It doesn't matter how big the slices are, pizza does not have provolone cheese on it.
Love,
Everyone else
P.S. Oh shit, Katz's and Second Avenue Deli do battle over pastrami next week. I was wondering what they would pick to do an episode in New York, and this seems like a great choice. Send a salami to your boy in the army, because it's ON.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Chicken and Rice Interlude
Yes, yes, I know, Detroit, but in the meantime:
So yesterday evening, after work, I met up with some friends at Rattle 'n' Hum on 33rd Street. (Incidentally, if you're in NYC and like beer, they've got a cask ale festival going on this weekend that's definitely worth your while.) Due to a variety of other circumstances, by the time we were done at the bar it was about 11:15pm, and I hadn't eaten anything since about 2pm, so some food was called for. Being that I was up in that direction, and also that I was with a friend in town for business and staying at a hotel up on 54th, I decided a trip up to the chicken and rice carts on 53rd was in order.
For those of you who might not be aware, the corner of 53rd Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan is something of a nexus for halal food carts. This is especially due to one particular cart on the southwest corner of the intersection that serves from 8pm to 4am and gets crazy long lines (and where the food is reputedly so good that one time a guy got killed for cutting in line), but there are a number of other carts in the area for people who don't want to brave the line.
Well, I was hungry, and my friend had to be up early, and we didn't want to brave the line. However, having done my research (or, well, having read someone else's research on the matter), I had an idea of a shortcut. According to Midtown Lunch, there's another cart on the southeast corner of the same intersection that's there through the day and into the evening, but not as late, that serves the same food. Seeing that cart, with the same bags pictured in the linked Midtown Lunch article, that's where we went. $6 gets you a nicely sized tin of rice topped with chicken, some shredded lettuce, and a few small slices of pita. The bag also included two cups of white sauce and two (much smaller) cups of hot sauce, though there were bins containing these cups and you could take more if you wanted.
Rather than eating outside, we took the quick walk across the street to my friend's hotel and ate there. We dug into our meals (my late dinner, my friend's midnight snack), and... well, I hate to say it, but, eh. I didn't honestly think it was any better than what I sometimes get for lunch for $5 at my regular truck that's at the corner of Broadway and Cedar Street during the day. (It's the one that's a repurposed Frito-Lay truck, if you're looking for it.) The chicken and the rice both were good enough, but I didn't think they had a whole lot of flavor to them. The shredded lettuce was shredded lettuce, inoffensive but not really adding anything to the dish. (In contrast, my regular truck mixes some onions and peppers in with the meat, and the veggies on the side will typically also involve some tomato and cucumber.) The slices of pita were a nice touch, I suppose. The redeeming feature, if anything, was the hot sauce: it is really hot. Like, clear your sinuses, make your eyes water (or maybe that was the pollen allergies), have to mix it in with the rice and the white sauce, kind of hot. And that was just from one of the two little cups!
Now, there's a chance that the cart we went to isn't actually still the same food as the one with the long line. The Midtown Lunch article is from about three years ago, and the famous cart's website (yes, it has a website) doesn't say anything about the cart on the southeast corner, though it does make sure to point out that the cart that's on the southwest corner during the day (the famous cart doesn't arrive until about 7pm) is not the same food. Next time I'm up in that neighborhood at night, maybe I'll wait in line at the famous cart and see if perhaps I really did eat the wrong stuff, but at this point I'm not getting my hopes up.
So yesterday evening, after work, I met up with some friends at Rattle 'n' Hum on 33rd Street. (Incidentally, if you're in NYC and like beer, they've got a cask ale festival going on this weekend that's definitely worth your while.) Due to a variety of other circumstances, by the time we were done at the bar it was about 11:15pm, and I hadn't eaten anything since about 2pm, so some food was called for. Being that I was up in that direction, and also that I was with a friend in town for business and staying at a hotel up on 54th, I decided a trip up to the chicken and rice carts on 53rd was in order.
For those of you who might not be aware, the corner of 53rd Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan is something of a nexus for halal food carts. This is especially due to one particular cart on the southwest corner of the intersection that serves from 8pm to 4am and gets crazy long lines (and where the food is reputedly so good that one time a guy got killed for cutting in line), but there are a number of other carts in the area for people who don't want to brave the line.
