Cheeselog

After a high protein breakfast of eggs Francaise at DB (Daniel Boulud) Bistro Moderne, we were off to Brooklyn.

If I were to move to New York, I would definitely live in Brooklyn, except for one small thing: I’m not nearly cool enough to live in Brooklyn. And I mean that as a genuine compliment to the town. What an amazing collection of beautiful businesses and interesting people. The shops are not only uniquely conceived and designed, but in nearly every place we went, the owner was behind the counter. There’s nothing like it. The weather was abysmal (cold and rainy all day) but it could not dampen our spirits. Go Brooklyn!

First stop was Bierkraft, which has hundreds of beers to choose from, including about 20 on tap and three cask ales. We stopped here for lunch and I enjoyed the ultimate manwich – a hulking Italian creation on perfectly crusty bread. Paired with my Flower Power IPA from Ithaca Beer Company, this sandwich made one heck of a lunch.

Next stop: Bklyn Larder, which had an amazing cheese selection, lots of gourmet goodies, prepared foods, and a gorgeous custom-built cheese “cave” with a see-through window. So impressive. It also reminded me that I’ve got to find a better way to hang salamis behind the counter. Nothing like a bunch of salamis on hooks to get the tummy rumbling. Their cheese mongers were super-nice and helpful, taking lots of time to talk about cheeses and sample them out. Bravo!

Ah, Stinky Bklyn. Such a lovely cheese shop. The coolest part was the 5 or so hams displayed on the front counter. These artisan hams are sliced by hand. I spoke to the owner about the painstaking process and he explained that his customers understand they will get a more rustic (a.k.a. thicker) cut, but they just love it. Way to go! Very cool store – with a very cool name. A real treat.

We asked the owner of Stinky Blyn to tell us a couple places we couldn’t miss (nothing like local recommendations from the locals themselves) and he pointed us toward Los Paisanos butcher shop and One Girl Cookies.

Los Paisanos was everything a butcher shop should be. What a selection! Bustling and tight on space, mainly because there was just SO MUCH MEAT!

When I say that One Girl Cookies was one of the most visually pleasing shops I’ve ever visited, I mean it. Gorgeous baked goods (the whoopee pies were out of this world). When I asked the woman behind the counter if I could take a photo of their offerings, she insisted on rearranging it all to perfection first (not that it wasn’t already perfect looking to me). Based on her attentiveness, I asked if she was the owner. “No, I wish. I’m just anal.” God bless the anal people of the world.

It was so wet and gross outside, we ducked into the nearest cute storefront and were greeted with the most charming kitchen shop I’ve ever entered, Whisk. They had beautifully displayed every possible cooking device and kitchen gadget imaginable. The woman behind the counter was so amazingly pleasant. Not only did she recommend her favorite restaurant for dinner (see Rye below), but she even called and made us a reservation. Now that’s service with a smile. Thank goodness we listened to her recommendation because our dinner was one of the great highlights of our trip.

We had to pop into Bedford Cheese Shop because I heard they had expanded. I visited the shop before Cheesetique opened over five years ago. At that time, they were a teeny tiny spot with a small but special collection of cheeses. Now, in their expanded space, they have greatly added to their cheeses (a nice big selection) and have more room for specialty food accents. One of their pleasant cheese mongers allowed me to taste a Roquefort I had never seen: Mons. It was outstanding – it would definitely stand up to our Papillon brand. Just a beautiful shop.

Heading out from Bedford Cheese Shop, we briskly walked/sloshed to Mast Brothers Chocolate. I must admit that I was most nervous about this destination based on two things. First, anyone who makes chocolate by hand is a serious food person and must be seriously focused and seriously attentive to detail. In other words, they must be serious. Science and art blended into one, it’s not all Willy Wonka land, people. Second, once I visit the web site and checked out the matching bearded brothers, I thought, “these guys are way out of my league”. So it was with a bit of trepidation that I entered the shop. Not only was one bearded brother there, but both beards were present. Very quickly, however, I was made to feel completely at ease (see photo below).

I watched them sort beans, tasted some amazing exotic chocolates, and even got to peek at the chocolate-making room (a.k.a. the inner sanctum). Rick Mast explained how he worked with a local friend/engineer who built his machines. I took some beautifully wrapped bars home with me in order to select which flavors we will carry at Cheesetique. Watch for them soon.

I still have to cover a few more Brooklyn places, but I’m going to sign off for now. Check for updates tomorrow!

I stopped in Magnolia Bakery because when you walk past Magnolia Bakery, you stop in. Beautiful, whimsical cupcakes were in abundance, including the one I ultimately selected, Rockette Red Velvet. Everything a red velvet cupcake should be: moist and tender with a tangy frosting. And the fact that it was topped with a tiny Rockette pushed it over the edge of cuteness. A joy, even though I had red cake in my teeth for like an hour.

Once our friends arrived from Penn Station, and while my husband was still in his conference, we decided to strike out and try Mama Mexico, a highly recommended Mexican joint near our hotel. The guacamole presentation was the most impressive I’ve ever seen. It was delicious, too, as was the rest of our food.

