Park Slope is For Dog people

Recently there was a rumor going around that Shake Shack was opening up a store front in the Park Slope area.  Unfortunately this rumor turned out to be untrue, but the rumored Shack site is going to be home to another highbrow fast food joint called Bark Hot Dogs.  This wouldn't excite me if the place wasn't run by former Franny's chef Brandon Gills.  Defiantly gonna keep my eyes out on Bergen st for this place's opening.  

Almondine Bakery Dumbo

Dumbo is maybe my favorite New York city neighborhood.  Its one of the few waterfront areas in New York that has undergone a rise in trendiness and price and still managed to retain a degree of original character (the opposite would be battery park).  For me a visit to Dumbo almost certainly means a visit to Almondine, located on Water st near main st.  Almondine is a French bakery without any attitude.  When I say Almondine has no attitude what I mean is the whole place feels welcoming and homely, not overly fancy and trendy like many other shops in this class.  The bakery is small and often crammed,adding a vibrant feel to the whole place.  Goods wise, you would be a fool to go to Almondine and get anything but an almond croissant.  Croissants are difficult to perfect.  They need to be buttery and have a crust so perfectly cooked that it weeps flakes when you bite into them but doesn't fall apart in your hands.  On this Almondine delivers, with croissants that achieve an almost perfect balance between a soft buttery inside and a flakey crispy outside.  The almond paste filling is very good as well.  Its no surprise that the chief baker is French, and the rest of the menu is French inspired as well, but the menu is willing to compromise and offer a little more then classic French baked goods,offering for example a soft pretzel roll drizzled with melted cheese.         

a Note

This is a busy time for the me, so busy in fact that I being forced to neglect Ol Dirty to some degree.  Of course this blog will continue t o exist and be back in strength once summer starts, but for the next few weeks expect posts no more then once of twice a week.  

keep eating  

More Uptown

I recently came across Allen Richman's blog on GQ. He has a nice piece on prix fix dining uptown. For those that dont know a prix fixed meal is a three course lunch at a fixed price, usually for less then 30$. I have never eaten at any of the places Richman talks about, but I can certainly endorse prix fix eating. Theres something luxurious in itself about taking a good 90 minutes to eat lunch, and the relatively low price of most Prix fix meals will leave you feeling even richer. Check out the link and scroll down for a list of several places to pick up your eats.

PS: Richman also mentions the Per Se Salon I talked about in one of his earlier posts.

Up Town

My regular readers (all 4 or 5 of you) may have noticed that I have never reviewed or even talked about any restaurants uptown. This is not because they are not worth talking about, in fact the best restaurants (at least as far as Michelin or Zaggat is concerned) are uptown. The truth is I've been reluctant to talk about such places because often your bill is around 300$ and I've questioned their relevance to this blog, since thats quite a bit of bread for my teenage audience to drop. But there are ways to eat relatively cheaply uptown, and at some of the best restaurants in the city. One such example is Per Se. Per Se is located in the Time Warner building overlooking Columbus circle and Central Park. Per Se has a reputation as the second most expensive restaurant int he city, next to nearby Masa sushi. Its tasting menu averages around 300$, and with wine you can add another 100 or 200 to that. Ive had the privilege to eat at Per Se for a birthday once, and while it was certainly one of the best meals I've had, I find the price hard to justify. When a meal costs that much the guest naturally sets their expectations extremely high. I wont get into why this meal was not worth 300$, instead I will talk about Per Se's much more realistic salon area. The salon, which is a fancy word for the bar area, offers a la carte dinning ( normal sized meal that people with normal sized wallets might be able to afford). The bar area is nicely appointed, with a formal yet comfortable atmosphere. An a la carte meal is anywhere from 20 to 50 dollars, and thankfully comes with extras since the potion sizes are very small. The food is similar to the offerings of the main dining room, French inspired with American influences. one thing you certainly get your moneys worth for is service. The staff at Per Se is both professional and approachable, willing to answer questions or translate French to English for you. The bar area is noticeably less formal then the main room, and guests often walk around or stand while they eat. Another high point of Per Se is its attention to ingredients. Each element of your dish packs its own flavorful punch, and the attention to details, from the way your duck is cut to the placement of the sauce, is very impressive. I have ever only eaten in the main room, but the salon has been favorably reviewed, and if the quality of the food int he main room is any indication, the salon might be the best deal you can get for a meal of its caliber.

Rules of Bumming Vol 5: Free samples...are free

One of the most common and under appreciated forms of bumming is the use of the free sample. You can come across the free sample anywhere and any amateur bum can snag a free cookie or a 4 ounce latte sample outside starbucks, however it takes a true bum to know what places have the best free samples. The best places to raid (what we in the business call a hunt for free samples) are large grocery stores or small high end delis or bakeries. With regard to small shops, any place that thinks its fancy enough to call itself a patisserie is bound to have a plate of cookies at the register. Just come in and ask for some free water then snag a nice cookie to go with your drink, and bam, free snack. This may seem intuitive enough and not worth mentioning, but it takes a keen eye to spot the type of place that gives out free samples. Often they are on the upscale side, and they offer free sample sin the hopes that they will stimulate you to spend ridiculous amounts of cash on baked goods. Raiding large supermarkets is by far the easier approach. Not only do supermarkets offer a less intimate atmosphere where you can grab as many samples as you want without being grilled, but they also offer a wider range of samples depending on the aisle your in. Whole foods might be the best place to get free samples. The Whole Foods in Union Square sometimes has multiple stations for you to eat at. If your in Soho be sure to stop by Dean and Deluca for samples of the latest gourmet packaged foods. Often raiders mistakenly think there is a one sample per person policy, but I have found that often workers are willing to give out a second sample if you ask nicely and express genuine interest in the food they are giving out. Appear to really like whatever it is, maybe add in some "mmmoh wow uhmm, this is, this is top notch" if you simply eat one and ask for another you look like a bum instead of someone who just really likes food.