An Evening in Brooklyn

Al di La is a restaurant that's been on my list of restaurants to try for years.  YEARS!  I'd always been impressed by how the reviews remained stellar after all this time.  Finally, on a Friday evening recently, I decided to hit it.  The restaurant has a no-reservations policy and a lot of the reviews comment on how long the wait could be.  So I decided that I'd dine alone since it's always easier to get a seat if you are just one person and I also decided I'd eat at Al Di La Vino, which was an extension of the original restaurant, was right next door to the original Al di La and shared the same menu.

Since I was going to be in Brooklyn and I'm the CHUBBYgourmet for a reason, I decided to also leave some stomach space for the newcomer Seersucker - been really craving some good shrimp and grits.

Al Di La Vino

607 Carroll Street
(between 4th Ave & 5th Ave)
Parkslope, Brooklyn

I was lucky indeed!  There was already a wait by the bar for larger groups of people but as a solo diner, I was seated right away on a stool by the bar.  I definitely wanted to try their signature dishes with my first foray into Al di La.  I began with the Sepia with Oxtail on Polenta.  It was definitely tasty and had a good amount of heat from the chili that flavored the gravy.  I also liked the perfectly creamy texture of the polenta.  My only complaint was that the polenta was definitely quite bland and there wasn't quite enough of the oxtail and gravy to go with the entire dish of polenta:



The cazunziei was definitely the winner in my mind.  The sauce was what made it so amazing.  To me, it tasted like a pool of butter, parmesan cheese and poppy seeds.  All that texture and flavor was just begging to be slurped up, licked up and mopped up, every last drop.  The faint sweetness from the beet and ricotta stuffing and the super thin and tender ravioli pasta that encased everything certainly helped to round out the entire dish and served as a really good backdrops to the fabulous dish.



I'd certainly come back again just for the casunziei, but I may still dine solo just to beat the crowds.

Seersucker

329 Smith St
(at Carroll St)
Brooklyn

The shrimp and grits were just meh.  The flavors overall were ok.  However the bits of ham were rubbery and  I was surprised that the gravy was a bit watery.  The shrimp was fresh and large but it didn't save the dish.   I don't feel like I'd come back again.

A Delicious Sammich!

I tasted this recently, on a day at the beach (Long Island Beach to be exact).  It was truly wonderful!  My friend got it from Parisi Bakery in NoLIta.  It was ham, American cheese, tomatoes and some freshly-cracked black pepper on a round, semolina roll.  The heat from the sun melted out the cheese a little by the time we were ready to eat the sandwich and actually made the sandwich really perfect.  I've also heard their peppers are really delicious too.

Parisi Bakery

198 Mott St
(between Kenmare St & Spring St)

Pulino's - Finally!

There's been a lot of buzz about this place.  Keith McNally's (owner and restaurateur extraordinaire of Balthazar, Odeon, Lucky Strike, Pastis, Schiller's Liquor Bar - to name a few) newest baby finally opened this month.  Eater has been tantalizing me for weeks with tiny snippets of news, updates about the status of construction, the menu, and photos of the bathroom even.  I was thrilled and surprised to be able to make a reservation for Sunday brunch very easily (12.30pm seating too!) about 2 weeks in advance, for its first week of service.  I was excited to go, mostly because of the hype.

I was a tiny bit skeptical about the food.  I enjoy going to the McNally restaurants, but, it's always more because of the scene and atmosphere than the amazingness of the food (the one exception is Balthazar's fries and beef stroganoff).  It didn't help that there didn't seem to be any overwhelming food review for Pulino's during the first few days of service either.  Nevertheless, the executive chef, Nate Appleman, seems to brought along a bit of goodwill from his days cooking in California although he still has a bit of notoriety in my mind, partly due to his armful of tats and partly due to his badass attitude in The Next Iron Chef.

I showed up for my reservation on time and relatively open-minded nonetheless.  We were seated right away once our party was complete.  The place was hopping.  There were many walk-ins who were told that the wait would be almost an hour.  Thank goodness we scored a reservation!  The interior of the restaurant is very much like Schiller's liquor bar.  There were the same white bathroom tiles, the similar bottle display.  According to one of the staff, the first level of wall-to-wall display of liquor are fake, while the rest above that are all inventoried.  So even though the display looks random, they're all been quite deliberated.

The waitstaff were all dressed in baby-blue t-shirts with police-barrier-type font printed on their front and back (can't remember what were the words).  There were a handful of picnic tables that were constructed from police barriers.  Service was really pleasant and relatively quick and attentive.

