Last weekend I took a day trip to Brighton Beach in Brooklyn, New York. I scoured the Serious Eats website for some tips for where to eat, and my oh my did I have a ball. Below I snapped some photos of the places I ate at and the markets I visited. I have been dreaming about going back to continue eating and exploring.
Khachapuri from TONÉ-CAFÉ Georgian Bread. It tasted like a cheese-filled croissant. So rich and savory. Continue reading
On Wednesday, September 10, I attended Parker Red’s Farm to Fork Dinner benefiting Slow Food NYC at Kings County Distillery in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
The dinner was supporting Slow Food NYC’s Producer Summit, an event bringing together local farmers, chefs, and distributors to discuss challenges and celebrate successes of the current local food system. The Producer Summit will be held at Hawthorne Valley Farm in early November, and the hope is to create “an actionable strategy to strengthen and expand the supply chain of organic and sustainably-grown food to New York City restaurants.”
The evening began with live music, radishes with butter and salt, boiled peanuts, charcuterie, and a tasting—moonshine, bourbon, and chocolate whiskey—made from corn and barley grown onsite at the distillery in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Continue reading
Yesterday evening, I met my friend Michelle in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn for a meal at one of her favorite restaurants, Marco’s. A sweet Italian trattoria owned by Francine Stephens and Andrew Feinberg of Franny’s and Bklyn Larder.
The menu changes often, depending on the season and the markets. As per Michelle, some staples like the Wood-Grilled Bread with Olio Verde extra virgin olive oil and the Wood-Grilled oysters with pickles and black pepper will almost always be on the menu. While it was a difficult decision (we wanted to eat everything on the menu), we decided to save the bread and the oysters for next time and try some new (to both of us) dishes.
The 2013 Bisson Glera LIGURIA Prosecco felt like a celebratory way to toast the meal. Our Prosecco arrived with forest-green olives sprinkled with fennel pollen. Next up came the:
Eggplant w/Pecorino Fiore Sardo (not pictured)
The soft eggplant bites were tossed with a heavy pour of olive oil and a generous shaving of cheese. With little bits of chopped celery (I think it was celery? Whatever it was, it was good) and again, fennel pollen.
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Another difficult decision arose when it came time to order a pasta. We ultimately chose the:
Spaghetti w/ fennel, chilies, lemon & bottarga di muggine
Neither of us had ever tried bottarga di muggine, which is basically shaved fish eggs. We were told that bottarga is similar to an anchovy in adding that salty depth of flavor. While it was certainly different than anything we had ever tried, the bottarga-specked spaghetti grew on us. More fennel pollen, plus sautéed fennel bulb. The pasta was also *perfectly* cooked.
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Our main dish was the:
Scallops w/ cherry tomatoes, basil & pine nuts
Nothing like bursting sun-gold baby tomatoes. We wanted to lick the plate.
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And for an extra veggie side we ordered the:
Radicchio & Spinach w/ garlic & Piave
The radicchio and spinach were slightly charred, highlighting a sweeter flavor in these usually bitter lettuces. The garlic was very thinly sliced and crisped to a little garlic chip. Sometimes I forget how good the sides can be at the right restaurant.
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We recruited Michelle’s fiancé (!!), Matt, to join us for dessert:
Rye Chocolate Cake w/ mint gelato (pictured, left)
Semifreddo w/ Amarena cherries, cocoa nib & Pianogrillo extra virgin olive oil (pictured, right)
Both desserts were phenomenal. The rye in the chocolate cake lends a deeper dark chocolate flavor. And the olive oil semifreddo had the perfect crunchy, salty richness that I always crave in my desserts.
Can’t wait to come back for more good eats, Marco’s!
295 Flatbush Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11217
Located in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.
You will probably have to wait in line. This will give you time to drool over the menu and decide what to order.
Ample Hills knows what’s up when it comes to a perfect mix-in to ice cream ratio: it’s all about the mix-ins.
I couldn’t have been happier with my flavor decision for the day:
Snappin’ (ginger ice cream with pieces of lemon snap cookies) + Salted Crack Caramel (salted butter caramel ice cream with pieces of “crack” cookies: saltines, butter, sugar, chocolate)
My throat was burning from the spicy ginger and the salty caramel, what an enchanting sensation!
My buddy, Natasha, let me have a taste of her ice cream choices, too:
Peanut Butter Chocolate Flake (smooth all-natural peanut butter ice cream with E. Guittard 55% semi-sweet chocolate flakes) + Sweet Cream n’ Cookies (sweet cream ice cream with pieces of all-natural Back to Nature sandwich cream cookies)
This ice cream parlor will make your day. No, it will make your week.
Hand-crafted fresh ice cream. Rich. Dense. Silky. And the staff is super friendly to boot.
I will definitely be back to try more flavors.
Figsinmybelly 