On the seventh day, the Lord rested. … and made Tim Tams.  Go to the Tuck Shop, Manhattan’s best and only Australian bake shop, immediately and buy Tim Tams. Fifteen cases just arrived and they’re going fast.  For those of you who are late to the party, Tim Tams are the best packaged cookie ever made. I liken the taste to chocolate EL Fudge cookies filled with silky chocolate and dipped in milk chocolate.

Australian Packaging, Worldly Deliciousness

You haven’t heard of them because they’re Australian, which only makes them more awesome.  But now, Pepperidge Farm is selling Tim Tams at Target stores until March 2009, which means we only have 5 months to stock up on Tim Tams and tell Pepperidge Farm we want them to stay.  Good thing for us, Tuck Shop, on 1st Street between 1st & 2nd Avenue, is selling Tim Tams FOREVER! I’ve introduced them to at least a dozen people in the last few weeks and everyone says they’re delicious.

Australia & America, Together At Last

Amazingly, Tim Tams are not even the most delicious dessert at Tuck Shop, where they specialize in Australian street food (nothing like the Halal Guys).  In fact, two of the best desserts I’ve ever had can only be found at Tuck Shop: Lamingtons and Vanilla Slice. Click here for even MORE deliciousness.

Tuck Shop’s Official Website

My food blogging/comedian friend Jon, writer of the Boston-based Food Fight! put me on to this insanely creative video which I watched 5 times in succession.   Apparently, food is not love, it’s war.  This just goes to prove, playing with your food has a purpose.  Told you Mom and Dad.

If you want to learn more about the film and its creator, Stefan Nadelman, head to the Food Fight page, (where you can also watch the film) at Tourist Pictures, Mr. Nadelman’s production company.  The Food Fight page will answer all your questions, so beware if you want to avoid spoilers.

NYC Food Guy likes steak. Unfortunately, steak doesn’t fall within the Food Guy’s budgetary constraints — until today.  Enter Angelo & Maxie’s $20.99 Lunch Special, served Monday through Saturday, 11:30AM to 3PM, and comprised of three courses: 1) Soup of the day or Caesar/House Salad 2) 11 oz. NY Strip, 8 oz. Filet or Filet Au Poivre, 10 oz. Broiled Salmon over roast veggies, or Herb Roasted Chicken 3) Fruit plate, cheesecake or ice cream. Sounds great, but does a good price mean a good meal? Read on to find out…

French Onion Soup, 11 oz. NY Strip, Marble Cheesecake w/ Raspberry Sauce

Once you’ve tasted the best…

For those of us who have eaten great steak, this meal is going to disappoint, especially if you’re not willing to spend much more than the original $20.99.  Keep in mind, the lunch special comes with no sides. What’s a steak meal without some potato, fried onion or creamed spinach?  Unfortunately those will each cost you $7.95 for “small” sized portions.  We’ll talk more about sides later, right now it’s steak time.

Looks Can Be Deceiving

I went with the 11 oz. NY Strip over the Filet because the latter is devoid of fat and therefore flavor.  I was pleased with the size of the cut and the puddle of juice on the plate.  My first cut into the meat spelled trouble. Very tough.  This was surprising considering my medium rare order (red and warm) was delivered upon.  Unfortunately, the steak just wasn’t very tender.  I made sure to cut against the grain, but still, chewy and a little tough.

Naturally I still finished the entire piece, the outer char and inner beefy flavor were nice although they were not enhanced by the watery and bland steak sauce.  Once you’ve had Peter Luger’s steak sauce, brimming with horseradish punch, it’s hard to enjoy another.

Although the Filet Mignon looks tender, my cousin said it was overcooked and flavorless.

Can You Mess Up Bread?

If the answer’s “yes”, then you know the meal’s in trouble.  In regard to this bread basket, the answer was “slightly.”  The onion rolls were stale and cool, a big disappointment, but the house roll was tasty and slightly warm and the flat crackers, dotted with bits of garlic and caraway seed, were fresh and crisp.  Everything tasted a little better with the standard butter.

Go Green Instead

Soup of the day was either Split Pea or a $2.50 step up fee for French Onion Soup. Go big or go home right? French onion soup it is.  The result was lackluster.  In my mind, there can never be enough melted cheese on a French onion soup.

