In the summer we pass the open doors and windows of Smoke and often pause to listen to the music of trumpet and trombone and piano and drums and bass -- and if we're lucky, vocals. I've longed to go in and take a seat at the bar or at a table, to sit inside rather than gazing in from the outside. But that is one of the nice things about New York -- you can indeed listen to music from the sidewalk -- and the band is just 30 or 40 feet away -- closer than in most concert halls. And what a concert it is!
Finally, we booked a table and sat with friends not 10 feet away from the small stage (where sometimes, up to 16 musicians play jazz!). The menus are waiting on tables dressed in off white cloths, a candle burning in the center. An old-time wooden bar lines one wall.
We ordered from the prix-fixe ($29) menu -- which is really the regular menu from which you can choose two courses -- either an appetizer and entree, or an entree and dessert. Of course, you can order all three (and pay for the third course -- as we did). Wonderful recorded jazz played as we sat and talked with our friends, before our orders arrived and before Eve Cornelious and Mosaic began playing their first set at a little after 7.
We started with an appetizer of seafood meatballs -- which was like a wonderful bouillabaisse of compressed shrimp, clams, and scallops in a white-wine parsley broth. The reduced balsamic dressing perfectly coated the crisp, organic baby greens salad. We ordered among the four of us one steak with spinach and mashed potatoes (an additional $10 charge to the $29 prix fixe) and three orders of barbecued baby back ribs with baked beans and bacon braised collard greens. The ribs were tender and covered in a sweet-aromatic sauce.
Jeremy Pelt's trumpet harmonized with Dion Tucker's trombone, making that sound that makes you want to swoon for its beauty. Eve Cornelious's voice has a range from deep mellow to craggy sass. We were smitten by the music and that hour of listening (and eating) went by far faster than we would have wished.
We finished our meal with three desserts: The apple tart (which tasted as good as the one I'd had in Paris at the Place des Vosges -- caramelly, light appley -- with a side of butter-cream ice cream . The wine-soaked pear with shortcake and vanilla ice cream. The chocolate rich brownie sundae with hot fudge, walnuts, whipped cream, strawberries, and chocolate ice cream. I felt sated -- and craving more. At Smoke, sensory notions come at you from all directions -- fusing taste, texture and sound.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Max Soha, 123rd @ Amsterdam
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.
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.
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.)
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Taqueria y Fonda la Mexicana, Amsterdam Ave. between 107th and 108th
For authentic regional Mexican cooking, try Taqueria y Fonda. This is not your gringo Tex-Mex place that glops sour cream and guacalomole on your cheese covered entree. This place is the real thing -- with homemade burritos and enchiladas that don't have a just-out-of-the-bag chemical residue. They are fresh and pull like fresh-baked bread.
You might think you're in Mexico, but for the open door and windows that look out on a Domino's Pizza across Amsterdam, parked cars, and parking meters with bikes locked to them.
The dining room is tiny -- seating maybe 16-20 people at a time. The owner sat down at a table next to our to have his dinner around 9 pm, when things were slowing down. I asked what he was having -- and had never heard of the dish before: chicken covered cooked with avocado leaves and a paprika colored hot red sauce. "It's my favorite!" he said as he sat down to dine.
We ordered more standard fare: a giant steak burrito ($8.25) -- enough for 2 or 3 people -- that had really good steak -- not the shredded stuff you normally get, but real slices of flank steak grilled and mixed with rice, beans, tomatoes, guacamole, sour cream, cheese and salad. I had the chicken mole enchilada ($8.95) which had chunks of chicken (again, not the shredded stuff you get at commercial places) -- and a brown, mildly spicy chocolate sauce made with peppers, sesame seeds, raisins and almonds in a homemade corn enchilada. I was tempted by the chicken pipian that has a pumpkin seed sauce and cilantro and other herbs, but will have to save that for the next time.
We took home more than half of what we'd ordered (just 2 meals) and had them the next night for dinner, too.
You might think you're in Mexico, but for the open door and windows that look out on a Domino's Pizza across Amsterdam, parked cars, and parking meters with bikes locked to them.
