The Doughnut Plant

I don't understand why the Doughnut Plant is not a legendary institution, considering the love New Yorkers have for their sugar (see: cupcakes, frozen custards, shakes, cheesecake). But it seems that no one knows (or at least the small sample size that I've told) about the Doughnut Plant and their fancy donuts. Tres leches? Yum. Peanut butter and jelly? Bizarre but satisfying. Crème brülée? Oh for god sake stop your tempting and give them to me already!

CONSUMED: The Doughtnut Plant; 379 Grand St, Lower East Side (Manhattan)

Diner

OK folks, it's official. Diner is my favourite restaurant in all of New York. It is, admittedly, a completely biased judgment, but one that I will maintain as long as it remains open.

I shared my first Diner experience with Katie and Emily. Both Katie and I, Diner virgins, were floored by the food. And for reasons that remain a mystery (we think it was because Katie whipped out her camera, thereby making us look like food journalists/bloggers?), we scored free desserts that night. I remember falling a little in love with our server, and a lot in love with the restaurant.

My last (?) Diner meal was last night with my roommate, Dory. It was sort of a last roommate hurrah as Dory is going to leave this week, just a few days before I depart from New York for good. I asked to sit in the booth that Katie, Emily and I had shared one year prior. And once again, we had an incredibly gracious server, matched with plates "compliments of the kitchen" (this time, the thanks goes to Ken!). Every dish was fantastic, and Dory and I left sated beyond what our belt buckles would allow.

Thankfully, it appears that the Diner family is still thriving (they recently got the cover of Saveur, article here; moreover the place was completely packed last night, a Tuesday night!). So I am looking forward to making this my favoured drop-in when visiting the city in the many years to come.

CONSUMED: Diner; 85 Broadway, Southside Williamsburg (Brooklyn)

tuna melt

I had the first tuna melt of my life when we stopped at the Monticello Diner on our way to Buffalo via the scenic Route 17. I made the poor decision to replace the American cheese with cheddar; the sandwich would have done better with a milder cheese. Suffice to say that it tasted exactly as it looked.

CONSUMED: Monticello Diner; 405 Broadway, Monticello, NY‎

Aunties and Uncles

My favourite brunch spot of all time is in Toronto at a small diner-like establishment called Aunties and Uncles. Too many good memories with too many good people. I love being hit by the smell of frying bacon and the fogging of my glasses when I walk through the door after a long cold winter trudge. I love their dill potatoes, and I rave about them to anyone that is visiting the city. I love their mismatched tables and chairs. I love their kitschy decor, even though it's surely an affect of the place. And I love how when you sit in certain spots, you can see the streetcar run along College and spy the CN Tower poking above the buildings.

CONSUMED: Aunties and Uncles; 74 Lippincott, Toronto

Tropicana un-redesign

Anyone else happy that Tropicana changed back to their old design? Yeah. Me too.

CONSUMED: C-Town; S1st and Havemeyer, Williamsburg (Brooklyn)

peach rhubarb pie

Rhubarb has finally come to my farmer's market! I couldn't resist buying several healthy stalks last week, knowing it would force my hand to make pie this week. And what a glorious pie it was. I still haven't figured out the secret of how to prevent any of my rhubarb pies from bubbling over ... but maybe that IS the secret considering how Dory loved the gooey mess it left behind. Rhubarb will be purchased again this week, because only God knows how much longer I'll have access to a farmer's market this year.

CONSUMED: Greenpoint greenmarket; McCarren Park, Greenpoint (Brooklyn)

The Ear Inn

Purported to be one of the oldest (if not THE oldest) drinking establishments in Manhattan, I was brought to The Ear (Inn) several years ago by my friend Anne. And since then I have never regretted spreading the gospel and bringing others to this little pub (almost-)on the Hudson.

I can't really put my finger on why I love this place so much. It has something to do with crayons on paper tabletops. Or civil music levels that don't compete with your conversation. Or a decent but inexpensive kitchen. Or always being just more than slightly-tipsy when I leave. Or their cell-free zone sign on the door. Or lovely company all the many times I've been there.

