The Dutch: Comfort American Food (No need to go all the way out to Brooklyn!)

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Do not be self-conscious when people constantly look over at your table while you are eating, it is most likely looks of jealousy

Andrew Carmellini’s The Dutch is the most buzzed about restaurant that has opened recently, eater.com has been following the opening of the restaurant like a stock ticker. The name is short and bold and for some reason the name, “The Dutch” sounds like a blunt to me or an herb of questionable legality, but then again not everyone can have such lawless acquaintances as I have. Carmellini starting in the Bouloud kitchen and then establishing himself in Italian fare with his success at A Voce and his first restaurant Locanda Verde and with his track record, many thought the Dutch would be another Italian joint but he flips it and goes with American comfort influenced cuisine.

Where do you get these pictures from?

The space and décor of the Dutch certainly fits the bill of American influence with the wood paneled walls and black and white photos, it feels like a chic version of the 21 Club. Walking in, I feel I should know things like, horseracing and the current price of gold but the nonetheless, despite the closeness of the tables the dining room is spacious and comfortable enough. Although the Dutch has been classified as comfort American and initial impressions all point to Americana, the food strays, especially the dinner menu from what you would expect. 

Jalapeno Cornbread- Not quite Southern, not quite Yankee

After taking in the space and ordering, we were presented with a small loaf of fresh and warm jalapeno cornbread with salted whipped butter. The cornbread is a fusion of Southern and “Yankee” cornbread in which the cornbread was not sweet that is typical of Yankee cornbread and had more savory notes like Southern cornbread but texturally, the cornbread was soft and quick bread-like, Yankee style. Although the cornbread was a tad dry and crumbly it tasted fine although I had to employ a pinching method in order to eat it without making a complete crumbly mess. 

Small Oyster Sandwiches- I'll take 5 more

The snack menu is not to be overlooked and we ordered the oyster sandwiches and the playfully dubbed Asian (it would have been funny if it was spelled, “AZN”) white boy ribs. The Oyster sandwiches are reason enough to even stop by here and a good omen for the rest of the meal. A nice ode to the oyster po boys of the South, the oyster was plump and juicy and had a great crispy crunchy shell thanks to the cornmeal batter. The sauce is a tangy pickled okra sauce which is reminiscent of a remoulade and worked magically with the oysters. The White boy ribs were less successful; an order of the Asian white boy ribs came with 2 ribs and a black lacquered glaze of hosin and heavy on the black bean. The ribs although were tender, they were grayish looking and seemed like they were boiled and had that musty Chinese medicinal taste that I was all too familiar with. 

Asian White Boy Ribs- wait..a TwinkieRib?

Since we got the snacks we decided to get one of the appetizers and we went with the Asparagus Okonomiyaki. An okonomiyaki is a Japanese street food composed of egg and flour pancake/omelets that is filled basically with anything, but usually either pork, shrimp and topped with mayonnaise and an okonomiyaki sauce, which taste like a tangy Worcestershire sauce. 

Asparagus Okonomiyaki

The dish was spears of asparagus, topped with a poached egg under bonito flakes and swimming in an okonomiyaki-esque sauce. The asparagus was surrounded by chunks of pork belly and fried pieces of shrimp. Although all the parts of the dish were cooked well, the dish seemed forced and except of the bonito flakes and sauce, it did not remind me, even if I closed my eyes and focused really hard of an okonomiyaki.

For my main I got the Pecan Duck that was served on a bed of wild rice and pecans and topped with celery shavings. Since duck is the new pork, I am happy it is getting the attention it deserves and liked that I was actually asked how I like the duck breast to be cooked. The duck was cooked to a nice medium rare and the wild rice was rich and saucy. The addition of crushed pecans brought an extra welcomed crunch and meatiness. The spices in the dish were warm and earthy and had a bit of a smokiness that made me think of Latin or Southwest flavors. 

Pecan Duck- Duck is the new pork, like really dark meat pork

The other main that we got was the Sea Bass, in a mussel lemongrass curry, vegetables and crushed peanuts. The curry was resembled more a broth but had the same spice and flavor intensity as a curry. The lightness of the curry not only tasted great in the summer heat, it paired perfectly with the crisp vegetables and the still flaky sea bass. 

