Kittichai - Dope Thai Brunch Spot That Won't Break the Bank

Last week, I celebrated the birthday of one my new favorite people, Kristen Rich.  Kristen is both friend and employee, as we've collaborated on several nightlife events over the past year and a half.  A unique blend of advanced maturity and organizational skills make Kristen a real winner in my book, and I'd probably do most anything for her at this point in our lives. So when she asked about 15 friends to squad up for brunch in SoHo, despite a long night out on the city, I was both honored and naturally down.


Kristen selected Kittichai, which, coincidentally, is where I ended up on New Year's Eve after a minor snafu.  I don't want to get into it....

Wait, why are there flowers flying all over the place?  Well, the place is pretty magical..

Kittichai is a dope sexy brunch spot to which you can take a date.  Let's spend some time profiling the place:

The Bar

Decent Wine Selection

You know I had to let the Canon blast off and limit all of the color to the fruit

Ya feel me?

 The dining area is outta control...

The Lead-in to the dinner area.

Lily Pads floatin' in the water with flowers floating above in the sky.

For some reason, this was slightly balleristic to me and reminded me of P. Diddy's "Victory Video." Where he had mermaids swimmin' in the club.

 Something like this...

Ok, maybe not this... but what would YOU think if you walked into a club and saw a mermaid in the pool? 

And now back to your regularly scheduled programming...


$35 dollars at Kittichai gets you an entree and a 2-hour bottomless "happy hour" comprised of bellinis and mimosas.  This includes tax AND TIP.  Needless to say, everyone was a big fan of this, as it facilitated the optimal state in which to celebrate Kristen's birthday.  Entrees ensued:

Asian 5 Spice French Toast, Thai Basil and Fruit compote. Despite being rated a 6 out of 10, it was gobbled up with the quickness.

Smoked Salmon, grilled naan bread, onion, fresh mozz, cream cheese, tomatoes. Standing ovay.

The young lady who ate this described the dish as pretty tasty.  She was impressed by how well all the ingredients came together.  The fresh mozzarella was a new twist on the traditional locks dish.

Kittichai Omlette, Thai Sour sausage, Jumbo crab

The Kittichai omelet was a fan favorite.  I think it took home the gold medal.  Peep the comments by some of my guests:

"This was possibly the best omelet I've encountered in life."  - BC


"I concur. the friggin' best. and i don't even think there was any cheese involved. Imagine that." -KB






So if you know me, you know I gots to be different.  Some may ask, "Food Mave, why you gots to be different?"  It's just what I do.  As Busta Rhymes said in his famous rap song "Gimme Some More," if I ain't gon be part of the greatest, I gotta be the greatest myself."   I decided NOT to do the bottomless drink brunch and decided to go WITH an option with a little more value.  It was Restaurant Week, after all, and I spotted the deal of the day. Besides Saturday had been a rough night :-( 

For Restaurant week, Kittichai had a $20 three course prix-fixe lunch that I couldn't pass up.  So I sacrificed the drink to holler at somemore food.  This is what I got:

Seared Duck Soy Broth with Asian celery and young coconut.  First of all, what the heck is "young coconut"???  Sounds like a suspect rapper to me.  Young Money, baaaaby...

The seared duck soup was a great appetizer. Because it was light and did not fill one up, it only moderately opened up my taste buds.  The soy and coconut married very well -t he coconut wasn't overpowering because the soy curtailed the sweetness - and the dish left me wanting the main course.

Kittichai gets a B on this dish and a C+ on presentation.  C'mon son...

The chili-smoked hanger steak, long beans, and preserved chili jam was good! They didn't overwhelm you with massive amount of meat (full stop), which was nice.  But the dish wasn't amazing.  I might just get that good 'ol Pad Thai next time and call it a wrap. #WhenBeingDifferentGoesWrong

The Flourless Valrhona Cake (which came wrapped in some foilage) with fresh cream. B+ on taste. A- on presentation.

Watching my weight, I got my Tenacious D on with the flourless cake (for those of you who don't know what I'm referring to by Tenacious D, shame on you!  Check out Jack Black HERE) because I'm trying to watch my weight.  The dish was good and went well with the cream.

Overall, Kittichai is a sexy spot worthy of any date.  The low ceilings and tranquility pool in the middle really set a nice ambiance.  Furthermore, it won't break the wallet because there's no regularly-priced entree above $16.  It's also great for large parties with friends you really care about.


Aight, it's time to go play some basketball.


Maven Out!

