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“The Strong Buzz April 23rd: DFD Update. The News (Roasting Plant, 'Wichcraft, landmarc, Thai Me Up), Events. My Dinner at Palo Santo.”

Hello all and Welcome to the April 23rd edition of THE STRONG BUZZ: DFD Update, The News (Roasting Plant, ‘Wichcraft, landmarc [time warner center], Thai Me Up), Events, My Dinner at Palo Santo.

Dining for Darfur Update
We are just one week away from Dining for Darfur so I hope that you’ve all made your plans for dinner that night. There are almost 60 restaurants to choose from and this week we add Ono and Wild Salmon to our list, plus a few more cross-country additions in California, so wherever you are dining, hopefully we can all be together in spirit on April 29th.

 
NOTE: I am sorry to report that the Not on Our Watch/Dining for Darfur Benefit taking place at Public restaurant on Sunday April 29th from 5-7pm are has been CANCELLED! If you have purchased tickets and need a refund please contact Christy McConville at the Enough Foundation at cmcconville@americanprogress.org.

THE NEWS
The Roasting Plant
If George Jetson ever brewed his own coffee this is certainly how he’d do it. He’d roast the beans (using Spacely Sprocket technology of course), and then grind and brew them on the spot. A piping hot cup would be filled to the rim in moments. The Roasting Plant, a new coffee shop on Orchard Street, pretty much does just that. Mike Caswell, the founder and a partner, uses proprietary technology to brew the perfect, personalized cup of coffee. (He’s an industrial engineer who worked for Coffee Connection in Boston and then for Starbucks. He never worked for Mr. Spacely; his machine was adapted from a Swiss model.) You can watch the owners roast their beans several times a day (in the front window) and then stand back as your automated fresh brewed cup is made right before your eyes. The roasted beans live in clear pneumatic tubes, and once your cup is ordered, they spin up through the tubes and into the grinder. Your cup ‘a joe is ground and brewed a la minute, and you receive it in moments, topped with a lovely crema. To accompany your amazingly rich and smooth coffee, there’s also a selection of eats from Tom Cat, and for those who want to work, individual seats with outlets and free WiFi. The Roasting Plant is located at 81 Orchard Street, corner of Broome, 212-775-7755.

‘Wichcraft
‘Wichcraft has re-opened in the Flatiron, which just does not bode well for my waistline. I used to have to walk all the way down to 8th street for their toasty pastrami, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and whole grain mustard on grilled rye bread ($9.50), or their mile high slow-roasted pork with red cabbage slaw and jalapenos in a fluffy ciabatta ($8.50). Now I just have to wander over a few blocks to their bright new Flatiron location on East 20th Street. Since there’s WiFi, I’ll probably hang around all day sampling sandwiches, cookies and assorted baked lovelies. They’re getting wine and beer soon too. I might have to move. ‘Wichcraft is located at 11 East 20th Street, 212-780-0577.

landmarc [time warner center]
Real estate prices in this city are crazy enough as it is, but if you live in Columbus Circle, I think the value of your apartment just increased about ten percent. That’s because you’re now located within sprinting distance of landmarc [time warner center]. Finally, a reasonable place to get some good eats near Jazz at Lincoln Center. I mean the last time I had dinner at Café Gray I spend $18 for a bowl of soup. It’s madness over there. But at landmarc, not so much. While it’s triple the size at 300 seats, this landmarc’s pretty much the same as its downtown sibling. It was designed by clodagh and it’s got that rough-hewn factory meets urban loft feel with natural materials, exposed brick, hardwood floors, rebar and rusted metals.

