Brooklyn means a lot of things to a lot of people, whether you were born and raised there or you’re just a visitor. In either case, one truth exists: once you experience Brooklyn, you will forever know no other place with as much soul, spirit, personality, complexity, and memorable food.
On June 20, I had the great pleasure of taking my first Brooklyn Pilgrimage with a dear friend, Denny, who possesses an insatiable passion for jaw-dropping flavor that will take him to the ends of the earth if necessary, much like myself.
No pilgrimage in New York is worth its soul-elevating price without a precursor in Manhattan. After witnessing the epic concert by Van Morrison in Forest Hills on June 19, we ventured to Pearl and Ash in the Bowery for the first extraordinary bite, a mirin-marinated, braised and carmelized octopus with sunflower seed and togarshi complemented by a Pinot Noir from the magical producer in Burgundy, Leroy. Pearl and Ash has an unrivaled wine list of French Burgundies and is a mandatory visit for any Burgundy hounds. After thanking Bryn Birkhahn for her gracious orchestration of the evening, we left Pearl and Ash to secure just shy of a midnight closing the most unique ramen experience. In order to realize this experience, I called Sam Verkaik at Ivan Ramen on Clinton St. and asked that he indulge the kitchen with its last order, the classic Tokyo Shio Ramen with sea salts, dashi/chicken broth, pork chashu, soft cooked egg, and the rye noodles and the Vegetarian Ramen with soy sauce/vegetable broth, enoki mushroom, roasted tomato and the same rye noodles. From Tokyo to New York, Ivan has augmented the ramen phenomenon to a cultural and culinary revolution by imbibing his broth with the deepest umami flavor with a jewish-inspired ingredient of rye in his noodles. Comfort food satisfaction has never been so omnipresent.
On June 20, I had the great pleasure of taking my first Brooklyn Pilgrimage with a dear friend, Denny, who possesses an insatiable passion for jaw-dropping flavor that will take him to the ends of the earth if necessary, much like myself.
No pilgrimage in New York is worth its soul-elevating price without a precursor in Manhattan. After witnessing the epic concert by Van Morrison in Forest Hills on June 19, we ventured to Pearl and Ash in the Bowery for the first extraordinary bite, a mirin-marinated, braised and carmelized octopus with sunflower seed and togarshi complemented by a Pinot Noir from the magical producer in Burgundy, Leroy. Pearl and Ash has an unrivaled wine list of French Burgundies and is a mandatory visit for any Burgundy hounds. After thanking Bryn Birkhahn for her gracious orchestration of the evening, we left Pearl and Ash to secure just shy of a midnight closing the most unique ramen experience. In order to realize this experience, I called Sam Verkaik at Ivan Ramen on Clinton St. and asked that he indulge the kitchen with its last order, the classic Tokyo Shio Ramen with sea salts, dashi/chicken broth, pork chashu, soft cooked egg, and the rye noodles and the Vegetarian Ramen with soy sauce/vegetable broth, enoki mushroom, roasted tomato and the same rye noodles. From Tokyo to New York, Ivan has augmented the ramen phenomenon to a cultural and culinary revolution by imbibing his broth with the deepest umami flavor with a jewish-inspired ingredient of rye in his noodles. Comfort food satisfaction has never been so omnipresent.
The first leg of the pilgrimage in Brooklyn took place in East Williamsburg where sweetness prevails. Dun-Well Doughnuts produces a donut with no equal. A lightly dense bread like consistency gives substance to the sublime sweetness of the donut with toasted coconut flakes as with the chocolate and toasted almonds variation. This is truly the first artisanal donut that undermines what a donut has known to represent and will forever set a new precedent in this culinary space.
Our next adventure transported us to Delaware and Hudson for brunch, Chef Patti Jackson’s 38 seat mid-Atlantic inspired restaurant in Williamsburg. One of these Mid-Atlantic inspired dishes was Miss Rose’s Baltimore Crab Cakes with poached eggs with hollandaise with capers. Chef Jackson pays homage to Miss Rose who revealed this recipe to her and sates the deep craving for a chalk full of crab with an ever so perfectly runny poached egg. The house-cured corned beef with poached eggs and potatoes gives new meaning to the dish with its unadulterated corned beef that holds center stage.
Our intermezzo bite drew us to Los Hermanos, Tortilleria Mexicana, a Mexican spot inside a tortilla factory in Bushwick. It’s all about the tortillas that are made to order. Witnessing this process is not only awe-inspiring in its fastidious simplicity but also salivating inducing in anticipation of this bite---beef, vegetarian tacos and cheese quesadilla. Tacos were simply dressed with lettuce, tomato, onions and cilantro. The vegetarian had avocado and beans. The star is the tortilla. We could have eaten countless of these tacos but for the fact that we had many more bites ahead of us.
In the midst of this culinary pilgrimage, we felt compelled to take a cultural detour to the Brooklyn Museum to view the Basquiat exhibition of his unknown notebooks. The exhibition begins with a quote by Basquiat: “The black person is the protagonist in most of my paintings. I realized that I didn’t see many paintings with black people in them.”
