Motorino

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Learn how to pronounce stracciatella

I profess my love for Neapolitan pies often and frankly, it is what I think is what pizza should be. Motorino is a standby and a place that makes one of the best in New York City. Thankfully, the Earth only swallowed up the Brooklyn location but the East Village location is still going strong. Though smaller, everything is practically the same.

Though I usually go for the meatballs, the octopus salad is a great starter though pricey. However, it is worth every penny and a must order. It looks simple enough with a mixture of tender octopus, celery (which i noticed is the natural veggie pairing) and soft fingerling potatoes the chili flakes is what gets me in this starter. The chili flakes adds that little bit of heat and brings everything together.

Simplicity is the theme here and I went with the Stracciatella. It is a white on white pie. Stracciatella covers the canvas of this pie and it is topped with basil, olive oil and sea salt. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less. A food network show could not even produce such tasty greatness. The stracciatella oozes and its puree like consistency has got you almost slurping up the cheese. You can taste every part of this pie and though people are deterred by this pie because of the lack of tomatoes, I urge you to try it or the douche-y answer, I think there is a 99 cent slice place about 4 blocks away.

Motorino
349 East 12th Street
New York, NY 10003
http://motorinopizza.com/

Sundaes and Cones

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Who else feels awkward when they get a sample spoon of ice cream and they do not have a bucket to chuck it?

Fall is here meaning that I for some reason, people slowly stop eating ice cream. Something about it’s too cold to eat or something. Preying on other’s weaknesses ( I am a horrible human being for thinking like that) I take the chance to hit up ice cream shops that get ridiculously packed in the hotter days so I can get my ice cream fix, line free.

One of those places is Sundaes and Cones, in the East Village. Sundaes and Cones could be a typical cute ice cream shop with usual flavors but they also have some interesting flavors such as red bean, black sesame, avocado and wasabi for the adventurous all leaning towards flavors that would be common in Asia. I was in a fruity mood (yup, set myself up for that one) and they had a fair selection of sorbets I decided to try their guava and lychee ice cream. Guava one of my favorite fruits and is a fruit that is found in tropical areas. It is a flavor on its own but the best way to describe it is it tastes a mix between strawberry and a bit of kiwi, but I realize that the basis of the flavor combinations is unfortunately from Bubblicious gum and bad tasting candy. Lychee is another fruit that I like and usually in the past when I had lychee ice creams, they usually had an overwhelming sweetness and artificial aftertaste but the ice cream of Sundaes and Cones did not have that and had the best replication of the taste of fresh lychee in frozen confection form.

I notice as I was leaving, they were baking up fresh cookies, something that I must get the next time I stop by there and taste, for chocolate chip cookie research and comparison. Sundaes and Cones as the name states, does sundaes that I would like to try in the future, but need to enlist at least another person, so I do not look like a complete fatty.

Sundaes and Cones

95 E 10th St
New York, NY 10003

http://www.sundaescones.com/

Big Gay Ice Cream Tru--err, Shop!

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Tastiness of Ice Cream is directly related to the amount of Mythical Animals within the vicinity

I sauntered down 7^th Ave a couple of weeks ago and was greeted with a flash mob of people, all waiting for the grand opening of The Big Gay Ice Cream Truck Shop grand opening. All the times I have walked through there, I have never seen so many people and although I wanted to get their soft serve, the line was down the street and I wanted ice cream, but not an hour wait for ice cream!

The Unicorn is like staring into your soul

I came back this previous weekend and thankfully, the grand opening hype had died down and I was finally able to stop by their shop. Even if you do not like ice cream, stopping by their shop is just highly entertaining and to sum up the shop in one word, it would be in the words of Big Gay Al from South Park, “SUPER!” Stepping in you are greeted with a mural of a fairy tale Unicorn and an inflatable unicorn on propped on the opposite side of the wall, even the most hard ass person will utter a couple of chuckles. Everything that they have been serving from their truck is available at their shop and a few other additions as well. Seeing that it was my first time here and overwhelmed by the choices, I decided to go for their most featured creation, the Salty Pimp. Unfortunately not served in a golden chalice with a side of Olde English, it is a cone topped with vanilla soft serve, dulce de leche, sprinkle of sea salt and all locked in by a chocolate shell. It is no ordinary softee cone and makes it clear that pimping is anything but easy, but it sure is tasty. 

