41 Greenwich (41 Greenwich Ave. at Charles St.)

Greetings fellow readers! Hopefully this lazy Sunday afternoon is finding you warm & cozy in your respective apartments or houses, and staying in out of the 29 degree snow and cold (like it is here in NYC).

My good friend Dernyn invited me out to dinner on Tuesday night, and after him giving me huge jack-run-around-moves in Soho, I whined that all I wanted was some tagliatelle or pappardelle pasta with some ragu sauce. (What I was really looking for was the exact dish I had at Gradisca, but that's beyond the point.) Dernyn said, "I know exactly the place."

After a quick (and almost GTA-like) cab ride to West Village, we walk downstairs to 41 Greenwich. The restaurant maybe sat 30 people, but luckily we were seated almost immediately. At this point, it's about 830p, and my brain is switching off from lack of caloric intake. We quickly decide on a 2006 Malbec, the tuna tartare appetizer, the salmon for Dernyn, and the pork chop for myself with sides of rosemary potatoes and brussel sprouts.

(Note how I did not get the pasta I wanted; however at that point, I was so hungry I didn't care.)

Our tuna tartare came, and I hate to say it, but I've had better. The tuna was good, but the sesame, radish, scallion and tubettini that came with it totally overpowered the taste of the fish. I ate almost the entire roll of bread, and a good 2/3 of the bottle of wine by the time our food came. The pork chop was HUGE - when they said it takes 40 minutes to cook, they weren't kidding. I tried some of Dernyn's salmon, again it was just alright - but I'm not a huge cooked salmon person, and I know he is. My pork chop came with a bit of fennel and cinnamon roasted apples, and when getting a bite of that, and a bite of really fatty pork all in one...heaven. When it was a middle piece...just okay.

Our server brought out the sides, and they accidentally gave us the spinach instead of potatoes. They then brought out potatoes, and comp'd us the spinach which would be great, except...I don't really like spinach. No seriously, i try it just about every time I go out to a restaurant, but I just can't get into the consistency. Maybe some day....

The brussel sprouts were very firm, a spring green in color and seasoned just right with some salt. The rosemary potatoes on the other hand....absolutely outstanding. Perfectly seasoned, perfectly cooked, so that the consistency was slightly crunchy on the outside and warm and soft on the inside. I strive to make these potatoes just about EVERY night for dinner! What am I doing wrong?!?!?! Anyways...

Carmen (Dernyn's sister) came by to join us, and ended up helping us out with our remaining sides and ordered a dish of her own. We ordered another bottle of wine (a pino noir), and some raw oysters from Puget Sound.

I swear, the oysters were the highlight of this meal. Oysters are something I've worked very hard to get over the dislike of, and damn. These were incredible. Definitely comparable to oysters from Long Island I had when our team went out to dinner on Google at Brasserie 8 1/2. We ended up ordering dessert, but I swear these oysters could have been my dessert. It seriously tasted like I was surfing, with seawater in my hair and sea breeze against my skin with every bite.

Lastly, our desserts arrived (I was more than stuffed at this point). Dernyn got some sort of chocolate brownie concoction (again, go figure) and Carmen and I split strawberries with a balsamic reduction and some crème fraîche on top. Props for innovativeness, as I've stated I'm not a dessert person, and I've never seen it before, but the balsamic reduction was such an unlikely yet delicious combination with the strawberries. Light, fresh and tasty.

41 Greenwich gets 3.5 forks...ambiance was great, service was great, oysters were great, but mains and appetizer were just okay.

Schiller's Liquor Bar, 131 Rivington (at Norfolk St.)

Happy Monday (barely) fellow readers! I hope this post finds you well in your office tomorrow morning, cup of joe in hand, perhaps a bagel in the other...

I bring you this post straight from Schiller's Liquor Bar in the Lower East Side. My friend Dernyn and I rolled in about 130pm after an interesting cab ride into the city from Astoria (we got to pick up McDonald's and give it to the cabbie's family on the way in). Schiller's was just starting to pick up, but we were lucky enough to snag a table after about 15 minutes (instead of the 30 they were saying).

We settled easily on a bloody mary and a 30 year-old port to start, followed soon thereafter with eggs benny (the one thing you can't hate on me for ordering nearly ever brunch I attend), and a croque madame.

