Tag Archives: noho

May 24, 2013 · 11:58 pm

Lafayette: neck and neck with Balthazar as my favorite brasserie

dj-laf-blog480

Balthazar is one of the few restaurants that has remained one of my favorites since since moving to New York 5 years ago (I still can’t get over how long it’s been). I love it for the atmosphere – the hastiness of the waitstaff zooming by, the energy of the people in the room, the wide brasserie style seating, and I go back each time of course for the food and drink – the amazing bread and butter, the simple salads, the hot fudge covered profiteroles, and the shockingly strong French 75′s get me every time. Everything about this place screams New York brasserie, which Keith McNally seems to do so well.

Never did I ever imagine that a newcomer could one up such a longstanding New York staple, but after my epic experience at beautiful Lafayette last Tuesday, I think Balthazar may need to up its game to remain the king of the brasserie crop. Lafayette, which took over the massive Chinatown Brasserie space, is a beautifully spacious, well-lit and enchanting French brasserie that transports you from New York city to a fantasy land (think Great Gatsby) where there’s not a care in the world. I walked in and gasped – a delectable boulangerie with mounds of pastries welcomes you at the entrance, and with staircases and side-by-side booths to optimize the space, there really doesn’t seem to be a bad table in the house. And just like Balthazar, there’s this inescapable and addictive vibrancy – everyone is more alive than ever: happy, hungry and actively people watching.

lafayette bakery

grandiose bakery upfront

Service was humble and spot on. After a few slices of the rustic sourdough bread with salted butter and a delicious glass of champagne (cremant de Bourgogne), we were served Eggs Lafayette, essentially two stuffed hard boiled eggs with sable fish and trout caviar. Absolutely heaven on earth, and pretty much the best, most unique rendition of deviled eggs I’ve ever had. Next was the Pate Maison, which came with brown ceramic jars of unlimited cornichons (great touch) and brown mustard and grilled rustic bread. This paired well with the massive, lightly dressed butter lettuce salad with roquefort and country ham. RARELY am I impressed by a salad, but this was so fresh, light and stunning with the creamy blue cheese. I was dying for a pasta, but in an effort to eat lightly I went for the steamed trout, served with an utterly flavorful bean and tomato “mush” that I couldn’t get enough of.

Dessert was insane too. Hot fried beignets with chocolate mousse fulfilled my craving for something classic, and the Sweet Cheese Cremant with blueberry sorbet proved that there’s more than just traditional dishes at this place. By the end of the meal, I was reluctant to leave our cozy booth for two, but I have every intention of coming back next week for a bowl of the gorgeous black fettuccine that was served to my neighbor.

pate maison (photo from seriouseats)

pate maison (photo from SeriousEats)

blueberry cremant (photo from SeriousEats)

blueberry cremant (photo from SeriousEats)

Compared to Balthazar, I think the standout difference of Lafayette is its slightly more elegant setting and menu (and a few more pastas) – Balthazar is just a touch more core to its rustic French brasserie roots. Either way, it’s going to be a real toss up the next time I’m in the mood for French food.

Grade: A+
Location: 380 Lafayette Street at the corner of Great Jones and Lafayette
Website:

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Filed under Brunch, Business Meal, Erin's Favorites, French, Fun Group Dinner, New American, Noho

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September 25, 2012 · 2:41 am

Lupa

inside*

I love Lupa not because it’s a baby of Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich, but because it meets many of my quick-hit top priorities for a last minute restaurant choice: walk-in friendly, central down-town location (Greenwich Village), cozy, plentiful bar seating, a full bar, and a wide variety of traditional, simple Roman trattoria food. Last week, after a long flight home and a quick stop at my friend Sara’s house-warming / birthday (also serving Italian food, but from Gigino, the epitome of traditional (think Mafia) New York Italian food), I sat at the bar for a lovely date with New York City. In perfect viewing perspective of  the diverse cluster of pasta-eaters – either alone at the bar, across their lover, or in a big group at the communal table,  I realized Lupa is the perfect place to sit and dwell on three things I love about this city – food, people watching and anonymity.

After a glass of wine my stomach turns into a vacuum and I can consume pretty much anything in sight. The painfully-full feeling was worth it though – the tangy farro and wild mushroom salad, the charred mackeral with grapefruit, the bucatini all’Amatriciana, and the spaghetti alla carbonara all brought me back to the rustic plates of food I devoured for a month in Italy so long ago. But the biggest standout for me, as it usually is, was dessert. The Lupa Tartufo isn’t just any old Italian tartufo. It’s a huge heap of ice cream contained in a thick, hard, bittersweet chocolate shell on a bed of warm melted chocolate, which makes a traditionally boring dessert incredibly beautiful and decadent. The salted caramel ice cream was to die for as well.

carbonara*

Amatriciana*

Tartufo

Lupa. Total classic. Casual, unpretentious, tres New York Italian (launched circa 1999). Love it!

Grade: A
Location: 170 Thompson Street off of East Houston
Website
*photos from NYTimes

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Filed under Erin's Favorites, Fun Group Dinner, Greenwich Village, Italian, Parents in Town, West Village

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May 17, 2012 · 4:07 am

Veselka Bowery

Tonight was a bittersweet celebration of my dear friend Kiloran, who’s moving to San Francisco to pursue her dream of getting as far out of New York as humanly possible. Not everyone is as obsessed with this place as I am, I’m learning. For the occasion, our coworker Ryan decided to choose the Ukrainian restaurant Veselka – a place one would naturally choose for a diverse, picky crowd…right?