The dining room is tiny -- seating maybe 16-20 people at a time. The owner sat down at a table next to our to have his dinner around 9 pm, when things were slowing down. I asked what he was having -- and had never heard of the dish before: chicken covered cooked with avocado leaves and a paprika colored hot red sauce. "It's my favorite!" he said as he sat down to dine.
We ordered more standard fare: a giant steak burrito ($8.25) -- enough for 2 or 3 people -- that had really good steak -- not the shredded stuff you normally get, but real slices of flank steak grilled and mixed with rice, beans, tomatoes, guacamole, sour cream, cheese and salad. I had the chicken mole enchilada ($8.95) which had chunks of chicken (again, not the shredded stuff you get at commercial places) -- and a brown, mildly spicy chocolate sauce made with peppers, sesame seeds, raisins and almonds in a homemade corn enchilada. I was tempted by the chicken pipian that has a pumpkin seed sauce and cilantro and other herbs, but will have to save that for the next time.
We took home more than half of what we'd ordered (just 2 meals) and had them the next night for dinner, too.
East Dumpling House on 106th just east of Broadway
When you have a noodley yen, there's the East Dumpling House -- which serves a variety of dumplings with both hot and mild aromatic sauces. We've tried the sampling of their dumplings: pork with chives, pork with cabbage, chicken with green pepper, chicken with corn, vegetable, shrimp and pork, basil chicken with shitake mushroom (7 pieces for $6.50). Our favorite is the shrimp and pork -- chopped pieces of tender, yet just cooked shrimp mixed with a green (chives?) and ground pork. All are yummy -- wrapped in an al dente pocket made of rice flour and either steamed or pan fried. We like both ways and can't decide which is better. The pan fried are browned on one side allowing a crunch as you bite in. The steamed dumplings make you feel a bit more righteous (fewer calories, no oil). If you know which dumpling you prefer, you can order either 8 pieces of a single type ($5.50) or 12 pieces ($6.95).
The cold noodles with sesame sauce ($5.95 were a bit bland, over-cooked and watery. The Pan Fried Ugly Dumpling with vermicelli, celery, chives and egg felt a bit excessive. The crust of the dumpling was rather thick -- and it felt a bit oily. We enjoyed the potato pancake Korean style ($3.95) -- a fast fried mix of shredded potatoes, onion and green pepper -- tasting like a combination of flattened hash-browns and really good onion rings. Service was friendly and prompt.
The small, paneled dining room was comfortably cool on a night so hot we were grateful of shade on the south side of 106th. You can bring your own beer or wine -- and dine for well under $10 a person.
The cold noodles with sesame sauce ($5.95 were a bit bland, over-cooked and watery. The Pan Fried Ugly Dumpling with vermicelli, celery, chives and egg felt a bit excessive. The crust of the dumpling was rather thick -- and it felt a bit oily. We enjoyed the potato pancake Korean style ($3.95) -- a fast fried mix of shredded potatoes, onion and green pepper -- tasting like a combination of flattened hash-browns and really good onion rings. Service was friendly and prompt.
The small, paneled dining room was comfortably cool on a night so hot we were grateful of shade on the south side of 106th. You can bring your own beer or wine -- and dine for well under $10 a person.
Hudson Beach Cafe, 105th in Riverside Park
To dine outside in New York with a view of the Hudson River and the Palisades and an occasional sailboat crossing through the sunset's reflection -- there's Hudson Beach Cafe, inside Riverside Park at 105th, just across from the dog run. You can bring your dog and they will serve him his own cup of water. You can come with your team in uniform and drink beer served in buckets of ice. And you can order burgers with fries ($10.95) with beer ($5) -- as we did.
The burgers were served with lettuce, pickles and a tomato. They were plump, and medium rare -- just as ordered.
