City, Recommended Restaurants - Monday, October 13, 2008 12:46 - 1 Comment
Pinche Taqueria
Beware of going to Pinche Taqueria in a large group. The restaurant, which is located next to Bite on Lafayette between Houston and Bleecker, is a narrow room plunked down in the middle of the sidewalk. A dusting of two-seater wooden tables lines the red walls and wide windows. After reading about their authentic fish tacos, I trekked down the pile of rubble formerly known as Houston Street with 4 other friends.
City, Recommended Restaurants - Monday, October 6, 2008 7:32 - 0 Comments
Tiny’s Giant Sandwich Shop
This sandwich and salad shop is my home-away-from-home. Taunted by nagging grilled cheese cravings at least twice a week, I crawl the two blocks to Tiny’s (129 Rivington St.) dressed as my mother circa 1980 in her oversized USA sweatshirt and hand-me-down leggings. The deep burgundy walls and tattered couches pay no homage to the delicious sandwiches prepared there. The two waitresses could easily fulfill the highly competitive position as poster child for the Lower East Side – hipsterettes donning blunt bangs, lopsided headbands, and consignment shop frocks. The grilled cheese, however, is phe-no-me-nal. I order the sandwich to-go and peel away layer-after-layer of grease-drenched paper to finally reveal the fatty culprit. Cheddar, provolone, and mozzarella bubble between two pressed slices of 7-grain bread. The cheddar adds saltiness, the provolone packs sharpness, and the mozzarella brings a chewy, silly puddy-like resilience to the mix. Fresh juices from perfectly-ripened tomato slices ooze from the sides of the sandwich (and make me feel like I’m ingesting some nutritional value.) And for only $4.60? It’s a total steal. To add bacon, which I highly recommend, costs another buck, and if you eat in-house you get a free side of ruffled potato chips. My only gripe is that the servers move in extreme slow motion, probably because their brains are so addled by hallucinogens.
Photo by Allix Geneslaw
City - Sunday, September 28, 2008 23:34 - 2 Comments
Russ & Daughters Will Satisfy Your Jewish Cravings
In honor of the Rosh and the Yom, this post is dedicated to the best (imho) cuisine – that of the Jewish persuasion. Though I could probably throw a rock at Russ & Daughters and hit it from my Lower East Side apartment window, I’d never ventured into the white, appetizer-stocked interior for fear of wallet-busting prices and my visible inexperience in the dealings of smoked fish. I had heard from a reliable source that Russ & Daughters boasts the best smoked salmon in New York, a pretty weighty assertion for a city whose blocks are lined with old-world Jewish delis. On my walk back from campus the other day, I finally bit the bullet and decided to splurge on a bagel and lox.
City - Monday, September 22, 2008 10:28 - 1 Comment
If this Works, We have Found the Best Business Model in the World
As if this city couldn’t get any more ironic, ex-Ohioan Craig Zucker is bottling New York tap water and selling it for $1.50. Branded Tap’d NY, the product promotes a locavore initiative and pitches the winning reputation of New York City’s tap water as its main selling point. Zucker believes that New Yorkers should rely on their own pure, highly accessible resource instead of importing it from overseas. “Fiji and France are doing fine without us,” the website states in its manifesto. Sounds utterly Whole Foods-ian.
City - Friday, September 19, 2008 16:19 - 0 Comments
Foodie Feed 9/19
- New cupcake truck enters the mobile food ring [Eater]
- Steer clear of these restaurants, unless you heart E. Coli. [Jeff Klein]
- Is that a sausage, or are you just happy to see me? [Serious Eats]
- Unlikely celebrity pair team up in new Spanish food show [Grub Street]
Photo from Serious Eats
City - Thursday, September 18, 2008 12:44 - 3 Comments
Delicious Food in Union Square That You Can’t Afford
If you’re hungry and you’ve got $125 lying around, head up to Union Square at 7:30 p.m. for Harvest in the Square. If you’re VIP and you’re reading this, be there at 6:00 p.m. (You know who you are, James Franco.) The chefs from the best and the not so best restaurants – cough cough The Coffee Shop? – are cooking their signature dishes for the high rollers who can afford it. Wines and beers are specially selected for each dish, which definitely justifies the price. Apparently, you’ll also feel connected with nature amongst the “fall foliage on the West Plaza of USP”. If you can find it, that is.
City - Monday, September 15, 2008 9:33 - 0 Comments
Bianca, Reasonably-Priced Italian
Parent visits are pretty much the only times when freeloading is not only justified, but also entirely welcomed and embraced. I like to think of them as perfect win-win situations – the student walks away with a free meal that’s more nutritious meal than the usual freeze-dried package of ramen, and the parents receive the attention they miss while the student is away.
My ‘rents were in the city for dinner, so I took full advantage of the opportunity and selected a reasonably-priced Italian place I’d been stalking both in person and on the internet. Bianca completely deserves this honorable mention as one of New York’s best Italian restaurants. If, like moi, you have parents who understandably don’t want to shell out $50 bucks a head for dinner and are fairly conservative when it comes to food, I’d recommend this place in a heartbeat.
City - Wednesday, September 10, 2008 7:10 - 0 Comments
Foodie Feed 9/9/08
- Facebook could score you an in at hyped-up celeb bar The Eldridge [Down by the Hipster]
- A boxed wine that’s actually considered classy [Tasting Table]
- $1 fried chicken in Midtown that’s worth the trip [SE: New York]
- 19th century French absinthe is available in the U.S. and will fuck you up if drunk straight [Tasting Table]
- Don’t pack creamy peanut butter in your carry-on [NY Times]
City - Monday, September 8, 2008 11:05 - 0 Comments
A Sweet Truckin’ Deal
Maybe it’s the casual ease of ordering to-go at a window and instantly receiving the food in our hands. Or it could just be the memories of our mothers hollering impending punishments at our disappearing backs as we chased down the neighborhood ice cream truck, barefoot. Whatever the reason, New Yorkers are obsessed with mobile dessert trucks – just ask the New York Times and Grub Street.
I’ve visited both the Treats Truck and the Dessert Truck this summer, and yesterday I completed the artery-clogging trifecta with a trip to Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream Truck.
City - Monday, September 1, 2008 19:22 - 6 Comments
The Ultimate Guide to the City- Part 1: Food
This week, in City, we are featuring our Ultimate Guide to the City. We want to help those of you who are new to New York (as well as those who have been basking in the sun and drinking margaritas for too long this summer) get (re)aquainted with the basics of living in New York. On Tuesday we will present Food and Getting Around, on Wednesday, Things to See, on Thursday, Online Resources, and on Friday, Nightlife.
For all of you, newcomers and vets alike, who are feeling suffocated beneath the beefy, tuition-hiking paw of John Sexton and the steep price of textbooks (especially you brave pre-med souls), we’ve compiled a list of the best cheap eats on campus and in the surrounding neighborhoods. The last thing we’d want you to do is drop mad clams at a sub-par eatery when there are $1 slices of cheesy, highly edible pizza lurking on St. Marks. The restaurant list is divided into two sections: on-campus, which is the immediate area of Washington Square and its neighboring blocks, and Union Square and the East Village, for all of you U-Hall and 3rd North stragglers.
