kathryn

Here's what UrbanDaddy had: Tailor Made SoHo's Newest Dessert Spot You're a cultural blender. Where others see dinner, then dessert, you see dinnert. For a restaurant that shares your view, we recommend Sam Mason's much anticipated—like eight months' worth of anticipation—Tailor, officially opening Saturday and welcoming walk-ins starting tomorrow. (Obligatory hype: Here’s the city’s first look inside!) The big idea at Tailor: to blur preconceived notions of what a drinks/dinner/dessert experience should entail. Mason, former pastry chef at WD-50, blends savory staples like red snapper with sweets like watermelon and avocado-pistachio, then gets even crazier with the combination of Foie Gras, Peanut Butter, Cocoa and Pear. For all-out dessert, there's the Soft Chocolate, Smoked, Brown Butter Cake or the Carrot-Orange Ravioli, Cedar Ice Cream, Tarragon. After your sweet fix in the dining area, head downstairs to the skylit underground grotto, which is heavy on the marble, copper and half-ripped-off vintage wallpaper. From here you can stretch out with specialty drinks like the Bazooka (vodka, bubble gum, house sour...on second thought, maybe that one's for her) and the Paprika Punch (rum, red bell pepper, lemon). And coming soon from house mixologist Eben Freeman: infusions like cedar bourbon and the mind-blowing pumpernickel raisin scotch. Oh, and one Sunday a month, Tailor will hold an invite-only brunch. Should be a mixed crowd. Tailor, 525 Broome (between Thompson and Sullivan) Someone take me, please?

Anybody here done Calvin Trillin's tour? The New Yorker Festival is coming around again and I'm crossing my fingers that I might possibly have a chance at getting tickets this time around. Although I'll probably lose out and end up cursing at Ticketmaster.com for the rest of the day.

I don't think GT will be open -- doesn't Danny Meyer always close all his restaurants for Thanksgiving/Christmas? (This includes Eleven Madison Park, Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, the Modern at MOMA, etc.). Here's some Thanksgivings I've had in the city: Kitchen 82 (now closed) - it was OK, not memorable at all Peking Duck House - open, 'cause, hey, we're Chinese! Delicious, but non traditional. Cookshop - great, they had excellent concord grapes to start, I loved their sweet potatoes, the turkey was also very good, as was the pie.

WD-50 is perhaps the opposite of "not super bizarre," though! I would definitely recommend Eleven Madison Park, The Modern - Bar Room, or Gramercy Tavern for your less reasonably priced meals as well.

I, for one, agree that the Tavern Room isn't special enough. Although I love the food (pulled pork sandwich, meatball, and dessert), that damned ugly fruit and veggie mural above the bar has got to go. Shudder.

If you're into Chikalicious, I'd say take it a step further and do the dessert tasting at WD-50. The most innovative desserts around! They're by Alex Stupak; I would think that an 11 year old might be into the "whimsy" aspect of them. But they are, alas, only open for dinner. Lately I've really been into Gramercy Tavern's desserts, especially the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake with "frozen milk." And I hear very food things about the pastry chef at Del Posto.

Says eater.com:

FG -- that's the coffee red-eye gravy, yes? I really wanted to like the sugar snap peas more than I did. The ham was excellent, but I found the peas to be tasty but kind of stringy. Perhaps some rushed prep? I had to keep removing bits I found to be unchewable. We ordered the scallops last night and didn't realize that they'd never brought them over until we were done eating. We ordered: 1/2 dozen oysters -- I realized that I like the larger, brinier variety better Scallops (which never came) -- Steamed buns -- fatty, as usual Banh mi -- slightly less spicy than usual, but they had a very generous hand with the head cheese last night Fried baby artichokes -- there's so much sauce on the plate that I wish there were more artichokes to scoop it up with Benton's ham (and they brought over the new ham for a taste -- it was less salty, a little more delicate, but not quite as good as the Benton's) Pig's head -- eh. Deep-fried sticks with a tangy mustard, in a lettuce wrap form. It was alright. I think the deep-fried battered coating actually got in the way, but I liked the mustard a lot. Pork spareribs -- delicious, falling off the bone, and this dish has make me realize that I love sunchokes Strawberry shortcake -- tasty strawberries, a little too much whipped cream for my taste, the cake was nice but not necessary Mochi - chocolate peanut butter, blueberry, lychee, and another flavor which escapes me now As for the squid salad, I've found that the celery really helps with the heat. It's quite addictive though, although a little gritty.