The beginning of the exhibition features videos of Basquiat in the streets of New York, spray-painting words with connected messages sublimated in them. Basquiat moves very swiftly in his act to remain stealthy in this street art warfare. An appropriate preamble to the cryptic and multi-dimensional meanings conjured up by Basquiat’s visually rhythmic text of his notebooks. Each page from the notebook informs the next in the progression of this intimately revelatory show that weaves text into a socially compelling mosaic of artistic expression.
It was a natural choice to visit the revered Franny’s in Park Slope/Prospect Heights after this art sojourn to whet the palate before our “official” dinner. Starting with crostini with fava beans, pecorino and mint, homemade pork sausage with spinach, and spaghetti with agretti, colatura, chilies and breadcrumbs, the General Manager, Luca Pasquinelli convinced us also to order their renown mixed wood burning oven Marguerita pizza made with a sauce of San Marzano tomatoes, basil and buffalo mozzarella., sprinkled with a bit of parmesan reggiano for a tinge of saltiness---an exquisitely delicious pie. This pie holds court with the finest---holding its firmness in the center, bubbled char at the edges, an equilibrium of creaminess of the cheese and sweet acidity from the deep tomato flavor, the notes of the herbaceous basil, and the sublime salty hints from the parmesan.
In Bushwick, sounds of A Tribe Called Quest, Cars, among other familiar echoes of music bliss emanate from a turnstile behind the operation of Roberta’s Pizza in an intimate loft space where a dozen people have the honor to share the wonders of food karma by Chef Carlo Mirarchi at Blanca. Contrary to any Michelin starred restaurant experience, you will discover yourself dancing in your seat, making friends with the people next to you, tasting deeply soulful food presented with simplistic artistry and truly feeling like you are at home, thanks to Shanti and the rest of the team who support your very intuitively connected “Blanca” experience. We started with a wine by Philippe Pacalet, a former winemaker at Romanee Conti, from the Gevry Chambertin region of the Cote de Nuits, perfectly balanced and concentrated, infinitely elegant and drinks with graceful finesse. The evolution of our meal unfolded as follows:
Shigoku Oyster with asparagus; pancetta; squid with sesame; cardoon atop an apple; carpaccio of tender beef warmed slightly from the heat lamps above the prep table with horseradish; pea soup with the essence of green strawberry; fluke with plum vinegar garnished with flower and fennel leaf; honeycomb with sunchoke puree; unctuously delicious carbonara with lamb; agnolotti with the deliciously surprising filling of plankton; nduja ravioli with orange; fava with wild greens; king crab with bottarga butter; fresh bread from the Roberta’s Pizza dough and butter; duck with beet mole; pineapple sorbet with cilantro; porchetta with chimichurri and a raw turnip; sour cream with cippolini; coconut with white asparagus.
Blanca will linger in my memory as an everlasting reminder of how extraordinary food can co-exist in an environment that engenders a feeling of deep inspiration and being at home. Only afterwards, do you recognize the epic nature of your spirit lifting evening. That’s intuitive execution!
The evening continued at a Parisian and New Orleans styled oyster house and cocktail den with a bespoke bar program, Maison Premiere. We luxuriated in the garden patio below a perfectly star lit night. We ordered the seafood platter accompanied by another beautiful French Red Burgundy. We followed this leg of the journey with a Marguerita Pizzza at Paulie Gee’s to top off the Brooklyn pilgrimage.
Of course, I had to return to Manhattan to complete the rite of passage by eating the most soul-filling bite in the universe---a bagel from Ess-a-Bagel.
The evening continued at a Parisian and New Orleans styled oyster house and cocktail den with a bespoke bar program, Maison Premiere. We luxuriated in the garden patio below a perfectly star lit night. We ordered the seafood platter accompanied by another beautiful French Red Burgundy. We followed this leg of the journey with a Marguerita Pizzza at Paulie Gee’s to top off the Brooklyn pilgrimage.
Of course, I had to return to Manhattan to complete the rite of passage by eating the most soul-filling bite in the universe---a bagel from Ess-a-Bagel.
Brooklyn epitomizes the depth of human nature to connect with each other through community, culture, and culinary collaboration. Indubitably, Brooklyn will now be an inextricable thread that weaves through all of my future visits to New York. As with any self-illuminating epiphanies, once consciousness takes hold of your heart, there is no going back. Brooklyn has moved in.
More information about all of the places in my Brooklyn Pilgrimage can be found on the following websites: www.pearlandash.com, www.ivanramen.com, www.dunwelldoughnuts.com, www.delawareandhudson.com, http://www.menupages.com/restaurants/tortilleria-mexicana, www.brooklynmuseum.org, www.frannysbrooklyn.com, www.blancanyc.com, www.maisonpremiere.com, www.pauliegee.com, www.ess-a-bagel.com.
More information about all of the places in my Brooklyn Pilgrimage can be found on the following websites: www.pearlandash.com, www.ivanramen.com, www.dunwelldoughnuts.com, www.delawareandhudson.com, http://www.menupages.com/restaurants/tortilleria-mexicana, www.brooklynmuseum.org, www.frannysbrooklyn.com, www.blancanyc.com, www.maisonpremiere.com, www.pauliegee.com, www.ess-a-bagel.com.