Posts from the ‘American’ Category

Oct 23

Schnack

1/2

I'm getting to know the new neighborhood, and trying my darndest to avoid
all the red sauce and meatballs. Being new to the whole Smith St. scene I
don't have major prejudices against Alan Harding ventures. I'm just happy to
live in a neighborhood with restaurants other than KFC and Taco Bell — and
where one might argue that Schnack is but a mere notch above fast food —
you won't hear me complaining.

I had a not terribly authentic, though still tasty cubano, and James had
the quint, which is five slider patties on one giant bun. We shared fries.
The menu is what I'd call "grubbin'" even though hate to use stoner lingo.
But you know the kind of food I'm talking about. I would go back and I would
eat the banana and chocolate bread pudding, no doubt about it. (10/23/03)

Schnack is a hit. We don't go there a lot, but we're always happy when
we do. It works for burger lover, visiting vegans, and me who always orders
the same damn cubano.

My sister's boyfriend was impressed when the day after we went to
Schnack, it was the focus of Cookin'
in Brooklyn on TV. But then, it doesn't always take much to wow
British folks. (4/30/04)

Schnack* 122 Union St.,
Brooklyn, NY

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Oct 12

Carl’s Steaks

1/2 It was a perfect post-cat show treat. Not that cheesesteaks have anything to do with fancy cats. It's just that Madison Square Gardens and Carl's are both on 34th St. Though not a super close straight line, and that's what inspired my first Manhattan public bus ride. I ride in Brooklyn all the time, but Manhattan…I don't know, that's for subways. It was all very exciting and surprisingly efficient (at least compared to the B63). James thought the meat on his cheesesteak was skimpy. I didn't think mine was paltry though the meat was loaded heavier on one side like how Taco Bell always seems to accidentally compile their seven-layer burritos vertically as opposed to the preferred horizontal method. As you work your way through the burrito you get separate mouthfuls of rice, then sour cream, then beans, and so on. The cheesesteak was much more balanced than that. Definitely sufficient. And besides, the MTA doesn't go to Philly.

Carl's Steaks * 507 Third Ave., New York, NY

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Apr 26

Battery Park Applebee’s

1/2

Feeling good in the neighborhood…I'm not sure that Battery Park City
really qualifies as a neighborhood, but you know. I just thought I'd give
the briefest mention of my first Manhattan Applebee's experience. There's
nothing finer than downing massive nachos, riblets, quesadillas and
mozzerella sticks (and that's just the appetizer) catty corner from the
World Trade Center crater. We will rebuild!

Applebee's * 102 N. End
Ave., New York, NY

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Apr 25

Chickenbone Cafe

Can you separate food from experience? I should've been scared off when I saw the sign on the front door indicating a private party would be taking place from 7-9:30pm. But as it was 10:30, and we were told it would be only a 20 min. wait, I figured we'd be fine.

The place was shoulder-to-shoulder packed, we left, came back, no one had budged from the tables and no one was eating; only drinking. It was a bar scene, and ultimately we ended up waiting around an hour to be seated (one of those situations where you've waited so long, you feel more annoyed by leaving). It was a birthday party, the crowd was drunk and rude, and it was clearly the first time in Brooklyn for many of the revelers (one had rented a Zip Car, especially for the occasion–I only know this because of the loudmouth factor in the room), and it showed. Apparently the crew that had set up shop, thought it was a bar that happened to serve food, and had no plans to vacate any of their spots. When we were finally seated, a drunk girl practically sat on my lap a number of times and people begin throwing wads of who-knows-what back and forth through the open window next to me. An inebriated frat-type randomly tried picking a fight twice with James, "If you bump into me one more time, I'll…." and yelled at us when we left.

By the time we ordered food I just wanted to get the hell out of there. In fact, I can barely remember the food. I did the banh mi, which was good enough, though I would have been fine with a Chinatown rendition. I also had some fennel, citrus-y, prosciutto, parmesan salad, which I can barely remember. James had a pork sandwich that he insisted tasted like tuna fish salad.

It's rare that I leave a restaurant feeling wholly irritated. One could chalk it up to a bad night, and I probably would if this place wasn't so incredibly overhyped. This "Brooklyn global cuisine" they proffer just doesn't cut it.

Chickenbone Café * 177 S. Fourth, Brooklyn, NY

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Mar 23

Friendly’s

1/2

This wasn't my first Friendly's excursion, that would've been my maiden
voyage into Staten Island with the specific goal of trying Friendly's (it
was mildly traumatizing, lots of dirty, misbehaved kids and older, hefty
adults in wheelchairs). I've since tried one in Connecticut, one in New
Jersey (I never know the specific cities) and one in Saratoga Springs. I
know Friendly's is nothing special, but it played a pivotal role in my
mental well being when I first moved to NYC. I was poor, friendless, jobless
(huh…five years later and not much has changed) and would sit in the
sweltering heat on the ratty left-behind mattress on the floor and watch my
little TV. I'd see all these ads for Friendly's with candy sundaes and it
just seemed so suburban and safe. I'd never heard of Friendly's so I wasn't
identifying with it specifically, just the genre, and became hell bent on
finding one. But as it turned out the only location in all of NYC is at the
Staten Island Mall, which I didn't have the luxury of visiting until two
years later when I was privy to a car. Now that I have a boyfriend with a
shiny automobile, Friendly's can be mine any time I'd like. But jeez, one
wouldn't want to become spoiled and jaded. I play it conservatively with my
Friendly's excursions.

