Serious Eats |
- Bake the Book: The Ice Creamists
- No Breading Required for New Malaysia's Fried Chicken
- Where To Get Good Burgers Near San Diego Comic-Con
- The Food Lab: How To Make the Best Creamy Cole Slaw
- The Vegetarian Option: Yusho
- Ask the Critic: Can I Do Tasting Menus with My Food Intolerances?
- Ask a Sommelier: What's the Best Wine for Seafood?
- 13 Blueberry Dessert Recipes To Make This Summer
- My Pie Monday: Sourdough Focaccia, Crispy Pork Belly, Squash Blossom Pizza, and More!
- 34 Hot and Spicy Recipes for Summer
- Anatomy of a Smorgasburg Pop Up: How to Pay for Smorgasburg
- Chicago: Scenes From the 6th Annual Roscoe Village Burger Fest
- Whoopie Invasion: 6 Pounds of Pie
- 5 Ballparks with Great Craft Beer
- Staff Picks: What's the Best Pizza in Chicago?
| Bake the Book: The Ice Creamists Posted: 12 Jul 2013 03:14 PM PDT [Photograph: Anders Schonnemann] With the kind of high-gloss photos you'd expect to see in a fashion spread and a lascivious attitude reminiscent of punk, The Ice Creamists is a unique celebration of glorious, glorious ice cream. An "ice creamist" is a person addicted to or obsessed with ice cream. Matt O'Connor is such a person. As the author of and man behind The Ice Creamists, O'Connor's roots are deep and strong. The book's introduction, a sprawling tale of childhood holidays, world travel, and government intrigue, is shot through with passionate fondness for pursuing, consuming, and elevating the frozen stuff beyond mere mortal dreams. It sets the stage for a dazzlingly colorful, hugely creative tour through the mind of a man mad about ice cream. The Ice Creamists is the best kind of cookbook, one that allows you to borrow the hat of the creative mind that authored it. There are boutique ice creams, sorbettos, cocktails, sundaes and ice pops, all photographed in eye-popping displays. The recipes not only run the gamut of flavor, but also seasons, with stout and pumpkin ice creams to match winter temperatures. From classic recipes like "The Custardy Suite" (traditional Italian crema ice cream) to booze-infused creations like "Lenin & Lime" (a gin and tonic sorbetto) and "Brainwash" (hard cider sorbetto), to the more unexpected "Cold Sweat" (chile, ginger, and lemongrass ice cream), we'll be cranking out the jams for the next two weeks. Win A Copy!Thanks to the generous folks over at Octopus Publishing, we are giving away five (5) copies of The Ice Creamists this week. All you have to do is tell us about your favorite ice cream in the comments section below!        | ||||||||||||
| No Breading Required for New Malaysia's Fried Chicken Posted: 15 Jul 2013 10:45 AM PDT We eat (and love) a lot more than sandwiches at Serious Eats, so in the spirit of A Sandwich a Day, here's Eat This Now, a quick look at food worth sharing. —The Mgmt. [Photograph: Max Falkowitz] You'll find New Malaysia down an alley of restaurants between Bowery and Elizabeth in Chinatown. It may be the nicest looking of the bunch, with Malaysian food that, if it doesn't transport you to the streets of Penang, at least ranks favorably with New York's better contenders. The most memorable bite on a recent visit was a dish of Pataya Fried Chicken ($8), a heaping portion for the price with plenty of bone-in pieces of dark meat. As often happens in Malaysia and Singapore, dishes draw inspiration from nearby countries; in this case, the Thai city of Pattaya. (And as is often the case with said cultural osmosis, accuracy to the original cuisine wavers.) But that's enough about origin stories—this is some good fried chicken. Moist, tender, and a pleasure to gnaw off the bone, with a crisp, greaseless crust made from nothing more than some spices, perhaps a touch of sugar, and the chicken's own skin. The coating is a little sweet, a tad spicy, enriched with flavors like coriander, but otherwise pretty austere. Without a thick, breaded coating your focus stays right where it should: crisp skin, tender, tender meat, no distractions. About the author: Max Falkowitz is the editor of Serious Eats: New York. You can follow him on Twitter at @maxfalkowitz.    | ||||||||||||
| Where To Get Good Burgers Near San Diego Comic-Con Posted: 15 Jul 2013 12:27 PM PDT If you're looking for a good burger near San Diego Comic-Con this Thursday to Sunday, July 18 to 21, you've got plenty of options. Our San Diego correspondent, Erin Jackson, has updated last year's list of good burgers near the convention center with a few more suggestions. If you have more recommendations, let us know!
