caffe falai

http://falainyc.com/caffe/

Iacopo Falai - former executive pastry chef at Le Cirque, also behind the lower east side's Falai Panetteria - proves once again with this intimate Italian cafe that he really can do it all. The teensy space feels four times its size thanks to the all-white walls and tables, translucent chairs, sparkling chandeliers and floor-to-ceiling windows. If you get lucky, you can sit just a few steps away from the open kitchen, where you can watch the chefs prepare the wonderful homemade pastas, entrees and desserts with astonishingly little room to maneuver.

For appetizers, I tried the polipo - tender octopus sprinkled with fried capers, paprika, fingerlings and black squid ink - and the minestrone - light and fresh, if the tiniest bit under-seasoned. For mains, I ordered the branzino, which came with a saute of napa cabbage and porcini mushrooms, drizzled with a red wine reduction. The dish was just the right size, and everything was delicious. I also tried the pollo alla veneziana - a sauteed chicken breast with mushrooms and onions that tasted like a lighter, more sophisticated version of your typical chicken marsala. But the star of the night was the gnudi, a type of gnocchi made with ricotta and a little bit of flour that tastes just like the filling of a ravioli, without the pasta - the word means 'nude' in Italian. The spinach-ricotta dumplings were tossed in a brown butter-sage sauce and sprinkled with parmigiano (if you're like me, that description alone has your mouth watering). They're unbelievably light and creamy, and literally melt in your mouth. By the time the waiter brought over the dessert menu I was stuffed and ready for bed but, if you can manage it, go for the crepe cake. It's out of this world...or so I've been told.

The food isn't cheap but it isn't unreasonable and, though this place has a reputation for unfriendly service, I found our waiter warm and helpful. I would, however, definitely recommend coming here on a weeknight. The small space can get crowded and noisy very quickly.

265 Lafayette Street
website
*recommendations:
 polipo
 gnudi
 pollo alla veneziana
 branzino con porcini

Caramelized Scallops & Thyme Roasted Tomatoes over Cauliflower Puree

All three parts to this dish - the scallops, the tomatoes, and the cauliflower puree - I've made before, but had never thought to combine them until last night. The tomatoes are so easy, and are fantastic with roast chicken or any kind of meaty white fish. I made the cauliflower puree for the first time in a desperate, I-can't-eat-anymore-canned-soup-or-jello moment a few days after I had my wisdom teeth pulled. It tastes, miraculously, just like mashed potatoes. Seriously. And I don't even like cauliflower. And finally, who doesn't like caramelized scallops? Incredibly easy, incredibly healthy, and so, so good. 

The rich, creamy puree goes well with the acidity of the tomatoes, and the slightly sweet, slightly crispy scallops tie the whole thing together. I like this with a lemon wedge on the side, to give just the hint of a sauce - the dish really doesn't need anything else. 

Ingredients:
2/3 lb scallops
1 tbsp sugar
salt and pepper
lemon wedges

1/2 - 2/3 cup sugar plum tomatoes (or any sweet baby tomatoes)
2 tsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
salt and pepper

2/3 cup cauliflower, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp milk

Directions:
for the puree:
combine cauliflower and garlic in a small bowl and microwave until tender, about 3 minutes
add milk and blend, until silky

for the tomatoes:
preheat oven to 375 degrees
toss tomatoes with oil, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper
spread out on foil-lined baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes, until shriveled

for the scallops:
sprinkle scallops with salt and pepper
sprinkle the top and bottom of each scallop with sugar (don't need much)
heat a large pan over medium-high heat, and coat with cooking spray or a tsp or two of olive oil
arrange scallops on pan so that they aren't touching (they won't caramelize if they are!)
cook for 2-3 minutes without moving, then flip each scallop over and cook for another 2-3 minutes

divide puree in half and scoop onto two dishes
arrange scallops and tomatoes on top, and serve with lemon wedges.


2 servings

Chocolate-Covered Caramelized Matzah

Ok, so it's no longer technically passover, but who says you can't have matzah the rest of the year? Especially if it's coated in a layers of butter caramel, dark chocolate and sea salt...

This is fun and easy to make, completely delicious and ridiculously, ridiculously addictive. Enjoy!

Only slightly adapted from David Lebovitz's recipe:

Ingredients:
5-6 sheets unsalted, thin matzah
14 tbsp butter, cut into pieces
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup dark chocolate, chopped (I used dark chocolate chips)
sea salt, for sprinkling

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, and place matzah in a single layer on foil
In a small saucepan, melt butter and sugar, then bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
Boil for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes, until the sugar is entirely dissolved and the mixture holds together, pulling away from the sides of the saucepan as you stir it.
Remove from heat, add in vanilla, and immediately pour over matzah.
Spread quickly with a spatula.
Put baking sheet in the oven, turning the heat down to 350, for 12-15 minutes. Keep an eye on it - it will bubble up as it bakes, but if it starts to burn, turn the heat down to 300.
Immediately after you remove it from the oven, sprinkle the chocolate chips on top.
Wait five minutes, then spread the melted chocolate with a spatula.
Sprinkle with sea salt.
Let sit until hardened (I put mine in the fridge for twenty or so minutes to speed this up), then
break into pieces and serve. And don't feel guilty when you eat every last scrap of caramel and chocolate that sticks to the foil when you break up the matzah - I did, too.

