Who cares what I think!

Hi K8, When you visit NYC, we can discuss the Top Chef season finale further. You know I wanted LeeAnn Wong to win. But the white man always wins! Just kidding, you know I like Harold. He's cute, likes Asian girls, and he doesn't talk too much. He's a regular dreamboat. I'm curious though what did Tiffany mean when she said as she walked away, "Harold, my heart." She had said that she walked her BACK into his knife. So what gives? I would have voted for Harold. It's great to have a risky menu and all, but the judges said that some of the food didn't taste good and she was so catty about Dave's dessert.
To bring it home, Kirsten told me that she saw Dave and Harold at our wrap party for the Untitled Scott Hicks Film (name that stupid thing, Warner Brothers!). I had emailed LeeAnne to come, but she was a no show. I was late to the party because I had to change bags to accomodate flat shoes in case dancing occurred and Derrick's cab driver was quite hilariously the slowest driver in the city. Needless to say, the snacks at the party were average. The mini burgers were ok, the fries were fine until they got cold, but the rest of the food—stringy chicken on a stick and so dry it was practically beef jerky on a stick and salty pigs in a blanket were not so good. And there were no sweets. This is a common mistake that happens at parties. Whatever, I still had a good time.
So I never got to meet Harold, but rumor has it that he and LeeAnn are doing it. They went to Mexico together and the Bravo website said she's one of his best friends. That's cool. He seems nice and it just goes to show you that nice guys can end up on top. The website also says that he's opening up his own restaurant called Perilla this Fall or Winter. I'm sure someone will want to film it and put it on tv. If so, I hope it's better than that doc about Moto that came out a few years ago. And when they have an opening party, I'm sure they'll serve mini desserts!

It was all a burger blur

The new movie has started up, and I'm still adjusting to it. So there hasn't been enough time for play.
It wasn't until this weekend that I read last week's review of Dumont Burger in the NYTimes. If you missedIt's the Year of the Burger in Brooklyn too, click it. I ate there about a month ago and I meant to write about it, but the momentum died. In fact, I meant to write about Sweet Water in Williamsburger and this is the perfect opportunity to talk about them.
First things first. Dumont Burger. I went with Ted and Brian after we had drinks and party bombs at Bozu. I love Bozu, but that particular Saturday night we all just really wanted some red meat. So we stumbled over to Dumont Burger on Bedford and miraculously there were three seats available. We ordered beers and burgers and checked everyone out. Stylish and well dressed, just like the design of the restaurant and the burgers themselves. The bread and butter pickle chips were a nice touch, but that spear sucked. It was a boring salty wet wedge. My salad greens were a bit overdressed thus wilty and the burger a bit overcooked but it still hit the spot. The fries were fine, but the biggest dissappointment was the brioche bun. It was a bit much and I'm a lover of carbs, so this is serious. This large fluffy bun went way over the preferred meat to bun ratio. In fact, I didn't even eat the top half. I know it was a sin to waste that lovely bread, but one should always remember the bread is just a vehicle for the burger.
The folks at Sweetwater know this. Sweetwater (105 N.6th St. bw Berry and Wythe)used to be a bar and bands use to play there, but now it's a posh little bistro with a nice garden out back. Josh and I ate there another night after drinks at Bozu. There's just something about those wonderful mojitos that make me crave burgers. I dunno what it is, but it certainly made for a blurry picture. Can you make out the bread in the photo? IT'S AN ENGLISH MUFFIN!!! This may be a controversial statement, but I think this is genius. The bread is flatter, so it's not hard to get that meat in your mouth. With the huge rounded Dumont bun, I felt like I was causing my laugh lines to go deeper into my face. The muffin is also a little sturdier, so it absorbs the yummy juices from the perfectly pink meat. And those fries! Chips, really. They were crispy and delicious. I love that I got the salad too. If you're paying ten bucks for a burger, I don't want to have to choose between fries and a salad.
But if I had to choose between Dumont Burger and SweetWater, I'd choose SweetWater in a heartbeat.

