Entries from The Amateur Gourmet tagged with 'Park Slope'
Where To Eat in Park Slope
As we close the chapter on my Park Slope existence, it's time to reflect on all the food that I'd eat there, day in, day out. The food in Park Slope is very good, sometimes great, sometimes not-so-great, but almost always consistent. It's best divided into two categories: the food you should eat if you live there and the food you should eat if you visit....
Gorilla Coffee
The big question, when we finally decided not to renew our lease here in Park Slope, was not: "How will we afford to move?" "How are we going to find an apartment as nice as this one in Manhattan?" "Will we get our security deposit back now that the apartment is caked in cat hair?" No, those were certainly questions we asked, but the big question--the major hurdle to jump--was this: "How will we live without Gorilla Coffee?"...
Back to the Big Apple
Big changes are afoot, loyal followers of my blog. For three years now I've lived in Park Slope, Brooklyn--steps away from Franny's (one of my top three favorite restaurants in New York)--and pretty content with my BK lifestyle: brooding with the other writers at Gorilla Coffee, skirting over to Key Foods for catchy 60s ditties as I buy vegetables wrapped in plastic, and traipsing over to Grand Army Plaza on Saturdays for the weekly farmer's market. Content, that is, except for one major factor: our heat. It went out repeatedly. Last year, it went out so many times our landlord bought us two space heaters--one of which almost set our couch on fire. So, suffice it to say, when our lease came up again I put my foot down and decided not to renew. This started an epic quest on Craigslist to find a new apartment, but little did we know that this bold decision--a decision that gave us only four weeks to find a new place to live--would lead us to the apartment of our dreams....
James
The Brooklyn question is a question that still permeates my life, even after living here for three years. Usually, it's the worst in winter when our heat goes out and getting into the city is a nightmare; that's when I begin my ritual rant about "looking on Craigslist for Manhattan apartments when our lease is up in the fall." But then Spring comes and I fall in love with Brooklyn all over again. Walking down Union Street, here in Park Slope, on a beautiful Spring day towards Prospect Park, I wonder why in the world I'd ever want to leave this. Here's all the charm of a small neighborhood and it's just one bridge away from the world's greatest city. Who would ever want to leave?...
A Springy Lunch at Al Di La
Al Di La is one of my favorite restaurants: not just in Park Slope, but anywhere. As anyone who's been there for dinner knows, they don't take reservations and often the wait can be more than an hour long. So going to Al Di La is often a special occasion, a complicated affair that requires putting your name in, going somewhere else for a drink, waiting for your phone to ring (they call you) and journeying back. But now all that's changed: Al Di La lovers can rejoice -- one of New York's best Italian restaurants is now open for lunch....
My Worst Restaurant Experience Ever
It's not every day that you have your worst restaurant experience ever. Mine happened a few weeks ago, upon my return from Seattle and Cape Cod. Literally: it was my first meal back and the food gods rightly punished me for making a waste of it. Park Slope has two sushi joints I frequent: one is Taro which, as I've said in the past, serves the best sushi in town. The other, ____, is far inferior; the salad a soupy mess, the sushi poorly executed and rarely ever fresh. Why, on my first day back, did I go to ____ over Taro for lunch? Because, I am embarrassed to admit, I was lazy. I was nearer to ____ at lunchtime than I was to Taro; so I went to _____. And, rightly, I was punished: but did the punishment fit the crime?...
Don't Hold The Anchovies
Anyone who grew up in the 80s watching "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" will recall a very specific phrase that kicks in whenever the characters decide to order a pizza. I feel like you hear this phrase in "E.T." when Eliot's brother has friends over for poker and maybe in an episode of "Facts of Life" where Blaire learns the perils of superficiality. Either way, the phrase is emblematic of its time, not something you often hear today. The phrase is: "Hold the anchovies."...
The Best Sushi in Park Slope is at Taro Sushi
The title of this post is a strong statement, one that requires research. And so, after titling this post "The Best Sushi in Park Slope," I decided to do the required research: I Googled "best sushi park slope" and guess what came up first? A post I wrote last January (click here) that basically said that the best sushi in Park Slope is at Taro Sushi. What does that mean? I've officially jumped the shark--I'm repeating myself. I've reached the end of food blogging, there's nothing left to say. Well, no, Adam, settle down. Your last post didn't definitively declare Taro sushi to be the best sushi in Park Slope, you simply said that it was some of the best sushi you'd ever had. But what your readers don't know is that you had a falling out with Taro. A few months later, I had lunch there and I had some bad sushi. There's no other way to describe it: I know it sounds strange to say that the fish was too fishy, but that's how it tasted. Too fishy. It left a bad taste in my mouth, one powerful enough to keep me away for a few months. Where did I go during my exile from Taro? Why I went to Kiku, another Park Slope sushi joint, and a place that certainly does not have the best sushi in Park Slope. The place is wildly inconsistent: sometimes the sushi is cut so expertly you want to photograph it and hang it on your wall. Other times it's such a mess that if you traced that sushi on a piece of paper and gave it to a geometry student as a final exam, he'd fail out of school. Yet, despite the inconsistency, Kiku is a very pleasant place to eat. There's a little flat bowl on a glass table with fish in it; the place feels like a spa. And it was the soothing atmosphere that kept me coming back, not the sushi. In fact, I went to Kiku today for the soothing atmosphere. Not the sushi. My sad story might end there, but last month I returned to Taro to give it another shot--Craig was with me--and we were blown away. It was lunchtime and the place was packed (always a good sign). We saw the men behind the counter filleting whole fish, also a good sign. And the sushi, like the sushi you see in the above photograph (taken last week), was gorgeous--fresh-tasting and prepared with love. We've gone back many times since then, and I'm happy to report that once again Taro sushi is the best sushi in Park Slope. In the category of best spa-like atmosphere to eat sushi, Kiku gets it. And thus concludes my deeply researched post on the best sushi in Park Slope....
