“Steak and Eggs” Korean Style
by Celia Cheng
August 26th, 2008
THE GOOD FORK
391 Van Brunt St
(Van Dyke & Coffey St)
Red Hook, Brooklyn
718-643-6636
$$
The Good Fork has been on my list of restaurants to try for quite some time now. I was deterred by the lack of public transportation to the Red Hook area, but since the recent opening of Brooklyn’s IKEA, I could no longer use the difficult commute excuse, with the free water taxi and shuttle buses now available.
They take a limited number of reservations as most of the tables are left open for walk-ins. So securing one for Saturday at 8pm was a smart move, considering that walk-ins were told the wait was an hour and a half for a party of two.
I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I knew that since 360 closed, The Good Fork has been pretty much the only restaurant in this neighborhood that congregates locals and foodies alike. Chef owner Sohui Kim cooked at Savoy and Annisa, two of my favorites, before opening The Good Fork with her husband. I knew it was going to be a good meal, but I didn’t realize that I’d be so excited that I’d want to come back the next night. I opted to return the following week instead, and while my dinner companion and I ordered the same excellent entrées, we tried different appetizers and sides.
With a focus on local organic produce, the cuisine is American with some Korean influences, like the homemade dumplings, kimchi rice, shrimp scallion pancake and “steak and eggs” Korean style.
My companion and I started with the mixed organic field greens with house dressing, which is a great choice for a simple, healthy appetizer. There’s nothing boring about it. But for a little added diversity, the other salad option of grilled nectarine, curly endive, green beans and maple braised bacon, is also lovely. The dumplings were lack-luster, but the chilled Pacific oysters poached in olive oil, with mango avocado and lemon cucumbers was a hit. When asked what type of oysters these were, the waiter returned to tell me that their distributor would only say they’re from the Pacific Northwest. Though I couldn’t get the variety out of them, the oysters were deliciously plump and juicy. The brininess was undercut by the sweet mango and creamy avocado. Lemon cucumbers are now my new love, and the only cukes I’ll buy when available. There was an accent of kochujang (Korean hot sauce) on the plate to add some heat to the cool dish.
On the two separate occasions, we tried the dumplings (as mentioned) and pancake, which did not live up to expectations — for these two Korean staples, I prefer what I can find in Koreatown both for flavor and texture. The steak and eggs, however, is outstanding. Marinating beef is a strength in Korean cuisine, so the grilled skirt steak is not only tender, but also perfectly seasoned. It’s served with kimchi rice and a fried egg — a delectable combination. On my first visit, the kimchi rice was too soggy and bland, and I had wished that it was made more like kimchi fried rice, with the rice grains clearly defined and absorbing the spicy and tangy juices of the kimchi. They must have heard my prayers because the rice on the following Saturday was perfect in texture: not too soggy or greasy.
Another entrée we ordered two weeks in a row was the grilled gulf shrimp with risotto. It was cooked with lemon-thyme, peas, Added Value Farm squash, zucchini and cherry tomatoes. Every ingredient in this dish exuded freshness. The flavors were pronounced, proving that local, in-season produce makes better meals.
We ended both meals with the apple tart à la mode. Warm, with delicate slices of baked apple and flaky thin-layered crust, it hits the spot.
A copious dinner for two with two appetizers, two entrées, two glasses of wine and a dessert to share rang in both times just under $100. In terms of quality price ratio, The Good Fork wins a gold medal. Overall, the good food, charming atmosphere, friendly service and great value place The Good Fork on another list of mine: favorites.
Posted in American , Beef , Korean , Red Hook
Potato Salad/Baked Grapefruit/Red Beer
by Cristy-Lucie Alvarado
July 28th, 2008
ROEBLING TEA ROOM
143 Roebling St
@ Metropolitan Ave
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
718-963-0760
My last visit to Roebling Tea Room was a snacky and satisfying one. I couldn’t decide on a single dish, so I took the sides route. I needed something starchy (potato salad), something interesting (baked grapefruit), and something uplifting (red beer).
I was happy to find that, for mid-afternoon, the place wasn’t too crowded, so I chose a cozy corner and awaited my mini-meal. The potato salad, comprised of thinly sliced bliss potatoes with the peels intact, was cooked to just the right consistency, crunchy but not raw. A creamy pink dressing coated the sliced potatoes while capers and bits of red onion added a little zing and texture. I later found out that the salad gets its pink hue from Frank’s RedHot hot sauce, not paprika, as I had suspected. This atypical potato salad perfectly satisfied my carb craving.
Next I moved on to the baked grapefruit, which was cut open and carved like a star. Sparkly brown sugar was sprinkled on the face open grapefruit, which was then baked in the oven until parts of the sugar became nice and crusty. I wasn’t sure how my fork was supposed to find its way, so I dug in with hands and teeth. The juice was warm and the slight bitterness you typically find in a grapefruit was tamed by the temperature and sugar.
Finally, I topped my snack-fest off with a Red Beer: a Bloody Mary made with beer instead of vodka. Genius! It’s smoother than a Bloody Mary, and you actually get a taste of tomato juice. With a salted rim and slices of lemon and lime, this is definitely my new brunch cocktail!
