Restaurant review: Minetta Tavern

As previously mentioned, last Sunday night, Judd and I had dinner at Minetta Tavern to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. The tavern, named after the Minetta Brook which used to run south west from 23rd Street to the Hudson River, has been around since 1937, but was recently acquired by Keith McNally and his team (the people behind Balthazar and Pastis) and reopened after extensive renovation in 2009. As is the case with Balthazar or Pastis, Minetta Tavern is wildly popular and should you still want to eat at Minetta Tavern after hearing all of the things I did not like about it, plan on calling one month in advance and spending a while on hold. And if you don't call immediately after they open, expect to be offered a 5:30pm or a 10:30pm reservation. We chose 5:30pm.

Minetta Tavern is quite pretty inside. It really does feel like an old tavern with pressed tin ceilings and a checkerboard tiled floor. But the service was awful and the food ranged from above average to just plain not good. When Judd arrived a few minutes before I did, he was not allowed to sit down. Instead, they insisted that our whole party - of two people - be present before he could be seated. It was 5:30pm. The restaurant was not crowded or particularly busy. This made no sense. When I did arrive and we were seated, it took at least ten to fifteen minutes for our waitress to take drink orders. And then an additional five minutes for any bread to arrive at our table, even though at 5:45, the restaurant still was not particularly crowded or busy.

To start, I had a beet salad with fresh goat cheese, walnuts, and shaved onion. It's pretty hard to screw up beets and goat cheese, but these beets were small and sweet and the goat cheese was nice and creamy. Judd ordered an oxtail and foie gras terrine which was ok but not as good as I thought it would be given the inclusion of foie gras. I would have skipped the oxtail and gone with a simple torchon of foie gras, decadent though that would have been, had it been offered.

The real reason I had wanted to try Minetta Tavern was the steak. Frank Bruni, the former New York Times food critic, in his review last summer, raved that the restaurant was serving some of the most "expertly aged, flavorful and exquisitely prepared prime beef in New York." He went on to award Minetta Tavern 3 stars (excellent). To put that rating in context, note that in his five years as the food critic, reviewing one restaurant per week, Bruni only gave 33 restaurants 3 stars. The dry-aged cote de boeuf, a large ribeye steak served with roasted marrow bones, got particular praise. But at $104 for two, it seemed too expensive, even for a special occasion. So I ordered filet mignon au Roquefort and Judd ordered a bone-in New York strip. We shared a side of french fries.

Judd's steak was good. It had a nice char and was well-cooked. In contrast, my filet was all-around terrible. First off, it was wrapped in bacon. Normally, that would sound good. But when our waitress mentioned that the filet would be wrapped in bacon, I asked that mine not come with bacon. She scoffed and told me the filets were pre-wrapped and that the bacon added a nice flavor. So I acquiesced. And I am sorry I did since the bacon added nothing to the flavor and instead prevented the filet from getting any real char. I ended up cutting it off the steak and setting it aside. Second, the filet was still practically raw when presented to me. When I asked that it be put back on the grill until it was "medium," as I had requested, it left our table for over 10 minutes, by which time Judd had finished half of his steak and I had eaten a lot of french fries. When it returned, it was not much more thoroughly cooked inside despite the duration of its trip to the kitchen. Third, the roquefort, which I had imagined would accompany the filet in the form of a rich blue-cheesy sauce on the side, akin to a bernaise, was crumbled all over the top of the steak! And it was so strong! Ugh. I was not happy. Finally, the meat was tough and not at all "expertly aged" or "flavorful." Some of you may be rolling your eyes and wondering what I expected by ordered a filet mignon, a lean and generally flavorless cut of steak, but I order it all the time and have rarely been so disappointed.

The french fries were fine. I've had better. Especially at Les Halles, where they have some of the best fries ever. And $9 for a side of fries borders on outrageous, I think. (A side of fries is $5.50 at Les Halles.)

We shared a trio of forgettable pots de creme - vanilla, espresso and chocolate custard puddings - for dessert and were in a cab heading home by 7:00pm. I will not be returning to the corner of Macdougal Street and Minetta Lane any time soon since we could spend the same amount of money at a dozen other steakhouses which have better steak and reservation times. And less attitude.

*

Details:

113 Macdougal Street

New York, New York

(212) 475-3850 -- memorize that number if you want to try this place, as you will be dialing it over and over and over again.

