Beer of the Week: Blue Point Toasted Lager

A local brewery in Patchogue, Long Island, Blue Point brewery is known for its microbrews and seasonal beers that many a bar in New York serves with pride. Their most well known beer is a Toasted Lager, a delicious beer that combines great malt and hops, with a toasted caramel flavor that I cannot say I have ever tasted in another beer. When it first started being served in bars it was a bit of a novelty because it was both rare and delicious. Bars would run out of it so quickly, and you would have to switch to another beer after a while. This is no longer the case as I witness recently that places as far away as Hoboken have discovered that a flavored beer can still be a "guy" beer.

Unlike its fruit and chocolate beer cousins, the toasted flavor adds a tasty yet only slight hint of flavor, almost like lightly smoking a vegetable. When you first taste the beer you can clearly make out the toasted flavor, but quickly come to the realization that it is a rich and flavorful lager on par with much better known non-toasted lagers.

Number of Beers Drank in one Sitting: 3
Pair with Food: Yes, goes really well with light and subtle flavored food, such as fish.

Not to be confused with the Mussels

Restaurant: Pipa

Tapas, tapas, tapas. Sometimes I wonder if like saying candy man in front of the mirror three times they will magically appear in front of me like a wish come true. Is there any other concept that appeals to someone who loves food more than the idea of being able to taste so many different types of dishes without having to either waste food or stuff yourself? Having done my own personal exploration (although small) of Spain, and trying other cultures examples of tapas, I am always excited to try a new tapas restaurant. Luckily, a recent suggestion of a somewhat high-end tapas restaurant named Pipa did not disappoint.

Located within, technically, ABC carpet, Pipa uses their unusual space to the best of their advantage with low lighting, huge chandeliers and other furniture directly from ABC carpet. While you may wonder if people ever look at the price tags of these items and buy them, you are very quickly distracted by the vibrant bar scene (even on Tuesday when I went) and the mass communal tables that dominate the landscape. I highly recommend a reservation, unless your goal is to spend a long time waiting at the bar getting drunk and forgetting that you came for food. After being seated with about 20 other people, at an awkward corner of a large table, we quickly ordered a pitcher of Sangria before even opening the menu. Although delicious, I didn't find anything that special about the Sangria, but who can argue with booze?

The menu is vast, and separated into different types of tapas and bites to help you choose wisely. There are also larger portioned dishes that are entree size, but unless you really want Paella or other more standard Spanish fare, I would stick with the tapas. Why get paella at a tapas restaurant? That's like going to a seafood restaurant and ordering chicken. After a heated debate we settled on a handful of dishes, including a "mushroom coca", Spanish olives, "pulpo gallego", stuffed piquillo peppers, beef skewers, a potato dish and chicken croquettes.

The dishes ranged from great, to good, and downright bad, but luckily the majority fell into the great category. The standouts included the stuffed piquillo peppers, beef skewers and pulpo gallego. The peppers were stuffed with a rich mix of crab and shrimp and topped with a paprika based aioli that made for rich creamy goodness. The shrimp and crab mixture managed to stand up to the delicious sauce, and there is always a fondness in my heart for things stuffed into other things. Despite the inherent danger in skewers, I managed to eat the tender pieces of beef quickly and safely. They came with a pleasant, if forgettable, dipping sauce, but the meat was so perfectly cooked and marinated that neither of us bothered with the sauce after the first taste. The last of the great dishes was the pulpo gallego. A relatively simple dish on the menu, consisting of octopus, potatoes, olives and smoked paprika, it actually had quite a complex flavor profile that dances around on the tongue with each bite. Perhaps the most impressive part of the whole dish was the octopus, which almost melted in my mouth. While I do perk up in general when eating well-cooked octopus, this dish alone will make want to come back for more.

The olives we ordered were delicious, but then again, they are still just a huge plate of olives to snack on in between courses. The good dishes included a large circle of potatoes and chicken croquettes. I honestly could not tell you how the potatoes were created, and though they were tasty, I wish I hadn't eaten them and had saved room for more of the above mentioned dishes. The croquettes were actually quite tasty, but they lacked a strong and flavorful sauce to back up the crunchy and moist croquette. The most disappointing of all the dishes, although it had the most promise, was the Mushroom Coca. A flat bread topped with wild mushrooms, manchego cheese, caramelized onions, fresh figs, serrano ham, toasted almonds and truffle oil, it had pretty much everything you could imagine wanting. The problem, however, was that the ingredients didn't meld well together at all, and instead had many individual distinct notes that left the dish only half eaten. The wild mushrooms, combined with the truffle oil, caused a much too earthy taste, which dominated the sweetness of the onions and figs. Manchego cheese and Serrano ham, two standouts on their own, were fighting the sweet earthy flavor just for a place at the table. In the end, we ended up just eating the ham off the top of the bread and leaving the rest of the dish untouched.

