Famous Ben's pizza in Soho, NYC, New York

Walking in Soho, we were looking for a quick bite before going home. Pizza is always a good choice in that case, because the wait time would amount to the time to order and then to heat the slices. As we were walking, we saw Famous Ben's Pizza, a small pizza joint. We were wondering what Ben was famous for and then saw the sign indicating that it was for his Sicilian Pizza rated best by...somebody. 

This is you typical pizza joint: you would go there for the food, not the decor that was simplistic, if it was not for the quotes on the wall.

There we ordered the following slices:

Vodka slice:

Ramen Misoya in the East Village, NYC, New York

I will always be amazed by the number of ramen places in New York, serving different types of this delicious soup where slurping is not impolite. I were a kid, I would definitely listen to my Mom if she wanted me to eat this kind of soup, over a vegetable one I had in my childhood. 

Ramen Misoya is located in an area where there are plenty of Ramen places, but trust me, they have no problem getting customers. Or I should say that their only problem is the size of the restaurant.

It has probably 20 seats and, contrary to a lot of restaurants of that sort, the kitchen is in the back, separate from the dining room, so you cannot sit at the counter and observe the Chef do his magic.

We went there on a Saturday night, at 6pm, and it was packed from the moment we arrived to the moment we left. 

The restaurant serves three types of miso:

• Kome miso ramen, that they describe as: "made of rice, the standard miso. Intense flavor with rich aroma".
• Mame miso ramen: "made of beans, dark-colored miso. Among the three miso, it has the sweetest and richest texture". 
• Shiro miso ramen: "Compared to Kome Miso, Shiro Miso is less intense in flavor and sweeter. A light-colored miso".

If you look at the menu, there is no vegetarian option, all the soups being made with at least ground beef. In fact, they have a separate vegetarian menu that they will bring if you ask them. I am not sure though why they do not include the vegetarian options in the regular menu!

Jodi went for the vegetarian Shiro miso ramen:

It was composed of fried tofu, an egg, bean sprouts, bamboo shoot, cabbage and noodles.

Revisit: Republic in Union Square, NYC, New York

Republic is one these little gem that Union Square has to offer: great food and reasonable prices. We go from time to time and have never been disappointed. We ended up there again. I admit that I forgot how loud this place is...and the fact that the seating is communal means that you will probably hear whatever people around you are talking about...

What I love about the decor is all these beautiful black and white photos where noodles will be present (their motto is "Think noodles"), with people most of the time. And, as it was close to Christmas, they saddled them with Santa's hat.

I love the diversity of their menu, that spawns from Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan and China, sourcing quality ingredients. What I like is that they offer small dishes, perfect for sharing, as well as large ones if you want to go solo.

We started off with our favorite appetizer: sautéed mini dumplings.

1st Annual Bollito Misto at Circo in NYC, New York - Jan 27th to Jan 31st 2014

Last Wesnesday, I was invited to Osteria Del Circo aka Circo which presented the menu for an event called The 1st Annual Bollito Misto week that will run from January 27th to January 31st 2014. If you do not know this restaurant, you probably know its famous owners: the Maccionis. Sirio Maccioni is to Le Cirque what his wife Egidiana (Mamma Egi) and sons Marco and Mauro are to Circo. Opened in 1996, Circo fulfills the wish from the sons to create a more modern and less formal place than Le Cirque, while staying true to their Italian heritage. I remember seeing them in the documentary A Table in Heaven debating with their father about a no-tie rule at Le Cirque. There is definitely a tough challenge for Circo considering the fame of Le Cirque and its history. Most of the famous Chefs we know today worked at Le Cirque, under the mentoring of Sirio: Daniel Boulud, Jacques Torres, Francois Payard, Geoffrey Zakaryan, etc, etc. Today, the Chef is Alfio Longo that I met in a previous event.

Chef Alfio Longo and his team

Circo is an amazing place. First is the logo is is beautiful, representing an acrobat:

Then, inside, the decor that boasts impressive high ceilings where red and white drapes go across, symbolizing  a European circus tent (chapiteau in French), with acrobats similar to the logo above our heads:

Some sculptures representing circus people, like a fire eater.

As well as colorful paintings from Milton Glaser on the same theme:

The way the restaurant is laid out is the bar at the entrance, the dining room with a seafood display on the left:

And the kitchen in the back.

