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» Manhattan Digest

Exploring East Harlem, Bite by Bite

If you’re a large, intrepid, and insatiably hungry group in sensible shoes, big o wants to show you around East Harlem.

He suggests you start with a pie at Patsy’s, the 76-year-old coal-oven pizza destination on First Avenue.

For added ballast—Patsy’s crust is uncommonly thin—zig a couple of long blocks west on 116th Street to Cuchifritos for alcapurrias, pastelitos, and other Puerto Rican bites, fried to order. Then zag back east for a refresher at El Barrio Juice Bar. Can’t let yourself get dehydrated.

Back at First Avenue, hang a right for a dessert break. La Tropezienne makes an excellent mocha éclair and other pastries, as well as a nice grapefruit parfait.

Continue south and veer off the avenue at 108th Street to Cafe Ollin for a cemita. big o recommends the milanesa, a strapping sandwich amply stuffed with a fried beef cutlet, Oaxacan-style cheese, chipotle chile, avocado, black beans, and the pungent Mexican herb pápalo. DaveCook likes the one with carne enchilada, or spicy pork.

Around 100th Street, turn right and head back west. Near Lexington Avenue, stop at La Galette for a cup of coffee or fruit punch, or maybe a house-baked muffin. Or, if you’re up to it, one of the Senegalese plates: a whole baked fish, or a daily special like maffe (meat stew in peanut sauce) or yassa (lemon grilled chicken).

Just up Lex, explore the emerging restaurant row: Joy Burger, Giovanna’s for pizza, Yo In Yo Out (“awful name, good French food,” says big o), Itzocan Bistro for French-accented Mexican, and Moustache, a newish uptown outpost of the downtown Middle Eastern places.

And only a little farther afield are El Paso Taqueria, Amor Cubano, and Puerto Rican favorites La Fonda Boricua and Lechonera El Barrio, City Kid’s go-to spot for roasted pig.

A tip for novice chow crawlers: Pace yourself, order sparingly, and split everything into small bites. “Just the cemita alone is enough to fill a person up for the better part of a day,” big o advises.

Patsy’s [East Harlem]
2287 First Avenue (between E. 117th and 118th streets), Manhattan
212-534-9783

Cuchifritos [East Harlem]
168 E. 116th Street (between Lexington and Third avenues), Manhattan
212-876-4846

El Barrio Juice Bar [East Harlem]
308 E. 116th Street (between First and Second avenues), Manhattan
212-828-0403

La Tropezienne [East Harlem]
2131 First Avenue (at E. 110th Street), Manhattan
212-860-5324

Cafe Ollin [East Harlem]
339 E. 108th Street (between First and Second avenues), Manhattan
212-828-3644

La Galette [East Harlem]
177 E. 100th Street (between Lexington and Third avenues), Manhattan
212-410-6361

Joy Burger [East Harlem]
1567 Lexington Avenue (at E. 100th Street), Manhattan
212-289-6222

Giovanna’s [East Harlem]
1567 Lexington Avenue (at E. 100th Street), Manhattan
212-360-6300

Yo In Yo Out [East Harlem]
1569 Lexington Avenue (near E. 100th Street), Manhattan
212-987-5350

Itzocan Bistro [East Harlem]
1575 Lexington Avenue (between E. 100th and 101st streets), Manhattan
212-423-0255

Moustache [East Harlem]
1621 Lexington Avenue (at E. 102nd Street), Manhattan
212-828-0030

El Paso Taqueria [East Harlem]
1642 Lexington Avenue (between E. 103rd and 104th streets), Manhattan
212-831-9831

Amor Cubano [East Harlem]
2018 Third Avenue (at E. 111th Street), Manhattan
212-996-1220

La Fonda Boricua [East Harlem]
169 E. 106th Street (between Lexington and Third avenues), Manhattan
212-410-7292

Lechonera El Barrio [East Harlem]
172 E. 103rd Street (between Lexington and Third avenues), Manhattan
212-722-1344

Board Link: East Harlem food/walking tour?

Posted on Monday, August 31st, 2009 by Mark Hokoda in Manhattan Digest | 1 Comment
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» Outer Boroughs Digest

Flavors of Home, Liberian Style

As VaiMama observes, “there’s nothing like food that tastes home cooked.” That taste is rarer still if you’re hankering for Liberian home cooking in New York. But Maima’s in Jamaica delivers the goods, she reports.

