Top Chef, Low Cost

Watch out New York City: restaurateur and “Top Chef” judge Tom Colicchio has come up with a new, low-cost option for those who looking to save some bucks.

Every Wednesday, Colicchio will turn the front section of his popular and pricey Chelsea restaurant Craftsteak, on 10th Avenue and 15th Street, into “Halfsteak,” which will provide diners with a casual dining experience, with smaller plates and much lower prices.

The new weekly menu was devised by chef de cuisine Shane McBride, who was inspired by his southern upbringing, and offers everything from smoked chicken wings in a white BBQ sauce, to chicken fried cod with hash browns, and a brisket sandwich topped with sauerkraut and provolone. The menu would obviously not be complete without the Halfsteak: a half-portion of Craftsteak’s high-quality, dry-aged strip steak, served with hand-cut fries, all for less than $15. Just remember, it normally costs $50. Pastry chef Erica Leahy has also created new individually sized desserts, including red velvet cupcakes and an ice cream sandwich of the day.

The half-size, half-price concept also extends to cocktails which all cost less than $9, and half-pints of small, artisanal beers which all cost less than $4. Even the notoriously overpriced wine list has been dialed down, with glasses costing around $10 and about 20 bottles for under $50.

A warning: beware of the “Half Naked,” a blend of tequila, Cointreau, jalapeno and fresh lime juice, served in a miniature mason jar.

It just so happens that opening night coincided with part one of the “Top Chef” season finale. Crowds flocked to the restaurant, where Tom Colicchio and his fellow judges Padma Lakshmi and Gail Simmons, as well as the final four contestants, were gathered around the flat-screen televisions situated above the bar.

“Halfsteak” came as no surprise, given the recent economic recession. In fact, restaurants all over New York have been hurt by the dramatic drop in customers, along with the increase in operational expenses.

A simple phone call can prove that restaurants are desperate. On “Grub Street,” the dining blog for New York magazine, bloggers play Two for Eight, a game that involves calling some of the cities most exclusive restaurants at 4 p.m. to see which ones can squeeze a couple in for dinner. Some recent restaurants that topped the list: Danny Meyer’s Eleven Madison Park and Gramercy Tavern, Chanterelle and The Harrison in TriBeCa, as well as Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Matsugen and his Michelin three-star flagship restaurant, Jean Georges.

Celebrated chef Vongerichten led the recent recession trend last October, when his Greenwich Village restaurant Perry St. began offering a $35 three-course dinner menu. The trend quickly spread through his organization, and today six of his restaurants offer the dinner menu, in addition to a $24 three-course lunch menu.

Next was Mario Batali, when the price of the extravagant 20-course meal at Del Posto was reduced from $250 to $175, and the price of his nine-course tasting menu dropped from $175 to $125.

Tom Colicchio followed shortly after when he made some changes to the menu at his trendy flagship restaurant, Craft. Every Tuesday, Colicchio offers, TOM: Tuesday Dinner. Instead of the usual $185 per person menu, an eight-course meal served is in the private dining room for $150. Craft executive chef Damon Wise has since created Damon: Frugal Friday, a weekly tapas style meal with everything costing less than $10 per plate. Now, he has “Halfsteak.”

When Craftseak first opened in 2006, it received mainly negative reviews. In an effort to save his restaurant, last year Colicchio revamped the menu, and even replaced the restaurant’s initial chef de cuisine, Chris Albrecht. But based on the attendance and the excitement surrounding “Halfsteak,” it is obvious that Colicchio and his restaurants will not be going anywhere anytime soon.
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A Second Chance

“He looked like he could have been anyone’s father.”

That was what a fellow classmate said last Thursday about Steve Zakrzewski, a recovering alcoholic who has been at the Bowery Mission on New York City’s Lower East Side since last May.

Zakrzewski had actually reminded me of my own father. He was roughly the same height, with salt-and-pepper, barely-there hair. He was well dressed, wearing blue jeans, a dress shirt and tie, with a Polo windbreaker.

“For 30 years I was a functioning alcoholic,” said Steve Zakrzewski. “I had a great job and was able to travel around the world, but about three years ago, I crossed the line and became a drunk.”

“After I lost my apartment and my car, I was hospitalized with liver inflammation,” added Zakrzewski. “AA just didn’t work, so a doctor recommended that I come here.”