Black Sea Bass, Thai Lemongrass Curry

Though the portions were generous, dessert at the Dutch is something that you need to save room for or force the limits of your stomach. Pastry Chef Kierin Baldwin is a padawan of Karen DeMasco and learned well and I could easily just come here just for the desserts. The pies are the popular options here as they change with seasonality but the regular desserts are something that should not be missed as well.

Devil's Food Cake, White Russian Ice Cream

From the regular dessert menu we got the Devil’s food cake with black pepper boiled icing and served with a smear of fudge sauce and a White Russian ice cream. The Devil food cake was the kind of cake that you dream about, moist with layers of chocolate frosting and a chocolate cookie base and the black pepper icing accented the already perfect cake. The fudge sauce was bittersweet, balancing the sweetness of the dessert and paired with the White Russian ice cream, I really did not want to share this. They had two pies that day and we went with the peach pie that had raspberry syrup and a scoop of buttermilk ice cream. The peach filling was sweetly in tune and the raspberry sauce with the buttermilk ice cream brought a cool and refreshing sourness to the pie. The crust of the pie was tender and buttery and worthy of the hype and attention that it has been getting since opening. 

Peach Pie, Buttermilk Ice Cream just as American as Apple Pie

If you are expecting the typical American comfort food of fried chicken, macaroni and cheese or burgers and fries you are in for a surprise. Carmellini is doing American comfort food, but doing it cleverly. He recognizes that America is actually defined by the multiple cultures and their cuisines which from Chinese to Mexican and if anything, he is doing comfort flavors in which the food are reminiscent of places and foods that you may have had in the past or elsewhere in the country. If you want something closer to comfort food or “Brooklynese” then I would suggest the late night or the brunch menu in which his burger and fried chicken is featured. The hype and attention of the Dutch is well warranted, even with flaws in certain dishes the food taste great and executed well and the vast array of flavors and cuisines showcased at the Dutch is a solid contemporary take on American comfort food.

The Dutch
131 Sullivan Street (Literally at the Corner of Sullivan and Prince)
New York, NY 10012-3043
thedutchnyc.com/

First look (taste) of Donna Bell's Bake Shop

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Paula Deen = What I think everyone in the South is like

I needed my bread fix and decided to make the trek out to Hell’s Kitchen and get me some Pizza Bianca from Sullivan Street Bakery, that is no longer located on Sullivan Street and now one 47^th. Noshing on some fresh Pizza Bianca, I came across Donna Bell’s Bake Shop. Donna Bell’s Bake Shop opened up about a week ago and was very new. The place is small but loaded with lots of goodies and it is all about Southern baked goods. I sometimes secretly wish that I was from the South, well at least romanticized Southern. I imagine a childhood where I grew up eating homemade cobblers and pies from my Mom from recipes passed from generation to generation rather than sweet mung bean soup.

Big Cookies, everything is bigger in the South, or Texas...eh, close enough

Although this shop is new, walking in I was greeted warmly with a big, “Hey Y’All!” First off, awesome way to greet someone, I mean I do not think it is possible to not smile and not be cheerful when saying “Hey Y’all!” Hell, if Putin was working the counter and was all like, “Hey Y’All” I would be like, what a friendly, non-scary man. The shop is small and not much for sitting in and more from a grab and go and what they lack in space they make up for…stacking a heck of a lot of food on the counter. The counter is filled with biscuits, cookies and bars and a display case of cakes. For a small space, they most certainly fill it up. Although the bars and cookies and cupcakes (I mean, its New York, it’s a prerequisite nowadays that if you open a bakery, you need cupcakes) but I was in the savory mood so I got myself a Pimento, Cheddar Cheese and Chive Drop Biscuit and spotted some cornbread that they so happened to just put out and got that too.

