Featured Dish: Off-the-Menu Ricotta Sandwich at Torrisi
GutterGourmet — April 09, 2010
The off-the-menu Spicy Turkey Breast Sandiwich with Lioni Whipped Ricotta, Roasted Bell Peppers, Spicy Peppers, and Spicy Pepper Spread at Torrisi Italian Specialties.
By now, you’ve heard about the Chicken Parm, and Turkey Sandwiches at Torrisi Italian Specialties, the little shop by chef-partners, Rich Torrisi and Mario Carbone, that is bringing Italian pride back to Mulberry Street. But there’s an off-the-menu option that Carbone recently told us about: a sandwich with Turkey, Ricotta and Peppers, both Spicy and Roasted.
AlwaysHungry: Thanksgiving
Maryse Chevrière — December 01, 2009
Top left, Arthur Bovino’s Apple-brined, Apple-stuffed Turkey. Right, Maryse Chevrière’s Brined Turkey. Bottom left, Jeff Zalaznick’s Hill Country Turkey. Right, Jeff’s Red Wine and Cranberry Jive Turkey.
Considering Thanksgiving is the year’s biggest and most significant eating day, we thought it only fitting that we share with you pictures from the AlwaysHungry Crew’s respective holiday meals. No two turkeys were alike, but a good food coma was had by all.
AlwaysHungry: Deep-Fried Turkey
Jeff Zalaznick — November 25, 2009
Chef Bradford Thompson’s brined turkey being marinated in FRANK’S REDHOT.
There is no question in my mind that Thanksgiving is one of the great meals of the year. It is a meal that I am so Always Hungry for, that I had a Thanksgiving dinner to celebrate my birthday in the middle of this past August. What I really had hoped to get out of my birthday celebration (aside from mashed potatoes and three kinds of stuffing) was an understanding of Deep Fried Turkey.
I called up James Beard award winner and tailgate legend, Chef Bradford Thompson to do the honors, and he fried one hell of a bird. He does it by doing a traditional brine over night, marinating the turkey in FRANK’S REDHOT Hot Cayenne Pepper Sauce for six to twelve hours, and then deep-frying it. It’s easy, simple and something that you should definitely look into if you have not made your turkey plans for tomorrow night as of yet. The pictures should whet your palate for the feast to come.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING.
Click Here for Pictures of Bradford Thompson's Deep-Fried Turkey >>
AlwaysInformed: Thanksgiving Burger
Maryse Chevrière — November 24, 2009
A cross-section of New York Burger Co.‘s Thanksgiving Burger.
Every holiday should be burgerfied. Something that New York Burger Co. (view) picked up on, at least for Thanksgiving. In honor of Turkey Day, the restaurant is serving a special Thanksgiving Burger.
The turkey burger ($6.75) comes topped with a generous smear of maple sweet potato mash and cranberry orange chutney. The burger is good, the meat is juicy and well-seasoned, and the combination with the sweet chutney truly harkens the flavors of the classic holiday feast. The only issue is the sweet potato mash— its sloppy, mushy texture adds little. If anything, it weighs the burger down, masking the turkey and contributing unnecessary sweetness. What it really needs is stuffing—arguably the best element in any Thanksgiving sandwich.
The burger will be on the menu through this Friday, November 27th, since presumably no one is going to want to eat turkey after this week. And if they are, it’ll be on a sandwich at home with leftovers.
AlwaysInformed: Jive Turkey
November 23, 2009
From left: Jive Turkey’s Honey Pecan Turkey, Peking Turkey, and BBQ Fried Turkey (www.thejiveturkey.com, images).
You keep meaning to do the whole fried turkey experience, but another Thanksgiving is passing by without you tasting one for lack of forethought and the complicated process. Enter Jive Turkey (site).
The Brooklyn restaurant fries 10 to 12lb turkeys that you can order online for delivery. There are about fifteen different preparations staring with its basic “Jive” model ($55.50/$75.50 holiday price, salt and pepper) and including Cajun, Jerk, BBQ, Peking, Mexican Mole, Orange Zinfandel and Honey Pecan. It’s too late to place an order for delivery or pick-up. But there are a few things you can do.
You can take your chances and visit the store to see if they have fried turkeys in stock. Jive Turkey’s website notes that turkeys and other holiday menu items are available for pick up without placing an order, first come, first served. Even better, place your Christmas order now, and if you don’t get turkeyed out from this week’s conventional preparations, stop in at the restaurant for the fried turkey plate with mashed potatoes and vegetables, or a fried turkey sandwich. The basic sandwich is served with Havarti on Challah Bread, while “The Gobbler” comes with Bleu Cheese and Cranberry Chutney on Brioche.
