VittlesVamp

I Don't Want Anything Too Sweet

That phrase can make a good bartenders' eyes roll. Why? Because the issue usually isn't sugar. It's that the patron has had one too many poorly make cocktails that relied too heavily on simple syrup to do the work alongside the booze. A well-balanced cocktail can have sugar. It's all in the balance.

Case in point - a drink at The HiHi Room called Rum & Cake. Get it? Rum & Cake! It literally brings together Mount Gay XO Rum and a Coconut Cake in a glass.

I can hear you now, "Ick! That sounds way too sweet for me!"

But this isn't an over sweetened mess. In fact, it is quite the opposite. This an astutely built beverage. Couldn't expect less from HiHi's gifted lead bartender Izzy Tulloch, who just left the Cobble Hill restaurant to join the team at Soho's soon-to-open Milady's.

And, to make matters even more transcendent, let me tell you about that Coconut Cake that's in the drink. It is by none other than celebrated Pastry Chef Caroline Schiff of Gage & Tollner, who was just named one of Food & Wine's Best New Chefs of 2022. That cake has some serious street cred.

The pair wash Lustau Sherries with the cake. Yes, you read right. That is Coconut Caked-washed Sherry in that drink alongside the rum. Then a bit of Coconut Demerara to complete the beverage that will make your eyes roll - roll back into your head with pleasure that is.

Best Donut on the Planet

There is no argument to be had. The crullers at Daily Provisions are transcendent. One bite into the Maple Glazed version, pictured above, and I knew I was dealing with some incomparable, brilliant f*cking donut genius here.

It seriously warrants this review:

YES!!!!!

Fruit & Veg

You expect them together on the produce aisle, but not necessarily together on a plate. Except for a squeeze of citrus atop steaming veggies, fresh fruit and vegetables aren't always seen as a natural pairing.

Yet, two posts below, you'll see an image of a Charred Cabbage Salad from a visit in July to Portland's Canard -- and that cabbage was served with sliced peaches, toasted pine nuts, and a shower of Parmesan.

Good stuff.

And, even more recently, I was surprised and delighted at a local fave called Colonie to tuck into a Watermelon Salad with charred Shishito peppers, smoked ricotta, brown butter, fresh oregano leaves, and toasted pumpkin seeds. On another evening at the same restaurant, I was greeted with a special Tomato and Strawberry Salad.

Yes, yes, tomatoes are also considered a fruit as well as a vegetable, but still!

Tomatoes are a great foil for fresh fruit. In fact, I have been known to make a salad of tomatoes, peaches, red onion and cilantro. Delicious combo!

Have you encountered any couplings between fruit and veg this summer? Could they beat out Bennifer as the new "it couple"? We'll see...

I Finally Tried The Croissant Everyone Has Been Talking About

The amount of press that the Brooklyn Heights' bakery L'Appartement 4F has garnered has been undeniably significant. And, lines of people waiting for their wares have been undeniably significant too.

The big thing at the bakery? Croissants.

Yes, they even sell itty-bitty Croissants packaged as cereal -- but it is the full-size Croissants that locals are clamoring for.

In the bakery's first few months, I tried a few times to snag one. I refused to line up and quickly learned that arriving at 11am was way too late to snag anything except their Tahini-Chocolate Chip Cookies.

While I am sure the cookies are mighty fine, I bake a mighty fine version myself, so that was a hard pass.

The other day the stars aligned. I had an early morning appointment on a late August weekday near Montague Street. I walked by the bakery. Three people in line and I spied Croissants still in the case.

I was going to do it!

I purchased a Croissant of the Raspberry-Almond variety. Pictured above, it has a lot going on. A split, twice-baked lovely, it had the requisite layered, buttery crackle I require in a good Croissant. The raspberry jam filling was sweet, but not a bit cloying. The almond was present, but didn't overtake the jam. The topping was a little much in my book - the dried raspberry bits in particular. That said, it was yummy. Definitely yummy. Stand-in-a-long-line yummy? Nope.

