Trying out brand new restaurants is a double-edged sword. You will either hit the jackpot and be immortalized by your friends as the trail-blazing, audacious gem-finder, or suffer the slings and arrows of uncertainty and be forced to retreat feebly into the foodie valley of shame. Luckily, Edesia was smiling upon me, and I found this cozy, brick-walled, candle-lit neighborhood joint that's perfect for dates. The food and beer selection is Eastern-European. I am going to focus on 2 dishes that exemplified Korzo Haus's winning formula: top-grade meat + fresh Langos (Hungarian fried bread) + pickled veggies = deliciousness.
Korzo Burger: 10 oz. freshly-ground, Hudson Valley, free-range beef patty with apple smoked organic bacon, Allgäuer Emmentaller cheese and house made mustard– all wrapped in Langos dough and deep fried. The Langos dough was shaped like a mini, hollowed-out sourdough bread. Since the "bun" was closed on one side, whatever juice that came bursting out of the paddy (and trust me, there was a lot) was retained and soaked up. The dill pickle and red cabbage added a tint of acidity that balanced delicately with the savory paddy, like a gymnist on a balance bar. I think it's the best burger that I have ever had in NYC, even better than Shake Shack's Shack Stack. That's right. You heard me right. It maybe blasphemy for lots of people, but just remember, when the big name food critics start raving about the Korzo Burger, you heard it from me first.
Langos "Pub": with spicy Slovak sausage, mushroom and Edam. The crust really stood out: it was puffy, airy and soft like a croissant. Multiple pickled vegetables accented the slovak sausage.
Zlaty Bažant “Golden Pheasant” (Hurbanovo, Slovakia): golden-orange in color with a light, clean finish and apricot after-taste. Perfect for washing down Korzo's somewhat bar-oriented menu. Only a handful of places in the U.S.have this beer on draft.
There were 3 of us, and we shared a big meat dumpling, a hearty pig-neck stew, the Korzo Burger, "Pub" Langos and a jug of Zlaty Bažant. Each of us ended up pay $21 USD. Great value!
I like ambition. I like empire-builders. I think ambitious, empire-building chefs are sexy. Hush! Don't tell Michael White (of Marea, Convivio and Alto) that I have a crush on him. But ladies, relax, it's just a man-crush, so I am still available. Lately though, another celebrity cheff, Todd English, has caught my eye (or should I say "retina" since I have been spending so much time doing retina research), and his name kept popping up in my various foodie sources. So we decided to check out his new restaurant, Ca Va, on my good friend Dickie W.'s celebratory dinner.
Location, decor and service: It's located on 44th st. between 8th and 9th ave., only a stone's throw away from the A train, so perfect for us, the Westsiders. Decor wise, it's modern, with high ceilings and spacious seatings, while the atmosphere is causal enough that you won't be elevator-eyed even if you are only wearing nice jeans and a dress shirt (as I did). And I was thoroughly impressed by the service. Initially, we were seated at a table right next to a section of the ceiling that was dripping water. Just as I was about to complain, the manager came by, apologized, moved us to another table, and offered very politely with a sexy French accent (yes, I am a sucker for French women) each of us a flute of Moet Chandon Imperial champagne.
Cocktails: Ca Va offers an extensive list of cocktails, creative and decadent enough to rival any of the top-notch, speak-easy cocktail lounges in the city. I have a shameless affection for girly cocktails, so I tried the Tres Chic.
Tres Chic: champagne, pear flavored vodka and St. Germain elderflower liqueur, garnished with a candied hibiscus blossom
Small plates: This is the most audacious, interesting part of Ca Va's rather extensive menu
Escargots Flatbread with melted onions, garlic butter, goat cheese and parsley. One of the great tragedies of humanity is to witness oil being left behind in the wells of a traditional escargot plate and the essence going to waste. The flatbread ingeniously soaked up the rich escargot oil, which surprisingly in combination with the goat cheese, produced a complimentary, not overwhelming, explosion of flavor. This escargot dish came in second among all the escargot dishes I have ever tasted, after Fat Duck's (Bray, England) Snail Porridge.
Crispy Lamb Spare Ribs with rouille and watercress salad. My favorite dish of the whole night. The meat was crispy, perfectly seasoned, gamy and literally fell off the bone. In case you don't know, one thing that really ticks me off is when people say, "The lamb is really good coz' it's not gamy at all--- it tastes just like beef."