That’s exactly what he did. Roughly eight months ago, he arrived at the Mission. Since 1879, the Bowery Mission has worked to provide, as they say, “compassionate care and life transformation services” to those homeless men and women living in New York City. The halls of the Bowery Mission are filled with success stories.

“Before I came here, I drank to numb my feelings because I had nothing to believe in,” said Zakrzewski. “But now that I have accepted Jesus Christ as my savior, I was finally able to pull myself out of the pit that I was living in.”

In mid-November, he graduated from the program, and has since started working as an operations manager at a transitional housing office associated with the Bowery Mission.

Zakrzewski is not the only success story at the Mission. In fact, one of the directors of the program claims to be one of the Bowery Mission’s greatest success stories.

“I like to say that I went from the garbage to Madison Avenue,” said James Macklin, the Director of Outreach at the Bowery Mission

About 22 years ago, Macklin became heavily involved in drugs and lost his business. He eventually made it to the Bowery Mission to receive treatment and guidance. After volunteering at the Mission, he eventually moved to Madison Avenue, the Mission’s headquarters when he was placed in charge of outreach.

“This is my home,” added Macklin. “This is where my family is.”

When I first arrived at the Bowery Mission that morning, I had assumed that it would be a place of sadness. As men lined up for their lunches however, they were covered in smiles: laughing, joking, and patting each other on the back. Despite the hard past that they had obviously endured, the Bowery Mission had given them something that most men and women never get. A second chance. Read More!

Haute Cuisine by the King of Haute Couture?

Despite the terrible state of the economy, Giorgio Armani recently opened a massive Fifth Avenue boutique, equipped with its own restaurant. Intriguing. Here's what Florence Fabricant of The New York Times had to say about it:

Giorgio Armani, who has a Nobu branch in his Milan store, is opening a restaurant and bar in his huge new Fifth Avenue store with his longtime friend Lorenzo Viani. Mr. Viani is the chef and owner of Ristorante Lorenzo, a Michelin-starred restaurant in the beach town of Forte dei Marmi on the Tuscan coast. Mr. Viani will be a consultant/chef at Armani/Ristorante 5th Avenue, which is expected to open this week on the top level of the three-floor location.

The decor, in the subdued Armani palette, is glossed with metal. The menu is modern Italian — sole on an eggplant puree, feuillettee of pecorino with pears, turkey with green tomato mustard, zucchini flan, gnocchi with chanterelles, baby veal in an almond crust, semi-freddi and panna cottas for dessert. They will only serve dinner at first, until 11 p.m., but later they’ll open for lunch too.

Sirio Maccioni had tried to do a restaurant in Paris with Mr. Viani and said he was having lunch with him on Monday. “I’m still trying to do something,” Mr. Maccioni said.

Well next time I actually decided to venture north of 23rd Street (minus the occasional visit to Shake Shack), I'll have to check that out.

Information:
Armani/Ristorante 5th Avenue
at Armani/Fifth Avenue
717 Fifth Avenue (56th Street)
New York, NY 10019
(212) 207-1902 Read More!

Jean-Georges

Well, I don't even know where to begin. First of all, I need to apologize to all of my readers (hah) for not posting in over a month. My bad! I'm currently on a flight to Florida, where I am heading to a family wedding. I had nothing else to do, so I figured that I must must must update you all (double hah) on my recent culinary experiences. Mainly restaurant week.

I only went to one initially, but as soon as it was extended due to the terrible economic crisis that has swept across the United States, I decided to try another...

(oh, and I went to the Tribeca Grill, but it was actually too boring to write about... sorry Robert DeNiro!)

Spice Market

I started off going to Spice Market in the Meatpacking District, in order to add a little Jean-Georges Vongerichten class to my life. As soon as we arrived I was impressed, yet disappointed by the decor. Yes, it's elaborate. But, I thought it was a little over the top. I mean honestly, it looked like what Disney would have done if they had made Thailand a country at Epcot. And the uniforms were similar. Very Epcotesque. However, everyone wearing the uniforms was, well to be honest, gorgeous. I would have willingly taken any of them home in a doggy bad. Even the women. Everyone had amazing bodies, perfectly tanned skin, and were just really really... hot. Grrrrr.