Well, I was hungry, and my friend had to be up early, and we didn't want to brave the line. However, having done my research (or, well, having read someone else's research on the matter), I had an idea of a shortcut. According to Midtown Lunch, there's another cart on the southeast corner of the same intersection that's there through the day and into the evening, but not as late, that serves the same food. Seeing that cart, with the same bags pictured in the linked Midtown Lunch article, that's where we went. $6 gets you a nicely sized tin of rice topped with chicken, some shredded lettuce, and a few small slices of pita. The bag also included two cups of white sauce and two (much smaller) cups of hot sauce, though there were bins containing these cups and you could take more if you wanted.
Rather than eating outside, we took the quick walk across the street to my friend's hotel and ate there. We dug into our meals (my late dinner, my friend's midnight snack), and... well, I hate to say it, but, eh. I didn't honestly think it was any better than what I sometimes get for lunch for $5 at my regular truck that's at the corner of Broadway and Cedar Street during the day. (It's the one that's a repurposed Frito-Lay truck, if you're looking for it.) The chicken and the rice both were good enough, but I didn't think they had a whole lot of flavor to them. The shredded lettuce was shredded lettuce, inoffensive but not really adding anything to the dish. (In contrast, my regular truck mixes some onions and peppers in with the meat, and the veggies on the side will typically also involve some tomato and cucumber.) The slices of pita were a nice touch, I suppose. The redeeming feature, if anything, was the hot sauce: it is really hot. Like, clear your sinuses, make your eyes water (or maybe that was the pollen allergies), have to mix it in with the rice and the white sauce, kind of hot. And that was just from one of the two little cups!
Now, there's a chance that the cart we went to isn't actually still the same food as the one with the long line. The Midtown Lunch article is from about three years ago, and the famous cart's website (yes, it has a website) doesn't say anything about the cart on the southeast corner, though it does make sure to point out that the cart that's on the southwest corner during the day (the famous cart doesn't arrive until about 7pm) is not the same food. Next time I'm up in that neighborhood at night, maybe I'll wait in line at the famous cart and see if perhaps I really did eat the wrong stuff, but at this point I'm not getting my hopes up.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Detroit Preview
I got back from Detroit on Sunday afternoon and, due to a combination of factors, haven't had a chance to compose my thoughts or even sort through my pictures. In the meantime, here's a quick look at what's ahead:
And maybe also a few initial thoughts on the city itself. Detroit is... bleak. There's a lot of empty space (read: surface parking lots galore), and a lot of empty buildings. Nobody appears to live in the city; I don't think I saw any supermarkets or clothing stores or laundromats or others of that sort of thing that serve local residents. (OK, maybe in Greektown, but not in most of the parts of the city where I visited.) As a result, while there are plenty of people around the city for events (e.g., Tigers opening day last Friday, the Frozen Four), at night there don't seem to be many people around. I don't think I felt unsafe, but I wouldn't want to be walking around alone at night either. If the city is going to improve, that needs to change. There need to be reasons for people to want to live in the city, and there need to be ways for commuters to get into the city (read: better transit options) that don't require the vast oceans of parking lots that make the city seem so bleak. (The Detroit People Mover is nice for getting you around, but not for getting into and out of the city.) If that were the case, that empty space could then be turned into something a bit more vibrant.
OK, but this isn't an urban planning blog; go read Planetizen or Streetsblog if that's your cup of tea. This is about food and drinks. So, I think if the urban renewal I was alluding to above were to happen, Detroit has the makings of a good food scene. Some of these empty buildings that I mentioned above could be converted into interesting dining spaces; I'll have pictures from one such conversion later on. There's a heterogeneous population, an airport bringing visitors to town, good meat available. We ate some good food, and like I said, if Detroit heads in the right direction (which isn't a given, of course), there could be more out there.
And maybe also a few initial thoughts on the city itself. Detroit is... bleak. There's a lot of empty space (read: surface parking lots galore), and a lot of empty buildings. Nobody appears to live in the city; I don't think I saw any supermarkets or clothing stores or laundromats or others of that sort of thing that serve local residents. (OK, maybe in Greektown, but not in most of the parts of the city where I visited.) As a result, while there are plenty of people around the city for events (e.g., Tigers opening day last Friday, the Frozen Four), at night there don't seem to be many people around. I don't think I felt unsafe, but I wouldn't want to be walking around alone at night either. If the city is going to improve, that needs to change. There need to be reasons for people to want to live in the city, and there need to be ways for commuters to get into the city (read: better transit options) that don't require the vast oceans of parking lots that make the city seem so bleak. (The Detroit People Mover is nice for getting you around, but not for getting into and out of the city.) If that were the case, that empty space could then be turned into something a bit more vibrant.
