So...first trip to the Big Apple - lots of things on the 'to do' list but, unusually for me, food was not a top priority. Filled with notions that the majority of local food would be plasticised, humungous, fatty and tasteless, I resigned myself to lots of disappointments and an expanding waistline, at the end of which I would be as sick as Morgan Spurlock and only too glad to race home and eat lettuce for a week. I mean, after all, we do have the US of A to thank for McDonalds, Kentucky Fried and, I can only assume, that abomination they call the cheese-stuffed pizza crust - like it doesn't have enough fat and salt already?
Always ready to admit I'm wrong, however, I am indeed wrong...in some ways. If you're looking for some tips on fine dining in New York, you will need to look elsewhere. I do have a mortgage and an uncharitable credit card, so I'm always on the look out for reasonably priced, food that locals eat. I also wanted to satisfy my curiosity about a whole range of raised by things I'd seen on US television programs - like, why in the land of supersizery, do they only have a slice of pizza, what the hell is Scrapple and, knowing that good coffee always follows Italian immigration (if you doubt this, go to Melbourne - there is no bad coffee in Melbourne, thanks to Italian migrants), where do I go to get beyond the jtravesty branded simply as Starbucks?
Three days in, all I can say is 'so far, so not too bad'. The food is undoubtedly 'big' but I've been lucky to have some really nice, fresh and relatively healthy food that, with a decent amount of walking, won't have me off the scales just yet.
My first breakfast was at the famous Balducci's - a deservedly popular food emporium where you can go for wonderful grain bread rolls, hot soup, delicious home-made style quiches and an inviting spread of fresh-baked cakes that tempted even me (always go for the savoury over the sweet). Best of all, the coffee was the real McCoy - smooth, strong arabica beans designed to give you both a shot in the arm and an all-over sweet warm glow to make you ready for anything. Humming Springsteen's Glory Days to myself, I went out into the March snow, yes, snow, feeling no pain.
For lunch, I got to have a slice (of pizza, for the uninitiated) for the first time and answered one of my all-time burning food questions. Eat more than one slice? Impossible. Even finish one slice - fairly difficult. The pizzas were par cooked and set out on a scrupulously clean bench, ready to be finished off in a pizza oven and thereby managing to be both quick and fresh - something a lot of 'fast food' places should listen to and learn from. I ordered a broccoli and cheese slice and then, under encouragement from the bemused staff member who was laughing at my astonishment over the size of the thing, sprinkled garlic powder and chilli flakes over the top. Really, really tasty. Even better, they had Scrapple in the fridge so I got to satisfy two curiousities in one go - it's a delicious orange flavoured drink, flat not fizzy, and not as sugary as Fanta, so pretty refreshing. The thing that unites these two meals is not their Italian inspiration, although there is that. It's that both meals were impossible to finish - so dinner became half a chicken sandwich, a half slice of pizza and a very nice pint of Brooklyn Winter Ale that they served up in the bar of my hotel. Not too shabby and a kind of informal three for the price of two deal. Americans do love their 'meal deals' but, even though mine was a bit off the radar, I was pretty happy with the result.
Went back for the spinach quiche a couple of days later - equally good and equally Great Lakes in size. Lunch that day was a gyro from a street vendor - big chunks of chicken thigh (always the tastiest bit) with rice cooked in stock, salad and sauce. I asked for yoghurt sauce and it was really mayonnaise, but that was my only gripe. Garlicky, not too much grease and enough vegetable matter to make me feel like it was a little bit healthy. All for five bucks - a really great bargain. Again, dinner was half a quiche and half a gyro, washed down with a glass of Napa Valley Merlot that gently raised its proverbial finger to that silly movie, Sideways, which so unjustly denigrated its glorious style.
Another good lunch was had at a burger joint economically called Brgr - if their food is anything to go by, I could be convinced to campaign against the unnecessary wastage of vowels too. They advertise that their beef is 100% grass fed and that this is better for the ozone layer, has as many Omega 3s as salmon and erm...tastes better. I don't know if all that's true, but I really knew they were serious when the cashier asked me how I would like the burger done! Never in my 53 years on this planet has this ever happened before - I regained my composure enough to mumble 'um....medium', thinking lots of blood on a burger bun would not be very appetising. Wise move - the result was a moist, delicious burger with mushrooms, salad, caramelised onion and chutney. Along with the blueberry and pomegranate shake I ordered, I came away thinking I really needed to readjust my thinking about American food.
My only totally inedible experience - and my friends and family will attest this is as rare as Haley's comet for me - was an oily, paper package of boneless buffalo wings - badly spiced, greasy chicken nuggets inexplicably sprinked with popcorn...wtf? Ate two, left the rest. Served at the Hudson Hotel where I was staying, they were genuinely awful and a waste of $12 which put a temporary stay on my enthusiasm for trying US bar food. But I'm sure I'll recover. Note to staff:: if a chef sees that someone has left a whole plate of something, you really ought to ask if everything is OK. Failure to do so is really the doublewhammy in my view - it's like saying you don't care if I didn't like the food because you've got my money anyway and my opinion of your food is not even worth the time to ask for feedback. As an aside, this isn't a hotel review but, if you're thinking of staying at the Hudson, the outside bits - the bars and lounges are really lovely spaces in which to sit but the rooms genuinely need another two feet at least to be properly habitable. All glossy and new, but too small to be considered remotely comfortable.
Anyway, here's what I think is happening on the food front. The same food/health revolution happening in other parts of the West is happening here too...but it comes with a price tag, like most middle-class 'revolutions'. There's never much change from fifteen bucks for anything half decent and a drink. It's not exhorbitant but it's beyond the daily reach of working locals on ordinary pay and, of course, the poor. I was sitting next to a pair of academics discussing work in Brgr and they acted like it was a nice treat to come there, not an everyday event by any means.
