Gotham Gal

North End Grill

Before I even begin to write about North End Grill I want to come clean....I am a huge fan of Danny Meyer.  He is not only a brilliant business man he is a nice guy, great father and wonderful husband.  We met Danny for the first time about 15 years ago. 

As someone who has always been into food, restaurants and alike, my dream was to be able to know everyone in the food business of NYC.  I would meet chefs and be tongue tied.  Fred was at a lunch with Lester Wunderman many years ago at Gramercy Tavern. He ate their often and Danny came by their table to say hi.  Lester introduced Danny to Fred.  Fred came home and said that he had met Danny Meyer at lunch and he gave him his card to call him anytime he needed anything in one of restaurants.  I said to call tomorrow and make a lunch date.  Fred said he didn't have any plans.  I said make plans or he will never remember you.  Fred did and the rest is history.  Our lives have intersected at many levels.  One of our first philanthropic donations was to Madison Square Park.  Our daughter was best friends with his niece at our school, which we had no idea was connected to him, and I happened to sit on the board of his brother-in-laws company.  His other brother and wife have a house down the street from us in Amagansett.  So, perhaps it was just meant to be. 

Danny has a formula in the way he runs his restaurants and the way he manages his people and many people could learn from it.  Reading his book is absolutely worthwhile for any entrepreneur.  He is also one of the few people in NYC who could open a restaurant west of the highway off of Wall Street and have every seat in the house filled when office hours are closed.  That takes time, energy and a track record of success. Danny has  quite an empire in that area including Shake Shack and Blue Smoke.  BTW, we went over to Shake Shack after dinner to watch the end of the Knicks game.  Loving Lin. 

North End Grill has multiple places to sit.  There is a large bar when you walk in and seats for people who happen to just stop by.  There is separation between that particular area and the main dining room.  On the way there is the kitchen and wine area similar to Maiolino but much bigger.  The design is modern yet simple.  I really like what they did with the ceiling (photo above).  There is plenty of light and the acoustics are great.  Perfect for the more seasoned crowd as myself vs the young hip 20 year old wandering around town. 

Floyd is a super nice guy and a great chef.  He has put together an interesting menu completely different than his Indian roots where he led the kitchen at Tabla.  They just opened for dinner and are no doubt working out the kinks.  Some of the dishes were amazing and others were just ok but my guess is that over time they will all be pretty impressive.

There are a few options on the menu.  Appetizers, egg section, salads, entrees, entrees for 2 and sides.  We split everything on the front end and each had our own main course.  They brought all the appetizers out at once so we could do a little tasting together.  It was like doing Chinese style.  I love that.

We began with a small cup from the chef of pumpkin crab soup.  I love crab soup.  The pumpkin changes the whole composition so it is very heavy and rich but tasty at the same time.  A nice starter.

Raw fluke topped chopped bacon, apples and lime.  I like the creativity of this dish.  The apples and bacon give the dish crunch with a bit of the savory and tart mixed together with the simplicity of the fluke.  Nice and light. 

Torched foie gras with grilled brioche and quince paste.  Divine.  Nothing better than smeared foie gras on toast.

Grilled calamari with lime and crushed peanuts.  Nice presentation.  I would have liked to see the calamari grilled for just a little longer so there was more of a crunch. 

The tuna dish goes under the egg section of the menu.  Chopped tuna tartare with a fried quail egg and crispy shallots.  Here is where timing of the kitchen comes into play.  Perfect dish, lots of flavors yet light and complex.  The egg was overcooked so you couldn't let the delicious yolk ooze into the tuna to make the dish messy.  That will happen as the kitchen gets more seasoned.

Slow poached lobster omelet.  Split that in four and we each had a taste.  Interesting idea.  It is a hard one for me because I prefer my eggs really soft so omelets are not my thing. 

Two people went with the halibut.  Poached with pine nuts, green raisins and clams.

I had the lamb.  Sliced pieces of lamb served with mint chick peas and preserved lemon.  The lamb was a tad overcooked but again it is early on in the kitchen.

