Joler in NYC

[joler]

I really do wish I had a better handle on the English language and could write as eloquently as some of you do, but despite my short-comings as a writer, I thought I'd fill you in on my trip to NYC in hope that I can offer something of value to anyone planning a visit. My trip was altogether too brief, but began at the Iroquois Hotel at 49 W. 44th Street. I would highly recommend this hotel www.iroquiosny.com. I was able to score a 30% discount by booking my room on Expedia.com. The hotel is located directly across from "The Royalton" and just a couple of doors down from Daniel Boloud's db Bistro Moderne. I didn't get a chance to try the Bistro, but I can tell you the menu looked fabulous. The bar at the Royalton is a great place for an "after-shopping" cocktail and our bartender Eric, from Brazil, was extremely friendly and entertained us with his portfolio of photographs from a recent trip he took to India.

In fact, everyone in the city was just exceptionally nice...except maybe for the cab drivers, but that's another story.

Our first "foodie stop" was at JB Prince, a chef supply store in mid-town. The store is located at 36 E. 31st Street on the eleventh floor. They have a great selection of garde manger tools, but there are not really any great bargains to be had here if that's what you're looking for. If you are interested in checking them out, keep in mind that they are not open on Saturdays, but if you can't make it to the shop, you can order on-line at www.jbprince.com.

My friend had never been to Chinatown so we made that our lunch destination on the day of our arrival. Warning! - a lot of the Chinatown restaurants I'd read about on-line were no longer in business. So we ended up picking a spot at 27 Mott Street with a sign outside that just said "Dim Sum". It was a great pick. We sampled delicious mixed Seafood with Lemongrass, shrimp and ginger, and scallop dumplings from the first cart. An item they called "Chicken Pie" was actually bite sized pillows of a flaky crust filled with roasted barbecued chicken and topped with black sesame seeds. Chicken dumplings were highly seasoned with ginger and bits of carrot and chive were evident in the filling. There were many items we did not try, but the only one we didn't care for was the pork, which tended to be a little bit fatty. Our meal including green tea came to $17 and we walked away completely stuffed.

Marathon shopping helped us walk off our dim sum lunch in short time. We found ourselves in Soho at a great kitchen shop at the corner of Mercer and Broome (sorry I can't recall the name). Not many bargains here either, but they were closing out on some nice Mandolines for $99. This store has just about anything you could possibly think of to want for the kitchen. I was really impressed just by the pastry/cake decorating section - all types of sugars, molds, tips, pans of every size and shape imaginable.

Just a few blocks away on Spring Street is Ceci Cela, a French Patisserie that I took note of from E-gullet when one of the forum members wrote that they had the best croissants in the city. I felt compelled to judge for myself and ordered a chocolate croissant. It was delicious, buttery and flaky with a huge slab of chocolate in the center. However, I was even more impressed by the petit fours in the case. They also had some fabulous looking napoleans and whimsical chocolate mice. I would've liked to try one of each, but I was saving myself for Rice To Riches, located just a couple of doors down.

Rice to Riches is easily spotted because it's white, contemporary exterior is quite a contrast from the older buildings surrounding it. Inside there are just a few tables available for seating and the right side of the dining room is occupied by a glass front case displaying numerous varieties of rice pudding (think Funky Baskin Robbins) www.ricetoriches.com. The service staff was happy to offer samples of any flavors you wanted to taste. First I tried Italian Marscapone with Dried Cherries, smooth and creamy, but too sweet for my taste. White chocolate Orange was the "featured flavor" of the day and the tang of orange helped add contrast to the creaminess of the pudding. I also tried Pistachio Sage, an interesting combination, but not something I could eat much of. I finally settled on Maple with dried blueberry. I split a bowl with my companion and honestly, I don't think I could've eaten one by myself. The pudding is tasty, very creamy and served cold, but it is not the consistency of the rice pudding I grew up with. Too much pudding and not enough rice, in my opinion. And very, very rich. But they seemed to be doing a great business.

