Serious Eats: New York

NYC Food Events for the Weekend (and Beyond)

2009-07-09T22:00:00Z

Italy's Second Labels: A First-Rate Tasting
Saturday, July 11, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Taste the value-conscious side of some of the premier Italian wines in the world. Italian Wine Merchants is offering a sommelier-led tasting of "second labels" accompanied by Italian salumi and cheese. Tickets $70/person. Italian Wine Merchants, 108 East 16th Street (map); event website

Summer Restaurant Week
Sunday, July 12 through Friday, July 31
Over two hundred and fifty New York City restaurants will participate in this summer's Restaurant Week offering three-course lunch and/or dinner pre-fixe deals. This year, some places are even extending the offer to Sundays. $24.07 for lunch, $35 for dinner. Various locations; event website

Chefs for Scher
Monday, July 13, 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Join Chefs for Scher in their first event benefiting the James Beard Foundation and the Steven Scher Memorial Scholarship for Aspiring Restauranteurs. The culinary event features a tasting with participating chefs including Laurent Tourondel, Scott Conant, Bobby Flay, and many more. Tickets $150/person, VIP access $225/person. Bowery Hotel, 335 Bowery (map); event website

Farm to Table at 620 Loft & Garden
Wednesday, July 15, 5:30 p.m.
Take in the view from Rockefeller Plaza's 620 Loft & Garden. The Farm to Table Dining Series showcases food sourced from within a hundred mile radius of New York City. Tickets $125/person. 620 Loft & Garden, 620 5th Avenue (map); event website

Inside Park at St. Bart's Biergarten
Wednesday, July 15, 5:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
The outdoor Terrace at this Midtown eatery is putting on an Edible Manhattan-hosted party with plenty of beer, cheese, sausages, and other hearty fare. Tickets $55/person. Inside Park at St. Bart's, 109 East 50th Street (map); event website

After the jump, the street fairs.

Street Fairs

Saturday, July 11
Bleecker Street Festival: Bleecker Street b/n Sixth and Seventh Avenues; 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

East Village Festival: Fourth Avenue b/n Astor Place and East 5th Street; 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

Park Avenue Summerfest: Park Avenue South b/n 17th and 23rd Streets; 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

Sunday, July 12
Bastille Day Festival: 60th Street b/n Fifth and Lexington Avenues; 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

NYC Celebration of Nations Festival: Madison Avenue b/n 42nd and 57th Streets; 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

Target High Line Street Festival: Gansevoort Street b/n Ninth Avenue and Washington Street; 12 p.m.–5 p.m.

30th Avenue Astoria Festival: 30th Avenue b/n Steinway and 29th Streets, Astoria, Queens; 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

Sugar Rush: Snow Cones at Num Pang

2009-07-09T20:00:00Z

Lemongrass Lime with Lychee snow cone.

Num Pang (the sandwich shop offshoot of New York's only Cambodian restaurant Kampuchea) is now serving snow cones in two flavors. Take your pick: Pineapple Ginger with Toasted Coconut or Lemongrass Lime with Lychee.

The lemongrass cone was a little weak for my taste, but the pineapple ginger was the best snow cone I've ever had. After tasting it, I quickly got over my disappointment that the the snow cones weren't served in those nostalgia-inducing paper cones. Not for the ginger-averse, this baby packs a serious ginger punch. The snow cone could only be improved with more of the freshly toasted coconut to balance the spiciness of the ginger. Num Pang, if you're listening, I'd love it if you did little ice and toasted coconut layers all throughout your environmentally-friendly GreenWare cups.

If you are around the Union Square area and if New York ever gets some true summer weather, one of these snow cone would be a fun mid-day pick-me-up.

Num Pang

12 E 12th Street, New York, NY 10003 (b/n 5th Avenue and University Place; map)
212-529-3901
numpangnyc.com

Deal of the Day: Go Go Curry Early Bird Special

2009-07-09T17:00:00Z

Go Go Curry Early Bird Special: Every day from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. any medium size curry is $5 for the first 30 orders (eat in or take out only, no additional toppings.) Good through July 31, 2009. [via ML]

Learn It, Don't Burn It: NYC Food Classes, 7/9 to 7/17

2009-07-09T16:00:00Z

Here's yet another serving of some delicious educational opportunities to get down and dirty for next week. All classes listed still have openings, but if you hear otherwise, please let us know.

