Weekend in New York: The Food

I've had a busy, stressful week, so I've been putting off writing about my escapades in New York City last weekend. The trip lasted little more than 48 hours, and was more expensive than I had hoped but still cheaper than it could have been! My money-saving tips mostly involved eating small portions, walking (which didn't really lose me any weight, surprisingly) and forgoing the otherwise-good deals for New York City Restaurant Week, where every prix fixe dinner menu is $35 and every prix fixe lunch menu is $24 (before drinks, tax and tip). If you are going up this weekend, check it out because it's two weekends long.

As I have said before, this is really the first time I have ever enjoyed (pretty much) everything I ate in New York, since I have the uncanny ability to find the average crap. Here are those places that gave me food I liked this time around:


ChikaLicious (East Village) - I found this place accidentally while searching online for cheap dinner options. This place is notable for having very limited seating and a constant line outside where waits go up to an hour (ever gracious, the maitre'd will let the odd person in line enter just to use the bathroom). Chef Chika Tillman makes innovative, ittybitty dessert plates for her dessert tasting menu, for the fixed price of $14; wine pairing is an extra seven bucks. I went for the wine pairing and got three courses. The first was a tiny but tasty melon soup with a big ball of white chocolate mousse floating in it. Next, I had my choice of main dessert courses. I chose a warm chocolate tart with a pink peppercorn ice cream. The tart was alright, while the ice cream was really my favorite part of that part of the meal (in retrospect, I should've gone for the billiard ball-sized mound of cheesecake that the diner next to me raved about). The port that came with it was tasty, but I could have done with or without it. The last part was a small selection of petits fours, flavorful but fleeting. All the while the chef, sous chef and maitre'd doted on all of us with water and charming service. Of course, not having had dinner I was still hungry, so I almost went across the street to the Rai Rai Ken ramen restaurant (one diner in line mentioned to a friend that it was her favorite noodle house in "the Village"). A big-ass bowl o' ramen goes for about $9 or $10. I'll go back next time.


After a stop in a nearby Irish bar, I took a taxi to the Stonewall Inn (Greenwich Village), not really knowing how to get there by subway or foot at that late hour. This was the historic site of the Stonewall Riots, which happened 40 years and two weeks prior, and they make sure you know it! The two floors of the Stonewall were pretty busy, and I didn't really talk to many people, but folks were nice enough when I took a vacant seat that someone had just stepped away from. The bartenders were flirty enough (not as much as the Flex in Raleigh), and pleasant to talk to. My bartender, along with half of us, got very wrapped up in the LA Galaxy-Chivas USA soccer game on both TV's in the upper bar. I think LA won. My bank account did not, as I rang up a $21 tab - two beers and two waters. Not exactly happy hour. I'd certainly go back though.


The next morning I headed to the American Museum of Natural History, where I spent all day. Before it opened I had a cheap, semi-memorable pain de chocolate at Le Pain Quotidien on the Upper West Side. No caffeine, which precipitated the need for a fountain drink in the museum cafeteria. The problem: it cost $2.75 for 12 ounces - and no refills. Hands down, it was the most expensive soda I have ever had.


Lunch was much more memorable. I was determined to see everything in the museum and got halfway through when I left for lunch. I didn't have to go far: I saw a farmers' market set up next to the museum. On the other side of it was a line even longer than the one at ChikaLicious. This line poured out of the Shake Shack (Upper West Side), which one woman behind me swore had the best burgers in New York. I was to find out that this Northeastern answer to In N Out Burger grinds the beef for its burgers on site, and makes the ice cream for its own shakes.


I ordered the Shack Burger (juicy cheeseburger with tomato, lettuce and Shack Sauce - some special type of mayo) with fries (crinkle cut, presumably cut on site) and a vanilla chocolate shake. Total price: $12, but half of that was the shake. Everything was delicious. The burger had a richer beef flavor than most fast food burgers with none of the gristle, and that shake managed to simultaneously be thick and easy to drink through a straw. The fries were not the best part of the meal, but were still much better than most I have had.


