Staycation Eats

There are so many great restaurants in NYC, it's inevitable that some of them will be out-of-the-way. Faced with the expense and hassle of a last minute trip somewhere or enjoying my beautiful city, I chose to eat my way through the holiday week.

Thanks to a tip from Chowhound, on Monday I joined my parents at Gotham Bar & Grill for one of the most elegant lunches I've ever had. The roasted beet and mango salad was a line of colorful cut pieces on a long plate: delicious and tasty as well as a visual treat. I rarely order steak in restaurants, but their hanger steak was perfectly cooked. In addition to their $31 prix fixe for lunch, they also have a selection of $31 bottles of wine; we had a bottle from the unfamiliar region of France called Saint-Chinian. The chocolate marquise was the perfect end to the meal.

I'll mention in passing that I had supper at Tia Pol, mostly to note I'd forgotten just how incredible the food is. Also, it was the first time I'd EVER been seated - possibly because we got there 30mins before the kitchen closed :-P

I'd planned to go to L'Impero the very first time I was free on a business day, but then they closed. Fortunately for me, Scott Conant re-opened it as Convivio. I started with the sgombro, which was a delicious ceviche-like tuna dish; my gracious companion split her fegatini with me, which were incredible. I exclaimed to her that if things continued like this, the meal would be one of the top 10 best in my life. The chicken liver was dark and rich.

I must confess, when we first sat down, I didn't expect much from our waitress, but she turned out to be one of the best I've ever had. When I asked her opinion on the pasta, she unhesitatingly told me to get the fusilli with pork shoulder ragu. I'm not a big fan of pasta, but this was delicious. She was also fantastic in guiding us with multiple wines: I hate when waiters call over a sommelier for everything.

I was disappointed with my tuna: it was fine, but not outstanding. The grilled lamb chops were better, but still not as remarkable as the pastas. When I come back - because I must find a way to make this happen - I will probably skip the entree course altogether. The dessert on the other hand, wow. Caramel is my favorite sweet, so it was a no-brainer to get the tartalletta di caramelle. Convivio's caramel was exemplary and sandwiching it between chocolate and tart highlighted its intense flavor.

My new dining table was delivered yesterday, which precluded lunch reservations, so the big meal of the day was joining my siblings and uncle at Cipriani downtown. Although I greatly enjoyed a corporate event I attended at their midtown location, I had no expectations. I was horrified by the prices and annoyed that they served their bread without olive oil. Yes, I know it's a chintzy American-esque thing to serve bread with olive oil but I still like it. Then they brought it to the table with the caprese and the olive oil turned out to be incredibly good.

My aunt was delighted by the waiter's Italian accent. Me, I was delighted by his unhesitating advice to order the tagliardi (as well as his patience as I rattled off the dishes I was considering). He picked well - I tried everyone else's dish and the veal ragu set off the homemade pasta far better than the bolognese or sausage. Again, I'm not a pasta fan, but if I keep eating this sort of stuff, I might reconsider.

We'd watched the merengue cake go back and forth several times, so it was no surprise we ordered that. The nice thing about eating with 7 other people is that someone joked, "Why don't we just get one of each [cake]?" and we could. I also like the white cake whose name escaped me, as well as the tirimisu-like one.

May the new year be as full of good eating as the past three days. Read More......

Hobbit Day!

Any major holiday with my family is a hobbit day, but Thanksgiving is even more so. While I didn't cook for this holiday, I'd be a poor food blogger if I didn't at least acknowledge the holiday.

The meal started later than usual this year - I got pre- and post-meal naps. Appetizers were surprisingly healthy - there were veggies and honey mustard horseradish dip and fewer unhealthy options. My mother went over the top with sides this year, making stuffing, turnips, green beans, and homemade cranberry relish. I liked her stuffing more than I have in some years past, possibly bc she's started putting sausage into it. I wasn't crazy about the turnips or green beans, both of which were simply cooked with a little (similar) flavoring. I was surprised by the cranberry relish - my mother usually doesn't make anything that can be so readily purchased - but it was delish with a bright flavor that contrasted well with the other dishes.

The star of the day was her sweet potatoes. My sister had written me a piteous text earlier in the week about my mother's refusal to put marshmallows on the sweet potatoes, but after tasting this year's recipe, I'm okay with that. My mother says we're too old for marshmallows and apparently that means butter, brown sugar, and rum. I called dibs on the leftovers immediately.