Biscuit Mounds

 

            The biscuit is huge, like size of a fist huge. The first thing that came to mind was that it sure looks like a Red Lobster biscuit, but it was much better than that. The biscuit was tender and lacked dryness and the bits of pimento were a nice touch. It reminded me of eating Pimento cheese but refined and no Dukes Mayonnaise (what up Southern people, I know what Dukes is). 

Pimento, Cheddar and Chive Biscuit. Red Lobster biscuits orbit this biscuit

The cornbread I later found out is what they call Yankee (should we take offense to that?) Cornbread that is composed of whole wheat and jalapeno. I could not tell that there was whole wheat in it but I guess that makes you feel less guilty about eating a good hunk of cornbread. The cornbread had actual corn in it (a plus) and did not have any grit in it. The jalapeño was a welcomed addition that worked well with the subtle sweetness of the cornbread. The cornbread is very crumby which is a texture I look for personally in cornbread but it is probably best to eat this at a stationary position and not wearing black because you will get crumbs all over you and birds may or may not attack you like a Hitchcock movie. 

Yankee Cornbread, if this is Yankee cornbread why is it not white and blue pinstriped?

I only got a quick sample of the stuff they were offering but I was impressed and want to comeback to try more. Not only do they have the basic bake goods, they also have breakfast and lunch sandwiches as well as bread pudding one of them being a hummingbird cake bread pudding which I am looking forward to trying. They are also in the works of getting out some soups and now that I think about it, soup and cornbread would be a great lunch time fix. Those working around here are in for a new place to chow down at and with a drink menu that has Southern Sweet tea and Arnold Palmers, how do you not want to come here? Also, there is no Paula Deen-like lady working here, I know, I was totally disappointed.

Donna Bell’s Bake Shop

301 West 49^th Street

New York, NY 10019

www.donnabellsbakeshop.com 

The Red Rooster Harlem: Don't worry, the 125th subway stop is right there

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: You know Harlem ain't hood no more when Martha Stewart rolls up to the Red Rooster. 

 

The first time I went to Harlem was back in senior year of college and it was during NJ free transit week. My roommate and I were watching The Food Network and something about Chicken and Waffles came on. We both never had Chicken and Waffles and not having real responsibilities, in the middle of the week at 9 at night we decided to go on an adventure and get Chicken and Waffles at Amy Ruth’s. Imagine two Asian kids venturing into Harlem and we were by far the whitest people in the restaurant and the 116^th street stop. Harlem still had that aurora of being “hood” and not the best place for 2 Asian kids to be venturing into late at night. Couple of chicken and waffles and years later, I headed back to Harlem to try out Marcus Samuelsson’s Red Rooster to find that there was actual white people there, a lot of them and when Martha Stewart rolls up, this officially marks (for me at least) Harlem as changed. Although she does not have any street cred, going to jail does not count (she went to like safe white collar jail!) she does walk in with a whole lot of swagger!

Marcus Samuelsson is like the culinary equivalent of Justin Bieber minus the underage fans, being Canadian and not looking like a pre-pubescent lesbian (I also believe that there is not disease or a fever that can be attributed to Marcus, but this cannot be confirmed). It comes to no surprise that Red Rooster, his newest venture has gotten a lot of buzz and everyone is heading way uptown to try it out. The food at Red Rooster is a copy of Samuelsson in which it has North African (he is Ethiopian), Swedish (adopted by Swedes) influences and southern comfort food (he is in Harlem). Given that our fair President just dined at this establishment a couple of days ago with guest for a dinner costing about 30,000 big ones, I ventured out here to see what 30,000 dollars looked like and tasted like. 

 I do not usually go into the whole décor and vibe of the place but it is worth noting at Red Rooster. The restaurant fits right into the neighborhood like a snuggie on a cat lady. It feels as if the restaurant has been there just as long as Sylvia’s, which a couple of doors down from the Red Rooster. The dining room is a bit small but the high ceilings and open kitchen neutralized the tight feeling and the art and the graffiti on the walls made it feel sheek and modern without overwhelming you or feeling that you left your shutter shades at home. The crowd is worth noting and it felt like that the people eating here got lost on the way to a Danny Meyers restaurant. 

Food After the Jump!