The eggs benedict were pretty good - I've had some that are bad, but these were fairly standard. The only beef (rather ham?) I had with them was how many onions they fried the potatoes with. I handed over my plate to Dernyn who LOVES potatoes and onions, and they were too intense for even him.

The croque madame was absolutely incredible. Well, incredible for NYC - obviously it was better in France, but still tasty. Proper cheese (sometimes you get the wrong cheese which totally kills the dish), proper ham, proper frying. Only thing, the bread was too big for the egg. If I may get snobbish, I prefer my croque madame to be have an egg that covers the entire piece of bread, so that one may enjoy a bit of egg with every bite.

Also, no salad with the croque madame. What's up with that.

Immediately following, we enjoyed some delicious champagne (what would brunch be without it?) and I had a cappuccino. A fine way to end a delicious meal (and kill off some of the buzz that was slamming me from that bloody mary. Wowee was it strong.)

Another great and notable part of brunch was our service. We had an incredible attentive waiter who was full of humor and recommendations.

All in all, 3.5 forks.

Wine Barrr, 1313 Linda Street (right off Detroit Rd.), Rocky River, OH

Due to the recent decline development of both my best friend and I turning into wineos, after a long, hard day of Christmas shopping, we felt it none other than fitting and appropriate to drop a few hundred hard-earned dollars on some delicious wine and appetizers.

After a last-minute liquor store run to pick up some some imbibements a few days prior, I had to convince Maresa that Malbecs are indeed good and can be incredibly tasty. It was about 20F that day, with a windchill of about -1F, so I took the liberty of ordering the Catena Mendoza '06 Malbec. Regulated at a perfect 54F (I think), I haven't tasted a Malbec that good since....um....well...anyways.

With Maresa now converted, we decided to mack on an appetizer recommended to me by both my father and sister - the avocado and brie bruschetta with fresh tomato and herbs. I'm a huge fan of bruschetta, but not a huge fan of brie, and with avocado? Avocado goes in guac, not on a traditional Italian dish.

Of course I was completely wrong, and by the 3rd glass of wine for each of us, Maresa and I were debating if we should save any for our compadres who were arriving later, or if we should consume the rest and just order another plate.

Other than that, the rest of the food & wine was just alright, save for the truffle mac & cheese that one of my friends ordered, which was quite stellar. We had a Bordeaux that was just alright (I think I'm more of a full-bodied red fan anyways), and a few other apps that were pricey, but just okay (duck wontons, fries, PEI mussels).

The service was good, ambiance was classy, and our server was (somewhat) knowledgeable about the wines on the list (he recommended the better Malbec, but knew nothing about the Bordeaux).

I walked away with a hefty tab and an awesome black long-sleeved shirt that says "wino" in bold white letters across the front. You know me - always keeping it classy (& real!).

I'd go back for the bruschetta and the Malbec, but that's about it. (My father would argue otherwise.) 3 Forks:

Decibel. 240 E. 9th St (between 2nd and 3rd)

Greetings Fork readers!

As I'm sure you're well aware, 2009 is now upon us which only means one thing - time to turn over a new leaf and begin again with new resolutions and promises to ourselves. Mine are simple - dine more, wine more, and of course - blog more. We'll see how true this holds. ;)

Since I haven't really been out to any amazing restaurants as of late, I'm going to blog about one that I find myself and my friends frequenting often - Decibel Sake Bar.

Decibel was introduced to me last year sometime, and isn't really a restaurant, but rather a sake bar in East Village. On the corner of East 9th and 2nd Ave, you'll see a small, lit sign directing you to walk downstairs. Good luck getting a table after 10pm ANY night of the week - the establishment only seats about 60 and tables fill up fast. This shouldn't make you feel intimidated; and neither should the speak-easy feel where no matter what your age, they ID you at the door and you're forced to wait in a tiny room until they let you in past the rope blocking the entryway into the main room.

Decibel boasts an incredible sake list, and I have not once been disappointed by the service (we nearly always get a server named Jim, who is extremely knowledgeable) nor the ambiance, nor the sake. He even recommended where to buy said bottles of sake that we consume on a near-weekly basis.