A selection of sides.  The thrice-fried onion rings were really good.  Crispy and not oily at all.  Kind of like an Old Bay crisp.  I do love onion rings.

Grilled shisto peppers and cippolini onions, griddled ginger spinach and hashed brussels sprouts with lentils.  I like the combo of lentils with shredded brussels sprouts. 

Dessert.  Rich butterscotch pudding with tiny marshmallows and crushed chocolate.  Not a bad combo. 

Grilled pineapple with vanilla ice cream.  I really liked this.  Grilling the pineapple adds this smoky flavor to it that is really delicious.

Sticky toffee pudding with ginger ice cream.  I am a sucker for toffee pudding.

As I said, I am a fan of Danny (and Floyd).  I am excited about a new place to go.  The presentation of every dish was just perfect.   I'd like to go back during the week.  Saturday nights are tough and they just opened for dinner.  The menu is really nice and there are a lot of creative dishes on it.  I am looking forward to my "round two" at North End Grill. 

 

 

Tertulia

I feel so good that I finally got to Tertulia.  It has been top of my list. Friday night at 615 I was able to snag a seat for two at the bar.  By 620 there was back-up trying to get a table.  There is a reason for that.  The food is fantastic, the menu is really creative and the place is warm and cozy.  There is something really laid back and DIY about the place that I really love. Kind of can't beat it.

We had two glasses of red wine.  Love the wine list.

Although the paella sounded incredible we opted for the sharing of a bunch of tapas.  First thing out was the jambon.  I know it looks totally fatty ( and it is ) but it is seriously out of this world.

The classic pan con tomate which is the key to Spain.  Chopped tomatoes with sea salt rubbed over toasted bread.  Next to it is black and white anchovies with roasted tomatoes over a piece of thin toasted spread with a sheeps milk cheese dripped with balsamic vinegar.  Wow.  Salty, savory and sweet all rolled up into one.

Crispy brussel sprouts with pieces of pork belly.  This dish had a hint of cumin.  Yum.

Grilled vegetables of the season served over smoked ricotta cheese.  A really well done salad.  Lots of different flavors.

Loved this.  Baby squid stuffed with black rice, merenguez sausage and red peppers.  Tiny bites of brilliance.

Had to have dessert.  Hazelnut ice cream which was a little too stiff and icy with essentially Spanish french toast. 

Honestly I could have had more tapas.  Looking forward to returning...soon.

Izote, last dinner in Mexico City

This was our last meal in Mexico City.   The restaurant is on the main street in Poblano in a little strip mall.  That is exactly what the restaurant feels like inside too.  The lighting is terrible, there is zero ambiance and there is just something cold and sterile about the place.  That kind of set the tone.  The chef, Patricia Quintana, is I believe an owner in the restaurant too because her name is on the door. 

The menu is vast, too vast.  In a small place with 19 tables I am not so sure you can really be consistent with each dish when there is a main large menu and then a secondary menu which is pretty big too with their specials.  Makes no sense to me. 

As always the sauces adorn each table.

The basket of bread and chips is was nice touch.  The blue corn chips were really nice...crispy, dense and flavorful.

We split the first round of appetizers.  A guacamole which was super spicy and had a seasoning in there I couldn't pinpoint.  Not a fan.

These small tacos were good.  A corn truffle mixture that had the consistency of a black bean paste.  Although heavy in texture the flavor was mild and light. 

My friend went with the shrimp.  This was quite good.  Sweet, spicy and caramelized. 

I had the chicken.  The menu said steamed and roasted chicken.  I truly had no idea what to expect.  This is how the dish came.  Really beautiful.

This is what is looked like inside.  It just was not that good.  The chicken was overcooked and tasted old.  The sauce was way to heavy handed.  I picked my way through it but really did not eat that much.

It was time to leave the next day.  We basically had amazing food at every turn and this is the only place that I would not return too.  Pretty good stats for a short trip if you ask me. 

Restaurant Pujol

Restaurant Pujol is supposedly the best place in Mexico City to eat right now.  There is a ordering menu as well as two tasting menu options.  We opted to just pick from the menu.  The service is incredible and nobody really speaks English so keep that in mind.  There is not an English menu either.  The restaurant is simple understated yet elegant. 

