As you may recall, my wife The Cake Dealer made me an amazing steak cake for my birthday a while back. This year, since I was on a big ramen kick, she made me a ramen cake. Pretty fucking amazing. Check out the pics below:
And it was fucking delicious. I’m the luckiest guy in the world.
Attention female meat minions:
A friend of mine is helping a huge restaurant supply chain company, KaTom, with their award for restaurant equipment, which will be granted to a deserving woman who is doing something awesome with food. And no, I don’t think it involves anything vulgar, like the age-old urban legend of hot dogs being inserted into various orifices of womens’ nether regions.
Now, you might be thinking that this kind of award would be PERFECT for The Cake Dealer, but I’ve already tried and tried and tried… My wife has no desire to take her incredible baking and creative decorating skills to that professional/career level. She enjoys it as her hobby.
So I have graciously decided to pass this info along to you, my loyal readers. CLICK HERE or on the image below, and check out the video on the top right of the page:
I am a big proponent of getting prime cuts when it makes sense. Generally speaking, the difference in quality is outstanding. However, you have to be careful. Don’t buy blind at the grocery store. Look at the photo below. Choice is $14.99/lb and prime is $21.99/lb. The up-charge is primarily for more and better marbling. But look with your own eyes. Does that boneless prime rib eye on top look any more marbled or better than the bone-in choice rib eye? In this case, I might buy the choice cut, even though the prime cut has a bigger Spinalis / fat cap.
This week on Thursday August 14th the New York Times featured an article on our move from Long Island back to NYC.
Here’s a quick screen grab of the website:
A PDF:
And some scanned images of the hard copy, which came out in print on Sunday August 17th:
“For once, no wacky face,” one friend said about me. Haha!
My wife has this really cool credit card from Chase called the Chase Preferred Sapphire Gold-Trimmed Special Sparkly Platinum Elite Card. Among other cool perks, it entitles her to get discounted, exclusive and advanced-entry/VIP-type tickets to things that regular people would not normally be able to get (for example, our tickets were cheaper and we were allowed in early at 7pm for this event).
One thing we’ve been privy to in the past was the Top Chef Masters Premiere Party. This season’s re-imagination of the Top Chef brand is called “Duels.” We had a lot of fun last time, and got to meet all the chefs, so grabbing hold of my wife’s perks this time too was a no-brainer. I love my wife’s perks.
Top Chef Duels is set up to be 10 one-on-one battles of the masters, where the chefs actually choose their own challenges for each other, and the dishes are then judged to see who is the winner. Cool concept. I like a good fight!
So they had the place set up with three major battle stations, featuring six of the chefs and the dishes they dueled with. The main station was Marcel Vigneron vs. Richard Blais.
The challenge: Lobster Roll.
The winner according to me: Marcel Vigneron’s “Open Face Knuckle Sandwich”
While I enjoyed Richard’s lobster roll, I felt like the filling itself was too watery, and yet the bread was dry. Go figure. I was really pulling for Richard too, because he was one of my favorite contestants to watch, and he’s a fellow Long Island native. It was still way better than any regular old lobster roll you may find in the northeast, but Marcel’s was just really nicely executed. I think the potato roll was a big plus, and the addition of pickled onion really made all the flavors pop.
We wandered around a bit, taking in some free booze, when we stumbled upon the second battle station. The chefs featured here were Dale Talde, who I met at the Dynasty Project Casino Night event, and Tiffani Faison.
The challenge: Ribs
The winner according to me: Tiffani Faison’s “Spicy Sticky Thai Ribs”
Dale served up some Korean style short ribs, which I absolutely LOVE in general. However, he served them in lettuce cups as if they were de-boned and ready to pop in your mouth without any additional work. I took a bite and came right down on the bone. No worries though. Once I knew what was up, I put the lettuce cup down and used two hands to pull the meat off the bone.
If you have any familiarity with Korean style BBQ short ribs, you’ll know they are a very fatty (and sometimes gristled) cut of rib meat where the bones and meat are cut on the bias, so that you have cross-sections of bone connected to the surrounding meat. Often times you will get two or three circular rib bones per slice of meat. My first exposure to this was with my wife’s family. My wife isn’t Korean (she’s Vietnamese) but the style of BBQ and the actual cross-section cut of rib meat is popular in many Asian cuisines.
