Gramercy, Flatiron

Tourist in My Own Town – Day 3

Posted on August 19, 2014 by Ziggy

Not really needed on one of the best eating days of the year but to ensure proper drool action, lets start the weekend with my Friday lunch with the boys at work. It’s becoming a company tradition where I take my coworkers to lunch like on a school field trip (single file, no holding hands). We call it Eating With Ziggy. This time it was a special occasion so I took them to Danji, a sort of favorite go to spot lately. I got the usual suspects to share… the addictive tofu, KFC wings, Bulgogi sliders (rule number one of fight club – order the sliders) and both bibimbaps. Cant recommend this highly enough. Well, I can, but choose not too. Slightly different menu for dinner where all those dishes are available and more.

This time we left the house at 8 am much to more confusion from the neighbors (where are their kids, why are they stuffing a suitcase in the car again, are the kids in the suitcase). We don’t talk to the neighbors on the left who’s main mission in life is to see all their neighbors suffer. But I digress. Very light breakfast at home was necessary in order to save room for what turned out to be one of the best eating days of the year. Hmm, I believe I already said that.

The entire morning centered around the brilliant Summer Streets. It’s like the biggest baddest block party imaginable. Ok, perhaps not the baddest. For three Saturdays in August the entire park avenue and connecting streets from Brooklyn bridge to around 70th st or so is closed to traffic the entire morning, or from 7 to 1 to be exact. Bikers, walkers, babies, joggers take advantage with the help of volunteers from New York Cares that control traffic, and even try to entertain sometimes while controlling traffic. Some seem happier to do it than others but I give big kudos points to all of them. In addition, you have all sorts of pit stops along the way… Zip Lining, Yoga, Whole Foods giving away free food, concerts, free walking tours, wall climbing, bicycle riding lessons, and much more. A great way to spend the morning with other New Yorkers. We parked near our hotel of choice (more on that soon), and rode the bikes to around 30th st in order to walk inside the Park ave Tunnel to the sound of water and waves. If you ever wondered how Cast Away middle of the ocean feels like, you wont get that feeling here. They choose a different artist every year to for the sounds.

The end of the tunnel you pretty much at Grand Central Station, so like true tourists we took the opportunity to visit it. Their was a wedding couple taking pictures while posing way too proper for the purpose. We tried to take an audio guide tour but couldn’t quite wait the extra few minutes for the audio guide person to come back from her break. It said “will be back in 15” and I swear we waited over 7! Ok, we are not the most patient people. I’m waiting for someone to bring me a Cronut directly so I could finally try it. Right before entering the station we found ourselves at the Grand Hyatt, which felt just (slot machine sounds) shy of a Vegas hotel

We then proceeded to the Public Library Main branch and proceeded to do what every normal parents normally do in town without their kids.. go to a children book exhibit. The ABCs of It exhibit was more interesting than I expected. History of famous children books and their importance. Stories like that of a couple who fled Paris right before a Nazi invasion carrying the drawings of a monkey named Fifi. “Curious Fifi” would have been a better name than Curious George if you ask me. A fun corner depicting the history of Goodnight Moon. Nothing about goodnight Ipad, and my favorite classic Goodnight Schnitzel, but whatever. Goodnight Moon was my favorite book because it was easy to read, short and sweet and I was able to go back to watching the hockey game in no time. And upon exiting the library there was that wedding couple again following us with the same exact pose.

Back to Summer Streets, we walked Park ave a bit to the Whole Foods pit stop where we enjoyed..nothing! due to the lines. Picked up bikes and rode to the lower end of the “festival” where things got a bit more chaotic (in a good way). But just before we picked up the bikes we did what every tourist to NYC must do, eat a hot dog. I havent eaten in like 3 hours and I was starving

Our lunch was at Ivan Ramen flagship in the Lower East Side, with our young friend Victoria who recently moved to the East Village. This is my second visit to this location, but I’ve been to the Slurp Shop in Gotham West many times. They don’t share the same menu. I will try to write a separate review if I have a chance but meanwhile here’s what I recommend to try at the LES flagship

Pickled Daikon – With dried shrimp that taste closer to breadcrumbs than shrimp but quite yummo!

Chinese Broccoli & Garlic – The pickled garlic is what did it for me

Ankimo Dirty Rice (dinner only) – Ankimo is essentially monkfish liver but dont be scared. An absolute must

Pork Meatballs – Perfection. Cant get any more tender this

Triple Pork Triple Garlic Mazemen (dinner) – Didn’t have it yet but perhaps the most popular dish here

Four Cheese Mazemen (dinner) – Rich and flavor packed

Salmon Donburi (lunch) – Like the whitefish Donburi at Gotham West but with Salmon instead. Fantastic dish

Not much dessert here but no worries. One of my new favorite “I cant believe its not gelato” ice cream spots is not too far at the underrated Essex Market, Luca and Bosco. Named after the owners dogs. Two girls, one of whom picked up some valuable trade secrets in the gelato capital of the world, Florence Italy. The Drunk and Salty Caramel with Bourbon is my pick again but I urge you to try the rest

We then walked around East Village with Victoria and made our way to the hotel. I don’t know if it was the beer or lack of sleep but exhaustion hit, and I was craving a hotel bed badly. And yes, we went back to the Hyatt Union Square and THIS time I got the view I wanted, of the brick wall. I suppose a view of the city would make more sense to the average tourist but I rather face peace and quiet. Our room was away from the elevator this time as well, and while the design was a bit different, still the same great king size bed and pillows, decent size, nice shower, and here’s the kicker… “Great Location” is something you see in just about every hotel review, whether the location is UWS, Times Square, no matter. Its a cliché. But, I honestly cant think of a better location than this. You could come up with some other nearby hotels that may be slightly better situated than the corner of 4th and 13th st, but, this is as center as it gets to great dining, great neighborhoods, and everything else pretty much. You can walk just about everywhere from here including Times Square. We walked to Battery Park the next day. Highly recommend this baby Hyatt. From baby Hyatt to baby NoMad…

