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of February 18, 2002 |
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trend
French Dip
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For years, the humble
red-skinned radish, even when it was all dressed up with
its little rose cutout, was the forever-lonely wallflower
of the cocktail-party-tray circuit. Lacking the social
graces of the other crudit�s, it couldn't decide whether
it was a legitimate hors d'oeuvre or just a garnish. Recently,
though, a few young chefs have rediscovered its simple,
elegant Parisian-caf� appeal. Inside's Charleen Badman
serves the peppery roots the traditional French-bistro
way (pictured), stems trimmed but not removed, with sweet
butter and salt for dipping and dusting. They're occasionally
available on Inside's
(9 Jones Street; 212-229-9999) bar menu or as an amuse-bouche
at brunch or dinner and make a nice crisp accompaniment
to a beer, a cocktail, or a citrusy white wine. "I send
them out just to get the customers started, to wake up
their taste buds," says Badman, who got the idea from
her friend Gabrielle Hamilton at Prune
(54 E. 1st Street; 212-677-6221) -- somewhat of a kitchen-cupboard
genius herself, capable of turning Triscuits and canned
sardines into a hot commodity. At Paradou
(8 Little West 12th Street; 212-463-8345), the
Proven�al-inspired bistro � vin in the meatpacking district,
radishes with butter and salt are a natural fit and a
freebie at the bar. For now, Jean-Fran�ois Bruel of DB
Bistro Moderne (55 W. 44th Street; 212-391-2400)
merely garnishes his tapenade with julienned radishes,
but once he gets his hands on the dainty, "slightly sweeter,
slightly less bitter" French Breakfast variety this spring,
he plans to go the butter-and-salt route, too. To Badman,
this is missing the point. "What I like about them is
they're just basic radishes," she says. "Nothing fancy."
—
ROB PATRONITE
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best of the week
Rendezvous
With a Chef
Book your spot
early for this series of dinners, which kicks off at
Le Bernardin
on February 25. The chef-owners of Aureole,
Daniel,
and the above-mentioned boîte will walk you through
the kitchen and then serve you a four-course meal. ($150
per person; to reserve for any of the dinners, call
212-838-6327.)
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shopping
Coop de
Ville 
Over the past
eight years, Two Little Red Hens has become a
Park Slope institution --or at least, its Brooklyn blackout
cake has. Now the bakery's wonderfully dense evocation
of Ebinger's has materialized in Yorkville at the bakery's
new Manhattan outpost, along with its signature sticky
buns, birthday cakes, apple-crumb pies and almond-plum
tarts. There's a handful of seats for lingering over
coffee and cake, and an incipient collection of the
folksy hen paraphernalia that adorns the Brooklyn store.
Two Little Red Hens
1652 Second Avenue, near 85th Street
212-452-0476
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tools
Hot Product
Home breadmakers have for years been
counseled to use clay tiles to halfheartedly reproduce
a bakery's brick oven. But tiles do nothing compared
with the ceramic HearthKit, the brainchild
of bread guru Charles Van Over, which in our tests produced
breads and pizzas (and roasts) with crunchy crusts that
compare with any professional's. The HearthKit has,
in fact, impressed no less an authority than the hero
of home bakers: Rose Levy Beranbaum, the author of The
Cake Bible and its sequels devoted to pie and pastry.
Levy, who's currently working on a bread book, calls
it the most important piece of new kitchen equipment
since the Cuisinart. (Available at Broadway
Panhandler, 477 Broome Street, 212-966-3434,
$168.95; and Zabar's,
2245 Broadway, at 80th Street, 212-787-2000, $169.98.)
—
GILLIAN DUFFY
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Ask Gael
Are you suggesting dinner
in a pool hall?
I haven't
given a thought to pool since Paul Newman showed us The
Color of Money. But I am drawn irresistibly to Slate
the very day I get my hands on the new comfort-food menu
whipped up by consulting whisk Stephen Kalt (of the late,
lamented Spartina). We're talking catnip for a junk-food
queen: serious chili, lollipop wings, cheese-and-chili
fries, New Orleans shrimp po'boy, a Cuban sandwich. Braving
a not exactly tony crowd, giant TVs, and painful techno
throb, we settle into a booth to share hypercrackling
calamari and splendid chopped salad served by a perky
doll who plays along as if we blend in. Slate's big cheese-and-mushroom-stuffed
burger alone is worth crossing this cultural divide, and
the chewy rare hanger steak is remarkable. We dip the
first-rate fries in a modest b�arnaise meant for the grilled
asparagus. Alas, the grilled pizzas are not much bigger
than a salad plate-so hoard the excellent merguez-sausage
crisp with roasted garlic and feta. Who knows? Maybe you
shoot a mean stick.
Slate
54 West 21st Street
212-989-0096
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Bites & Buzz Archive
Week of February
11
Hadom scores; Rockefeller Center gets a Pulse; Mardi Gras at Caf� Boulud; NoLIta's sweetest couple; Chef Tom Valenti's cookbook; Gael discovers a new talent in Yorkville
Week of February
4
Savoia's dream team; Bid on Valentine's Day; Dim Sum Go Go celebrates
the Year of the Horse ; City Bakery's "Love Potion"; Brian McNally opts
for simplicity
Week of January
28
A Royal feast; Valentine's Day at Daniel; Le Zinc's devilish treat; Brooklyn's
answer to Balducci's; Gael's cure for the mid-winter blues
and
more ...
Photos: From top to bottom- Kenneth Chen; Carina Salvi
(2); Patrik Rytikangas
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