Photographs by Robyn Lee

'Ice Ice Coffee' at Think Coffee
Sunday, July 12, 4 to 6 p.m., $50
Informative for consumers and business-owners alike, Anne Nylander of Temp Tamp shows you how to brew iced coffee via cold-brew and Japanese pourover.
Think Coffee, 248 Mercer Street (at West 3rd Street), Manhattan; temptamp.com for more info

'White Wine and Food Workshop' at ICE
Monday, July 13, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., $125
Wine educator Willie Glückstern and chef Cathy Kaufman demystify wine and food pairing with a five course meal featuring a vegetarian appetizer, fish course, meat course, trio of cheeses, and a seasonal dessert. The classic meal will be enhanced by a tasting of 15 different wines.
The Institute of Culinary Education, 50 West 23rd Street (at Sixth Avenue), Manhattan; 800-522-4610; web.iceculinary.com for more info and registration

'Mast Brothers Chocolate' at Beer Table
Monday, July 13, 7 to 8:30 p.m., $35
The bearded Mast Brothers will give the low-down on their delicious chocolate, and will lead a beer tasting alongside their handmade creations.
Beer Table, 427 B 7th Avenue (b/n 14th & 15th Streets), Brooklyn; 718-965-1196; brownpapertickets.com for registration

Inside Murray's caves, summer wines, and handmade pasta—after the jump.

'Mystery of the Caves' at Murray's Cheese
Tuesday, July 14, 6:30 to 8 p.m., $75
Ever wanted to learn how to age cheese? Affineur Michael Anderson guides you through the science of the Murray's caves. A Murray's class is never complete without a cheese tasting, so prepare your taste buds.
Murray's Cheese, 254 Bleecker Street (at Sixth Avenue), Manhattan; 212-243.3289; murrayscheese.com for info and registration

'Difficult to Pronounce but Easy to Love: Discovering New Wines for Summer' at Astor Center
Wednesday, July 15, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., $55
Laurie Forster leads a tasting of summer wines for dinner in and dinner out. She'll also give you tips and tricks for your own wine tastings at home.
Astor Center, 399 Lafayette Street (at East 4th Street), Manhattan; 212-674-7501; astorcenternyc.com for info and registration

'More Handmade Pasta' at ICE
Friday, July 17, 6 to 11 p.m., $110
Italian cuisine extraordinaire Gerri Sarnataro simplifies pasta-making with a menu of mouth-watering meats and vegetables, featuring orecchiette, agnolotti, cannelloni, lasagne, maccheroni, chitarra, and tagliatelle.
The Institute of Culinary Education, 50 West 23rd Street (at Sixth Avenue), Manhattan; 800-522-4610; web.iceculinary.com for more info and registration

A Star Grows In Brooklyn: Reinvented Southern Classics At Williamsburg’s Brooklyn Star

2009-07-09T14:00:00Z

Photographs by Robyn Lee

Brooklyn Star

33 Havemeyer Street, Brooklyn NY 11211; (map); 718-599-9899; thebrooklynstar.com
Service: Competent servers well-versed in the food and totally on the ball. If you’re lucky, Caroline will be your waitress—say hello to a fellow Serious Eater!
Setting: Inviting, if somewhat spartan, with attractive slate-topped tables, cozy window nooks, and wood-paneled walls.
Compare to: Egg (dinner), Char No. 4, General Greene
Must Haves: Dr. Pepper Ribs, BBQ catfish, creamed corn with smoked trout
Cost: $4 breads and sides, $7 to $18 for small plates, $13 to $19 for mains (plus a $58, 36oz. T-Bone)
Booze: No liquor license yet, but it's coming soon.
Grade: A-

Skinny jeans and Southern fare may not be the most likely of bedfellows, but lucky Williamsburg seems to be in the middle of a real Southern revival. First came Metropolitan Avenue barbecue joint Fette Sau, an early entrant in the urban brisket scene; then brunch favorite Egg launched a deep South dinner menu whose fried chicken and dirty rice won immediate attention.