Later that evening I headed out to Chelsea to soak up some more of gay New York. A few people mentioned places to eat that I wound up either passing on due to price, or not finding at all. I finally broke down and asked an attractive local standing outside of a bar what he could recommend. He gave a good recommendation: La Carbonara (Chelsea), where the maitre'd and the waiter seemed to almost get into a bitch fight about serving me (and the other guests) as quickly as possible. I was quite doted on while I was there (maybe I'm just adorable*). This is a place where you can easily spend $30 or $40. I kept it to $13 by ordering just an iced tea and one pasta dish - the linguine with thinly-sliced zucchini, chopped mint and sliced garlic. The zucchini was cooked enough to be almost caramelized, and the mint and garlic were a pleasantly unusual combination. The bread with a mound of ricotta and cream cheese in olive oil was complimentary.


The next morning I grabbed a bagel with lox cream cheese at the Benvenuto Caffe (Flatiron District), and checked out of the kitschy and fun Gershwin Hotel. I hiked on over to Chelsea again in search of the Chelsea Market, which (I had read in a cheapskate's guide to NYC) had some stores with free samples just lying around. I had no idea that the Food Network has its HQ there. Apparently they do, which would explain the "Iron Chef America VIP Guests, This Way" posters all over the place. But this was not the highlight of the Chelsea Market. Instead, it was a bevy of fishmongers, organic food sellers, kitchen supply stores and no less than four bakers, most of which specialized in cupcakes. Among other things, I got to try two different mini-brownies from two different places, some salmon nigiri from the Lobster Place (the salmon taste was very subtle - enough so that it left me wanting) and the most remarkable palmiers cookies from Sarabeth's Kitchen - a dollar a piece. Unlike palmiers I have eaten that are tough and cardboard-like in their flavor and texture, these somewhat tinier ones were extremely rich, buttery and melt-in-your-mouth-ish.


I liked mine so much that I came back after lunch and bought five more to take home.


Lunch was all the way over in Queens, at the famed Jackson Diner (Jackson Heights) - yes, Roopa, you were right! Just a block from the Roosevelt St.-72nd Street subway stop in the heart of the vibrant South Asian-American neighborhood of Jackson Heights, the Jackson Diner serves an all-you-can-eat buffet for $10. That's a little pricier than I'm used to during the week, but way cheaper than most lunches you will find in much of New York.


They have many of the standard dishes, and a few I had not expected. No pork or beef at this Indian restaurant - all dishes that I saw were veggie, chicken or goat (maybe lamb, but there was none offered that day). The goat curry was the least bony goat dish I have ever had. The chicken makhani was not the best, but ranked up among them. As for the tandoori chicken, a dish which has gotten more and more boring as of late, I was pleased with what I had. The basmati rice was fluffy and the various chutneys were tangy, especially the tamarind chutney, which was my favorite. They also had a daily special of masala dosa made while you wait. I would have ordered one had I not already been so full. Altogether the cost was just $12, including my soda. The large, pink pitcher of water that was left for me was on the house.

Altogether, I'm impressed at all the money I saved while eating - money that could have been wasted (and has been wasted in previous trips) on more expensive, less interesting or edible food. The best parts are that I found places that I will try next time - the Rai Rai Ken in the East Village and a few Thai places and burger places in Chelsea. And I must make a visit to the Chelsea Market whenever I head back.

Other photos -

My floor in the Gershwin Hotel. The entire floor featured artistic photos that each featured the same woman with the same insipid grin. I didn't know New York allowed 13th floors in its buildings.

Just a few lonely ancestors wandering around Laetoli

I don't have a gym. I might consider going if he's there.

I wonder how many Next Food Network Stars have passed by this logo? Eh, who cares?

* So kidding it isn't even funny. Okay, it is.

Because "The State" is out on DVD

And because it was a pretty cool show.

Soft Shell Crab Tacos

I decided to pull some frozen softs out of the freezer today. I dredged 'em up almost the way my mother remembers her mother doing it - with flour and that's it. I added corn meal and Old Bay to the dredging, then fried 'em up 2 minutes to a side in a buttered pan. Man, that's tasty food.

Since I had no white bread around - how Mom ate them when she was young, with either mayonnaise or mustard - I got innovative. Why not a warm corn tortilla with some sliced raw green onions?

Before...

Simple, quick, delicious.

...and after.

Back from New York...

