Northern Spy Food Co.

As you may have noticed, we are big brunch people. So, it's weird that it took us as long as it did to try Northern Spy Food Co - it's right by Eric's apartment and we're always looking for good places around there to grub. We finally made our way there last Sunday, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, hoping to be wowed. And we were.

It's a hipster hotspot - a mix between the woodsy, lumberjack-ness of Freemans and the comfort food vibe at Westville. The brunch menu is eclectic, with a bunch of hearty options: a chicken & egg sandwich with crispy thigh, poached egg and chimichurri...and a kale salad with Clothbound cheddar, summer squash, almonds and two baked eggs.

We went with the polenta and eggs: two baked eggs with polenta and braised mustard greens along with one of the specials - a mushroom sandwich on baguette with arugula, cheddar and potato. We went splitskys with both!

The polenta and egg dish was by far the better option - chunky yet creamy (oxymoron?) polenta infused with the greens made for a heavenly base to two perfectly-baked eggs. The perfect bite had some egg yolk, a piece of the egg white and a scoop of the polenta and kale, all together for a savory, satisfying combination. It was a large portion as well, and it left us feeling full and raring to go.

The mushroom sandwich had a bunch of great ingredients thrown together, but they just didn't mesh well. We wouldn't order this again...and with so many other great options that we wanted to try, there's no reason to. The french toast floating by to other tables looked scrumptious....as did the home-made biscuits and jam.

I'd also like to come back for dinner and to try their cocktails - they had so many interesting concoctions on the menu.

Check it out and become a fan....http://www.northernspyfoodco.com/

Agua Dulce

Hells Kitchen…known for restaurants, but not many that we frequent. Sure, we love 5 Napkin, Eatery and Hells Kitchen (that’s the name), but haven’t really found anything groundbreaking there…until last weekend. We hit up Agua Dulce for some Pan-Latin cuisine and were very impressed by the food. It’s also a great place to have a drink - there is a lounge area in the back of the restaurant.

For starters, we got the Guac trio: Guac Tropical, Guac Ahumado and Guac Tipico with a heap of crispy, fresh tortilla chips – the good, thick kind. This app was more than enough for four people and I think everyone had his or her favorite. Eric & I were huge fans of the Guac Tropical with pineapple, mango and habanero, while the others dipped frequently in the Guac Ahumado with chipotle, house cured bacon and tomato.

It was a battle of the sexes for the main courses: the men went with the macho Churrasco – grilled skirt steak, chimichurri (yummmmmm), hand harvested sea salt and roasted new potato. The portion was so large that both men had leftovers on their plates.


The females both ordered the crispy organic salmon with seared cauliflower, red pepper and mustard green olive caramel sauce, how typical. Everything was great. The skin gave a crispy and salty flavor to the fresh salmon and the red pepper sauce was a great dipper.

For Acompanamientos, we got the cauliflower with brown butter and fresh lime and an order of the crispy fluffy yuca fries with garlic and vanilla aioli. Both were huge hit. The cauliflower was delicious and had great flavor – there were crunchy garlic-y bits throughout. And the yuca fries with a little dip of the vanilla aioli is a party in your mouth. Both plates were empty by the end of the meal.

Suffice to say, we had no room for dessert because everything ordered was consumed. We’ll definitely be back to Agua Dulce – dreams of the yuca fries all through my head.

More info: http://www.aguadulceny.com/

Jing Fong - A Dim Sum Experience

I strayed from my usual weekend omelet brunch and ventured down to Chinatown a few Sundays ago for dim sum at Jing Fong.  I had never been to dim sum before, so I had no idea what to expect (except for some dumplings). 

banquet room

There was a huge crowd waiting, so we knew it was going to be good.  They give you a number and then call them out in no particular order (we think there was some favoritism going on).  When we finally got called, we rode the elevator up to the big banquet room, where there were hundreds of people seated at big round tables.  Yes, hundreds - the place is huge!

