Dim Sum in Absentia

Hi All,
I'll post the pictures and a full report on today's Eat In. It was just the
loveliest way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Meanwhile, here's a link to my Gascon BFF, Kate Hill:
http://katehill.blogspot.com/2007/11/eating-to-my-hearts-content-gasc...

I send you dumpling-sized kisses,

Elaine

A Wish List

Here are a few places I didn't have time to write about:

La Esquina Taqueria is open 24/7. I usual find myself there around 2 or 3 am.
106 Kenmare St
(646) 613-7100
Take Out 24/7, Delivery 5pm-12am
http://www.esquinanyc.com/
http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/la-esquina/menus/takeout.html

Dim Sum Go Go does made to order dim sum (no pushcarts). One of the best dim sum places in Chinatown according to my friend Lucas. I like it too.
5 East Broadway
212 732-0797
Take Out and Delivery
http://newyork.citysearch.com/profile/menu?id=11443782

Chatham Restaurant has gotten raves from various restaurant sites. I haven't tried it.
9 Chatham Square
212 267-0220
Take Out Only

B'un Soho just opened their doors for dinner on November 1. They expect to open for lunch by December.
143 Grand Street
212 431-7999
www.eatbun.com

Mandarin Court Restaurant
61 Mott Street nr. Canal St. See Map
212-608-3838
Take out
http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/mandarin-court/menus/main.html

Nonya
194 Grand Street
212 334-3669
Take out and Delivery
http://www2.seamlessweb.com/AtHome/Nyonya.NewYorkCity.3017.r

New Green Bo has great northern style dumplings
66 Bayard Street nr. Mott St.
212-625-2359
Take Out
http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/new-green-bo/menus/dinner.html

Moon House Restaurant
67 Bayard Street
(between Elizabeth St & Mott St)
212 766-9399
Take Out only

Pongsri Thai Restaurant
106 Bayard Street at Baxter
212 349 3132
Take Out only
http://newyork.citysearch.com/profile/menu?id=7113363


Hope to see you on Sunday, November 11 at 2pm. For those of you who are curious, I do plan to continue eating after The Eat In. I'll send you posts periodically if you like. Just sign up for the posts on the right hand side of this page.

Points West

Here's the bad news: Nobu does not deliver. But Next Door Nobu does take out. But they aren't open for lunch. Drat.

66 Restaurant, Jean-Georges Vongerichten's take on Chinese is closed for renovations.

Some of the AiG staff order lunch regularly from Columbine. I have not eaten from there myself but the AiG staff looks healthy. Sadly, they are closed on Sundays. Check it out on another day.
229 West Broadway
212 965-0909
www.columbine229.com

Here are some places to the west of AiG that you can take out from:

The Odeon
145 W Broadway
(at Thomas Street)
(212) 233-0507
Take Out during the day and deliveries after 5:30pm.
http://newyork.citysearch.com/profile/menu?id=7113301

Bubby's does take out during the day, deliveries after 5:30pm.
120 Hudson Street at N. Moore Street
(212) 219-0666
http://bubbys.com/index.php/main/menus/Tribeca/brunch

There is a place on Church and Lispenard called something like The Westside Coffee Shop which is a lunch counter specializing in Dominican and Mexican food. They make an excellent roast pork burrito there. My friend, Joseph recommends it. Sofia says it's a the kind of food you want after you've been partying the night before: rice, beans, stick-to-your-ribs stuff.
323 Church St
(212) 334-0185
http://newyork.citysearch.com/profile/menu?id=7113332

Further south on Church and Walker, we have Bread which also does take out and delivery. The food looks great there.
301 Church Street
212 334-0200
http://newyork.citysearch.com/profile/menu?id=38055715

Franklin Station Cafe is a French Malaysian Bistro. They do deliver. You can order straight from their site.
222 West Broadway at Franklin Street
http://www.franklinstationcafe.com
212 274-8525


North of Canal Street on Broome is Sunrise Mart, a Japanese grocery which has take out. I used to shop there all the time. I'd grab some octopus sashimi or a hamachi roll, then top it off with a mochi ice cream bonbon.
494 Broome Street
212 219-0033

Ruben's Empanadas, to paraphrase an amateur critic, is good finger food for discerning foodies.
505 Broome St at Watts
212 334-3351

There are another half dozen places I can think of but you get the picture. There's food out there! Go get some and eat in with me on Sunday.

My Secret Places

I say I don't play favorites, but because we have shared so much already, I will tell you (and only you) about my secret nameless places.

