Ponty Bistro

Hello eaters! I know it's been a while. I've been eating but so much has been happening that I haven't been writing. Please forgive me! I'm back now and will have a lot to write about given the many many dining experiences I've had. 

I recently went to a press dinner at Ponty Bistro. It's a Senagalese French restaurant in Manhattan. I ate at the original location which is on 3rd avenue and 19th street. It's a neighborhood I rarely dine in these days. The location seats about 45 guests and although there's no sidewalk cafe, if you come early you can snag a seat by the floor to ceiling window that remains open during warmer months. I have been to a couple of Senegalese restaurants before but rarely have I had the kind of culinary delight I experienced at Ponty Bistro. The first dish on the warm summer-like spring evening was Gazpacho.  


I have never been a fan of gazpacho so I was immediately skeptical. However when it landed on the table, I was pleasantly surprised by the scent of the berber spices. My first spoonful was enough to convince me. The spicy tomato based soup included cucumbers which had a cooling effect. The surprises continued when the Kale Salad arrived. 

Eaters, you know I'm not about the salad life. However I must say the combination of pine nuts, goat cheese, cranberries mixed with a lemon vinaigrette dressing was just right. I was the first to finish this dish and really wanted more. I was less impressed with the Risotto. 

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad. The combination of truffle mushroom and asparagus with Parmesan cheese was actually pretty good. I just felt overwhelmed by the number of mushrooms in my tasting portion serving. They did add an interesting texture and provide a richer flavor, but the dish still seemed more rice than risotto. The Risotto was a distant memory when the African Mussels arrived. 

If there was a drool worthy dish, this was definitely it. The scent of the coconut milk, curry, lemongrass, and berbere spices hit you right as the bowl landed on the table. These were unlike any other mussels I've had the mussels themselves were larger than what I'm used to. The sauce was light but the flavor was HUGE. The sauce was so good we were eating it by the spoonful when we finished the mussels. The last dish was an unexpected favorite. Chicken Tagine. 

This was another dish with lively color and bold taste. It is inspired by the Moroccan dish of the same name. The onion based sauce includes a blend of rich spices. It had a little kick to it which I appreciated. The Cous Cous was also cooked to perfection and went really well with the sauce. 

There's no better place I could have asked for to re-enter the blogosphere. Ponty Bistro had a diverse menu and offers a cuisine you can't find in many locations around the city. The dishes are well worth the prices especially considering the portions. I'm looking forward to trying the Harlem location soon!

Hungry yet?  

good

I love when my friends visit! When Mr. S, Ms. S and her Mr. K showed up a few weekends ago, I was thrilled.  We had a great time that weekend.  After a very late dinner on Friday, we went down to good for brunch.  We only waited a couple of minutes before we were seated.  That was enough time for us to notice the simple décor, which included photographs of utensils.  Mr. S claims that the furnishings are likely old items from an antique store.  The brunch menu at good is incredibly expansive.  We decided to each order the goodBrunch special.  Mr. K started with the Hand-rolled orange sour cream donuts.

Holey donut!! The donut holes were delicious! They were very sweet, but a delicious natural sweetness thanks to the flavor of the orange.  I was fortunate that Mr. K forgot the other donut when he left so I was able to enjoy it on Monday morning.  For his main course, Mr. K ordered the Basil & Goat Cheese egg scramble.  It was served over sourdough cherry tomatoes, asparagus and pesto. 

Quite the healthy alternative considering he just ordered donuts.  If not for the goat cheese, I probably would have ordered this too.  Ms. S ordered the Savory Cheddar Cornbread.

Yummers! The cheddar was thankfully not overwhelming. The bread was served warm which also added to its deliciousness.  It was crispy and had a little kick baked in.  For her main course, Ms. S ordered the special. Baked Eggs with gruyere and spinach on sourdough bread.

Props to Ms. S for getting through the entire plate. I’m pretty sure she ate half a dozen eggs.  Mr. S ordered the Banana Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast.

He destroyed that beast, but he didn’t quite make it through the bananas.  I ordered the Migas.  It’s scrambled eggs with crisp corn tortillas, onions, peppers & cilantro spicy salsa.  This my friends is a first, I was so caught up in the many plates and glasses on the table that I actually forgot to photograph my own food!  I know, wild.

Truthfully, they didn’t look that great anyway so it’s probably best I didn’t photograph them. Haha.  They tasted alright though. They were a little lacking in kick considering they are supposed to contain spicy salsa.  We also ordered Chicken Sausages.

They were wrinkly but very delicious.  The Spicy Home Fries were excellent.  Not as stewed and tasty as others, but they were still an excellent compliment to the other items on the table.