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| The Food Lab: How To Make the Best Creamy Cole Slaw Posted: 15 Jul 2013 11:55 AM PDT It's time for another round of The Food Lab. Got a suggestion for an upcoming topic? Email Kenji here, and he'll do his best to answer your queries in a future post. Become a fan of The Food Lab on Facebook or follow it on Twitter for play-by-plays on future kitchen tests and recipe experiments. [Photographs: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt] I can't say that I grew up eating cole slaw, nor was it love at first taste. My earliest experience with it was when the lady behind the bulletproof glass at the KFC on 125th street (this was back when there was bulletproof glass and KFCs everywhere in Harlem) mixed up my order and gave me a cup of their slaw instead of the mashed potatoes and gravy. She didn't seem like the kind of cashier who enjoyed confrontation, so I picked up my spork, bucked up, and dug into that mayo-doused cup. Needless to say, I stayed away from the stuff for years following that harrowing experience. It scarred me enough to steer clear of not only slaw, but mayo altogether, for a good decade. I didn't truly start loving cole slaw until I tasted the excellent version that Barbara Lynch makes at her B&G Oysters in Boston's South End. Rather than soupy or gloppy with excess mayonnaise, the slaw there is tangy and fresh, with just a hint of creaminess to bind it together. Since that day, I've come to enjoy cole slaw in all its various regional forms, from the bright yellow mustardy stuff I first tasted at my cousin's Tennessee wedding to the vinegary chopped slaws I had in Eastern North Carolina. Slaw and I may have met rather late in life, but we're more than just friends these days—we're in a full blown relationship, and it's high time that I properly acknowledge it on this site. For the sake of simplicity, today we're going to be dealing solely with my first true love, cream slaw, but we may well come back to address other varieties in the future. As with many good stories, this one starts with cabbage. Cabbage CastingGreen cabbage Cabbage comes in three main varieties:
This is not my first time around the block with cabbage, but as with slaw itself, cabbage and I have invested in a fairly long-term relationship with each other, which means that every once in a while we have to sit down like full-grown brassicas, have some serious head-to-head* discussions, and come up with a new set of boundaries and goals by which to define our relationship. *head-to-head, get it? >_< All this is to say that while at one point I thought I enjoyed the delicate, non-sulfurous flavor of savoy cabbage in my slaw, after some more serious side-by-side testing, I found that the crunch and assertiveness of green cabbage was actually the way to go. The PurgeSpeaking of crunch management, this brings us to the first order of business: purging the cabbage. See, unlike a normal salad in which tender greens are tossed with a dressing mere moments before serving, so that the leaves stay bright, fresh, and crunchy, cole slaw requires a pre-treatment. Don't believe me? Try it out for yourself: just dress up some shredded cabbage and see what happens. But I'm warning you, it's not pretty. First, it ends up far too crunchy, with tough, raw-tasting shreds of cabbage. Second, it ends up expelling way too much liquid. Add enough dressing to flavor it properly, and you end up with cole slaw soup: See? I told you, not pretty. What we need is a way to tenderize it while allowing it to maintain some of its crunch, simultaneously achieving a depth of flavor without drowning it in dressing. How do we accomplish this? There are two steps in the process. First is in the cutting. While in some regions of the country, chopped slaws are common, what we're going for today is a fine shred. For great slaw, you want to go pretty darn thin—I like to pull out my Benriner mandoline for the task (though to be honest, I'm the kind of guy who likes to pull out the mandoline whenever the urge strikes. In this case, it happens to be an appropriate urge. This is not always the case). What's the goal of this shredding? Well, first, it shortens tough fibrous sections of the cabbage along one axis, making it more tender to the bite. More importantly, it allows us to accomplish the second step in Project Tenderize: it exposes more cells to the moisture-sucking effects of salt. You can imagine your cabbage slices as a series of teeny, tiny water balloons. When the cabbage is fresh, the balloons are all filled with water, causing them to stretch out and stay stiff. Your goal is to release a bit of this water, so that the cabbage will soften up a bit. Salt achieves this goal through the process of osmosis—the tendency of water to travel across a permeable membrane from the region of lowest solute concentrate to highest. That's a lot of big words, but culinarily speaking, all it really means is that water has a tendency to move from a less salty place (in this case inside the cabbage) to a more salty place (outside the cabbage).