Food and Things » upper east side

The Best Rugelach and Croisaants: Two New Bakery/Cafes Open on the Upper East Side

Laura Weiss — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 20:22:43 +0000

Rugelach via flckr by by Soup Spoon Blog

Two new bakery/cafes have opened in the last several months on the Upper East Side. Le Moulin a Cafe, a French spot on York Avenue between 76th and 77th streets, serves up some of the best croissants I’ve eaten in the city. Plenty specializes in homey desserts like rugelach and crumb cake, along with cakes and cookies.

Le Moulin a Cafe

Forget all those leaden faux croissants on offer at your neighborhood bodega. Instead, head for Le Moulin a Cafe. The cozy spot opened over the summer when it started dishing up croissants that are as flaky and tender as any I’ve had in France.

The reason? Nicholas Lecuq, the co-owner, imports frozen dough from Brittany. Lecuq’s chef then bakes the dough in-house. Who would think pre-frozen croissants could turn out so well?

The weekday morning I stopped by, the place was hopping. Stroller moms who had dropped their kids at the Lycee Francais de New York across the street, flooded the cafe’s tables. Neighborhoods folks were stopping by too. And I’ll bet there’s more than a few NY Presbyterian docs–cholesterol be damned—who are sampling Le Moulin a Cafe’s offerings as well.

In addition to pastries, there’s a menu of quiche ($10), salads ($11-$12), and entrées (skirt steak with fries ($21) and the like, and wine is coming soon.

Plenty

If it’s old fashioned cakes and cookies you’re hankering for, Plenty is your spot. Arrayed in glass cases, the pastries are pretty much like grandma used to make—and there’s a reason for that. Jessica Weiss, the proprietor and a lapsed MBA, earned her chops baking alongside her grandmother Hannah, one hell of a baker judging by the fare at Plenty.

The crumb cake was light and moist with a buttery, tender topping. Delicious but not for me. For me, the chewier and doughier the cake, the better. The rugelach? I wish that my grandma who’s ruglach were reliably uneatable, had taken some lessons from Hannah. Plenty’s were flaky and not too sweet, just about a perfect bite.

Along with these homey standards, Weiss also offers chocolate cake ($4.75), cinnamon sugar donut muffins ($1.75) and homemade Oreos ($2.50). There are whole cakes for $35-$40 that can also be ordered by the slice.

The place sports a few tables and you can purchase various coffees and teas to go with your pastry.

Le Moulin a Cafe
1439 York Ave
New York, NY
212 288 5088

Monday – 7 am – 9 pm
Tuesday-Thursday – 7 am – 10 pm
Friday – 7 am – 11 pm
Saturday – 8 am – 11 pm
Sunday – 8 am – 9 pm

Plenty
1457 Third Avenue (82nd Street)
New York, NY
212 628 2110

730 am to 730 pm 7 days/week

Cascabel, the Mexican Spot, is Slated To Open This Week on the Upper West Side

Laura Weiss — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 18:14:16 +0000

Cascabel to open soon on the Upper West Side. Photo: Laura B. Weiss

Update: Manager Luce now says Cascabel will open Thursday or Friday, June 30 or July 1.

Cascabel, the popular Upper East Side Mexican spot, is slated to open its new Upper West Side spot soon, possibly in the next few days, according to a manager at the restaurant who identified herself as Luce.

The new outpost, at 2799 Broadway (corner of Broadway and 108th Street) with its trendy menu of tacos, carnitas and other Mexican favoties, is sure to be a hit with Columbia students looking for a moderately priced bite to eat. The place also has a full menu of cocktails.

Will the Upper West Side joint be as noisy as the one across the park? We’ll have to wait and see.

And will Cascabel give Mama Mexico, just down the street at 2672 Broadway, a run for its money?

Let me know what you think of the new place.

Cascabel (Upper West Side)
2799 Broadway (Broadway at 108th Street)
NY NY 10025
212 665 1500

Fairway to Open Up on the Upper East Side

Laura Weiss — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:30:46 +0000

Upper East Siders may finally be able to shed their grocery store inferiority complexes now that Fairway is scouting a new store location at 240 E. 86th St., between Second and Third avenues.

Photo: Fairway.

According to Crain’s New York Business, the Upper West Side specialty grocer has its eye on the 60,000 square feet of space that recently housed Circuit City and a Barnes & Noble.

For Upper East Siders, Fairway’s arrival would mean grocery store deliverance. No more schlepping on the crosstown bus to pick up well-priced bottles of olive oil, imported cheeses and other Fairway goodies. Question: if Fairway roosts on the Upper East Side, what’s left to distinguish that neighborhood from the hood across the park?

