Q & A with Ben Van Leeuwen
Where ice cream is concerned, there’s some serious competition on the streets of New York these days. Think Mister Softee gone green and you have Ben Van Leeuwen. Van Leeuwen got the idea to launch his own artisanal ice cream concept while driving a Good Humor truck. Unlike Good Humor and Mister Softee, Van Leeuwen uses organic, local cream, and biodegradable cups. He gets his pistachios straight from Sicily and his red currants from local farmers. With ten flavors to choose from, we’d chase down any one of his three trucks for the classic vanilla, made with barrel-aged ground vanilla beans, or mint chip made with Oregon mint leaves and Michael Cluizel chocolate. Sundae? We’re partial to the ginger sundae made with a spicy ginger ice cream, topped with homemade hot caramel sauce, chopped sugar cones, and whipped...
Read MoreBraai
It’s not dinner at the zoo. It’s dinner in Hell’s Kitchen. 329 W. 51st St., between Eighth and Ninth Aves., (212) 315-3315 Sun.-Wed., 5 p.m.-1a.m.; Thu.-Sat., 5 p.m.-3 a.m. Cuisine: African barbecue Vibe: Funky Hell’s Kitchen spot. Occasion: Casual date, group dinner. Don’t Miss Dish: Venison sosoties & chicken bobotie. Average Price: Appetizers, $12; entrees, $23; dessert, $8. Reservations: Recommended Do you ever read the menu online before you go to a restaurant? It’s a bad idea, at least at Braai. I skipped lunch and all of my mid-afternoon snacks because I planned to take down a barbecued ostrich that evening. And what did I get? I got one dainty skewer of overcooked ostrich, domestically raised. I didn’t want domestically raised. I had my heart set on ostrich right off the veldt. And where’s the antelope? I came for...
Read MoreNYC's Best Black & White Cookies
The beauty of a black & white cookie is that you don’t have to take sides. It’s genius, really. After countless calories of due diligence, we’ve rounded up our top picks… William Greenberg Desserts 1100 Madison Ave., btwn. 82nd & 83rd Sts.(212)861-1340 $3.50 may seem a little steep for a cookie, but Greenberg’s Black & White is worth every penny. Perhaps, it’s the silky vanilla or chocolate fondant. Then again, it could be the cake-like cookie. It’s the best black & white in the city. End of story. Mother’s Bakery548 W. 235th St., Bronx, NY at Johnson Ave.(718)796-5676 If you’re not a neighborhood local, you may have a hard time finding this off-the-beaten path shop in the Bronx. But the journey here is uncontestably worth it. What sets this cookie apart is the unusual lemon flavor of the cake...
Read MoreChicken With Forty Cloves of Garlic
From Chef David Waltuck “Staff Meals from Chanterelle” This chicken classic is a tribute to the transformational power of heat. Although raw garlic is pungent and aggressive, slow-roasted garlic is the complete opposite—it’s gloriously sweet and mellow. When this dish comes out of the oven, each buttery-soft glove has become a subtle complement to the perfectly roasted chicken. Ingredients:(Serves 6 to 8) 2 chickens (3 to 3 ½ pounds each) 2 tablespoons rendered chicken fat or unsalted butter Coarse (kosher) salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 6 heads garlic, blanched and peeled (see below) 2 cups dry white wine 2 cups Chicken Stock or canned low sodium chicken broth 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces Preparation: 1. Preheat the oven to 450° F. 2. Rinse the chickens, inside and out, under...
Read MoreQ & A with Eric Ripert
If you want to know how to cook a fish, ask Eric Ripert. If you don’t cook, you should consider visiting Le Bernardin, one of the most regarded seafood restaurants in the world. Born in Antibes, France, Ripert attended culinary school at age 15, followed by cooking stints in Paris. Ripert worked the fish station for Jean-Louis Palladin, Joel Robuchon and David Bouley before Maguy and Gilbert Le Coze hired him away as a chef at Le Bernardin. At the age of 29, Ripert earned four stars from the New York Times and has managed to maintain them for over twelve years. Ripert recently launched his own blog, Avec Eric, a preview of his upcoming PBS television show. Until then, you can sample his inspired cooking at Le Bernardin. On the menu for fall, crispy black bass with...
Read MoreApiary
60 Third Ave., between 10th and 11th Sts. (212) 254-0888 Mon.-Thurs., 5:30-11 p.m.; Fri-Sat., 5:30 p.m.-midnight; Sun., 5:30-10:30 p.m. CUISINE: New American VIBE: Stylish E. Village eatery OCCASION: First date, group dinner DON’T-MISS DISHES: Roasted peaches and serrano ham; spice-crusted lamb PRICE: Appetizers, $12; entrees, $25; dessert, $8 RESERVATIONS: Recommended CAPSULE: Honey and spice Apiary reminds me how hard it is to get it right. To most of us, dinner is just dinner. But to a restaurant’s chef and its staff, it’s much more complicated. Imagine all the questions that have to be answered before your entrée arrives. What’s fresh today? Can we make a profit on that? Am I going to shoot myself if I have to roast another chicken? Is this dish too much like Bobby Flay’s? Would anybody notice if I just pulled it off the...