Good was great! Having my friends in town is always such a treat and the way we eat it’s even better!

Hungry yet?

Seared Duck Breast with Chili, Honey & Ginger Glaze

Smorgasburg was so awesome not just because of the food I got to eat there, but because of what I got to take home! I took home two lovely duck breasts from Hudson Valley Duck Farm’s stand. Ms. H was coming into town so I decided to make magic.

Yup, that’s magic.  I was very excited to make the duck so I searched high and low for a recipe that was to my liking.  As always, my Epicurious app came up with this amazing recipe for Seared Duck Breast with Chili, Honey & Ginger Glaze.

Ingredients

2 whole magret duck breasts, approximately 1 pound each, available from specialty meat markets

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 small dried ancho chili pepper soaked in 1 cup boiling water for 30 minutes (I couldn’t find ancho chilis so I used a Jamaican hot pepper)

1 small white onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon grated ginger

2 tablespoons warm honey dissolved in ½ cup port wine

2 scallions, chopped, about 1/2 cup

With the point of a knife, score the skin side of the breasts in crosshatch pattern, being careful not to pierce the flesh of the meat.

Season the duck breasts with salt and pepper. Heat a sauté pan over medium heat for 1 minute before adding the breasts, skin side down. Cook skin side down over medium to low heat, for approximately 10 to 12 minutes to render the fat from the skin before turning the breasts over. 

When the duck has rendered its fat and the skin has taken on a crisp exterior quality turn the breasts over and sauté the flesh side for 3 to 4 minutes.  Duck is reeeeallly fatty! I used the reserved duck fat to make asparagus and also mixed it in with the mashed potatoes :-)

Carefully remove the duck from the pan, place on a platter to keep warm.  Place the chili into a blender and begin to pureé, adding as much of the reserved liquid as necessary to create a smooth and thin paste-like texture.  After removing the duck breasts from the pan add the onion to the still hot pan and return to the heat. Add a tablespoon or two of reserved duck fat. Sauté the onion briefly before adding the ginger and 2 tablespoons of the chili paste. Add the honey and port to the ginger chili, stir to combine and cook for one minute.

The breasts have rested for several minutes and should now be medium rare. They can be sliced lengthwise or cross-wise and several slices placed on each plate. Drizzle the warm glaze over the duck or for more impact, brush some on the duck breasts before slicing, run the duck under a hot broiler for 1 minute, caramelize the glaze and then slice and drizzle.

Oheemmgeee! The duck was amazing! I served it with asparagus and mashed potatoes.  I definitely will be trying this recipe again.  I must say that one duck breast was plenty for two, but being the glutton that I am, I had no problem eating more.

Hungry yet?

The Tangled Vine

To celebrate my last night at aloft and her impending nuptials, I had dinner with Z-wonderful. She recommended Tangled Vine and I happily obliged though I was a little upset that I didn’t purchase The Blackboard Eats from a few weeks earlier. We walked up there from midtown because it was a somewhat nice spring day. Not nice enough to sit outside though which is what they wanted us to do. We opted to sit indoors. The restaurant is really not that big. The outside seating area is almost as large as the bar seating area. There are only a few tables that look like they're reserved exclusively for dinner. We didn't have a reservation so we sat at one of the counter height tables by the bar. From there we received our entrees. Z ordered the Asparagus Salad.

It looked delicious. It had a few more lettuce leaves than she was ready for but it also had some amazingly delicious mushrooms. I wad a huge fan of the salad. I ordered Crab Croquettes. 

OMG. I'm afraid amazing is not suitable enough to describe the miracle that entered my mouth. It was like eating baby crab cakes but in incredibly delicious form -no filler - just crab! Truly delightful. Since we were sans reservation we were not able to stay at that table the entire time. We were moved to the bar which was a little for dinner but we accepted it since we were hungry. Z's Beef Carpaccio was first to arrive. She was thrilled because it was so thinly sliced she could actually enjoy it.

I was similarly pleased with my Gnocchi.

It was served with shrimp and snap peas in a wine sauce. The shrimp was very fresh and tasted like it arrived in the kitchen that day. The more often I go out to eat and cook, the easier it is to notice fresh versus frozen. We decided against dessert at Tangled Vine and went elsewhere.

Overall the experience at Tangled Vine was a good one. The food was delicious but I was a little concerned about the depth of the menu. It is definitely a wine bar that happens to serve food rather than a restaurant that has wine, which is fine if that's what you're looking for. They don't have a lot of seating so make reservations to guarantee that you're not switching seats like we did.

Hungry yet?

