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Leftover White Bread
It depends on the kind of white bread you have. Whait sandwich bread does not hold up as well in many of the following applications, but bread pudding, croutons, and bread salad all will work. If it's crusty white bread, like a country loaf, then the world is your oyster. Here's a list of ideas, Google away. Oh, and I do realize this post is one day too late, but oh well.
-bread pudding, sweet or savory
-bread salad, a.k.a. panzanella
-big-ass croutons to top a salad or plop in brothy soup
...or, whatever the bread, you can always make it into fresh breadcrumbs to top macaroni and cheese, or a cassoulet-type assemblage of beans, garlic, tomatoes, and the charcuterie of your choice. Or use the breadcrumbs to bread a chicken, pork, or veal cutlet, or even a catfish fillet. Saute it, squeeze lemon over the works, and there you go!
The Best Bagel in New York City
I fear I will sound like a ninny saying this, but I'm fond of Brooklyn Bagel Company in Astoria on Broadway. Why is it called Brooklyn Bagel Company when the place is in Queens? Are there more Brooklyn Bagel Companies in Brooklyn? I don't know. But I like their bagels a lot.
Mini bagels are the size that regular bagles used to be. Mini bagels are the way to go, because you get a bigger ratio of chewy exterior to bready interior. Having just moved from California, most any New York bagel is better than what I'm used to.
vitello tonnato
Hi, Vicky. I haven't made vitello tonnato in quite a while--like, 7 years--but I'll comb through some cookbooks and see what I can do.
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Your Worst Meal Ever
I was in fourth grade, and we were visiting Walt Disney World's then-newish Epcot Center. I was young and a sucker and really did believe in the animitronic magic of the place. Epcot center had an international gallery of plazas pretending to be other countries--Germany, England, China, etc. One night we ate dinner in a fake Aztec temple in fake Mexico, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. The following night my parents made a dinner reservation for the restaurant in fake Morocco. The restaurant was brand-new, nearly empty, and totally screwed up. We waited two hours for food I was not interested in at all in the first place. I fell asleep with my head in my mother's lap, more out of boredom than fatigue. I awoke to a dry, bland mess of couscous. It was midnight by the time we got out of there. The only redeeming quality of fake Morocco was the belly dancer.
Leftover White Bread
It depends on the kind of white bread you have. Whait sandwich bread does not hold up as well in many of the following applications, but bread pudding, croutons, and bread salad all will work. If it's crusty white bread, like a country loaf, then the world is your oyster. Here's a list of ideas, Google away. Oh, and I do realize this post is one day too late, but oh well.
-bread pudding, sweet or savory
-bread salad, a.k.a. panzanella
-big-ass croutons to top a salad or plop in brothy soup
...or, whatever the bread, you can always make it into fresh breadcrumbs to top macaroni and cheese, or a cassoulet-type assemblage of beans, garlic, tomatoes, and the charcuterie of your choice. Or use the breadcrumbs to bread a chicken, pork, or veal cutlet, or even a catfish fillet. Saute it, squeeze lemon over the works, and there you go!
The Best Bagel in New York City
I fear I will sound like a ninny saying this, but I'm fond of Brooklyn Bagel Company in Astoria on Broadway. Why is it called Brooklyn Bagel Company when the place is in Queens? Are there more Brooklyn Bagel Companies in Brooklyn? I don't know. But I like their bagels a lot.
Mini bagels are the size that regular bagles used to be. Mini bagels are the way to go, because you get a bigger ratio of chewy exterior to bready interior. Having just moved from California, most any New York bagel is better than what I'm used to.
vitello tonnato
Hi, Vicky. I haven't made vitello tonnato in quite a while--like, 7 years--but I'll comb through some cookbooks and see what I can do.
For Sale: Eating Pleasure. Price: $2
Casa del Pan (probalby one of a thousand similarly named Casa del Pans in the NY metro area) in Astoria on Broadway and 38th Street has these great beef empanadas for $1.25. It's a rich, rich beef filling encased in a substantial yet flaky dough. Casa del Pan is open 24 hours, and these savory little beef empanadas have sated my drunken hunger on a few late nights. I had one for lunch today, in fact (my first sober daylight empanada) and it was surprisingly filling. I paired it with their passion fruit drink for a vaguely Papaya King-esque taste sensation.