The waiters bring around carts of food and you select what you'd like, pretty much just based upon how things look, since the waiters don't speak any English.  We wound up getting a LOT of dumplings: pork, shrimp with peas, soup, etc.  I guess that was the "safe" move - there were many options more unfamiliar that we passed on.  We also indulged in some soft shell crab, shrimp in rice noodle and a broccoli rabe-type green vegetable, which I would HIGHLY recommend.  It was like pulling teeth to get some water at first - the place is very hectic, but it was pretty reasonably-priced - for 5 people it wound up being around $15-$20/person for a ton of food. 

shrimp in rice noodle

dumplings 

         

I would recommend Jing Fong if you're looking for a gateway dim sum experience.  I imagine there are delicious, authentic dishes there that we didn't get because we didn't know what they were - so I would do some research before going back.

shrimp tempura

Check it out: http://www.jingfongny.com/ 20 Elizabeth St (between Bayard St & Canal St)

Big Apple BBQ Block Party

This past weekend was the Big Apple BBQ Block Party in Madison Square Park, bringing the best BBQ from cities around the country to NYC. Boy were we excited!  We headed over with some friends on Sunday to sample all the pig we could get our hands on. 

Yes, that's a full pig in between those smokers. No, this is not uncommon at the BBQ Block Party.  Yes, your clothes stink of BBQ after you leave.

After taking a lap around the perimeter & taking in all of the free sights & smells, we found our first little piggy... a pulled pork shoulder sandwich with a side of coleslaw from Ubon's (out of Yazoo City, MS).  I thought it was delicous but not nearly as delicious as Eric thought.  I must say that the pork did have great flavor and their bbq sauce really added to the sandwich...throw some coleslaw into the mix & you got yourself a damn good sandwich.

Looking back, we probably could have shared one sandwich, but who knew what was going to come next?

Next up was homemade smoked sausage with pimento cheese & saltines from Jim 'N Nicks BBQ (Birmingham, AL). All 4 of us agreed that this was up there with the best sausage we've ever sampled. It had the perfect amount of heat & an abundance of flavor in every bite! We also came to a consensus on the sides... meh!

Lastly, we finished off the day with baby back ribs & beans from Pappy's Smokehouse (St. Louis, MO). While waiting in the 30 minute line, we didn't know that we had saved the best for last.  These were finger-licking good and if we ever make our way down to St. Louis, we will be visiting Pappy's once again!

If you dine on swine, and live in or around the city, then this is a festival that's not to be missed. We're already looking forward to next year!

More info can be found at http://www.bigapplebbq.org/

Pampano

Pampano was a go-to “special occasion” restaurant for the Hoppers a few years back – great upscale Mexican cuisine that blew us away the first time we went there. However, it’s a little overpriced. Although I would have dreams about their tuna, I just couldn’t justify the $31 price tag. Plus, it’s not in an area that we frequent all that often – 49th between 2nd & 3rd. It wasn’t until we saw a Blackboard Eats (http://www.blackboardeats.com/) deal for 30% off dinner at Pampano that the memories came flooding back and we decided to go for it.

The décor in Pampano makes it feel like you’re in a Latin dream – white swirly ceilings with fans giving off a cool breeze. They have a great outdoor patio upstairs that’s open for dining when it’s nice out. Unfortunately, the deal we had only permitted us to eat in the dining room.

We started out with sangria and a margarita to kick things off appropriately on this lovely Saturday night. For an appetizer, we shared the Tacos de Filete – Filet Mignon, soft corn tortilla, cilantro, onion and tomatillo salsa.

It was nice and flavorful but I don’t know if I would get this dish again. The tacos were mini and could be consumed in one bite if you have a big mouth…and the dish only came with three. Not a good bang for your buck at $14. You might be better served getting the guac & chips for the table at the same price.

For the main course, there was no question about it – we were both getting the Atún – pistachio-chile ancho crusted tuna, sweet potato, green apple salad, mole verde.

This dish is the reason we used to come here – its savor-every-bite good. The tuna is just slightly seared, cut up into big pieces and spread out over their delicious mole sauce. It goes too quickly but is absolutely delicious.

Our beef with this place: main dishes don’t come with side dishes, they come with garnishes, leaving you not as full as you’d like to be. And at $31, they should at least throw you some rice & beans.

Pampano would be a great place for someone with an expense account. The food is definitely high quality, but it’s not inventive enough to be that expensive. We’ll be back here, but on someone else’s dime for sure.

http://www.richardsandoval.com/pampano/

Epilogue: Pampano led us to another one of our favorite upscale Mexican places – Maya. They’re both owned by the same group and they both have amazing tuna dishes! Check out Maya on the Upper East Side – it’s more moderately-priced.