* *This, by the way, is true of all sorts of foods, not just cabbage! Think: salt-cured meats like bacon or prosciutto, or preserved items like naturally fermented pickles, sauerkraut, and preserved lemons. Fresh meats behave a bit differently—see here for the truth about brining. This migration of water (and the subsequent softening of cabbage) is dependent on how much salt is added: the more salt you add, the more water it will draw out. To demonstrate this, I salted four 100 gram batches of shredded cabbage with 1/4 teaspoon, 1/2 teaspoon, 1 teaspoon, and 1 tablespoon of salt, respectively, which corresponds to concentrations of 1%, 2%, 4%, and 12%. Each batch of cabbage was left to drain for 30 minutes before being lightly squeezed to remove excess moisture. The level of moisture reduction isn't directly proportional to the amount of salt added, but cabbage with a 12% salt purge still loses more than three times as much moisture as cabbage with 1%. And what about flavor? For frame of reference, the saltiest sausage you are likely to eat has between 2 and 3% salt by weight. With our cabbage, on the other hand, even the cabbage salted at 4% didn't taste particularly salty—most of the excess salt gets removed along with the purged liquid (12% salt did prove too salty to be palatable). As far as balance of flavor and texture goes, the 2% batch was the way to go. At least for now. On to the next question... About TimeSo we know that some amount of purging is necessary if you want your cabbage to hit that magic crunchy-but-tender spot, and our initial testing has shown that the amount of salt that you purge with can directly affect the amount of liquid drawn and the final texture of the cabbage. But what about timing? How long is the ideal purging time? Existing recipes run the gamut from no pre-salting, to salting for up to three whole hours in advance. We tested it out by salting shredded cabbage with 4% salt by weight and letting it sit in a bowl before draining in a colander and pressing out excess free moisture. Here's what we found:
Well would you look at that? Turns out that after 15 minutes of salting, you've pretty much drawn out all of the moisture you're ever going to. Heck, after even 5 minutes of salting, you've got most of it done. That's good news for those of us who like to get things done as quickly as possible (and bad news if you're the type who likes to catch an episode or two of Good Eats while you wait for your cabbage to purge. You'll just have to get your Alton dose later). In our taste test, it turns out that most folks prefer the texture of the minimally-purged cabbage—a quick, five minute purge came out as the clear winner, with anything over 15 minutes being judged as slightly too soft. This presented a problem: given that we were going with the 2% of salt we'd settled on earlier, a 5 minute purge time produced the best texture, but longer purge times produced cabbage with a deeper, more concentrated flavor. Was there a way to hit both goals at once? Well, knowing that the amount of liquid lost (and therefore the level of flavor concentration) is related to the amount of salt used in the initial purge, what if rather than using just 2% salt for my purge, I went back and re-visited the 12% version? Only this time, purging for only 5 minutes in order to rapidly concentrate the cabbage before rinsing off the excess salt in cold water to immediately halt the process once the ideal level of tenderness was reached? The method worked. Sort of. While the cabbage flavor was concentrated enough that I could get away with a reasonable amount of dressing, the cabbage was coming out too salty, despite a thorough rinse, and it was still slightly too beat up by the time we were done with it. Food Lab Assistant Extraordinaire Luke Davin suggested that perhaps the textural issues were not arising due to purging problems, but because of the mechanical action of squeezing excess moisture out of the cabbage. For our next test, I also replaced some of the salt in the initial purge with sugar—another osmosis-inducing solute that could serve to balance out flavor. This time, immediately after rinsing, we spread the slaw mixture out onto a bed of paper towels and dried it gently by hand. A-ha! Those two elements unlocked the key to the puzzle. We now had cabbage that was perfect for slaw: concentrated in flavor with a good balance of salt and sugar built right in, tender but still vibrant and crunchy. Not only that, but we got our cabbage ready-to-dress in record time! See the squeezed-dry cabbage on the left and the toweled-try cabbage on the right? The rest of the process was a relative cakewalk.* *NB: subsequent testing showed that for large batches, the paper towel-averse can also use a salad spinner to gently spin their cabbage to dryness after the initial purge-and-rinse stage. The Other PlayersDressed cabbage is the only truly essential player for real cole slaw, but a few judiciously chosen additions never hurt nobody. For my slaw, I go with a simple mix of thinly sliced red onions, a touch of chopped parsley, and some grated carrots. The only thing to bear in mind is making sure to hold the carrot at the proper angle when grating: The photo on the right is the is the wrong way to do it, while the photo on the left is the right way, and here's why: See the nice long strands you get by holding your carrot at a bias? That's what we're going for here. Long carrot strands. Getting DressedAs far as dressing goes, mayo is a given, as is a good amount of cider vinegar. I fiddled with a number of ratios until I landed on 3 to 1, mayo