Look out Goliath, theres a new shorty in town - Review of Shortys.32

Karen, Mo, and I had dinner this past Wednesday at Shortys.32. At the end of the meal, Mo gave his highest review "that’s the stuff that'll put you to sleep". The food was excellent and the early bird special made it even better - 3 courses for $25! Heres the summary of our dinner at Chef Josh Eden's 32 seat restaurant. Chef Eden stands at 5'4 hence the nickname shorty. He worked for years in JG's restaurants.

The Matt Pinfield look alike host was a jolly fellow that was perhaps the restaurant's biggest fan telling customers how eating here was like going home. Karen and I arrived before Mo and ordered a drink and two appetizers. I had a Brooklyn Pennant Ale and Karen had a special cocktail of white rum, grapefruit juice and some other odds and and ends in the mix which was delightful. We chose the tuna tartare and crabstick with basil remolade as appetizers. The tuna tartare managed to get all the flavors of an actual sushi roll into a tartare. The beautifully fresh tuna came with radishes, crystallized ginger, and nori chips and was incredibily refreshing on a humid summer's evening. The crabstick was composed primarily of sweet chunks of crab (which is saying it was fabulous as I hate nothing more than a crab cake that is mostly filler and tiny strings of crab meat) and the exterior was crispy and salty. The basil dipping sauce added a nice flavor to this app. Mo arrived as we finished our appetizers and ordered the beet salad with goat cheese. The beets were fork tender with a hint of a red wine and mustard vinaigrette with the perfect sized pieces of goat cheese strewn throughout.

There were too many delicious sounding choices for the entrees, which always makes me happy that I have more than one dinning companion. I opted for the burger because if a comfort food place can't do a burger than well it shouldn't be a comfort food joint. Karen in a step outside the norm ordered the Pork Milanese with Pea Shoot & Radish Salad, and Passion Fruit Beurre Noisette, and Mo had the red snapper with a side of Mac and Cheese (another comfort food must). Matt Pinfield informed us that the burger was composed of short ribs, chuck, and some other choice meats. I ordered it medium and was pleased to find that this instruction was followed with a pink centered burger on a brioche bun. I could've done with a different bun as I find that brioche tends not to take in the juices of the burger as well as other options do. The burger was very good but I felt like it needed a little more in the way of juices (perhaps it was a wee bit too lean). But nonetheless it was a very good burger and the side of fries was nicely salted and crisped. Mo's snapper was quickly cleaned off the plate as was the quinoa salad side. The Mac and Cheese was okay but I think there was too much in the way of breadcrumbs and not enough in the way of cheese. The flavor was very nice though. The clear winner (and sleeper hit) was Karen's pork milanese. WOW. Its rare that you try a dish (especially in manhattan and in this day and age) that contains so many new flavor combinations that truly win. The brown butter passion fruit sauce reclaimed my love of passion fruit as a winning flavor after WD-50 made me question it. The expertly breaded thin piece of pork sat upon a pool of this sauce (that none of us could get enough of b/c we just couldn't believe how good and different it was) and was topped with radish, pea shoot, and asian pear. Just such an amazing dish that shocked me into the knowledge that passion fruit in all its sweetness can be used so nicely in a savory dish.

We were all very full but our 3 part experience had one more round…my favorite time of the meal, dessert. We opted for the warm chocolate cake with passion fruit sorbet, coconut tapioca with fresh berries, and apple crumble. The chocolate cake was okay but not the gushing lava that I love but the passion fruit sorbet was excellent. The coconut tapioca was okay and the berries were beautiful and fresh. The apple crumble was the clear dessert winner with a lovely cinnamony flavor and crispy crumble topping.

As I often say, the sign of a good restaurant is one that makes you want to go back for a dish. Well, I definitely want to try the pork again but I also want to try the roast chicken that we didn't order. So, Shorty, we'll be seeing you again.

Restaurant Magic - Gramercy Tavern Review

Both times I have eaten at Gramercy Tavern I have left in a state of euphoria. The only thing I can think while I'm eating there and once I've left is that THIS is the best restaurant I have ever been to in New York City. An evening at Gramercy is magical. The waitstaff always feels more like friends then servers and the ambiance of the place is beyond compare. Its one of those places that makes you feel like you're celebrating or that you're on vacation. The rustic charm of the barn-like decor is beyond compare. Last night, we ate in the more affordable tavern portion of the restaurant which is most certainly not to be overlooked. It was a feast indeed and made me think that I should eat there more frequently. Here is a summary of our wonderful evening...what better way to spend your 30th bday?!