From what I understand: all of the Pitmasters and their crews are volunteering to attend this event. Vendors make money off of merchandise (sauces, rubs, t-shirts). All food profits go to the Madison Park Conservancy. The vendors get a travel allowance but often it doesn't cover the full cost of transporting heavy equipment from their hometowns (which can be hundreds of miles away).

Hey, that's my photo! I ran past the place last week, and took a quick peek of their extensive menu. There's easily two dozen sandwiches on different breads, and a serious coffee/espresso section.

Here's the article Pastry Chefs, Refusing to be Sweet: And also:

In today's New York Times, Pastry Chefs, Refusing to be Sweet:

If emailing doesn't help, I would definitely step it up and call.

How did you try to contact them? By phone? Writing them? I looked up their domain info and found: The City Bakery, LLC Maury R. Rubin 3 West 18th Street New York, NY 10011 US (212) 366-1414 citybakerysara at mac dot com

New(ish) on the menu: Four Story Hill Chicken Ballontine (PA) - leeks, nori, mizuna Spicy Squid Salad - celery, sichuan pepper, chili Satur Farms Wax Bean Salad - asparagus vinaigrette, seaweed Migliorelli's Sugar Snap Peas - country ham broth, onions Old Bay Pan-Fried Skate - roasted fingerlings, pickled ramps, spicy aioli Sichuan Spiced Crawfish - shallots, chilies, mustard greens Grilled Whole Brook Trout - pickled cherries, almonds Steamed Manila Clams, Spring Garlic & Rice Cakes - bacon dashi, chinese sausage Grilled Lamb Belly (Four Story Hill Farm, PA) - mt. sweet berry farm's baby swiss chard Pork Spare Ribs (Newman's Farm, MO) - tomatillos, sunchokes, mustard seeds Bruni also discusses the Bo Ssam in an article about the resurgence of delicious, fatty, and often porky dishes across NYC: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/13/dining/13glut.html

My notes are at home but that chicken ballotine is milk-fed chicken, served with leeks. Mmmmm. I'll upload some photographs to Flickr later. They have also added a spicy squid salad with Sichuan peppercorns and celery. Seriously sinus-clearing and seriously tasty. The menu changes both seasonally (for summer the apple salad is gone, for example) and nightly (based upon what's in stock).

Hmmm, try emailing? dessertbar [at] gmail dot com

I'm not! Well, I sort of am. I only wish I had a bigger stomach. But I had enough space for: Mitchell's, Southside Market, 17th Street Bar & Grill, Big Bob Gibson's, Mitchell's (again), Blackjack, Ubon's "Champion's Choice," Salt Lick, Rack & Soul, Mitchell's (yet again), fried apple pie, pecan pie, and blueberry pie, limeade, and lots of strawberry lemonade. I uploaded photographs from day 2 onto Flickr here (same place): http://flickr.com/photos/kathryn/sets/72157600331211533/ I apologize for the Mitchell's obsession. The whole hog is 1. amazing and 2. photogenic. And the folks working there are super-nice.

Today's Big Apple BBQ tally for me: Mitchell's -- Whole hog! Delicious! Always amazing, this time they poured in their vinegar sauce in! Yum! Blackjack (one bite) -- their pulled pork was alright. Pulled pork is better than no pulled pork...but there were other pitmasters I was saving myself for. Ubon's -- Pulled pork, pulled into pieces thicker than I wanted, it was not as delicate as, say Big Bob's, very smoky but not quite as flavorful as Big Bob's. Or maybe I just like Big Bob's sauce better. I got lots of end pieces though so no complaints here. Salt Lick -- Brisket and sausage. I got some pieces of the dreckle, yummy and fatty and tender, and quite good with their sauce but I think I like Southside's better. They did have thick, juicy sausage though. Fried pie -- Piping hot and coated with powdered sugar. Today they were selling 2 for $4! Unfair! But it was as good as yesterday. Rack & Soul -- Baby back ribs that were sauced well but not as tender as it could have been. I like 17th Street's better. Rack and Soul's was not as "falling off the bone" was it could have been. Mitchell's again -- Yes. My third time -- it's the only way to end. Blue Smoke blueberry pie -- Delicious, full of berries, and a nice sugary coating on top. I liked it better than the pecan. Strawberry lemonade from Eleven Madison Park -- so good, so expensive, I fall for it every time. Why can't I pay for it with my Bubba Pass? Grrr. I was able to squeeze more in by ditching bread, and only eating two or three bites of sides (baked beans are more filling than I'd realized) but it was still a struggle. Edited to add: I also didn't get to Jake's Boss BBQ from Boston, MA. There were people next to me eating it and they said it was merely "okay."