After some relaxing at the Hyatt we met up with friends and walked toward the most highly anticipated meal of the “trip”, the new NoMad Bar. It was even better than anticipated. Fantastic bay scallop, and carrot “tartar” starters, first rate duck sausage, and as expected a burger that can rival anything in NYC right now. But that’s not all folks. The NoMad famous truffled/foie grased chicken can be had in the form of the most luxurious and delicious Chicken Pot Pie ($36). They bring you the pie with the Foie on the side, and mix it in table side. Needless to say the most extrodinary Chicken Pot Pie you will ever have. But that’s not all. The infamous $110 Cocktail Explosion we shared was a big hit with everyone. One of the most memorable meals of the year.

We then made a tourist mistake. We took a cab to Washington Square Park just to cross it again to reach the next destination. This time they had what looked like a Shakespeare in the Park session which I’ve never witnessed before. Our destination was Comedy Cellar which was sold out of all shows, hence the mistake. Oh well. We briefly considered the Argentinian aerial acrobatics Fuerza Bruta but then settled for plan A, The Hundred-Foot Journey movie which dictated our next day dinner destination (second only to one of the best lobster rolls I ever had)

Day 1

Day 2

Day 4

Categories: Gramercy, Flatiron, Lower East Side, Midtown West, New York City | Tags: danji, food, Ivan Ramen, restaurants, Summer Streets, The NoMad Bar, Travel | 4 Comments

Tourist in My Own Town – Day 2

Posted on August 14, 2014 by Ziggy

******* YOU MUST BE 18 YEARS OLD TO READ THIS *********

WordPress issues last night published this thing prematurely

Day 1 can be found here. Day 2 was interesting to say the least.

There’s something about spending the evening in NYC while knowing you don’t have to drive home soon. Although my favorite part is waking up in the big city. There’s this level of serenity, like the great calm after the storm. Beautiful young drunk boys and girls are coming home after their one night stands, one reminder after another that you went to sleep way too early last night, and you are just old. People talking to themselves without ear pieces, is another early morning phenomenon.

The best advice I can give a real tourist (as oppose to the fakes like me) is to skip the hotel breakfast option. Come out, explore, follow your nose to the nearest bakery, coffee shop, etc. A Frenchman walks into a bar with a toad on his head. The bartender asks “where the hell did you get this”, the toad replies “In France, they got a million of those” So is coffee shops in NYC these days, and bagels everywhere you turn. Squirrel seekers can even find a plethora of flat whites all over town these days. Instead of sharing a hotel dining room with sandal and socks wearing tourists, come out and eat where the locals eat, and meet some of them. Like Everyman Espresso around the corner from the Hyatt Union Square. Voted by the Daily Meal as one of the best coffee in America, where we enjoyed some fine latte and flavored muffins. A light little breakfast, to save room for a great lunch and dinner, is the way to go in NYC

We then checked out of the hotel and started walking toward our next destination, the one that crashed Trip Advisor. A trip without walking through Madison Square Park is a like a trip without sunshine. Its not only the squirrel capital of the world and the place to see unique art installations, but this is also the place where magic happens… Shake Shack. Well, the original one at least. Shake shack employees and a few squirrels joined together for a pre-opening meeting this fine morning. It occurred to me how large this SS operation really is.

Whenever we look for parking in that area with the kids, somehow, for some bizarre Freudian reason we find a spot right by the Museum of Sex. The kids are too shy and embarrassed to ask any questions about this, and we are too embarrassed and lazy to explain. Since wifey and I are now kidless we decided to pop in. Would you believe it if I told you that this was not only fun and unique, but educational? You got an interesting exhibit dedicated to Linda Lovelace. Funland, a playground for adults that features a new spin on Kentucky Derby horse racing, Grope Mountain climbing!, and a bouncy house where you are surrounded by inflatable fake breasts, some of which were more wrinkly than others I noticed! And who witnessed a German tourist breast suddenly pop out while bouncing? This guy! The educational part: Animals and sex. Very interesting facts and tales like about ducks raping other ducks after chasing and killing them. Another floor offers extremely interesting displays that I can not possiby describe here, and the first floor is a store offering among other things, new pasta shapes I havent seen yet. A new meaning to Al Dente (firm… get it?)

We proceeded to walk toward our first culinary highlight of the day, but first we pass Eisenberg’s Sandwich Shop and it occurred to me.. I havent been here in 13 years since I worked at Forbes.com around the corner. That brought back memories. “Just browsing” I told the clerk, as I had brunch plans. This is not the place for browsing. You attack this thing with full force.

Add the burger at The Gander to the list of NYC growing must eat burgers. This beauty is priced well at $16, available for lunch/brunch only. 28 day dry-aged beef, cheddar – adding anything else to it except for the bone marrow mayo that comes on the side would be criminal. Juiciness level I haven’t experienced since college! Confit Duck Hash, Poached Duck Egg, Port Béarnaise, Duck Chicharrónes was very good, while could have used some acidity in the form of roasted tomatoes or something, but enjoyable nonetheless. Good drinks, great service, nice looking rooms (got filled up a few minutes after the picture was taken). Will be back for more at this 2 month old for sure

We then took a walk along 6th ave toward midtown to witness one of our great holiday celebrations… The Dominican Day Parade (special thanks to TER and ZTAKS from Trip Advisor for this suffering ;)) It was actually quite fun though a tad too crowded. We overheard one visitor ask a police officer if this was the American Independence Day parade.

