Category: Eats

Once burned, twice Thai

Monday, September 25th, 2006 | All Things, Eats

I could not resist another dinner at Sripraphai — my second. This time, SYB invited along our favorite Kiwi couple JD and MB. (The nickname for New Zealanders, by the way, comes from the national bird, not the fruit.)

We commandeered a fourtop out in the garden again, enjoying one of the first cool nights of autumn. On the menu tonight: the Crispy Chinese Watercress Salad and Drunken Noodles with Beef from last week. For variety, I added the Curried Softshell Crab with Pumpkin special of the evening. (I think I will always opt for pumpkin when it is offered.) JD chose the Tilapia Filets with Chili and Basil Leaves entree. And MB rounded out our dinner menu with the Jungle Curry with Shrimp and Mixed Vegetables.

It was my first real meal of the day.  So very delicious and — despite the fiery heat — oddly comforting. Again, “medium” spiciness was just spicy enough… and in fact, the Drunken Noodles kept our tongues tingling throughout the meal.

Fountain

Softshell Crab

More creamy pumpkin custards (which I got to sample this time) and sweet coconut rice bundles wrapped in banana leaves at Chez B, over which I attempted to lose myself in the escapist pleasures of the Grey’s Anatomy season premiere (in HD.)

Pumpkin Custards

When I woke this morning, I did not know that this afternoon’s events would send me spiraling into a state of despair… re-examining all that has happened, doubting everything I thought I knew to be true. But life goes on.

Ah, love, let us be true
To one another! for the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain…

— Matthew Arnold (1822-1888), “Dover Beach

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Dinner at Sripraphai

Monday, September 18th, 2006 | All Things, Eats, Friends

I’ve been reading about Sripraphai (see-PRA-pie) for years, and actively thinking about it for over a month, but oddly, I’d never motivated the trip out to Woodside to check out for myself what most regard as the best Thai restaurant in New York City. Really odd, considering that I trek out to farther flung areas of Queens at least once a week. What was once just a buzz about the restaurant on the foodie-boards, has grown into a din of explosive praise over the past couple of years, ushering humble Sripraphai into the limelight of official dining destinations. Frank Bruni 2-starred them back in November 2004, the 2005 Zagat’s named Sripraphai one of the 50 best restaurants in the city and New York Magazine ranked it number 5 of the 101 best Cheap Eats in New York — and one of only seven restaurants in the city granted 5-star status.

So after a couple of inspiring trips out to Pam’s, I sent SC an email asking her if she’d like to join me in this culinary adventure. JG and SYB quickly signed on — Sripraphai newbies all — and we made the arrangements for the following Monday.

A quick shot to 61st Street/Woodside on the 7 Express. From there, it was a just few blocks walk under the elevated subway tracks along Roosevelt to our destination. A second round of expansions and renovations in late 2004 had doubled the Sripraphai seating area to 70 (not including the back garden) and transformed the once utilitarian space into a more welcoming spot. I wasn’t sure what to expect (since clearly the food, and not the ambience, is the main draw), but considering that the owners probably needn’t have bothered too much with creating a pleasing dining area, they’ve done a decent job. We bypassed the main room for the garden tables out back, which was far prettier than I had expected: landscaped, with a central burbling fountain, and a perimeter lined with flowered shrubs — and one curious cat.

Garden

The wonderful spicy scents emanating from the kitchen were enough to send my stomach grumbling into high gear. One of the menus had accompanying color photos of all the dishes. Everything looked crazy delicious!

With some difficulty, we finally winnowed down our choices to four dishes and an appetizer: the Crispy Chinese Watercress Salad, Shrimp Pad Thai (for a baseline comparison), Drunken Noodles with Beef, the Sautéed Crispy Pork with Chile and Basil Leaves and Whole Red Snapper with Green Mango. Also fragrant bowls of sticky rice and coconut rice, hot tea (for SC who was nursing an oncoming cold), Thai iced teas and coffees for the rest of us.

Monday may be the best night to go. I’d read about waits stretching to over an hour during peak weekend hours, but this night at 8:00PM, the restaurant was hardly half full. Take note: the restaurant is closed on Wednesdays.

The food! Unfortunately my photos aren’t very good, and once the plates hit the table, it seemed just too obnoxious to hold up everyone else from eating while I figured out my lighting issues. But here are a couple.

The salad – a pile of crisp, lightly battered, fried watercress, with cilantro, red onion, cashews, chicken, squid and shrimp, bathed in a refreshing chile, lime, fish sauce and sugar combination. Whole red chiles, and long strips of green chiles, which were dangerously difficult to distinguish from the watercress in the dim light of the garden. (Disaster and tears were narrowly avoided at the last moment.)

Watercress Salad

We requested the food at a “medium” level of spice, and in retrospect, I am very grateful that we didn’t attempt the “Thai spicy.” One bite of the broad, flat drunken noodles with beef, chile, and basil leaves and a slow burn began at the base of my tongue, building until it engulfed my entire mouth. Thankfully, the waitstaff is very attentive with the water glass refilling. I suppose they have to be.

