NY restaurant week – Food & Pixels

little park

In recent years, David Chang, Rich Torrisi, Mario Carbone have taken over the New York culinary scene like a storm. All their establishments have been extremely successful, tables are continually high in demand, and food is outstanding too. They have become the new super stars in the culinary world, household names, even if you are not into the food scene, but if you live in New York, you would have heard of the names of at least one of their restaurants. They have changed the landscape of New York food scene. Behind the success of these rock stars, we have one guy to thank for (in part), a man who David Chang, Rich Torrisi and Mario Carbone consider as mentor- Chef Andrew Carmellin. A lesser known name, but a name we should know, and his restaurants have been popping up in lower Manhattan too.

The 2 times James Beard Awards winning chef made his name during his time at Café Boulud. After his Michelin star winning venue A Voce, Chef Andrew Carmellin partnered with NoHo Hospitality group and gave us Locanda Verde, the Dutch, Lafayette (By the way, I adore Lafayette), Bar Primi, and most recently, Little Park at the Robert DeNiro’s Tribeca hotel The Smyth. All of these restaurants are participating in restaurant week, and we chose Little Park for lunch.

Little Park is a good looking place. Golden-wood toned, marble topped bar, golden lighting, flower box at the big window pouring in sunlight, to me, it very much resembled Lafayette, same vibe, different ways. It is posh and energetic.
This sleek, blondish hotel restaurant opened in November 2014. It is veggie/ health food focused. The vegetables here are excellent. It might not be as innovative or mind-blowing as Blue Hill, but it is still fascinating. The kohirabi salad is crisp, juicy as it can be. And the Brussels sprouts, so nicely done that we could have that as entrée. Honestly that was the highlight of my lunch. And I wouldn’t be mad if it ended there. I think the Brussel sprouts are poached before it is fried. Tender all the way to its core, while the outer layer is crispy as chips. And there were different sauce at the bottom of the bowl, I think on one side is apple cider vignette, and the other could be smoked mayo, every bite keep us guessing, and we truly enjoy it.

Kohirab (bottom)i- pear, hazelnut, roasted garlic Crispy brussel sprouts (top)- smoked parsnip, apple cider — Kohirab (bottom)i- pear, hazelnut, roasted garlic
Crispy brussel sprouts (top)- smoked parsnip, apple cider

Arctic char- meyer lemon, mustard, pancetta

Salmon is very nicely cooked, moist, tender, but the skin could be crispier. And I could use an extra drop of lemon juice. That’s just me, I like sour.

Grass fed hanger steak- apple, cabbage, beer

The steak looks a little dry, but it is at no fault of the kitchen. My friend like the steak done… well done. However, I do think it needs a little more seasoning. And the cabbage on the side stole the spot light, soft, sweet, and so juicy.

Chocolate cake (bottom)- orange pekoe ice cream Grapefruit sorbet (top)- old time fin, bruleed citrus — Chocolate cake (bottom)- orange pekoe ice cream
Grapefruit sorbet (top)- old time fin, bruleed citrus

Chocolate cake is excellent. It’s crunchy on the outside, moist on the inside. It’s not overly sweet. The grapefruit is lightly torched or bruleed. With sorbet, absolutely refreshing. The latte I had with dessert could use some more work.
Once again appetizers stand our more than entrée. The veggies are the stars here. It is a lovely lunch. And it was restaurant week menu only. I am excited to see what dinner would be like.

little park | Smyth Hotel, 85 W Broadway | New York restaurant week Winter lunch | Jan, 2016

Fung Tu #WeAreImpressed

When Chef Wu left Per Se and opened Fung Tu in lower east side back in 2014, we were curious what would be serve, but we putted off stepping through the door for a long time. Reason being we were worried that it would end up being another hipster American-Chinese restaurant that is overpriced and overhyped.
To be honest, I was still skeptical when I looked at the menu while making reservation for restaurant week. I meant, egg roll, rice noodle, curry pot pie, Char Siu braised short ribs? All hinted to me as “americanize”. But after last night’s meal, we decided that if this is the new evolved “American-Chinese”, we can get with the trend. Yes, we are impressed!

Located in lower east side, Fung Tu is in the middle of this trendy, gallery filled, hipster neighborhood with plenty of great food spots. The Fat Radish is right across the street; Mission Chinese food and my beloved Lam Zhou Hand-pull Noodles are right around the corner. Fung Tu could easily be overlooked and gone unnoticed if not because of it’s Per Se veteran chef reputation.
Like many places on the block, the place is long and narrow. Dimly lit, dark wood furnitures, with red leaf pattern wall paper, the place is intimate. I understand this is sort of a family business, with Chef Wu in the kitchen, his wife whom is a jewelry designer created the space. Thank you so much for not hanging any lantern!!! And I love those wired light fixtures! Wine racks double as décor hanging on one side of the wall, cleverly used of space.