A mistake on my part. Plan at this point was to walk all the way west to 12th ave, Hudson River. The 20 minute walk turned to be challenging due to the heat. And on top of that, the Citibikes in that station (12th and 40th) had problems with credit cards and 24 hour passes. I have an annual pass but Mrs Z doesn’t.

We managed to get bikes a block away and Mrs Z managed quite fine for her first bike ride in the city without any incidents. I chose the Hudson River Park as its flat, carless, and quite Obama-care friendly. We then parked the bikes in West Village and took advantage of the green space on that end of Hudson River Park, one of my favorite parks in the city overlooking the Hudson and Jersey City. Manhattan has pretty cool parks these days, something I wasnt able to say 10 years ago. We then walked all over West Village all the way to the hotel crossing the always vibrant Washington Square Park yet again

Although we already checked out of the hotel, we were able to use the facilities to make ourselves pretty, or make Mrs Z pretty for our dinner at Ma Peche with friends from Brooklyn. Cant say enough about this place, their new cart service, the fried chicken, and those addictively sick rice cakes (Korean gnocchi on crack) I constantly dream about. Highly recommend Ma Peche. Try the Seven Spice Sour cocktail if you go

We capped off the night at one of my favorite bars in town, the rooftop at Ink48. Glorious moon, glorious views, and another glorious day in the city I call home!

Day 1

Day 3

Day 4

Categories: East Village, Gramercy, Flatiron, Midtown West, New York City, West Village | Tags: Everyman Espresso, food, Hudson River Park, Ma Peche, Museum of Sex, restaurants, The Gander, Travel, travel+photography | 7 Comments

Tourist in My Own Town – Day 1

Posted on August 12, 2014 by Ziggy

There’s very little doubt as to what is my 12 year old’s favorite store in the entire world. M&M’s World. Whenever we enter the store, her eyes bulge, and she’s not sure what area to hit first. She’s like a kid in a candy store! In a way, I felt similar symptoms when I found myself kidless for 9 days for the first time in 14 years. There’s only one thing I love more than exploring NYC with my beautiful daughters.. exploring without them. Although I normally feel free to eat wherever I want, this is a brand new level of culinary freedom, with endless wants and possibilities. Instead of skipping town, Mrs Z and I decided to stay put and play tourists. We wanted the real Australian tourist experience which includes staying in a trendy hotel, complaining about hotel A/C noise, and taking pictures of squirrels. Day 1 out of 4…

*****Mostly iPhone pictures on day 1 as I wasn’t planning to do this post. I don’t want you to think that I’m a terrible photographer. I am, but I don’t want YOU to think that.

My weakened eating adventure started the day before where I enjoyed a Don Antonio Diavolo pie and a shared this pizza Fritta, a giant fried calzone stuffed with mozzarella, tomatoes and salami. Don Antonio to me is the closest to eating pizza in Italy due to the style, ingredient quality, and female employees speaking with Italian accents

We started our day 1 around noon in Hell’s Kitchen, where we met Mr Hummus Whisperer and wifey for pre-matinee lunch at Ippudo. My goal for this weekend was to impress mrs Z with good food and get her dunk. Good start so far. The Akamaru Modern on point as usual. Pork Buns so fine that will make you slap your mama. Chicken wings, fried chicken (fried chicken won by a chicken skin hair), and some gelato and sorbet from Il Laboratorio del Gelato where the black sesame winning top marks.

Book of Mormon. The show that upon purchase, made me tell my kids that they need to start being nice to their grandparents as they will need to rely on them for continued education from now on. I believe its the most expensive broadway show in history. And with all those inflated expectations, we still managed to enjoy it tremendously. Like a bizarre, super clever Mel Brooks, Howard Stern collaboration that makes you want to “Baptize” someone in the next few days

I work in Hell’s Kitchen, and ‘Disiac lounge off 54th and 9th is the place my coworkers frequent the most. I’ve seen the bar much more livelier than on this Saturday afternoon, but we did discover something important about us. We don’t like CAIPIRINNA, the Brazilian national drink. Getting mrs Z drunk – Failed! We did enjoy however in this Israeli owned bar, a falafel platter, with hummus, babaganoush, grilled pitas, and fine red Yemeni S’chug. My favorite Hummus in the area is still at Gazala’s however.

My hotel of choice was the Hyatt Union Square, a stylish boutique with ultra modern rooms (the ones where you can see yourself shower), comfy bed and pillows, a magazine rack in the bathroom with magazine! (for those not willing to spend extra for wifi!), valet parking (if it costs $65 is that still considered an amenity), and perhaps my favorite amenity in any hotel.. A Flat Screen TV! If there’s a flat screen TV in every single hotel in the world, is it still considered an amenity? Why not list “Bed” as well? But in all seriousness, this was a fine stay that would have been finer if they hadn’t put us next to the elevator.

We’ve been to Washington Square Park before many times, but never experienced it quite like this time. A giant Star Wars flash mob cock fight. It was quite a scene. We didnt stay late enough but at some point we were told that they got divided into groups to fight each other to the death. Or until their little Jedi swords broke, whichever came sooner. There were also the usual park musicians and art like sand displays, and a fake birds eating fake pizza showing.