So, there you have it. My review of the Croissant-of-the-moment. Is it my new favorite? Nope again. The location of my favorite Croissant in New York City is only given to a handful of friends that I can trust with that closely-guarded intelligence. I don't want to see L'Appartement 4F-type lines there. I need access. Croissant-access is some of the very best access to have!

Trying Summer Travel

You've all seen the articles and news clips of travel gone wrong this summer. Witness lines that go on for miles at typically efficient airports and a veritable sea of lost luggage at others. It's ugly out there.

So, I decided to keep my passport locked away this summer, instead visiting friends in different parts of the States: Seattle, Portland, and Detroit. Was a good plan -- in part.

Did my flights go horribly awry?

Nope.

My life did.

First up was a client work crisis that started on the weekend of 4th of July. We're talking non-stop, relentless, strategic, detailed, high-alert stuff. And, that might have been OK, if not for....

Covid.

Yes, I got Covid. Been vaxxed and boosted, but still had it bad. Barreled through the crisis work despite utter exhaustion, napping in-between Zoom meetings where possible, hoping I could go on my trip 10 days later. I made it through my 10 days of quarantine, got on the plane to Seattle -- but the crisis communications emergency continued unabated -- now with the fun-filled twist of primary players being in London on GMT when I was on Pacific time.

Fantastic.

Thankfully, even with minimal sleep, I was able to see friends for a bit of beer tasting and a brief sail in Elliott Bay. We also regaled in a glorious dinner at a popular Korean-inspired hot spot called Revel. The restaurant's Short Rib Wontons with fried garlic and chili oil are pictured above. Still thinking about them, as well as the kitchen's deeply satisfying Spicy Miso Rice Cakes sautéed with pork belly and bits of kale.

When I got on a train to head to Portland the next evening, I was hopeful that things would settle down on the work front. No such luck. Consolation prize? Seeing friends, of course -- and also hitting the newly opened Pacific Standard for cocktails and Canard for comfort food with innovative twists and turns. The latter included the chef's famous Duck Stack as well as this brilliant Charred Cabbage Salad with sliced peaches, toasted pine nuts, and a shower of Parmesan...

Delicious as it was, I was tuckered out. My red-eye flight to Detroit a couple days later didn't help. But, more friends awaited. And, so did a visit to Detroit's Eastern Market, as well as socializing at several house parties in the Palmer Woods district. Meals were had as well, including a dinner visit to the very hip Marrow restaurant, where - despite the meat-centric menu - I fell hard for the kitchen's Lobster and Maitake Dumplings with Michigan corn butter, nuggets of sweet lobster meat, lobster broth and Chinese chive...

Am I complaining? Not about the food. Most certainly not about the friends. Just about the whirlwind and lack of shut-eye.

Don't people say that things "slow down" in the summer?!?

Well, let's see what August brings.

My Beard in Philadelphia

Not the type of "beard" you might be thinking of (unless you know me really well). Yes, I am talking about a James Beard Award-winning chef. In this case, Chef Cristina Martinez, the brilliant Mexican chef from Philadelphia who just took home the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic.

Some of you might know her from her featured appearance on Netflix's "Chef's Table," where her restaurant South Philly Barbacoa was spotlighted, along with her amazing culinary skills, her immigration activism, and her overall bad-assery. She is a force on several fronts.

So, I didn't have to think twice about taking MamaVamp to her second restaurant - Casa Mexico - when I came to town.

Started with some Agua Frescas...

I sprinkled some salt into my Watermelon juice. So delicious. And, then the food started arriving. First up, a superlative version of Chicken Enchiladas...

That was followed by Pork Carnitas and Shrimp Tacos that had my tongue buzzing and my eyes rolling back in my head.

When my eyes settled back, I saw her. Chef Martinez, who was working alongside her staff to keep the front room in order. I shouted out a simple "Congrats!" and "Thank you, your food is amazing!" She nodded back with a smile. She knows her food is good. No. Not good. Great. And, yet you could tell that she appreciated hearing it from a customer nonetheless. I cannot imagine that she doesn't hear it all day long. If she doesn't, she should.