to vinegar. A touch of dijon mustard brings a bit more heat and vinegar to the table. The goal is just enough to step on your toes a bit, not a big punch to the gut. Other than that, it's plain white sugar to balance out the salt and vinegar (I also tested agave nectar, brown sugar, and honey—none save the honey made any kind of detectable difference), and a ton of black pepper. Ok, not a ton. But a lot. I may or may not have over-peppered several batches of cole slaw at the office during testing phases, but in any case, believe me: you want to use more than you think is a reasonable amount. Cabbage and pepper are very good friends. Because our cabbage is already so flavorful with its salt and sugar cure, and its got a relatively low moisture content from our careful drying, you can get away with using a very minimal amount of dressing, giving it intense, concentrated flavor without turning it into a soupy mess. Oh cole slaw, I never knew ya'! About the author: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt is the Chief Creative Officer of Serious Eats where he likes to explore the science of home cooking in his weekly column The Food Lab. You can follow him at @thefoodlab on Twitter, or at The Food Lab on Facebook. Get the Recipe!    | ||||||||||||
| Posted: 15 Jul 2013 11:10 AM PDT [Photograph: Amber Gibson] Last year, my colleague Roger wrote about a couple of the vegetarian options at Yusho. I recently ventured to Yusho for the first time, loved my meal and wanted to share a couple more dishes. It's been almost two years since Matthias Merges opened Yusho, but they are still going strong. I can understand why friends in the restaurant industry rave about this place. One of several specials for the day was a bok choy salad ($5). I've always sautéed bok choy in a wok and it never even occurred to me to eat the vegetable raw. This was quite a refreshing variation and I was impressed with the quality of the vegetable. On its own, raw bok choy has nice crunch, but admittedly not much flavor, so the sweet and sour pickled beets and a tangy tofu vinaigrette helped the dish shine. A sprinkling of crispy leeks kept the dish from being too healthy. A heartier vegetarian plate is the maitake mushroom ($14), served with small cubes of dashi gelée, frisée, and poached egg. There's even a rich egg vinaigrette that might seem like overkill on top of creamy egg yolk, but the dressing has a touch of citrus to brighten it up. Our server recommended mixing everything up before digging in, so I happily "tossed" the salad before spooning a lion's share onto my plate. Sometimes I'm not the best at sharing. To finish off a meal on a hot summer day, nothing could be better than hibiscus soft serve ($6.25). The light ice cream is none too sweet, with a sour tamarind sauce helping to bring out the subtle hibiscus flavors. Crumbles of sansho pepper cookie are the sweetest component of the dessert. There could have been a little more cookie crunch for my taste, but I'd definitely order this again, after trying the two other dessert options—mochi with strawberry and chocolate and tofu doughnuts. These dishes, along with the tempura vegetables, gobo root and grilled tofu will please any vegetarian diner and make for a satisfying meal. Yusho2853 N Kedzie Avenue, Chicago, IL 60618 (map)    | ||||||||||||
| Ask the Critic: Can I Do Tasting Menus with My Food Intolerances? Posted: 14 Jul 2013 03:13 PM PDT [Illustration: Robyn Lee] Editor's note: Here to answer your questions is contributing writer, former managing and SENY editor, and frequent author of our NYC restaurant reviews Carey Jones. We'll take a few of your questions each week and give you the New York restaurant advice you're looking for. Email carey@seriouseats.com with the subject line Ask the Critic to submit your question! This week on Ask the Critic: Can I eat at high-end restaurants, and even try their tasting menus, despite my severe food intolerances? Can I Do Tasting Menus With My Food Limitations?
It's an awful feeling to be "that guy." And I sympathize; I myself try to avoid being "that girl." Out of nowhere about three years ago, I developed a severe allergy to raw carrots; it sounds ridiculous, even to me. I'd always raised an eyebrow when people claimed such specific allergies; peanuts or soy, sure—carrots, really? But after a rather harrowing episode of anaphylactic shock, IV antihistamines, and an allergy test to confirm, I realized that I'd better avoid 'em. At restaurants, I try to be as unobtrusive as possible; don't like calling attention to myself, don't like to make special requests. And carrots are bright orange—I can just eat around them, right? Still, after a few dinners worrying that that vegetable soup might have carrots hidden in it, or not knowing whether a roasted vegetable mash had parsnips (can't do those, either), I learned that I'd better just leave it to the kitchen. The more information they have, the better. No one wins when I can't eat the food they prepared for me. But with your level of restrictions, things get a little more complicated. So I asked four high-end New York chefs about your quandary. Here's what they had to say. Bill Telepan of Telepan"It's totally possible to go to a high-end restaurant with dietary restrictions. Most restaurants will generally be able to put something together for you