Sassy Radish

In New York, where restaurants open and close at the drop of a hat, and you hardly have your shortage of incredible, gourmet, must-try-it-or-you’re-missing-out restaurants. Every week, someone will talk about something new that opened, or somewhere new they’ve dined and loved. And yet, most of us living in the city, will not return to our top-notch restaurants because let’s face it, there’s more buzz about new ones in the city and we’re not made of money. I’ve friends who treat themselves to Craft on special occassions. They keep going back, one experience more sublime than the prior. Personally, I’ve eaten at Craft, liked it, but didn’t find the process so awe-inspiring, that I had to return anytime soon. As much as I love food and the idea of simplicity…

I took my boyfriend to Wallsé a few months ago. I heard good things about the place, liked that it was small and intimate, was intrigued by Austrian cuisine, having never really tasted it, and fascinated by an abundant selection of Austrian red wine, something rarely found in US wine shops. I went, apprehensively. Last time, I took him out for a fancy meal, we got a lot of foam on our dishes. One dish, the foie gras, was foam entirely. And while I am all for creativity and experimentation, foam seemed like a bit of a stretch for me, and a pretentious one to boot.

Wallsé turned out to lack pretenses, instead focusing their energy on perfecting their dishes. For our appetizers, we started out with a palachinken, a crepe stuffed with smoked trout, apples, horseradish and organic herbs; and a spätzle with braised rabbit, wild mushrooms sweet peas and tarragon.

It was unbelievable. What an amazing start to a meal. Kurt Guttenbruner, the executive chef and owner of Wallsé, didn’t want us to wait for the main course, in order for us to be blown away. And the main course did not disappoint. A venison loin with a sweet and sour red cabbage and honey-glazed duck breast with swiss chard were both outstanding. We walked out of the restaurant as if floating on air.

For months on end, my boyfriend wouldn’t stop talking about the braised rabbit. And to tell the truth, I was craving it myself. So when we were trying to figure out where to have our anniversary dinner – we agreed that we had to go back to Wallse. In a city where you can dine at some of the best restaurants in the world, a return visit is indeed something rare and special.

While my boyfriend decided to stick with the braised rabbit again, I, promising him to share, ordered the foie gras terrine - a dish so heavenly, that he wound up eating most of it! He stuck with duck for the main course, while I, trying to be adventurous, dared to get the kavalierspitz with creamed spinach, potato rösti and apple horseradish – which did not disappoint. Kavalierspitz are thinly sliced beef medallions, cooked in a fragrant broth – apparently a real Austrian specialty. By the end of our meal, we were stuffed. And yet we started talking about our next time visiting the restaurant.

While we were too full for dessert, we did snack on their house-creation meal-ender — chocolate-covered almonds, which were delicious, and I was tempted to just pour the whole dish into my napkin and sneak them out.

It should be noted, that Wallsé has an extensive wine list offering only Austrian wines. Given that it’s rather difficult to procure Austrian reds in the US, this is a great opportunity to sample an Austrian red – something most of us are probably not too familiar with.

Perhaps Wallsé isn’t the answer to haute cuisine. I’m not sure it’s trying to be. It’s food prepared with the most meticulous attention to detail, but food that’s meant to be eaten rather than admired. And that, is the highest compliment I can give to a chef and his creation.

I cannot recommend this place enough – it’s lovely in its service, its content; it’s not too large and while it’s pricey, it’s not the most expensive restaurant, but certainly one of the best!

Summer and fall months are unusually good to tomatoes letting them ripen until the fruit is so full of sugar, it requires no background on which to rest it. To me, often, salad greens upstage the tomato itself, often the main star of the dish. I’ve been known to bite into a tomato or two and eat them straight up, as one would an apple.

Or at times, I’ve sprinkle a little Maldon sea salt onto it, and relish every bite. The sweet and the salty in one taste.

However, most people think me funny for allowing my summer tomatoes to be divas all on their own. Sometimes, I would be asked if I had run out of mixed greens. I’d say no and then find myself greeted by a confused look. Why just the tomatoes?

Well, for those who cannot imagine the tomato without its leafy friends, this simple salad should do the trick. Mixed greens, tomatoes, and red onions soaked in a solution of apple cider vinegar and sugar. All tossed together with the best balsamic and extra virgin olive oil you can find, and sprinkled with crushed, black pepper.

For those of us who are missing the summer produce – this is the salad to get us through the cold wintry months.

Continue reading Heirloom Tomato Salad with Marinated Onions.

I’m off to UK today and I’ll spend a total of two hours in London, sitting in our offices, listening to a show-n-tell by various groups (yawn), while wishing I was roaming the streets of London, where I’ve never been, looking for yummy delectable treats like cheese, or pints, or these yummy things pictured above.

My first introduction to Maltesers happened through a former friend who was dating a Brit at the time (they’ve since went and got themselves hitched). She went on and on about these incredible chocolates called Maltesers. How they’re better than Whoppers and how you just can’t get them in the States (a theory, I’ve since disproved, but only recently).

Because I’ll have absolutely zero roaming/shopping time, I’ll be buying my chocolate at the airport in the Duty Free areas. Rest assured, my bags will be full of these tasty treats – so that I can share them with friends and family!

In the city where many a bakery/patisserie shops boast fancy and delightful cakes, few escape fame and publicity. The most celebrated ones, Payard and Fauchon being the most famous and posh places to sample your bon bon or croissant.

Corrado Cafe on 960 Lexington Avenue (70th & 71st) is the kind of place you want to cozy up with a book on a wintry day or sit outside on a summer afternoon. It’s tiny, quaint, offering nothing short of the intimacy you get in a European cafe. The inside can hardly house more than fifteen people. In the summer, that number barely doubles.

All space constraints aside, Corrado’s cakes and pasties are nothing if not sublime. The sweet butter creme is not too overwhelming and offers a balance to a thick, but not dense cake.

I won’t even mention the sheer aesthetic appeal of the cakes themselves, as pictured above. Granted, my use of a paper plate isn’t ideal, but while I am lacking beautiful dishes to display the goodies, I am trying my hardest to create a nice background for these delicacies.

If you find yourself in New York, on the Upper East Side (granted not the hippest of all places) I highly recommend a stop at Corrado for a snack and a treat.

I was in the mood for a nice, fruity salad a little while back. But I was growing tired of leaves in my salads – arugula, spinach, lettuce. Been there, done that.

I wanted a salad that focused on things other than the green leaves. I wanted it to have a bit more substance and fill to it. And I wanted a crisp bite without the overbearing taste.

Radish never turns down apples in her salad (well, maybe she does, but rarely) but at the same time, I didn’t want to recreate a Waldorf – no blue cheese to overtake the fruit. I liked the idea of nuts, but I wanted them to add some sweetness, so they would have to be candied.

The BF was ecstatic to finish a generous bowl saying that it made for a perfect complement to the baked rainbow trout I made. I was just excited to watching him devour the mix, realizing this was a keeper of a recipe.

Continue reading Apple Celery Salad with Candied Pecans.