Italian Spot "a Voce": Not Great..

a Voce - 10 Columbus Circle

Happy Chinese New Year, everyone!  I decided to celebrate the new year with the woman who got me into the food game, Jean Hsu (clap for 'em!).  A warm and bubby lyricist (formerly a part of the rap group "Trillionaire Troupe"), Jean's got a gastrointestinal system similar to that of German engineering. I'm not on her level yet but I'm trying to get there. We decided to do a simultaneous blog on the same place tonight.  You can check out her post at www.jeanjhsu.com.
I walked into a Voce amazed.  Situated in the Time Warmer Building overlooking Columbus Circle, the brown-marble ceiling and dimly-lit restaurant intimidated me.  As I stared eye to eye with Christopher Columbus, I thought, "Have I reached the top of New York's star restaurants???"
No..
A Voce was like a Claude Monet - it looks great from afar but is, in actuality, just a bunch of brush strokes when you get close.  #Impressionism 

Insalata di scarola - Glorified Egg Salad

I should have know I was in trouble when it took me 10 minutes to figure out what I was going to order.  As a result, I just picked something.  And what came out?  Egg salad.  I mean, not yo' grandmammy's egg salad but some lettuce with an egg on top.  #PLAYED.   But real talk, it was good.  The insalata was made with escarole, warm pancetta vinaigrette, a soft boiled farm egg, and pecorino romano (sidenote: pecorino is quickly becoming my new favorite cheese  I was exposed to it at Barbuto).  In spite of the goodness I couldn't help but feel a little played.
But at least this pic I took was illy:

Shout out to the Cannon S95.

Jean got the funghi al forno (mushrooms and hazelnuts)..

She thought it was str8, at best...

Moving on.  I ordered the tagliatelle.  Tagliatelle (from the Italian tagliare, meaning "to cut") is a traditional type of pasta from Emilia-Romagna and Marches, regions of Italy. Individual pieces of tagliatelle are long, flat ribbons that are similar in shape to fettuccine and are typically about 0.65 cm to 1 cm (0.25 to 0.375 inches) wide.  This dish comprised of braised chicken ragu (I pretty much like braised anything), chicken liver (I grew loving liver as a four year-old, true story), and truffle.

  

The Good: This ain't your Ronzoni (shout out to Luther Vandross!). This pasta was fresh. Because it was not overcooked, the pasta had tons of texture. The chicken liver was a welcomed surprise and took me back to those 4-year old days when I used to love the stuff.  I should announce that Jean and I had two other guests with. One of our friends, Char, loved the dish.
The Bad: The dish was salty.  Long ago, my friend and newly-minted iron man athlete Brian Shields ( did you know that African Americans make up .5% of all triathletes?  See his short film HERE) told me that proper amounts of salt actually unlock flavor in ingredients.  The salt sucks up liquid, thus pulling flavors from their subterranean layers to the surface to greet your taste buds.  This time, however, the food was just too damn salty and hypertentious (I know that's not a real word) thoughts danced around in my head..(gotta watch my salt intake).

Orecchiette Nere:
hand crafted squid ink pasta, lobster, chickpeas, chilies. Jean absolutely HATED her dish...

Jean hated her dish.  The visceral reaction resulting from ingestion of the Orecchiette was cause for concern because I've never seen Jean loathe a dish in all my outings with her.  I was heated because the restaurant just pissed my friend off.  Silence ensued.   Good thing I was in an Italian restaurant and that ol' good affogato came to the rescue.

Son..

If you've read enough of my posts, then you know that when my captions get "urban" it's a sign that I'm blown away (See the "boom" picture in the post entitled Looking For a Date Spot? Beauty and Essex!).  The affogato was the highlight of the night.  Rather than dousing the vanilla gelato in a shot of espresso, a Voce douse that joint with coffee-infused soda!  In the words of that AT&T commercial, when the four people are riding in that car while waiting for the joke to download, "that was sooo dumb!"  I loved it.  The dish popped (pun intended)!  Yes, that's straw in the picture, and, yes, it was used! It was like a root beer float but with no root beer.  The cookies were lame and difficult to eat, but I went IN on the affogato.
Service: just okay...not worth the price of admission.. Additionally, the bartender tried to play me because I was ordering a glass of rose in the winter.  #C'monSON!  Best believe he got that zero tip (or maybe he didn't. I'm not that cruel, am I? #ArteCafe :-). Furthermore, upon wrapping up dinner, the waiter tried to play me like I couldn't do math after I itemized the bill... SMH.
Scene: Pretentious. The reason I say so is because the food isn't good given the grandiose decor. The large spacious and beautiful dining area seems like people just come here to be seen. My affinity for the interior design slowly degenerated over the course of the evening.
The best part about the night was that I got a chance to hang out with old friends and meet a new friend who knew a ton about media.  We talked about Nigerian blogging, network spot advertising, the Pittsburgh Steelers (goin' for that Black and Yellow on Sunday!), Wiz Khalifa & Amber Rose(?), Biggie Smalls, the NBC-Comcast merger and debated the merits of  GE's past ownership of NBC's.  In short, my peeps rock because we have sloppy conversations. We're literally all over the place.
Be sure to check Jean's a Voce wrap-up @ Essential Luxuries.  I reckon that we're on the same page.

