Holiday greetings to all! It’s cold out there, huh? (If not, lucky you!) Here’s what you’ll find in today’s newsletter.
THE EDIBLEST Gifts you can eatEven though I haven’t worked there for five years, I still receive emails pitching me products for The Strategist, New York Magazine’s shopping section and website. As it turns out, once you’ve developed shopping writer brain, it never really goes away: You’re always looking for unique shopping experiences and gifts. Welcome to The Ediblest. Tamales from Los Burritos JuárezRight around now, tamale season is fully underway in Los Angeles. (New Yorkers, we’re lucky enough to have exceedingly wonderful tamales in Jackson Heights and Sunset Park.) If you’re looking for extra fancy ones, Los Burritos Juárez in Fort Greene is taking pre-orders for their 6 for $30 tamale box with four varieties to choose from, including guajillo braised pork and chicken mole. Send an email with your order to info@losburritosjuarez.com by Dec. 19 for Dec. 23 pick up. Cornbread cake doughnuts from Elbow BreadThe bad news, you already missed Edith’s x Peter Pan Donuts sufganiyot collaboration. The good news, you haven’t missed Elbow Bread’s “Hanukkah Miracle” cornbread cake doughnuts glazed with saffron honey butter yet. They’re available on Dec. 20 and 21 at the Chinatown bakery. Holiday pies at Radio BakeryIf you follow me on Instagram, then you know that I believe in waking up early for baked goods. (Early bird, worm.) And I would definitely wake up at 6:30 a.m. to get one of the specialty pies Radio Bakery is selling at its Prospect Heights and Greenpoint locations every Friday at 7:30 a.m. One is passionfruit curd, the other is espresso dark chocolate pudding — I’d buy both. Holiday market on Woodward AvenueI am the No. 1 consumer of Salty Lunch Lady’s Instagram Stories. First, it’s the only way to know about their sandwich and dessert specials. And it’s how I found out about an upcoming holiday market on Woodward Avenue in Queens, where she and a ton of local ceramists, jewelry makers, florists, artists and other makers will be selling their wares on Dec. 20 and Dec. 21. (Salty Lunch Lady will only be around on Saturday!)
THE BRIEF REVIEW Crevette★ The crystalline waters of St.-Tropez are a distant dream from the sidewalks outside Crevette, Ed Szymanski’s West Village ode to the coastal regions of France, Spain and Italy. But here, the Riviera is as much a state of mind as it is a source of culinary inspiration. Drawing from icy Atlantic waters, Szymanski assembles platters of raw seafood with the same attentiveness as some sushi counters. Sicilian sashimi, a take on a popular dish at Swan Oyster Depot in San Francisco, recently featured slices of chilled scallop, tuna, trout and blackfish drenched in herbaceous olive oil and fistfuls of briny capers. Red shrimp carpaccio, so thin and translucent it could pass for sheets of lardo, is supple and sweet. But don’t limit your dinner to the cold and barely cooked. Szymanski’s grilled golden chicken gets its savory depth from a fish sauce marinade. It is accompanied by a different kind of gold, to us food people, anyway: crispy, salty pommes frites. Butter beans in a vegetable broth with a refreshingly acidic herb pistou points to Szymanski’s knack for layering flavors and textures. A skewer of morcilla and merguez is simply delicious. The menu covers a lot of ground (and sea), but can at times feel overwhelmed with ideas, like a manuscript awaiting an editor. For every successful dish, there is another that lands slightly askew, like an appetizer of grilled cabbage bathed a bit too generously in a rich sauce. The restaurant’s whitewashed dining room and bar have the summertime feel of a dîner en blanc. But winter lends its charms, too. A dark chocolate torte, smooth as butter, is especially good at a cozy banquette under dim lighting, gifted by the season’s early sunset. Address: 10 Downing Street (Avenue of the Americas), West Village; 646-397-4073 (text only); crevettenyc.com Recommended Dishes: Sicilian sashimi; red shrimp carpaccio; merguez and morcilla skewer; grilled wild mushrooms; butter beans; grilled golden chicken; Dover sole; dark chocolate torte. Price: $$$ Wheelchair Access: The dining room and bathrooms are wheelchair accessible.
FROM OUR CHIEF CRITICS ChòpnBlok is anything but slopIn a fast-casual world of corporate “slop bowls,” ChòpnBlok dares to do better. This week, Tejal Rao reviews the Houston mini-chain, where the rice bowls come with plantain and suya dusted with yaji, and jollof and jambalaya join in glorious matrimony. All of it untouched by venture capital (for now). Read the review → OPENING OF THE WEEK Ezio’s SteakhouseA rare non-New York City opening! While we were in our post-Thanksgiving stupor, Foul Witch, the Roberta’s team’s small plates restaurant, quietly closed on Nov. 30. (Google says “temporarily closed” not “permanently closed,” so let’s watch that space.) That leaves the Roberta’s team with just the original East Williamsburg spot, after Blanca closed back in April. Instead, they’ve been focusing their energy on Ezio’s Steakhouse down in Miami, which raises the question: Who would win in a fight? A New York steakhouse or a Miami steakhouse? More restaurant openings → Have New York City restaurant questions? Send us a note here. Follow NYT Food on TikTok and NYT Cooking on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest.
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