As for the food, you’ll find bistro fare—everything from boudin and steak frites to pasta carbonara and braised lamb shanks, along with his famously well-priced wine list. Since Marc and Pam also have two kids, they’ve also added a little ones’ menu that actually sounds like something I want to order from. Listen to this: English muffin pizzas, pigs in a blanket, peanut butter and nutella sandwiches, green eggs and ham (pesto scrambled eggs), and Lucky Charms. The restaurant will serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner until 2am. Delivery is available from 66th street to 55th Street and from 5th Avenue to West End Avenue. landmarc [time warner center] is located at 10 Columbus Circle, 3rd Floor, 212-823-6123

Thai Me Up
If you’re a fan of the Vietnamese Bahn Mi then you’ll want to check out Thai Me Up Sandwich Bar, a sweet new exposed brick café and takeaway on 14th Street. Owner Amir Hushinsky has created a fresh new sandwich concept that’s a riff on the refreshing Bahn Mi. He layers your choice of chicken, beef or tofu with a flurry of freshly wok-sauteed vegetables—mushrooms, carrots, snap peas, cabbages, carrots and broccoli and then customizes the flavors with your choice of sweet soy, scallions and oyster sauce (the Black Pearl), sautéed ginger, lime leaf, and green curry (The White Ginger), pineapple, grenadine, and garlic (The Pine Grand). Sandwiches are $5.50 and can also be served as a noodle bowl for $6. Thai Me Up is located at 238 East 14th Street, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, 212-533-8424.

OUT OF TOWN ALERT: Staunton Grocery
Ian Boden, who was last cooking as chef de cuisine at David Page and Barbara Shinn’s restaurant Home on Cornelia Street, has moved back to his childhood home of Virginia and opened a restaurant of his own called the Staunton Grocery. Boden spent about nine months before opening his restaurant networking with farms in the area and at this point he’s sourcing about 50% of his menu from the Shenandoah Valley. His menu makes a trip to Central Virginia sound quite appealing. There are cold starters like sugar snap peas with arugula, radish and crispy ramps, and a salad of early spring asparagus with golden beets, pickled onions and farm fresh poached egg ($12). Hot appetizers include Southern fried quail with braised Swiss chard, and Banyuls-glazed sweetbreads with Marcona almonds and kumquats ($12). Entrees sounds like this: Heritage pork loin with ramp flan, crispy spaetzle and young turnips ($28), and wild halibut with a stew of mussels, black eyed peas and saffron ($28). Staunton Grocery is located at 105 West Beverley Street, Staunton, VA 24401, 540-886-6880, www.stauntongrocery.com.

EVENTS, compiled and written by Celine Valensi
Jimmy's Brew Ha Ha #3
On Wednesday April 25th two of my favorite foods will come together with one of my favorite beverages. If you guessed cheese, beer and chocolate, you’re a winner! Jimmy’s is hosting a tasting of unlimited cheese, beer, and chocolate from 7-9pm ($20 per person) with Jacques Torres chocolate, Chris Cuzme of Six Points Craft Ales and Anne Saxelby of Saxelby cheese monger. Jimmy’s is located at 43 East 7th Street, Stage Room, 212-982-3006.

Bpeace
On Wednesday, May 9th at the Ritz Carlton Battery Park, the Business Council for Peace (Bpeace) will hold their second annual Gala featuring cocktails, dinner, entertainment and live and silent auctions. Bpeace's international network of volunteer businesspeople help Afghan and Rwandan women build businesses so that they can sustain their families, create jobs, and strengthen their communities. Bpeace projects currently in the works include mentoring and fundraising for an Afghan woman who is building a new pre-school for 500 children; providing business mentoring to a Rwandan genocide survivor to open a new hotel that has created 50 new jobs and sharing retail expertise with eleven Afghan women opening the first co-op shop in Kabul, thus providing a retail outlet for hundreds of artisans. To purchase tickets, participate in the online auction or make a donation, please visit: www.bpeace.org/gala

