week 15: motorino

April 13, 2010 in restaurants, new york, pizza

i don't know when it began,

but a while back i made a trip home from school,

and friday night was magically instated by mum as

pizza night.

it was either,

a) in an effort to regulate our pizza intake

so that we could either

[1] have a night where we wouldn't have to feel terribly guilty about indulging in cheese and grease not that i do anyways or

[2] limit ourselves to one night a week because otherwise some of us would eat it every day

b) in an effort to not slave in the kitchen for one day a week

c) as a continuation of "b," observe the shabbos

kidding. if that were true we probably wouldn't be ordering pepperoni.

anyways,

as a result,

we've become pretty well versed in pizza in the suburbs of chicago

{which pretty much means we get lou mal's every friday that i'm home}

but in preparation for last week's visit,

mum and i saved our friday night pizza night for monday night so that we wouldn't have to wait seven hours for a table at

motorino

in the east village.

because when you've got rachel ray calling motorino the best pizza on the east coast in her march madness pizza bracket,

there's obv gonna be a line out the door.

but

since dining at odd hours is apparently my expertise,

we were able to walk in late on a monday night sans line.

yay yipee!!

since everything looked so good,

and also sometimes in a foreign language,

we had miss waitress decide for us,

"one red and one white"

so we got

stracciatella

basil, olive oil, sea salt

soppressata piccante

mozzarella, spicy soppressata, garlic, oregano

and when the stracciatella came out first,

i ate the first piece so fast

that i forgot to enjoy it!

so i had another.

and another.

and then shared the love with the soppressata

and couldn't get enough of that either...

until both pizzas were all gone and i wanted to puke my brains out

but darn, it was worth it.

the texture of the crust in this pizza napoletana thing is just so addictive

and the slightly burnt/smokey taste adds another element,

that makes you feel way glamorous in the process of stuffing your face.

i preferred the stracciatella,

mainly because of the massive amounts of cheese

{tummy didn't like me for that one though}

the soppressata was very good,

although i wasn't ohmygod wild about it.

it had overtones of cheetos.

and i wanted more cheese.

really, it's all about the crust.

chewy, doughy, and soft in the middle,

a bit crispy on the outside

i think i could live off the stuff.

to add to the excitement of our delicious meal,

entertainment arrived mid-pie in the form of the owner pulling up in a taxi,

having just been at le poisson rouge for the

eat out awards

and delivered the readers' choice award for

best new pizzeria in new york!

go motorino!!

{i sat sheepishly in my seat as we are the champions blasted over the speakers,

hoping that no one would find out that i voted for kesté... oops.

to know which was better though,

goodness they were so similar,

i'd have to try them again...}

oooh can it be friday night pizza night soon please?

37 to go...

xoxo

yeh

motorino is located on 12th st and 1st ave, as well as at 319 graham ave in brooklyn

open sun-th 11am-12am

fri-sat 11am-1am

week 14: seasonal

April 07, 2010 in jewish and israeli food, restaurants, new york

the buzz about

seasonal

is that it's got the hot new schnitzel in town.

{what's that sound? oh that's the sound of seasonal zooming to the top of my places to try list...}

and after a walk up to midtown from the village,

mum and i deserved it!

the amuse bouche set a high precedent:

taleggio cheese,

potater soup,

spec,

dill powder

how cute is it that it was made to look like an egg??

this picture makes it look like it was huge,

but really,

it was about two bites

of creamy, smokey, dill-y goodness.

next,

mum and i got our fork and knife,

flexed our muscles,

and got ready to dig in to some thick and juicy

meat!

except,

what i got when i dug in was something much much less satisfying...

the sound of a fork hitting the plate prematurely.

and,

"ma, where's the crunch?"

...

it became clear why this schnitzel is

"the hot new schnitzel"

it's diet schnitzel.

refer to the above photo to see what is the thinnest piece of meat i have ever seen in my life.

with a crust that was more like a helium balloon encasing the meat,

that refused to stick to the meat,

even though i begged.

whaaaa???

i looked around.

i looked to my size 0 waitress.

is she going to shout april fools?

are these people kidding?

gustav mahler did not eat his schnitzel in a balloon.

authentic, my derriere.

i mean,

the crust wasn't soggy,

i'll give it that.

and it was seasoned well.

but

a paper thin veal slice plus a paper thin coating of breading does not a schnitzel make.

i get it, schnitzel is supposed to be thin and pounded out.

but, no no no, not like this.

also what was frustrating was

the way the lemons were cut into circles as opposed to wedges,

which made them impossible to squeeze.

the spätzle didn't help much either.

it was watery.

and unhot.

the dessert was tasty.

it was a chocolatey and hazelnutty.

but i mean,

it wasn't a donut.

actually one of the best things was the little quark cheesecake {on the left} at the end of the meal.

the truffles on the right were coffee flavored.

i enjoy little amuse bouches and little second desserts.