This version was more of a cheese yarmulka, barely overtaking the edges of the bowl.  Inside, the requisite bread was a soggy variety of who-knows-what swimming in an over-peppered broth filled of sweet onion.  It was edible but my cousin’s Caesar salad, crowned with two anchovies, looked much tastier.

Standard Sides… With One Exception

I was dining with both of my cousins, who can generally pack in as much food as the Food Guy, so we ordered three sides at $7.95 each: Onion Strings, Hash browns and Creamed Spinach. The onion strings and hash browns met the minimum steakhouse expectations, simple and moderately effective, but the creamed spinach was some of the worst I’ve had.

The onion strings were the best of the three sides. Crispy, light and plentiful, they tasted fresh and weren’t overly greasy.

The hash browns did what they were supposed to, provide the necessary potato aspect of the potato-onion-steak bite.  Salty and bland, these hash browns merely sufficed; a crisp outer shell hid chopped potato, onion and pepper.  Maybe we should have opted for the shoestring fries we spied on a neighboring table, they resembled a poor man’s Houston’s fries.

The creamed spinach was awful.  It was salty, congealed almost instantly after hitting the plate and didn’t taste like spinach at all.  People fall victim to ordering this side because it’s known as one of the steakhouse “basics.”  I can honestly say it disappoints more often than not.  The best I’ve had is probably at Rothmann’s Steakhouse in East Norwich, Long Island.  There’s also a NYC Rothmann’s on 54th b/t 5th Ave & Madison.

When It Comes to Cheesecake, Quality Matters

Just like the steak, the cheesecake looked good but lacked star quality.  The raspberry sauce was the saving grace for what was obviously a generic wholesale marble cheesecake. It was creamy but lacked the delicate quality that separates good cheesecake from medicore.  The “marble” aspect was more decorative than flavorful and in the end, I left half the slice over.  Should have went with the ice cream (chocolate or vanilla), you can’t mess that up.

Save Your Money For a Real Steak Meal

As they say in Vegas, the house always wins.  I ended up spending $45, including a beer and tip, on a filling but lackluster meal which started at $20.99.  The company of my cousins, one of whom was celebrating his 21st birthday, was the best part of the experience.

In the end, there’s no cutting corners when it comes to steak.  Save your money.  Go to a real steakhouse like Luger’s and become one with your inner carnivore.  Your stomach and integrity will thank you.

Angelo & Maxie’s

Tim Tams are the best packaged cookie NYC Food Guy has ever eaten and now, finally, they’re in the United States at Target Stores.  Imagine chocolate cookies sandwiching silky chocolate creme all dipped in smooth milk chocolate. You’ve never heard of Tim Tams because they’re from Australia.  Ever wonder why Australia seems like a happy place? The answer is Tim Tams.  And now, thanks to Pepperidge Farm, you can find Tim Tams at Target until March 2009.  You need to eat some immediately and then contact Pepperidge Farm to tell them WE WANT TIM TAMS TO STAY!

You can buy Tim Tams in two varieties: Caramel & Chocolate Creme. I opt for the chocolate creme because I find the caramel an unnecessary distraction to the deliciousness of the silky chocolate creme.  You should buy these for the Tim Tam Slam alone.  Pepperidge Farm should put Tim Tam Slam instructions on the box.  But since they don’t, read on…

Tim Tam Slam: Bite off both ends of a Tim Tam and use it as a straw for hot chocolate or coffee. The result is a mess of warm, melty chocolate deliciouness.  Get some now and don’t forget to contact Pepperidge Farm and tell them WE WANT TIM TAMS TO STAY!

Since moving from the Upper West Side to the East Village, I haven’t found any chicken as good as Chirping Chicken on 77th Street & Amsterdam Avenue.  Cookout Grill, which opened on 13th Street & 1st Avenue in October, has a wood fired rotisserie, an open flame grill and a sign advertising an 100 percent beef burger.  How bad could it be?  Well I should have known from the sleek and flashy interior that Cookout Grill was trying too hard in all the wrong places. Read on the find out exactly what I mean…

$17 Worth of food and the hand cut fries were the best part.

A sleek interior can’t mask misguided grub.

When It Comes To Charbroiled Chicken, More is Less

Look at that beautiful chicken being cooked over an open wood-fired flame. So much promise. So much potential.  The name Cookout Grill implies simple food prepared cookout style.  When it comes to the chicken, they’ve got the right idea with the cooking, it’s just the preparation where they took a wrong turn.