Check out the daily specials for spicy, hearty meat dishes in greens (spinach, collards, cassava leaf) and other Liberian specialties like palm butter—not butter, actually, but a meat and seafood stew made with palm nut cream. Cassava leaf is terrific, VaiMama says, served with Liberian fried pepper. Chicken gravy is fried chicken with a delicious sauce, something like smothered chicken from the American South. Both come with a mountain of rice.

VaiMama comes forward with a disclosure: She learned only after going there that Maima’s is owned by relatives of hers. “It really is good (even if my aunt made it),” she adds.

Maima’s [Jamaica]
106-47 Guy R. Brewer Boulevard (between South Road and 107th Avenue), Jamaica, Queens
718-206-3538

Board Link: Liberian restaurants in NY

Posted on Monday, August 31st, 2009 by Mark Hokoda in Outer Boroughs Digest | No Comments
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» Manhattan Digest

A High-End Deal in the Financial District

Wrong time, right place. That’s how planetjess sizes up SHO Shaun Hergatt, an ambitious newcomer not far from Wall Street. “It arrived right in the middle of most of us freaking right the heck out and not so much in the mood to drop $18 on an appetizer and $30 on an entree at lunch,” she notes. “However. It also arrived right in the middle of a neighborhood without a single credible, truly high-end dining option if you don’t want steak.”

So its prix fixe lunch, three courses for $30, is just what the neighborhood needed. jess’s recent snapshot: Gazpacho was a fresh and hearty rough purée, lent textural variety by a delicate crouton and strands of tomato gelée. Pearl barley risotto was delicious, firm to the bite, full of hen-of-the-woods mushrooms. It was also bedecked with foam—a tad anachronistic, she suggests: “I was tempted to call 2003! on it, but the foam subsided quickly and lovingly and mushroomingly into the risotto.” Dessert was a perfectly summery peach soup, dotted with sorbet and bits of other fruits. “Expensive, ambitious, elegant, edgy, sleek,” jess sums up, if not quite “the second coming of Jean Georges or Per Se or Daniel.”

Dinner, too, is moderately priced for the high end at $55 for two courses and $69 for three. famdoc describes a fabulous meal highlighted by a zucchini blossom stuffed with blue prawns and poached halibut with celeriac-truffle foam. Elaine Snutteplutten reports memorably delicious caviar beggar’s purses, kampachi with raw geoduck, and salmon with small Japanese mushrooms in an herb-scented broth. “For me, it’s not one of the very best in the city (in luxury restaurant category),” she adds, “but it’s directly behind them (very very good) and a fraction of the price at the moment.”

SHO Shaun Hergatt [Financial District]
In the Setai New York, 40 Broad Street (at Exchange Place), Manhattan
212-809-3993

Board Link: SHO Shaun Hergatt—Terrific at Twice the Price

Posted on Monday, August 31st, 2009 by Mark Hokoda in Manhattan Digest | No Comments
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» San Francisco Bay Area Digest

Truly Over the Top Burgers

Chuck + brisket + short rib = somewhat greasy deliciousness, hounds say after trying the Mission Street burger being served at Duc Loi Supermarket. The folks from Mission Street Food are using Chef Heston Blumenthal’s innovative technique to make a burger, which is then seared in beef fat and topped with Monterey Jack, a mess of caramelized onions, and caper aioli.

“The burger was GOOD,” declares mariacarmen. “Very flavorful, nice texture, salty but not too, juicy, but yes, greasy.” It’s paired with a griddled Acme bun that soaks up all the juices.

It costs $8, and comes with fries for an extra $2.

There’s also a vegan burger that involves Japanese mushrooms, soybeans, favas, chickpeas, and even a faux mayo made with miso and seaweed. But it sounds like so far this place is luring only carnivores.

Mission Burger
inside Duc Loi Supermarket [Mission District]
2200 Mission Street, San Francisco
415-552-8173

Mission Street Food [Mission District]
2234 Mission Street, San Francisco
No phone available

Board Link: Granulated Burger (Blumenthal style) at Duc Loi Supermarket

Posted on Friday, August 28th, 2009 by Cicely Wedgeworth in San Francisco Bay Area Digest | No Comments
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» San Francisco Bay Area Digest

Saving Souls, Serving Food

The recently opened Souls Restaurant in East Oakland takes soul food and souls seriously, as it’s owned and operated by a local church. The food is good and some gospel music is grooving in the background. What more could you want? Well, alcohol, but that’s not gonna happen.

