NEW IN NEW YORK: THAI AND MEXICAN
Off-the-beaten track, "even for the Lower East Side,'' as one of my chow pals noted, is a new northern Thai spot called Sticky Rice. Since there's a dearth of Thai restaurants in these parts, and not one I can think of that goes so far as to specialize in northern Thai dishes, we didn't think twice about wandering down that, frankly, not-so-lonesome stretch of Orchard Street.
Slender, atmospheric and decidedly chic, Sticky Rice is very LES cutting-edge. Its best dishes are the salads: tingly shredded duck washed in a chile vinaigrette and studded with apples, cashews and pineapple; bamboo shoots lavished with lime, hints of mint and cilantro, then merged with the signature pan-roasted sticky rice; cabbage slaw with shards of pork cracklings and bursts of more lime. I also dug the basil noodles and the homemade bacon, but would pass next time on the spindly, tough short ribs. Four of us ate till our bellies were full for a little more than $100, tax and tip included. BYOB, for now.
Crema, in Chelsea, is a nuevos Mexican find from up-and-coming chef Julieta Ballesteros. (One of my dining companions pegged her as a Penelope Cruz look-alike. Bingo.) Ostrich tostadas? Have you ever heard of them, let alone eaten them? Rosy-pink slices of ostrich layered with pink beans, a lick of goat cheese and sassy guave-chile glaze made this the best Mexican bite I've had in light years. Go, too, with the huitlacoche empanadas (Huh on huitlacoche? It's corn fungus, but thought of as Mexican "truffles"), sided by zuke fideos, some 'shrooms and goat cheese. We had the requisite comfy-food dish, too, pastel Azteca, a tortilla pie of beans, juicy shredded chicken, corn, cheese and salsa verde. Fair prices, with entrees from $19 to $28.
And Crema's so pretty, warm-toned with splashes of art and a lanky bar at which Ballesteros herself was having a post-rush solo dinner. It's close enough to the Theater District to warrant a pre-show look-see.
STICKY RICE: 85 Orchard St., New York. 212. 274. 8208.
CREMA: 111 W. 17th St., New York. 212. 691. 4477.
More NYC to come later this week. Y'all come back now, promise?
cheers, Andy
1.24.07
Slender, atmospheric and decidedly chic, Sticky Rice is very LES cutting-edge. Its best dishes are the salads: tingly shredded duck washed in a chile vinaigrette and studded with apples, cashews and pineapple; bamboo shoots lavished with lime, hints of mint and cilantro, then merged with the signature pan-roasted sticky rice; cabbage slaw with shards of pork cracklings and bursts of more lime. I also dug the basil noodles and the homemade bacon, but would pass next time on the spindly, tough short ribs. Four of us ate till our bellies were full for a little more than $100, tax and tip included. BYOB, for now.
Crema, in Chelsea, is a nuevos Mexican find from up-and-coming chef Julieta Ballesteros. (One of my dining companions pegged her as a Penelope Cruz look-alike. Bingo.) Ostrich tostadas? Have you ever heard of them, let alone eaten them? Rosy-pink slices of ostrich layered with pink beans, a lick of goat cheese and sassy guave-chile glaze made this the best Mexican bite I've had in light years. Go, too, with the huitlacoche empanadas (Huh on huitlacoche? It's corn fungus, but thought of as Mexican "truffles"), sided by zuke fideos, some 'shrooms and goat cheese. We had the requisite comfy-food dish, too, pastel Azteca, a tortilla pie of beans, juicy shredded chicken, corn, cheese and salsa verde. Fair prices, with entrees from $19 to $28.
And Crema's so pretty, warm-toned with splashes of art and a lanky bar at which Ballesteros herself was having a post-rush solo dinner. It's close enough to the Theater District to warrant a pre-show look-see.
STICKY RICE: 85 Orchard St., New York. 212. 274. 8208.
CREMA: 111 W. 17th St., New York. 212. 691. 4477.
More NYC to come later this week. Y'all come back now, promise?
cheers, Andy
1.24.07
posted by Andrea Clurfeld at 11:15 AM
1 Comments:
MORE NEW YORK! This is helpful, and we want more! We go to New York for theater and museums and are sick of getting stuck at tourist restaurants. You should review New York so we can have our own New York insider.
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