We had a few drinks to start.  I had just a tequila but my friend had a margarita of fresh lime juice that she declared might have been the best margarita she has ever had period.  The signature dish that comes to each table from the chef is served in this wooden coconut.  Inside are two pieces of small corn that are doused with a creamy coffee mixture that is off the charts. 

The corn is just picked up and eaten with your hands.  A unique taste of Mexico.

The bread came with two different types of butter.  One was much saltier than the other.  Since the language barrier nobody bothered to tell us the difference.

This was clever.  A small hot stone that keeps your bread warm.  Nice touch.

My friend started with the mushroom tamale.  Once they brought over the dish they just took a black pepper seasoning and sprinkled it over the top.  Roasted in a black bean sauce and some type of cheese sauce over the top.  A unique tamale.

I had the avocado.  Thinly sliced avocado stuffed with small shrimps and pieces of octopus rolled up served with a cilantro sauce.  Not only is the presentation beautiful it was delicious.  The workmanship is obvious.  Unique.

For a main course my friend had the sea bass.  It was sweet and served with a pineapple cream on the side.

I finally went for the mole.  Small round pieces of turkey, roasted plaintains and a parsnip puree coated with a rich chocolate mole sauce.  The sauce was really layered in flavor but wasn't as intense as it looks. 

I loved how they served the tortillas in this pouch to keep them warm. 

For dessert we split a chocolate cake with popcorn ice cream and a cream.  Didn't love this.  I have yet to find a Mexican dessert that I am loving. 

Didn't really love these treats either.

Loved the restaurant.  Absolute treat.  Nothing was heavy or fancy.  Everything was just simple yet had so many layers of flavors and thought put into the dish.  Why can't we get Mexican food this good in NYC?

Azul Condessa

Azul Condessa and Azul Y Oro are two restaurants of the same.  The chef, Richard Munoz Zurita started with Azul Y Oro that was located inside the Universite.  He then opened Azul Condessa with the same menu yet in a different location with longer hours.  I would have loved to go to the original for lunch but it wasn't in the cards.

The menu is divided into a few categories.  Specialties of the house, what is on the menu and a monthly festival menu.  The festival menu last night was stuffed chiles.  Lots of vegetarian options.  Just a really Mexican food with the right balance of spices. 

I had a tequila to start.  Maestro Reposada.  So good and smooth.  We split a few appetizers.  Squash blossom tamale in a red sauce and a few dots of goat cheese.  There was an amazing red spicy sauce on the table if you wanted to heat up the dish.  The tamale was almost thick like a meatball.  Really interesting flavors.

The ceviche was a combination of seafood in a liquidy avocado sauce.

Excellent guacamole and the chips were probably made about 10 minutes before they served them to us.

For a main I had the pulled pork.  A tad spicy and lots of flavor served with blue tortillas, black beans and of course salsa.  Delicious.  A speciality of the house.

The fish was beautifully served.  Roasted white fish with a nice spicy sauce on top almost like tamarind, sliced avocados over the top and fresh chopped salsa. 

Just really well done food.  I felt like we were eating at someones home who just was a super good cook.  Worth going to. 

Dulce Patria

Last night we had dinner at Dulce Patria.  The restaurant is located right around the corner from the hotel we are staying at even though it is part of the hotel.  Kind of nice how they do that.   I apologize for the photos in advance.  The lighting in there was strange.  The decor was basically white and red and for some reason the lighting had this red hue.  The place was packed and the food coming out of the kitchen was beautiful.

We began with a classic margarita.  They had a bunch of different variations but we went with the classic.  Beautiful presentation too.  Edible flower.

We split everything.  This was corn kites with a tuna ceviche.  The tuna was mixed with spicy peppers and lime juice served over tiny tortilla chips.  Really nice.

The salmon had the same concept but was mixed with a spicy mayo.  Light and good.

Grilled red and green tomatoes topped with the Oaxaca cheese ( which is like a mozzarella ) melted and a very sweet balsamic glaze dripped over the top.   Parmesan cracker for dipping.   I liked this.  Not what I expected when the menu said grilled green and red tomato salad. 