The photo above showing for instance the pizza oven.

I sat at the dinner table with other media guests, Carlo Mantica (Co-managing member at The Maccioni Group), Maria Von Nicolai (Executive Assistant to Sirio Maccioni), Jean Lee (PR and Social Media Manager for The Maccioni Group) and close to my fellow blogger Malini from The Restaurant Fairy and her husband Yozo. 

At the head of the table, next to me, there was nobody, until Mamma Egi came and sat. I was very honored to have Mamma Egi sitting right there! It gave me the opportunity to talk to her about many topics: the history of Le Cirque, Italy, France, paintings...I proudly told her that I know how to make fresh pasta and learnt that Mamma Egi presents Circo evening in cruises where she will teach people how to cook some Italian dishes, but in a simple manner. For instance, how to make pasta or pizza dough in a food processor rather than by hand, making it more accessible to people.

With Mamma Egi, Malini and Mauro - Courtesy of Malini, The Restaurant Fairy

Few minutes after the start of the dinner, it was the turn of Mauro Maccioni to come, having dinner at the table next to us with some friends, one of them being Donatella Arpaia, restaurateur, author, and television personality (you may have seen her as a head judge on both Iron Chef America and Next Iron Chef).

Group photo with Donatella Arpaia, Mamma Egi and Mauro - Courtesy of Malini, The Restaurant Fairy

So, back to the other star of the evening: the main dish that gave the name to the menu is bollito misto, a Northern Italian stew that resembles to the pot-au-feu, a classic French dish. I was curious to see what similarities I would find when tasting it. But, although the centerpiece of this meal, bollito misto was not the only one dish. Of course, there is no Italian meal without any bread, all homemade:

S'mac in the East Village, NYC, New York

There are many recipes today with a wide variety of pasta used (check out for instance my recipe of Italian mac & cheese that uses orzo) or cheese (blue for instance), as well as other ingredients added to the mix, such as ham, or in a more elegant version, lobster or crab meat. I admit that I never had any good seafood mac and cheese, probably because the amount of seafood is not enough to let it shine. But, definitely, mac and cheese is my favorite side with a steak and I am surprised that  restaurants do not propose it more often on their menu. The best I had in a restaurant was at The Old Homestead in New York City (it was made with truffle, probably oil - sorry Anthony Bourdain) and at Dino & Harry's in Hoboken. The worst was at Nick and Steph's Steakhouse in the City: the cheese tasted like Velveeta...mac and cheese is a comfort food that is present in many countries, in different forms. In France, it is called gratin de pâtes. When I was a kid, we use to eat it as a main dish rather than as a side. The basic recipe is fairly simple: macaroni or rigatoni, cheese (my Mom used Gruyère), crème fraîche, salt and pepper. The secret being of course to put lots of cheese and crème! Everybody though has its own recipe; I remember that my cousin Sandrine was using an egg and it is not uncommon to prepare a béchamel sauce and smothered the pasta with it. The commonality of these recipes: the sublime burnt cheese crust created when broiling the cheese on top that gave the word gratiné. 

So, now, imagine a joint that only serves mac & cheese! This is what Sarita's Mac and Cheese aka S'Mac is all about. Opened in 2006 by Sarita & Caesar Ekya, S'Mac proposes a decadent menu: for sure, if you are on a diet, this is not for you, although they offer a mixed green salad as a side. Now, if you eat gluten free, are vegan or lactose intolerant, they also propose alternatives that I am sure is truly appreciated. 

The place is fun with a two tone color pattern: red and yellow, the latter being the color of the cheese.

You first order at the counter:

And then, they give you a number.

Once your order is ready, they bring it to your table.

They serve Mac and Cheese in different sizes, from small (nosh) to large (partay). But what is a fantastic idea is the sampler that we picked, allowing us to try 8 different recipes.

But, you do not pick: what is in the sampler is already defined. So we tried:

• All American, made with American cheese and cheddar.
• Cheese burger: American cheese and cheddar, with ground beef.
• 4 cheese: cheddar, munster, pecorino and gruyere.
• Cajun: cheddar, pepper jack, andouille sausage, green pepper, onions, celery and garlic.
• Alpine: gruyere and bacon.
• La Mancha: manchego cheese, fennel and onions.
• Parisienne: brie, figs, roasted shiitake mushrooms and rosemary.
• Napoletana: fresh mozzarella, roasted tomatoes, roasted garlic and fresh basil.

