Bon Appétit Supper Club and Café

The Bon Appétit Supper Club and Café, the temporary pop-up lunch joint and chef hangout, is back again for its second year. All this week until Friday stop by for lunch between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. for a quick gourmet bite and a cooking demo or book signing. The former Hard Rock Café space had been transformed into a green and brown autumnal space with modern cafeteria-style tables, lounges, and mini fireplaces. The chef-designed food is rather good even if the prices are a bit high. You have to consider that these are Midtwon prices and that the food is far less expensive than if you ate at the restaurants of these chefs.



Today Tyler Florence was there for a book signing. Tomorrow both Claudia Fleming and Cat Cora will be there for cooking demos and book signings. And later this week: Jonathan Lindenauer, Ben Ford, Johnny Iuzzini, Pichet Ong, Charlie Trotter, and Stephan Pyles.

I’ve so far enjoyed Tyler Florence’s corn chowder with chorizo, Ben Ford's clam chowder with bacon, Bon Appétit's roast beef sandwich, and Mario Batali's empanada. I also highly recommend any of the desserts especially Pichet Ong’s cupcake, and Claudia Fleming’s brownie cookies. I’m definitely going back again for seconds. Everything looks so great and I must say that everything tastes pretty good too. Click here for Midtown Lunch's coverage.



While you are there, make sure to grab a free copy of Bon Appétit magazine, and go on upstairs for a couple of shots of Robert Mondavi’s Woodbridge wine, Kerrygold cheddar, Ghirardelli chocolate, Gold Peak tea, and even a Maybelline makeover. Also there is a raffle for a KitcehnAid mixer, books for sale, and don’t forget the great cooking demos, which sometimes include free samples too. When I was there on Friday the Dessert Truck people handed out chocolate bread pudding samples. Also a portion of the proceeds go to charity. If your worried about your carbon footprint, notice that the food is served on bamboo plates, and the cutlery is made from corn starch. The supper club is also open for dinner but by invitation only.

Bon Appétit Supper Club and Café
221 West 57th Street, between 7th Avenue and Broadway
New York, NY 10019

After the jump for the full menu.

Sandwiches ($7–8)
Mario Batali’s Empanada with Chorizo, Pancetta, Peppers and Onions
Cat Cora’s Thai Chicken Salad Spring Rolls
Ben Ford’s Tuna Yellowfin Niçoise Sandwich
Bon Appétit’s Horseradish-Spiked Roast Beef and Arugula Sandwich
Bon Appétit's Herbed Goat Cheese and Roasted-Vegetable Sandwich

Salads ($7–9)
John Besh’s Heirloom Beet Salad with Crabmeat and Cherrywood Smoked Bacon
Tyler Florence’s Winter Greens Salad with Shaved Beets, Toasted Walnuts and Creamy Goat Cheese
Michael Psilakis’s Greek Salad
Charlie Trotter’s Grilled Beef Tenderloin and Blue Cheese Salad

Soups ($5.50–6.50)
Cat Cora’s Chickpea and Roasted Red Pepper Soup
Tyler Florence’s Corn Chowder with Chorizo and Crispy Fried Oyster
Ben Ford’s Clam Chowder with Leek Cream and Applewood Smoked Bacon
Charlie Trotter’s Braised Leek Soup with Sautéed Oyster Mushrooms

Desserts ($3)
Claudia Fleming’s Triple Chocolate Brownie Cookies
Johnny Iuzzini’s Pineapple Polenta Cake with Ginger
Johnny Iuzzini’s Cranberry and Vanilla Marshmallows
Pichet Ong’s Strawberry Rhubarb Coconut Cupcake Benefiting Cook for the Cure
Pichet Ong’s Chocolate Chip Blondie
François Payard’s Flourless Milk Chocolate Cake with Grapefruit and Hazelnuts
Bon Appétit's Lemon Nutmeg Shortbread