The menu gave quite a few options of eggs (on pizza, baked or on its own with sides).  There were sides and also a list of regular non-breakfast pizzas and other oven-cooked foods (roast chicken etc).  Be sure to look at all sides of the paper printed menu, we almost missed out a short list of baked goods printed right at the back.

The nutella fat baby (puff pastry stuffed with a nutella/chocolate/ganache mix) was sweet, tasty, buttery and flaky but would have been even yummier if only it was served warm.

The sable fish appetizer was a nice, light menu choice.

Grapefruit caramelized with muscovado sugar was another refreshing choice.  Although one of our two grapefruit halves turned out a little burnt (not pictured).

We also tried a salad with roasted hen-of-the-woods mushroom.  This looked run-of-the-mill but it tasted better than it looked.  The mushrooms gave a great texture and the lettuce was surprisingly buttery.

For our entrees, the first to arrive was a pasta dish (the salsiccia) that was crepe-like and layered with a very hearty and meaty ragu.  I liked this dish, it was almost lasagne-like.

Then came the pizza.  A large pie with two beautiful eggs with perfectly runny yolks.  Additional fresh cheese was grated on top.  It was really good.  The crust was so delicious!  It was crispy, very thin crust but still robust enough to hold all the hearty ingredients.  This was the winning dish for me.  I'm usually the one with a pile of pizza crust edges remaining on my plate but I actually ate all of the crust from this one!

Our final entree was the polenta and eggs.  2 eggs (cooked the way you like) over-easy served in a cast-iron skillet with creamy polenta verde (mixed with spinach I think), mushroom sauce and a spiral of spicy sausage.  I enjoyed the juicy sausage but otherwise, I thought this dish was rather meh.

Moving on to dessert.  The warm chestnut cake was definitely a treat.  It was comforting, not too sweet and definitely a flavor you grow to love more and more.

Another dessert we tried was less impressive.  It was the panacotta with burnt honey.  It came with a crisp cookie on top that had an interesting taste to it (that I can't define) but overall, the flavor was really mild and not particularly memorable.

I'm glad I finally got to try Pulino's.  Even though not every dish blew me away, I'm pretty sure I'd try to be back soon, especially for the pizzas.

Toronto Ahoy! (part deux) - Guu Izakaya & Black Camel

I'm here again!  This time to process some visa-related issues.  Nevertheless, the eating continues!

First up:  Guu Izakaya - I first heard about this place from a fellow foodie friend.  Rumor has it that people will wait an hour to get into here.  A line?! I'm in!  After some googling, it seems like this joint is a bonafide foodie destination worthy of my trekking (although to be honest, it doesn't take much worthiness for me to trek for food).  It is an offshoot of a popular Vancouver chain.  It is located within downtown Toronto and easily walk-able from where I'm staying this time (One King West).  The reviews seem to all indicate a few things: (i) long wait (ii) delicious tori karaage (fried chicken) and (iii) very noisy.

I decided to try Guu out on a Monday evening.  Since I was leaving from work, was unable to hit it at its opening (5pm) but still didn't want to truly end up with an hour-long wait alone in the cold, I decided to scrap the trekking idea and sped off on a cab instead.

I arrived at about 6.30pm.  The restaurant is located in a somewhat deserted block on Church Street, amidst the university area (great idea since a lot of students would be willing customers at such a place).  I lucked out and immediately got seated by the bar since I was a party of one.  The restaurant is very loud indeed.  The entire wait staff would bellow out in Japanese periodically, greetings, goodbyes, order pick-ups etc.  It made for a very communal and festive atmosphere.

The menu is actually surprisingly simple.  A few items each of oden (Japanese soup-braised foods), grilled, fried, cold and dessert dishes.  There is a separate sheet of photocopied paper listing the specials of the day.  I selected the kinoko cheese bibimbap, ebi mayo, tori karaage (how could I resist) and tontoro.

Kinoko Cheese Bibimbap
This is your typical stone-pot rice bowl but made with chunky pieces of button mushrooms sauteed with garlic and seasoned with a nori-flavored seasoning.  The whole mixture is topped with shredded cheese and served up sizzling hot.  It was really delicious!!!  There was something totally addictive about the nori-flavored sauce and the combination with the meaty pieces of mushroom was such a winner.  I don't know why such a simple idea hasn't been repeated at the many izakayas in NYC!?

Ebi Mayo
This is deep fried battered shrimp topped with spicy mayonnaise.  The shrimp was really fresh, plump and juicy.  However, the batter took away from it.  Overall, I wasn't too impressed with the dish, I suppose I found it rather ordinary.

