Grub Street

Ogling the Offerings at the Burger Bash

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 15:52:09 -0500

We hit last night's burger bash to find that Katie Lee Joel would win with her ~~grilled cheese~~ patty melt — but aside from her deviation, we were sampled plenty of goodness. Check out the slideshow to see it all.

Earlier: Katie Lee Joel Wins Burger Bash With ~~Grilled Cheese~~ Patty Melt

Overheard at the Grand Tasting

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 14:37:00 -0500

At this afternoon's Grand Tasting session at the New York Wine and Food Festival, we spotted Anita Lo. When asked by someone how many restaurants she has, she ticked them off and mentioned the food truck, adding, "I haven't even been to the truck."

Rachael Ray's Burger Bash: Katie Lee Joel Wins With Grilled Cheese Patty Melt

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 12:20:00 -0500

Rachael just wants to feed you, like it or not.
Photo: Courtesy of Dan Klores Communications

The Burger Bash hosted by Rachael Ray at DUMBO's waterfront Tobacco Warehouse last night was the first event that sold out for the Wine & Food festival this weekend, but the $200 tickets secured attendees a balmy, chef-star-studded, filling night (photos forthcoming). Amusingly, this may be the only event we've ever been to where the topic of indigestion was an appropriate ice breaker. Even more entertainingly, the A-list — including Rachael Ray, Tom Colicchio, Michael Lomonaco, David Burke (who put his HTZ woes behind him for the night and get his spirits up), a hatless Spike from Top Chef, and Al Roker — stayed the night. The party was such that you could grab mouthwash-cups of Blue Moon ale (full drafts were in the next room) or raise the roof to Dancing Queen by the stage — but we made a bee line to the burgers.

Festival maestro Ian Schrager told Metromix this week to do "a little thinking before you chomp down at Burger Bash. 'Look at all the burgers first and narrow down what you want to try [...]There's no way in the world to try 15 or 18 burgers.'" So we considered his advice and suggestions from other roamers, and zeroed in on our picks.

Rachael Ray's burger looked cooked to the point of resembling turkey meat, but it seemed a necessary sample since she's planning her own burger joint in the city. It was dry, but that's also because Ray was one of few contenders who cooked patties past rare. Most stands served meat that was completely red and creamy in the center. That added moisture helped the Market Table burger since tasty caramelized onions couldn't offset a bun that was too thick and chewy. Shake Shack's entrants didn’t compare to the fresh orders whipped up in Madison Square Park, but the team earned supporters by handing out shots of vanilla custard and fudge milkshakes and cool visors that will soon become a part of Grub Street's Halloween costume. Al Roker's burger, meanwhile, prompted some disloyalty from someone on the Roker production crew: "His burger was good, but it wasn't the best."

The crowd snatched trucker-hatted Tom Colicchio's burgers before we could try one, but we noted that the hearty Craft burger was much different from our favorite of the night: squished deliciousness from roadside Jersey diner White Manna. The small patty and soft potato bun melded together so well, it could taste good after a day in your back pocket.

The one entrant we felt safe skipping was Katie Lee Joel's ~~grilled cheese~~ patty melt (was this not a burger bash?) — and in a fairly unbelievable upset for the restaurants participating in the event, SHE WON. With a grilled cheese, yes. And we didn't even see the Piano Man there shilling to make it happen.

Paella Wars?

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 18:20:12 -0500

Photo: Jeff Diesel

Jeff Diesel, bartender at Boqueria and author of "There's No Lipstick On Our Pata Negra," sends us his latest masterpiece.

Earlier: Paella Porn Infects Our Computers

Café Select Opens for Dinner

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 18:05:03 -0500

Photo: Melissa Hom

Last night's crowd at Café Select was every bit as chic as you might expect from a Touch of Class/Serge Becker joint. Very much a “female” restaurant, though Simon Hammerstein also made the scene. Our waitress could’ve been Agyness Deyn’s twin sister. The open front window and outdoor smoking bench are nice touches, though smokers had better keep it down unless they want to get doused with water like Delicatessen’s patrons recently did. The “preview menu” is now online — make sure to get the Bloody Mary with (very) spicy apple sauce.

