Tag Archives: cheese

‘Wichcraft is a lifesaver

The thing with travelling is that sometimes you can’t be picky. Sometimes you’re surrounded by tourist traps and fast food, and you just want something good. Not fancy, not expensive, just good.

Well, if you’re in New York City, you can rely on ‘Wichcraft. I thank my stars that Tom Colicchio started this chain of shops that serves fresh, tasty soups and sandwiches at a great price point.

When I was there, I ordered the tuna sandwich on baguette. They manage to toast the baguette without making it all crunchy and painful to eat. The tuna was nicely accented with thinly sliced fennel and lemon, which made the whole thing fresh and bright. I also had a cauliflower soup with parsley oil. The taste and texture were exactly what they should have been.

They serve bread sticks on the side, which is cute. The walls are covered in giant food photography (can you say food porn?), and there’s a great selection of pop culture, fashion and food magazines to read while you’re munching away.

I wish I had tried the grilled fontina with morels and truffles, but oh well.

Note that the location at 60 E. 8th Street is dangerously close to Broadway Panhandler. Broadway Panhandler (65 E. 8th Street) is a fantastic kitchen store – one that I could easily spend hours in.

‘Wichcraft
various locations
New York, NY (also San Francisco and Las Vegas)
'Wichcraft on Urbanspoon

Best of New York: John’s Pizzeria

John’s Pizzeria
(Greenwich Village)

My second cousin took me to John’s Pizzeria. I had to double-check the address with him, because there are tons of variations on the name in Greenwich Village. He impressed upon me that we weren’t just going for the best pizza in New York; we were going for The Best Pizza in New York.

To be fair, he didn’t give me a chance to try any of the impersonators in the neighbourhood, so I have no idea what the competitors were offering.

But John’s pizza is delicious. The thin crust is simultaneously crispy yet chewy. More amazingly, the crust actually tastes like something: like flour, yeast, and salt. We had a margherita pizza, with brightly fresh tomato sauce and basil. It was perfect. The tomato sauce is rich and full, just salty enough, and complements the crust beautifully.

We also had one with pepperoni and garlic, and another with anchovy and black olives. Both were good, but neither came close to the plain old tomato sauce and basil pizza.

Also, the Murray Cheese Company is just down the street at 254 Bleeker Street. They have a beautiful selection of cheese, meat and other goodies. Like chocolate. Lots of chocolate.

John’s Pizzeria
278 Bleecker Street, between Seventh Avenue and Jones Street
New York, NY
212-243-1680
John's Pizzeria on Urbanspoon

Parkside to Become La Buca 2.0

It’s official. My devotion to something – anything – is a kiss of death. Here are things that I loved that have been discontinued (or changed for the worse):

  • Body Shop grapeseed body butter
  • Body Shop pink peppercorn perfume oil
  • H2O+ Aquafirm skincare products (the entire freaking line!)
  • Thomas Haas pink grapefruit campari white chocolate truffles
  • the old recipe for White Spot mac & cheese
  • the old recipe for Peek Freans fruit jelly cookies

Well, you can add Parkside to that list. Scout Magazine broke the news first, and it came up at last night’s food blogger dinner. Parkside is set to become La Buca 2.0. I suppose it’s better than the entire space shutting down, but that’s still small consolation. I finally had the chance to eat there, lurrrved it, and now it’s leaving me.

Well, now I have an unavoidable excuse to try that six-course Chef’s menu. Who wants to join me?

Poutine, c’est tres bon!

After my poutine post yesterday, I thought I’d do something a little unusual: a guest post. Kind of.

My dear friend John is from Manchester, but please don’t hold it against him. He posted the following picture and words on a Facebook page, and it was just too good not to share. I think it also illustrates that I’m not the only crazy one who loves poutine. In fact, poutine bridges all cultural and generational gaps. I’m sure of it.

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Poutine, c’est bon!

In Ottawa, the capital city of Canada, you hear both English and French around you. I found it kind of odd when I first moved there, because both languages would whip by as I walked down the street. I knew that I was really comfortable there when I didn’t notice it.

Ottawa, being mostly anglo-Canadian and completely Ontarian, is pretty uptight when it comes to things like liquor laws and licensing. However, Gatineau-Hull is just across the Ottawa River, so in the span of a five-minute drive you’re in another province. La belle province, Quebec. A province where you can buy liquor at the corner store, at later hours, at a younger age (18, rather than 19).

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