Blue, Blue Sky Over Manhattan

Sunshine in Union Square

Minamoto Kitchoan @ 49th & 5th

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Still no snow, but when darkness falls at about 4:30pm and shops light up across the city, I don't know about you, but at least I'm drawn to spend retail dollars.  

Take this shop on 5th Avenue. On a typical day, I'd hurry by without a glance, intent as ever on exercising the bulge that exists between when an appointment is scheduled and when I arrive. Time isn't money. Time is fat, and it should be flogged into obeisance and stripped or melted away. Occasionally, you may indulge in it. But don't go overboard, or you'll be labeled inconsiderate, or a lollygagger. I strive to be punctual like I strive to look hot in skinny jeans. 

But after work, after dark, after the 6 train left crowds of commuters and me stranded in midtown, what could be more inviting than a collection of serene, sculpted Japanese sweets?

I wasn't too lean on time, so I pushed open the door and walked inside...

Captions are courtesy of http://www.kitchoan.com/

Oh, and please forgive the crap photography. I only had a phone on me (an older model).

Ayashirabe: Milky flavor white bean paste(contains egg yolk)
wrapped in Japanese cake. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a caption for the little fish cake called Tenkataihei (but it's probably chestnut and red bean paste.)

This is Japanese style jelly made from fresh high quqlity white peach.
It gives light smooth texture to the jelly and brings natural white peach jelly.

Japanese Cherry covered with lightly sweetened jelly.
Packaged in Spring-like colors.
Brings you the natural Cherry flavor.

Below, Daikitchoimo: Fluffy sweet potato cake with Egg Yolk flavor bean paste.
And above, Oribenishiki: Japanese traditional Kurimanju, using chestnut and sweet red bean paste wrapped in Japanese cake.

Ante Meridian @ Parsons The New School for Design

The frequent opportunity to walk past somebody else's art project is part of what makes you love NYC even more...and those adorable kids! With faces like these, later your students can be forgiven for yawning in class.

Monday Brooklyn Snapshots

North 6th between Kent and Wythe, looking for Banksy...with no luck. 

Private recycling center this morning on Eagle

Couldn't find the folkloric Bansky pieces...

But I thought my students might be able to debate the value of this in class tomorrow morning.

Trash barge just passed under the Pulaski Bridge heading toward the East River

Tempering Chocolate Aggression at Morimoto

Click here to read this feature on StarChefs.com

Carving Chocolate

by Jessica Dukes

 Antoinette Bruno  Jessica Dukes

August 2011

Biography

Pastry Chef Manabu Inoue

Technique Video

Punching Holes in a Chocolate Globe

Recipe

Salty Caramel Ganache, Chocolate Sable, Cacao Nib Tuile, Dark Chocolate Sorbet, and Dark Chocolate Globe

Photos

Pastry Chef Manabu Inoue of Morimoto– New York, NY

Nobody knows presentation like a Japanese chef. And Pastry Chef Manabu Inoue knows how to elicit a chorus of "oohs" and "aahs" from any table at Morimoto in Chelsea. His desserts regularly inspire gratitude on the part of the diner at their very delivery. They also function to transition diners authentically from savory to sweet (even when Western-inspired riffs on cheesecake and sundaes make appearances) by adhering to the Japanese philosophy so evident at Chef Masaharu Morimoto's eponymous establishments: each component in the dining experience is a gift presented by the host to the guest.
Inoue’s Salty Caramel Ganache, Chocolate Sable, Cacao Nib Tuile, Dark Chocolate Sorbet, and Dark Chocolate Globe could be mistaken for a jewelry box. Like a candy bar fit for a penthouse (gold leaf “wrapper” included), the dish layers crunchy, smooth, and chewy textures into an architectural celebration of chocolate—informed by Inoue's globe-trotting pastry background and a confessed chocolate obsession.
To house the dessert, Inoue fashions a chocolate shell—a visual cross between a birdcage and a disco ball—by tempering chocolate and pouring it into a spherical mold. After the chocolate hardens, he uses tools to push holes of various sizes through the (extremely) delicate chocolate shell. He then fastens one half of the globe to the plate using a little tempered chocolate and cold spray. After resting his multi-tiered sweet gently (very gently) inside the shell, he (holding his breath) affixes the two hemispheres of the globe together.
The technique requires patience and precision, and a temperament for chocolate. As Inoue says, his biggest problem working with chocolate is struggling to maintain cool temperatures in a busy kitchen. His tip is to work during the early hours of the morning in the unobstructed quiet and uninterrupted cool of a kitchen at rest. Though the labor involved is considerable, Inoue’s sculpted edible gift never fails to turn heads in the dining room.