World Cocktail Day at Devin Tavern
To honor the 201st Anniversary of the invention of the cocktail, the Museum of the American Cocktail (a nonprofit organization founded by a group of cocktail historians and spirits experts) will host a World Cocktail Dinner with premier mixologists Dale DeGroff, Sasha Petraske, Gary Regan, David Wondrich, Charlotte Voisey, Michael Waterhouse, Will Shine, Tony Abou-Ganim, Aisha Sharpe, and Leo DeGroff. The mixologists will create cocktails to match a five-course dinner at Tribeca’s Devin Tavern. As if you needed one more reason to say bottom’s up, half of each tax deductible $250 ticket will go towards building a permanent home for the museum at the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans. To do your part to immortalize your favorite spirits, reserve early because seats are limited. World Cocktail Day comes to NYC Monday, May 14th, 2007 with 6:30 p.m. reception followed by dinner at 7:30pm. Devin Tavern is located at 363 Greenwich Street (between Franklin and Harrison), 212-334-7337, www.museumoftheamericancocktail.org

Good Night Vietman
Chefs who run to Raiaiken and Blue Ribbon after hours can now add Drew Nieporent’s Mai House to their list of late night haunts. Chef Michael Bao Huynh will kick off “ten after ten” nights starting April 25th, with a menu that offers 28 plates all priced at $10 or less after 10 pm. There’s salt and pepper cuttlefish, BBQ quail on sticky rice, alongside nocturnal specials like Vietnamese “Mai burgers,” corn and coconut fritters and rib eye skewered on sugar cane. Mai House is located at 186 Franklin Street (between Greenwich and Hudson), 212-431-0606 www.myriadrestaurantgroup.com/maihouse

For Lovers of Corn
With Cinco de Mayo around the corner, the timing’s right for chef Zarela Martinez to pay homage to a food that’s sustained entire civilizations—that would be corn (not Twinkies). For $30 a head on Monday, May 7th (11am-2pm), Zarela invites you to a lunch where she will showcase all manner of corn dishes (and some history to boot). All told, you’ll try ten dishes including variations of tortillas, and at least three kinds of savory and sweet tamales. The reservation deadline is Thursday, May 3 and seats are limited. Zarela Restaurant is located at 953 Second Avenue (between 50th and 51st Street) 212-644-6740.

STRONG BUZZ CLASSIDFIED OF THE WEEK!
The Strong Buzz Classifieds had a very busy week: A bar/lounge in Rockland County is for sale, the team behind Five Points and Cookshop are looking for all levels of management for their new restaurant Provence, Casa Mono is looking for a sommelier/manager, a private chef in the Hamptons is looking for a sous chef, and a lease for a LES restaurant is available. To post your job and search for others, please visit BUZZARDS!

MY DINNER AT PALO SANTO
I couldn’t take my eyes off the cat. She was patrolling the garden, rather languidly actually, delicately tip-toeing on the high stone wall, balanced perfectly on a precarious battlement of jagged mismatched rocks. She was a slightly chubby calico, with a glossy coat of assorted patches of color that together resembled some crazy psychedelic quilt. She stopped. She sat. Her ears twitched. Then she got up again and continued her stroll—tip-toe-tip-toe—once around, and then back again. Harvey and I were watching her through glass French doors from inside the sunken dining room of Palo Santo, an irresistibly charming restaurant in the garden level of a Park Slope brownstone. We thought she would wander off but she didn’t. She wasn’t going anywhere. I don’t blame her. I didn’t want to leave either.

Palo Santo, which opened August 8th of last year, is a magical place. It is a restaurant that beams you to another place—to a dining room somewhere in the remote mountains of South America where the minty sweetness of pine mixes with the lush smoke of a blazing fire in the night. The restaurant takes its name from an evergreen native to South America and the Caribbean. The wood is not only the restaurant’s moniker it is also its foundation. Chef-owner Jacques Gautier, who was most recently the chef at La Brunette, built most of his beautiful restaurant from Palo Santo trees. He sanded heavy tables and chairs from dense blond Palo Santo wood, and covered walls with collages made from its trunks. He’s covered the chair’s seats in hand-woven Bolivian tapestries, collected raw bricks from a reclaimed Williamsburg Street for the walls, sourced flagstone for floors, hand-hammered copper for a long food bar overlooking an open kitchen, pressed leaves and stones into glass-topped tables, and sewed together old coffee and spice bags from his travels around South America as wall hanging and curtains. He’s built a fireplace up front, and hired Adam Distenfeld, a sculptor, to create a meditative Zen rock garden out back, with a little pool and a waterfall, surrounded by high walls, where we found our friend the calico roaming around.