So anyway, Dale’s dish had just one bone circle with the surrounding meat attached, so I thought it was boneless when I picked up the lettuce cup, especially since the bone piece had toppings on it and was not readily visible in the dim lighting. In any case it was very tasty, but I think Tiffani nailed it with the layers of delicious sticky sauces she had going on her traditional style rib cuts. She even sprinkled some fried shallots on top to add some crunch and texture. All the familiar Southeast Asian flavors were there. This was a perfect rib in every way.
The last station was Kevin Gillespie vs. Art Smith. I saved this for last because I think the winning dish here was probably the best of the night.
The challenge: Fried Chicken.
The winner according to me: Kevin Gillespie’s “Closed On Sunday” Chicken Sandwich.
One thing I appreciated about Art’s dish was that it was a nice, full piece of fried chicken on the bone, readily identifiable as such, like Tiffani’s rib (and unlike Dale’s). In typical southern style, Art’s dish contained a hint of maple syrup to throw your taste buds back into breakfast mode. It was good! But Kevin’s sangwitch was masterfully created. He was working like a powerhouse all night, didn’t mix and mingle too much. He just kept right on working his station. Amazing. And his passion for cooking shines through his food, because that chicken slider was one of the best poultry-based dishes I’ve ever eaten. People were going up for seconds and thirds. Even Top Chef alumnus CJ Jacobson asked me to run and grab him one while he was stuck in the cattle pen pretending to be interested in talking to, and taking pictures with, obsessed fans. I earned a solid fist bump from that human beanstalk for being his sandwich bitch.
Anyway back to this fucking juicy, delicious sandwich… I mean let’s be honest here: it doesn’t look like much. But the taste… Holy fuck. Look at the list of flavors you’re getting!
Okay so that’s it for the battle food. The passed hors were nice too, but I didn’t shoot pics of them and I don’t remember all the details about them. They weren’t prepared by the chefs (they were catered or made in house). One notable item was the mini-mac – a miniature McDonald’s-esque Big Mac in slider form, donning the special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickle, and even stacked two-high on tiny sesame seed double buns. It was everything you love that’s delicious about the McDonald’s version, except for the ammonia bath and fake-ass, grade-F beef.
And last but not least, here are some other pics from the night, mostly me or my wife with other chefs, and various famous and quasi-famous people from the TV food world. Enjoy!
My wife got these crazy passes for a special dinner beneath a billboard, two stories up above Times Square. The meal was conceptualized by Marcus Samuelsson, as he was one of the sponsors via his Harlem restaurant. Anyway, for $50 a head we got a five course meal, and all money is being donated to fight cancer, so it’s for a good cause.
Check out the view from this bitch:
Here’s what we had:
The cornbread was served with a sweet-yet-savory tomato chutney and sweet cream. Nice.
Next was a smoked salmon roll with bok choy, daikon, and chili vinaigrette. Fresh and packed with flavor.
Next was the star of the show. A watermelon & tomato gazpacho, with avocado, pickled shrimp, and crispy shallots. Spicy, cool, refreshing, and delicious.
Next was miso grilled bass. A little overcooked, but very tasty. It came with a corn and mushroom dumpling, with wild mushroom broth. The dumpling was a little salty, but still really good.
The final savory dish was lime coconut curried chicken, atop a Swedish pancake, and served with collard greens. The pulled chicken aspect was much better than the sliced breast part. It was very Indian in flavor. The collard greens were okay but something in the texture was a bit off putting. Maybe there was some eggplant in it? Not sure. I still ate every fucking bite though.
Dessert was buttermilk waffles with strawberry jam and vanilla ice cream. The waffle was perfect. Crispy on the outside, soft, fluffy and tender on the inside. Excellent.
Here’s the food truck unit where they were prepping the dishes, parked right in Times Square!
Some decor and hashtag requesting:
They even gave us some parting gifts, including signed copies of Marcus’ new book “Yes Chef!”
This was really an awesome experience. So glad my wife surprised me with this.