The jazzed up soft serve is just one of the few creations that they have and other interesting toppings like, olive oil, wasabi peas and key lime curd. They also have ice pops/paletas from La Newyorkina and ice cream sandwiches made from cookies from the Treats Truck. If you are like me and basically too lazy to go and seek out their truck, you can visit their shop in the East Village and get some whimsical and tasty soft serve. Also, if you are a Unicorn enthusiast, you should check out that Unicorn on the wall. 

Big Gay Ice Cream Shop
125 East 7th Street
NY, NY
www.biggayicecream.com/

The Brindle Room makes a great Burger

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Do not take good fries for granted.

I have been hearing so much about the burger at The Brindle Room that I finally dragged myself over there for a quick bite, and finally have a go at their burger and I am glad that I did (I consider a order of burger and fries a quick bite, go ahead, call me a fatty). I have only stopped by the Brindle Room previously to try their doughnuts which I was not completely in love with but keeping an open mind I ordered the burger. The first thing that perked my interest regarding the burger is that it is made with prime aged beef trimmings from the partnered steakhouse Sebastian’s in Morristown NJ.  In a Thomas Paine society, this aged beef, with its intense beefy flavor would be the way that all beef would taste like and for the grand old price of $13 dollars with the inclusion of fries and a pickle; it is hard to argue the price. Burger After the Jump!

Jane's Sweet Buns (Insert Pun)

 Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Eating sticky buns in Thompson Park while getting accosted by Amish trying to convert you is just a hazard of good food

St. Marks Place is an eccentric street that is filled with food from all around and on the street, decked out in hot pink, is one of the newest additions, Jane’s Sweet Buns. Jane’s Sweet Buns makes well, buns specifically cinnamon buns. Opened by Jane Danger, which by the way, is such a badass name is a mixologist/really good bartender at Cienfuego is baking up some delicious buns and other cakes. The bakery is a quaint and has a few stools for eating at, but with Thompson Square Park within a few feet, her treats are perfect for eating outside in the park, just now by the crazy dude prediction the end of the world @FatherCamping. Sweets after the jump!

Terroir Wine Bar- East Village

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Real men can drink white wines, anytime. Dare you to call me out.

Risotto Ball

Pretentious. Douche. French. Those are the first words that come to mind when I think of a wine bar. I grew up and went to school in New Jersey, there were no wine bars or was I influenced by a strong wine drinking culture. Sure the Pops, drank wine, but he did it was more recreational, and was more of a brandy drinker. The bar that I frequented when I was in college had wine, but not a strong seller. I think they had a red and white and they were the shutter home wines that come in packs. No offense to them, but they probably would have done better selling Boons Farm. I mean, they were a college bar, who drinks wine in college? Weird wanna-be Euro philosophy majors, that’s who, the ones that scoffed at dollar Yinglings and old white ladies that realized they accidentally are in the wrong place but to proud to leave and want to order something. But, I have always had a thing for wines and really have not been able to appreciate it until the last couple of years. Wine has always gotten the elitist branding and touting to be expensive, but thankfully in recent years that facade has changed in which it is becoming a socially acceptable drink for all, rather than booze, reserved for the right. Not to go into great detail, the flavors and taste of wine mainly come from the grapes and such but one factor and highly affects the taste of wine is the geography that plays an essential role in the development of taste and flavors and the Frogs even have a word for it, terroir. The word has been adapted by Marco Canora of Hearth and used it as the name for the wines bars that he opened up one in Tribeca and one in the East Village which I visited.

Food After the Jump

Butterlane Cupcake Shop

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Say what you want, Hostess has got it locked on the frosting and cupcake ratio

New York City is saturated with cupcakes. It is hard to avoid them and I secretly am not actually the biggest fan of cupcakes. If I had to choose between a cake and the cupcake, I will take the cake hands down. My biggest issue that I have with cupcakes is the ratio issue. I like a balance between frosting and cake however it has gotten to that point where their will be more frosting than cake itself. How the hell am I suppose to eat it? I refuse to eat cupcakes with a fork. It was not designed that way. It is like eating a slice of pizza at Joe’s with a fork and knife. That ain’t right. I will stand by my note to self, Hostess gets the ratio right in which they have a great ratio of cake to frosting, and with the injection of frosting in the middle, you actually eat the cupcake without a frosting facial. So when it comes to cupcakes, I am critical because it seems like any place can just churn out cupcakes and apparently get an IPO on the exchange now so in a way, you have too. Only a few cupcakes shops or vendors have so far made the cut in making a cupcake that is superior in inflated market of frosting heavy sweets. In my quest on just being hungry, I finally decided to give Butterlane Cupcake Shop a shot.