Crispy Dough
I am bad with secrets. I've always been bad with secrets. You shouldn't tell me any secrets, secret holders, because I will give them away. Case in point: the brunch you see above. What is it? Where can you get it? Why do I love it so? If I were a good secret keeper, I'd end the post here. But I am not a good secret keeper and alas you shall know......
Long Tan's Lamb Curry
You know that episode of "Sex & The City" where Miranda gets upset that the woman at her Chinese delivery knows her order so well she finishes Miranda's sentence? Well, that may soon happen to me. Our favorite place to order in from here in Park Slope is Long Tan, a Thai restaurant on 5th Ave. between Union and Berkley. I long ago decided that Long Tan would replace Pongsri as our favorite Park Slope Thai restaurant and now it's become the place we order in from exclusively. We should have their number on speed dial. Craig and I each have our two favorite dishes that rotate: Craig rotates between the Pad Thai with shrimp and the Pad Seeu; I rotate between wok-seared Udon Noodles and, of course, the lamb curry....
Moim
Last we spoke about restaurant reviews, I'd sworn them off (see here) with the caveat: "If I go out to eat and have a spectacular meal, of course I'll tell you about it." Well a week ago that happened right here in Park Slope at a place called Moim....
Farewell Diana, Hello New Banner
A full year has passed since Diana and I moved into our apartment here in Park Slope. It's been a fantastic year--with brunches, bargains, pork shoulders, trips to Maine, near-death experiences, and food in threes; there were discussions about ethical eating, pound cakes that threw up, and the best cookies of our lives--but life marches on. Yesterday, Diana moved to a new apartment (not too far, still in Park Slope, so she'll be back!) and Craig officially moved in. It's an exciting time, sure to bring lots of stories and anecdotes and recipes. But this post is dedicated to Diana: a fantastic roommate and an even more fantastic sport when it came to enduring all of my cooking experiments. She was a great audience and an even better judge and I hope that now that she's moved out she'll finally pick up where she left off before she lived with me and journey back into the kitchen. So farewell, Diana. We'll miss you! [Note: for her farewell dinner, I made a roast chicken that's both hers and Craig's favorite.... it's from the Chez Panisse cookbook, it's the best.] If the news of Diana's departure upsets you more than you expected, take heart: as promised, there's a new banner to enjoy. (Remember? As part of my new site design, there'll be a new banner and a new color scheme each month.) If you can't see it, trying emptying your cache and reloading. If that still doesn't work, load it up temporarily in another browser. Thanks to Leah, Ben and my new illustrator Erin for doing great work on short notice. I love it....
Eating While Standing Up (Banh Mi Saigon Bakery & The Bagel Hole)
In the current food issue of The New Yorker, Calvin Trillin wonders--in another one of his hilarious food essays--if "through some rare genetic oddity, my sense of taste is at full strength only when I'm standing up." He wonders this because of his deep love for street food. As a participant of the Calvin Trillin walking tour last year, I was lucky enough to eat street food standing up with the man himself. And the best bite of the tour was, by far, the bite you see above....
Brunch at Flatbush Farm
Brunch, more than any other meal, celebrates abundance. We don't want one pancake when we go to brunch, we want a stack of glistening, syrup-coated chocolate-stuffed pancakes. Yet one pancake--a solitary, singular pancake--is one of the peculiarities you'll find on the brunch menu at Flatbush Farm, a lovely neighborhood gastropub in Park Slope....
Deep Fried Twix Bars
The other night at Chip Shop in Park Slope with Kirk, James and Diana we'd stuffed ourselves silly with fried fish, fried potatoes, and fried beer (ok, the beer wasn't fried). Then Kirk tried to kill us. "Who wants to share deep fried Twix bars? They're awesome." In all my years of adventurous eating, I'd never had a deep fried candy bar. So I said I was game. So was James and, eventually, Diana. Here's what they brought out, photo by James: First of all, kudos to Chip Shop on their thoughtful presentation (notice how they're stacked and dusted with powdered sugar?) Second of all, look at Kirk's beer: he had a Monty Python Holy Ale. I took a sip and it made me say Ni! Ni! Ni! Ni! Anyway, after staring for a bit we finally lifted our forks and dove in. And OH MY LORD: you have no idea what you're in for when it comes to a deep fried candy bar. It's not just sick, sweet decadence: it's much more than that. The chocolate and caramel MELT within the crispy batter so that it becomes almost unrecognizable in its goodness, like a whole new category of sweets you never knew existed. Words fail me now. All I can say, is if you've never had a deep fried candy bar you really should. I plan to have one every day until I die which, if I really have one every day, may happen sooner rather than later. You're all invited to say "Ni" at my funeral....
