Fast, Foolproof Pie Maker
We’re crazy for pie: Fruit pie, meat pie, pot pie, we like them all. But since making them at home is a chore, we usually hit one of our favorite restaurants or bakeries to get our flaky fix. That is, until we discovered this Breville pie maker (pictured right). This ingenious contraption is no more difficult to use then a panini press or George Foreman grill. Seriously. (It’s almost too easy.) Use the provided pastry cutter to form perfect dough rounds for the bottom and top crusts, pick your favorite filling, and it will do the rest. Perfect for an impromptu picnic on the beach or in the park, the pie maker takes just 8 minutes to bake a pie, so last minute baking plans can be accommodated. And with the bounty of seasonal fruits, the options are endless. Summer is...
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Chinatown Pork Bun Run
One of the greatest things about living in Manhattan is the variety of cuisines at your fingertips. One moment you could be eating your way through a big bowl of bibimbap in Koreatown, the next saganaki in Astoria or twirling noodles on Arthur Avenue. When the craving for a pork bun calls, your best bet is to head south of Canal to Chinatown. We recently found ourselves longing for pork buns, and fortunately for us, there are plenty of spots that serve excellent char siu bao. Our first stop was at 456 Shanghai for what the restaurant dubs “tiny buns.” Ironically, they’re not tiny at all. They’re the size of a fist and come eight to an order, each sprinkled with sesame seeds and chopped scallions. What sets them apart is that they’re steamed, then griddled, which achieves a...
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New York Crab Crawl
Every summer, we do a city crab crawl, sampling this seasonal crustacean at its best. Years in the making, David Bouley’s Brustroke offers up one of our favorite discoveries — Dungeness crab & salmon roe in a rice pot. 21 Club’s still got some of the best crab cakes in the city and crab cakes, creatively layered with purple basil, squash and zucchini and The Modern’s making an Alaskan king crab cannelloni that’s so good we’ve added it to our “last meal menu.” Sidestep your way to one of these restaurants – no claws required. Brushstroke – Dungeness Crab & Salmon Roe Rice Pot 30 Hudson St., at Duane St. (212)791-3771 Website: www.davidbouley.com Openings like this one can often be anti-climactic. In this case, you wait almost ten years for the debut and then it fails to impress, but...
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Summer on the Plate
One of our favorite places for a mid-morning stroll is the Union Square Greenmarket, or really any one of the city’s greenmarkets for that matter. There’s something so satisfying about the sight of August heirloom tomatoes, corn, hard-to-find peppers, peaches and beautiful berries of all sorts. Lugging them home and whipping up a sensational meal is a whole other story. That’s why we’re lucky to have so many talented chefs and farm-to-table restaurants that take advantage of summer’s bounty everyday. Whether it’s fresh corn stuffed into ravioli or sandwiched in a tricked-out exotic lunch treat, there are all sorts of ways to get your summer produce fix. Peaches: Grilled Peach Banh Mi at Num Pang Num Pang Address: 140 E. 41st St. between Lexington and Third Aves. Phone: 212-867-8889 Website: www.numpangnyc.com Num pang are the Cambodian equivalent of a banh mi and...
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Illuminated LED Barbecue Tongs
We’re big fans of barbecue, especially for dinner. But how can you tell if your chicken is cooked to the perfect inner temperature after the sun goes down? (We had this very problem last night. True story.) So you make your best guess then hope for the best, which isn’t the best idea when it comes to undercooked meat. Even if you have a thermometer, there’s often not enough light to read it, not to mention you’ll need both hands to flip your T-bone or filleted fish. And who’s got an extra hand for a flashlight when you’re grilling? That’s why we love these Illuminated BBQ Tongs (pictured right) with a locking mechanism. They’re sturdy enough to tackle steak and delicate enough to grasp small items or delicate filets. The best part is that they come with a small...
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New York’s Best Thai Restaurants
With tens of thousands of restaurants in New York, it’s tough deciding where to eat , nevermind what genre of cooking. We’ve got Spanish, Italian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Cuban, even British, Burmese and Cambodian these days, but when we want to experience vibrant, layer upon layer of flavors, we head for Thai food. This Southeast Asian cuisine is simultaneously salty, sweet, spicy, and sour, and rich with texture of the crunchy, unripe mango, papaya or roasted peanut sorts. A decade ago, there weren’t many places to get a decent panang curry, let alone duck larb, in the five boroughs. Thankfully, there was always Sripraphai, a twenty-year old temple of Thai cuisine in Queens, but places like that were few and far between. Suddenly, Thai is the cuisine du jour, with new spots opening up all year and old one finally...
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Summer’s Best Seafood Pasta Dishes
With summer already halfway over, we’re trying to devour as many of our favorite warm-weather dishes as possible before autumn hits. And that means sampling the city’s spectacular array of seafood pasta dishes. This season, Donatella Arpaia’s new pizza joint is making the most of a lobster bounty, while Maialino is introducing New Yorkers to the traditional Roman preparation of spaghetti with clams. And there’s our favorite, no-frills clam bar, Randazzo’s, with its lobster Fra Diavolo, perfect for a Saturday night trip to Sheepshead Bay. And if you really want to revel in summer seafood, consider a visit to Esca for Mark Pasternack’s stellar squid ink spaghetti, mingled with tomatoes, scallions and chilies. That’s just the beginning. Check out these and a few more of our favorites. Esca – Spaghetti Neri Address: 402 W. 43rd St., nr. Ninth Avenue...
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Our Favorite Seasonal Summer Dishes
Now that we’ve reached the halfway mark of summer, we thought we’d look back at our favorite seasonal dishes and go back for seconds before autumn arrives. You’ll want to take advantage of heirloom tomatoes, asparagus, corn, all things shellfish and even summer truffles, scattered over Dovetail’s salt baked onion. There’s Casa Mono’s simple, yet outstanding, razor clams a la plancha, Scarpetta’s asparagus and mussel soup and Miriam’s zucchini cakes. September is coming soon, and we plan to use this list to relive the best parts of the summer before it disappears. Bell, Book & Candle – Maryland Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes 141 W 10th St. between 6th and 7th Ave. (212)414-2355 Website: bbandcnyc.com This West Village newcomer has already received plenty of attention and a repeat audience. While anyone can say they’re organic and sustainable nowadays, this spot is so...
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King Cube Ice Tray
When it’s hot out, we want our drink. Whether it be an iced tea, iced coffee, or a mojito, we want our drink cold and preferably with lots of ice. Unfortunately, the sun and heat always manage to melt our cubes and dilute our drink long before we’re done. (If we wanted ice water, that’s what we would’ve poured ourselves.) How do we prevent our summer gin and tonics from becoming gin and cold water with a slightly tonic-y taste? Giant ice cubes. These king cube trays make large, 2-inch square cubes that melt enough to keep our drink cold, but not so quickly they make you think you’re drinking infused water. They’re big enough to put garnishes in, like mint or berries, which is one of our favorite (and easy) ways to impressing guests. The trays are made of silicone for easy ice removal, and...
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Get Outta Town: Foodie Day Trips
While we love the diversity of Manhattan, sometimes it’s nice to take a break from the hustle and bustle. There’s almost nothing more relaxing than rolling down the windows and driving down the open road, especially when you know a good meal is the destination. With so many great options so close by, it’s possible to take a complete vacation in just 24 hours. Whether it’s the beach and a burger that you’re craving, or a quaint cozy inn and a glass of rose that helps you relax, we’ve compiled some of our favorite ways to beat the heat outside of the city. Don’t have a car? It’s easy to get to most of the locations via train or bus, so all you need to worry about is where to eat and what to wear. Here’s a few short...
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