And now, just a few blocks away, is the newly arrived Brooklyn Star. Opened in May by Joaquin Baca, David Chang’s chef-turned-partner at Momofuku, Brooklyn Star brings a modern sensibility to Southern classics like fried green tomatoes, shrimp and grits, and country-fried steak. It’s food that makes you want to sit back, loosen your belt, and throw nutritional caution to the wind. Bacon, butter, and batter form the trinity of choice. Nothing sparks shouting like a Southern joint in Yankee country, but I won’t venture to weigh in on whether the dishes that come from this kitchen are “authentic.” That’s not the point, any more than the point of Momofuku is to serve traditional Korean fare.

There are more than a few Momofuku comparisons to be made: both restaurants take a respectful, if unorthodox approach to a particular cuisine, with a whole lot of fatty pork and the occasional dash of sriracha thrown in. Brooklyn Star doesn’t flout culinary boundaries with quite the same abandon. But there’s an awful lot of good eatin’ to be had.

Start things off with the cornbread, baked to order in a cast-iron pan, either plain ($4) or studded with bacon and jalapeño ($4.50). Opt for the latter—buttery and tender, it gets a smoky-spicy flavor creep from the add-ins.

Just as good were the fist-sized buttermilk biscuits ($4), curiously plush, a tad salty, a tad sweet. They don’t actually need butter—there’s not a dry spot in them—but a little swipe won’t hurt, and neither will a drizzle of honey, straight from the bear.

The Dr. Pepper Ribs ($16) have been written about in every corner of the blogosphere, often by those who haven’t actually tried them. Our vote? Two big, fat, sauce-sticky thumbs up. The stubby pork ribs get a double dose of the Doctor—first braised in the soda, then doused in a soda-laced sauce—and arrive at the table so tender they fall off the bone the moment your hand hovers over them. But the meat retains its textural integrity, helped by a nicely charred outside crust. The vinegar-heavy, almost-spicy sauce stays sweet rather than saccharine, and though it would surely shout down anything else it touched, the ribs pack so much fatty, porky flavor that they never get lost. Call them gimmicky, call them overhyped, but these ribs don't care.

Almost as novel are the Fried Pig Tails ($11)—braised, then fried, in a sauce of honey, mustard, and vinegar. While there’s nothing long or curly, the freakily segmented bones and occasional jellified meat bits don’t let you forget what you’re eating. Imagine chicken wings made of pork, and you’ll have a good idea of the pig tails, whose thin shards of meat manage to be both tender and crispy—incredibly appealing, if you can get past the visible vertebrae.

The summer squash casserole ($8), another cast-iron arrival, was a creamy delight— the squash sliced so thinly it almost disappeared into its sultry warm bath, leaving only a bit of a bite behind.

The mac and cheese ($9) came to the table bubbling audibly, so hot you could hear it. Just as heart-stoppingly rich, dotted with cubes of tender bacon and topped with browned bread crumbs, this is a dish that would make Paula Deen proud. The best mac and cheese I’ve ever had? Maybe not quite, but that didn’t stop us from scarfing it down.

Fried green tomatoes ($9) were one of the few slight missteps. Unripe but not actually green, they were too thickly cut and too thickly battered, an almost cracker-like cornmeal crust over an almost apple-like slice of tomato. That said, the tomato vinaigrette was phenomenal: oven-roasted tomatoes pureed with thyme, sage, and sriracha. I started dipping the biscuits in the leftover sauce.

A hot meatloaf sandwich ($9) came on toasted country white bread, with a hefty slice of meatloaf and a layer of mashed potato, livened up with iceberg lettuce doused in the same tomato vinaigrette. The meatloaf didn’t come through quite as strongly as I would have liked. But the paper-thin housemade potato chips, sprinkled with salt and pepper, could not have been better.

