First though, let me show you the spectacular view from the corner office where I had a meeting downtown. On one side was a direct look at Ground Zero.

I have never seen Ground Zero in person, and to view it so clearly from above like that gave me pause.  It’s eerie — on the one hand it looks like a generic construction site, but then you remember what happened there.

The other window looked out onto New York Harbor — there’s the Statue of Liberty on the left and Ellis Island on the right.

It was easy to picture the scene of 100 years ago, with steamships arriving in the harbor, passing the Statue of Liberty and entering Ellis Island.  When you’re on Ellis Island the place feels weighty and formidable.  From the window it just looks tiny.

Anyway, back to the banh mi search.  I’d been given a few Vietnamese restaurant recommendations in Chinatown that I fully trusted; I’d also read about a Cambodian sandwich shop in Union Sq. serving num pang, the Cambodian version of a banh mi.

My first instinct was for Chinatown, where I knew the banh mi would be fresh, authentic, and undoubtedly delicious.  But I wasn’t thrilled by the prospect of a Chinatown lunchtime rush and the possibility of not being able to sit.  Union Sq. sounded more manageable, and based on the merit of strong Yelp reviews, I headed towards Num Pang Sandwich Shop.

From what I can tell, a banh mi and a num pang are very similar. Both incorporate cucumber, pickled carrots, cilantro and French bread, with some kind of meat choice (at Num Pang there were also options for seafood or roasted cauliflower).

Here’s my pulled durok pork num pang.

The toasted bread was spot on.  The rest — it was all right. Nothing really wrong with it, but the pork was unremarkable and the sandwich was kind of pricey ($7.50) and smallish.  (By comparison, a footlong banh mi would probably be around $3.75).

I left feeling a little disappointed and hungry.  Check that, a lot hungry.  Next time I’ll trust my gut, brave the Chinatown crowds, swerve around the men spitting on the sidewalk, and pick up an honest-to-goodness banh mi.

Num Pang Sandwich Shop
21 East 12th St.
New York, NY
212-255-3271

Maybe that explains why I’m impressed by young chefs who exhibit a cooking maturity beyond their years. (Remember Kevin from this past season of Top Chef?  Dude was 26!)

I attended a chef’s tasting dinner last week at Morello Bistro; when the restaurant’s new Executive Chef, Mark Medina-Rios, introduced himself to our table, I thought, Whoaaa, that guy’s young! He is. He’s 25.  And I’m impressed.  Not just because he’s an accomplished chef, but because he’s got the necessary chops to shape a menu and run a kitchen in a town (Greenwich, CT) where I imagine the diners are incredibly food savvy and armed with high expectations.

Morello is certainly an atmospheric space to have a meal.  The building, once a bank, is an historical landmark; the design of the interior with vaulted ceilings, columns and mezzanines, is gorgeous.  My pictures don’t do it justice.

Chef Medina-Rios explained the night’s dishes to us and told us a little bit about the restaurant’s Italian–Mediterranean influenced and seasonal menu.

Then it was time to eat.

Antipasto

We were started off with whipped ricotta with honey-balsamic dressing and grilled cibatta.  I was starving and dove into it before remembering to take a picture.  Thus, the messiness.

Primo

A nicely acidic and meaty Octopus Calabrese.

Secondo

Porchetta with pickled red onions and pine nuts.

In a demonstration of my stupidity, I wondered aloud, “What kind of meat is on top?  It tastes like turkey.”  I’d forgotten what we eating… porchetta, which is slow-roasted, seasoned pork.  I’m an idiot.

Pasta

Next, homemade mushroom ravioli.

Great bite to these.  I finished one, got lost in conversation with my tablemates, turned back, and my plate was gone!  The server must have thought I was finished.  So sadly, I missed out on the second ravioli.

Pesce

Swordfish on a tomato caper sauce with white anchovies and cipollini onion.

Carne

Everything led up to this highlight, the lamb.

I waffle on lamb – sometimes I find it too gamey; at other times, as in this case, the meat has a pure, clean flavor to it, and I love it.  This lamb had been had been marinated in thyme, rosemary and garlic and roasted to a perfect medium-rare.

Dolce

For dessert, warm bomboloni arrived with a side of chocolate sauce.  If you read my Mima Vinoteca post, you know how I feel about these things.  Balls of fried dough are firmly in my wheelhouse.  Couldn’t have asked for a better way to finish a meal.

Chef Medina-Rios came by one more time, and we thanked and congratulated him for a terrific tasting dinner.  Naturally, we asked about his age, which I’m sure he’s getting sick of.  Also found out he’s from London and has been in the states and at Morello Bistro, for seven months.

Here’s wishing him well in his new venture!

