New York Restaurants by Area – Page 15 – Writing With My Mouth Full

M & I International Foods

M & I International Foods is the place to go to for Russian imports and other Eastern European produce here in New York City. “Brighton Beach” came from a naming contest that reminded the developers of a beach resort in Brighton, England. In the 1950s, the neighborhood welcomed its first settlers of second-generation Americans from Holocaust survivors. Twenty years later, refugees from the former Soviet Union started calling it their own Little Odessa.

After the long subway ride from the upper west side, we finally reached the Brighton Beach stop on the Q. The weather was damp and gray, but I couldn’t imagine a more perfect setting to stay in one place and eat. And then I realized I didn’t bring my camera! Ack! Good thing Cameron brought hers and it saved the day.

Pickles and Slaws:

I love a good slaw. Take away the mayonnaise and I’ll eat crunchy cabbage with bite. I also couldn’t get enough of their cucumber pickles. I ended up taking home two pints and they were all gone three days later.

Fish:

I love me some herring, but for the sake of pacing ourselves and trying something new(ish), I opted for the trout, the sturgeon and the sardines instead. The trout was smoked and naturally sweet; the sturgeon salted and dried; the sardines icky and fishy. We pulled the guts out and I just couldn’t finish eating it. Somehow, it was very different from a refined slice atop sticky rice and some nori.

Fat and Meats:

I’ve looked forward to the Russian lardo ever since I watched the Andrew Zimmern episode about New York City. Because everyone behind the counter at M & I only speaks English when prodded, I found it painful to ask the surly old lady to slice it for me like prosciutto. Our plastic utensils didn’t help slice through the large chunk of fat when we tried to consume it at the store, but it was so lovely when I got home! One swipe of my Global knife and the Dr. and I were picking at it and drinking it with a bold red wine. It’s still in the fridge, but we’ve been doing damage ever since.

The smoked belly was one of the prettiest things I saw at the store. I mean, just check out the mustard seeds on it! As expected, each small bite was soft and fatty, but very succulent and sweet.

Probably the best thing we ate all day was the pressed beef tongue. You’ll devour it as fast as we did if you could just get past the gristly look of it. Don’t let the appearance fool you, though. The texture is smooth and jelly-like and each slice goes down like a well-cooked piece of beef.

Warm Food:

Upstairs in the small café, we pointed at a few pieces to try: baba ghanoush, bell peppers and eggplants, cabbage leaves stuffed with pork, potato lattkes stuffed with chicken and mushrooms.

There were plenty of freshly-baked breads, phyllo-wrapped everything and interesting-looking pastries made of honey, almonds and apricots. I even drank a coriander soda that tasted like a watered-down Robitussin. (No, that wasn’t good.) Four hours later, we’ve gone up and down the three-level grocery and deli store and have sampled all kinds of familiar and not-so-familiar delicacies from very far away places. All we had to do was take the subway.

M & I International Foods is at 249 Brighton Beach Avenue in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn.

Txikito

240 Ninth Avenue between 24th and 25th Streets
212/242.4730
$230 for four, with a bottle of wine, with tip
♥ ♥ ♥

I will always be impressed when someone can make something out of almost nothing. When that something is different than usual, I’m even more in awe of the skill that comes with that thought in the first place. At Txikito, there are some skillful people in the kitchen. Take my silverfish salad. Silverfish is easy to find in Chinatown; and cheap, too. At Txikito, they toss them in a light batter, fry to make them crunchy and serve them atop a bowl of wild arugula leaves. Then there are the leeks; poached and then drizzled in vinaigrette and sprinkled with chopped boiled egg. The dish is similar to one of Blue Ribbon’s signature dishes and it worked just fine on our table full of pork. My ultimate favorite “cheap” dish was the beef tongue, made crispy and served with mustard and cornichons. I relished the fact that the other two people at our table ate them–and liked them–because they had no idea what they were eating.

And then there are the dishes that take a lot of preparation and warrant the price on the menu. I’ve eaten octopus carpaccio a few times before, but the Txikito version is one of the best ones. Perhaps tenderized by slapping each piece against a chopping board (a la Jewel Bako) and then drizzled with oil, lemon juice, marjoram and some chili, it was tender and crunchy at the same time: a texture that might be weird to some, but really good to me. The suckling pig special was the most expensive on our bill at $30, but it was succulent and tasty; the meat melting off the bones and all the fat dripping down the crispy skin–pure heaven.

The blistered serrano peppers were hotter in the end than I would have liked; the Catalan version I savored in Barcelona was much sweeter. The crab meat gratin was tasty but unexciting. The blood sausage was wrapped in crispy egg-roll skin; it killed me to pay $8 for them. The small sandwiches of unsmoked bacon seemed out of place with the dinner items, but I liked the finger-food presentation.

Our waitress was very patient and brought out everything in perfect timing and order. One of us never experienced Spanish pintxos before, so I watched the waitress patiently explain the food choices to him. We selected a lot of meat, but she made sure the seafood and vegetables came in between. On a busy Saturday night, they let us stay until 11:30pm even though we were one of the last tables around. As we exited the restaurant, our inexperienced friend said, That has got to be one of the best dinners I’ve had in a long time. Txikito is good for that, but also excellent for someone like me.

