Good kosher places

[alacarte]

I was inspired by this thread to try out Le Marais Wednesday night. I'd been to the downtown outpost, but never uptown (though now it's the only outpost).

I had the Steak-Frites-Salad plate, which made me happy. The waiter steered my husband to the "chef's surprise" platter. Had my suspicions about it, but it was a very tender cut of the outer round (whatever that is). It wasn't a very attractive cut, but it was very tasty.

We also had a salad of duck over frisee, which was wonderful, and a mixed charcuterie platter, which was not -- some rather chewy pates and chorizo. Walking out the door, I was chagrined to see one of the meats from the platter showcased under glass as "beef jerky." Yikes. I'll choose more wisely next time.

By the way...did anyone else notice the dessert on Shallot's menu called the "Black Hat"? (This is a name that some also use to refer to orthodox Jews, who tend to wear black hats. It's not really derogatory, though it's not exactly nice either. Does anyone else think this dessert was meant as an inside joke? )

[bloviatrix]

I was inspired by this thread to try out Le Marais Wednesday night. I'd been to the downtown outpost, but never uptown (though now it's the only outpost).

I had the Steak-Frites-Salad plate, which made me happy. The waiter steered my husband to the "chef's surprise" platter. Had my suspicions about it, but it was a very tender cut of the outer round (whatever that is). It wasn't a very attractive cut, but it was very tasty.

We also had a salad of duck over frisee, which was wonderful, and a mixed charcuterie platter, which was not -- some rather chewy pates and chorizo. Walking out the door, I was chagrined to see one of the meats from the platter showcased under glass as "beef jerky." Yikes. I'll choose more wisely next time.

By the way...did anyone else notice the dessert on Shallot's menu called the "Black Hat"?  (This is a name that some also use to refer to orthodox Jews, who tend to wear black hats. It's not really derogatory, though it's not exactly nice either. Does anyone else think this dessert was meant as an inside joke? )

Thanks for the heads up regarding the charcuterie. I've never ordered it, but my husband loves that stuff. I wonder though - how would the chorizo be for rendering the fat and using within a recipe? Any opinions?

The Black Hat at Shallots is a molten chocolate cake. Actually, it's not bad - I had it on sunday night. I didn't make that connection with the name. Very funny.

[alacarte]

Thanks for the heads up regarding the charcuterie. I've never ordered it, but my husband loves that stuff. I wonder though - how would the chorizo be for rendering the fat and using within a recipe? Any opinions?

[bloviatrix]

I bought merguez sausages from the butcher counter. When I rendered off the fat to saute vegetables for a white bean soup it smelled as if an animal had died in my kitchen. They don't always have the chorizo.

I'm on a quest to come up with a substitute for pancetta or bacon. Of course, since I've never tasted either, I'm not quite sure what the taste is. I'm guessing it's a salty, smokey taste.

[alacarte]

I bought merguez sausages from the butcher counter.  When I rendered off the fat to saute vegetables for a white bean soup it smelled as if an animal had died in my kitchen.  They don't always have the chorizo.

I'm on a quest to come up with a substitute for pancetta or bacon.  Of course, since I've never tasted either, I'm not quite sure what the taste is.  I'm guessing it's a salty, smokey taste.

ha ha ha!!!

I applaud your bravery and innovation.

I've never found an acceptable substitute either. The closest I've found is Stripples, a vegetarian soy faux-bacon product. But it's only good if you can add the product at the very last minute, and if it stays dry. Once it gets wet all the color and flavor just leeches out. So that rules out adding it to a soup or stew, it's just good for crumbling on top of pasta or salad.

Sometimes I'll see kosher beef/lamb/turkey sausages, but they tend to be full of sodium, nitrates, MSG, to the point where I wouldn't want to consume it.

[bloviatrix]

Those soy faux products scare me, so I've never tried them.

The butcher I shop at sometimes makes their own sausages. I tried them once in a white bean soup. It was several years ago, so I don't remember the result. Additionally, I walked by Fischer Brothers last week and they're making sausages as well. The one that stuck out was the smoked chicken and apple.