Westville Chelsea

Yes, that's right. Westville just opened its 3rd location in the city. Their Chelsea spot is conveniently located a few blocks north of my apartment on 18th between 7th & 8th. This is great because Westville is one of those places that's perfect for brunch, dinner and delivery - what else does a New Yorker need? It just opened up last week, so there hasn’t been much of a wait and they only accept cash. A plus is that the Chelsea Westville is bigger than the other two, with booths seating 4-6 people in the back plus a long bar with stools in the front.

They have a solid brunch menu and do one of my favorite make-your-own eggs dishes in the city. Instead of making omelets, they make "mashes," so that all of the ingredients you choose are mixed up together with the eggs and then scrambled. This makes for even distribution and makes it easier to eat! Their accompanying Portuguese muffins are yummy – they are like English muffins, only fluffier and bigger.

Eric went for the fried eggs over turkey hash. Two eggs any way you want it (in this case, sunny side up) are placed over a nice portion of turkey hash. The hash is very similar to mashed potatoes, only it has chunks of turkey & veggies mixed in. When the yolk runs into the hash it makes for a scrumptious bite! Throw in some toast & a side salad, and you have a pretty good start to your day for $9.

I also went a few days later for dinner with my roommates and got to take advantage of what Westville is known for - their market vegetables. They have a daily market vegetable list that is extensive, but more or less stays the same. For $13 you can get four veggies on a plate or you can order bigger single portions. We went with the Dijon cauliflower, bok choy with ginger and garlic, kale with scallions and the roasted butternut squash. Some other veggies of note are the Brussels sprouts and the zucchini with roasted tomatoes and mozzarella – every vegetable I’ve ever had there has been delicious.

The vegetables are a great starter to whet your appetite for………..wait for it……..the best veggie burger you’ll ever have. You don’t need to be a vegetarian or even a veggie lover to love this burger. It’s super flavorful and crispy on the outside, with a Portuguese muffin as the bun (see above, it’s delicious). The burger is topped with sautéed mushrooms and tartar sauce, which take it up a notch. This veggie burger always does the trick.

If you’re in the East Village, West Village or Chelsea and haven’t been to Westville yet, get involved!

http://www.westvillenyc.com/

Monte's Trattoria

My parent's best friends were in from the west coast, so we were going to do a family dinner with them on Friday night. While trying to brainstorm a great place to take them that would represent New York properly, I quickly suggested that we head to one of my family's favorite Italian restaurants... Monte's Trattoria in the heart of Greenwich Village. Monte's has an old school Italian restaurant feel with a wait staff that has been there since my parents started going there many, many years ago.

For the table, we shared their baked artichoke dish as well as their mussels in white wine sauce. There were also a couple of salads going around but Jess & I didn't partake. The baked artichoke was stuffed with a tasty breadcrumb-based mixture, some olive oil, garlic and cheese - delicious but a little oily.

The mussels were very good and the white wine sauce they were soaked in had chunks of garlic and was good enough that my dad & I did a little bread-soaking. There was also some bread-soaking in the remaining juices of the baked artichoke app. We do a lot of bread-soaking in this family.

For our main course, I got the Shrimps Monte's. My dad turned me on to this dish a few years back and every time we go there, we always get the same thing... it's that good! You get 5-7 large shrimp that are breaded with garlic, parsley, olive oil, & goodness. Served with a side of linguine in garlic & oil sauce (you can also get veggies), the perfect bite consists of a fork-full of linguine, a half of a shrimp, and a splash of parmesan cheese. Close your eyes, chew, and enjoy! Love this dish!

Jess got the Chicken Cacciatore, which was also a big hit. The chicken is in pieces (both white and dark meat) in a thick, savory, brown sauce with mushrooms and red peppers. The sauce is definitely bread-dunk-worthy and the chicken was delicious and tender.

It's worth noting that my mother's dish, the Veal Chop Milanese, was melt-in-your-mouth good! If I were to ever veer away from the Shrimps Monte's, it would be for this dish.

For dessert, the table split a canoli, tiramisu, & zabaglione. Depending on what tickles your fancy, everything was good, but nothing was you-have-to-get-this great. Nonetheless, a nice way to satisfy ones sweet tooth.

Looking for a great Italian restaurant with a New York feel in the village? Check out Monte's on MacDougal... hopefully you enjoy it as much as my family does.

For more information: http://www.montestrattorianyc.com/