Delicious for a Dollar?
Alas, if only a cream puff at Beard Papa were not $1.25!
Where do you find great wings?
Dinosaur best in the city? It's good, but please tell me there's something better. The sauce is way too sweet, cloyingly so.
Is a Fancy-Pants Burger A Contradiction in Terms?
The best burger I ever had was at Manka's Inverness Lodge in Inverness, CA--they used to have a weekly burger night, but they unwisely did away with it a number of years ago. Anyway, the burger was stupendous--juicy with flavorful char. Manka's takes pains to squeeze as many food pedigrees onto their menu as possible, and the Hobb's Bacon, etc. put the fancy pants on this burger.
Still, I like me an In-N'-Out sometimes. Sizzler does a pretty decent burger, and it's in the "gray zone" of burger snobbism--not fast food, not white tablecloth.
Folks, if you eat something and it tastes good, be happy. Some of us might not be down with dropping $20 on a burger, but is anyone making you? It is not ideologically flawed to hang with both fancypants and fast-food.
Why do most birthday cakes suck?
As a poor person, I usually offer to make birthday cakes for friends. Everyone wins--I don't have to run all over town searching for a meaningful gift, and the friend gets a homemade cake. Chocolate with 7-minute icing or yellow cake with chocolate buttercream are always big hits, but a dense Queen of Sheba torte is actually easier to make, and it serves hundereds of people because it's so rich. But really, who has time to make a cake?
I grew up in the midwest, which has no Carvel. Now we live about a block away from a Carvel, and while I'm underwhelmed with their ice cream, I'm curious about this Fudgie the Whale cake. Is it any good if you're not a little kid or an adult with Carvel nostalgia?
Does a BLT Need the L?
I'm a fan of the L. The crisp edges of a toasted pullman loaf (or toasted ciabatta, or challah, whatever the bread vehicle) are dry and pointy, while the crispness of lettuce is cool and soothing. So you get two kinds of crispness.
I know iceberg lettuce is held in distain in it's not in a wedge smothered in blue cheese, but I quite fancy it on burgers, tuna sandwiches, and BLTs. It's all about texture, not flavor.
Serious Eats Rorschach, Day 2
*Thin crust--a no-brainer.
*Wings. Much more fun (messy) to eat, and so savory with all of that gelatin.
*Um, I like Pringles. Sick. Those are more like potato crisps than chips.
*A good hot dog bun should awlays be toasted. Or at least warmed in some manner.
*I wish there were a Mounds-Almond Joy hybrid, with almonds and dark chocolate. It could be called Almond Joy Dark.
First Annual Serious Eats Food Rorschach Test
Haggen Dasz....Vanilla goes with evrything
Skippy....As long as it's Crunchy
Bagel
Regular Cream Cheese....Used sparingly, only if there's lox involved
Sauerkraut....Relish is too sweet
Dark Chocolate....My favorite is Scharffen Berger 70% Bittersweet
Sweet Butter....For baking and cooking--I don't butter toast
Pastrami
French Fries
Espresso
Crispy....Crispy, not petrified
Dark Meat...White meat is for wussies.
Ed's Soapbox
Hmm. I disagree with the sentiment that "most humans can't afford to sustain life on a vegan diet." No, I'm not a vegan, but we eat our share of meatless meals, and it's pretty cheap to center your meals around legumes, grains, and vegetables--way cheaper than buying meat every day. What are not cheap are those many vegan specialty products, cookies and soy ice cream treats and frozen fake chicken nuggets and such. Those can get expensive, but a nice bowl of black beans and rice with a side of grilled veggies is both inexpense and much tastier than your average tofu hot dog--or even a boneless, skinless chicken breast. I think they key is to be a good planner and to have good ingredients on hand. And when we eat meat, we eat good meat.
Oh, that Whole Foods lobster-liberation business? What a bunch of hooey!
