Honorable mentions:
And the my favorite dishes from this year:
1. Ravioli Al Uovo at Maialino
2. Eggs Rothko with Candied Bacon at Egg
3. Ravioli at Marlow & Sons
4. Spicy Rice Cakes, Pork Sausage, Chinese Broccoli, Crispy Shallots at Momofuku Ssam Bar
Honorable Mentions:
Black Label Burger at Minetta Tavern
The gourmet Neapolitan pizza craze that has taken over New York, and now spread around the country, has been going on for about 1 year. The pizza craze in my life, has been going on since birth. I have been obsessed with pizza for as long as I can remember. I sometimes find it hard to walk past a pizza shop without going in. Recently, New York Magazine listed as one the reasons to love New York, "because we insist on perfecting what's already perfect" and listed the latest pizza explosion as an example. It's an interesting thing to see pizza all over the place. Isn't pizza already all over New York? Places like Di Fara, Patsy's, Totonno's or Lombardi's have been around long enough to claim to be America's first (Lombardi's opened in 1905.) Many years after than that, but more recently, Mario Batali opened Otto and the fresh made pizza, with toppings like fennel, cauliflower, soppressata or lardo worked its way into the public eye. But again, this was nothing new. Lil Frankie's, Fornino an Franny's have been doing this for a few years. There seem to be a lot of factors as to why pizza is gaining momentum, the economy being an obvious one. But also this wave of pizza might be better than what we're used to.
Before we begin, let's make the clear distinction between a slice place and a pie place. Most of the pizzerias mentioned above and those that follow do not sell pizza by the slice. They are completely different animals.
Recently, completely unintentionally, I went on a mini pizza tasting tour. First, I started at Grimaldi's Pizza under the Brooklyn Bridge in Dumbo.
After waiting in the rain for 30 min for a table, this pizza had the odds against it. I had also walked across the Brooklyn Bridge in the rain so I was thoroughly soaked. Grimaldi's is a full fledged tourist attraction. The people waiting in front of us were from Montreal. The ones behind, South Korea. The menu is simple: pizza or a calzone. The tables are topped with red and white checkered table cloths and there is a wall dedicated to Frank Sinatra. But none of this matters much—you are there for the pizza. And the pizza will do the talking. After only a few minutes, the piping hot pizza with roasted peppers and fresh basil arrived at our table. It was steaming and looked like to me what I dream pizza to look like. The sauce was tangy and sweet, the cheese fresh and the crust perfectly cooked to a crunchy, doughy consistency.
Next up was Carroll Gardens newcomer, Lucali, which has a reputation for a few things. 1) the extremely long waits (sometimes over 3 hours); 2) the longtime Colombo crime family associate Dominick (Black Dom) Dionisio who although under house arrest, is allowed by a judge to keep his job at Lucali and 3) of course the pizza.
Lucali has a completely different feel from Grimaldi's. It actually feels like someone's home. The walls, floors and tables are all wood. I hesitate to use the word rustic, but this was it. Owner Marc Iacono stands in the back slinging pizza and slicing all toppings incredibly thin on his mandolin. The dough was particularly airy and light. Above, is the pie we had with shallots and artichokes. Slicing the toppings so thin really was a brilliant move. The toppings become part of the pie, as opposed to overwhelming the other flavors, which so often happens elsewhere. Although I would have preferred more sauce on the pie, it is hard to criticize this pizza.
Next, my journey took me to New Haven, CT for the famous Frank Pepe's clam pizza (below).
Pepe's pizzas, especially the famous clam pie, are constantly featured on lists of the country's best pies. I was unsure of what exactly this clam pie was. Was it fried strips of clam? Was there sauce? No sauce? What it is, in a nutshell, is white clam sauce on pizza dough. It's garlicky, salty and clammy. Its reminiscent of dunking bread into what remains in the bowl after a good linguine with white clam sauce. Although the regular style pie was mediocre at best, the clam pie was certainly something unique and delicious.
Finally, my mini tour ended in Williamsburg at Motorino, the star of the show.
Unlike, the other pizzerias I visited, Motorino, offers already made combination pies. You do not make your own. Below is the Margharita DOC (tomato, mozzarella di bufala, basil).
Prosciutto di Parma (parmiggiano, olive oil, oregeno)
Pugliese (burrata, broccolini, sausage, fresh chiles, garlic)
Soppressata Piccante (tomato, fior di latte, spicy soppressata, fresh chiles, garlic)
Motorino, really had the best overall experience of the 4 places. While Grimaldi's had old school Italian charm, the turnover is such that the table clothes are dirty and remnants from the previous diners remained on the table throughout most of our meal until I finally cleaned it up. Lucali had excellent atmosphere and pizza, and although I did not experience a wait at all, the thought of having to wait 3 hours for a table is certainly a deterrent. Pepe's lacked any sort of atmosphere and while the pizza was interesting, I won't be running back. All these factors and more came together for me at Motorino. No wait, clean table, friendly staff and exceptional pizza. Generally I need tomato sauce on my pizza, not a fan of the white pie. But the prosciutto pie was so delicious, I won't even attempt to describe it. In fact, I think I will let the photos speak for themselves. I recommend that you go try it yourself. And now with a location in the East Village, its that much easier. (The space was formerly Una Pizza Napoletana, which was one of the most talked about spots and one of the few pioneers leading the current pizza revolution.) While establishments like Grimaldi's, Lombardi's, and Di Fara have history, when you eat at a place like Motorino you feel as though you are building history and that can go a long way with diners. There are so many more places to try and I hope to do so in this coming year. And when I do I will of course report back to you.
