Dean & DeLuca’s Eat, Drink, Speak: A Series (Featuring Julia Turshen)

560 Broadway

(between Prince and Spring Streets)

On Thursday, December 1st, as part of their Eat, Drink, Speak series, Dean & DeLuca’s Soho location featured a discussion with author and chef Julia Turshen.

 

Julia Turshen was promoting her first solo book Small Victories: Recipes, Advice, and Hundreds of Ideas for Home-Cooking Triumphs.. One may not recognize her name, but she has coauthored many well-known cookbooks, including Gwyneth Paltrow’s It’s All Good and Marja Vongerichten’s The Kimchi Chronicles. She’s also written for a variety of magazines and newspapers, including Vogue, Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.

 

The discussion was led and moderated by Alison Roman (below right): a freelance food writer, whose credits include having been a Senior Food Editor for Bon Appétit.

It was obvious that Turshen and Roman had an easy rapport. So the conversation was light and casual, followed by a Q&A with the audience. Some interesting tidbits: the photography for the book was completed in just three days at Turshen’s upstate home; her favorite recipe is the chicken soup featured on the book’s cover as it was inspired by her aunt; she considers the anchovy an underappreciated ingredient.

 

After the discussion and Q&A (which lasted a total of about 45 minutes), the store offered a tasting of some of Turshen’s recipes:

Julia’s Caesar with Gorgeous Crudité.  Light and healthy!

Big Bowl of Potato Chips with Roasted Scallion & Chive Dip. The dip was delicious!

Dates with Mascarpone. I especially liked to ones wrapped with prosciutto. Yum!

And we finished our tasting with Feel-Better-Soon Cookies. Very moist and chewy—like the best cookies should be!

The event was held at the back of the store and free for all to attend. It also was also being featured live on Facebook. Overlooking the action, was a deer head!

Pros:

Events are free.

Cons:

Chaotic when the discussion ended and the tasting began. For example, one attendee planted herself at one of the food tables and basically ate an entire bowl of crudité on her own.

Final Thoughts

Would attend another event depending upon the discussion and featured chef.

Momofuku Nishi (REVISTED)

232 Eighth Avenue

(between 21st Street and 22nd Street)

Since its initial opening, Momofuku Nishi has made several changes.

They are now open for lunch (12 p.m. to 3 p.m. Mon.–Fri.), and they have decided to do away with their “No Tipping” policy.

Which means that their signature Ceci e Pepe dish (renamed to the simpler and easier-to-remember “Butter Noodle”) is now $19 as opposed to its original $24 price.

And the price reduction did not mean a reduction in the quality of the dish at all. Still delicious and in spite of appearing to be a rather small serving, it is still ideal for sharing.

As a matter of fact, that is one aspect that hasn’t changed. The restaurant still encourages that all of their dishes be shared.

With that in mind, we ordered two new items on their menu. For the appetizer, we went for the mandoo ($14): pork wontons in chili vinegar. Warning: VERY spicy.  So spicy that it overwhelms the wonton making it rather tasteless.

And as an additional entrée, the skate wing ($26), served with cauliflower, brown butter, and lemon. The skate was probably our favorite part of the meal. The fish was completely deboned and meaty and flavorful.

For dessert, we were disappointed to learn that they no longer offered their famed pistachio cake (even though it’s featured quite prominently as part of the décor).

With only three options, we decided to go with our server’s recommendation: the butterscotch cake with whipped cream ($10). I found it a bit dry, even with the whipped cream.

To accompany our meal, they offered half carafes of their house white, red, and rosé ($30). We went with their half-carafe rosé, which was from Provence and had a nice, dry, light taste.

 

Pros:

Friendly service.

Comfortable atmosphere.

No longer hour-long waits. We arrived at 8 p.m. (considered prime-time for dinner in NYC) on a Thursday night and were seated right away.

Cons:

Pricey.

Wished they offered a greater variety in their desserts, especially since Milk Bar has opened several doors down.

Final Thoughts

Will return to try their lunch menu as it includes many items that are not offered on their dinner menu. Such as: their famed “Impossible Burger” (touted as a vegetarian burger) and a variety of ramen noodle dishes.

