Forking Tasty

BRGR is a burger joint that has been popping up all around NYC. I just happen to work near BRGR and one day for lunch I headed out to fill my hunger. BRGR has the open viewable grill. That means when you go into BRGR you leave smelling like BRGR. All grass fed meat with a choice of bun, I went whole wheat, but they even have the Iceberg lettuce bun for you carb watchers or gluten free eaters…

OK, that’s a big lie.

That really only took a day and it’s been 30 since our last post. We’ve been busy. Who hasn’t? It’s no excuse but it is the unfortunate reality of the current thing we call “life”. I don’t want to get too deep here so let me back out into why I am writing this post. Last year we tweaked our stories a bit bringing you more of our travel adventures than our strictly food finds. You seemed to like that and we have been thinking about what it means for the future. In fact it straight up stopped us from posting with our normal frequency.

We’ve been busy thinking. With this new approach we’ve planned a bit of a relaunch to Forking Tasty. Dinners will continue but with a little less frequency and a little more collaboration from the people we’ve met over the years on our travels. The longer form stories about travel will continue. We’ll talk food, places and the people we met giving you mini travel and tour guides to our favorite spots. We’ll bring back the P.I.E. With series. (People I Eat With). You see a pattern here I’m sure. This blog was started to capture our food adventures. Our supper club started so we could share great food and conversation the way our family did throughout our childhood. 50% of a meal is the food. The other 50% is the people. With that, we’re going to bring the latter 50% back into the fold. Somewhere along the line we lost a little of the “who” when showing you the “what”. Remember, our mission is to bring back Dinner Time which requires food and people. Along with the longer form stories I mentioned earlier, we’ll introduce a few new short form posts. Some will focus mostly on the people we eat with. Others will focus on a single item we ate because of a person or place we visited.

All this new stuff will make it’s debut in June as we officially mini-relaunch. Apologies to you all for the inconsistency and our lack of focus lately. Damn the day job (not really) and winter (really). In the mean time check out the minute-to-minute on our Instagram @forkingtasty.

Not Noma and not IKEA but someplace in the middle. Scandinavian food is tricky. Albeit a bit of a sleeper food trend right now, the cuisine is definitely not for the main stream type BUT then again, when have we ever been mainstream. We plunged right in identifying the game meats immediately. The above rare and tender saddle of venison medallions sat in a rich and smooth sauce that had both a sweet and earthy taste simultaneously. The slow roasted cipollini onions contrasted well with the meat and the sauce making for a nice full bite. It’s always a good sign when you are looking for a piece of bread to smear across the plate once you finish the big stuff.

A small identity crisis gave the ambiance a weird feel as this restaurant is in the back of a boutique hotel that is decorated both in the modern, urban, industrial feel and the 80′s white table cloth motif. More of a topic of conversation than a draw back. The end of the night came with one small disappointment. Traditional Swedish coffee, a more strong and burnt taste, was removed from the menu because American palettes couldn’t handle it. A shame because if you’re going to try something different, and Nordic cuisine definitely is, go all the way. Hopefully Plaj brings it back for those of us looking for the full scano-experience.

Easter was the perfect opportunity to try a long awaited meat dish. For some reason I’ve been looking for the time to make braised lamb shanks for about a year. After doing my recipe research I settled on a braising liquid of red wine and beef stock. I started the pot with the standard carrots, celery and onion but added in some lemon zest and marjoram for a little freshness. Before I sent the shanks to braise I seared them off with some salt, pepper and spanish paprika hoping that smoked flavor would come through just a touch in the meat once done. Three hours later I had fall off the bone (Almost. You don’t actually want the meat to fall off the bone for aesthetics and portioning.) shanks ready to be devoured. The final step was the orzo and sauce. I split the braising liquid in half. The first half was reduced down to make up the sauce. The other half was used to hydrate the orzo. The result was an epic-ly awesome, rich like Helú, tender like Elvis, lamb shank mixed with a flavorful and soft orzo. Thank you easter bunny. Bock. Bock.

As many of you know, I live in New York City and to say the least this town turns into a green t-shirt, stumble walking, puke corner, train rowdy, loud voice hell on earth by 11am on St. Patrick’s Day. I’ve never been quite sure when this holiday got so ridiculously out of control. How it turned into an excuse to get hammered before noon on a weekday I can’t seem to understand. I guess I’ll chalk that up to the overzealous, freedom fancying, American spirit. Give us a centimeter and we’ll take a yard. The fact it falls on a Sunday this year will only make matters worse. So, to combat this foolishness, we thought we’d bring some food options into the mix.

