The bad thing about ever denying yourself anything, is that you’ll crave it even more and overindulge when given the chance. Case in point, the end of last year, I decided to reduce my carbohydrate intake. Subsequently, two weeks ago, I finally gave in to my cravings and ate three Chinese pastries immediately after eating a bowl of pho. Yeah, not so good. So instead of delaying the inevitable, I decided to forgo the carb diet nonsense, and have been happily spending my lunches at Sullivan Street Bakery, aka Carb Heaven.

Jim Lahey, the owner of Sullivan Street Bakery, is absolutely the master of bread. I’m not exactly sure what he does, but the bread at Sullivan Street, specifically the flauto, always has the perfect balance of crispy and chewy. It’s utter genius.

Around noon, the crusty flauto are magically transformed into scrumptious little sandwiches. The speck sandwich, called the Speckoroni ($6), is made of speck, roasted red peppers, fontina cheese, and garlic aioli. It’s simple, with only a few ingredients, yet it’s insanely good. I realize, sometimes simple foods make the best foods; especially when it involves bread from the Sullivan Street Bakery.

However, my favorite sandwich, as of today, is the Panino Cubano ($6). Far from an authentic Cuban sandwich, this sandwich isn’t pressed, and is made with Prosciutto di Parma, house-made roasted pork, gruyere cheese, mayonnaise, house-made mustard, aioli, and pickles. The combination of prosciutto and house-made roast pork is tasty, but the house-made mustard with whole mustard seeds and garlic aioli really take this sandwich to another level. When I got back to the office, I noticed there was some aioli on my new blouse, but to be honest, I really didn’t care. The sandwich was worth it.

Although filling as the small sandwiches are, I always leave with another baked good. I’ve come to believe it’s impossible to leave with only one item. The bakery is filled with irresistible little treats.

Sullivan Street Bakery’s savory brioche ($2.50) is an eggy brioche with melted mascarpone and chucks of prosciutto. It’s covered with melted cheese, but the bread still manages to be light and airy.

In contrast, Sullivan Street Bakery’s sweet brioche, the Brioche al Frutto Stagionale ($2.50), covered in a sugary melange of dried cherries, raisins, walnuts, and mascarpone, didn’t live up to it’s beautiful appearance. Unlike the savory brioche, the Brioche al Frutto Stagionale tasted dry and a bit stale.

The Pasqualino di Riso (rice pudding tart, $1.75), however, did not dissapoint. The tarts look like Chinese egg tarts, but taste completely different. Imagine a really nice rice pudding made with actual vanilla beans (not extract!) and cardamom baked into a crumbly buttery tart. It was delicious, and cooked perfectly so you could see each grain of rice. Straight from the oven, I bet these tarts would taste quite blissful.

There will definitely be more posts about Sullivan Street Bakery in the future. I say f*ck low carb diets! Sure I gained a pound or two since Jim Lahey entered my life, but I like to think, ‘I’m not fatter, I’m jollier!’ OK, maybe I’ll go jogging now.

Sullivan Street Bakery
533 West 47th Street (betw 10th and 11th Ave)
New York, NY 10036

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Las Poblanitas is a tiny hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant with an unbelievably small kitchen that’s usually filled with Mexican guys having a Negra Modelo at all times of the day. I found it last year on the way to Noodles 36 after seeing a man holding a sign for the place on the corner of 38th and 8th Avenue. Yes, show me a somewhat scary nondescript sign for tacos and I will follow.

Soon after, I was going to Las Poblanitas at least once a week for their delicious fried sopes and fresh tacos. Then one day after multiple visits, I got a bad sope that was reheated and served to me when it really should have been tossed out. I guess I should have forgiven then, since it was just one time, but instead, like a spurned lover, I cheated on Las Poblanitas not once but four times. Last week, after swinging by Ying Du to see if the ducks were back (they’re not and should be back next week according to Midtown Lunch), I found myself hungry and near Las Poblanitas and decided to give them another chance. Perhaps still remembering the bad sope from last year though, I decided to go the all taco route and ordered three tacos: Taco De Chorizo, Taco De Barbacoa De Chivo, and Taco De Lengua (3 for $7.50).

All tacos can be garnished to your preference. I like a lot of veggies and cheese so I always ask for shredded lettuce, pico de gallo, jalapenos, and Cotija cheese. They also have a choice of salsa, red or green. The red is spicier but I always need more heat, hence the jalapenos.

The Taco De Lengua (Beef Tongue Taco), pictured on the left, was gloriously fatty with huge charred cubes of soft tongue. The Taco De Chorizo (Mexican Sausage Taco), right, was also filled with large pieces of salty cured chorizo. I hate places that give you just a sprinkling of ground chorizo. Las Poblanitas doesn’t skimp on the chorizo.

The Taco De Barbacoa De Chivo (Steamed Goat Taco), pictured on the right, was my favorite taco. The goat meat was crazy moist and fall apart juicy with a touch of sweetness. I just learned last week on Andrew Zimmern Bizarre Foods that goat meat can be lower in fat and cholesterol than chicken and even fish. Eating this taco, though, you wouldn’t believe it. The goat tasted like really good fatty pulled pork with hardly any taste of gaminess.

I guess this should be a lesson for me not to be turned off by one bad meal. I’m still wary of the cute French cafe in Midtown after finding an ant in my salad. Next time I’ll order the sopes, and if it ends disastrously, I’ll be writing about the tacos again sometime next year.