I was very excited to have turkey leftovers for paleo goodness this week, but while the 12 of us didn't eat that much at the meal, we gave some to my grandparents such that all remained after lunch on Saturday was half a breast. oops.

After the traditional Thanksgiving movie and naps, we moved on to my uncle's lasagna and flan. I used to be a purist when it comes to lasagna, but after eating his, I've decided sausage, chicken, and spinach belong in lasagna. I'm never a big flan fan, but the caramel at the bottom of the pan was incredible, with smokiness that never made it into the dessert. I think I got the better end of that deal.

I wish I'd paid more attention to the cooking of the day though, bc I'm buying a dining table today and will have seats for 10 next year, which may well mean I'll be hosting next year. EEK! Read More......

With a side of burgers

I'd heard of The Spotted Pig, but not only had never been, I didn't know what they were famous for, so when my brother suggested we go for burgers, I readily agreed.

Even at 4pm on a Sunday, we had to wait half an hour. (Ah, the Village...)

We shared an apple salad as an appetizer. It was so good and so unusual, I was apparently wolfing them down (ah, dining with family) because my brother moved the plate to the other side of the table. The salad was mostly chopped apples with a vinaigrette and a negligible amount of cheese and greens as garnish. The flavor was so unusual, I asked the server what was in it and she duly told me there was cider vinegar, prune juice, apple juice, and a bunch of other ingredients I cannot remember. How I wish I'd written them down, despite my siblings' mocking!

I'd tried to substitute beets & greens for the shoestring fries that come with the burger, but they wouldn't let me... so I had both. (At my brothers' insistence I might add.) The beets and greens were very nice - the greens were more black than green, but the whole side had a nice flavor.

I've never had such delicious fried potatoes in my life. The shoestring fries were thin, which meant extra crisp. Apparently they fry them with rosemary and garlic IN THE FRYER so every helping comes with a healthy dose of fried rosemary and garlic slices. Genius! Fried rosemary is so tasty!

The burger itself was disappointing to me. Adding a healthy dollop of blue cheese to an already juicy burger is gilding the lily and while a few bites justified the paroxysms from the foodie press, mostly it was just too greasy. If I went back, I'd get the apple salad and the beets & greens - and steal someone else's fries. Read More......

Sometimes, cheap and simple is a virtue

In reading food blogs and cookbooks, it's easy to get hung up on organic this and artisanal that. Not everything requires locally grown, hand fed, regularly massaged protein sources. My grandmother's fried rice with rice, eggs, and ham, for example. It's my favorite comfort food and it does NOT taste better with prosciutto di Parma than Oscar Meyer, as I learned this morning. oops. Read More......

RW Winter 2009

This was a very low-key Restaurant Week for me. Early in the week, my parents and I had theater tickets, so we ate at Blue Fin. I was somehow less impressed this time: my mother's tuna and fluke chirashi was an interesting presentation, but nothing to come back for, and her wild striped bass amounted to fish with tasty mush. I had a craving for oysters, so I had their "east & west" selection, of which I enjoyed the east. The crispy skin salmon also amounted to fish with tasty mush; I ordered it specifically because I wanted to try their brussel sprouts, but can't remember it, which probably says it all. This was the meal that made me realize I'd rather eat my own home cooking than go out, at least some of the time.

I've already mentioned how Esca fixed that misconception.

In years past, I've never been able to get a reservation for Asiate for RW, but when we went on Friday, it was half empty. The service was good and the views magnificent, but the food was adequate for the environment. The first taste of the chestnut puree? soup? made me gasp, it was so delicious, but there were so many mushrooms and the duck confit somehow didn't integrate well. My companion had the tuna tartar starter, which seemed to involve a salad, which he left. We both had the beef tenderloin - does it always come with two different cuts of meat, prepared differently? I chose the creme caramel for dessert, mostly because it came with citrus and I was curious how that would work, but I think my uncle's flan is better. I was jealous of my companion's raspberry chocolate cake, but I'm not convinced it was much better. I was initially excited to hear they are continuing the RW menu for the rest of the year, but I'm not inclined to go back, unless circumstances bring me to the neighborhood. Read More......

RW Summer 2008, pt 2

It's taken me so long to write this post about Bar Boulud, I've actually been back twice!

