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Air’s Champagne Parlor is All About the Bubbly
Beer, wine and even cider bars abound in NYC, but Air’s Champagne Parlor is one of the few area drinkeries devoted to bubbly. To be fair, the Riddling Widow briefly preceded it, but owner Ariel Arce was actually beverage director during its tenure, as well as Birds & Bubbles before that, and Chicago’s Pops for Champagne (not to mention Grant Achatz’s exclusive, original The Office) before that. Meaning her reputation as queen of Cuvèe absolutely proceeds her.
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Where to Celebrate Oktoberfest 2017
If you’re already mourning the loss of summer, Oktoberfest is a reliable way to get you over the hump. Essentially spanning the duration of fall (kicking off on September 16th this year & extending all the way to October 31st, allowing revelers to seamlessly transition to Halloween), the 16 to 18-day festival is a giddy saturnalia of German culture…
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Spotlight on the Finalists for the 2017 Vendy Awards
As a fun challenge to the James Beard Awards, the Vendy ceremony — now in its 13th year — is dedicated to honoring the very best in street food. So here’s who’s in the running during the September 16th event at Governors Island; from an artisanal twinkie baker to an upstart french toast sandwich maker, to a Chinese meat skewer purveyor, whose been tapped for the Vendy Cup…
Most Recent Dish
Market Table's Foolproof Roasted garlic and thyme mashed potatoes
By Chef Mikey Price Ingredients 2 lbs. peeled and chopped Idaho potatoes 1 cup half and half 2 tbsp. butter 1 head roasted garlic (halved and meat removed) 3 sprigs fresh thyme (slightly toasted in 1 tsp. butter) PreparationBoil potatoes in salted water until fork tender. Drain off water and allow to rest for minute. Put potatoes through a ricer while still piping hot. Heat half and half with butter, roasted garlic, and thyme. Add to mashed potatoes along with...
Read MoreMulti-Tier Oven Rack
Sure the holiday ham or hen is the star of the show, but make room for the sides. What’s Christmas dinner without all the trimmings? Unless you have two ovens, cooking space is hard to come by. Here is the solution— the multi-tiered oven rack. This holds up to three levels of casserole dishes. Now you don’t have to play favorites. There is room for all you. And when the evening finally comes to an end, you can fold...
Read MoreQ & A with Franklin Becker
It’s a brave chef who would try to rescue a sinking restaurant. That’s just what Franklin Becker did when Gary Robins abruptly abandoned Sheridan Square a few months ago. Unfortunately, both the restaurant and its sister tapas bar, Tierra, were already too far gone and both soon closed. But Franklin Becker isn’t new to the chef shuffle or the sometimes fickle industry. Over the years, he’s managed to earn praise for his cooking at a number of restaurants. With...
Read MoreBraeburn
Bistrong overdirects his menu at Braeburn. 117 Perry St. between Hudson and Greenwich, (212) 255-0696 Open seven days; lunch, noon- 4 p.m.; dinner, 5:30-10:30 p.m. CUISINE: AmericanVIBE: Cozy corner spotOCCASION: First date, group dinnerDON’T-MISS DISH: Smoked brook trout, breast of duck, pumpkin cheescakePRICE: Appetizers, $12; entrées, $26; desserts, $6RESERVATIONS: Accepted The other day, I called Braeburn. The general manager answered, “Thank you for calling The Harrison.” Then he hung up, embarrassed. It was a natural mistake. Almost half the...
Read MoreBest of – Christmas Sweets
Momofuku Milk Bar207 2nd Ave (Corner of 13th St.)No Phone www.momofuku.comYou’d think David Chang would stumble or lose steam, but it doesn’t happen at Momomofuku Milk Bar. I mean really, what can’t this chef do well? Apparently, he knows his sweets as well as his bo ssam. Momofuku Milk’s baking some seriously good custards, soft serves and milkshakes. A Chang X-mas also means a towering chocolate chip cake (pictured right) — a giant mass of white cake, chocolate crumbs,...
Read MoreDish Up
Are you the type who doesn’t like food to touch? You know — the kind who won’t refuses to eat their chicken if it so much as brushes up against the mashed potatoes? The kind who cringes when the ketchup makes contact with your side of broccoli. I went through that phase as a child. But, apparently a few adults still suffer from this plate phobia. Not a problem with this invention, which comes in either a plate or...
Read MoreSeasonal Restaurant & Weinbar Sneaks onto the Scene
It’s not often a restaurant opens under the radar, but Seasonal Restaurant & Weinbar did just that this week. This Austrian-German restaurant quietly opened its doors on 58th Street in midtown — just a stone’s throw away from Park Blue (one of my favorite watering holes) — in the former 4 Fusion space. Co-owners and executive chefs Wolfgang Ban & Eduard Frauneder first met at the German Mission to the United Nations and have teamed up here on an...
Read MoreQ & A with Ryan Skeen
Ryan Skeen made quite an entrance with his lamb burger at Resto. Admittedly, some chefs are one-hit wonders. Not Skeen. This chef transformed Irving Mill — a restaurant that opened to universally negative reviews — into a respectable house of offal. The young chef first honed his skills at Cafe Boulud under Andrew Carmellini. But Resto’s Belgian menu gave us just a glimpse at Skeen’s potential. Irving Mill is a bigger stage stage and a much more formidable undertaking. Here,...
