Category

Nolita

Nolita, Restaurants
Lunch at Balaboosta – NYC
01.26.12 | Permalink | 4 Comments

Balaboosta opened more than a year ago, but my first visit was only last month. I’ve been meaning to visit ever since they opened, but there’s many delicious distractions in this city, and it wasn’t until I had a mean craving for a lamb burger I found myself there one day with David in tow. MORE »
Bite vs. Bite, Little Italy, Nolita, Small Shops
Pork Banh Mi with Pâté at Banh Mi Saigon – NYC
09.12.09 | Permalink | 2 Comments

Yes, I know banh mis are so early 2009, and yes, I know everyone knows about Banh Mi Saigon, the small Vietnamese sandwich shop in the back of a jewelry store on Mott Street, but I recently made an invaluable discovery. For the longest time, although I love the Pork Banh Mi ($3.75) at Banh Mi Saigon, I missed the pâté the other famous Vietnamese shop in Alphabet City has in their pork sandwiches. (As I mentioned in a previous post, I actually prefer the Alphabet City store, but for some weird reason I got food poisoning once, and now I go almost exclusively to Banh Mi Saigon.) So on a recent trip to Banh Mi Saigon, I asked if there was a way I could get some pâté in the Pork Banh Mi, and of course, it was just a matter of asking. For one dollar extra ($4.75 total), the wonderful people at Banh Mi Saigon will spread a very generous layer of creamy pâté, even possibly too much, into an already overstuffed sandwich of roast barbecued pork, Vietnamese bologna, fresh cucumber sticks, cilantro, jalapeno slices, pickled daikon, and pickled carrots. One bite and you’ll be serious umami heaven. Now if only I could get them to add some Vietnamese headcheese (giò thủ), life would be closer to perfect. MORE »
Home Cooking, Nolita, Recipes, Restaurants, Small Shops
Irresistible Elote (Mexican Grilled Corn) – NYC
07.13.09 | Permalink | 6 Comments

Grilled corn on the cob is good, but smothered in a creamy mayonnaise concoction and sprinkled with spicy chili pepper, salty Cotija cheese, and a squirt of lime, it’s amazing. Walking by Cafe Habana in the summertime, it’s hard not to stop in for some elote — on the menu as Grilled Corn Mexican Style ($1.95 from the takeout section next door to the restaurant) — especially when you see the hordes of pretty people outside licking their lips as they gnaw on their orders of corn. A while back, as I sat on the wooden bench in front of Cafe Habana chowing down on my elote, Heather Graham appeared out of nowhere and proceeded to nonchalantly eat her order of corn right in front of me. This corn is Hollywood endorsed!

I haven’t had the elote at Pinche Taqueria yet, but compared to La Esquina, I prefer Cafe Habana’s corn because they grill the corn the perfect amount so it’s sweetly charred but not too dried out. La Esquina’s corn leans towards the latter.

If you don’t live in New York, or want to pig out on elote without breaking the bank, it’s quite easy to make elote at home in the oven or on a grill. I’ve had successful results trying both methods. Below is an adapted recipe from one of the co-owners of Cafe Habana, Richard Ampudia. Just plan to double the recipe if it’s for more than two people. I know I can eat a whole lot of corn, especially Mexican-style corn. And perhaps if you make enough, Heather will stop by for a bite. You never know. MORE »
NoHo, Nolita, Small Shops
Fish & Shrimp Tacos at Pinche Taqueria – NYC
04.22.09 | Permalink | 8 Comments

Spring is here and that means it’s taco time! Sure you can get a taco in the winter, but nothing beats grabbing a taco on a warm spring day and immediately eating it street-side or even better at a park right after it’s been made. Also, temperatures conducive to drinking ice cold cerverzas with your taco don’t hurt. Two weeks ago, it was one of those beautiful sunny Sundays in New York just meant for lazy city meanderings and taco eating, when David and I came upon Pinche Taqueria in Nolita. I’d read on Serious Eats they had the “first good fish taco” “outside Southern California or Mexico,” so our meanderings momentarily ended as we filed into the tiny shop for some south of the border goodness. MORE »
Nolita, Restaurants
Brunch at Jacques – NYC
09.12.08 | Permalink | Comment?

Croque Madame @ Jacques

Two weeks ago I had a very satisfying Croque Madame at Epicerie Cafe Charbon. (In case you don’t know, a Croque Madame is basically a glorified ham sandwich with a poached egg on top. A Croque Madame minus an egg is a Croque Monsieur.) Prior to that, I had been avoiding brunch places, just because I was sick of the same-ole same ole. I mean how many Eggs Benedicts can you eat in a lifetime? Also, David is now scared of hollandaise sauce after reading Kitchen Confidential. For those who haven’t read the book, Anthony Bourdain writes that hollandaise sauce is a “petri-dish of biohazards” since it needs to be kept at a low temperature (to prevent cooking the eggs in the sauce) and it is never made-to-order. So basically, at a restaurant, a vat of lukewarm hollandaise sauce sits in the back of the kitchen throughout brunch service, breeding germs and bacteria as the day progresses. Personally, this doesnt’t scare me that much. I mean, I’ve never gotten sick from an Eggs Benedict, and because of the high turn-around at New York restaurants, I feel most places will be making more than one batch of hollandaise sauce a day. Someone, correct me if I am wrong. Maybe I trust restaurants too much, but my feeling is, you can’t live your life in fear. I mean puh-leez, I have more things in life to be worried about.

In any case, the Croque Madame at Charbon was delicious and since then I’ve been constantly craving the cheesey ham goodness of a Croque Madame. So last Saturday, as soon as I woke up, I looked online to see where they have the best Croque Madame in NYC. The people over at CHOW recommended Bar Six and Pastis, but being the lazy bastard that I am on Saturday mornings, we made our way over to Jacques in NoLita instead. MORE »