Posts tagged ‘new york’

After he wowed us with his lamb bacon, Danielle and I knew we had to hit up Chef Bobby Hellen of the Belgian gastropub Resto for a Good. Food. Stories. Q&A. Bobby, a native New Yorker, has been with the Resto team since the restaurant’s 2007 opening, and now leads the kitchen as Executive Chef.

Though the restaurant is most well-known (along with the vast selection of Belgian brews) for its pork-focused dishes and nose-to-tail eating, Bobby also serves up heaping amounts of locally-sourced produce alongside his housemade charcuterie, meats, and poultry from New York-area farms like Four Story Hill. For the more adventurous, the Resto team offers the Large Format Feast, where a whole animal will be broken down and delectably prepared for your large group (they’ll feed up to 18 people).

>> Read on to find out how a grapefruit changed Bobby’s life. >>

Today, please welcome a post from Kristen Trajan, who has meticulously scouted a few wallet-friendly NYC dining options to keep us full and on a budget.

I’ve been riding the poor train for years now, and while I’ve been known to hop off for a little Blue Hill at Stone Barns, I stay true to my cheap roots. As Danielle will attest, I’m a great dinner date, but not a terribly adventurous grocery partner. (You’re talking to the girl who recently put a $1.29 package of pasta back on the shelf after realizing I could get it for $1.19 eight blocks away.)

But we don’t always have the luxury of—or energy for—making delicious dishes for less at home. And that’s why I’m giving you the highly coveted top 5 under $5.

Under $5, you say? In New York? Yes, my friends, ’tis true. I know just about every corner, park, and questionable hole-in-the-wall restaurant for recession-friendly deliciousness. But I’m starting with five classy spots. You know, where you can take that date you don’t really want to invest in. In no particular order, I give you the first five:

>> Where can you get this bowl of filling hummus for only $5? Read on. >>

My family will be in New York next month and we’ll be attending an event on 12th St. in the East Village. Where can I take them to eat that night? They’re a bit of a meat-and-potatoes crowd, but it would also be great to suggest some hipper places for my cousin when he sheds the parents.

The East Village is one of the best areas for dining in Manhattan—you can wander any of the Avenues and find at least one satisfying place to eat on each block. But since you’ve restricted it to the northern end, I can narrow it down to a few parent-pleasing options around 12th St.

The meat-and-potatoes crowd will feel very comfortable at Back Forty (190 Avenue B at 12th St.). It’s an ingredient-driven “haute barnyard” menu—basics like roast chicken and vegetables, grilled trout, and the house burger—prepared unfussily. If any member of your group wants to splurge on a house cocktail, I highly recommend you try one or two of the seasonal selections. My friend Lisa’s favorite, the strawberry-based The Red and the Black, only comes around in the summer when the berries are in the greenmarkets, but you can try it at your leisure with her recipe.
>> Read on to find out where to impress the out-of-towners with bacon peanut brittle >>

A friend of mine just moved to New York City (Queens) from Chicago. While he likes the city, he really misses Chicago-style deep-dish pizza. We’ve been forbidden to even talk about pizza around him! Is there a pocket of Chicago natives anywhere in New York where a man can get a slice of pizza like they make back home?

You may not want to hear this, but no. As crazy as it might seem, there is no truly authentic Chicago deep-dish in New York. Even the pizza completists at Slice say there’s no real comparison (and of course, we all are pretending that the Pizzeria Uno on 6th Avenue in the Village doesn’t exist.) If you’re looking for an overwhelming load of cheese underneath a layer of sauce on a quiche-like crust, it’s just not going to happen. However, if you are willing to play fast and loose with New York’s options, you might be able to find something that satisfies the deep dish need until your next trip to Lou Malnati’s.

There are two slice styles found in New York that may help: the Sicilian, better known as the “square slice” in many local pizza joints, and a little something called the “grandma slice.” Less doughy than its Sicilian cousin, the grandma usually features a square, pan-baked crust with the mozzarella cheese residing underneath a diced tomato sauce. The cheese-under-sauce falls more into the deep-dish category, but you’re still not going to get it an inch thick like you would in Chicago. Here are the two best slices I found:

Maffei (686 Sixth Ave. at 22nd St., 212-929-0949) has the best grandma slice in the city, according to Ed Levine (a man who knows —he wrote an entire book on the subject, <Pizza: A Slice of Heaven). The tomatoes on the grandma are freshly crushed, which is an excellent touch, and the crust is thin and crisp. But the Sicilian comes closer to a deep-dish; it’s a little more substantial, with a thicker, more buttery crust and rounds of fresh mozzarella. If you like Giordano’s, these could be the slices for you.