Our waiter began telling us about the evening's specials and the first word out of his mouth was bacon and the second was cheddar so Karen and I were obviously instantly sold. The other special of the evening was fresh english peas. We choose to start with the bacon cheddar biscuits, the english peas, and the sunchoke salad. The bacon cheddar biscuits were the most delightful little bites. These buttery, flaky biscuits melted in your mouth with the perfect balance of cheddar and flecks of salty bacon. Karen and I both agreed that we would like these every week and that we have to find a recipe (which Susan has already obligingly done for me). The peas were fabulous as well. There was a hint of curry powder in these fresh peas that popped in your mouth. As soon as I saw Karen's fervor for these peas, I insisted she draw a line on the plate for even splitting as I feared there would be none left for me. The sunchoke salad was okay but forgettable, but the other two starters more than made up for it. We each started out with cocktails, Karen had the pineapple painkiller which tasted like vacation and I had the spring fling which was rhubarby-tart with lime and prosecco.

Now, as Karen and I often do at such restaurants when undecided (which is inevitable as Karen and I pretty much always want to order the entire menu), we deferred to the waiter for which entree to have. I was sure about my choice of the meatballs, but Karen was torn between the seafood stew and the smoked kielbasa with potatoes and sauerkraut. The waiter was very passionate about the kielbasa so Karen went with that. However, when the dishes arrived there was a small bowl of the seafood stew as he wanted us to taste this as well. The seafood stew was fabulous with a base of what tasted like some sort of squash and again there was a hint of some indian spices. The fish, scallops, mussels, and shrimp were all cooked perfectly in this stew. Regardless, one bite of the kielbasa dish and Karen knew she made the right choice. The kielbasa was fantastic...just the right balance of smoke and crispy outside. The sauerkraut was also the exact correct amount of sour without being overpowering and the potatoes tasted like grandmas. My meatballs were some of the best I have ever had. There were two giant meatballs on the plate each cut in half with a thin layer of perfectly melted fontina and parmesan on each. The plate had red onions lightly pickled in red wine vinegar and a cheese tomato/red wine sauce that was to die for. I am happy to say I was a member of the clean plate club. We both elected to have a beer with our main courses, as these seemed better suited for beer and any complement to the Tavern's beer menu would be an understatement. I chose a Unibroue Trois Pistols, and Karen had the Ommegang Hennepin. Excellent...If you know anything of my beer obsession, you know that these are my two favorite breweries.

Now a birthday (and well lets face it a dinner out) is not complete without dessert. We again deferred to the waiter and he said the strawberry pie with ginger ice cream. To accompany this we each had a glass of an aged port which was a delicious mushroomy flavored dessert wine that went perfectly with the strawberries. When the dessert arrived, the waiter had once again gone above and beyond. The strawberry pie had a candle in it and said happy birthday brownie and the waiter brought out a complimentary chocolate pudding with salted caramel and brioche croutons stating that you have to have chocolate on your birthday. The strawberries on the pie just popped with flavor in your mouth and the ginger ice cream was the perfect compliment to the strawberries without being too strong, as ginger ice cream often is. The chocolate pudding was rich and caramelly and the brioche croutons were surprisingly a winning combo. All in all, an amazing dinner that I hope to re-create soon.

50 Ways in which I will never go back to WD-50: Review of WD-50

Last night I partook in the wierdest meal I think I will ever ingest in my life. And bear in mind, I have eaten cow tongue and I fully intend to travel to Africa and Asia and eat some of their odd foods; however, all of those will be weird based on the ingredient not on the way the ingredient will be used. But I digress…back to the bizarro eats and the trio of Karen, Susan, and myself.
We all knew the hype behind Wylie Dufresne and his strange cooking style…I mean how can a man with such an odd lambchop haircut cook normal american food? So, we were expecting strange and I for one was not disappointed. I had however expected that the tastes of some of these foods would WOW me. Unfortunatly, in this respect both my dining companions and I were disappointed.

When we sat down, sesame flat bread was brought to our table and we all relaxed a bit as we tasted the delicious salty sesame flavor (anywhere that can make such delicate flatbread can't be all that bad). We elected to do the tasting menu and wine pairing. Our dinner theatre began with a flourish upon our announcement that this was the route we were to embark on. It was almost as if they knew before us and all 5 of our waiters sped into action. Like every good tasting menu I have ever had, it started with a delicious sparkling wine, Selim. This was paired with a Poached oyster on a bed of bulghur with cinnamon dashi and fried sweet potato strings. Karen and I really liked this but Susan thought it too fishy and was unsure about the cinnamon. The next course was also paired with the Selim (which got its name from Miles Davis whom the maker is a huge fan of). For me this course was one of the strangest. It was smoked salmon threads, crisp cream cheese, pickled red onions, and everything bagel ice cream. The bagel ice cream was very bizarre but the red onion made this dish…without it I think the salmon, which was even more potent in the thread form, would have overpowered the dish's flavor.

