#48: That thing of the day goes to Philly

Full disclosure: Last year I visited my sister in LA. She worked overtime to give me my best culinary visit on the west coast to date- a pop up up restaurant with an endless wait we somehow skipped, seafood and champagne on the beach, hangover eggs Mexican style... And then the motive came: she wanted me to do a "That Thing of the Day Goes to LA". She was just using me so I would put LA on the map!.... Oh wait, LA is a city people know about? Seek out? Famous? In truth I would love to write about the food on that trip...but alas too much time has gone by and I can't remember a thing.

Speaking of remembering, no one seems to remember about Philly (and when I say no one... I mean New Yorkers). Only 2 hours away from New York, it never once occurred to me to go. When my boyfriend moved there, suddenly this city I never considered has become one of my favorite destinations for one obvious reason: the food!... Oh did you think I was going to say my boyfriend? (He's great too...but read on. You can see why it's a tough choice).

Someone I was speaking to about Philly referred to it as the 6th borough, which isn't that far off in terms of its proximity to the city. More accurately, I would call it Brooklyn. They take food damn seriously, and I think it relates to being in the shadow of Manhattan (ahem... Brooklyn). Walk into the average bar, nay the seediest dive bar, and you'll still find a menu full of creativity and quality ingredients (Brooklyn). Walking around you realize it's the type of place where people still get bread from their favorite bakery and are leaving their large affordable apartments to eat out way more than their budget allows (ha oh wait. Brooklyn doesn't really have large affordable apartments...They do? You live in one? CALL ME).

To get down to the food: Philly has great sandwiches. There is of course the infamous cheesesteak. So many damn cheesesteak places you could eat them morning, noon, and night and not have to go back to the same place twice. It is also likely many of those cheesesteaks will be gross...how to sift through the many options? An ingenious little study rated cheesesteak places by both their yelp reviews and the percentage of four square check ins that were by locals vs tourists. http://www.phillysteakout.com/


Going naturally for  a spot with a high percentage of local check ins (74%) brought us to Cosmi's Deli. The place looks like your corner bodega (minus the Eagles game playing the background) but the cheesesteak was top notch - I got mine with spicy long peppers, onions, and pepper cheese. The perfect level of spice brought out the caremlized onion and meat flavor. We had a second one with brocolli rabe, the bitter greens cutting the greasy meat perfectly. The bread was the thing: perfectly doughy and fresh, soft enough to soak up the cheese and meat juices but firm enough to hold everything in.

Taking a stroll down to the Italian market you'll hit Paesano's (in addition to a million amazing little fresh pasta, cheese, meat and sausage markets... And one mexican spot selling handmade fresh tortillas). These are the sandwiches I had for breakfast, all as amazing as they sound:


#1: Beef Brisket, Horseradish Mayo, Roasted Tomatoes,
Pepperincino, Sharp Provolone & Fried Egg

#2: Roasted Suckling Pig, Italian Long Hots,
Broccoli Rabe & Sharp Provolone

Once again part of what took it to the next level was the bread (or hoagies as they call them)... always fresh and fabulous. Also there is really a thing with roast pig in this town - spots routinely feature tender melt in your mouth pork. The best I have had out was at John's Roast Pork, where they cook an entire pig and sell the ridiculously flavorful and tender meat (closing time is when they run out).... More surprising was attending a block party, which had the usual buffet of pasta salad, finger foods... and an ENTIRE roast pig. As my boyfriend proclaimed, "They don't fuck around".

If at any point you get sandwiched out, Philly's large Vietnamese population means there are lots of options for pho...the kind of options that make you feel really legit when you walk in (the implication being you are one of very few white people encroaching on Vietnamese families enjoying a meal). Pho Ha is one such place. It can be found in what can only be described as a low end strip mall, but rather than stores it's filled with Vietnamese restaurants. Pho is a delicious soup concoction that of beef broth and noodles, the comes with a side of lemon grass, jalapeños, bean sprouts and mint to add as you go.  The rest depends on the spot. A more Americanized place I tried in New York offered beef, chicken, or mushrooms, while at Pho Ha you can add beef tendon, cartilage, tripe... if it had old shoe as an option I wouldn't be that surprised, and I'd probably eat it anyway because they seem to know what they're doing. When all those parts soak in the liquid, you get a fatty savory broth that is beautifully complemented by the herbs and spice. Eat it hungover with a side of iced vietnamese coffee, and you are in heaven.

