kathryn

You win at eating in New York.

Red eye gravy consists of coffee, flour, and ham drippings, I thought. That rhubarb shortcake does blow every other rhubarb dessert I've ever had out of the water.

Was at Esca this past weekend, and they had both shad roe and soft shelled crabs on the menu.

6 PM. Update: even on "slow" nights they're not that slow. Just tried to stop by at around 11:30 PM on a Tuesday. Quoted wait for 2 was about an hour, and I saw a few parties lingering inside Crif Dogs, already waiting.

Call at 3pm (not on a Friday) and ask for a table. If none are available, show up right when they open and ensconce yourself at the bar. You can always call and ask if they have open bar seats at the moment.

See Lucy's Greenmarket report: http://www.echonyc.com/~lwollin/greenmarket.html Saw lots of great herbs and flowers last weekend, if you are into gardening.

Would it be insane to try to go to Hot Dougs on a Saturday in the summer around 2 or 3 pm? I'm used to long lines (Shake Shack, NYC) so a line of 30-45 minutes doesn't scare me. We're only in town for 4th of July weekend and I'm assuming he'll be closed on the 4th as it's a Friday. And they are closed on Sundays.

A little birdie at Abraco (OK, it was Jamie) says there's going to be a coffee cocktail on the spring menu. Alongside the new Wylie dog.

In the New Yorker today, a long profile of Chef Achatz: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/05...currentPage=all

Benton's?! Please say that one is staying.

Best North Dumpling Shop - Pork and fennel dumplings Perfect Team Corporation (dim sum) - Char Siu Sou, egg tarts, Lotus Root/fish cake Peking Duck/cheung fun window outside Corner 28 Scallion pancake/etc. stations. The windows are yellow, there's a sign that says AA Plaza I think. Located under the LIRR train overpass on the west side of Main Street, between 40th and 41st Golden Shopping Mall at 41-28 Main St. - Xian restaurant or dumpling stand Dumpling kiosk at 41st, just off Main, no English signage, across from a Starbucks and next door to Chao Zhou Spicy & Tasty or Little Pepper or Chengdu Heaven Resources: http://www.villagevoice.com/nyclife/0817,r...,419748,15.html http://newyork.metromix.com/restaurants/ar.../387536/content http://www.chowhound.com/topics/497820 http://www.chowhound.com/topics/451804 http://www.yelp.com/biz/dumpling-stall-flushing

I may not be the best judge as I'm not a huge rye or bourbon or whiskey or scotch fan, so I usually get them mixed up. But I swear I heard something starting with S----. My method of eating the torchon was to take a huge hunk of foie, place it on the brioche (it's a firm torchon that isn't really easy to spread on the bread), take a tiny bit of gelee, and a bit of nut. I actually ended up holding a nut in my other hand, eating the foie, and then taking a nibble of nut, so that the nut wouldn't fall down. It's delicious but a little awkward to balance!

For the foie, it was indeed a very generous portion. I could have sworn it was Sazerac gelee, but maybe Tien was mixing it up. Really played well against the sweetness of the nuts and the richness of the foie. The brioche was heavenly; I spent a good few seconds just smelling it, before digging in. If anything, I wanted more brioche points and nuts since we were splitting it among 4 people. My friends also discovered that they loved having a bit of red eye gravy (from the country ham we ordered) with the foie. It was unusual, but worked. Agreed that the pickled sunchokes were great! I would order just a single plate of those. Maybe they'll show up on the pickle plate at some point. Our version of the fluke cheeks was dressed with edamame and that green oil that they use on the branzino dish. Whatever is in there....it's addictive. I suspect they put crack in it. We were there from about 8ish to 10:30pm, and it was painful to stand up afterwards. In a good way.

traditional pasta I'm with everyone else -- Babbo. wood-fire oven pizza Una Pizza Napoletana is the first wood-fired oven pizzeria to come to mind. The owner has a custom-built wood-fired brick oven. $21/pie but delicious, fresh, and high quality. Everywhere else I'd recommend is probably coal-fired or gas. They had a great wild arugula, pecorino, and spring onion special pie (all toppings added to the basic bianca) this past weekend. Union Square Greenmarket is indeed great, but as others have suggested, they don't always have everything you're looking for. I usually supplement by going to the Whole Foods across the street, just for convenience's sake.