I will write more at length later, but I have to say that this is the first trip I have made to the Big Apple where I was truly satisfied with everything I ate there. True, New York City is a foodie city. But it is easy to forget that those gems are buried in a lot of crap. Apparently, I have had a knack for finding New York's crap the last few times I have been there. Not this time! I took people's advice and recommendations before eating at most places, took an educated risk here and there, and found good stuff. Too much, in fact, to try on this one trip. I've made note of some places I must return to on the next trip up.

And the best part? No meal I ate in this crazy-expensive city cost me more than $25. In fact, only one cost me more than $15. This meant, of course, that I had to forego New York Restaurant Week, where I would be paying a base of $35 per meal before tax, tip and drinks. Had I done it, I was going to Periyali, one Greek restaurant in the Flatiron area that Roopa - formerly a Baltimore blogger and now at home in Brooklyn, NY - recommended to me (thanks, Roopa).

More about my eating experiences - in Chelsea, the East Village, Flatiron, the Upper West Side and Jackson Heights (that last one is in Queens) - soon.

Next time you park in a parking garage...

...check to see if they still charge the same rates. The company that operates Penn Station's parking garage charged $12 a day the last time I parked there, about a year and a half ago. Today?

$20 per day!!!?!!!?!!

Because everyone knows how much more expensive it is to let people park cars on your property now. >:{

In fairness, I should have done the research - not just to see how much they charge these days, ut to find out what other places would have let me park there instead. Another stupid, expensive lesson.

Food, Inc.

I saw Food, Inc. last night. It didn't tell me much that I didn't already know - especially after reading Michael Pollan's excellent In Defense of Food (Pollan also appeared in the documentary a few times). And still, it disturbed and angered me - specifically the things I did not know. I won't write a lengthy post about it now, except to say that (Oops, looks like I did write a lengthy post about it after all!) After spending 90 minutes at the Charles avoiding all the Brüno traffic, I now have better insights into:

• Just how many things have corn products in them (diapers!?!?);
• Perdue and Tyson (and probably the other one or two megacompanies in "Big Poultry") do a pretty good job of mistreating not only its chickens - to make them much bigger in half the time - but also its chicken farmers - who have to go into hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt to upgrade their chicken houses, even though they make about $20K a year;
• I now know why unionizing workers at Smithfield's Tar Heel, NC, plant are so pissed off;
  
• I also now know about food safety advocate Barbara Kowalcyk and her efforts to pass Kevin's Law, named after her son who was killed by E. coli tainted beef that was recalled - a month after her son ate it, and two weeks after he passed;
  
• And after finding out how thoroughly Monsanto - the same chemical company that holds a patent on a genetically modified soybean - harasses those independent soybean farmers who refuse to use their soybeans, and considering how pervasive soy products are in the American food supply, I don't know if I can ever drink soy milk again (not that I did very much to begin with);
• If you want to grow corn or soy in this country, you pretty much have to roll over for the big corporations and do what they want;
• The organic food folks are pretty torn on corporations like Wal-Mart starting to sell organic food, even though it is the very type of change they are seeking. The documentary features one Gary Hirshberg, maker of Stonyfield organic yogurt, who points out that most formerly independent organic companies are now owned by the Big Guys. Tom's (that you see often at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods)? It's now owned by Colgate.
  

Of course, the film points out some things that both Pollan's book and Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation already discuss that I already had realized:

• The fundamental changes in the food industry over the last 50 years in order to quickly make cheap, tasty, though not always sanitary food (again, Kevin's Law);
• The pervasiveness of high fructose corn syrup and other many and varied corn products and soy products in our food;
• Because we'd rather prosecute illegal immigrants instead of the corporations that hire them, a lot of food corporations are getting away with some very bad things;
• Our nation's FDA and USDA are much more ineffective than they ever were, especially since food industry big wigs have served in the upper echelons of both organizations on and off for decades, under Democratic and Republican presidents;
  
• Perhaps the most important thing in the movie for me: so many people are too impoverished to even be able to buy the more expensive produce - they only have enough money to buy the junk food, keeping them trapped in a cycle of obesity, diabetes, unhealthy food and - again - poverty.