Hanukkah Food Event: Italian Jewish Culinary Traditions Discussed at Upper East Side New York Synagogue

Laura Weiss — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:00:45 +0000

Just in time for Hanukkah, food writer Leah Koenig will discuss Italian Jewish culinary traditions at a program being held at an Upper East Side synagogue. Did you know that Italian Jews are credited with popularizing eggplant, fennel and pumpkin as far back as the 2nd century BCE? Koenig will discuss how some traditional recipes—think Carciofi alla Guidia, or deep fried artichokes—have attained iconic status in Rome, Italy’s largest and oldest Jewish center.

Roman fried artichoke. Photo:by chingers7 via flickr.

What: Culture in the Cucina. Koenig will explore Italian Jewish cusine. She’ll also provide Italian Jewish Hanukkah recipes and tips on where to find Italian Jewish foods in New York.

When: Sunday, Dec. 13 at 2 pm.

Where: Park East Synagogue 164 E 68th St. Presented by the Jewish Historical Society of New York

How much? $5 admission

Recently Shuttered Upper West Side Bruno Ravioli To Migrate to Upper East Side

Laura Weiss — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:33:43 +0000

When Bruno Ravioli closed its Upper West Side store on for good Sept. 25 it was a sad day for neighborhood pasta lovers. But the Upper West Side’s loss will soon be the Upper East Side’s gain. Bruno will be opening a new uptown shop at Madison and 98th Street, according to company owner Jim Puliatte.

Photo: Bruno Ravioli

Why did Bruno’s abandon its longstanding Upper West Side storefront, situated on Broadway between 78th and 79th streets?

“The lease was up,” explained Puliatte, the third generation of his family to run the beloved Italian food business. Bruno’s began over a 100 years ago when its eponymous founder opened his first emporium peddling homemade pastas, sauces, and Italian delicacies.

“It was a sad day for us,” Puliatte said of the day the Upper West Side store was shuttered. “We begged the landlord to work something out,” he said, adding that with the rent expected to shoot up “42 or 43 percent, you’re out of the box.”

According to Bruno’s web site, the company’s founder, Bruno Cavalli, was said to have compared his business ethic to that of the post office. He was quoted as saying “Neither snow nor sleet nor hail nor rain…. The RAVIOLI must go out!!!”

That’s no longer the case for Italian food-craving Upper West Siders.

Bruno Ravioli Locations

STUYVESANT TOWN
Main Catering Office
282 First Ave.
New York, New York 10009
Tel. 212 254 2156
Fax. 212 254 2380

GRAMERCY
387 Second Ave. (btw. 22 & 23 St.)
New York, New York 10010
Tel. 212 685 7666
Fax. 212 685 7204
Mon – Thurs: 8am-9pm
Fri – Sun: 8am-8pm

North Fork: Nello’s Owner to Open New Restaurant in Greenport

Laura Weiss — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 20:28:04 +0000

Is Greenport, on the North Fork of Long Island becoming unbearably gentrified? You draw your own conclusions.

But one sign of the times is the looming presence of a North Fork version of Nello, the Upper East Side boite that’s home to the rich and hoping-to-be-rich. The Greenport eatery is to be called Seaweed and will be located in the white clapboard house at 314 Main Street that once housed restaurant Ile de Beauté.

Proprietor Nello Balan already has a beachead on the East End. He currently oversees Nello Summertimes, in Southamption, best known for its sky-high prices and glitterati clientele.

North Fork, LI farmstand.

Why is this epicenter of glitz dining locating in what’s still a low-key North Fork seaport village surrounded by farmland and vineyards? After all, Nello prices seem way beyond the day trippers and families with kids in tow who still make up most of Greenport’s tourist trade. The eatery’s New York menu features a $60 veal chop, a tad steep in these recessionary times. And the NY Times in 2005 called the prices at the Southamption place “obscene.”

For the Hamptons set, Nello Summertimes seems like a great fit. But will it work for Greenport?

The planned North For eatery, will be “different” than his other establishments, Balan insisted in a phone interview, adding that he wanted a place that’s “accessible” to Greenporters, both natives and visitors alike. That includes “the rich and not very rich,” he said. The prices for dishes on the “Mediterranean with Long Island hints” menu will “compare with everybody around there” who operates a restaurant, he said.

Across the street from the new establishment, Balan will also be in charge of the cafe in the new upscale hotel that’s taking shape this summer. It’s also set to open in May 2010.

For all his posh dining credentials, Balan appears to be trying to ease into the mellow Greenport groove.

“I love Greenport,” he said. “It’s very unspoied. People are nice. This part of Long Island is very special.” He’s even looking for a house in the area.

And the Hamptons?

“In Southampton they live like they live in the city,” he sniffed, already assuming that North Fork ‘tude toward the more upscale crowd to the south.

