Can't get enough Shopsins

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: pumpkin batter fried chicken is the next big thing

Moe #2

Shopsins requires a bit of planning. If you do not want to sit around and wait, show up early, have more than 5 people, find somewhere else to eat and if you are aiming to be productive afterwards, you can just forget about that. The expectations of you being productive are slim. You will most likely want to nurse your newly acquired “itis” and take a nap or re-watch the first season Game of Thrones. I mean obviously you can just order something light at Shopsins, like toast, oatmeal or just plain old pancakes, but seriously? You are at Shopsins; you do not just order oatmeal here.

Awesome donuts

They were getting slammed when we went so when I asked for an order of donut, I was shutdown to a half order, being told that a full order would be too much. It’s a good thing I relented because a full order would have me sprinkling like Lipitor on it. These donuts reminded me of funnel cake or picarones, they were light and airy and had a sweet maple glaze though in the future, I will go with cinnamon sugar to lighten it up a bit. Choosing what to get here is always a challenge and I ended up getting the Moe #2 which like anything here a good choice. Of the group I was with, it was the first to come out and it came with a sparkly tassel forked in it. I do not know if this in the norm for this dish, but I like it. The Moe #2 consisted of a pumpkin batter fried chicken that is sandwiched in between pancakes and served with 2 sunny side eggs. I will give you a second to re-read that and let it soak in. the fried chicken was just great; the batter had a slight sweetness that just worked wonders with the juicy chicken. Pancakes and eggs I hit all the food groups. More Food!

Super Heebster @ Russ and Daughters

Om Nomz Hero note to Self: the smell of smoked salmon is the only smell that is stronger than stripper perfume, lingers over you hours afterwards

Another positive of being an early riser: heading over to Russ and Daughters before the line out the door and there so many people in there you cannot even see the counter. This is bad on a summer afternoon by the way, sweaty people + fish? Hell no.
Get to Russ and Daughters before 11 is a calm experience and allows you to linger a bit and if you get a sandwich, the benches out front are empty and you can relax a bit and down a sandwich.
There sandwiches are not cheap, and can be done up on a bagel or bialy but they stack it up like paper in a rap song and you will get your money's worth. I usually always go for the Super Heebster, not just because it sounds like delicious superhero, but it is equally tasty: whitefish and baked salmon salad, horseradish dill cream cheese (a good schmear of course) and my favorite part of this sandwich, a generous heaping of wasabi flying fish roe. I could be content with just the cream cheese and roe and half a pack of stale crackers and call it a meal. The wasabi in the roe gives it a light green tint and just enough kick to tickle the nose. I usually get it on a bialy but it can be a hit or miss on how the bialy taste. If you are not feeling lazy, do as per suggestion of Eddie Huang says and get buy up all the ingredients and buy your prefer carb of choice elsewhere and make it at home but ehh, Ess-a-bagel is too far from the Lower East.


Russ & Daughters
179 E Houston St 
New York, NY 10002
www.russanddaughters.com

Hester Street Fair

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Ice cream sandwiches at 10:30 in the morning is awesome

The Hester Street Fair is tucked away in the Lower East Side in a space that is the size of a really small basketball court. It sits smack dab on the border of the Lower East and Chinatown, at one side is Prosperity Dumplings, the other is the Doughnut Plant. If the Smorgasburg and Brooklyn Flea are the Yankees, The Hester Street Fair is like the Brooklyn Cyclones (that’s right, I made a sport analogy, I feel a bit manly), although it is smaller and not as well known, it is still enjoyable to go.  Although the Hester Street Fair is one of the smaller markets/fairs it is still enjoyable and worth going and the food options there good and they steadily gaining momentum. 

The Hester Street Fair has a number of food options and although one of them is a Brooklyn transport, Arancini Brothers. Arancinis are risotto balls that may or may not be filled and get a quick batter and fried. I have always seen this as the Western version of Onigiri. Arancini Brothers have ha couple of options ranging from spinach, carbonara and the one that I got, the ragu. The Arancini was hot and still had a crispy exterior, although the ragu was a nice meaty addition, the star of the Arancini ball is inarguably the risotto which was tender and cheesy. Mo' Food after the Jump!

