Pan Fried Wild Arctic Char with Asparagus and Three-Bean Salad

Like everyone else in the city, I'm ready for spring to stop putzing around and arrive already. Every time I think I'm going to get the ol' grill out, we get hit with another cold snap. When my sister-in-law came over to use my copy of TurboTax last Wednesday, I had visions of cooking a meal like the main course I served my mother on her birthday last July but Mother Nature had other plans. Desperate for food with a char (no pun intended), I pulled the grill pan out and flooded our apartment with smoke.

The meal was really straightforward but it still took me about an hour to prepare. For the bean salad, I grilled a few ears of corn and some red peppers and combined them with diced red onion, vine-ripened tomatoes and canned cannellini, black and garbanzo beans, over which I drizzled olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Once the salad was finished, I threw the asparagus in the grill pan and pan fried the arctic char. Once the fish was cooked, I threw together a simple white wine sauce with oso onion, garlic, lemon and butter. I used too much onion and garlic so the "sauce" came out a little chunky but it was still a tasty topping for the fish. Read Full Entry

Brunch @ Sidecar

When MB and I woke up last Sunday, we knew we wanted brunch but we couldn't decide where we should go. After rattling through the regular suspects - Sette, Miracle Grill, 12th Street Bar and Grill, Stone Park Cafe, Little D's, Applewood - we decided to take a walk and see if we could find something new. After enjoying a long walk down 7th Ave towards Greenwood Cemetery, we headed down to 5th Ave. By the time we reached 6th Ave, we were starving so we headed to Sidecar, hoping they served brunch. Lucky for us, they do.

The last time we dined at this local eatery was back in August, under completely different circumstances. As we walked in, we saw my former coworker, Trevor, who was just finishing his meal. Trevor lives right around the corner on 15th between 3rd and 4th and according to him, Sidecar only recently began serving brunch. It was actually his first time eating there too but he strongly recommended the migas and the home fries.

Rather than sit in a booth, MB and I ponied up to the bar. I couldn't decide what I wanted to drink but as soon as our bartender, Joe, mixed a Bloody Mary, I knew I had to have one. Their mix is decidedly cajun which, in addition to the horseradish vodka, really brings the heat. Even the garnish was out of the ordinary; celery and olives were replaced by a pickled green bean and a cherry pepper.


As we sucked down our drinks, we focused on the menu and put together a ridiculous mid-afternoon meal. Relying on Trevor's recommendation, we split an order of migas and home fries but we also grabbed some cheese grits, bacon and toast. It's hard to say what was the best part of the meal - everything was stupendous - but the bacon was probably the most noteworthy. It wasn't much to look at and when I picked it up, I felt the thickness to crispness ratio wasn't up to snuff, but when I finally tasted it, I could tell we were enjoying some grade-A pork. I don't want to understate the quality of the migas but the cheese grits were also top-notch. Of course, I'm a Yankee, so my opinion in these matters doesn't really count but MB gave her seal of approval and seeing as she's a Texan, I'd say that's all the credibility we need.

As we were finishing our meal, I decided to take a bite out of the cherry pepper garnishing my drink. I made the wise decision to confirm the variety of the pepper with Joe before chomping down on it. After all, a pickled cherry pepper looks a hell of a lot like a scotch bonnet. Although they only register a mild 500 Scoville Heat Index rating, I aimed for the flesh, letting the seeds and inner juice drip out into my glass. Of course, when I took a huge slug of my Bloody Mary moments later, I quickly realized my efforts were completely wasted. Fortunately, the burn dissipated after 10 minutes or so.

As if brunch wasn't enough food, MB had a hankering for something sweet so we stopped by the Delices de Paris bakery on 9th Street on the way home and picked up this delectable little bear pastry.

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Emiliana Torrini @ Hiro Ballroom

DOWNLOAD: Birds - Emiliana Torrini

This past fall, my friend Paul spent some time in Iceland and Sweden. Upon his return to the States, he provided me with a bunch of new music from abroad including Emiliana Torrini's latest album, Me and Armini. I knew nothing about the Icelandic singer prior to listening to this album but I was immediately impressed with her voice and her song writing. Just a few months later, Paul mentioned she was playing an intimate show at Hiro Ballroom.

