Hi, I am the "NYC foodie" of the bunch. I love to eat out at restaurants in NYC, but I also love street food, farmer's market stands and anything that I can digest. I'm here to share my experiences with you!
The Dallas Burger
For many food lovers, traveling for good food is not a question. That’s why when I heard about celebrity chef Bobby Flay’s new burger joint on
Napa Valley Burger
Chips with Blue Cheese Sauce
Rayuela bills its menu as a combination of several kinds of Latin cooking, with touches of new flavors not typically found in Latin cooking. I ate there last night and it was absolutely fabuloso!
I had a ceviche called Siete Potencies, or the Seven Powers of the Sea, which was a mixture of seven different fresh seafoods such as octopus, crab and shrimp. It was served on a cup of ice and swimming in a green tomatillo sauce.
For my main course I had another appetizer called Tuna Rellena which was a huge mound of shrimp and crab wrapped in a blanket of fresh raw tuna and a soy vinaigrette. It was so tasty and rich-very filling. After this I did not need another course. It helped that the side bread they served was a traditional Brazilian bread called pao de queijo, which are these absolutely decadent rolls stuffed with cheese. I could eat a hundred of these because they are so small and light that they completely blow away any bread you will ever be served in a restaurant again!
My friend had the Cuban style pork, which was falling apart it was so tender, and it was served with a piece of crispy, friend pork skin. You couldn’t really eat the skin without feeling like you gave a year of your life to the gods who watch your dietary choices, but a bite or two is really worth it.
Others at my table had the Dorada, the Arroz con Pollo, the duck and the beef tenderloin. Every dish was a delicious combination of flavors that curiously went well together and were so different than anything we were used to eating.
We couldn’t get a table for dinner until 9:30, which in NYC is not that late for a Saturday, but even at that hour it was packed (but never uncomfortably tight). I highly recommend Rayuela if you get the chance. Here’s a link to the whole menu and their website. It’s located on Allen St and the layout is very open and airy but elegant and comforting too. What a great addition to the Lower East Side!
Tacos
Pampano Taqueria sits buried in the corner of a basement atrium of an office building at 805 Third Avenue, between 49th and 50th Streets. A little cousin to chef Richard Sandoval’s finer dining establishment, Pampano, around the corner, you’re sure to get your taco – or burrito or quesadilla or torta – fix, but that’s it. My two amigos each ordered a variety of tacos, but I was stuck, as usual, not knowing what I wanted, besides three bites of everything. I turned to a random gentleman behind me who said he comes there three days a week to get a burrito. SOLD, I think to myself, until he chimed in that his friend comes there three or four times a week for the Chilorio Torta. I pause. Not being so familiar with tortas, or chilorio for that matter, I order it.
Chilorio
My best and easiest explanation of this torta is a Mexican sandwich, or a burrito (no rice) on a nice piece of French bread. Chilorio is basically Mexican style pulled pork. The torta was slathered with a black bean puree, some guacamole, lettuce, cheese and the pork. There was a slight mess factor to it, but not nearly as bad as I could have imagined. It came with a nice little bag of homemade tortilla chips and your choice of two salsas; one was a red habanero sauce that was nice and smooth with good heat and the other was a green tomatillo salsa, also pureed to a nice and smooth consistency, but a little more mild. Overall, I am down with the torta and I’ll be back to Pampano.
It’s getting late in the evening. She wants a salad, I want something
else - something light, not Italian. In a city of thousands of
restaurants, how is this a difficult decision? There’s probably ten
options just on our square block! We head over to a local tavern in
the Gramercy area, Pete’s Tavern. Pardon my opinion, but if you take
me to a tavern, I’m getting a burger and it better be good. Yet I
veered away from the burger.
We didn’t really know what we were getting ourselves into, but we knew
that they had a wide variety of food, from burgers to chicken
sandwiches to Italian dishes to…DUCKLING SPRING ROLLS? Why would a
local tavern have duckling spring rolls on the menu? More on that
later.