Papaya King
I can't decided if I prefer Gray's or Papaya King. Papaya King is cleaner and brighter, and I feel their hot dogs are assembled with more care. But Gray's is cheaper--a plus--and their more slovenly dogs somehow seem in keeping with the wonderfully hurried spirit of hot dog connisseurship.
Delicious for a Dollar?
When I saw that someone recomended Joray Fruit Rolls, I got so excited! They are so good. True, you can buy one for a dollar or even less at some stores, but if you are interested in buying in bulk you should check out their website, www.joraycandy.com. They sell 48 pieces for just $20. You can't beat that!
Your Worst Meal Ever
This really happened when I was in Georgia for my father's second funeral.
A sandwich supper that consisted of cold Velveeta and Treet sandwiches on Wonder bread dressed with MIracle Whip mixed with ketchup and pickle relish. Served with Mountain Dew, choice of regular or diet.
Do you hear the banjos?
Tina
Delicious for a Dollar?
Chelsea79, I didn't know the Dumpling House has great wonton soup. I'm definitely going to try it.
Delicious for a Dollar?
At the Dumpling House, on Eldridge between Broome and Grand, $1 will get you a pint of the best wonton soup you've ever had, 5 succulent fried pork and scallion dumplings, or 4 tasty pork buns. A giant sesame pancake sandwich tips the scale at $1.25 for vegetable and $1.50 for tuna or beef, but its worth the extra quarters.
Why do most birthday cakes suck?
"Moist cake and a not too sweet frosting." I like that as a birthday cake mantra. Maybe we should add "smooth, not grainy" to the frosting description.
The Best Bagel in New York City
Thanks for the tip, Decca. I've never heard of the Bagel Store. I will check them out next time I'm in Williamsburg.
Why do most birthday cakes suck?
I agree with Ed. Most birthday cakes are tasteless cavity traps. I like the red velvet cupcakes from Amy's bakery. I haven't tried the cake version, but I'm sure it has to be the same recipe. For the Red Velvet cupcake she uses a whip cream for the top (not icing), and her cupcake is moist. For me, it's all about moist cake and a not too sweet frosting.
The Best Bagel in New York City
If you're ever in Williamsburgh, my vote - hands down - is:
Bagel Store
(718) 218-7244
247 Bedford Ave
Bagel Store
(718) 782-5856
754 Metropolitan Ave
They have a nice crust on the bottom and they are chewy. To me, they are the real deal.
The Best Bagel in New York City
I didn't even know about La Bagel. I will check it out. Sounds promising. I agree with you about Ess A Bagel. Its bagels are too big and too sweet.
The Best Bagel in New York City
I don't know why Essa Bagel gets such good marks. I think their bagels are too large and too soft and have little flavor. But about a block away is La Bagel. The best I've had. Of course, I haven't sampled every bagel in the New York tri-state area, but La Bagel is my idea of what a begel should be. It's at 263 1st Ave.
The Best Bagel in New York City
Bagel Hole in on 7th Ave. in Park Slope makes a nice version of the old-fashioned chewy dense bagel that must be eaten that day. Terrace Bagel in Windsor Terrace makes very good slightly larger slightly softer bagels and good bialies. I had some good bagels from a place on Coney Island Ave. in Midwood, as well. Kosar's seems to have changed recipes withing the past year or two. Their classic bialies are no more, in my humble opinion, although the onion board (pletzl) is still tops.
H&H always was second rate. The place near Columbia is great (Absolute). Columbia Hot Bagel used to be great too.
Anyone remember the great New Jersey bagel places of yesteryear? I remember one on Chancellor Ave. in Irvington, and another on West End Ave. in Jersey City. Both were great places, basically wholesalers with small service counters. My dad would take us late Saturday night to get the early edition of the Sunday paper and hot bagels. Wiggler's in Union, NJ was great also.
I'd love to hear about other great bagels which are no more...
The Best Bagel in New York City
I love the bagels at David's Bagels on 1st avenue near 19th street. I like them better than Essa, which is down the street.
