Chopped

Alex Guarnaschelli’s Butter Lights Up Midtown

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past couple of years you should know who Alex Guarnaschelli is. One of the most popular chefs on television today, she rose to fame on the mega-popular Food Network show “Chopped” and has also participated in other big shows on the network such as “Alex’s Day Off” and “The Next Iron Chef” in which she won a little while back. Poised but stern, she has done a phenomenal job not only on screen but also in her successful restaurant business, most notably her restaurant Butter. Butter, which opened over a year ago and coincidentally is right across the street from my office, has received rave reviews from fans and critics alike since its inception and is a place that I have been dying to review since I heard word of it opening that close to me. So when I was granted access to try out one of my favorite chef’s, I was giddy with anticipation and scooped up a good friend of mine to see what all the fuss was about.

Butter, Butter Midtown, Manhattan Digest — Credit to: Fingerprint Communications

Although the entrance to Butter is on the main level, the actual restaurant is held downstairs in a spacious and warm setting that is felt throughout. Although the crowd was mainly business types (although that could have been because of the hour we went) it looks to be opened to much more than that including dinner & drinks with your friends and an overall friendly atmosphere. Before our meal began we met with chef Michael Jenkins, who has had a relationship with Alex for over ten years now. Both of them have spearheaded the fantastic and modern menu, which is seasonal throughout the year.

The menu itself is quite impressive with its inventive take on what many people consider to be classic dishes. A lot of them have flavor depth built inside, which really is the showing of a great chef as opposed to making something that I have tasted at a zillion other restaurants before. Case and point- their Peas & Carrots Ravioli. Something as simple as two everyday vegetables stuffed inside a warm ravioli with fresh apple mint, ruby chard and aged pecorino yet when all is put together in one bite is truly spectacular. The flavor is amazing, and the dish itself is served as an appetizer but can also be ordered as an entree. I am one to never turn down shrimp, especially if they are jumbo. So another great starter for me and my friend was the Jumbo Florida Shrimp with a lemon bergamote mayonnaise & toasted coriander. In my life I never tried shrimp with a specific type of mayonnaise on top, but the lemon bergamote really added a great amount of flavor to the oversized shrimp. Of all the appetizers that we tried the one that I would highly recommend more than anything is the Homemade Ricotta Crostini with crispy brussel sprouts and aged balsamic. As someone who has grown into loving the taste of brussel sprouts, I thought it was simply divine how they were able to get such a sharp crisp on them which paired beautifully with the ricotta and balsamic. A perfect bite to start your meal.

Manhattan Digest, Butter, Butter Midtown — Credit to: Fingerprint Communications

For their large plates, or entrees, the menu itself is a great reminder of how the warmer weather is coming as a lot of these dishes have a Spring-esque vibe to them. I was served their Grilled Double-Cut Pork Chop with a Collard-Green sauerkraut and spicy pickled mustard seed. The side that I chose to pair with the pork chop was the Gnocchi Mac N Cheese. Absolutely delicious on all ends. The pork chop and Sauerkraut are a great duo and the Gnocchi blended really well with the Mac N Cheese to the point where I forgot I was actually eating Gnocchi. Really amazing. My friend opted for the Roasted All Natural Chicken Breast with sautéed sunchokes, black truffle butter, aged sherry. Perfectly cooked chicken and great sides to go along with. We didn’t have this but something that Michael recommended trying is their Charred White Cloud Califlower, which is a vegetarian dish served as a large entree. He raved about this so I wanted to put this in for people who want to opt for something a bit lighter and not so meat-heavy. To finish your meal off, you can go southern and have their Raspberry Beignet’s or a great classic with a twist in their Frozen Toasted Marshmallow Mallomar. Both are a great end to a fantastic meal.

With Easter right around the corner, Butter will be serving up some delicious and scrumptious meals for Brunch that morning and afternoon to satisfy your midday cravings. Whether you are looking forward to sipping on a tangy mimosa, or taking that first bite of mouthwatering blackberry French toast, Butter Midtown’s prix fixed Easter Brunch menu and beautiful garden patio offer the perfect ambiance to enjoy Easter Sunday with loved ones. The special menu is also offering brunch favorites with a twist like a Burrata Quiche with oven-roasted tomatoes, wild mushrooms and aged Balsamic and a House Cured Bacon Omelette with fava beans and Challerhocker cheese. Sounds absolutely delicious to me and should be checked out.