We started with the boneless Buffalo Chicken Wings, which were listed
on the Specials page, but are actually featured on most nights. Not a
bad start at a Tavern, right? What a shocker. Here’s the low down: The
breading on the chicken fingers was not too heavy, but it had this
Buffalo spice already mixed into it, giving it slight heat. Then there
was this kooky combination of a mild Asian-like sauce that contrasted
the Buffalo-style heat in an odd way, yet we thoroughly enjoyed it.
I’m going to be honest - if someone told me about that combo, I would
not try it. But I’m telling you: Try these wings.
To this day, I still can’t pinpoint the flavors, but they satisfied
our craving that night…and the next week! Continuing with our meal,
she got a Caesar salad, which she enjoyed (but could not take her mind
off of those wings) and I got the Duckling Spring Rolls
appetizer from the Specials page. I did my due diligence to see if
they were made in-house or if I was getting some frozen treat thrown
in an oven to reheat. To my surprise, they do make them in-house (and,
like the wings, they are available most nights, too). Sure enough,
they came out and had fresh shredded duck inside and a nice, thin
spring roll wrapper.
Again, I was shocked. I was also taken aback by the style in which
they cut them that took me back to my Four Seasons Hotel kitchen days;
ends cut off and cut through the middle on an angle. Pete’s, you’ve
done well.
When planning a lunch or dinner meeting, there is obviously business
to be taken care of. Personally, I tend to try and lead people to a
good eating establishment, since so many great things happen around
food. Last night’s meeting brought me to Caracas Arepa Bar in
Manhattan’s East Village.
For those of you into food, an arepa is a Venezuelan specialty that
acts as a stand-in for bread and can be prepared with a wide variety
of fresh ingredients. For those of you not so much into the details of
food - or who are a little scared about trying new things - it is a
Venezuelan Grilled Cheese.
For attention span’s sake, I’m going to cut to the chase. On every
table is a squeeze bottle of an amazing tasting reddish colored sauce.
It has hints of sweet and hints of spice and despite plenty of
begging, I still could not get the server to give up ONE ingredient in
the sauce (I quizzed her). Take my word: Put this sauce on everything.
We started with the Yoyos, which are deep fried balls of sweet
plantain stuffed with white cheese. To me, they looked like a
Venezuelan version of Chinese Pork Buns. A little sweet, a little
cheesy and an interesting flavor all around. We also had the Guasacaca
& Chips, which is Venezuela’s version of guacamole and chips. It is
your standard guac, but served with plantain chips. Again, add the
secret sauce to it. Next, my partner in crime and I split the
Muchachos Arepa and the La De Pernil Arepa. The Muchachos had some
sliced chorizo, white cheese, sauteed peppers and jalapeños. A good
smoky quality with a nice little kick from the jalapeños. The La De
Pernil was roasted pork shoulder with tomato slices and a spicy mango
sauce. Did I mention to put the secret sauce on these?
For dessert, we got the Obleas, which are described on the menu as
“very thin wafers with dulce de leche in between. Perfect when you
want just a little sweet after your meal.” They could not have
explained that any better. The Obleas were 6-inch round paper thin
wafers with the lightest amount of dulce de leche (milk candy) in
between - a perfectly sweet end to a meal, but not too sweet.
There is a Caracas Arepa Bar To Go next door that I am definitely
planning on checking out. To end on the three favorite words that all
restaurants love to hear…”I’ll be back.”
Gooseberries
This week, the berries and stone fruits are in season and as I walked through the Union Square Farmer’s Market, I could actually smell the fresh peaches in the air. It’s so hard to find a ripe and juicy sweet peach but for this short period of time, they are here.
The market also had all kinds of berries, including blues, rasps and blacks, as well as cherries of all colors and flavors, from sweet to sour. Apricots and nectarines were also available, and all locally grown!
Then I saw these new guys, or at least new to me, called Green Gage Plums. They are small plums, light yellow in color with a ruby reddish orange splash across the tops and sides. I bought a basket and oh, they were so good! Not too tart, not too sweet, but really flavorful and lovely. My kids like them as well-they are easier to manage than a full sized plum. They actually reminded me more of an apricot in size and texture, with the flavor of a plum. I wouldn’t monkey with these plums by cooking them-just eat them as a perfect summer snack!