Jean is to my right.

Recommendation on a Voce:  PASS
And I'm out!
- Food Mave

Socarrat Paella Bar

Soccarat Paella Bar - 219 W 19th St. bet. 7th & 8th Ave.

"Socarrat (Catalan), quintessence of the perfect paella and for which the restaurant is named, is the delectable, sensuous crust that forms on the bottom of the paella pan when the liquid is rendered and the rice reaches its peak of succulence."

After a long day of work, me and my boys got together from some good ol' brothershipping. We were finally celebrating Keith's new job at a premier Wall Street firm and Josh's new job on the West Coast,  meaning he's chuckin' the deuces to New York City. While I am extremely sad to lose my favorite homie and former Brooklyn and college roommate, the breaking news means that I am able to release Josh's greatest dining secret: Socarrat Paella Bar, a small cozy spot in the heart of Chelsea.  Josh always swore me to secrecy on this place, and it is with great honor and respect that I share it with you.

Socarrat is bifurcated by exposed brick that separates the establishment into a wine bar and a small dining room. I arrived a few minutes late to find the Nupes indulging in the institution's sangria. We then started a bottle of pinot noir and brought the bottle with us over to the dinning room.

I use the phrase "dining room" instead of dining area because it is barely larger than the room where mom and dad served you most of your favorite meals. It seats like 30 people at any given time.

Cochinillo - Roasted Suckling Pig rested on a bed of sauteed spinach

I've stated in past posts that I'm not a fan of swine, but I am quickly discovering the the versatility of the other white meat. I have now welcomed pork into my life.  The conchinillo (a special not on the menu) tastes like a very tender pork chop without the bone.  The meat actually peels out in layers.  I  The bacon fat glaze accentuates the meal.

Bonito - Tuna Belly,  Fresh Spinach, Cherry Tomatoes, Olive Oil

I can't describe this tapas dish better than Josh did that night:

"The Spinach balances out the rest of the flavors. With the saltiness of the tuna belly and the sweet tartness of the cherry tomatoes, the spinach cuts it."


Indeed!


The main event...

Paella Socarrat - chunks of chicken, fish & beef, shrimp, cuttle fish, green beans, mussels, cockle clams

Remember when momma use to use make a rice dish and sometimes the bottom would get burnt, and you'd leave that party for your annoying little brother?  Well, you're not leaving that part to chance.  The paella is served piping hot, but the waiter insists that you give the dish time to let the bottom caramelize. This is the essence of socarrat.  The caramelized part is the best...

Josh, I'm gonna miss your DSLR Camera..

Service

Because the place is so small, it's hard for the service to be bad.  However, the waiters don't slack.  They are are social, personable, and, most importantly, attentive.  They flow in and out of conversation effortlessly.  If you can, I recommend sitting toward the back because the waiter back there rocks (I've ended up in the back twice, second time on purpose).  No disrespect to the waiter upfront.

Experience

Because this spot is cozy, it's a choice spot for the small gathering (2-3 people max...maybe 4).   The spot is intimate and not intimidating at the same time.  What you see is what you get: great food and good wine.


- Food Mave

Italian Garage - Barbuto

Barbuto - 775 Washington St. (West Village)

The Scene:

Barbuto is set in a refurbished garage with garage door and everything!

The kitchen...

Happy Restaurant week everyone!

Like everyone in NYC, my schedule is very busy.  But me and my "Tarheel friend" (that's like an oxymoron to a Dukie like myself) finally got in the books for a rendezvous.  In a change of pace, I let her pick the location of the meeting and she selected Barbuto, an Italian restaurant owned by chef, restaurateur, and author Jonathan Waxman. Waxman appeared on Top Chef Masters, where he placed 4th from 18 competitors.  I was crunk to attend.

