Lunch Under $5

It's time for another edition of "Lunch Under $5!" (Not including tax.)

• Lox Spread on an Everything Bagel: Daniel's Bagels, one of my favorite bagel shops, offers both plain and whole-wheat "everything bagels." A generous lox spread sandwich (ask for tomato, and you'll have all four food groups) costs $4.95 - if you want chopped herring or egg salad instead, expect to shell out only $4. (Daniel's Bagels: 569 Third Ave., 212-972-9733.)
  

• Two Slices of Artisanal Margherita Pizza: Golosi Artisan Pizza & Gelato, which opened just a few months ago, uses high-quality extra-virgin olive oil in its pizza. Two slices of tomato-basil-mozzarella will set you back $4.98. If you're satisfied with just one slice, order the Parma (tomato-mozzarella-prosciutto-arugula) for $4.50. (Golosi Artisan Pizza & Gelato: 125 Park Ave., 212-922-1169.)

• Seared Pork-Chive Dumplings: If you're in search of a lighter lunch, grab a six-pack of handmade dumplings at Dumpling Man. You can get them steamed or seared, with pork, chicken, veggies or shrimp - all for under $5, with the exception of seared shrimp. If you order the $3.95 steamed pork-chive dumplings, you'll still have enough room in your five-dollar bill to add a $1 sweet banana dumpling for dessert. (Dumpling Man: 100 St. Marks Place, 212-505-2121.)
  

Flavors of Chile: A Special Prix-Fixe at Centrico

Although the Fancy Food Show is not open to the public, one of its exhibitors - the country of Chile - has partnered with chefs Aaron Sanchez and Ryan Butler to spread the word about the unique ingredients it produces. Known for its wine, Chile also farms salmon and exports olive oil. The country is also home to interesting fruits like the murtilla (myrtle berry) and the carica.

From June 22-July 3, Centrico Restaurant is featuring a four-course menu of salmon ceviche with Chilean habaneros and murtillas, king crab tostadas spiked with smoky dried chilis, spicy strip loin on a bed of cactus and fingerling potatoes, and a delicious cake of fruity Chilean olive oil and cornmeal. I had the opportunity to preview this meal, and I especially enjoyed the goat milk dulce de leche and Chilean honey ice cream that accompanied the cake. The prix-fixe is priced at a very reasonable $35.

Flavors of Chile at Centrico: 211 West Broadway, (212) 431-0700. For more information about Chilean ingredients, visit www.prochile.us/centrico.

Pepe Verde To Go

I'm something of a pesto purist. So I'm always disappointed when I order a pasta al pesto and it arrives in a barely green, cream-laden sauce. Last week I had lunch at a restaurant (which shall remain nameless) where the "pesto" was a creamy tomato sauce with a few pathetic sprigs of dried basil. So, on my visit to Pepe Verde a few days later, I went up to the counter to inquire about the spaghetti with pesto sauce. "Do you serve real pesto?" I wanted to know.

A man who looked like an Italian Eugene Levy gave me a long look.

"Don't insult me," he said.

I guess it was the wrong question.

"Um, I was just making sure, because last week, I..."

"I've been here 11 years! Do you see all the signs on the wall?" The man pointed to the entrance.

There were indeed many framed newspaper articles at the front of the tiny, rustic room. "OK," I said, "I'll order the spaghetti with pesto sauce." (It was less than $10, like almost all of the pasta dishes - penne alla vodka with pancetta, fusilli puttanesca, rigatoni bolognese, penne arrabbiata.) When the substantial bowl of spaghetti arrived, the noodles were coated with a sauce which was deep green with basil and fragrant olive oil. No heavy cream or tomato paste!

Pepe Verde To Go: 559 Hudson St., (212) 255-2221.

Le Relais de Venise "L'Entrecôte"

You've got to love a restaurant that has one main course and a dozen desserts -not to give the main course short shrift, of course! Le Relais de Venise "L'Entrecôte", the newest outpost of a famous Parisian steakhouse, is now serving steak frites in NYC at a recession-friendly price of $24. For that price, you receive: some hunks of baguette (no butter - according to the server, the secret way to get butter is to order the cheese plate, which I did -but more on that later); a green salad with walnuts, its leaves well-coated with creamy mustard vinaigrette; and a plate of thickly sliced steak cooked according to your specifications (blue, rare, medium, well) drenched in a delicious "special" sauce (I thought I detected tarragon, wine and mustard, but the sauce is a well-kept secret) with a heap of short, crisp golden fries. If you find your plate too dainty, don't despair - your server will return mid-meal to deliver another portion of steak and fries!

