Maine Lobster: Green asparagus, zucchini blossoms, citrus rind. This was my least favorite of all four dishes. It's hard to shit on lobster, which was actually cooked to perfection. Flavor wise, it wasn't happening for me. I was actually able to take a bite of the Stellar Bay oyster dish and holy fuck was it good. If you looked up the meaning of the phrase "dish envy" my picture would be right next to it, mean muggin.
My daily routine consists of pulling articles from various food blogs and posting them via my social media channels. The never-ending artic...
Bâtard
Maine Lobster: Green asparagus, zucchini blossoms, citrus rind. This was my least favorite of all four dishes. It's hard to shit on lobster, which was actually cooked to perfection. Flavor wise, it wasn't happening for me. I was actually able to take a bite of the Stellar Bay oyster dish and holy fuck was it good. If you looked up the meaning of the phrase "dish envy" my picture would be right next to it, mean muggin.
When most people think of the variety of factors that compliment the food culture, things like music and art come to mind. The car culture i...
A Day in Hudson Valley With Buick
In the past, Buick hosted a cooking demonstration at The Brooklyn Kitchen, a formal dinner with a cocktail demonstration at the NoMad Rooftop,in addition to participating as a sponsor for the New York City Food and Wine Festival. Most recently, Buick gathered a group of bloggers for a day of eating and drinking, in the new food mecca of New York, the Hudson Valley.
The day started off at Montgomery Place Orchards - an Orchard farm that dates back to the 1700's, where we stopped off for a quick lunch catered by Mona Talbott. Today, the orchard offers a wide range of fruits and vegetables; this includes strawberries, red, purple, and black raspberries, apricots and plums. The orchards are also home to nearly 70 different varieties of apples, many of them antique. Our lunch was served in the orchard and the menu consisted of slow cooked pork shoulder with fava bean salsa verde and wild arugula. A French beans, sweet corn and basil salad with cherry tomato vinaigrette. And for dessert a Montgomery Place Orchard royal and black raspberry meringues with elderflower cream.
The next stop was Hill Rock Distillery. A distillery hand crafting perfect bottles of whiskey in a process they call "field-to-glass" which, they consider to be, their version of farm to table. We were given a detailed tour of their grounds, where we had the luxury of learning about the process which they have implemented as their process for making, the perfect whiskey.
Our last stop was at Zak Pelaccio's farm-to-table restaurant, Fish and Game. A private dining room was set up for us, where a seven course dinner, with wine pairing was served. Some of the beautiful dishes served were a egg, pork loin, salsa verde. A Mushroom and Onion Top Bouillon and a beautiful bluefish served with cucumber, cherries, kimchi, to name a few.
Buick realizes that most owners of their vehicles enjoy unusual experiences. For example, most of my eating adventures are within the five boroughs, and taking a two and a half hour drive from Brooklyn, isn't something I usually turn to when I plan a day of eating; the day has actually has inspired me to broaden my food horizons and take a little food road trip myself, so stay tuned...
Buick.com
Empellon Taqueria was definitely my white whale. I've tried to write a review about this place many times, but yet I've never able t...
Empellón Cocina
Fast forward a year later and the kid (me) is living the wife life. For months on end I would tell my girlfriend that I'd take her to Empellon for dinner, but the stigma that surrounded the place made me feel weird. Luckily, there was Empellon Cocina. I figured Cocina didn't carry the same stigma as the taqueria once did. Emepllon Cocina is located a few blocks from Taqueria, in the East Village. I knew I was in the right place because as I walked in Common's "GO!" was playing throughout the space, while people chattered and glasses clinked. We sipped on a classic margarita while we read the menu, this is what we got:
Chilaquiles Rojos ($13) - Poached duck egg, ramps. Strips of crispy tortillas, black beans, topped with a slow poached duck egg, crema, and crushed queso. Tons of flavors and textures happening all at once. And let's face it, anything with a fried egg over it makes it ten times better.
The Guacamole and all 7 salsa's ($15) - Guacamole, pistachios. The Guacamole was extremely rich and deep and in texture, but not to the point where it was over done. Served alongside crispy masa chips, which had to be taken away from me so that I wouldn't fill up on them.
The 7 Salsa's started with a salsa called "Sikil Pak" which was made up of pumpkin seeds, tomato, onion, garlic,cinnamon, epazote, sour orange juice, and serrano pepper which had a nice and mellow, sweet flavor to it. The last salsa, called "Salsa Habanera," made up of habenero, orange juice, grapefruit, and Mexican oregano had a nice mellow flavor at first, but then a nice tingle of heat hit my mouth.
Chilled Shrimp ($16) - Sea urchin mousse, lettuce, masa waves. I didn't know if I wanted to eat this dish or hang it on my wall. The shrimp was tender, but a little dry until I mixed it around with the mousse - and then the hamster finally got back on the wheel, and I understood was happening.
Lamb Tartare ($14) - Avocado leaf oil, pasilla oaxaquena, gauje seeds. Of all the dishes I had this was perhaps my least favorite. I felt the flavors were a little too flat, and what hit me was rather gamy.
Squid ($17) - Chilmole, nugget potatoes, sour orange mayonnaise. Another work of art to the eye and to the palate. The squid and potatoes were tender in texture. The sour orange mayo gave the dish a nice touch of acid, with a hint of sour. Straight Banger.
Carnitas ($24) - Onions, cilantro, salsa verde. If I had to explain this dish, it's kind of like getting smacked in a face with a bag of money, by a big breasted woman, while driving a Ferrari Enzo. The pork was perfectly cooked with bits of savory fat every few bites. The flavor reminded me of the pastrami from Katz's Deli. The fresh tortilla, which are served on the side of this dish, were warm and chewy. My favorite dish of the night, and maybe even of all 2014.
