Fava Bean Salad
by Celia Cheng
June 16th, 2006
CRAFTSTEAK
85 10th Ave
@ 15th St
212-400-6699
After my meal at Craftsteak, I felt like I got clubbed over the head and robbed, only in this case, I saw it coming and literally asked for it. You may think that my words are harsh. True, the food was not bad, and you could even say above average, but the quality -price ratio here is grossly out of whack, to the point of being offensive to me. The food was lack-luster while the bill was impressive — am I missing something?
Craftsteak is the latest addition to the Manhattan-Vegas strip on 10th Avenue — an extension of the Meat Packing district, supersized and Vegasfied. A tour of the latest “hot-spots,” including Craftsteak, Del Posto, Morimoto and Buddakan (one block away on 9th Avenue), is sure to have you wondering, “Where the hell am I, and where can I place my bets?” Not that I have anything against Vegas, and undoubtedly there’s a lot of good food in that city, but I prefer the motto “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.”
The irony, of course, is that the original Craftsteak is in Las Vegas, and Tom Colicchio is just bringing home an offshoot of his Vegas steakhouse. So it actually couldn’t be more appropriately situated in NoMP (North of Meat Packing), SoWC (South of West Chelsea) or Meat Vegas, whatever you want to call it.
This has got to be the epitome of the BBD — celebrity chefs cashing in on their names and creating theme park restaurants large enough to house elephants and giraffes. There is no sense of personal attention or personality, and these restaurants don’t attract a clientele that is looking for the personal touch. Let’s not even get into the types of personalities you’ll find dining at these places. Sadly, Craftsteak is like the anti-Gramercy Tavern for all the reasons stated above. This brings to mind Mark Bittman’s recent article in the New York Times Magazine, Dining by Satellite. Another one bites the dust! Sigh…
Let’s talk food for a sec. The salads were extremely nice and actually what I enjoyed the most. The baby artichoke was so soft and tender it almost melted in my mouth, and the fava bean salad with crushed hazelnuts was delightful. I’m beginning to think that there’s nothing better than super fresh beans or peas when they’re in season, and the hazelnuts were so finely crushed that the crunchy texture was refined yet offset well the smoothness of the beans. The two ingredients were definitely opposites but a nicely-matched pair.
The Wagyu beef tartar was terribly disappointing, especially when I compare it to the Carne Cruda at A Voce, which also uses Wagyu. At Craftsteak, after mixing in the quail egg with the tartar, I was so excited and couldn’t wait to dig in. A couple of bites later, I stopped because I found the tartar to be unmemorable, even while I was eating it.
For main, I ordered the 8 oz. flat iron, grade six Snake River Farm Wagyu beef. I wanted something small, but also, this cut of meat sounded interesting to me. The flat iron is a cut from the shoulder, so it’s relatively flat and the meat is tougher. But because it’s Wagyu, the beef is more tender than usual shoulder cuts (since the meat is evenly marbled with fat throughout). My medium rare flat iron arrived and tasted exactly as it was described to me. As I bit into the steak, I had doubts about my selection, as it was tough on the first bite. But the meat inside was extremely delicate and juicy. As I plunged deeper into my steak, I was really starting to like this contrast of tough and smooth textures. My friends shared with me pieces of their corn-fed Black Angus beef filet mignon and the Wagyu New York Strip, but upon the taste test, I surprisingly had become rather attached to my own choice.
The side dishes were traditional Craft-style, high quality but not eye opening. The Yukon gold purée is an excellent choice as accompaniment to the steaks, and the morel, baby zucchini and summer truffle risotto was pretty tasty. Strangely, the butter braised morels were a disaster. This dish tasted like a mistake — morels wasting away, soaking in watered-down butter. Yuck!
No dessert and a couple of glasses of wine, and it’s already at a little under $200 per person. As my friend Eugenia said, I could have had a nice lunch at Per Se.
