08.01.06
Posted in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Heights, Caribbean, Crown Heights, Famous Fat Dave's Five Borough Eating Tours, Gravesend, Homecrest, Italian, La Pizza, Latino, Meats, Middle Eastern, Prospect Heights, Red Hook, Sandwiches, Seafood, Sheepshead Bay, Sweets at 11:23 am by Administrator
The dog days of summer are not a good time to be a cabbie in New York. It seems like everyone who has the means has already taken off for breezier locales. Business is dead. Gas is more expensive. Profit margins are squeezed.
So it’s a good thing that I’m conducting more and more Famous Fat Dave’s Five Borough Eating Tours these days. The more you read The Hungry Cabbie, and the more you tell your friends, the less often I have to drive my yellow cab for street hails. Reservations for tours are pouring in (August is almost booked), so call now. Operators are standing by.
This weekend I was planning on heading to Rockaway Beach for a filet of sole hero from the 101 Deli, a stroll on the boardwalk, and a dip in the Atlantic. But I was busy with two eating tours I booked at the last minute. One was a Midnight Munchies Tour like the one I did with David Wain and Ken Marino in June. The other was a Best of Brooklyn Tour I conducted for the Sorey family of Richmond, VA.
Rachel and her boyfriend have a few years in New York notched on their belts, but the rest of the fam came up for the occasion, a surprise gift for Mr. Sorey. With dad in the passenger seat and 4 in the back seat, we were breaking all sorts of Taxi And Limousine Commission rules, so there was a nice touch of extra added adventure whenever we saw a police cruiser and had to have one person slink down in the back seat to hide.
We only had four hours for the whole tour, but the Sorey’s were real champs, and we did a lot of eating on the run so as to fit in more chow time. I didn’t take a picture of the Ewephoria Sheep’s Milk Gouda from Murray’s, but that’s what held us over during the drive to Tom’s Diner in Prospect Heights:
We called ahead, so our piping hot Belgian waffle with strawberries was waiting for us. We felt like the smart ones as we slathered ours in syrup and cinnamon butter while we sat outside in the chairs meant for all those people waiting in the line that stretched out the door:
Click here to read what I wrote about Tom’s in Gothamist.
After we (I) finished our waffle (this was when I explained that Famous Fat Dave always gets the last bite), we stopped at El Gran Castillo de Jagua for a Cubano. The mercury was pushing 100, so the heavily forested Prospect Park was the ideal spot for everyone to dig in on the pressed sandwich:
Click here to read what I wrote about El Gran Castillo de Jagua in Gothamist.
The kids ran into Culpepper’s to grab a Bajan (that means ”from Barbardos”) flying fish cutter with hot sauce while the rest of us relaxed in the A.C. from my 2001 Ford Crown Vic with 200,000 miles on it. Then we all took turns devouring that sandwich while we drove down Nostrand Avenue:
Click here to read what I wrote about Culpepper’s in Gothamist.
Stuck in a bit of traffic on Nostrand and Glenwood, we noticed the overwhelming smell of smoky bbq filling the air above the avenue. I switched on the hazards in a no parking zone in front of a church, ran across the street, and returned with some jerk chicken from a Guyanese man bbqing on the sidewalk:
And my nose served us right. It was delicious:
Next stop was the Irish-style, soaking wet roast beef sandwich from Brennan and Carr that took a beating in my Gothamist column last week. And guess what creepy Gothamist commenters: The Soreys all LOVED it:
Like father,
Like son.
Click here to read what I wrote (and how revolted some ignorant commenters were) about Brennan and Carr in Gothamist.
After a taste test comparison with the Roll N’ Roast beef sandwich with cheez whiz and onions in neighboring Sheepshead Bay, we took our Roll N’ Roaster lemonades and hit Brighton Beach for a while. We had time to get some sun, feel the breeze, and take a gander at some Little Odessa’s summer street culture:
No Famous Fat Dave tour is complete without eating off the big yellow table:
And that’s how we enjoyed our shawarma from Sahara in Gravesend. Mr. Sorey wasn’t impressed. I wish we had time to hit Zaytoon’s (they put pickles in their shawarma, and the meat has the more complex flavor Mr. Sorey was looking for), but we had time constraints:
Click here to read what I wrote about Sahara and Zaytoon’s in Not For Tourists Guidebook.
L&B Spumoni Gardens in Bensonhurst is always a crowd-pleaser though. No one can deny the glory of a steaming hot thick slice of pizza and a steaming cold squeeze cup of spumoni on the outdoor patio:
Click here to read what I wrote about Spumoni Gardens in Not For Tourists Guidebook.