Various cherries and green gage plums (far right)
What’s your favorite summer fruit?
Halibut with fresh English peas
Nestled on the corner of Bedford and Grove, The Little Owl is a great addition to the West Village of NYC, a neighborhood not known for its cuisine. I must clarify, the FAR West Village is not known for its cuisine. Specifically, this little neighborhood, where I lived for 10 years, had very few restaurants that I would return to, besides The Grange Hall, which closed several years ago (and has recently re-opened yet again but I haven’t been yet), Taverna and Moustache, which is a great place for hummus, falafel, etc.
Back to Little Owl…it bills itself as serving Mediterranean cuisine, but don’t count on seeing a red sauce menu at this joint (the are kind of known for their meatballs, though). In fact, the only thing Mediterranean about my meal was the bottle of Barbera I ordered-everything else was quite conventional and local. I am not saying I was in the least bit disappointed. In fact, the best thing about the Little Owl’s food was how fresh it was! I had seared scallops and calamari over a parsnip puree with grapes (see below), a golden beet and bibb lettuce salad with sunflower seeds, and my husband had halibut served with fresh, English peas and corn(see above).
Seared Scallops
We had to sneak in an order of spicy fries, the only fried and heavy thing on the table. We were both suitably impressed with our dishes and savored the healthy quality of the simple food on our plates.
We loved our waiter-the entire places was very friendly and low-key. Surprisingly, we walked in and got a table with no reservation, but it was early and the place is tiny so I do not recommend trying this. They do have a phone line for last minute table searches and I did call first, so we knew we would be okay when we arrived.
It’s located in a great area, right off Hudson street, so you could stroll afterwards and enjoy a little corner of Manhattan that feels like a small town. The building that The Little Owl occupies was the building facade used in that old TV show, “Friends,” but I had completely forgotten that fact and couldn’t figure out why people kept pausing outside the restaurant, backing up, and then snapping pictures of the building. Someone reminded me and then it all clicked. While “Friends” might be so 10 years ago, The Little Owl is here and now and a great place to try for an intimate dinner.
If you have seen the latest Adam Sandler movie, You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, then you’ll know what I mean. University Pita has the best hummus, baba ganouj, falafel, and assortment of cabbage and cuke salads I have ever had! The falafel are light and not overly dense. The hummus has just the right balance of flavors-not too garlicky or too much tahini, and the kebobs are fantastic. Although it does have upstairs seating, this is more of a street food place or a place where you would take your food to go. So if you happen to find yourself near Union Square, give it a try!
University Pita
corner of University and 12th st.
Yesterday I took some work colleagues to a restaurant in NYC called Boqueria (on West 19th st). I had been there for dinner with Adam Perry Lang and his wife, Fleurry, once before, but as you can imagine, because Adam knew the chef, we got the royal treatment. I love going out to eat with restaurant guys, because they will inevitably take you to a place where they know the owner or know something about the restaurant and once the word spreads that they are in the joint, the fellow chef takes the opportunity to shower his comrade with affection in the form of food. It’s partly the chef’s chance to show off, but in a sincere way, and partly a way for these guys to treat each other to something special. Plates of Serrano hams, cheeses and olives came our way to start, then salt cod on toast, fresh octopus grilled ever so slightly and still soft and moist, marinated tuna and the list of delicacies goes on to include a vast combination of Tapas dishes as well as salads, sandwiches and other delicacies.
Yesterday, however, I went back to Boqueria for lunch, which by the way, I prefer. It wasn’t crowded at all, we didn’t need a reservation, and the food came to us relatively quickly. This time, my colleague ordered quail’s eggs which were cooked sunny side up and delivered to us on a small piece of toast with a slice of salted ham or bacon in between. How cute are these guys?:
Really tasty too-I highly recommend or you can make something like this at home with chicken eggs, fried ham and toasted baguette slices.
We ended the meal with Churros con Chocolat, which is a classic Spanish dessert. Think donut sticks and a cup of warm chocolate pudding. But I can’t even really compare churros to donuts-they are like night and day.
I needed a nap after that lunch!