The bottom line? Bigger is not better. At this price level, I expect the food to have soul. I expect to remember intricate and amazing details about the dishes and the experience. I am not expecting to feel like I was just robbed in Las Vegas.
Posted in American , Meat Packing District
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Chili Crab
by Celia Cheng
January 17th, 2006
FATTY CRAB
643 Hudson St
(Horatio & Gansevoort St)
212-352-3590
I am really impressed by Zak Pelaccio and what he’s doing at Fatty Crab. While I never got to try the famed and now closed Chickenbone Café in Williamsburg, based on my meal at Fatty Crab, I can only imagine how good it must have been.
The restaurant opened four months ago to an overwhelming number of raving reviews. Even though it’s open until four a.m. on weekends and until midnight during the week, I had heard that it’s virtually impossible to get a seat at the small, 32-seater, no-reservation restaurant in the Meatpacking district. I had wondered if it was just a lot of hype for a new, “exotic” Southeast Asian restaurant on the scene. The location also put some doubt in my head as I generally stay away from the Meatpacking district, which is largely populated by high profile but underwhelming restaurants. But since Pelaccio’s other restaurant, 5 Ninth, is in the vicinity, it makes sense that Fatty Crab is close by so he can hop between the two locations. Dying to try Fatty Crab, on a late, rainy Tuesday night, my sister and I were able to walk in without a wait.
While the atmosphere is a bit on the trendy side, the food is genuinely delicious, and the service laid-back and friendly. I’m usually not a fan of Malaysian food because I find the flavors so heavy that they cover up the taste of the actual food. At Fatty Crab, the flavors are heavy, because Malaysian flavors are, but the dishes don’t just rely on the sauces and spices. The produce, fish and other ingredients are fresh, well-prepared and speak for themselves.
The Java Mee — egg noodles in a curry broth with shrimp, fish cake, tofu and tiny dried anchovies — is a true comfort food dish. The egg noodles are so springy and fresh that I was sure they must be homemade. A trip to the kitchen for confirmation proved me wrong and that the noodles can be bought in packets in Chinatown. So while the source of materials is important, the handling and preparation are even more so, because most restaurants in Chinatown are not turning out amazing flares like Fatty Crab, even with access to much of the same produce.
Naturally, I had to try the Chili Crab. While it’s the most expensive item on the menu at $26, I think it is entirely worth it because, as I’ll explain in a moment, you can make two meals out of it. My Shanghainese heritage ensures that I love crabs and must master the art of eating them. The Shanghainese live for hairy crab season — late fall — and crab roe is a delicacy that can enhance the flavor of so many foods, including shiao lung bao and tofu. The Jonah crabs we had at Fatty Crab were much like the Shanghainese hairy crabs: large and meaty. This is a messy dish indeed, but it’s really worth all the work. I don’t recommend ordering it on a first date, though, as it’s hard to show restraint or etiquette while tearing a crab apart and digging for the juicy, meaty pieces.
The crabs are served with thick pieces of white toast for soaking up the sauce. The sauce is important, and, while its main role is to enhance the flavor of the crab, which it did, it is so good on its own that it should not go to waste. The Chinese often use the sauce from a dish once the main is finished and mix it in with noodles to create a second dish. This is what I meant by making two meals out of it. There was enough crab that I took home leftovers, and while I tried the Malaysian way of savoring the sauce using toast, I still found it to be a bit wasteful because the toast still couldn’t fully capture and bring out the essence of the sauce. Next time, I think I’ll take home the leftover sauce to mix with noodles. Oh, by the way, I was so excited about the crabs I cut my finger on them in all my barbarism while eating. After a quick bandage job, I continued to feast.
My first experience at Fatty Crab was so delightful that I would like to try everything else on the menu. Luckily, I live close by, and you can take out anything that’s on the menu, even the wines. The only sad thing is that they don’t have dessert — they did away with the dessert menu to help cut down the wait time. Nonetheless, I have to say, “Bravo” to Fatty Crab. Well done!
Posted in Malaysian , Meat Packing District , Seafood