Friendly's* somewhere about
45 min. NW of Philadelphia

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Mar 22

Tony Luke’s

1/2

Pork, provolone, broccoli rabe. This sandwich is the shit. An Italian
sandwich, in their words. I've also enjoyed the version at Tommy DeNic's,
but there's something to be said for the ambience of the take out window and
picnic table style dining, a la Geno's and Pat's. Such a phenomenon. I've
never lived anywhere with this whole tradition of brusque, window service
sandwiches. (I've also never lived or visited anywhere where people can just
park in the middle of the street-it's totally bizarre to see cars sitting in
medians, facing all different directions.) The rabe has the tendency to make
the sandwich soggy and most un-dainty (but good) so I often refrain, but I
noticed what they call a "green sandwich," which I'm thinking must be
provolone and rabe. That even sounds good, and probably the only thing a
vegetarian could eat in this damn town of fatty fast food delights.

Tony Luke's * 39 E. Oregon
Ave., Philadelphia, PA

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Dec 31

Alias

You can't blame me for not remembering the finer details of my food, it was
New Year's Eve, after all. The amounts of alcohol that precede, accompany
and follow special occasion meals can seriously affect my recall ability.
There was a prix fixe menu from which I selected a sunchoke soup with apple
and bacon, a main of steak (I don't even remember the cut) with a blue
cheese sauce and a molten chocolate cake that was without choice. I have
nothing bad to say about the dining experience, but enough with the molten
cakes, already.

Alias * 76 Clinton St.,
New York, NY

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Dec 8

Mesa Grill

1/2

"Everybody likes Bobby Flay" goes some annoying guy in an annoying Food TV
commercial. That is a flat-out lie, but I have no beefs with Bobby's
restaurant. I'm not so into the '80s Southwestern, bold flavors thing, but
the brunch is surprisingly good (I go nuts because it seems like our friends
go to the same brunch place, Teddy's, a block from their apartments every
single freaking weekend. Why do I care? It just annoys me when people won't
venture beyond the place on their corner. Or maybe I'm just jealous because
I've never had a place on my corner).

The woman at the neighboring table was surprisingly non-good. The bread
basket filled with baked goodies and jalepeno jelly, chicken sweet potato
hash with poached eggs and chile hollandaise and home fries was almost
ruined by listening to some twat (sorry, I've been addicted to that word
lately) go on and on about weddings, her expense account and her brand new
$500 boots (which unfortunately I couldn't see, as she was too close). She
committed ten million food faux pas. She asked about the burger. She ordered
a salad. Her friend ordered the exact salad. You don't order salads and
burgers at restaurants that do other things better (both her and the
level-headed friend shamelessly ogled our food, not without surprise) and
you don't order the same thing as your dining partner unless it's like a bbq
place or chicken shack, you know, a place known for their one thing. She
didn't know what tomatillos were, but made it seem like this was the
waiter's problem, not hers. This is the kind of woman who abuses customer
service, returns things after wearing them and is mean to "the help." When
the waiter innocently asked, "how is everything" she matter-of-factly
replied, "I'm bored," as if it was his job to play court jester.

My mouth was happy, my eyes and ears were in hell. I think it's the Food
TV curse. Demanding people who care very little about food and lots about
dining out. God help me the day I dine at an Emeril venture.

Mesa Grill * 102 Fifth Ave.,
New York, NY

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Nov 10

Five Points

This started as a brunch suggestion for James to take his parents (not with
me in tow) while they were in town. I didn't know what I was talking about
from experience, I just read it off Citysearch.
They ended up going somewhere in Westchester, but the following weekend
James randomly made reservations for the two of us, which was sort of
baffling since we don't normally do the Sunday brunch thing, let alone at
swank-ish places.

I wasn't complaining. They seem to be all about their wood-burning oven
(jeez, who isn't these days?) so it only seemed right to order fancy eggs
benedict with smoked salmon on brioche, cooked in the contraption. Very
nice. And while opting-out of a morning cocktail (too much wine at Les
Halles the night before), I was impressed that they made Ramos Gin Fizzes by
the pitcher.

Five Points * Great Jones St., New York, NY

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Nov 8

Midtown Friday’s

All those commercials about "in here it's always Friday," making the chain
dining experience look like a blast, the bartenders something like
"Cocktail" era maestros, don't apply to this location. Chains are weird in
NYC to begin with. At least the Times Square location can boast being the
largest in the United States. Since chains are always inexplicably busy,
hour or more waits not uncommon for Olive Gardens and Red Lobsters, it
seemed baffling that TGI Friday's could be dead, on of all nights, Friday.

Along a tourist corridor, the prices were easily $5 higher than
reasonable for fajitas, chicken strips and the like. But the suburban
experience in the city doesn't come cheap, and I could abide that. We were
quite possibly the only "locals" downing Buffalo wings and BBQ chicken pizza
that evening.

TGIFriday's *
1680 Broadway, New York, NY

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