Fried chicken is hot and tasty. Even the breast is perfectly juicy, with a nice crisp crust, says jillyju. Mac ’n’ cheese has an extra layer of cheddary goodness on top, while the smoky greens are nice and tender, with bits of pork throughout. The yams, tinged with cinnamon, aren’t overly sweet, and you can really taste their natural flavor.

jillyju’s friends rave about the oxtail (a Friday special) and the fried catfish. Red beans and rice are fine, but not impressive.

The building is new, with a parking lot and security. The waitstaff are nice and friendly, and the restaurant itself is large. Apparently it gets crowded on Sundays (after church, natch), when there’s a buffet.

Souls Restaurant [East Bay]
6403 Foothill Boulevard, Oakland
510-777-1300

Board Link: Souls Restaurant, Oakland

Posted on Friday, August 28th, 2009 by Cicely Wedgeworth in San Francisco Bay Area Digest | No Comments
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» San Francisco Bay Area Digest

Sichuan Fusion Goes Further

Despite its name, the menu at Sichuan Fusion, a new place in Pacific East Mall, ranges all over northern China, and does it really well, says K K.

A surprising hit is the stir-fried loofah squash with dried shrimp (kai yang si gua), K K says. “The flavors were amazing … savory with a sweet aftertaste, juicy.”

Combination fried rice is really well done, with lots of extras: beef slices, carrots, peas, scrambled egg, shrimp, and chicken. There’s also a very nice hot pot of shredded sour cabbage with pork belly, and tons of bean threads.

Although there are good choices for folks who aren’t fans of typically spicy Sichuan fare, the chef is pretty heavy-handed with the white pepper.

Other specialties on the website (translated from Chinese by K K) are boiled fish, fragrant spicy crab, twice-cooked pork, taro chicken, spicy fish, chile “field chicken” (frog), deer meat, and the mysteriously named “old godmother” (pork kidneys).

There’s also a separate menu of “mien chir,” says K K, which are flour-based goodies like fried crullers.

Sichuan Fusion [East Bay]
3288 Pierce Street, #B-109, Richmond
510-526-8897

Board Link: Sichuan Fusion - the latest incarnation of the back end of Pacific East Mall, Richmond CA

Posted on Friday, August 28th, 2009 by Cicely Wedgeworth in San Francisco Bay Area Digest | No Comments
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» Home Cooking Digest

Creative Cheesecakes

Cheesecake is as adaptable as it is popular, and flavors are limited only by your imagination, according to Chowhounds.

“Cheesecakes are pretty foolproof, as long as you have the right technique,” says chowser. “You can play with the number of eggs, cream cheese, adding sour cream, etc. For the crust, I use whatever ‘cookie’ type base that’s appropriate for the type of cheesecake. So, gingersnaps for pumpkin, granola for a key lime.” Swirling in ingredients like caramel or fruit purée is easy, she says: “With any swirl, just remove some of the cheesecake batter, add it in, and swirl on top.”

Citrus is a classic flavoring for cheesecake. Marino’s ricotta cheesecake, flavored with candied lemon peel, orange and lemon zests, rose water, and orange blossom water, is the most delicious one mnosyne has had. Old Spice likes Diana’s favorite lemon mousse cheesecake. “I’m not sure that ‘mousse’ is the right word,” says Old Spice. “It’s definitely lighter than a lot of cheesecakes, but not really very mousse-like. It’s extra lemony, with the addition of the lemon curd spread on top. And, if you like, you can top the curd with almost any seasonal berry.”

Hounds have holiday favorites that would be delicious any time of year. LindaWhit says this light-textured, crustless cranberry swirl cheesecake is a family favorite. And Rubee’s dinner guests always request pumpkin cheesecake with bourbon–sour cream topping.

HillJ loves caramel macchiato cheesecake. She also recommends 101 Cheesecake Recipes as a resource, saying, “The entire website is a marvel.”

And check out CHOW’s Orange-Vanilla Ricotta Cheesecake and Pecan and Salt Caramel Cheesecake.

Board Link: Your best cheesecakes, please. (No savory ones!)

