Savory Tidbits: Restaurant News and Views for NYC, San Francisco, Chicago and LA

Savory New York One Sheet: June 28th - July 3rd

// Recently Opened //

• The General Greene - Nicholas Morgenstern, formerly of Gramercy Tavern and Gilt, has opened this new restaurant in Fort Greene, serving seasonal American cuisine.

// This Week's Restaurant Reviews //

• NY Times:  In what reads like a 1 star review, Bruni gives 2 stars to Murray Hill's Bar Milano. "Italian cooking is about a lot more than pasta, but an Italian restaurant that bungles its pasta dishes is like a Las Vegas resort that doesn’t let you gamble. There’s still plenty to enjoy, but you’re likely to feel that the essential point and signature pleasure of the place have been lost."
• Dining Briefs takes a look at Brooklyn's Clover Club and Pomme de Terre
• The New York Sun's Paul Adams reviews Nolita's Elizabeth and cites their burger as the best dish on the menu, "a $14 cheeseburger capped with a giant Saturn's ring of cheese that's given a crisp edge on the grill before being melted onto the meat. It's a messy affair, spilling wantonly from its bun upon first bite, in a shower of shredded lettuce and juicy beef."
• The New York Daily News: RG rounds up of her picks for the best new restaurants on Long Island's East End. If you're heading out there this weekend, check with the RG first.
• Village Voice's Robert Sietsema visits Cedar Meat House in Astoria Queens for an outer borough meat-on-stick adventure.
• Time Out New York slams Tribeca's Ago for mediocre food and loud atmosphere, "(t)he restaurant is a dream, however, for low-sodium (read: no-flavor) dieters."

// In Other News //

Mark Bittman presents us with 101 20-minute recipes suggested for a pick nick. There are some good easy ideas in here and recipes are packed with Bittman's flavor for humor. No need to constrict these recipes to picnic fare. If you have guests popping in and out this Independence Day weekend, this list provides lots of inspiration.

• Los Angles Times reports on a new theme restaurant which recently opened in a Beirut suburb called, "Buns and Guns" (video included). The theme here is war and you can step up to the counter to order an "M16 Carbine sandwich" or a "Terrorist Meal." If you order the later, just be warned before opening the box; the slogan for the restaurant is "Sandwiches Can Kill You."

// Upcoming Events //

• Macy's 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular 2008 will start Friday evening at 9pm. Suggested viewing spots are located on the NYC.Gov site but if you're up for packing a (Bittman style) picnic and camping out for your spot, the Brooklyn Promenade is always a good choice. But if you get there late, the crowds will be packed from the promenade to the street.
• From July 10th - 31st, Savoy will be cooking up their third annual summer Clambake. Price is $50/person and buys you little neck clams on the half-shell, lobster stew and blueberry crumble to end.
• Madison Square Park Conservancy is holding an open air event July 15th, "Celebrate Flat Iron Chefs!" to raise money for the park. The event starts at 5:30pm for VIP entry ($250/ticket) and 6:30pm for general entry ($150/ticket). Some of the restaurants participating are; A Voce, Tabla, Eleven Madison Park, Country, Fleur de Sel and Resto. For more information visit their website.

Savory One-sheet: June 14-27

We're just back from two weeks in SF and Napa Valley where we visited over 30 new restaurants and will soon be posting videos for many of our recommended top choices for eating in the Bay Area.

// This Week on Savory New York //

Elliot Ryan files an update on great wines for the season with a look at the sparkling Italian wine Lambrusco. Ryan makes the case that this fun, refreshing wine makes a great alternative to the more common wines you're likely to see at the beach and in the park this summer. Read the article to find out where to try Lambrusco in NYC.

// Recently Opened //

• Forge - Marc Forgione, the son of celebrated American chef Larry Forgione, strikes out on his own in TriBeCa with his "laid-back     yet high-style approach to New American cuisine."
• Matsugen - Jean-Georges Vongerichten teams up with the Matsushita family of Japan to present authentic Tokyo cuisine in the old 66 space. 
• James - Dining in Prospect Heights just keeps getting better and better. Husband and wife team Bryan Calvert (formerly of Bouley and Union Pacific) and Deborah Williamson are serving European-influenced seasonal New American cuisine.
• Parlor Steakhouse - A new steakhouse and raw bar on the Upper East Side from the owners of the BB&R bar around the corner.
• Alloro - a new traditional Italian restaurant with "a modern flair" on East 77th Street from the chef/owner of Cacio e Pepe, Spiga and Bocca.

//This Week's Restaurant Reviews //

• The New York Times: Frank Bruni heads to the popular new wine bars, Gottino and Terroir, and finds "carefully sourced and thoughtfully prepared" food that warrants 1 star for each. 
• New York Magazine: Gael Greene calls Hundred Acres a "worthy work-in-progress."
• The New York Sun: Paul Adams has high expectations for Bar Milano and ends up being disappointed. "Either it will shape up in forthcoming months, or it can be taken as a sign that loud, clumsy, and crowded is just what its creators want Bar Milano to be."
• New York Daily News: RG can hardly contain herself so likes Scarpetta so much."So many chefs in New York are busy serving arguments. Conant serves conclusions."