Daily Specials ($9–10)
Tuesday, Cat Cora’s Sunday Cheese Steak Sandwich with Provolone Sauce
Wednesday, Ben Ford’s Atlantic Salmon with Artichoke Potato Salad and Warm Fennel Vinaigrette
Thursday, Charlie Trotter’s Curry Braised Chicken and Potato Tart served with Mixed Greens
Friday, Michael Psilakis’s Lamb Burger with French Fries

READ MORE >

Early Thanksgiving with Electrolux and Chef Brad Steelman of The River Cafe

If you thought that Electrolux only made vacuum cleaners, you were wrong. They also make amazing appliances, such as ovens and cook tops, which I saw used in action last night at the Foodbuzz event for featured publishers at the demo kitchen of Relais & Châteaux in midtown. I'm sure you have seen a few Electrolux TV ads featuring a peppy Kelly Ripa cooking and baking up a storm. Last night Chef Brad Steelman from the famed River Cafe and a few of his staff cooked up an exceptional early Thanksgiving meal.

The evening began with an introduction about the appliances from the friendly Electrolux staff. Following that we were given cooking demonstrations from Chef Steelman. And finally we enjoyed wonderful food. While we were getting to know our fellow bloggers, a mixed bunch indeed, we were offered wine and hors d'œuvres including truffled chicken salad atop puff pastry; tapenade, goat cheese, and pimento pepper crostini; and spoons of pulled pork, squash purée, and toasted marshmallow.

Chef Steelman's first demonstration was the mushroom risotto, cooked on the Electrolux induction cook top. The unique thing here is that the cooking pan gets hot immediately while the cook top stays cool to the touch. This is because the cook top uses the technology of induction, where a ferrous pan (a pan approved for induction cooking) is put in contact with the induction cook top, creating a magnet-like current that heats the cooking pan. Chef Steelman demonstrated the basics on how to brine, season, and truss a turkey. Then he showed us how the Electrolux oven uses a meat probe to accurately identify the cooking time and doneness of a turkey. There is actually a turkey button on the oven! It's simply Thanksgiving made easy. While we ate our risotto, Chef Steelman sliced up the turkey—the piste de résistance of the evening—while his staff assembled them into turkey sliders with stuffing, gravy, and cranberry sauce. The sliders were truly delectable.

And last but not least, for dessert there was a simple crème brûlée, jazzed up by being placed inside a mini roasted pumpkin. Chef Steelman showed how to prepare the pumpkin for roasting by cutting the top off, spooning out the seeds, and rubbing it with autumnal spices and butter. Once the pumpkins are roasted, they can be filled with the crème mixture and be torched. What a night! If only I had the money to afford such luxurious appliances, I too would use them every chance I got.

READ MORE >

Perfect Apple Pie

Fall is here and what better way to celebrate it than by baking an apple pie from scratch. Making your own crust is so much more rewarding than using frozen pie shells from the grocery store. This recipe for hearty apple pie can be put together in minutes once the dough is prepared ahead of time. And to make the process even easier, roll out the dough between two layers of plastic wrap or parchment paper. By not using bench flour you will have an even flakier, more delicate crust, plus cleanup is as easy as throwing away the wrap.

Apple Pie

Tip: Use firm, tart apples for the best results. Exceptional pie-baking apples include Cortland, Crispin, Fuji, and Granny Smith.

6 to 8 apples (about 3 pounds), peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
1/2 lemon, zested and juiced
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
pie crust, recipe follows
1 egg, beaten, for egg wash

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Roll out pie dough to fit a 9- or 10-inch pie plate with a 1/2-inch overhang. Repeat for the top layer.

In a large bowl, combine sliced apples, lemon zest and juice, sugar, flour, salt, and spices.

Pour apple mixture into dough-lined pie plate. Spread out apples evenly. Cover with top layer of dough, tucking and pressing the edges together securely. Decorate the edge using your thumb and forefingers or a fork. Brush the top with egg wash. Cut slits for steam ventilation.

