No Plans this Memorial Day?

Join the "Fatty Crew" for a Memorial Day blowout on the UWS! The whole restaurant will convert into party central for an all day eating and drinking spectacular, complete with specialty cocktails, draught beer, passed hors d'œuvre, whole pig buffets and live music.

FATTY CRAB UWS’ MEMORIAL DAY BASH

Date: Monday, May 30th
Time: 12 noon - 10 p. m.
Price: $45 (all you can eat and drink)
Payment: cash or credit card (day of, at door)
Entertainment: live music set featuring the stylings of Satow, Kivlen & Cecil
Location: 2170 Broadway, UWS, Manhattan

Passed Hors D'œuvre
East Coast Oysters | rhubarb mignonette
Tea Sandwiches | sardine, sambal, Vietnamese mint
Tea Sandwiches | curried egg salad, crispy ikan bilis
Fried Wontons | kecap manis, fresh sriracha
Fatty Devils | crispy ‘Cue bacon

Buffet
Whole Smoked Heritage Pig | smoked palm sugar sauce
Charred Asparagus | preserved lemon vinaigrette
Steamed Potatoes | cultured butter, black pepper, sea salt

Drinks
Selection of Specialty Cocktails
Draught Beer

Fatty Crab UWS
2170 Broadway
(b/t 76th & 77th)
(212) 496-2722
www.fattycrab.com

Really Good Chips at Bar 6

Parfait!

Recommended pairing: off-the-menu house sparkling ($9)

Bar Six, 502 Sixth Avenue at 13th Street, Manhattan

TRANSIT tonight at Tenri

Tonight, TRANSIT presents the latest installment of their (now famous) DoubleBill Series. This innovative project presents new music from around the world alongside the work of young composers from NYC, giving listeners a wide-raging experience that would otherwise incur jetlag. Tonight's program focuses on emerging composers from London and New York City and includes three world premieres!

TRANSIT DoubleBill: London / NYC

Tenri Cultural Institute
34A West 13th St
(near 6th Ave)

Tickets available at the door:
$15, 12 for students, seniors

Plus: I'll be hand selecting the wine from PJ Wine for the evening's event! Two possibilities:

Domaine Des Cassagnoles
Vin De Pays des
Côtes De Gascogne

This a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Gros Manseng (the indigenous grape of the region), and it is smack your lips good. Don't even bother thinking about fruit or weight, it's just clean, crisp goodness. Tart like a lemon without the bite, clear like spring water without the chalky minerals---this is the perfect summer wine. When it's a thousand degrees outside, you will not want anything but. It's better than the ice-cream truck...at least for adults.

Domaine Des Cassagnoles
Reserve Selection
Cuvée Gros Manseng

This is a wake-up call for your taste buds. It's got bite; it's got vibrancy, but with a little more depth and character than its sister wine (the Vin de Pays). Think sunshine in a bottle mixed with a dash of herbs and honey. This is a pure refresher. Perfect on those convection-oven days when you want to sit outside and enjoy some goat-cheese and olives, but need to keep the heat at bay.

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THANK YOU!

East of Eighth + De Wine Spot = A Contest Fit for Foodies!

fine fare at East of Eighth

wine, sake + more at De Wine Spot

We are proud to announce that East of Eighth will be the featured restaurant in our Spring Picnic Prize contest! It's not too late to enter to win:

• 2 certificates to use toward food and drink at East of Eighth and De Wine Spot
• a gorgeous 40"x70" Condé Nast "Gourmet: Popsicles" beach towel
• our environmentally friendly, official FBTOT "I love champagne" canvas tote, large enough to carry all your things for a picnic or a day at the beach

All you have to do to enter is send an email with "spring picnic prize" in the subject line to: frombehindtheopentable@gmail.com. Contest ends June 19th at 11:59 p. m.; must be 21 or over to enter. See our original contest posting here.

Another Bubbly Night

Yesterday, I received a last-minute invitation to attend the grand opening of Todd English's new restaurant, Crossbar, at The Limelight Marketplace. But first: a quick glass of bubbly at The Oak Room while I waited for a front-of-house co-worker to finish her shift.

Sad to hear The Oak Room will be closing on July 31st;
I really do love their champagne glasses...

By the time I finished my glass of Mionetto prosecco, Victoria arrived, wasting us no time in heading downtown to Sixth Avenue. We entered The Limelight Marketplace through the Sixth Avenue entrance (we later learned Crossbar's main entrance is on 20th Street) and had to pass through a series of mazes before finally landing at Crossbar, at the eastern end of the church.