Top Pairs: Indian Food Wine Pairings at NYC's Junoon

Chef 

Click here to read this feature on StarChefs.com

See the News & Media section of Chef Vikas Khanna's blog
This feature appears alongside Sam Sifton's review of the restaurant in The New York Times  : )

Top Pairs: Indian Food Wine Pairings at Manhattan's Junoon Restaurant

by Jessica Dukes with Will Blunt with photos by Shannon Sturgis 

Vol. 16

June 2011

An ice-cold bottle of Kingfisher Lager leaps into your head—because you’re familiar with the beer’s bready sweetness and punchy herbal hops, and because you’ve been asked, “what goes with both Madras curry and Rogan Josh?” In India, from the Kashmir to Kerala, proteins and vegetables typically cede center stage to sauces of varying density, curries, spice, and heat. And chilled malt and hops have long been the antidote to piquant aggression. But for the thinking person’s beverage director or sommelier, India’s kaleidoscope of spice combinations and variable heat spectrum begs for something more than a simple thirst-quencher.
The dryness and low alcohol content of a cold brew may be adept at soothing palates set ablaze by spice, but Master Sommelier and lecturer Scott Carney of Junoon in New York City wants to introduce guests to the illimitable nuances of wine and their power when paired with Indian food. With wine, he hopes “to give the food and its complexity more respect. Beer is the default beverage setting [for Indian cuisine.] But I think the food here warrants something more than that.”

Restaurant

• Junoon
• 27 West 24th Street
• New York, NY 10010
• (212) 490-2100
• www.junoonnyc.com

Who

• Sommelier Scott Carney
• Long before Scott Carney came on as beverage director of Junoon, he was an integral player in the New York City wine scene, earning his Master Sommelier title while directing the beverage program atGotham Bar & Grill. Since Junoon's opening in December 2010, Carney has built the restaurant's wine list from scratch, assembling 250 labels to accompany Chef Vika Khanna’s cuisine. Carney's pairings harmonize wine with the complexities of Indian spices and sauces, and complement the wide array of cooking techniques found in Indian gastronomy. He has found that, unlike beer, wines can either amplify the heat in a dish or soothe the palate suffering from too much spice. Carney is inspired by the “excitement of sensory travel,” and invites diners “to pack curiosity and explore the sub-continent” through the interplay between its cuisine and the fruit of the vine.

Wine

2008 Esprit de Beaucastel Tablas Creek

Dish

Monkfish Tikka Tandoor: Hung Yogurt, Serrano Chilies, and Mustard Seed Puree

Pairing Note

Chef Vikas Khanna’s tandoor clay oven produces tender, meaty, monkfish with a deep, roasted flavor. The aromatic, creamy, and spicy sauce envelops the table, whose guests, Carney hopes, will avoid guzzling beer by rote. Carney selects a 2008 Beaucastel Blanc, with a rounded body and low acidity to pair with the dish. Its elegant honeysuckle and lemon nose, with some tropical fruit, thyme, and tarragon notes, neutralize some of the dish’s more assertive flavors. The Serrano chilies inspired Carney, when he first began building the wine list in December 2010, to play with diners’ expectations about heat through complementary and contrastive pairings. With the Beaucastel, a creamy texture bordering on coconut oil coats the mouth, and sidesteps the pepper’s capsaicinoid scorch. “Chili peppers are hot, and the logic is that with heat like that, wine with a viscous quality will retard the influence of alcohol and spice.” And the wine’s cool, wet-stone finish keeps pace with the lingering, potent flavors of the sauce.