with advanced notice. The best thing to do if you have these restrictions is to just call ahead and find out what the menu is, and tell them what your situation is before you come in. It's not that they can't, it just becomes harder when you come in on a Saturday at 8 p.m. and you then tell them all your restrictions. If you're able to call in ahead of time that's great, if not, I'm sure restaurants are able to accommodate you. Generally, any issues we've received, we've been able to address one way or another." Bryce Shuman of Betony"The short answer is yes! You can dine! We would never turn away a guest or make the person feel anything but welcome, no matter the restrictions. As long as we have a little bit of time (advance notice is always nice, but absolutely not necessary), we're happy to accommodate special requests, from Crohn's Disease, to gluten intolerance, to vegetarianism. A culinary instructor once told me that he used to scoff at cooking for vegetarians, but then he realized that they were seriously considering the food that they ate, rather than just indiscriminately consuming it like the rest of us, and therefore deserved his respect too. I learned another lesson on a personal level when my mother found out 4 years ago that she had been living with a gluten intolerance for her whole life, along with all its symptoms: fatigue, headaches, GI distress, etc. She's always been an excellent baker, and now she makes a number of gluten free rolls and baked goods that are just as fantastic as the treats she made me when I was growing up. She helped me to be aware that many people have certain dietary restrictions. "I've tried to carry this awareness into the kitchen. For example, at Betony we offer gluten free alternatives for our rolls and crunchy snacks, and gluten free crumbles on the deserts and croutons on salads. When I worked at Eleven Madison Park we once had a gentleman come in for lunch who only liked to eat potatoes, beef, and onions, so I prepared 11 courses of nothing but dishes containing those items. I am not saying we are a free-for-all, come get whatever you want; if you want mac and cheese from a box or kung pao chicken, we'll steer you in a direction that is closer to the style of food we prepare and are proud of, but we will do whatever we can to make sure our guests leave happy with their experience, rather than worried about any special dietary requests. We'll adapt and cater to your needs the best we can; with a little planning and communication, anything is possible." Harold Dieterle of Perilla, The Marrow, Kin Shop"We make an effort not only to accommodate most every kind of dietary restriction, but also challenge ourselves in the kitchen to do something awesome for those customers; not simply make the dish "acceptable," which would be kind of mailing it in. For example, in response to customer demand, we've created a number of dishes at Kin Shop that are specifically gluten free. As for Crohn's Disease, which we know really has a lot of restrictions associated with it, if a customer calls in advance to ask the ingredients in Perilla's tasting menu, then tells us which ones they can't eat, we're happy to tweak those dishes." Michael Anthony of Gramercy TavernGenerally speaking, we're in a pretty luxurious situation at a restaurant like Gramercy Tavern—with the number of cooks, the size of the kitchen, the nature of the menu; we have a ton of flexibility. It's built into the woodwork of the restaurant—from the very beginning, we have servers approaching the table, listening carefully, empowered by knowledge and familiarity of dealing with special requests. "What's best is if the guest calls about 24 hours in advance; that makes it easiest, so I can put some ideas together, then run it by the guest and say—how does this sound? It gives the guest the time to say "I can eat this, I can't eat that"—that's the ideal situation. But if you're just walking in the door, and say 'Here's my story,' that's manageable too. "We're also able to accommodate requests given the way we cook; we prep our ingredients to get ready for service, of course, but don't do much cooking pre-service—dishes are fired from raw to order. That makes it ultra-easy to hold back certain ingredients—we're lucky to be able to deal with special requests well, with a great amount of dexterity. "I could imagine that it's difficult for a guest with serious allergies or restrictions to walk into a restaurant; you're counting on a lot of people to listen to you, and understand your needs very specifically. You might have learned from experience that things can go wrong, which must be painful and probably often scary. But we train our servers to take restrictions seriously. It's in the culture of the restaurant to listen closely and always accommodate." Ask Us!Email carey@seriouseats.com with the subject line Ask the Critic to submit your question. All questions will be read, though unfortunately not all can be answered. About the author: Carey Jones is the former Senior Managing Editor of Serious Eats. Follow her on Twitter (@careyjones).    | ||||||||||||
