Wine 101

The other night I did something I've been wanting to do for a long time: I took a wine class! I learned a lot about the things you'd expect to hear about (acidity, tannins, etc.), but I think the biggest takeaway, for me at least, was learning how to detect different flavors in wines. Did you know that wines are made up of chemical compounds that actually match up to organic matter? So while there isn't actually any lychee or smoke or pepper or any of that other stuff in your wine, the chemical compounds mimick those flavors, so its pretty close. Definitely more scientific than I ever thought.

We got to try ten different wines (4 whites, 6 reds), and a cheese was paired for every two wines. These cheeses were stinky and flavorful and my mouth is watering just looking at this really bad iphone pic.


From the top going clockwise:

1) Vermont goat cheese, pared with 2 different kinds of Sauvignon Blanc. Very goaty, very good!
2) Sheep's milk from Spain, paired with 2 aromatic whites. Too gritty on the tongue for me.
3) Cow's milk cheese from the Netherlands, aged 4 years. This one was my favorite, slightly carmelized, sort of like cheddar. Paired with a Pinot Noir and Domaine de Montrieux.
4) Raw cow's milk from New York, paired with a Merlot and part Merlot, part Cabernet Sav. Savory, matched the oak-y Charles Smith Merlot. Yeah, oak, which is supposed to taste like "smokey, toasty caramel." Another thing I would have never known otherwise.
5)Sheep's milk from Spain with a quince paste, which is sort of like an apple jam. I kept really good notes on all the other cheeses but by the time I got to this one I was ten wines in and just wrote "YUM." Paired with a Shiraz and another red. I was skeptical, but the quince paste actually worked really well in the wine-cheese equation and had a great texture -- more solid than the jelly I was expecting.

What a great class. Learned a lot and got to meet some wonderful people as well. Can't wait to go back and try their more advanced classes (especially their 16 Wines, 18 Cheeses one).

NYC Wine Class
212-647-1875

Plain Vanilla at Anella

I don't mean it in a bad way at all. In fact, it's a really great thing that Anella keeps things so simple. It's refreshing. Nearly everything on their brunch menu is served on bruschetta and topped with fresh ingredients from their herb garden -- tomatoes, basil, parsley, mint, etc. If they don't grow it, it probably comes from local Rooftop farms. No hollandaise or anything to mask it. Just plain, simple and delicious.

It was super hot today and we needed something cold and refreshing, but nonalcoholic. Luckily they had a few really great sounding virgin cocktails. Rob had the orange basil spritzer (it usually features grapefruit instead of orange, but they were out). It was perfectly balanced with simple syrup and club soda.

My mint mulberry lemonade was refreshing as well, with just the right amount of sweetness.

The interior is made up of two long skinny rooms with lots of charming old wood. There's seating in their garden out back and lots of light throughout. I could see us coming by here for a drink, just to get a change of scenery. The bar area is semi-rustic and reminds me of an old ship, for some reason.

They brought out complimentary scones with just the right amount of frosting before our meal. It gave our sad blood sugar levels a much-needed boost.

Rob had the salmon with chive cream cheese, tomatoes, some kind of marinated red onions (maybe it was soaked in vinagrette?), and capers on bruschetta. He loved it, but the red onions made it a bit too acidic for my taste.

I had the spinach with prosciutto on bruschetta with tomatoes and basil. It was like biting into a fresh garden. The proscuitto tasted more like serrano ham to me, but no complaints on that, obviously. Each dish was served with roasted sliced potatoes that seemed homemade (some pieces were crispy, most were soft in the middle). My only complaint was that they weren't salty enough, and there was no salt on the table. Rob pointed out that asking for some would be an insult to the chef, but people are entitled to their own personal saltiness tastes, right?

Overall, it was a great, quiet place that had a nice secretive quality to it. It was nice to eat in the sunshine without baking in it, too. Can't wait to try dinner; their pastas and grilled veggies are supposed to be amazing.

Anyone else notice that everyone likes to name their restaurants slightly asymmetrical names (Anella, Anissa, Perilla)? I'm starting to think it's the mark of greatness.

Anella

222 Franklin Street (between Freeman & Green St)

Brooklyn, NY 11222

(718) 389-8100

Donut Ice Cream Sandwiches at Peter Pan Bakery

I know I've been on a burger kick these past few Fridays, but today I decided to one-up myself and eat the unhealthiest thing you could possibly think of: a donut ice cream sandwich. Peter Pan bakery, Greenpoint's best spot for an old-fashioned donut, recently added this insane concoction to the menu to help us cope with a boiling hot summer. Isn't that nice of them?

