The Skinny Critic

Ippudo

Ippudo sounded like a good idea, until I heard that the wait can be up to two hours!! What is it with New York and these excessive wait times?! That is definitely something I will not miss when back in LA. But I did want to try it, especially since there are 43 Ippudo's in Japan and Ippudo NYC is first location outside of Japan.

I did however manage to make the 2 hour wait work in my favor.  On my way home I stopped by and put my name down and came back an hour and 45 minutes later for dinner. Upon arrival I was seated immediately.  Perfect! Obviously if you can't get there 2 hours before you actually want to dine, you should either A) pay someone else to go put your name down or B) go elsewhere...

Walking into the dining room, you are greeted with the the familiar shouts heard when entering a sushi restaurant, although they are even louder, longer and more enthused at Ippudo. You will be seated either at the counter or one of several communal tables. 

I heard that their hirata buns were great - filled with pork or chicken and filled with lettuce and  a spicy bun sauce.  These may have been the best buns I've ever had - yes better than Momofuku.

 

We also tried the bakerutsu tofu- spicy tofu casserole served with minced pork, crunchy noodles in a spicy broth in a stone pot.  This arrived to us boiling hot.  It's a great appetizers for those who aren't averse to hot things - both temperature and spice.

 

I had to have the famous ramen...I choose the akamaru ramen, the original tonkotsu soup topped with Ippduo's special sauce, pork belly, cabbage, scallions, miso paste, kikurage (a Japanese mushroom) and garlic oil. This is definitely a great ramen, and at $14 it's incredibly filling and enough for two people...I recommend sharing.

 

I would love for them to open an Ippudo in LA.  It's a fun, ethnic experience in a modern atmosphere at a great price.

Ippduo NYC 65 4th Ave. (212) 388-0088

Hotel Griffou

Hotel Griffou seemed like it would be the perfect place to have a nice girls dinner. A fun but laid back atmosphere mixed with the latest creations from David Santos, the recently appointed chef. A preview of the menu on Grub Street looked promising. Handcut tagliolini with butternut squash, pumpkin seeds and brown butter sounded like the perfect fall dish and entrees were appealing too ranging from novia scotia lobster with sweet potatoes and Brussels spouts or spice crusted tuna with an organic hen egg and mojo vinaigrette. 

When I first told my friends about the place I selected, they were less than thrilled.  Apparently they had been a couple years back and been disappointed with the food.  I assured them the new chef would give us food worth trying. 

I showed up to the restaurant and loved the entrance. Little candles led me down a small staircase to the cozy interior of Hotel Griffou.  I was less charmed by the room we were seated in.  Rather bold stripped gold and red sofas were trying too hard.  Service was a little off from the start.  We had a waiter afraid to recommend anything and everything on the new menu-not a great sign.

For appetizers we tried the venison tartare with red curry aioli, peanuts and rice crisps as well as the hand cut tagliolini with butternut squash, pumpkin seeds and brown butter.  These dishes were both incredibly rich. 

 
The venison tartare was cut more finely than I would have liked but was paired nicely with the peanuts and the rice crisps. The crunch complimented the smoothness of the tartare.

 
I really wanted to love the handcut tagliolini. I love pumpkin and butternut squash and this sounded like a wonderful fall dish.  Unfortunately the sauce was so thick and full of heavy cream that it was difficult to enjoy more than a bite or two. And if definitely didn't need to be finished with the brown butter...Talk about a heavy appetizer!!

My favorite dish of the night was my entree- the halibut gigante bean puree, braised escarole and balsamic glaze. This dish was rich and satisfying.  The bean puree was incredibly smooth and added a great creaminess to the dish.

 
A friend ordered the steak topped with hotel butter that came with potatoes, creamed spinach and cipolini onions. A nice rich dish.

 
We finished the evening with the banana cream pie, and despite its tiny presentation was acutally quite satisfying.

 

Overall it was a pleasant meal - with the entrees and desserts being the stars.  I wouldn't rush back anytime soon for Santos food.