We capped off the night at Casa Mono, one of the premier tapas joints in town. All 6 dishes including one dessert were quite good. I especially liked the duck egg with potatoes, Mojama and some ultra perfumy summer black truffles. The calamari like Razor clams were slightly overdone though still quite enjoyable. Nice skirt steak with Romesco, reminiscent of the Gato scrambled egg. Goat confit was expertly prepared with avocado purée. I can’t get enough goat lately. Perhaps my favorite dish however was the Fideo with chorizo and clams. I don’t understand why I so rarely see fideo on menus. The one big issue I had was the frequency of the dishes coming out. Started with two right away, and the next 3 came in at the same time pretty much. In a place like this where sharing is key you would think they would get it by now

A nice walk back to the hotel included a visit to Union Square Park where I saw the the youngest street performer I’ve ever seen (5 maybe?) among a group of many other dancers. Day 2 coming up! Any comments? Question? threats?

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Categories: East Village, Gramercy, Flatiron, Midtown West, New York City, West Village | Tags: Book of Mormon, Casa Mono, food, Hyatt Union Square, Ippudo westside, restaurants, Travel, Washington Square Park | 34 Comments

Kokum – YeShiva University

Posted on May 6, 2014 by Ziggy

Rule of thumb still stands. Want solid Indian in the city of New York, just visit any of Shiva’s establishments. That’s Shiva Natarajan if you scoring at home, or if you’re alone. Adding Kokum to the Arsenal that includes Chote Nawab and Malai Marke. Kokum, named after a fruit used as a spice in South India cooking represents the cuisine of Kerala among other South Indian regions. A refreshing addition to North Indian heavy (read Heavy as in rich) NYC.

When you first walk inside Kokum, it feels like second hour of lights fixture shopping time with the wife in Chinatown. You start feeling dehydrated, dizzy while hallucinations and impure thoughts about Indian and Chinese food start kicking in. If this is what Shiva went through to get funky lights fixtures, than I feel for you brother. Women Schwomen you know what I’m saying!

Kokum’s menu requires a stint at Ye(Shiva) University, before arrival. Its not only large, but it will make your head spin. There must have been 30 items at least that I wanted to try including some familiar items from Shiva’s other establishments. As a result, flavors were a little more familiar than I was expecting but in a very very good way.

Tropical Kerala – Perhaps the first ever cocktail at an Indian establishment I really liked. Get this.

Kumily Chicken Fry – Well done. Good depth and not too dry. Similar to Chili Chicken at Malai Marke and perhaps your neighborhood Szechuan

Mysore Masala Dosa – You gotta get a Dosa crepe here. This one was stuffed with spiced potatoes and onions. Terrific accompanied chutneys ranged from mild to hot. This thing is huge

Red Pumpkin Thoran – Good, nicely balanced, but should have ordered the bindi (okra) we enjoyed so much in Shivas other establishments

Kori Gassi – We liked this a lot at Chote Nawab so had to get it again.

Chettinad Kulambu – I’ve been on a Chettinad high lately as my go to lunch choice. This is probably the best Chettinad I’ve had

No Naan here. Got some spongy Appam rice crepes, like Sri Lankan Hoppers. Appalam, lentil pancakes I would skip. Great Paripu Podi Rice

Kokum
106 Lexington Ave
Recommended Dishes: All of the above

Categories: Gramercy, Flatiron, New York City | Tags: Best Indian in NYC, Curry Hill, food, Kokum, Kokum NYC, NYC, restaurants, South Indian NYC, Travel | Leave a comment

Dude, You Are Researching NYC Food All Wrong

Posted on February 6, 2014 by Ziggy

Dear Tourist,

So you’ve decided finally to go on a “Holiday” to New York City. Mazal Tov! You probably read by now in your guide books that NYC is the greatest food city in the world. And you are probably waking up every morning thanking god for the gift that keeps on giving, the TripAdvisor Rankings. Between the rankings, the guidebooks, and all the great recommendations by your neighbor’s house sitter Betty (you must go to bubba gump you must) who eloped to NYC last year with 75 of her closest friends, you are all set. Right? Not exactly. Lets take a moment and examine what is wrong with the above plan, and come up with a new one.

Whats wrong with the TA rankings: Everything, and nothing. Its just totally meaningless, especially in NYC. TA is a great traveling tool, but ~~pretty much~~ totally useless in NYC as far as restaurants are concerned. The main reason for its uselessness is that there are much better research tools in NYC. (more on that later). But lets discuss the rankings for a second shall we. They are so flawed and so out of tune with reality that’s not even funny. The top 50 at the moment is a bizarre mishmash of classics and places I never even heard of. First of all the TA algorithm puts some major weight on the number of reviews. So older establishments may be higher than better reviewed younger ones. And then there are those that have 27 remarkably high reviews that made it all the way to the top 20. And not to mention that 25 of them may be coming from all their employees and families. I always recall this one particular place in Milan where the owner single-handedly put his place #1 with a bunch of obvious fake reviews. At some point he mistakenly gave himself one star, and that followed with 4 quick glorious reviews with a similar language. And once real reviews started coming in, he found himself arguing with every reviewer

But fake reviews don’t have much of a bearing on the busy NYC listings. Tourists do. TripAdvisor is predominately used by tourists, and its especially true in NYC. While you may see locals contribute in other towns and countries where there’s not much of a choice other than TA, in NYC locals use other sites like Yelp. Now, couple the tourist factor with the high volume factor I mentioned above and you can see why something like Basso56 will be near the top as its heavily reviewed by tourists thanks to its location near Times Square. Besides Basso, at the top of the Italian chain on TA at the moment you can find other Italian behemoths like Rafele, Piccola Cucina, Via Della Pace – places I never even heard of. But if you need more convincing than “Ziggy never heard of”, why not just go to Chowhound where all the NY foodies hang out and pull threads that discuss the best Italian in town. You will not find any of those places mentioned. What you will see mentioned are places like Maialino (#95), Babbo (#602), Marea (#194), Lincoln (#882), or even Ziggy fave Costata (#2605). TA numbers are all over the place as you can see, well outside of the top range for the unsuspecting tourist. So while you are eating a Carbonara with cream and bacon at a high ranked theater district place near you, locals out there enjoy the real thing with Guanciale and egg at Maialino.