I took a summer Friday to take care of some renovation-related things at home, but even my sister who works all the time took lunch off when she heard I had a reservation for Bar Boulud. The lunch was magnificent. Charcuterie is their specialty and mine was delicious - but my father's carrot soup was intriguing - it had a strong cumin flavor and the flavors were so well blended, it no longer tasted carrot-y. I had a ricotta and chanterelle ravioli for an entree; I'm not a fan of mushrooms and I believe ravioli should always contain meat, but the flavors blended so well, I didn't care. Dessert was a hazelnut mousse. Mmm..

My mother liked the restaurant so much, we went back for dinner for my brother's birthday. Turns out they always have a prix fixe and I think this might be the best fine dining/pre theater deal in the city - $42 for an exquisite, impeccably served 3-course meal. The carrot soup and the charcuterie were less transporting the second time, but overall the meal was delicious and delightful.

Did I mention Bar Boulud is across the street from Lincoln Center? We ended up going there before the opera and once again, the food delighted. I had a taste of my mum's head cheese, which was fantastic, and I had the skate. Both highly recommended.

They have tasting flights on their wine menu, which I don't think I've seen in fine restaurants before, and their sommelier is friendly and helpful. My mother keeps encouraging me to go there on my way home from work - and maybe I should. Read More......

Low Weight Food

My mother was horrified to find two boxes of dried fruit on my counter. "That stuff is full of calories!" When you're backpacking, that's the point: maximum calories per oz. Over the weekend, I went on my final training backpack for a six day mountaineering trip to Mt. Rainier. The guiding service provides breakfast and dinner, but we are responsible for our own lunches, so among other things, I wanted to try foods I might eat on the mountain. I usually eat a deli sandwich the first day and a Starkist tuna salad package the second; for this trip, I wanted to see how I felt about eating the same thing multiple days in a row, especially when it's not my usual fare, and I wanted to see how my body felt about the completely different macronutrient profile.

Salami is a treat I don't usually allow myself to indulge in, so having salami and pita bread (whole wheat of course) was like a party. I would happily have eaten it a third day, although perhaps for the actual trip, I'll bring a good pepperoni, which I enjoy even more. The cheese was a parmesan chock full of preservatives - it too was delicious, although I quickly realized that if I ate those two for lunch, I wouldn't have to worry about replacing salt, no matter how fast we moved.

My biggest food-related problem over the weekend was that we were moving too fast to rely on fat burning. My heart rate profile was more similar to a run than a typical hike, and when I run for hours, I regularly eat gels - I came closer to hitting the wall over the weekend than I did during last year's marathon. Hopefully my comrades in three weeks will pause more often for snacks.

I felt a brief pang of guilt over how many grams of fat I ate - but then again, I burned almost twice as many calories compared to a usual sedentary day. And I noticed that I didn't need nearly as much food as I expected. Of course when I got home, I made a simple salad of romaine lettuce, tomatoes, and sherry vinegar and thought it was the most delicious thing in the world. I bet I'll be eating a lot of salad when I get off the mountain. Read More......

Hello, world!

or, a bio is a bio, but a blog post is forever.

The best introduction to this journal I haven't written yet is to tell you about its naming. A year or two ago, I thought of creating a blog called "The Hapless Chef," because at the time, I was learning to cook and the results were mixed, to put it kindly. My family isn't big on cooking - my mother often tells me, when I call her with cooking questions, "Why don't you just order in? That's what I would do if I lived in NYC." Actually, the reason I started cooking for myself was that when I moved to a new neighborhood, I found it easier to learn to cook than to get menus from the various takeout places. In other words, I learned to cook because I was lazy.

My cooking hasn't improved that much since then, but the time I have available for "cooking" has decreased. (There might be a relationship between the two.) I'm currently training for the New York City Marathon, training to climb Mt. Rainier, and taking aerial silk and trapeze classes at the New York Circus Arts Academy. Oh yeah, and working.

Instead, I've embraced what a friend calls lame-ass cooking. It's cooking that takes as little time as possible. While I still want to make yummy, healthy food, I've added efficiency as a goal: a yummy, healthy meal that takes 30mins from start to finish is obviously better than one that takes 2 hours and leaves me with a hot meal at 10pm. Moreover, I've come to realize that some foods are just unreasonable to make at home for one person, especially if I can get them delivered for a nominal amount. There are definitely techniques and tricks to making quick, healthy, tasty food - this blog will document my ongoing efforts to develop them. Read More......