Hotel Griffou  21 West 9th St New York (212) 358-0228

 

 

My first developed recipe for the Food Network

When I began my internship at the food network, I never envisioned that I would be developing recipes - let alone in the first week! But that is exactly what I got to do.  I was told to come up with my own crab cake recipe.  How, might you ask?? Well, you are to get inspiration from cookbooks and other recipes. You want to be thorough in your research as to insure you are creating something original.  I looked through a ton of books and ended up coming up with an Asian twist on the crab cake.

 

In the first round, you are really just making educated guesses based on other recipes when it comes to amounts and ingredients.  I actually lucked out and only had to make a few tweaks after round one.  My crab cake is actually a shrimp crab cake, held together with a little mayo, soy and panko and served with a spicy wasabi mayo. 

The dish also needs to be visually conceptualized in terms of how it will look on the plate and the portion size. The photo above was my first shoot at platting.

Once developed, the dish was cross tested by another developer and then professionally photographed for the new business department at the Food Network.

 

After that, any necessary edits are made on the computer and then it is added to the recipe wall.

 

 

And the finished product that could end up anywhere...
 

 

Cupcakestop.com - worth stopping for!

It was a cold rainy evening in New York and I was walking in the Flatiron when I noticed the CupcakeStop truck. They were acutally just getting ready to pull away and I ran over and asked if I could try a cupcake. 

 

I tried the Elvis cupcake, which was truly DELICIOUS! It was a peanut butter - banana cupcake topped with peanut butter frosting. 

 

I then realized that I've seen these cupcakes before! I tried the oreo crumb and the red velvet at the Limelight Marketplace a few months ago. They too were great.

 

I will definitely have to have these cupcakes again before I leave New York - plus they ship nationwide if I ever really get a craving...

Cupcakestop.com Various Locations New York

Scarpetta NYC - Still a Gem*

It's always hard to take parent's to dinner. You want them to be pleased, but you want to enjoy the experience as well.  You don't want them to bitch about the price, but you don't want to take them to a dump. My mom tends to feel "old" if she is in the presence of people her own age and thus likes to go to young and "fun" places.  And while she pretends to be easy to please, she is really nothing of the sort.

I decided to take her to Scarpetta. Having eaten at the one in Miami, I knew one thing for sure: the food would be great.  Also, considering it's close proximity to the Meatpacking district, I figured the atmosphere would be lively as well.

Upon arriving we were treated graciously by the hosts and asked to wait at the bar while our table was prepared.  This is something it seems that all the Scarpetta's do.  Once seated we were presented with their incredible spreads and bread basket.  This is no ordinary bread presentation.  The basket has choices from homemade focaccia to stromboli with smoked mozzarella and salami.  The dips go even further. Whipped mascarpone butter is the perfect accompaniment to these delicious breads as is the tomato confit and olive oil.

 

 

It only gets better from here. To start we were able to try many amazing things.  My favorites were the creamy polenta with truffled mushrooms.  I had this in Miami and although incredibly rich and a meal in itself, it is so delicious. The scallops are another must. They were perfectly tender and paired wonderfully with the mushrooms and truffle butter.

 

 

Another great starter are the beef shortribs. They are braised and served with a vegetable farro risotto. They were tender and rich.

 

A few starters that were much lighter but in my mind not nearly as rich or satisfying as the few above are the raw fluke and the crispy frito misto. The fluke was lovely, light and simple, just didn't really stand up to the other dishes at the table. The frito misto was also surprisingly light and one of my mothers favorites.

 

 

For our entrees we decided on the spaghetti, which really does deserve every bit of the hype it gets as well as the black cod.  The black cod was the only real "miss" of the night. Served with caramelized fennel and concentrated tomatoes, it was served with a chicken stock sauce that rather overwhelmed the fish and was too meaty.  The spaghetti was heavenly. Described on the menu as having tomato and basil, it is miles beyond your average spaghetti. 

 

 

We were soo full, but they had all these incredible sounding desserts and we couldn't resist. Bread pudding was surprisingly good and the pumpkin panna cotta was a bit of a miss for me.

 

 

Scarpetta is the unique type of restaurant that anyone would fall in love with. Our service was great, the food delicious and an atmosphere that was sophisticated yet relaxed.

 

Scarpetta 355 West 14th St. New York (212) 691-0555

 

 

Annisa - something was a little off...

A friend of mine who works at Le Bernardin is about as passionate about food as they come. I told her we should plan a great dinner and her first pick was Annisa.