Earlier: First Look: Café Select

Drop the Kielbasa

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:20:41 -0500

The NYPD has busted a Polish-Dominican cocaine ring based in a meat market, of all places. "Officials said the Sikorski Meat Market along Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint was the headquarters for the operation. The so-called 'Hot Kielbasa' was then shipped from there and sold across the city as well as parts of Northern New Jersey." [WNBC]

Per Se–razzi

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:05:03 -0500

Culinary Media Network came away from last night's Per Se party for Ferran Adrià with photos and video footage, and Ed Levine came away with a sense of satisfaction at having confined himself to only three pass-arounds. [CMN]

Three New Market-Restaurants Can Get It for You Retail

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:17:00 -0500

Gelato and espresso at Manducatis Rustica.
Photo: Melissa Hom

Remember last year, when all those restaurants were spawning affiliated gourmet markets? Well, while the Smoke Joint has converted its little piggy (market) into a bar, and Market Table has abandoned the grocery gambit altogether, the trend continues apace, with a new wave of hybrid ventures where dining room meets grocery shelf. Eat in, take out, and pick up a quart of milk (Hudson Valley, organic) on the way out.

Long Island City-zens know Sage American Kitchen as the weekday canteen for Silvercup Studios and source of some of the best Hostess-cupcake knockoffs around. Wanting to expand and facing the usual lease headaches, owner Leslie Nilsson decided to relocate and rebrand, and the result, now situated at Court Square opposite the Citicorp Building, is Sage General Store. As the name implies, there is ample wainscoting, antiques, and shelf space occupied by locavore bait like butter and yogurt from Evans Farmhouse Creamery, ricotta from Salvatore Bklyn, and sea-salt caramels from Brooklyn’s NuNu Chocolates. Koeze’s cult Cream-Nut peanut butter from Michigan is displayed ever so quaintly alongside Beth’s Farm Kitchen jams in what used to be Charlotte’s armoire on Sex and the City. But despite the mercantile trappings, Sage’s emphasis remains on elevated American comfort food, from macaroni and cheese to free-range rotisserie chicken, now available to stay or to go during new weekend and, starting soon, evening hours. 24-20 Jackson Ave., nr. Court Sq., Long Island City; 718-361-0707

Inside Sage General Store.Photo: Hannah Whitaker

If Sage’s aesthetic is Country, then Manducatis Rustica’s is the Old Country. In shockingly spacious premises (by Manhattan standards, at any rate), this outgrowth of Long Island City’s venerable Manducatis restaurant is the kind of lace-curtained place where Italian is spoken, espresso is drunk standing up, and red wine is consumed out of gallon jugs — or at least it was on the afternoon we visited. Owner Gianna Cerbone-Teoli, daughter of Vincent and Ida Cerbone and sister of the ever-hospitable Anthony, oversees an evolving menu of daily specials like lasagne, hefty Italian sandwiches, and a roster of individual pizzas that emerge tender-crusted from the wood-burning oven. “I’m feeling out what the community needs and wants,” says Cerbone-Teoli, whose housemade gelato, cookies, and cornetti make a very impressive start. Attention to detail is paramount: "I can't talk," she said one recent morning. “I’ve got ten people here, and they only like the espresso the way I make it.” Although most of the square footage is dedicated to seating — café style in the main room, white-tablecloth banquet space next door, both equipped with fireplaces — a small retail section has been carved out for Manducatis’ proprietary tomato sauce and olive oil, bread from an Astoria bakery, plus Sicilian imports like Siracusan “00” flour and sea salt from Trapani. They should come in handy during the Monday-night cooking classes Cerbone-Teoli co-hosts with local food writer Faye Hess. 46-31/46-33/46-35 Vernon Blvd., nr. 46th Rd., Long Island City; 718-937-1312

