TBSP

On a quiet Saturday morning after a night of horrible heartburn, all I wanted was pancakes. I figured I deserved them, because I had not eaten for 24 hours.

The line at Clinton Street Baking company was over an hour long (at 9:45 am…it opens at 10). So, we went over to a neighborhood spot that we had walked by a number of times. Spoon catering company is a quiet family owned business, which opened a small restaurant, TBSP, with delicious looking brownies behind the counter and a very pleasant staff. Last time we tried to go, there was a very long line. So, this time, we weren’t expecting much. But, maybe this sleeper spot actually serves the sleepy and doesn’t wake up until after noon.

“tablespoon is founded on the idea that fresh, local ingredients and quality recipes make for culinary success.”

I agree. I like the new locavore movement. If I had any natural light coming into my apartment or any type of balcony and/or open air space, I would probably be growing my own herbs and possibly my own small fruits or vegetables (I would also probably be a bit happier). But, being a poor New Yorker, I must rely on restaurants stepping up and serving the freshest food they can.

The menu (to the left) had no simple options; everything was unique sounding and filled with flavor. We had the breakfast pizza (egg pizza) and the blueberry pancakes. The pancakes were wonderfully buttery, but undercooked, almost raw. The bacon was a little fatty, but, because bacon supposedly cures all ailments, I had to eat it…The breakfast pizza was two poached eggs, on top of a salad of greens, tomatoes, manchego cheese and bacon. The bread was crisp and starchy… The base for it was "pan tomate", a Barcelona specialty, which I hear is actually an excellent segway into my upcoming posts on the food extravaganza that is my trip to Barcelona, Spain!

All that being said, I was sick so I can’t 100% say with confidence that it was the best meal I have ever had, but it is definitely worth a stop by if you are in the neighborhood. Ah, I love Chelsea.

Union Sqaure Cafe

Has anyone in NYC not been to this restaurant? It’s been on the Zagats top restaurants since… I don’t know how long (literally no idea; just know it has been a while). Its part of the Union Square Hospitality Group (thanks Danny Meyer! http://www.ushgnyc.com/_pdf/company_overview.pdf).

So, I love the restaurant Cookshop. It’s not only close to my apartment, but its also consistently great food. I tend to get a lot of the same thing over and over again, but I have never been disappointed. I have heard that one of the faults of Cookshop (never in my mind) is that the menu is too small. The food is good, but there’s nothing to choose from. So, here comes Union Square Café.

They don’t have a brunch menu, its called lunch. I’m scared.

It was 1pm. Do you know where you are going to eat? (How annoying is that news channel slogan?) Turns out that lunch at USC far surpassed my imagination. In a very not-me move, I didn’t even check the menu. It wouldn’t have mattered. The menu is so large that I wouldn’t have been able to just decide in advance and stick to my decision; especially after I saw all the plates going by. I never thought I would be having seared scallops on a random Sunday lunch. That is my normal dinner go-to. We ended up splitting the scallops and the tuna salad sandwich. Yes, I typed it. Tuna Salad sandwich. I consistently refused to eat that as a child. Mayo really isn’t my thing. My mom would make my brother and herself a sandwich, and I would make my own… with honey mustard dressing. More healthy? Maybe, but that wasn’t my concern 20 lbs and 10 years earlier. I just think mayo is disgusting. (Melanie – if you are out there, feel free to post photos of the greatest all time mayo fight). I try to avoid lobster rolls with a lot of mayo (hello Klee). I make them at home with just the plain lobster on a toasted bun. Why ruin the goodness? But I digress….

As I mentioned, we split the Seared Sea Scallops (with brussels sprout-bacon farrotto and black trumpet mushrooms) and the Tuna Salad Sandwich on Tom Cat White (with slab bacon, arugula and garlic potato chips). The scallops were a no-brainer. I saw them pass. I love black trumpet mushrooms, even though I think they look like a charred green vegetable. I love USC’s scallops (check out the other link to the restaurant). They did not disappoint. As you can see to the left, the scallops were large. As you cannot see, they were also tender and cooked to perfection. The tuna sandwich was probably the best I have ever had (sorry mamma). Yes, there was mayo, but the overall taste, including the slab-o-bacon and the delicious bread glazed over my hatred. I’m glad we split it because it was enormous (my half pictured – which I couldn’t finish). USC, being the delightfully elegant place it is, split our dishes so we didn’t have to pick them apart.