Whereas Chirping Chicken’s great for its simplicity, its charbroiled birds are prepared with nothing more than chicken fat, garlic and salt, Cookout Grill gets a little trigger happy.  They employ a spice rub containing garlic, oregano, rosemary, a special salt, pepper, prunes (for color), and most offensively, Indian yellow curry powder.  The chicken marinates in this concoction for 2 days before being roasted over burning wood.  I went with the 1/4 dark meat chicken with corn bread and sauce ($5.50).

The first bite was surprising but not in a good way. I detected the unwelcome yellow curry almost immediately.  It didn’t grow on me as I continued eating and I felt duped. Indian curry is not a flavor your sneak into a chicken rub. I say sneak because it’s a dominant flavor; not oppressively so, but enough to be the main flavor of each bite.  If I wanted curry, I’d go for Indian food.

The chicken was tender, fatty and moist, what you’d expect from dark meat.  The “sauce” contained chopped carrot, red onion, tomato and cucumber in a light vinegar dressing. It didn’t add much but the room temperature cornbread was light and sweet.  Unfortunately, the curry was an issue for me.  I came for the flavors of a cookout, something the burger delivered but the chicken missed…

Here’s the Beef But Where’s the Love?

I’ll give Cookout Grill credit for two things when it comes to their burger: One, at a half pound, it’s a big burger. Two, it’s cooked over an open flame. That’s where the love ends from NYC Food Guy and apparently that’s where it ends at Cookout Grill too.

The sign out front of the restaurant advertises “never frozen meat.”  Well if that’s the case, let us enjoy the use of fresh beef instead of smushing the life out of the burger, leaving a little pink and no juice for my medium rare.  My 1/2 pound cheeseburger ($7.99 + $3.00 for lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, cole slaw, a side of your choice and a soda) looked great upon first slice.  It was pretty much all downhill from there. American cheese was low quality and the bun was standard cafeteria fare, making the standalone cheeseburger very unworthy of its $7.99 price tag.

It seems like their was no attention to grill work.  The burger was flattened and charred around the edges. Although it embodied the cookout flavor, it lacked any real beefiness.  Burger purists will argue that I can expect no less with the amount of ketchup I put on.  Ordinarily I wouldn’t acknowledge their statement because Heinz ketchup is heaven in a bottle.  Unfortunately at Cookout Grill, we were dealing with an impostor…

Ketchup Blasphemy

I know Heinz ketchup when I taste it and this was no Heinz.  Despite the appearance of Heinz bottles on every table at Cookout Grill, there was an impostor in our company and its name was Hunt’s.  I should have known from the start when I spied packets of Hunt’s ketchup behind the counter.  But the gig was up as soon as fry struck ketchup.  This brand of treachery is reason enough for me to never return to Cookout Grill.

A Cookout Up In Smoke

If you’re going to bill yourself as Cookout Grill, keep it simple and keep it affordable.  The crispy, hand-cut fries were the only saving grace for the $11 burger platter. As for the chicken, I admire the initiative to try something new in regard to the curry spice mix, but it just didn’t work.  It’s peculiar to me that so much effort would be put into the chicken but so little into the burger.  A better bun, higher quality cheese and grill regulation could put this burger near the top of the East Village food chain.  Cookout Grill is exerting effort in all the wrong places; pretentious chicken and underwhelming burgers can’t be masked by a flashy atmosphere.

Cookout Grill

Fire up the GPS, fill the gas tank and bring your appetite because it’s time for a New Jersey Food Tour.  Yes our neighbor to the south deserves some love for their great grub as well and today we’re going to attack it triptych style.  In other words, a three part tour led by the esteemed George Motz.

It starts with deep fried hot dogs covered in secret recipe relish at Rutt’s Hut in Clifton…

Part two takes us to White Manna of Hackensack, where the heavenly sliders are covered in globs of melted American cheese and thinly sliced fried onion…

The final leg of our trip is malted milkshakes at Bischoff’s, where homemade ice cream and candy have been served up to the people of Teaneck since 1934…

If you’re down on Jersey, it’s time to open your mind and your mouth, because you’re going to be eating a lot more than your words…

Rippers at Rutt’s Hutt

For 80 years Rutt’s Hutt has been dishing out deep fried dogs, or Rippers ($1.85 +tax), aptly named for the resulting “ripped” appearance of the hot dog’s skin.  If you really hate your heart, you can get a “Creamator”, or a deep fried dog that’s left to sit in the oil until it’s crisp and burnt on the outside.  Rutt’s Hut houses a pub and a restaurant in addition to the no nonsense, standing room only take out area. Family of the current owner also recommends the chili (never served on the dogs) and their onion rings ($2.50 +tax), both of which I’ll have to try next trip.