What I do know with certainty is that I'm always looking for another excuse to go back.

CONSUMED: The Ear Inn; 326 Spring St, SoHo (Manhattan)

La Superior

Excellent (and cheap) Mexican for the South Side! This small BYOB spot has something good going, and come summer I'm sure they're going to be busting at the seams with clientele (here's hoping they put out a patio).

CONSUMED: La Superior; 295 Berry St, Williamsburg (Brooklyn)

roasted marshmallows

Perhaps the best gift Katerli received for her birthday was to have glorious springtime-like weather for her early February birthday party. So the smores-making that she promised occurred with jubilation and good spirits. Much whiskeyed cider, malted beer, and charred marshmallows were consumed. And all rejoiced in her anniversary, in the smoky company, in the simple gelatinous treats.

CONSUMED: Katerli's backyard; Clermont Ave, Fort Greene (Brooklyn)

banner for the Prince George-Norwich Meadows CSA

Two out of the three summers that I lived in Manhattan, I was a member of the community-supported agriculture (CSA) program in my neighbourhood. It was an awkward sort of organisation only because it was trying to stir up food awareness and organise a local food culture in a community that didn't want any of it. (This was exemplified by the struggling Murray Hill Greenmarket, which is only able to support one or two small farmers each week during its short summer run.)

Thus while I was looking for some semblance of a progressive community during those first years in New York, I realised early on that Murray Hill was not going to be the place to find it. And so I shirked my duties as a CSA member and never signed up for the requisite 6 hours of volunteer time at the sign-in table. Yet the guilt grew over the months of vegetable collection that by the summer's end, I broke down and offered my (limited) services to re-design their pamphlet one year (with Dory's artistic touch), and their street banner the second (recruiting help from Ainsley).

Here is the fruit of my labour, displayed high above 28th Street between Madison and 5th. I unexpectedly passed it the other day and decided to snap a shot as I brimmed with pride seeing it out in the wild. This project is particularly sweet because it was the first and only time I've submitted by (*extremely* limited) drawing skills for public consumption. And it didn't turn out too bad, if I may say so myself.

CONSUMED: The Prince George; 14 E 28th St, Murray Hill (Manhattan)

Fette Sau

I've been asked countless times whether I am vegetarian. I guess I understand how people may confuse my leftie leanings with vegetarian-like tendencies. But I am a carnivore through and through.

And as a lover of meat, Fette Sau is heaven.

I insist that it's the some of the best barbecue around (note: no claims to authenticity). And what with their equally tasty sides of broccoli, potatoes and beans, topped up with a fine array of beers ... well I'm just going to have to stop right here before I drool on my keyboard.

CONSUMED: Fette Sau; 354 Metropolitan Ave, Williamsburg (Brooklyn)

The General Greene

Working in Brooklyn, at least for a day, provides unbelievable benefits. Like meeting friends at The General Greene in Fort Greene for lunch. I had the roasted pork sandwich with pickled okra and a spicy aioli (perfectly spiced if you asked me). Kathleen had the meatball hero. And John had banana bread (supposedly amazing ... I didn't try it) and yogurt. Simple food for simple folk, also exemplified by their order-at-the-counter system for lunchtime. Who wants to make the trek for dinner?

CONSUMED: The General Greene; 229 Dekalb Ave, Fort Greene (Brooklyn)

Dory's latkes

In a fit of brilliance, a friend of a Dory's hosted a night of Hanukkah, Christmas and winter music (performed by a 12-person band), accompanied by frantic food making. Dory was one of the chefs, cooking up sweet potato latkes for our seasonal enjoyment. And after having a little trouble at first getting them to stick together, they ended up turning out perfectly.

CONSUMED: Bowery Poetry Club; 308 Bowery, East Village (Manhattan)

fish tacos

Someone once told me that you can't get good fish tacos on the East Coast. And for some reason I believed them, took it to heart, and even continued to further that nonsense myself. But it's a lie. You can get perfectly good fish tacos from the truck that sits on Bedford. I know. Because I tried them.

