It is usually packed around at this cute little cafe, a hidden gem in the chaos of Chinatown and little Italy. On a sunny Spring afternoon, it would be so nice to grab the bench chairs outdoor. But the day I stopped by, the outdoor seats are not set up yet. I stepped into the airy room with exposed brick wall painted over in white. It is dreamy, with clouds and starry lights hanging over head.
Category: <span>NY Eats</span>
Danny Bowien- A Korean guy cooking (Americanized) Chinese food; a 2013 James Beard rising star Award winner. How does a long hair Asian dude take over down all the Italian chefs and won the pesto world champion (2008)? We are very curious.
We wanted to go to Danny Bowein’s place for quite sometime now. He made his fame in the west coast. After his move to this side of the continent, we now have Mission Chinese and Mission Cantina, both in Lower East Side.
So on a Thursday, we went for tacos. I should have done more reading before I went, apparently Mission Cantina had changed their menu to mostly burrito…. The only taco available on the day was fish taco. All those great cumin lamb taco, pork shoulder taco and mushroom tacos I’ve read so much about were “retired”, so was the chicken wings… Our server told us their menu frequently changes, and the items I mentioned were “winter season”. Disappointed but we still have high expectations about the sole taco on the menu. To be honest, there weren’t a lot of choices.
1st ave is filled with great eateries. Among countless neighborhood gems, SenYa is one of them. The place opened in march 2015, I must have passed by it more than a few thousand times and not notice. It is a small store front. Outside, plain and simple; inside, it is deep but narrow. We came across this place by word of mouth. Before our visit, I was a little skeptical. I fear that it is one of those California roll take out places. But we are so happy we did. Here is what we have—
Thanks to all the late night re-runs of food program, barbecue has been on my mind. And by that I mean, Franklin’ Barbecue is on my mind.
Those soft, fat dripping, finger licking, juicy brisket, perfectly grilled sausage links…. Who said CNN (Parts Unknown = food porn) doesn’t air porn??? Then you found yourself hungry watching tv 2am in the morning, more awake than before…
Well, we are in New York, there’s no legendary BBQ here. Not to that magnitude. We can only settle for what we can find. Most of the better BBQs are in outer borough. In Manhattan, there’s only a handful. On a rainy night in February, we visited Blue Smoke. Yes, it’s not comparable, and not even close.
We didn’t order brisket as we have a non beef eater at the table. We had the baby back ribs, poll pork, and sea bass. Their house smoking hot Sauce are a little watery, one of them were too sweet. I found the baby back ribs a little sweet, and poll pork too dry. The sea bass over Grits was actually the better dish out of three. Collar greens and Mac n cheese were decent. But honesty nothing to write home about. We also have desserts…. Oh boy, were they sweet!!!
Well, we are not in Texas after all. We can only dream… dream of Franklin’
Blue Smoke | 116 E 27th Street | Feb 2016