Papaya King
A few years ago I went to New York to sample hot dogs. Three of the places I went to served the same recipe Sabrett all beef dog; Papaya King, Gray's, and Katz's. That particular day the Katz's dog didn't spend enough time on the griddle, Gray's dog was fine, Papaya King's dog seemed fresher and better. This past summer, I went to New York again with the Newark Star Ledger. This time, all 3 were equally as good, except the bun at Papaya King fell apart. I would go with Gray's since they are cheaper. But all 3 use the same recipe dog; the Papaya places use a 10 to a lb dog, while Katz's is slightly bigger. But the exact same recipe. I have this on authority of several Sabrett distributors as well as the person in charge of private label at Sabrett, now owned by Marathon Enterprises.
I prefer the spicing in these dogs to the natural casing Nathan's in Coney Island. But all 4 are excellent. For an all beef dog that surpasses these, I suggest making the trip to N.J. to go to Syd's. They recently moved from Union to Springfield. The dog served is a 5 to a lb natural casing dog from Best Provisions that is simmered in water, then charbroiled. The result is a dog that was named best in Jersey by the Star Ledger (we went to N.Y. as well) and a bus load of hot dog fanatics that attended my 3rd annual New Jersey Hot Dog Tour. Did you know that Sabrett, while considered by many to be the quintessential New York hot dog, actually began in New Jersey. On Cole and Henderson St. in Jersey City, until the company was sold to Marathon in East Rutherford N.J. The dogs are produced at the Stahl Mayer plant in the Bronx. They also make a beef/pork dog that is used by The Hot Grill, Callahan's, and The Windmill; all New Jersey hot dog joints.
Your Worst Meal Ever
I will happily share my worst meal ever because even though it happened in the mid 1990s it still haunts me to this day. A friend and me were visiting England (I know, ominous start) and we were going up to Oxford from London to visit a student friend later in the day. We were so new to Oxford and England that we didn't quite get how small and close everything was. So we got off the train at the Oxford station and proceeded to walk through the town into the next village thinking we were still in Oxford. My friend and I were both New Yorkers at the time so we were used to walking great distances while carrying stuff. We probably only walked five to eight miles or so, but when we started seeing grazing sheep we figured something was amiss. So we stopped into a pub and learned that we walked right through the town without seeing the University (in all fairness to us Oxford at the time wasn't exactly open to the public).
We were famished and this was a country pub so we thought well let's at least have lunch. The waitress was wonderfully friendly the menu looked good. I ordered the chicken parmesan and my friend got the pub favorite shepard's pie. And some hard ciders. What I got was something fried to the point of resembling dark shoe leather doused in cheese whiz. I am not exaggerating. My friend's shepard's pie was worse. We weren't going to even try this food. The cheeze whiz was glowing and just poking the chicken I learned it was brittle. We gulped down the ciders, paid the bill on the table (with generous tip of course -- our waitress not only didn't make fun of us for being tourist dweebs but drew us a map and explained how Oxford was set up). Then we RAN back to the pizza hut near the Oxford train station for lunch before we met our friend. (Mind you we were carrying our luggage backpacks.)
Anyway, love your blog and thoughts!
claude r
Your Worst Meal Ever
Most of the worst meals I've had that spring to mind are all the result of terrible service more so that terrible food, and from restaurants who's reputations would lead you to believe the service would be quite good. Although my memory of the food at Ouest and DB Bistro is that it was competent, if unremarkable, the ill treatment by unpleasant staff was memorable enough that I'd never go back, not even on someone else's dime...
Your Worst Meal Ever
The worstmeal I ever had in a restaurant was at LUPA.
Tried to go many times and finally went for my birthday.1st we waited 45 minutes for our reservation.
Then we were sat in the aisle right outside after requesting a nice table when we made the reservation.Waited another 15 minutes for a waitress & another 15 for bread water etc.
Finally placed our order and got dry salami & proscuitto like leather, overdressed salad and
the sardines were off.
Then our waitress comes over to inform us she is leaving and the busboy will handle our table!!!!The mains arrive and I tell you it was shocking.The deep fried cauliflower was burned,which I was told it was supposed to be like that and the saltimboca was so salty and the fontina was like a sheet of brittle.