Tori Karaage
This is a very typical Japanese izakaya dish of ginger/garlic-seasoned deep fried chicken chunks.  And it was made really well here.   Chunky pieces of dark meat chicken that has been well-marinated and fried till it's perfectly crispy outside and so juicy, tender and delicious inside.  Definitely the best of the lot, second to the bibimbap.

Tontoro
This is grilled pork cheeks.  The pork was tender, quite oily and more about the texture than anything.  On its own, it wasn't particularly original but it was very interestingly matched with a smudge of grated yuzu peel and wasabi as a dipping condiment.  This yuzu wasabi dip was really wonderful with the somewhat bland pork.

For dessert, the creamy almond pudding was a winner after all that rich food.

And, as a nice final touch, a little pot of frozen grapes with the check.

I had a good time here.  The service was really friendly.  The food was mostly interesting and well-made.  Would come back again if I'm in Toronto.

Guu Izakaya
398 Church Street, between McGill and Granby Streets

Second up: The Black Camel up in Rosedale.  This restaurant is located in the suburban neighborhood of Rosedale.  It is right off busy Yonge Street and is just at the outer rim of the main downtown area of Toronto.  Walking there is possible from downtown Toronto, but may take over half an hour of brisk walking, depending where you are starting from.

The buzz about this place is its pulled pork sandwich, firstly, and its barbecued meats in general, secondly.  It is a small, take-out type of an establishment.  You place your order at a counter and may choose to take-away or eat-in at one of the two small tables or the more plentiful bar stools.

I went with the pulled pork sandwich and added extras - cheese, horseradish sauce and sauteed onions.  My first comment is - don't bother getting the extra toppings, they don't give you much of it and you therefore barely taste them so what for.  The only exception is the horseradish sauce, if you enjoy horseradish, the taste will be strong enough to come through in the sandwich, and it does go well together.

The sandwich is huge.  It comes in a fresh and soft kaiser roll that is split in half.  The pulled pork is piled generously into the bread.  The sandwich comes wrapped in a large sheet of aluminum-lined paper, which serves as a very handy 'plate' for all the drippings that will come.

The pulled pork was very tasty.  The flavor of tomatoes came through most strongly.  Unfortunately, my only complaint is the texture of the pulled pork - it tasted as if it had been sitting in a warmer all day and had gotten a little stringy.  I could tell that when freshly cooked, this pulled pork would've been perfectly textured.  However, as I came around 7pm when closing time was 8pm, it had probably been sitting around for a long time.  That was definitely a shame.

I noticed signs around the little shop that indicated menu items here (most likely including the pulled pork) sell out early oftentimes and that their twitter site would be the best place to confirm availability beforehand.  I guess I was lucky to get what I got going there so late in the day.  Wouldn't mind trying this place again but definitely earlier during the day.

Black Camel
4 Crescent Road, NE corner of Yonge Street

Toronto Ahoy!

I'm in Toronto for a few days, attending a work conference.  The food in this city is rather renown.  There is quite a lot of character, with an eclectic mix of flea and farmers' markets, ethnic markets, fine-dining restaurants and casual cafes.  Here are a few of my top picks this trip (in no particular order):

1. Carousel Bakery's Peameal Bacon Breakfast Sandwich:

Peameal bacon is a type of Canadian bacon that is traditionally rolled in pea meal to ensure better curing and shelf life.  These days, most peameal bacon is rolled in more commonly available corn meal.  The taste of this bacon is much leaner than regular bacon, it is still juicy, tender and briny nevertheless.  When sandwiched in a soft roll and topped with fried egg and American cheese, it's divine!

Carousel Bakery
St Lawrence Market
On Front Street East, between Jarvis and Market Streets
Closed Sundays and Mondays

2. The Canadian Sausage Cart

I LOVE getting hotdogs in Canada.  They are far and away so much better than what we typically have in New York.  The 5 reasons I love them so much:
(i) Their dogs are grilled over charcoal.
(ii) They have selections of dogs - spicy, chicken, bratwurst etc.
(iii) The buns are toasted over charcoal.
(iv) There is an array of free condiments - pickles, olives, sauerkraut, ketchup, mustard, chili sauce, bacon bits, mayonnaise (sometimes).
(v) They are all over the city!  This is not a one-off gourmet truck.

Just look:

3. Kensington Market

Northwest corner off Spadina Ave and Dundas Street West

Baldwin Street between Kensington and Augusta Avenues

This area is a collection of little stores that sell everything from edgy clothing and 70's odds-and-ends to fresh produce, meats, seafoods and baked goods.  It has a wonderful neighborhood atmosphere that blends the young and the old and is a great place to wander around and stroll in-and-out of.  It's also right next to Chinatown, so another added benefit is that you have yet another neighborhood to explore afterwards.