Bake pie on a sheet pan for 1 to 1-1/4 hours. The crust should be golden brown and the filling bubbling. Cool completely before slicing and serving. Yield: 8 slices.

Pie Crust

Note: For the perfect pie crust, the dough should clump when squeezed together. In humid weather 1/4 cup ice water should do, but in normal conditions, a 1/2 cup is needed. Still if it is too dry, add water, or if too moist, add flour.

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled, cut into small pieces
1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor. Pulse to aerate instead of sifting.

Add butter and pulse for ten seconds or until mixture resembles course meal.

With the food processor running, stream in water. Process until the dough comes together.

Divide the dough into two parts and wrap in plastic wrap, forming discs. Chill for at least one hour before rolling.

READ MORE >

Double Crown

Double Crown, the recent restaurant to open in the ever-gentrifying Bowery by the design firm AvroKo, with a menu by Brad Farmerie, is a unique addition to the neighborhood. Right across from the old CBGB that is now a John Varvatos store, in an area that was once hip and lowdown, the restaurant joins a slew of other establishments such as retail stores, condos, and restaurants that have come to change the neighborhood for what many consider to be the better, but really to the detriment of the neighborhood’s original character. But I think the neighborhood’s soul is indelible even if the neighborhood brandishes a shiny new Whole Foods Market and a lopsided stack of metal boxes called the New Museum.

When I arrived I noticed how open and inviting the restaurant looked from the street. It just opened in September, but an outdoor patio still fronts the restaurant even though it's no longer summer. That evening the patio doors were open at first, but were soon closed. It seemed only a few guests decided to eat outside that late afternoon. But I think that the best way to experience any restaurant can only come from dining inside.

The entrance of the restaurant opens immediately into a foreground that includes the bar and communal table. The bar area, taking up almost the entire length of the left side of the space, is visually contrasting, both modern with its teak wood–like bar counter and white enamel edge and traditional with white lantern lighting hanging above, giving a nod to the restaurant’s Asian influences. Parallel to the bar in full view as the restaurant’s centerpiece is the long rustic wooden communal table inviting conviviality.

The right half of the restaurant is the main dining room, containing a few comfortable booths, but mostly tables and chairs. From where I sat in the dining room I could see my reflection in the tilted bistro mirrors that line the back wall of the bar. It reminded me of the décor at Balthazar and of Manet’s painting of A Bar at the Folies-Bergère, the one of the barmaid and her reflection. The room is lighted with rows of dark modern fixtures. There is also a more intimate dining space in the back of the restaurant, bathed in white, it provides a nice alternative to the bustle of the main areas. Below the restaurant, a long, dim corridor provides cavernous individual unisex bathrooms. Here, the Brit Indie music can be heard more clearly than upstairs. All these design choices, the exposed brick walls, interior decoration, ceiling fans, and flickering candlelight create the feel of a modern, pseudo-Indian palace. The juxtaposition of the palatial and the modern sets the tone for the restaurant’s British post-colonial fare.

On arrival, the hostess encouraged us to sit at the bar and order drinks while our table was being readied even though we were early by no more than ten minutes. The cocktail menu is split into two sections, house cocktails and classic-esque British cocktails. We ordered two of the classic-esque cocktails, my lady friend had the white lady (gin, Grand Marnier, and lemon juice) and I had the perfect gimlet (gin and homemade lime cordial). The bartender poured both drinks into saucer glasses, which I generally find a bit too pretentious, but the look worked, and the drinks were great. Once our table was ready, even though it looked ready when we came in, we placed our full order, knowing exactly what we wanted soon after seeing the menu. Each item on the menu is unique in its own right—so much so that it could be very easy to order any one. To go with our cocktails we ordered from the hawker-style snacks. A crisp and succulent braised pork belly with cucumber, cilantro, and a chili caramel sauce was thoroughly pleasing. Other eye-catching snacks on the menu include pickled watermelon rind, pigs in a wet blanket, deep-fried egg, crispy pig’s ear, and miso-glazed bone marrow.