I went on a Sunday evening for lunch with my best friend from high school, Kelly. And in true Beau-and-Kelly fashion, we ordered booze as soon as we sat down. They were delicious, but to be honest, I don't really remember what I had since this was a few weeks bad. I had some sort of margarita and she had some sort of ginger mojito. So, let's just skip booze and we'll discuss food!

At Spice Market for Restaurant Week we were presented with a bento box filled with delicious goodies. I began with the butternut squash soup, topped with a spoonful of cream and ginger pumpkin seeds. I have to say, the soup was fantastic. On it's own, it would have still be divine, but with the crunchiness and the delicacy of the ginger, it really made the soup out of this world. The butternut squash was just the right consistency. Not too thick. But not too watery. I always hate ordering butternut squash soup because I always find the consistency to be off. Well, not at Spice Market.

In the next square, I found a salad made of sliced green papayas and apples, with candied ginger. Good. Nothing to write home about.

Then, beef skewers with a pistachio dipping sauce. Simply, but splendid. The beef was tender and moist, perfectly cooked in a delicious and somewhat spicy seasoning. They weren't too big that they became awkward as you tore them away from the skewer. But they weren't tiny either. They would have been ideal for Goldilocks. And the pistachio dipping sauce was to die for. Creamy and rich, yet tangy from the lime.

The final box contained one of my favorite fishes: striped bass, with wok fried cabbage. water chestnuts and cucumbers. On one end, it was simply too spicy. Way too much cayenne pepper. One the other end, the striped bass cooled my mouth as soon as I tasted it. As we both sat quietly trying to figure out what we thought about the the final box, I could see the expression on Kelly's face and knew that we were in accord: too spicy.

Dessert was amazing though! An outstanding Ovaltine kulfi, topped with caramelized bananas and popcorn, and a spiced milk chocolate sauce. I don't even know where to begin. I know that if I attempt to describe how amazing they are, I will not be able to do it justice! Go! Eat!

Overall, I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed my first Jean-Georges experience. However, my second one was far superior....

Information:
403 W. 13th Street
(at Ninth Avenue)
New York, NY 10014
(212) 675-2322


The Mercer Kitchen

One Friday afternoon, when I was supposed to be at work, I traveled to the Kitchen with my roommate Nina for lunch. Again, the booze was very good, but I don't really remember what I had. Tear. Like last time, I'll get right to the food.

I started off with a salad. Well, to clall it a salad would be inappropriate because it was so amazing that I am still trying to make it on my own at home. Unsuccessfully of course. But hey, at least I'm trying. On a bed of mixed greens, there were avocado slices, tiny mushroom slices, and tomato slices. Placed on top were several large steamed shrimp. On then drizzled all over the salad was a champagne vinaigrette, and cracked black pepper. Basically, sex in salad form. A. MAZE. ING. The smooth creamy avocado blended with the steamed shrimp perfectly, which then blended perfect with the dressing, which was a slightly more tart version of a vinaigrette. My mouth is watering as I think about it.

From there, nothing could be better. Sorry, Jean-Georges. It was all downhill.

Well, not downhill, but that was a damn good salad, and in my mind nothing could possibly beat it. But next, they brought out a delicious slider, topped with avocado and pepperjack, with a side order of french fries. The slider was average. Delicious beef, great cheese, excellent choice of toppings, but the bun was overly greasy, and well, when you think of Jean-Georges, you think of haute cuisine. This was haute Five Guys. In fact, I think I'd rather a Five Guys burger than a slider from the Kitchen. Sorry, Jean-Georges!

He made up for it in the end though, with a warm "Valhrona" chocolate cake, with a warm chocolate inside, and topped with vanilla ice cream. The warm, gooey chocolate covered all over my plate as I cute into it, and when mixed with the ice cold vanilla, it was a comfortable combination. Comfortable in a good, delicious, sitting-at-home-with-your-family-on-a-cold-winter's-day sort of way.

The Mercer Kitchen was definitely worth it. In addition to the salad, the atmosphere is just so New York, which I love. It's trendy and chic, yet comfortable. The decor has plenty of wood and steel, clean lines, and just feels like the perfect New York kitchen. The staff is friendly (and gorgeous). The people are trendy (and gorgeous). And come on, it always sounds classy when you can turn to your vastly inferior friends, and say, "Oh, guess who I saw the other day at the Mercer Kitchen..."

Information:
99 Prince Street
(at Mercer Street)
New York, NY 10012
(212) 966-5454 Read More!