Las Poblanitas Restaurant Mexicano
302 West 38th St (betw 8th & 9th Ave)
NYC 10018

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David and I were talking last week, and considering the global financial markets are all in the crapper, the DOW is at an all time low, and the US dollar is not worth the paper it’s constantly getting printed on, we decided that it might not be a good idea to go on another vacation this year. Sigh…. He also said we’d be entering a severe depression soon and anarchy and mayhem would erupt everywhere like Mad Max and this week we were going to learn how to operate a machine gun so we could defend ourselves when the time came. This part I chose to ignore, because call me stupid, but I have a bit more faith in mankind and my fellow New Yorkers. And besides, my purse is just not big enough for a machine gun. In any case, no vacation doesn’t have to mean no exciting culinary adventurous, especially living in a city as diverse as New York. So last week, as it started getting colder and I started dreaming about warm waters and white sugary beaches, I did the next best thing and ate tacos, many, many tacos.

My first trip was to the new taco cart, El Rey del Sabor, on 60th and 3rd Avenue, right next to Bloomingdale’s. From left to right in the first photo, I got a Chicken Tamale ($1.75), a Carne Enchilada (spicy pork) Taco ($2), and a Chorizo Taco ($2). The chicken tamale was decent if just a bit dry. It didn’t have the lovely greasy messiness of the tamales from the Tamale Lady in front of the Mexican Embasy (50th St, betw 6 & 7th Ave) that I like. As for the Carne Enchilada Taco and the Chorizo Taco — gently packed with a smattering of julienned radishes, chopped onions, and cilantro — both were good but also a little dry. I think a squirt of hot sauce and squeeze of lime would have helped, but neither were included in the bag. It’s my fault for not asking. Out of all three, my favorite was the Chorizo Taco. Although the chorizo isn’t the aged dry-cured type of chorizo I am used to, it was good and was seasoned correctly. The Carne Enchilada was also tasty but not as spicy as I would have liked. Again, a little lime and hot sauce would have elevated these tacos to another level. Overall, it was a nice little taco meal straight off a midtown cart. I’ll probably go again if I’m in the area, but I’ll definitely ask for some hot sauce next time.

The next day, looking for another taco fix, I decided to check out Tulcingo del Valle since NYC Food Guy recommended the place when I wrote about Tehuitzingo two months ago. He said their entrees were better than their tacos, but of course, I had to find out myself. I ordered the Lengua (beef tongue) Taco, the Carne Enchilada (spicy pork) Taco, and the Al Pastor (roast pork) Taco (from left to right in the photo above). Each taco was $2.50. Smeared with guacamole, the Carne Enchilada Taco was juicy and spicy. It was even better with some hot chipotle sauce; I like heat in my tacos. In contrast, the Al Pastor Taco, also covered in guacamole, was sweet and deliciously smokey.

My absolute favorite though was the Lengua Taco, served with guacamole and a little chopped lettuce. The tongue was incredibly soft and moist, not tough at all, and full of delicious Mexican flavors of onion, garlic, and chiles (this is not your typical boil and serve tongue). I could have eaten just three of these.

The tacos also came with some sliced radishes, a charred jalapeno, and a quarter of a lime. I always appreciate fresh condiments. The sliced radishes were very cleansing between each taco bite.

On Thursday, I made the trek over to Pampano Taqueria, since it was supposedly “the finest tacos in New York City,” according to New York Magazine. At $2.75, the tacos here were the most expensive, but definitely not the “finest.”

The Pescado Taco is filled with sauteed king fish, napa cabbage, chipotle sauce, and wrapped in a flour tortilla. The taco was OK but it was very mediocre to say the least. Also, I didn’t realize this taco came in a flour tortilla, which I’m not crazy about. Flour tortillas are a bit boring to me, and unless they are freshly grilled and hot, they make me feel like I am eating paste.

The Camaron Taco is filled with shrimp, guacamole, black bean puree and wrapped in a flour tortilla. This was my least favorite. The shrimp were covered in a weird sweet sauce that I did not enjoy. I assume it was supposed to be reminiscent of a cocktail sauce, but it just didn’t work. Also, there was a fishiness to this taco I didn’t like as well. I would never get this again.

The Chilorio Taco is filled with pulled pork and wrapped in a flour tortilla. I know you are thinking, ‘Why did you get three flour tortilla tacos if you don’t like flour tortillas, dumbass?,’ but hey, in my defense, I didn’t get a choice when ordering, and I mistakenly assumed I would be getting corn tortillas. Anyway, this was my favorite taco from the bunch. The pulled pork was soft and it wasn’t bland, but it was lacking that extra special something to make it really good. In general, this was the problem with all the tacos at Pampano Taqueria. The flavors were very muddled, and lacking excitement.

Unfortunately, I had expected more considering the tacos from Pampano Taqueria were more expensive than the tacos from El Rey del Sabor and Tulcingo del Valle. What exactly is the extra quarter or so paying for? It’s definitely not the ambiance. At the bottom level of a dark office building, I found Pampano Taqueria more depressing than either El Rey del Sabor or Tulcingo del Valle, which is inside of a bodega (In addition to take-out, Tulcingo now has a sit-down restaurant in the space next door to the deli). I think I’ll be sticking to Tulcingo del Valle and Tehuitzingo for any future taco cravings.

And to end my taco post, here is a pic from my last trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. To those who also have to tighten their belt this year, imagine yourself sitting here watching the warm waters of the North Pacific as you eat your tacos. And if you still don’t find yourself magically whisked away to the Mexican Riviera, a few Coronas can’t hurt.

UPDATE: The DOW had the biggest one-day rally since 1933 today. Maybe another little vacation is in sight for 2008. And most importantly, no machine gun necessary.

El Rey del Sabor
60th & 3rd Avenue
(North of Bloomingdale’s)

Tulcingo Del Valle
665 Tenth Ave. (nr. 47th St.)
New York, NY 10036

Pampano Taqueria
805 Third Ave. (nr. 49th St.)
New York, NY 10022

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