New York's Best Sausages

With spring less than a month away, we’ve started gearing up for baseball games and cook-outs with the quintessential outdoor food, the hot dog.  Or, as they call it in Germany, the saucisson frankfurt.  Though we wished winter would disappear, we’re already feeling nostalgic for its comfort foods, namely hearty sausages.   Sure, a basic frank has been around forever, but the city’s repertoire of sausages has boomed over the past few years.  From boudin blanc to Spanish chorizo and bratwurst, New Yorkers can sample encased, seasoned meats from all over the world.  If you’re looking for a one-stop shop, Daniel Boulud’s Bowery eatery offers an impressive selection of global sausages and that’s just one possibility.  There’s Vietnamese sausages at Baoguette, Thai sausages at Lotus of Siam and Malaysian-style sausages at Fette Sau in Williamsburg to name a few.   Check out some of our favorite sausages this season.

DBGB – Beaujolais

Address: 299 Bowery, btwn. Houston & First Streets
Phone: (212) 933-5300
The most laid-back of all Boulud’s restaurants, DBGB certainly takes its sausages seriously.  There’s over twelve kinds on the menu and France’s famed sausages are just the tip of the iceberg.  There’s the “Thai” sausage made of pork, lemongrass and red curry in chili sauce, “Espagnole,” chorizo with piperade and basil oil as well as “Tunisienne” with lamb & mint merguez, chickpeas, and yogurt.  But of course, it wouldn’t be true Boulud  without French saucisson, like the “Beaujolais,” made with a pork sausage, marinated in red wine and studded with bacon, mushrooms and onions.

Locanda Verde – Duck sausage
Address: 377 Greenwich St., at N. Moore St.
Phone: (212) 925-3797 
In a city with so many Italian restaurants, it’s nearly impossible to stand out from the masses.  That is, unless your Andrew Carmellini.   A classically trained chef, Andrew Carmellini applies his talents and technique to Italian classics.  The results are deliciously gratifying — lamb meatballs, fettuccine verde in white bolognese and his signature ravioli.  But our favorite dish (by a large margin) is the homemade duck sausage (pictured right), simultaneously juicy, spicy & sweet.  It comes tossedwith orecchiette pasta, cheese and broccoli rabe, but honestly it would be terrific on its own.

Peels – Sausage Gravy Biscuit
Address: 325 Bowery, near 2nd Street
Phone: (646) 602-7105
A warm southern welcome is in order for this Bowery newcomer, which bakes some wonderfully flaky biscuits.  The kitchen’s forte is brunch, with the likes of countrified egg dishes and sandwiches. One of our favorites is the biscuits and sausage gravy. Peels manages to up the ante on this Southern staple by adding a poached egg. The only problem is we always feel like crawling back in bed after breakfast.

Despana – Chorizo Bocadillo
Address: 408 Broome St.
Phone: (212) 219-5050
Some of New York’s biggest chefs are fans of this Spanish specialty store and you might want to get in on the action.  There’s a excellent selection of Spanish charcuterie, particularly chorizo — a smoked pork sausage dosed with garlic and pepper. You can buy it by the pound or served on ciabatta bread with Manchego and olive oil  This pressed sandwich is called a bocadillo and its only $8.50 — a steal considering the quality of the ingredients.

Little Morocco – Merguez sandwich
Address:24-39 Steinway St. (Queens)
Phone: (718) 204-8118
If anybody knows how to make great merguez sausage, it’s the owner of Little Morocco. That’s because Casablanca-born owner, Magid Atif, learned how to make this lamb sausage from the butchers in his home town.  You’d worry his bare bones eatery might get lost on a street crowded with Middle Eastern and North African restaurants, his lamb sausages, spiced with lots of paprika, draws lines.  If you’re in the neighborhood, try one on a hero roll with a chopped salad and lots of harissa.

Lioni’s Deli – “Rocky Graziano” Sausage Hero
Address: 7819 15th Ave. (Brooklyn)
Phone: (718) 232-7852  
This 40-year-old Italian deli is a piece of old-school Brooklyn, long before Brooklyn became a catch phrase and Michelin made its way over the Brooklyn bridge.  Lioni’s features a whopping 150 heroes, overstuffed with everything from hot turkey to eggplant parmigiana with cutesy names, like the Dean Martin and even Tony Danza.  But number 39 is the one to order: It’s called the Rocky Graziano and it’s layered with spicy pork sausage, housemade mozzarella and Lioni’s signature bruschetta topping.

Fette Sau – Berkshire Sausage
Address: 354 Metropolitan Ave. (Brooklyn)
Phone: (718) 963-3404
This Williamsburg spot is not your average barbecue joint. For starters, the menu features dishes, like red curry duck and pulled lamb shoulder with goat yogurt in a house pita. Fette Sau offers global barbecue, kissed by a wood-fired smoker to flavorful effect.  Think beef brisket with pickled red onion and bone broth or our favorite, the smoked pork and fennel sausage, which chef Matt Lang typically sources from local Italian butchers. And make sure to order a Brooklyn Brown ale on tap to go with your local sausage.

Zum Stammisch – Bratwurst
Address: 69-46 Myrtle Ave(Queens)
Phone: (718) 386-3014
One of the most well-known German foods, bratwurst is German for pork sausage and a beer to wash it down is pretty much implied.  In our opinion, no one makes better German sausage in these parts than Zum Stammisch.   The menu at this Queens tavern is packed with German classics and we suggest you start with a goulash soup make your way to bratwurst with a side of potato dumplings. And if you’re really hungry, try the rather intimidating, bratwurst patty topped with ham and Swiss cheese, and served on an English muffin with a side of potato salad.

Baoguette
Chinese Sausage With Sticky Rice
Address: 61 Lexington Ave., btwn. 25th
& 26th Sts.
Phone: (212) 532-1133 
You never know what to expect from Michael Bao, who’s empire of Vietnamese eateries seems to change with the seasons. Baoguette sandwich shop’s lasted longer than most of his eateries and that’s due in large part, to the pull of banh mi.   There is one delicious exception and that’s the Chinese sausage, served with chicken and sticky rice.  Where to begin?  The chunks of sausage are fried to crispy perfection and sprinkledwith scallions and jus. They’re so addictive we wish Michael Bao would bag them and sell them to every corner store. But until we can buy Baogette’s Chinese sausage in bulk, we’ll take comfort in the fact that it’s a pretty generous portion that you can savor throughout the day.