Other fried turkey options include a Turkey Cobb Salad, a “BLT with T,” and hot turkey sandwiches: with Cheddar, with Provolone, Jamaican Jerk Turkey, or a sandwich with gravy and cranberry sauce.
As the tagline says, “Grab. Gobble, Go!”
AlwaysFresh: A Day at Stone Barns
Michelle Kiefer — October 02, 2009
Tomorrow at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture is their Sixth Annual Harvest Fest, a community celebration of the farm at its most fruitful. As our Calendar notes, family-friendly festivities will include live music, a farm market, hayrides and games from 10:00am to 3:00pm. Here is a beautiful piece about a day spent at Stone Barns by Michelle Kiefer, an AlwaysHungryNY.com contributor.
Top, Stone Barns Farm. Bottom left, Raspberry Coffee Cake. Right, Blue Hill Café.
As fantastic as a meal is at Blue Hill at Stone Barns (restaurant page) it’s not something everyone can afford. But as a recent visit demonstrated, you don’t have to splurge to have a great time eating and experiencing Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture (view site). And it’s closer than you think, just a forty-five minute drive or a thirty-five minute ride from Grand Central to Tarrytown on the Hudson Line’s express train followed by a 10-minute, $12 cab ride to the farm.
Featured Restaurant: Beyoglu
The Gluttoness — August 10, 2009
Beyoglu’s Shepherd Salad
With its pseudo-tented ceiling and brilliant, multi-colored walls, Beyoglu’s vibrant décor is well-matched to the colorful plates of Turkish meze served there. It was opened under the guidance of the outspoken Turkish chef, Orhan Yegen of Sip Sak, who claimed to us to have been “cheated” out of the restaurant, which he says still relies on his recipes. Regardless, the vegetarian-heavy menu still includes brilliant and bountiful salads and a slew of mezes made for sharing. It has been embraced by the Upper East Side and become appreciated for its heart-healthy cuisine and tremendous value.
Traditional staples like stuffed grape leaves, mashed eggplant salad and falafel are expertly executed, as are the hot rounds of worth-it Turkish bread. Fork-tender octopus is enhanced by ezme, which is like a spicy vegetable tapenade, and a refreshing, dill-scented spinach accented with sweet bites of shallot. You can easily fill up on zucchini pancakes and phyllo cigars filled with feta, but save room for the whole-grilled fish, meaty kebabs with nutty rice pilaf, and dessert: crumbly pistachio halva or flaky baklava with a foamy cappuccino. This cuisine can be heavy on the olive oil, but on the whole, a meal at Beyoglu is characterized by bright, fresh flavors. It’s ideal place for a casual evening of authentic Turkish dining.
Check out the pictures from a recent meal at Beyoglu on its restaurant page here.
FirstLook: SHO Shaun Hergatt
The Gluttoness — June 08, 2009
It’s rare that I’m speechless, but last Thursday night’s preview dinner at SHO Shaun Hergatt stunned me into my first satisfied oblivion of 2009. Executive Chef Sean Hergatt has spent two years turning the concrete canvas within The Setai New York into a modern Asian masterpiece with simple elegance and ruby red accents. An expansive glass wall separates diners from the theatrics of the grand kitchen and many of the tables face Hergatt’s “stage” where he commands his dutiful “players.” You witness meticulousness then taste it.
The striking décor is matched by the drama of SHO’s impeccable food, which the chef described as “Asian-accented, modern French cuisine.” Hergatt is a brawny Australian with a sweet smile—the unexpected artist behind brilliantly feminine dishes that are as artistically inclined as they are sophisticated in flavor. There’s a continual dance between delicacy and decadence. Riveting taste always wins, but it’s the manner in which it’s achieved that is so interesting.
Duo of Canapes: Crêpe w/ Tobiko & Sour Cream over Lime & Sesame Seed Tuille w/ Whitefish Tartare
Two velvety crêpes were filled with tobiko and sour cream, then tied in purses, served over thin slices of lime and topped with gold leaf. Two sesame seed tuilles were rolled like cigars and stuffed with whitefish tartare. There was an impressive equilibrium between the rich insides and the subtle exteriors.
Click here for AlwaysHungry's full First Look at Sho Shaun Hergatt >>
AlwaysHungry Gets Totally Baked
The Gluttoness — September 02, 2008
Not like we need a real reason to ravage a restaurant, but with our offices just a few blocks from Totally Baked, it was only fitting that we investigate in AlwaysHungry-style—with a slew of gourmet baked potatoes. The ordering was immense, the tasting was arduous, and after serious degustation and subsequent conversation, we all agreed on a unanimous winner. So in ascending order from the lamest to the most luscious, here’s the results of our spud-tacular taste test.
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