Chomps brand beef sticks are similar in size and style to Slim Jim brand jerky sticks, but they are a bite more tender and less grainy. A nicer quality. My wife picked these up for me as a gift, and I liked them.
“Cracked Pepper & Sea Salt” (venison) and “Hoppin Jalepeno” (grass fed beef) were my favorite flavors.
Worth a shot!
This pizza joint up in Schenectady is fairly good. I was expecting something rancid and offensive, so far from NYC. But the crust was nice – airy but crisp, with just the right amount of chew and dough bounce. I went with a mozzarella, ricotta, tomato and broccoli slice. I enjoyed it. If you find yourself in the area, this is a decent shop.
I LOVE NY PIZZA – YOU WILL TOO
1705 Union St
Schenectady, NY 12309
I ate a burger at Denny’s this past week for the first time in my life. I was actually kind of impressed with it. The burger meat needed a punch in the flavor department, and the sauce on the burger was too plentiful and too sweet (bourbon sauce), but over all it was pretty decent.
The burger patty itself was loosely packed (a good thing), and it had a great crisp all over. It wasn’t overcooked either. The toppings were layered on in just the right amounts, and there was good cheese coverage.
The cheddar bun was a big surprise. I was expecting it to flake apart and crumble under pressure, but it was fresh, pliable yet soft, and held up to scrutiny.
I’d eat here again, though maybe I’d opt for a standard cheeseburger instead of the bacon bourbon burger, so as to avoid the overly sweet sauce.
DENNY’S
60 Nott Terrace
Schenectady, NY 12308
I’m not a huge coffee drinker. I prefer espresso when I look for my coffee fix – typically in the morning after a run. Death Wish, claiming to be the strongest whole bean coffee on the market, seemed like a natural segway for me from the strength of espresso.
I liked it. My wife’s uncle made it for me in a French press, and it was nice. Not over-the-top strong just for the sake of caffeine, not bitter, and it had a nice flavor that wasn’t overwhelming. I’d love to try it in a ristretto form as a shot of thick, potent espresso.
Not too bad for a store brand jerky. I tried the teriyaki turkey flavor.
Predictably, it was a little brittle and dry, but once you got going, it became tender.
I would buy it again.
My wife and I went to Marseille in the Times Square / Hell’s Kitchen area to help them promote a special menu for Stinky Cheese Week.
We started with some drinks, and then had a few more. They were all good. Coffee old fashioned, Stinky Cheese Week special negroni, Lillet spritz, and some champagne.
In fact I really liked the bar here as well.
I also really liked the bread and butter they served us with dinner.
We started with the Stinky Cheese Week special French onion soup. I enjoyed the cheese, and the beef broth had a pretty good flavor.
I’ve had better elsewhere, but it was certainly satisfying.
The escargot were a bit light on flavor. I was able to pick up the herb flavors easily, but the garlic and butter application was much less than what I’m used to. In fact it may have been an oil instead of a butter. At least that’s the concensus my wife and I came to. I didn’t dislike them, they were just very light and unexpected.
My wife ordered the duck, which had an interesting preparation. It struck us as more German than French: It came with boiled potatoes as opposed to gratin (menu said gratin). And it also came on a bed of sauerkraut, which seemed to throw off the flavors and compete with the duck.
Unfortunately the duck itself was tough and overcooked in parts.
I had the steak frites. While I ordered it medium rare, it came out at about medium well or well done. It had decent flavor though, despite the awful sin of overcooking, and the fries were actually great. 5/10.
Continuing with the Stinky Cheese Week theme, we shared the blue cheese ice cream profiteroles for dessert.
I kinda liked it. It was like eating a cheese plate in profiterole form, as the ice cream had the cheese in it, the cream puff represented the toast, crackers or bread, and the apples and honey came in the form of a sauce for pouring on top.
It was very interesting, but admittedly not for everyone. In fact stinky cheeses in general would fit that chatacterization, but what can I say: I love some stinky cheeses.
MARSEILLE
630 9th Ave
New York, NY 10036
Last night I tried a ton of really great American, and specifically NY/NJ, comfort food here at Harold’s Meat + Three. There’s a lot to discuss, so I might as well get right down to it.
WINGS
Brined, smoked and grilled, these are some of the best, most deeply flavorful wings I’ve ever had. They have a great charcoal, wood-fired flavor to them.
PIZZA
We sampled two wood fired flatbread pizzas. The first, an arugula, cheese and ham:
The second, egg, cheese and Taylor ham. Amazing. Off the menu, but you can ask for it at brunch time.
BURGERS & SANDWICHES
Breakfast burger with sunny side egg, taylor ham and American. This tasted like a great white castle slider mixed with a classic deli style egg sandwich.
The South Jersey Soul Crusher: five thick cut, griddled slices of Taylor ham (or pork roll, depending on which part of Jersey you’re in), on an everything bagel. Perfect hangover food.
Egg sandwich with American cheese, salt, pepper and ketchup. A classic, but on a potato bun, and with some pork roll added for good measure. So tasty.
The award winning burger. This baby is simple and delicious. Two smash patties, lots of american, pickles, and a smear of ketchup and mustard, all on a potato bun. Perfect.
BLT. Perfectly executed with Harold Moore’s smoked bacon and crispy Taylor ham bits.