Market Table

54 Carmine Street on the corner of Bedford
212/255.2100
$90 each for a group of three, with a bottle of wine, with tip
♥ ♥ ♥

Is it too early to name my favorite restaurant of 2009? Last year, I ate at Dovetail the day after Christmas (and a week after its official opening) and it set the bar for my 2008 dining. If Market Table set the tone for the year last Friday, then the bar is pretty high for me right now.

Four of us giggling girls were ten minutes late for our round table at Market Table. I got a call from the maitre d’ while we were turning the corner on Bedford. I hate being late most of all, so I ran ahead of my friends to apologize to the front of the restaurant. It’s in the old Shopsin’s space with large glass windows facing the corners of Carmine and Bedford, but it’s warm and welcoming as you step inside. The maitre d’ shrugged off our tardiness while our waiter treated us as if we’ve been coming to the restaurant for the last few months.

Market Table opened first with a store, but the demand for more tables was high so they went full force with just the restaurant. Former Mermaid Inn chef Mikey Price joined forces with Little Owlâ€™s Joey Campanaro and Gabriel Stulman to open a larger space in the West Village with a menu that’s hearty and, to be honest, hard to fuck up. At Market Table, the kitchen showed how simple food can be so good if you just execute well.

The beef carpaccio was served with an egg salad, shaved Parmesan cheese, capers and croutons. The thin slices of beef were so fresh, they melted in our mouths. If one of us didn’t like the idea of raw beef, I didn’t have to convince her to try them. The seared scallops were sweet and succulent and lightly charred to perfectly meld with the slices of bitter blood orange and tangy hearts of palm. The hamachi sashimi with the limey vinaigrette was the first one to go; the hazelnuts gave it texture and the apple some crunch.

I can’t give the grilled lamb T-bones justice here. You should just go and order them medium-rare and taste for yourself. Why can’t every lamb I order be as good as this? They were the most expensive item on the menu at $32, but each serving comes with two large chunks good to share between two. Of course, the three of us got our own. The watercress and sunchoke salad that came with it made it extra special, drizzled with red wine reduction and melted Gouda cheese. The pork tenderloin was so moist and naturally sweet with pancetta wrapped around it. The small roasted tomatoes and banana fingerlings made it more exciting than just plain potatoes.

The desserts were the weakest during our visit. The brownie wasn’t the moist type we all were panning for while the butterscotch pudding wasn’t the favorite. I think we were all looking for something more dense and cake-y. (I can only imagine how heavenly it would be if the Dovetail pastry chef swooped in at Market Table.) But if a casual get-together ends with a high-end dining experience, give me a cup of mint tea and I’ll call it a very good night.

Vinegar Hill House

72 Hudson Avenue between Front and Water Streets, near DUMBO Brooklyn
718/522.1018
$40 each for a group of 5, with drinks and tip
♥ ♥

If you’re tired of the lumberjack look because you’ve seen enough of the same style at Freemans, Hearth and even the J. Crew Men’s Shop in TriBeCa, you’re better off going elsewhere. If you like plaid shirts and facial hair, plus a more accommodating service than any of those hipster places in Manhattan, Vinegar Hill House is just your place. (The couple who owns the restaurant met on the job at Freemans.) In a week’s time between my two visits, the vibe in Vinegar Hill House changed dramatically: it was the booze. The restaurant was a little more somber and comforting before they got their liquor license, but now with the hot toddies going around, the buzz is louder and, well, more intoxicating.

A lot has been said about the chicken at Vinegar Hill House and all the good things about it are true: it’s moist and liberally seasoned. But it is still just chicken, and at $16, it should be moist and well-seasoned. The Brussels sprouts were softer during my second visit and I wondered if they were baked that time around instead of roasted. The delicate squares of ravioli were just that, and the pork and trout dishes were without frills. All together, they made a nice meal even if everything is streamlined and very simple, capped with a slice of not-so-Guinness chocolate cake.

I do like a little adventure on my menu and nothing gets me more excited than something out of the box when it comes to classic dishes. I know Jean Adamson is a capable chef, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she brings out the guns as more and more seasonal ingredients come out in the spring. Perhaps it’s to keep Manhattanites away; and in this day and age of too many plaid shirts, that’s just fine with me.

Soba Totto

211 East 43rd Street off Third Avenue
212/557.8200
about $80 for two people, with sake, with tip
♥ ♥ ♥

I don’t need any horoscope to tell me that I’ve been living a lifestyle I can’t afford, but it was right there on OK! Magazine, a copy I picked up after someone left it in the subway. I have been mooching off the Dr. the last couple of weeks, what with my unemployment insurance delayed and all, and feeling bad that he’s been spending for two. Last week, he wanted to eat soup and he invited me to come with him. How could I say no?

We sat at the bar and watched the place fill up. The kitchen in front of us went up in smokes whenever the guys grilled some yakitoris. We started with a few: bacon-wrapped asparagus, chicken knee bones (mmm, soft cartilage), some very livery riba and a plate of charred green peppers. A small bottle of a super dry sake helped us washed everything down.

But what we really came for is Soba Totto’s soba. I had the duck, kamo nanban, while the Dr. tried the mushroom. They were so different from each other: his broth had a subtle but earthy taste and mine was straight-up rich in flavor. The noodles easily gave, the duck melted in my mouth and the mushrooms provided some texture. Neither needed extra condiments–they were perfect the way they were served. Our bowls didn’t look like much, but sometimes soba is all you need even if someone else offers to pick up the tab.