Metromix.com
Bun in the oven
NYC’s second-generation chefs keep it all in the family biz
New York restaurant families, like Chinese dynasties, wield power and influence over the (eating) population. And when it comes to culinary lineage, oftentimes talent and savvy is passed down to the next generation of kitchen blueblood.
We spoke with three families—both parents and progeny—about the glory and perils of working in the family biz.
Filed under: Food || Published in: Metromix.com
‘Top Chef’ Season 5
Fellow chefs, barkeeps and ex-roommates give us the scoop on the new cheftestants
“Top Chef” fans are a pretty serious bunch. The minute one season’s winner is announced, the next batch of contestants are ready for some roasting. On the spit: “Top Chef” Season 5’s hopefuls, who mark the series’ return to New York after a brief detour to Chicago last season. (It debuts on Nov. 12.)
When taping on “Top Chef” Season 5 began in Brooklyn this past summer, the blogosphere was abuzz with chef IDs and speculation about who’d be the last cook standing. Yeah, Bravo’s own Web site give you some quick, sugary bios on the contestants. We did our own sleuthing—here’s what we dug up…
Filed under: Profiles || Published in: Metromix.com
An all-out munch-athon at the Wine & Food Fest’s showcase event
Since it’s the inaugural year of the New York City Wine & Food Festival, nobody quite knew what to expect from one of the showcase events: the Grand Tasting, a $150, three-hour tour through the kitchens of some of New York’s culinary heavyweights, held at Pier 54.
As it turned out, the event was a foodie paradise, with plenty of wines and spirits to sample alongside delicious plates from top chefs who were on hand to schmooze and tout their dishes.
Filed under: Food || Published in: Metromix.com
Chef Shots: Wylie Dufresne
wd-50’s mad scientist shows us the genesis of his ice cream bagel
Don’t call James Beard–nominated chef Wylie Dufresne a molecular gastronomist. You’ll piss him off. Although Dufresne does use a multitude of advanced scientific techniques to produce both playful variations on traditional dishes and wacky new food pairings at his acclaimed Lower East Side restaurant, wd-50, he’d rather be called a “New American” chef. Or maybe just a “chef.”
Filed under: Food || Published in: Metromix.com
Betting on Beard
Our secret panel of industry insiders predicts this year’s James Beard winners.
Looking more and more like the Oscars every year, the James Beard Foundation’s culinary awards hit NYC on June 8. Hosted by Kim Cattrall and celebrity chef Bobby Flay, this year’s soiree will be held (for the first time) at Lincoln Center’s swanky Avery Fisher Hall.
To prep for the big night, we checked in with three of New York’s top industry insiders—an A-list restaurant publicist, a critic and a chef—for their predictions on how our local nominees will fare.
Filed under: Food || Published in: Metromix.com
Fight club
These days, cinematic “heroes”—of the noble, valiant variety—have gone the way of parodies or, if you’re lucky, Disney cartoons. But creating such a character, and putting him through the paces of a “cold, cruel, indifferent world,” was exactly what David Mamet, the writer-director of “Redbelt,” had in mind.
Filed under: Arts & Entertainment || Published in: Metromix.com
‘Thriller’ chills and disco thrills
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video, this year’s Tribeca Drive-In—part of the Tribeca Film Festival’s outdoor-screening series—will feature ghosts, ghouls and Solid Gold dancers at what’s being billed as “the world’s largest zombie disco.”
We caught up with director John Landis—the man behind the “Blues Brothers,” “Coming to America,” “Animal House” and countless other classics—for the scoop on what went into the making of this epic music video.
Filed under: Arts & Entertainment || Published in: Metromix.com
Tribeca Film Festival dining guide
Now showing: haute sushi, savory arepas, rustic pastas and lotsa cannoli
You’ve got the tickets, you’ve got the festival guide, and now you’ve got…hunger pangs. Why fill up on overpriced candy and popcorn when there’s a glut of great dining options in downtown Manhattan? Herewith, our picks for local restaurants within blocks of theaters showing this year’s crop of Tribeca Film Festival entries.
