Leftovers!
From Drinks
Posted by Liz Clayton, May 16, 2012 at 7:45 AM
[Photos: Liz Clayton]
Once upon a time, the mitten-shaped state known as Michigan was not known for its coffee. Its bizarrely named "Coney Island" hot dogs and diners, its square-shaped pizzas, its death of industry...sure. But artisanal coffee? Not until recently did this pleasant peninsula begin to stand out, and cities across the state have begun to offer some of the best coffees roasted in the nation—and the mitten itself—at truly lovely cafes. Here are our very favorites.
Continue reading »
Favorite this! (0)
From Serious Eats: New York
Posted by Carey Jones, May 15, 2012 at 10:00 PM
[Photographs: Christine Tsai]
Laut
15 East 17th Street, New York NY 10003 (b/n 5th and Broadway; map); 212-206-8989; lautnyc.com
Service: Cheery and swift
Setting: Smartly decorated
Compare It To: Nyonya
Must-Haves: Char kuey teow (with shrimp and Chinese sausage), beef rendang, mee goreng
Cost: Can easily eat for $25/person
Grade: B+ (for the Malaysian dishes)
For the last few years I've felt sorry for Laut, a mostly-Malaysian restaurant just off Union Square, when the Michelin stars for New York restaurants are announced. Because they've held onto their single star for a few years now.
I mean, I'm happy for them—earning a Michelin star is a big deal. Owner Salil Mehta, who's operated the restaurant for a few years now, must surely be pleased. But the Internet chatter inevitably takes them down a few notches. "Laut?! Laut earned a Michelin star? While [Restaurant X] still doesn't have a Michelin star? Ridiculous!" It's tough being the unlikely member of a club that includes Del Posto and Gramercy Tavern. It seems like an afterthought, a "unique cuisine" tossed on by a critic who didn't really venture far beyond Manhattan.
So I'd long been curious about Laut; and tasting their food at events around the city had only made me more curious. But after a few visits, and after plenty of less impressive meals around Chinatown, I'm convinced it's my favorite Malaysian restaurant in Manhattan.
From formal critics to eager Yelpers, the food-obsessed often have a tendency to over-promote "hole in the wall" restaurants of various national origins, with the implication that only a crowded, minimally decorated storefront with a non-English menu can possibly deliver the "real" flavors of a given cuisine. Restaurants like Laut, a little more stylish and outside a neighborhood of its cuisine's ethnic concentration, are considered imposters.
The food, however, speaks for itself. At Laut, the cuisine's signature flavors, a balance of spicy and tart and powerfully savory, shine through; the funky fermented shrimp paste belachan, the richness of good coconut milk, the fragrance of lemongrass and turmeric and galangal: they're all there in full force.
Continue reading »
Favorite this! (2)
Posted by Chichi Wang, May 15, 2012 at 5:00 PM
I have never really believed that restaurant food is automatically better than home cooking because chefs use twice as much butter and oil as home cooks. That's presuming that cooks at home are stingy or careful with the oil, and not all cooks are. If restaurant food is better, it's because chefs on average know a lot more about, and work a lot more, with food than the people cooking at home.
But the other week I was eating at a restaurant and was served a dish of beef tongue that was extremely crisp and brown on the surface. Not to get technical, but the tongue was precisely one order of magnitude above the crispiness and brownness I am used to when I pan-fry tongue at home. Inside, the tongue was tender, fatty, and flavorful, and the contrast between the surface and the interior was really satisfying.
Continue reading »
Favorite this! (2)
Posted by Farley Elliott, May 15, 2012 at 4:30 PM
[Photographs: Clay Larsen]
You've heard it in countless action flicks, any time the heat gets too intense: "We've got to get off the streets." Starting as early as 2010, that seemed to be the prevailing motto within the Los Angeles food truck scene. Get the truck, build the brand, and then run for the safety of four walls and a stationary kitchen.
One of the biggest names to ride the crashing food truck wave onto the shores of a Pico-Robertson storefront is Komodo. Their hook: Asian fusion with a Mexican bent. It isn't much of a pull in LA these days. Around here, the word "kalbi" gets tossed on menus next to all manner of tacos, burgers, pizzas and lord knows what else. So, with multiple trucks and a brick and mortar now in its second year, what makes Komodo so special? In short: simplicity.