Dessert, as often is the case, was not something I was craving, instead choosing to eat a few more olives since the plate was so huge. I'm sure they do some nice desserts, but when I'm at a tapas restaurant with such diverse and delicious options as Pipa, I will always order one more savory dish.

Tapas and Home Furnishings

Condiment of the Week: Cucumber Raita

Defining cucumber raita as a "condiment" might be stretching the definition a bit, but I like to think that it should be classified with ketchup and mayo if more people ate it regularly in the US. Perhaps its Indian origins, and not many people actually knowing what it is has something to do with it.Raita , particularly the cucumber type, is very common in South Indian cuisine and is often served alongside traditional dishes whether here in the US, Britain, or India. It is cool and refreshing, providing a reprieve to many spicy dishes by giving your tongue a break it needs.

The primary ingredients are yogurt, mint, and cucumbers with a number of variations that can include cilantro, cayenne, paprika and toasted cumin seeds. Occasionally I have had it where it is very sweet, almost like vanilla instead of plain yogurt was used, and I do not recommend it made like this. The yogurt is meant as a foil to the spicy food you are eating, not as a primary taste to the dish. The idealraita has the flavor of the cucumber and the mint coming through on the palate, while the yogurt gets you ready for yet another bite of something that makes the tongue tingle with satisfaction.

Favorite Use: Topping spicy Indian food or on the side for naan dipping
Strangest Use: Marinade for chicken that gives it an unusual and tender texture and flavor.

The Dish: New Orleans Food

So this technically is not a specific dish or food, but it's my blog so I am breaking my own rules. After a recent excursion down to New Orleans for a weekend of fun, I had the rare opportunity to try a number of different famous Cajun dishes and restaurants. Since this is the only part of the trip I can really talk about (and remember), I will try to go through as much of it as possible. Our first stop was an old place called Mother's. The restaurant is a famous old New Orleans institution, where there are no pretensions or fancy food, just good home cooking. It's the type of place, like Katz's, that when you walk in you feel like you are going to get some old world home cooking like you grew up with. While there I got to try two famous dishes that just bleed New Orleans - Debris and a Catfish Po Boy. For those of you that aren't familiar, debris is the pieces of Roast Beef that falls off into the drippings while roasting. It is incredibly tender, juicy and tastes succulent whether topping a sandwich or with a side of grits. The catfish po boy sounds like a simple concept, but near perfect execution is tough. Delicately grilled with cajun seasoning and on a fresh french roll with dressing, creole mustard, tartar sauce, lettuce and pickles, it was both delicate, filling and savory all at the same time.

Our trip later that day was a little out of the way from Bourbon street, but apparently well known - Jacquesimos Cafe. The table shared braised beef cheeks, some kind of alligator crawfish cheescake, and fried calamari. The beef cheeks were somewhat lacking in flavor, and the fried calamari was, well, fried calamari. Honestly, I don't think fried calamari really gets me all that excited anymore now that every single restaurant in the world seems to have it on the menu. The savory cheescake, however, was delicious and almost eye opening because you just couldn't quite place what the ingredients were, but knew it was amazing with every bite. Ironically, the best part of the appetizers was probably the corn bread muffins topped with fresh parsley and garlic. They were so good we kept asking for more, and a certain someone actually stole a bunch in a napkin for later. My main course was Cajun BBQ Shrimp with mashed sweet potatoes and smothered cabbage. The sides were tasty, and the bbq sauce was a great mix of spicy and sweet, but the shrimp themselves were a little over cooked and despite at first liking it, the heads being on eventually just led to frustration.

After that eating extravaganza, and the drinking that occurred after, we had to get something to help the hangovers the next morning. Luckily, we found a Po Boy place that had something called a Mufelatta. Basically it is the biggest sandwich you will ever see on a great french bread with salami, ham, cheese and a briney, tongue tingling, olive salad all pressed down and heated until every bite explodes in your mouth with flavor. Not only did I finish the entire plate and all the olive salad that had fallen out, but I kept thinking about it the rest of the day wanting another. Luckily, beignets from Cafe Du Monde were able to distract me from eating way too much. Honestly, beignets are not my thing, but I can see why they are famous for their flavor and texture at Cafe Du Monde.

To top off the eating adventure in New Orleans we went to an old place called Mulates. Very much a family style restaurant, we feasted on everything and anything they could fry up for us. We had fried alligator, fried crawfish, fried catfish, fried oysters, fried clams, french fries, and fried crab cakes. Basically the only things we had that weren't fried were frogs legs, grilled alligator and some jambalaya. The grilled alligator actually convinced me that it was better fried, because grilled it comes off a little too chewy and gamey. All in all, I was happy to get more gator, and happy to finally have some crawfish so that I could claim that I ate pretty much everything New Orleans is known for in a single weekend.