For more information on Butter, check out their official website and Twitter. Happy eating everyone!

“Little Town” in Hoboken- The Path to Deliciousness

by Ryan Shea

Little Town, Hoboken, Manhattan Digest — Credit to: Examiner

As great as the endless variety of restaurants are in Manhattan and the five boroughs, sometimes you have go to outside the grain and see what else is out there in the foodie world that I love so much. I have spent quite a bit of time recently in Hoboken, New Jersey for a multitude of reasons. My best friend from college lives there now and I find it to be very up and coming when it comes to the food and bar scene, and wanted to experiment a bit more and see what was out there. Luckily for me, I found the gold mine in terms of taste & hospitality in the restaurant Little Town, which is located right on the water in Hoboken. When I was granted access to cover it with my best friend, we purposefully starved ourselves that morning just so we had our game faces on when it came to what we were about to eat. Touchdown indeed.

Little Town, a restaurant that has only been opened for a short period of time, is actually known a bit more on a national scale due to its exposure on Bravo’s wildly successful “The Real Housewives Of New Jersey” which chronicles part owners Albie & Chris Manzo opening up the restaurant with the advice from matriarch Caroline. Since those episodes aired Little Town has done a complete 180 and is now fully furnished, spacious and a wonderful atmosphere.

As mentioned earlier, part of what makes a great dining experience that much better is the hospitality, and it shows in executive chef Jordan Andino. I got to know him throughout the meal and developed such an appreciation for his hard work getting to where he is now. He was raised on Toronto, Canada and began a love for cooking at a young age and kept that tenacity going throughout his adulthood by training himself with world renowned chefs from Wolfgang Puck and Thomas Keller. After graduating from Cornell University’s Hotel School of Administration, he developed himself as a star in the culinary world by running a multitude of restaurants and even recently appearing on The Food Network’s “Chopped” where he made it all the way to the dessert round. Now he runs both the New Jersey Little Town location as well as the one in Union Square as well as another restaurant called Side Bar. Something that I respect more than anything is that just like my mother with her culinary career he wasn’t classically trained and got himself where he needed to be on his own. Also, my friend enjoyed how cute he was which is always a plus 🙂

Now onto the freaking food, which was amazing. Jordan gave us quite the variety of food that he makes, from appetizers to brunch to lunch to quite possibly the most filling and delicious dessert I have ever had. Some of the standouts to me were the “Manzo Balls” (tee hee), which came with a couple of Crostini’s for dipping in the warm and flavorful tomato sauce that accompanied said balls. Great flavor on both and a delicious way to start things off. Another appetizer that he presented us that me and my friend really enjoyed were the Little Town Rice Balls, which were stuffed with New Jersey Taylor Ham and Cheese and was complimented with a yummy hollandaise sauce.

You can’t go wrong with wings, you really freaking can’t! So hands down my favorite meal of all that Jordan presented at Little Town was their “Garbage Wings” which are flavored with a homemade hot sauce, barbeque sauce and fresh garlic with blue cheese crumbles. Had just the perfect mix of sweet and spicy that worked well with both mine and my friends palate. He also unveiled two burgers, one that is very popular at Little Town already which is the “Boss Burger” and a new addition to the spring menu which is their “Salmon Burger”. I had a preference for the Boss Burger, which had melted fontina cheese and caramelized onions where my friend preferred the Salmon due to its flavor and texture.

We finished off with quite the decadent dessert, Fried Oreo Neapolitan. Basically a Fried Oreo sandwich that had three different ice creams in the middle (Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry). I mean the Fried Oreo alone was just scrumptious but when you add the cooling flavors of ice cream on top of it made it that much better. Honestly, it was a 10/10 experience for me and my friend and I cannot wait to hop on the PATH again soon to try out more of his delicious creations.

Next time you are in the Hoboken area please stop by Little Town and try it for yourself. I guarantee you will not be disappointed. For more information on Little Town and Chef Jordan Andino, check out their sites. Happy Eating.