Zipping up the Gowanus Expressway that never has any traffic on it, we found ourselves in Red Hook as the time grew near for me to return the cab to Cha Cha in Greenpoint. Frozen, chocolate-dipped mini key lime pie on a stick really hits the spot at the end of a muggy, sticky day of eating and driving. Everyone was grabbing for it:
Click here to read what I wrote about Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Piesicles in Gothamist and Click here to read how I discovered Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Pies
So how could we possibly cap off a tour like that? We did it with deep fried, crunchy, dill, sour pickles, rolled in Cajun spices, and dipped in tartar sauce. A heavenly treat straight out of Elvis’ cookbook. And it was a big hit:
Where do you find something so scrumptious you ask? I’m keeping that one a secret for now. But if you take a tour, I’m sure we can arrange a tasting.
I’d like to use this space to thank the Soreys for their enthusiasm. You really ate like pros. I’m sure it is clear from these pictures, the Sorey’s enjoyed their Best Of Brooklyn Tour immensely. But more importantly, they really did save Famous Fat Dave the last bite:
Visit www.famousfatdave.com to book an eating tour. And if today’s post wasn’t enough Best of Brooklyn for you, take an almost entirely different virtual Best of Brooklyn Tour with the Dolgens.
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07.26.06
Posted in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, Hamburgers, La Pizza, Lower East Side, Manhattan, Meats, On The Open Road, Pickles, Soul Food, There's A Beverage Here Man, West Village at 7:08 am by Administrator
Even in my ancestral homeland of Chicago, a town that is stamped on my D.N.A and etched in my heart, I have to face angry questions about my loyalties from New York haters. When I’m visiting with my extended, deep-dish-loving family, people know that I’ve declared New York my adopted hometown. They know that I have a warm place in my heart for Chicago, but I am fully in LOVE with New York.
As I ate my second Wieners Circle hot dog at 2 a.m. last week, one of my cousin Jeremy’s friends from high school started talking pizza. I wanted to concentrate on my delicious hot dog, so I wasn’t about to start debating. But this guy, fortified with a few Jager bombs and a Chicago accent, forced the issue.
I tried to explain to him that Chicago food is in my blood, that grease runs thick in my veins (and arteries), and there was no reason for him to be defensive. But by this point it was more of a monologue on his part. I let him go for a while, but the last straw was when he broke into a Vinnie Barbarino style over-the-top New York goomba voice, bobbed his head like a chicken, and mocked me with, “Hey, OOOH, Dis pizza is good, yeah sure, but it ain’t as good a Ray’s on 59th Street no how.”
First of all, Ray’s on 59th Street, if it exists, is not good. Second of all, I am a lot of things, but I am no food snob. I’m always open to trying new things. And if I find the taste is superior, I’m not afraid to change my mind about what’s better. Plus, I never even said New York has better anything as far as this guy knew.
But since he brought it up, I thought I’d indulge this New York hater. So today I’m going to compare a few of the foods I ate in Chicago recently with some similar foods I ate in New York recently. And since he dropped the pizza bomb, I’ll start with that.
I am well aware that many of the denizens of each city harbor very strong, often irrational, feelings on the pizza issue. And not everyone will be happy with the pizzerias I’ve chosen to compare. But Due’s is where the majority of my family recommended I eat when I was in Chicago (although certain members of my family urged me to go elsewhere- Lou Malnati’s, Edwardo’s, Baccino’s, or Gino’s to name a few). And John’s is where I last ate pizza in New York solely because it’s around the corner from my house.
I have had great deep-dish pizza in Chicago. It is amazing. The sheer amount of cheese is staggering. The flavor of the sausage has made my heart skip a beat. The thick crust can be delicious.
But at Due’s none of those things were true. The crust, though my Aunt Linda loved the buttermilk quality of it, was way too thick and dry for my (and my Chicago-born mother’s) liking. The bland crust overwhelmed the whole pizza. Deep-dish offers the possibility of voluminous cheese, sauce, and sausage, but the proportion of crust to everything else was way out of whack at Due’s.
(LOOKS really good right? But even with all that cheese the pizza was too bready)
John’s, though all anyone seems to write about it anymore is that it isn’t as good as it used to be, is a classic New York thin crust pizza. Maybe it’s not as good as an authentic Napolitana pizza, but the proportions are right on. The crust is thin but not floppy, the cheese is plentiful but not so much as to overshadow the rest of the pie, the sauce is spread to the edge but the pizza isn’t swimming in it. My John’s pie just had more flavor than my Due’s pies did, even though there was less of everthing on my John’s pie.
Plus, if you so desire, you can find a perfectly proportioned, cheesey, saucy, chewy thick slice at L&B Spumoni Gardens in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.
(Spumoni goes so well with a thick slice no matter where you are from)
I admit, however, if you crave great Chicago pizza, Spumoni Gardens won’t do.
I also tried a cherry lime ricky at Due’s. This drink, had at an old-fashioned soda jerk like Tom’s in Brooklyn, can be incredibly tasty and refreshing. A classic New York cherry lime ricky is just selzer, syrup, ice cubes, and a lime slice. Due’s made their’s like a frozen smoothie.
