NYC Neighborhoods Part II: Downtown

Some of my favorite neighborhoods, including Chinatown for cheap eats and Di Palo's, Soho for shopping, and the Village for general hanging out...

I love the cobblestone streets of Soho

Uniqlo! I didn't do much shopping but bought two UV Cut cardigans on special promotion for $20 each. Was not impressed by the Charlotte Ronson or Costello Tagliapietra collaborations in stores. Love some of the +J line

Looking north up Broadway

Courthouse near City Hall

Chinatown, Eldridge Street

One of the many Chinatown produce stands on Mott, this one selling durian

Chinatown is one of the few neghborhoods that don't change a lot year over year with the exception of the occasional trendy bar

Di Palo's, my favorite!

One of the Di Palo windows. I could really go for one of those Parmigiano Reggiano wheels and a leg of cured meat

Little Italy. Restaurants are meh and seem to be closing year after year

Bleecker and Broadway, a block from one of my old apartments on Mulberry Street

Washington Square Park

NYC Neighborhoods Part I (Midtown and Soho)

A couple of pictures from wandering the streets of New York. Springtime in New York is the best; the trees are green, sunny blue skies with puffy white clouds, the perfect strolling weather. I love the contrast of skyscrapers with older buildings and the different characters of the various neighborhoods.

NYC Public Library

30 Rock

St. Patrick's Cathedral

Something going on at St. Patrick's

Atlas at work outside of Rockefeller Center

Park Avenue looking south (the old work neighborhood)

Park Avenue looking north at Grand Central. And random NYC steam.

One of my faves

Eastern border of the West Village

Soho looking east on Houston

Let the Great World Spin

I just finished "Let the Great World Spin" by Colin McCann last night.  I thought it was a great book; I was thoroughly engrossed by all the stories and characters.  I really enjoy reading books written this way: seemingly disparate characters and stories that all come together at the end.  The book slowly unravels and you don't know how it is all going to make sense and come together until the very end, and there is a certain satisfaction in reaching that ending.  It definitely keeps your attention; it makes you want to keep reading.  The book is set in the mid-1970's in NYC and revolves around many different characters in the different boroughs in different socioeconomic classes who are all somehow linked to this one event where a man walks a tightrope across the World Trade Centers.  Of course it brought me back to all the emotions of 9/11, even though it took place in a different time.  The book manages to evoke all sort of intense feelings: sadness, pity, discomfort, hopelessness, and even optimism.  It's not an easy read, given some of the darker themes, but I found it thought-provoking, moving and rewarding when it was all over.

Pizza in Progress

Not much to report on today; I have been occupied with mostly mundane activities such as cleaning the house and walking and washing the dogs.  I was originally going to make pizza for dinner tonight, but with a change in plans and pizza moved to tomorrow night, I decided it was a good opportunity switch it up from my usual pizza dough recipe and make some no-knead pizza dough since it takes up to 24 hours to be ready.  I also wanted to test out the 00 pizza flour from Caputo that I bought at Surfas on my last trip, to see if there was a noticeable difference in crust quality.  I used Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street Bakery and Co.'s recipe found here; the only change I made was instead of 3 cups of all purpose flour, I used 1.5 cups of 00 flour and 1.5 cup of all purpose flour (I was too timid to use all 00 flour in case the no knead recipe turned out to be a failure, since it was quite expensive at $9.50 for 3 pounds).  I loved the pizza crust at Co., it was chewy on the outside yet soft on the inside.  I also like this recipe because I don't like to knead; I just usually use the dough hook on my Kitchenaid stand mixer, which may overstretch the glutens too much.  This recipe is also nice because there are fewer items to clean, always a plus in my book!  I will be reporting back on how it tastes tomorrow.

Friday Night Drinks

Sorry for the poor photo quality; I've been using a point & shoot for the last couple of days because I need to buy a new DSLR lens

Last night, we made some peach old-fashioneds, inspired by a drink we had a few weeks ago at Milk & Honey in NYC.  I'm not sure we entirely got the proportions correct, but here's how we made it: 1 tsp of sugar (a lot of recipes call for 1 cube of sugar), 1 shot (2 oz) of Maker's Mark, and a couple splashes of Fee Brother Peach Bitters that I picked up at Surfas (I think it was only $7 and will last awhile).  First mix together the sugar, bitters, and a splash of club soda so that the sugar dissolves.  Then add ice and bourbon. I thought it was quite good; I'm still working on acquiring a taste for "brown liquor" (whisky, bourbon, scotch, rye, etc), and the peach flavor and sugar definitely helped out a bit.  It sort of tasted like a strong and boozy Snapple Peach Iced Tea.  I was particularly excited to test out these special welded metal spoon straws that they use at M&H and their sister bars, Little Branch and the East Side Company Bar.  You can buy these straws directly from the bars at $2 a piece; we got ours the last time we had drinks with A. and John at Little Branch over the winter holidays.  We'll just have to mix more cocktails at home so that we can use these straws again!

