April 2006 Archives

Name: Robert Granoff

Occupation: Photographer

Borough: Brooklyn

Relationship status:  I have a few special people in my life right now and we want to play with you too.

What did you eat today?

Three Bubbies pickles and Exotic truffles from Vosges

What do you never eat?

Chilled monkey brains

Complete this sentence:  In my refrigerator, you can always find:

Film

What is your favorite kitchen item?

Spatula, which I keep in the bedroom


Where do you eat out most frequently?

Chai on N. 6th and Berry (you should really change the wording in that question)  [Ahem. --Ed.]

World ends tomorrow.  What would you like for your last meal?

Since I’ve given up red meat almost entirely I’d go to Peter Luger and order the following:

Tomato and onion salad, four strips of Canadian bacon, cream spinach, hash browns, Peter Luger Burger, a bottle of Dom, and a “Holy Cow” ice cream sundae.

See Robby's fancy photography here.

Sorry, I managed to keep a Valkyrie alive for three nights straight in this uber-geeky game I've been playing for ten years called Nethack.  (You think you're geeky?  Check this out.)  The only nourishments I've been thinking about are food rations, lembas wafers, and potions.

But I killed my Valkyrie last night, so EDOW will get some attention again.  (I was wearing a blindfold and didn't notice I was being attacked by an ettin zombie until it was too late.  It's okay though, I accidentally sacrificed a doppelganger and my god was mad at me for staining his altar with blood.  Still, it's a shame the game's over 'cause I was seriously kicking ass with my war hammer called Mjollnir.)

Sasha Davies and Michael Claypool are holding a fundraiser at Vintage New York on April 25 from 6:30-8:30 pm for their fascinating project, a radio documentary of visits to 40 cheesemakers across the U.S.  [Disclosure: Sasha is a friend of a friend.  Our mutual friend designed the cool flyer.]  Details for their fundraising event and more information about the project can be found on their website, www.cheesebyhand.com. 

Why should you fork over $75 to these people so they can road trip across the nation and gorge on milky products while you're chained to your cubicle?  Because:
A.) You get hors d'oeuvres from Blue Hill, Mas, and the the Tasting Room
B.) You get free cheese and wine
C.) You haven't come up with an idea this good yet; when you do, and you need to raise some money for your dream, you better hope this world is made of more than just jealous hater scrooges.  Karma's a bitch.

Mark Bittman's weekly features on David Chang of Momofuku have been fun to read, but this article doesn't mention what I think is the coolest thing about onsen tamago.  Tamago is egg (remember Tamagotchi?) and onsen are Japanese hot springs.  Bathing in the hot springs is a highly revered and cherished Japanese pastime/ritual with therapeutic benefits.  Onsen tamago were made by putting eggs in the hot springs (which are the optimal low heat temp) for a long time.  I love the image; it reminds me of that saying, "It's so hot today, you could fry an egg on the sidewalk." 

Name: Kate B.  

Occupation: Le Grammar Policia [Literally.  Ask for her take on em dashes vs. colons sometime --Ed.] and resident hot girl

Borough: Brooklyn

Relationship status: Single

What did you eat today?

Blueberry muffin, overpriced not spicy as advertised maki roll, the $3 buffet at some chinese joint on Hester and Centre, apple juice

What do you never eat?

Brussels sprouts (except that one time my friend brought them to Thanksgiving dinner), veal, balls

Complete this sentence:  In  my refrigerator, you can always find:

Martinelli's apple juice, dijon mustard, bacon.

What is your favorite kitchen item?

potholder

Where do you eat out most frequently?

Dumont Burger

World ends tomorrow.  What would  you like for your last meal?

My mom's bibim nangmyun (spicy Korean noodles), that black cod thing from Nobu, lobster roll from Mary's Fish Camp. Szechuan wontons from Grand Sichuan. And maybe the celery/tofu cold dish from Spicy and Tasty. (Yes, all in one sitting.)  And a glass of MAJ.

Hot Kate can be found at her baby blog, Pony Heist.  Go ask her what MAJ is, 'cause I sure as hell don't know.