In addition, the "tapas" (or small plates, if you will) never disappoint. Be it the unagi (that Adrian always eats like, six bowls of), the yellowtail tuna sashimi (which I always eat like, three plates of), the wasabi dumplings (holy crap are you in for a kick to the face), or the okonomiyaki (Osaka style, not to be confused with Hiroshima style, which I prefer), you won't be disappointed at how well they compliment the sake you will be consuming in mass quantities.

Only thing that's killer is the price - you'll always walk out with at least a $100 tab if you're not careful.

Decibel gets 3.5 forks:

Tsukiji Fish Market, Tokyo, Japan

Readers, I don't have much time as I'm mooching internet from my friend Nick and I'm absolutely exhausted after climbing Mt. Fuji & need a nap, BUT - I couldn't resist a quick post from Japan for you.

I was told by many that the Tsukiji fish market is one of THE things you do in Tokyo, and the thing you should do your second day in Japan, as you're still jet-lagged (except I wasn't, at all) and up early, and what's better than sushi caught off the ocean that morning for breakfast?

Turns out, nothing. I took a photo of the outside of the restaurant and the menu, but let's just say for ~$10 USD, I got the most ridiculously fresh tuna and salmon I will probably ever taste in my life.

Rice, raw fish and some crappy tea never tasted better at 8am.

4 Chopsticks (only because I can't find a photo of one chopstick alone to make 5, but know that it was just that good):

The Famous Street Meat Cart, 53rd St. & 6th Ave

Readers, it's time again we had another guest post. Please read on and enjoy this truly genius morsel of tasty delight.

Back to the hotel, feelin’ kinda funny
We had just a little bit of spendin’ money
Too-many-brews-munchies made us look for a treat
Like an oasis in the desert we spotted ‘Street Meat’

The best in Manhattan is what I was told
So I waited in the queue feeling mighty and bold
The wait started 2:20 that July 4th early morn, so fine
At 5 minutes to 3, I was the one who was first in line

Two 6 dollar specials I cried out loudly
And watched in amazement as that chef scooped and shoveled proudly
Lamb and chicken and beef fried to perfection on his hot grill
Rice and lettuce and some pita pieces…not one spill

Like a magician, he filled up each plate
Added sauces and eating utensils and napkins, I could not wait!
That 3AM meal made me salivate and drool
So I ran with the bag to the hotel and up to the room like a fool

On the way by the hotel, I was asked by a hot young lady in blue
Where I was headed and if she could come too…
Not stopping to chat, I declined her offer and followed my feet
Up to the room - table and chair for that NYC best ‘Street Meat’!



Might I add - soooooooooo delicious. If you don't believe me, or if you don't believe that this is the "best street meat in NYC", please check out the line for the cart, with a quote that this "...cart is only there from 7p - 4am 4:30am at the latest...Some nights you can be waiting well over an hour for this plate of goodness!" (as seen below)



What? You say the photos didn't convince you? How about hearing that "...some guy stabbed someone for cutting the line a couple years back" over this incredible street meat?

...

Only in NYC, folks. Only in NYC.

4 forks.

RIgsby's Kitchen, 698 N. High Street, Columbus, OH

When I arrived in Ohio just a few short weeks ago to meet up with my father and sister for a weekend extravaganza, where the only goal was to spend our economic stimulus checks, I would be lying if I told you that I didn't know there would be good food on that trip. But would the food be just "good", or good? As you know I'm a bit of a biased NYC restaurant snob, and I happen to believe that I live in the best city in the world (what what), that has the best and most diverse food in the world. With this in mind, I figured that at best, the restaurant that my sister and I would end up treating my dad to would maybe rank 2.5 forks, or 3 at best.

Allow me to tell you about where my skepticism stems from - upon touching down into Columbus airport, collecting my luggage, and causing the airport traffic director to yell at my dad for the (as I was informed) fifth time that night, we headed to McDonald's for a quick snack (of a snack wrap). (And later that night, had zombie dreams as a result.) Granted, it was late, and everything closes in Ohio around 4pm (just kidding), but McDonald's? Really? At least a bit of redemption occurred when my dad brought out some of his delicious home made wine.

On Friday, we shopped, we ate, we drank....and on Saturday, lather, rinse repeat. Until Saturday night.

While my dad was shopping in a *cough*interesting*cough* store, my sister and I tore off through the rain, running down High Street in the Short North arts district of Columbus to a restaurant named Rigsby's Kitchen. We finally made it, albeit slight wrecks, and sat down to enjoy a quick drink before my dad came. My drink was incredible, my sister's not so much.