Same applies to using the rankings everywhere else in the world. My favorite restaurant in our adapted home of Turks and Caicos is Caicos Cafe, rated #20 at the moment, pretty low in T&C standards.

Now, its time to ditch the guide book. Ok, wait.. pick it up.. its actually quite useful for many things. But not so much for food. Yes, you will get some good tips on some NY icons like Katz’s and Russ and Daughters that I recommend. But then you have something like pizza (namely Grimaldi’s) and bagels that NYC is so famous for. While you will not easily find better pastrami than Katz’s, you will easily find better pizza than Grimaldi’s. Actually, all you need to do while standing on line at Grimaldi’s with the rest of the tourists is look to you left at Juliana’s window to see where the real Grimaldi is doing his thing nowadays. But you dont even have to leave your neighborhood in Manhattan to get great pizza that is arguably better than Grimaldi’s.

Besides pizza, your guide book will mislead you in other areas. E.g. Hell’s Kitchen is not a safe area, the place for Italian is Little Italy, and Times Square is a foodie paradise. Your guide book may be up to date as far as facts are concerned (MoMA hours) but not concepts. Little Italy is now a block inside Chinatown riding one of those concepts. There are no Italians living there. Another thing to keep in mind is that the food contributors to the guides may not be necessarily “foodies”. Rick Steves for example does not strike me a foodie, and to follow his advice in Italy or anywhere else is Europe in this day and age is pretty silly. Eating at guidebook recommended establishments and high ranked TA spots also means eating with other tourists who are doing exactly the same thing. Some may find comfort with that, but if you are reading this blog chances are you want to eat where the locals eat.

And as for your neighbor Betty recommendations go, treat them like meeting your dentist at the supermarket. Smile, and move on. Unless Betty, is an avid Eating With Ziggy reader and/or does any of the following…

Read Chowhound – as I mentioned, this is where many of the NYC foodies hang out, and where I get many ideas. Chowhound is probably my wallet’s single worst offender.

Read Yelp Reviews instead of TA reviews. I already touched on this, and its fairly simple. Locals use Yelp, tourists use TA.

Read or Subscribe to Grub Street – You can get all sorts of interesting ideas there, especially from the power rankings. Same idea applies to Eater, or Serious Eats.

Hang out in the TripAdvisor NYC Forum. You dont even have to participate. Its amazing how much knowledge you can get just by reading the forum for a month or two. There are plenty of locals who contribute on a daily basis, and you can also find many discussions on dining by using the search feature

And the most important tip…

Read EatingWithZiggy. Whats so funny. Where do you think I derive my ideas from.

Happy eating, and happy planning!

Categories: Brooklyn, Chelsea, Chinatown, East Village, Gramercy, Flatiron, Lower East Side, Midtown East, Midtown West, New York City, SoHo, NoHo, Nolita, Staten Island, TriBeCa, West Village | Tags: best food in NYC, food, restaurants, Travel, Where to eat in NYC | 6 Comments

NYC – Top 10 dishes of 2013

Posted on January 6, 2014 by Ziggy

Another year, another amazing eating year in the city of New York. Keeping up with all the new and excitement here is like keeping up with the Kardashians. But 2013 proved to be one heck of a year, probably the best ever. And if there’s ever a post on EWZ that could be helpful to visitors or locals seeking great chow in NYC, this is IT!

Ma Peche – Fried Chicken (with a side of the Brussels Sprouts). I’ll start with the last great dish. Haute Fried Chicken doesnt get any better than this. Habanero, coriander, black pepper and other spices used to create this fried pieces of awesomeness. Its a large shareable whole chicken at $48, but for lunch you can get half for $24 which can still feed an Armanian village, or 2 Americans. And the amazing Brussels Sprouts dish are worthy of their own spot here.

Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop– Smoked Whitefish Donburi. With salmon roe, sweet soy dashi, cucumber, scallion over rice. Need I say more? I probably should. Tell me if you heard this story before. A Jewish man from Long Island opens a Ramen shop in Tokyo which becomes critically acclaimed, then comes back to NYC to open a Ramen shop in the New Gotham West Market in Hell’s Kitchen. Sounds familiar? The Donburi is a nice clash of the 2 cultures (Japan meets Jew)

Momofuku Ssam Bar – Spicy Sausages & Rice Cakes. Second Momofuku mention already (Ma Peche is the first) This dish is insane. Plenty of heat and plenty of joy. Its a beautiful medley of ground sausage, Chinese broccoli, Sichuan peppercorn, and the awesome rice cakes which were essentially Korean Gnocchi made from rice flour. Puts the Mssion Chinese rice cakes to shame. Photo courtesy of Never Too Sweet

Betony – Short Ribs. A revelation! Tender, full of flavor goodness. It takes 3 days to make them we were told. We told the waitress that we cant stay that long, but we quickly understood the meaning.

