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Boqueria

  1. Neighborhood Watch
    Bar Blanc Is So Open; Good Chinese in Sunset Park? Try Crashing a WeddingDumbo: Admission to Taste of Spain at the Dumbo Arts Center from 6 to 9 p.m. tonight includes a wine tasting and tapas. [Dumbo NYC] Flatiron: Boqueria is throwing a “Cava fueled fiesta” for New Year’s Eve. [Snack] Prospect-Lefferts-Gardens: The empty space on the corner of Flatbush and Beekman will become a Subway, and one blogger isn’t so upset: “At first we were disappointed that a big chain was coming in, but … some Subways even have full blown salads.” Nice! Just like McDonald’s. [Across the Park] Sunset Park: Sietsema may have had to crash a Chinese wedding to figure this out, but dim-sum go-to Pacificana is also good for dinner. [Eat for Victory/VV] West Village: Bar Blanc seems to be in soft-open mode. [Eater]
  2. NewsFeed
    Virginia Pig Farmer Is the Toast of the New York Pork WorldIt sounds like a fairy tale: Some Spanish hogs, brought over by Spanish colonists in the sixteenth century, take over an island off the coast of Georgia and run wild there for hundreds of years. Feral and boarlike, they are also about the best tasting pork imaginable, and cousins to the world’s most celebrated ham. Is it a fable, conjured by the heated imagination of foodies? Or an eye-opening truth, as irrefutable as a piece of gamey and rich roast pork? We’re happy to say that it’s the latter. Bev Eggleston, of Eco-Friendly Foods in Virginia, has started selling his amazing pork to a handful of New York restaurants, and soon he may be giving the Spanish a run for their money in the ham business.
  3. NewsFeed
    Seamus Mullen Forced to Pull the NightshadesWe were happy for Seamus Mullen, the Boqueria and Suba chef who was nearly crippled a few months ago by an acute attack of rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic joint disease. Mullen got some good news in this week’s Times review and is looking forward to seeing what Adam Platt has to say when his turn comes round. On the other hand, Mullen tells us that his diet is now permanently screwed up: He can’t eat tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, or any other member of the nightshade family — “which sucks, because all that stuff is in season right now and really beautiful,” he says. For the sake of his aching joints, the chef is also required to eat lots of oily fish. Luckily he has the cooking skills to make this blow bearable.
  4. User’s Guide
    Our Guide to Sangrias That SwingYesterday Boqueria’s Jeff Deisel wrote in to tell us he had made up a batch of strawberry-lemonade sangria by macerating fresh greenmarket berries in sugar and blending in Txocholi (a Basque white wine), house-infused lemon Stoli, fresh-squeezed lemon, and triple sec. Get a $36 pitcher while the gettin’s good. Because that’s just the sort of creativity we know you appreciate when it comes to that revived summer drink, we’ve singled out some other sangrias that go beyond the usual combo of wine, brandy, and triple sec, incorporating everything from pisco to cachaça to beer (the latter being another Boqueria special). Bar Buzz: Sangrias With a Punch
  5. NewsFeed
    Suba’s Seamus Mullen Goes Through Something Even Worse Than an OpeningAny chef goes through a lot when starting a new restaurant, but Suba’s Seamus Mullen has just lived through an experience that makes the most tortuous opening a dream by comparison.
