The Strip House

By Munch Master

So after a long day of great weather and beer, albeit warm beer. My friend John DeGiglio suggested we try one of his favorite places. It is called The Strip House . Now let me get this out of the way right now. I didn't know it was a chain when we agreed to go. As most of you know I am not a fan of chain restaurants. So maybe this review fared better because of my ignorance...lol...
The 6 of us hop in 2 cabs and go from Chelsea piers to 12th street at this point we have picked up a 6th person. A good friend, fellow foodie and proprietor of www.theuncommonkitchen.com Susie Tully (for the rest of the attendees see the previous post.) We arrive at the location a non descript white door with a red awing covering the sidewalk with the letters SH on it. But what is not said on the outside the interior decor makes up for. You enter, only to be overwhelmed with what can only be called a decor of "French Brothel Red". Not to say this is a bad thing it was very tastefully done, in fact I rather took a liking to it. There are hundreds maybe thousands of seductive black and white photos from the 1900's littering the walls as well as a few era nic nacks, the combination of which seem to almost transport you back to the speak-easy days. One could easily spend hours just looking at all the pictures, but we don't have time because I am hungry it's time to eat!!! After checking my coat we proceed to be seated at our table. Once seated Mr.D picks out a lovely red wine for the table to enjoy. The name of which escapes me at the moment. Mr.D please feel free to comment and reveal to everyone the mystery name of the bottle. :)
They also serve us onion soup shooters. Yes, I said onion soup shooters. It was a very flavorful thick onion soup (think really thick french onion soup) served in a shot glass. This soup although served in a shot glass should not be shot, instead sipped and savored. Besides who would shoot a defenseless soup anyway.
For the first course most of us order a mixed baby greens salad. Not much different than what you might receive elsewhere except for the cool little fried cheese bowl the salad comes perched in. It was great just salty enough to cut the greens and not have a need to add salt to the salad. Besides, who doesn't love fried cheese!!! It is like well... cheese porn....lol.. Carla had the lobster bisque with 1 ravioli which is all you need considering how rich, flavorful and filling this almost quart of soup was.
Ahhh, now for my favorite part THE MEAT otherwise know as the main course. Teresa and Carla decide to split a seafood special which consisted of a large plateau of seafood and contained a range of items from 3 types of raw oysters, steamed Maine lobster and King Crab legs, to a spicy scallop ceviche. All of it very fresh and was enough to feed 4 folks, although it was suppose to be for 2. JD, Simon and I order what the Strip House is famous for steak. Simon and I order the 22oz rib eye medium rare. And in case your wondering yes, I ate it all in one sitting. It comes bone in lightly seasoned and was very flavorful. Or so I thought until I tried John's NY Strip. It made our rib eye seem almost boring. Tender, juicy and damn tasty. If you find yourself peering at their menu and are having a hard time deciding might I suggest the Strip. It's what I would order.
As for sides, it is like all high end steak houses family style ala carte. We order a few to share the potatoes romanoff, crisp goose fat potatoes, and black truffle creamed spinach. I can't provide an opinion on the potatoes romanoff, I was unable to eat them because they contained "pork love" better known as bacon. As for the goose fat potatoes, they were like a ball of mashed potatoes seasoned and deep fried in goose fat until crisp on the outside. YUMMY. But as much as I love the goose fat the creamed black truffle spinach was the shining star of the 3. It was creamed spinach seasoned with S&P, cheese and a touch of black truffle which totally changes the flavor from just OK to "WHOA". Not your run of the mill Popeye verity... It was a lovely main course.
Now as we all sit in a slightly lackadaisical state the waiter asks if we would like dessert. John promptly orders the creme brulee. For anyone who doesn't know, this is one of my 2 favorite desserts. So please forgive the berating this one is about to take because, I am hard on a restaurant when it comes to brulee. I know what it takes to make one. It is not to awfully hard to make a brulee that is descent. Add some time, caring and and a good pastry chef and its easy to make a great one. But, I will jump off my soap box for the moment and get back to the brulee. So I had high hopes when John ordered the dessert. The rest of the meal was awesome. There was no reason to think the dessert would be any different. I hate it when I am wrong. This creme brulee was well uninspired. The top didn't really crack when the spoon was placed into it. It seamed a bit watery just below the crust and the filling was not as thick and creamy as it should have been. But the biggest travesty of all, and as anyone who loves creme brulee knows. There was no vanilla bean to be found. Not in the custard or at the bottom where it usually is. No none, zip, zilch, nada.
Ok ok, I know it was a bit harsh what can I say, I love my brulee. But in the Strip House's defense that is not their signature dessert. Their signature dessert is a 24 layer chocolate cake. Next time, this is the route I will take.
Would I go back, sure I would it was great. Great steak, sides and an ambiance makes "Ruth's Chris" look like "Steak and Shake". Just don't order the creme brulee.