The pork was richly fatty and crispy as advertised, with shreds of bright basil and flecks of vibrantly red chile. Wonderful! And the whole fried red snapper with green mango salad: crispy, tender and moist all at once, with a delicately seasoned topping of shredded fruit, just spicy enough to give a kick – though not as incendiary as the drunken noodles or the crispy pork. Oh my.

Fried Fish

Tongues a-tingle, we ate and ate until we could eat no more. (SYB really should have stopped before chomping down on that final chile, in an ill-advised stroke of capsaicin-exploding bravado.) And still there was more food. We packed up the rest, defeated, but fully satisfied.

On the way out, we could not pass up the refrigerated case filled with glorious Thai desserts: coconut and pumpkin custard squares, banana sticky rice, delicate marzipans. And a dazzling array of Thai pastes and preserves (most with helpful English labels.)

Sauces

So many things on the menu beckon to me, a return trip to Woodside is already in the works. Fried softshell crab – bring it on!

On the way back into Manhattan, the four of us stopped in at SYB’s to catch the premiere of The Rachael Ray  show that he had set to TiVo while he was at work, for reasons he has yet to fully explain. No comment; the headline of this Yahoo! News article says it all: “Rachael Ray Show” potentially annoying.

Except I would perhaps replace “potentially” with definitely” or “extremely.”  Never did I expect to hear the words “slut shoes” come out of inaugural guest Diane Sawyer’s mouth. I hope to never hear them again.

[Edited to add: I want to know who at Sony Music is responsible for thisStop the madness! ]

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The Circle, then the Square

Sunday, September 17th, 2006 | All Things, Classes, Eats, Events

I got up bright and early on Sunday morning for my sautéing techniques class at Williams-Sonoma at the Shops at Columbus Circle. The class was the first I attended in the shop’s Sunday morning cooking series. I figured that although I already pretty much knew how to sauté, a more formalized instruction couldn’t but help. John, the instructor, explained a bit about the origins of sauté (from the French sauter, which means “to jump”) and the smoke points of different oils. As he talked us through a preparation of chicken with lemon-basil sauce, he offered some practical advice for successful sautéing: gradually heating the pan before adding the fat, not overcrowding the bottom of the pan, and ensuring all the pieces are generally the same thickness and size.

John

Marlene

Which reminded me a little bit of the classic SNL sketch, Cooking with The Anal Retentive Chef. R.I.P., Phil Hartman.

Brunch downtown at Chat ‘n’ Chew with SYB, after which, en route to Time Out New York’s “Back to School Blowout” in Union Square, we passed through stand after stand piled high with skeins of colorful yarns and impressive displays of fiber crafts. And lots and lots of squealing women, many lugging around overstuffed shopping bags, along with the occasional shellshocked-looking man – all out for the Eighth Annual “Knit-Out & Crochet” event, also being held that afternoon in the Park.

I recognized a few of the yarn purveyors from around the city (like Seaport Yarn and the Upper West Side’s Knitty City) as well as some of the larger yarn and crafts manufacturers. It would have been very easy to get caught up in it all had I been with someone else (i.e., a woman), but I surmised that SYB probably wasn’t all that interested in oohing over the silks, cashmeres, mohairs and alpacas.

Chat n Chew

Knit Out

Yarns

Time Out hosted the back-to-school festival last year also, the primary purpose of which is to welcome new — mainly, college — students to New York City and to introduce them to the vast and diverse offerings of the city. I like attending because in addition to being a continuing student – Russian class starts on Wednesday! – it’s nice to be reminded of why New York is such a great place to be.

Heartland Brewery was there in the Square, pumping out free beer from a keg, as was Trader Joe’s with their Mango Lemonade and Chile Spiced Mango samples (chewy, spicy — different.) Peanut Butter & Company had lots of coupons and temporary tattoos to distribute. I let the woman put one on my arm; it had a monkey on it! There were lots of giveaways – nothing spectacular, though SYB picked up a Wicked -emblazoned hand fan, and we both entered contests for Carnegie Hall subscriptions and comedy shows. Fingers crossed!

Back to School Bash

Popped into Max Brenner Chocolate by the Bald Man — the newish cafe/ restaurant/chocolate shop from Israel that opened its first New York City branch off Union Square, drawing crazy, sweet-seeking crowds, and inevitable comparisons to Willy Wonka (minus the Oompa Loompas.) From the moment we set foot inside the door, the rich, heady scent of chocolate permeated our nostrils. And no wonder: there were trays, plates, bins and fountains overflowing with the dark stuff at every turn. It was almost too much. Almost.

Truffles

Fountain

Cocoa Market

I hear they serve a chocolate “pizza” — with an optional topping of mini-marshmallows — in the cafe. Is that wonderful… or a little obscene?

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