Summer Cocktails in New York Are Spilling Over Everywhere

Laura Weiss — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:56:14 +0000

Evolution of the Speakeasy, Barney Gallant’s “Speako de Luxe,” 1933. From the collections of the Museum of the City of New York.

Cocktails are very of the moment. Everyone, it seems, is rediscovering Prohibition-era drinks. At the Museum of the City of New York, which is launching Speakeasy at 1220 Fifth, they’re offering up a free drink with your paid admission.

Did you know that from 1926-1932, the city’s speakeasy count topped 32,000 establishments?

Then, there are new concoctions being shaken (or stirred) all the time. Take the Plaza Hotel’s Pomona. I haven’t tasted it yet, but with honey, wine and other ingredients culled from producers within 100 miles of New York City, this drink sports all the trappings of sustainability.

Here’s how to get your free drink at the City Museum:

What: The Speakeasy at 1220 Fifth

When: Wednesdays, July 15 – Aug. 26, 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

What: Listen to the music and drink the spirits of the era on the Museum’s Fifth Avenue Terrace. Admission includes one free drink and access to the Museum’s first-floor galleries. No reservations, tickets sold at the door

What’s It Cost? Museum Members: $10, Non-Members: $12

East Side, West Side: Which Has Better Bagels?

Laura Weiss — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 01:40:55 +0000

Which New York neighborhood can lay claim to the best bagels?

There are East Siders who say Ess-a-Bagel on Third Ave and 52nd St (also on 21st Street at Third) produces the best bagels in the city. West Siders insist that Absolute Bagels on Broadway at 107th St has no equal. Some swear by H & H, the bagel maker with a store next to Zabar’s on Broadway at 80th.

By all rights, the Upper West Side, with its substantial Jewish population, should be the home to the very best bagels. But it’s the East Side, which skews goyish, that can claim boasting rights. Here’s the line-up.

1. Ess-a-Bagel. Why schlep to the East Side when there are perfectly fine bagels on the other side of the park? The reason is Ess-a-Bagel. These gigantic chewy orbs are tender, but not doughy, with almost a perfect crunch. A pumpernickel slathered with cream cheese is a meal to sigh over. Plus, you can’t beat the atmosphere. If you go before Rosh Hashanah, you’ll spy a couple of yentas kibbutzing at a table off to the side. There, they sell honey cake and just a little bit of gossip as they schmooze the day away with a steady stream of regulars.

2. Absolute Bagels. Lauded by some as the best bagels in the city, Absolute Bagels are smaller, breadier and sweeter than the ones at Ess-a-bagel. Absolute’s bagel makers are Thai, but they must have Jewish souls to produce this quality product, which has a nice chew, but at the end of the day, places second to Ess-a-Bagel.

3. H & H. This is the default bagel. If you don’t feel like trekking up to Absolute on the edge of Morningside Heights, H & H turns out a completely serviceable bagel. Way too doughy and not chewy enough, these bagels would be stars in any other part of the country. But in New York, there’s stiff competition, and H & H just doesn’t quite measure up.

Absolute Bagels

2788 Broadway (107th-108th Sts.)

212 932 2052

Ess-a-Bagel

359 1st Avenue

New York, NY 10010

Phone: 212 260 2252

831 3rd Avenue

New York, NY 10022

Phone: 212 980 1010

H & H Bagels

2239 Broadway

New York, NY

212 595 8000

Upper East Side: Learn About America’s Sweet Tooth

Laura Weiss — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:06:26 +0000

If current obesity rates are any indication, sugar is embedded in our national DNA. For an in-depth look at the history of sugar in American culture and society, check out this talk by Francine Segan on her new culinary history, America’s Sweet Tooth.

The Mount Vernon Hotel Museum & Garden will present “America’s Sweet Tooth,” a lecture by author and food historian (and Culinary Historians of NY member) Francine Segan on Tuesday, November 18th, at 6:30 PM.

“America’s Sweet Tooth” is whirlwind tour of the history of sweets in America, complete with samplings of historic sweets and dessert wines (provided by Admiral Imports). Segan also explores the tradition of passing down recipes; the history of cooking instructions as matriarchal gifts; the effects of sugar rationing on food preparation and more. An accompanying pamphlet written by CUNY-Kingsborough English professor Dr. Jane Weiss describes the use of cookbooks and recipes as early forms of mass media in the 19th century.

Tickets are $15 for Museum members and $18 for non-members Reservations are required and can be made at 212.838.6878.

The Mount Vernon Hotel Museum & Garden is located at 421 East 61st Street between York and First Avenues. Nearest subway: N, W, R, 4, 5, 6 at the 59th Street/Lexington station.