Eating Raoul's

Sorry for not posting, but I've been wrapping up the Untitled Scott Hicks Film and starting up on American Gangster. The past couple of weeks have seemed like non stop drinking, partying, and eating, of course! There's much to talk about.
The Soho restaurant,Raoul's was a location in the Scorcese film, "The Departed." We pretended it was called Charles St. Brasserie. Look for the beautiful yellow neon sign. A lot of work went into that thing. Most of the photography and paintings that are in the restaurant were cleared for use in the scene's interior, so maybe the restaurant will be even more of an attraction after the film comes out this winter. It's the kind of place that's been in around forever and has that classic speakeasy look, but it's a bit pricey for me. That's why I was so excited that the production designer of the USHF took the art department to dinner there as a thank you gesture. Barbara had gone to a wine auction while she was here in town and didn't want to lug it back to LA, so the fact that Susan in the set dec dept. had gone into Raoul's the year before and catalogued all the art during "The Departed" was helpful. They owed us, so I hope Barbara didn't have to pay a corking fee because we drank a lot of wine. And it was the best tasting wine I've had, maybe in my life. We started out with a magnum of that stuff pictured above. Babs said it was worth $400, but she only paid half price. Yikes, right? She explained that the bottles she bought were estate bottled which means the winery grew the grapes, produced the wine and bottled it. It was awesome. Smooth and rich, I dug it, but I liked the next bottle even better, it was called Jayson and I don't have a picture of it or the next kind of wine. Jayson was spicy at the back of my throat and it tasted great with my entree of Wagyu Beef Duo. I have no idea what Wagyu beef is, I assume it's a type of cow like Kobe. Whatever it means, it's delicious. The sirloin was sliced but still very juicy, but the short rib was the star. It was rich but not too fatty and so tender. It was like butter. The carrot puree added a light sweetness and the wilted spinach was a nice finish, but man, that beef was amazing.
Oops, I forgot to tell you about the appetizers because that beef two ways was so good. We had the pate (nice and savory), the oysters of the day (dunno what they were called other than delicious), the artichoke (it was served cold and not really seasoned well) and the frog legs. I've never had frog legs, but they really do taste like chicken! In fact, Erik said in Barbados they call them mountain chicken.

I tried a bit of everyone's dish and they were quite nice, not as good as my beef, but still quite good. Pictured are Roaster Wild Salmon with Sunchoke Puree and Chanterelle Mushrooms, the Escobar fish special, Slow roast "Stone Church" Duck with Confit and Morels (Not sure if Erik liked the outer casing for the confit, he kept on calling it a membrane. I think it was Napa cabbage.) Seared Diver Scallops with Jonah Crab Hash and White Trumpets and then my beloved beef dish. Prices for entrees ranged from 18-39 bucks. I admit I really wanted the Steak frites, but it was $37, and I really loved that beef duo. My poor photos don't do the food justice, but as we know after working on this film, real cooked food just doesn't photograph well. You'll see in my next one minute video (if I ever finish it) what I mean...

As for desserts, I was tipsy and the conversation was getting juicy (movie star gossip!) so I only have photos of the profiteroles and the Fresh Berry Napoleon with Verbena Mousseline and Cassist Sorbet. It sounds and looks fancy, and it was nice, but it's just crunchy sugar wafers on lemon mousse with some berry sorbet on the side. The Warm Fallen Chocolate Pudding with Coffee Ice Cream was the best dessert. Simple, but good. Kind of like the experience of working on this film!

katiroll

katiroll
Originally uploaded by i_eat_ny.