My parents' friend, Uncle Sanga, moved to New York from Thailand sometime in the 70s.  He was in his 20s, and one of his first jobs was waiting tables at a French restaurant called Maillard.  Mai lohd means "can't survive" in Thai, so he and his buddies always wondered what kind of idiot would name a restaurant "can't survive".

It's funny in Thai, I swear.

Name: Sabrina Balassa

Occupation: Looking for a job

Relationship status: I have the most wonderful boyfriend!

Borough: Manhattan

What did you eat today?

Oatmeal, eggs, and an English muffin

What do you never eat?

I never ate oats before, and now it's how I start my day (never say never)

Complete this sentence:  In my refrigerator, you can always find:

Yogurt, bread and cheese

What is your favorite kitchen item?

I love kitchen stuff...big cups for tea and coffee


Where do you eat out most frequently?

Hmmm...Japanese! In Brazil, Tanaka!

World ends tomorrow.  What would you like for your last meal?

The food that would make me feel like home. Rice, black beans, vegetables and some meat, cooked by someone very dear to me. Her name is Eva.

Appropriately, it's gonna rain today.  Okay, maybe it's not gonna rain.  Happy Thai New Year anyway.  The Thai temple in Queens is gonna have lots of free food on Sunday.  No conversion necessary.

Went to iCi in Fort Greene with La Doug for Brooklyn Restaurant Week. 

A la carte:
New York Magazine-lauded chicken liver schnitzel consisted of three hunks of organ clothed in panko and deep fried, served with a dollop of bland aioli and some overly sweet caramelized onions.  Nice crunch, a little oily, and not bad -- but I'd rather have 2nd Ave. Deli's chopped chicken liver on rye with red onion (R.I.P.) or Balthazar's chicken liver foie gras mousse.  Our 2 glasses of Raventos cava ($9/glass, bottle retails for $12) tasted day-old.

3 course prix fixe, $20.06 each:

Apps -- Doug's thinly sliced fluke carpaccio with mint shrank in an acidic pool of lemon juice.  My watercress salad with pickled onions and beet fragments was simple and straightforward, no complaints.

Mains -- Overcooked and underseasoned sliced duck breast dominoes were splayed over a thirst-inducing salt-potato pancake.  It was garnished with a couple of afterthought mustard greens and a pair of dookie-imposter stewed prunes.  Doug's skate was swimming in brown butter, also too salty and a little burnt, served with the same mustard greens and a scattered assortment of indeterminate diced veg.

Desserts -- Chocolate cake dessert was an enormous wedge of dark chocolate soft-cooked batter.  Translucent glutinous rice lent coconut rice pudding a lovely texture, with an elegant top note of kaffir lime leaf chiffonade (though the garnish is kind of indigestible and gets stuck in your teeth -- perhaps a little kaffir lime zest instead would be better?).

Service was slammed and it took a while for us to get our check (totally understandable considering it was restaurant week).  The room is quite elegantly done, with a fireplace, white walls, low ceilings, and sexy light sconces; but the quaint picture is marred by the collegiate servers in low rise jeans and tank tops.  The menu looks so promising, but the restaurant is ultimately betrayed by its own Brooklyn nonchalance.  iCi seems to suffer from a malaise shared by several Cobble Hill and Park Slope restaurants -- it's good in theory, uses all the right ingredients, has all kinds of good intentions front of house, but the final product still seems amateurish. 

A restaurant only accessible from the G train would have to be really fucking good to warrant the trip.  iCi is not that good, but if you live in the area and don't have other options, it's probably good enough.

iCi
246 Dekalb Ave. @ Vanderbilt Ave.
718-789-2778

G to Clinton-Washington

The problem with joining this guy's refried crusade is that we got a Taco Smell in Sunset Park and I don't want it.

The last time I ate Taco Smell was from a drive-thru in Baltimore after a gig.  (No 24 hour Korean joints in Charm City.)  I was discussing (over a 7-layer burrito) with a vegan (bean burrito sin queso) the merits of the deliciously salty, tart mild sauce.  And then I was hungry again 15 minutes after I finished my burrito. 

Some Brooklyn Taco Smell/Dunkin Donuts combos are open 24 hours, but only drive thru really late.  I've been told that in the madrugada hours, you can sometimes find drunk folk standing on line between cars, leaning down to place their orders into the squawk box.  And no, I don't know this from personal experience.