Pizza Night

this was the most photogenic slice: a rainbow chard, proscuitto and egg pizza

Last night was homemade pizza night at our house. I made two pizzas from scratch, inspired by recent visits to two very good pizza restaurants: Co. in NYC and Pitfire Pizza, a local LA chain. I made the dough in the morning using my usual recipe:

• combine just over a cup of warm water (about 110 degrees) with a packet of active yeast in the bowl of my kitchenaid stand mixer. after a few minutes, I also add a drop of something sugar related, such as honey, maple syrup, or of course sugar, to help "feed the yeast"
  
• while the yeast is bubbling away in the water, in a separate mixing bowl, I whisk together the dry ingredients: 1 1/2 cups of bread flour (I use King Arthur), 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour (fromTJs), and three teaspoons of salt. I also turn on my oven to the lowest setting (170 degrees) for a couple of minutes and then turn it off
• then, using the whisk attachment on the stand mixer on the low setting, I slowly add the dry ingredients. In between adding the dry ingredients, I also add 3 Tbs of olive oil
• as soon as all the dry ingredients are incorporated, I switch to the dough hook attachment and kneed on the slower settings for about 3-5 minutes, until the dough is nice and elastic
• I divide the dough and put it in two bowls that have been lightly covered with olive oil and move the dough around so it is all covered with olive oil
• I cover the two bowls loosely with plastic wrap and stick them in the just slightly warmer than room temperature oven for at least 3 hours (my kitchen is generally too cool for the dough to rise)
• I then punch down the dough, sprinkle a little flour on it, and put it in plastic baggies in the fridge until it is ready to use

I used the same first couple steps for both pizzas

• Heat up the oven to 525 degrees with the pizza stone already in it
• Lay out a piece of parchment paper that approximates the size of the pizza stone and sprinkle it with a little cornmeal and flour
• Start stretching out the dough. I generally do it in the air for the first couple minutes, holding it up and letting gravity stretch it down. As it starts to get very thin, I then lay it down on the parchment paper and stretch it out by hand
• Once it as thin as possible with just a little crust, I brush it all lightly with a little olive oil
• I made two white pizzas, so I scattered around lots of sliced cave aged gruyere, sliced fresh mozzarella, grated parmigiano reggiano, and lots of slices of garlic (4-5 cloves maybe)

Here's where the two pizzas slightly diverged:

• For the spinach pie, I popped the pizza into the oven just like that until the edges of the crust was just starting to turn brown (about 7-8 minutes). I then took the pizza out and topped it with lots of fresh spinach, a little olive oil and salt, and then put it back into the oven until the pizza was done (another 5 or so minutes). I took the pizza out, sprinkled it with a little olive oil, parmigiano reggiano, and coarse sea salt, and then pizza was served
• For the chard pie, over medium heat, I sauteed half of an onion, chopped up, until soft, and a couple cloves of sliced garlic for just a minute, and then added the rainbow chard (I cut out the thick stems and chopped into bite size pieces and used the entire bunch). I added a little water, covered the pan and let it steam until the chard was wilted. I topped the pizza with the chard mixture and popped it into the oven until the edges of crust was just starting to turn brown. I then took it out, laid out about 1/4 lb of proscuitto, and topped it with four eggs (try to make little indentations with the proscuitto so the egg doesn't run everywhere). I then pop it back in the oven until the pizza is done and the egg whites just start to set (it will continue to cook a little). I sprinkle with a little olive oil and parmigiano reggiano and pizza is done!

