Return to New York+

Hello, patient readers, you few, you special.  We just returned from two weeks in New York and several people have asked for suggestions for their upcoming trips and so I oblige:

OLD FAVORITES: Our trips do not seem complete with a visit to the bar at Keen's Steakhouse. On our last visit, we went to the main restaurant which was fabulous and had leftover mutton chop for another meal.  The bar has a smaller cut, but the meat is perfect, juicy, pink, and loaded with flavor. Simply served with braised escarole, but all meals are accompanied by terrific small rolls and most splendid sweet butter (I asked about the brand--Grand President). The buvette steak salad had a perfectly cooked 5-6 oz. steak with a romaine salad. The added treat at the bar this time were plump chicken wings.  Good wines by the glass.
The BBQ brisket sandwich at Mighty Quinn is mighty delicious and the baked beans with burnt ends is one the world's great dishes. The pulled pork is pretty good too.  They now have several locations, including Battery Park City's Hudson Eats with a spectacular view of the Hudson.  We love the croissants, pain au chocolat and small quiches at Patisserie Claude on W. 4th Street.  Prices are amazingly low for such high quality-- each would be at least $1 more uptown. And the word is definitely out about the cookies at Levain on W. 74th St.  They're still $4 per, which seemed a lot last year. Nice to see they're holding steady. The rustic baguette was also good.
Motorino on E. 10th is one of my favorite pizzas.  We went for brunch and had the brunch pizza with pancetta and eggs on top and the always delicious sopresseta.  Salads are great and a nice surprise was the octopus appetizer--tender and flavorful. If you can get there for lunch, they have  a salad/pizza combo for $12.  Always dependable is a slice from Joe's on Carmine, busy so right out of the oven.  I also tried a slice from Bleecker Street Pizza down the block and it was quite good too. Crust was fair but toppings and sauce very good.
A wondrous 5-course lunch for $55 at Bouley was to me a very good deal.  We got the wine pairings which were also a good deal but the total tab was quite wondrous too. The restaurant moved since our last visit and it is a beautiful French country room, but pretty formal. Reminded me of Taillevant in Paris, if I may drop a name. The coolest part was a bread cart with 10 different breads.  Each of had a pile of brioche, levain, and savory loaves. Highlights: the porcini flan with crab and the forager's mushroom treasure, and the hot carmelized Anjou pear (one of the best desserts I have ever had and that's saying a lot).  The highlight of the wines was a 1999 dry Vouvray, unctuous and rich almost like a sauterne.
Our deli choice this time was Carnegie Deli.  Our trick is to get the food to go-- no wait and no split charges.  One corned beef sandwich and one matza ball soup to go.  Enough for dinner for 2 and lunch the next day. Both were incredible. It may be a tourist trap but easy to see why. 

NEW FAVORITES: Russ and Daughters Cafe is a brilliant idea. A hip LES comfortable cafe featuring the great smoked meats from the mother ship. Our brunch consisted of a classic Gaspe lox on bagel with cream cheese and capers and a platter with the best potato latkes, Gaspe lox, and sunnyside up eggs.
A truly special dinner was happily consumed at NoMad, in-chef Daniel Humm's new and packed restaurant. Prices were reasonable for such great food.  The chicken for 2 was the best chicken dish we've ever had. Stuffed with foie gras, truffle and brioche, every bite was heaven.  The suckling pig was pretty wonderful too.  The pear salad and beets first courses were perfect and the rooms are beautiful.  Service was very helpful and good wines by the glass. Quite a schlep to the restrooms.
The Dutch is a fairly new Soho restaurant famous for the fried chicken which it turns out is not served at dinner.  I settled for the skate wings which was perfectly cooked and adorned with crab. The foie gras terrine was scrumptious and the apple pie served 4 nicely (at $18 it should). Nice room and good service on a cold, snowy evening. All wines are American! I did get my fried chicken fix at Hill Country Chicken's branch in Brooklyn.  Nicely fried but the crust is a little crackery.
Our new pizza experience was at Franny's in Park Slope, Brooklyn. I've read about it for years and the pizza is truly wonderful.  A classic margherita is the test for me and it more than passed.  Appetizers are very good and an interesting all-Italian wine list helps.
We chanced into 44&X for an after-theater meal. Food and wine were quite good, especially the scallops appetizer which made a good meal with a lovely arugula salad. Salmon tartare was delicious and a very fine wines by the glass selection made it a place worth a return visit.  Another good find fairly close to the theater district is Taboon, a Mediterranean-Mid-eastern delight of a restaurant. Good cocktails, great bread, and an assortment of outstanding mezes made a really good meal.  A standout was the teramasaleta.
I think that's it.  So many more to try and so many to return to. Always hard to decide but all around  a stomachful of delight. And, of course, I had to get my dozens of Ess-a-bagel pumpernickel bagels to bring home.

