Get to Know a Serious Eater.

Freedom's Profile

Website:

Location: Brooklyn

About: Baker, graphic designer

Favorite foods: The whole beast.

Last bite on earth: Depends on the day. Today? Duck liver paté, fresh bread, wine.

The Ten Most Recent Posts By Freedom

From Talk

Lunch spots: Flatiron District

So, we just moved offices to 20th & 5th from Broadway / Houston and we take our lunch seriously, as most Serious Eaters would. We have left a bunch of great lunch places behind (Dom's, Despana, Alidoro, La Esquina, Pepe Rosso, La Conquista, Blue Ribbon Market, Balthazar, DeMarco's, the list goes on).
As much as I want to eat Shake Shack everday, I need a bit more variety in life and lunch. We did have a great Reuben at Eisenberg's on Friday. Any other suggestions?

From Talk

Best butchers in NYC?

Preferably in Brooklyn or Manhattan, I am looking for a place where I can get a Saddle of Lamb.

From Talk

Where do you find great wings?

Ed, or anyone for that matter...

With all this talk of fried chicken and my upcoming trip to Buffalo, I got thinking of the other famous fried chicken treat, Buffalo wings. Where do you find great wings in the 5 boroughs?

The best I've found so far:

Scruffy Duffy's (743 8th Ave)

Acme (9 Great Jones St)

The Ten Most Recent Comments By Freedom

From Slice

Slice Walk: Park Slope

Adam! I have been waiting for a post like this.

I live a block from Smiling and I have never liked it, the sauce is too candy-sweet for me.

But I have been ordering from Lenny's ever since I used to live a block away from that place. I was really pleased to see your green check mark on that map, a truly good NY slice. As soon as I read this I walked right on over—my mouth watering—to grab a slice.

I even tried Peppe's based on your review and I, too, found the crust too bland.

This was a really great idea, thanks again for such a great post. Can't wait to try Tomato & Basil.

Ps... Can we convince Ed to do a similar post focusing on sandwiches, map and all?

From Recipes

Mario Unclogged: Marinara Sauce

I was also fooled by the tomatoes pictured. I believe I saw a can once say "Product of Canada", either way, they are certainly not from Italy.

From Talk

Favorite bottled BBQ Sauce?

Dinosaur Wango Tango

From Talk

Question of the Day: What's the best cheese for your grilled cheese sandwich?

If I want a "grilled cheese", then it means American cheese.

From Required Eating

Chipping Away

Kettle Chips (next to Zapp's - strangely missing) are some of my favorite chips out there. Their Salt & Fresh Ground Pepper being tops in my book.
I checked out their website, but I couldn't find the Aztec Chocolate, Royal Indian Curry, Dragon Five Spice or Twisted Chili Lime. Where'd you find those?

Also, in the Syracuse area, there are Terrell's, who makes a Dinosaur Bar-b-que flavor which is really good, different from most barbecue chips out there (in a good way).

From Required Eating

Pizza Hack: Broil Your Pies

I have only recently discovered the magic of the broiler thanks to Mark Bittman's minimalism:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/31/dining/31mini.html?ex=1327899600&en=a2554c37622f0cdc&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
(the steak works extremely well)
have you tried a pizza stone under the broiler?
could be the best of both worlds.

From Talk

Where do you find great wings?

I will have to respectfully disagree, I don't really like a sweet bbq sauce either and I don't think their sauce is too sweet.

Personally, I love to add their Garlic Chipotle Pepper Sauce over my bbq, they don't keep it on the tables for whatever reason, so you have to ask for it. My mouth waters just thinking about that hot sauce, it goes perfectly with meat, it is absolutely delicious.

ps... went to 'Ino last night and had the Truffled Egg Toast, and man, that was so FFFFing good! I also tried to go to Il Buco for the Porchetta Panino, but they are closed for renovations...

From Serious Eats: New York

Sandwiches That Will Change Your Life

Oh man... the roast pork, broccoli rabe, and sharp provolone sandwich is a Philly classic!

Although I haven't YET made it to Tony Luke's, I am on my way today to get one from the Italian market.

From Talk

Where do you find great wings?

Yes, the Dinosaur! The wings are great, and the bbq is some of the best I've ever had. I'll even go as far to say the best in the city.

