise when Cesare Casella served Salumeria Rosi’s Porchetta Toscana at last month’s Street & Savory event. Just a quarter of a sandwich from Salumeria was good enough to get us thinking, “maybe Porchetta isn’t the king after all.”

It inspired us to find out if they really serve the city’s best. If you’re going to name your restaurant after a single dish, you better be sure you’ve nailed it, right? Click here to find out AlwaysHungryNY.com’s Top 5 Porchetta Sandwiches.

Have an idea for a Top 5? We’d love to hear from you. Go to the bottom of a Top 5 page and enter your suggestion into the “Suggest a Top 5” field along with your rankings and your email address.

Featured Dish: Salumeria Rosi’s Amatriciana

Jeff Zalaznick — July 08, 2009

Salumeria Rosi’s Mezzi Rigatoni All’amatriciana

The definition of a classic Amatriciana all depends on the person with whom you are speaking. In my mind, it starts with guanciale, sauteéd in olive oil. You remove the guanciale, sauté the onions and red pepper flakes with tomato paste, add San Marzano canned tomatoes, reintroduce the guanciale and serve it all with perfectly cooked Bucatini, Spaghetti, Rigatoni or Mezzemani (short rigatoni).

There are other ways to make it though. Some people add cheese, Parmigiano or Pecorino Romano, and some people (usually those from the town of Amatrice) do not even use onions. The point being that there is really one core value in an amatriciana, the meat, and that meat is guanciale. I give this background because we have encountered a rendition that does not violate the holy cured pork jowl, but builds upon it in a way that is not only in line with tradition (no one ever said you couldn’t add more meat), but also game-changing.

At Cesare Casella’s Salumeria Rosi (restaurant page), the dish is Mezzi Rigatoni all’Amatriciana, and it is described as nothing more than, “Artisanal pasta with cured pork, red onions and tomatoes.” One would think that this “cured pork” refererred to is guanciale, but there are eight other meats featured in the dish. Here is a list of everything else ‘cured pork’ refers to (for your pleasure, we have also included what part of the pig it comes from):

Guanciale unsmoked Italian bacon, pig’s jowl and cheek
Prosciutto di Parma – cured ham from Parma, hind leg of pig
Prosciutto San Daniele – cured ham from San Daniele, hind leg of pig
Speck – cured ham flavored with juniper and other spices, thigh of pig
Coppa – aged cured ham in intestine, shoulder to rib piece of pig
Pancetta – Italian Bacon, cured pork belly
Prosciutto Cotto – cooked prosciutto
Prosciutto Grigliatto – grilled prosciutto
Mortadella – Italian bologna, ground pork & sliced neck lard sausage

This is a killer amatriciana that should be attacked immediately. And, at $7.00 a serving, you are paying less than a dollar per meat.