Soon after my dad arrived, the festivities began. My sister sprung for the cold cucumber dill soup with smoked salmon. To be honest, I really really wanted to try a bowl, but I was too chicken (salmon? haha wow that was terrible) to order my own, so we shared. I swear, I've never tasted a cold soup that lovely, creamy and smooth. The combination of cucumber and dill is timeless, but the salmon gave it an extra kick of saltiness - amazing.

My dad ordered a simple salmon carpaccio with cucumber and onion salad, my sister the sweet meadows pork cutlet seasoned in aceto manodori and red pepper mustard, with fingerling potatoes and string beans, and myself (off my dad's recommendation), pan seared scallops with a fennel and orange salad drizzled in chive oil.

Let's start off with my father's dish - very simple, very plain, yet each component of the dish showcased not only it's own flavor, but truly brought out the essence of and best part of each other part as well. My scallops were incredible as well - perfectly seared, with the light and sweet salad along side - scallops and oranges are incredible together!

But let's not lie, what really took the cake was my sister's pork chop. Please note that when she chose it, we didn't know what aceto manodori, or the pepper mustard was (turns out just balsamic vinegar and mustard), but, being true forkers, are always up for something exotic and new. The pork chop was AMAZING. The cut of meat itself was excellent, thick and juicy, and the flavoring, spices, and apple-y taste was nothing short of incredible. I won't lie to you - I might be drooling now just a little thinking about it. The sides were also perfect to pair with the complex flavors of the pork chop.

One thing I really enjoy is when chefs use truly unique or ridiculously high quality ingredients in their food, yielding an incredible dish of such simplicity, yet complexity. I try to class it up with some truffle oil every now and again when I cook, but it's just not the same. I feel that the same thing applies for drinks too - the weirder the ingredient you put in your drinks, the better it becomes. Who ever thought of combining Henderick's gin, cilantro, muddling cucumber and splashing some tonic? An alcoholic who wanted to be healthy and eat a salad, I suppose, but damn is it tasty.

In any event, although my dad might disagree, I made the wrong choice in not ordering the pork chop. But please don't be sad - this story has a much happier ending.

After we had finished, we figured we might as well peruse the dessert menu - and I found the dessert of my dreams. It's the kind of dish you know is going to be absolutely incredible before the first bite hits your mouth.

Allow me to introduce you to the butterscotch budino - a light, airy butterscotch pudding with crème fraîche & fleur de sel.

How could combining butterscotch, whipped cream, and sea salt that is mined in limited quantities from Brittany, France ever steer you wrong? How could it not be absolutely ridiculously incredible? How could it be so incredible that I just might dream about it every night?

Readers, I've grown up with Jello brand butterscotch pudding with some redi-whip out of the can my whole life, and let me tell you, I've had my mom SHIP me butterscotch pudding because I've been unable to find it in stores here. Mom, no knocks on you, but this far surpassed any of that. The combination of sweet and salt was to die for, especially with the slight crunch that the salt gave. My only regret is that we have no photo to show for it.

Because of this meal....I'll never look down on dessert again.

5 Forks.

Yama, 49 Irving Place (at E. 17th St)

Greetings fellow Forkers, I'm sorry it's been so long...between moving, various trips, and work taking over my life, it's been a little hectic here - but I hope you'll excuse the brief hiatus for a few super entries coming up....

A few days ago, work was getting me down so Dave suggested we go to "the best sushi place in New York." How could you possibly quanitfy that, especially considering we have greats like Nobu and Ninja? We went to Yama, a little sushi joint right across from Gramercy Park, which seats a maximum of maybe 100 people, and someone on a recent trip (I now forget where), told me he frequents often with his son who lives a few blocks away. This fellow traveler also stated that Yama is "the best sushi in New York."

Despite having eaten 6" of a chicken terriyaki Subway $5 sub for lunch, and the other 6" of it around 6pm, I found a wave of hunger hitting me as we walked into Yama. We walked in and placed our names to be seated. The host said it would be "about 15 minutes." We were seated about 45 minutes later (and I thought I had a hard time managing expectations), and while I normally would have complained (Dave may argue that I did a little), I felt as though I was treated with a Broadway style show before being seated. Watching the sushi chefs artists work was near magical - I feel as though they were cutting pieces of tuna, salmon, eel that were flown in THAT morning like they were butter. LIKE BUTTA.