The sauce was non existant and my dates food was just as bad.
Then cold espresso and and some really horrible desserts.
I was really amazed that this was the food people were lining up outside for and to top it all off we were leaving and Mario is sitting in the front dining area with 2 of the guys from REM getting wasted.
That was and will be the last time I ever set foot in his restaurants after having a similar,previous experience at Esca.
His places are way over rated.
Your Worst Meal Ever
In Budapest I ordered a quattro stagione pizza. Honestly I don't know what the hell I was thinking. I guess I was just missing Italian food and tired of goulash. But since when is broccoli a season? What the hell were they thinking!
Your Worst Meal Ever
I moved to manhattan after graduating from medical school. Did my residency at an UES hospital. One day my parents visited from Brooklyn. We decided to stay local. [ This was in the mid 1980's ]. There was a restaurant/bar about on 1st avenue and 88th street on SW corner sort of like a Dorians type place. Served mostly burgers and a few specials...That day it was shrimp in curry sauce. I cant to this day figure out why i ordered this as i never was a fan of curry. Plate came...a pile of what seemed to be frozen,rubbery shrimp slathered with the strongest, stinkiest, goopiest yellow sauce i have ever seen with a lump of gummy tasteless white rice on the side...I got nauseous,, couldnt eat and ruined the whole meal...Even my mother was disgusted but blamed me for ordering it....!
Your Worst Meal Ever
I was an impressionable three years old when my mother, generally an excellent cook, decided to try her hand at Coquille St Jacques, a scallop dish with cream and butter served in a scallop shell. It was a disaster. The cream sauce was lumpy and charred around the edges of the shell, the scallops were long past rubbery, and the smell was nauseating. Not even the novelty of eating from a shell could console my brother and I, who refused to eat it. We eventually arrived at a compromise: if we ate four scallops, we could have dessert. I clearly remember walking over to the sink, washing the rancid sauce off the scallops and swallowing them whole.
Three years old, and this memory is burned into my mind. To this day when my mother cooks scallops we give her a hard time, though there has never since been a disaster on quite that scale...
The Best Bagel in New York City
Anyone seeking a good bagel should go to queens, Bagel Oasis has the some of the best bagels around. They are located in Fresh Meadows Queens right on the LIE service road. Check them out online Bagel Oasis
The Best Bagel in New York City
Forget it! Get a zipcar or something and drive all the way out to Hot Bagels, on Montauk Highway in Sayville, Long Island. Then, since you're stuck way out there already, go hang out on the beach for the rest of the morning, then get a beer and some steamers at the Cull House and forget about the city for a while.
The Best Bagel in New York City
julma is right on, I adore Terrace Bagles. I used to live right near them and got hooked on the pumpernickle, which, consequently, is the one pictured in the image above. Malty, not too sweet, not too piquant, utterly perfect. Hands down my vote for best bagel in the 5 boroughs
The Best Bagel in New York City
Bergen Bagel is good, but Absolute is the absolute! Their egg bagel with a schmear of butter would be on my Last Meal list. So sweet, dense, and chewy.
The Best Bagel in New York City
sorry, but "La Bagel Delight" isn't even the best bagel in the Park Slope vicinity. that honor, and what i think would be the best little-known bagel in NYC, goes to Bergen Bagel on Dean St. and Flatbush Ave.
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I was in fourth grade, and we were visiting Walt Disney World's then-newish Epcot Center. I was young and a sucker and really did believe in the animitronic magic of the place. Epcot center had an international gallery of plazas pretending to be other countries--Germany, England, China, etc. One night we ate dinner in a fake Aztec temple in fake Mexico, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. The following night my parents made a dinner reservation for the restaurant in fake Morocco. The restaurant was brand-new, nearly empty, and totally screwed up. We waited two hours for food I was not interested in at all in the first place. I fell asleep with my head in my mother's lap, more out of boredom than fatigue. I awoke to a dry, bland mess of couscous. It was midnight by the time we got out of there. The only redeeming quality of fake Morocco was the belly dancer.