A year ago, my daughter suggested Max Soha as a place to gather when my parents were in town -- and finally we've made our way up, through Columbia's campus, to 123rd and Amsterdam Avenue in South Harlem -- or Soha. It was a balmy late, October night and we sat outside at a yellow cafe table.
Service was impeccable. The waiter, the busboy, as well as the owner were all attentive. When I asked for chianti, the waiter offered to bring me a taste of the wine. I wasn't sure if I liked it. He brought me a taste of the pinot noir and the malbec, as well. In the end, I preferred the chianti and he graciously collected the three tasting glasses and returned with a full glass of the deep, red wine.
A chalk board behind us offered several specials -- from a corn soup to a grilled sea bass to a black seafood ravioli. We started with a misto salad (5.95) we shared -- a light basalmic vinaigrette mixed with greens, chopped endive, and tomato. We ordered the duck with fettucini and pink sauce special (12.95) and the lamb with thin homemade pasta (11.95). Both were delicious. And the pasta, homemade, fresh and perfectly al dente, was the best pasta I'd had outside of Italy. The duck was chopped into bite size chunks and covered with a sweet pink sauce. The ground lamb sauce was a tomato sauce that was bit rich for my palate -- but David finished it all. We ordered the tiramisu (5.95) for dessert which was drenched in espresso and filled and covered with a rich mascarpone cheese.
Cash only. About $25 per person.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Sunday, October 10, 2010
The Columbia Farmers' Market
On Sundays and Thursdays a greenmarket arrives under white tents on the sidewalk north of 114th Street on Broadway. In the fall, the best apple cider (no preservatives, not pasteruized) is available, as well as lots of varieties of apples. You can buy eggplants, a variety of squash, fresh Amish eggs, lavender arrangements, flower arrangements, organic meats and poultry raised locally, fresh fish caught locally, fresh baked pies and breads, honey still in the comb, local flours and grains, as well as local organic wines. It's always a delight to see the action and colors and shapes and textures and scents of a farmer's market -- and to imagine bringing it all home to your kitchen to display and to cook and to serve.
Deluxe, Broadway at 113th Street
It was a beautiful day and I went to Deluxe for a waffle, hoping for the kind of Belgian waffle that I craved when I didn't live in New York and would come to the city to eat to eat a waffle a day -- and sometimes two -- covered in strawberries or whatever fresh fruit was in season.
I sat at a cafe table on the sidewalk and ordered the Belgian waffle with strawberries that I ordered in 2001 when I'd come to Columbia to visit my daughter who was then a student. We'd often go to Deluxe for the sandwiches or burgers (for her) and the waffles (for me). The waffle I remembered was delicately crunchy on the outside and yeastily eggy like a crueler doughnut on the inside.
Alas, this visit nine years later brought disappointment. The waffle was kind of tough -- like it had been cooked too long, so I sent it back, still hoping for the waffle of my dreams. The second waffle was also tough -- just crisper and cooked longer, and it was then I surmised that the waffle they served during the week was likely a frozen waffle. I could not eat it (why eat calories that are not worth it?). The strawberries were good.
On another visit I longed for heartier, homier food and ordered the meatloaf and mashed potatoes. I was not disappointed. The "Made Like Mom's Meatloaf" with mushroom gravy was delicious -- a moist, aromatic mix of ground meats that satisfied that desire for comfort food.
I sat at a cafe table on the sidewalk and ordered the Belgian waffle with strawberries that I ordered in 2001 when I'd come to Columbia to visit my daughter who was then a student. We'd often go to Deluxe for the sandwiches or burgers (for her) and the waffles (for me). The waffle I remembered was delicately crunchy on the outside and yeastily eggy like a crueler doughnut on the inside.
Alas, this visit nine years later brought disappointment. The waffle was kind of tough -- like it had been cooked too long, so I sent it back, still hoping for the waffle of my dreams. The second waffle was also tough -- just crisper and cooked longer, and it was then I surmised that the waffle they served during the week was likely a frozen waffle. I could not eat it (why eat calories that are not worth it?). The strawberries were good.
On another visit I longed for heartier, homier food and ordered the meatloaf and mashed potatoes. I was not disappointed. The "Made Like Mom's Meatloaf" with mushroom gravy was delicious -- a moist, aromatic mix of ground meats that satisfied that desire for comfort food.
Tom's Restaurant, Broadway at 112th
Made famous by the Seinfeld scenes shot there, Tom's is a basic, all around diner serving good burgers, omelets, fries, salads, and sandwiches -- all the stuff Elaine and Jerry and George liked to eat. And me, too. There are two or three things I like to order in a diner: a burger with fries, a spinach and Swiss cheese omelet with fries, a Greek salad with feta, and sometimes, a grilled cheese sandwich with swiss cheese and spinach (my omelet insides on rye). And Belgian waffles. (Don't go to Tom's for Belgian waffles. They don't make them.)
This week, after sitting in my car to assure a parking place in the alternate side of the street parking world that is New York, I went into Tom's hoping for a good Swiss cheese and spinach omelet. Some diners make the omelets too runny, some don't have enough spinach, some use spinach leaves that tend to get caught in your teeth and don't taste as good as chopped (probably frozen spinach), and some over-cook their omelets making them rubbery and almost inedible.
Tom's spinach and swiss cheese omelet was delicious!! The spinach lent a sweet taste to the eggs, the Swiss cheese perfectly melted and stretchy, and the eggs not too well done nor too under done. Perfection! And the fries were crisp and tasty -- perfectly crunchy on the outside and potato soft on the inside. Yum!
The coffee was good -- the right sense of the bean's aroma permeating the brew. And if I looked up from my seat at the counter, I could see Kramer with his electric do staring down from a picture on the wall. (You can buy your very own Seinfield memorabilia at Tom's: t-shirts, mugs, baseball caps, magnets, and postcards.)
This week, after sitting in my car to assure a parking place in the alternate side of the street parking world that is New York, I went into Tom's hoping for a good Swiss cheese and spinach omelet. Some diners make the omelets too runny, some don't have enough spinach, some use spinach leaves that tend to get caught in your teeth and don't taste as good as chopped (probably frozen spinach), and some over-cook their omelets making them rubbery and almost inedible.
Tom's spinach and swiss cheese omelet was delicious!! The spinach lent a sweet taste to the eggs, the Swiss cheese perfectly melted and stretchy, and the eggs not too well done nor too under done. Perfection! And the fries were crisp and tasty -- perfectly crunchy on the outside and potato soft on the inside. Yum!
The coffee was good -- the right sense of the bean's aroma permeating the brew. And if I looked up from my seat at the counter, I could see Kramer with his electric do staring down from a picture on the wall. (You can buy your very own Seinfield memorabilia at Tom's: t-shirts, mugs, baseball caps, magnets, and postcards.)
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