In LA there's a kosher sausage place called Jeff's Gourmet. I've eaten there and it's pretty good. Messy and fun to eat. Plus, they're generous with the carmelized onions. They ship to NY, but I haven't done it yet. My husband gave me a "are you out of your f'g mind" look when I suggested it to him.

[bloviatrix]

Just want to give an update on the NY Kosher restaurant scene.

Shallots closed several weeks ago. I read mention of this in Crains. We're not sure why. I assume the economy had a lot to do with it. Possibly, Box Tree was the final nail in the coffin.

It's my understanding that Josh's Place closed as well (I haven't walked north on B'way in awhile). Supposedly, they're still doing catering.

Mendy's is expanding at Grand Central Terminal. Currently, they offer only meat dishes - hotdogs, deli sandwiches, soups etc.. They plan on opening a second counter with dairy food. I'm not sure when they will open.

Blovie and I had dinner at Talia's which is a steakhouse on the UWS, at Amsterdam btw 92 and 93. The place was packed when we got there. It's very noisy. We split the prime rib for 2, which came perfectly cooked - black and blue. Nice char on the the outside, the inside started pink and graduated to red in the center. As sides we had the fries and carmelized onions. Fries were good dipped in the bernaise. There were also some lightly dressed greens on the plate. The meat comes out on the bone and they cut it table-side. To drink, we had a Barolo which was a nice accompaniment. For dessert, we split a slice of chocolate-banana cake.

I have 2 complaints. First, with the rolls, they served pats of margerine, which I think is gross. Why not have little bowls of excellent olive oil for dipping? Secondly, was that the meat could have been a little more flavorful.

Despite my complaints, I will go back again (I never eat the bread anyway). The bill came to about $90, which I don't think is bad. I would like try some of the other cuts of meat.

Finally, there was an interesting article in The Jewish Week about Alexandre Petard, the new chef at Box Tree. A frenchman, his previous position was at Jean-George. It was interesting to read about the challenges he faces working within the restrictions of kashrut, plus the additionally stringencies placed upon him by the mashgiach (kosher supervisor). As of now, they don't have the article on-line. If it shows up, I'll add a link.

[Suzanne F]

Bearnaise? How??

[alacarte]

Margarine is my guess. I had the same reaction when I saw Steak au Poivre on the menu.

Edited November 25, 2003 by alacarte (log)

[bloviatrix]

Bearnaise? How??

I assume margerine. But I don't really want to know. It tasted really good.

[bloviatrix]

In the past two weeks, Blovie and I have eaten out twice.

New Year's Eve we went to Il Patrizio which is dairy Italian. It's owned by the same people who own Haikara. I hadn't been there in several years since my last experience was pretty awful. But they've completely changed their menu and they're now making their own pastas. The food was actually pretty good. I had deep-fried artichokes as an appetizer and a papperdelle with wild mushrooms for a main. At this point I can't remember what everyone else ordered, but I tried two other appetizers and one other main. For dessert, Blovie and I split the ricottta cheesecake, which was light and lemony.

This past week we finally got to The Box Tree, which is now the fanciest and most upscale kosher place in NY. Basically, they took the old Box Tree, which had years of labor troubles, and kashered the kitchen. They made no changes to the dining rooms. It's a lovely, elegant, old world place. There are less than 100 seats, but they're further divided into many small dining rooms, each with no more than 6 tables, for a very intimate feel.

After our meal, the maitre d' offered to take us on a tour of the dining rooms. We had eaten in the Tiffany room, which has two stained glass windows made by L.C. Tiffany and a gold leaf ceiling. The bar area and upstairs are meant to feel like a belle epoque treehouse. And one room is a miniature of the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. When inside the restaurant, you forget that the bustling streets of NY are just outside. It's really like another world.

The service was excellent. But my one complaint is that they tacked on a service charge of 18% which wasn't stated anywhere.

The food was kind of old fashioned. I hoped that maybe the menu would have some interesting dishes, but they stuck with the duck l'orange, dover sole, steak au poivre, etc. I hope that as time goes on, the menu will be further expanded. For appetizers I ordered the salmon and tuna tatare with guacamole, Blovie ordered the sweetbreads. Both were good. I particularly liked the presentation of the sweetbreads as they plated them at the table out of a copper saucier. For mains, I had the duck l'orange on bok choy. I liked the contrast of the rich, sweet duck and the bitterness of the greens. Blovie went with the steak au poivre which came perfectly cooked - nice and rare.