Overpriced dinner for two with a side of snooty service: $200

On vacation

That's the view from the cottage we rented in Islamorada. It's 80 degrees and sunny here. I might never leave.

Honeymoon-inspired anniversary dinner

One year ago today, on a slightly cooler but equally sunny Saturday here in New York, Judd and I got married in the presence of exactly 100 of our friends and relatives. It was a magical day but it went by far too fast. The very next day we flew to Florence to begin our 12-day honeymoon in Italy. I took researching the local food very seriously came home 9 pounds heavier.

I have tried unsuccessfully to convince Judd that we should have another wedding every March 21st. In the meantime, on the eve of the anniversary of our first wedding, I decided to prepare a celebratory dinner inspired by our honeymoon. Initially, I thought about recreating the meal we made during our cooking lesson with Chef Richard Titi at Relais Il Falconiere in Tuscany.

Our cooking class was one of the highlights of our trip, but the meal we prepared, including pici pasta and stuffed pork medallions, was very labor intensive -- the pasta was hand-made and stuffing the pork involved the use of a pastry bag, which I do not have. So instead, I put on my souvenir apron and made something inspired by our honeymoon: imported burrata with prosciutto followed by asparagus risotto.

We picked up the burrata and prosciutto from Salumeria Rosi in the morning, a good time to shop there since there can be a long line in the afternoon. I arranged some of the sliced prosciutto on our plates and added a portion of the oozing burrata. A drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and pepper later and voila! Our first course was ready.

I used this recipe for the asparagus risotto. Mark Bittman, better known to many as "the Minimalist," and a regular contributor to the New York Times, had a wonderful but short-lived show on public television a few years ago called "The Best Recipes in the World." In the first episode of the series he highlighted the best recipes in the world for rice-based dishes including risotto and paella. The featured risotto was prepared by Mario Batali and the segment was filmed in the kitchen of Del Posto. I generally like anything Mario Batali makes, and I particularly liked his idea of adding asparagus puree to the finished risotto to give it bright green color and make it extra asparagusy. I don't know that I'd consider a recipe that involves peeling asparagus stalks "minimalist" -- peeling two pounds of asparagus stalks took me a LONG time -- but the finished product was really rich, creamy, and delicious, so it was worth it.

For dessert, we opened the freezer and dug out the top tier of our wedding cake which had been tightly wrapped up in saran wrap for the last 364 days. It was also still covered in a layer of fondant, which I had hoped would further preserve the cake inside.

It didn't look much like our beautiful wedding cake anymore.

I thought Sterling Affair, our caterer, did a perfect job replicating the design I gave them for our cake - a lace pattern that I had seen in a bridal magazine. I ate very little at our wedding and only had one bite of our cake, which was carrot cake inside since I don't like chocolate. So I can't exactly tell you how what I tasted last night compares to the non-frozen-for-one-year-then-thawed version of our cake, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Definitely a freezer-burned flavor though.

Thank goodness my mother, who joined us for our pre-anniversary celebration, also brought over cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery.

Our wedding anniversary celebration is just beginning. Tonight, we're having dinner for two at Minetta Tavern, the new Keith McNally French brasserie/steakhouse in the village that I've been wanting to try for months. And on Thursday morning, we're setting off on a romantic getaway to Islamorada in the Florida Keys . . . can't wait!

Recipe: sichuan pork noodles

My coworker and fellow food-enthusiast, Caroline, forwarded me this recipe for sichuan pork noodles from Lynne Rossetto Kasper's weekly newsletter, "Weeknight Kitchen," which includes recipes from her NPR show "The Splendid Table." The recipe had been reprinted in her newsletter with permission from a new America's Test Kitchen cookbook, "The Best Simple Recipes: More Than 200 Flavorful Foolproof Recipes That Cook in 30 Minutes or Less." I mention that in case Christopher Kimball is reading this and thinks I am infringing his copyright. I have their original cookbook, "The Best Recipe," and I use it all the time, so I'm sure this new one is great.

Since I have become a big fan of NPR lately (still no TV - hopefully it will return next Wednesday), I thought it would be fun to make these noodles, especially since I rarely cook anything with asian flavors. Also, it looked easy and it was!

