Senegalese chicken and peanut soup from Almondine

Almondine continues to surprise and amaze me. This french soup/sandwich places breaks out great traditional French fair, but Senegalese chicken and peanut soup? come on now? WTF is that? I knew this soup was going to be legit when I saw the 200 lb African grandmother in the back stirring the pot. Peanut soup you say? Sounds weird right? Well, it is. Really freakin weird, but shockingly good if you like peanut flavor. A bit spicy with chunks of tender chicken, celery, carrots and okra I believe. I believe she also threw in some voodoo spices into the pot to get customers addicted. If you click the picture(fyi, you can click on all the pictures on this site for a larger view) you can see a close up of the red ring of grease along the top, mmmmm, red grease, you know you love it.


Thanks to the Frenchy for allowing his staff to do thier thing and bring alittle flava to my favorite lunch time spot.

-J

Cafe Select is too cool for school

Cafe Select in the Soho area of NYC is mad cool. I don't even think I'm cool enough to take a crap there. This place is packed with a sceney pretty crowd and they have the food to match. Specializing in Swiss cuisine they boast a large selection of wine and cold brews. But the coolest feature of this spot is the "secret" back room. For those in the know, you can walk right through their kitchen in the back, past the cooks and prep stations, right through a door into a secret wonderland. Its not a lavish as the once secret restaurant under La Esquina (same owner btw), but you will find a space with smiling faces that fits about 20 people.

I got the consume soup, which was both simple and delicious. The noodles inside were fresh and melted in my mouth.

They also sport this over-sized Rolex clock, supposedly its one of only three in the world of this size. Spiffy.

Below is a dessert of nougat, chocolate, and a caramel sauce, it was pretty good, very rich, but truthfully I just really like how this picture came out.

So if you are in Soho and are looking for a new grub spot with good food, a great scene, and a little secret spot to impress your buddies, stop by Cafe Select.

-J

Mushroom Barley soup that doesnt...

...make me fart. Who knew? It may sound strange, but usually a good mushroom barley soup turns my ass into a trumpet. Not so for this soup served up from Almondine Bakery in Dumbo Brooklyn. Almondine is my favorite lunch spot, so if you like this post, be sure to check out all the others from this place.

My mom cooks a mean mushroom barley soup that can never be topped, but for soup that wasn't home made this one holds it own. Slightly creamy, nice chunks of various mushrooms and the barley makes me think of my childhood. That little hedgehog looking thing to the right is a piece of french bread. Crusty and warm.


Another desk meal that doesn't suck. And my co-workers are thanking this place for its ability to not turn me into a musical instrument.

-J

Pho Tu Do forever!

I freaking love pho! This is something that I really got into over the last few years but I think I am going to be a pho fiend for life. I can just see it now; I'm like 55 years old, strolling the streets of some foreign city in search of pho, asking strangers where I could find the stuff. "Hey, you got pho? no? where can I get it? Maaan, I need the stuff, I'll suck your..."

Ok, strange interlude is over. So I'm back in Chinatown at my favorite pho place in NYC, Pho Tu Do. This time I opted for the more traditional Chin Nam Ve Dzon, which is rich beef broth with fresh round and flank (steak that is).

As you can see the broth is clear and full of fresh thai basil and bean sprouts. It was clear but very complex in flavor and extremely satisfying. The stripes of red and brown in the broth are sriracha and housin sauces respectively(this picture was taken pre-mixing). The beef was still rare when it arrived but continues to cook in the hot bowl as you work on the noodles.


Ahh yes, the noodles. Glorious rice noodles. Always prepared beautifully here, fresh, soft, but still with a decent texture.

How much do you think this bowl of soup was? Mind you it was the size of my head. 15 dollars? 10? 5? NO! Four dollars and twenty five cents. Dude, for that much I don't even question what type of "beef" they serve me.

-J

Mulligatawny at Almondine

Made popular by the infamous Seinfeld episode, mulligatawny is a delicious Indian soup. But Kramer explains it best:

Cosmo Kramer: A hot bowl of mulligatawny would hit the spot.
Elaine: Mulligatawny?
Cosmo Kramer: Yes, it's a delightful Hindu concoction simmered to perfection by one of the great soup artisans in the modern era.
Elaine: Who, the Soup Nazi?
Cosmo Kramer: He's not a Nazi, Elaine. He just happens to be a little eccentric. Most geniuses are.

I have to say, ever since watching that episode I have been more intrigued with the word mulligatawny than the actual soup. Say it with me, mulligataaaaawnyyyyy. I finally had a chance to try this soup a few weeks ago. They served it at my favorite lunch spot Almondine in Dumbo Brooklyn. I previously stated that Almondine was owned by Jacques Torres, but I was only partially correct, it's actually owned by both Jacques and Hervé Poussot, former pastry chef of famed Le Bernardin (super fancy pants Frenchie restaurant in nyc).

Anyways, onto the soup. This version was made with coconut milk so it was silky smooth. Spiced with coriander and other Indian spices that usually have me running to the nearest restroom. For some reason this gorgeous concoction sat just right in my stomach. I'm a big fan of this soup, not sure if all versions are going to be this good, but I'm definitely willing to try going forward.


Combined with my favorite pretzel bread, this Indian classic made my Seinfeld fantasy come true. Thank you Frenchies, job well done again.

-J

Phoooo Shooooo

One of my absolute favorite things to do during a brutal NYC winter is hit up my favorite Pho place at lunch. Pho Tu Do is situated deep in chinatown away from the hordes of tourists. I found this place on one of my lunch time journeys through chinatown in search of grub meals. This place is extremely cheap (see below), authentic and delicious.


Pho is a Vietnamese noodle soup in a rich broth with highlights of fresh Thai basil and bean sprouts. The dish below is Pho Bo Kho which is a combination of beef stew and traditional pho soup. I usually go for this during the winter because its heartier and puts me in a nice food cauma for the rest of the day.



The beef is stewed all day long in thier shaddy chinatown kitchen and comes out moist and just falls apart on my chopsticks. The broth is riduculous complex and satifying, really one of the best broths I've ever had. period.

On top of being soo grub, the bowl is about the size of my head and runs under 6 bucks. This place was an absolute great find that will always be a go-to spot for me. If you are in the neighborhood, I highly recommend checking it out, and for those visiting NYC (especially in the winter), this place is a must.

-J

Home Cooking

What can I say? I'm a sucker for home cooking. And when you have a mom that cooks like mine, there is no better place in the world to grub than my mom's house. Home made borscht with big chunks of stewed beef....



Cutletka, meat patties made from ground beef, turkey or chicken (turkey in this case), oh so good. The bright purple salad in the background is just red cabbage, mayo and green onion, sounds weird I know, but its just great.




Thanks mom.

-J