Morello Bistro
253 Greenwich Ave.
Greenwich, CT
203-661-3443

I once dated a girl — and I’m 99.9% sure she would never read this, so I feel okay writing about it — who was a picky vegetarian. Not a vegan, but a vegetarian who disliked many fruits and vegetables.  And I remember sitting there at meals biting my tongue, thinking, Really?  You can’t tolerate that tomato? Peppers — no-go on those, too?  What are we going to eat here, air? I couldn’t even cook for her because there was a good chance she wouldn’t like what I made.

Obviously, that’s not the reason why we broke up, but it did cause some teeth-gnashing on my end that we had no food experiences to share. Everyone has deal breakers when it comes to compatibility: He’s a red-stater, she’s a blue-stater; she’s 6′1, he’s 5′4; she likes Jay Leno, he’s a Conan guy, and so on.

Where do picky eaters fit in?

I’ve talked with married and non-married friends about this, and we’ve all come to the same conclusion: If you’re an adventurous eater and your significant other is picky, that’s going to create some friction.

Think about how much of our relationships revolve around the rituals of food. When you’re dating, what do you do? You go out to eat.  I can’t speak for the married folk, but I imagine there’s still a food element of sitting down every night together (hopefully) for a meal.

So what if you try to introduce new and interesting foods to your family, or you want to check out that new Mexican place down the street, only your fussy partner refuses to eat anything besides a chicken cutlet or something.  I can’t even imagine. That’s my worst nightmare. (That, and being one of those couples who’ve exhausted all conversation topics and sit in a restaurant silently reading the newspaper.)

My point is, dining compatibility is important, beyond the simple act of eating.  Food provides a window into other cultures and people; the willingness to try new things indicates a certain level of curiosity; and the act of experiencing and sharing a meal together can bond us in a deep and profound way.   Can you imagine if during the pivotal end scene of Big Night, Stanley Tucci’s character whipped up that frittata for his brother as a gesture of his love, and his brother responded, “No thanks, I don’t eat eggs.” Scene = killed.

The fact that you’re reading this blog shows that you probably have a sizeable interest in food.  So what are your thoughts on this — have you ever dated a picky eater?  Do you have a food-phobic partner, and is it a source of frustration, or have you learned to deal with it?

Hot and sour soup sounds so deceptively simple.  Hot. Sour. How difficult can that be?  Well, plenty, at least for this home cook.  In the past when I’ve made the soup, it’s turned out, ehh. A few problems emerged: the delicate balance of hot and sour was off, or the color was not quite right, or there was a general lack of deep, rich flavor.  Basically, my hot and sour was not great, not terrible, certainly nothing I’d be proud to serve to other people.  Just… okay.

It’s always made me a little crazy that as a Chinese-American, I haven’t mastered this signature soup.

But then, neither have many Chinese restaurants, and they make this stuff every day.  The situation is especially dire at Chinese takeout spots, whose representatives I’m convinced are all meeting in some clandestine location to pass around the same awful hot and sour recipe, that starts off, How to make a hot and sour soup that’s neither hot nor sour.

So what makes for an exceptional hot and sour soup?  For me it boils down to these essential elements: Rich, velvety dark color; a smattering of tofu, wood ear mushrooms, bamboo shoots and shredded pork; a zing of vinegar that penetrates the nostrils; peppery heat that intensifies at the back of the throat.

And if it takes the rest of my life, I’m gonna perfect this soup, dammit.

I’m getting closer, pulling together components from different recipes.  This resulting recipe works pretty well.

(Note: I left out the pork, but if you use it, cut some pork tenderloin into shreds and marinate it in sherry, sesame oil and a pinch of sugar.)

4 cups chicken stock
1 tbsp minced ginger
1/2 cup shredded bamboo shoots
1/2 cup wood ears
1 block soft tofu, cut into strips
4 scallions, minced
3 tbsp cider vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp chili oil
1/2 tsp ground black pepper (or more depending on taste)
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 egg, beaten

First, hydrate the wood ears, which come dried in a package. They go by different names in Asian groceries, like wood ears, cloud ears, tree ears, and the most unappealing, black fungus.

Soak them in warm water for about 20 minutes until softened. They’ll expand in the water like gummy bears, so a small handful goes a long way. (Am I the only one who put gummy bears in water as a kid just to watch them double in size?)

Combine the vinegar through cornstarch in a bowl.

Bring the stock to a boil, reduce it to a simmer, and add the ginger, pork (if using), tofu, bamboo shoots and wood ears.

Bring the liquid back to a boil, pour in the vinegar mixture and stir.  The soup should start to thicken (but not too much) from the cornstarch.

Here’s the fun part.  Turn off the heat, and kind of stream the beaten egg into the soup while stirring with a chopstick.  If you do it right, it should form these little strands.

Sprinkle in the chopped scallion and give the soup a taste. Needs more sour?  Add a splash of vinegar.  Needs more hot?   Add a touch of chili oil and extra black pepper.