OK, but this isn't an urban planning blog; go read Planetizen or Streetsblog if that's your cup of tea. This is about food and drinks. So, I think if the urban renewal I was alluding to above were to happen, Detroit has the makings of a good food scene. Some of these empty buildings that I mentioned above could be converted into interesting dining spaces; I'll have pictures from one such conversion later on. There's a heterogeneous population, an airport bringing visitors to town, good meat available. We ate some good food, and like I said, if Detroit heads in the right direction (which isn't a given, of course), there could be more out there.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
A Lot of Information In One Hour
This week's episode of No Reservations was a special on cooking technique, featuring input from some big names in the food world. The show opened with Tony doing a quick demo on proper knife technique (you know, so you don't cut your thumb off). We saw Dave Pasternack of Esca (phenomenal restaurant, BTW) demonstrating how to boil and serve a lobster, legendary cookbook author Jacques Pépin showing the simple technique of making an omelette, Scott Conant of Scarpetta teaching a simple recipe for pasta and fresh tomato sauce, zillion-Michelin-starred Thomas Keller working through his well-known simple roast chicken technique, Laurent Tourondel of the BLT family of restaurants cooking a lovely bacon cheeseburger, and Les Halles chef Carlos Morales (note: don't use an "I'm Feeling Lucky" Google search, because the most famous person of that name is apparently a gay porn actor) cooking french fries and then a steak (number one mistake Tony says most people make: not letting the steak rest for a few minutes before cutting it) complete with grill marks. Interspersed between the various other segments, in a bunch of shorter bits, Tony showed us how to cook beef bourguignon, including prepping each of the ingredients and then the cooking process. The episode concluded with Tony and Carlos eating what they had cooked and talking a bit about cooking and restaurant eating. Definitely worth a watch if you ever do your own cooking.
Pork Chops
I'm sorry, but I just don't think I could ever keep Kosher. Not when a pork chop, rubbed with salt and pepper and oregano and garlic powder and cooked simply (I used a George Foreman grill because I'm lazy, but you could just as easily use a grill pan or something like that) is so darn tasty.
Serve it up with a simple salad:
And that's what we call dinner!
Serve it up with a simple salad:
And that's what we call dinner!
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Jucy Lucy
So Food Wars was in Minneapolis this week, to taste test the Jucy Lucy. I was in Minneapolis about... a year and a half now, I guess, and sampled the Jucy Lucy at Matt's Bar, one of the two restaurants featured on Food Wars (both of which claim to have invented the delicious concoction).
This post really could use a picture in order to illustrate the deliciousness of the Jucy Lucy, so I'm going to borrow one from Wikipedia:
Let me tell you, it was a glorious experience. The cheese is inside the burger! I mean, how great is that? I've tried to make that for myself, but it never works, so I appreciate the technique in addition to the great taste. I didn't get to go to the 5-8 Club, the other contender for the best Jucy Lucy, but I'll be back in the Twin Cities about a year from now, so I'll have to do my own taste test. (If you're curious, Matt's Bar was pronounced the winner, with the Minnesota Vikings' mascot casting the deciding vote.)
No Detroit episode before my trip next week, but no matter - we're going to eat some hot dogs regardless!
This post really could use a picture in order to illustrate the deliciousness of the Jucy Lucy, so I'm going to borrow one from Wikipedia:
Let me tell you, it was a glorious experience. The cheese is inside the burger! I mean, how great is that? I've tried to make that for myself, but it never works, so I appreciate the technique in addition to the great taste. I didn't get to go to the 5-8 Club, the other contender for the best Jucy Lucy, but I'll be back in the Twin Cities about a year from now, so I'll have to do my own taste test. (If you're curious, Matt's Bar was pronounced the winner, with the Minnesota Vikings' mascot casting the deciding vote.)
No Detroit episode before my trip next week, but no matter - we're going to eat some hot dogs regardless!
Then What Is It For, Exactly?
It's Passover. As such, I bought a box of matzah at the Key Food on my way home from work on Tuesday. ("Matzah"? "Matzoh"? "Matzo"? Firefox's built-in spell-check likes only the latter two, but I like the first one and that's what I'm sticking with.) It's Streit's, a perfectly cromulent brand of matzah to be buying, I thought. (I mean, their website domain name has "matzo" in it.) The ingredients are flour and water, just like the ingredients are supposed to be. (I bought whole wheat matzah, because I think you're generally better off eating whole bread products when possible, so technically the ingredients were "whole wheat flour" and water, but that's splitting hairs.) Looked great. Brought it home, ate some matzah. (In the form of matzah pizza, because it's awesome, but again, besides the point.) Last night I looked at the side of the box and what did I see? "Not for Passover use."
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What?
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What?
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