We immediately sought out our co-workers, of who a handful had preceded us there and while doing so were directed by the friendly maître d' to the upper level lounge. Victoria and I settled into a corner banquette for two, but I quickly decided it was too warm upstairs and recommended seeking an outdoor garden seat. Unfortunately, Crossbar's garden is not yet open, but we did manage to find two seats adjacent to an open door.

The bartender instantly supplied us with a food and beverage menu and upon Victoria's insistence, I decided to start with a purple rain cocktail ($13) which came highly recommended. The best thing about the cocktail was the block ice cube, nearly filling the width of the glass. (it'll be great for summer) Having had been in great anticipation of "sloppy" foie gras sliders* ($17), I placed an order--paired with a "stemless" glass of cava--even though the gnocchi had also come highly recommended.

"sloppy" foie gras sliders at Crossbar

Shortly before leaving, I inquired with one of the hostesses about the bacon pecan pie to which she replied, "You should save it for another time, when you come back just for sweets." This hostess is good...

*removed from the current menu

(More) Live Blogging

"pot luck" dinner

I was supposed to go to the Met today to view the Alexander McQueen exhibit, but David accidentally took my wallet (housing my MetroCard, cash and debit card) with him this morning to a rehearsal at Sarah Lawrence, in Bronxville. So I instead stayed in and did some housework.

At around 7:30, I decided it was time for dinner which also gave me the opportunity to sample the Campo Viejo rioja (2006). Smooth with soft tannins... I'd actually asked (at PJ Wine) if they carried any tempranillos to which the stockist directed me toward a couple of different riojas. The Campo Viejo was not nearly as spicy as some tempranillos I've tried, but not bad either--just different.  

My dinner consisted of a portion of leftover omelette, from earlier today, plus tapenade over Wasas and David's red potato salad with arugula.

it was hard to get a shot without any shadows

The tapenade (plus the arugula we'd been eating all weekend) came from a niçoise salad I'd brought home from work late last week (it was a really big salad... or maybe the chefs just like me). I didn't even know we had any tapenade left; it's amazing what you'll find when you actually look in your "fridge."

Julia and Jacques

Jacques Pépin and Julia Child duel it out in the kitchen

David and I recently discovered (one evening off) Julia and Jacques: Cooking at Home which streams for free on Hulu. We've probably watched almost half of the twenty two episodes available and perhaps more satisfying than the cooking tips we've picked up from the show is the witty back-and-forth quibbling between Jacques and Julia (mostly coming from the latter end).

"Do you want white or black pepper?" 

"Black." 

"I guess you like speckled food."

Perhaps my favorite episode so far--for cooking tips--is Eggs. Jacques Pépin demonstrates his master technique of scrambling eggs in the skillet (perhaps before it became common knowledge to not use metal utensils on Teflon) then folding them over into a beautiful fluffy pocket while Julia finishes hers with a raw egg. I thought I'd try Jacques' technique of scrambling in the skillet, today, but had added too many ingredients to my scramble, making me think scrambling in the skillet wouldn't turn out so well.

Not nearly as lovely as Jacques'

Using leftover queso fresco, baby arugula and a little red onion (plus garlic powder, pepper, fleur de sel and dill) and leftover wine from my Born This Way album listening party the previous evening, the sum made for a nice lunch.

a malbec which was to be followed by a rioja

David and I never did get around to tasting the rioja; the Goulart "clásico" malbec was only... "acceptable" ($20 for the lot). Perhaps we'll try the former with dinner tonight.

Pastries and Cookies and Brunch--Oh My!

cream puff from Hungarian Pastry Shop

Yesterday (Sunday) began my three day mini-holiday; David took the day off as well and we decided upon Sunday brunch at home. But first: breakfast at Hungarian Pastry Shop (1030 Amsterdam Avenue). David selected a mocha cream puff while I went with a plain. I also ordered a café mocha for "a touch of chocolate." My cream puff was as tasty as it looked, but David's go-to dessert at 'HPS' is their chocolate pudding--I've never had a better one either!