Onion Ring Photo Courtesy of Bruce Bilmes and Sue Boyle at Roadfood.com

What the dogs lacked in flavor, the secret recipe relish made up for.  It was unlike anything I’d ever tasted on top of a hot dog, and this from a man who swears by Crif Dogs.  It was alternately sweet and sour; a flavor which varying reports credit to a mustard base combined with carrots, cabbage and onion.  Whatever it is, it is unique and delicious especially when combined with some of Rutt’s old school spicy mustard.

Sliders at White Manna

Other than a miserable experience at White Castle one winter night, my slider experience prior to White Manna was non existent.  Now I’m wondering if any slider will ever top the hand held globs of deliciousness I found in Hackensack.  So delicious were they, for the first time in my life, I didn’t put ketchup on my burger.

It’s a simple set up at this classic diner: A U-shaped bar surrounds a single flat top grill where all the meatball-shaped patties are flattened and topped with a pile of thinly sliced onion.  Once they’ve cooked and the onions have caramelized, they’re flipped and then topped with American cheese.  Then they top those with the inverted bottom half of a mini potato bun followed by the bun’s top half.  Burgers are removed from the grill with the nifty flip of the wrist and placed on a paper plate next to some dill pickle chips.  Watch this movie and you’ll understand.

A tiny single burger ($1.10, $1.30 with cheese) gets a single slice of American cheese while the two-meatball double burger ($1.80, $2.05 with cheese) gets two slices of American.  You should get at least two doubles to do White Manna justice. Standard crinkle cut fries ($1.95, $2.95 with cheese) looked tasty but take away from much needed burger space.  Make sure not to wear anything inside that you don’t want smelling like burgers; White Manna’s a small place, which is a good thing because it points the focus where it should be: creating the best sliders NYC Food Guy has ever had.

Kris, the expert burger taster, reflects on slider perfection.

Malted Milkshakes at Bischoff’s

There’s no better way to end a meal than with something sweet. But today we chose bittersweet, malted milkshakes at the scene of a sadly fading American relic, the old school ice cream parlor.  Fortunately, Bischoff’s recipe is time tested.  We received a homemade sugar rush that has been satisfying Teaneck residents since 1934.  I kept it simple with a classic Vanilla Malted ($4.75), fittingly served in the metal cup it was mixed in.  This really hit the spot and it was a great value too, filling my plastic cup twice.

Bischoff’s is the quintessential ice cream parlor, putting Baskin Robbins to shame with 31 homemade flavors of their own.  The front of the shop is filled with a counter and stools, a big ice cream fridge, a display filled with handmade candies and chocolates for sale by the pound, plus toys and puppets for the kids.  The back of the shop has tables with waitress service where every sandwich comes with a free cup of soup or scoop of ice cream.

Photo Courtesy of http://offthebroiler.wordpress.com/

If you feel like spoiling yourself, however, opt for the Battleship Sundae ($8.25), two flavors of ice cream topped with pineapple, fresh strawberries, sugar wafers, chopped nuts, chocolate chips and rich whipped cream.  I didn’t try it myself but I’ll bring reinforcements next time to make sure the job gets done.

Photos Above & Below Courtesy of http://offthebroiler.wordpress.com/

Conclusion

What else can you say about a day where 3 grown men went home full for under $45 total? How about “Mission Accomplished.”  Stay tuned for the next triptych.  If you know of any other delicious and affordable places to eat in New Jersey or New York, please let me know in the comments section. Thanks.

And I quote myself from an earlier posting: “[Tim Tams] are by far the best packaged cookie I’ve ever had and I dream about the day they appear in U.S. supermarkets.” Well that day is here but the Tim Tams are in Target stores and they’re only available from now until March 2009.

These cookies, called biscuits in Australia, are awesome.  They feature chocolate butter cream between two chocolate cookies all dipped in chocolate.  It tastes like a flaky, chocolate EL Fudge cookie dipped in delicious, silky chocolate.  They’re available in two varieties, Chocolate creme and Caramel, the latter of which I’ve never tried but I hear they’re delicious as well.  These are worth buying alone for the glory of the Tim Tam Slam.  You bite each end of the Tim Tam and then sip a hot beverage like coffee or hot chocolate through the Tim Tam. The result is a chocolatey mess of deliciousness.