CONSUMED: Endless Summer taco truck; Bedford and N6th, Williamsburg (Brooklyn)

Tanveer's tandoori chicken

Last weekend, my friends Kelly and Tanveer hosted dinner that marked the beginning of my surprisingly busy holiday party schedule (this weekend alone, I'm invited to 5). But it was an excellent start to the party season as Tanveer and Kelly provided us with three exquisite Bangladeshi dishes. The favoured dish by far was the tandoori chicken, which bizarrely tasted very close to the charred roadside jerk chicken of my family's homeland.

CONSUMED: 151 Kent; Williamsburg (Brooklyn)

cover of Diner Journal

I've been trying to write a mini blog essay about how New York has changed my outlook on food. If Toronto was where I received my fundamentals in politics, and Montreal where I learned about the importance of community, then I can safely say that New York is by far and large the city in which I have received my food education. But the essay-in-progress is awkward and wordy and doesn't say anything new.

I was inspired to write the essay, however, because I kept stumbling upon this incredible cover (Click on the image to enlarge. Go ahead! You won't be sorry!) from Diner Journal, a small food magazine published by a local restaurant. Turning the patchwork of neighbourhoods into crop fields is many a New York foodie's wet dream. As one of the most inspiring images I've seen this year, it speaks volumes about the politics of food that many in the city are aspiring to change.

CONSUMED: at my friend Emily's house, then on the F train, then finally at Brooklyn Kitchen

mustard tasting

EAT MORE MUSTARD. That's what the sticker on their kiosk said. And though I am not a mustard connoisseur, the variety that was presented by Kozlik's Canadian Mustard definitely made me think that I could be. Ranging from sweet to triple-X spicy, you could basically find a mustard for every occasion, depending on whether you were planning to snack on pretzels or use it to baste a roast. I didn't have the energy (or time) to try and choose a mustard on the spot, but the next time I return, I think I may have to become better acquainted with this multifaceted condiment.

CONSUMED: Kozlik's Canadian Mustard; St Lawrence Market, 92 Front St, Toronto

Auberge du Pommier

Good friends of mine got married at this restaurant in North York, Toronto. (What? Get off at York Mills subway station? That's basically out in the boonies!) I really was perplexed as to why the choice of such a "remote" location. But then the food arrived and realised exactly why. Why pay $X a head to have crappy catered fare when you could use the same money and provide heaven on a plate?

The menu highlights: the parmesan wafer that topped the caesar salad, the kobe beef that cut like butter with your fork, the pan-seared scallops that tasted like butter, and then the tarte tatin with the caramelised apples that melted in your mouth. Is it wrong to wish that they would get married all over again?

CONSUMED: Auberge du Pommier; 4150 Yonge Street, North York (Toronto)

Harmony Organic milk

Ever since I starting shopping at the greenmarket here in New York, I've become obsessed with local foods. In particular, I've grown attached to buying milk from the local dairy, Ronnybrook, even though it's not organic. Something about the wistful (but environmental) use of glass bottles, knowing the milkmaid, and buying into the "local is better than organic" mantra.

But Toronto has a one-up on New York: it has Harmony Organic, a dairy farm within 200 miles (beats the Stonyfield coming from Vermont) that is also organic. Good to know for that time when I move back, whenever that will be.

CONSUMED: St Lawrence Market; 92 Front St, Toronto

brunch party

Consider an excerpt from the carnage that was the brunch party that Dory and I hosted on Sunday:

• 4 dozen eggs
  
• 1 pound of coffee (maybe six or seven 12-cup pots?)
  
• 2 litres of milk
  
• 30 waffles (one-third of which contained squash... mmmm!)
  
• 4 litres of juice
  
• 1 packet of bacon
  
• 1 packet of tofurky sausages
  
• 6 bananas
  
• 15 mushrooms
  
• 1 loaf of braided rosemary bread, baked by Dory

Sincere apologies to anyone who is reading this and wasn't invited. Know that we were limited solely by the size of our apartment, and not for lack of wanting you there. Because we did.

CONSUMED: my apartment; Brooklyn