Munch Master

The 3rd NYC cask festival

By Munch Master

We are at chelsea brewing company partaking in the 3rd. Annual nyc
cask festival. Nothing better than warm ale on a cool day... no really,
it brings out the flavor.
So the 5 muskateers are here; Teresa,Simon,John,Carla and of course,
yours truly. But enough about the drunks at the table including
me....lol and on to the reviews.
1st- Gwatkin 'norman cider' an uneventful hard cider easy on the
palette from Abbey Dore, Herefordshire, England

2nd- Pittsfield Brew Works 'chipotle brown' it's a nice brown with a
smokey beef flavor and a spicy finish. Great beer, but I am afraid I
would have heart burn after a few. Unique none the less.

3rd- Voodooo 'Big Black Voodoo Daddy'. All I have to say is STRONG
and DARK. 12.5% WOW. A bit bitter and very stout.

4th- Butternuts 'MOO THUNDER' boring bland and really no thunder and I
think they left the moo in the barn. Very disappointing, the name had
potential.

But there were great beers had by others at the table, for instance...
Carla had 'NUGGET NECTAR' yes you read it correctly and to spite the
name it was very tasty even though it's hard to order with a straight
face.
Teresa had a great american amber ale. John stumbled on a tart but
very tasty cuvee june and Simon didn't have a bad one to speak of.
But alass, as all good drunks must do it was food time, so off to the
'Strip House' with us. That's strip house as in 'NY strip' I don't know
what you were thinking. ;)
Up next strip house.
Munch Master

Employees Only

By Munch Master

To all our adoring fans who were on pins and needles (hehehe I crack me up sometimes) waiting for the second half of red hook adventures. I promise I will get back to that right after this post. But we ate at this place called employees only and I thought it warranted a post before the details became foggy. First, I have to tell you I love going to dinner with other foodies. Because we are all adventurous and don't mind sharing, so if everyone orders different meals you get to taste an expansive selection from the menu. So find a group who loves to eat and doesn't mind sharing. Food is always better with good friends. But on to more pressing matters. Employees Only, better know as EO. It is this small, almost unmarked restaurant in the village (205 Hudson). If you venture there you will, undoubtedly, walk past it at least once. I'll give you some help here, look for the tall, well dressed doorman waiting in the shadows. His name is K.C., and as if you are on some VIP list he will ask if you have a reservation and you better be because this place fills up quickly. We were a little early, so Tal and I walked around for a bit. Fast Forward - everyone is finally at the restaurant and we are being seated. The wait staff is in attire that resembles the 50's, which you soon realize echos the cocktail menu, which to say is extensive is the understatement of the evening. So many choices and only one liver...lol...what is one to do...Share with the other foodies..heheheh. Everyone at the table orders different cocktails. I ordered a "Ginger Smash" and after sampling everyone else's, determine mine was the best cocktail at the table. It was fresh ginger and fresh cranberries muddled with Gin if you want the recipe it is here. I highly recommend it. As far as the food, well it was out of this world; from Elk to Rabbit and a rib eye that would make a 12 inch plate look tiny. We had a spread that looked like Thanksgiving. If you have the chance and can get reservations, it is definitely worth it.