Then came the big plates. The catfish ($13) arrived flaky and moist, brushed with (but not dominated by) a tangy barbecue glaze. Catfish often gets drowned in spice, but this preparation rightly let the fish take center stage. The sides were incredibly fun: buttery grits with a firm bite, and fried cucumbers that were barely pickled before a dip in the batter and toss in the fryer. Hey, we fry zucchini all the time—why not its chubby cousin?

Per Caroline’s recommendation, we ordered the half roasted Murray’s Chicken ($19). Briney and fleshy, the chicken itself could not have been more tender. The darkly sweet molasses glaze was a bit overpowering upon first bite, but with such an incredible amount of chicken to get through, it all evened out. The dish came with what may be the most exciting rice that chicken has ever met, with pea shoots, apples, and awesomely gratuitous bacon—lest anything on this menu escape with a cardiologist’s stamp of approval.

The mammoth country fried steak ($15) was every bit as crispy as one could hope, not greasy in the slightest, with a crust that crunched audibly on the cut and shielded the lean meat underneath. And its hot slaw cushion cradled more salty pork bits. (This meal could have been subtitled “Pig, Nine Ways.”)

But my favorite bite of the night was out of a side dish—the creamed corn with smoked trout ($4), so generously portioned it could have been a meal in itself. The corn softened into the silky, creamy base without losing its crunch, and the trout, flaking and falling apart in the heat, imparted a smokiness all the way through. We didn’t quite lick the bowl, but a minute longer with it and we might have.

And for dessert? There’s only one option, as fun and fried as anything else on the menu: cornmeal-battered fried strawberries ($5), served over vanilla ice cream with a drizzle of honey. Bizarre, but awesome, the berries end up slurpy and warm and incredibly tasty.

Brooklyn Star isn’t perfect, but its slips are few and far between, and it’s easy to imagine that a chef as skilled as Baca will learn to work out the kinks. And the vast majority of his menu needs no apology, celebrating the Southern tradition in all its sloppy glory. Does rice need bacon grease? Does coleslaw need salty pork? Do strawberries really need to be fried? Probably not—but we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Whole Foods Bowing Out of Gowanus, Blog Reports

2009-07-09T13:50:45Z

Per the blog Brooklyn the Borough: "At least one investor in the area, however, has bowed out. Whole Foods, who had planned to open a 68,000-square-foot store at Third Avenue and 3rd Street, tells Brooklyn the Borough, 'at this juncture we do not have immediate plans to open a new store in Brooklyn but do hope to be there someday soon.'"

Smörgåsboard: Cake; Pancakes; Bangladeshi Food

2009-07-09T13:00:00Z

Grandaisy's carrot cake. Photograph from Front Studio on Flickr

Brunch highlights at Cookshop include "delicate pancakes topped with caramel bananas and cinnamon butter." [Always Eating]
Grandaisy's carrot cake is "nicely intense." [LUNCH]
"No string of chili lights here or sari-style tablecloths, just straight-up Bangladeshi food" at Kasturi. [Writing with my Mouth Full]
For red velvet cake, try Cake Man Raven. [SE Talk]

Deal of the Day: Summer Prix Fixe at Almond

2009-07-08T22:30:00Z

Every Friday from 1:30 p.m. to 6 p.m until Labor Day, Almond is offering a three-piece jumbo shrimp cocktail, a burger and fries, and a Blue Point Summer Ale or a cucumber-ginger caipirinha for $21. 12 East 22nd Street (map); 212-228-7557.

Sugar Rush: Plum Crostata at Tutto Sfoglia

2009-07-08T21:00:00Z

I went into the newly opened Tutto Sfoglia looking for pasta—perhaps a pound of fresh gnocchi—or a loaf of their ever popular house bread. But I did not except to spot a tray full of cookies, much less an entire round of housemade plum crostata. My initial savory cravings quickly turned sweet, and I found myself walking out the doors with two slices of plum crostata nestled in a brown box. Two slices! "Glutton," you must be thinking. But no, far from it—I had plans to meet a friend, and no plans to share my own slice. Hence, one for her and one for me. Each wedge comprise of a golden, buttery base with a thin smother of marzipan, and a sweet and tart filling of sugar-tossed plums galore. To finish, a dusting of golden demerara sugar. Sharing, in this case, was out of the question.