Read MoreRouge Tomate
10 E. 60th St., between Fifth and Madison; (646) 237-8977; Open seven days, noon-4:30 p.m., 5:30-10:30 p.m.; CUISINE: Modern American; VIBE: Glossy culinary spa; OCCASION Midtown lunch, business dinner, detox dining; DON’T MISS DISH: Arctic char, yellowjack crudo, rabbit with chestnut pasta; PRICE: Appetizers $10, entrees $20, desserts $10; RESERVATIONS Accepted in downstairs dining room. Different menu in upstairs cafe; both equally good. There are 393 calories in the rabbit Fleischnacke at Rouge Tomate. The nutritionist counted. How many...
Read MoreBest of New York — Asian Sweets
I’m not the only ones obsessed with Asian sweets. Just a few weeks ago — while we were scouting out the top pastry candidates– New York Magazine outlined their own guide to Asian candy. But having spent some time in Japan, I’ve discovered the fresh-baked pastries here are every bit as good. You just have to know where to find them… Katagiri224 E 59th Street, btwn. 3rd and 2nd Avenue(212) 755-3566This small Japanese market also stocks a selection of...
Read MoreQ & A with Heather Bertinetti
Heather Bertinetti used to clean bathrooms in a patisserie. Now — she’s the head pastry chef at Convivio. Not bad at all. Bertinetti studied at the Culinary Institute of America before landing jobs at Gramercy Tavern and per se. Nowadays, Bertinetti works alongside Michael White at both Alto and Convivio, juggling haute and rustic desserts. At Alto, she layers a homemade torrone with nougat semifreddo, hazelnut cake, and chocolate sauce. At Convivio, she takes a polished approach to Southern...
Read MoreMr. Jones Yakitori
Mr. Jones: A little swank with your yakitori. 243 E. 14th St., (212) 253-7670. Sun.-Wed., 5:30 p.m.-midnight; Thur.-Sat., 5:30 p.m.-2 a.m.; CUISINE: Traditional Japanese VIBE: Stealthy yakitori den; OCCASION: Night out, casual date; DON’T MISS DISH: Chicken wings, wagyu with wasabi, escolar with citrus sauce; PRICE: Appetizers $6; entrees $15; desserts, none; RESERVATIONS: Recommended Some people like to invent imaginary friends. Lesley Bernard likes to invent imaginary friends who design restaurants. He created Tillman’s, a Harlem soul lounge in...
Read MoreJohnny Iuzzini's Thanksgiving Dessert
By Pastry Chef Johnny Iuzzini Ingredients: 65 g Flour 1 tsp Baking soda 1/2 tsp Salt 3 Tbs Ginger, peeled, minced 2 Tbs Candied ginger, minced 3 Tbs Hazelnut crunchies 1 tsp Saigon cinnamon 1/2 tsp Allspice 1/2 tsp Clove 1/2 tsp Nutmeg 170 g Butter, room temp 110 g Sugar 100 g Brown sugar 2 ea Eggs 250 g Molasses 200 g Milk Ingredients for pumpkin mousse: 1200 g Roasted pumpkin pure 4 tsp Saigon cinnamon 1/2 tsp...
Read MoreBobby Flay's Pepper-Pomegranate Molasses Glazed Turkey
(Serves: 6-8) Ingredients: 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature 4 cloves roasted garlic 10 fresh sage leaves, chopped 1 teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1 1/2 cups pomegranate molasses ¼ cup prepared horseradish, drained 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard ½ teaspoon kosher salt 1 ½ teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper 1 fresh turkey, about 15 lbs 1 stick unsalted butter, softened Salt and freshly ground black pepper 4 cups homemade chicken stock or low sodium...
Read MoreAn All-Star Thanksgiving
Wish you could cook like America’s top chefs on Thanksgiving? You can come pretty close. New York’s most talented chefs have graciously share their best holiday recipes with us. From turkey to stuffing and dessert, we’ve Thanksgiving covered. First up… Stuffed Pumpkin with Swiss ChardBy Chef Daniel Boulud – adapted from a recipe prepared by his mother, Marie(Serves 10-12) Ingredients: 1 cheese pumpkin, approximately 10-12 pounds 1 kabocha squash (or butternut squash) 2 tbs. olive oil 1 small...
Read MoreAlain Ducasse's Simmered Autumn Vegetables with Pork Belly
This is the very dish I learned to cook with the chef just a few weeks ago. INGREDIENTS:(Serves 4)Vegetables 1 celery root 1/2 butternut squash 1/2 rutabaga 2 large sunchokes 2 carrots 4 fingerling potatoes 12 chestnuts 2 salsify 6 porcini mushrooms 1 lb trumpet mushrooms 12 pearl onions 8 breakfast radishes 1/2 Savoy cabbage 1 head of garlic Fruits 2 Fuji apples 1 Bartlett pear 1 bunch seedless green grapes 1 quince Other Ingredients: 1 lb. pork belly...
Read MorePimped Out Turkey Baster
It’s that turkey time of the year. Who doesn’t love Thanksgiving dinner? Eating it anyway. But someone’s gotta cook, so feast your eyes on the Cuisipro Dual Baster (pictured right.) This ingenious gadget has a shower head side to evenly coat the bird. Of course, there’s always those hard to reach spots on the bird, which is why you can switch it to the injector attachment to hit specific spots. It leaves the turkey moist and flavorful. Plus, it’s...
Read MoreQ & A with Alain Ducasse
There are very few drawbacks to being a restaurant critic. My one complaint is a life confined to the dining room. I can only speculate on what really happens behind kitchen doors where restaurants are concerned. But a couple weeks ago, I had the chance to sit down with Alain Ducasse. For me, that was a big deal. Ducasse is the most Michelin-starred chef in the world. He reigns over a kingdom of twenty-four restaurants, a batch of bakeries,...
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