Adventures in Red Hook Part 2

By Munch Master

I know I said 'Strip House" would be next but this post has been sitting here so long in draft format I felt bad for it all lonely with no one to read it....But I promise 'Strip House' will be next.


Now ,once we ate until we were stuffed on authentic south American food, we decide to explore Red Hook. The First thing one might notice was it's disconnection with the rest of NY and all it's burroughs. By this I mean alot of the streets are still cobblestone, buildings along the river are Circa "Civil War' and have been refurbished to beautiful works of architecture, not seen in modern buildings. On a path that connects these beautiful civil war munitions warehouses were old street car rails that still boast old cars almost frozen in time and worn by the slightly salty Hudson air. Also, there is very little NY transit to or in Red Hook your best bet to get there is a subway 20 or so blocks away and take a bus to the heart of RH near the colossal "Fairways" market. We made a brief trip inside but nothing to write here about. I am planning a trip to write about this market in the future.(Yes Neel your invited) Or the IKEA water taxi it dumps off in RH at the ikea and it's free.
The 3 of us decided to explore this area we figured if were here might as well enjoy it, and found a cool craft fair where RH residents were more than happy to tell us of the great little places in the area. One of these places was "Steve's Key lime pie" which was a short walk along the river. We arrived at this large red brick building that had a single greenish-yellow door that has painted on it

"PIES HERE" (yes that is a link to his web site). Be mindful of 4 things when visiting.
1st. Their hours are random check their twitter feed here for updated daily hours
2nd. Its cash only
3rd. If you're looking for anything other than key lime pie and maybe a bottle of water you may want to adventure elsewhere. (like Baked)
4th. It is not fancy !! a small counter and bell for service. In the back was a garage with a motorcycle on a lift. A moto guzzy or a triumph I think.
Being mindful this is no boutique dessertery they do one thing and do it well 'Key Lime Pie' it was great. And, I am told the chocolate dipped pie on a stick is even better. I must say though being from Florida I am a bit bias when it comes to key lime pie. Although, it was good as good any KLP we made at the Ritz-Carlton. The 3 of us buy a small pie and scarf down about 3/4 of it. YUMMY. I can't describe it much more you have to try it. So with full stomachs and carb coma in tact we decide to explore the rest of the 2 block long building and walk along the river. This is where we stumbled upon Red Hooks Eden. This Eden goes by the name of "liberty Sunset Garden Center" . Of course, we didn't realize it was a garden center at first...lol.. I'll explain. We first walked in the back door and found this marvelous almost commercial kitchen surrounded by beautiful foliage & gardens. We continued through the "jungle" until we reached the other side of the building and someone who worked there. I sheepishly ask are we in the garden center or someones house? The lady at the desk said "the garden center" so I asked whats with the kitchen? She said "once a month a chef cooks a wonderful meal for $20.00 and its BYOB". Intrigued, so much so I stared asking questions. You know like who is the chef?, what kind of food?, ect...ect.... She says well Rick (that's the chef's name) will be here shortly you can ask him. As if she was clair voyant about 5 mins later there he was walking though the door. An Anthony Bordain looking gentleman who had for sure earned his stripes in the harsh food underworld of NYC. We chat for a few and he informs me of the planned dinner the next night and says I should attend. And with this invitation, I of course plan to attend you never turn down an invitation from a chef that looks like this. I would imagine he could cook circles around most.
I was told by Rick the dinner usually starts around 6:00. So, I arrive promptly at 6:00 p.m. to find only 3 people there. Myself, the owner of the garden centers wife and Rick. Lol...turns out I was early by about an 1.5 hours. No worries though, I love to cook and offered to help out. Graciously enough Rick puts me to work.I assit finishing his menu of fried pumpkin brie risotto balls, roasted whole chicken, braised pork butt and a chocolate peanut brittle moose. It was wonderful food and more than enough to feed an army twice the size we had in attendance. I also met some awesome food industry folks. A sous chef at one of Mario Batali's spots and his girlfriend a pastry chef at nobu north. (If your reading this I lost my phone and still would like to pull some shifts) It was a weekend of culinary heaven no doubt, and I hope to have many more of these adventures soon. If you want to have a great dinner with a wonderful view call the garden center and inquire about the dinners.