Read MoreThe Smith's Cucumber Loco
By Jeffrey Lefcourt Muddle: 3 Tablespoon diced cucumber 1/2 oz simple syrup Fill the glass with ice and add: 1 1/4 oz silver tequila 3/4 oz Triple Sec 1/2 oz fresh lime juice Address: 55 Third Ave., btwn 10th & 11th Sts.Phone:...
Read MoreQ & A with Christophe Bellanca
Five years ago, French-born Christophe Bellanca never imagined he would be running the kitchen for one of New York’s top restaurant institutions: Le Cirque 2000. Bellanca first began his career at La Mere Vittet in Lyon, followed by stints in such classic French restaurants as La Pyramide and Pic in France, as well as Domaine de Chateauviex in Geneva. Only a few years ago, he accepted the executive chef position at Los Angeles’ L’Orangerie. At the time, he spoke exactly three words of English, Speaking no more than three words of English. Now in command of Le Cirque‘s kitchen, Bellanca has conceived a modern French menu, which often takes international liberties, such as tuna tataki with sesame, daikon, yuzu and seaweed or foie gras ravioli with black truffles. Single/Married/Divorced?Single What did you want to be when you grew...
Read MoreAllegretti
46 W. 22nd St., between Fifth and Sixth Aves. (212) 206-0555 5 p.m.-11 p.m. CUISINE Southern French VIBE Think yacht chic OCCASION First date, group dinner, business lunch DON’T-MISS DISH Heirloom tomato salad, seared dorade, chocolate fondant PRICE Appetizers, $15; entrees, $26; dessert, $10 RESERVATIONS: Recommended Capsule: You’ll want to become a regular at Allegretti. Allegretti is growing on me. And that very fact demonstrates one of the few drawbacks of being a restaurant critic. I don’t get to be a regular anywhere. What could be better than a restaurant where you don’t even have to order, where the server already knows how you like your steak and martini? (Ice-cold vodka in a martini glass, please. Olives on the side.) There’s a lot of pleasure in trying a new dish every night, but there’s something to be said...
Read MoreJosh Eden Unveils a Late-night Dim Sum Menu
Late-night dining just got much more interesting on Prince Street. Though Shorty’s.32 may play an American comfort food restaurant by day, it’s soon to become a dim sum speakeasy by night. Why tamper with a good thing you might ask? “Because chefs need to eat dinner as well…” That’s a quote from the new late-night menu. When we got word of this under the radar project, we stopped in to taste the offerings for ourselves. Bottom line: there’s a serious dim sum menu in the works at present. Just this weekend, the kitchen was turning out everything from shrimp hargow to pot stickers to chicken sui mai. My favorites were the crispy shrimp with sweet mayonnaise and steamed pork buns. Eden even makes his own wonton wrappers and hargow dough. Sound familiar? Of course it does. Josh Eden had...
Read MoreA Sneak Peak at the International Chefs Congress – With 2008's Rising Star Chefs
What are the best young chefs saying about their success? You may get to eat at their restaurants, but you don’t often get to hear what these Star Chefs say to their peers. Or in some cases, what they don’t say. This year’s International Chefs Congress arrives in town this Sunday with chefs from around the world. The three-day symposium will be held at the Park Avenue Armory. Here’s a sneak peek at what 2008’s Rising Star Chefs will be discussing… Chef Gavin Kaysen – Cafe Boulud Humility aside: what do you think the secret to running a successful kitchen is? I think the secret is more then just one thing, but a perfect combination of integrity, organization and most importantly, adaptation. There are a million things going on everyday in a chefs life and if you are not...
Read MoreBoqueria's Brewsky Sangria
By Wine Director Roger Kugler Ingredients 6 oz. full flavor lager 2 oz fresh lemon juice 2 oz pear puree (we use Funkin) 2 oz Triple Sec Mix all ingredients and slowly stir (not to flatten the beer). Pour over ice in a pint glass ½ filled with ice. Garnish with fresh summer fruits. Address: 53 West 19th St., btwn. 5th & 6th Aves.Phone:(212)727-1548Boqueria website Photo Credit: Dawn...