+ Click dish photo to enlarge

Wine

2007 Grüner Veltliner Achleiten Prager

Dish

Nadru Kofte Handi: Kashmiri Lotus Root, Homemade Cheese, Red Bhutan Rice, Cashew Nuts, and Cardamom

Pairing Note

Khanna’s lotus root patties with potato and paneer cheese is a traditional and bold vegetarian dish from the Muslim-influenced northern Kashmiri region. And the accompanying nutty sauce of crushed almonds and cashews has a spicy bite, thanks to paprika. For the pairing, Carney considered differing goals for Eastern versus Western palates, and landed with both feet firmly in the Orient, where taste buds seek out extra heat. By wielding a wine with a higher level of acid, Carney succeeds in amplifying the flame—and the result is more eye-opening stimulation than wallop. This Veltliner from Austria is intense, with notes of guava and lime. It has a fistful of peppery spice, balance from a touch of sweetness and cream, and a staunch, enduring finish. Carney is proud of the complementary interplay between the wine and the dish. “Wines like the Grüner or a Sauvignon Blanc celebrate heat with their vibrant acidity. This is a famous old vineyard, with old vines. There is also a coolness to the wine because of its moderate alcohol; a dryness but a richness. It’s a very good combination.”

+ Click dish photo to enlarge

Wine

2008 Gevrey Chambertin Vieilles Vignes Fourrier

Dish

Duck Tellicherry Peppercorn Handi: Tellicherry Peppercorns, Garlic, Curry Leaves, and Tamarind

Pairing Note

For a French twist on Indian flavors Khanna combines tart tamarind with intense, almost fruity Tellicherry peppercorns from the Malabar Coast, curry leaves, and unctuous duck. “Pinot Noir is a classic complement to game,” says Carney. “Duck is traditionally served with a little bit of fruit, either a sauce or compote. There are notes of earth [in the Gevrey]—it is a terroir wine in that regard—and the restraint and balance of a high-quality wine.” The young Burgundy bursts with aromatics: strawberry, cherry, underbrush, bristly pine, and peppery spice. On the tongue it’s bright, acidic, and full of fruit. Carney’s missive with the pairing was to demonstrate to the diner that, “wine is like another sauce, of sorts, meant to season the food, not dominate it, and add value in net terms to the dining experience.”

+ Click dish photo to enlarge

Wine

2001 Côte Rôtie Patrick Jasmin

Dish

Lamb Shank Handi: Braised with Onion, Tomato, Yogurt, and Junoon Seven Spice

Pairing Note

Lamb braised for hours in a traditional Northern Indian sauce awakens the romantic in Carney. “I love the idea that the lamb was slow-roasted and that the wine was aged—this wine is 10 years old. It still has power, but it has a maturity, as well.” The softened, leathery Syrah partners well with the slow-roasted meat. Delicate, deep flavors and spice in the wine align gracefully with the depth of flavor in the dish. Carney believes that splitting hairs over peppercorns, cumin, and cardamom, while attempting to locate each ingredient’s flavonoid touch-point, is a foolhardy exercise in missing the point. “The idea of the perfect pairing is a bit precious.” Instead, he hopes to alert tables to the possibilities that wine and the food can offer each other, especially in the context of an ancient cuisine that historically lacks the Western tradition of wine—for the diner, it’s a passage to adventure, either by the glass or bottle.

+ Click dish photo to enlarge

The Restaurant's Name...Revealed!

Today The New York Times covered Brushstroke, the new restaurant courtesy of David Bouley.

You can also check out my post from the beginning of the month. Just in case anyone was hanging by a thread...the secret restaurant's name was Brushstroke. Ta-dah!

Below, a photo I snapped that night on the way home from the restaurant of some kids that were monkeying around on the subway.

