[Pigging by Wilfrid: January 18, 2008]
Despite the phantom opening of Bar Boulud on New Year's Eve (it then closed again for a couple of weeks), the holidays is not the best time to forge new grazing ground.
So here are some quick re-visits to established favorites.
Belcourt, Matt Hamilton's updated bistro, is in the neighborhood, so I've returned a few times since the October 2007 review. I complimented the restaurant then on the way service just about held together, despite the crowds. I confess there have been a few waits since, usually compensated by downward adjustment of the check. It just seems to need an extra pair of hands or two.
Tastiness is rarely a problem, although the beans in the lamb dish, which was new to me last time I dined there, needed a little lift from something. Nicely cooked, and indeed seasoned, there was an air of "just beans" about them. The lamb was good.
It's a nice room for brunch too, and I finally sampled the boudin blanc - to my surprise, these turned out to be ultra-thins. The boudin is usually a fairly substantial, fat sausage, but Belcourt is squeezing a perfectly correct filling into some tiny casings. Enjoyable, but not hearty enough as a brunch dish. Marks for making all sausages on the premises though: the regular breakfast sausage was lively with herbs.
The downtime right after the holidays turned out to be a good opportunity to return to Craft, where I was granted a table as a walk-in; I'd expected to eat at the bar.
A typically bright and colorful beet salad was followed by an update of my Dish of 2007.
I have rhapsodized about the egg 'n' snails, made with the fattest, juiciest snails I've eaten in the U.S. ina rich Burgundy sauce. The snails have made their exit now, ingeniously replaced by duck gizzards, which certainly look the part. The gizzard is one of the best bits of either chicken or duck, so long as it's gently braised and not flash-fried and served crunchy as in some Latino preparations. An earthy, rich accompaniment to the duck egg.
And without wishing to beat up on The Tasting Room any more, loading up these photos reminded me that here was an exemplary treatment of pheasant. Potentially one of the duller game birds, the leg here was cooked to tenderness within a golden skin; the breast delicious, and still good for next day leftovers. Extra depth of flavor and sweetness from accompanying prunes.
Yes, time to put on the protective goggles, because flash photography under unforgiving lights is quite beyond me. But you do need to know about Manna's if you don't already. I hear there are no four locations in Harlem, but I've only eaten in three: 125th and 5th, 125th and Frederick Douglass (8th Avenue), and Lennox between 134th and 135th. Apparently, there are a couple in Brooklyn too. Cold table, hot table, help yourself - chitterlings are a special order - food sold by the pound. This box of delights comes from Lennox Avenue.
From the top: Collard greens with plenty of pork and some subtle spiciness - as good as you'll find. A dollop of black-eyed peas. Some sweet yellow plantains. A slightly bony bit of pig's foot. Fried chicken. And a sauce-slathered rib. I think there was some corn-bread, staying shyly out of shot.
Good thing about each branch of Manna's: spacious, inexpensive, therefore busy, therefore a steady turnover of (hot, where appropriate) food. This gives some of the dishes an advantage over Charles's Southern Kitchen, and yes I mean the fried chicken. I simply don't know of better fried chicken in the city, and I have eaten it repeatedly at each of those three branches. Not the tenderest ribs in town, but the sides are very good. There are usually a bunch of stews too, and I only wish I could pretend to have eaten salad there. Expect to spend about five or six bucks per pound of food.
Look out, that's the banana pudding. My eyes!!! I'm out of here.