Best of all -- you can sit on a terrace under green umbrellas above the beach volleyball courts and gymnastic equipment that's on the lower level of the park -- and gaze out at the Hudson River. No need to go to the country.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Henry's: An American Bistro, Broadway and 105th
When we want a place to meet friends for conversation where we can have a good glass of wine or beer and a good meal, we choose Henry's. Henry's is spacious enough -- with wood paneled walls and deco chandeliers -- to allow for some privacy, unlike so many bistros where the tables are squished side by side and others' conversations intrude into yours.
Henry's tables, covered in blue checked tableclothes, are spaced comfortably. Even the outside dining offers some quiet from the normal bustle of New York City restaurants -- aside from the occasional fire truck or ambulence racing down Broadway. A couple doors north is Smoke, a jazz cafe, and if you're lucky enough to be sitting outside, you may hear the fusion of live musicians.
On one occasion, I ordered chicken with spinach and roasted fingerling potatoes, which I found a tad salty. Another time I had a burger (you have a choice of two: a standard, beef burger for $10 or a grassfed burger for $16). I had the standard burger, which was thick and juicy and comes with crisp French fries served in a paper cone.
Another time, I had the kale salad with grilled, herbed shrimp. The kale salad is so good, I've tried to reproduce it with fresh kale from our garden in Connecticut -- to no avail. Our kale, parboiled and squeezed in paper towels comes out soggy. Their kale arrives slightly parboiled and crisp. Roasted hazelnuts and fresh grapes, fennel strips and a flavorful citrus dressing -- not too oily, not too tart -- are mixed into the kale -- providing a wonderfully textured salad. The grilled shrimp are done al dente -- covered in their shells, they crunch when you bite in and are char-grilled with herbs.
I've also tasted three of the four pastas on the menu. The homemade pappardelle Bolognese, Parmasan, and parsley ($15) makes you think you are in a cafe on a street in Rome: the pasta is both fluffy and al dente, the sauce rich and seductive. The Gemelli, covered in a light sauce with asparagus, zucchini, yellow squash, arugula and tomato, was good, but left me a bit hungry ($18). And the Fettucine with Hudson Valley rabbit, carrots, peas, kalamata olives and chives was once perfectly cooked, and a second time, the pasta was a tad undercooked. The rabbit tasted more like a stewed chicken than anything else. ($20)
On another occasion, we split several appetizers, including three soft corn tacos: one with shrimp, arugula, pico de gallo and avocado salsa, one with marinated hanger steak, romaine lettuce, cherry tomato and salsa verde, and the third with spinach, cremini mushrooms, queso fresco, and roast tomato salsa. All were delicious. (choice of 3: $16, choice of 5: $21) The tacos were fresh, the ingredients were fresh. We also shared the mezza platter while waiting for friends to show up. The hummus, babaganoush, beet tartar, and spicy carrot salad provided a variety of flavors for the toasted pita. ($13)
Desserts? Who can resist desserts. We tried them all -- the bread pudding (very rich), the apple tarte -- crisp and hot with homemade vanilla ice cream melting into it, the volcanic chocolate cake (a bit too much melt in the center) and the special last week: perfectly cakey angel's food cake -- dark chocolate with a chocolate ganache filling sprinkled with chopped hazelnuts with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. (desserts run $6-12.)
Henry's tables, covered in blue checked tableclothes, are spaced comfortably. Even the outside dining offers some quiet from the normal bustle of New York City restaurants -- aside from the occasional fire truck or ambulence racing down Broadway. A couple doors north is Smoke, a jazz cafe, and if you're lucky enough to be sitting outside, you may hear the fusion of live musicians.
On one occasion, I ordered chicken with spinach and roasted fingerling potatoes, which I found a tad salty. Another time I had a burger (you have a choice of two: a standard, beef burger for $10 or a grassfed burger for $16). I had the standard burger, which was thick and juicy and comes with crisp French fries served in a paper cone.