To help us know what was what, they gave us a sheet of paper:

Sampler content

4 cheese

Cajun

Cajun

Alpine

4 cheese

It was very good: the macaroni was perfectly cooked and there was a lot of cheese. My favorites were the classic All American, the 4 cheese, the Alpine and the Parisienne. My least favorites were the cajun (too much celery, although I loved the andouille sausage that was a bit spicy) and the Napoletana that had too much garlic.

S'Mac is definitely a great place: simple concept, good food at a reasonable price that would put a S'Mile on your face. If you go there, I definitely recommend the sampler.

Enjoy (I did)!

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And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!

BonChon in Midtown West, NYC, New York

I love chicken and worship fried chicken! Although it is not a dish popular in France, I tried it there, at KFC...Yes, KFC in Paris where I went a couple of times with my friends after seeing a movie. At the time, it was not as popular and widespread as it is today. I remember reading a few months ago an article in the magazine L'Express where they explained that KFC was opening its 150th restaurant in France and were planning on opening 150 more by 2017, representing a growth of 17% per year. Well, 10 years ago, they had maybe two locations! So 150? They also mentioned that the restaurants were very profitable in France, with revenue very close to Mc Donald's. I am sure that people think such a success would not be possible in a country known for its cuisine, but, each time I visit my family, I can observe the changes in the food industry, especially fast food: they are more and more popular, especially with the younger generation, but must adapt to their clientele as they can be more demanding there: think about the Mc Baguette! That is why KFC does not miss an occasion to advertise that they use only fresh poultry, real parts of the chicken and not mixed or reconstructed with leftover meat. 

But I admit that I never had KFC in the US and I am not really tempted. However, I discovered here the fried chicken and waffles as well as the wings that I enjoy from time to time, and not only during the Superbowl! So I was excited to try Bonchon. As Jodi does not like chicken, I went with my friend Benny who is a big fan of it. Bonchon is a chain with many locations in the US (the first one was in Leonia, NJ), from California to Virginia, as well as internationally in Indonesia, Philippines or Brunei. The concept though is not your regular fried chicken, but Korean fried chicken. The idea came to the founder Jinduk She who was inspired by the small fried chicken places present everywhere in Korea. He decided to call his restaurants Bonchon, that means "my hometown" in Korean.

I was not sure what to expect as I saw the location on 32nd that looked more like a bar than a restaurant. The place was quite big, with two floors: on the first floor is the bar with couple of tables in the back, perfect if you like dining in the dark... So we went upstairs to the main dining room. The decor has nothing particular besides the multiple flat screen TVs on the walls, similar to what you would find in a...bar. 

The menu is not only composed of chicken: you can also find seafood or beef in the form of traditional Korean dishes such as the bibimbap or the japchae (glass noodles), with very few vegetarian options.

We decided to go for the chicken and ordered a combo made of wings and drumsticks. For the sauce, we ordered a half & half that is half soy garlic sauce and half hot sauce.

In term of presentation, this dish looked like any chicken dish of this sort. What made the difference was the sauce: for me, the soy and garlic sauce had nothing special, the soy giving a nice saltiness to it. However, the hot sauce was very good! It is made of red chili pepper as well as a Korean spice called "gochugaru" ( litterally "pepper powder"). It is hot; not overly hot but still, and they had the good idea to serve it with pickled radicchio (no blue cheese sauce) which was perfect to counterbalance the heat. But even spicy like that, you go back to it.

The chicken, cooked to order, was very good: moist and perfectly cooked with this nice coating that was slightly crunchy.

A nice touch at the end was to give us some wet tissues to cleanup our hands.

We also tried their bulgogi made with marinated ribeye steak.

I liked it: the meat was tender and the overall dish quite tasty. It was served with white rice and the quantity was perfect for sharing.

Bonchon was good. Was it the best fried chicken I had? No. If you go for the soy sauce, you will not not see much difference with lots of restaurants that propose such dish either as their main specialty or simply as an appetizer. However, what sets them apart is their hot sauce that is delicious. The other dishes we saw passing by, such as the seafood bibimbap looked appetizing, so I would not be surprised to go back there with Jodi, but to eat something other than chicken!

Enjoy (I did)!

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And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!