Now for dessert. The wonderfully balanced cheese plate comes from Artisanal; the night I went, it consisted of camembert, gorgonzola, comte and goat cheese. There are also oodles of sweets - profiteroles, cherry tarts, peach Melba, sorbets, and desserts made with meringue or praline. I went with the moist chocolate-almond cake, which was garnished with a rosette of vanilla whipped cream.

If you hanker for a giant T-bone, this might not be the steakhouse for you. However, if you want a steak dinner that's both elegant and economical at the same time, head over to Le Relais de Venise before the lines start forming.

Le Relais de Venise "L'Entrecôte": 590 Lexington Ave., (212) 758-3989. No reservations.

Woorijip

Nestled among the barbecue houses of Koreatown is a great place for a quick, cheap meal: Woorijip. This small grocery-buffet offers many items which fit the bill for my Lunch Under $5 category. I stopped in the other night and came away with seaweed soup that tasted like the ocean, tricolor rice cakes, zucchini pancakes, glutinous rice with sweet red beans, delicious soy-boiled eggs, and a broiled eel bowl. Many other dishes caught my eye - a $5.50 plate of pork belly slices, a $3.50 bowl of kimchi fried rice topped with an egg, abalone porridge, and fried smelts. Not everything seemed appealing - ham and cheese sushi, anyone? But with such a large selection of low-priced dishes, I could buy and try to my heart's content. Everyone else seemed to have the same idea; their take-out bags and tables were stacked with containers.

Woorijip: 12 West 32nd St., (212) 244-1115. No rice cakes on Saturdays.

Bento Night

NYC is home to the French Culinary Institute, the Italian Culinary Academy, and as of this past April, the Japanese Culinary Center (711 3rd Avenue). The latter is holding an introduction to the Japanese bento box on Tuesday, June 30, from 7-9 pm. A variety of sakes will accompany the rice, fish, meat, dumplings, vegetables, pickles and dessert.
(To reserve a seat, E-mail japaneseculinarycenter.nyc@gmail.com.)

Sweets News - Father's Day Edition

Here are some sweet gifts for Dad!

• If Dad is a baseball fan, he knows that the Yankees and Mets are duking it out from June 11-14 and June 25 -28. Help him show his allegiance with some Yankees or Mets yellow cake cookies from Zaro's Bread Basket in Grand Central Terminal. (Available only during the Subway Series)
  

• Kyotofu is offering a "Cheers to Dad!" assortment of three types of artisanal Japanese beer (white ale, red rice ale, and ginger beer) and special sweets.
  

Cooking 101: The Course For Absolute Beginners

My private cooking lesson with Bettina Fisher whetted my appetite, so I enrolled myself in ICE's Cooking 101 (The Institute of Culinary Education: 50 West 23rd St.). This past Saturday, I attended the first of three sessions. Along with 13 other beginners, I donned an apron, filled my coffee cup and sat down at a table to listen to Chef Jane's colorful introduction. At our first class, which would mostly involve arrangement and presentation, we would be preparing shrimp cocktail, tomato mozzarella salad, guacamole, prosciutto-wrapped melon, a Mediterranean salad plate, a smoked salmon plate, and chocolate-dipped fruit. (Of course, we would be eating all of this at the end of the lesson!)

But first, Chef Jane passed around various herbs (parsley, thyme, basil, cilantro and dill) for us to become familiar with. She talked about knives, cutting boards, and bowls, and then gave us important advice about knife safety (apparently, an unfortunate assistant was once stabbed in the arm by a careless student!) and kitchen hygiene. She gave us an detailed rundown about the recipes we'd be preparing - here is how we would peel and devein a shrimp, here was an attractive way to cut an avocado, and chocolate buttons were always preferable to chocolate chips when melting in a bain-marie.

The lecture lasted about an hour. After a brief demonstration of basic knife skills and vinaigrette preparation, the class was divided into three teams, each of which would each prepare two different items. My team was responsible for the tomato mozzarella salad and guacamole (I was responsible for the unevenly-cut mozzarella).

The class worked quickly, and soon it was time for the unveiling of our finished masterpieces. Chef Jane pronounced the smoked salmon plate "one of the most attractive examples I've seen in this class." My team's guacamole was especially delicious, if I do say so myself! I was a bit envious that I didn't get to devein the bouillon-poached shrimp, but we were all given recipe booklets so that we can duplicate the dishes at home.

In the next two lessons, we'll be grilling burgers, making blueberry crisps and chocolate pudding cakes, roasting tomatoes for pasta, even making Parmesan frico on a Silpat. But I have a feeling that I will need much more instruction in order to really learn to cook; I suspect I'll need to enroll in the 5-lesson TECH 1 (and TECH 2, and TECH 3)...