// Blogs and Newsletters //

• Snack reports that season five of Top Chef will be shot in NYC.
• Kathy Chan over at Serious Eats files a report on NYC's top ice cream sandwiches.
• Sometimes meals at restaurants with big names don't go as swimmingly as one would hope. Augieland documents a Father's Day travesty at Fromagerie in New Jersey.

// Upcoming Events //

What do Alice Waters, Mario Batali and Dan Barber have in common? They're all supporting the creation of the New Amsterdam Market at South Street Seaport. The third meeting of the market convenes tomorrow and brings together dozens of supporting producers, distributors, chefs and other advocates. Find more information here.

Terroir Wine Bar is celebrating its first annual Summer of Riesling Festival. The summer long celebration will explore "all that is great about this grape and its wines." Paul Greico and company will explore the entire world of Riesling, from its German roots to its manifestations in Austria, Alsace, Australia and Canada.

Big Apple BBQ Block Party: Get to Know Your Pitmasters

The line up for this year's Big Apple BBQ Block Party was recently announced and it looks like it will be another great year of choice barbecue offered up by some of the barbecue world's finest pitmasters.

The event will be held, as always, in Madison Square Park. It will run from noon to 6pm on Saturday, June 7th and Sunday, June 8. Crowd surfing is free, but sampling the goods will cost $8 a shot.

Hardcore 'cue fans will want to pick up a FastPass soon. They're $100 each and are available to American Express cardholders. FastPass in hand, you'll be able to jump on the express lines and spare yourself the sometimes hour long waits to get fed. Get full details at the Big Apple BBQ Block Party web site.

Watch our short video interviews from the 2007 BABBP to get a flavor of what will be served up this year.

Mike Mills of 17th St Bar & Grill from Murphysboro, Illinois

Ed Mitchell of Mitchell's BBQ from Wilson, North Carolina

Chris Lilly of Big Bob Gibson's from Decatur, Alabama

Garry Roark of Ubon's BBQ from Yazoo City, Mississippi

Michael Rodriguez of Salt Lick from Driftwood, Texas

Jimmy Haygood of Black Jack from Charleston, South Carolina

Kenny Callaghan of Blue Smoke in New York City

Dinosaur BBQ, Hill Country and Rack & Soul of NYC will also be serving great BBQ this year.

Cool USC Beer Event: Beer Lore with Brooklyn Brewery's Garrett Oliver

Photo credit: mtkr on flickr

If you're a big time beer lover and are looking for a good excuse to play hooky on what will likely be a beautiful summer day you won't want to miss this one.

Garrett Oliver, brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery, author of The Brewmaster's Table, and seriously passionate beer advocate, will talk about the history and lore of beer  at this June's Union Square Cafe Morning Market Meeting.

I had the pleasure of hearing to Garrett speak at this year's Good Experience Live conference at the Times Center. He is a thoroughly engaging speaker and all around fun guy.

The event will be held at Union Square Cafe and runs from 8 to 10:15am on Wednesday, June 25th. Tickets are $60pp and will get you a nice sampling of beers, coffee, muffins and some face time with USHG honcho Danny Meyer and NYC's biggest beer advocate. As of this afternoon tickets are still available but they'll go fast so call 646-747-0581 to reserve today.

Upcoming NYC Cooking Classes with Notable Chefs

Flickr photo by DanMelinger

The Institute for Culinary Education catalog showed up at the office recently and a quick flip through its pages revealed a few fun sounding recreational class options for this summer. Here are a few of the choice options featuring well known NYC chefs and bartenders.

Progressive Cocktails with Eben Freeman
Tuesday, July 1, 7-9:30pm
Eben Freeman, who runs the cocktail program at Tailor in SoHo, will be teaching how to use atypical ingredients and innovative techniques to make "progressive" cocktails.

Mixology 101
Saturday, June 14, 6:30-9:30pm and Saturday, August 16, 6:30-9:30pm
Polish up on the basics before heading to Freeman's class with Savoy and Back Forty bar manager Michael Cecconi. He'll teach you how to perfect the martini, mojito, sidecar, strappy sandal and French 75.

Favorite Dishes from Hill Country
Friday, August 1, 6-11pm
Executive Chef Elizabeth Karmel will reveal the secrets of some of Hill Country's most popular dishes including their brisket, beer can game hen and, our personal favorite, Kreuz market sausages.

Favorite Dishes from Elettaria
Friday, August 15, 6-11pm
Akhtar Nawab, the former executive chef of Craftbar and The E.U. and current chef/co-owner of Elletaria, will demonstrate how he makes several of the signature dishes from his new Greenwich Village restaurant, including cured Tasmanian sea trout with heart of palm and beef sirloin with salsify, black trumpet mushrooms and bacon.