Continue reading »
Favorite this! (0)
Posted by Will Gibney, May 15, 2012 at 4:00 PM
Editor's Note: We're teaming up with our friends over at Food52 to bring you even more easy weeknight recipes. Food52 recipes will appear on this site every Tuesday and Thursday, and are carefully curated by the Serious Eats team. Check back on Serious Eats every weekday afternoon for a new quick and easy weeknight dinner idea from our own test kitchens, or from the good folks at Food52.
This summer dinner replaces the usual beef and pork with a lighter option: shrimp. The thing that takes the most time is the aioli, but it's the most important part of the dish. It's not only used as a condiment, it also binds the shrimp together to form the burger. The patty is light, but the aioli provides the richness you'd expect from a good burger.
About the Author: Will Gibney is currently a summer intern here at Serious Eats and loves being around so much food. He recently found true love in a Jamón de Bellota in Spain
Continue reading »
Favorite this! (13)
From Drinks
Posted by The Serious Eats Team, May 15, 2012 at 3:45 PM
The festive opening night Gala that kicks off the Manhattan Cocktail Classic may be the biggest event in the MCC schedule, but the week offered tons of other opportunities to celebrate cocktails—seminars, dinners, and parties galore. In fact, these smaller-scale events impressed us even more than the grand Gala—it's great to get a chance to focus on just a few well-crafted cocktails, get to know a new spirit or drink-making technique, and enjoy a look behind the scenes without struggling against huge crowds.
While our livers wouldn't let us take advantage of everything on the schedule, highlights of the week included a rooftop British-themed party at The NoMad (complete with a great performance by The Crooners, a band whose members include WD-50 bar director Kevin Denton, formerly of the Gramercy Park Hotel.)
Continue reading »
Favorite this! (0)
Posted by Carey Jones, May 15, 2012 at 3:15 PM
[Photos: Erin Zimmer]
"We want to tell a story with New Orleans cuisine," said chef John Currence, one of the men behind the phenomenal "International Influences on New Orleans Cuisine" dinner at the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival.
"The story of the special crazy-ass gumbo that is that city."
Which means not only the French, Spanish, and modern American elements to the cuisine—but German, Sicilian, African, and Vietnamese, as well.
We talk about America as a melting pot, but in few cities does that ring so true as in New Orleans. So five Southern chefs with deep ties to (and an abiding love for) the city—John Besh (Restaurant August), Michael Gulotta (his chef de cuisine), John Currence (City Grocery), Brian Landry (Borgne), Alon Shaya (Domenica), and pastry chef Kelly Fields (Restaurant August)—put together a tribute to the many cultures and cuisines that've shaped the cuisine of New Orleans and evolved within its traditions.
Continue reading »
Favorite this! (1)
From Chicago
Posted by Blake Royer, May 15, 2012 at 3:00 PM
If I had unlimited amounts of wealth and time, or otherwise lived a life of leisure, I would surely wake up every morning and walk to Lula Cafe, where I would find a sunny spot at their long white marble bar, read the paper, and have breakfast. There would be pour over coffee, an omelet or frittata, and a small plate of their exceptionally good breakfast sausage. And I'd be a happy man.
Lula Cafe has been a Logan Square cornerstone for years, a highly respected restaurant focused on seasonal cooking. Last year, they expanded the restaurant into an adjacent storefront, and now the front room is an airy, light-filled space that I never want to leave.
Continue reading »
Favorite this! (0)
From A Hamburger Today
Posted by Todd Brock, May 15, 2012 at 3:00 PM
[All photographs unless otherwise noted: Todd Brock]
Sonic
11105 Crabapple Road, Roswell GA 30075 (Map); 770-573-9775
3,500+ locations nationwide. Find one at sonicdrivein.com/locator
The Schtick: "America's Drive-In," where carhops deliver burgers, dogs, and such to your driver's side window, with almost 400,000 drink options
The Burger: Varieties don't stray too far from the classics. Typically unremarkable fast-food beef, overapplied veggie toppings, bonus points for good bacon
Want Fries With That? Ick. Go onion rings or chili cheese tots instead
Setting: The interior of your car, maybe a nearby picnic table
Price: Sonic Cheeseburger, $3.19; SuperSonic Double Bacon Cheeseburger, $4.59; Bacon Cheeseburger Toaster Sandwich, $4.69; French fries, $1.00/1.49/1.80; Onion rings, $1.69/1.99; Chili Cheese Tots, $1.99/2.59/2.99
Who knew there were so many hardcore Sonic fans out there? Not me, that's for sure. When I ranked the chain's onion rings last in AHT's Onion Ring Roundup last month, no one was more surprised than I was when Sonic apologists crawled out of the cyberwoodwork to defend "America's Drive-In." Most seemed to believe that the translucent puddle at the bottom of my bag and the extreme greasiness that soaked every ring across two orders was an anomaly, an exception to the rule, an unfortunate case of that particular location dropping the deep-fried ball.