After we'd run a couple of errands in our old neighborhood, we headed back uptown to make preparations for brunch. Our first stop was at PJ Wine to pick up a bottle of sparkling for mimosas. I told David not to pick anything too expensive since we'd be adding juice to it. I selected (for him) Jaume Serra "cristalino" brut cava. ($7)

cava for mimosas

Our next stop was at Fine Fare where we decided upon apricot nectar instead of orange juice.

bellinis awaiting a brunch pairing

Before opening the cava, we first used the remainder of a bottle of blanc de blanc I'd had leftover from a solo dinner, Friday night, consisting of a cheese plate with quince cheese--a favorite new discovery of mine...

a moussy finish, but lacking in flavor; $11

The main courses for our Sunday brunch were: scrambled eggs with salmon and sautéed wild baby arugula and home fried red potatoes.

smoked salmon and eggs

delicious home fried potatoes

David also prepared and whipped some seasoned cream cheese (garlic and fleur de sel) served with hearty Wasa crispbreads. We enjoyed it again, later that night, on round crackers with the leftover baby arugula.

Ritz crackers--nouveau comfort food

Last on our menu, but not least, was the cherry strudel I'd picked up at Hungarian Pastry Shop plus a handful of Florentine cookies.

flaky and tart

seductively sweet!

I restrained from ordering some of our standard favorites and instead, selected new things for us to try. The diners next to us, earlier that day, were having the cherry strudel and I commented to David on how delicious it looked. I also wanted "a little something extra" and picked out five Florentines, although I was tempted to scrap the whole idea and just pick petits fours. Nonetheless, I was pleased with my selections and have now added Florentines to my list of "standard favorites" at HPS.

Sands Casino via Port Authority

TUESDAY, my parents and I decided to meet each other partway at the Sands Casino in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For $28 the Trans-Bridge bus line takes you directly from Port Authority to the casino, in just under two hours. The perk: a $40 gambling voucher and $5 food voucher (plus free drinks while you play)--nearly a win-win situation. (there's also free wi-fi on the bus)

around the coil at Coil bar

Now, I'm not a gambler at all. So after a few rounds of slots with my folks, I went off to explore the "fine dining" (and bar) options Sands has to offer. After making a full round of the casino, noticing no less than three restaurants by Emeril, I stopped at Coil for some bubbly.

"casino champagne"

I later returned to find my parents still trying their luck at the slots and after a few more rounds with them, went for another walk. I saddled myself up at the bar at Emeril's Chop House--by far, the most "formal" restaurant in the casino. (Emeril's Italian Table also opens June 4th) Bored with bubbly, and in the mood for something a sweet, I ordered a Third Street coffee: a concoction of coffee and Grand Marnier, among other things.

"Third Street Coffee" at Emeril's Chop House

Upon ordering, the bartender momentarily left the bar (and her patrons) to fetch a fresh coffee from the kitchen for my cocktail. I then watched her squeeze fresh cream from a pastry tube atop the drink, followed by freshly zested orange. Upon initial sip, the cocktail was much more than I'd expected--the dense cream worked wonderfully and the orange zest added the perfect balancing touch...

BEFORE my parents and I knew it, it was time for me to head back to the bus depot for my return trip home. On my way out, I did manage to stop at Carnegie Deli and use my $5 food voucher toward a slice of lemon coconut cake and also stopped at Casa Java for a perfectly made Americano.

too few places know how to make one

Unfortunately, the lemon coconut cake from Carnegie Deli was as regrettable as the 5th Avenue cream pie I'd had on a previous visit. (David said it's because you're supposed to order cheesecake at Carnegie Deli) I also noticed--at the Sands & Co. gift shop--cigars for sale, kept in a temperature-controlled humidor. (average cost $7) As my bus idled in the depot, Friends played on the overhead TV screens; perhaps an attempt to cheer up unlucky winners…

"I'll be there for yooou!"

Midtown Sundae

While shopping in midtown last Sunday for a few gifts for the folks (whom I'm visiting later today) I picked up a couple of things (I had to buy something for myself too!) that just so happened to give me the idea for a fun little Sunday night treat I like to call: my "midtown sundae."

First: popcorn for Ma plus a reusable beverage cup from The Plaza

The next stop was at Bloomingdale's where I happened upon the best little edible things they sell:

dark chocolate-covered candy sticks!

Once home, I took a few of the sticks and roughly crushed and tossed them with a dash or two of fleur de sel. I then sprinkled the mixture atop a scoop or two of Häagen-Dazs all natural vanilla ice cream and used another stick, broken in half, as garnish. Finally, I threw a small handful of smoked sea salt popcorn on top.

by no means a masterpiece, but by all means tasty...

I'm sure those of you out there that are real cooks could come up with better variations of my own "midtown sundae." What's your favorite ice cream concoction?