So here's my final tip: Abandon whatever healthy-eating new years resolution you may have made, take a $13 Bolt Bus to Philly (where your bike conveniently fits in the luggage storage), and plan to explore the city...really really hungry.

#47: Cauliflower… wait, and Brussel Sprouts

Recently on a Friday night, I had a bit of a realization. I think I have officially become a Brooklyn girl. Seems pretty obvious (I’ve been living in the borough for over a year now, and frequented it plenty before then), but I tend to identify with the area I know the most about…and still believed my former residence in the Lower East Side secured me some trusty knowledge of where the good spots are. I realized this is not quite true anymore when a friend and I decided to have ourselves a ladies night on the town, and ended up in a series of lame ass bars. As we wandered the east village and the lower east side, to different spots that used to be my mainstays, we found ourselves wondering… Where all the cool people are hanging out in Manhattan these days?

Well, I still don’t quite know the answer (any thoughts?), but I came across a fair amount of them at the Fat Radish. This place has an elusive combo: a Brooklyn feel, but in the city. It’s Chinatown location puts it slightly off the beaten path, there’s lots of flannel, and the people are all pretty, skinny and eating their faces off. In a menu of duck fat fries, bacon cheese burgers and celery root pot pie with gruyere cheese (all of which I sampled on my 2 visits there), you wouldn’t think the cauliflower would be a standout, let alone the redundant side of brussel sprouts…but if I went back for a third meal, I would get exactly the that. The cauliflower was whole and roasted, with almonds, raisons, and olives. Somehow they managed to infiltrate the inside of the vegetable with a creamy cauliflower puree. The overall effect was unexpectedly rich and delicious. As for the brussel sprouts, you never heard anything so generic: bacon wrapped and maple glazed. But these guys get the ultimate compliment: they were like crack. (bet the fact that I just hyperlinked crack intrigues you). With only 3 allotted to me I tried to eat them as slow as I could as to avoid the inevitable finishing of them. The delicious food pairs well the open space and white brick walls, managing to feel both clean and comfortable.

#46: Molecular Gastronomy

At the risk of sounding lame, I think I can thank Top Chef for bringing the slightly awkward “molecular gastronomy” phrase into my foodcabulary. Along with other key pieces of knowledge like sous vides (cooking meat sealed in a bag in water) and coagulated myglobin (the white foam that comes out of salmon if cooked too fast), Top Chef taught me molecular gastronomy is when chefs pour liquid nitrogen on food… well I’m sure it’s slightly more complicated than that.

My first experience eating this type of food was actually in Madrid at a restaurant called La Terraza (sample menu here).

The dining room has an Alice and Wonderland feel to it, as does the food (picture lots of courses that look like those beads you dissolve in your bath tub), some of it outstanding and some of it plain weird. I had the luck of dining there this past December for my dad’s 60^th birthday and some of the standouts included tempura’ed trout roe, a light as air bread crisp with olive oil butter that came in what looked like a mini toothpaste tube, and well… cant really remember what else (the courses are small and the wine pours were big).

Food is like sport, and so when it is this fun and creative the entertainment is endless. That’s why for this past birthday I chose to eat at WD – 50, probably the most known spot in the city for this type of food. The owner/founder of it Wylie Durfresne has gained some fame with frequent appearances on Top Chef, so it was both surprising and refreshing to still see him back in the kitchen monitoring the show. The difficult part about writing about this food: It is exactly the opposite of what it sounds like. For example the foie-lafel (picture all the same things a falafel has, except instead of chickpeas there are balls of foie) sounds gross, but it was one of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten. The everything bagel with cream sounds odd on a dinner tasting menu (also above), but the ice cream bagel with smoked salmon threads and crispy cream cheese was just right in the meal. Ironically, what really sealed the deal for me with this place was that the main dish was a fabulously cooked and seasoned lamb, showing that in addition to all the powders and foams, this is just a solid place... c’mon, what’s this blog without the occasional cheesy pun?).

On a final note, you may noticed I attempted a fancier image and text layout for this post... with dismal results. I could not figure out how to make it look right, but when I got to the point that I was trying to edit html code I figured, screw it, you wouldn't look down on me for awkwardly formatted blogging...right?).

#45: Oysters

Anytime my food can be described using beer, I'm in. Such was the case at Upstate, when the owner explained the long list of oysters, presented on a checklist ready for your selections. Up top you have your light pilsners (more east coast mild), in the middle your IPA's (more west coast funky) and at the bottom your dark stouts (those milky suckers).