Italian-food fans will also gravitate to Tutto Sfoglia, the long-awaited negozio d’alimentari Ron Suhanosky and his wife, Colleen, hope to open next week (finally!) adjacent to their popular Carnegie Hill restaurant. Those pasta-snob favorites, Latini and Setaro brands, will be displayed alongside the couple’s own fresh pastas and sauces, prepared foods, Italian cured meats and cheeses, and Colleen’s house-baked breads and cookies. But don’t look for as extensive a selection as the owners offer at their Nantucket store. Because it’s not licensed to sell wine along with the food, to make ends meet the Manhattan retail operation sacrifices most of its space to overflow seating for Sfoglia. In the gourmet-market-restaurant world, flexibility is key. 135 E. 92nd St., nr. Lexington Ave.; 212-831-1402

Tables Available at Eighty One and Hearth; Prune and the Stanton Social Mostly Booked

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:00:30 -0500

It's 4 p.m., and that means it's time to play Two for Eight. We just asked ten restaurants the best time they can squeeze a couple in for dinner; you need only make your chosen reservation. (As always, we make the calls but don't guarantee the results.) Today: Modern American Cuisine.

Commerce (Menu)
212-524-2301
Two for eight? No
Best available: 9:45 p.m.

Country (Menu)
212-889-7100
Two for eight? Yes

Dovetail (Menu)
212-362-3800
Two for eight? No
Best available: 9:30 p.m.

Dressler (Menu)
718-384-6343
Two for eight? No
Best available? 7:30 p.m.

Eighty One
212-873-8181
Two for eight? Yes

Hearth (Menu)
646-602-1300
Two for eight? Yes

Lure Fishbar (Menu)
212-431-7676
Two for eight? No
Best available: 9:30 p.m.

Mas (farmhouse) (Menu)
212-255-1790
Two for eight? No
Best available: 7 p.m.

Prune (Menu)
212-677-6221
Two for eight? No
Best available: 10:45 p.m.

The Stanton Social (Menu)
212-995-0099
Two for eight? No
Best available: 6 p.m.

He’s Still Ferran From the Block

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:50:16 -0500

We have to agree with Ferran Adrià here: "Spanish potato omelet is one of the best dishes that anybody can eat. Surprisingly one of the least known dishes to Americans, it’s magical." [NYT]

Kampuchea Sneaks Onto ‘Esquire’ List of Top New Restaurants

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:25:17 -0500

Esquire’s “Best New Restaurants 2008” list isn’t online yet, just a blurb in which Alice Waters begs David Chang not to open in Vegas. (Wait a minute, pairing David Chang with a seasoned master chef — that’s a novel idea). But we’ve snagged a copy of the magazine, and the following New York restaurants made the list.

Bar Blanc
“Dutch-born chef Sebastiaan Zijp is a master at separating out the distinct flavors of each ingredient in a dish.”

Bar Boulud
“Charcuterie master Sylvain Gasdon … reproduces the lusty flavors of lyonnaise-style artisanal sausages and pates better than anyone in America … none will let you down.”

Convivio
“What truly has become far less formal, in a dramatic and delicious way, is the food … Though the preparation is meticulous, the dishes that emerge … are joyful, begging to be shared.”

Kampuchea
“The more adventurous will love the seared monkfish liver with a beef jus, spiced pears, pickled daikons, and bush basil …But it’s the sandwiches you’ll crave days later.”

Scarpetta
“[Scott Conant]’s lusty traditional regional Italian food … is received here in all its succulent goodness, but with less pomp than before.”

Redhead also gets a shoutout for “baconiest snack,” and the JetBlue terminal is the “Best Reason to Fly JetBlue.” So there you have it, for those who make their dining plans based on Esquire.

Ticket Stampede at Brooklyn Pig Roast

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:15:37 -0500

Brooklyn Based, host of tonight's Gowanus Pig Roast, just sent us this disturbing news! "Just an FYI, we've sold out of food tickets, but we'll still have $10 wrist bands available at the door for those who want to come by for the music and hope there are leftovers! You'll get drink specials ($1 Sixpoint from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.) and cash bar for the rest of the night."

Wild Edibles Protesters Are Excited for Food & Wine Festival, Too

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:10:07 -0500

Much like PETA glomming onto Fashion Week, Brandworkers, the organization behind the Wild Edibles boycott, is taking their protests to the New York Food & Wine Festival. They tell us they plan to camp outside of a talk about Le Cirque that will include Terrance Brennan (according to them, the chef reneged on his promise not to serve Wild Edibles), and will stage "a street theater performance where elegantly attired supporters will serve Wild Edibles workers glasses of champagne because working families deserve the best just like the guests inside the Food Festival."

