Monthly Archive for July, 2011

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ChikaLicious Dessert Bar – New York City

Published by Gastronomer on July 20, 2011 in Dessert, New York City and Restaurant Review. 6 Comments

I find it nearly impossible to end a meal without something sweet to nibble on. Whether it’s a piece of fresh fruit or a small square of chocolate, my taste buds crave a hit of sugar for complete satisfaction.

Following a dessert-less family dinner at Hearth Restaurant in the Lower East Side, I dragged The Astronomer up the street to ChikaLicious Dessert Bar. While my dear Astronomer was perfectly content with the taste of braised goat pappardelle lingering on his palate, I insisted on a three-course dessert tasting.

Opened in 2003, ChikaLicious is an adorable 20-seat eatery built around an open kitchen where desserts and wine reign supreme. The restaurant’s chef and owner Chika Tillman (pictured above) trained at the French Culinary Institute and most notably worked under Tom Colicchio at Gramercy Tavern before striking out on her own.

ChikaLicious serves a three-course prix fixe menu for $14 that includes an amuse, choice of dessert, and assorted petits fours. A wine pairing can be had for an additional $8.

Chika’s suite of sweets have been described as American desserts with French presentation and Japanese portions. Even though I had eaten a hearty Italian meal moments before, polishing off all three courses was a breeze.

To start, the chef sent out a coconut cream and lemongrass soup. Every spoonful was refreshing and decadent; it was a tropical Southeast Asian dream.

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Del Posto – New York City

Published by Gastronomer on July 18, 2011 in Fine Dining, Italian, New York City and Restaurant Review. 8 Comments

My grandma once remarked (in Vietnamese, of course) that in New York City, money is spent as freely as water. From dining to shopping to transportation to entertainment, it’s dangerously easy to drop some serious change exploring and reveling in everything the city has to offer. While bargains may not be the norm in these here parts, there are still some great values to be had.

Take for instance lunch at Del Posto, Chef Mario Batali and restauranteur Joseph Bastianich‘s four-star Italian restaurant. Dinner here starts at $115, but a three-course lunch complete with amuses and mignardises can be had for just $29. Now, that’s a deal that even my penny pinching Bà Ngoại would approve.

The Astronomer and I lunched here the afternoon following our feast at Eleven Madison Park. We were seated at a table fit for four in the center of the dining room. The crowd of lunching ladies and powwowing business types spoke mostly in hushed tones, adding to the formal ambiance that I found too stuffy for this time of day.

After placing our orders, a server brought over a trio of amuse bouches. There were lobster and caviar finger sandwiches, a tomato soup with bread crumbs around the rim, and small bundles of sauerkraut wrapped in speck ham. All three bites were perfectly nice, but none were particularly wow inducing.

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Eleven Madison Park – New York City

Published by Gastronomer on July 15, 2011 in Fine Dining, New American, New York City and Restaurant Review. 21 Comments

Following our wonderful travels in Montréal, The Astronomer and I headed stateside to New York City! The moment we stepped off the train at Penn Station, we booked it to Eleven Madison Park for dinner. I would’ve preferred a later reservation in order to freshen up at the hotel, but the first seating was all I could snag a few weeks in advance. We arrived at the restaurant slightly sweaty from the heat, but ready to be swept away by one of the city’s finest establishments.

Opened in 1998, Eleven Madison Park is owned by restauranteur extraordinaire Danny Meyer. Chef Daniel Humm was brought on board in 2006, and under his care, the restaurant received four stars from The New York Times in 2009. Chef Humm was named “Best Chef: NYC” by the James Beard Foundation in 2010.

We were seated promptly upon our arrival along the row of tables situated toward the back of the restaurant. Our seat offered lovely views of the room’s grand windows and larger than life floral arrangements.

At Eleven Madison Park, diners can choose either four courses ($125) or a tasting menu ($195). Since I had to fit into a bridesmaid dress at the end of the week, we played it safe and went for four courses.

In place of a traditional menu, diners are presented with a 4×4 grid containing 16 ingredients. Each row represents a different course, and diners are asked to choose the ingredient that fancies them most. After years of eating tasting menus where my preferences were never considered, I appreciated this innovation greatly.

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Au Pied de Cochon – Montréal

Published by Gastronomer on July 12, 2011 in Montreal, Québécois and Restaurant Review. 12 Comments

Au Pied de Cochon - Montreal

As stoked as I was to dig into Montréal’s poutine, smoked meat, and bagels, nothing compared to the excitement and anticipation of sitting down for a meal at Au Pied de Cochon. Chef Martin Picard’s temple of all things meaty, unctuous, and over-the-top came highly recommended to me by my brother, the Kung Food Panda, and every food lover who’s ever traveled to the area. Dining at “the foot of the pig” is a Montréal must-do, especially for those with a penchant for decadence.

According to the New York Times, Au Pied de Cochon made a splash onto the dining scene back in 2004 when Chef Picard gained notoriety for topping poutine with a fatty lobe of duck liver. Since then, the chef has expanded his unorthodox foie gras preparations to include pizzas, tarts, and hamburgers. In fact, there’s even an entire section of the menu dedicated to engorged duck livers. If it weren’t for my level-headed dining companions, The Astronomer and Nina, I would’ve surely gone overboard with the foie gras offerings.

To start, we were brought a warm and crusty baguette tucked inside a napkin with softened butter served alongside. Although we didn’t plan on eating much of the bread and butter due to the impending spread, it proved too enticing to resist.

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Cardamom Crumb Cake

Published by Gastronomer on July 9, 2011 in Breakfast + Brunch, Cake + Cupcake and Recipe. 5 Comments

While crumb cake might be too ordinary for most to request on their birthday, it was the perfect choice for my frosting-loathing and spice-loving Astronomer. To up the celebratory quotient, I swapped out traditional cinnamon for a heaping teaspoon of Guatemalan cardamom—it’s the birthday boy’s current obsession.

I knew this America’s Test Kitchen recipe would yield a winning cake, but The Astronomer’s reaction was even better than expected. Don’t tell his mama, but he declared it to be “the best birthday cake ever!” Oh, how will I ever top this in the future?

Employing cake flour in both the crumb topping and cake resulted in a delicate body and a satisfying crumb. Rich buttery notes tied everything together, while the cardamom added a sexy touch like only it can.

Although I initially frowned upon The Astronomer’s desire for a such a pedestrian cake, this one made me a crumb cake convert, and I wouldn’t hesitate to request it for my next birthday. Mmm, cardamom!

For crumb topping

1/3 cup (2.3 ounces) granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed (2.3 ounces) dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 3/4 cups (7 ounces) cake flour

For cake

1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) cake flour
1/2 cup (3.5 ounces) granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces and softened
1 large egg, room temperature
1 large egg yolk, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup buttermilk, room temperature
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Make topping

Whisk the granulated and brown sugars, cardamom, salt, and melted butter together in a medium bowl to combine. Stir in the flour until the mixture resembles a thick, cohesive dough. Let the crumb topping mixture rest at room temperature until needed.

Make cake

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with a foil sling and grease the foil.

Whisk the flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Using an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat the butter into the flour mixture, one piece at a time, about 30 seconds. Continue to beat the mixture until it resembles moist crumbs, 1 to 3 minutes.

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