Campbell’s, the soup company, owns Pepperidge Farm and Arnott’s, the maker of Tim Tams.  The Tim Tams will have the same name but appear in Pepperidge Farm packaging.  Get out there and buy these cookies by the crate. Let’s make Campbell’s see why Tim Tams should be in the United States FOREVER! And that’s two exclamation points in this single post, if that doesn’t scream serious, I don’t know what will.

Click Here to Find a Target Near You

Food is love. And the only thing better than finding someone who shares that philosophy is finding someone who has that philosophy in mind when cooking food. PMS Kookie Company, aka This Chick Bakes, embodies all that is right with food; two people who put their heart and soul into creating delicious desserts. Why do they do it? So we can all be happy. I just ate 9 of their cookies in a row and let’s just say, their plan is working. I’m a happy Food Guy.

Alas, sometimes love isn’t enough in this unforgiving city, that’s why Jen & Charley, the great people behind PMS, offer their sugary goodies at some of the best coffee houses in New York City. Check out their awesome video, find out where you can eat their delicious desserts and then go tell your friends to do the same. Read on for Loco Coco Nutty Bars, Peanut Butter Cookie Sandwiches, Surprisingly Delicious Vegan Cupcakes and the best Peanut Butter Cup in the World…

Peanut Butter Blast aka The Best Peanut Butter Cup Ever

Unreal.  Think a Reese’s Cup on steroids.  A thick layer of milk chocolate rests atop a healthy layer of salty, creamy peanut butter, all on top of a tiny chocolate chunk cookie.  The hint of salt in the peanut butter and cookie combine with sweet chocolate for a flavor trip that puts Reese’s to shame.  Of the 9 delicacies I sampled, this was the only one where I ate the entire thing.

Chocolate on top, chocolate chunk cookie on the bottom, peanut butter in the middle. Heaven.

Mooney Mood Pie

Really good.  It’s a chocolate chip/peanut cookie with peanut nougat filling.  The cookies are firm yet chewy and you get a great textural adventure with the combo of the cookie’s crunchy peanuts and the creaminess of the filling.  A truly delicious cookie.

Chocolately, Crunchy, Creamy & Peanut Buttery; this cookie has it all.

Chocolate Chip Cookie

Chocolate Discs! Forget about chocolate chips, discs are the wave of the future.  When you break this cookie apart, you hear the sounds of deliciousness: strands of rich, buttery cookie separating and making way for shards of fudgy, pure-tasting chocolate which appear in every delicious bite.

Looks can be deceiving, like these huge chunks of delicious chocolate hiding inside this unassuming cookie.

Vegan Cupcake

I know, I know, Vegan?!  Keep an open mind. This is one really tasty cupcake.  The ratio between the moist and airy Devil’s food cake and the tall coating of coffee-flavored chocolate frosting is perfect.

Nothing but chocolate and love. I’d take this over Magnolia’s corporate cupcakes any day of the week.

Loco Coco Nutty Bar

Before you go loco, let’s break this down: A graham-oat bottom, a layer of coconut and chocolate chips, a massive layer of fudge topped with pecans.  What seems like an unbelievable idea was tasty but lacking in the buttery department, particularly in the graham-oat bottom. The healthy layer of coconut really saved this for me.  I credit my disappointment to a bad batch, nothing with this combo of ingredients could fall short twice.

Power Brownie

The high hopes I had for this milk chocolate chunk-studded brownie melted when I realized it was more cakey than fudgey. That’s just preference. The flavor, however, was interesting: chocolate with a hint of what tasted like maple syrup.  More fudge, less maple, and this is a happy Food Guy.

Oatmeal Raisin

Cinnamon! It screams out at you upon every bite. This chewy, buttery cookie is filled with tasty oats, but the best bites combine the plump, tart raisin with the sweet surrounding cookie. Balance is achieved and voila: cookie bliss.

Raisin Coconut Oat

Hopes were high for this coconut creation but in the end the cookie more closely resembled the Oatmeal Raisin, in consistency and flavor.  You could see the coconut but you couldn’t really taste it.