First is a northern style dumpling place on Mosco Street. Mosco Street is one block long and spans a steep hill between Mott where the Transfiguration Church is and Mulberry along the edge of Confucius Park and near the funeral home. If you walk to the middle of the block just up the hill from the Thai grocery there is a hole in the wall that sells northern style dumplings. Five for a dollar. I will not hard sell this place. These are great dumplings. I took E here once on the way to a dim sum palace, just to dull our hunger a bit. We stood there and ate the dumplings hot from he griddle. Everything we ate that afternoon paled in comparison. You can buy bags of frozen dumplings too. They are in the two ratty stand up freezers in the back of the place. But don't tell everyone. It's a secret.

I have thing for fresh warm tofu. There is a place on the east side of Mott Street between Bayard and Pell that sells "tohu." This is the most silken tofu you'll ever have. They ladle it into a container for you and they give you a little magic syrup too (jaggery and ginger, I think). When I'm a little blue I have been know to buy a pint. I take it with me to the dumpling place where I eat a plate of dumplings in situ. Then further down the hill I buy some comfort foods for my pantry at the Thai place. And finally I find myself at Confucius Park on a bench with a bag of groceries. I watch the children play and the old people do what they do. And I eat my warm, smooth sweetened tohu with a plastic spoon. It is a wonderful to feel maudlin.

When I am feeling perky I go for a bubble tea and a dumpling at Ten Ren Teatime. I sit down and I try one of their little snacks. I like all these little tea parlors that have sprung up in the last few years. The crowd is young and lively. I feel at home wearing my Hello Kitty earrings--the ones that Kathy bought in Milan. But that is another story for another time.

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We can accommodate everyone at The Eat In on Sunday, November 11 from 2 til 4pm. Please come! At least one couple is bringing their 10 month-old son. They recommend serving him with a red wine reduction.

The seamlessweb to AiG

"Is that it?" I said, entering the office from another fruitless trip to the restaurant supply store.

Sofia and Meghan nod. "Where is it from?"

"Province," I say. Sofia smiles knowingly.

This time I used seamlessweb.com which had a different set of participating restaurants. Like delivery.com, seamlessweb.com has a very easy interface to sign up and order. I like it even better because the restaurant can post pictures of dishes along with their menus.

Province was great. I shared the veg dumplings with Sofia since she doesn't eat animal protein. They had the whiter, translucent dumpling skin to which I am partial for veg and seafood dumplings. The insides were oh so good.

Province is sort of New Asian food. Hipped up versions of Asian foods with the contemporary palate in mind. These are dangerous waters. Take two classic flavors jam them together and that is how the inedible is born. But luckily, Province is not another story of culinary stupidity.

Take for instance their short rib and kimchi sandwich: marinated slices of shortrib and kimchi stuffed inside a divine bun. I can only understate how good this sandwich is. The bun is a Chinese style steamed mantou bun, characteristically sweet, and some how firm and soft at the same time. The angelic bun is topped with sesame seeds and baked to brown for a bit then stuffed with the meat and kimchi. You could stuff anything in that bun and it would be heaven. That it is stuffed with slices of Korean-style short ribs and kimchi is gospel to my palate.

The pancake rolls are a similar story. I ordered mine with beef. So there was a delicious bits of beef rolled in a rich scallion pancake type thing minus the scallions and maybe made with butter (boy, it was rich). Also inside were julienned pickled veggies similar to the pickles in bahn mi. The tartness of the veggies offset the rich pastry and the sweet meat. Another homerun.

Because some of you have been worried I don't eat enough veggies, I also ordered the baby bokchoy with Chinese sausage. It was also delicious.

Province offers a number of special hot and cold beverages as well. I had the hot yuzu beverage. Yuzu is in the citrus family, a half-brother to the lemon, whose aunt is a smallish grapefruit. The concoction is not exactly warm juice, but it is not quite a tea either. It tastes of citrus and a bit of ginger. It is slightly sweetened. Be sure to take the lid off the cup; there are delicious slices of boiled yuzu rind in the bottom of the cup.

"They have catered our parties," says Sofia. What an enviable position the staff is in. So much great food with arm's reach everyday.

