There's a very good article in this week's New York Magazine about Keith McNally. (The Restaurant Auteur by Benjamin Wallace)  I've always been a fan... I LOVE his restaurants, especially Balthazar and Pastis... (sadly I still have not made it to the Minetta Tavern)

Photo: restaurantgirl.com

The article talks about, among other things, his new restaurant Pulino's Bar & Pizzeria which is opening soon on the Bowery. (282 Bowery at E. Houston St.)  Nate Appleman of A16 and Iron Chef fame is the chef, apparently this is the first time McNally has hired a "celeb" chef. Grub Street has a preview of the menu, here. The pizza is going to be thin and crispy and cooked in a wood-fired oven. Yum!

Photo: Peter van Agtmael/Magnum Photos

I hope they get it open soon, it looks great!  It's already been delayed quite a bit.  Breakfast and lunch are supposed to start on March 15th with opening for dinner following soon.

Starting this Saturday, fresh Montreal bagels from St-Viateur Bagel will be available at Mile End Deli in Brooklyn. They've carried Montreal bagels for a while, but normally they come via courier. What's new is that they are actually driving up to Montreal to pick up the bagels and driving right back so they'll be as fresh as possible! You can reserve some by pre-ordering online, here.

Image Source: New York Times

Montreal-style bagels are thinner than ours and as I recall seemed to have a bit more sugar in the dough. It's been years though since I've had one. I used to go to Montreal a lot since I went to school in Burlington, VT...

I found a City Room blog post from the New York Times that compares the bagels, read full post here. This is what they say about the St. Viateur bagels "They are hand-rolled and baked in wood-burning ovens, something that current New York City regulations would no longer allow. The process gives them a crisp and smoky crust on the outside. The bakers slip tidy lines of bagels in and out on long wooden slats, before flipping them into a bin. Their recipe was slightly different, using malt flour, and they are boiled in water with honey. And since they are skinnier, the hole is more pronounced."

The James Beard Foundation has released the nominees for the 2010 awards. You can see the complete list with all categories in a PDF file here.  The awards cermony is May 3rd at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall in New York.

OUTSTANDING RESTAURATER

Ashok Bajaj, 701, Ardeo, Bardeo, Bibiana Osteria-Entoteca, The Bombay Club, The Oval Room, and Rasika, Washington, D.C.

Roger Berkowitz, Legal Sea Foods, Boston

Frank Bonanno, Bones, Luca d'Italia, Mizuna, and Osteria Marco, Denver

Bruce Bromberg and Eric Bromberg, Blue Ribbon Restaurants, NYC

Myles Chefetz, Myles Restaurant Group, Miami Beach, FL

Larry D'Amico and Richard D'Amico, D'Amico & Partners, Minneapolis

Michael Dellar, Lark Creek Restaurant Group, San Francisco

Tom Douglas, Dahlia Bakery, Dahlia Lounge, Etta's, Lola, Palace Kitchen, Serious Pie, Seattle

Steve Ells, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Denver

Sam Fox, Fox Restaurant Concepts, Scottsdale, AZ

Jim Goode and Levi Goode, Goode Company Restaurants, Houston

Pano Karatassos, Buckhead Life Restaurant Group, Atlanta

Pat Kuleto, Pat Kuleto Restaurant Development & Management Co., San Francisco

Donald J. Madia, Avec, Big Star Taqueria and Bar, Blackbird, The Publican, and The Violet Hour, Chicago

Keith McNally, Balthazar, Lucky Strike, Minetta Tavern, Morandi, Pastis, Pravda, and Schiller's Liquor Bar, NYC

Richard Melman, Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, Chicago

Nick Pihakis, Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Q, Birmingham, AL

Tim Stannard, Bacchus Management Group, San Francisco

Stephen Starr, Starr Restaurant Organization, Philadelphia

Doug Washington, Anchor & Hope, Salt House, and Town Hall, San Francisco

OUTSTANDING CHEF

José Andrés, Minibar, Washington, D.C.