Mind you, it's not a paean to vegan eating. The movie visits Polyface Farms, an independent farm in the Shenandoah Valley where chickens, cows and pigs are roaming around eating the grass and not being cooped up. One guy traveled for five hours just to buy some of this farm's poultry! You will see owner Joel Salatin slit a chicken's throat on this farm. Of course, if you're a vegan you will never consider this humane. Apart from the slit-throating bit, though, this is more humane for the animals, for the workers, and for the consumers.

It's also much more expensive. Which made me realize as I left the Waverly Farmers' Market today: if you are able to buy this kind of produce, you are paying more for quality and humane farm conditions, especially for the meat, which you shouldn't be eating that much of anyway. But spending more for it will probably force me to both buy less of it, and to waste less of it. And this will probably work out to be less expensive for me in the long run, because I'll be buying less (albeit pricier) food at a higher quality, which is therefore more conducive to my health. Will I still stop at Wendy's or the Fractured Prune? Of course, but not often. And Eric Schlosser comes right out at the start of the movie and admits: it's not going to be easy to avoid all the crap in our food in this modern day and age (unless you take up a life of hunting and gathering). This goes for everyone from the ravenous meat-eaters to the uber-zealous vegans.

So what do we do? The movie may be preaching to the choir. Nevertheless, it urges the viewer to do a few things:

• Write our Congressmen and Congresswomen to get the gears moving to change the system (the producers use the regulations on Big Tobacco as an example);
• Go to farmers' markets and independent farmers much more often - and ask them to accept food stamps, so it's not just open those who can afford to go;
• Grow your own damn food! That justifies my new upside-down tomato grower hanging off my porch railing.
• If you know people that hunt, fish or crab, get some of what they bring back with them.

I've written a lot here. But please don't take my word for it, y'all. See the movie for yourself (the trailer is below). And if it's not playing locally (which it probably isn't for some of you), wait for it to come out on Netflix. It's a pretty damn enlightening documentary.

Right now on Mid-Day w/ Dan Rodricks

Henry Hong is talking about local summer food traditions. Listen live here. Listen after the fact here (or ask for a CD of the broadcast if it's been a month since broadcast).

Today's dose of weird...

Cathy called me up from Georgia just to tell me about this weird segment of Sesame Street, of all things. Just think "Sesame Street + 30 Rock = talking lemons".



If you've actually seen 30 Rock, the sketch actually kind of flows like an episode of 30 Rock. But the weirdest part? The lemon kind of looks like Tina Fey, if she were a lemon.

Sotto Sopra's Italian Summer Pasta Party - plan ahead

Dara gave me a head's up about a Summer Pasta Party that Sotto Sopra is throwing at the end of the month. From Dara:

Can’t make it to Italy this summer then come to Sotto Sopra Restaurant’s Summer Pasta Party on Thursday, July 30^th where the restaurant will take on an Italian piazza feel with music, dancing, pastas, salads, risotto, wine and beer. The party starts at 8 p.m. and carries on through to midnight. Kick up your heels and let down your hair, come via Vespa, Moto Guzzi or Ferrari, and don’t forget to bring your inner Italian spirit. Summer Pasta Party ticket price of $60 includes food, wine, beer, entertainment, gratuity, tax and can be purchased at Sotto Sopra’s website: www.sottosopra.us. All other alcoholic beverages will be half price for this event. Sotto Sopra Restaurant is located at 405 N. Charles Street.

For further information call Sotto Sopra Restaurant at 410.625.0534

Again, the event is July 30th. It may be a wee pricey, but it does include beer and wine! So if you do have the lire it'll be a lively event!

Seeking Cheese-Making Supplies

Y'all, I need your help. Over the next month, I will be doing some kitchen experiments. One of them involves making mozzarella. I need three things: citric acid, liquid rennet and non-homogenized milk. I found the first one at the Natural Market in Timonium (next to that new Giant from the previous post). They had liquid rennet but they were out. Alas, they did not have non-homogenized milk. Apparently, it is simply not sold unless it's skim milk, and even then it might be homogenized. Really: some organic fat-free ilk specifically said "homogenized" on it.

So I know where I can find liquid rennet. It's vegetarian only (which should be alright). But still I have no idea where I can find non-homogenized milk (can't be goat milk - apparently that won't work).

Any ideas on where I can find that milk?