I new Anita Lo, mostly from her appearance on Top Chef Masters, and had heard good things of Annisa.  The restaurant closed after a fire last July and when Lo reopened the space, the Times referred to it as "a jewel box of a room," with a "glittering new kitchen and updated menu." 

Glittering the kitchen may be, but glittering the dining room was not.  I was surprised at how dull the space was when I first entered. A feng shui consultant was hired to help create a positive energy in the room, little of which I felt while I was there. 

I was ready to be blown away, ready to have a great meal and yet it just didn't happen.  Part of the problem was definitely the fact that our server was less than competent.  We asked for a taste of two different white wines. Upon deciding she poured the selected wine into the glass that had an ounce of the other wine in it.  When I mentioned her mistake she rendered it by bringing a new glass. 

We started with the famed soup dumplings with seared foie gras and jicama. These were rather anticlimactic - especially since they are her signature dish.

 
The way that you are supposed to eat them is rather complicated and takes away from the taste of the dish.  The foie gras itself was nicely prepared but I would not order this dish again.

The barbecued squid with Thai basil however was a drastic improvement from the dumplings. Accompanied with boiled peanuts, the nuts really brought a richness to this dish. The squid was peftly tender, rich and nutty.  I really enjoyed it.

 

Another great starter was the duo of lobster and corn. Beautifully presented it was like a mini lobster roll with a small side of corn chowder. This was a rich, delicious little portion and definitely left me craving more. I would absolutely order this again.

 

Mains were a bit on the heavy side...perhaps because we ordered to meats, but in looking for some guidance from the server, we were really left to choose our best guess.

Pan roasted farm chicken with sherry and white truffle had potential but was served with a side of what appeared to be a stuffing. The stuffing had a cartilage type pieces all throughout that were extremely unpleasant and chewy. It turns out it was pigs feet. No wonder I was not a fan.  The accompanying sauce, while nice in flavor was far too thick and coated your tongue.

 
 I would not order the chicken again.

We also had the roasted rack of Lamb with South African flavors. The meat was cooked perfectly and had a great subtle game flavor. The sauce was again a bit too thick for my liking but overall this was a successful dish.

 

I think the most off-putting parts of this dinner were the service and the environment of the room.  Both were rather stale and unfriendly.  Some of the dishes (the squid and lobster) I would be interested in having again, but I think I'd rather sit at the bar and order a few starters than have a drawn out meal here. 

 Annisa 13 Barrow St. New York (212) 741-6699

 

 

Where Daniel Humm eats on his day off...

Daniel Humm is arguably one of the best Chefs in New York City at the moment.  The other evening, I had the pleasure of eating an incredible meal at his restaurant and asked him where he goes to eat on his day off. Torrisi Italian Specialities was not a surprise to hear, as it's been written up in the Times, the blogs, etc. as the "of the moment Italian restaurant."

Chef's Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi spent some time working with the big boys - Daniel Boulod and Mario Batali and while the setting that they've chosen couldn't be more different from the grand institutions where they cooked for years, their technique is of the highest level.

I actually visited Torrisi a while ago with my grandmother, when she request that I take her to Little Italy.  It was the only place I could find in the area that sparked my interest. We arrived for lunch and shared one of their now famous house roasted turkey sandwiches on a house roll and a piece of their coffee cake. I loved the feel of the place immediately.  Although painfully small, the space is adorably decorated and the walls are lined with American and imported Italian ingredients alike, making you feel as though you are eating in a pantry. 

I avoided trying it for dinner, mainly because I heard it was not an easy feat. They do not take reservations and diners are expected to line up around 5pm. At 6 they will start taking requests for three seatings: 6pm, 7:30pm or 9pm.  You may or may not be lucky enough to get your first choice and then you are expected to wander around Little Italy until your table is ready.  This seemed like much more of a hassle than I would be willing to put up with for dinner-especially when there are a million fabulous restaurants in this city that will gladly take a reservation and have your table ready, or at least near ready upon your arrival.  

The night I went was Halloween. New York City was in a state of chaous and thus very few others were competing for the few coveted spots available at Terroni. We showed up around 8:15 and were seated immediately! I was amazed!!