Tutto Sfoglia

135 E 92nd Street, New York, NY 10128 (at Lexington; map)
212-831-1441
sfogliarestaurant.com

A Bread Basket For The Ages At Commerce in the West Village

2009-07-08T19:30:00Z

There’s an awful lot to love about Commerce in the West Village—its flawlessly executed dishes, superb cocktails, sweet potato tortelloni on the menu year-round; its commissioned murals, 1941 Brunswick bar, history as a bona fide speakeasy, frequent celeb spottings, gracious but unobtrusive service—need I go on? It’s the sort of restaurant every neighborhood needs: perhaps too nice to stop by every day, but tasty enough to make you want to, and comfortable enough to make you feel as if you could.

All that said, the highlight of an evening at Commerce has to be the bread basket. Or, more accurately speaking, bread mountain. And that’s not in any way to denigrate the skill of Harold Moore and Snir Eng-Sela in the kitchen, or the line cooks firing out the entrées; it’s just that this bread is too good to ignore. We’re talking seven or eight kinds of rolls, even for a table of two, all baked in-house—from salty soft pretzels to delicate Parker House Rolls to strips of foccacia redolent with olive oil...plus olive bread, and a pull-apart roll, and perhaps a tomato-fennel number, and seed bread, and a chewy, tender butter roll, each of which, somehow, tastes better than the last. All served with a quenelle of whipped butter so light that it’s like a salty whipped cream, practically begging to be eaten by the spoonful.

One tries not fill up on bread before dinner, but this is not the sort of bread that allows itself to be pushed aside. It simply ends up disappearing. There's really no choice.

Commerce

50 Commerce Street, New York NY 10014 (map)
212-524-2301
commercerestaurant.com

The Crab Pot: One Crab

2009-07-08T17:30:00Z

Note: This summer, SE intern Chichi Wang is heading out to the shores of Long Island to catch her own crabs, dig for her own clams, and scrounge up whatever else is edible by the ocean. Follow along every week on The Crab Pot. Take it away, Chichi!

"Crabbing is the oceanic equivalent of gardening—there’s the sense that you’re harvesting something precious each time you bring up your pot."

The desire to catch one's own meal is fundamental and compelling; like other primal needs, doing so is not always dictated by reason. This thought occurred to me only after I found myself stranded on a pile of boulders, creeping ever so slowly into the bay. Beneath my feet the waves lapped against a thick layer of matted brown seaweed, curly and slippery from the sea. It was a beautiful day at the Port Jefferson beach—clear blue skies and an ocean glittering from the sun with sailboats cruising along like skillful dabs in a watercolor, but I was there for one purpose only, and it involved the matter of my dinner.

We were there to retrieve the crab pots we had left behind earlier that day at low tide, when the rocks had been considerably less treacherous. Now, with two free hands, I inched along, clutching at the few dry spaces available on the narrow strip of boulders. A few feet ahead I watched jealously as my crabbing partner hopped from one rock to another with two buckets in tow for our potential catch. It was one of the few moments in my culinary life when I've regretted my choice of butter over treadmill, though I still think that the lengths I’ve walked to find high-quality butter should count as exercise. Still, at a snail’s pace I groped along until, finally, we found the yellow strings we had tied to the rocks in the morning. Those strings, in turn, were connected to the crab pots that we had left to “soak” for the day, hoping that our patience would be rewarded with delicious, meaty crab.

I’m convinced that there’s nothing better than crabbing. Fishing may be relaxing and scalloping or clamming may approximate the thrill of a treasure hunt, but crabbing is the oceanic equivalent of gardening—there’s the sense that you’re harvesting something precious each time you bring up your pot. Like the feeling of excitement that mounts as you pull a carrot out of the ground, not knowing exactly how large it’s grown just from looking at the frilly green top, you can never tell what you'll find in your crab pot until you haul it up.