Filed under: City & Travel Guides || Published in: Metromix.com
Rusty Knot
You may feel like you’ve stumbled into a cruise ship’s staff rec room when you set foot in the Rusty Knot, located a stone’s throw from the Hudson River. It’s a slightly different tack for The Spotted Pig’s Ken Friedman, who co-owns the joint with Taavo Somer (Freemans). Commanding the galley is Joaquin Bacca (David Chang’s partner from Momofuku), who serves up a seafood-heavy menu of oysters, baked mussels and shellfish soup, alongside pretzel dogs, shepherds pie and a bacon chicken liver sandwich. The small space is wood-paneled and dotted with nautical flourishes, such as brass coat hooks fashioned as boat steering wheels and ceramic tiki glasses. The music is jukebox eclectic and there’s a pool table to round out the dive bar leanings. All that’s missing, it seems, are the old-timers, hoping to bend your ear with tales about how the neighborhood used to be.
Filed under: Food || Published in: Metromix.com
I Sodi
First-time restaurateurs Rita Sodi and Josh Dworkis have thrown their personalities into this compact West Village spot. Dworkis custom designed every inch of the interiors, while Sodi has created a menu to replicate the Tuscan palate of her childhood. Adding to the authenticity, Sodi’s mom (who lives just outside Florence) flew in this opening week, to stir, taste and give her seal of approval. “It’s all about clean tastes and simple ingredients,” says Dworkis. “We do a Branzino cooked in salt, it’s the best fish I ever had. The salads have only one or two ingredients, with the perfect olive oil and a tiny bit of balsamic vinegar. It’s just a simple, simple menu.” Pastas are rolled fresh every day, and the selection of Italian wines contains a few from Sodi’s own vintner friends. Dishes (including an artichoke lasagna, fried rabbit and risotto fungi) can be ordered to one of the tables, or eaten at the 15-seat bar.
Filed under: Food || Published in: Metromix.com
'Top Chef' Season 4
We’ve got the dirt on this year’s crop of NYC contestants
The new season of “Top Chef” debuts on March 12, and this year a whopping seven of the 16 contestants hail from New York.
Filed under: Profiles || Published in: Metromix.com
Review: Gottino
Small plates pack big ambition at this delightful West Village (non) wine-bar
Arriving at an “enoteca and salumeria” with a vegetarian is perhaps not the most inspired of ideas. But it certainly raises an interesting question: Can vegetarians still have fun in a veritable shrine to meat?
Leaving aside the pigs trotters, bresaola and prosciutto, though, there was still a whole swathe of menu dedicated to cheeses, crostini, salads and dessert at Gottino, the still-not-officially-opened West Village resto courtesy of Morandi’s Jody Williams.
Admittedly, it was a little difficult to resist trying something meaty when so many delectable items screamed out from the menu (even the baked apples are stuffed with garlic sausage).
Not that there was any kind of panic. Read more
Filed under: Restaurant Reviews || Published in: Metromix.com
Review: Le Lupanar
LES French newcomer has flash and zeal. Can’t say the same of the food.
It’s disappointing when the peak of a meal comes right at the start. Appetizers arrive, filled with promise and a burst of creativity and flavor, only for inspiration to peter out once the entrees hit the table, and then fizzle completely by dessert.
Sadly, a visit to French-provincial newcomer Le Lupanar followed such a trajectory. However, the gut feeling was that this particular meal on this particular night could have been an unfortunate anomaly. Perhaps it was the competent and friendly waitress, or the tasteful wood and glass décor (a black-and-white projection of “Swingers” onto the back wall notwithstanding). Somehow, the energy of this newcomer to the Lower East Side managed to engender one’s confidence.
First, the good part: appetizers. Risotto balls were coated in a thin crispy layer that gave way to a “herbed” green, creamy center of soft grains. Three of them were brightly served on a bed of finely diced red- and yellow-pepper-“marmalade.”
The braised oxtail salad was a nice portion of rich beef shreds atop a salad laced with vinegary onions and finished with a salty bite of parmesan shavings. Satisfying and more-ish, we would have happily sampled other appetizers. More…
Filed under: Restaurant Reviews || Published in: Metromix.com
Solo love
No date for V-Day? Order up some company at these communal tables.