Both of us had grandiose plans of working out, so we decided drink not to and to split everything.  #cheapermeal

Antipasti - Polenta topped w/ Lamb Ragu

I must confess, I am still a novice in Italian food, so when Tarheel suggested polenta, I was a little apprehensive.  The polenta dish was comprised of soft polenta, marscapone cheese, mushrooms and lamb ragu over which pecorino (that bomb cheese that I will be copping next time I'm at Whole Foods) was sprinkled.  The dish was very flavorful. For my Southern folk, think high-quality cheese grits. You can taste each polenta bit .  The lamb ragu was very tender.   Ragu, to me, means "braised to the 15th power".  At times, the unique texture of lamb can be distracting to the taste.  The ragu style allowed us to focus on the robust flavor.

Primi - Gnocchi

The gnocchi (potato dumplings) - they were made with mushrooms, walnuts, and white wine - were on-point for various reasons. First of all, the dish was lighter than your average gnocchi.  Because they hard boil the potatoes and freeze it before it hits the pan, the gnocchi comes out very airy.  If you've read any of my other posts, then you know I'm big on texture.  The texture was such that the gnocchi molded to my tongue, enabling all parts of my palette to effortlessly participate in the mushrooms, walnuts, and white wine.  The texture really allowed us to fully comprehend the dish with each part of the tongue, which has different sensory objectives.  As Tarheel succinctly described, "when surrounded by good food, eating can be sensual."

Secondini (Entree) - Spigola Ai Ferri

With Obama-esque aspirations of the gym still pulsating through our veins, we got the spigola ai ferri (spigola being Italian for "sea bass" and ai ferri being Italian for "grilled").  The thing with fish is that it really has a taste of its own and shouldn't really be doused in flavors, and Barbuto understands this.  Below the fish sat a bed of grapefruit slices and endives.  I thought the addition of fruit was extremely interesting.  Who thinks to combine fruit with fish? (Come to think of it, Rosa Mexicano's salmon en manchamanteles makes you wanna slap yo' mama - it's that good).  The endive and grapefruit, infiltrated by the fish oil, made for a really good supporting cast.  Barbuto has cemented my belief that fish and fruit go together.  Except with bananas. Not sayin' that I've bad fish and bananas, but I don't see how the two go..

Dolci - Affogato... How sick is this pic?

If you've read my Italian Gem in Harlem post, then you know how I feel about affogato: no Italian meal is complete without it!  Here is our waiter (or his hand, rather), Brad, pouring a shot of coffee over pistachio gelato.  I tried to switch it up with the pistachio, but that was a bad idea. Lucky for me that Brad was kind enough to change it free of charge. #greatservice.

Service

The door girls were not perceptive to seat us once I had joined my friend. This was slightly annoying since it was 6:15pm and the restaurant was somewhat empty.  As we tried to seat ourselves, the "maitre d" rushed out of nowhere to tell us that they couldn't seat us in the corner that I had been eyeing.  It was a little embarrassing, and I say "only a little" because there was no one there when we got there, so I let it pass.  Other than that, service was great.  Water was stealthily replenished when empty, and plates were discarded when used. Our waiter Brad was very friendly and laid back.  He made sure we had good experience.  Make sure you ask for Brad if you go.

The attentive service and delectable food allowed us to focus on a great catch-up session filled with astrology, grad school, movie and relationship (I'm pretty good at dissecting those) discussions. We never made it to the gym, as we both rushed to our respective homes to catch the State of The Union Address.  Tarheel was pretty pleased with the whole experience.  And to think that she almost canceled on me!

Tarheel's bashful.. 

 

- Food Mave

Looking For a Date Spot? Beauty and Essex!

I'm going to start off by saying that friends are the best dates.  Tonight has confirmed this for me.  After a year of trying to get on her calendar, I had the opportunity to catch up with one of my college schoolmates (damn, my mom says schoolmates!) Tuesday night.  She'd just come from a stint from Dubai and I was excited.  After an impromptu dinner offer made on MLK day, she asked me to surprise her.  I merely gave her an address and told her not to Google it.  What better way to surprise her than to take her to restaurant with a pawn shop as a front?

Beauty and Essex is located on 146 Essex St. near Rivington.  The brains behind Midtown East's Tao Restaurant and the LES's Stanton Social came together to create a rare experience where small tapas selections meet mysitque. Without further ado, let's get to business.