New York New York, what a wonderful town

Sheila and I have had a whirlwind eating, walking, sightseeing tour of NYC including getting to know Brooklyn better. Our good friends M&R have moved there and there we mooched. We took a 2 1/2 respite in No. New Jersey to attend a wedding. Our kids' friends getting married; it's enough to make you weep. A fabulous wedding, altho NJ needs MANY more road sings. The rehearsal dinner was at Pourquoi Pas in Westwood. We took over the restaurant and the food was quite good and generously served. Nice to know there's a place in the wilds of NJ.

As far as New York, some great eating. We took a redeye and arrived early Wed. morning. After a nap, I took the subway to one of the holy grails of pizza, Di Faro's. One time I had a rental car and we went there but it was closed. This time it was open and not crowded. What luck! I had a square slice which is on a thicker base than the slice. Nice olive oil crust, a little crispy. Lovely tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, fresh-cut basil, a little olive oil, some seasoning, all done by one guy who makes one pie at a time--no rushing. The more I ate the better it was, a great beginning to my days of NY repast. I can't say it's the best I've ever had, but worth the trip.

That night we went to see Hamlet with Jude Law, which was quite spectacular. He was great! Before the play, we and our friends went to db Bistro Moderne, a Daniel Boulud spinoff (I think the first). I had another of my "I have to try this before I die" dishes I've been reading about for years, their burger with foie gras and short rib. No socks knocked off, esp. for $32! The pommes souflees that came with the burger were a delight, crisp and puffy. Our party's favorite dishes were the coq au vin and the Moroccan tuna tartare. A very lovely room and good service, but not essential to return to.

But one that I did return to and would again is Jean-Georges, at least for lunch. Their $29 lunch is for any 2 courses. Each additional course is $14.50 and desserts are $8. The food and service are wonderful. Last time we went, I had the foie gras appetizer with roasted strawberries, one of the best dishes I have ever had anywhere. This time is had dried cherries and was delicious but not as spectacular as the strawberry. Sheila had their justly famous scallops with cauliflower in caper/raisin sauce, which I made once. Doesn't sound great, but it really shows what a great chef can do. It had a $8 supplement. Entrees were a spectacular rock cod crusted with nuts and seeds (made into a powder so it was light) in a broth with fresh vegetables and skate with Chalon sauce, marvelous. Desserts were fair, but they offer a lagniappe of fresh marshmallows and chocolates so I might skip dessert in future. The wine list has fantastic wines by the glass from $10-30. I'd go back.

Another New York lunch favorite is Gotham Bar and Grill, reliably excellent. They're celebrating their 25th anniversary and have a $25 3-course lunch special. The autumn squash soup was delicate and flavorful, watermelon and cherry tomato salad was refreshing, the Atlantic cod with chanterelles was perfectly cooked, as was the hangar steak. And for dessert, you can get their absolutely incredible chocolate cake. It's perfect, melt-in-your-mouth chocolateness. The sweet corn creme caramel was wonderful too, but I'll always take the cake.

And another NY favorite is Carnegie Deli. Their sandwiches are just so good and huge. Four of us ate 3 sandwiches and had lots of leftovers. I love their corn beef. Service is not great and I hate that they do not accept credit cards, but I still love it. We usually like to get a matza ball soup and sandwich and take to our hotel (no sharing charge!). Ate their before seeing Hair, which was also fantastic.

Besides Di Faro, the only pizza I tried was a slice from Sal and Carmine's which just got a great write-up on Sliceny.com. Feh, nothing great. Had a usually great lox and bagel from Ess-a-Bagel (although I prefer their 1st Ave. location), excellent bagels from Murray's, and very good bagels from La Bagel Delights and the Bagel Hole, the latter two in Brooklyn.

Our last dinner was at Scopello, a very good neighborhood place in Brooklyn. Excellent calamari salad and octopus appetizer, fresh pastas and a fine seafood risotto at reasonable prices.

Just a note on shows: Hair and Hamlet were both superb.