I’m liking the balance of this recipe a lot, and the soup has a nice glossy sheen, but even still, there’s a last little oomph that’s missing — that depth of flavor you taste in a hot and sour soup at a good Chinese restaurant.  I’m not sure what the secret is — maybe a bit of garlic? The quality of the chicken stock?

The tinkering continues.

We zipped up there last week on the spur of the moment. Unprepared and sans camera, fortunately I had my phone.  What did we do before smartphones??

A few of Bangkok Spice’s appetizers sounded like Thai breakfast cereals: Bangkok Crispy, Golden Mermaid, Curry Puffs… I’m cuckoo for Curry Puffs!  We shared an order of Bangkok Crispy, which were like skewered fried wontons stuffed with ground chicken and shrimp.  Loved them.

For his entree, Michael had the Penang curry with chicken.

I ordered the Pad Kee Mow, a large serving of broad noodles, basil, onions, peppers and chicken.

And for dessert, a heaping cup of green tea ice cream.

Maybe everything tastes better when you’re ravenous (which we were), but each dish was really solid — good flavors and nice portion sizes.  I should have requested my pad kee mow to be extra spicy, because I’ve learned by now that dishes listed as “spicy” in Asian restaurants are often far from it.

But that’s my only nitpick.  Check out Bangkok Spice and let me know what else is worth trying there.  It’s good to have another Thai restaurant in the mix.

Bangkok Spice
1161 East Main St.
Shrub Oak, NY
914-245-3690

Eric Gabryonwicz made a comment during our Tavern interview that didn’t make it into the video. He said, “The Hudson Valley is growing into a food capital.”

As I surveyed the enormous Harvest-on-Hudson dining room at the HV Restaurant Week kick-off reception, I understood what he meant.  This was a gathering of chefs, restaurateurs, farmers, food suppliers, tourism leaders and media members, all celebrating the bounty of the Valley.

It’s quite a bounty.  There are amazing products coming out of our region: award-winning wines, craft beers, artisanal cheeses, farm-raised meat and poultry, locally grown produce… not to mention the tremendous restaurants, many of which utilize those local ingredients. Eric was right, we are growing into a food capital!

And this will be the biggest HV Restaurant Week yet, running from March 15th-March 29th, with more than 135 participating restaurants.  Had your eye on a particular restaurant?  Now’s the time to try it!

Small Bites guest blogger, Linda Lombroso, wrote a nice post about the kick-off and the various attendees.  So as not to repeat what she already covered, I’ll report on a different angle: what we ate.  Harvest-on-Hudson not only hosted the reception but provided an impressive spread of food; local purveyors and sponsors also set up tables throughout the room, serving up samples of food and drink.

Conclusion: We ate and drank well.  Very, very well.

First off, isn’t Harvest-on-Hudson a beautiful space for an event?

I brought along my friend Jillian because she’s a food lover and I knew she would have a good time.  The two of us prowled the room sampling everything there was to offer.

We had barely walked in the door when we were presented with these strawberry cocktails.  I’m not even sure what alcohol was in them, but they went down real easy.

So did these: Hendrick Hudson gin with a piece of cucumber.  Who knew cucumber went so well with gin?

We were served two types of pizza: one sprinkled simply with basil, and another of fig, goat cheese and prosciutto — one of our clear favorites of the night.

I was horrified to learn that Jillian dislikes prosciutto.  She had me pick it off her slice and put it on mine, which I did, gladly. Prosciutto must never go to waste.

There were juicy lamb spring rolls.

Plus bacalao, beef empanadas, and a first for both of us, rabbit rillete on garlic toast.

I hesitated before taking the bite, unsure of what to expect. Would it be gamey? Rabbity?  Surprisingly, neither.  Just intensely flavored and smooth, almost like a bean dip.

A bite of American caviar.

Baldor Specialty Foods had a table where they showed off their meat and poultry products.

For the second time in my life, I tried foie gras.

There’s a texture and finish about foie gras that I’m just not able to enjoy yet.   May require a third try.

But the spicy pulled pork sliders with cucumber — those I could get behind.

We ate carrot bread, sunflower pesto, and another huge favorite, duck tacos with guacamole and bruschetta. Drippy and messy and delicious.

But for Jillian and me, nothing topped the crispy/creamy white truffle potato croquettes, which I believe we snagged on the first, second and third passes.

I think it was at this point when one of the servers pointed out, “I keep coming around to you two because I know you’re going to eat it.”  Yup, pretty much!

There were so many excellent local cheeses, like these huge hunks of parmesan and romano.

Here one of the vendors pointed out the drunken manchego to Jillian.

I love drunken manchego; it was served with a brightly flavored quince paste.

Holy Chicken!  Chicken bacon.

And chicken sliders.

