In my opinion, Chocolat Michel Cluizel makes the best milk chocolate bar on earth, so you can imagine how devastated I was when the company's little outpost in the ABC Carpet & Home store closed. But ABC didn't seem like the right venue; the newish shop on Fifth Avenue is a more intimate, charming showcase for the truffles, bars, and other goodies. The other day, I stocked up on salted butter caramels, pralines, dark chocolate hazelnut bark, a fabulous slice of chocolate-raspberry layer cake, and of course, those amazing Mangaro milk chocolate bars. You won't find a milk chocolate bar with a higher cocoa content; at 50%, the bar straddles the divide between the milk and the dark. It has a much deeper, more intense flavor than any other milk chocolate bar I've ever eaten, and it doesn't suffer from the excess of sugar which unfortunately mars many bars. (Mars Bars?)
Chocolat Michel Cluizel: 584 5th Ave, (646) 415-9126.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Takashi NYC
It seems that almost every kind of Japanese restaurant is represented in NYC (a restaurant which features the cuisine of Japanese Buddhist vegetarian monks recently opened, and of course there's the notorious pig-foot place Hakata Tonton), so it was only a matter of time until Osaka-style BBQ came to town. One-month-old Takashi is fast becoming the place to grill your own meat (and offal), I predict that in a couple weeks, it will be almost impossible to score a table there.
Yakiniku horomon lets no part of the cow go wasted - you can order first stomach, fourth stomach, tongue, liver, cheek and heart. (The chalkboard explains the health properties of everything!) There's also a raw meat menu which features chuck flap ground with fermented soybeans or sea urchin. I have to admit that our party left the more adventurous stones unturned here, sticking to grilled, lusciously marbled short ribs, liver and ribeye in two preparations: salt-garlic-sesame oil with lemon slices, and a soy marinade with scallions. Plates of rectangles of meat arrived at our table and we set to inexpertly grilling them - the server gave us detailed instructions for rare, medium-rare, etc., but they fell by the wayside. No matter - all was delicious anyway. Rice and veggies were extra - a bowl of lightly pickled vegetables, which included fennel and okra, was much more exciting than the plate of mostly cabbage presented for grilling. I suppose a vegetarian could make a meal of kimchi, peppery edamame and grilled vegetables, but he wouldn't be able to avoid seeing, ahem, red.
Housemade Madagascar vanilla ice cream comes with an assortment of toppings like roasted green tea syrup -I found the ground sesame and soybean to be a pleasantly nutty accompaniment.
Takashi NYC: 456 Hudson St., (212) 414-2929.
Yakiniku horomon lets no part of the cow go wasted - you can order first stomach, fourth stomach, tongue, liver, cheek and heart. (The chalkboard explains the health properties of everything!) There's also a raw meat menu which features chuck flap ground with fermented soybeans or sea urchin. I have to admit that our party left the more adventurous stones unturned here, sticking to grilled, lusciously marbled short ribs, liver and ribeye in two preparations: salt-garlic-sesame oil with lemon slices, and a soy marinade with scallions. Plates of rectangles of meat arrived at our table and we set to inexpertly grilling them - the server gave us detailed instructions for rare, medium-rare, etc., but they fell by the wayside. No matter - all was delicious anyway. Rice and veggies were extra - a bowl of lightly pickled vegetables, which included fennel and okra, was much more exciting than the plate of mostly cabbage presented for grilling. I suppose a vegetarian could make a meal of kimchi, peppery edamame and grilled vegetables, but he wouldn't be able to avoid seeing, ahem, red.
Housemade Madagascar vanilla ice cream comes with an assortment of toppings like roasted green tea syrup -I found the ground sesame and soybean to be a pleasantly nutty accompaniment.
Takashi NYC: 456 Hudson St., (212) 414-2929.
Monday, May 10, 2010
People's Pops
A most refreshing treat came to Chelsea Market three weeks ago: People's Pops. These exotic shaved ices and popsicles are made with locally sourced produce and come in flavors like plum-tarragon, spiced rhubarb and organic lemon. They have already proved so popular that the stand goes through a 75-lb. block of ice every day!
People's Pops: Chelsea Market: 75 Ninth Ave., people@peoplespops.com.
People's Pops: Chelsea Market: 75 Ninth Ave., people@peoplespops.com.
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
Sweets News
This just in: on Friday, Grom Gelato will open its third NYC store at Columbus Circle. Baby Vates and I just might head over there for some free samples!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
