Welcome to Where to Eat, the restaurant newsletter that will grab you a fresh plate. Here’s what we’ve got for you today:
ALWAYS BE EATING The best things we ate in MarchThe whiplash of spring weather couldn’t keep us from dining out. In March, we experienced the highs of saffron-perfumed pasta and Dungeness crab crepes without any of the lows of a restaurant gap relationship. We’re wishing you all the same. Many breads at Shukette When I was growing up, my parents would become very annoyed with me because I’d fill up on so much bread and butter at the top of a meal that I’d have no room for the actual entree. Nothing has changed. If you put enough bread in front of me — like the frena, laffa and pita my party ordered to accompany our mezze at Shukette — I’m going to load up and ruin my dinner. NIKITA RICHARDSON 230 Ninth Avenue (West 24th Street), Chelsea Hot sausage fish cake combo at Johnny’s Hots The hot dog topped with fish cakes at Johnny’s Hots deserves a spot in the Philadelphia hall of fame, right next to the cheesesteak at Angelo’s Pizzeria and the roast pork from John’s. Hot sausage, pickled relish and mild fish cakes are crammed into a toasted bun, just the way dockworkers wanted. Adding Cheez Whiz is optional … but is it really? Cash only. LUKE FORTNEY 1234 North Delaware Avenue (East Allen Street), Philadelphia Paccheri zafferano e pistacchio at Stellina Lately, I’ve been spending some time over at the chef Fabrizio Facchini’s Stellina on Long Island, largely for this one dish I’ve been obsessing over: the paccheri. Mr. Facchini coats the tubular pasta in saffron cream and finishes it off with a pesto forged from Bronte pistachios. The herb stains the sauce a light shade of gold, and the pine-green pesto flaunts a deep nuttiness. I’m not sure I’ve tried anything like it, these noodles the size of small heating pipes conveying the floral aroma of the world’s priciest spice. RYAN SUTTON 76 South Street (Hamilton Avenue), Oyster Bay, N.Y. Potato bread at Chin Up Bar The menu at the gin-centric Chin Up Bar on Chrystie Street is strictly gluten-free, which I learned this month after falling for the kitchen’s potato bread. The plate isn’t much to look at (two golden pucks that could, at a glance, be crab cakes), but break into one piece to be wowed. The yeasted dough, made from equal parts salt-roasted gold potatoes and gluten-free flour, takes on a wonderfully stretchy texture. Each order is cooked on demand, served piping hot with chive-y whipped crème fraîche. BECKY HUGHES 171 Chrystie Street (Rivington Street), Lower East Side Dungeness crab crepes at Canard At Canard in Portland, Ore., I had a bracingly cold teeny martini along with some crisp-edged crepes filled with Dungeness crab, covered with a perfect little sauce à l’Américaine. It was light and gauzy, but so rich at the same time — just silky. TEJAL RAO 734 East Burnside Street (NE Eighth Avenue), Portland, Ore.
THE BRIEF REVIEW Golden SteerZero stars
The best theme restaurants blend great food with a smattering of theatrical escapism. Remember how Carbone, home to an epic veal Marsala, used to make you feel like Henry Hill, Ray Liotta’s gangster character in “Goodfellas,” gliding through the kitchen of the Copacabana? Well, Golden Steer at 1 Fifth Avenue tries something similar — and fails. This Las Vegas import commands top dollar for wet-aged steaks, as mild as mortadella, but the restaurant’s true focus is trafficking in a Rat Pack sense of cool. Ol’ Blue Eyes is the chief protagonist, his photos gazing down from the wall. His throwback tunes pipe through the speakers: “For heaven rest us, I am not asbestos.” And waiters name-check the Chairman when bros order martinis. “Frank Sinatra used to use Beefeater. Is that OK?” It’s OK, for $23! What’s less pleasant is getting charged $30 for the Hendrick’s version. Golden Steer revels in its brand of midcentury luxury. No Wagyu or ceviche here. Instead, we get surf and turf with crab legs the size of small Wiffle ball bats. Instead of chic modern environs, we get patterned carpeting, mirrored ceilings, patrons in red strapless dresses and bow-tied waiters preparing tangy tableside Caesars ($46 for two). Enjoy the party before the food ruins the fun. Shrimp cocktail, textured like cardboard, exudes a whiff of low-tide funk. Bland steer sausage channels a 1990s “Healthy Choice” vision of charcuterie. Fries with French onion soup seasoning taste fully unseasoned. And a bone-in rib-eye packs so little beefiness it’s as if an A.I. agent tried to imagine the taste of steak. Henry Hill would’ve called this a steakhouse for schnooks. Address: 1 Fifth Avenue (East Eighth Street), Greenwich Village; 646-846-1487; goldensteer.com Recommended Dishes: Bloody bull oyster shots, oysters Rockefeller, creamed spinach, Caesar salad, vanilla ice cream. Price: Starters run $9 for a single oyster shooter to $40 for a long luge of bone marrow. Caesar salads start at $46 for two in the dining room or $23 for solo portions in the bar room. Steaks start at $76 for a petite filet and top out at $240 for a dry-aged porterhouse. Surf & turf costs as little as $134 for a filet with garlic shrimp, or as much as $245 for a strip steak with king crab legs. Wheelchair Access: There is a wheelchair accessible entrance to the side of the main entrance, and one accessible restroom.
FROM OUR CHIEF CRITICS Off Alley in Seattle isn’t afraid of an off cut
At first, I was knocked out by the analog nostalgia and the way it felt to be in the room at Off Alley: the chalkboard menu; the crinkly wine-stained journal with a handwritten cocktail list; the tiny, well-organized kitchen that wasn’t meant to be a show, but where you could see the fast-paced, hands-on, capital-C cooking. But Off Alley doesn’t run on charm. I enjoyed nearly every dish there, and the way the chef Evan Leichtling’s menu kept changing both incrementally and in leaps. I particularly loved the attention and care given to offal, which I grew up eating and really don’t love to see fetishized or snubbed — it’s usually, sadly, one or the other. Even now, I keep checking the menu on Instagram and wishing I could go back! Read the review → FOOD FOR THOUGHT Are restaurant kitchens an ideal environment for people with autism?As Pete Wells recently wrote, restaurants are infamous for the use of the brigade system, a rigid hierarchy that can be both efficient and abusive. But a new organization, Chefs on the Spectrum, believes that certain parts of that structure — repetitive tasks, an emphasis on organization and rote memorization — might be ideal for individuals with autism, who can thrive in such environments. Pete writes about how the program plans to train autistic adults to close the employment gap in fine dining. Read the story →
RESTAURANT AT HOME Davelle’s Spaghetti NapolitanPasta dinners (at least the hot ones) will soon give way to the divine pleasure of cold pasta salads. But while we’re still OK to steam up our kitchens, there’s this Japanese interpretation of Italian spaghetti adapted by Eric Kim from the chef Chiaki Ohara at Davelle on the Lower East Side. Don’t turn your nose up at the use of ketchup — it’s a five-star recipe. See the recipe → 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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