Just got back from another excellent dinner at Ssam Bar. Apple kimchi is off the menu. So is the brown butter shortcake. But asparagus is in! No baby artichokes just yet, though. This year's asparagus has some sort of red powdery spice on the top - it was excellent but got cold very quickly. Started mostly with old favorites like the pickle plate, diver scallops, steamed buns, Benton's ham, grilled sweetbreads, but also threw in spicy squid salad, pate in crust (with ramp marmalade!) and the crispy lamb belly with violet mustard (the rosemary olives are really interesting and cut the fattiness of the lamb). We were entertaining two friends in from out of town who were very excited about the menu, so we ordered a tiny but of everything. COMP DISCLOSURE: Tien, who is an insane genius and wonderful man, sent out some extra deliciousness too. My memory is blurry but I think there was torchon of foie with Salzerac gelee and candied walnuts and brioche (in the words of our time: om nom nom nom). A lightly deep-fried fluke cheek with ramps and mushrooms. And a spring salad of raddichio, tomato, pickled sunchoke, and ramp leaves, with a spicy buttermilk dressing. There's also a new dessert in town. GO NOW. EAT THIS. Get the rhubarb shortcake. It is wonderful. A tower of creme fraiche. The shortcake is crumbly soft and perfectly buttery, and the rhubarb is magical (has these great subtle flowery hints that reveal themselves as you eat). I couldn't figure out how the succulent rhubarb got so sweet and fragrant, but it was amazingly delicious. My friend, who grew up in Ohio and has eaten a lot of bad rhubarb pie, said this version was so good, it gave her her goosebumps. So good. Christina Tosi does it again.

20 Elizabeth Street = Jing Fong, it's pretty well known for its dim sum. I'm not sure if your co-worker has been exposed to dim sum before. The dishes like chicken feet and turnip cake and tripe and congee can look intimidating. Hopefully he'll be fine with the dumpling like dishes.

The macaron flavors are good but they are kept too cold in a refrigerated case, so the centers are always chilly. I've found they improve when left to warm up to room temperature. The bakery is also doing a bit of renovation right now, and was extremely warm and stuffy when I stopped in the other way. Luckily, the benches outside are very nice.

Most reputable pizza shops in NY are no slices. The notable exceptions are Di Fara and Patsy's.

I've always had good experiences with Patsy's and Una Pizza; Luzzo's has actually gotten better for me over time. Grimaldi's not so much (I used to work nearby). They are all different styles, so it's a little hard to compare. Keep in mind that all the ones named are no slices except for Patsy's. But Luzzo's and Una Pizza have much smaller pies that a hungry man could probably finish on his own.

Pizza: I'd do Una Pizza Napoletana or Di Fara or Luzzo's or Patsy's of East Harlem over Grimaldi's, which was a soggy last time I tried. Skip BBQ and eat in St. Louis. Best burger -- do you like thin patties or thick patties? Is sauce OK? Do you want basic or more frou-frou? There are a million places in NYC all trying to out-do each other for 'best burger' or at least fanciest burger. burger joint in the Parker Meridien (not to be confused with Burger Joint chain) is good but they have a very limited menu, and the quality of the meat isn't that high. Best doughnut in NYC - Doughnut Plant doesn't really have any competition. They're famous for their yeast-based doughnuts, not sure if that's your style. It's light but chewy.

Previous eG threads: 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 (my photos are in there somewhere) Get there earlier rather than later (noon or so if you plan to stay all day). The popular vendors will probably run out of food by the end of the day. The vendors try to anticipate demand but keep in mind that they did their best guess of demand many hours ago. BBQ takes hours and hours to smoke. Get a map of the vendors ASAP when you get there. Figure out where the out of town pitmasters are. Don't eat the bread, it takes up valuable space. Sides are sometimes worth it. Bring wet naps or wipes. Don't wear anything you're too attached to. If they set up the beer garden around the fountain again, it will be a huge bottleneck to walk through....patience. Patience. Bring a blanket so you can eat on the grass. The 2nd day will always be better than the first because it's staffed entirely by volunteers. Logistical kinks tend to get worked out on the first day. Weather, of course, will greatly influence the crowds.

Will you go one day or two? Plenty of people share cards (especially families), but only two people are allowed in the Fast Pass line area per card. Basically, they close down the streets around Madison Square Park, and put the serving area in the middle of the street. The area between the pits and the park is the Fast Pass Area. I find that the Fast Pass card is enough for two people for two days because we usually get sides, desserts, and beverages in addition to BBQ. And we usually run out, and end up paying cash partway through the second day, as they still let you in the Fast Pass area even if your card is spent. Plates of BBQ run $8. Desserts and sides are $4. The plates of BBQ are not huge (check Flickr for example shots from last year's festival). Keep in mind that if you're an AMEX Card holder, and get in on the pre-sale, you pay $100 for a $100 value card (approximately 12 plates of BBQ). If you're buying in the normal sale, you'll pay $100 for a $84 value card (approximately 10 plates of BBQ) -- at least this was the deal last year.

4/10, Thursday, 2-top at 10:20pm available....

If I was in a hurry in that area, I'd just go to Grandaisy, grab a sandwich (bresaola) and piece of Roman pizza (preferably cauliflower).

Ushiwakamaru used to do it, not sure if they still do, as they may have taken out the lobster tanks post-renovation. Kanoyama has it occasionally as a special. Since they have daily specials, I'd call and ask.