Maybe they were right. I mean, it had certainly happened with my BK Chef's Choice experience. Maybe Sonic deserved another shot, I decided. And maybe, as long as I'm going, I should put the burger menu through its paces, too.
Continue reading »
Favorite this! (2)
Posted by Elizabeth Barbone, May 15, 2012 at 2:45 PM
[Photographs: Elizabeth Barbone]
One thing to know before making a batch of jalapeño poppers: they are slippery little buggers! So slippery, in fact, that prepping them for frying takes a little extra care so that in the end, you have jalapeño poppers and not jalapeño exploders.
Continue reading »
Favorite this! (3)
From Sweets
Posted by The Serious Eats Team, May 15, 2012 at 2:30 PM
[Photographs and illustrations: Robyn Lee]
We've been eating enough Oreos in the past few weeks to notice that everyone on staff eats them differently. Some people can't eat Oreos unless there's milk in the office. Some people maximize the creme-to-cookie ratio, others the cookie-to-creme. And a few really, really weird things went down with dunking and mushing and spooning.
Check out how the editors and staff at Serious Eats eat their Oreos. And tell us: how do you eat yours?
Favorite this! (2)
From Sweets
Posted by María del Mar Sacasa, May 15, 2012 at 1:15 PM
Just can't get enough. [Photograph: María del Mar Sacasa]
My first acquaintance with pudding cake was made while working at Cook's Country. One of my colleagues was developing a recipe for a lemon version and, despite eating it every day, several times a day, for about four weeks, I never tired of it. The waistband of my pants may have been sinking uncomfortably into my middle, my apron strings may have needed loosening, and my chef's jacket may have been about to pop a button, but I still made room for that pudding cake.
Pudding cake is just what the title advertises: pudding and cake. The wondrous part is that both components materialize in the same pan. Batter is spread in a pan, then sprinkled with a sugar and cocoa powder mixture and liquid. This top layer filters down, essentially swapping places with the batter. The result is a layer of cake floating on top of pudding.
Continue reading »
Favorite this! (6)
From Drinks
Posted by David Kover, May 15, 2012 at 1:00 PM
[Photographs: David Kover]
For most of us, the idea of working in a craft brewery sounds pretty cool. In reality, we just want to hang out with a pint in one hand. But is life in a brewery really like that?
"Generally, we're not just sitting around drinking, talking about beer. We're scrubbing drains and getting burned by caustic and all that good stuff," explains Kushal Hall. Hall learned this from experience. He started out at Speakeasy Ales & Lagers with a position on the bottling line, working his way up until, now, at the ripe old age of twenty-eight, he's the head brewer.
It's no small operation that Hall finds himself in charge of: last year, Speakeasy produced 13,000 barrels of beer, and they're aiming for 20,000 this year. The mischievous eyes that serve as Speakeasy's logo seem to appear on a tap handle in just about every bar around San Francisco, and their bottle distribution around the country grows every year.
Hall recently gave us a tour of Speakeasy's brewing facility, and then sat down to share his perspective on the world of craft brewing.
Continue reading »
Favorite this! (1)
From Serious Eats: New York
Posted by Jessica Leibowitz, May 15, 2012 at 12:45 PM
We're on the cusp of a wonderful time of year: barbecue season. Who doesn't love backyards filled with corn on the cob, fresh ripe watermelon, and grilled meat?
(My apologies to the veg-exclusive viewers; your video will come soon enough.)
Speaking of grilled meat, let's preemptively kick off the summer with a mouthwatering inspiration known as the cote de boeuf. A lot of love (and butter) goes into the 40-ounce ribeye, and we're all the happier for it. Special thanks to Abe & Arthur's Executive Chef Franklin Becker for letting us peek behind the scenes.
Continue reading »
Favorite this! (0)
Posted by dbcurrie, May 15, 2012 at 12:30 PM
[Photograph: Donna Currie]
Can you imagine these little birdies peeking out of a bread basket? Or on the edge of a salad plate? Pretty adorable, right?
Like any shaped bread, you'll never get two that look exactly alike, but that's part of the charm. They'll rise differently before baking, and they'll rise differently in the oven. It's unpredictably fun. And every once in a while, you'll get one that looks just plain weird. Hey, not all birds are born the same, right?
Continue reading »
Favorite this! (1)