DeGustibus at Macy's Herald Square is also featuring a full calendar of demonstrations by top NYC chefs, including some great sounding options in June with Tabla chef Floyd Cardoz, John Schenk of Strip House, Josh Grinker of Brooklyn's Stone Park Cafe, Rebecca Charles of Pearl Oyster Bar, Alex Urena of Pamplona and Wylie Dufresne of wd-50.

For more information about DeGustibus classes at Macy's Herald Square visit the DeGustibus web site, call 212-439-1714 or email GRTCOOKS@AOL.COM.

For more information on ICE classes visit their web site or call 212-847-0770.

A Gift from England: Plymouth Sloe Gin

A little over a year ago our British friend, Veronica, brought us back a very special gift from her hometown of Plymouth, England. It was a petite bottle of Plymouth Sloe Gin, a ruby colored liqueur made from Plymouth Gin and sloe berries grown wild on Dartmoor.

We received the gift at Little Branch and our gratitude was punctuated by a question from our server, "Are you celebrating tonight?" She had spied the bottle sitting on the table. We replied that our friend was just handing it off to us. She said that the few times she'd seen a bottle in the bar it meant that someone had good news to share.

Last night Plymouth Gin had its own good news to share and it did so by hosting a party at The Back Room in the Lower East Side. The party was thrown to celebrate the U.S. release of Plymouth Sloe Gin. Needless to say, we're relieved that we'll now be able to enjoy cocktails like the Wibble, Sloe 75 and the classic Sloe Gin Fizz at select bars around NYC starting next month.

Visit www.plymouthgin.com for more info or stop into Little Branch, Pegu Club or Flatiron Lounge in a few weeks for a taste.

Beer Table

We were pleased to see Peter Meehan's nice write up of Beer Table in this week's Dining section in the New York Times. With some time to kill before dinner at Brooklyn Fish Camp last week in Park Slope we decided to pop into this small cozy spot to check it out. We were the first ones in that day and Justin and Tricia gave us a warm welcome. After looking over the impressive list of beers I settled on a curious sounding one from Picobroujerie Alvinne Melchiorre. As advertised it had a slight mustard seed taste and went well with the cheese that we ordered with it.

The experience prompted me to add a new "Food Features" category to the site today: Notable Beer List. It's a modest list to start but will grow over time as we track down more restaurants with strong beer offerings. If you see someplace that's missing by all means let us know.

The Elusive Cardoon

We usually make it a practice to buy things at the grocery store and greenmarket that we've never cooked before. Last weekend we stumbled across a nice looking bunch of cardoons so we picked them up and did a little research when we got back home.

We found a tasty sounding recipe for Cardoons with Fonduta from Anna Klinger, the chef/owner of Al Di La in Park Slope. Since we'd just enjoyed a great meal there last week we decided to give it a try. It's a fairly simple preparation that calls for boiling the cardoons until tender and then baking them in a Mornay sauce. The resulting dish was a nice blend of mild artichoke flavor (the cardoon is closely related to the Globe artichoke) and creamy cheese.

We don't recall having seen cardoons on any menus this winter but would love to try some before the season ends, typically around now. If you know where to find a cardoon dish somewhere in the city please drop us a line or leave a note in the comments to let us know where we can try it out.

Signs of Spring - Market (not Farmers) Report

Even though they travel all the way from California, we still consider seeing green almonds as a sign that spring is here. Sahadi's market on Atlantic Street in Brooklyn has had the nuts for the past two consecutive weeks and then last Sunday we saw them at the Red Hook Fairway.

Green Almonds have a soft shell that looks and feels like felt. You can peel the nut open with your fingers and eat the raw, jelly-like fruit inside.  They only stick around for a short period and once there gone, you won't see them again until next April.

Bartender Exchange: Death & Co. and The Alembic

As previously reported on Grub Street, Philip Ward, head bartender at Death & Company, recently launched a first of its kind exchange program to swap talent amongst a handful of pioneering bars around the country. Dave Mclean, owner of San Francisco's The Alembic, let us know via email late last week to keep an eye out for Thomas at Death & Co starting last night.

We stopped in yesterday to try out a few Alembic cocktails and enjoyed a smoky sweet Macanudo (partida anejo tequila, apricot eau-de-vie, qi smoked black tea liquer and a dash of agave nectar) and a delightful Bees Knees made with lavender honey flown in by Thomas from SF. We asked Thomas how it was to be working as a guest bartender and he said that aside from learning the layout of the bar, all that's needed was a fresh supply of ingredients, which were to be found at Dean & Deluca, Whole Foods and a few other spots around town. He also reported that a mid-day stop at everyone's favorite noodle bar was required eating.

Thomas will be behind the bar tonight and tomorrow before heading back to the West Coast. Ask for a copy of The Alembic bar menu (you can find a preview on The Alembic web site) a choose between "Canon" and "New School," or simply do what we did and ask for the bartender's choice. You won't be disappointed.