Taste (the Best of New York)

On Tuesday, November 1, 2016, New York magazine’s “Taste” event showcased tastings from over 40 of the best restaurants in NYC. The below are just a few that were sampled!

 

Sauvage: venison tartare with oysters, sour turnips, and rye.

Colonie: carrot with smoked ricotta, pumpkin seeds, radish, and carrot-top salsa.

Sen Sakana: torched wild king salmon, choclo, yuzu, and leche de tigre.

Tuome: noodles with snow crab and dashi butter.

Blue Smoke: seven-pepper rubbed brisket.

O Ya: hamachi sashimi with Vietnamese mignonette, fried shallots, Thai basil.

Rotisserie Georgette: house-made Thai chicken sausage, espelette pepper aioli.

Aureole: Pacific hamachi crudo with kohlrabi, passion fruit, kiwi, and shiso.

The Meatball Shop: beef meatballs with tomato sauce and grated grana padano.

 

Momosan Ramen: momosan laksa tantan ramen.

Perry St: charred foie gras and duck ravioli, dried sour cherries, sweet potatoes, and rosemary chili vinaigrette.
 

Zuma: saikyo miso brioche with wagyu tartare and salsify chips.

Bar Primi: rigatoni with mushroom masala ragu.

Paowalla: kerala-style banana leaft rock salmon.

 

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que: mini half-brisket sliders.

Casa Lever: braised beef ossobuco, seared saffron risotto, bone-marrow sauce.

 

Schilling: pot au feu terrine with shaved crudité and pumpkin seed vinaigrette.

 

L’Amico: autumn squash risotto, sage brown butter, aged balsamic.

 

Note the giant wheel of Parmigiano-Reggiano!

 

Le Coq Rico: poached egg with bacon and mushrooms in a red-wine reduction.

 

Vaucluse: grilled leeks with toasted almonds, anchovy, egg bottarga, and mustard vinaigrette.

Bodega Negra at Dream Downtown: pork belly carnitas tacos with salsa verde and chicharrón.

Pig-o’lantern!

 

Ribalta: gnocchi al tartufo.

 

Crave Fishbar: Faroe Island salmon crudo, Chinese longbeans, shallots, fresno chili ginger.

Seamore’s: tuna poke with avocado, peanuts, and ponzu sauce.
 

Cookshop: house-made bresaola, bayley hazan blue cheese pears, and spiced walnuts.

Amada: soft-scrambled egg, uni, and piperade.

 

2nd City: tuna poke with miso, pickled onion, and coconut rice.

Oiji: saam with spicy pork, leek salad with cilantro and sesame dressing.

 

Massoni: cacio e pepe cannoli.

 

Bouchon Bakery: grilled cheese and tomato soup.

Some dessert offerings were:

La Sirena: torta nocciola, milk chocolate, hazelnut, and passion fruit.

 

Betony: apple tart with lacto-fermented cinnamon apples, vanilla cremeux, and celery.

Gotham Bar & Grill: vanilla semifreddo with mango, passion fruit, and coconut sorbet.

 

Gramercy Tavern: peanut butter and concord grape doughnuts.

 

The Clocktower: Mont-blanc of chestnut, whiskey, cassis, and Chantilly.

Maialino: rum-soaked cake, poached pears, and crema.

 

Marta: negroni freeze pops—campari, gin, carpano antica, grapefruit juice, and orange juice.

Some personal faves were Tuome’s noodles, Blue Smoke’s seven-pepper rubbed brisket, Bar Primi’s rigatoni, Le Coq Rico’s poached egg, Massoni’s cacio e pepe cannoli, and 2nd City’s tuna poké. The most unique dessert offering was The Clocktower’s.

The event was held at The Waterfront on Eleventh Avenue.

Wine bar featured Bridge Lane wines.

Toward the end of the evening, went to famed chef (of Le Bernardin) Eric Ripert’s book signing at the VIP lounge.

Resting at the VIP lounge with an Original Moscow Mule (made of Smirnoff No. 21, fresh lime juice, and ginger beer).

 

 

Awesome food; awesome event!