They have a whole selection of cake donuts and ice cream flavors to choose from. Then they make it fresh: slice the donut, scoop the ice cream and put it back together. I had the red velvet/vanilla ice cream combo.

I speedwalked home as fast as I can to save my little donut friend from getting all melty, but alas, I failed. It ended up tasting like a warm donut dunked in really cold milk. I bet if you eat the thing on premises, it would be much more refreshing. The red velvet donut was a good choice; I don't normally like cake donuts (and prefer my red velvets in cupcake form) but had a great soft texture with just the right amount of chocolatey taste.

Yeah, it's basically a stomachache between two pieces of stomachache. But where will you ever find a better, colder or more unique donut than this? You better get one before autumn gets here!

Peter Pan Bakery

727 Manhattan Ave

Brooklyn, NY 11222

(718) 389-3676

Cody Utzman on Chopped!

There are two major things I like to do on evenings: watch the Food Network and drink beer. So when I heard the nearby bar t.b.d. was hosting an evening to celebrate our local celebrity Cody Utzman's appearance on the Food Network's show Chopped, of course I showed up to share my love of food, tv and beer with my fellow Greenpointers.

TBD

Cody, who opened Brooklyn Label a few years ago, the Mexican street food spot Papacito's last summer and the gourmet bodega Brooklyn Standard even more recently, made the best sort of appearance possible. He cooked each course of the meal as it appeared on Chopped, starting with the appetizer (sausage, new potatoes, broccoli, red jam vinagrette), the entree (chicken, polenta, dandelion greens, starfruit, chutney) and dessert (which I left before I tried because a) it was getting late and b) I wasn't too eager to try a grape leaf dessert). I was in foodie heaven. How often do you watch a show on the Food Network and think, oh gee I really wish the chef were here right now to make it for me? Very awesome to have that reality.

Cody Utzman

Another cool thing about watching Cody prepare meals on the Food Network was to see his little personal flares shine through. It wasn't surprising that his go-to chicken accompanyment was polenta; he uses it as a base in two great brunch items found at Brooklyn Label and Papacito's. He also criss-crossed two chives across the meal to finish his plating on the show. You'll see the same thing on any plate at Brooklyn Label.

He won and made Brooklyn proud. It was great to be apart of such a fun experience!

Combining Two Loves: Food and Muppets

I stumbled across an article today that made me smile. Sixty-four year old Swedish chef Lars Kuprik Backman claims he is the inspiration for THE Swedish Chef, mainly based on what he described as a catestrophic live appearance on Good Morning America back in the '70s. While they don't offer any video footage, I can only imagine it involved pots and pans being flung around the room while he murmurs things that sound like "Sumee borkabork and a swermee wermee!"

The resemblance is uncanny, don't you think?

Burger Fridays

There are so many good burgers to be had in the city. Just ask the Burger Club from the NYTimes, read one of the latest articles from NYMag or check out Grub City's list of the city's 82 most notable burgers. It seems sort of overwhelming, as I want to try them all and not compromise my recent attempts to eat healthier. I think I've found the perfect plan of attack though: Friday afternoons, one new burger spot. I have half day Fridays in the summertime so its a great time to just sit and relax. Plus, I've found a burger with lots of bacon and cheese to be a pretty good reward for eating well during the weekdays.

I had my first burger of the summer at Dumont Burger. This place is fairly well-known as Williamsburg's favorite spot for a good bun and patty, so of course I felt the need to verify this loose claim. But honestly I wasn't terribly impressed, though it was a good, high chunk of meat. The ingredients were all very fresh (I tried mine with guacamole and grilled onions) but the meat was a bit overcooked. The saving grace here was the mac 'n' cheese -- simply incredible. My favorite kind of pasta (radiatore) that perfectly holds the thick cheese and crispy bacon in its folds, saturating it with cheesy perfection. I'm not usually a fan of heavy duty mac 'n' cheeses, but this one was amazing.

Dumont Burger
314 Bedford Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 384-6128
DumontRestaurant.com

Next stop was Joy Burger Bar in Harlem. Rob works near here and comes here a lot for lunch, so I joined him one Friday after work. Maybe I'm a tough burger critic, but again I wasn't all that impressed. There's no table service, you just wait in line and order at the counter. Very similar to Goodburger, although I have to admit I like Goodburger more (even though its crazy overpriced). Even if its slightly crowded when you get there, you'll have to wait forever because they make each burger to order. Munch (3 oz), midi (5 oz) or maxi (8 oz), then topped with whatever sauce you want (and they do have a nice selection of those). On my first visit I got the midi with garlic mayo and sauteed onions. The garlic mayo was pretty watery, and I couldn't even detect any garlicky taste. The burger was flat and the overcooked parts were gray and dripping with grease. My stomach didn't feel so great afterwards. On my next trip I swapped the mayo for some chimichurri sauce, which definitely improved the overall taste, though the meat was still flat and grayish. I think the medium-sized patty was too slim for it to have any hope of pink after it was ordered to medium doneness. It's too bad, but my stomach fared much better this time, even with a half order of mozzerella sticks. And at about $6 for a medium sized burger, the price is right here.