Over the years we’ve developed all manner of superstition regarding the proper way to pull a pot. Hauling too quickly may scare off the crabs that are grazing on your bait; do it too slowly, and they’ll have the chance to scamper out of the pot before you’ve finishing retrieving it. On this particular evening, however, we hadn’t counted on the ropes getting tangled beneath the water. With the string lodged firmly between rocks and large patches of seaweed, our pulls from the water were clumsy and desperate tugs rather than the victorious hoists we’d envisioned. And when the pots finally reached our welcoming arms, there were only a few small rock crabs in the net, barely three inches across.

It was disappointing, to say the least. In the past we’ve hauled dozens of rock crabs from the cool waters of Northern California, or at the very least, errant sea whelks that have oozed into our pots. Whelks are a fine consolation prize for crab. The meat is juicy and sweet; sautéed with butter, it is as tasty as anything we’ve retrieved from the sea. On this day, only one rock crab was large enough to keep.

The journey back home was quiet. Our minds were preoccupied with dreams of the crabs that got away and as always, we wondered, what if we had stayed for just ten minutes longer? Still, steamed simply in water, the single crab made for a fine appetizer. The sweetness of its meat and the sticky, briny taste of its roe was some of the freshest I have ever tasted. And in the end, that’s why I’ll keep on crabbing, because a commitment to freshness and quality takes many forms, whether it's starting your own vegetable garden, curing your own meat, or baking your own bread. For the seafood lover, what could be better than knowing that what is on your plate was in the ocean just hours ago? Sometimes, one crab is all you need to keep on going.

Midtown Lunch's Street Meat Palooza 2 Finds the Best Chicken/Lamb Over Rice

2009-07-08T16:45:00Z

The eaters descend upon their street meat prey.

Last week, Zach Brooks of Midtown Lunch organized the second annual Street Meat Palooza, inviting street meat lovers/food bloggers (including me) to rate chicken/lamb over rice dishes from 15 different carts in Midtown. Today he unveiled the results of the taste test including tasting notes, prices, locations, and rankings of the carts. Say hello to your new champion: Kwik Meal on 45th and 6th. Zach says,

The fact that Kwik Meal is the only cart in Midtown to serve actual chunks of lamb meat instead of gyro is only part of the appeal. Toss in a delicious, yogurt based tzatziki style white sauce, and a unique green sauce that will set your mouth on fire, it’s no surprise that this year’s judges said to hell with value, and crowned Kwik Meal the winner of Street Meat Palooza 2.

Being faced with a table full of street meat made me realize what a complete chicken/lamb over rice noob I am. While some carts were definitely better than others, I was fairly satisfied with everything and probably failed to add anything useful to Street Meat Palooza aside from my digestive power. The only cart I've been to repeatedly is Rafiqi's on 7th Avenue and 26th Street (the closest one to the Serious Eats office), which, in my opinion, churns out a good chicken over rice for $4—but I also like it because it only takes me a few minutes to walk there and there's hardly any wait. Still, Street Meat Palooza was an awesome way to get acquainted (and by that I mean "pummel my stomach") with this beloved Midtown Lunch dish; I'm already excited for SMP3!

This Week in 'New York Times' Food News

2009-07-08T15:15:00Z

Rock Star Butchers: Butcher love makes sense: "Dangerous is sometimes sexy, and they are generally big guys with knives who are covered in blood."

Rainy Summer: Rainwater wreaked havoc on many cherry and strawberry crops this year, but blueberries might fare better.

Restaurant Coups: These cooks without restaurants have taken over existing restaurant kitchens.

Al Dente: Advice from a dentist in cartoon form. For example, "champagne is no substitute for mouthwash."

Pizza's New Wave: New Yorkers are obsessed with artisanal pizza.

Grüner: Grüner veltliner has a peppery spiciness and pairs well with many summertime foods.

The Leftover Dilemna: "How we deal with leftovers says a lot about who we are."