It was time for another drink.  This is called sangrita.  They serve tequila straight with shooters on the side.  Spicy tomato, borscht and something like a verde salsa.  Truth is I like my tequila straight but I appreciate the concept.

For our main course we split the red snapper.  Simple poached with a spicy red tomato sauce with Mexican spices. I like how they took off the skin and then flash fried it and used it as part of the look.

We passed on dessert but they served us this tiny house with little treats on each shelf.  Nothing rocked my boat but loved the concept.

Worth going to.  The food is tasty yet simple and a real nod to creativity.  Again, so sorry about the lousy pics. 

SCRATCHbread

It was quite late when we walked into SCRATCHbread and you just knew that Matthew Tilden, the brilliant baker behind SCRATCHbread was just getting his day started. 

The smells of freshly baked bread incorporated with the rising yeasts is indescribably good.  This man can bake.  He is also charming and part of the local flavor of Bedford Stuyvesant making sure to wave to the local drunk who knocked at his door while we were there. 

Matthew grew up in Orange Country California.  His parents weren't entrepreneurs and that into food but he found himself at the Culinary Institute in upstate NYC eventually landing in Brooklyn to bake bread after a few stints in the restaurant world. 

He is a one man operation with visions of creating more products, giving classes and he does dinner parties too.  He said to me that bread is one of those things that you can just feel, it isn't an exact science.  His sourdough starter is something he takes pride in as that has been a work in progress.  

We went home with the parm loaf that is a white olive oil bread crusted with Parmesan, fennel and black pepper.  A bourbon wheat loaf that is a brown bread filled with toasted pecans, currants and raisins.  The breads are insanely good. 

Oh, yes and the shortbread. The shortbread is light yet dense and buttery all at the same time. Those hands are Matthews.  Sublime.  

He took over an old pizza place with a wood burning oven.  He just moved in painting over the menu signs on the wall. He serves food including breads, sandwiches, scones and more out of a tiny window around the back. 

We left soon letting Matthew get back to his baking.  He blew me away.  A serious one man band who is all about the bread and his bread is seriously out of this world.  Read his website...it kind of defines his brilliance. 

 

Do or Dine

Justin Warner and George McNeese, the restaurateurs behind Do or Dine, met at the Modern where they both worked the front of the house.  They decided to go out on their own.  They opened Do or Dine a little over six months ago.  We went for dinner there this past weekend. 

There are a bunch of new restaurants popping up all over Brooklyn.  I am going to compare Do or Dine to a young novelist or an emerging artist.  When I read a first novel and you can see how brilliant the writer is or I see a show of a young artist and notice the seeds of serious talent those are the careers that I want to follow.  There is something scrappy, clever and inspirational about young talent and that is exactly what is happening at Do or Dine. 

The restaurant was literally put together with their own hands.  Salvaging wood from rooftops to create the benches around the room, a disco ball hanging in the middle of the ceiling, vintage plates hanging from the ceiling with light fixtures running through them and a separate box of a bar that sets the funky eclectic tone of the restaurant in the back corner. 

Some of the food is really good and some of it is not but the menu has humor to it as every dish has a clever name.  Even the wine list, which is only by the glass, has an ode to the Modern where they both started out at $500 for that particular glass.  Ok..lets get down to the food.

We split a bunch of different appetizers.  First thing out is called mental masturbation, their take on a Caesar salad. Grilled smoky pieces of romaine lettuce with shaved Parmesan on top and a few deep fried oysters with a thick sauce on the side.  You make your own chopped salad as the sauce is super thick but slowly melts on top of the warmed lettuce.  The oysters were perfect.  Big, light and crispy.

This dish is called Heart Attack!  A large jalapeno pepper stuffed with chevre, salmon and beets then deep fried.  Spicy.  The mixture of cheese inside oozed out when you cut the pepper.  Like the oyster, the pepper was perfectly fried.  My only issue with this dish was that the pepper was too hard.  When you make these with small peppers the peppers soften up.  It was like everything else got cooked but the pepper. 