Joy Burger Bar
1567 Lexington Ave
New York, NY 10029
(212) 289-6222

Well, I guess the third time's the charm, because Prune absolutely blew me away. Maybe its because Prune figured out the perfect calculations for an ideal mound of ground meat: 80% beef and 20% lamb. Maybe its because I felt confident ordering the burger the way I really like it: medium rare. Maybe its the parsley-scallion butter that pares so well with the cheddar. Or maybe it's because of the English muffin. I've never been a big fan of bready hamburger buns -- they never add much to the burger equation anyway -- and I found the English muffin to be a great bun substitute. The greasy pink juices (which squirt out every which way upon every bite) settle into the crevices nicely, and the thin halves take up minimal room, so much of your bite is straight up beef and lamb. Put a small slice of cheddar cheese on top and a strip of bacon on the bottom and I think I found my favorite NYC burger yet. Much better than Five Napkin. Better than Luger's, even. Yeah... I said it. And I'm not taking it back.

Prune
54 E. 1st St.
New York, NY 10003
212-677-6221
PruneRestaurant.com

North Brooklyn Treasures -- Coffee, Ice Cream, and Movie Sets

On nice days after work, I like to take the 7 train to Vernon Jackson in Queens and then walk home over the Pulaski Bridge. Not only do I get a good 20 minutes of walking off the day, I get to explore one of my favorite areas -- the northernmost tip of Greenpoint. I'm not really sure why this place fascinates me so much. I guess it amazes me that such a very convenient area of Brooklyn has remained totally industrial, save for a few culinary gems that I've come to cherish. When walking alongside the huge warehouses and remote fish markets and who knows what else, all of a sudden you're in a neighborhood with delis and pharmacies and flowers in the window. I find it strangely inspiring.

Commercial Street looks exactly like it sounds, and stretches across Greenpoint as the last street before Newtown Creek. While there's not a whole lot going on, it has its perks. One of Commercial Street's best feature right now is the construction of an old timey Atlantic City boardwalk in one of the empty lots for HBO's upcoming show, Boardwalk Empire (exciting!). Here's a look at it had progressed the last time I wandered by:

The other, probably more important reason to visit Commercial Street: the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, which opened last November. The Nicky Hilton to its attention-loving sister at the Brooklyn Bridge, you never have to wait in line for a cone here. The ice cream is light and simple, not in the least rich or heavy tasting, probably because they don't use eggs in their recipe. I haven't tried any complex flavors yet -- only vanilla, chocolate, and coffee -- but they sure hit the mark on the traditional flavors.

Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory
97 Commercial St
Brooklyn, NY 11222

(718) 349-2506

From Commercial Street heading down, the streets are named alphabetically (Ash St., Box St., etc.). Keep in mind that my street, Greenpoint Ave, is the exception and should really be "Leanpoint" Ave (and, to confuse things further, the "G" street is of course called Green). So with that little geographical lesson in mind, I introduce Ashbox, the Japanese coffee shop on Manhattan Ave between Ash and Box, a good ten blocks away from home. Because of its distance -- and the fact that its closed on Sundays, after 6pm on weekdays and basically every other convenient time -- I don't get to visit Ashbox often. And that's unfortunate.

I don't know where all the patrons come from, but this place sure gets packed on a Saturday morning. Luckily though, it doesn't seem like it at all because everyone stays unusually hushed, often with their laptop, for some work time or quiet time, I suppose. Soft piano music plays from the speakers. People sip on homemade tea and nosh on homemade tofu salad or other healthy, semi Asian-style goodies. And where else can you find Japanese fluffy bread?

I ordered an iced coffee one morning while looking up movies for us to see at the MOMA. It was nice and strong, perfect for preventing wateryness when the ice starts to melt. Rob's hot chocolate tasted amazing, with hints of spices neither of us could even identify. The only problem was that 75% of the cup was foam. Very tasty foam, but foam nonetheless.

Ashbox
1154 Manhattan Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11222
(718) 389-3222

If you ever feel like taking a random stroll to a quiet area in our fair borrough, this is your place. But keep in mind you have to walk all the way back to India Street for the G train's last stop in Brooklyn.