It’s hard to do a pizza roundup in this city without including Di Fara (1424 Avenue J, Midwood, Brooklyn; 718-258-1367), the undisputed champion of New York artisanal pizza. The square slice comes with the same cheese mix as the round, thin-crust pies (two kinds of mozzarella and Grana Padano), but with a bouncier, chewier crust and nicely burnt edges. There’s no real one-on-one Chicago comparison, but it’s outstanding. Maybe you should just give up the idea of approximating deep-dish and just join the hordes of followers. Note that DiFara is only open Wednesday-Sunday, and even then only from noon to 4:30 pm and 6:00-9:00 pm. When you’re as critically lauded as owner Dom DeMarco, you get to make those kind of rules.

Finally, though I haven’t sampled it myself, word from the Chowhound contingent is that Nino’s (9110 3rd Avenue, Bay Ridge, Brooklyn) also makes a mean grandma slice. Plus, Tony Sirico apparently lives in the neighborhood, so if you see him, please ask what kind of ‘za he prefers. It would be a public service!

Readers, I now turn to you. Ignore the Neapolitan blistered thin-crust pizza for a second! Forget your Motorinos, your Lucalis, your Gruppos, and tell me: what’s your favorite pizza out of a pan?

Freaking out about holiday baking? Unlike my co-editor, I have never set a stand mixer on fire and am more than happy to help. (Sorry, D!) Send your irrational questions to Ask Casey at caseyATgoodfoodstoriesDOTcom.

Today we’re happy to put Chef Kerry Heffernan on the hot seat. A CIA graduate, lifelong Northeasterner and proponent of modern American cuisine, Kerry has been exploring all things culinary since age 14. He’s done everything from baking croissants in the South of France to working alongside chefs Alfred Portale, Tom Colicchio, David Bouley, and Daniel Boulud along the way. Kerry was the opening Executive Chef at Eleven Madison Park and former partner at Union Square Hospitality Group, and he is currently Executive Chef at South Gate at the Jumeirah Essex House in New York.

Kerry, you grew up in Connecticut, but you also spent a lot of time in Maine, correct? — so how would YOU make a lobster roll? (Butter? Mayo? Some unholy hybrid?)

I did grow up in Connecticut, but spent more time on the Cape and Marblehead MA, than in Maine, and would only go very traditional on things for a lobster roll: simple homemade mayo, little celery, perhaps a whisper of tarragon and a warm, buttered, griddled hot dog bun.

You had an early appreciation for French cuisine and culture through your apprenticeship at Le Perigord Park, and you were lucky enough to take a bike trip through France at age 17. Tell us a little bit about that trip — was that the turning point for your career?

It was amazing — in 1979, I was literally on my own seeing France, from Normandy to Paris all the way down the Rhone to the Cote D’Azur where I worked for two months. I was camping by myself on farm fields and the edges of vineyards, staying at hostels with quite a cast of characters in urban areas, absolutely amazing. It was the seminal moment in my career as far as broadening my horizons and getting a sense of what tasting things in their environs really meant.

What is your favorite food destination (could be a city, like New York or Seoul, or a specific restaurant/roadside food stand). Why?

LOVE NYC. I’ve been here the last 30 years of my career, and have seen so many amazing talents and trends take off. I am a huge fan of cuisines both high and low, from street food to linen-draped luxury restaurants, Where else can you get a Shackburger, Kim Chi Jigae, and a three-star meal within eight blocks of one another?

What is your go-to meal when you’re cooking for yourself?

Chicken Parm. It is so comforting to me, always a nice simple place for me to go after taking literally dozens of bites throughout the day from any number of dishes and components from dressings to sweet, savory and on and on, Besides my wife loves to bread and help me fry it so it is a breeze… and lots of fun.

Your philosophy is to cook based on the availability and quality of ingredients available at the market on a particular day. What is the one ingredient you would be lost without?

Marjoram… well, and the “ingredient” of my own two feet in some kind of marketplace!

Finally, a seasonal question: What are you making for Thanksgiving this year? Do you go traditional or do you incorporate new preparations?

I have what I would call a “Modern Traditional” approach. For example, I’ll make creamed onions by cooking just a little rice in with the onions, removing the perfectly cooked onions, cooking the mixture a bit till soft, then pureeing in the blender with a bit of crème fraiche as opposed to using roux and heavy cream and cooking for an hour.

Find Chef Kerry Heffernan in action at South Gate, 154 Central Park South, New York. 212-484-4715 or reservations on OpenTable.