Pork and wasabi shumai.  Nicely done.  The taste of the dumpling wrappings was a little too strong.  Maybe they could have been steamed longer before they were fried and they were finished off with the yogurt.

Always a fan of the shishito peppers.  Perfectly cooked.  They were served with four different salts.  Green tea, wasabi, hickory and yuzu.  Nice plate.

On the menu the lamb breast is described at fatty, cumin, lime.  All are true.  I am a sucker for these.  Slow cooked lamb ribs that are popping up on menus these days. Not easy to get from the butcher but I assume that will change.  These were amazing.  The meat literally fell apart and was full of flavor.  Seriously fatty but the skin was crackling.  A winner.

Growing up we used to go to Mrs. K's Toll house and have peanut soup so to see pumpkin peanut soup on the menu sparked my interest.  Butterscotch/bacon compost is placed in the bottom of the bowl and then the soup is slowly poured over the top.  Way too dense and too many flavors going on. 

Every one picked their own dish.  I had the Duck breast over sansho,kiwi and fennel.  Perfectly cooked, absolutely delicious and way too big of a portion. 

The pork renderlion (that is what they call it) is a deconstructed plate of pork, duck fat, wasabi-apple gratin and choucroute.  The pork was really well done.  Didn't get a chance to taste anything but the pork but that was quite good.

Bavette's Feast.  Sliced flank steak served over crispy mash and collard greens.  Nothing major. 

This is gorgeous.  A Fish and Some Chips.  A whole snapper, deep fried with yuzu fries and a shallot mixture poured over the top.  A nice take on fish and chips. 

Dessert was next.  A light airy jelly dougnut stuffed with foie gras.  What can I say?  Decadent and brilliant. 

Frozen snicker bars.  How bad can that be?  Served with a little powdered sugar and slices of strawberries to put on top. 

There are only 24 seats and they don't take reservations.  It is worth the journey to see the next generation of restauranteurs start to make their mark on the New York landscape of food.  These guys are driven, they know what they are in for choosing their love of food and service as their careers.  I am going to be watching. 

a romp through carroll gardens and boerum hill

Brooklyn is quite amazing.  An incredible transformation of a borough.  Each area is just screaming out community, community, community.  I love it. 

Emily and I spent the day in the area of Carroll Gardens and Boerum Hill.  Just a few places we wanted to check out.  I particularly wanted to go see Bien Cuit, a bakery at 120 Smith Street.  Before we got to Bien Cuit we walked into One Girl Cookies which is like walking back in time.  An adorable store with tiny cookies all made fresh daily.  We tried four. 

Orange coconut, chocolate coffee caramel, ginger bread and cinnamon cookies with a chocolate filling in the middle.  All delicious.  Love the size.  I particularly loved the orange cookie.  Small like a Mexican wedding cookie topped with shredded coconut.  Cookbook coming...

Just a little background here on Bien Cuit where we went next.  I met with the owners, Kate and Zach about a year and a half ago if my memory serves anything.  They are married.  Zach has quite the baking resume.  They were ready to open up their own bakery and ended up getting to me through of all people, my lawyer, to get some advice.  BTW, I love my lawyer. I never tasted their wares but the pictures looked amazing.  They had saved a pretty decent amount of cash, enough to not have to take anyones money but still in need of maybe another $20/30K tops to do what they needed to do.  We talked location, we talked construction and we talked about running a bakery. They were brand new to NYC.  I introduced them to a few people who knew these topics better than I did.  I also pointed them in the direction of a city loan so they didn't need to take anyone elses cash.  If they were still short, I recommended putting what they needed on a credit card because if they were successful quickly they could pay off that debt with no reprecussions easier on a credit card than with a loan.  Bottom line, they sent a few emails now and then and then they opened.  The bakery is called Bien Cuit.  I finally got out there to visit with Emily.  The place had a line the entire time we were there.  They were understaffed but it could have been the day.  They are in desperate need of music because the place is eerily quiet.  But let's get down to it, the pastries, the bread and the iced tea are out of this world.  It was like eating a pastry in one of the top patisseries in Paris, that good.  The one above is an artichoke goat cheese pastry.