Oh God, please forgive me! I just did another check on the seamlessweb site and I see that Province is not open on weekends. But there are some other great places that do deliver on Sundays through the site: Kitchenette (I suggest "the Dinette" or the black cherry pancakes), Nonya (they have stingray dishes on the menu I haven't tried), and Franklin Station Cafe (try the crispy duck roll) to name a few. Be sure to enter the right date and time when you order. I love online food delivery!

www.seamlessweb.com

Province
305 Church Street (Church & Walker)
(212) 925-1205
Closed Weekends
Take Out and Delivery

Franklin Station Cafe
222 West Broadway (Franklin & West Broadway)
(212) 274-8525
Take Out and Delivery

Kitchenette
156 Chambers Street (Chambers & Greewich)
(212) 267-6740
Take Out and Delivery

Nyonya
194 Grand Street (Grand & Mott)
(212) 334-6701
Take Out and Delivery

HSF

Early on in this eating journey, I stumbled into a place just south of the Elizabeth Street Arcade on Bowery. In the window, in very large red letters are the words "DIM SUM." It is called HSF.

It was late afternoon and most of the other dim sum places had stopped serving. I took a seat. The carts of steamers still seemed to contain fresh looking offerings. The staff all wore t-shirts that say "DIM SUM" just like the window. They also have a bubble tea counter which is where you can get a dim sum order sheet to check off what you want to take out (There's a link to the dim sum menu below).

Here's what I ate there:

• The taro cake was average but not greasy with a touch of heat probably from white pepper that made it interesting.

• I always order the steamed spareribs with black bean and chili when it is offered. These were a bit too salty (perhaps because it was late in the day).
• The yuba roll with bamboo shoots and shrimp was very good.
• Their steamed pork and peanut dumpling was yummy. It contained diced vegetables and pork and roast peanuts.

Don't let the roomful of tourists fool you; the place is putting out good stuff. But it's a trek from AiG, so you might want to pick up on the way to the The Eat In on Sunday Nov 11.

HSF
46 Bowery
(below Canal Street)
212-374-1319
Take Out (no delivery)
Here's a link to their menu:
http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/hsf/menus/dim-sum.html

You can RSVP for Sunday's The Eat In by emailing: info@artingeneral.org.

Invitation to The Eat In

You are cordially invited to participate in "The Eat In" on Sunday, November 11 from 2 to 4 pm at Art in General.

Everyone should eat to their hearts' content. We will provide the tables, chairs, tea and menus. You are invited to order your own take out or delivery (and pay for it yourself). Sharing is allowed. Collaboration is its own reward.

You can come to AiG first (it's at 79 Walker, between Broadway and Lafayette) to check out the dozens of menus I've gathered. You can order by your mobile and have it delivered, or go pick it up yourself. Or you can pick up your take out before you come in.

Or you can order from delivery.com or seamlessweb.com. A computer with an internet connection will be made available to make orders. Or you can log in before you leave home to have your food delivered to AiG at a specific time (for example 2:15pm). It's your choice.

As you know I've been eating around down there. You can read my journal for suggestions: the-eat-in.blogspot.com.

The most important thing is that you join me for The Eat In. And tell your friends to come too!

RSVP to info@artingeneral.org

Goodies at Art in General

"I'm doing a dry run of delivery.com," I say. "What floor should the food go to?"

Always cheery and never flustered, Meghan says, "I'll tell Mariela to expect it."

"I've already paid for it on my credit card." I hop on the downtown train.

Of course, I arrive late for the delivery. There it is on Meghan's desk: ordered on my computer in Harlem at 10am to be delivered at 11:30 to Walker Street. And it's there! On Meghan's desk! How cool is that?

Speaking of cool, I hope you all will be coming to AiG on Sunday Nov 11. We'll be set up by 2pm. We'll hang until about 4pm. You can bring your take out or come first, check out the menus I've gathered, and order from here. More details in the next post. Also, it would be cooler if you would let us know if you think you are coming. Do that by emailing info@artingeneral.org. Oh and please bring your friends. But I digress...

The bag from Goodies was waiting when I arrived. Meghan and I took it back to the conference room. Sofia dropped in also. We chatted about logistics for The Eat In on Sunday and tried the vegetarian duck and the wontons in spicy sauce. Meghan and I had already tucked into the three delight soup dumplings which had arrived in surprisingly good shape. They were juicy and soup squirted out when Meghan bit into hers. The texture of both the skin and the filling were perfect. Oh yum. They were great.

I love mock duck. It is actually bean curd skin that is rolled around sliced black mushrooms. The rolls are soaked in Chinese wine (and other secret duck-ifying ingredients), then brushed with soy sauce then steamed . The resulting brown-on-the-outside ("duck skin") roll is chilled then sliced to reveal yellow-on-the-inside "flesh" and the black mushroom "bone." Executed well, this a one of my favorite dishes. Goodies' version was more than just good.