Unlike many kosher places, they have a PC on staff. Blovie has a molten chocolate cake with vanilla "ice cream" - he didn't let me try any. I ordered the beingets and fritters. The beingets were flavored with orange blossom water. They were light. And there were two types of fritters - banana and pineapple. As an accompaniment was pineapple sorbet.

This is place that we will go to for special occasions. I hope to dine at The Branch, which has more casual dining in the bar area for lunch. Some of their offerings look yummy.

For those of you who entertain, this is a good place to take people who keep kosher. Many of the patrons were in mixed groups.

[Pan]

Thanks for the reports, Bloviatrix. Where are these places located, and if it's not too rude to ask, what kinds of prices are we talking?

I think the 18% service charge is dumb because I usually leave more than 18% but might be less likely to if forced to include an additional 18% in the regular bill, ridiculous as that sounds and really is.

[bloviatrix]

Box Tree is on E. 49th btw 2nd and 3rd. I agree about the service charge. We would have given more than 18% if it hadn't been tacked. There was room for an additional tip, but we felt that one of the few mis-steps of the evening was that no where did they alert to the fact that they add a service charge. Our bill was slightly over $200. I ordered two glasses of wine. Blovie wasn't drinking that night.

Il Patrizio is on 63rd just east of 3rd Ave. Apps topped out at $10. Pastas were no more than $18 and fish probably $25. To be honest, I wasn't paying much attention to prices but they're in line with the prices at other dairy places of its ilk.

[Pan]

Thanks a lot. The prices at Il Patrizio don't sound outrageous at all for a kosher restaurant. Box Tree is really upscale but it sounds like it was enjoyable and worth it to you.

Edited January 12, 2004 by Pan (log)

[bloviatrix]

I forgot another quasi new place - Piece of Cake on Lex, it's diagonally across the street from the 92nd st Y heading south). They're a bakery, but they also serve food. The place has been around for awhile, but just recently received supervision. I've had "snacks" there, no real food. The chocolate sour cream pound cake was outrageously rich. And they have really good chocolate chunk cookies. Nice looking and tasting cupcakes according to my friend A. It's convenient to the Y if you want some coffee beforehand.

[bloviatrix]

Blovie and I re-visited Prime Grill last night for a belated birthday dinner. If you're looking for a quiet, intimate dinner (or you're entertaining people who have hearing problems) this is not the place for you. Jews tend to be a noisy people and this room was extremely noisy. On the other hand, they have outdoor seating, which in evening might be quieter (but it's 49th street which is a bus route).

Anyway, we split an appetizer of barbecued duck spring rolls, which I was a little disappointed with. I thought the duck was going to be smoked. But it wasn't. Rather it was shredded duck wrapped and deep fried with barbecue sauce for dipping.

I ordered the hanger steak which is supposedly chili -rubbed (I didn't pick it the flavor). I enjoyed it enormously. The meat was tender and flavorful and perfectly cooked - pink to red in throughout. Blovie ordered the 22 oz Rib Eye. His came perfectly rare as well. -- according to him it's one of the best pieces of meat he's ever eaten. I had a small sample and the meat had a great beefy taste and was almost buttery on the finish.

Each serving came with fried onions -- imagine the canned Durkee onions, but fresh right out of the deep-fryer. They were addictive. There were also some greens. We order a side of fries, and there were also excellent. They were on the well done side so they had a great crunch to them. They actually reminded me a bit of potato chips.

We were stuffed so decided to skip dessert.

The bill came to about $100 for 1 app, 2 mains and a single glass of wine.

[Pan]

Thanks a lot for the review, Blov.

[Mulcahy]

A friend called and invited my husband and me ot join her and her fiance for dinner at Solo, the new kosher restaurant in the Sony building, last night. We were there as invited guests of the ownership group and "guinea pigs" so we were eating free and were asked to leave written feedback. We were told we could each order an appetizer, main course, and desert. None of us keeps kosher (only two of us were Jewish) and it was the first time in a kosher restaurant for three of us.