My wife has some friends who are involved with the Dynasty Project. From their mission statement, the Dynasty Project creates and supports innovative programs that enrich local Asian communities through athletics and the pursuit of athletic endeavors. They look to build a culture of athletics in Asian communities as part of a complete and healthy lifestyle while providing the resources to maintain that culture for future generations. Through athletics, they seek to promote important life skills such as teamwork, leadership, the value of hard work and sacrifice, discipline, and healthy living all while getting exposure to programs and resources that might not otherwise be accessible to Asian American communities.
As you may recall, my wife is a baker (The Cake Dealer). She often will donate her baked goods for various events that the Dynasty Project hosts. This last event was in collaboration with Dale Talde, Top Chef allstar. They held a casino night with cool auction prizes. I donated my photo services and got to taste some of Dale’s food. Check out the pics below. The food consisted of veggie samosas, fried dumplings, soba noodles, sticky rice, shrimp, and broad flat noodle rolls with pork. Really great stuff, and a fun time.
UPDATE: THIS PLACE IS NOW CLSOED!
Skal is an Icelandic joint on Canal Street WAY on the east side. The end of Canal Street. I never realized how awesome this end of Canal Street was. Skal is actually the only place in NYC where you can try Icelandic food. The name of the restaurant means “cheers.” So SKAL!
The decor is really nice: washed blue with dark brown and white. Very “modern nuptials” in scheme, with a bit of Cape Cod accents.
The owner, Christoff, is awesome. He’s really nice, hands-on, with a great personality. He also sports a wonderful head of hair that makes me really jealous.
My wife and I came here for a Tabelog tasting event that involved seven courses of greatness.
First were the pickled veggies. This included everything from cauliflower to broccoli to root veggies and greens.
Next were the oysters. These were small but briny and potent. They tasted like the sea but not too fishy to the point of yuck. They were salty, creamy and dressed with a little bit of dill.
After, there were some passed salt cod croquettes with a horseradish sauce. These were really nicely fried, and the salt cod was tame and gentle. Really nice.
The caramelized carrots and root veggies with burnt honey were really tasty, though if you weren’t careful they did stick to your teeth quite a bit. Make sure you slosh with some water…
…Or some mixed drinks. The bartenders at Skal were mixing up some really nice shit. There was a gin-based, cucumber-infused drink with black pepper. That was great. Also a muddled berry drink, and a ginger, basil and vodka drink that was nicely balanced.
These little beauties were smoked mackerel and foie gras served in an onion cup that had been steamed in whey. It was smooth and creamy, almost mousse-like. This might have taken best of the night, though it was neck-and-neck with the next dish.
That next round of food was the duck wings. Holy shit, football fans… These motherfuckers were amazing. Soft, juicy, tender, jammed with flavor and perfectly dressed with red seaweed, mussels and a squid ink type of sauce. I know yo’re thinking “that’s not a traditional wing,” to which I would say “shut the fuck up and try it, then decide.”
Last, there was a little raw beef app. Raw beef with clams, fermented ramps and sorrel. Delicious enough to satiate this carvivore’s never-ending desire for beef.
That signaled the end of the meal. As we were digesting, Kenta from Tabelog announced some new plans for the site and told us about their launches in Chicago and California. Things are looking really great for their US venture. I hope it takes off!
Then the humble chef of Skal came out to tell us about the food and the restaurant. I’d definitely eat here again. Especially for the wings, the mackerel and the oysters.
But… I needed a little something extra, because deep down I’m still a fat guy, despite losing over 40lbs since January 1. So we went to nearby Bassanova with our friend from the party, Jay, who runs the Dishelin Guide website. Check out his page – pretty damn good idea for a food blog! Ramen is a great way to cap off any night. This particular variety was truffle wadashi tondaku ramen (pork broth).
My wife and I took a stroll through Reading Terminal Market today in Philadelphia when we were nearby for a cousin’s 5th birthday party. This place is awesome. I was a little overwhelmed actually. It’s basically like a flea market filled with awesome places to eat, with cuisines varying across dozens of cultures. There are even some fresh meat, cheese, seafood and produce purveyors too. Unfortunately I was full, having just eaten some great pho and banh mi at a Vietnamese place just outside of Philly. But I wasn’t too full to snap some photos for you fuckbags. Here they are. Enjoy.