Coconut, Coconut, wherefore art thou Coconut? I can see it but I can’t really taste it.

Chocolate Dipt Peanut Butter

A peanut butter cookie dipped in hard milk chocolate and dusted with chopped peanuts.  The chocolate side is very sweet but the peanut butter cookie is perfect; light, a little creamy and not too heavy on the peanut flavor.  You can taste quality ingredients. I’d be more content with a chocolate drizzle similar to the Raisin coconut oat.

So Where Can You Find These Awesome Cookies?

88 Orchard Orchard St. & Broome

Café Angelique Bleecker b/t Broadway & Lafayette

Café Angelique Bleecker & Grove

Grounded Jane Street & W4th

Joe Waverly & Gay Streets

Joe E13th b/t Broadway & University

Joe Grand Central Terminal Graybar entrance

Joe 23rd & 9th Ave

71 Irving Irving & 19th st

Irving Farms 7th ave b/t 13th & 14th

Gramstand Ave A b/t 13th & 14th

Gimme Coffee 228 Mott St b/t Prince & Spring

Juicy Lucy Avenue A b/t E5 & E6th St.

Klatch Maiden Lane & Broadway

V Bar Sullivan b/t W3rd/W4th

York Theatre Company 54th B/W Lexington & 3rd

You can also order cookies directly from PMS Kookies at their Website: PMSKookieCompany.com

Sometimes you just feel like shaking it up. And sometimes you feel like it would be a bit redundant to post another rosy review of Five Guys Burgers. Whatever your motivation is, the next time you’re at Five Guys you too should get a bacon cheese dog. Add some jalapenos, since all toppings after crispy bacon and melted American cheese are free, and get a regular order of Cajun fries.

Five Guys is cool because after filling your Styrofoam cup with fries they’ll pour in a heaping pile of extra fries for free. Dip your fries in malt vinegar, then ketchup. Trust me. All together it will cost you around $11 with a regular drink (free refills) and will make your stomach happy (for a little while).

Five Guys Burgers & Fries Multiple Locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens & New Jersey

One of New York City’s ongoing arguments is the question of what constitutes a great taco. Can we all put our differences aside and simply focus on what’s delicious? Well NYC Food Guy can and I’m here to tell you that the tacos at Pinche Taqueria are tasty wherever you’re from. And if it’s any consolation, they’ve enlisted the assistance of several 80-year old women from Tijuana, Mexico to make sure things are up to snuff. Read on to find out which of the three tacos I tried wowed and where you can find it until 4AM Wednesday through Saturday…

Taco de Carne Asada ($2.95), Taco al Pastor ($2.95) and Taco de Pescado ($3.95)

The Taco al Pastor is Numero Uno

Spit-grilled pork is where its at; I’m talking about layers of chili pepper and pork roasting over an open flame and then shaved into a handmade tortilla and topped with chopped onions, cilantro, and a dollop guacamole.  The flavors of fire, tender, fatty pork, and the underlying heat from the chilies combine with the fresh cilantro and onion to create my favorite of the three tacos I tried.  The tortillas are small, but there’s a lot of meat and toppings packed into each one.

Fish Tacos Worth Reeling In Again

Pinche’s fried Mahi-mahi fish tacos have received some praise of late but while I enjoyed the crunchy cabbage and cilantro-mayo sauce, the actual fried fish arrived cold.  The result was tasty but disappointing and the manager blamed it on a new fryer. I enjoyed it more than the Kingfish taco at Pampano Taqueria but I withhold my final judgement, and put the opinion to my readers, until a future tasting.

Pass On Carne Asada

There’s a fine line between a good grilled steak taco and a mediocre one.  Unfortunately, the trend tends to skew toward the latter.  The problem is that the pieces of chopped steak are usually dry and somewhat flavorless. At Pinche the steak in the carne asada taco was slightly moist but generally flavorless.  The only saving graces were the onion, cilantro and guacamole.

Beware the Trap of the Yucca Fries

Don’t get me wrong, fried yucca is delicious. The only problem is that it’s heartier than potato and it fills you up a lot quicker.  Although Pinche’s yucca fries ($4.50), which come with either cilantro mayo or roasted jalapeno ketchup, are tasty, they’re best when shared, otherwise this crispy snack will steal space for the main meal: tacos.