Cheeky Sandwiches: Where I go after watching Treme

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Zapps chips are vastly superior to any chips I have had to date

I'm pretty sure Tom Sawyer painted that fence...

I finally finished watching the first season of Treme which is all about New Orleans and after watching it two things occurred to me:

1.       Steve Zahn can actually be a good actor

2.       I really, really wanted a po’ boy bad

Now what is a po’ boy one may ask? It is a sandwich from Louisiana that is comprised of roasted meats but more popularly with fried seafood, predominantly oysters or shrimp but fish as well. It is served on a sub/French Baguette. It is basically a sub/submarine/grinder/hoagie from Louisiana. Thankfully, as much as I want too, I do not need to buy a ticket to New Orleans to get a decent po boy, all I have to do is go to Chinatown, yes Chinatown to Cheeky to get myself a taste of New Orleans. 

Cheeky quietly opened about a year, but it has gaining momentum and building there Street Credentials at guest appearances at various markets and fairs and now have a location at the DeKalb market. If the décor is suppose to set the mood, then Cheeky has nailed it with the whitewashed wooden window shutters and aged wood that looked like it had its share of rough weather (totally natural, because Chinatown is known to get hit by coastal storms and wetland climate). Inside is no different from the outside with wobbly, narrow benches and weathered counters gets transports you to thinking you are in the South and at Domilise's or maybe a Brooklyn hipster hangout. Despite the way it looks, it is the food that matters and the food at Cheekys is worth the risk of a splinter.

Cheeky is a sandwich shop and I heard that they make a gut bomb biscuit and a tasty short rib sandwich but I was there to satisfy my po’ boy craving. I got the half and half, half the sandwich had oysters and the other half shrimp. The po’ boys are made to order, meaning they are cooking the oysters and shrimp for each sandwich and although it takes some time and be a wait when it gets busy, it is well worth it. The sandwich is simply dressed with mayonnaise, ketchup, lettuce and tomato. The bread I confirmed is flown in from John Gendusa Bakery all the way from Louisiana in order to get the right kind of bread for the po’ boy. The po’ boy was in short, delicious; the fried to ordered oysters had a great cornmeal coat and were still plump and juicy. 

The only thing that could have made this even better is a couple dashes of hot sauce, Crystals or course. The bread is the perfect match and I can see why Cheeky has their bread flown in, sure you can get a stellar baguette from Grandaisy but it would not be the same. The bread on first impressions seems like it is stale, but then you realize that the roll is just remarkably light and airy and has a certain crispiness to it that the fried seafood sits comfortably on. The bread is another example of “Terroir” and I am pretty sure you cannot mimic this kind of bread anywhere else. Cheeky may not be much to look at from the outside, but the food here is filling and good and I have to come back for their beignets and that chicken biscuit a combination that sounds like a perfect breakfast to me!

Cheeky Sandwiches

35 Orchard Street
New York, NY 10002

cheekysandwiches.com

Sugar Sweet Sunshine Bakery

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: I cannot say “Sugar Sweet Sunshine” 10x fast

For a person that prefers cakes over an actual cupcake, I sure write and eat a lot of cupcakes but that is mainly because the reality is I do not have a discriminating palate and I will basically eat anything that tastes good…and sugary. I remember a few years ago, the first time I visited Sugar Sweet Sunshine Bakery in the Lower East was also the first time I went to Clinton Street Bakery, one I have never been back to and the other I stop by any chance I get and I think you can guess which one I am talking about. 

Pumpkin Cupcake

Before Sugar Sweet Sunshine, I had no faith that cupcakes could taste good because prior to that all I had sampled were ones from Magnolia and Crumbs were the definition of mediocrity and below average. They were like the Paris Hilton of cupcakes, wait, is she still relevant? Anyways, basically both these places are making cupcakes and bake goods that are not really anything special but due to a bit of fame (thankfully the cupcakes did not involve night vision) they gained popularity and a groupon-zombie horde following. More Cupcakes after the Jump!

Fried Dough Goodness: Sullivan St. and DessertTruck Works

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Pizza Bianca + Bombolini = Viva la Roma hangover breakfast?