Here's the recipe, which serves 4:

1 pound ground pork

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon Asian chili-garlic sauce*

1 cup chicken broth

1/3 cup peanut butter**

3 tablespoons oyster sauce***

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger

1 pound fresh chinese noodles (whatever that means) or linguine****

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

*I could not find anything called "chili-garlic sauce" at the store. So instead I used one tablespoon of siracha (spicy thai chili paste) with 1 clove of grated garlic.

**I used chunky peanut butter and think that was the way to go since it added little crunchy peanut bits to the sauce.

***Yes, this actually contains oyster extract, but don't worry, it's not at all fishy tasting.

****I used Barilla Plus spaghetti. It has added protein (from egg whites), fiber (from multi-grain and legume flour), and omega-3 fatty acids (from ground flaxseeds) and I think it tastes the same as regular old pasta.

1. Bring a large pot of salty water to boil. Meanwhile, combine ground pork, two tablespoons vinegar, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, and chili-garlic sauce in a bowl. In another bowl, whisk broth, peanut butter, oyster sauce, remaining vinegar, and remaining soy sauce.

2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add pork mixture and cook until the pork is no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Stir in ginger and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add broth mixture and simmer until slightly thickened, about 4 minutes.

3. Add pasta to boiling water and cook until al dente. Add cooked pasta directly to pork mixture and toss, adding additional cooking water if you need more liquid. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

I am a praise hound and frequently ask Judd to compliment my cooking. One of my more commonly-posed questions is whether or not a particular dish is "restaurant quality." Last night, Judd opined that the noodles were good enough to be featured in a restaurant, but he wasn't sure what kind of restaurant, since they didn't really look or taste like something you'd find at a chinese restaurant. I agreed. But they were still delicious and really flavorful.

Since there were no vegetables in these noodles, I decided to make spicy sauteed asparagus and snap peas. I cut up one bunch of raw asparagus into 2-inch pieces and sauteed it with about 1/2 a pound of sugar snap peas and a large pinch of crushed red pepper flakes in a little olive oil for about 10 minutes. I drizzled a little sesame oil and soy sauce over the vegetables in the last minute. They were great - still crunchy and bright green.

I have lots of leftovers, some of which I imagine Judd will eat for breakfast today. He is a self-described "healthy vegetarian," after all.

What's missing from this picture?

Yes, my television. My beloved television. For about a week, it had been making a clicking sound before turning on. The clicking sound lasted longer and longer before the screen would illuminate, and I knew something was wrong.

We had a purchased a 4-year service package from Best Buy when we got the tv back in November of 2007. After a call to the Geek Squad, last Wednesday -- almost two weeks ago -- some repair business in Queens who has a contract with Best Buy came to do an "in-home service call." I thought they'd come, fix our tv, and leave. But instead, they took it away to their shop, where it has remained ever since.

TV - it's been awful without you. Please come home soon. I call every day to see how you're doing. Yesterday, I got the feeling that you might be almost fixed. They said they'd replaced a part and just need to do some testing. They could bring you back by Friday! I have a rare trip to court on my work calendar on Friday, so it's not the best day to wait at home for your arrival, but I will make it work lest we spend another weekend apart.

Recipe: pasta with yogurt and caramelized onions

A few years ago, I ripped out a recipe from the New York Times Magazine for pasta with yogurt and caramelized onions. The recipe had been adapted from "The Glorious Foods of Greece," by Diane Kochilas. I know I have made it at least one other time, and for some reason decided to try it again last night. And it was delicious! Almost like a lighter version of fettuccini alfredo.

Here's the recipe, as I made it last night.

17.6 oz container of Fage greek yogurt (I used the 2 % fat variety)

5 tablespoons olive oil

3 large onions, chopped

1 pound fettuccini

1 cup grated pecorino cheese

salt and pepper

1. Heat olive oil in a large sauce pan. Add onions and cook over medium - low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft and golden brown (20 - 30 minutes). Season with salt and pepper. Add yogurt.

2. While onions are caramelizing, bring a large pot of salty water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente (8-9 minutes).

4. While pasta is cooking, ladle out add ~1/2 cup of pasta cooking water and add it to the yogurt and onions. Add a little more if it's still too thick. Stir in grated cheese.

5. Drain pasta and toss with yogurt, onion and cheese mixture. Season with salt and pepper to taste.