This is appropriate since what Upstate does best is oysters and craft beer. The beer list competes with the extensive and rare oyster selection, including a NY Peak ale (only 30 kegs released!) and a Belgian that could almost be wine. As you can imagine all these choices caused some ordering anxiety - and several diagrams were drawn and equations completed before choices could be made.

I think the owners of this place are really doing something special, so if you're an oyster lover get thee upstate! Plus at the end there was some complementary whiskey cake, which on their website they refer to as the "other white meat". Need I say more.

#44: Happenin' Scene

Growing up my family used a lot of weird phrases (mostly taken from my moms imaginative brain... for example "I had a crazy hare", and "If that's true I'll eat my hat". Recently when out for fancy schmancy cocktails, the one that came to mind is: "the men in the white coats are your friends" (as in your acting so crazy I am calling the asylum to come get you. Don't resist them).

While in the above example this is questionable, at Apotheke the men in the white coats really are your friends... They are the bartenders. Sporting lab coats and the ubiquitous handle bar mustache (popularized by Mister Monopoly and Brooklyn), they sit behind a bar of test tubes, beakers and I imagine there is a bunsen burner somewhere. They need all these tools for good reason. The cocktails are elaborate and delicious. You can choose by type of spirit, and since mine is always with whiskey I had:

IRRITABLE SCOTSMAN*

Aged Scotch Whiskey, Muddled Plum, Cardamon, House

Elderflower Bitters, Agave Honey

and

BLOOD ORANGE BOURBON SOUR

Blood Orange, Bourbon, Lime, Sugar Cane,

Egg White, Blood Orange Bitters

The thing I liked most about this place in comparison to other high end cocktail spots the wait for your concoction is brief. Despite being packed, the place is small and cavernous and the bartenders are many. Which is smart because they also work nicely as decoration. As for the location, ever been to epcot and walked around the fake streets of Italy and France ? (confession: I am from Florida). This particular one block stretch in Chinatown feels just like that: quaint and surprisingly rodent free (you know you've been in new York for a while when you look around and say "hey, there are no rats!)

As for price... Let's just say if you plan on getting drunk here it'll cost ya. I had negative money in the sky after this one (then again when have I paid attention to that)

#43: "Day of the Week" Deal

Perhaps a sign of the poor economy, restaurants and bars seem to be loving the day of the week deals. The “Come on Tuesday and get a free beer with your pizza!” type of thing. But enough about the economy. Let's focus on what's important here. By far the most impressive, delicious and money saving version I have experienced of these deals is Burger Monday at James (nice capitals…apparently Burger Monday is a proper noun to me). I think due to the "its just as good as manhattan complex" there are a lot of hyped up places in Brooklyn (the Vanderbilt for one) but James lives up to it.

If James was a real boy, he would love whiskey and meat, be effortlessly trendy... and actually kinda friendly. James is also a bit pricey, so while on Monday you can go and have the full menu, you can save by going with the $10 burger deal. So far I have done the pulled pork burger with a duck egg on top and a side of sweet potato fries (I don't know what process that pork goes through to get it to taste that way, but I know it takes an entire day). I also did the lamb burger with warm goat cheese, melted onion and paprika fries. The only one I haven’t checked out is the classic. Once I realized I was going to be in a bikini in south florida relatively soon, I decided to lay off my burger a week diet. Also the nice bartender was starting to think I was a weirdo for coming so often (and of course, at times, alone). But based on the previous 2 I don’t think Ill be disappointed.

#42: Menu

After that Christmas reference, I am going to blow you out of the water with my knowledge of Yiddish. Traif means “not kosher”….and after eating there I don't think I'll be converting to a kosher diet anytime soon (ha..ha. mmm I wonder how many food bloggers have made that exact joke). Anyway, there is something pretty amazing about a place called “Not Kosher”, in Yiddish, located in a part of town heavily populated by orthodox jews, that "celebrates shellfish and pork" (quoting from the website here). Even more amazing is that they serve bacon donuts, but I am getting ahead of myself.

Once again, I am impressed by how far (both literally and figuratively) New Yorkers are willing to go for a good meal. Traif is located on a desolate block under the BQE on South 4^th. Upon entering, the tiny kitchen and relative lack of crowdedness makes you feel like you discovered a hidden trasure. But don’t be fooled. You will wait. My sentence was an hour and a half, but once I saw the menu is was well worth it.

