[Pigging by Wilfrid: August 5, 2013]
A thoughtful post on Mouthfuls asked what sense we can now attach to the term "destination restaurant," when so many of the ordinarily good new eating places in Manhattan are sprinkled across Brooklyn and Queens.
It used to be that we'd speak of Outer Boro restaurants worth a trip from Manhattan as "destinations," but these days, unless you head out occasionally to Greenpoint, Bushwick, or even the Gowanus canal, you'll miss the city's dining action--even if the specific restaurants in question are not what we used to mean by destinations.
Fritzl's Lunch Box is a case in point.
About eighteen months ago, everyone was flouncing about telling me that Bushwick was the new cultural capital of New York City, all galleries, boutiques and exciting restaurants. I wasted some breath telling them what nonsense this was, and apart from Roberta's, there were rice balls at the Wreck Room, some dreck sushi and falafel, and an awful lot of rats.
But wishes come true, and Bushwick has gradually become a neighborhood with a selection of okay to really pretty good restaurants (or at least, so-called "Morgan Town" has, leaving the area around Myrtle Avenue-Broadway to fend for itself). To Northeast Kingdom and Café Ghia, you could add Dear Bushwick, expanded food menus at bars Mazelle, The Narrows and Miles, and even an improved version of Life Café, known as 983 Bushwick's Living Room. All neighborhood places.
And now there's Fritzl's, Mama Joy's, King Noodle, Falansai, and apologies to the places I've forgotten. Fritzl's distinguishes itself by the bright precision of its cooking, but does raise the question--when would you go there? It's three blocks east of the top of Maria Hernandez Park, and on the way to nowhere; the menu is short; but locals are happily using the back garden on summer evenings.
True to the name, the main focus is an extravagantly praised burger, sandwiches and salads. There are usually a couple of pastas. I suggest you look out for the twists Dan Ross-Leutwyler (Roberta’s, Fatty ‘Cue, The Breslin,Vinegar Hill House) puts on the changing menu. Like smoked lamb ribs.
I had been looking out for lamb shoulder, which appeared on the online menu only to disappear again. But I was happy these fellows showed up. Not those little lamb riblets, these were hefty, meaty, mildly smoked, served with a minty raita, and hot triangles of pita.
I made little pita rolls from the tender meat, parsley salad, and raita, and this was a happy, messy way to eat.
There's usually a seasonal fried vegetable on the menu, in a basket suitable for sharing. Currently it's summer squash which fancier places would call "tempura," but here is just "beer-battered." The sauce is highly spicy. Repeated experiments have shown that a lot of restaurant kitchens can't fry, crisp and dry. Fritzl's can.
I guess the baja shrimp taco is shareable too, but I'd fight for the whole thing. It's a tumble of very plump shrimp, tomatoes, pineapple, fresh herbs, and crema over a large, single, crispy tortilla. It's either a crunchy taco flatted out, or one big nacho. Smash it, and lift shards dripping with the fresh, cool toppings, or scratch away at it with a fork.
When you see "fried chicken, lettuce and mayo on a roll," you're not prepared for the technical skills Ross-Leutwyler can bring to a simple sandwich. This is no breaded chicken cutlet.
He takes the chicken meat (mainly dark meat from my observation), marinates it, and shapes it into a firm, thick puck. This is what gets breaded and crisped, and it's much more flavorful than any straight cut from the chicken. The accompaniments are their modest selves.
What a nice place--bright, with correct service, and charming French food cartoons on the wall. Should you schlep to Irving Avenue just for this? Well, you could take in Sampler too.
The Sampler
The Sampler is a rather new storefront beer bar on Starr Street, and I enjoyed it much more than some touted Manhattan specialist beer vendors I've visited recently. This is now a genre in New York: a long, cool store lined with shelves and refrigerators stocking beer for purchase; and a bar with a rotating set of taps, in this case 14 or 15.
There are "craft potato chips," or olives, or spicy pretzels, or plates of cheese and cold cuts. And appropriately, there's a beer sampler deal: four tastes for $8 (currently), and good-sized tastes they are. I'd say all four add up to at least a pint.
It's a deal, because there are some dead swanky beers on tap, and you're choice is unrestricted. I started, for example, with two Evil Twin creations, the Lil' B Imperial Stout (a mighty 11.5 ABV), and the absurdly named Ryan And The Beaster Bunny (I just pointed and asked for the one with the long name). As it happens, the Beaster Bunny is the first Evil Twin beer I've actually enjoyed: it's a saison, with the syrupy mouthfeel of a dessert wine, but the flavor profile of...well, of a Chardonnay. Drinkable. The Lil' B was interesting, but outrageously intense. One might take a nip after dinner, or on a cold night.
I liked Six Point's Mad Scientist, light but seriously smoky. I also worked my way through Defiant's Medusa IPA, Geuze Tilquin Lambic, Mikkeller Chipotle Stout (not spicy), and that rare thing, a palatable fruit beer, 21st Amendment's Hell or High Watermelon. Yes, another one of those names.
Sampler is a downhome place, keeping its inevitable beer snobbery under control, friendly and relaxing. And the imported bottle selection is crazy.
Mama Joy's
Finally, a word about nearby Mama Joy's, which is clearly a neighborhood place (don't jump on the L train). It's a basic bar serving very inexpensive southern food, and it's dandy for what it is (even if they were out of the fried green tomato each time I ate there).
They are practically giving away the crisp, mahogany-brown hush puppies, around ten of them for six bucks. Chipotle mayo gives them a buzz.
I tried the fried chicken straight and spicy, and spicy has the edge.
Two big pieces for $12, which includes really enjoyable, obviously freshly made mashed potatoes, and kernels of corn actually stripped from the husk rather than canned.
All evidence of just that bit of extra effort, more than welcome at these prices. And I hear the shrimp and grits and good too.
Information:
The Sampler (in progress)
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