The service was pretty spotty, especially when the same waiter tried to take our order twice after he had already taken it. For all the attempts at order taking, you would think the food would be out quickly, but I feel like I aged at least a year while waiting. Luckily, it was exceptional Mexican food. However, service is next to godliness in my book.

Warning: Charming Cheese Monger Alert! We next hopped on a train and headed down to Essex and Delancey to visit Saxelby Cheesemongers in the Essex Street Market. We were lucky enough to meet Anne, who was in the middle of cutting a thousand tiny pieces of cheese for a special order. It reminded me why we don’t cut pieces of cheese for special orders. Yikes!

Anyway, Anne was delighted to talk about her business, as any proud owner would be, and she just glowed, despite the arduous task in which she found herself immsersed. Her selection was small but thoughtfully and beautifully presented. My favorite feature, and one that we would see several more times on our tour, was the see-through walk-in where her extra cheeses were stored. What a lovely feature! If only we had the space, it would be my next addition.

Next stop: Pickle Guys. The name is actually a bit misleading, because despite being called Pickle Guys, these guys sell pickles (ok – that was a little joke). Their barrels are filled not only with pickled cucumbers, but pickled watermelon, string beans, tomatoes, carrots……. They pretty much pickle anything that will sit still long enough to be immersed in vinegar. I’ve never seen, much less tasted, so many pickley treats. And they were SO super nice, letting us try all sorts of things. Lucky for us, they ship, so it will not be long before our pack-o-pickles arrives.

After the vinegar adventure, a little something sweet was in order. Off to Doughnut Plant! Once the owner found out what I did for a living, he insisted that I try the carrot cake doughnut filled with cream cheese frosting. In fact, he ripped open three of them before he found one that he deemed cheese-filled enough for me. It did not disappoint.

All in all, we tasted crème brulé (he actually torches the top so it’s crunchy), marzipan, coconut cream filled, jelly filled, carrot cake, and cinnamon sticky bun. The place is tiny, consisting more of kitchen than retail space, but it’s big enough to get the job done (the job being to get a pile of doughnuts in a bag for us). Coolest feature: his filled doughnuts still have a hole in the middle so there’s not this big puddle of filling in the center like a typical doughnut. Instead, he pipes the filling throughout the entire circle so each bite has a perfectly-distributed amount. A genius!

I had to visit Di Palo’s in Little Italy. It is the place to go for fresh Mozzarella, which they leave in a pile, simply wrapped, on the deli case. Ours was still warm when we tasted it. As we pulled it apart with our fingers, it actually leaked whey all over the sidewalk. It was that fresh. I, of course, could not be dainty for long, and proceeded to eat most of the remaining ball like an apple. Juicy and tasting of fresh cream. It lived up to and exceeded my expectations.

The folks behind the counter were SO nice, which I didn’t expect since it’s a super-old and super-established business, but everyone was lovely – and they even gave me chocolates as I was leaving. Thanks, Di Palo guys!

Next we visited the Tenement Museum and learned about the lives of Irish immigrants in the 1860’s. Suffice it to say that I left feeling very fortunate that I am not an Irish immigrant in the 1860’s. Fascinating but sobering. Also not food-related, so I’ll move on now to…

SoHo! I could walk for hours in SoHo. There’s just so much to see. We happened upon Rice to Riches, which has like 50 different kinds of rice pudding. I love rice and I love pudding, so the two in combination were heavenly. We chose Mascarpone with cherries. It was so creamy and rich that the sourness of the cherries was the perfect complement. This place was totally cute and had the funniest signs throughout. We spend a good amount of time just reading them. What a great little place!

We really needed a cocktail so we popped into Mercer Kitchen. The hostess upstairs was super-nice but the gentleman host downstairs at the bar was so snooty and nasty, we left. Poor form.

Obviously, we hadn’t eaten enough yet, so we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner at Veritas. The restaurant was super-cozy and accommodating. We also sat next to some really cool Portuguese guys. And oh what a wine list! We started with a wonderful Sauvignon Blanc and then moved onto a California Syrah that we paired with the rest of our 4-course menu. Each course was better than the last. Wagyu filet was outstanding. After dessert, they brought out more little tasty treats like macarons (I love when places do that). If wine is your thing, get thee to Veritas.

Phew! Time for bed. We have a lot of work (a.k.a. eating) to do tomorrow.

“Would you like your bacon crisp?” I want to marry this man. I’m sitting at Norma’s on 56th Street. Normally I shy away from hotel restaurants (this one is in Le Parker Meridien) but Norma’s was so emphatically recommended by ‘egrossman’ that I could not resist. Let me start by saying there is no pleasure as great as breakfast by oneself. Aside from a wine-laden dinner with close friends, this is my favorite meal. I asked my server which item I should order from the “Your Mom Can’t Make This” section (full of waffles, pancakes, French toast, etc.) and he immediately replied that the Crunchy French Toast was the only choice to make. Complete the offering with the aforementioned crisp bacon, steaming coffee (my very own pot!) and fresh-squeezed OJ. As I’m waiting for my food to come, I will update you on dinner last night.