My fried dough quest led me to places that you would not think to have doughnuts and if they do, they would probably taste bad. Thankfully this was not the case when I ventured out to Hell’s Kitchen to Sullivan Street Bakery. Sullivan Street Bakery is not on Sullivan Street, more like 97th. 

The bakery is owned by Jim Lahey, most notably known for his no-knead bread technique which truly does work and produces great bread. Sullivan Street bakery is a bread bakery, and does not go for the whole, cupcakes and brownies and the cavity inducing sweets, but one of the few sweet breads that is being made there are the bombolinis. They sit there innocently enough on the counter and are outcast to the side, away from the savory breads and pizzas. To not try this would be a mistake on your part. The bombolini do not have a variety of fillings, it is either jam or cream filling. Given I just ate one of the potato pizza slice, which is the ultimate hangover morning food I realized, I just went with the cream filled bombolini. 

 

Bombolini at Sullivan

 

The Bombolini is different from others that I have sampled in which it was noticeably a lot less greasy and did not leave a translucent grease stain on the paper. The bombolini is a lot doughier and lacks the crisp lightness that the ones at Falai had. However, this bombolini is delectable and I actually prefer this one. Though it lacks crispness, it has a doughy and pillow like texture to it and the vanilla cream is thick and on the heavy side, but works well with the bombolini. This is a good donut that is a hidden treat in a bread focused bakery.

 

Donuts at DessertTruck Works 

 

Hecho en Dumbo: Chef's Table

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: I think Mexican restaurants stopped giving out sombreros on your birthday. 

My earliest memory of Mexican food was a local chain restaurant called Chi Chis. It served horrible bastardized Mexican food but the main reason for going there was that on your birthday, you would get a sombrero. I mean, what kid did not want a sombrero? It was a ridiculously flamboyant and floppy hat and now in retrospect, giving out sombreros at a Mexican restaurant is like giving out conical rice paddy hats at a PF Changs. Also, they had fried ice cream. I like ice cream and fried stuff so what better way for a fat kid to celebrate a birthday? Regardless of receiving a sombrero for a birthday, Mexican food has often been misunderstood and the cuisine has too often been represented by all you can eat stale tortilla chips, refried beans that can be used interchangeably with spackle and the idea that everything is shoved into a bland tortilla. Yet thanks to many restaurants emerging in the city, such as Hecho en Dumbo, Mexican cuisine can get the respect it deserves. Hecho en Dumbo is located on the Bowery and has recently started doing a chef’s table pre fixe menu that focused on game meat and seafood and it sounded interesting, and chef tables I think are fun to eat at so I went. 

The chef's table at Hecho is located in back away from the always busy and crowded dining room and it is in full view the kitchen that was already busy and turning out orders. I sat right in front of the pass, which just made me hungry the whole entire time as finished dishes were completed and runners collecting orders and bringing them out to the table. I had to hold back the urge to grab a piece of chicharon every time an order came on the pass. The pre fixe menu was a total of 5 courses with a wine pairing. Although the host was a bit pushy on urging me to get a cocktail and wine pairing, I do not generally do any because:

1. I went to Terroir for wine already earlier

2. Every time I do a pairing, I end up half sloshed and I can not taste the food half the time.

3. And I do not like it when scrawny hipsters of questionable sexual orientation is trying to up my bill by ordering booze

However, on to the food:

Food After the Jump!

Macaron Parlour via OpenHouse NYC

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Have restraint, don't try and eat macarons on the NJ Transit train, weird Indian girl will stare at you for the whole ride. 


The same day that I encountered the craziness that is the Hot Josh, I also encountered Macaron Parlour at the OpenHouse NYC. Another place that do not have an actual store front, their base of operations is located in the Lower East Side and mainly do orders. They are a regular at the Hester Street Fair and although they have the traditional flavored macarons, they have some interesting combination such as the Thai chili and S’more flavored macarons. Although any French pastry chef would scoff and be applauded by these kinds of flavors, I for one am interested and support people that are stepping out of the conventional and trying out new flavor combination.

