Gastronomy Blog by Cathy Chaplin

Now Closed

08 Feb 2013

Mission Chinese Food – New York City

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This is the story about the Saturday night back in mid-December when my brother shut down Mission Chinese Food to celebrate his 35th birthday.

After pre-gaming at Katz’s Deli and sneaking in some sweets at Dessert Club Chikalicious, The Astronomer and I made our way down to the Lower East Side for a feast like no other. We’re certainly no strangers to multi-course Chinese banquets, but this one was wildly different with twelve tongue-numbing Sichuan delights masterminded by Chef Danny Bowien.

Mission Chinese Food arrived in New York City last summer from the shores of San Francisco. The subterranean restaurant, which is dimly lit in a pinkish hue and seats just three dozen diners, serves “whimsical Chinese” prepared by a Korean-born chef reared in Oklahoma City.

It’s not fine dining. It’s not authentic. It’s not from one region. We’re just trying to do everything backwards. – Chef Danny Bowien

The menu was curated beforehand by my bro and his lovely wife, so all that was left to do was to sit back, sip a cocktail, and settle in for the fireworks.

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Restaurant Review

06 Feb 2013

Katz’s Delicatessen – New York City

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I’ve passed by Katz’s Delicatessen dozens of times over the years while striding down Houston toward the East River for a run, but never sat down for a proper pastrami sandwich until my latest jaunt to the big city.

The Astronomer and I, along with our friend Miho, Cousin Jackie, and Jackie’s boyfriend Aaron, descended upon this New York City institution (est. 1888) for an early Saturday dinner. The crowd wasn’t too robust at this hour, which proved to be a good thing for this group of Katz’s newbies because things work a little differently ’round here…

We were each handed a paper ticket as we walked through the front door. The placards hanging from the ceiling directed us to the various ordering counters. There was a separate queue for each course—appetizers, sandwiches, desserts, and drinks. While this somewhat archaic and chaotic ordering system worked fine for us, it was nice to know that there were a few seats reserved in the dining room for full table service if need be.

As soon as I made my way to the front of the line, my sandwich was constructed right before my eyes. Best of all were the scraps of pastrami that the sandwich artist passed my way to make the wait a tastier one. No cash was exchanged at this point—just a scribble on my ticket and I was set to find a seat.

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Recipe

04 Feb 2013

Tết 2013: Not Your Grandma’s Bánh Chưng

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Growing up, Tết was all about not screwing up. It was imperative that on the first day of the New Year, everything ran as smoothly as possible, which meant acing tests, being respectful to my elders, and not arguing with my brother. My mother made me believe that everything that happened on this day, both good and bad, would be repeated throughout the year. This superstitious notion scared me straight into action and, truth be told, continues to taunt me as a full grown adult.

These days, Tết has become less about “being good” and more about gathering with family, cleaning house, and of course, honoring food traditions. There are many dishes associated with the holiday including candied ginger and coconut, braised pork, and preserved pineapples, but the most iconic and essential of all is the square and squat bánh chưng and its cylindrical cousin bánh Tết.

In honor of the upcoming New Year, which falls on February 10th, a group of friends and I gathered to tackle making bánh chưng from scratch. While we were all wholly enthusiastic about the task, none of us were very experienced, as evidenced by our poor, boiled-over mung beans early in the day.

Leading the charge was Chef Diep Tran of Good Girl Dinette in Highland Park. Diep didn’t have a recipe (or YouTube tutorials) to guide us this afternoon, just vague memories from years ago of preparing bánh chưng with her grandmother.

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