...

oh dear,

i feel like i'm a h8er.

i'm not, i promise,

i just had a certain expectation for my schnitzel.

and this was just a whole new take on it that i simply wasn't ready for.

it's like when fancy restaurants put mushrooms in mac and cheese.

overall it was a nice experience.

the atmosphere was lovely,

and all of the wait people were very nice.

but,

if i can have a crispier, meatier, piping hot schnitz for a few bucks from the schnitzel truck,

there's no point in going back to seasonal to drop 30 on some skimpy meat that's about to fly away.

good thing i have 38 restaurants to go...

xoxo

yeh

seasonal is located on 58th between 6th and 7th

that time my stomach exploded.

April 06, 2010 in restaurants, new york, breakfast, pizza

this is not another april fool's joke.

in the 48 hours that mum was in town, we actually ate all of this:

every good explosion begins with poached eggs.

these ones on focaccia with spinach at

academia di vino

on broadway between 89th and 90th

dessert was a macarella

from the street sweets truck

{macarella = nutella sandwiched between two coconut macaroons

...at least we tried to keep kosher for passover?}

and as soon as we got down to the village,

we decided that the hot weather called for some

phileo yogurt

on bleecker and cornelia

red velvet cake yogurt and taro yogurt to be exact.

with strawbees and mochi, of course.

and i kid you not,

we literally sat on the bench outside of

amy's bread

on bleecker accross from phileo

finishing off our yogurt,

so that we wouldn't have to bring it in with us to order a hot cross bun.

it was easter, after all.

...and as mentioned before,

it was a definite room temperature cross bun.

delicious and doughy and yeasty and tasty nonetheless.

{i wanted a bread bunny too. but i'm allergic to bunnies}

schnitzel @ seasonal.

on 58th between 6th and 7th

donuts are the new cupcakes.

March 30, 2010 in restaurants, breakfast

stefani @ doughnut plant

love to magnolia,

love to crumbs,

love to sprinkles,

and love to every single one of the

thousand million glamourous cupcake bloggers

{and their headbands that match the color of the frosting}

but,

in a world where outer beauty matters all too often,

it's time for the

underrated

overachieving

plump

goofy kid to shine.

traditional donut @ bombolini

i know,

it's our natural instinct to suppress it,

seeing as how they are about a thousand times worse for you than a piece of cake,

but in this era of shamelessness,

there's no better time than now to embrace the fact that

everything

better

fried.

@bombolini

it's true.

it's no coincidence

that a shop serving piping hot italian donuts

opened kitty-corner to magnolia on the upper west side,

the same year that a freakshow donut extravaganza

serving pb&j sammiches on donuts

opened a stone's throw from kyotofu

the same year that april decided to serve

ciabatta donuts at her new baby,

the breslin

the same year that

a voce

opened with bombolini on the menu

it's even rumored that

per se

serves donuts.

apple cider donuts @ the 65th street farmers' market

anyways,

enough beating round the bush,

here are reasons why donuts prevail:

1. like i said, everything is better fried... and that should be reason enough.

2. variety

yeasty, cakey, frosted, powdered, glazed,

jelly-filled, creme-filled, square, round, hole,

no hole, long and skinny...

ciabatta?! #aprilbloomfieldisSUCHapimp

3. you don't have to let them cool before glazing them

when have you ever been served a warm cupcake with the frosting still in tact?

contrary wise, how often is the krispy kreme hot-now sign on?

4. they cost less moneys.

why buy a magnolia cupcake for over two dollars

when you could go across the street to bombolini

and buy a warm pistachio donut for $1.09?

5. they make excellent photo shoot props.

the traditional specs

w/ ciabatta donuts @ the breslin

the smiley face

above: of maria w/ an apple cider donut at the 65th street farmers' market

below: w/ blackout at doughnut plant

the mustache

the i'm-a-man-and-i'm-not-sacrificing-my-masculinity-by-posing-with-a-cupcake-but-instead-i-am-cool-for-posing-with-something-doubly-as-bad-for-you

{welcome luke to the blog world, ladies}

6. let us also not 4get about the crème brulée donut

@doughnut plant

q.e.d.

donuts are better.

@bombolini

challenge me, i dare you.
{i think meghan's already working on it...}

and i will personally bring you on a walking donut tour of manhattan

where we will stop at the following:

{from north to south}

bombolini at 68th and columbus, for warm, filled italian donuts

the 65th street farmers' market for apple cider donuts & the homey farm boys that vend them

bouchon bakery at columbus circle for thomas kellerness

a voce at columbus circle for haute bombolini and a view of central park

holey cream in hell's kitchen

the breslin bar and dining room at 29th and broadway for chewy chewy ciabatta donuts

doughnut plant on the lower east side for outrageousness

shopsin's at the essex street market for baby donuts

sheesh, that's enough donut porn for now.

who's with me?

xoxo

yeh