at the sign of The Pink Pig

Holy House Of Mole!: El Maguey Y La Tuna

[Pigging by Wilfrid: February 24, 2014]

Downtown New Yorkers know El Maguey Y La Tuna (The Agave and the Prickly Pear: forget the fish). They should know it, anyway, as the only long-established option for actual, regional Mexican food on the LES.

Home-made moles have been coming out of that kitchen since 2003--and for ten years before that at a location in Williamsburg with the same name.  That I didn't know.

The Runner Up And Running

[Pigging by Wilfrid: February 24, 2014]

Another look at the new formality in Brooklyn. Chef Andrew Burman (Court St Grocers) and manager Robert Honeycutt (Gilt, BLT Group) are mixing the smart dining and casual ambience in Clinton Hill.

It's a pub, it's bar dining, it's a neighborhood restaurant, it's ambitious. Early days, but it's promising too.

A Random Cassoulet

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  February 24, 2014]

I think we can all agree it's been cassoulet weather in New York recently.  This was kind of an inadvertent cassoulet.  I was half-heartedly making just beans to go with something or other, cooking them in a claypot with a big, smoked pork hock.

Then I realized I was a step away from cassoulet.  It's in progress in the picture, getting the duck confit and sausage started. It was Ridgewood pork store garlic sausage; nice firm texture, but not strongly flavored (the label mentioned cayenne, but I didn't get that at all).

I've made my own confit in the past, and cassoulet has been a big project.  Nice to just pull one out of the hat.

Jimmy Scott And Something At Patria: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid: February 24, 2014]

Ten years ago this week, I shook hands with Jimmy Scott between sets at Birdland.  I guess I could stop right there. He was 78. He's now 88. Last year, he was inducted into the R&B Hall of Fame, but I think he's finally retired from the stage he first graced as Little Jimmy Scott, more than sixty years ago.

I hadn't heard him until he sang with Lou Reed.

Brandade At Home

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  February 19, 2014]

Can't stop maing brandade. So easy, once you've mastered salt cod.

Eat it with a salad, spread it on bread, hot or warm.  Or roll it into balls, breadcrumb/batter it, and fry.

Donostia: Sherry Heaven On Ave. B

[Pigging by Wilfrid: February 17, 2014]

Donostia is the Basque name for San Sebastián. It's also now the name for a narrow tapas bar, with a deep beverage list, on Avenue B, just across from Tompkins Square Park.

 

And let's be clear: even if you've an aversion to conservas--canned fish and veg served Spanish-style as tapas, that's no need to strike Donostia off your list.

Dorado's Boston Baja Tacos

[Pigging by Wilfrid: February 17, 2014]

Hadn't there always been a tiny Mexican taco joint on 12th Street, off University, just across from Num Pang, the Cambodian hero shop?  Seems like it.  I stopped by countless times for a couple of cheap beef or chicken fajitas. Nothing to write about.

Apparently it was back in 2012 that the signage changed, and it became Dorado Tacos, offshoot of a Boston original. I never noticed. Maybe I was too busy scarfing down tortas at Tortaría around the corner. Recently I stumbled into Dorado, and it was so good I went back a couple of days later.

Eleven Madison Park: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid:  February 17, 2014]

Yet again, my journal prompts me to remark how things have changed. Eleven Madison Park is now a destination for global Michelin star collectors, serving a fabulously expensive menu--apparently full of novelties like swanky picnic baskets--to anyone who can beg a table.

Ten years ago, it was a lush setting for relatively casual French-accented food (and a French-heavy wine-list) cooked by Kerry Heffernan, who has been keeping a much lower profile at South Gate in the Essex House hotel since 2007.

Valentine's Cheese

Avoiding the crowds and extravagance, a cozy corner like Café Ghia--near the Jefferson Street L stop--can be a good choice.

Following big salads, wild mushroom paella, flank steak with shrimp, here's the Valentine's Day cheese:

Casatica di Bufala, Pt Reyes Bay Blue, Tomme Brulée, from the Bedford Cheese Shop.

 

 

Quick Bites in Williamsburg: The Elm, Allswell

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  February 14, 2014]

Sometimes I eat to post; sometimes I just have to post what I eat.  It's been a casual, snacky sort of month, not least because the weather deters me from planning anything. Between snowstorms, I did swing by Greenpoint and Williamsburg (and gave up on the wait at the new tapas joint, El Born).

I hauled myself up to the bar at The Elm to try a couple of plates from the bar menu.