| Ask a Sommelier: What's the Best Wine for Seafood? Posted: 15 Jul 2013 11:52 AM PDT  VIEW SLIDESHOW: Ask a Sommelier: What's the Best Wine for Seafood? In the hot summer months, even if we can't be relaxing by the beach, we find ourselves planning meals that revolve around seafood: briny raw oysters, buttery lobster rolls, wild salmon charred on the grill. But what should we drink? Sauvignon Blanc? Muscadet? What about red wines? How do you go about choosing a wine for seafood dishes? We asked our sommelier crew for a few wine-and-fish tips. Here's what they had to say. Chat with SE: Drinks on Twitter. Keep in the loop with our weekly newsletter.    | ||||||||||||
| 13 Blueberry Dessert Recipes To Make This Summer Posted: 14 Jul 2013 02:57 PM PDT  VIEW SLIDESHOW: 13 Blueberry Dessert Recipes To Make This Summer With the hot days of summer in full swing, blueberries are on our radar for dessert. And while we love a classic blueberry pie, why not try something different this summer? Try out our recipes for everything from a refreshing blueberry ginger sorbet to a crumb topped apple-blueberry pie. Click through the slideshow to see all 13 dishes or go straight to the recipes below. Go straight to the recipesApple Blueberry Pie Cake    | ||||||||||||
| My Pie Monday: Sourdough Focaccia, Crispy Pork Belly, Squash Blossom Pizza, and More! Posted: 15 Jul 2013 09:29 AM PDT  This week's round-up of homemade pies will have you jonesing for a slice of your own. Check out the full My Pie Monday array in the slideshow! And, of course, if you're making pizza at home, don't forget to share! Send us a shot for next week's My Pie Monday. Just take one snapshot of your homemade pizza, briefly describe your cooking method, and follow these instructions to get it to Slice HQ by 8pm EST on Thursday night. Please title your email "My Pie Monday" and make sure to include your Serious Eats username! Looking for inspiration? Find dozens of recipes and home kitchen adaptations in our Pizza-Making Guide or peruse our collection of past My Pie Monday contributions. Even if you're not baking your own pies, we definitely want to hear about the ones you're eating. Submit to My Best Slice to help us spotlight the great pizza being enjoyed across the country. We don't care whether it's a super-simple corner slice or a fancy-pants pie, so long as its memorable. Send a photo and short description to pizz[at]seriouseats.com! About the author: Niki Achitoff-Gray is the associate editor of Serious Eats and a part-time student at the Institute of Culinary Education. She's pretty big into pizza. Also, she likes offal. A lot.    | ||||||||||||
| 34 Hot and Spicy Recipes for Summer Posted: 15 Jul 2013 09:19 AM PDT  VIEW SLIDESHOW: 34 Hot and Spicy Recipes for Summer Though it might seem counter-intuitive to chow down on hot, spicy foods when the mercury is hovering at an ungodly level, we promise these dishes are actually known to have a cooling effect. Here are thirty-four hot and spicy recipes for the days of summer ahead. Appetizers, Snacks, and Sides
East AsiaGrilled MainsOther MainsTex-Mex and South of the Border
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| Anatomy of a Smorgasburg Pop Up: How to Pay for Smorgasburg Posted: 14 Jul 2013 02:17 PM PDT Ron and Leetal serving a customer at Smorgasburg. [Photographs: Chris Crowley] Editor's note: What's it like to be a vendor at Brooklyn's popular—and competitive—outdoor market Smorgasburg? For the next few weeks we'll be turning our attention to NY Shuk, who we introduced you to in May. Smorgasburg is by no means a cheap venture, nor a cash cow, and for even the most popular and critically acclaimed new vendors, breaking even is the best you can hope for most weeks. That means you'll need another way to pay for the market, which seldom pays for itself. A dependable income outside of the market is a necessary evil, but also a path to other opportunities. For many vendors, working at Smorgasburg is a passion project they pursue while holding down a regular 9-5. These tend to be the entrepreneurs who came to the culinary world later in the game, or simply those peddling a pre-made product yet to penetrate the market. But for the culinary professionals who have made the leap into Smorgasburg, there's a much more appealing way to pay for your stand: private catering through your own business. This is how Ron and Leetal Arazi have floated their Smorgasburg stand NY Shuk, finding work through young ventures like Kitchen Surfing but primarily through their own website. In the past month, almost all of their income has come through catering contracted through their website. Often they are cooking for large parties, not simply a couple who wants a meal, and they got four gigs in June alone. It's become more a fruitful business than Ron and Leetal ever imagined. One Brooklyn family, who found out about NY Shuk through a friend, asked Ron to join them for a seven-week period at their Lake Chautaqua summer home. But Ron won't be spending his whole summer there—he'll be commuting back and forth weekly to finalize the company's first line of products—but the vendor will be taking a few weeks off from Smorgasburg in the meantime. After weeks of unsteady work at low margins, this stable revenue stream must offer some relief to Ron and Leetal. The gig leaves little time for experimentation at the company, but it's the best option for an experienced cook in Ron's position. It's a chance to work under and promote your own brand, an opportunity to work on technique, and the possibility of meeting more people who will want you