Recent Eats

As a general rule, I refuse to take pictures of food while I'm eating. I'll make exceptions if it's outside and I'm alone, but don't expect any dim restaurant pics here. That doesn't mean we can't talk about the food though.

El Toro Taqueria, Fort Greene, Brooklyn:
Uninspired but decent enough tacos. R likes them more than I do. I'm definitely willing to go back and try the burritos though, as they're very reasonably priced around $7. Cheapness and the proximity to BAM will keep us coming back until something better comes along.
*Update* Still haven't gotten around to the burritos, but we did sneak some tortas into the movies last night. Again, uninspired. Not half as good as this one food truck that used to park on 9th Ave around 58th St. (Maybe it still does, but I don't work over there anymore.)

Chiang Mai vs. Kao Soy, Red Hook, Brooklyn:
Red Hook has recently seen a surge of Northern Thai restaurants. Pok Pok kicked things off a few years ago, and then suddenly there were two more a bit further south, right across the street from each other. There's a bad-blood backstory, but in the interest of fairness we visited both.
Chiang Mai came out ahead, mostly thanks to Kao Soy's whole-fish situation. It's good, this fish, but it's also the spiciest thing in the universe (and I'm backed up on this by a lot of other spicy-food people), so after a few bites it's basically inedible. To be fair, it says on the menu that it's spicy, and the waitress warned us, but... there's a line between wowza-spicy and inedible, and this crossed it. Chiang Mai also has a much more comprehensive beverage menu than you'd expect at a Thai place and, ironically, the "khao soi" I ordered was delicious.

Battersby, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn:
This was our blowout (seriously; not cheap) third-anniversary dinner. Seven-course tasting menu plus wine pairings. Overall, they were a bit too heavy-handed with the butter, but we definitely enjoyed every course. By the time we left my stomach was aching.
Here's the rundown (obviously seasonal, so your mileage will likely vary): corn soup, dashi (both amuse-bouche), scallops, tuna crudo, fluke, honeynut squash, chestnut pasta, rabbit roulade, ginger cream (palate cleanser), almond joy sundae, nutella mousse (one of each, served together). (I had to explain to R what "almond joy" meant. Candy is one of those very country-specific things.)

Misclenanea

Miscelanea, East Village, Manhattan:
I went for the Cafe Helado con Horchata, which sounded good in theory but ultimately didn't taste quite right to me. The torta I impulse-bought for lunch, on the other hand, was great. Queso Oaxaca. There's a small bench outside the shop (it's a sort of Mexican general store in addition to a counter-service cafe), but it was full, so I biked my sandwich back over the Manhattan Bridge and ate down by the water instead. They even throw in some fresh chips and a tiny container of pickled carrots.

Brooklyn Bridge Park

Patacon Pisao, Lower East Side, Manhattan:
The patacon -- a sandwich with plantains for bread -- sounds like it's going to be the shit, and it's pretty good, but it's the chachapa that really stood out. Either way, you get enough food for two meals.

Burger Mexicano, Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn:
Once upon a time, my neighborhood had a wonderful Mexican restaurant. It was my bar, my local, my everything. Now it's gone. It was replaced by a brighter, crappier Mexican restaurant -- and by this place, around the corner. So I really wanted to like Burger Mexicano. And it was fine, I suppose, as these things go. Bit cramped and noisy though, and not nearly enough guacamole in an order thereof. Does not replace the hole Cafe Enduro left in my heart.

MAP
RECIPE: Sock-It-To-Me Cake, which I'd never heard of before I started at the Schomburg, but which I've made more than once now, by request.

Ink

In 1999, tattooing was still illegal in Massachusetts, so I drove to a strip mall in New Hampshire for my first tattoo. It hurt like hell, and I swore up and down that my first would also be my last. The artist just chuckled, spritzed my back with cool soapy water, and said, "You'll be back."

He was right. I've added six tattoos to my collection since then, each in a different place (geographically, I mean; they're all on my back), representing a different stage of my life. (2001: Edinburgh, 2004: Tokyo, 2005: New York, 2005: Auckland, 2007: New York, 2012: New York.) Eventually there will be a seventh. I know what it will be, and where, and by whom; it's just a question of putting those pieces together -- and, of course, moving on to another stage and marking the occasion.

For some people, I assume, tattoos are a form of art, expression, or fashion. They're worn decoratively. For me, well, unless we go swimming together you'd never know I had any. My tattoos are just that: mine.

People without tattoos commonly make three objections to getting one: they hurt; there's no design they'd want for that long; they're permanent. To which I say: yes; that's not the point; that is.