This is the pear apple open faced croissant.  The bread is out of this world on both of the pastries.  Perfectly browned, savory yet sweet at the same time, just down right omg.  Congrats to both Kate and Zach.

BTW, they sell Christine Ferber jams there, straight from Paris.  Check out the breads!

Our next stop was Bird.  A womans clothing store on Smith Street but they have 2 other stores, one in Park Slope and the other in Williamsburg where they carry mens clothes too.  They do a really good job.

We also stopped in a store that only carries items made in Brooklyn, store name By Brooklyn.  Anything from bitters to chocolate to clothing.  It kind of defines what is happening in the borough.

Jumped into Smith + Butler before moving farther down the street.  A super groovy store that can outfit anyone who is looking for that hipster Brooklyn look, particularly the men.

Em wanted to go to Court Street Market.  Another walk in to the past.  They even carry Durkee sauce, something I grew up with and of course had to buy. 

This was one of the sweets in the front of the store.  I figured out what it was the second I saw it.  Quisp cereal being substituted for Rice Krispies in a treat.  I grew up on Quisp.  Cap'n Crunch in a different shape.

The store has a bunch of great singular products....really well curated.  I bought a variety of crackers.  Emily and I had the turkey club for lunch.  They make the sandwiches right there and then you can sit down in the back.  Wow.  Just perfect.  We added a little hot sauce but otherwise quite a treat.

Here is the sign for the club.  Love this place.

Many more places to come back to.  I wish Bien Cuit could deliver fresh croissants to my door daily! 

stayinghomeandvacationing

I am basically letting my desk and email box just pile up for the next few days.  Fred and I have taken in three movies in two days, two delicious meals and one museum.  Today is another day.

We saw Hugo and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close on day one.  Hugo is amazing.  I read the book Extremely Loud and absolutely loved it.  They did a great job with the movie.  Both movies revolve around a key and hope for a message from each young boys lost parent although completely different films.  The young boys, Thomas Horn (ELIC) and Asa Butterfield (Hugo) were amazing.

We stopped into Gotham Bar and Grill for dinner and sat at the bar.  I love that the bartender has been there for fifteen years.  The decor could use a bit of a makeover but the food is always good.  I think of Gotham as one of those restaurants, like Union Square Cafe, that changed the way we eat food at restaurants.  The seafood salad is a classic and it is still piled high.

I also had the miso marinated cod which was delicious.  BTW, after all these years the restaurant was packed.

Day two began looking for a car.  We tried that on day one too with little success.  Day two was successful and by the time all our kids are driving we will need a serious parking lot.  After car shopping we had lunch at Via Quadronno.  I love this place for lunch.  Located on E 73rd between Madison and Fifth.  It is like going to Italy for a quick bite.  Always packed with locals.

We had made the "journey" uptown to see the Maurizio Cattelan exhibit.  A must.  The installation is brilliant and the Guggenheim was the perfect spot to show his work.  Amazing.

It was really nice out so we walked down to the Paris movie theater.  Have not been to the Paris in years but another classic institution on the UES.  We saw the Artist.  Very clever, another theme among the movies we have seen.  Washed up artist (Hugo and the Artist).  The entire movie is shot in black and white with no sound.  It is like watching an old film of the past.  Not so sure how much I loved it but certainly appreciated how clever it was. 

Last stop was Marea.  Yes, quite a journey being uptown and even eating up there too!  Marea is a gem.  Incredible customer service, beautiful decor, a feeling of elegance and everyone is dressed up.  We weren't but Marea is definitely a place to go and treat yourself. This is my second time back and certainly will not be my last. We began with a flight of crudo.

But the best thing, and the signature dish is the fusilli with red wine braised octopus and bone marrow.  It is insanely decadent and divine.  Still dreaming about this pasta this morning. We also split a whole branzino roasted in sea salt.  Perfect.  A worthy journey uptown.

Next couple days should we filled with more movies and an eventual clean up my desk before the new year begins.