The next dish was everyones absolute least favorite and made me never ever want foie gras ever again. It was foie gras congealed (and I hope the word congealed really gets across how offensive the texture of this was…like pate gone horribly wrong) in a tubular form and stuffed with a passion fruit syrup that overpowered everything and some chinese celery. The wine paired with this was quickly consummed by each of us to get the horrid flavor out of our mouths. It was Chardonnay 'Etima Harlafti' Domaine Harlaftis that smelt to Sue like stinky feet but tasted delicious but perhaps that was only because it tasted better then the dish.
The next dish I adored. It was scallops cooked sous vide for hours with melted beef tendon on top and crisped dried beef tendon crackers, endive, and a parsley hazelnut oil sauce. I thought the scallops were delicious tender and rich from the beef melted on top and the parsley puree cut through the heaviness of these flavors with a nice refreshing note. This was paired with a County Line Rose from California that was sweet and smooth. Susan disagreed with my feelings on this dish and really disliked the texture and taste of the scallops.

Now, there were a few things that I wanted to bottle up and take home from this meal and well this next dish had one of them. The cold fried chicken served with buttermilk ricotta, cavier that leant the perfect hint of saltiness to the dish, and a honey tabasco sauce was the clear entrée winner. The honey tabasco sauce was spicy hot sweet and fabulous but I wanted more of it on my plate and I wanted some to keep in my fridge at all times. The chicken was very tasty, moist (although Karen and I both insisted it was ham we were informed by the waiter that it was a terrine of chicken legs). This was paired with Bourgogne Rouge Meo-Camuzet Frere et Soeurs which I can't recall at this time…so either the chicken and honey tabasco distracted me or I was drunk. This wine was also paired with our next dish that I was expecting to like a lot more than I did. Every cruise I go on, I enjoy trying one of the deliciously garlic butter drenched escargot. So when I saw snails with red lentils, juniper, and orange was next on our adventure I thought bingo. But the snails were somehow too earthy tasting which was probably increased by the nutty lentils that were served with them. The lentils were fantastic and included a combination of the cooked red lentils and the crunchy yellow dried lentils. Yum. But the dish was not a winner due to the snails.

The next two courses were paired with a Syrah from California that was deeper and tasted very full and spicy for a Syrah (If I didn't know better I would have thought I was drinking a cabernet). The first was a thinly sliced terrine of duck with popcorn pudding and lovage tucked in underneath. I thought that this was deliciously rich and would go fabulous in any big crusty roll with some mayo but my dining companions felt it was just too rich and fatty. The final of the entrée courses was lamb loin with a delicious black garlic smear pickled ramps and crunchy dried soybeans. Personally, I am not a huge fan of how gamey lamb tastes and this piece was no different.

To sum up all the savory dishes, they were interesting but somehow something was missed in the execution. Inventive yes, but the sign of a good dish is that I want to order it again and I think about it when I'm hungry (okay and sometimes when I'm not). But,I will not crave any of these conctions. As Susan said, each of the dehydrated crumbles on our plate had a chemical undertone to them that was just plain odd.

The saving grace of the evening was definitely the desserts. There was only one of 4 that we didn't like. The desserts started with a vanilla ice cream stuffed with balsamic vinegar and sprinkled with raspberry flakes that I also want for my pantry. I would put those raspberry flakes on just about anything. The next dessert came with a Banyuls Domaine La Tour Vieille 2006 that was a lighter dessert wine but a perfect rich counterpart to its dessert which was a chocolate hazelnut tart of fantastic flavor and texture with chicory foam that made the dessert even richer.

I think we would all like to forget the next dessert which consisted of the eggiest brioche ever stuffed with apricot puree. Just a terrible texture that I didn't want to have more than a bite of. This was paired with 30 Year Pedro Ximenez 'Venerable' Pedro Domecq which was an ironic age. Karen and I loved this syrupy port-like sherry but Susan found it too thick and porty.
The final dessert was vanilla ice cream balls covered in a fabulous chocolate shortbread that was the perfect balance of flavor and a great last bite. These came with what appeared to be chocolate ketchup packets that were made of chocolate in a fruit rope type texture stuffed with hazelnut dust. Just too weird to be good.

All in all, the dinner at WD-50 was one of those experiences that you cross off your list and say I don't need to go back. That is absolutely not to say that the experience wasn't worthwhile. Dinner there is certainly something that I will not forget. How often do you get to eat an ice cream everything bagel after all?!