Posted on Thursday, August 27th, 2009 by Caitlin McGrath in Home Cooking Digest | 1 Comment
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» Home Cooking Digest

Great Uses for Cooked Lobster

If you have a steamed or boiled lobster, you have the makings of a great dish. When reheating cooked lobster, it’s important to do it quickly because it takes very little time for it to become tough, says souschef. If reheating the meat on its own, Infomaniac suggests the gentle method of putting it in a sealed plastic bag and running hot water over it for a while.

Phurstluv’s favorite dish is the Connecticut-style lobster roll: Sauté the meat gently in copious amounts of melted butter, and serve in a warmed hot dog bun (top-split buns are traditional for lobster rolls, but they can be hard to find outside New England). Or go for a Maine-style lobster roll: Mix the meat with mayonnaise, chopped celery, and a drop of fresh lemon juice.

fourunder makes a salad of lobster meat, julienned sweet bell peppers, snow or sugar snap peas, orange or grapefruit sections, and mixed lettuces, dressed with a citrus vinaigrette. emilief makes lobster quesadillas with chopped green chiles and Monterey Jack cheese.

Hounds recommend saving the lobster shell to make stock for bisque or other uses. danieljdwyer likes to use the shell to make lobster butter. “After you pluck out all the meat,” he says, “chop up everything that remains, including the head and all the funky stuff in there. Sauté that in butter until the kitchen smells strongly of lobster. Strain the butter.” You can use the butter for lobster rolls, or make “a killer eggs Benedict” by using it to make hollandaise and replacing the usual Canadian bacon with warmed lobster meat.

Board Link: Cold, cooked, whole lobster…. ideas???

Posted on Thursday, August 27th, 2009 by Caitlin McGrath in Home Cooking Digest | No Comments
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» Home Cooking Digest

How to Freeze Fresh Corn

There’s nothing quite like superfresh summer corn, but corn you freeze yourself when it’s at its peak runs a close second. “Will it be as good as fresh? No. Will it taste great in the middle of winter? YES,” says dct.

Some hounds blanch corn before freezing it. dct blanches, cuts it off the cobs, spreads it on a baking sheet, freezes, and then packs the frozen kernels in freezer bags. kizil freezes blanched corn still on the cob by shocking the ears in ice water to cool them quickly, wrapping each one in plastic wrap, and then packing them together in freezer bags.

Niki in Dayton simply cuts the corn kernels off the cob and freezes them raw. “Tastes great, and seems to be just a bit crisper than blanched,” she says. Allice98 says she knows people who “don’t blanch, don’t take off the cob, don’t even take off the husk. They just put the corn right in a bag and freeze that way for on-the-cob corn.”

If you do decide to cut the corn off the cob, greygarious shares her method: Stick the pointy end of the ear onto the center tube of an angel food or Bundt cake pan, then slice down, and the kernels will all be caught in the pan. Holding your knife at a 45-degree angle to the counter, start cutting at the point end of your knife, sliding it toward the handle as you cut downward. This way you don’t need to apply much force, and the knife just glides through.

Board Link: Corn on the Cob: how to freeze?

Posted on Thursday, August 27th, 2009 by Caitlin McGrath in Home Cooking Digest | No Comments
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» General Topics Digest

Addicted to Hatch Chiles

What is it about Hatch chiles, wonders rworange, that “puts people in a mild panic” when the last bag is opened? Hatch chiles are a variety of chile pepper harvested around the town of Hatch, New Mexico. They’re usually served roasted and are much loved for sure, but are they genuinely addictive? “People get headaches when the last peppers are used … Hatch withdrawal,” claims rworange.

Some might write off the appeal as New Mexican nostalgia—memories of late-summer air filled with the aroma of roasting peppers—but rworange doesn’t think so. “I’ve been to New Mexico twice in my life, both times on the freeway and not during pepper season,” she says. “My roots are in New England and yet this weekend I plan to buy a 25-pound box.” (Luckily, roasted peppers freeze well, so you can buy enough to last you for the whole year during the short Hatch pepper season.)

rworange says it wasn’t love at first taste, but “over time I found myself more enchanted, leading to a passion for the pepper.” There’s something about them that is difficult to describe, an added earthy complexity, she says. “Maybe it’s just like a person who oozes charisma and draws others to them but you can’t really say why that is. They stand out from the crowd and somehow sparkle.”

Board Links: What makes Hatch chiles special? Roast Hatch chiles=human catnip?

Posted on Wednesday, August 26th, 2009 by Sarah Perry in General Topics Digest | 3 Comments
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