Several vineyards were represented with their wines. Tuthilltown Spirits showed off their products, including their Hudson River Rum. One sip almost knocked me out — that was seriously potent and oaky rum.  I also tried their absinthe.

Hands down though, the drink that wowed us was the Kopparberg pear cider.

Served on ice, it was incredibly cooling and refreshing.  We just couldn’t get enough of that stuff, and the vendor gave Jillian a bottle to take home with her.

Of course, Harvest also provided an ample selection of desserts.

Our plate of cake, brownie, key lime pie and cream puff.

Lastly, at the Red Barn Produce table, they were taking photos of guests and putting them on complimentary fridge magnets.  So here it is on my fridge, a reminder of a fun night with interesting people and great food.

Where will you be heading for Restaurant Week?

Some people eat to live; others live to eat.  You can probably guess which camp I fall firmly into.  The purpose of this blog has never really been to review restaurants or pretend I’m some sort of critic, but rather to share my enthusiasm for food and cooking of all kinds, and show you the breadth of what’s out there in Westchester and the Hudson Valley.

So it’s with great pleasure that I present this video on Tavern Restaurant in Garrison, NY.  As you’ll see, Tavern’s a special place, and I hope that comes through in the piece.  A big thank you to everyone at the restaurant, especially Eric Gabrynowicz, for being so hospitable and patient with us during the shoot.

If you have a fast internet connection and a good computer, I recommend watching the video in HD, 720p, full screen. Otherwise, 360p or 480p works fine, even though the quality’s not quite as good.

I hope you enjoy watching the video as much as I loved making it. Please feel free to share the link with other people! And your feedback is very important to me, so let me know what you think!

Tavern Restaurant
955 Route 9D
Garrison, NY
845-424-3254

Absinthe’s making a comeback.  The anise-flavored, highly alcoholic spirit — once thought to provoke psychosis and hallucinations – was banned in the United States in 1912.  Took almost 100 years, but now it’s back, having been made legal in 2007.  If you enjoy the flavor of black licorice, then absinthe’s for you.

Had my first taste of it tonight at Pour Cafe & Wine Bar and liked it quite a bit. (No hallucinations either!) The fun is in the presentation ritual, called La Louche:

First, absinthe is poured into a glass.  The absinthe spoon is laid across the top of the glass, and a cube of sugar is placed on the spoon.  Then ice-cold water is poured through a funnel into the glass, dissolving the sugar and diluting the absinthe. (Good thing too — this absinthe was 136 proof.  I would have been on the floor after one sip.)  The ice water also transforms the color of the mixture into a milky green, and that transformation is called the “louche.”

I got the presentation on camera, but dropped the audio out, because my inane yammering was really annoying.  So you’ll just have to imagine the sound of that little spout flipping back and forth with a tic tic tic tic tic tic…

Working out at the Hilton of gyms puts a person in a certain frame of mind, best not to be ruined with a post-workout Big Mac or something.  No, what was needed was a place with clean, wholesome food.

Didn’t have to go far.  Cafe Norma’s only minutes away…

Serving up soups, salads, sandwiches, juices and prepared foods, all organic.

A cup of chicken vegetable soup…

And a turkey and brie sandwich on multi-grain bread, pressed panini-style, made for a nice, light lunch.

Across the street from Cafe Norma is Tazza Cafe, which also looks interesting.  I don’t know what sort of food they have there, but perhaps I’ll investigate this Saturday, after leaving, THE GYM.

Cafe Norma
387 Main St.
Armonk, NY
914-273-4320

It’s interesting that in White Plains, both the Chinese supermarket, Kam Sen, and the Japanese supermarket, Daido, are somewhat inconspicuous, and yet neither lacks for customers.  I guess if you build a store that fills a need, people will find it.

Daido’s a fun place to poke around, and now I know where to go for any Japanese groceries (I like Oishinbo in Harrison too, though that’s a much smaller store). Daido’s got pretty much everything: sauces, oils, dried, canned and frozen items, produce, meats, seafood, baked goods from Parisienne Bakery, even Japanese videos.

I’ve never seen such a large selection of miso.

Like Kam Sen, aisles of packaged items, many with Japanese characters only. These were all different brands of dried seaweed.

At the back of the store, produce, meat and seafood.

The seafood looked extremely fresh — I’d love to make sushi rolls with that tuna.

Packaged octopus.

On one counter are freshly prepared items like rice balls, rice bowls, fried chicken and bento boxes.

I really wanted a bento box, and I’m sure it was perfectly fine, but it does make me a little nervous when food sits on a counter without refrigeration.  So I skipped the bento box this time and picked up a container of sweet rice with azuki beans instead (which actually isn’t sweet, but savory).

What do you usually buy when you shop at Daido?  Anything you recommend?

Daido
522 Mamaroneck Ave.
White Plains, NY
914-683-6735