Later Munchers,

Munch Master

Adventures In Red Hook (part 1 of 2)

By Munch Master

Hello again all,
Our latest adventure took us to Red Hook Brooklyn (home of the new mtv "REAL WORLD"). The whole adventure started actually a few months ago when Teresa read about a park in Red Hook that was suppose to have all these authentic Mexican, Central & South American food vendors that gatherin a prak and have for years. Recently though they have been though a lot of issues with the City of NY and having to buy catering trucks and other red tape. So, needless I am glad they are still there although I am told there are no where near the amount there use to be.I assume due to the cost of trucks and carts. We took our crazy friend Carla who ironically happens to be from LA and El Salvadorian and was very familiar with a lot of the food there.Which helped because she suggested some of the food in this post. But back to the adventure. So as usual when we venture in the outer Burroughs we got lost for about an hour. Along we while tiring to find the park we found this huge market called "Fairways" it was huge and very cool and in this civil war era group of buildings right on the Hudson. We will get back to those buildings in a moment. So after asking directions in "Fairways" we drove around a little more and found the park. So we have ARRIVED it was a hella windy and overcast day and a bit chilly. So we paroused though the line of vendors like a Sargent would inspecting his troops. When we stopped at a converted bagel cart and I ordered a chicken tamale. It was pretty good moist, flavorful and huge for a tamale. At the same stand Teresa ordered what they called fried tacos. They actually remind me well the shape anyway of taquitos. The flavor was not of the store bought taquitos as you may expect. No no this was perfectly crisp corn tortilla with a chicken center draped in a wonderful picante garnished with fresh white onion and fresh cilantro.YUMMY in a word. So after the appetizers Carla spotted a EL Salvadorian truck and a food she has had many times called Pupusa. The best way I can describe them is savory corn meal pancakes with cheese and an
array of ingredients of your choosing so we ordered 3 . I had jalapeno, Teresa had what from the looks of it was a wonderful roasted pork.Carla had this on with veg that remained me of spinach. Other than the weather a beautiful day....to be cont

Dakota Roadhouse (park place lower manhattan)

By Erich

Havana Central (22 union sq)

By Erich

I didn't think my first official food post would be on anything other than this past weekends National Buffalo Wing Festival. Little did I know we would eat at this surprising little Cuban restaurant in Union Square tonight.

Caipiroska was the great drink I had. It was a cross between a strawberry daiquiri and a mojito. Now don't misunderstand, I am a purest for some things and a mojito is one, but this was an exception.

Now on to the meal. I had Ropa Vieja with black beans and yellow rice. The shredded beef was great - slow cooked with red bell peppers and a slight hint of mild other flavors. It could have used a little salt, but the house brand garlic hot sauce had just enough salt and vinegar to take care of that. This house sauce was also very tasty on the the fluffy, perfectly cooked yellow rice. You could tell the black beans were not out of a can; they had the slow cooked flavor and a firmness that you only get from properly cooked dried beans.

Now onto Teresa's meal. She had the same wonderful black beans and rice but her main dish, well let me tell you about it - a Cuban Burger that was ground beef mixed with chorizo sausage. What a great idea! It was wonderful and needed no sauce. All in all it was a great impromptu meal.

Now its off to bed.
Erich