My favorite was the spinach pizza, it tasted very fresh, with just enough piquancy from the cheese and the garlic. It could have used even more spinach; I think I used about 1/4 lb. The chard pizza was also very good. It was a little salty (I seasoned the chard mixture, but probably didn't need to because proscuitto is so inherently salty). Along with a box of TJ's organic low sodium tomato soup (shhh...) and a bottle of 08 Sterling Sauvignon Blanc with Organic Grapes from Mendocino, it was a satisfying and delicious meal for four people.

dough before rising
dough after rising (usually it is even puffier, my water may have been too warm or I allow didn't enough time to let it rise)
slice of the spinach pizza
whole chard, proscuitto and egg pizza

NYC Overindulgences

Ippudo's Akamaru Modern.
The garlic oil and berkshire pork were awesome; love the broth and spring-y noodles

I was recently in NYC, my old stomping grounds, for Easter and a wedding reception in Philly. Aside from seeing old friends, the highlights were of course the food and drinks. The following were some noteworthy stops:

• Milk and Honey: we used to go to Milk and Honey all the time, particularly when I lived in Noho, which was just a short walk away. We caught up with Bruce & Cara who are now members. I had two delicious seasonal fresh blackberry and strawberry cocktails, and K. had a twist on a old-fashioned with peach bitters that was perfect. Still no other cocktail bar compares with M&H
• Lupa: in addition to Babbo, Lupa is one of my must-visits when I'm in town, particular for a catch up night with Z. We sat at the bar as usual (almost no wait) and split the salad with warm guanciale dressing, rabbit pasta special, a special ravioli and the bavette cacio e pepe. Loved the salad (warm porky dressing!) and the first two pastas; the cacio e pepe was just a little too peppery for me (ok probably my fault). As usual, we had each dish paired with a different quartino of nice Italian reds recommended by the bartender. I also love how Lupa (and Babbo) actually splits the dishes into two separate dishes and brings the plates out one at a time (so you aren't trying to eat three pastas as once). Also, so nice not to have to think about driving home after a great meal with many glasses of wine!
  
• Tia Pol: I wish Los Angeles had good tapas! We sat at the bar after almost no wait and ate til we were stuffed. Highlights included the razor clams and cockles, the blistered padron peppers, and the patatas bravas. Almost as good as the tapas Sarah and I had in Barcelona at the Bar Pinotxo at the amazing Boqueria market. We had a nice bottle of white from Catalunya. While I love riojas, spanish whites are some of my favorites, particularly paired with spicy and / or highly seasoned food
  
• Company (Co.): I totally agree with Anthony Bourdain, I LOVE the popeye pie. It was just perfect: the lovely mound of just slightly cooked fresh spinach flavored simply with olive oil and sea salt, over some gruyere, pecorino and mozz, on a perfectly charred, while still fluffy crust, is perfection. We also had the veal meatball pie which would be noteworthy in any other restaurant, but was overshadowed by the Popeye pie. I will definitely be recreating the Popeye at home!
• Ippudo: after a day of walking around soho and the east village, I stopped by and had the Akamaru Modern. Rich, delicious, fragrant dish, with perfectly toothsome thin ramen. This is how ramen should be. The closest I can find in Los Angeles to Ippudo is Santouka ramen. Noodles are better at ippudo and the broth and quality of the pork are just a little better.
• Supertaste: My favorite Chinatown cheap eat. It's too easy to spend way too much money in NYC, particularly when you are catching up with lots of old friends. I haven't found any similarly great hand-pulled noodles (la mian) in Los Angeles. We ate at Supertaste before our $16 cocktails at M&H. We had the usual pork bone la mian, and slightly spicy beef hand cut noodles (dao xiao mian). With sodas, the meal came out to way less than one cocktail at M&H.
  
• Prosperity Dumpling: another great cheap eats in NYC; you just can't beat 5 dumplings for $1. The sesame beef pancake is also cheap and delicious. The dumplings are fried as you wait, as are the sesame pancakes. I also bought 50 frozen dumplings for $8 to make at home

Other notable stops during our visit to NYC: Bobo, which was in a quaint brownstone in our 'hood, the West Village, to celebrate MK's bday; Perbacco, in alphabet city, for a nice, relatively reasonable Italian meal in a cozy, typically East Village / Alphabet City setting, with some of our oldest NYC friends, Dan & A. and Colin & L.; Norwood, a private club near the meatpacking where we had way too many cocktails (great setting though) with J.; Schiller's Liquor Bar, for some quick cocktails with an old colleague, John; and Jim's Cheesesteaks, (ok, not in NYC) but perfect for some Philly post-wedding reception cheesesteaks with Sarah and Jim.

I found the Union Square Greenmarket in March to be a little depressing. Very little fresh produce. Lots of apples though
Prosperity Dumpling's chef making the sesame pancake