After this trip, I don't know if I will need to eat for quite a while. Luckily, I doubt that is really true.

Beer of the Week: Brahma

With the chilly winter weather upon us, I thought it would be nice to talk about a beer that just makes me think of summer, partying and beautiful women. Brahma is one of the most popular beers from Brazil, and whether due to its unique bottle shape and lack of label, or simply its refreshing flavor, many that see it want more after just a few sips. Brahma is a pale lager that has a slight caramel flavor, although it probably is hard to distinguish from the flavor of a Corona (but don't add any limes). It is easy sipping, and according to the company it embodies the creative spirit known as "Ginga". How it does this exactly, I have no idea. Perhaps drink enough and you come up with creative things the bottle shape reminds you of? Most importantly, if you are going to drink Brahma make sure it is ice cold. And when I mean ice cold, I mean your hands should feel frozen after hold the bottle for only a few sips.

Number of Beers Drank in one Sitting: 4
Pair With Food: Chips & Salsa

Brazilian Curves

Joe's Shanghai

After a long hiatus due to a busy new job, lack of internet, and pretty much any excuse I can think of that will not let me admit to general laziness I have decide to get this rolling again. Sadly, over the last 6 months I have eaten in numerous places I would love to write about, but the details are now to few and far between to write coherently. Luckily, I had the pleasure of some fantastic Chinese food on Christmas Eve at Joe's Shanghai that inspired me to return to writing.

My friend swears by Joe's Shanghai, and as any New Yorker knows, everyone has their "best" Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. Plus, any New Yorker knows that to Jewish people, Chinese food is a close second when it comes to a religious experience. After Joe's Shanghai's surprisingly fresh, delicious, and well portioned food I found myself questioning if it should still be second on the religious experience scale.

Our party of seven had to wait an hour outside on Christmas Eve, but my understanding was that this was standard. Upon being seated, before we could even open the menu the waiter asked us if we wanted soup dumplings (the house specialty). Never having experienced such a treat, but a lover of all things dumpling, I hesitantly asked my friend how many orders should we get. He is quite the dumpling connoisseur, so confidently he said 1 crab and 1 pork. As two other people stared at our noisy group (tables are shared, unless your group is 9 or 10 people), we excitedly debated the number of dishes we needed, and how to evenly balance them between vegetable, meat, and if fish should even be an option. The order ended up like this:

Cold Noodles with Sesame Sauce
Double Cooked Pork
Sesame Chicken
Beef with Broccoli
Vegetable Lo-Mien
Sauteed Spinach with Garlic

To top this all off, we of course had to get multiple rounds of Tsingtao, which I imagine is the official Jewish drink of Christmas. No sooner had we placed our order than the soup dumplings had arrived. To attempt to describe these moist flavorful nuggets of steamed goodness probably won't do them justice. Although the crab flavor was not that distinct, the meat was well flavored, cooked perfectly, and a delightful mouthful. The dough of the dumpling was steamed, a little chewy, but by no means the thick, flavorless shell that too many restaurants serve. The highlight of the dish is of course the soup that is within the dumpling. The broth is exquisite, with a strong, but not overpowering lemon flavor. Amazingly the rest of the dumpling is infused with this flavor, but still manages to hit your tongue with all the other tastes that the full dumpling provides. I could probably eat a bowl of just the broth, and may have to see if this is on the menu next time.

After the amazing first course, and the arguing over who got the 8th dumpling, the cold noodles with sesame sauce were an extreme disappointment. The noodles were a bit overcooked, and the sauce was watery and tasteless. Perhaps some people like spaghetti noodles and a very liquidy sesame sauce, but me, I like thinner noodles, and a sauce that sticks to the noodles with a distinct flavor and even a slight hint of spice. The best, in my mind, are a balance between a little spicy, a little sweet, and plenty savory. With this disappointment firmly behind me, we prepared for the main courses, which came out seemingly all at once. The double cooked pork was excellent, in a nice brown sauce, and featuring tender crispy pork with a mix of your standard veggies. The nice surprise was the still crispy cabbage. This is such an underused vegetable in cooking, and it adds a distinct flavor and texture that made a good dish great.

The beef with broccoli was tasty, and the meat of higher quality than I expected. I must admit, however, I'm not a big fan of this dish in general, so thank god for the spicy red pepper sauce on the table to give this a little bit of a kick. The same must be said for the vegetable lo-mien. I don't know how vegetarians do it, but I would get pretty bored eating this dish without chunks of meat on a regular basis. There was nothing I could point to that made the dish bad, and in fact it was distinct for not being greasy at all compared to your average lo-mien dishes. Honestly though, would you waste prime stomach space during a hearty meal on this dish? I think not.