Read MoreGizmo Girl’s Vertical Chicken Roaster
After a long summer of hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill, there’s no need to abandon the grill. Instead, seize the last days of warm weather with a BBQ rotisserie chicken. We just discovered our new favorite bbq gadget, the Vertical Chicken Roaster, which makes grilling a chicken as easy as flipping burgers. The Roaster allows you to pour wine, beer, or water right into the center to add moisture and flavor while your chicken roasts. Vertical Chicken Roaster Care to share your favorite kitchen gizmo? Email...
Read MoreQ & A with Julia Jaksic
For most chefs, running a kitchen is a full-time job in its own right. But Employees Only chef Julia Jaksic also finds the time to run a rather, avant-garde dinner club as well. After graduating from Le Cordon Bleu, she went on to work her way through Chicago’s restaurants before moving to New York’s SoHo Grand. Her father, a butcher in the Meatpacking District during the 70’s, taught Julia how to butcher a pig and make her sausages. With a strong Eastern European heritage, Julia brings hearty food into the spotlight at Employees Only with such dishes as a Serbian charcuterie platter and a late night menu that includes everthing from bacon-wrapped lamb chops with salsa verde to truffled grilled cheese. Single/Married/Divorced?Single. What did you want to be when you grew up?I never really wanted to be anything-I just wanted to get...
Read MoreLa Superior / The General Greene
La Superior 295 Berry St., near S. Second St., Brooklyn, (718) 388-5988. Mon.-Thu. 12:30 p.m.-midnight, Fri.-Sun, 12:30 p.m. – 2 a.m. Cuisine: Mexican street food Vibe: Dingy taqueria Occasion: Destination dining Don’t miss dish: Mushroom quesadillas, enchiladas suizas Average price: Appetizers, $4; entries $10. Reservations: No reservations, cash only, BYOB. To say La Superior is understated is an understatement. “Do you think this is it?” a friend said nervously. We were standing outside a dingy storefront on an empty street in Williamsburg. “It must be,” I answered cheerily. “I need a cocktail,” she grumbled as she followed me through the door. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that the restaurant doesn’t have a liquor license. The dining room at La Superior looks like a diner on its last legs. The table settings are disposable – red and...
Read MoreApotheke's Morning Glory Cocktail
By Apotheker & Co-owner Albert Trummer A luminary among bar chefs, Austrian born Albert Trummer conceived the cocktail menus for Town as well as David Bouley’s Fraiche in Los Angeles. Before that, and long before it was fashionable, Trummer took the art of the cocktail as seriously as the art of cooking. At Trummer Home in Greenpoint, New York, he introduced libations in strict accordance with the seasons, quickly earning a reputation for his exotic creations. Trummer re-emerges on the Manhattan bar scene at Apotheke located on Doyer Street in Chinatown. With hundreds of rare and obscure recipes at his disposal, he infuses, stirs and swirls herbs and botanicals into various “pharmaceuticals” for whatever ails you come sundown. Or in this case, come sunrise… Morning Glory Ingredients 3 ounces Veuve Clicquot champage 2 ounces of Trummer Home elderflower essence...
Read MoreQ & A with Alex Grunert
Alex Grunert, the pastry chef of Blue Hill at Stone Barns, seizes upon his Viennese upbringing in his ardent commitment to the restaurant’s “locavore” philosophy. Following a stint at the famed Hotel Inter-continental restaurant Vier Jahreszeite in Vienna, Alex sharpened his skills as a chocolate maker for the Austrian patisserie Oberlaa Konditorei. He then moved to New York City, where he seamlessly weaved his Austrian technique into the classic pastries at Bouley and Danube. As the executive pastry chef, he worked under David Bouley and learned of the importance of seasonal and local cooking, a philosophy that would follow him from the city to the farmlands of upstate New York. With an impressive supply of fresh produce and dairy at his fingertips from the restaurant’s farm, Alex Grunert conceives desserts that adhere to the restaurant’s signature concept of not...
Read MoreDelicatessen
54 Prince St., at Lafayette St. (212) 226-0211 Mon.-Sat., 7:30 a.m.-1 a.m.; Sun., 7:30 a.m.-midnight. CUISINE Creative comfort food. VIBE Open-air theater. OCCASION Casual date; group dining. DON’T-MISS DISH Bangers and mash, Ovaltine pudding parfait. AVERAGE PRICE Appetizers, $7-$11; entrees, $12-$24; dessert, $8. RESERVATIONS Recommended. Not many delicatessens require reservations. Then again, Delicatessen isn’t a “deli” in any conventional sense of the word. It’s a sleek, open-air theater in SoHo – floating leather banquettes, glossy white tables, a backlit bar and black Escalades parked out front. The restaurant spills onto the corner of Prince and Lafayette, and the corner spills into the restaurant. Waiters walk out onto the sidewalk to bring you your food. Right out front, slim young things smoke cigarettes and stare at their cell phones as if they were compacts. The social electricity lights up the...
Read MoreCheck out My Book – Try This
