Corn Is So Good And So Cheap In The Summer

It was too hot to cook on Saturday so we made this awesomely fresh salad. Corn, green beans, garbanzo beans, white beans, red onion, fresh cilantro, tomatoes, and lemon juice.

Tonight was tomatoes, corn, and eggplant cooked with an explosion of Mrs. Dash (oops, it looks tasty but definitely too much spice) .

Recent Food Thoughts

• Compound butter is awesome, as is truffle cheese
• It was really fun to read The Great Man, by Kate Christensen not only because of the way she writes a compelling story about a self-serving artist, but the respect she gives the food.  This is not a food book, but every passage about a meal is so detailed and descriptive–no surprise that her previous novel was titled The Epicure’s Lament…which I should definitely read next…

Beard Papa Is A Gazillion Times Better Than Grom

Every time I see the gaggles of people on line at Grom (Broadway @ 76th Street), I want to start screaming that the gelato is not that good–it is most definitely not worth the money or the time it takes to wait in that ridiculous line.  Apparently there are a lot of lemmings in New York City.

But, what they SHOULD do is go next door to Beard Papa’s and get a mango ice shower and delectable cream puff.  The mango ice shower is so refreshing, with lots of chunks of fruit, and still satisfies the sweet tooth.  The cream puff is gooey and messy and made fresh (read: warm!).  I’ll take both of those over melting gelato any day.

Ain’t that beautiful?

Sustainable Food on a Boat

The Science Barge, a sustainable urban farm built by New York Sun Works, is currently docked at Riverside and 7oth Street for a few more weeks.  It is definitely worth taking a FREE tour.  They grow tons of produce and herbs and use sun and wind energy (and a reverse osmosis pump) to power the barge.  The tomatoes looked wonderful, I only wish they were harvesting the day I toured!  According to Sun Works, there is enough open rooftop space in all of New York City to plant food and feed the entire city. They use hydroponics instead of soil–proving that the term “urban agriculture” doesn’t have to be an oxymoron.

above: lil baby bok choy!

above: the gutter filtration system moves around 800 gallons of water from 1 inch of rainwater

www.nysunworks.org

Rosa Mexicano: At Least The Guac Was Pretty

I’m not really sure why this place is always so crowded. The guacamole was fun, but mostly because it comes in a stone bowl and not because it actually tasted that incredible. Likewise, the sangria was decent but nothing special. The salmon was WAY too dry and overcooked–definitely NOT the medium rare that I ordered. Overall, an uninteresting experience.  The food wasn’t bad, it was just boring.

Rating:

www.rosamexicano.com, various locations, I was at 61 Columbus Ave @ 62nd St

Kyotofu: Soy Vay

Don’t go to Kyotofu unless you have a sweet tooth, or you really like peach bellinis (in this case, blood peach, prosecco, and white sesame shochu) because I drank mine in probably 3 minutes and wish they weren’t $9 each or I definitely would have ordered a second.

Kyotofu offers a 3-course prix fixe for $15 and its a lot of fun. The first course, a tofu-base dessert with a sweet maple-tasting topping is exciting after the first few bites (in other words, once your palette gets acclimated to these different dessert flavors).

The second course dessert sampler offers a toasted walnut Tahitian vanilla parfait, which is probably the most familiar to your taste buds. Its sweet, but refreshing. The sansho-pepper cheesecake takes a bit more time to get used to but is worth the push (or so says my dining companion, I must confess, I only had one bite and didn’t love it). The warm chestnut mochi chocolate cake is definitely reminiscent of molten chocolate cake. But, this one has a sticky raspberry center and delicious green tea ice cream on top (if you order it individually, that is). Save room for the petit fours–the savory/sweet combination is flawless and the best part of the meal. Very inventive cookies that don’t look like anything special-partially due to my incompetence as a food photographer-but are delightful “meal” ender.

Kyotofu would be fun for a date, but I probably wouldn’t go back just for fun. Well, unless I really wanted something sweet. Okay, hm, then maybe I will go back.

Where: 705 9th Ave @ 48th St, http://www.kyotofu-nyc.com/

Price: Moderate

Rating:

Me Encanta Calle Ocho

In a city with so many restaurants to try, there are very few that I return to. But, I am ADDICTED to Calle Ocho. They are just so gosh darn nice there, not to mention the incredible food.

The flaky bread-ish/biscuit-esque with bean paste they serve prior to the meal is outstanding. They are airy in your mouth with just the slightest bit of sweetness. Monday is $5 mojito night–try the peach mojito if you want something besides just the standard one, even though the standard is plenty good.

Oh do I wish I had a picture of the sweet corn and goat cheese tamal with shrimp enchilado and pumpkin pesto. It had the perfect amount of goat cheese and I wish it existed as an entree because it has so many fun flavors that meld well with each other. The chicarron (above, with crispy calamari, Dominican honey, and organic sprout salad) is great for an app–the honey and calamari go surprisingly well together, and the cucumbers mellow the dish out a bit.

The cordero, a braised lamb shank “barbacoa style” with rajas poblanas had a great sauce though some of the rice was too hard. The bistec, a Cuban style sirloin with yuca fries and traditional chimichurri was filling and the yuca fries were thick and tasted so much better (and healthier) than French fries. Mm, yuca should be served more frequently. I definitely recommend the salmon with lobster mash and potatoes–it was tender and the potatoes were great. Everything is so filling that you’ll definitely have enough leftovers for lunch. I’m determined to go back and try more of the menu-I have yet to find a disappointing dish.

Where: 446 Columbus Ave @ 83rd St, www.calleochonyc.com

Price: Moderate to Expensive (but if you go on Mondays, there are free tapas at the bar)

Rating:

Amusing Signs