June 24, 2004
Frank Bruni
Thank you New York Times for finding Frank Bruni. He writes with the same balance of honesty and elegence I loved in William Grimes.
June 19, 2004
Drunk Meal #437
I have gotten drunk in many nice restaurants. Otto and Eleven Madison Park were two recent drunk eating expierences. But those of course were not drunk meals.
A drunk meal is defined (at least to me) as: A meal or food item gotten while walking home drunk from a bar far enough away from your apartment that the sudden urge to eat is too strong to stave off the first junk food you see.
But sometimes you do it right. And New York city has a very high good-drunk-meal quotiant. The pizza/fallafel factor is of course there but there are other drunk meals to be had. And last night for the first time I got a Gray's Papya hotdog and papya drink. Let me tell you its sad that I have never expierenced this instituion before. The papya drink isn't that exiting - a nice talcam powder taste with what I think was papya flavoring. But those hotdogs. Its not the best i have ever had i guess but 75 cents ( or the ever rising recession special -2 hotdogs and drink for 2.75) for a nicely grilled hotdog, a toasted bun, and all the free toppings you want, is well so damn beautiful it almost made me cry.
Thank you Gray's Papya.
(ok so I did not take this picture - Andrew Merelis did - i just swiped it from his site. Hopefully if he ever saw it on my page he wouldn't be mad especially because I am giving him credit. And giving him a link too - So everyone go to his page and look at his post on a rediculously indulgent food day)
June 18, 2004
June 16, 2004
BBQ, Catfish, Crab, and Vacation
Hello everyone - I am back. I went on a very nice week long vacation to the Outer Banks - North Carolina. Its a rather strenuous vacation. Most days my biggest decision was - "Do I want to sleep in the hammock now or should I go into the pool?" and a popular one was - "Hmm what is there to drink?" So as you can see - I am thoroughly rested.
Food highlights include
Catfish QUE - chopped up BBQ catfish. Nice and smokey - great hot sauce to go with it. I love the idea of unconventional BBQ that actually tastes good.
She-Crab Soup - This stuff was great. A lot of crab meat in a balanced cream soup, put a little bit of Old Bay on it and it was damn addictive.
Silky Key Lime Pie - key limey good!
A bunch of homemade meals - the great thing about renting a house on the beach (besides of course the house on the beach) is the huge kitchen inside. We cooked - chicken, chili, and burgers - to name a few things. Yup we ate well.
And lastly there was real North Carolina BAR-B-QUE. We took a small trip to Powells Point (right outside the Outer Banks) and had lunch at Dixie BAR-B-QUE. I am still learning about the different kinds of BBQ, the taste of these ribs really came out. The meat was very tender and had a nice amount of smokiness. But what really got me was the vinegary gravy that was on the ribs. It wasn't a BBQ sauce I am use to. Much more flavorful and acted as a nice compliment to the ribs. I am not one to forgo sides - fried okra, baked beans, and hushpuppies. And for dessert some down-home peach cobbler.
Next time I am in North Carolina, I am taking a day trip to Wilson NC - Mitchell's Ribs, Chicken & BBQ (thanks NYC Eats)
June 02, 2004
Amanda Hesser says "????"
"Masa is my last review as the interim restaurant critic. After several visits, my impressions are firm: four stars when dining at the sushi bar and three stars at the tables. If forced, I could settle on one, but I would rather not. Instead, I will look forward to reading, in the future, what The Times's new permanent critic, Frank Bruni, thinks of it."
Amanda Hesser deferes her stars to Frank Bruni. Hey if she can't choose then her decision was not a bad one. I wonder if its the first time ever that a restaurant got a "????"