There’s perhaps only one day a year when some New Yorkers—usually proud to wear their “single” tag as a badge of honor—shrink away from restaurants in shame: Valentine’s Day. But why should only the happy couples enjoy the culinary spoils while singles cower at home hatching plans to poke cupid in the eye with his own arrow? There must be a better bet.
Turns out, there is. Although communal tables are nothing new to New York City’s restaurants, the concept is gaining in popularity, with many new spots deciding to include a communal space in addition to conventional seating.
Communal tables not only promote conversation between adjacent diners, but also save the solo diner from uttering (and enduring) that traumatic concept: “table for one.” Plus, what better way to eyeball your neighbor’s food in between eyeballing…your neighbor. Ah, the joys of singlehood.
Filed under: City & Travel Guides || Published in: Metromix.com
Festival of Lights...and bites
In honor of Hanukkah, we’ve pounded the pavement for our eight favorite Jewish treats. Herewith, our day-to-day gastronomic guide. Happy schlepping… More…
Filed under: Food || Published in: Metromix.com
Threads and treats
Edible wedding gowns and suits of armor? Designers spill the cocoa beans on their chocolate couture creations.
We eat with our eyes first, or so they say. So what better way to celebrate New York Chocolate Week than with a Chocolate Fashion Show?
Top New York fashion designers were paired with local pastry chefs and presented with the challenge of preparing gorgeous gowns made of no less than 40 percent pure chocolate. Read more…
Filed under: Fashion || Published in: Metromix.com
Ready, set, choco!
Six restaurants in two hours: Our writer OD’s on choco dishes in a marathon homage to the Chocolate Show
Some offers in life are just too good to resist. Take this story assignment, for example. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of New York’s Chocolate Show, an entire week has been dedicated to the delectably gooey stuff. Pastry chefs at restaurants around town have joined in the Chocolate Week festivities by offering special chocolate dishes, cocktails or entire chocolate-tasting menus, with both sweet and savory applications.
The Challenge
My editor asked me to hit six participating restaurants in two hours, and chronicle my journey in a chocolate diary. Read more…
Filed under: Food || Published in: Metromix.com
Review: BarFry
Josh DeChellis racks up frequent-fryer miles at his temple to tempura
Who needs an excuse to indulge in a meal consisting almost entirely of fried food?
BarFry, the West Village’s new tempura bar, is attempting a brave feat: convincing New Yorkers to ignore their nutritionists in the name of Japanese culture—or, at least New York’s derivation of it.
The restaurant is a collaboration between partners Rick Camac (5 Ninth, Fatty Crab) and chef Josh DeChellis (Sumile, Jovia), who took great pains to create the lightest possible batter by testing about a hundred prototypes.
What results are crispy morsels of vegetables, meat and seafood, which arrive in wooden boxes with a choice of sauces… More
Filed under: Restaurant Reviews || Published in: Metromix.com
At the Centro of the culinary universe
Centro Vinoteca’s Anne Burrell on breaking balls and breaking into the all-boys chefs’ club
Anne Burrell is nothing if not incredibly excited. After steadily advancing through New York’s culinary scene—working at Lidia Bastianich’s Felidia and Mario Batali’s Italian Wine Merchants, with a stint teaching at the Culinary Institute on the side—she’s now the executive chef at Centro Vinoteca in the West Village.
A sleek and inviting bi-level space, “chentro” as Burrell pronounces it, buzzes with activity whenever she works the open-facing kitchen…and so far, that’s always. She hasn’t had a day off in the three weeks since the restaurant opened.
Burrell is only too keenly aware that her enthusiasm and “super-positive attitude” permeate the food. “Food is like a dog,” she says. “It smells fear.” More…
Filed under: Profiles || Published in: Metromix.com
Oz, you like it
Why do Australians add a slice of canned pineapple, beetroot and a fried egg to their burgers? Some might travel 19 hours to the bottom of the globe to seek an answer, but savvy New Yorkers know they can speculate on this mystery over cold beers and kangaroo skewers, right here in Manhattan. Read more…
Filed under: Food || Published in: Metromix.com