When you walk into a Michelin-2-Star restaurant as highly praised as Alto, you are bound to be disappointed. So imagine my surprise when in fact, my expectations were surpassed. What a delightful evening! Our seat was amazing: we were perched high above the larger dining room on a little glass-enclosed balcony. It was the ultimate people-watching perch and made me feel like I was flying. Please see my poor excuse for a photo here:

On to the rest of the experience: I love a restaurant where the server wears a suit. Like a real suit (not a hipster suit-as-uniform suit). He looked like an adult – a super-knowledgeable, super-friendly, super-professional one. He knew everything about the menu (believe me – I tried to stump him). He immediately sent over the somellier who kindly helped us select one of the most delicious Chardonnays I’ve ever had. This one was from Piedmont, Italy, and it defied all expectations (and biases) I have regarding Chardonnay. No oak. No butter. Just a silky, full body that took me effortlessly through seared scallops, spicy lamb/mint pasta, and roasted Branzino. We finished our meal with a cheese course. Perfectly done, Alto! The cheeses were appropriately at room temperature and were served with simple but delicious accompaniments, including warm toasted raisin bread. It’s a cheese presentation I would have done myself and it reminded me that Raschera is one of the best cheeses on the planet (and the glass of Moscato didn’t hurt, either). Overall, a sublime experience. 

Back to breakfast:
Well, imagine my bliss when I realized that the “Crunchy French Toast” was crunchy because it was coated in Rice Crispies. Snap crackle pop, baby!

The toast itself, being about 2 inches thick, falls into the “there’s no way you can eat all of this” category but I gave it the old college try, making it through one piece. It came with two little glass bottles of syrup, but who needs syrup when there’s caramel sauce? So I put them in my purse for my daughter (she, being small, likes all things small). This menu is fantastic. I’m sad I was unable to order more than one item because man oh man do they have a lot of sinful starchies. Every type of pancake, waffle, toast, and crepe you can imagine – and many you can’t. Surprisingly, the woman next to me is eating Muesli. MUESLI!!! With yogurt!!! What is wrong with this person? At least her date is making up for her transgression by shoveling down a huge pile of gooey pancakes with some sort of creamy pudding on top. Good for you! Do not cave to the Muesli eaters of the world!

Ah, he just refilled my OJ. I really want to marry this man. Oh wait – I’m already married. Honey, I’d like my bacon crisp.

Next stop: Magnolia Bakery. Only cause it’s on the way back to my hotel. And cause they have cupcakes.

Posted a couple hours after writing, since there is no wi-fi on Amtrak.

Sitting on the Acela Express into Penn Station. Just finished what I refer to as my first culinary experience: Jujyfruits. Perfectly chewy. Tangy yet sweet.

As I sit here listening to Robert Earl Keen (Note to self: when listening to music on your headphones, do not start humming or singing along - others CAN hear you), I am reveling in the knowledge that for the next three days, my sole job is to see and taste of as many culinary destinations as possible. After arriving at my hotel room, I will head out solo to check out what’s in my immediate neighborhood. I can’t go too far because we have a reservation this evening at Alto, a 2-Michelin-Star restaurant specializing in Northern Italian cuisine. Perhaps the only thing I love more than Italian food is Italian wine. Those from the Piedmont, for instance, are as near to heaven as I’ve tasted. Drawback: only one bottle? I think a tasting menu might be in order, so at least I can try as many wines as possible.

Oh – and apparently, we were upgraded to a suite at the hotel. Cause Lord knows one tiny NY room will not be large enough to fit my food-filled self!

Side note: We just passed a concrete building on the outskirts of Philadelphia. The structure was covered with huge graffiti tags. One of them was “CHEESE”. I question: who is “Cheese”? How did he/she earn that moniker? Is it considered a compliment? One wonders… Regardless, I will consider it a good omen for my upcoming trip.

Our first-ever Cheesetique contest is here and I will call it: “Keep on Rockin’ in the Food World: NYC”.

In December, I will embark on a 3-day “culinary tour” of New York City and I’m looking for recommendations of places I “cannot miss”. I will narrow them down (the top three get a $25 gift certificate) and the winning recommendation gets dinner for 2 at Cheesetique. PLEASE NOTE that this is not the contest for you if you’re shy and private. I will blog all about it. It’s not like I’ll post your last name or social security number, but be prepared to have me talk about your recommendations, OKAY?

FAQ:
1. How is the winner determined?
Out of the three finalists, it has to be the one that rocks my world. Subjective? YES! (See FAQ #5)

2. How are the three finalists determined?
Out of all recommendations I receive, I will pick the ones that sound the coolest. Subjective? YES! (See FAQ #5)

3. Does my recommendation have to be cheese-related?
No, but please make it food related. Don’t try to send me to this “great little children’s boutique you visited”.

4. Tell me again about the prizes.
The top three recommendations will get a $25 gift certificate to Cheesetique.
The winner (chosen from one of the three), will be based on the overall wow-ness of my experience, and will ALSO win dinner for TWO at our Cheese & Wine Bar.

5. Why are your judging criteria so darn subjective?
Cause subjectivity makes the world go ‘round. And cause it’s my stinkin’ contest!

Email your recommendation(s) by using our Contact form.

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