NYC Eats (with a smaller group of people) – Fu Run

Posted on April 10, 2011 by cting

This is the final installment of the NYC Eats (with Matt and other friends). I wanted to get this out sooner, but I got a little waylaid by the recently acquired full time j-o-b. So although this meal was eaten almost two weeks ago, its flavors have been seared into my cerebellum and I remember it like it was yesterday… okay maybe like a week ago. What I do remember is that with the exception of one dish (which was merely mediocre) the food was uniformly fresh, intense, full of strong, primary flavors and a whole lot of lamb. We went to a Dong Bei restaurant in Queens called Fu Run. Using a year-old NY Times writeup about the proliferation of Dong Bei Restaurants in Flushing as a guide, we suggested for Matt’s last NYC dinner one of the the recommended restaurants: Northeast Taste Chinese Food (don’t know if that was a direct translation or what). Running late as usual – my fault, as usual – Shefali and I speed-walked from the Flushing subway stop the nine blocks to NTCF where Matt, Alex, Waine had been waiting for about half an hour. Unfortunately, despite it’s super creative name, in the year since the article was published, Northeast Taste had changed ownership and was now a Peking duck restaurant. While, we all love a good Peking duck, were really had our minds and stomachs set on food from former Manchuria so we stopped by another of the four recommended restaurant from the Time’s article, a nearby place called Hong Yi Shun. Yet again – I was starting to sense a pattern here – HYS had transitioned into a different restaurant and while the menu looked appetizing, it didn’t offer quite the dishes we were looking for. The urgency of the situation was rising as I sensed the growing pissed off-ed-ness of everyone including myself due to our lateness and the continued emptiness of our stomachs. We decided to put our faith in the article one last time and headed to a third recommended restaurant, Fu Run which was all the way back where we’d all come from, a block from the subway. After a wrong turn had us panicking that this restaurant was also no longer in existance (what had we done in our previous lives to deserve this karma?), we finally righted ourselves and spotted the large awning and bright windows of the promised land, aka Fu Run. After another nearly interminable wait, during which I kind of lost it – I get emotional when I’m hungry – we were finally seated. And then we ordered. And then we ate. Praise Buddha, did we eat. Take a look for yourself.

: Niels rocks his new Adidas jacket while we wait.

: Waine shows he’s not a happy camper. Matt thinks Waine is funny.

: Peanuts as appetizers. Common in Northern Chinese food. Good chopstick practice

: Matt asks the waitress for a recommendation. It was our one mistake. She recommended some fried fish in a corn starchy salty sauce dish. I mean, come on!

: Dao Miu: so fresh and clean. Good foundation for what was to follow.

: Crispy cumin lamb. Wo ai ni. That means I love you. Wo ai ni crispy cumin lamb.

: Say gwai dao – fried long beans cooked with picked vegetable. The wonders a hot wok works on beans.

: With the firm potatoes and tingly addition of Szechuan pepper corn, it’s like no potato salad you’ve ever had.

: with veggies like these, who needs meat?

: Called lamb chops on the menu these were actually lamb ribs, braised (we think) and then fried with a crust of cumin, sesame seeds, chilis and othe spices. This dish was ridiculous.

: This is what this restaurant is known for.

: A contented and happy Niels and Waine. Phew!

: Oh my God, Matt. That’s exactly how I feel. You’re like psychic.

: We done good. Real good.

: Everyone’s happy with bellies full of lamb.

: May this place never change ownership.

[not pictured above: the two varieties of lamb dumplings]

NYC Eats (with a bunch of people) – Tanoreen

Posted on April 10, 2011 by cting

Matt is long gone, but the memory of this meal remains strong. We wanted to take Matt to a Michelin star restaurant so we headed straight to Bay Ridge Brooklyn, of course, to one of our new favorite spots, Tanoreen. You might remember that back in November, I took Shefali there for her birthday. Since then, we vowed to return but with a larger group of people so we could further explore the numerous dishes on the menu. So, with Matt’s visit as an excuse, we got a great group of eaters to join us. In no particular order, the participating eaters were: Matt, Alex and Leo, Maria and Ahmad (my Tokyo eating buddy , Minori (of tonkatsu fame), Shefali and me. I’d say we did a pretty decent job. You be the judge.