Another time, I had the kale salad with grilled, herbed shrimp. The kale salad is so good, I've tried to reproduce it with fresh kale from our garden in Connecticut -- to no avail. Our kale, parboiled and squeezed in paper towels comes out soggy. Their kale arrives slightly parboiled and crisp. Roasted hazelnuts and fresh grapes, fennel strips and a flavorful citrus dressing -- not too oily, not too tart -- are mixed into the kale -- providing a wonderfully textured salad. The grilled shrimp are done al dente -- covered in their shells, they crunch when you bite in and are char-grilled with herbs.
I've also tasted three of the four pastas on the menu. The homemade pappardelle Bolognese, Parmasan, and parsley ($15) makes you think you are in a cafe on a street in Rome: the pasta is both fluffy and al dente, the sauce rich and seductive. The Gemelli, covered in a light sauce with asparagus, zucchini, yellow squash, arugula and tomato, was good, but left me a bit hungry ($18). And the Fettucine with Hudson Valley rabbit, carrots, peas, kalamata olives and chives was once perfectly cooked, and a second time, the pasta was a tad undercooked. The rabbit tasted more like a stewed chicken than anything else. ($20)
On another occasion, we split several appetizers, including three soft corn tacos: one with shrimp, arugula, pico de gallo and avocado salsa, one with marinated hanger steak, romaine lettuce, cherry tomato and salsa verde, and the third with spinach, cremini mushrooms, queso fresco, and roast tomato salsa. All were delicious. (choice of 3: $16, choice of 5: $21) The tacos were fresh, the ingredients were fresh. We also shared the mezza platter while waiting for friends to show up. The hummus, babaganoush, beet tartar, and spicy carrot salad provided a variety of flavors for the toasted pita. ($13)
Desserts? Who can resist desserts. We tried them all -- the bread pudding (very rich), the apple tarte -- crisp and hot with homemade vanilla ice cream melting into it, the volcanic chocolate cake (a bit too much melt in the center) and the special last week: perfectly cakey angel's food cake -- dark chocolate with a chocolate ganache filling sprinkled with chopped hazelnuts with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. (desserts run $6-12.)
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Awash Ethiopian Restaurant, Amsterdam Ave. between 106th and 107th
When I ate the soury, spicy leftovers from Awash, an Ethiopian restaurant on Amsterdam Avenue, I thought of Abraham Verghese's characters in Cutting for Stone and how they longed for the taste of Ethiopia. Verghese's narrator, after he's moved to America, finds himself entering an Ethiopian restaurant in Boston. "The smell of fermenting honey elicited a Pavlovian response from [his] taste buds." He eats as if he had lived through a famine. An Ethiopian restaurant in New York conjures up for the narrator "the sour taste of injera and a fiery wot" and his mouth begins watering.
I ate at Awash several months ago with my sister. On the walls, painted in shades of lemon and lime, pictures of women and pastoral scenes hang. The food we ordered was served on a big round tray, set in the middle of the table. The yebeg wat, a lamb stew seasoned with berbere sauce contained tender chunks of meat in a rather thick brown soury-spicy sauce. The gomen, collard greens, were cooked with onions and a hint of cardamon. The yemesir kik wat, split red lentils cooked in berbere sauce were perfectly al dente -- a bit of a crunch as you chewed into the soft center. All was served on a wonderful, spongy bread. There is no silverware. You pull a piece of the plentiful bread and scoop the sour-hot stew from the platter. I imagine this is a taste you acquire. But it is fun to tear off the bread, scoop up the food, and talk.
I ate at Awash several months ago with my sister. On the walls, painted in shades of lemon and lime, pictures of women and pastoral scenes hang. The food we ordered was served on a big round tray, set in the middle of the table. The yebeg wat, a lamb stew seasoned with berbere sauce contained tender chunks of meat in a rather thick brown soury-spicy sauce. The gomen, collard greens, were cooked with onions and a hint of cardamon. The yemesir kik wat, split red lentils cooked in berbere sauce were perfectly al dente -- a bit of a crunch as you chewed into the soft center. All was served on a wonderful, spongy bread. There is no silverware. You pull a piece of the plentiful bread and scoop the sour-hot stew from the platter. I imagine this is a taste you acquire. But it is fun to tear off the bread, scoop up the food, and talk.
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