I started making restaurant reservations 2 weeks prior to my trip and still was unable to get anything earlier than 8:30. This presented a small problem since we scored some 1/2 price theater tickets to Man of LaMancha which began at 8:00. One of the places I'd reserved was Esca, a Mario Batalli restaurant on 42nd and 9th Ave., just a few blocks from the theater. I called them and explained our predicament and they were gracious enough to reserve us 2 seats at the bar at 6:30. (Now that there is no smoking allowed at NY Bars, eating at the bar was really pleasant!) The atmosphere is calming, peach tones and light wood. The bar is comfortable and features 8" barrier of crushed ice.

I had just read an article in Food and Wine Magazine about Prosecco, the Italian sparkling wine, and I had never tried it so, we started with that. I did not take note of the specific vintage, there was only one offered by the glass ($8). It was very pale in color, and lightly effervescent, clean, light and dry - very refreshing. Victor, our waiter, started us out with an amuse bouche of White Bean Bruschetta and some a small bowl of black olives resting in some very fragrant, floral, olive oil accompanied by a slice of rustic Italian bread and a slice of foccacia. I should mention here that the menu at Esca changes daily and is divided into sections: Appetizers Uncooked, Appetizers Cooked, Pastas, Entrees, and Desserts. The specialty of the house is Octopus, so we started with an appetizer of grilled octopus - 2 large tentacles served atop a ring of frisee with large white beans and preserved lemons. The plate was drizzled with a rosemary vinaigrette. I am not a fan of anything chewy or rubbery so I have to admit I was hesitant to try it, but this was an absolutely delicious dish. The octopus was not fishy in the least, nice grill marks on one side and firm, very white flesh on the other. It was almost the consistency of a very firm scallop with a similar flavor.

For an entree, my friend and I shared a dish of Linguine with Mahogany clams, tiny slivers of proscuitto, sliced garlic, and chilis. It arrived with about a dozen small clams, the pasta was cooked with the perfect "bite" and the chilis gave a nice contrast to the saltiness of the dish. The sommelier paired an Italian Coastal red from their extensive list to go with our dish, again I did not make note of the vintage.

For dessert, we chose a selection of 4 cheeses served with a pear and red wine compote. A tray of biscotti was presented compliments of the house. All in all, a really enjoyable meal.

Our first destination on Saturday morning was planned for The Hell's Kitchen Flea Market at 39th and 9th Avenue. The market opens at 9:00 on Saturdays, but we were up a little early so we stopped at the Cupcake Cafe at 522 9th Ave. for a cup of coffee and a HUGE Glazed Sweet Potato donut - light and airy and with enough icing to send you directly into a diabetic coma. My friend opted for the Blueberry coffeecake, which was a light cake made with corn flour and topped with an abundance of blueberries. The real attraction here is of course, the cupcakes. The case is filled with beautifully decorated cakes and cupcakes. A nine inch layer cake adorned with an absolutely gorgeous array of icing flowers (forsythia, pansies, daffodils, roses, daisies, and just about every other flower imaginable) is priced at $30. Twelve inch layer cakes are $100 and small cupcakes are $2.

The Hell's Kitchen Flea Market is worth seeking out, but I think the vendors were less plentiful this past weekend because of the 9th Avenue Street Festival, which stretched from 39th to 59th Streets along 9th Avenue. How lucky we were! Anyone who has ever been to a NY Street Festival knows how great the smells are and this was no exception. Ah the food! Italian sausages with peppers and onions, whole baby pigs spit roasted, french crepes filled with fresh strawberries and nutella, souvlaki, Thai noodles, really, just about every kind of ethnic food imaginable. I never realized though, what a "foodie" paradise 9th Ave. is and I really regret that I didn't take better advantage of it while I was living in Manhattan several years ago. One stop you really should make is The Amish Market at 49th and 9th, it is the most incredible store, filled with fabulous produce, cheeses, sausages, you name it.

Saturday night we were very excited to have reservations at The Tasting Room. I had read so many high praises for it on e-gullet.com, I knew I was in for a treat and I was not disappointed. We arrived a little early so went scouring the neighborhood for a spot for a pre-dinner cocktail and went a few doors up to "The Elephant" www.theelephantrestaurant.com. I wish I could've had more time in the city so I could go back and try the food at The Elephant - the menu was a fusion of French-Thai-Vietnamese and the atmosphere in the tiny restaurant was funky and fun with huge bags of jasmine rice piled in the center of the dining room. There were several nice wines available by the glass and our bartender was generous enough to pour us a complimentary cocktail "for the road" before we headed off for dinner.