The final rotation in the kitchen, lands me at Poissonnier. The dishes below are what I will be working on for the next, and final, 3 days.
Tournedos of Salmon with Horseradish Crust, Baby Spinach, Spaghetti Squash Cakes and Beurre Blanc with Caviar.
2 more days left at FCI, and then on January 4th, we will have our final. The final works just like the midterm. Each student will pull a paper out of a hat and we will have to prepare two dishes from the Level 6 menu and present them to the judges. It's gonna be intense, that much is certain. The main difference between the final and the midterm is that in Level 3 leading up to the midterm, we did the same dishes over and over again. For the final, essentially we only get 2 days for each dish. So memory is going to be a key factor. The following day, those who pass the exam, will attend the graduation ceremony. Here's hoping I'm one of them.
Then at some point over the summer, I finally decided to see what all the fuss was about. Hanco's, which has locations in Park Slope and Bourem Hill, seemed to be the right place to start. The menu is small and simple. They have various bubble teas to go with the 5 sandwiches. I went with the classic sandwich which is a toasted french baguette filled with roast ground pork, Vietnamese ham, pate, mayonnaise, butter, cucumber, cilantro, pickled carrots and daikon radish. After only a few bites, I understood the hype: the sandwich was delicious. The crunchy fresh baked bread, the tang of the pickled veggies, the heat from the sriracha and all that pork really come together nicely. Although you won't read about them on every food blog anymore, the banh mi seems to be sticking around. They are readily available in most neighborhoods and on menus throughout the city. I was surprised though to find them on one menu—at the newest Momofuku location, Ma Peche.
Although the actual restaurant has yet to open, the Momofuku team have taken over room service and are serving a "midtown lunch" in the mezzanine of the Chambers Hotel. The deal is: your choice of banh mi du maison (three terrine sandwich, daikon, cilantro), banh mi de poulet (chicken, lemongrass, lettuce, mint), bun du riz (rice noodles, pork ragout, saw leaf herb) or gỏi calamare (squid salad, fish sauce, thai basil, greens) and a soda or water for only $10.The bun du riz (below) brings to mind my favorite dish at Ssam Bar, the spicy rice cakes with pork sausage. This certainly felt like Momofuku lite, but until Ma Peche officially opens, you won't hear me complaining.
gỏi calamare (squid salad, fish sauce, thai basil, greens)
Hamachi with Apple, Fennel and Horseradish
Chicken Consomme with Mushroom Flan and Gougeres
At the Level 6 entremetier station, we are responsible for a daily canape. A canape, is the small usually one bite offering that is sent out by the kitchen to start the meal, also referred to as an amuse bouche. Usually, we just take what is available around the kitchen and come up with something. So here is what we did:
Celery root, apple and chestnut soup
Salmon tartare with granny smith apples, radish, celery and creme fraiche
Wild mushroom and foie gras soup
Foie gras torchon, crouton, celery gelee and beet puree
8 more classes until the final!
Marlow & Sons, located in Williamsburg, has received the kind of buzz that some restaurants only dream of. Voted one of the top 12 restaurants that matter by Saveur magazine (alongside places like Gramercy Tavern, Commander's Palace and Joel Robochon); a glowing review from The New York Times' Peter Meehan; a visit from Anthony Bourdain and the No Reservations crew. However, hype can in some instances do more harm than good because it creates expectations. When reviews tell us about the next "it" place or "one of the best meals I've had in NYC," according to one Chowhound review, do we hurt our chances of liking the restaurant? When you finally make it there, can or will the restaurant live up to the expectations and the hype? Well the answer from my recent trips to Marlow & Sons, is a resounding yes.
Prior to my first meal at Marlow, I had dined a few times at another restaurant owned by the Marlow team, which is directly next door called Diner. (They also own Marlow & Daughters, the butcher and grocer just down the block and the newly opened Roman's in Fort Greene).The menu there changes daily and is prepared with seasonal and mostly local ingredients. A theme that continues over at Marlow.
The entrance is a grocery of sorts. Local products that are purchased directly from the producers, dairy and vegetables mostly from Greenmarkets and fresh baked goods. But it is further past that, into the small dark candle lit room in the back that fully encapsulates dinner at Marlow & Sons. The tight squeeze, backless stools and aged wood give Marlow an extremely casual aesthetic. Expect to be bumped into repeatedly on a busy night. But know that it will all be worth it.
The menu is a pleasantly simple one. Three entrees, three appetizers. Daily artisanal cheeses and meats. A daily crostini and salad. Comfort food of the highest order.
The cocktail menu, which also changes frequently, contains drinks such as Acid Wash (jalapeno rum, lime juice and pilsner.) Light, spicy, tart, excellent. Or the Wizard (gin, fernet, burnt fig jam, gingerale).
Marlow & Sons are known for their oysters so we started with 15 of the Maine and Virginia varieties. Both tasted incredibly fresh and were gone in a matter of moments. Subsequent visits featured oysters from various New York locations.
The charcuterie plate.
The ravioli were filled with squash on one night and mortadella and chestnut on another. Both topped with a brown butter sage sauce. These alone could warrant repeated visits. Incredibly creamy, buttery and homey.
on another night, the fish was a striped bass
One menu constant is the brick chicken. Wonderfully moist, lemony, with a expertly crisp skin and seasoned to perfection.
Unfussy, unpretentious, delicious food all in a casual setting. I'll happily jump on the Marlow & Sons bandwagon.