Maialino – Tonnarelli Cacio e Pepe. Its so simple, it shouldnt be here. But along with the carbonara perhaps my favorite dish at one of my favorite Italian spots in the city. Perfectly creamy, peppery, and addictive. Having it sit there among the other pastas on the table is like visiting the bunny ranch after trying out all the bunnies, and constantly picking your favorite.

The NoMad – The Chicken. This is a no brainer, and a top dish nominee even before it reached our table. Once you get over the facts that a) is costs $78 (for 2) and b) its freakin chicken, you will enjoy this one no doubt. Perfectly crispy skin, moist juicy white meat, along with some foie gras and black truffles (all cooked) nicely tucked beneath the skin. Each bite of that combination together was a Tour de Force. But that’s not all. Add a glorious plate of the dark meat with garlic espuma (foamy light garlic goodness) in the middle to share.

Ippudo – Akamaru Modern (with egg). “Welcom”, “Goodbye”, “Aim Well”? I have no idea what they are screaming in Japanese at Ippudo every time someone arrives or goes to the bathroom. All I know is that this is my favorite dish here. Rich, complex pork broth, along with hefty pieces of pork belly. Add the egg and spicy miso paste for even richer flavors

Costata – The Costata. Perhaps the dish of the year. A mammoth 44oz $120 very shareable Tomahawk Ribeye cooked to perfection. Basted ever so beautifully with a rosemary brush, this beast was a feast for all senses. Add some Black truffle butter, fries and asparagus, but good luck remembering the sides in between bites of perhaps the best steak in town

Nish Nush – Falafel. I know Falafel. I grew up with falafel. My car runs on falafel (its the trade-in period while waiting for the new car so dont want to use the real thing). This is good falafel. Fresh pita from the oven, and free (great) hummus can only help

Kashkar Cafe – Geiro Lagman. Little Asia in little Odessa (Brighton Beach) and perhaps the only Uyghur spot in town. I’ve had this dish 3 times in the last 8 months. Nice and chewy hand pulled noodles with lamb, veggies, cumin, garlic, other spices and herbs make up this highly palatable dish.

Special mentions:

Malai Marke – Chicken Xacuti (and Bindi Sasuralwali)
Sakagura – Maguro Tartar
Pure Thai – Wok Curry Paste with Pork
Mercato – Trenette
Jungsik – The rice dish that comes for free for b-day boy 😉
Louro – Octopus Bolognese (tie with monkfish)
Mission Chinese – Kung Pao Pastrami

Categories: Brooklyn, Chelsea, Chinatown, East Village, Gramercy, Flatiron, Lower East Side, Midtown East, Midtown West, New York City, SoHo, NoHo, Nolita, TriBeCa, West Village | Tags: Best restaurants in NYC, food, NYC, NYC eats, NYC food, restaurants, Top NYC dishes, Travel | Leave a comment

Maialino – When in NYC do as the Romans do

Posted on December 22, 2013 by Ziggy

**** Terrible old post with terrible Iphone pictures replaced by a slightly less terrible post with more terrible Iphone pictures. I didnt take my camera to this one since I wasnt planning to make a post *******

Just the other day I was giving a food tour of Hell’s Kitchen to a young couple from the Philippines, and the subject of this blog came up. I told them something I realized lately, that this is the weirdest blog they will ever encounter as its all about eating in 3 peculiarly different places: NYC, Italy, and Turks And Caicos, a place they were not even familiar with. “Its in the Caribbean” normally follows (Although technically its part of the Atlantic Ocean really). But when my wife is often busy at work with older customers and does not have the time for 20 questions she prefers to just follow with “Turkey” instead. Its not that I had any sort of plan when I started blogging, but now over a year later I find myself trying to please 3 different audiences somehow.

In a strange way Union Square Hospitality’s Maialino in the Gramercy Park Hotel connects all 3 subjects together, at least in my mind. With TCI becoming increasingly Roman, I finally had my first Carbonara there (In Via Veneto). In NYC, I now have all sorts of Roman options including Lupa, and even Eataly where you can get a decent Cacio e pepe. But when I asked on Chowhound recently where do Italians eat in NYC, I was not surprised that the answer is A) a lot of what we call Italian food, and B) Maialino, according to one distinguished Roman and Food Author Maureen Fant.

For me to come back to the same place twice in one year is almost unheard of. But I just had to impress my Aussie friend Tanya and had to play it safe. The only thing I dislike about Maialino is the bar area. Its always packed with beautiful single people. So whenever I have to pass by it quickly to my seat in the back, it always serves as a ~~gruesome~~ reminder that I never had much of a single life. @NickAnderer, any chance you could give me some back door access next time. Anyway, another exceptional meal at one of New York’s exceptional Italian establishments.

Salumi Misti – You can select 3. We’ve chosen Finocchiona, Prosciutto di Parma, and Mortadella. All very good with the Finocchiona (salami with fennel) being my favorite.

Tonnarelli Cacio e Pepe – Beautifully simple, simply beautiful. Along with the carbonara perhaps my favorite pasta here. Perfectly creamy, peppery, and addictive. Having it sit there among the other pastas is like visiting the bunny ranch after trying out all the bunnies, and constantly picking you favorite. Sorry you had to read this Tanya, Mrs Ziggy, ~~ex girlfriends~~.

Tortelli – Wow this was good. Little explosive mini pillows stuffed with pork and chicken liver drizzled with tasty balsamic oil and almonds. Poignant, surprising flavor. Not the type of surprise like Brian Boitano announcing he’s gay. Really surprising.

Spaghetti with lobster – Delicious! Not quite as sharp as the Lobster Fra Diavola I just had at my favorite restaurant in the Caribbean, Caicos Cafe led by a San Domenico veteran, but delicious nonetheless.