Bifteck Sliders: petit sirloin burgers with caramelized onions, tomato, lettuce, and t.e. sauce. They were good but not great. Frankly, you will have to be a moron to mess up a slider, especially if you are charging people for it. If you are a big fan of sliders, there are better places: Lamb Meatball Sliders @ Locanda Verde (more interesting flavor) or Bacon Sliders @ Mark Burger (juicier).
Entrees:
Todd's Cassoulet with duck confit, pork sausage, braised lamb, spring beans and frisée salad. It probably didn't look particularly attractive from the picture, but trust me, it was grade-A comfort food for the winter.
Rabbit Wellington: rabbit loin wrapped in pastry with spinach, mushrooms, braised leg and carrot purée. This dish was disappointing. If you didn't tell me, I would think I was eating chicken. I have tasted much better rabbit before.
Desserts: Thank god I don't have a sweet tooth, or else, I will be morbidly obese by now, awaiting my gastric by-pass surgery. In fact, there have been very few dessert dishes that I have ever liked, so you will have to take my dessert review with a grain of salt (sugar). Desserts @ Ca Va were OK. 'Nuff said.
Apple Tarte Tatin with salted caramel ice cream
Cream Puffs with pistachio brittle ice cream and chocolate sauce.
So going back to the original question: Ca Va--- bien? Oui, for the most part.
Hi! Hello! Wow, I can't believe I am a "blogger" now, a member of the new medium that has sent the old guards reeling. (Sorry, Grey Lady.) As the name of my blog suggests, I am completely fanatical about food. OK, may be not completely, but (100-π)% crazy perhaps? For those who don't know me, I am a tall, handsome jock who also takes life very seriously. Though I won't be blogging all the news that's fit to print (sorry again, Grey Lady), I hope my passion for food will bring music to your tongue, umami to your eyes and colors to your ears. In case you are wondering, I am not on LSD. It's called "synesthesia."
Before I delve into my inaugural post, I'd like to a give a big shoutout to Charissa, Genevieve and Alison, 3 lovely ladies who also hold very dear to my heart. Without your inspiration, my food blog won't happen. Without your criticisms, my cooking will still be too salty and I will have a BP of 160/100.
Here we go: Ramen Totto is part of the ever-expanding "Totto" Empire in NYC, which includes Yakitori and Soba Totto. The space was long and narrow (that's what she said), with most seats in the form of high wooden stools clustered along the bar table. The set-up reminded me of the typical ramen spots that I visited (drunk?) in Japan, and the staff was unmistakably Japanese as well--- polite and courteous to the point of being apologetic.
What struck me was the intensity that went into my bowl of ramen. Blocks of char siu (roast pork) were handcut into manageable bites, which were then charred with a blow torch. One of the two chefs, with a 2-foot ladle in hand, was constantly stirring the top secret soup base, housed in 3 separate metallic tubs half my height. (I know I ain't tall, but still...) From time to time, he would pour the soup into a mini-telescope-like gadget and aim the eyepiece toward a light source, just to make sure that the soup was maintained at the optimal concentration. I was later told that the devise was called a "reflectoscope."
Working his ramen magic
Then my bowl of Totto Spicy Ramen came. What hit me first was a wave of intense sesame aroma. It was so intoxicating that I closed my eyes and took a nice, big drag as though I were smoking hookah. The house-made spicy rayu (sesame oil) not only smelled good, it also added an additional layer of complexity to the texture of the al dente thin noodles--- silkiness. The rest of the bowl was satisfying but not necessarily outstanding: char siu was nicely charred, the scallions were fresh and the nori was crispy. My only criticism was that my 2nd (extra) serving of noodles was a bit undercooked. That was disappointing especially given the effort the chefs put into each bowl of their creations. My suggestion: if you are gonna freaking use a "reflectoscope," why don't you also consider using a timer to cook your ramen?!
Totto Spicy Ramen, made with original spicy sesame oil and Paitan ramen, topped with scallion, onion, char siu pork, and a nori.
All in all, it was a gratifying experience, and I would return to try their Totto Chicken Paitan Ramen and Totto Miso Ramen. I have been to my fair share of NYC ramen meccas, e.g. Ippudo, Minca, Momofuku Noodle Bar and Setegaya. They all had savory soups and al dente noodles. What made Totto stood out was its rayu. It's all about the rayu!