 Rainbow of sugar French Cookie Awesomeness

With the macarons, I went with six of them: the Candied Bacon with Maple Cream Cheese, the Peanut Butter Cup, the S’more, Red Velvet, the Earl Grey and the Nutella.

Macarons.

Overall, they were good macarons. The macarons were light and chewy, mushy meringue with a thin outer shell. Yet, their flavor combinations were all solid. As great as bacon is, it has unfortunately become a cliché. It seems like every place needs to throw bacon on for the hell of it and will unfortunately get “bastardized” in dessert dishes. I was hesitant trying their candied bacon however after my first bite; I knew this was no cliché. The bacon was nestled in a thick, creamy pillow of maple cream cheese and achieved salty sweet Zen. The bacon was still crisp melded perfectly with the light and mushy interior.  Another flavor that stood out was the S’ more, which tasted as advertised and the exterior even had a bit of that graham cracker taste to it as well. The Peanut butter I originally had low expectations for because of the preconception that the peanut butter filling would just be well, Skippy’s but it was a smooth whipped buttercream that was not overtly sweet and executed well. The owners of Macaron Parlour Christina and Simon who I was able to talk to a bit, are passionate about their craft and are always happy to talk and answer any questions about their macarons. They are able to instill a creative American touch on a classical sophisticated French cookie and do it well. I will be on the look out for these macarons in the future at the Hester Street Fair and other places. Also, like all macarons, they do the whole fancy box thing again, emasculating me every time I buy macarons. 

Nothing says I am a tough guy eating a box of macarons with a ribbon around it

 Macaron Parlour

http://macaronparlour.com/
Check website for locations

Meatball Shop Beard House Luncheon

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Not everyone, especially at the Beard House want to hear about Chef from South Park Chocolate Salty Balls.

Friday was a day off so I braved the cold and went to the James Beard House for a luncheon show casing Dan Holzman and Michael Chernow of The Meatball Shop where they prepared hors d’oeuvres and a tasting. Who does not love meat in ball form?

One thing that I learned from this and will forever take with me is: NEVER, EVER, EVER be late to a James Beard House event. You end up missing the hors d'oeuvres and hors d’oeuvres are awesome. It is like a classy buffet where they bring you stuff and mingle with other people. Due to circumstances out of my control I did not get there till before the main tasting and ended up missing the onb slaught of hors d’oeuvres. The hors d’oeuvres line up was: Miniature Maryland Crabmeat and Potato Chip Meatballs with Old Bay dipping sauce, Mini Buffalo Chicken Meatballs with Blue Cheese dipping sauce and Reuben Meatball sliders with Sauerkraut and Thousand Island dressing with all the Prosecco you can drink (socially acceptable to drink).

 Miniature Maryland Crabmeat and Potato Chip Meatballs with Old Bay Dipping Sauce. 

**Due to Social Grace/Etiquette I did not sit there and shove all of them in my mouth and down the dipping sauce like a Big Gulp.

Robicelli's Cupcakes

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Nothing wrong with having a cupcake at 9:30 in the morning

I like cupcakes, but I never really got onto the whole cupcake craze, a cupcake is just a pre-portioned slice of cake. I much prefer to have a slice of cake given a choice between the two. However, I do appreciate a good cupcake that does not taste like airy cardboard and bring ones that back memories of elementary school birthday pass outs. My Mom never cared enough to bake cupcakes for the class, we just Munkin-ed it up from Dunkin Donuts.

I have my favorite cupcakes like Sugar Sweet Sunshine and Two Little Red Hens but I have to add another to that list: Robicelli’s Cupcakes. Hitting the top for People Choice via Midtown Lunch and SeriousEats, I knew I had to hurry up and get my grubby mitts on these and try one.

Robicelli’s is different not only in there seasonal and non traditional cupcakes such as their PB& Grape J (Vanilla cake, grape jelly, peanut butter buttercream, chopped peanuts) and their Chicken n’Waffles (Vanilla “waffle” cake, vanilla buttercream, buttermilk soaked fried chicken dunked in pure Vermont maple syrup, this one just makes my heart skip a couple of beats, if anyone can point me in the direction of this said cupcake I will give you 1 WHOLE DOLLAR) but they also do not have an actual brick and motar store front. They basically make a lot of cupcakes and then bring them to various places to sell them, one of them being Cake Shop in the LES. Cake Shop a coffee/record/bake goods/music shop that has a very Kurt Kobain-esque vibe to it. However, they do make a descent cup of coffee (I am pretty sure that because it is a bar as well you can Irish it up which is always a plus) and have various bake goods, such as Robicelli’s Cupcakes.