Despite everything else that came before it, the two highlights of the main meal (dumplings not included) were the water spinach with garlic, and the sesame chicken. I know, sesame chicken is not exactly fine dining, but when made right it really stands out. The chicken was all white meat, no fat, and was fried until crispy with a batter that actually accentuated the flavor of the chicken instead of muting it. On the side was fresh green blanched broccoli, still with a slight snap to it. One of my biggest pet peeves is Chinese food where the meat is dumped on top of broccoli, and it is a clear after thought, usually over cooked or greasy. Topping off the chicken and broccoli was a deliciously sweet and tangy sauce that was both instantly recognizable as sesame chicken sauce, while being surprising at every bite. Perhaps it was that the sauce was gooey, without being overwhelmingly full of corn starch, and hit the right balance between sweet and salty that it caught my attention. Whatever the reason, it goes down as the best sesame chicken I have ever had, and I wish we had 2 orders instead of one. The other great dish was actually a side dish. As mentioned in the past, I love a side order of spinach, and the water spinach with garlic was perfectly cooked, bright green and fresh, and flavored with salt and garlic. All in all, I could have just eaten the spinach and the chicken and been happy all night.

Despite all the food that had been consumed, a debate ensued about what we should have for dessert. After a number of minutes of crazy ideas, we decided the best dessert was another order of pork soup dumplings. The smiles and giggles of glee that everyone expressed as they showed up at our table meant we had made the right decision. We also clearly made the right decision to go to Joe's Shanghai on Christmas. I know I will be making more trips to Chinatown soon, and well before the next Jews night out.

Take a trip to dumpling heaven.

Restaurant: Calle Ocho

Trips to the upper west side are not a common occurrences for me, particularly just to eat dinner. The menu, however, and a gift certificate burning a whole in my wallet convinced me to head to Calle Ocho to try the unusual twists on recognizable Latin flavors and dishes. The restaurant has a cozy and chic interior by the bar, where many people simply sat around sipping brightly colored drinks and checking out if anyone was checking them out. Once led into the main dining room, you walk out into a huge cavernous space with loud conversations and waiters running all around. You get the feeling like you walked into a slightly off fine dining restaurant that could be in Latin America, but could also be in California or Miami. This odd effect wears off quickly as soon as you get a chance to study the long drink and food menus.

My dining companion and I wanted to try as much food as possible, and both had 3 different drinks each. Of the 3, none really hit the spot for me like the classic Mojito. Every other drink I tried was just way too sweet and girly, with some even rimmed with sugar. Luckily the food distracted me from the drinks enough to forget how sweet they were. We started with a carnitas and pineapple soft taco platter and a combo of four ceviches. The carnitas were sweet and savory, which would be a common theme throughout the meal. The meat was completely shredded, moist and flavorful. Served with different salsas, pickled onions, radish and cilantro, each taco could be made the way the individual liked it and gobbled up in about two or three bites. The ceviche sampler was a mixed bag. Not all the ceviches we wanted could be a part of the sample (the oysters specifically), and another was mysteriously not available (despite it being early in the night). We ended up ordering the Mariscos, Tropical, and Hondureno. We ordered a fourth, but they mistakenly brought two Mariscos. The Hondureno was far and away the best, combining tuna, coconut milk and pickled jalapenos. The Mariscos, which had lobster, shrimp, lemon and lime were amazing, although as expected, you never get enough lobster in the order. Although the ingredients of the Tropical should have wowed me, the combo of shrimp, roast tomato, mango and other citrus was just overwhelming and instead of the tastes melding together, they just all fought each other.

For main courses we shared the Paella and the Corvina. The Paella was huge, and had no shortage of lobster, scallops or shrimp. In fact, it actually came with 1/2 a lobster sitting right on top. You can't really argue with any Paella that starts with 1/2 a lobster, and has just the right combo of spice and savory flavor to warm your stomach. The Corvina was basically a large piece of chilean seabass, mixed vegetables and a delightfully seasoned broth that was surprisingly flavorful. After just one or two bites I couldn't get enough the perfectly cooked fish and vegetables gently mingling in a sauce that to the average observer looked bland and unassuming. I couldn't pinpoint the flavors of the sauce given its Spanish background (and my lack of knowledge about the cuisine), but I definitely plan on returning for further investigation. A nice side addition was the sweet and green plantains. This sweet and savory combo caused fights over who got the last of each, and should always be at the table when dining at Calle Ocho.

Last but not least, we shared a beautifully prepared and tasting dessert of toasted coconut ice cream, placed within a thin chocolate shell and surrounded by a deep red and almost too sweet raspberry sauce. Although decadent, how can anyone not enjoy the combo of coconut, chocolate and raspberry? It made for a great end to a delicious meal of fancy Latin food that might make a trip back uptown worth it.

A reason to go to the Upper West Side