Tom Colicchio, Craft, NYC

Gary Danko, Restaurant Gary Danko, San Francisco

Robert Del Grande, RDG + Bar Annie, Houston

Suzanne Goin, Lucques, Los Angeles

Sam Hayward, Fore Street, Portland, ME

Jean Joho, Everest, Chicago

Paul Kahan, Blackbird, Chicago

Michael Mina, Michael Mina, San Francisco

Scott Peacock, Watershed, Decatur, GA

Mark Peel, Campanile, Los Angeles

Charles Phan, The Slanted Door, San Francisco

Stephan Pyles, Stephan Pyles, Dallas

Julian Serrano, Picasso at Bellagio, Las Vegas

Michael Smith, Michael Smith, Kansas City, MO

Ana Sortun, Oleana, Cambridge, MA

Frank Stitt, Highlands Bar & Grill, Birmingham, AL

Jerry Traunfeld, Poppy, Seattle

Marc Vetri, Vetri, Philadelphia

Janos Wilder, Janos, Tucson, AZ

OUTSTANDING RESTAURANT

Alan Wong's Restaurant, Honolulu

The American Restaurant, Kansas City, MO

Babbo, NYC

Bouchon, Yountville, CA

Boulevard, San Francisco

Canlis, Seattle

Crook's Corner, Chapel Hill, NC

Daniel, NYC

Delfina, San Francisco

Fore Street, Portland, ME

Higgins Restaurant and Bar, Portland, OR

Highlands Bar & Grill, Birmingham, AL

Les Nomades, Chicago

Magnolia Grill, Durham, NC

Mélisse, Santa Monica, CA

Sanford, Milwaukee

Spiaggia, Chicago

Vetri, Philadelphia

Vidalia, Washington, D.C.

Vincent on Camelback, Phoenix

RISING STAR CHEF OF THE YEAR

Josh Adams, June, Peoria Heights, IL

Justin Aprahamian, Sanford, Milwaukee

Benjamin Bailly, Petrossian, West Hollywood, CA

Justin Basye, Stella Sola, Houston

Sonja Finn, Dinette, Pittsburgh

Vanessa Garcia, Restaurant Charlie at the Palazzo, Las Vegas

David Gilberg, Koo Zee Doo, Philadelphia

Kevin Gillespie, Woodfire Grill, Atlanta

Will Gilson, Garden at the Cellar, Cambridge, MA

Sam Gorenstein, BLT Steak at the Betsy Hotel, Miami Beach, FL

Carly Groben, Proof, Des Moines, IA

Colin Hazama, Kauai Grill at the St. Regis Princeville, Kaua'i, HI

Perry Hoffman, Etoile Restaurant at Domaine Chandon, Yountville, CA

Timothy Hollingsworth, The French Laundry, Yountville, CA

Casey Lane, The Tasting Kitchen, Venice, CA

Matthew Lightner, Castagna, Portland, OR

Johnny Monis, Komi, Washington, D.C.

Grégory Pugin, Veritas, NYC

Charles "Chip" Roman, Blackfish, Conshohocken, PA

Gabriel Rucker, Le Pigeon, Portland, OR

James Rugile, Venue Bistro, Denver

Jonathon Sawyer, The Greenhouse Tavern, Cleveland

Joshua Smith, A Mano, New Orleans

Lee Styer, Fond, Philadelphia

Sameh Wadi, Saffron Restaurant & Lounge, Minneapolis

Sue Zemanick, Gautreau's, New Orleans

BEST NEW RESTAURANT

A Mano, New Orleans

Adesso, Oakland, CA

Anchovies & Olives, Seattle

Bar La Grassa, Minneapolis

Bibou, Philadelphia

Bluebird Tavern, Burlington, VT

Chifa, Philadelphia

Cibo Matto at the Wit, Chicago

Eos at Viceroy, Miami

Eventide, Arlington, VA

Flour + Water, San Francisco

Frances, San Francisco

Good Food on Montford, Charlotte, NC

Il Casale, Belmont, MA

J & G Steakhouse, Washington, D.C.