I really want to do a show about rolls, burritos, wraps, whatever you want to call them. It's like the sandwich or dumpling, every culture has their own form of the fast food. You'll just have to wait a little longer for that.
While walking up Lexington to meet Diana and friends for trivia night at Rocky Sullivan's (Lex bw 28th & 29th), I thought I'd go to Roomali (97 Lexington @ 27th St.) to get a kati roll. I've only tried it once, but it's sleekly designed and chic. Then I spied Roll's "n" Curry's (101 Lex) hilarious sign. For the double "L" the sign maker chose to use two actual pictures of the same roll, so it's like 2 Indian burritos floating vertically as instead of lowercase letters! The interior was a dump. I think they are remodeling the downstairs area, so it was literally two rickety tables. I went for the spinach (saag) roll for 4 bucks. The spinach mixture was pulled from the fridge and heated up on the griddle with a handful of white onion, the thin paratha bread was also warmed up like a tortilla right with the saag. Iceberg lettuce was wrapped into the roll and that was it! But the flavor rocked! The softened onion added sweetness to the warm and tender spinach while the lettuce added a coolness and crunch to the mix. It was pretty good. When I got to the bar, Diana took a whiff and said it smelled good, but that she had a bad experience at Kati Roll Co. (99 MacDougal bw Bleecker & Minetta). She said that the rolls there were really greasy. And it's true, I had one with the paneer cheese and it was super slick with oil. But it was a long time ago, so maybe I'll revisit the place. Or maybe I'll just keep going to rolls n curry.

Bozu's Party bomb is Phat!

Remember back in the '90s when Kris Kross came out with their second album, "Da Bomb"? Let me refresh your memory. The cover art depicts the two little rappers who wear their clothes backwards superimposed on an image of the atomic bomb. I'm not making this up. The sophmore effort didn't make any money, thus the album was a bomb in the traditional sense. Do the kids these days still use the phrase "da bomb" to indicate things that are swell and super duper?
I dunno, but it's interesting to me that the South Williamsburg restaurant and bar, Bozu (296 Grand St.), calls their sushi bites, bombs. Holy Hiroshima, it's a Japanese restaurant! Or maybe it's Brazilian because they serve awesome mojitos. They have really good margaritas, too. Whatever it's ethnicity, Bozu is confusion fusion at its very best.
Their drinks are fabulous. I've tried one of their infused sochus, but the persimmon Japanese vodka I had really paled in comparision to their margs and mo's. Does the abbreviation work? I crave that blood orange mojito as soon as I wake up! It seems healthy with the vitamin C of the oj, the digestive powers of leafy green mint and the good mood rum imparts. I never thought I'd say this about a drink, but at 9 bucks, it's a bargain. These drinks are strong and muddled mint drinks are labor intensive so bars often charge up to 15 bucks for one! I found the shiso mojito a little soapy the first time around, but the second time, it was a simply minty.
Bozu serves entrees, but the Party bomb is really fun to order. Eighteen bucks will buy you 12 pieces of goofily named but yummy tasting sushi. The Pink (salmon & scallion), McLow (tuna, avocado, wasabi cream), and Spicy McBomb (tuna, cucumber, spicy mayo & kataifi) automatically come with the order. You get to choose between the ikur (salmon roe & cucumber), una (eel, shiso mint leaf & wasabi cream sauce) or spicy una bomb (eel, cucumber, spicy mayo & fresh wasabi). There are many more choices on their menu, and they also have specials. But remember, this is a Japanese tapas place, so if you want something heartier, get a burger somewhere.
By the way, kataifi is shredded phyllo dough; I had to look it up on the internet.

Luxury on a Budget

I've heard that the most humane way to kill a lobster is to stab it with a knife in its head. I think if I were to prepare lobster myself, I'd drink a couple of glasses of wine or beer with the poor thing and then at least get the lobster tipsy by dousing it in beer or wine. Then I'd lobotomize it.
However, I don't have a pot big enough, so I have to rely on restaurants where my favorite sandwhich, the lobster roll generally costs 20 bucks and up. Last week I went to Brooklyn Fish Camp and their roll was $22. Because it was Carol's birthday I didn't have any as I wanted her to have every luscious bite, but I've been thinking about lobster roll ever since.
The proper place to eat lobster roll is some shack on a beach road in Maine, but Maine is too far, so I go to the Lobster Place in Chelsea Market (or the West Village, and there's another one in Grand Central). It's a really simple dish, mayo, a little green onion and lobster in a hotdog bun for $13.50, with tax it's $14.63. It's a little expensive for everyday, but it's a nice indulgence every once in a while. Plus, you know the meat is fresh and if you close your eyes, that waterfall in the Chelsea Market is a sort of like the sound of the ocean.
To wash down the lobster roll, go down to the Fruit Exchange. They have big delicious bottles of fresh juice for 2 bucks.