Comfort food. It’s a term that everyone, anywhere in the world, is most likely familiar with. It even has a Wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfort_food). Simply put, it is food that brings us comfort. It could be Mom’s home cooking, the local diner, the local curry house (for you Brits) or any food, whether it’s simple classics or gourmet cuisine, that brings you satisfaction even thinking about it.
By now you should know that I am a serious food lover. If you’ve seen Anthony Bourdain’s recent episode of No Reservations in Vietnam, you might have an understanding of how my Vietnamese heritage “forces” me to eat, want to eat, and talk about eating all the time. Unfortunately, it’s something I seen to be unable to suppress.
With that said, when I think back on my year in New York, I naturally think about the food I ate. Of course, most of the food memories involve really good times with friends – whether it was dinner at a new BYOB or a great Sunday brunch. If you didn’t know already, New Yorkers love their brunch. I don’t know if it’s the ability to drink so early in the morning or rather to continue drinking after a late night or if it’s the social aspect of catching up with friends in your precious free time.
Either way, one of my absolute favorite brunch places is Extra Virgin in the West Village. Granted this place usually has a pretty long wait on the weekend, I have never minded waiting. That’s probably because I kill the time by having one of their spicy Bloody Mary’s that will turn you into a Bloody Mary lover. If I recall a couple years ago, I didn’t really care for them until I had one here. It might be too spicy for some, but it gives a great amount of kick for me. But that’s not the reason I go back to this place. The real reason is the Gorgonzola fondue and fries. If you want to talk about comfort food, this super simple side dish makes me dream about New York. I have no idea why I love it so much. The sauce is just divine and the fries are fantastically thin and crispy. I kept bragging about it to my friend Adi who wasn’t really impressed until she tried it. It was a great reaction. First she commented on how the fries looked great. Then she dipped. Then her eyes opened wide and she moaned, a little. Needless to say we had to ask for more fondue to finish off the fries 🙂
Aside from the fries, they have my favorite eggs benedict (and I’ve tried quite a few) because they serve it with super crispy (American-style) bacon. Their hollandaise sauce isn’t too heavy either. That afternoon for lunch Adi had the pistachio crusted goat cheese salad with roasted beets, endive, watercress and granny smith apple vinaigrette. She said it was very nice, but unfortunately I can’t give any more details than that since I was too engrossed in my fries and fondue. Other dishes friends have tried are the frittata and Monte Cristo sandwich. Both of which got great reviews. So if you don’t mind having a drink while you wait, I highly recommend going here for a weekend brunch! It’s even better on a sunny day when you can sit out on the porch or by the open window.
In terms of general comfort food, Italian is what really does it for me. I do not have a huge sweet tooth, but I’ll guarantee that I can devour a plate of penne with vodka sauce. Naturally, living in New York I ate a whole lot of Italian. Before arriving, I was determined to go back to my favorite places (one of the Frank restaurants or Mario Batali’s Otto Pizzeria), but it just didn’t seem to work out. Nonetheless, I got my fixing and tried out some new places in the process.
First up was Al Di Là Trattoria in Park Slope, Brooklyn which Adi took me to. She had been raving about it and told me she even did her apartment search around this place. Of course, it doesn’t really take very much to convince me to eat Italian food. Since there were so many places she wanted to take me to, we headed here for lunch. It happened to be restaurant week in Brooklyn, so it was packed but we were seated pretty quickly. This place was so cute. It’s on the corner of 5th Avenue (the Brooklyn 5th Avenue) and Carroll Street. It’s one of those places that only exist in New York. The type of place that’s “around the corner” that you can just stroll down to on any random weeknight and see a bunch of regulars. Of course, in New York these places have particularly exceptional food (this place has been Michelin recommended for several years running).
