Sundaes and Cones

Close to The Smith is an ice cream shop called Sundaes and Cones. Before dinner I had seen that they were now serving pumpkin ice cream, and since I am a lover of pumpkin in all forms, I was compelled to give it a try.

The Smith

Tonight I happened to be in the East Village when the mood for dinner struck, and so I dropped by The Smith on 3rd Avenue. My previous visit there with wife and child had not gone well, but based on repeated recommendation from friends I decided it would be worth going by myself to see if it was better the second time.

On this visit I settled on the pumpkin salad to start, and then the hanger steak. I decided to forgo the included sides of fries or greens with the steak and instead went with the brussel sprouts listed in the sides section of the menu for just a couple dollars extra.

I wasn't sure what to expect from the pumpkin salad; the menu lists it with blue cheese and cranberries so initially I envisioned a sort of fall harvest twist on traditional potato salad with cubes of pumpkin tossed in a cranberry-laced dressing. I inquired to the waitress about the composition, and she indicated that no, it was an arugula salad with pumpkin seeds and topped with slices of pumpkin. This was confirmed when the salad arrived; the pumpkin effect was subtle and the very thin slices of pumpkin were just the right texture to compliment the crunchy seeds and crumbled cheese. One of the better salads I have enjoyed recently.

When the entree arrived, I was impressed by the large chunk of hanger steak, but was dwarfed by the enormous pile of brussel sprouts next to it on the plate. Definitely a generous portion; no question I got my money's worth.

The hanger steak was very good; exactly medium rare just as I had ordered with an impressive crust on the outside. The surprise star was the pile of brussel sprouts, though. As I found myself drawn to eat more and more of the sprouts (even more so than the steak), I thought to myself, how can it be that I am more compelled to eat these brussel sprouts than the steak? Brussel sprouts are not that good in general. Certainly I like them well enough, although perhaps somewhat of an acquired taste. Yet here I was all but willing to cast aside this perfectly prepared steak in order to eat more of them.

I started to examine the brussel sprouts more closely to see if there was something unusual about them, and then it struck me; they looked as though they had been deep fried. It seemed implausible at first; surely they weren't making "freedom" sprouts? Wouldn't they have advertised them as such if that were the case? The more I looked, though, the more convinced I became. They were either deep fried or else they were sauteed in so much oil that it had the same effect. The outermost leaves were browned and crispy, while the inside was cooked through but not overcooked and mushy. I'm skeptical that effect could be achieved through roasting; easier to believe that the secret is a vat of hot oil.

Breakfast at Tisserie

This morning I was in the mood for something slightly different from the muffins and fruit salad available in my neighborhood, so I wandered down to the Union Square area to have a 7-grain muffin and fruit salad at Tisserie. The muffin was by far the best, just on the verge of being too crumbly. The fruit salad was prepared too long before and sold in plastic cups, and by the time it got to me the watermelon in it had turned to soft fibrous clumps.

By far the most striking thing about the experience was the Americano espresso beverage I ordered. I am well acquainted with the fact that often this preparation can be very hot, since in many cases espresso is added to water that is at or near the boiling point (as opposed to brewed coffee where the brewing process draw out a considerable amount of heat).

Indeed the Americano I got at Tisserie takes over my top ranking for hottest beverage of all time. I detected it was hot immediately and gave it a good twenty minutes to rest, after which I still received minor burns attempting to take a cautious sip.

Back to Bar Americain

Tonight we had dinner at Bar Americain, where we have dined a number of times before and come to view as a reliable choice for a fine meal.

We have been there on several previous occasions and always enjoyed it; however, on this particular evening my wife was quite disappointed in her food. The fig and prosciutto appetizer was good, but she found the smoked chicken entree far too dry and without flavor. She was also of the opinion that the bread served beforehand, normally an eagerly anticipated treat including mini-baguettes, micro-buttermilk white loaves, and herbed corn sticks, was not nearly as fresh as we had enjoyed previously, even verging on stale.

Adding to the negative bent of the evening, we had ordered a plain pizza with cheese for our son, but on it's arrival he pronounced it inedible after a single bite. I wasn't sure what was wrong with it, other than the fact that when they say "plain cheese," that's exactly what they mean; just a thick layer of cheddar cheese melted over a thin crust.

On the other hand, I enjoyed my the hanger steak entree quite a bit, including the signature steak sauce that was heavily laced with mustard and horseradish.

I would be willing to bet that the issue on this particular evening had more to do with it being a Sunday night and the kitchen staff on duty being the B- or even C-team left to finish out the weekend while the first string rests up for the following week. I have experienced this common phenomenon often before, but it was unfortunate to see it repeated in a restaurant of this high profile and caliber.