4. The Distillary District
This is a little far out to the east, further east after St Lawrence Market.  It is walkable from St Lawrence Market on a nice day.  It is a restored distillary area.  The warehouse facades are still largely maintained, giving the whole area a really nice feel of old and modern.  One of the best foodie stops in this area is Soma Chocolates - a gourmet chocolate shope.  You MUST get a cup of Bicerin while you are there.  It is a wonderful concoction of hot espresso, chocolate and cream, soo yummy.  They have some really good chocolate confections too.  There are also little bakeries and pastry shops dotted here and there, all with thoughtful selections of goodies to choose from.

Volcano Bread on a Monday Morning

I was over at Momofuku Milk Bar this past Sunday.

Momofuku Milk Bar
207 2nd Avenue at E 13th Street
(entrance on E 13th Street, around the corner from Ssam Bar)

As usual, a wide variety of dazzling, strange and oh-so-tempting desserts and menu options inundate my visual horizon while I was there.  Good thing there is always a line at Milk Bar.  So I bided my time and decided to make up my mind while waiting for my turn to order.  The cakes looked familiar, in that I recall seeing them when I was last here a few months ago.  So cross those out since I figured they were probably staples and I'd be able to sample them again next time.  A selection of flavored butters beckon - kimchee and honey were the two flavors I contemplated, but nah, that means I've gotta buy a loaf of bread that I will never be able to finish so, another time.  Their soft serve flavors of the day sound very interesting - red velvet (I chose that flavor as the one sample they allow per customer - it didn't taste that great; had a weird tang) and cream cheese sounded tempting but again, nah, I'd just had 2 cupcakes for dessert after lunch and was feeling a bit too lardy at that moment.  Then, I looked up at the massive chalkboard that spanned the top half of the back wall.  And I zoomed into their 'Daily Breads.'  Apparently, the Sunday bread was 'Volcano.'  This was a humongous, volcano-shaped bun that is stuffed with potatoes, bacon, gruyere and onions.  Now how can that combination be wrong?  So I decided to buy one to-go and have it for breakfast the next day.

Monday morning comes along.  I had thought through the best way to reheat this huge hunk of bread.  I decided to go with microwaving for 3 minutes on high, followed by 8 minutes in a 400F toaster oven.  Massive under calculation.  The bun was so thick (about 4 inches tall) that my subscribed process did nothing but slightly tickle the outermost layer.  Anyway, I still ate it since I was already running late.  Ignoring the fact that the bun was not properly heated through, I would rate the Volcano as an overly starchy experience.

I think the idea is for a potato gratin in a bun.  The bread was interesting; it was very chewy, almost mochi-like.  The filling was comprised of a thick layer of sliced potatoes and tiny bits of caramelized onions and very fatty bacon.  The bacon was cut in thick cubes and therefore wasn't of the crunchy variety.  In fact it was almost too fatty as there were greasy bits of pork fat.  The gruyere flavor permeated the bread quite well however, since there was a double dose of carbs here (the bread and the potatoes, and a very thick layer of potato at that), the end result wasn't very appetizing.

Eggs on a Snowy Saturday Morning

Jet lag again besets me. I've been surfing the Internet since 4am this morning. We had a big snow day yesterday and I can only imagine how cold and miserable it must still be outside. The chilliness in my apartment started giving me hunger pangs. My mind inevitably started wandering towards breakfast. I had eggs in my fridge, honey ham and brie cheese. An omelette! I decided to throw in my leftover slice of emmental cheese and since brie reminds me so much of jam, I decided to mix in some strawberry jam as a new twist. It would be really quick to put together.

Ingredients:

3 large eggs

1 tsp olive oil

3 slices honey ham

1 slice of emmental cheese (optional)

1 piece of brie (approx 1 oz)

1 tsp strawberry preserve

1/2 fresh tomato for garnish (optional)

Method:

1. Chop up the cheeses and ham.

2. Mix the cheeses, ham and strawberry jam in a bowl.

3. Mix the eggs in a bowl with a fork, season with a pinch of salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

4. Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium low heat.

5. Pour the eggs into the pan and stir vigorously, scrambling it somewhat.

6. When the eggs begin to set more, move and slide the eggs towards one side of the frying pan, covering half of the pan.

7. Put the ham, cheese and ham mixture onto the half-cooked eggs.

8. Immediately start to fold the eggs over the ham mixture, towards the edge of the pan.

9. When the omelette is set, slide the omelette onto a plate and serve with slices of tomato.

My Observations:

- My omelette turned out to be quite watery on the inside, anyone with any idea why?

- Cranking up the heat to high at the end of your cooking time will result in an appetizing brown crust on the omelette.