Wow. I knew I'd be in for a treat as my jaw hung on the floor watching them work.

After we were seated, we were recommended an appetizer special by the guys sitting at the table next to us, after they harassed Dave for a while, asking if he was Hawaiian. I don't quite remember the name, but it was salmon, tuna, a whitefish and scallion wrapped up in a sticky rice paper and sweet peanut dipping sauce. It was unreal how fresh the fish was, and how I couldn't get it into my mouth fast enough. I love my Vietnamese spring rolls, but frankly...this outdid them by 10fold. I'm not sure how I'll ever be able to go back.

Soon after, our sushi arrived and I thought we'd never be able to finish it. Dave got an extra piece of both scallop and wasabi-infused flying fish roe, and we shared the I Like Eel special roll, Tuna Naruto, and the Salmon roll.

Let me just start with the bad - the Salmon roll was nothing special at all. It was a small piece of salmon (albeit extremely fresh and tasty) in a huge roll, and almost drowned out with the rice and avocado. Dave would probably disagree but the I Like Eel roll was probably my second favorite (I've kind of strayed away from eel in my past sushi ventures, I think of myself a little bit like the prodigal child....I need to stray before I come back to truly enjoy and become fulfilled by the eel again), but was good because instead of seaweed, they wrapped the roll in cucumber.

I didn't try the scallop, but Dave said that it was the best piece on the plate. I tried some of the flying fish roe which was actually wasabi-infused (it was green instead of red), and fellow forkers - let me tell you something, I don't even like flying fish roe, the consistency is weird and I don't like that popping on my tounge, and the thought of eating fish eggs creeps me out a little, but wow. This was something completely different.

And these are all fine, well and good, but let's get something straight. The naurto (I had to be taught when we sat down because I had no idea what it was) was by far the best on the plate. It is a "no-rice" roll with just fish wrapped in seaweed. Normally, I would be skeptical as sometimes the fish isn't the freshest, and you need the rice to counter balance the fish - you know, an "everything in moderation" type of thing. But wow. as previously mentioned, this fish was "double o-c" (out of control) tasty and fresh. The naruto ambled over my tastebuds, smoother than a New Yorker dodging tourists at 34th St. The combination of the tuna, salmon, a white fish of some sort was absolutely incredible. I might have made Dave sleep on the couch for taking the last piece (just kidding!) , but wow. To die for.

My recommendation: Don't get anything but the naruto, don't be turned off by the waitstaff's rudeness, and expect to wait a while for a table.

Yama gets 4 forks out of 5:

Le Souk, 47 Avenue B (between 3rd & 4th St)

Le Souk (a Haiku)

North African food
How delicious and tasty
Why did we go to Cuba Cafe when we could have had this?

Ok, so it's not a Haiku, but seriously...we were down between Cuba Cafe and Le Souk originally, and decided to go there first. What a grave, grave mistake.

Anyways, Dave, Dave and I arrived at Le Souk about 7p on a warm Saturday evening. Upon walking in, we were ID'd at the door (weird...) and amidst some chaos by the waitstaff (there were probably about 20 employees wandering around), were seated in an empty restaurant.

After perusing the menu, we decided on some crusted shrimp with a "cole-slaw"-esque salad and the mezze plate for appetizers, and for the main course, I got the Dajage Bastilla, Chan got the duck confit, and DVH got lamb chops. (Please excuse the vagueness of the meals in this entry; the 2008 menu is not posted online and I can't quite remember everything we had.)

Our appetizers soon arrived, and if they were to shed light on how the rest of the dining experience would be, hot damn. The shrimp were incredibly seasoned, with a sort of flake on them, and when combined in a bite with the cole-slaw mixture (it had apple in it, not sure what else, didn't really taste like cole-slaw, just looked like it)....wow. I could have eaten a plate of those for dinner and been content. The mezze plate was awesome as well - an assortment of middle eastern spreads on vine leaves. Dave and Dave used the bread to dip into the spreads, however my thought was - why dilute the spreads with bread? Just eat them on the vine leaves. Incroyáble.