Dazzling Dish of the Day

Fonitna, roasted baby beet, jumbo lump & Maine crab salad and candied walnut flatbread from The Plaza Food Hall

Can You Tell Me How To Get...

--how to get to Cava Street?

Balthazar. Blue Ribbon. Beige.

Tuesday, my day off, I was interrupted while doing laundry by a text from Fabiana (my former co-MD): … let's meet for a drink. Meet me at 5:30 at Balthazar.

I had less than an hour to ready myself before quickly jetting over to the A train for the downtown express; I arrived promptly at 5:30 (never leave a lady waiting) to Fabiana looking divine.

former model turned cook

Fabiana wanted to order a bottle of wine and after a couple of tastings, we jointly decided upon a bottle of white mâcon. I felt that the mâcon was overchilled and needed some food to go along with it. I recommended the assiette de fromages, selection of cheeses of the day ($17).

average assiette de fromages

By the time I'd arrived at Balthazar, Fabiana seemed to be growing impatient with the bartender. And by the time our cheese plate arrived, so was I. Not only was he inattentive to the fact that our wine glasses needed refilling, but he didn't describe the selection of cheeses upon presenting them--we had to make our best guesses. The assiette was just okay and didn't do much for our wine… Dissatisfied, we left Balthazar and headed west to Blue Ribbon.

gin martini at Blue Ribbon

Fabiana wanted to have martinis and once at Blue Ribbon, I didn’t feel like ordering my usual cava. I instead went with a nice Tanqueray gin martini, a little dirty. (James is such a good bartender) While Fabiana and I sipped our martinis, we chatted with Victor, the oyster shucker, about the terrible service we'd received at Balthazar. "It wasn’t even busy… he'd rather attend to the guy drinking one beer."

"He was stereotyping us--a girl and [a gay guy]… I even had to ask for a glass for my Pellegrino!"

Victor had asked who the bartender was and when we described him, "Oh, I know him. Yea, I don't like him either."

Fabiana and and I placed an order for some west and east coast oysters and Victor threw in some complimentary lobster as well. Blue Ribbon always shows how it's done!

I never knew I liked west coast oysters!

We also ordered the deliciously large New Orleans shrimp. (It’s usually just three, but I gave you four so you can each have two.) Later, Fabiana insisted we end our "late lunch" with Blue Ribbon chocolate bruno.

three out of four New Orleans shrimp

and a cool chocolate bruno

Later that night, I ended up at B Bar for the final night of Beige.

I went with my good friend Danny and we were later met by Derrick and David. We were already halfway through our first bottle of (Pol Deau) blanc de blanc by the time they'd arrived; we placed an order for a second bottle.

'champagne' for two

From the pictures on the New York Magazine slideshow, it seemed that nearly everybody I knew was there that night--but I only ran into a few. Even with the two bottles of bubbly, we somehow managed to make it an early night. The following morning I received a picture mail from Danny with the text message attached: Your pic in ny mag's article on beige.

... culinary blogger Pat Bradley enjoys some bubbly with a few friends

Let this be a lesson learned: look better when going to "high profile" events--you never know when you're going to be photographed!

In This Month's F&W: Artichokes with Smoked-Herb Mayonnaise

I love a steamed artichoke! It seems to me such an elegant thing to eat and you have to know how to eat one... I came across this recipe in this month's Food & Wine and (being the non-cook that I am) wondered: Can I have a cocktail party based around just this one dish? 

Artichokes with Smoked-Herb Mayonnaise

4 servings

"You can 'turn' the artichokes, but that's a bit fancy and laborious," says Richard Blais about the chef technique of trimming the hearts down. It's much easier to served the steamed artichokes whole; their nutty flavor is especially delicious with the smoky, herb-flecked mayonnaise. 

Ingredients: 

4 large artichokes, stems trimmed

1 cup mayonnaise

3 tablespoons chopped dill

2 tablespoons chopped capers

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

½ teaspoon smoked sea salt

¼ teaspoon smoked sweet paprika

Hot sauce

Freshly ground pepper

• Set a steamer basket in a large pot over ½ inch of boiling water. Arrange the artichokes, stem side down, in the basket. Cover and steam over moderate heat until a a knife easily pierces the stems, about thirty minutes. Transfer the artichokes to a platter.
• In a bowl, whisk the mayonnaise, dill, capers, lemon zest and juice, salt and paprika. Add a few dashes of hot sauce and season the mayonnaise with pepper. Serve the artichokes warm or lightly chilled with the mayonnaise.

