Thursday, May 7, 2009

Because we keep giving money to David Chang. And Loving It.

On the left, candy bar pie (kinda like a Take 5 candy bar) And the right. Crack Pie


Mr. Broad and I have not been out to eat in awhile which we are going to change this weekend. Restaurant up for debate. Suggestions welcome.

Enter a restaurant rewind.

Momofuku Milk Bar and Bakery
207 2nd Ave (corner of 13th and 2nd)

I have written several times about Mr. Broad and my love for David Chang restaurants in exhibit A, B, and even a filler post. The latest development is Milk Bar. Basically it's the pastry chef from Ssam Bar, Christina Tosi, who went in with David Chang and created this genius extension.
They have both sweet savory items here and I have now been twice. So these pictures are reflective of TWO outings which required several tastings. Obviously.
So much has been written about it so I'm going to get to my numerous pictures.

Pork Buns: This is Talking with Hands favorite.


Cereal Milk! Tastes just like drinking the milk soaked in a bowl full Frosted Flakes. I don't think I'd order it again, it was pretty intense but worth it to feel like you're 5 again.

Hands down the best EggMcMuffin out there: A homemade English muffin slathered in black pepper butter with bacon and an egg that's poached and deep-fried. And I think some carmelized onions?

This is Crack Pie. With a name like that, you have to try. Kinda like a pecan pie without the pecans. It's sweet, somewhat custardy (maybe lemony?) and well worth a repeat taste if you have a couple people to help you out.

Milk Bar has soft serve ice cream and with very innovative flavors. They have done Cereal themes (Fruity Pepples, Captain Crunch, etc. flavors). Recently they did a doughnut theme (bavarian creme, chocolate donut, etc).

I went before they broke out into the themes and got some graham cracker with halavah toppings. I'm a huge Halavah fan and have never seen it like this before. Definitely underutilized. One of the best soft serves I've ever had.


Review:
Oy, who can even review Mr. Chang restaurants anymore. This is awesome. They are open late night or earlier for brunch. The menu changes with innovative creations like this "Volcano". They do not have sit down tables nor waiters just some high tables that people crowd around at and savor their concoctions. It's also the waiting area for Ssam Bar so depending when you go it can be crowded. It's hard for me to think of anything bad about this place but I guess that's it. This place is walking distance from my office so I imagine WHENEVER IT STOPS RAINING I might have to go for a nice walk. It's been too long...
Rating: 9

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Wednesday, May 6, 2009

The Secret is Out

So part 2 of our night.

Earlier in the week Mr. Broad and I did a little research to find a good bar to show off and toast to our anniversary celebratin' friends.

PDT
Through Crif Dog's

A coworker had told me about this super secretive speakeasy bar.
Located within Crif Dogs (Say what? I never saw that!) you enter through a phone booth.
Pick up the phone and a hostess picks up on the other side to tell you if they have space, how long the wait is, etc. You don't actually see the hostess until she opens the door and lets you into the bar.

Total Harry Potter style.
This was bad ass.

Luckily they take reservations if you call up that day at 3PM. Mr. Broad and I worked two phones and finally got through at 3:04pm.

PDT: Hello, PDT.
Mrs. Broad: Hi, we'd like a reservation for 4 please at 11pm
PDT: We're all booked at 11.
Mrs. Broad: Already!?
PDT: Yeah we book up rather fast, we can do either 1 or 3.
Mrs. Broad: AM?!?!
PDT: Yeah. Or we take walk-ins starting at 2 if you want to just come then.
Mrs. Broad: 2AM?!
PDT: Yeah...
Mrs. Broad: Um, okay, I'll take 1AM.

Which I realize isn't thaat bad but come on, when have you ever made a reservation for 1AM?! Bad ass I tell you.

We arrive admist people eating hot dogs at Crif's.

We find the telephone hidden behind a door and picked up the phone. I seriously felt like Superman. The voice said we need to wait, our table is not ready yet. Adrenaline pumping, they finally let us in.

We were led into a dark bar with people sitting at tables chatting.

We immediately fell into "coolness" zone.

There is booth seating for larger parties or for parties of two they'll sit you at the bar. The bathrooms have signs that say No Cocaine Peddling giving the shock factor.

Drinks were ordered after much reading and debate because this is what they are known for-- their mixology concoctions. Some of the highlights include:

-A drink with an egg white froth that had PDT stenciled in. Better pictures on flickr
-Bacon infused bourbon.
Say whaat? Mr. Broad and Mr. Essama still can't stop talking about this. For those bourbon lovers this apparently was silky with a yes, a hint of bacon.


The rest I'm still unsure about because well it was 1am and we did go to a bar beforehand. But because it's attached to Crif's Dogs and Mr. Broad and I deemed it worth another shot, we decided to go at it. The hot dogs were a bit more "upscale" than the version next door and named after famous chefs in New York City.

-Wylie Dog: included fried mayo, tomato molassses and some other crazy things in an ode to Mr. Dufresne and his molecular gastronomy.
-Chang Dog: included pork products and kimchee possibly for Mr. Chang

Okay I am not sure of the rest but they were a bit more "grown up" than the bacon/cheese/egg hot dog found next door. No disrespect to those of course.

Mr. Broad, however, ordered a corn dog. Out came our late-night dogs. And with Mr. Broad's corn dog were two corn dogs each about two inches long with smaller girth than would make even a newborn cry. Mr. Broad of course had some choice comments about it. The word shriveled came to mind.
This just meant that after our PDT drinking coolness we spilled out into Crif's Dog so Mr. Broad and Mr. Essama could fufill their hot dog craving for perhaps the next 3 months.

Review:
I'm not going to lie here. PDT is a really, really cool bar. You kinda feel like all sorts of cool when you walk in. If you can get in that is. A friend once saw Justin Timberlake there so my eyes were peeled for celebs. The best I got was a Justin Guiarini look-alike. Would I go back to PDT? Sure but it may be awhile cause I definitely can't pull these late nights like I use to. And that's probably a good thing. I wouldn't be able to get in anyways.
Rating: 8.5

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