Koo Zee Doo, Philadelphia

La Condesa, Austin, TX

Locanda Verde, NYC

Marea, NYC

Miller Union, Atlanta

Ninety Acres at Natirar, Peapack-Gladstone, NJ

Pelago at the Raffaello Hotel, Chicago

Ping, Portland, OR

RN74, San Francisco

Restaurant Martín, Santa Fe

Sage at Aria Resort & Casino, Las Vegas

St. Francis, Phoenix

Samar, Dallas

Soleá at the W South Beach, Miami Beach, FL

Tavern, Los Angeles

Trummer's on Main, Clifton, VA

There's a cute place on my block that I walk by at least two times every day... and I've been meaning to stop in for AGES... so I finally did.  The place is B. Cafe (240 East 75th St. between 2nd & 3rd).  It's a very cute Belgian cafe.  I think I was turned off a little bit because I thought it was a beer bar, and it sort of is.... but it's more than that also.

Of course they have the expected... various beers on tap and moules frites... but they also have some rather unexpected things like a roasted butternut squash salad with parmigiano reggiano and mache, seared scallops with parsnip puree, a lovely tarte tatin made not with apple, but pear...

It's quite a nice find!!  The bar is very pleasant, it even has the hooks underneath to hang you bag.  They also have a garden in back which would be pleasant in good weather.

They don't seem to have a website, but you can look at the menu and read reviews, here, at menupages.

I took this image from Google street view:

See, it's just a tiny slice of a place. It's cute though, they normally have 2 umbrellas up out front so you can't miss it...

The New York Times today has an interesting article about Fast Food's foray into "healthy" eating. ('Forget Jenny Craig. Hit the Drive-Thru' by Abby Ellin)  Taco Bell is now pushing a fresco menu of lighter choices... eek, who would have though Taco Bell and healthy would ever go together?

 

image: New York Times

The article mentions the problem with many of these items is a ton of salt. 

These articles are always rather funny to me... really what's the big deal?  People who make smart eating choices as part of their normal lives are usually fine (weight-wise).  If you end up in a pinch and have to eat fast food, of course, you eat the healthy thing on the menu. My go-to item has always been a grilled chicken sandwich, no sauce. Of course, I prefer not to eat fast food and pretty much avoid it at all costs. 

I saw these fun measuring cups in a magazine and I just loved them... how cute are these?

Here's the "official" description: matryoshkas made to measure

This set of 6 dry-measure cups nests neatly just like traditional Russian matryoshkas. They accurately measure 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, 3/4 and 1 full cup, and they're built from heavy-duty, food-safe, long-life engineering plastics. M-Cups are useful, easy to store, and quite charming...so why not doll up YOUR kitchen with a little Russian folklore? Each set is packaged in a full-color printed giftbox. 

These would make a really fun house warming gift for someone who loves to bake, maybe paired with a set of containers to hold flour, sugar, salt, etc.

You can buy them at Amazon and some other stores, but they seem to be out of stock everywhere right now.  They should be back in stock in early February.  They sell for about $12.50.

I had dinner at Orsay on Saturday night - - as the snow was coming down outside - - thankfully I live two blocks away!

I love Orsay, it totally reminds me of Paris!  ... the tile floors, dark woods, cozy banquets, art nouveau style chandeliers, etc.

 

I had a fabulous salad of baked artichoke with corsican cheese and walnut vinaigrette on baby arugula.  Wow, just delicious!  And for a main, the seabass crusted with parmesan and orange, fennel puree and a dollop of tomato confit on top.  I didn't taste the orange in the crusting at all, which is fine with me because it seems perhaps unnecessary to the success of the dish (sorry chef!).  It was also quite good - I'm a sucker for anything with fennel!  They have a tarte tatin on the dessert menu, it's fine, but not a traditional preparation. (I am still on a quest for the perfect tarte tatin!) You can view the whole dinner menu here.