Earlier: Brandworkers Spies on Wild Edibles Mystery Trucks

Southside Opens With Private Party

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:45:54 -0500

Photo: Courtesy of Guest of a Guest

Rachelle Hruska acknowledges that she's shilling when she describes what a great time she had at the opening party at Southside (she laughed, she danced, it was better than Bella's), but a picture is worth a thousand words, and luckily she’s got those, too. (Wow! Unlike Goldbar across the way, the club is allowing photography!) So what do you think — is the crowd as purdy as the space, which we showed you earlier? Did that fresh-out-of-Trinity ban serve Mr. Martignetti well? [Guest of a Guest]

How to Digest the ‘Times Magazine’ Food Issue

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:30:32 -0500

Beware exploding corn.
Photo: Courtsey New York Times

The Times Magazine Food Issue is online now, but it's a bit of a downer. There's spiking food prices, overfarmed fish, and killer fruit. But then again, there's also hope for a food renaissance and tipping alternatives. We've summarized the magazine below, so plan your weekend accordingly.

• Flipping the Bird, by Christine Muhlke
In the inevitable Kenny Shopsin profile, the cranky restaurateur separates the "wanted from the unwanted with a degree of foulmouthed eloquence that makes Lenny Bruce look like Sirio Maccioni. 'We kick [expletive] out. Regularly.' Up to three times a day."

• Attack of the Tomato Killers, by Doug Fine
A personal tale of food independence through gardening, and how the climate can wipe out your smug success.

• Why Take Food Seriously? by Mark Bittman
Since celebrity chefs and the global food crisis create dialogue that often "includes words like locavore, vegetarian, sustainable and flexitarian," we may at least be facing the first real food renaissance since the fifties.

• Locavorism, by William Safire
The author calls an orange-juice company to ask whose home his "home-squeezed" juice was squeezed in. Plus, what it means to be a superfood.

• Farmer in Chief, by (Omnivore's Dilemma author) Michael Pollan
What the next president can do about the "the food and agriculture policies … designed to maximize production at all costs and relying on cheap energy to do so."

• Kosher Wars, by Samantha M. Shapiro
A new generation of Jews want kosher practices to consider sustainability, but they're finding resistance.

• Why Tip? by Paul Wachter
A restaurant in San Diego called the Linkery has banned tipping. Are the owners onto something?
Related: Bruni Readers to New York: Take It From Tourists, End Tipping

• A Catfish by Any Other Name, by Paul Greenberg
U.S. farm-raised catfish might start going by a new name, Delacata, while the Vietnamese are attempting to flood the world's whitefish market with their own species, referred to as tra. "It takes three acres of grazing land to grow a single 700-pound cow. That same land, flooded … will bring in up to 1 million pounds of tra."

• Where’s the Beef? interview by Deborah Solomon
A Q&A with filmmaker Robert Kenner about his new documentary, Film, Inc., about the industries that don't want us to know where our food comes from.

• Milk Cartoon, by Rob Walker
How kids won't start eating better unless we market health the way companies market junk food. For example, "milk consumption in participating schools rose as much as 34 percent" when a company called Milk Media put the Disney character Doug on cartons.

• Produce Yourself, by Virginia Heffernan
How FreshDirect is a model multitasker.

• A Green Revolution for Africa? by David Rieff
The Gates Foundation is pouring millions into Africa to help modernize agriculture, and some food fighters want to stop it — like "[t]he Indian environmental activist Vandana Shiva [who] denounced the Gates Foundation as being the 'greatest threat to farmers in the developing world.'"

• Dangerous Fruit, by Lisa Sanders, M.D.
Stay away from the special fruit in Jamaica. Ackee fruit, "when picked before it is fully ripe … contains a chemical that limits the body’s ability to release the backup supply of glucose that is stored in the liver … Without it, blood sugar plunges. Enough people have died from eating unripened ackee that it is illegal to bring the fruit into the U.S."

The Food Issue [NYT]