  6. Mediavore
    Battle of the DBs in Forest Hills; JFK to Get the Gourmet TreatmentNever you been to Daniel Boulud’s new restaurant in Forest Hills? That’s because there isn’t one. But Danny Brown’s db wine bar and restaurant sounds close enough to db bistro moderne that the great chef’s copyright is threatened. [Diner’s Journal/NYT] Travelers at JFK airport won’t have to get by on chili dogs much longer – a Todd English eatery, a wine bar, an oyster bar, and more high-end venues are on the way. [NYP] Seamus Mullen is more at home with the elevated cooking at Suba than the rustic style at Boqueria: “It was like getting back to basics that I never really had.” [Restaurant Girl] Staffers at Charlie Palmer’s Kitchen 22 found out the place was closing yesterday via a cell-phone call telling them they were now out of a job. Nice. [NYP] Katz’s may be threatened by condo development, but pastrami still has secure fortresses in the outer boroughs. [Gothamist] Related: Mother of Mercy! Is This the End of Katz’s? [Grub Street]
  7. The Other Critics
    Cuozzo Hammers the Shake Shack; Much Hodgson Love for InsiemeSteve Cuozzo uses his bully pulpit in the Post to come down hard on the Shake Shack, calling the place out for insanely long lines and “a hamburger that’s an also-ran at best.” [NYP] Related: Kyle Dureau Wants Shake Shack to Be Open 24/7 As Much As You Do [Grub Street] Having weathered a major two-star review by Adam Platt, Insieme finally gets its first three-star one, from Moira Hodgson, who is impressed by how perfectly executed every dish is, lavishing special praise on one of the place’s more overlooked features, co-owner Paul Grieco’s wine list. [NYO] Related: Italian, Old and New [NYM] The Times gives Katz’s the full Frank Bruni treatment, and the place comes out of it with one star, much loving description, and an eerie semi-confirmation of our earlier report that the place might be sold. [NYT] Related: Mother of Mercy! Is This the End of Katz’s? [Grub Street]
  8. In the Magazine
    Modern Spanish Comes (Back) to New York Given how large Spain looms in modern cooking, it’s a wonder we don’t see more openings, or rather reopenings, like Suba, announced by Rob and Robin in this week’s issue. Recently, S. Pellegrino again pronounced El Bulli the best restaurant in the world, and the kind of food that chef Seamus Mullen is introducing on Suba’s ambitious new menu shows off that world-conquering energy. (Mullen, before opening Boqueria and Suba, worked in some of the best restaurants in Spain.) “We’re trying for something a little more complex than we do at Boqueria,” he says. Modern Spanish food has been here before but never really took off. Suba may be the one to finally make it happen. Restaurant Openings: FR.OG, Suba, Móle, and Paradou Marché. [NYM] Suba’s Menu
  9. The Annotated Dish
    Boqueria’s Renowned Rectangle of Rich Suckling PigAlmost since the day it opened, tapas restaurant Boqueria has had the beau monde flocking to its rather nondescript block on 19th Street. Young Spanish-trained chef Seamus Mullen’s star dish is his suckling pig, a crisp, irresistible brick of concentrated pork goodness. As ever, mouse over the arrows for details from the cook himself.
  10. The Other Critics
    Chodorow Sure to Be Pissed Over New ‘Times’ Steakhouse ReviewThis one is bound to kill Chodorow. Bruni visits a steakhouse even more vulgar than Kobe Club and awards it one star: Robert’s Steakhouse, inside the Penthouse Executive Club. Adam Perry Lang, as most recognize, is one of the city’s top meat guys. [NYT] Meehan affirms that Kefi’s has terrific food at a bargain. He notes that it was strangely quiet the nights he was there, but that has changed, we’re told, since the Underground Gourmet gave the restaurant four stars. [NYT] Think of this less as a review of Gilt than an excuse for Steve Cuozzo to acknowledge Chris Lee, one of the city’s most underappreciated chefs, whose ill fortune it was to follow Paul Liebrandt and his alienating high-concept cookery. [NYP]
  11. Ask a Waiter
    Boqueria’s Jeff Deisel Refuses to Take Reservations for Howard SternJeff Deisel was working as a bartender at nightclubs and then at Lower East Side Pan-Latino restaurant Suba before the owners of the latter invited him to be part of the opening team at their new joint Boqueria. He brought with him Suba’s (in)famous beer sangria but found that working at a straight-up tapas bar had a flavor all its own. We asked the bartender and server how local diners, including Ed Koch, are responding to the no-reservations rule, befuddling portions, and that elusive suckling pig.
  12. NewsFeed
    The Kingdom of Navarra Comes to the Borough of ManhattanThe Kingdom of Navarra, as it is fancifully called today, is an autonomous community which is technically a part of Spain and which produces some of the most admired Basque-influenced cookery in the world. We don’t see much of it here in New York, but that will change on Friday, when Navarra Gastronomic Week begins. Classic Navarran dishes like warm partridge and Jabugo ham salad, artichokes fried with tocino (bacon), stuffed piquillo peppers, and a number of Navarran wines and cheeses to go with them will be available at the following restaurants through February 4.