to cook for them—or even who may be interested in investing. The decision to break from Smorgasburg for the rest of July (returning in August) is an easy one for Ron and Leetal. The reason they are there is exposure, plain and simple. If the crowds dwindle in July and are generally disinterested in anything but slushies—even hugely popular vendors like Red Hook Lobster Pound don't garner the same crowds—it doesn't make sense to be there. The time investment is too significant and, as they told me, they need to focus squarely on where they can make the biggest impact at the moment. And right now, their eyes are on your pantry. PreviouslyA Look at Couscous Specialists NY Shuk » About the author: Chris Crowley is the author of the Bronx Eats and Anatomy of A Smorgasburg Pop Up columns. Follow him on Twitter, if you'd like. In person, your best bet is the window seat at Neerob, or waiting in line at the Lechonera La Piranha trailer.    | ||||||||||||
| Chicago: Scenes From the 6th Annual Roscoe Village Burger Fest Posted: 14 Jul 2013 07:21 PM PDT  VIEW SLIDESHOW: Chicago: Scenes From the 6th Annual Roscoe Village Burger Fest [Photographs: Dennis Lee] Chicago's summer street festivals have a ton of different themes, ranging from Guinness and oysters, ribs, music festivals, and of course, burgers. The Roscoe Village Burger Fest is still going strong after six years, and as Chicago's current AHT correspondent, I had to check it out last weekend. You know, so I can maintain my burger street cred and all. This year we had 14 restaurants slinging beef at a very happy sun-drenched crowd who were happy to eat up every little bite. So kick back, relax, and enjoy the slideshow! About the author: After a failed attempt at starting a chain of theme restaurants called "Smellen Keller," Dennis Lee traveled the world to discover his true passion. Sadly, midwifery didn't pan out. Now he works in a cubicle, and screws around as much as possible. Follow his shenanigans on Twitter. Love hamburgers? Then you'll Like AHT on Facebook! And go follow us on Twitter and Pinterest while you're at it!    | ||||||||||||
| Whoopie Invasion: 6 Pounds of Pie Posted: 12 Jul 2013 03:40 PM PDT [Photographs: Robyn Lee] Though it began as a roadside seafood shack in Kittery, Maine in 1956, Bob's Clam Hut has evolved into so much more. The quaint joint on Route 1 that Robert "Bob" Kraft started in his parents' backyard has gone beyond frying and is making a foray into baking. That's right, these fine fish purveyors seem to know their way around a whoopie pie, as they sent us a complimentary 6 pound cream-filled cake mass. We at Serious Eats are accustomed to receiving various promotional sweets, but this was on a whole different level. The pie, larger than a human head and oozing white oreo-like filling, was on the same scale as the fare from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. [Photograph: Max Falkowitz] That said, it was a satisfying afternoon snack. The cream, though a little gritty and oily by itself, went nicely with the surrounding moist chocolate cake. In terms of taste, it reminded us of Drake's Devil Dogs, as the fluffy innards coated by the black slabs of pie had a similar sweetness and soft texture. Given the immense size of the dessert, the experts at Bob's came through.    | ||||||||||||
| 5 Ballparks with Great Craft Beer Posted: 15 Jul 2013 10:33 AM PDT [Illustration: Robyn Lee] Baseball may be America's favorite pastime, but for many beer fans, being taken out to the ballgame has often meant being faced with a limited draft pick, flavor-wise. Luckily, growing popularity and interest in small-production beer has inspired stadiums to begin covering their bases when it comes to beer options. Here's just a few of the best ballparks in the country to get your craft beer on while you root, root, root for the home team. Petco Park, San DiegoNaturally, a stadium situated in one of America's most prolific craft beer production regions has stepped up when it comes to craft beer selection. Hometown heroes like Stone, Green Flash, and AleSmith can be found at designated craft beer kiosks, as well as other California favorites like Sierra Nevada and Firestone Walker. And if that weren't proof positive of the Padres' home field advantage in the craft beer arena, they've gone and opened a Ballast Point Brewing Company Beer Garden for the 2013 season. Because watching your batter swing away is always better with fresh Sculpin IPA in hand. Comerica Park; Detroit TigersA strong focus on local breweries is evident in the park's craft beer outpost. Fans can consistently find attendants pouring a whopping 26 different beers from Michigan-based breweries. Numerous brews from Bell's Brewing, New Holland, Founder's, Atwater, and Arcadia are available in a range of styles. While many parks seem to focus on pilsners, wheat beers, and IPAs as a standard, this stadium dives headfirst into everything from Bell's Kalamazoo Stout to Founders Scotch Ale and New Holland Monkey King Saison, making craft beer fans feel right at home. [Illustration: Robyn Lee] Coors Field; Colorado RockiesThe namesake is definitely not the only option on the beer menu at Coors Field. Colorado is home to a plethora of craft breweries, and the likes of New Belgium, Breckenridge, Odells, and Oskar Blues have all found a home at the Rockies' home