After eyeing the menu that consisted of borscht and smoked fish, I didn’t get that surge of excitement I usually get in anticipation of trying a new place. I wasn’t the only one silently freaking out about the food either – I witnessed an email battle initiated by a few people voting for a location change – some even dropped out of the party as a result. It’s not an understatement to say that all Hell broke loose over the matter. Let’s just be honest, people don’t generally rave about Ukrainian food (I know I’ll get flack for saying that when I become famous). But in the end, it actually ended up exceeding all of our expectations (the ones who stuck through the challenge).

Firstly, the Bowery location is 10 steps above Veselka’s sister diner just blocks away. The space is huge, completely framed by glass with high ceilings and plenty of space for a crowd.  The familiarity of the modern aesthetic relaxed me, and soon enough I was on my way to having a thorough love affair with Ukrainian cuisine.

cheese blintz

my usual victim: the cheese plate.

Between the array that I had ordered for the table, the cheese blintz and the cheese plate were the stand outs. I would have been perfectly happy with these dairy laden plates on their own, but I had to try the equally healthy fried cheese and potato pierogis with apple sauce and sour cream, the boiled beet and goat cheese pierogis, the smoked trout salad with radish and apple, and a little bit of the Ukrainian feta on brioche that came atop the beautifully arranged veggie board. 

pierogi

smoked trout salad

garbage in a blender…with an untouched hard boiled egg

Had I known I would become stuffed after the first round, I wouldn’t have ordered a cheese burger. A combo of an intense meat craving and a fear of ordering something totally foul (after seeing Kiloran’s garbage bowl of magenta borscht) guided my decision, but with no real regrets. Thick patty, medium rare with cheddar cheese on a sesame brioche bun. Aside from the various Ukrainian chutney-like condiments that I threw on the bun, this was as solidly Americanly delicious as it gets, despite severely missing the red onion. Ryan chose to order the more “authentic” version – a kielbasa burger with thin layers of kielbasa, and a kielbasa and ground chuck patty combo. One bite was just enough for me to confirm that I’d get thoroughly ill after finishing the whole sandwich.

Ukrainian Cheeseburger

Given the celebration, we decided to go all the way and sample a few desserts. Kiloran and I were both blown away by the baked chocolate custard, which in essence was the densest, richest chocolate pudding we’ve ever tasted. The baked kiev was an interesting combo of beet ice cream, vanilla ice cream, chocolate cake, and burnt meringue.  Sadly, I’m just now realizing the origin of its name. I can’t say that I’d dream about beet ice cream at night, but it actually tasted and looked just like strawberry.

chocola

chocolate custard

Baked Kiev

Would I choose to go back there? Probably not. Not because the quality of food or service didn’t impress me, or because I didn’t like the feel of the space. It’s simply due to realism. In a city when I can choose from a thousand other restaurants serving the type of cuisine that I seek (namely italian and Japanese), why would I opt for Ukrainian if I’m not a die hard pierogi or borscht fan? Please tell me.

Grade: A-
Location: 9 East 1st Street off Bowery
Website: http://www.veselka.com/bowery

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Filed under Business Meal, Drinks & Apps, East Village, Fun Group Dinner, Parents in Town

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November 15, 2011 · 3:32 am

Chinatown Brasserie

After watching Giada sing praises about the dumplings at Chinatown Brasserie in her Weekend Get-Away show on Food Network, I put the Noho restaurant at the top of my must-try list. Unfortunately, my craving for Chinese food only comes around once a blue moon (or along with every incurable hang-over), but when it arrives, I rarely have the energy to trek to Chinatown where the real stuff is found. After my meal at Chinatown brasserie this weekend, I think I’ve found the perfect lazy woman’s substitute.

The restaurant has the stature and dim lighting of other well-known swanky spots like Buddakan or Beauty and Essex, but the decor, waitstaff uniforms, and furniture are a mix of French and Chinese by design. Though the place looks fancy, the menu has pretty wide coverage of the typical Chinese staples that I grew up on, such as crispy Peking duck with all the fixings. But to cure my empty stomach, we ordered a variety of dim sum and traditional mains. The most memorable dumpling was the Shanghai Soup Dumplings, which, as my friend instructed me, are consumed by biting the top, sucking out all the hot soup incapsulated in the skin, and then eating the remainder whole. The broth was rich, flavorful, and creamy, and it helped me slow down the process of eating as many dumplings as fast as I could.

shrimp and pork dumplings on left; shanghai dumplings on right

sauteed sea bass

I absolutely loved the mushu shiitake, which I expected to be bland. The heartiness of the mushrooms and saucey vegetables totally disguised the fact that there wasn’t an ounce of meat in the dish. Served traditionally with plum sauce and thin rice pancakes, it brought me back to my weekly Chinese food take-out night with my parents that I used to dread like the plague. Now that I’ve had a long enough break from practically the only food delivery option in San Francisco, I can appreciate the irreplaceable, satiating quality of hot, comforting chinese food.

The glass noodle salad was a refreshing yet somewhat boring break from the grease of the rest. Plain glass noodles stacked on top of a hodge podge of mixed greens and random vegetables was a welcome palette cleanser, but nothing exciting.

There’s no mystery behind Chinatown Brasserie. The food is over-priced, and you can definitely find better Chinese food if you go the extra mile and navigate the overwhelming land of Chinatown. But if you want traditional Chinese food in a traditionally posh New York setting, there’s no better place than this restaurant.

Grade: A-

Location: 380 Lafayette Street @ Great Jones Street

Website: http://www.chinatownbrasserie.com

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