: Fortunately, he wasn’t. Phew! Atef the maître d totally punked me. Oh, good times at Tanoreen.

: Here’s the actual receipt. To channel John McEnroe, “You cannot be serious!”

: This is when I was presented with that $20 fee for taking photos of the food! WTF?!

: Shef and Minori share a tête a tête.

: Because it was Matt’s birthday – his NYC birthday, anyway (we won’t be able to celebrate with him in CA)

: Why were all these waiters gathered at our table?

: Shef and Minori (post eating).Probably the most flattering photo ever taken of these two.

: we shared the sh*t out of this lamb shank.

: Chicken fetti be done!

: Leo looking sharp as usual.

: Minori and Matt debate the merits of spreadsheets.

: Ahmad contemplates eating more.

: It’s go time at our table.

: Maria contemplates the entrees.

: When I asked the waiter if the lamb shank would be big enough to share among eight people he said, “It’s pretty big.” He was wrong. It was enormous. And it was so tender and delicious.

: Palestinian Shephard’s pie

: This dish is like the well heeled cousin to halal chicken and rice from a street cart in midtown. Don’t get me wrong, I’d eat both versions in a New York minute.

: Roaste brussel sprouts served with tahini and yogurt were simply divine. Seriously. I think God made them.

: Puree of roasted red pepper.

: Tanoreen flat bread with sumac and other spices baked on. So good.

: Located on a quiet corner in Bay Ridge Brooklyn is Tanoreen

NYC Eats (with Brett and Matt) – Brooklyn Pizza tour (lite)

Posted on April 7, 2011 by cting

When I asked Matt what he really wanted to eat while in NYC, one of the first things he mentioned was DiFara Pizza. Because I’m such a great host – or a genie, I made his wish come true. But, I’m also a believer in the Protestant ethic – that one must earn one’s pizza (I think that’s what Protestants believe) – so I suggested that we hop on our bikes and make the four mile ride to Midwood where DiFara is located. I told Bret (aka meatball hands) and instigator of the original Brooklyn pizza tour to meet us at DiFara and he did. Then after we ate a whole delicious pie between the three of us, Bret suggested we head to L&B Spumoni Garden to sample a totally different style of pizza, so we did. Matt and I hopped back on the bikes for the three mile ride to L&B. On the way I suggested that we should hit Totonno’s in Coney Island but then I remembered we we had to meet Bret at L&B because he drove separately. Once there, true to our words, we each got a square of L&B pizza which was totally superfluous, but still delicious. Here’s the photographic proof.

: We got here at 12 pm sharp. They weren’t quite open.

: Each pizza that comes out of the oven is finished with this oil.

: The man himself: Dom DeMarco

: Prices have definitily increased since I first went there. The pie’s still really good though and the locals still seem to like it.

: The Master’s hands. DeMarco doesn’t use oven mitts or tongs. He turns the baking pizza’s by hand.

: The first pizza of the day. Simple and lovely.

: DeMarco has been doing this for over forty years.

: We went half plain, half topping. That way we could sample the basic flavor and enjoy the meeting sausage and meaty porcinis.

: And absolutely different type of pizza from DiFara’s. Sweeter sauce, cheese underneath the sauce and an airier breadier dough.

: L&B square: reminiscent to me of a good version of school lunch pizza.

: Inspired by the pizza, Bret and I reminisce about foods we loved as kids.

: Imagine these tables totally filled during the summer.

: Matt gets ready to dig into his genuine spumoni.