Rice Crack Persian-Style

Rice had always been one of those foodstuffs that was a challenge for me to make -- that is, until I finally bought myself a rice cooker. That device has served me well.

Made me brave enough to raise my hand when it came to being in charge of the Tahdig for a Persian dinner party with friends. For those of you who don't know, Tahdig is a gorgeous mound of fragrant Basmati rice, heaped into a pot to be browned and crisped at the bottom. It's sort of rice crack. And, now I had to make the rice crack.

Well, as you can surmise from the photo above, I did it. Well, almost. This isn't proper Tahdig. It's Samin Nosrat's Persian-ish Rice. And, allow me to say that it is an amaze-balls recipe. Worked perfectly!

Am I still scared of rice? Less and less each day. Sure that there are other grains out there that will thwart me, but between my rice cooker and Ms. Nosrat's recipes for the rest of my rice escapades, I got this!

Donut Recovery & Rooftop Drinks

I am seeing signs of recovery in New York. There is still a throwback feeling of living in the Koch-era at times, but I feel like things are pick up steam again. I've seen this concept of a "donut recovery" bandied about. No, Fan-Fan, Doughnut Plant and Dough won't save us. (What a delicious set of saviors!) We're talking about a "donut-shaped recovery" in which the outerboroughs and environs of NYC spring back to life while Manhattan and Midtown in particular take much longer to revive.

In some ways, I can see that being a solid call. But, New York always likes to prove the exception to the rule. And, not long ago I was invited by a liquor world insider to an event in Manhattan's Financial District that was very exception-al.

In this case, it was an introduction to a new sourghum-based spirit called Soka from Empirical, a cutting edge distillery in Copenhagen. What made it exceptional? First off, the drinks were undeniably delicious...

And, the crowd was ecstatic to be out-and-about as well.

Out-and-about, you say?

Well, it was a pretty darn exception-al version of out-and-about, one that literally took all of us outside on the 64th floor of a FiDi high-rise. The bar was called Overstory. Words cannot fully describe the soaring view, so take a look...

Sitting down on the other side of the wraparound terrace facing Brooklyn was pretty incredible too...

New York City sparkled from that vantage. With a drink in hand and friends by my side, I'd even have to say that it looked magical.

And, as I took in the bar's 360-degree panorama I started thinking that maybe the city was a box of donuts. There would be holes, but tasty bits would surround them. And, if the city's history is any guide, those holes won't remain. Someone or something will always want to claim a place in the city, make their mark. But right then, I was hopeful for the city's future.

Not sure how long I can hold onto that feeling. Perhaps I'll need to revisit Overstory and have a sip of Soka sooner than I think.

Faux Pas-sover

Passover, now? Did I screw up my calendar?

Not exactly. These photos are a month old. From April 30th to be exact.

But, wait. Passover was April 15 - 23.

Yeah. I decided to push the date for my celebration. Hence the name of the post. Get it now?

Any which way, the meal was on point. It all started with a cocktail creation, inspired by Charoset. (Yes, you read right.) Think Applejack, Lillet Rouge, apple cider and a spoonful of nutty Nocello, topped with Prosecco.

A drink or two in and it was time to recline and start in with dinner. The secret to my Matzoh Balls? First off, serve them in homemade chicken broth. Second, pack them with fresh herbs for flavor.

Went Israeli for the main event...

On the plate: Braised Lamb with Shawarma Spices, Homemade Hummus, Middle Eastern Cucumber-Tomato Salad, and Labneh. Good stuff.

We didn't break out the Seder Plate or the Maxwell House Haggadahs. Didn't even cue up "The Ten Commandments" to the plagues for a little Technicolor action. So, it wasn't a classic VittlesVamp seder repast. Still, it felt festive. And, after 2 years of Covid, I will take festive whenever and wherever I can find it!