 Pecan Potato Chip upper left and bottom right the Car Bomb

In order to not feel like a complete Fatty McFatterson, and to save room (I also was going to do a meatball tasting at the Beard House) I got two cupcakes, the Pecan Potato Chip and the Car Bomb. I went for the Car Bomb first which is a Chocolate Guinness stout cake, Jameson whiskey butter cream, Bailey’s butter cream. This cupcake is to worth the calories and is a clear example why Robicelli’s Cupcakes is worth searching out. Here is the breakdown: the cake is moist and dense and the chocolate hits you right away. Although the cupcake is dense, it has good crumb structure meaning that it isn’t flaking all over the place but you are not eating a piece of fudge. The frosting is one that really stands out to me is that it was a true butter cream and used all butter. I do not like shortening base frosting because my philosophy is: if I am going to clog my arteries with sweet goodness I want smooth, creamy dairy fat to line my arterial wall. The frosting was generously topped on and because it was so rich, imparted a smooth silkily texture that was almost like eating frozen custard. The other one, the Pecan Potato chip, a Pecan & potato chip butter cake, vanilla butter cream, roasted pecans, crushed potato chips, salted butterscotch. The cake was lighter compared to the Car Bomb but still held its own in the moist department. The cupcake had a great salty sweet going on even though I could barely taste the potato chip part. Unfortunately due to stomach capacity I was not able to try anymore cupcakes but I will now make it a point to be on the constant look out for these cupcakes.

Since they do not have an actual store, you are going to have to do a bit of searching in order to find these cupcakes but it is well worth it. 

Robicelli's Cupcakes 

Various Locations

Bisous Ciao Macarons

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Bring manly looking bag to disguise feminine macron bag 
 
Real men watch the Jets game and eat macarons. At least that is what I am telling myself while sitting here watching the Jets game…and eating macarons. But if it was a choice between Pringles and Frenchy macarons, I choose the macarons.

Bisous Ciao opened in the summer of 2010 in the Lower East Side and is a minimalist store. It is just a chilled case of macarons and a cash register. There is a very small counter towards the window front that I think you can maybe eat the macarons in the store, but it is basically a takeout kind of a place.

This is pretty much it to the store.

The store goes right to the point and sells macarons. Bisous Ciao makes 16 varieties, and currently have 4 seasonal macarons which are the peppermint chocolate, the masala spiced chai, the pecan caramel and the cranberry. All of these macarons were bursting with intense flavor especially the masala spiced chai, tasted like Slumdog Millionare. Each spice in the macaron from the subtle cloves to the touch of ginger explodes immediately after biting into it. Aside from the seasonal flavors I picked up their salted caramel (their signature) and the gianduja. All the macarons had a delicate thin crust and soft, chewy meringue which a rich and intense filling. Eating a good macaron such as this, like in the movie, Next Friday "makes you wanna slap yo Momma". Please do not hit your mother or women, I do not advocate domestic abuse. 

 Left to Right: Salted Caramel, Pecan Caramel, Cranberry, Peppermint Chocolate, Masala Chai and the Gianduja.

Although the macarons are pricey, clocking in at 2.25 a piece this is something that everyone should selfishly indulge in or guilt trip a loved one into purchasing for you. One thing about the French is that they do not skimp on packaging. The macarons come in a fashionable box and sleek bag. Its one of those bags that you keep, even though you may never use it but you keep it because it would be such a waste to throw out, I mean look at it! It has a bow on it! I’m serious, real men eat macarons. Excuse me while I go do some ultra manly stuff like eating glass and fighting lions. Brb.

Seriously, look at the box they give it to you in and bag. Frenchies knows how to do up presentation.

 Bisous Ciao Macarons
101 Stanton St.
NYC 10002
http://www.bisousciao.com/