Food in NYC

Damn I'm doing a bad job of keeping up with what's going on.

Here's a rundown of food in NYC from last week. Links would be good, but I'm too slammed to drop them in.

Had a bagel with a shmear, ate it in Central Park on a sunny day. Walked up through the CPK and over to 72^nd on the UWS to Grays Papaya for a recession special (2 dogs / drink). Went to a new Italian seafood restaurant (Marea) on CPK South: good service, great apps, but the mains were just OK.

For lunch, one of our friends took us to the Burger Joint hidden away in the Parker Meridien (but it’s a dive place with excellent burgers, fries, some milkshakes, and one beer on tap). They converted the Rockefeller Center ice rink into a bar and we sat in the sun, with one drink. We hit up Union Square Greenmarket and the Whole Foods in Columbus Circle to stock up on organic goodies and product for breakfast (fruit, cereal). We had an amazing(!) dinner @ a new French restaurant in the old Montrachet space in Tribeca called Corton. Afterwards, we went to Spotted Pig in the West Village for a drink, and ogled the great food and shoestring fries (but did not eat there).

Then on Sunday, I missed out on a lobster roll fresh from Maine @ the Brooklyn Flea, but did get to sample lots of treats @ the Fancy Food Show. That night, I headed to a steak house (Keen’s) in Midtown with colleagues and a client.

On the Monday during the day, just sampled treats @ FFS during the day. At night, though, we went to momofuku ssam bar in the East Village and were blown away by David Chang’s magic. We went to his right-next-door Milk Bar for a dessert. Later, we checked out the bar @ the Standard (new hotel in Meatpacking that straddles the High Line) and sat outside because the weather’s so great.

Since then, instead of sit-down meals, we grabbed what we could from the LES to Tribeca to West Village to Hell's Kitchen and places in between.

Katz’s Delicatessen – pastrami sandwich + reuben sandwich

Russ & Daughters – bagel with cream cheese & smoked salmon

Kyotofu – tofu dessert sampler

Locanda Verde’s pasty / breakfast – hazelnut roll + almond

Van Leeuwen artisan ice cream (cart parked on Greene/Spring) – giandujia + pistachio

Magnolia Bakery – cupcakes

Patzeria - slice

Amy’s Bread – cupcake + almond tart

Daisy May's BBQ - texas red chili & sweet tea

Paris eats

Bistro - the 11e has a great little gastronomic street: rue Paul Bert and the Bistrot Paul Bert was cheerful and tasty. I think it was about 30 Euros prix fixe.

Cafe - we had an excellent traditional meal at Cafe Constant (Christian Constant now has 4 restaurants on a street in the 7e). I think this one was about 35 Euros.

Small cafe - over on the rue Oberkampf, we sat down at a little place called L'Estaminet for a tasty lunch very reasonably priced (2 of us paid less than 20 Euros, including some wine)

There's a great underground restaurant called hidden kitchen, but I believe they are booked solid through September - http://www.hkmenus.com/ - 80 Euros prix fixe (all included)

Haut Cuisine - a 3-star Michelin restaurant! Guy Savoy (we did a lunch menu - the food kept on coming!). Over in the 17e. Sublime, and bread pairings with our food. http://www.guysavoy.com/en/intro.htm - 100 Euros prix fixe for lunch

Falafel - L'As du Falafel or Chez Marianne both are excellent on the rue des Rosiers in the Marais. These run about 5 euros each.

Macarons - we tried 4 or 5 different ones. Hands down the best are Pierre Herme (esp salted caramel). On rue Bonaparte in the 6e.

Crepe - we had a salted caramel with chantilly cream crepe done up traditional Bretagne style at Breizh Cafe on rue V-d-Temple in the Marais.

Cheese. The ladies at Barthelemy in the 6e/7e border will look after you.

Cooking School. Marguerite's Elegant Home Cooking (but act quick, as she's moving to Seattle next month!) - http://www.elegantcooking.com/ - we went to a market where we purchased what we needed (and later to some of her favorite shops to purchase the rest). We learned how to interpret the various signs. We made guinea hen with peaches and onions stuffed with risotto. Delicious: we ate outside with fresh baguette, a bottle of wine, and fresh cherries for dessert.

Wine Bar Walking Tours

This is pretty cool.

Three different walking tours from wine bar to wine bar.

http://brucecasswinelab.com/?q=wineinfo/winebarmaps

Dosa Review - SF Chronicle

Michael Bauer wrote a review of the Dosa on Fillmore - 2.5 stars

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/08/FDHQ15HT7G.DTL&type=food

Perello

We went to Melissa Perillo's Monday night four-courser at Sebo (have not tried Sebo yet).

Perello was the chef at 5th Floor and now takes over the kitchen on occasional Mondays.

The food was excellent and will change each time she cooks. However, I think the concept: soup, seafood, meat, dessert with optional wine to go with it will stay.

They put sea salt on top of the butter to go with the bread which was a nice little touch. The crackery-flatbread they had reminded us of pappadam a bit.

The soup was not the highlight for me, it was a nice way to start the meal. Nothing memorable though.

The skate was an excellent combination of flavors, but the highlight was the coq au vin which came with a little crepe filled with additional delights.

The dessert was a ricotta tarte.

The wine list had some great choices on it. GIven the coq au vin, I chose a pinot which complimented most of the dishes.

Absolutely well worth making a reservation next time she does this (get on her e-mail list).

neighborhood sushi

We had a great meal earlier tonight at tataki, a great small sushi place on California. A more full write-up on the great ambiance and excellent food (ahi tuna poke, shrimp tempura/spicy tuna roll, a signature tataki dish, seaweed salad, and more). Nice selection of sakes plus friendly peeps working there round it out.

Stay tuned!

Many, many posts coming soon about favorite restaurants in and around SF. I've got a lot of them stored up.