(Chicago on the left; New York on the righ)
Generally I love smoothies, but the one I had at Due’s was weak. It melted way too quickly, and it left me in the mood for a real New York style cherry lime ricky.
Billygoat Tavern is a famous old Chicago institution from the 30s on the level of Tom’s Diner in Brooklyn. Billygoat was even parodied on Saturday Night Live in the 70s (because all the good cast members on SNL in New York came out of Second City in Chicago), yet my branch of the family had never been there. The moment we walked in, I immediately realized that it had been a terrible mistake that it’d taken us this long.
(smoke obscured the view of our “doubles” on the grill)
The grill man actually did yell “Cheezeborger, cheezeborger, cheezeborger, cheezeborger” the way John Belushi did in that SNL sketch. Classic old Chicago characters in suspenders and fedoras sat in every dark corner watching the Cubs getting slaughtered by the Mets. And the burgers were delicious.
(Here is my branch of the family, every member with a full mouth of Billygoat burger aside from Milo whose mouth is full of Goldfish)
(Milo will move onto burgers soon enough if I do my job as his uncle)
The host suggested we (and everyone else who came through the door) order “doubles.” My sister-in-law didn’t come up to the counter to see that each patty was McDonalds thin, so she ordered a “single” and ended up being fairly disappointed. The doubles, with cheese between the patties and a fixin’ bar of chopped onions, relish, and sliced pickles, were tasty for sure. But I think, like the Due’s pizza, there was too much bread. My sister-in-law and I decided to go back for a second round and split a “triple,” and we were both duly impressed.
(Melissa shows off the “double” and I show off the “triple”; I think it is clear who makes the better spokesmodel)
The “triple” was delightfully meaty and cheesy, and I think the host should be recommending those. But I must say that even a “triple” can’t compare with a Corner Bistro “bistro burger.” The bistro burger is the premier burger in New York if not the world. Admittedly, it has a leg up on a Billygoat burger because the bistro burger comes with three stips of bacon. But the real difference is in the beef.
I saw the Billygoat burgers come out of stacks of patties with slices of paper in between before they hit the grill, making me suspicious that they had been frozen at some point in their history. Corner Bistro ground beef is stored in a vat. I used to order mine medium, but one night at around 3am I witnessed the owner drop by, put a rubber glove on, grab a handful of ground beef out of the vat, and eat it raw. Since then, I always order my bistro burger rare.
One thing Billygoat has on Corner Bistro is that they offer much crunchier, tastier pickle chips (I think the above pictures make that clear). And crunchy pickles go a long way toward a good burger experience for me. So now might be a good time to compare New York pickles to Chicago pickles.
Let me begin by saying Chicago wins the prize for best utilization of pickles. If New Yorker put a entire pickle spear along side each of their Sabretts, they’d be a much happier bunch. But I can’t say the Puckered Pickle Co., “Made With Pride In Chicago,” that my Aunt Linda keep in her fridge are as good as the Gus Pickles I keep in mine. And I know of no place in Chicago that sells pickles out of the barrel on the sidewalk the way nature intended.
It seems like I’m saying Chicago’s food is inferior to New York’s. But I assure I think no such thing. It so happens that I like John’s better than Due’s, Corner Bistro better than Billygoat Tavern, and Gus Pickles better than Puckered Pickles. But Chicagoans can take for granted some foods that New Yorkers can’t even hope to find at near that quality (Italian beef sandwiches for one).
And more importantly, Chicagoans know how to eat. Where else can I go where people don’t bat an eyelash when I eat ribs for breakfast:
(You can tell it’s breakfast because my hair is wet from the shower)
(My aunt Linda makes sure to bring ribs home from the black part of town)
Had I picked different places, Chicago might have come out on top in every category. But I did give Chicago a fair shake. The places I review here are institutions in that town. And I didn’t even bother to compare hot dogs or ribs because I think Chicago takes those columns with no competition. So you New York haters need to cool out. Still though, New York is a great place to come home to.
Due’s, 619 N Wabash, Chicago
John’s, Bleeker Street and Jones Street, West Village, Manhattan
L&B Spumoni Gardens, 86th Street and West 9th Street, Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
Billygoat Tavern, 430 N Michigan Avenue Lower Level (SERIOUSLY, GO DOWN SOME STAIRS THAT DON’T LOOK LIKE YOU SHOULD GO DOWN THEM, DON’T BE DISCOURAGED IF YOU CAN’T FIND IT AT FIRST) Chicago
Corner Bistro, West 4th Street and Jane Street, West Village, Manhattan
Gus Pickles, Orchard Street and Broome Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan
Hecky’s, 1902 Green Bay Road, Evanston
Visit www.famousfatdave.com for an eating tour of New York City
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