I knew the Tasting Room was a small restaurant, but I had never imagined that it would seat only 25 people (and that would be crowded). It is a pretty little place though with a huge window looking out at the tree lined sidewalk. Each menu item is offered as a "Taste" (appetizer portion) or a "Share" (entree-sized). We wanted to try as much as possible so we ordered 3 taste portions and 2 shares to split among 3 of us and then tried 3 desserts. All of the wines are from California and our waiter selected a Shiraz to pair with our dinner. We were really pleased to meet the Chef, Jason, when he came out to our table and introduced himself. I cannot do descriptive justice to the food so let me just say that it was all wonderful and it is "all about the sauce". The sauces were fabulous. For our "tastes" we sampled Roasted Foie Gras, and a Mushroom Tart (which was really more of a mushroom stew in a foamy lobster broth topped with a circle of pastry). Our favorite though, was the skate which was served with mussels, peas, and pearl onions. Our entree selections were Soft Shelled Crabs and the Roasted Squab with Fiddleheads. My only complaint about the meal is that I would've liked the skin on the squab to be more crispy, as it is very fatty like duck. But that is just a personal preference. Our favorite dessert by far was the panna cotta with rhubarb soup and basil - the basil really evened out the contrast between the creamy panna cotta and the tart rhubarb soup. The cheese tray offered 6 farmhouse cheeses (a nicer selection than we had at Esca the previous evening) and the olive oil and wine cake topped with fresh strawberries and served with creme fraiche was surprisingly light.

Sunday night, after a great day at the Storm King Art Center (www.stormkingartcenter.org) I dined with friends out in Ridgefield Connecticut, a great pit fire, grilled chipotle burgers with avacado and tomatoes, corn on the cob and lots of red wine, and great conversation. No room for improvement there.

"Menton1", an e-gullet correspondent, recommended we try a French Bistro in Queens prior to visiting the Matisse/Picasso exhibit, but unfortunately our Museum tickets were for Monday, not Sunday as we originally thought and with me flying out at 2:30, we only had time for a quick bagel. (But then, there's nothing quite like a New York Bagel is there?)

Thanks to all e-gulleters for your suggestions, I hope I've been able to offer something here in return.

[bigbear]

Good read. Thanks.

[tommy]

that read just fine. you hit some good spots, and it sounds like you had a great time. good for you.

one note, that may or may not be important to people reading along: the Tasting Room's wine list is strictly american, rather than californian.

[Suzanne F]

Joler, you need never apologize for your writing. Excellent report. Very happy you liked NY and NYers.

The kitchenware store you stopped at in Soho is Broadway Panhandler. They do have some good bargains on AllClad and Le Creuset. Also reachable online: panhandle here.

[anil]

Nice to read sooo many nice things about our city. Very enjoyable read.

Edited May 21, 2003 by anil (log)

[Pan]

I really do wish I had a better handle on the English language and could write as eloquently as some of you do

If you wrote more eloquently, you'd probably be a famous writer.

Great writing!

[joler]

thanks for the flattery

[elyse]

Yes, joler, a very nice read. I'm afraid you write better than I.

[joler]

Exposure to this site has already helped - so many great writers here. I get hungry just reading.

Glad you like it because next stop is....Emeril's Tchoup Chop in Orlando in early June. I will try to take better notes next time..or drink less wine.

[alacarte]

I will try to take better notes next time..or drink less wine. 

Go for the better notes.

thanks for the stories, this was fun to read. I only discovered Rice to Riches two days ago -- who knew an entire store could be dedicated to rice pudding! I couldn't believe my eyes. Glad to know that someone else saw the joint too, I thought I was hallucinating.

[elyse]

Notes are fine. Drink the wine!

[joler]

Somebody needs to start a Bread Pudding restaurant.

[Suzanne F]

Somebody needs to start a Bread Pudding restaurant. 

At least that could be a whole meal, with both savory and sweet versions.

Okay, who wants to ante up a few thou (each) so that we can get it going?

[alacarte]

I'm in! Maybe we can name it "Trifle."

[joler]

How about Dough to Blow (get it? Rags to Rices...)

[elyse]

How about Dough to Blow (get it?  Rags to Rices...) 

You'd be closed down by the porn narcs.