Soon after those disappeared, our main dishes arrived. I thought I had chosen well - with my traditional chicken pie made of thin layers of fillo pastry marinated in moroccan spices, raisins and sliced almonds, but nay, Dave's duck confit was by far the best plate at the table. My dish arrived as a square pastry, dusted with cinnamon and sugar. While tasty, and very filling (who knew dough could fill you up?), I felt like I was eating dessert. Meh.

The duck confit on the other hand....wow. We might have discovered heaven on a plate with this one. It was perfectly cooked, and came with a side of some sweet potatoes over greens. DVH claims his meal was the best (the lamb chops), and they were good, don't get me wrong - but the duck confit was superior by far.

I always complain that I never chose the best dish at restaurants where we dine. This is definitely one of those cases (but the tables will soon be turned, have you no fear my good readers). I can't fault Le Souk though, all of the dishes were incredible, and we walked out completely full and satisfied.

Lastly, the décor was very slick too - a very Moroccan feel and excellent music as well. By the time we left, the wedding party (explanation for all the waitstaff) had arrived, filling the back room, all of the tables for us normal diners were also filled, and Le Souk was about to go on a wait. I can definitely understand why.

Le Souk gets 4 / 5 forks.

An update from a ‘less-than-critical’ critic....

An update from a guest writer, the author's very own father!!!!

City Crab (235 Park Ave S at 19th St)


On the evening of Good Friday, 2008, Katie and Terise and I decided to hit the City Crab restaurant for some good Catholic non-meat eats. By the way, dinner was a precursor for an evening spent visiting Manhattan’s finest Belgian Ale haunts. Another religious thing you see, because the monks do make all those rich Belgians and what better way to be anointed and holy.

We were seated upstairs by a large window (at the author’s request which was met with much disdain from his NYC classy daughter – Katie was quick to point out that the hostess seats you where she wishes due to server station control – forget about the diner’s preference) overlooking 30th Street. Our waiter was a virtual encyclopedia of pertinent menu information. We pondered our culinary course of action over glasses of a wonderful Malbec...yummy with a basket of breads and unusually tasty crackers with herbed butter.


The meals selected were crab cakes, trout and a ‘something-crusted’ tuna cooked rare - forgive the author, his memory is slippery as oysters on the half shell. The tuna was as good as a Roger Clemens strikeout. Breathtaking and so very tasty. We shared meal morsels and agreed that our selections were very good indeed. Terise’s crab cakes were a bit underdone though and she could not complete her assault on those french fries you see in her meal photo. The Malbec was gone too quickly and you may wonder why a red with this Catholic meal...well, think Communion wine please, remember it was Good Friday.

Off to discovery what the Belgian monks are up to!

3 and 1/2 rating forks.





Dinosaur (646 W 131st St at Riverside Dr.)


This was an “I would have waited another hour to eat smoked, tender pork here” restaurant! The experience was a Saturday night excursion into wood smoked barbecue decadence. Our 7:30 reservations turned into two hoppy beers and 8:30 seating. A fun Smuttynose IPA draft beer wait. In attendance were Terise, Katie, the author and two friends of Katie, David and Logan. Interestingly enough, as Terise and I launched our trip back to Cleveburg we spotted this along the train route – notice the signage in the lower middle of the picture!


After lengthy discussions and angst about what to order, the three of us ordered the same thing; with side dish variations...a delightful combination entitled appropriately – Tres Hombres...three different pork portions for the three of us. The only differences being in the salad, simmered greens, Cajun corn, or fries for the accompanying sides. David and Logan, being veterans of the Dinosaur were much more conservative in the selections.


The three meats were brisket – melt in your mouth good, ribs – melt in your mouth good, and pulled pork, which was, surprisingly enough – melt in your mouth good. Sadly one of the hombres was defeated by her entrée...she just had to score a take-it-home doggie bag (the next day’s breakfast). Was it a smaller tummy or perhaps the Dumpling Man seared dumplings that she enjoyed just a few hours before dinner? Speaking of appetizers check this out - where have you had an appetizer sampler that included ‘better-than-Mom’s deviled eggs and fried green tomatoes?


Not to surrender to the night we decided to treat ourselves to a bit more fun by ordering a mud pie / chocolate, peanut-buttery creamy concoction that was really very rich and good and filled us to the eyebrows. A fun, great and filling experience at a fun place.

4 rating forks.