The most expensive bottle on the wine menu is $120; by glass is about $13 each, there are also sake and interesting beer selection. But we are more interested in cocktails mixed behind the white marble topped bar. There are 9 on the menu, all look fantastic. As I was scratching my head having trouble deciding which, the very friendly staff noticed and came to rescue. He even suggested if I don’t know what I want, he would be happy to give me samples… wow… Check for service. With his help, we happily slipped our superb cocktails.

Crouching Thai Bird-Thai Bird Chili Infused Cimmaron Tequila, Combier, Luxardo, Lime

They are not kidding with that chili infuse. It is spicy. The good kind of spicy.

Shanghai 75 (L) - Cognac or Gin, Tarragon Simple Syrup, Lemon Juice, Prosecco — Shanghai 75 (L) – Cognac or Gin, Tarragon Simple Syrup, Lemon Juice, Prosecco

So we didn’t all ordered from the restaurant week menu, it’s not because my skepticism, but because we saw something more appealing. But first, let’s talk about the things we did get from the restaurant week menu. We selected the egg roll, Char Siu braised short ribs. And when the egg rolls arrived, we were surprised, by it’s portion. It is huge! The initial instinct was, did they make a mistake? Is this the portion for two orders??

No, it is one order. We confirmed. And they admitted it is a great value too. Look at it, how could we not mistaken it as 2 orders. And this is no ordinary egg rolls. First, those are not traditional egg roll skin, they are almost crepe/ puff-like. Crisp, layered skin wrapped. And is that olives in my egg roll? Feels like a egg roll shape of a very good pork pastry. It’s a bit salty, and even more salty with the mayonnaise dip.

Braised Char Siu beef short ribs with broccoli rabe and Koshihikari rice

I’m a bit of a Char Siu snob. To me, a piece of good Char Siu is a piece of art. The perfect cut of pork loin, just the right balance of fat and meat, preferably marbled cut, marinated for hours and slowly roasted on a long steel fork to the perfect charred outer rim and occasionally brushed with honey. It is a symbol of Hong Kong cuisine. And frankly, we cannot find any place in the East coast to even come close to the authentic taste. The Char Siu in New York are often all color but no taste, or too sweet. I could say I’m more than obsessed with Char Siu. So when I bit into this Char Siu braised short ribs, imagine my surprise. lightning had stroked, my brain is confuse. It is the right taste, not the right texture. It an extremely well cook piece of beef short ribs that has the perfect balance of sweet and saltness of a Char Siu. Short ribs is tender and melty. It even have the Char Siu aroma… wow! WOW!
This could easily be the highlight of our dinner, except what came next is even more impressive.

Whole Steamed Fish with Fennel, Tangerine Peel, Chili Oil, and Fermented Black Beans

First, it took us by surprise that “WHOLE” fish is being offered. Whole as in head to tail. Tonight’s whole fish is sea bream. Yes, it looks simple, but it is easy to make, tough to master. Every elements needs to be perfect: right temperature, right amount of water, timing, even the plate, has to be perfect. Steam too long, the fish become tough; too short, it’s not cook. This is something that almost all moms in Chinese culture tried to master, some eventually did, some, never get it right. And even the most expert grandma wont get it right every time. These elements need to be adjust accordingly to the size and kind of the fish too. But it seems that Chef Wu is a master at this. The fish meat is … silky! The “right” steam fish would maximize its taste and color. And this sea bream is perfect in everyday. It is deboned, and stuff with fennel. The chili oil, scallion, black beans, soy sauce mixture helps highlight the aroma and taste of the fish and not overpower. The fish is still the star. I gotta tell you, out of all of China Town (Manhattan, Brooklyn and queens included), we have yet had such a perfect steam fish. We were utterly amazed and impressed.

Our dinner ends on another high note. The Oolong ice cream is “THE BOMB”. Before this meal, my favorite ice-cream was Earl Grey from Van Leeuwen. But this Oolong ice cream clearly won me over. It’s light, creamy with strong oolong flavor, and not too sweet. My dinning partner is one of those rare people who does not like ice-cream. But we did not only lick the bowl, we both ended up getting an extra container of ice-cream to go. Yes, we like it so much, we asked the staff if they would sell it to us. Our extremely friendly waiter so nicely accommodated our request. We each left with a quart of ice cream and a fully satisfied belly.
Once again, we are very impressed.