We’re not saying don’t go get drunk. By all means start the day with two Irish car bombs and a Guiness, vomit on yourself before the work day ends and blackout on the late train home waking up in Ronkonkoma at 3am. Good luck in your Monday morning meeting. You all know, having a little something in your stomach while you imbibe copious amounts of alcohol buffers the spinning room by at least a few hours. We think there’s no reason why that food shouldn’t be better than most of your weeknight dinners. Hell it’s a holiday after all, treat yourself. With the rise in popularity of the Gastropub we didn’t have a hard time finding some watering holes that also gave your tastebuds a workout. Below you’ll find our top 10 picks for our favorite gastropubs in America. We’ll first drop our fav 5 in NYC and then complete the list with 5 out of state gems that are always on our hit list when traveling. Enjoy the list and this year practice some chewing instead of practicing how to keep that flap in your throat open while pouring beer down it.

Taco Bell – Doritos from Anthony Anello on Vimeo.

Doritos Taco Bell has been a getting great reviews for a while now but I have never tried it. Taco Bell is not my choice typically for a quick snack or meal. They just came out with the Cool Ranch Taco so I figured I have to try this. Is it really that good? Check the the short video and you’ll see.

I could live here.

That’s what I thought after my first visit to this city. Each subsequent visit always reenforces this desire. Barcelona’s bright culture, food, architecture and people can’t help but become infectious. In Barcelona the creativity is loose, curvy, spontaneous, random and risky. Spain as a whole is creative, partially a bi-product of a country that’s seen it’s share of strife and hardship, with everything they do. With a different flair than Italy and a slightly less structured approach than the Dutch, the Spanish have cultivated a culture that emanates energy, passion and excitement for life. Barcelona is the modern Spanish city that best allows visitors to embrace and experience this. I recently spent a solid week in Barcelona enjoying the 60 degree December weather, eating the freshest seafood around and finding creative inspiration in every building, museum or meal…

A very good choice for a burger would be at Clarke Standard. One of the things that makes them a little different is the grilled buttered bun. I’m a huge fan of that and it is starting to catch on at other burger shops. The other great thing about Clarke Standard is around the block from my job. I have a feeling this will be on my list whenever I head out for lunch. This burger is in the same burger class as a Shake Shack burger. Clarke Standard use only 100% USDA verified, hormone and antibiotic free Natural Angus ground every day using a wide-gauge plate for a loose-textured patty and a juicier, more flavorful burger. Check out the juices for yourself.

7 courses and counting

Every once in a while the timing works out so we can share a kitchen with some of our closest collaborators. Two weeks ago I found myself in the kitchen with long time friend and chef, Ben Long. His recent trip to Italy and my heritage spawned an idea to create a traditional Italian feast served in the traditional Italian sequence. More on that down the page a bit. With the help of a few specialty items Ben smuggled back from his trip, some surprise ingredients brought in by John “Chu” Churillo and a morning trip to the Asian farmers market in San Francisco, we were prepared to do my namesake some solid justice.

For those who are unfamiliar with our dinners, Forking Tasty’s Suppers is our attempt to bring back dinnertime by seating a bunch of strangers around a table to share some food, conversation and laughter. For this one we flew out west to spread the love at SPICE Supper clubs 8-seat chefs table.

As each guest arrived they were greeted with an immediate sense of home. From the wooden gate they walked through to enter the space, through the softly lit garden and up the stairs into the victorian foyer, each guests arrival procession prepared them for the homey atmosphere that awaited them in the dining room. As the first guests sipped their welcome drink waiting for the remainder of their dining partners to arrive, the kitchen was busy preparing…

Sometimes bread and water is all you need. Ok, perform the water-to-wine trick and now we’re set. The simple things are often the most rewarding. At a recent trip to Flour+Water (which I will post about in more detail later) I was reminded of this simple fact. It inspires my personal cooking style and satiates my craving for anything too complex. This fresh bread dipped simply into the accompanying olive oil was so fresh and pure I didn’t need to move through the 5 courses that awaited me. A crusty exterior and a light but soft interior gave me texture and oil absorption perfecting every delectable bite.