Gaby Brasserie Francaise- What is French for Delicious?

by Ryan Shea

When it comes to dining in New York City, you have your endless amounts of cultural food experiences that you can enjoy in any of the five boroughs. However, for the ones who work around the midtown area, you are left with a ton of chain restaurants and your run of the mill local deli which doesn’t exactly leave you wanting more. Gaby Brasserie in The Sofitel New York on West 45th Street has proven itself to change your mind on how you can find a unique and delicious spot right in the heart of Midtown. This spot bodes a ton of convenience for me as I work directly across from it and walk past it on a daily basis yet never went inside to experience just how amazing this place is. Luckily for me, I got the chance to do some tastings last week with a good friend of mine and suffice to say we were both blown away by the technique, flavor and overall presentation of each dish.

The food was prepared by Sylvain Harribey, the hotel’s award-winning executive chef and a recent winner of the Food Network’s Chopped (one of my personal favorite shows. I gotta find the episode that he was on!) His friendly demeanor in presenting each course definitely gave me a better sense of the restaurant as a whole, which had a warm and inviting feeling to it upon entrance. The first course, or the “Amuse Bouche” that was presented to us was a Butternut Squash Cappuccino. I am normally not a fan of Butternut Squash Soup due to how sweet it is, yet this was presented in a great duality of sweet and savory for sure. Great balance and an overall great start to the meal. For our appetizer, I got to experience for the first time in my 27 years of existence Foie Gras, which is the liver of a duck or goose. As odd as it sounds, I was apprehensive due to this being a new type of food that I have never experienced before, but just like the soup I was pleasantly surprised by the taste of each way the Foie Gras was presented to us. The first one was a Foie Gras spring roll with Prosciutto, fig and mixed greens. The second was a Sesame crusted foie gras au torchon served on Brioche. The third option was Pan Seared Hudson Valley Foie Gras over sweet potato mash with an Asian Vinaigrette. All were delicious but I would have to say that the latter was my favorite due to the contrast of the mash with the Vinaigrette.

For our entree and sandwich courses (Because you really can’t have one without the other, right?) we were treated to two very different delicacies that were packed with flavor and punch in its own right. For the entree, we were presented with Oven Roasted Dijon Lamb Loin on a crushed white bean puree flavored with pumpkin seed oil, vegetable tian gratine (eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, roma tomato, Provencal herbs and Parmesan cheese). As odd as it sounds, my favorite part of this dish happened to be the gratine due to the enormity in flavor that Chef Harribey prepared for each of the vegetables. Don’t get me wrong, the Loin was off the chain, but sometimes the supporting roles play just as much importance as the main star. For the Sandwich, it was what they like to call the “Franburger”– Served on a crispy baguette with melted brie cheese, lettuce, tomato and Provencale fries. I am not one for brie really on anything with the exception of a Ritz cracker, however it tasted really well and balanced with the burger and baguette. I am a big fan of french fries, and the sprinkling of Provencale on top of them really made it tasty and balanced with the burger.

We were then treated to an assortment of mini desserts including Caramel Cake and Creme Brulee to name a couple. Overall this was an astonishing meal, and I can totally see how Chef Harriby not only won “Chopped” but also runs such a successful establishment with some of the most professional staff me and my friend have ever experienced. Overall, a 4.5 out of 5 stars in my book!

What’s even better is what they have planned for Valentine’s Day on Friday. It is a Valentine’s Day menu so studded with aphrodisiacs it warrants a tongue-in-cheek “consume at your own risk.” The seduction begins with an amuse bouche of East Coast oyster with shallot raspberry vinegar, followed by a choice of pan-seared Hudson Valley foie gras with sweet potato purée and fig sauce or an assortment of smoked fishes served with mậche lettuce, avocado, citrus and vinaigrette. For their main dish, patrons can choose Filet de Boeuf – a pan-seared Angus beef tenderloin with almond, cauliflower and potato purée served with grilled asparagus and topped with green peppercorn sauce – or Sole Roulade with basil salmon mousse, fennel and vegetable gratin, and a sauce of saffron and fine herbs. Dessert is a delectable Saint Honoré of raspberry mousse with crème chiboust topped with Grand Marnier sauce.

Sounds insanely yummy! For more information on The Gaby Brasserie, be sure to visit their website! Definitely a place to check out for Valentine’s Day and beyond!

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