I also ordered the jellyfish, which my lunch mates declined. Jellyfish is all about texture and sauce. The jellyfish was prepared quite well. The texture was great, but the sauce was too subtle for my taste. I have had mind-blowing, can't-get-enough-of-it jellyfish in the past few weeks at a place in midtown (if you ask me in person on at The Eat In, I'll tell you where it is).

Goodies also makes a great turnip pastry. My favorite thing about it is that they come two to an order, so just when you start getting sad about finishing the first, you remember you can have the experience all over again. These are flaky pastry buns filled with a grated turnip and mystery-meat filling (it tasted like chicken) topped with sesame seeds. I think these were Meghan's favorite.


Goodies
1 East Broadway
212 577-2922
Take Out and Delivery
www.delivery.com
www.goodiesnewyork.com

Meat Markets

Because we are friends, I will tell you my secret: I often buy my dim sum to go from a little butcher on 89 Mulberry Street. The shop makes all manner of things from spring rolls and stuffed tofu to chicken feet and deep fried shrimp. Everything is sold by the pound. They have a freezer case filled with spring rolls and dumplings with a large variety of fillings. All of it is made in house. Towards the back you can buy the various fillings by the pound as well from the butchers and wrap your own dumplings at home.

On this particular day, I buy a handful of deep-fried head-on shrimp and some Chinese mustard greens and a few steamed spareribs. I add to that a package of frozen pork and chive dumplings for a rainy day. On the way home I can not help myself. I open up the container of shrimp right there in the subway car. The shrimp in my bare hand is room temperature but the shell is translucent and crispy from frying with just a light coating. I eat it shell and all, sucking the roe from its head. I am embarrassed to have another on the crowded train. But I think about it all the way home.

There is another one of these prepared food places just north of Canal Street spanning the block between Mott and Elizabeth. Deluxe Food Market is an enormous and chaotic indoor alley of food. It is fascinating to push ones way through to peek at the endless line of dumplings and buns and goopy steam table Chinese food as well as the butcher cases displaying marinating frogs legs and octopi. There is a counter for Cantonese style barbecued meats such as roast pork, chicken or duck. They chop it up to order. There is seating in the middle of the store if you want to eat right there and then. But like I said, the place is sprawling and crowded. I’d rather go to my small butcher on Mulberry.

Mulberry Meat Market
89 Mulberry Street
212 267-0350
Take Out (No delivery, and you’ll have to go there to order)

Deluxe Food Market
79 Elizabeth
212 925-5766
Take Out (No delivery, you’ll have to go there to order)

Pies

On Sunday, I wandered about making a bigger circle around AiG, picking
up menus along the way. Then, finally, west to Tribeca for a yoga
class. The half a bahn mi from 138 Mott Street I had eaten was nearly
walked off, but the rest of the sandwich was stinking up my bag. An
hour of chaturanga, up-dog, down-dog and a good sweat in the sauna
later, the bahn mi had graduated to stinking up my entire gym locker.
I was tempted to cut my losses, but I was taking it home to E.

Perhaps it was the turning back of the clocks, perhaps it was the damp
chill in the air, perhaps it was the New York Marathon, perhaps it
was John returning to Detroit, (or maybe it was my smelly bag). I dunno what it was,
but I was feeling a bit blue even after yoga. So I took my odorous bag
and walked to the best solution for the blues I could buy: Bubby's Pie
Shop on Hudson and N. Moore Sts.

When one first enters Bubby's one is confronted with a chalkboard
listing the pies available that day. About six pies and a few other
desserts were on the board. I made my order and went back uptown with
two slices of pie.

After a bit more unpacking at E's, we tucked into the pie bag. We eat
the slices straight out of the take out boxes. The banana cream pie
was suave. The smooth pudding covering sliced bananas is contained in
a crisp, light pie crust. Crushed, caramelized pecans are sprinkled on
top. the pudding is not too sweet. The fruit is actually sweeter (as
it should be). The apple pie is a totally different approach to pie.
The double crust is that soft, tender, like buttery leather. There
must be a variety of apples in the filling. The flavor of the fruit
comes through. It is as honest an apple pie as anyone can ask for: not
too much sugar, not too much spice, not too much butter. I have
nothing but admiration for this particular pie.

As much as I love E, I found myself watching him jealously with each
forkful he lifted to his mouth. I had a cat who used to watch me this way.
He allows me the last bite from each box, because he knows what is good
for him. "Thanks, sweetie," I say. I do not have a sweet tooth.