Fung Tu | 22 Orchard St | New York Restaurant Week Winter | Jan, 2016

root & bone

This year’s restaurant week came early. Instead of starting in February, it surprised us in mid January. And as winter weather finally arrive, we are in need of comfort food. So screw that new year resolution, I need some fried chicken.

Root and bone is a cute little place in Alphabet City. This much hyped place open back in mid 2014, offering southern comfort food. Mainly fried chickens and waffles, grits, devil eggs, the goods. Afterall the chef/owner couple did made their reputation at Yardbird, Miami. I am a big fan of Yardbird by the way. However, it seems like Chef Jeff Mclnnis and Janine Booth didn’t want to be linked to the South Beach restaurant that earned them the James Beard nomination. Check out the root & bone website, there were no mention of the framed restaurant on their website. Perhaps they didn’t want to be compared?

Yardbird isn’t the only place we got to know this pair of picture perfect couple. They did both appeared on “Top Chef”. Jeff was on 5th season, and Janine was on the 11th. They didn’t win. But looks like they won each other. It’s an interesting read, their story, it’s like reading page 6 of the cooking world.

But enough of the gossip, i’m here for fried chicken.
Restaurant week menu is offered for both lunch and dinner at Root & bone. But both are the same. In that case, of course I show up for lunch. The little narrow door on 3rd street opened into bakery like front- take out counter. Small “foyer”, just enough to stand 4 people with no apparent Reception area. Thru a small door way, it’s the main dinning room, with open kitchen and a eating bar. I chose to sit in the smaller dinning room by the bar. It’s like a little breakfast nook. With sunlights beaming in, and heat blasting, it feels more like a chill spring morning than a freezing winter afternoon.

different horns double as tap handles at the bar

The place is adorable, feels like I am sitting in the kitchen in an farm house. Aged White oak or birch wood cupboard and bar; exposed brick painted in white, edison light bulbs hanging from the sliver polished tile ceiling. Little birch wood tables paired with steel chairs, rustic, warm and comfortable.
I sat down by the bar and watched the room slowly warming up.

rnb07 Promise ring– white whiskey, green apple, elderflower and lemon.
It’s very light. Perfect for early afternoon drink. What. Too early?!? It’s 1:00 already.

root & bone Drunken Deviled Eggs– Catskills farm eggs, pickled roots and chips
Egg white is pale pink. Creamy yolk is stabbed by a crispy chip. I don’t think there is ever a deviled egg that’s not good. So simple yet so satisfying.

rnb17 Root & Bone’s award winning fried chicken and waffles, sweet tea brined, lemon dusted, spiked Tabasco honey and buckwheat cheese waffles with whiskey maple syrup.

This is the dish that supposedly earned chef McInnis the nod. The dish that I’d fly to Miami for (among other things).
Chicken and waffle arrived in a basket, along with whiskey maple syrup and tabasco spiked honey. The wheat waffle is placed with a piece of cheddar, half melting. The zest of Lemon made the whole plate smells good. And so, the famous chicken… Here at root and bone, they let you chose white/ dark meat. Me? Always dark meat. Dark meat tend to be more tender. If root & bone is anything like Yardbird, given my experience there, it should not matter whether it’s dark or white. Sorry, hard no to compare. I got a thigh and a leg. However, this famous chicken was a bit of a disappointment. Dry… And too much crust. The skin was fried too long and had became tough. Can’t even cut through with a knife. There’s no moisture in the meat anymore. Where is that faintly sweetened, juicy, tender, award winning chicken? That should be where the house made spicy sauce came in. The sauce taste like a mild spicy version of the sweet and sour duck sauce.

rnb22

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On the positive side, root and bone’s restaurant week menu comes with more than 3 course. Other than the appetizer and main course, they also give the table a side dish. Two choices, Mac and cheese or grits. I got the grits.
rnb20
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rnb26 Citrus custard- blood orange sorbet, pistachio grahams & crunchy meringue.

rnb27

All in all, for $25, it is still a good deal! Wait, there’s still dessert to come. And after a heavy meal, the blood orange sorbet is a better choice.
So, since summer 2014, New York has upped the chicken game. There are way more choices and players in the game. Looks like Jeff and Janine have works to do. But for the moment, let’s just say, I just planed a trip to Miami.

root & bone | 200 E 3rd St | New York Restaurant Week Winter | Jan, 2016 | lunch