The Long Awaited Valley Shepherd Creamery Bus Trip!

Valley Shepherd Creamery, Long Valley, NJ

Months after posting about SoHo's Valley Shepherd Creamery, they'd finally gotten around to organizing their city to farm bus trips!

"We listened to you.  Due to demands from our many Greenmarkets and SoHo shop customers we organized a DayTrip package that will bring 55 happy City folks to the farm for a day of learning, eating, cheese tasting and lamb hugging.  Reserve early for the June 4th 18th date. Brochures will go out to SoHo and all our NYC Greenmarkets this weekend."

The tour will include a full day at the farm consisting of:

• 10 a. m. pickup at the Soho shop located at 79 Sullivan Street via a luxury charter coach bus; the trip to the farm, with normal traffic, should take about 1½ hours
• 11:30 a. m. - enter the viewing gallery and proceed with an introduction to a guide and cheesemaker
• 11:30 to noon - a short discussion about the farm, cheesemaking, dairy sheep, milking and Q & A
• Noon - movies about milking, cheesemaking and shearing
• 12:20 - viewing of the main barn, home to 600 dairy sheep, followed by a viewing of the rotary robotic milking parlor and cheesemaking room
• 1 p. m. - an extensive cheese tasting and discussion of each cheese
• 1:30 - a short walk to the newborn lamb raising area where you'll get close with someone new and woolly (bring your camera)
• 2 p. m. - buffet lunch setup (bring your own wine) 
• 2:30 - shop for cheese 
• 3 p. m. - board bus for return trip
• 4-4:30 - arrive back at Sullivan Street, full of wine and cheese

The total price is $49.50; you can purchase tickets online here or at their SoHo store or any of their Greenmarket stands. The first trip is scheduled for Saturday, June 18th.

Mediterranean | Magic

Wednesday, was my brunch date with Cynthia.

We had originally planned on picnicking in Central Park, but had gotten rained out. After picking up some "Mediterranean" fare from Flip in midtown (I had a certificate I'd been wanting to use), I headed southeast to Brooklyn. Cynthia and I had spoken the evening before and had decided that a rosé wine would be a suitable companion for our cuisine.

courtesy of De Wine Spot; by way of Long Island
$18

The wine was nice: juicy with a crisp, clean taste. And Cynthia had it chilled to the perfect degree. We began our brunch with a "standard" Greek salad, topped with stuffed grape leaves.

fair fare

Also picked up at Flip was a hummus and flatbread starter, served with crudité and olives--nothing to rave about. For our main course, I chose two of Flip's "Signature Burgers:" The Eastern Burger, exotic lamb blend with an herbal yogurt sauce and a tandoori onion ring rolled in a traditional naan flatbread, served with chubby fries topped with caramelized onions (I substituted skinny fries with fresh pesto) and the Zorburger, blended turkey burger with olive tapenade and feta cheese on an organic caramelized onion & fresh sage brioche (served with a side Greek salad).

The Eastern Burger and Zorburger, respectively (halves)

I must say that I did enjoy the burgers. The Eastern Burger had a very distinct taste--"gamey," Cynthia had called it--and the Zorburger contained a hearty helping of feta and a working marriage of its ingredients. The only thing I could have done without was the oversized "tandoori" onion ring, which made the burger seem a bit tacky.

... and the pesto fries

I was glad to have substituted The Eastern Burger's "chubby" fries for "skinny" pesto fries; I couldn't picture the former pairing well with rosé. The pesto fries seemed a bit wet, but that may have just been from the long journey from midtown to East Williamsburg.

The following evening, I had some time to kill after work while David met with his manager at our apartment; I decided to try someplace new and ended up at Robert, nine floors above Columbus Circle, atop the Museum of Arts and Design.

magical atmosphere

I'd just come from both a gallery reception and a wine tasting and just wanted something light. (wine is food) After scrolling over the wine list and choosing a glass of Vincenzo Toffoli prosecco ($11), I decided upon grilled flatbread--cannellini beans, portobello mushroom and ricotta salata ($13).

happy family

The flatbread was a little smaller than I'd expected, but more filling. As I worked on my "entrée" (seated in the lounge area), a runner brought a small basket of bread and some softened butter. (the multigrain rolls are best) Thirty short minutes later, I thanked the (highly accommodating) maître d' and headed back downstairs, in the elevator, to the ground floor.

I'm already planning my next visit to Robert!