Roebling Tea Room’s menu has a lot to offer, but these three items were a nice place to start and will secure many visits to come.
Posted in American , Dessert , Drinks , Potato , Williamsburg
Philly Cheese Steak Dumplings w/ sriracha ketchup
by Celia Cheng
June 30th, 2008
FIRESIDE
19 E 52nd St
@ Madison Ave
212-734-5011
Fireside, located in the Omni Berkshire Hotel in Midtown, is an unexpectedly good restaurant. You could easily mistake it for an unremarkable hotel restaurant, the kind that serves less than mediocre food but must be there for the hotel guests. That’s not the case here though. Chef Sam DeMarco is at the head of this kitchen, and his cuisine is outstanding and fun!
In his own words, he doesn’t really try to be innovative, but incorporates items in his menu that evoke nostalgia. Not innovative? I beg to differ. Philly cheese steak dumplings are innovative, but I understand what he means by nostalgic. He blends the best of both worlds.
Who doesn’t love a good Philly cheese steak? But he’s reconfigured it so that all the components — thinly sliced Rib eye, grilled onions, button mushrooms and American cheese — are wrapped in dumpling skins and then fried like pot stickers. There are five to an order, served with sriracha ketchup — what a great condiment for this masterpiece — to add a little spice. Hot pepperconi peppers as garnish also bring us back to the traditional Philly cheese steak toppings.
I agree with Chef DeMarco that he’s not trying to make fusion cuisine. He doesn’t force the elements together, but simply makes a whimsical change to the classic sandwich. Dumpling skin is a fine substitute for bread in this case. And these are much more elegant and manageable with Fireside’s playful cocktails.
I also tried the three specials currently on the couture menu: bling bling benny (crispy poached eggs with smoked sturgeon) for breakfast; OB’s Kobe burger at lunch, and luxe A-5 gold five-ounce Japanese Kobe sirloin for dinner.
The eggs benedict was nothing like what I expected. Though I love classics, I cringe when I see eggs benedict on a brunch menu. Give me something more interesting! Well, here’s new interpretation of an oldie-but-goody. The poached eggs, covered in panko and Parmesan cheese, are deep fried until crispy, and served over smoked sturgeon and a confetti of three different caviars: ginger, American paddlefish and salmon roe, embellished by asparagus and tomato. It’s a striking and delicious breakfast.
The Kobe burger won my heart instantly. A Kobe beef patty is served between two pieces of brioche tea toast with sautéed chanterelles, summer truffles, shallots and melted Brie. It’s a “tasting” portion and the perfect size for savoring the rich flavors of the high quality ingredients. Truffle fries accompany, and while a little on the greasy side, they were ideally crispy, and, besides, it’s hard to resist the scent of truffle oil.
The Kobe steak is sliced into four thin pieces that you grill at the table on a scorching Himalayan salt brick. This is a common practice in Japan known as ishiyaki (hot stone cooking). It’s fun to cook your own meat, especially when your steak starts sizzling right in front of your eyes. It only takes a few seconds for it to cook on each side, and the satisfaction thereafter is instantaneous.
Chef DeMarco is so endearing. There’s no pretense; he’s jolly and wants you to be jolly, too. I’m looking forward to trying more of his ingenious “cocktail” cuisine!
Posted in American , Appetizer , Dumpling , Midtown East , Steak
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Salad-Topped Baked Potato
by Celia Cheng
April 28th, 2008
TOTALLY BAKED
8 West 18th St
(5th & 6th Ave)
646-336-6118
I love potatoes! I once designed a book called “Potatoes are Our Friends.” I even named my company “P. de Terre” short for pomme de terre, which is potato in French. Back in school, for a class project, I conceived of a potato restaurant, but apparently someone has beaten me to the punch.
Totally Baked is a baked potato bar located across from City Bakery on 18th Street. Jason Apfelbaum has revamped his original catering outlet Chef & Company, taking the concept of lowbrow baked potatoes, sprucing up the toppings, and creating a specialty fast food store. And it seems to work as there’s always a line whether it’s noon or 3pm. It’s comforting to know that in image-obsessed New York City, there are still hearty potato fans who refuse to take carbs out of their diet.
The menu offers baked potatoes in five categories: favorites (served in baked Yukon Golds with a small side salad), famous (reserved exclusively for the truffle), fresh (cold salads served over a large wedge of baked Idaho), sweet (sweet potatoes), and create (any three toppings of your choice).
Within favorites, besides the classic (chive, sour cream, applewood smoked bacon and cheddar), there are a handful of fun options such as pulled pork (pulled pernil pork and Mexican slaw), brisket (braised beef brisket, parsley and marsala reduction), and wild mushroom (chanterelle, shitake, oysters, crimini mushrooms, shallots, chives and shaved Manchego).
Most potatoes are between $7 and $11, but much buzz has been around the $55 truffle potato that’s topped with truffle compound butter, truffle oil, truffle salt and fresh truffle shavings.