Interesting as last year it was more substantial food (Coleslaw, BBQ Potato Chips, Pulled Pork, Ribs, Black Pepper Sausage) and five wines. FG, how do you eat so much BBQ?! I struggled getting 4 plates + some desserts down yesterday. Do you only have a few bites and move on? Try to skip any bread products and sides?

I've uploaded my photographs from today onto Flickr: http://flickr.com/photos/kathryn/sets/7215...1211533/detail/ Mitchell's, Southside, 17th Street, Salt Lick, Rack & Soul, Hill Country, Big Bob Gibson, Jake's Boss, Proclamation Stew Crew, Blue Smoke desserts, Stehling Brothers Fried Pies Hoping to get to Baker's, Blackjack, Ubon's tomorrow, maybe Dinosaur. And Mitchell's again.

Just got home from day one. Weather was nice -- a little muggy but not too hot, not too sunny. I had a Bubba Fast Pass and the longest line I had to wait in was for 17th Street (baby back ribs). This line was 20 minutes tops. The punch card system worked wonderfully. Even when there were about 50-75 people in the regular line, the Bubba line had about 5 people. I spent most of my time on Madison Ave. with the non-NYC BBQ joints. Eaten between noon and 5pm: Mitchell's Whole Hog sandwich and coleslaw -- absolutely delicious and full of little bits of cracklin. The guy chopping up the hog was offering up pieces of crackling to those in line. My favorite of the brunch. My god. The man is a genius. Southside Market brisket and spicy sausage -- fatty, flavorful brisket. Lovely. I'm not a big brisket fan and I really like this. Served with pickles, onions, cheese, white bread, sauce, and crackers and jalapeno pepper optional. And a nice, slightly spicy sausage. I folded it up with the slice of cheese, some onions, sauce in the white bread for a pseudo hot dog. 17th Street Baby Back Ribs and baked beans -- 4 ribs, all falling off the bone. A little messy as they were well-sauced. Fatty, juicy, perfect. The baked beans were sweet and tasty. Worth the wait in line but I remember them being slightly (just slightly) better last year when I got a piping hot serving. Big Bob Gibson's pulled pork shoulder and coleslaw -- I love their Championship Red sauce. It's sweet and not too tangy. Yum. I'll have to come back and try it with the Habanero. They had all their sauces out for people to try. Fried pie -- fried apple pie dumpling coated with powdered sugar. Served piping hot. No line whatsoever. Tasty. Pecan pie from Blue Smoke -- good. My boyfriend seemed to like it more than me. Limeade from Tabla -- Eh, too fizzy, not limey enough or strongly flavored at all.. $3. Strawberry lemonade from Eleven Madison Park -- delicious, tasty, bright red. Strong strawberry flavor. Large portion. Still, $6 is too expensive.

Anything that's not located in NYC will have long lines. There's a lot of new vendors this year, though, so it's hard to tell how people will react. But Salt Lick is always absurdly long -- I think it might consistently be the longest, for both days. I think their brisket is merely "good" but I've been out to their real location so I usually skip it. My "to do" list basically mirrors Ed Levine's: http://www.seriouseats.com/required_eating...o.html#comments There's also some Google Video material popping up: http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=big+...10&so=1&start=0

I FOUND THEM IN MANHATTAN! Thanks to a tip on the Chowhound board. The Indian grocery store is on the SE corner on 29th and Lex. I grabbed a case tonight around 7:30pm. I believe the store is called Spice Corner. They had 2 cases of mangoes left when I left; they looked banged up but all of my mangoes were fine. I think they were all Kesar.

Huh. Is mine wrong or did Salt Lick move? I coulda swore Salt Lick was on the corner of Madison and 26th when I walked past.