Oxtail – Roman style, slow cooked with tomato sauce. Tender, falling off the fork, absolutely scrumptious piece of meat you just want to attack. But we couldnt. We were stuffed. Just stared at it thinking how in the world I’m passing on this thing, reminiscing on the great oxtail we had at Cesare al Casaletto. Nick, thanks for correcting my pronunciation of Cesare al Casaletto at the Bonci/Parla event at Paulie Gee’s

In the past we also enjoyed the terrific Carbonara (better than the ones I had in Rome), octopus app with beans, Pappardelle, and a fine Garganelli al Sugo di Coniglio (yum). We skipped dessert this time but enjoyed the bread pudding over the more popular (I think) olive oil cake last time. Check out Maialino boys and girls

Categories: Gramercy, Flatiron, New York City | Tags: food, Maialino, Maialino NYC, NYC dining, NYC food, NYC restaurants, restaurants, Travel | 2 Comments

Its a Dumpling/MSE/French Kind of Day in NYC

Posted on September 29, 2013 by Ziggy

Another glorious day for foodies in NYC. The sun was shining, the cabbies were singing, I was excused from apple picking, with 3 food events to boot…

Dumpling Festival.. http://www.dumplingfestival.com/

Taste of France… tasteoffrancenewyork-eorg.eventbrite.com/

Madison Square Eats… www.madisonsquarepark.org/tag/mad-sq-eats

The dumpling festival wasn’t quite what I expected. A little disappointing. You buy a ticket for $20 and you have 4 booths to choose from. Mostly basic veggie and chicken dumplings or greasy empanadas. Nothing creative or expensive like the Pastrami dumplings in Smorgasberg, because you pay in advance in this format it’s not worth it for them to lure you in with creative dumplings. It was more about the dumpling eating competition. A woman from Nebraska ate 90 beating all the men

After some misadventure courtesy of a friend’s Citibike spill, and a visit to CVS, we resumed and headed to Madison Square Eats. New vendor Daleny stole the show with the brisket taco, as great as advertised and more. They put daleny all the way in the back in that quiet corner away from the tourists. Bee sting pizza by Robertas as good as ever. SD26 (another newbie) porchetta sandwich just didn’t do it for me. SD26 is the reincarnation of San Domenico in Central Park. San Domenico is the former home of Massimo “Mad Max” Olivari who owns/cooks at Caicos Café in Turks and Caicos, my favorite restaurant in the Caribbean

Then more misadventure. It occurred to me that it’s 4 pm and Im wearing my prescription sunglasses while my regular glasses are in the car in alphabet city. I get headaches if I wear sunglasses too long in the shade or dark. But instead of going to the car we continued to the French fair in Bryant Park. This was a much bigger and ambitious event than the dumplings festival. But the “Taste of France” was not so much about food (although there was plenty) but about getting a taste of France, meaning learning about the country, it’s regions, it’s corporations. There were numerous French companies representing from Aerospace engines to white flag manufacturers. Live music, hot air baloon, someone sculpting the Eiffel inside a bubble. We didn’t eat anything because we were done at this point.

We returned to East village for the car (another frend joined us). Total darkness at this point, and me blind as a bat, my friend with his back, like coming back from the battle field. After getting my glasses we went to Nicholetta, michael whites pizza place in the east village for for some nice Affogato (unique with soda) and port.

Categories: East Village, Gramercy, Flatiron, New York City | Tags: Dumpling Festival, eating competition, food, Madison Square Eats, NYC eats, taste of france, Travel | 3 Comments

The NoMad – Chronicles of a Chicken

Posted on June 20, 2013 by Ziggy

The war is still ongoing. Hours before our dinner reservations at the NoMad I asked the trusted folks at the Chowhound forum the simple question: “To Chicken or not to Chicken”. Meaning, should I order their famous chicken dish considering…

a) It costs $79 (its for 2)

b) Its Chicken

Well, the overwhelming response was Yes, with a few Nos (including a resounding No 2 weeks after I already had it), and 1 “order what you feel like”. Considering chicken is not exactly something I’m ever in the mood for, I needed a little help with this one.

The NoMad, not to be confused with Nomad (you see the difference? These are in fact 2 different restaurants in NYC) is a 1 year old Daniel Humm and Will Guidara venture at the NoMad hotel. Eleven Madison Park light if you will (same duo behind that). Once inside there’s no mistaking that you are dining in a hotel. Your look most likely will determine the room they will sit you at. Apparently we look like ladies who lunch! Since it was sort of early (5:30 mind you, before Vanya, Pasha, Boris..er whatever its called. I don’t subscribe to the “you must eat in the theater district before a show” policy), there was plenty of light out, and with that glass ceiling this room was very well lit. For a while it felt like we were moved from one waiting room to a fancier waiting room. But I didn’t mind it so much. Within 30 minutes or so were suddenly surrounded with tourists, so I guess they confused us for ” tourist ladies who lunch” or something like that.

But the food was quite good. They start you off with their terrific freshly baked Focaccia-like flatbread with rosemary, sage, and a little bit of salt. Toppings change seasonally. This is perhaps as good as it gets as far as restaurant bread goes. Tagliatelle with king crab, lemon and black pepper was savory, with plenty of meaty crab to go around. But the egg stole the app show. Poached with asparagus, brown butter and quinoa, holy smokes it was good! The asparagus alone is worth the price of admission, and that grainy quinoa really tied everything together beautifully. Fantastic dish, as I say to the swedes to the right.

