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 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.
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.