Bobby Flay Steak

While I don't eat beef, I must say that after such an enjoyable meal at Wolfgang Puck's restaurant I was really looking forward to dinner at Bobby Flay Steak last Saturday.  Oh Mr. Flay if you only knew how your name was dragged through the mud thanks to the customers who refused to leave on time and the staff who accommodated their tardiness and in turn left us waiting for over an hour before we were seated.  

The manager that night, tried to understand, but in truth she was defensive and not helpful.  Telling me that the party occupying our table has paid and is just finishing their drinks is one thing when I first walk in, but to repeat that same line 40 minutes later is insulting.  Thanks for comping our appetizers, but sadly the damage was already done.  Demerits to you for not keeping your cool and living by the mantra "the customer is always right, especially when I've kept her waiting for an hour."

Luckily the chefs and wait staff lived by that mantra.  Everything I ate was incredible and I do believe the rest of the gang felt the same way.  Our appetizers came out within a few minutes of our getting situated at our table.  In no particular order, here’s what we ate…

Lobster-Crab Cake with Basil Sauce and Red Pepper Pesto

I love a good crab cake and adding lobster to that just makes me so so happy.  It was nicely browned on top and very meaty. The pesto was amazing.  Ms. H and I were all over it.

Next up, the Chilled Lobster-Avocado Cocktail

yumyumyum! While I didn't love the presentation, the contents of that cone shaped glass were perfect!  Juicy pieces of avocado and big chunks of lobster mixed up deliciously.

We also got the Shrimp Cocktail which was served with smoked chile horseradish sauce

Fresh pieces of shrimp and a nice tangy sauce.  Yup, I was diggin it.

I was also lovin the Tuna Tartare.  It was really tasty, fantastically fresh tuna, and the onions, capers and other garnishes were incredible.

It was also served with very crispy bread that complimented the texture of the tuna very well.  Ms. O started with the Romaine Salad, which the elder Ms. O also ordered. 

It was stacked pretty high and the cheese looked pretty tempting, but I managed to contain myself and not reach over to her plate for a forkful.  Ms. H ordered The AC Chopped Salad.

She was into it, except for the olives.  Note - if you're ordering the Chopped Salad, you should definitely ask the server for the ingredient list because it is not listed on the menu.  From gazing over at her plate, I could tell there were olives, lettuce, cheese and what looked like crispy red onions though I can't be certain.  

There were several different entrees at our table.  Unfortunately, I am not very good with steak and only recall what was on a few of these plates.  Hopefully the ladies at the table will claim their dishes!  For now, I’ll try to identify the ones that I recognize.  Unless otherwise noted, the steak is spice rubbed and served with Bobby Flay Steak Sauce.

Ms. O ordered the strip steak as did someone else.

Look at that large piece of meat.  Sheesh!

Ms. H ordered the Grilled Tuna Steak with triple peppercorn sauce and crispy red onions.

Look at that sucka! Never knew fish could look so much like meat!  The chef definitely loves capers - they were all over the place.

My Grilled Swordfish Steak was also HUGE! 

It was topped with black olive tapenade, lobster and toasted garlic.  Yumm Yumm Yumm!!! I finished off the lobster pretty quickly then went back to try to tackle the fish. It was ginormous so I was not able to finish it and in fact barely made a dent.

A couple of the ladies ordered the Philadelphia Style Strip Steak.

It was accompanied with provolone cheese sauce and caramelized onions.

That’s what it looks like when it’s fully dressed.  That’s a good lookin’ steak right there.

The Spicy Southwest Ribeye was also on the table. 

Topped with roasted red and green chiles & garlic.  I’d love to recreate that topping and put it on a different piece of meat.  Not sure who this belongs to but the Rack of Pork with Apple-Green Onion Chutney presented quite well.

I don't know what these two are, but they also made their way onto the table.

We also ordered a couple of sides.  The Wild Mushroom Mashed Potatoes with White Truffle Oil was a big hit on my side of the table.

So much so Ms. H started digging in before I could snap a picture.  We really love our potatoes so we also ordered the Black Pepper French Fries.

They look pretty standard but I assure you they were AMAZING.  And of course can’t have a balanced meal without a little green so we also had the Roasted Asparagus with Green Peppercorn Vinaigrette.

YUM YUM YUM.  It was almost midnight when we finished our meal so dessert was out of the question. 

Bobby Flay Steak definitely has some amazing dishes on the menu.    Chris was a fantastic server and the rest of the wait staff was incredibly attentive.  It’s a pity the night had to start with an hour-long wait.  Upon reflection, I know the manager was trying, but I still don’t believe she did the best she could.  For my fellow restaurant diners, I beg of you please do not sit at a table for longer than 2 hours if you are not the last seating.  It’s inconsiderate not only to the customers waiting but to the manager who has to deal with them.

Hungry yet?