Pumping out Cupcakes

Butterlane is located in the East Village, across the way from Porchetta and after eating a whole bunch of pork, you need a bit of sweet to balance it out before you slip back to your apartment for an inevitable food coma. Upon arriving at Butterlane they had a cupcake class in session that was for kids happening next door. First thought that came to mind, “that’s cute” (with a supersized dose of sarcasm). But I will give them credit for cashing in as much as possible on people infatuation with cupcakes, and besides its good for kids to learn how to bake, rather than be on the streets pushing dope (it is never too young to be pushing dope, have you not seen The Wire?). The cupcake shop is quaint and has little space and really just has a counter and a bench to scarf down a cupcake. Many will complain about this, but it is a cupcake, eating it should not be a sit down affair, if you have to sit down and eat it with a fork then you are doing it wrong. 

Thats a lot of Frosting

Butterlane stands out a bit from the competition in which they have a daily offering of cake bases and frosting toppings. This allows one to mix and match as they please allowing a combination of…a lot. I failed statistics so do not ask me. For those that really like cupcakes because it is a vessel for frosting, you can just skip the cake part and get a “shot” of frosting, which I have to say in ingenious.The cakes that they had when I went there was banana, chocolate and vanilla. The frosting toppings…were quite a few. I decided to go with 2 cupcakes and went with a banana cake with peanut butter frosting and wanted a bit of chocolate so I went with the chocolate cake with the salted caramel chocolate frosting. You know, just a smidgen of chocolate. 

Cupcakes- one day they will find a transport device that will guard against cupcake frosting box shmear

The cupcakes were piped on fresh, which is always a good thing. The frosting is a straight buttercream, I mean with a place called Butterlane it better be. The buttercream is an American-style buttercream in which there is a heavier usage of confectioner sugar which gives it a stiffer appearance rather than a French buttercream that has a higher butter to confectioner sugar ratio that makes it richer, obviously buttery and a glossier finish. First up was the peanut butter frosting and banana cake. To start is the cake, it was a bit dry but the banana flavor came all the way through. The peanut butter frost was good; it was thick and creamy and did not have any of that chalky taste that you get from inferior butter cream. The peanut butter frosting had a good dose of salt and was similar to eating the dry roasted peanuts and the combination I picked, worked well.

Banana cake and peanut butter frosting

Chocolate cake and salted caramel chocolate frosting

 Next up was the chocolate cake with the salted caramel chocolate frosting. The frosting was heavier on the salt that was extinguished by the caramel. The salt and caramel almost overshadowed the chocolate, but the richness of the chocolate broke through, making the frosting a worthy topping on anything. The cake however, was a bit of a letdown; it was dry and lacked any moisture. Even the rich topping could not mask or salvage the dryness of the cake. Although Butterlane lived up to the expectations of having tasty frostings, the cake bases were not up to the level of the frostings.

Butterlane Cupcake Shop

123 East 7th Street

New York, NY 10009

www.butterlane.com/

Momofuku Ssam Bar: Bo Ssam, Korean for, "Whoa, thats a big piece of Pork"

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: A friend that complains about too much swine is no friend of mine…well close friend.

Bo Ssam from the first time around, photo courtesy of  www.conwayyen.com

I am about to be “that guy”. You know, that guy that wears the band tee shirt of the band he is about to go see, “that guy”. If you do not understand about “that guy” I highly suggest you go on your Netflix queue or…Blockbuster? Not sure if those exists anymore and borrow the underrated movie, PCU in which Jeremy Piven goes into great detail about not being that guy.