To accompany our meal we ordered wine, one red and white. For a starter we decided to share a slice of foie gras served with toast and earl grey prunes, which proved to be one of the highlights of the evening. It was perfect even though it was not as described on the menu: tandoori foie gras with nut loaf. We did not taste any tandoori spice and the nut loaf tasted more like plain brioche. Some other interesting starters on the menu are heirloom tomato and paneer terrine, house-cured Scottish salmon, a pheasant Scotch egg, and crispy drunken quail. All the appetizers would have been worth a try, but I had decided to order the foie gras since my friend had asked what it was without being able to pronounce it. Her fondness for the dish proved that her sophisticated palate makes up for her lack of food knowledge.

We continued on with our mains, of which my friend enjoyed the twice-cooked chicken while I salivated, stunned over the violet beauty of the venison Wellington. The twice-cooked chicken had moist portions of dark meat and white meat, served with ginger garlic relish, water spinach, and star anise broth. The flavors were warm and spice-y, almost autumnal, and reminiscent of the crispness and flavor of the pork belly. The venison was spread in the traditional filling of duxelles (mushroom paste) and wrapped in savoy cabbage and puff pastry. The serving consisted of two nice-sized medallions accompanied by red currant jus and cranberry chutney. The dish was supreme, the venison was melt-in-the-mouth medium rare, and my only complaint would be that the puff pastry could have been crisper and less soggy. Because I had meat and potatoes on the mind, I ordered a side dish of potatoes garam masala, which was underwhelming. The waiter had suggested we order side dishes because the mains did not come with sides. But in hindsight I think the potatoes were unnecessary in this case, and most of the sides on the menu did not seem all too interesting. But I am sure that many other entrées that lack in size might require some side dishes to be fully satisfying as PinkPig makes clear with the pheasant and licorice pie. Other appealing entrées include lamb and cashew meatballs, roast half duck, and bangers and mash with wow wow sauce. I would not mind ordering the bangers and mash just to see what the wow wow sauce is.

By this time the restaurant was filling up and the bar was buzzing, surrounded by a mix of Bowery bohemians and suited nine-to-fivers. We decided that we could not leave without trying one of the many interesting-sounding desserts. And because my friend was in the mood for port, I also ordered a glass. The port really hit the spot for both of us and was the last highlight of the evening, but unfortunately the desserts were little letdowns, and I emphasize little. My friend ordered the bitter chocolate trifle, a small-portioned dessert that tasted and appeared more like pudding, served with malted Devonshire cream and English toffee. It was missing everything that would have made it a trifle as WSJ magazine also points out. I ordered the treacle pecan tartlet, which consisted of tiny little slices of tart, served with tamarind caramel and ale ice cream, which I found unusual but nice. These desserts, drastically lacking in size, reminded me of that Citi commercial where a guy and girl are in a restaurant, and after receiving their food, the guy says “it’s like elf food.”

I think that my only caveats with the restaurant would be the small portion sizes of many of the dishes and the absence of side dishes included with the entrées. I think that it has become a recent trend to separate side dishes from main dishes. I remember that Merkato 55 too ascribes to this trend. But otherwise the experience at Double Crown was top notch. Their post-colonial British Empire menu encompasses the reaches of the former empire on which the sun never sets. The menu fuses Asian and British flavors very unusually. And the British Empire experience came full circle with the interesting addition of Australian accents on the part of most of the wait staff. So I can truly say that the dining experience was multisensory.

Double Crown
316 Bowery
New York, NY 10012
212-254-0350
Open daily for dinner from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. and for brunch on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Appetizers range in price from $9 to $17 and entrées from $19 to $28.

READ MORE >