Posts tagged ‘restaurant’

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. >>

Two years into my residency as a New York Eater, I officially declared a boycott on Restaurant Week and most prix fixe menus. I was tired of being served one too many subpar options, too many basic dishes that weren’t showing off the true talents of the restaurant I was sitting in. Why was I shelling out $35 for a dumbed-down piece of seared salmon when I could be ordering a more satisfying app and entree for the same price off the real menu? I didn’t see the deal.

So it was an unexpected (but happy) blow to my jaded snobbery to discover the most compelling reason to have lunch at A Voce—apart from the phenomenal fresh housemade pastas—is that they don’t play around with their prix fixe menu.

For the past year or so, the restaurant has instituted a daily $29 three-course lunch special, an actual well-thought-out menu rather than the cheap-to-serve stuff like a boring green salad and a chicken entree. Chef Missy Robbins changes it up every so often, highlighting different regions of Italy depending on the area’s iconic cuisine and the time of year she’s serving it—hearty dishes from the Piedmont in the winter, lighter seafood-based fare from Sardinia or the Veneto in warmer weather.
>> Read on to discover the menu standouts at A Voce. >>

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 >>

I confess, I was not that impressed when I went to Blue Hill at Stone Barns a few years ago. Yes, the setting was phenomenal and we had a lot of fun exploring the grounds on a warm August day, visiting the lambs in their pasture and hutches full of rabbits, and sampling Sungold tomatoes on the vine in the backyard garden outside the cafe. And the food was in fact very good, but sadly, not that memorable. In fact, even now the only thing I fully remember eating was a salad topped with a soft-boiled egg that had been breaded and fried, so as you cut through the egg’s crisp exterior, its briliant-yellow yolk oozed out to meld with the pungent vinaigrette.

You know where this is going already, don’t you?

>> Read on to find out what changed >>

My wife and I are looking for a couple of somewhat upscale restaurants for lunch and dinner as we have tickets for a matinee performance of “The Lion King” on a Saturday. However, she’s pregnant so we can’t get too crazy with the fare—no unpasteurized cheeses, no rare fish or steak, etc. Any ideas?

My suggestion is to get out of the theatre district. It’s a tough place, as I’ve mentioned, so your options open up exponentially if you’re willing to take a 5-10 minute cab ride. (Also, I’m sure your pregnant wife would agree that walking too much around Times Square and the vicinity is not the preferred option.) Because there’s a common thread of “approved” items throughout their menus, I’m trending Italian or new American in these restaurants.

It’s on my mind this week, but Gramercy Tavern (42 E. 20th St. between Broadway and Park Ave. South) is absolutely perfect for this — then again, it’s also Michelle Obama’s choice, so it’s a tough table to secure. However, the front Tavern Room is walk-in only, a la carte, and open noon-midnight, so you might get lucky by stopping by for an early lunch or dinner. I’ve gone on at length about the restaurant so I won’t belabor the point. However, I will make one more plug for pastry chef Nancy Olson’s desserts, like a chocolate pudding with salted caramel and brioche croutons…. Now that sounds like something I could swim in, like Scrooge McDuck and his piles of money.

Telepan (72 W. 69th Street off Columbus Ave.) serves a $28 prix fixe brunch on weekends that runs the gamut — smoked brook trout for the adventurous eater, pear French toast for the sweet tooth, or a ginormous burger with a side of thick onion rings. Dinner can either be a la carte or you have the option of multi-course tastings, depending on how the appetites are faring. The lobster bolognese is out. standing. I’m sure you love your wife, but you may not be able to spare a bite for her.

Barbuto (775 Washington St. at W. 12th St.) is a bit more casual than the rest but has such a great atmosphere — huge windows, open kitchen with the roaring oven — that it makes every meal there seem like a treat. Jonathan Waxman has made his reputation on his roast chicken, and I really can’t argue with the voice of the masses there. Pretty much anything involving the open oven is fantastic, as are the ever-changing combinations of bruschetta. Note that Barbuto is dinner-only on Saturdays.

Finally, if you want to sneak in some verboten raw fish and still leave your wife happy — and not go too far out of the way — Esca (402 W. 43nd St. at 9th Ave.) will take care of you. Helmed by Dave Pasternack, one of the foremost seafood experts in the city, the restaurant has an unparalleled selection of crudo for lunch and dinner (if you’ve never had it, go for the tasting of six bites). The rest of the Southern Italian menu is largely fish-centric, as you would expect, but won’t disappoint with vegetables or other carnivorous options if pesce is completely out of the question. We’ve had everything from spaghetti with crabmeat and uni to grilled anchovies to roasted rabbit here, and all have been off the charts.