My favorite is the fresh category — the salad potatoes. There are six choices: spinach, Caesar, chopped, chevre, seared ahi tuna or nova. On my first visit, I ordered the ahi. It’s sushi grade tuna, romaine, seaweed salad, sesame seeds and ginger vinaigrette. It sounded like a disaster to me, with too much going on, and trying too hard for an Asian bent, but in the large display photo, it looked appetizing, so I tried it. Ironically, this is now one of my top cravings.
I also tried the chopped, with romaine, avocado, cucumber, chickpeas, feta cheese and a creamy balsamic dressing. But when I got my potato, the avocado was missing, so I went back to the counter to inquire. They use guacamole instead of whole avocados, and they were happy to give me a side of it. Once I smothered the potato with guacamole, it was perfect. I like the fresh category because the salad dressing provides good seasoning and moisture for the potato so that it’s not so dry. And salad on a potato is lighter and healthier than the other alternatives. Baked potatoes actually aren’t bad for you; it’s just greasy toppings that make them unhealthy. The salad potatoes fill me up without leaving me stuffed. In fact, three to four hours later, my stomach starts to growl.
From the favorites, I tried the Cape Cod Chowder, but found it disappointing. The topping of creamed cod and potato, sautéed onions, parsley, garlic and grated Manchego was heavy and sparse, leaving me with a dry potato that I didn’t want to pick at anymore.
Totally Baked is predominantly a take-out business, and for those in a rush, the line moves fast and the staff is eager to please. But for those who want to eat in, there are seats along the wall across from the service counter. And don’t miss the framed 1970s storyboard sketches of a Mr. Potato Head commercial by the entrance. It’s not fine dining but it’s fun, and at the end of the day, I just can’t resist potatoes.
Posted in American , Flat Iron District , Potato
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Porterhouse Steak
by Celia Cheng
March 31st, 2008
BENJAMIN STEAK HOUSE
52 E 41st St
(Madison & Park Ave)
212-297-9177
If there’s one thing a steak house should be, it’s grand! And Benjamin Steak House, in the century-old, Chemist Club-building-turned-Dylan Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, is exactly that.
Once inside the restaurant, a long, dark corridor leads to the heart of the restaurant, revealing the opulent main dining room with remarkably high ceilings, white columns, brass chandeliers, and a staircase that winds up to the second level dining area — a great seating option as it’s an open mezzanine overlooking the first floor. The lighting is dim to match the décor that I had read, “evokes a bygone era.” Before actually seeing the place, though, I was afraid that this characterization might translate to cheesy, but the restaurant interior is nothing short of gorgeous.
Benjamin Steak House is the collaborative endeavor of Peter Luger alumni: owner, Benjamin Prelvukaj and Chef Arturo McLeod. They are among a handful of Luger alum that have opened steakhouses in New York in recent years, paying tribute to the Luger tradition, but unlike the brash and dismissive treatment at Luger’s, Benjamin’s service is impeccable.
More precisely, our waiter was impeccable. His nametag read “Benny,” but his Eastern European accent suggested that “Benny” was probably a convenient Americanization of some other name. Benny, actually Besim Lajqi from Kosovo, seemed much younger than most of his colleagues, and perhaps because of that, at first my ageism got the better of me as I wondered if he knew what he was doing. However, at only twenty-two, Besim knows correct, old world service better than ninety percent of the servers I’ve encountered in New York. Throughout our meal, he was attentive but not overbearing and quick to pick up on details and jokes. The courses were well paced, and Besim divided the food evenly and expertly between mine and my sister’s plates. He did not appear offended when we didn’t take his recommendations, but we eventually realized our error in not trusting him. Professional and charming is what we hope every server can be, but that is most often not the case. We certainly lucked out with “Benny.”
My sister and I enjoyed a classic steak dinner, starting with iceberg wedges with blue cheese and jumbo shrimp cocktail. For main, the porterhouse for two was a combination of sirloin and filet mignon. I found the filet mignon a bit stringy, but the sirloin was stellar and there’s no doubt that the quality of the dry-aged beef was first rate, as the slices of steak were succulent and juicy. I was satisfied but couldn’t finish it all, so I took some leftovers home and gave them a second try. The only problem was that in heating them up, I cooked the initially perfectly medium rare cuts to medium well, which might have been a complete tragedy if the meat had not been able stand on its own. But they stood up to my overcooking, and still retained great flavor!
The side of German potatoes cooked golden brown was a cross between crispy and soggy and didn’t add anything to the meal, and the creamed spinach (a secret recipe, not made with cream) veered towards ordinary, too. I was excited for the homemade schlag (whipped cream) that came with the key lime pie and mixed berries for dessert, but that also disappointed as it was heavy and weighed down, not light or refreshing.
Potatoes and desserts aside, if you’re craving a steak in an elegant old school setting, do consider Benjamin Steak House. Have a cocktail at the bar while taking in the décor, and then enjoy a classic meal with quality meats and superb service. (And don’t forget to ask for Benny!)
Posted in American , Beef , Midtown East , Steak
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