field. The Sandlot brewpub is also onsite; this could be considered a kind of Blue Moon "test kitchen" where the original Coors-owned Belgian Wit is brewed and served, but you can also sample some interesting variations and one-off offerings that you won't find anywhere else. AT&T Park; San Francisco GiantsAT&T Park is situated right on the water, treating fans to a stunning view of the San Francisco Bay. While they take in the sights, they can also find a slew of craft suds including local favorites like Anchor Brewing, Drake's, and 21st Amendment. Like San Diego, the San Franciscan ballpark has also recently designated one of their city's most renowned breweries their very own beer garden. The Anchor Taproom & Plaza opened for the 2012 season giving fans access to their flagship Steam Beer as well as seasonal specialties and even some spirits from the Anchor Distillery. Citi Field; New York MetsThe New York ball clubs have settled into new stadiums over the last few seasons, but it is the Mets that have really brought their A game in the craft beer category. Brooklyn's Sixpoint Brewery is represented with options like Sweet Action and Bengali Tiger IPA, along with fellow New York breweries like Long Island's Blue Point, Brooklyn Brewery, and Brewery Ommegang of Cooperstown. And if you're looking for a little something beyond the ubiquitous ballpark hot dog to pair with your beer, you can wash down a Shackburger from Shake Shack or a pulled pork sandwich from Manhattan's famed Blue Smoke, both of which have outposts in the new Citi Field. How's the beer selection at your home stadium? Tell us about it in the comments below. About the Author: Stef Ferrari is a Brooklyn-based Certified Cicerone, food writer/photographer, and author of a forthcoming beer industry guidebook with Wiley & Sons Publishing. In addition to her passion for craft beer, cocktails, and fine food, she considers ice cream to be life's greatest pleasure and spends most spare moments in pursuit of the Mr. Softee truck. Find her on the web and on Twitter at @stef_ferrari.
5 White IPAs to Try This Summer    | ||||||||||||
| Staff Picks: What's the Best Pizza in Chicago? Posted: 15 Jul 2013 06:12 AM PDT  VIEW SLIDESHOW: Staff Picks: What's the Best Pizza in Chicago? [Photograph: Nick Kindelsperger] It's a time of transition for Chicago pizza. With the critically beloved Great Lake either temporarily closed or gone for good, the city's pizza moorings feel just slightly off. The result is that is what I like to think of as a fractured pizza city, which, now more than ever, is divided between old school and new, thick and thin, excessive and stripped down. This isn't necessarily a terrible thing: there isn't one consensus pick, which means it's easier to recognize just how many different kinds of pizza you can find in Chicago. Honestly, I can't think of a better time to take stock and ask our writers about their favorite pizza. In hindsight, Great Lake was the one pizzeria that everyone—thick and thin crust partisans—could agree on. It might not have been everyone's favorite, but no one could deny the artistry in the crust. Can you tell that I miss it dearly? So does our staff. Most mentioned that it would have been their pick last year. Still, that hasn't stopped any of us from eating just as much pizza this year as any other. Without a doubt, there is still great pizza to be found. Where's the Deep Dish?Slice of Lou Malnati's Deep Dish [Photograph: Nick Kindelsperger] Let's get this out of the way quickly, because this is the question most people will want to talk about: there's no deep dish on this list. How could we avoid Chicago's most recognizable style of pizza? Sure, thick crusts make an appearance, but as this fantastic style guide by Daniel Zemans explains, deep dish is a very specific thing. Instead, you'll find stuffed crust and pan pizza, which differ in very important ways from deep dish. The former has an extra layer of dough between the cheese and the sauce, while the latter features a bubbly, focaccia-like crust (not to mention caramelized cheese around the exterior). While no deep dish made the list, I would like to point out that we all don't necessarily hate the style. In fact, I included Lou Malnati's on my list of Touristy Spots in Chicago That Are Actually Good. But none of us apparently love it enough, either. I'm looking forward to your angry comments below. The PicksSince this is a Staff Picks post, this isn't supposed to be an exhaustive list of the best pizzerias you can find in Chicago. Instead, it's a quick sampling of places that our writers actually visit, which I think differentiates it from other "best pizza" lists. None of these places were included because we thought they needed to be. I'll be the first to acknowledge that some very worthy places aren't here, but that's just the nature of picking a favorite. For example, both Burt's and Pat's are in my top five, but neither were my, or anyone else's, favorite. Excuses, I know. If you are looking for a list that best gives a sense of Chicago's pizza scene, you might want to start with this list. But if you're looking for pizza that we genuinely eat all the time, this list is for you. Check out all the picks by clicking on the slideshow, or by visiting the picks below.
More Staff Picks!
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