Francois Payard's Flourless Chocolate Walnut Cookies

These rich and gooey chocolate-walnut cookies are almost too good to be kosher for passover. The egg whites add a light, almost meringuey texture, but the brownie-like fudginess from the powdered sugar and cocoa powder (happily) takes over. They're available all year long at Payard's upper east side patisserie, but at nearly four dollars a cookie, why not toss together the whopping six ingredients yourself and save the money for something else - Payard's equally delicious but significantly-more-difficult-to-make-yourself pistachio macarons, perhaps?

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups walnut halves, toasted
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup + 3 tbsp dutch-process cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
4 large egg whites ***
1 tbsp vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350, and coarsely chop toasted walnuts
Stir together sugar, cocoa powder and salt, then add the nuts.
Add the vanilla and the egg whites, one at a time, until the mixture resembles a thick brownie batter
(***depending on the size of the egg, two may be enough - the batter should be difficult to stir, and will take a few minutes to come together)
Spoon the batter in 12 - 14 mounds on prepared baking sheets (I'd highly recommend using a silpat. If you use parchment paper, set the paper on top of a damp towel once the cookies have cooled - it will be much easier to remove them)
Bake for 15 minutes, or until the tops are cracked and glossy but the center is still a little gooey
Let cool completely, then remove from baking sheets

12 to 14 cookies

5 Calorie Canyon Ranch Vinaigrette

This fat-free dressing first appeared on the menu at the Canyon Ranch spa in Lennox, MA in 1984, and has remained so popular with guests that it's never been taken off the menu. The sweet and tangy combination of crushed garlic, lemon juice, red wine vinegar and dijon mustard creates more than enough flavor to compensate for the lack of olive oil (the oil, in more traditional vinaigrettes, accounts for the majority of the calories, which can be as many as 100 to 150 per serving). The longer this dressing sits the more the flavors meld and the better it gets, so try to toss it together at least a day or two before you plan to use it. It's light, full of bright, fresh flavors and only 5 calories per serving. What could be bad?

Ingredients:
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp sugar
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup water

Directions:
Combine salt and vinegar, and stir until salt is dissolved.
Add all other ingredients but water and mix well, then add water and stir until combined.
Store in a covered container in the fridge.

2 cups of vinaigrette
5 calories per 2 tbsp serving

craft

http://www.craftrestaurantsinc.com/craft-new-york/

  

Tom Colicchio's Craft opened on the edge of the Gramercy district in 2001. Inside, it's the same leather, wood and steel that it was 10 years ago, with individual Edison bulbs hanging from the ceiling on exposed wires and wide, bare tables that continue to demand weeks-ahead reservations. For all this, the space is appealing - it's modern and masculine but also cozy and comfortable. 

The menu is the epitome of simplicity, though there is nothing at all simplistic about the food. The hamachi and tangerine appetizer is simply that - thinly sliced hamachi and wedges of tangerine - and the halibut with white miso is served alone on a plate, accompanied by nothing, no more and no less than the fish itself. But every ingredient is the right ingredient, the perfect tenderness and temperature, allowed to be accompanied only by what will make it even better - or, put another way, even more of what it essentially is. The hamachi was the sweetest I've ever tasted and the halibut, beneath a thin glaze of lemony white miso, was without doubt the best halibut I've ever had. The complete lack of pretension and theatricality is the best part. The braised short ribs and root vegetables fell apart at the touch of a fork, and the roasted mushrooms - a mixture of hen of the woods, oyster, baby shiitake and trompette royale, glazed in butter - were perfect, but coaxed into perfection without needing to become anything more than simple, roasted mushrooms. 

Ten years ago, all this was described as "quiet magic" by William Grimes, the then-food critic of the New York Times. Despite Tom Colicchio's success with Top Chef and his ever-expanding empire of new restaurants and sandwich shops, I think these words still hold true. But who's to say I know what I'm talking about - come, and try for yourself!

43 East 19th Street

website

*recommendations: 

  hamachi & tangerine

  halibut & white miso

  beef short rib & root vegetables

  roasted mushrooms (ask for a mixture)

balade

http://www.baladerestaurants.com/

I came here last Saturday night with some friends. Lebanese native Roland Semaan opened Balade a few years ago and, thanks partly to its cozy atmosphere, partly to its delicious, reasonably-priced eastern mediterranean menu, and partly to its location, its been popular ever since.

The space is warm and comfortable, with pillow-laden benches, softly lit lanterns, and lots of reds and browns. It can get a little noisy but I had no trouble talking to my friends over dinner - impressive, considering we were eating at 9 on a Saturday night. When we arrived, we were told that it'd be 5-10 minutes or so for a table. Forty minutes later we were seated. But the owner was incredibly apologetic (apparently they had called our name, but some other group had taken the table) and we wound up with a free round of drinks, so I'm not complaining.

Even better, the food was great and entirely reasonably priced. We ordered the vegetarian mazmeez - a combination of babaganouj, tabouleh, falafel, shankleesh (a salty, homemade cheese blended with zaatar) and warak einab (grape leaves stuffed with chickpeas and tomatoes) - all of which were simply prepared, fresh and delicious. I also had the skinny shawarma salad - a mixture of greens, onions, tomatoes, olives and cucumbers topped with warm and juicy chicken shawarma. Yum. They also make their own pita bread (delicious), and turn it into appealing-looking pizzas ('pitzas') and wraps ('sandweechat') stuffed with marinated meats and homemade spreads.

Bottom line: a fun, casual place to come for a few drinks and some delicious mediterranean.

208 1st Ave (b/w 12th and 13th)
website

*recommendations:
  skinny shawarma salad
  vegetarian mazmeez
  lentil soup