Mazel Tov!

France's Choice

Nope. Not talking about France's recent Presidential election.

I am talking about dessert.

As an American, the image above -- a perfectly made Paris-Brest from a dinner in Paris (yes, I went back yet again) -- epitomizes the notion of a French dessert. This wasn't just a notion though. This drop-dead gorgeous pastry rightly finished off a magnificent bistro supper at Chez Michel in the 10th Arrondissement.

But, dessert in France isn't always of a sweet nature. In fact, it is often crumbly and funky. Or sometimes it is smooth and buttery...

Yes, fromage. Add some good honey and toasted nuts and, well, hello! In France, cheese might as well be a religion. And, I think I would be happy praying to a perfectly ripe Saint Marcellin or Bleu d'Auvergne.

In this case, I did not make a choice when it came to closing out the meal. My dinner companion and I did both.

Both is a choice too though, isn't it?

The Best Apple Pie In Amsterdam

It had been nearly a decade since I'd been to Amsterdam.

And, ever since I took that trip I'd a soft spot in my heart for the Apple Pie at Winkel 43. It's often regaled as the best in the city. I even searched for their recipe to make it at home, but ended up deciding it was too much work. Better to fly to Amsterdam for another slice, yes?

Well, after my latest trip to the Dutch capital, there is a new Apple Pie champion that owns that soft spot in my heart - Cafe t'Papeneiland. See that photo above? How can anyone resist it?

Need a closer look? Allow me...

Oh, hot damn.

Literally - hot Dam!

And, if that isn't enough to get you to hightail it over to this 17th Century cafe, let me tell you that the place is cozy beyond measure. Chock-a-block with Delft antiquities, this Dutch "brown bar" embraces you the second you walk through the door.

Need a closer look? Allow me...

Now, if that isn't enough, there is also an historic tale of religious freedom and secret tunnel to go with.

But, in all honesty, the Apple Pie should be quite enough to get you to pay call. More than enough.

Wonder if I can find the recipe...Or maybe I'll just need to wing it back to Amsterdam for another slice, yes?

It's All Greek To Me

Didn't keep my passport tucked away for long after that trip to Rome and Paris. A few weeks later I packed up my bags and flew across the Atlantic once more - this time to Athens.

For years I had heard dreadful tales of the Greek capital. It's grimy. It's ugly. Just see the Acropolis and then quickly get to an island!

But then a few folks whom I trust started telling me a very different tale. One about a burgeoning arts scene and a rising culinary mecca.

Clearly, I had to check it out for myself.

My verdict? Those "few folks that I trust"? After my visit to Athens, I most definitely still trust them.

I know you aren't here to get details on a Rebetika concert that inspired grown women with high heels to link arms and start dancing, the offbeat Greek fashion spied in boutique windows, or the glorious art and antiquities that were on view in museums, galleries and even flea markets. You're here for the food and drink. In Athens, there was plenty.

Bear witness to the photo above. That was a cocktail hour meze repast at Dexameni, a small cafe with outdoor seating at the foot of Lycabettus Hill.

For breakfast? How about Greece's version of a bagel?

This beauty was had in the Psirri neighborhood at a 24/7 bakery called To Koulouri tou Psyri.

Really hungry? How about a pile of freshly grilled lamb chops?

Yaaaaassss! This platter of thinly sliced chops was enjoyed in the garden of a popular family-run paidakia named To Steki Tou Ilia. Those babies were delicious!

And, how about something a little healthy? Don't worry, alongside fresh feta cheese galore, there were vibrant veggies to be had...

Then, of course, you need to off-set all that veg goodness with something sweet. Athens delivered...

This warm, out-of-the-oven slice of Bougatsa Cream Pie from Bougatsadiko Thessaloniki, was eyes-roll-back-into-your-head-time. Seriously. If this place was near my apartment in Brooklyn, it'd be a problem. Thankfully, it is all the way in Greece and is a memory for now and a must-do the next time I return to Athens.

And, I will return to Athens!