Dinner is taken a bit more seriously than the lunch I experienced with Grandma. The only option is a four course tasting menu at $50 per person. You also have the option of doing a $25 wine pairing with all domestic wines.  Diners are almost always served their house made mozzarella, made to order and served warm with garlic bread. 

 

Tapas style plates arrive shortly after based on the seasons best ingredients.  The night I was there we had roasted cauliflower that was perfectly tender. We also had beets in a yogurt with dill.  Sweetbreads were sweet and sour and came with a slaw.  These little antipasta all get your appetite going...

 

Every night there is a pasta course following the antipasta and the night we went it was a fusilli with duck ragu. This was one of my favorite dishes of the night.

 

For entrees you always get the choice of meat or fish. We had one of each - the black sea bass with pickeled green tomatoes, olives and potatoes as well as the devils chicken with a yogut sauce.  The fish was dlicate and small but had lovely flavor.

Dessert is a little disappointing in my mind. First you are given a palate cleanser of an Italian ice and then a plate of Italian cookies arrive that include cream puffs, cannolis with orange candy and rainbow cookies...all decent enough, but none delivering the wow factor.

 

What's interesting about Torrisi is that it seems to fill a gap between authentic Italian cuisine and American Italian cuisine.  And while the service isn't fine dining, you still have the option of doing a wine pairing, in a fun, laid back atmosphere.  If only they took reservations...

Torrisi Italian Specialties 250 Mulberry St. New York (212) 965-0955

Spot Dessert Bar - except for the cheesecake, a total MISS

I wound up at Spot Dessert Bar last night after a lovely bowl of Ramen at Ippudo.  We were looking for some dessert near by and it was literally the closest place.  The atmosphere was cute enough, placed a little below street level, a couple communal tables and a few tables for two fill the small space that has glass cases showing off some of the seasonal desserts. 

These are not your typical desserts.  Cupcakes come in flavors like berry berry chocolate and vanilla yuzu lemon.  Seasonal desserts have titles like ovaltine & malt roll or yuzu eskimo. 

A friend and I decided to share a tasting of 3 desserts for $21.95.  We tried the soft cheesecake that came with walnut cookie crumbs, fresh orange slices and macerated blue berries.

This was the higlight of the evening. The cheesecake and a wonderful fluffly and light texture and had the perfect amount of sweetness. This was excellent. 

Unfortunately things just went downhill from here.  Our next choice was the yuzu eskimo, recommended by our waiter.  Yuzu ice cream was on top of an oreo crust and topped with a passion fruit foam.  The ice cream was served too hard - rock hard.  They should have let it soften up a few minutes before serving it. Also we didn't like the passion fruit foam as it overwhelmed the delicate flavors of the yuzu.

The mont blanc alaska was our third dessert of the evening.  This dessert had potential but was overwhelmed by the very intensely coffee soaked chestnut, that I didn't even notice on the menu.  The chocolate caramel ice cream was rich and again served to cold and hard.  Chestnut and meringue was served in tiny pieces on the side in a coffee extract.  The coffee extract soaked up into the graham craker crust and kind of ruined it for me. The meringue on top was soft and gooey in a great way, there was just not enough of it.

Unfortunately I felt like we ordered wrong and therefore I only liked one of the three. I am also not the biggest fan of citrus in desserts and most of their desserts have citrus in some form or another. This is common in Asian desserts and many of the desserts at Spot have Asian inspiration.  I will not be headed back to Spot anytime soon...

Spot Dessert Bar 13 St. Marks Pl. New York (212) 677-5959

Kin Shop - Dieterle's new take on Thai

Harold Hieterle got his big break on Season 1 of Bravo's Top Chef. Not only was he cute, he prepared food that consistently wowed the judges and had viewers wanting to eat their TVs. Soon after the show he opened a tiny restaurant called Perilla in Greenwich Village serving seasonal American Food. Decent enough, Perilla is still consistently booked.  Recently, Dieterle opened his second restaurant Kin Shop just a short walk from Perilla. 

With no reservation last night, we couldn't decide what we were in the mood for. We had stopped by the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck right after work and thus weren't starving.  I had walked by Kin Shop and checked out the posted menu and remember being intrigued by dishes with braised goat. We checked on opentable.com and were able to get a 7:30 reservation. 