Caesar Salad on Crostini

The meal started off with complimentary small Caesar salads on a toasted baguette-like bread.  They must have read my mind because I'm not one for salads.  I don't even like Caesar salad, but this was tasty and just the right portion.

Tomato Tare Tare

If you come here, you have to get the tomato tare tare.  It's like a rite of passage.  The tomato tare tare is like the Derek Jeter (pre-2009-2010) of the line-up: a guaranteed hit.  Made only of tomato topped with quail egg (the most ballinest ish everrrr!) and served on thin crostini, the appetizer packed a punch!  As my waitress succinctly stated, you could close your eyes and think you were biting into steak tare tare.  My amazing friend doesn't do runny egg, but she ate two of these joints.  Beauty and Essex makes you check your pickiness at the door.

Jewels on Toast Section: Roasted Bone Marrow

My mom always said that bone marrow was the best part of any meat.  This confirmed it.  I've never had so much of is at once.  We ate this with some light crostinis served with with rioja braised shallot marmalade. The roasted bone marrow had a gelatin texture to it, but it was unquestionably meaty.  Think about overly braised short ribs and you'll start to understand what this is like. 

Accessories Section: Lobster Bisque Dumplings

At point of the meal it was starting to get serious.  Then out come the lobster bisque dumplings.  Interestingly enough, the starch part of the dumplings had a light flakiness to it that distinguished it clearly from your dim sum.  The sauce in the middle was addictive: the homie brushed the sauce on everything that came after that.   Someone from the Zagat Guide said that the dumplings were a true let down, but they were WRONG.  I seriously felt like I had committed a little sin by eating my crustacean friend..

R.I.P. lil homie..

charred corn, lime, cilantro, chile

Our mom's woulda whooped us if we did not get a vegetable, so we got some corn.

Now for the Main Event

BOOM!

Excuse me if I dip into Ebonics, but "Son!" By far,  the Nori tuna was the Lebron James of the meal.  I might have gotten the name wrong because this was JUST added to the menu, and we ordered it purely off of the strong recommendation of our waitress (she was the truth). This seared tuna was wrapped in cilantro, adorned with succulent mushrooms and sat on a yoga mat (I'm clearly having too much fun) of mashed potatoes.  I told Stevie, our waitress, that I was going to arrest the chef for sprinkling narcotics of this food.  It is addictive and is grounds for returning to the restaurant.

Clearly, we were going in, cuz we weren't done...

Oven Braised Chicken Meatballs with Sheep's Milk ricotta and Wild Mushroom Truffle

You ever have chicken meatballs??? You haven't had them till you been here.  Now I must admit, goat cheese is too much for me, so I wasn't too too happy with the dish, but my friend loves the stinky cheese and she was all over it.  Strictly for the cheese lovers only.

Now that I'm writing this.  We really did go in....

Chocolate Layered Bread Pudding with Hazelnut Ice Cream

We finished up our meal by sharing this beautiful bread pudding desert.  For all my Dukies, this is an improved version of the valrhona chocolate molten cake you get at the Washington Duke Inn.  In that picture, you see my Irish coffee, which accompanies any fine desert of mine.

Service: Best I've experienced anywhere.  Everyone is nice from the bartenders to the help to the coat check (all the ladies there called me hunny, which I liked).  When they needed our table becuase we were yappin', the maitre d' politely interrupted us and offered us a gratuitous drink at the bar. Very classy.  The restaurant understands service.  I'm especially hard on service because, if it sucks, it can ruin the whole eating experience from the start.  This has happen many times, but I won't name names (*cough* Land Thai).

Additionally, everyone there is really really good looking! The place was packed, but the help were very attentive, courteous and coordinated.  Our waitress, Stevie, was well-versed on the menu, as she has been at the establishment since inception, when it used to make the waiters sample EVERYTHING.  We put ourselves in her hands and she did not steer us wrong.  If you plan on coming to Beauty and Essex, ask for Stevie. She's a doll.

Decor: Sexy.  Gentlemen, this is where you go to impress a young or refined lady. Analyst, lawyer, partner, celebrity, spouse, it really doesn't matter.  I give it the "Frank Lucas" guarantee:  I stand behind it.  I guarantee it.

That fact everything was so on-point made it easier for my friend and I to catch up on a year of life.  We chatted on the Middle East, non-profits,  marathons, and relationship ish.  As I said earlier, friends make the best dates.  Take care of them and cherish them and good things will come you way.  Thank you.

-Food Mave