This place has the type of menu that makes you break out in a panicky sweat. It is long, the font is small, the ingredients are many. I was relieved to hear the plates are to share, and up to 5 (phew 5!) could be consumed by two people. Still, there is so much deliciousness on it that I could tell both me and my dining buddy feared we would not reach compromise. We laid out the ground rules: Each say one thing from the top half of the menu (the lighter half) and one from the bottom (heavier half). Luckily, we agreed quite easily.

Salt and Pepper Spicy White Shrimp with pineapple and sweet potatoes (Tasted like high end Chinese and that’s not a bad thing)

Crispy pork belly with caliuflower, romesco, parsley, garlic… some other stuff. (the best pork belly I have ever had…so buttery I could cut it with a fork!)

Duck leg on an amazing and rich bed of lentils

Pasta with Blue crab, mushrooms, black truffles and braised leeks (my favorite).

Burrata with beets, pomegranate seeds, mint, yougurt (the one miss)

Next time I go back it’s gonna have to be the strawberry-cinnamon glazed pork ribs. Or maybe the roasted bone marrow on garlic toast with sardines, or maybe the…arghh I can’t decide.

#41: Old School Diner

In New York there are 2 types of “Diner”. There are kitschy looking spots that are reminiscent of the side of the road joint, serving high end food to hungry hipsters… The type of diner where your like “Hey, isn’t that the dude from Blonde Redhead” (as was the case when I was recently eating at the aptly named, Diner, in South Williamsburg). Then there's the second type, the old school diner, the “hey isn’t that my grandmothers sweater” type of place (although to be fair, this could happen at the hipstery high end version as well).

Tom’s Restaurant is such a place. And if you think I’m talking upper west side you crazy. I am talking the “original” Tom’s in my own beloved Prospect Heights. Ok the “original” part is up for grabs. They claim to be the real inspiration for the Suzanne Vega song (obviously a man is more likely to say “nice to see you” in Brooklyn). They hold on to their 70 year old hours of only being open for breakfast and lunch if that adds credibility.

This place is hard to miss because it frequently has a line around the block. In Corner Bistro style fashion, you are not waiting in line to put your name down. You are waiting for a table. During the snowstorm I actually thought (silly me) brooklynites would be deterred from their brunch. I ended up waiting alongside others in the damn storm. Lukily they pass out a variety of welcome (mugs of coffee) and not so welcome (slices of oranges and weird dry cookies) treats while you wait. Once you sit, the atmosphere is warm and cozy, and on that snowy day, right out of a Christmas movie. The Mexican Omelette has been my go to (chicken, cheese, and chipotle sauce) and the black and white milk shake. The first time I went I got a cherry fizz on the house. The second time, they let us hold a table for about an hour before my friend showed up, with nothing but a smile. Service, in the end, is the best indicator of a great place.

#40: Veggies

For 6 months I lived with family in the most picturesque house on the promenade in Brooklyn Heights... And I seemed to find myself in a lot of dark bars in Williamsburg. True to form, you don't appreciate anything until it's gone. When I was moving, my eyes became suddenly wide open to the many amazing places right outside my door... and I was determined to take advantage. With this new intent, I biked to Vinegar Hill House. As I rode to the point where Columbia Place meets old Fulton (passing possibly the most breathtaking view of Manhattan you'll get) and onto Front Street, I noticed a slew of gems (Grimaldis, Superfine, Pedros). Then the street narrowed, turned to cobble stone and ended...a sign you are near the best-hidden gem of all!

VHH was over the top delicious, and I think one of they key things there are their seasonal sides. There was a creamed corn, and even more amazing, beets with an avocado puree sauce on top. Often I look at a menu and really just want appetizers and sides (how many times do you need a main plate of protein, potato and veggie garnish?). If you feel the same way I recommend you go here and indulge. This is totally my Brooklyn Northern Spy.

#39: Fried Chicken

I feel like the sure sign that you are at a place with a "thing" is when the person who brought you there takes away your menu and says "this is what you're having". It basically means it would be a tragedy to come here and not get this thing. Such was the case at Pies N' Thighs, where as the name gives away, the obvious thing was... catfish! No, just kidding. They do have that but actually it's fried chicken. It comes in a box juicy and crispy (and brined apparently) alongside a biscuit and sides (we went with Mac and cheese and collard greens). Truly the perfect little heart attack in a box. If you have room for some pie after your thighs more power to ya. How is it possible that southern comfort food has gotten so en vogue but hipsters are still so skinny?