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the underground gourmet
Pushing the Manila Envelope
Even after the demise of Manila Garden, the Filipino enclave known as Little
Manila around First Avenue and 14th Street endures. Krystal's Cafe, a
bright, bare-bones offshoot of a bustling bakery in Woodside, Queens, heats
up the lunch-buffet competition with a daily-changing $5.95 spread that's
been drawing expat weekend crowds for pancit canton (stir-fried noodles with
shrimp), bulalo (rich oxtail soup with a cabbage-laden broth), addictive egg
fried rice, and the kitchen's idea of "American food" like moist chicken
breast with a spinach mixture tucked under the skin. Lumpia, or
vegetable-stuffed rolls, come two ways: "Shanghai-style" (fried like spring
rolls) or fresh, oversize, and doused with sweet peanut sauce. On a cold
afternoon, ginataang mais— a coconut-milk-sweetened mush of glutinous rice
and corn kernels — makes the ideal dessert. Or peruse the pastry case:
Alongside purple yam cakes and coconut buns are Italian cookies and
napoleons from Corona's venerable Stasi bakery, which Krystal's owner bought
two years ago — a handy acquisition when you're invading Veniero's and De
Robertis's turf.— ROBIN RAISFELD
Krystal's Cafe
171 First Avenue
212-614-8080
object of desire
Soup for Nuts
Bouillabaisse is a dish that obsessive foodies love to discuss almost as much
as they love to devour: It must be made, purists say, within fishnet-tossing
distance of the Mediterranean, with certain highly unattractive fish, and
preferably by a Marseillais (beret and striped sweater optional). You might
say, then, that Isobel chef Anthony Raggiri's version fulfills only one of
the criteria, but it's so delicious you won't care. In authentic fashion,
the Marseilles native cooks and serves his rendition ($35 per person,
two-person minimum) in two stages: first the rich and complex soup that's
ladled over croutons you dab with rouille and sprinkle with Gruyère;
then the huge platter of market-variable seafood, possibly including red
mullet, monkfish, and sea robin, filleted tableside, plus conger eel,
mussels, clams, and crab. It's as close to the Riviera as you can get by
crossing the Brooklyn Bridge. (Thursdays only or by advance reservation.)
Isobel
60 Henry Street, Brooklyn Heights
718-243-2010
new menu
Dutch Frites
As the stock market descends, budget-conscious prix fixe menus and
family-style service are just two of the strategies besieged kitchens are
using to lure diners; small plates for a pittance is another. NL has
recently instituted a café menu full of Dutch-style tapas like smoked
eel with wasabi mayo, shrimp croquettes, and spectacular meaty French fries
to dip in mayo, priced between $4 and $7. And whereas the popular Dutch
pancakes were formerly relegated to brunch, they're now available, in nearly
a dozen permutations, all the time.
NL
169 Sullivan Street
212-387-8801
object of desire
Soft Sellers
Are gourmet marshmallows excessive, a bit like making your own all-natural
ice-cream sprinkles? Well, not if you take your hot chocolate seriously.
City Bakery's Maury Rubin started the trend a few years ago to properly
adorn his creamy Valrhona concoction, and now pastry chefs are churning out
the gooey morsels all over town, from midtown's Pershing Square to the Polka
Dot Cake Studio in the West Village. Even Jacques Torres will be selling
them from his Dumbo chocolate shop as part of a holiday hot-chocolate kit.
Our current favorites, though, are the soft and sticky little clouds that
accompany a cup of exquisitely rich, citrus-touched hot chocolate at Union
Square Cafe. Its new pastry chef, Deborah Snyder, also squishes them into
s'mores — with her homemade chocolate bars and graham crackers.
Union Square Cafe
21 East 16th Street
212-243-4020
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