Taqueria and a Whole Lot More

Looking at Pinche’s menu, its a wonder how they can offer so many delicious dishes in such a small space.  I recommend you come for breakfast, served until 4PM, to get a taste of their exemplary Heuvos Rancheros ($5.65 with rice, beans and tortillas), a personal reccomendation from the manager.  This same manager also recommends the massive salads (bottom right on the menu) which come with your choice of meat.

Click on photos for Hi-Res Full Size Images

Pinche’s New Location

If you’re out drinking in the West Village, SoHo or even the East Village, you’re in luck. Pinche recently opened a new branch of their authentic taqueria at the corner of Lafayette Street and Bleecker Street, in the former space of Sparky’s.  From Wednesday through Saturday you can now eat Pinche’s delicious Mexican food until 4AM.  Liquor license is on the way.

Pinche Taqueria

There’s been a lot of love for Spanish tapas lately but did you ever wonder where you could buy all those delicious meats, cheeses and desserts and have tapas at home? The answer is Despana, a Spanish specialty food shop in SoHo on Broome Street between Cleveland Place and Lafayette Street. Walking through the store past a multitude of free samples, you’ll find a counter serving up authentic bocadillos (sandwiches), snacks and desserts. Did the chorizo sandwich impress? How do the churros compare to the traditional American version? Read on to find out…

It All Started as a Chorizo Factory

Despana was founded in 1971, in Jackson Heights, Queens, as a chorizo factory servicing the restaurant industry. This location still exists, as a wholesale and retail shop. In 2006 the SoHo retail location of Despana, which we’re reviewing today, was opened.

It Looks Good, But Did It Impress?

This $8.50 hot pressed sandwich is comprised of four ingredients: Despana Brand Chorizo, sliced manchego cheese, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and a Grandaisy Ciabatta. On their own, each ingredient is high quality and delicious, but together, they lacked the marriage of flavor and texture I was hoping for. The namesake chorizo is grilled before being sandwiched, but it wasn’t grilled long enough to create the crispy, caramelized edges I’ve grown to enjoy in most chorizo tapas dishes. More char on the chorizo would elevate this sandwich.

The drizzle of olive oil was a nice touch, blending into the light, airy crevices of the warm and crisp Grandaisy Ciabatta. If I’m back at Despana, I would opt for another sandwich, perhaps the spicy Picante ($8.50) featuring “chorizo picante“, sliced Mahon (cow’s milk) cheese, piparras (Basque spicy guandilla peppers), sliced fresh tomato, and aioli. Check out the Bocadillo section of Despana’s website or Serious Eats NY for some other suggestions.

Are Churros Better at the Amusement Park?

Sadly, I have to say “yes.” If you’re expecting anything like the churros you’ve had at the zoo, the amusement park or at Cinnabon, then you’re in for a world of disappointment. Despana’s churros are made fresh by squeezing a frosting decorator filled with batter directly into hot oil. Unfortunately, an order of four ($3.50) arrives unsweet, overly crispy and sprinkled only with sugar, no cinnamon.

Chocolate Dipping Sauce Anyone?

One would assume that in the history of culinary vernacular, the term “chocolate dipping sauce” has never disappointed. Well, there’s a first time for everything. Despana’s chocolate dipping sauce ($3.75 with 2 churros) was thin and tasted like orange-flavored hot chocolate. It did nothing for the already underwhelming churros. I found out later that this was the replacement chocolate dipping sauce, Despana had run out of their standard, Chocolate a la Taza. This Spanish chocolate bar is broken up and mixed into simmering milk to create very thick chocolate dipping sauce. Without chocolate a la taza, Despana’s churros are not worth buying. I’ll still continue my churro with chocolate dipping sauce hunt, however. Next stop: Barrio Chino, on Broome St. between Orchard St. & Ludlow St.

Bring the Tapas Home

As I mentioned earlier, Despana is here to provide you with tapas at home. Click on the tapas section on the left side of their website’s and view individual menu items, photos included.

Despana

These are some damn good cookies. Petrossian, the company known for importing Russian caviar, also operates a Cafe/Bakery on 7th Avenue between 57th & 58th Street where they sell three varieties of fresh-baked cookies: Chocolate chip pecan ($3), Double chocolate walnut ($3), and Oatmeal raisin with walnut ($2). Each cookie is delicious, but collectively they still don’t top Levain as the best cookies in the city. Read on to find out why. Special thanks to Sweet Freak for the discovery.