Well, that's it for now. If I have a revelation over a taco or a tip jar, I'll let you know.
Always ready to admit I'm wrong, however, I am indeed wrong...in some ways. If you're looking for some tips on fine dining in New York, you will need to look elsewhere. I do have a mortgage and an uncharitable credit card, so I'm always on the look out for reasonably priced, food that locals eat. I also wanted to satisfy my curiosity about a whole range of raised by things I'd seen on US television programs - like, why in the land of supersizery, do they only have a slice of pizza, what the hell is Scrapple and, knowing that good coffee always follows Italian immigration (if you doubt this, go to Melbourne - there is no bad coffee in Melbourne, thanks to Italian migrants), where do I go to get beyond the jtravesty branded simply as Starbucks?
Three days in, all I can say is 'so far, so not too bad'. The food is undoubtedly 'big' but I've been lucky to have some really nice, fresh and relatively healthy food that, with a decent amount of walking, won't have me off the scales just yet.
My first breakfast was at the famous Balducci's - a deservedly popular food emporium where you can go for wonderful grain bread rolls, hot soup, delicious home-made style quiches and an inviting spread of fresh-baked cakes that tempted even me (always go for the savoury over the sweet). Best of all, the coffee was the real McCoy - smooth, strong arabica beans designed to give you both a shot in the arm and an all-over sweet warm glow to make you ready for anything. Humming Springsteen's Glory Days to myself, I went out into the March snow, yes, snow, feeling no pain.
For lunch, I got to have a slice (of pizza, for the uninitiated) for the first time and answered one of my all-time burning food questions. Eat more than one slice? Impossible. Even finish one slice - fairly difficult. The pizzas were par cooked and set out on a scrupulously clean bench, ready to be finished off in a pizza oven and thereby managing to be both quick and fresh - something a lot of 'fast food' places should listen to and learn from. I ordered a broccoli and cheese slice and then, under encouragement from the bemused staff member who was laughing at my astonishment over the size of the thing, sprinkled garlic powder and chilli flakes over the top. Really, really tasty. Even better, they had Scrapple in the fridge so I got to satisfy two curiousities in one go - it's a delicious orange flavoured drink, flat not fizzy, and not as sugary as Fanta, so pretty refreshing. The thing that unites these two meals is not their Italian inspiration, although there is that. It's that both meals were impossible to finish - so dinner became half a chicken sandwich, a half slice of pizza and a very nice pint of Brooklyn Winter Ale that they served up in the bar of my hotel. Not too shabby and a kind of informal three for the price of two deal. Americans do love their 'meal deals' but, even though mine was a bit off the radar, I was pretty happy with the result.
Went back for the spinach quiche a couple of days later - equally good and equally Great Lakes in size. Lunch that day was a gyro from a street vendor - big chunks of chicken thigh (always the tastiest bit) with rice cooked in stock, salad and sauce. I asked for yoghurt sauce and it was really mayonnaise, but that was my only gripe. Garlicky, not too much grease and enough vegetable matter to make me feel like it was a little bit healthy. All for five bucks - a really great bargain. Again, dinner was half a quiche and half a gyro, washed down with a glass of Napa Valley Merlot that gently raised its proverbial finger to that silly movie, Sideways, which so unjustly denigrated its glorious style.
Another good lunch was had at a burger joint economically called Brgr - if their food is anything to go by, I could be convinced to campaign against the unnecessary wastage of vowels too. They advertise that their beef is 100% grass fed and that this is better for the ozone layer, has as many Omega 3s as salmon and erm...tastes better. I don't know if all that's true, but I really knew they were serious when the cashier asked me how I would like the burger done! Never in my 53 years on this planet has this ever happened before - I regained my composure enough to mumble 'um....medium', thinking lots of blood on a burger bun would not be very appetising. Wise move - the result was a moist, delicious burger with mushrooms, salad, caramelised onion and chutney. Along with the blueberry and pomegranate shake I ordered, I came away thinking I really needed to readjust my thinking about American food.
My only totally inedible experience - and my friends and family will attest this is as rare as Haley's comet for me - was an oily, paper package of boneless buffalo wings - badly spiced, greasy chicken nuggets inexplicably sprinked with popcorn...wtf? Ate two, left the rest. Served at the Hudson Hotel where I was staying, they were genuinely awful and a waste of $12 which put a temporary stay on my enthusiasm for trying US bar food. But I'm sure I'll recover. Note to staff:: if a chef sees that someone has left a whole plate of something, you really ought to ask if everything is OK. Failure to do so is really the doublewhammy in my view - it's like saying you don't care if I didn't like the food because you've got my money anyway and my opinion of your food is not even worth the time to ask for feedback. As an aside, this isn't a hotel review but, if you're thinking of staying at the Hudson, the outside bits - the bars and lounges are really lovely spaces in which to sit but the rooms genuinely need another two feet at least to be properly habitable. All glossy and new, but too small to be considered remotely comfortable.
Anyway, here's what I think is happening on the food front. The same food/health revolution happening in other parts of the West is happening here too...but it comes with a price tag, like most middle-class 'revolutions'. There's never much change from fifteen bucks for anything half decent and a drink. It's not exhorbitant but it's beyond the daily reach of working locals on ordinary pay and, of course, the poor. I was sitting next to a pair of academics discussing work in Brgr and they acted like it was a nice treat to come there, not an everyday event by any means.
Well, that's it for now. If I have a revelation over a taco or a tip jar, I'll let you know.
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