Magic Kitchen

Momofuku restaurants with the exception of Ko offer a family style group dining experience. Noodle bar has the chicken, Ssam has the pork and Peche has the beef. However, you cannot just walk in with a crew and just expect to get a fried chicken dinner; you have to make a reservation online through the Momofuku reservation system. Making a reservation via Momofuku brings me back painful memories of registering for classes in college. Momofuku only allows a certain amount of times in which you can do a group dinner and they do not release the new reservations until 10 am. I see no actual difference between registering for classes and getting a reservation for the group dinner except that Momofuku results in fullness and registering for classes hopefully results in Fridays off and no early classes.

I am fan of the Momofuku restaurants and have been to all of them. I have dined at Ko, done fried chicken fest twice and already did Bo ssam. So when I was asked to go to Bo ssam and make a reservation for it, I was all Momofuku’d out. I mean I know some people are dying to try the group dinners and the various Momofuku offerings but I was very apathetic going to go do bo ssam again. I have made the bo ssam at home and it has lost its charm to me. I was expecting the same experience when I did the fried chicken dinner for the second time in which I was underwhelmed and the level of excitement that I had the first time was nonexistent. So this is me being that guy, that guy that is complain and moaning about having the opportunity to eat bo ssam again while others around me are like…I hate you. Regardless how I felt before going into Bo ssam for round 2, I am still a fan of the OG of group dining in New York as well as the other menu items in which Ssam bar does well. 
 

Om Nomz after the Jump!

Donut Quest Part Tres: Dough and Brindle Room

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Having a ex-dope head with a heavy Staten Island accent loudly telling the whole subway car her life story will most certainly wake you up

Colorful, Fresh, Tasty Donuts!

The Donut Quest continues! I am still in search and finding the best donut places that New York has to offer and on this quest, there are new places that are opening up and two of the newest and notable are the donuts at the Brindle Room and Dough in Clinton Hill Brooklyn. 

Dough Brooklyn Open Kitchen

First up are the donuts at Dough in Brooklyn. Even before I went to Dough, I already had high expectations and just had the feeling it was going to be good. It is like going to see a Jason Statham movie, even before you go and watch it; you know it is going to be hilarious for all the wrong reasons. But in the case of Dough, the founder Fany Gerson already has a solid reputation working in top pastry kitchens and running La New Yorkina. Her book, My Sweet Mexico is one of my favorite baking books and enlightened me on Latin American sweets and expanding my knowledge beyond churros and tres leche cakes. Dough is located in Clinton Hill right at the corner of Lafayette and Franklin Ave.

Dough Brooklyn, only indication of donut goodness

There is no real signage just a little banner in the window with the name of the place and can be easily overlooked. Except for a few counter side seats, this is mainly a takeout place which is not a big deal because donuts are the ultimate handheld treats. This is not a Baskin Robbins but there is a good amount of donut flavors to choose from and they are all neatly and proudly displayed in the front. All the donuts that they make here are yeast based donuts so if you wanted a cake donut, you are out of luck. They also had donuts holes that also looked good, but I did not get a chance to try them and will have to get them next time. They have the classics like vanilla, chocolate and sprinkles but they stay true to their Brooklyn roots, conjuring up seasonal and local flavors that they are making using the best and freshest ingredients. 

Donuts after the Jump!

Porchetta NYC

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: You can never have enough cracklings on a porchetta sandwich

 The Church of Pork 




Anybody that has been reading my verbal vomit knows that I have a love, obsession with pork. Not just some amateur, “yeah, bacon is great!”, it is more like if I had to choose one meat to live off of for the rest of my life, I would not have to think about it and it would me pork. I love to eat every part and when they say nose to tail eating, I will eat every part from the nose to tail. The Tail by the way, its pretty good when it is fried up. So it seemed obvious to me that I have to go and get a sandwich from a place like Porchetta. Porchetta, owned by Chef Sara Jenkins is a minimalist shop that has maybe about six stools and is more or less a takeout joint. What they lack in seating and space, they make up in their Porchetta. Porchetta is an Italian, roasted rolled boneless pork shoulder that is slow roasted to perfection. The skin is left on to slowly baste the meat and achieves a ultra crispness. The menu is small and you can either get the porchetta served as a sandwich or as a platter with sides that I have unfortunately yet to try.

These are the good kind of Fat Rolls you want to have