Bubby's offers a full menu of Southern specialties. A complete menu is
available online: bubbys.com

Bubby's Pie Shop
120 Hudson Street (at N. Moore)
212.219.0666
Take Out (call about delivery)

Dim Sum Palaces

The trouble for us with the big dim sum palaces is that none of them deliver and most do not do take out. But these are the places New Yorkers think of first for dim sum. They are cavernous and noisy and chaotic with push carts of bamboo steamers. Many are multi-storied. The trick to these places is to go early in the day (before noon) and sit as close to the kitchen as possible. The crowd favorites are Golden Unicorn, Jin Fong, Grand Harmony and 88 Palace in the Manhattan Bridge. Recently closed is a place called Sweet'n'Tart at 20 Mott. I mourn it’s loss. Right next to it is Ping’s which specializes in seafood. And is quite excellent.

Of all these banquet halls only Grand Harmony has a take out menu. It is also the only place on the list that I have not eaten. If you have eaten at New Harmony I would be happy to post your recommendations to the rest of the group.

Meanwhile, here's a list of what I ate the last time I was at Jin Fong:

Chinese broccoli

Chinese cruller wrapped in rice noodle

fishpaste balls with curry and plain

peanut dumplings (yummy)

beef rice noodle roll (also delicious)

spring rolls

shrimp ball

steamed book tripe (in a light gingery sauce)

spare ribs (tender steamed)

yuba roll (these were stuffed with bamboo shoots and veggies)

deep-fried taro ball

I have had wonderful luck at all these places but abysmal luck when I go after two. The selection is not as broad after two and what is available is not as fresh.

Grand Harmony
98 Mott Street
212 226-6603
crystalpalace9898@yahoo.com
Take Out (no delivery)

These places do NOT offer take out or delivery:

Jin Fong
20 Elizabeth Street
(212) 964-5256

88 Palace
88 East Broadway, 2nd fl
(inside the mall under the Manhattan Bridge)
212-941-8886

Golden Unicorn Restaurant
18 E Broadway
212 941-0911

Pho in Three Blocks

"We'll have the number 1 and the number 7b pho, an order of spring rolls, and I'll have an avocado shake."

Nha Trang Centre is on Centre Street Just a hop, skip and a jump away from Art in General. This is where I go when I'm downtown and need a pick-me-up.

Everyone has his or her favorite pho. The secret is the broth. Each place carefully guards their recipe. Traditionally the broth (usually beef bones sometimes with chicken or pork bones) is simmered for hours, sometimes days with a mixture of five spice (star anise, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger). Each eater finds a broth that does it for him or her. That is why Baxter Street just below Canal can support four pho establishments, with Pho Viet Huong around the corner on Mulberry.

I don't know how Nha Trang Centre became my regular place. I always get the number one, which is the rice noodle soup with beef brisket, raw eye round, tendon, and omoza (book tripe). The raw beef is sliced thin and cooks to rare in the heat of the broth. John had the number 7b, which was pho with grilled pork chop. Surprisingly, the 7B broth had a cleaner, porky taste than my number 1. They either use a different broth for the different soups, or the poaching raw meat in the number 1 changes its flavor.

I eat my soup two–handed. I squirt a bit of plum sauce and siriracha on to a side plate. I dip the meat in it and place it in my soupspoon. I pick up some noodles and stack them on top. Then I try to slurp everything off my spoon. It's the way I do it. There are other approaches.

The spring rolls there are good. But John and I agreed that if you fry anything and wrap it lettuce with a mint leaf, carrot pickle and cucumber, it's going to be delicious.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I have not been to Pho Viet Huong in some years. However, I still fantasize regularly about their grilled grape leaf wrapped beef. The beef is highly-spiced with ginger, garlic, lemongrass and fish sauce. Bite into the crisp but smoky grape leaves and the insides are steamy and juicy. As I remember, the spring rolls and the summer rolls there were pretty darn good too. I know they deliver, so I'll be sure to supply a menu for you all.

John and I finish everything on our plates. Slurp the last of my avocado shake and we gather up to leave. I say to John, "After Lust, Caution, we have to get tacos a La Esquina."

Nha Trang Centre
148 Centre Street
212 941-9292
Take out only (no delivery)

Pho Pasteur
85 Baxter Street
212 608-3656
Take out only (no delivery)

Thai Son
89 Baxter Street
212 732-2822
Delivery and Take Out

Pho Viet Huong
73 Mulberry St
(212) 233-8988
Delivery and Take Out