They're having a nice New Year's Eve menu, the 9 pm second seating is a bit pricey but it looks very good (entrees like lobster salad and bison steak au poivre).

New York Magazine recently covered Cascabel Taqueria on the Upper East Side (2nd Ave. between 80th and 81st).  You can view their complete menu here. It looks quite unique and affordable, the tacos, several varieties available, are two for $7.50. The 'pescado' with tuna, hearts of palm and olives sounds great - - I'd pass on the 'lengua' braised veal tongue however!

Here's what they had to say about it:

"The counter is manned by a preternaturally friendly staff, who take orders and ferry food to tables on rectangular tin plates that evoke the army or a camping trip. There are unexpected niceties, like frosted glasses for microbrew beer, $6 glasses of wine, vibrant housemade salsas in chilled caddies, and copies of the daily papers incongruously stacked alongside old issues of Box y Lucha magazine on a room-dividing condiment rack.

 

On Saturday night I went to Perry St.  My friend and I had a 9:30 reservation because that was all that was available.  We arrived on time and they brought us right to our table. The room is a bit bland, modern and clean looking, but not particularly interesting.  It has a spacious feel which is nice, since so many places try to cram in tables wherever possible.

After we picked out a wine (a delicious Pinot Noir from Burgundy), they brought us an amuse-bouche.  It was a tiny cup of a creamy celery soup, served warm. It was good.

The bread was certainly disappointing.  I love bread and it is always really exciting to have exemplary bread (like at Commerce for example), but this bread was not up to par. It was a served by the slice, a white variety with a well cooked crunchy crust, too dry and not much flavor.  No second slice for me, thanks.

We decided to share the black pepper crab dumplings with sauteed sugar snap peas ($14). They are steamed (yay); I personally hate it when a nice dumpling is ruined by being fried. They were filled with all crab and the black pepper sauce on top was outstanding. It was tempting to order more!

I had the cod with lemon crumbs with sweet garlic broth and broccoli rabe ($24). I was worried about the garlic broth because I'm not a huge garlic fan, the waiter offered to bring it on the side, so that was perfect. Anyway, I needn't have worried - it was a delicious sauce with the right amount of garlic.  Not a garlic festival (as I like to call over-garlicked dishes).  The fish was a beautiful square and thick piece of cod with a nice amount of crispy lemon bread crumbs on top, balanced on top of a small mound of broccoli rabe. It was really quite delicious!  My friend had the slowly cooked salmon with passion fruit olive oil emulsion, spinach, jalapeno and black olive. She gave me a taste and the flavors of the passion fruit, jalapeno and black olive were really amazing, just what you expect from Jean Georges. I think we both picked very well!  Other menu items include a tuna burger, fried chicken, lamb chops...it's a rather eclectic menu.

For dessert, we ordered the twice baked butter cookie with coconut cream and raspberries on the recommendation of our waiter.  I had been leaning towards the fig tart, or the poached pear but they were all out of the poached pear anyway.  They seemed to forget our dessert though, so when they finally brought it out, they also brought a complimentary chocolate pudding with fresh cream and crystallized violets.  Neither of us are "chocolate people" so we never would have ordered the chocolate pudding, but I am so glad they gave it to us!  The crystallized violets were amazing and unique, and the fresh cream was un-sugared. The flavors worked so well together... In comparison I think we were both a bit disappointed by the cookie.  It was good, but not great.

Appetizers: $10 - 29

Entrees: $18 - 36.50

Desserts: $8 - 10

Overall the service was good, not snobby at all. But as mentioned above a bit uneven, we had to ask about our dessert after probably about 30 minutes...  I would go back for sure.  I thought the food (other than the bread) was all delicious and well prepared. And I'll know to get the chocolate pudding next time!

Menu Pages has just announced coverage of Paris and London menus!  Yay!  I love reading menus before I go places because I am so picky.  So this is great... now I just need to get myself to Paris...