For our fifth wedding anniversary, my awesome wife surprised the shit out of me with a butchery class and tour at the Mosner family meat processing plant in Hunt’s Point in the Bronx.
The business has been around for nearly six decades, starting with meat deliveries from the back of a station wagon until the brand slowly built up to become a well known, high-end meat distributor for some of the area’s finest steakhouses and meat purveyors.
Three grandchildren of the original Mosner start-up (Seth, Jessica, and Ben) run the incredibly informative tour and butchery class on Saturdays. The first thing you’ll do is suit up in a butcher’s coat and some gloves. Just a word of advice – bundle up if you do this. Inside it is just about freezing.
It starts out with introductions and some information from Jessica about the company, what they do, the history, etc. Then comes an awesome, testosterone building meat chant in call-and-response format. MEAT MEAT MEAT! This is a shot of Ben pulling us in for the huddle just before the chanting began.
Once inside, the learning begins. Seth and Ben informed us about the lamb and veal they deal in, including how it is treated at the farm (they enjoy a stress free and healthy life, which makes for better flavors), how it is slaughtered (with the utmost standards of humaneness), and how it is processed (skilled artists and craftsmen butchers).
Check out some of the other beautiful decor here:
Next up, Jessica runs through some of the important (and often times confusing to those not in the know) labels that the meat industry applies to various products.
“Antibiotic Free” vs “No Antibiotics,” for example (“No Antibiotics” means NO ANTIBIOTICS have ever been in the animal. “Antibiotic Free” means that there were no traces of antibiotics in the animal at the time of slaughter, but that doesn’t mean the animal never had any antibiotics in its lifetime). Here’s a nice little print-out that they gave the class: not everything we learned is on here, but this is a great start.
After this, we watched Chris, AKA “Da Butcher,” perform a lightning fast demo of his amazing butchery skills as he broke down the roast and rib ends of a pig in what had to be under 3 minutes WITH pauses in place to show us and explain what he was doing.
Then we had an opportunity to buy some high end meat at super wholesale prices. I’m talking PRIME beef for $9.99/lb. They even had an entire trailer full of game meats, with lots of harder to find stuff like elk, duck, venison, kangaroo, gator, snake, ostrich, pheasant, squab and others. Are you FUCKING serious?!?? I was in heaven! We decided to get some rarities like duck sausage and confit duck legs, but I could have easily blown the mortgage on this delicious shit.
Now for the hands-on stuff. I had to put my camera down, so there are no “action” photos, but we all got to do what “Da Butcher” did in his demo: namely, slice up the roast and rib of the pig.
We were instructed on everything from the best way to hold the knife, to how to properly get the meat off the bone without nicking or slicing up the good bits. Afterwards, we took all our cuts over to the vaccum sealer and put them into boxes that were pre-labeled with our names on them. That’s right – you get to bring home all that delicious piggy meat that you just butchered!!!
I watched as the staff expertly portioned and wrapped the prime stuff that other classmates had purchased.
Then Ben took me around to show me some of the offal that they sell as well. I’m talking everything – liver, heart, bones, sweetbreads – you name it, they sling it.
As you may have guessed, I’ve reviewed some of their steakhouse customers, and I have to tell you: there is a stark and obvious correlation. The places that use Mosner to source their meat all have excellent ratings on my leaderboard.
What an amazing gift! If you guys get a chance, you should definitely go as well. Not only do you learn a lot about the meat proteins you are eating, but you will come away with a great appreciation for the hard work and effort that goes into bringing these products to your dinner table. My wife knows that I secretly wish I were a butcher, so this was a real treat for me. Look – I even got a participation award.
Once we got home, I was itching to try some of what we just worked on, so I took the stew meat scraps and threw them into the slow cooker with apple moonshine, apple sauce, apple flavored water, and a bunch of mulling type spices like cinnamon and cloves.
I set it on low and slow. Four hours later the result was amazing. My wife and I threw it onto a sandwich with some pickled cabbage and a spicy mayo. Check out the recipe HERE.