I put thought into each of my tattoos, and I chose each design for a reason. I still like all of them, but the one I chose in 1999 isn't something I'd choose in 2015. I've changed. And the tattoos remind me, in a way nothing else can, of what those changes are.

Once upon a very specific time, I was a person who chose to be tattooed with a tree, wings, leaves, words... I am not that person now. At no point along the way was I ever that person again. But looking at the tree, the wings, the leaves, the words, takes me back to what it meant to be the person who chose them.

Tattoos are permanent? You're damn right they are. Own who you are, and the growing up it took to get there.

And since I've had several people ask for recommendations, here are some good shops in NY: MAP.

RECIPE: Three-Ingredient Energy Bars. I keep some version of these in my desk at all times.

Dumplings

Disclaimer: This is a Manhattan post. There is no shortage of great dumplings in Brooklyn and Queens, but for right now let's assume you're in Chinatown and hungry.

When I moved back to NY in 2006, after a few years of living in Japan and wandering Southeast- and Austral-asia, there were a few things that made me very, very happy. Pizza and bread topped the list, but five-for-a-dollar dumplings were not far behind.

Back then there were two standard-bearers: Prosperity Dumpling and Tasty Dumpling. There were plenty of other contenders, but those two were consistently plump, juicy, and hot. Unfortunately, both have long since been discovered by the foodies. Tasty Dumpling fell victim to its own popularity by cleaning up their act, renovating, putting in shiny menu screens... and forgetting to focus on the quality of their product. Prosperity Dumpling went the opposite route, sticking to their quintessential hole-in-the-wall guns, and eventually getting shut down by the health department.

(About which: Look, they're cheap-ass dumplings. They're delicious. It's Chinatown. I'd be suspicious if they weren't being assembled in a rat-infested back alley. Save your A ratings for sushi or spend your dollar elsewhere but leave my dumplings alone!)

So what do we do now? Surprisingly, one of your best options for classic pan-fried dumplings is actually a mini chain, Vanessa's. The price has gone up -- it's now only four-for-a-dollar, but it's still hard to complain when you can feed two hungry people with a fiver. Actually, half the time I don't get the dumplings at all, because Vanessa's is also pretty good at their sesame pancake sandwiches. Crispy and oily on the outside, pillowy on the inside, and stuffed with veggies, an egg, or some roast pork, it's hard to go wrong. My only caution is: if you're in a hurry, stick to those two options. All the other dumplings are cooked to order, and I've seen other people wait upwards of 10-15 minutes for the more obscure boiled varieties.

If you have difficulty with the number of non-Chinese people in Vanessa's, you don't have to look far for more "authentic" experience. Four doors up is Shu Jiao Fu Zhou. Dumplings are the same price here, though phrased differently at eight-for-two-dollars, and they are excellent -- boiled, and much herbier and more sophisticated than their pan-fried cousins. For another two bucks you can get a plate of peanut noodles, and be very happy.

Both Vanessa's and Fu Zhou offer bags of fifty frozen dumplings to take home. And let me tell you, it is a wonderful thing to remember those in your freezer when you get home at 1am a little worse for wear. In any event, neither of these locations offers much in the way of ambient seating. If you're looking for a nicer dine-in experience, swing around west to Shanghai Asian Manor. They're soup dumplings are solid, and the Szechuan wontons some of the best. This has become my go-to brunch spots because yes, dim sum made to order is so, so much better than coagulating hollandaise.

MAP
RECIPE: Baked Risotto. I make this, on average, every few weeks. Sometimes as-written, sometimes totally stripped down and with different ingredients all together.

Halloween

This is going to be one of my rare pictureless posts. Why? Because the best part of Halloween in NY is just living it. Plus there are plenty of other picture sources out there.

I don't care if you don't like dressing up. I don't care if you hate candy. I happen to love both, but regardless, I stand by this advice: Go to the Village Halloween Parade. You don't have to walk in it. You don't even have to see the parade itself. It's enough just to be in the area, soaking it in. Because man, there is a lot to soak in. And it's awesome.

Do yourself a favor, too, and ride the subway there and back. It may be crowded and crazy, but when else will you find yourself on the same car, as my coworker did this weekend, with "war boys, Travis Bickle, Marty McFly, and both a black and a white Jesus."

(For the curious, my past costumes include: Seven of Nine, Delerium, Annie Lennox, Grammar Nazi, Two-Face, Peter Pan, Charlie Chaplin, Scuba Diver, Santa Claus, and The Crow.)

RECIPE: Mushroom Soup. Once you know how to make this soup, you know how to make all soups.