NYC Eats (with Alex, Matt, Shef and Shuna) – Peels

Posted on April 7, 2011 by cting

Day two of Matt’s visit saw us making big plans. First we’d get some culture by going to the New Museum. After burning serious calories appreciating contemporary art, we’d go have lunch at Peels where our friend Shuna is the pastry chef extraordinaire. So did we succeed in our grand plan? Well 50% percent of it. But for that 50% we gave 110%. You see, the musem was closed (that’s a proper excuse), so along with our friend Alex and later Shefali, who came after work, we devoted the entire afternoon to a four hour lunch. Basically, we showed up, Shuna recommended some things we should order and we ordered all of them. Here’s what it looked like.

: Starters: Parker House rolls, andouille sausage corn dogs(!), shrimp grits

: Buttery shrimp grits with housemade tasso bacon, because there wasn’t enough fat.

: Spicy andouille with pillowy corn batter. These might be the gold standard for corn dogs.

: Alex and Matt get down to business with the starters.

: Matt savours the last of his little corn dog.

: The after of the shrimp grits. They were kind of good.

: Shuna described it as everything you like baked in a little cast iron pot. Eggs, grits, collards and chedder. That’s a pretty likeable combo.

: Fried chicken sandwich: Although the dark meat chicken was excellently fried, I found the honey mustard sauce a bit too cloyingly sweet. The fries were delicious.

: Blackberry Eaton Mess Fool: I guess it’s some sort of plumby English name. Refeshing and light, but also rich. Shuna recommended getting only a half to save room for other desserts but we forgot.

: A beautiful lemon lemon meringe tart. The lemon curd was ridiculously good.

: Spicy coconut sorbet. Shuna’s masterpiece and my favorite. So light refreshing and complex. Southeast Asian curries were a big influence but it was amazing to taste flavors familiar in a savory setting recast in a sweet context.

: Shuna told us she loved taking the torch to the meringue. It showed

: I don’t remember what this was called, but Shuna insisted that we really needed to finish our meal with some chocolate. So that’s chocolate cake with meringue, malted icecream and a homemade graham cracker.

: Shefali and Matt post dessert

: Shuna joined us througout the meal and thanks to her, it was one of the best four hour lunches I’ve eaten in a very long while.

: Alex post dessert.

: the end of the meal.

NYC Eats (with Matt) – David’s Brisket House

Posted on April 7, 2011 by cting

So my good friend Matt, whom you might remember from such hits as Chinese New Years (One and Two), sourdough baby, wood oven pizza, pig breakdown (and the subsequent feast) and taco time (basically, I would have no blog without Matt) was in town last week for his first visit to NYC in six years! This is how it went down when he first arrived: “Matt! it’s so great to see you. Oh who is this small five year old child hugging my leg? Oh this is your son, Matteo. Matteo, meet your papa!” Actually, it didn’t go that way at all. That’s just a surreal and strange scenario. In reality, it was more like, “What do you feel like eating?”

“Hmm, I think pastrami.”

Fair enough. Matt was in New York. It was time to take the gloves off and put the eating pants on. Sure we could have gone to Katz’s or 2nd Ave. Deli, but – and I’m not trying to make enemies here – I felt like Katz’s while delicious is a bit played out and entirely too expensive now. And 2nd Ave. Deli was just too far. Instead I wanted to venture closer to home because I’d been reading and hearing about great places for Jewish deli food in Brooklyn. A brief google query yielded a place within walking distance of my apartment called David’s Brisket House. And then it hit me. When I was filming An at Bep, he told me that David’s was his favorite place to get pastrami. I love when all the pieces come together. I call it confluence.

We hoofed it nearby Bed Stuy and the unassuming store front on Nostrand Ave. that is David’s Brisket House. The front window displays xeroxed photos of the sandwich options along with a sign alerting customers that they are closed on Fridays for a few hours during mid-day every Friday for prayers. You see, David’s serves Jewish Deli food (actually, mostly meats) to a largely African American customer (it’s in Bed Stuy, remember) and the guys serving it all up are Muslim, so Friday is the most important day for prayer. You’ve gotta love Brooklyn. We stepped into the sparse interior took a look at our options and ordered. And then we ate. And it was awesome. My only regret is that I hadn’t experienced this place sooner.