Adventure to the Upper East Side

Down in the seventies and about Lexington you start to see the the heart of the Upper East Side. That is, a clubby little village, with hokey little upscale Italian restaurants, and corny little ladies' shoe shops. There are also sophisticated, very 21st century boutiques, selling high-end beauty products or clothing lines (Hunter makes more than rain boots, I discovered while window shopping). There are large and opulent single-family brownstones off of the avenues, and well-funded foundations, like the sleek Asia Society on the corner of 70th and Park.  Women in their sixties wear pearls. Women in their forties carry dogs. Everyone looks very coiffed, even in tracksuits (they're cashmere).

Most of the locales have been there forever. The York Barber Shop bears that tell-tale New York historical marker, the windowpane lined with tastefully framed autographed black and white photos (in this case of a particularly high caliber, featuring Woody Allen and Dustin Hoffman). At the dignified Mariella pizza the walls are tiled, the pizza orderly, the old men go quietly about their business. Of course,  this is Lexington, not Madison.  So don't expect to escape the 24 hour convenience store which brashly boasts the possession of an ATM in bold, over-large letters. On the other hand, this is a neighborhood, not a mall.

Neil's Coffee Shop is the kind of establishment that makes one feel like the real world has just been left behind for another more interesting one. It begs entrance. Inside, efficient waitstaff, deep booths, vintage kitchen equipment still in use behind the counter, and stained glass (plexiglass?) windows perpetuate the illusion of another time. Rows of autographed black and white photographs peer down smilingly.   Okay, this time it's Jean Luc Picard and George Stephanopoulos up on the wall, not mythical, but still shrouded in household awareness.

The ketchup bottle is empty, and the bottle of Tabasco sauce is a funny brown color and of a curiously thin consistency...could excessive age cause that? The turkey is dry, and a bite of coleslaw provokes a sour grimace...was that skin on top?  But the avocado on the turkey club was fresh, and a hamburger tasted nice, like a nothing-special burger made in the frying pan at home: fresh and comforting and slightly overcooked.

The bill was pretty light, comparative to a brunch out at any coffee chain. And it was amusing to see grumpy looking elderly ladies in fur coats hoist themselves onto stools to order something at the counter and then complain about it.

All in all, a cozy, sunny spot to read the paper on a Sunday.

A-

David Bouley's new restaurant

David Bouley's got a new restauarant set to open soon, and I've been asked by the PR rep to keep things top secret until April 17, but there was a "friends and family" dinner on Friday night where my friend Kathleen and I were allowed to take photos, though we agreed not to publish any photos of the food yet. Just to continue with the secrecy game, I won't name the restaurant. Feel free to guess, though.

A pretty gorgeous space. This is the bar area. See the little diarama set into the wall?

Below are more pictures of the bar area.

The head mixologist's name is Gen (on the right); he makes a tomato cocktail that is nothing like a Bloody Mary. 

This is shozhu, the spirit in the tomato cocktail. Apart from that, Gen uses melon, and passionfruit seeds mixed with tomato seeds.

To the right, Executive Chef Isao Yamada. Below, the sushi chefs exercise cat-like focus.

But back in the kitchen, things are a little more relaxed.

So was it a great meal? We were presented with a 9 course tasting menu, and overall the food, ambience, and experience were all impressive. This is to be just the second kaiseki restaurant in the city, and if you're not familiar with Japanese kaiseki cusine, you might be interested in checking it out (for more information, check out this article: Demystifying Kaiseki). It's a traditional ceremonial Japanese form of cooking and presentation. Let's just say that when we were seated we were each presented with a blossoming cherry branch. And that my vegetable tempura contained a fried fern. 

The guests seemed to enjoy themselves.

So I would recommend it - though not in name, yet.

27th Street and 10th Avenue

Trip to the West Village didn't end up producing a lot of pictures, as the theater didn't allow photography (thought wrongly that interactive theater in a space the size of three buildings and containing 5 interactive floors might allow).

But I can include the link here of the show we went to see: very interesting!

U.K.'s Punchdrunk presents Sleep No More