Speaking of smoked bacon, we had a plate of that as well. Incredible.
CHOPS
The rib eye steak.
This is wet aged and simply grilled to a perfect medium rare. Served with an array of veggies so you feel good about yourself.
The lamb blade chop.
I love when places offer interesting and less common cuts of meat. Harold nails it with a citrus marinade, Italian herbs and crushed red pepper. A squeeze from the grilled lemon really made this do backflips on my tastebuds. Check out the perfect cook temp inside:
PASTA (sweet potato tortellini)
There’s smoked ricotta, sage and brown butter in those beauties.
TRIPE STEW
That’s garlic bread on the side there with it. Super tender, great sauce with aji panca chili.
BISCUITS
This biscuit with pork roll bits inside was incredible. Great way to start the meal (sorry I’m adding it here so late).
DESSERT
Miniature soft serve vanilla ice cream cones. My favorite kind of ice cream. I’m a simple man.
Chocolate cake with ice cream on top. Gotta have the rainbow sprinkles on the frosting too.
Not one bad bite in the bunch. I really suggest you get down here and try this place ASAP. So good, and currently still somewhat “under the radar” of people who like to line up like assholes for food. Not for long though. This place is amazing.
HAROLD’S MEAT + THREE
2 Renwick St
New York NY 10013
When my wife and I were in Italy, we went bonkers for Bonci Pizzarium near the Vatican, and we’ve been craving it ever since. A brand new pizza joint on the upper east side, PQR, brought me right back there.
I have to say this is one of my new favorite spots in the city. Roman style pizza just works on so many levels. If you’ve never had it before, this is an exemplary representation. The dough/crust is perfectly crisp yet puffy and airy, and they’re generous with their high quality toppings.
Get the spicy soppressata with grape tomato and the sliced potato with truffle sauce. You’ll thank me later.
Spicy Soppressata:
Sliced Potato & Truffle:
Sliced Potato & Porchetta:
Traditional Mozz & Tomato Sauce:
PQR
1631 2nd Ave
New York, NY 10028
San Matteo is a Neapolitan style pizzeria and restaurant on the Upper East Side. Neapolitan style pizza is characterized by a puffy and doughy crust with, generally, pure and simple ingredients on top. See below:
This style of pizza isn’t crispy with a crunchy bottom like NYC style pizza, but I assure you that it’s still awesome. That was the Margherita Regina pie, $18. They have daily special pies too, like this pesto and spicy coppa pie.
Their meat and cheese boards are pretty incredible too:
After eating this delicious stuff, I was surprised that I had room for dessert: profiteroles.
UPDATE 6/2/18
On a second visit, I came in to test a new burger that the owner Fabio was formulating for a competition (Burger Bash). The thing was amazing. Piedmontese beef in a 70/30 lean/fat ratio, topped with Blue Moon beer caramelized onions, radicchio, and lots of gooey and funky taleggio cheese. It was all housed in a freshly baked ciabatta bun, right from the pizza oven.
We also enjoyed numerous Aperol spritzes at the bar.
Some salumi:
An incredible porchetta and arugula sandwich:
Eggplant parm:
The meat you get in the pork chop Milanese, which is one of the best I’ve had, is raised on chef/owner Fabio’s farm.
And of course more pizza:
This one had guanciale on it:
Fabio even made us a nice risotto dish with fresh porcini mushrooms, mixed up right in a cheese wheel:
I really love this place – such amazing Italian food.
They serve up some great LaFrieda steaks too.
And my favorite arancini rice ball of all time.
SAN MATTEO PIZZERIA E CUCINA
1559 2nd Ave
New York, NY 10028
Le Coq Rico is essentially a steakhouse for fowl. They serve whole, half and quarter birds – everything from chicken to duck to guinea hens. The menu is quite impressive.
My wife and I went in with a photographer who shoots food photos and runs social media accounts as a side business, so we got to try a bunch of things.
First off, they make great cocktails. We tried their old fashioned, and it was excellent.
Since we went in for brunch, we also got to try a pair of their fresh juices. The orange one is called Sirocco Breath, and it’s made with celery, carrot, apple, turmeric and nutmeg. Pop a shot of vodka in this and it is an amazing cocktail as well. So tasty and fresh.
The reddish purple drink is called the Root Twist: beet, ginger and orange. Very nice.
To start, we had the Caesar salad with chicken croquettes. This was a great salad.
The foie gras terrine en croute was so amazingly flavorful. This has won competitions all over the world. A definite must order.
Okay now on to the main feature. This is a 120-day old Brune Landaise pastured chicken, poached and roasted to perfection.
After slicing:
Some plating:
I really enjoyed this. All the dark meat was juicy, succulent and flavorful, and even the breast meat was incredible – especially when you drizzle some jus on it.
We snacked on this with some fries and a mixed greens salad with vinaigrette.
Now, I know the chicken is the main star, but you NEED to save room for dessert. I’m serious. These are some of the best desserts I’ve had. Every one of them was incredible. Perfectly executed French classics.
Mille Feuille:
100% Chocolate Profiteroles:
L’Ile Flottante:
Chef Westerman’s Vacherin, Ice cream side:
And Sorbet side:
I highly recommend this place. Share a fowl for the table, and go ballistic on desserts. You won’t be disappointed!
LE COQ RICO
30 E 20th St
New York, NY 10003