So I finally caught my white whale, and fuck was it delicious. Empellon does a great job at sticking to the script of authentic Mexican food, while bringing a little refinement into the dinning experience. Another thing I enjoy about Empellon is the chef, Alex Stupak. Once the head pastry chef at Wylie Dufresne's WD-50, Stupak set out to open a Mexican restaurant, with much controversy surrounding the opening. A straight up underdog, and I always root for the underdog. Chefs like Alex Stupak who cook foods from outside of their native backgrounds, and do it right, is what makes the New York City food scene so exciting and off the wall. If Empellon three (which is in the works as we speak) is anything like Empellon one and two, I might have to camp out for an opening day reservation.
Empellón Cocina
105 1st Avenue New York, NY
212-780-0999
Grabbing a quick lunch is a little bit traumatizing when I'm working in the South Street Seaport area. I could play food truck roulett...
Clarke's Standard
On Fridays, I tend to "forget" my lunch so I spend most of the morning devising plans. I was going to roam around for 10 minutes and if I didn't find anything good, I was gonna hit up Chipotle. With having any luck, there I was on course to Chipotle, but just as I got there I noticed a location of Clarke's Standard. There I stood trying to figure out one of life's greatest questions - burritos or burgers. Through the window of Chipotle, I could see the line of desk jockeys wrapped around the store. I looked over at an almost empty Clarke's Standard and the decision was clear. I don't do lines or long waiting times.
Clarke's Standard is a fast casual burger spot whose pedigree comes from legendary Manhattan bar PJ Clarke's. A quick skim of the menu and this is what I got:
The Butchers Cut Combo ($9.90)
The Burger: A 6 ounce burger topped with cheese, lettuce, tomato and PJ's special sauce cooked to order. I usually take my burger cooked medium, but this burger was cooked more to the taste of medium-well, nonetheless the burger had a decent char flavor to it, and it was juicy. I'm pretty sure that the special sauce was just Russian dressing which is just a mix of ketchup, relish and mayo.
The fries: The fries were medium sized in cut with the skin on. Crispy outside, starchy soft texture inside, with a nice light coating of salt. Might I also mention the abundance of condiments on tap - including BBQ sauce, which I prefer to dip my fries into. Step your condiment game up, homey.
I will admit it, I am a burritHO. I can eat burritos all day, everyday, and twice on Wednesday while watching Seinfeld in my boxers. So whe...
Mission Cantina
We arrived around 9pm with an hour wait, which was cool because we had a few specialty drinks at the small bar situated across from the front door. I liked the bar so much that we wound up eating dinner there. This is what we ordered:
Scallop & Veal Heart Ceviche ($13) - Topped with fried capers, olives, and red rice vinegar on a crispy house made tostada. This dish had a lot of things working for it. Right off, I noticed the flavors of savory and sweet from the corn tostada and the vinegar. I loved the texture of the firm scallop and veal heart with the crispiness of the tostada. My palate was having a field day. My favorite dish of the night.
Chicken Wings ($12): Mole, spices, chili vinegar, sesame, crema. I'm not going to lie, I was kind of in shook when they brought these wings to the table. I remember the wings from Mission Chinese, which were extremely spicy and mouth numbing. I like heat, but the spice had me sweating harder than Gwyneth Paltrow when asked for directions to Brooklyn. Mission Cantina's wings are a little bit more tolerable on the tongue. Fried to a crisp and devilishly good.
Tacos ($6.50 for 2) We ordered the Cummin Lamb Taco, smoked prune, herbed crema and The roasted pork - Al Pastor with pickled pineapple. On my two trips to Mission Cantina, I had a great tortilla stuffed with extremely dry meat. I can usually excuse dry meat for flavor, but the flavor just fell flat on it's ass. This was like eating Taco Bell but while sober in the daylight.
The Brisket Burrito ($12): Beans, avocado, crema, queso blanco, salsa fresca, chips and 2 salsas, with your choice of meat, fish or vegetable. Let me start off by saying "Holy Fuck!" The sheer weight alone made me realize that I would be in a food coma for the next 3 days. Everything from the fresh and extremely dense tortilla to the perfectly cooked brisket was one hundred percent on point. What threw me for a loop was that there was no rice in the burrito; Bowien packs the burrito with perfectly cooked beans instead. The text book definition of a good burrito to me is that every bite tastes the same and Mission Cantina nailed that aspect.
After a few drinks and the food, our bill came to a measly $110 before tip. The service was on point our bartender/server was excellent - we even had a 10 minute conversation about tacos. I will gladly admit that he has the burrito game on lock. As for his tacos, they need work. There are a lot of great tacos popping up in Manhattan, and in a very large spectrum. Anything from a quick casual taco at Los Taco No.1 in Chelsea, to the high end tacos being slung a few blocks away by Lord Taco, Alex Stupak. I'd hate to see someone as talented as Bowien left behind in the taco dust.
Mission Cantina
172 Orchard Street, New York
missioncantinanyc.com
Manhattan's ever evolving burger scene has a new contender to add to it's roster, The BFB Highline. BFB which stands for "Best...
BFB Highline
On the weekends only, BFB will also be serving up BBQ and Lobster Rolls.
The Hiesenburger The Hiesenburger - Medium Rare |
BBQ Brisket Sandwich. Weekends only. |
Bacon Salt Fries |
Bourbon Iced Tea |
One day while roaming around Chelsea Market, I don't know why. I'm not a French tourist, nor do I live in Manhattan, but I was hung...