I suggest that everyone give USC a try. I have now eaten there for dinner (pre-blog starting so you didn’t get the pleasure of reading what I thought on my first try) and now lunch. There’s a reason that this place has been on the top of everyone’s list for years: it’s a wonderful restaurant with excellent food, great service and a non-disturbing atmosphere. It doesn’t try to be something its not, but it puts all those places to shame. You can just ask the guy I sat across from: with hair down to his bum, covered with a doo-rag, a Redskins jersey (why?) and workman boots, the guy was enjoying a Sunday Funday with two buddies wearing their softball uniforms, drinking three bottles of red wine and some beers and eating everything on the menu. I don’t judge, I’m just glad that I wasn’t the least dressed up person in the joint.

The John Dory Brunch Edition

This weekend was the John Dory’s first weekend open for brunch. Maybe people don’t all get the constant food blog updates that I do, because the place was pretty empty at 12:30. Who was there you ask? Oh, just me and Tom Colicchio (with wife and son). No biggie. Just the head judge of top chef and owner/chef of the Craft restaurants. I tried my hardest to speak loudly when rating the food, just in case he needs a pedestrian judge next season. So, with my two celeb chef sightings (April Bloomfield was in the kitchen), I was ready to eat!

I’m not a cheater. So, don’t take this as me cheating on Cookshop. I still love it, just want to spread my Chelsea wings (or I guess Meat Packing District wings).

We started out with the apple and Guinness fritters. (Days when I plan to not workout at the gym, I make sure I eat the most fattening item on the menu.) They came to the table looking like donuts, with the crispy sweet crust of a glazed munchkin. In fact, they were apples coated with donut tasting dough, topped with beautifully crispy bacon. The bacon pieces were small but delightful and a great salty addition to the dish. The apples were warm and crunchy. Next, we had the Crab en Cocotte and the Hangtown Fry. I had to look up Cocotte to see what that meant: “a small fireproof dish in which individual portions of food are cooked and served”. That is exactly what I got (and what Mr. Colicchio’s son ordered in case you were keeping tabs). There were chunks of peaky-toe crab served in a soup of eggs (I had to crack the yolks), cream and mushrooms. The dish was a little heavy for my tastes, but very delicious. The soup (ok, it wasn’t a soup but it’s hard for me to describe it any other way since it came in a bowl and was liquidy in texture.) was accompanied by crispy buttered bread.

The Hangtown Fry came with a back-story, always a nice addition. (Supposedly) In the time of the gold rush, rich men would come into restaurants and ask for the most expensive item on the menu. Back in those days, the most expensive items were eggs and oysters. Therefore, a new dish was born. The Hangtown fry was a very thin frittata with grilled oysters on top. Sounds a little odd, but it was great. Frittatas are normally too heavy or dense, but since this was so thin, it was perfect. Ok, I just looked up Hangtown fry and this is what I got for you:

Hangtown fry could possibly be the first California cuisine. It consists of fried breaded oysters, eggs, and fried bacon, cooked together like an omelet. In the gold-mining camps of the late 1800s, Hangtown Fry was a one-skillet meal for hungry miners who struck it rich and had plenty of gold to spend. Live oysters would be brought to the gold fields in barrels of sea water after being gathered in and around San Francisco Bay. Such a meal cost approximately $6.00, a fortune in those days.
However it came to be, ordering a Hangtown Fry became a mark of prosperity for gold-rich miners, the status symbol of the day. The recipe swept the entire Northwest Territory, from California to Seattle, in the mid-1800s. A few drinks and a Hangtown Fry were considered a gentleman's evening.

The John Dory was one restaurant where I wish I remembered to bring my camera. Not only for the celeb sightings, but also for the food. The menu is small yet unique and flavorful.