  13. The Other Critics
    Two Angles on Cafe Cluny; Meehan Devours ‘Avian Oddities’Loud, crowded and unimaginative, Cafe Cluny still hews closely enough to the Balthazar mold in both the front and back of the house to earn one star from Bruni. [NYT] Paul Adams likes Cluny even better, calling the food “impressive,” and laying off the cultural context. He’s just here for the duck. [NYS] Meanwhile, Peter Meehan is fascinated by the “avian oddities” served at all-chicken spot Yakitori Torys and writes enthusiastically, though not exactly convincingly, of the joys of eating chicken bones and necks. [NYT]
  14. The Other Critics
    Tapas, Talk of Town; Mexican, Not So MuchBruni two-stars Boqueria and agrees with Platt that the entrées, not the tapas, are where the action is. “Glossier than Tía Pol, cozier than Barça 18, Boqueria manages to have the virtues of stylishness without the vanity, luring relatively young, good-looking diners who turn out for the eating more than the posing.” [NYT] Though things are looking up for Spanish cuisine, Paul Adams says “tequila trap” Papatzul, despite “complex, delicate, attention-deserving food,” isn’t doing much to lend Mexican cred. [NYS] Perhaps Papatzul translates to “hit or miss”? [NYPress] Meehan rolls up his sleeves for Ethiopian at Meskel and finds a dish that’s “the best thing to happen to East Village vegetarians in a long time.” [NYT] Restaurant Girl’s skepticism about Frederick’s Downtown is eased by orzo fit for bathing and foie gras that makes her want to get a room. [Restaurant Girl] At BLT Burger, Augie springs for the Kobe burger but finds the classic one does the trick just fine, thank you. [Augieland] Tables for Two gets around to visiting L’Atelier, agrees the experience is spotty but “the food has the air of a miracle.” [NYer] Addictive substances in Pearl Oyster Bar’s lobster roll? [Feisty Foodie]
  15. User’s Guide
    The Ham That Drives Men Mad New York Magazine has gone Spain-crazy this week. Adam Platt sates his bottomless hunger at Boqueria, and Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld interview Spain’s most illustrious chef, Ferran Adrià of El Bulli. Let Grub Street pile on, then, with talk of the secret society of Spanish pork. This society may be unofficial, but we belong to it. It is made of men and women who have tasted the meat of the celebrated pata negra, or black-foot pig, and will do anything for more. “Once you taste ibérico, you can’t compare it to anything else,” Bar Jamón chef Andy Nusser has said. The society’s holy grail, though, remains tantalizingly out of reach for Americans — even ones with a deep affinity for Spain.
  16. The Other Critics
    No Love for Love; Another Arty Eatery; Tapas That RockIn this week’s reviews, Cuozzo draws his six-shooter on Tim Love and Ted Turner, Ryan Sutton drinks the $12 bottled water at Gilt, Andrea Strong’s blood boils over the pricey wines at Devin Tavern, and more. Cuozzo to Tim Love and Ted Turner: “Welcome to New York: Now leave!” [NYP] Ryan Sutton takes the temperature at Gilt now that the foam has cleared and finds that “if Liebrandt’s cuisine was hyperactive, [new chef Christopher] Lee’s is hyper-restrained.” Though the grub’s a bit cheaper, there’s still a $12 “you just got fleeced” fee on bottled water. [Bloomberg] Julia Moskin visits the Morgan’s dining room, the latest in arty eateries, and finds the nicest restaurant salad she’s had in years. Of the beef Wellington: “Some dishes, like musicals, should never be revived.” [NYT] Paul Adams contemplates the sublime porkiness of Momofuku Ssäm Bar [NYS] At Palo Santo, a Pan-Latin joint on a Slope side street, $25-and-Under (not the super-stingy Meehan we’ve been loving) unearths off-the-menu items like beef-cheek asopado. [NYT] Reeling from “Spain’s 10,” Augie taps the tapas at Boqueria and finds they rock almost as hard as Jane’s Addiction doing “Ripple.” [Augieland] Taking up the good fight alongside Meehan, Andrea Strong visits Devin Tavern and her blood boils over the $40-plus wine list: “This is not very tavern like. Come on.” [Strong Buzz] Ignoring the Gobbler’s advice on how not to get made, the Amateur Gourmet is exposed at Country. [Amateur Gourmet] Katie Julian weighs in on the Tasting Room and agrees with everyone else: Some dishes work (porcini topped with a fried egg and crispy pork skin), and others don’t (raw matsutake-mushroom slices drizzled with “cheese-pumpkin juice”). [NYer] BlackBook delves into Haute Barnyard at Flatbush Farm. [BlackBook]
  17. The Other Critics
    Chef Goes From ‘Gag’ to GreatThis week, the food scribes turned in more raves than rants. Naturally, we lead with a rant. • Frank Bruni, bucking the beau monde and betting odds, comes down with both feet on Freemans, the hipster hideaway beloved by downtown boulevardiers. (NYT)