Cookie Tower: Choc. Chip Pecan, Double Choc. Walnut, Oatmeal Raisin w/ Walnut

Chocolate Discs are Better Than Chocolate Chips

Like the Jacques Torres chocolate chip cookies, Petrossian uses dark chocolate discs to make sure there’s fudgy chocolate in every bite of their chocolate chip pecan cookie.

The crisp, clean-tasting dark chocolate is a double threat. It’s fudgy and decadent in the middle while also blending with the cookie edges to create a crisp and buttery outside and base. The pecans enhance only the texture, adding some crunch, without changing the overall flavor.

Double Chocolate Paradox

Levain’s Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookie is so buttery and decadent I simply call it “death by chocolate.” Petrossian’s double chocolate walnut cookie is more like a meringue, with a crisp and thin chewy exterior encasing innards which are simultaneously light, airy and fudgy. The walnuts are sparingly dispersed but when you do find one, they taste as if they’ve been toasted and provide a nice crunch and flavor.

A Great Take on a Classic

Oatmeal cookies tend to go the way of the bagel, they were great until all the good bagel stores closed and Dunkin Donuts took over. Nowadays its as hard finding a great bagel as it is finding a great oatmeal cookie. Petrossian makes a great oatmeal cookie. Hints of maple and cinnamon mingle with crunchy bits of walnut and chewy bits of raisin. The cookie itself is almost cake-like on the inside but it’s crisp on the outside, fortified by toasted oats, the flavor of which tastes homemade and lingers after every bite.

Petrossian

911 Seventh Avenue between 57th & 58th Street

When is the last time you ate pizza that made you say “Wow, this is really good?” For the NYC Food Guy, this happened a few weeks back at L’asso on the corner of Mott Street & Kenmare Street.  “The Ace” in Italian, L’asso features wood-fired brick oven pies which strike the perfect balance between thin, airy and crisp while still supporting the weight of the most unique and delicious toppings I’ve encountered in all of New York City.  Read on to find out why L’asso’s pies are a work of art and science and which of the eight pies I tried really stood out…

Special Margherita with pan fried crispy prosciutto, green onions and extra virgin olive oil

Pizza al Tartufo - Portobello pesto, mushrooms, mozzarella, rosemary and truffle oil

Pizza Mela - Mozzarella, Gorgonzola, asparagus, apple, truffle oil

L’Asso’s Pies are a Science, Literally

I stumbled upon L’Asso after being invited to the L’Asso Pizza Guide Release Party. An insert in the satirical newspaper The Onion, this pizza guide was anything but; it outlined everything from the history of pizza to L’Asso’s strict adherence to the Italian government’s rules on what constitutes a genuine Neapolitan pie (Denominazione di origine Controllata or Pizza D.O.C., click & scroll down for the six rules).

L’asso’s owner, Robert Benevenga, seen on the pizza guide’s cover above, is so serious about his pies that he earned a degree in engineering before perfecting his pie-making technique. To quote Benevenga in the “L’asso Pizza guide”:

“Most pizza places will scoop sauce on with a ladle first and then sprinkle cheese all over it.  So basically, the sauce acts like a slip and slide, forcing most of the hot sauce and cheese to slide out of your mouth and onto your face. … I take the round dough, place the bufalo mozzarella slices all over so they act like suction cups.  Then I pour the sauce in the valleys so each slice holds the traditional ingredients, as well as the toppings, in place.  This makes every bite separate but equal.”

Put simply by Benevenga, it’s all about “the most variety at the highest possible quality. It’s the style that I like. … thin with lots of flavor that pops.” Couldn’t have said it better myself.

We are entering a new Pizza Frontier

Other than the toppings listed on a pizza delivery box, I’m inexperienced.  I was surprised, therefore, to see pies covered in toppings such as apples, pears, walnuts, and asparagus exiting the specially designed 2-door brick, wood-burning oven.  I was even more surprised how delicious everything tasted.  Pies come in three sizes 12″, 18″ and 29″ and all vary in price.

Pizza Mela - Mozzarella, gorganzola, asparagus, apple, truffle oil

Prices: $14, $20, $26 (below)

The apple and asparagus really lightened up a pizza in danger of being too heavy due to the two cheeses. The truffle oil subtly added an earthy, faintly spicy complexity to the overall flavor.  Texturally, the hot oven and thin pie allowed the apples and asparagus to remain juicy and crisp.