From Required Eating

Serious Eats Rorschach, Day 2

1) NY Thin

2) Buffalo Wings - favorite in the city are at Scruffy Duffy's or Acme

3) Ruffles - Kettle Chips Krinkle Cut Salt & Pepper are the favorite by a long shot, and for some reason, very hard to find in NYC

4) Toasted on the charcoal grill

5) can't stand processed coconut, unless we're talking about Girl Scout's Caramel DeLites

6) Gummi Bears - Haribo Gold Bears

7) Sparkling water

8) Hard tacos

Responses to Comments by Freedom

From Slice

Slice Walk: Park Slope

I traded Park Slope for Los Angeles a couple of years ago, but I still pine for the pizza. Thanks for the walk down memory lane!

Although I can't argue with your slice analysis, my favorite whole pie was a meatball and peppers pie from Joe's on 7th (they make really tasty meatballs), and my favorite unusual slices were the ones on offer at Pino's.

From Slice

Slice Walk: Park Slope

i used to hit smiling pizza three times a week when i lived in the slope!

From Slice

Slice Walk: Park Slope

@ratbuddy: Thanks for the intel. Yeah, we don't really have much Greek pizza around NYC, but I understand it's a New England thing. Will have to investigate further, though I think I've had something similar here in NYC.

From Slice

Slice Walk: Park Slope

(quote)@ratbuddy. Awww, thanks. That, too, means a lot. This post lured out a lurker! ;) I'd love to do a Hartford-area crawl. That would be a bit more involved, with car rental and such. Would have to really plan that one out. What would you recommend up there?(end quote)

Asides from the usual suspects in New Haven (Pepe, Sally's, Modern) there are some great pies a bit north in the Hartford area. A couple locally famous favorites include Harry's (2 locations, not related, both awesome) and Luna (not my thing but many people like it.)

First and Last Tavern in Hartford makes an awesome pie, as does Vegas Blvd on Sisson Ave.

There is also a great style of pizza up here that I don't see often on Slice called 'greek pizza' which has nothing to do with olives, spinach, and feta. It's a pan-cooked medium crust pizza that's cut in squares. My all time favorite closed a year or two ago, Pizza West in West Hartford, but there are still some great examples around. Park Lane Pizza in W. Hartford, Riverbend in Southington, Master Pizza in Avon, Apollo's in Simsbury, and a few others that slip my mind.

A bit further up I-84 is Ellington Pizza, also locally famous for their red potato pie. I haven't tried it yet, but I've never heard a bad comment on it.

That's only scratching the surface of the more well known places, but I better stop at that since I'm starting to get a serious craving for pizza from about 6 different places! Connecticut really does have a great wealth of very good pizza places, and there just aren't enough meals in the day to sample them as much as I'd like ;)

From Slice

Slice Walk: Park Slope

Awesome write up. Although I think in the future you need to correct a fatal flaw. You need to get a whole team of people, and station one at each of the slice places and coordinate an instantaneous ordering and then a centralized meeting place to taste all the slices at the same time. I'd imagine doing it this way (although exponentially more difficult) will really highlight the differences between slices. maybe start small with a handful of places within a few blocks of each other and assign a winner of each subdivision before having a final tasting.

From Slice

Slice Walk: Park Slope

I started going to Lenny's on Fifth Avenue in 50's when I was a kid. The slices were 25 cents then! I always compare any pizza to Lenny's, which will always be the quntessential Brooklyn Pizza to me.

From Slice

Slice Walk: Park Slope

@kingkalel: Dude. Thanks for the link to the HOP photos! Those a beautifully shot. Are they yours? It's been a while since I've been to HOP, since one of my friends who lived around the corner of it moved. But it's been a long time since I've visited. Will have to re-evaluate again under the new owners.

From Slice

Slice Walk: Park Slope

a good place to check out in your end of BK if not discovered already is HOUSE OF PIZZA & CALZONES on Union Street and Columbia. Old School Place that deep fries their calzones which isnt to my liking - but reliably good pizza.

http://jdittmarphoto.com/calzone.html

From Slice

Slice Walk: Park Slope

@kingkalel: Thanks for the intel. I'll pack TUMS into my marching kit this time.

From Slice

Slice Walk: Park Slope

Some Brooklyn old school reliably good pizza can be found in Bay Ridge at Grandma's on 69th and 3rd, Del Corso Cafe on 72nd and 3rd, Pizza Wagon on 86th and 5th and Elegante Pizza on Ovington and 5th. There are other good Pizzerias around the Ridge - but those are the standouts IMHO!