If you asked me to pick my favorite treat right now, I’d probably say Momofuku’s pork buns. You might ask, why pork buns, or more specifically, why Momofuku pork buns when there’s better and cheaper versions available in Chinatown and Queens? There’s a lot to be said for proximity, I suppose. But quality counts, too–tender morsels of melt-in-your-mouth Berkshire pork belly, roasted crisp on the edges and layered with slivers of succulent fat wrapped taco-like in sweet, spongey bread, sparsely dressed with scallions, pickled cucumbers, and tangy hoisin. They’re popular for a reason.
Vinegar Hill is only a mile from Manhattan geographically, but it feels about a hundred years removed in time. It’s not just the early-19th century buildings along cobblestoned Hudson Avenue or the Federal-style Commandant’s mansion, perched on a hill above the Navy Yard that harken back to earlier days. It’s the lack of cars and people, and the blank, paint-chipped storefronts. With housing projects and the BQE on one end, and a vast humming Con Ed plant and pungent sewage treatment plant fumes on the other, Vinegar Hill seems like a forgotten little corner of the city–but that seems likely to change. (more…)
If I were to describe my ideal brunch, it would sound a lot like the one I had at recently at Supper. We rolled up at around 10:30am on a Saturday and were seated immediately in a shady spot on the sidewalk patio–no wait list, no hungry mob, and given the lack of foot traffic on East 2nd Street, I could easily imagine I was in a tranquil little spot upstate. Bold, fresh-brewed coffee laced with crema arrived on gleaming white saucers, along with a plate of fresh crusty bread and spicy white beans soaked in olive oil. Most appetizers only seem to fill me up, but this one properly whetted my appetite for some of the best french toast in the city. (more…)
Would you wait for 35 minutes for pizza? When in doubt, I scope out the people leaving the establishment. Do they roll onto the sidewalk looking food-stunned and satisfied? Are they sighing “oh wow,” and lovingly patting their swollen bellies as if they contained precious cargo?
If all evidence points to yes, I’ll wait. To Keste’s credit, the servers brought out fresh pies for people in line to sample, as if to allay any fears that your time and money might be better spent at long-established John’s across the Bleecker street (where, on a Saturday night, the line looked just as bad). (more…)
Think Coffee’s iced cappuccino is my drink for the summer. Note: This is not an iced latte. The beverage consists of 3 shots of espresso mixed with a little cold milk (to avoid plastic cup meltage), a bunch of ice, and lots of fluffy foamed milk spooned over top. The fusion of warm foam settling over ice cubes is not to be missed, so be sure to grab yours off the counter as soon as it’s ready. While it’s not technically on the menu—the chalkboard lists an “iced latte” which contains more milk and less foam—the baristas will oblige.
There are other coffeeshops that I like, such as Abraco and Ninth Street Espresso, but I generally don’t linger there. At Think, however, sometimes I’ll settle in and do some reading. It’s the kind of roomy, laid-back corner locale that seems to invite hanging out in blast of the A/C, or grabbing a chair outside in view of the upscale shop that once was CBGBs. Often enough, there’s someone with a lot of bags who seems to have set up a temporary office/rsidence, although there’s no free wifi at the Bowery location. (more…)
An all-vegan ice cream parlor that looks like an old-time sweet shop, Lula’s will please even rampant omnivores. The menu includes a couple of soy milk-based ice creams, including a convincing cake batter flavor, and about ten nut milk-based ice creams, many of them gluten-free. My favorite of the nut-based flavors is cinnamon, but other notables include orange creamsicle, cookies and cream, and mango coconut. Sampling is not only permitted, but encouraged, and I didn’t get any “OMG she’s asking for a fourth sample” attitude. (more…)
As upstate NY roadside burrito stands go, they don’t make ’em better than Bubby’s. This teeny trailer with its green, hand-drawn “Burritos” sign appears sometime in May, near a farm stand at the intersection of Route 199 and 9G in Red Hook, NY (upstate, not Brooklyn). The vegetarian menu boasts just four items, all made-to-order: burrito with guacamole ($6.50), burrito without guacamole ($5.50), cheese quesadilla ($4.00), and auguas de frutas ($1.00). The guac burrito is a satisfyingly fat bundle of rice, beans, lettuce, tomato salsa, cheese, sour cream and guacamole wrapped in a toasted tortilla. Everything tastes fresh, and just a bit of chipotle hot sauce, available at the counter, adds some welcome heat. (more…)
Perhaps the most eagerly-anticipated fruit export in years, boxes of Indian mangoes have started cropping up in a few city delis, after a 20-year ban. Most Americans have only tasted Mexican or Guatemalan mangoes from the supermarket, whose stringy flesh and faint sweetness pales by comparison. The FDA’s concern over pesticides used by Indian farmers halted the mango trade until George W Bush lifted the ban in 2006, as part of larger trade and nuclear cooperation agreements. (more…)
Update: Momofuku Milk Bar now has six locations.
If you were the type of kid who did not feel conflicted at all about drinking milk left over from your bowl of Frosted Flakes, a cup of cereal milk ($4) at Momofuku Milk Bar should be a sweet dose of nostalgia. I never liked sugary milk even as a kid, but there is plenty of other intriguing fusion snack food on this menu to keep me coming back. (more…)
Mayahuel feels like a tequila sanctuary that’s stationed halfway between glitzy LA and old Mexico–quite a trick, considering its entrance is affixed to East Village’s Indian Row. While walking past hosts hawking $8.95 curry specials, you’ll spot a squat, corrugated roof jutting out above a heavy, monastic door. The sound of a cocktail shaker escapes from the high, barred windows. Inside, cell-like booths encased in more bars and old brick, chintzy chandeliers, a harem-red lounge under cathedral lights upstairs, and our lady of Guadelupe in the basement, add up to a sort of chapel-in-a-whorehouse atmosphere. (more…)