Hiro is a beautiful, Asian themed room located below the Maritime Hotel. On a typical night, the venue is home to DJs and table service but my experience with the club has been anything but typical. The only other time I've been there was back in October when I saw Andrew Bird the same week he finished recording his latest, Noble Beast.

Opening for Ms. Torrini was another Icelandic singer, Lay Low; her given name is Lovísa Elísabet Sigrúnardóttir but she uses Lay Low onstage. Paul had hooked me up with latest, Farewell Good Night's Sleep, when he gave me Emiliana's album but I hadn't listened to it more than once before the show. Her performance was pleasant but subdued; as I'm writing this review almost a week and a half after the show, I can't say much about her set stands out in my mind.

Emiliana's set, on the other hand, was very memorable. Although she played several songs off some of her older records, the focus was decidedly on Me and Armini. There's not much to be said about her stage presence but she told wonderful stories between songs. She also did a masterful job selecting songs, building the set steadily throughout the evening.


The show really hit a peak about three-quarters of the way in when she played Birds and she managed to keep the energy up for the rest of the show. Clearly, things went even better than Ms. Torrini had hoped. With the audience clamoring for more after a pair of planned encore tunes, Emiliana quickly conferenced with her band and decided on one extra tune before calling it quits.

Overall, I was impressed with her performance. Even though the show was slightly more restrained than I was in the mood for that evening, it was abundantly clear why she's so popular in the U.K. With some good press and an extended tour of the States, I wouldn't be surprised if she became a household name in the U.S. within a year.

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Hanco's Vietnamese Sandwich Shop

At some point this winter, the Tea Lounge on 7th Ave closed its doors and has since been replaced by Hanco's, a Vietnamese sandwich shop that has it's primary location in Boerum Hill. Recently, I read somewhere that more bánh mì eateries have opened in NYC in the last year than any other type of restaurant. I haven't had the pleasure of trying one until Saturday.

One glance at the ingredients in a bánh mì and its pretty clear these sandwiches are a delicious by-product of French colonial rule in Vietnam during the 19th and 20th centuries. Ham, pork and pâté with shaved carrots, daikon radish and cucumber served on a baguette with some mayo and butter? Sign me up! Everything inside the sandwich was incredible but the bread really held the sandwich together, literally and figuratively. The baguette was crisp but not to hard, making it possible to eat the sandwich without destroying it.


To accompany the sandwich, MB ordered up her favorite Vietnamese treat, a pair of gỏi cuốn - spring or summer rolls, depending on who you ask. Unlike their fried cousins, chả giò, these rolls are basically a small salad you can eat with your hands. Peaking through the uncooked rice paper, you could see the three medium shrimp resting on a bed of rice vermicelli and greens. The rolls are served with a light peanut dipping sauce.

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Spring-loaded - Grimaldi's, Flatbush Farm's Bar(n) and APW Festival Announcement

A week after its official arrival, Spring finally made it's presence known in NYC this evening. Fortunately, MB and I had no major plans so we were able to enjoy a relatively quiet evening in BK. After jetting home and taking a quick nap, we headed to DUMBO for some Grimaldi's pizza with a bunch of friends and some out-of-towners.

If you're not from NY (or you've been living under a rock for the past century), Grimaldi's is one of city's more famous pizza joints. I'd had the pleasure of consuming a few of their slices in the past but it was always during the summer at a "Movies with a View" event under the Brooklyn Bridge, roughly 3 or 4 hours after it came out of the oven. In that condition, I never thought much of the pizza, but after tasting it at it's best, I've got to say their pizza is worth the hype.

The line out the door was as advertised - we waited about 45 min for a table - but we were more than happy to spend the first nice evening of the season outside near the water. Once inside, I couldn't believe how quickly our group of 8 strangers put together a communal pizza order. One white pie, one cheese and one pepperoni. What more could you ask for?