Grilled Flanken: Flanken makes awesome pot roast, but throwing it on the grill is a good move, too.

Two Stars: That's what Frank Bruni gives Aldea for complex flavors and techniques with Portuguese roots.

Summer Soup: Add everything from the farmstand and serve with a baguette.

Tutto Sfoglia: Sfoglia on the Upper East Side was famous for their homemade bread. Now you can buy it, along with brioche and cookies, next door.

Veggies in a Jar: Dolce Nonna sells three products: tangy eggplant, sweet-tart peppers, and tender green beans.

Candy Disguised as an Apricot: Candycots are bred from seeds from Central Asia, apricot’s home turf.

Grilled: Jason Beckerman of Burger of the Month

2009-07-08T15:00:00Z

From A Hamburger Today

Note: This week we're grilling Jason Beckerman of New York City's Burger of the Month, where he along with the group's six other members have ranked over 45 burgers in the city since 2005.

Name: Jason Beckerman
Location: Brooklyn, New York
Occupation: Lawyer

How often do you eat burgers? At least a few times a week. The number has greatly increased lately.

Where did you eat your most recent one? Trailer Park in NYC. Enjoyed an awesome lunch with the folks from A Hamburger Today and The Great Burger Conquest. This place was a real unique experience. [Editor's note: You can read about the meal at The Great Burger Conquest.]

Cheese: American, cheddar, other? If it melts, it can go on my burger. Could not be less picky about cheese. Even alright with those that don't melt, like blue cheese, gorgonzola, etc....

Ketchup or mustard? Enjoy ketchup, but prefer a good barbecue sauce, or even Thousand Island. Can't go wrong with ketchup though. Every once in a blue moon I will get the urge to mix ketchup and mustard. Not sure what makes me do that, but usually happy I did.

Sesame-seed or plain? Sesame aeed. Also, love a toasted bun; it adds a great crunch.

Grilled, griddled, or broiled? Broiled. Nice and charred on the outside, but juicy and soft in the middle.

And how would you like that done, sir? Medium well. Dark throughout, but just a bit of pink in the middle.

Would you do us the favor of describing your perfect burger? The perfect burger is 7-8 ounces on a toasted sesame seed bun, char-broiled medium- well, with Swiss, bacon, onion, lettuce, barbecue sauce and Thousand Island dressing. Maybe even a little chili on top.

What's your favorite fast-food burger? Used to love the Big Mac; could not get enough. But, about 13 years ago, I stopped eating fast food burgers. Even for a diet like mine, it was just too much.

What topping or condiment, in your opinion, should never grace a burger? I am not a huge fan of pickles on the burger, and I do not like tomato.

What's the most unusual burger you've ever eaten? At our tailgates for the Jets games, we make our own special cardiac killer burgers. We make two bacon grill cheese sandwiches, which are toasted and pressed down in butter. These two sandwiches become the bun. We then put the burger in the middle of the sandwiches, top it with cheese, more bacon, and chili. It is to die for—and may yet kill us. Of course, we save all the bacon grease and fry things in it, like chicken fingers and Devil Dogs.

What's the most overrated burger you've tried? Most underrated? Most overrated is Corner Bistro. Totally overhyped. Most underrated was Lure Fish Bar. Awesome burger.

For some crazy reason, you're going vegetarian. Where do you go for your final burger? City Hall—then just kill me. I would rather be dead than give up meat.

Smörgåsboard: Crepes; Clam Chowder; Cupcakes

2009-07-08T14:00:00Z

Doughnut Plant's Coconut Cream Doughnut. Photograph from wEnDaLicious on Flickr

$4 gets you a "nice and tender" "generously-filled" crepe at the Tripie Crepe Cart. [Food Mayhem]
The clam chowder at Grand Central Oyster Bar is "beyond delicious" [Fork in the Road]
Doughnut Plant's coconut cream doughnut, "slightly chewy and filled with a light coconut cream." [SE Flickr Pool]
At Gus and Gabriel Gastropub save room for the peanut butter and jelly cupcake. [Eating in Translation]