The place was fairly busy when we arrived.  The space feels open and isn't too loud, which is nice and rare in Manhattan.  Appetizers include things like soups, salads and a few small plates - the beef tartar was a must for us. Chili jam, rice crackers, quail egg and a mushroom soy dressing topped the had cut beef and made this the perfect starter. It was light but flavorful and the mushroom dressing was the perfect seasoning for the soft beef and crunchy rice cracker.

 

None of the appetizers appealed to us as much - steamed pork meatball soup sounded good but would have been difficult to share, fried pork and crispy oyster salad sounded nice too but I am not the biggest fan of oysters.  So, we moved onto mains.

I ordered the green curry with steamed triggerfish. The curry was sweet and spicy and came with kabocha squash and crushed cashews.  The fish was very mild, like and flakey.  I would definitely order this again.

We also ordered the brasied goat with Massaman curry. The flavors in this were rich and satisfying.  The only problem was that the goat came on the bone and there was too much bone and fat and too little meat.  It was topped with fried shallots, mustard greens and toasted coconut.  We ordered the pan fried crab noodles that were  made with vermicelli noodles, yellow chives and roasted chili. The noodles were my least favorite.  They were a little fishy and it was off putting.

 

A side of the crispy roti was a must for scooping up the delicious massaman and green curries and a side of the chili chutney. The bread came out warm and was crisp on the outside but gooey on the inside - the perfect combination.

 

We also sampled the Thai white wine that they have by the glass and while it is "drinkable," I wouldn't recommend it. 

I loved the space and the service was very friendly and prompt.  I will definitely be back (if I can squeeze it in in my last few weeks in NY!)

 Kin Shop 469 6th Ave. (212) 675-4295

The Standard Grill New York

I had a few girlfriends in town last weekend and was looking for a fabulous, fun place to have dinner.  A friend had recommended the Standard Grill and since it's conveniently located in walking distance to my apartment, I thought I should give it a try.

The place was packed when we arrived for our 9:15 reservation.  We were taken in the back room to a booth that looked out onto the rest of the dining room.  Everyone around us seemed to be celebrating or at least pretending to.  We decided to join the fun by ordering a fish bowl - a huge cocktail designed to be shared by the whole table with staws reaching out over a foot long to each of my friends.

 

It was filled with champagne, orange liqueur, grapefruit and lavender. It was subtly sweet and refreshing - the perfect way to begin our girls dinner. Despite it's very large size we finished it rather quickly. 

From here we moved on to appetizers.  My favorite was the charred spanish octopus with sweet potatoes and chilies. The octopus was perfectly tender and paired nicely with the sweet potato.

 

The other appetizerordered was the special - butternut squash soup with a bit of creme fraiche. This too was well-received.

 

For our mains we all choose different things, which was nice as I got to taste everything. The lobster, the most expensive entree, was very rich and topped with bread crumbs and a creamy dressing.  It wasn't my favorite dish of the night.

 

Trout however was a beautiful fish, and served with currants and pine nuts. The fish was fresh and the currant and pine nut relish was a great accompaniment.

 

Swordfish came to us by mistake as we had actually ordered the halibut, but it was a meaty, delicious and I am sure a mercury full piece of fish. It was served on a bed of asparagus, alongside a rich buttery sauce.  It had a perfect golden color where the skin had been caramelized.

The New York Strip Steak came out a little too cold for me, but it had a nice flavor.

 
We all shared a side of rather boring Brussels sprouts and enjoyed the scene that came along with the meal. 

For dessert we all shared the Deal-closer: a LARGE bowl of bittersweet chocolate mousse topped with whipped cream and served with spatulas.  I liked the idea of the spatula but didn't actually use it. I did however, devour the mousse and I'm not even a mousse lover! What a fun, yummy way to end the meal.

 

This was the perfect restaurant for a fun girls night out. We ended up sitting at the table, chatting and sipping on cocktails until around midnight.  It's definitely an interesting place to people watch and in a city where people watching usually takes precedent over the food, the meal was actually quite satisfying.  On a return visit I would definitely order the octopus, again and again, and probably have the trout and something new. 

 

The Standard Grill 848 Washington St. (212) 645-4100