My biggest problem with the 4-hour old Grimaldi's pizza I'm accustomed to eating is the crust. It's usually just slightly charred. On a luke-warm, hardened slice, the carbon makes it taste like ash but when the pizza is fresh out of the oven, it adds just the right touch of flavor. To cap off the meal, MB and I split a cannoli and an espresso.

We thought about staying down in DUMBO for a drink or maybe to catch whatever was happening at Galapagos but decided to head back to the Slope instead. When we got back, the night was still too young and too beautiful to head inside so we took a walk down 7th Ave. Earlier in the evening, I'd mentioned Flatbush Farm's Bar(n) as a potential nightcap locale so it wasn't too surprising when we ended up sipping on a Sixpoint Bengali Ale and a Coney Island Sword Swallower before heading home for the evening.

As we were sitting at the bar, I happened to check in on Twitter and noticed a post from Brooklynvegan about APW. There's been little press about the future of the festival, which was held for the first time last year in Liberty State Park, NJ, but I was keeping my fingers crossed that the people at Coachella Music and Arts Festival would bring the event back for a second year. Looks like I'm going to get my wish. The line-up will be announced on Monday. Brooklynvegan is sponsoring a contest where if you are able to pick the lineup, you'll get Saturday passes. Are you kidding me? This is like a March Madness bracket that I can actually win.

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Bjork with The Dirty Projectors @ Housing Works Bookstore Cafe

I just caught wind of a show with Bjork and The Dirty Projectors at a tiny venue that seats 300 people. After quickly checking my calendar, I snagged 2 tickets. As I woke up my wife, I realized the show is on her birthday. Last year, I surprised her with pit tickets for a Radiohead show in Charlotte, NC. At the time, I thought there was no way I could live up to that gift this year. I'm safe for now but I'm screwed in 2010. Read Full Entry

The Mermaid Inn

After destroying my friend Ashley's camera last weekend, I was more than happy to help her move a microwave from her office to her apartment, 5 blocks away. After all, she lives/works only about 10 blocks from my office. MB was coming in from Queens so we decided to rendez-vous near our old stomping grounds around the lipstick building in midtown-east. Ashley had more work to do but MB coerced her coworker, Andrea, to join us. We met at Vero, a conveniently located, albeit slightly pretentious, neighborhood wine bar.

A little more than one glass of wine and a plate of cheese later, we'd covered some important ground. To start, MB and I are going to look into The Modern as a venue for our anniversary dinner. It's also quite clear that, barring some unforeseen circumstance, we're headed to Gramercy Tavern with Andrea and her husband, Adam, sometime in the not-so-distant future. But the most relevant decision was to vacate the premises and head to The Mermaid Inn in the lower-east side at the corner of 6th and 2nd.

It wasn't a tough sell. We were sold the second the words "lobster roll special" fell out of Andrea's mouth. $20 for a good lobster roll ( a lobster sandwich, actually) and a Blue Point Toasted Lager? Sign me up. Sadly, we arrived at 7:25 and the special only lasts until 7 PM but that didn't really have much effect on the outcome other than the size of our bill. After splitting a half dozen oysters, half east coast and half west coast, we dove into our sandwiches.


"Sandwich" doesn't really do the dish justice but it's decidedly not a roll. There's no traditional New England-style hot dog bun. Instead, The Mermaid Inn uses a flakey roll with a brioche-like crust and croissant consistency. The replacement is more than acceptable and compliments the lobster meat well. Kissed with just a bit of mayo and Old Bay, I liked the lobster consistency, although the meat wasn't quite as chunky as I would have hoped for. I also liked the chives. They got me thinking about Spring. Paired with the sandwich were some mediocre Old Bay fries; I'd give 'em a 6.5.

At the end of the meal, we were served a small cup of chocolate pudding - forgettable, but an appropriate ending for a simple meal - and a Fortune Teller Miracle Fish. According to that small piece of plastic, I'm either fickle or dead.

[Update] For some reason, I completely forgot to mention the soundtrack to our meal, which was nothing short of awesome. MGMT. Kings of Leon. Frightened Rabbit. Either they use an incredible satellite radio station or someone put together a kick-ass playlist.

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