And then came the main event. They first present you the whole cooked chicken like a fine bottle of wine. I sniff it from both sides and enthusiastically approve. They take the bird away and bring it back carved for 2, with a nice plate of dark meat with garlic espuma (foamy light garlic goodness) to share. The chicken was divine. Perfectly crispy skin, moist juicy white meat, along with some foie gras and black truffles (all cooked) nicely tucked beneath the skin. Each bite of that combination together was a Tour de Force. French couple on the left agrees. With that kind of hoopla over an expensive dish as such, nothing less than the best chicken ever was expected, and it was. Well done NoMad people!

Desserts were fine as well. Although the famous Milk and Honey was the only underwhelming of the evening. The chocolate dessert was more like it. A spectacular meal overall. Weird setting but food prevailed to save the day.

Categories: Gramercy, Flatiron, New York City | Tags: food, NYC dining, NYC restaurants, restaurants, The NoMad, The NoMad NYC, Travel | 11 Comments

10 Things to Try in Eataly

Posted on May 30, 2013 by Ziggy

Something I don’t do nearly enough is read other food blogs. I wish I had the time to just chillax for a full day and read nothing but food blogs. No wife, no work, no kids, just me, myself and blogs. Not possible. But whenever we are about to travel somewhere I put the blog reading on the next gear, and naturally these days I read Italian food blogs. I noticed that not only I get many ideas on what to eat on our upcoming trip in the summer, but I also get plenty of ideas on how to improve the blog.

For example the excellent Katie Parla blog (which I found last fall while researching New Orleans and got the a great Boucherie reco from her) and Elizabeth Manchilli in Rome (and Florence) have given me something to think about, like that my site ~~sucks~~ does not have enough lists. So I gave you Best Pizza in Hell earlier this month and now I figured I’ll write about Eataly. A place dear to my heart and wallet (my wallet strongly believes in keeping your friends close and enemies closer)10 years ago I used to work right across the street from Eataly where it was a Toy Building. While we were too busy at work ~~checking out the modeling action on 22nd st with our binoculars~~ working, we didn’t have much time to check out the toys back then. But nowadays we go there often. Eataly is busy, hectic, full of Italians for some reason, and very very touristy, but for good reason. You can easily spend an entire day there. Well, I can! During the last few years I spent a lot of time there eating, drinking, shopping and learning elementary Italian cursing like “tuo padre è un pollo” (your father is a chicken) comes in handy. So without further ado, here are 10 things to try while visiting Eataly to make your visit more memorable

Sorry about some of the Iphone photos.

1) Italian Soda. My new obsession. The refreshingly citrusy Cedrata, Gazzosa, the ‘root beer on crack’ Chinoto, the lightly sweetened Gus Sodas. Buy a few and see what you like. All with natural ingredients and some like the Gazzosa feature the famous lemons of Amalfi

2) Maitake Mushrooms at Birreria – Put your name down for the roof garden, and wait for the text. The text is your gateway to some of the most delicious Mushrooms you will ever eat. Perfectly chewy and savory Maitake with Pecorino cheese. One of about 3 or 4 dishes in their mushroom section along with nice Oyster mushrooms and fried shiitakes. Also try the Cotechino sausage and pork shoulder

3) Grande Piatto Misto Di Salumi & Formaggi at La Piazza – Say what? thats right. A nice little assortment of the best cheese and Salumi of the day in the Piazza. Prosciutto, salami, 4 different kinds of cheese, honey, figs and more. Add a glass of one of their fine whites and its like having an aperitivo in Piazza Navona staring at la Fontana dei Fiumi. Except that you are in Eataly, inside a building, staring at a German tourist’s sandals with socks.

4) Asparagus and Egg at Le Verdure. Another example that adding egg to anything will make it better. My favorite from the veggie menu of Le Verdure

5) Cacio e Pepe at La Pasta. “A so a simple and a so good a”. Cheese, black pepper, al dente pasta is apparently all you need to make this Roman classic. Perfection on a plate. So what am I doing wrong?

6) Gnocchi at La Pasta – To compliment your Cacio e pepe. Gnocchi, with 3 hours braised + 3 hour cooked + 3 hour groin massaged, wonderful melt in your mouth lamb shank. Also try the Neapolitan pizza while there

7) Fresh Agnolotti cacio e pepe – This is to buy. Pillowy delicate Agnolotti stuffed with pecorino and black pepper. Don’t overcook. Set the timer to what it says on the box – I believe about 3-4 minutes after returning to boil. Add some freshly shredded cheese and butter and invite me for dinner and Voila! I found that a little more than 1 pound (1.2) feeds a hungry family of 4.

8) Truffle sauces. Walk all the way to the right pass the dry pasta section, and you’ll see this mostly Urbani truffle heaven. It will do wonders to your pasta. Just don’t overdo it – add just one of those little babies and invite me for inspection. You can also visit the Urbani NYC headquarters on 11th in the 50’s (I forget)

9) Pesce Alla Diamantese at IL Pesce – Seared fish of the day cooked with tomato sauce, olives, Calabrian Chiles, fennel and capers. Savory, great flaky texture and absolutely delicious. Well played Mario.

10) Gelato – Duh!! Try the Stracciatella (sort of like choc chip) and Nocciola (hazelnut). Fantastic gelato

So there you have it. Buon Appetito, and stay hungry my friends. Some more food porn…

Categories: Gramercy, Flatiron, New York City | Tags: eataly, eataly nyc, food, NYC dining, NYC food, NYC restaurants, restaurants, Travel | Leave a comment

Gramercy, Flatiron

The places