The food was a real treat because it was Venetian which I haven’t had before (that I know of). For restaurant week, there was a great 3-course option but I was eyeing the specials so we opted out. To start, we had Adi’s favorite – Warm farro salad (grain salad with roasted winter vegetables, goat cheese, hazelnuts and sherry vinaigrette). Now two things about this dish. First, I honestly had no idea what farro was but it looked familiar once I saw it. Secondly, I’m not a major goat cheese person but I’ve had some nice experiences so I try it every once in awhile. Yet again, Adi did not disappoint in her recommendations. In fact, it just made me SO jealous that she has been living less than a block away from this place for so long. This salad was such a wonderful surprise. The dish is listed as warm but the farro is more like room temperature. It had a very similar look and texture to barley – not that I’ve really eaten a lot of barley in my time. Really, barely has never really appealed to me. But the farro was both light and hearty, and I enjoyed the texture which wasn’t too “grainy” and much more like rice. I have to say that it really felt like every single ingredient in this dish contributed to its refreshing and savory flavor. The butternut squash had a nice sweetness which was contrasted with the bitter swiss chard. Also the creaminess of the butternut squash was complimented by a slight crunch of the cauliflower. The red onions almost tasted pickled but were nice and mild (didn’t overpower at all).The toasted hazelnuts added great earthiness and more crunch as well. The goat cheese was really the crowning glory for me. It wasn’t overly pungent like many goat cheeses can be. It was creamy, smooth and its lemon flavor really shone through. I really liked the fact that they didn’t overdress this salad. They allowed each of the ingredients to be distinctive and marry together. Mmm I’m getting very hungry just thinking about this. I think this is one of my new comfort foods.. NOTE for those who live in Manhattan this place is only a couple stops away on the R/W and about two blocks from the train. I highly recommend you venture out of the city!
While the farro salad was the most memorable dish for me at Al Di La, we also had some great main dishes. Adi had creamy polenta topped with a medley of fresh mushrooms (see the Supermarket Envy post and you’ll understand about the mushrooms). This dish was also very refreshing but mainly due to the freshness of the mushrooms. The polenta was a tad watery for my liking but all in all not bad. I had one of the specials – pappardelle with duck ragu. This time I went against Adi’s recommendation for the tagliatelle with beef ragu. I thought that the duck ragu was pretty unique, and our server insisted I try it. The duck was very flavorful but seemed to overpower the sauce, as in I didn’t really taste much else other than duck. The noodles were homemade and nice but a little too al dente. Overall the dish was good but not completely satisfying. I think next time I’ll order what Adi tells me to 🙂
Since I still had not gotten my true Italian craving for gnocchi (potato dumplings) and a really creamy, indulgent sauce, I made Chris eat Italian for our ‘date night’. Sadly, we had a little too much fun Thursday and Friday night and were completely exhausted by Saturday. So we didn’t venture very far and settled for the Italian restaurant in our hotel, San Rocco. It had a couple decent reviews on Yelp and they served gnocchi. Good enough for me! The décor was nice and we were seated in a semi-romantic booth in the back corner. It wasn’t very busy, so it was nice to be able to talk without having to shout over a crowd. The first disappointment was that the menu didn’t match what was online which didn’t seem to surprise our server. We settled for a beef tartar which was absolutely disgusting. I am way too nice of a person and rarely send dishes back, so we seasoned it with a LOT of salt and pepper and managed to finish it.
For our main, Chris had a nice Osso Bucco with fried saffron risotto which was very nice but a somewhat small portion. I, on the other hand, got a gigantic serving of gnocchi. It wasn’t the gnocchi I had seen on the online menu, but it served its purpose. It was gnocchi with salmon and a cream sauce. Right away the gnocchi just completely melted in my mouth. Mmm nothing beats homemade gnocchi. Really store-bought gnocchi should be called something different because it is worlds different. If you don’t know what gnocchi is, it’s a potato dumpling. It is occasionally made with additional ingredients like spinach or olive. The real stuff is incredibly creamy and smooth, but can very easily be overcooked and taste like mashed potatoes. Sadly, I settle for the store-bought kind to satisfy my cravings but if you like that, you really must find yourself a homemade version.
I really must stop writing these posts at night because it makes me so hungry looking at the pictures and writing about it! It’s particularly painful knowing all this food is so far away 😦 I’ll have to stop at this, but there is some more comfort food from New York on the way!
[…] ever since I ate that Warm Farro Salad in Brooklyn (at Al Di La), I had been craaaving it. So I decided I would try to recreate it with […]
[…] blog, you might remember when I first discovered farro at a small Venetian restaurant in Brooklyn (post on my NY trip). I immediately fell in love with this grain that was slightly chewy, slightly nutty and (I think) […]