The space is quite beautiful. As you walk in the bar is to the right, with a few stools. The front wall, facing out to the Sony courtyard, is glassed in with (I'm going way out on a limb here) lucite or something to block the view of the courtyard. There is a very large chefs table in the kitchen which I think is reserved for members of their private club.

Two of the group had the house cocktails, which appeared to be either raspberry or mango flavored mimosas. They liked them very much. I thought the raspberry was a bit heavily flavored.

Appetizers: I had the sweetbreads with a sauternes "sweet and sour" (quotes are mine) sauce, pickled ramps, and crispy lemon polenta cakes. The sweetbreads were fabulous, they had been lightly sauteed or fried. The sauce was a bit overpowering and I ended up ignoring it (it was squiggled over the plate). The polenta cakes were deliciously crispy and zesty. My husband had the tuna tartare, which had been molded into a round disk about two inches high, was served with some kind of wasabi (I think) spread on the top and also with tobiko. It was very good. The tuna was fresh and flavorful. The sesame crisp served with it lacked salt. One friend had the gnocchi which were served with fava beans (or peas -- can't remember) and smoked portobello mushrooms. Really nice flavors mized together. Gnocchi, however, were too fluffy, they needed a bit more firmness. The other friend had duck prosciutto over greens with candied walnuts. I hated this dish (I thought the proscuitto lacked flavor and didn't go with the walnuts). He loved it, ate every bite.

Entrees: Two had the steak. They were excellent and perfectly cooked. The Lyonnais potatoes served with the steak needed salt. The onion rings were good, but they got cold and soggy on the plate way too fast. I had the veal loin which was enormous but very well cooked. It was served with a horribly misguided brocoli crouton and fava beans and sweetbreads in some kind of sauce. The crouton needed salt. The fava beans and sweetbreads were inedibly salty. The last of our party had the sole which was served with brocolli rabe and received universal approval from all of us for texture and flavor.

Desserts: I had a strawberry napoleon which was really good. It was served with puff pastry and vanilla ice cream (I imagine it was not real ice cream, but it was really tasty). Hubby had the apple tart which he loved but said needed more apple. The other two had the chocolate ganache tart and the molten chocolate cake, which were chocolaty and wonderful.

Service: The service was good with some glitches due to a) inexperience and b) the fact that the restaurant has barely opened to the public. The glitches occured when we sat down and waited a very long time for our drinks and then a very long time for someone to take our order. Also the waiter had an odd habit of explaining exactly what was in the dish and the presentation after someone had ordered it. The front of house staff was, well, a bit standoffish. Which is weird, given that we were "invited guests." The bartender was competent.

I think they will improve after they have been open a few months and worked out some of the kinks. The dining room was 65% full last night and they had a party seated at the chef's table and I am not entirely sure they were ready. I have zero idea what the prices on things were since I wasn't paying, but when I looked at the menu it seemed moderately expensive to me. $30 entrees and $12 apps, I think.

Generally it was a good meal with some notable standouts (the apps and the steak) and I would recommend it heartily to kosher friends. I guess the key question is, would I go back even though I don't keep kosher? Probably, but my hesitation might have more to do with location than the restaurant. If it were in my neighborhood, I would.

[alacarte]

Thanks for the thorough review, Mulcahy!

Is Solo in the space that used to house Shallots?

[Mulcahy]

The Times says a restaurant named Saffron was in the space.

Food Stuff

[bloviatrix]

The Times says a restaurant named Saffron was in the space. 

Food Stuff

The Times is wrong on the name. It was Shallots.

Thanks for your review. Good sweetbreads are always a plus. I'm thinking Blovie and I will dine there for our anniversary in August.

Edited June 9, 2004 by bloviatrix (log)

[Pan]

Mulcahy, I enjoyed your review, too. One little question: What is tobiko?

[alacarte]

Mulcahy, I enjoyed your review, too. One little question: What is tobiko?

I believe it's a crunchy seaweed product -- if you've ever had a "crunchy spicy tuna roll," tobiko is what gives it the crunch.

[Mulcahy]

Thanks, Pan. Glad you enjoyed the review. Tobiko is flying fish roe. It's tiny little red eggs.

[Pan]

Thanks, Mulcahy. I've had those before.