His menu at Palo Santo is refreshing; his simple and paired down approach combines Latin American Market cuisine (Jacques lived in Argentina for a while as a wine maker’s assistant in Mendoza) with accents from his Caribbean family roots. His kitchen draws heavily from local purveyors (the candles on the tables are made by a Park Slope neighbor) and regional farms, including a Central Mexican farmer up in Bear Mountain who provides him with rare indigenous herbs like pepicha and papalo—the former grassy and minty and the latter a sort of sweet cross between parsley and cilantro. These herbs show up as the zippy herbaceous garnish for the chicken taquitos ($10), a trio of freshly made corn tortillas, lightly fried so they are crisped and warm, and filled with grilled chicken, radishes, and wonderfully creamy guacamole.

Even better than the taquitos was the pupusa ($7), a griddled masa cake that’s sort of like an arepa that gets filled in the center with black beans and cheese. Gautier serves it with a “salad” of julienned jalapeños and bright green wedges of perfectly ripe avocado. I could have eaten several orders of these and suggest that if you are with a big group (meaning more than one) that you double the order or risk serious harm in the fight for the last bite.

Pumpkin Soup ($7) garnished with scallions is heated up with a healthy dose of chiles and just enough coconut to give a touch of sweetness to tame that heat. What I loved most about this soup was how light it was. Soups with pumpkin and coconut can be creamy and thick and way too heavy, but this one was just brothy enough, and that spice with the coconut is brilliant. I wasn’t feeling so well that night—a cold was showing its first signs—and the soup was quite healing. More, please.

The only low point of our starters was a salad of marinated red and golden beets ($9) paired with hard-boiled eggs and pickled string beans. While I love the idea of this salad, the presentation was a bit awkward, and the flavors were somehow very sweet. I missed a pungent note of acid.

Main courses change daily and on this night the famous Girot ($21)—braised wild boar with breadfruit, and the rabbit mole with broad beans and tortilla ($19), were absent, but we managed quite well with the selection at hand. That night, Gautier was serving bluefish ($18) in a way that does this humble little swimmer right. He gives you a hefty fillet, seared on the plancha, served over a spicy slaw of purple cabbage and chiles accompanied by a rather hilarious super large whole plantain grilled in its skin. I am sorry to say that it looked like something that might be sold at the Pleasure Chest. It’s alarmingly large, but then again, quite sweet and tasty.

There’s also a braised lamb shank served in its own braising jus with artichokes and turnips ($20). I might add some polenta or rice to the dish, but otherwise it was terrific. There’s also a fine looking pork chop ($18) that rests on vibrant sautéed greens with a side of something called yautia gratin. Forget potatoes, people, I’m all about the yautia now. As should you be. It’s a lovely South American tuber that tastes like a potato that got busy with an apple. You’ve gotta get some of this. It’s sliced thin and layered up with cream and baked until bubbly and crisp on top so it smells like apple pie. It’s insanely good. Christopher Fruendt, who is the restaurant’s manager and wine director, explained that he has struck a deal with the kitchen so that they save any yautia leftovers at the end of the night as his snack.

Speaking of Fruendt, he’s put together a terrific wine list of exclusive South American gems. I learned a lot that night. For instance, do you know what Torrentes is? I didn’t, but now I do. It’s a white grape grown in Argentina and it’s medium-bodied, fresh and aromatic and it’s a grape I will look for again. (We had the ’06 Tomero $32/$8). We also had a wonderfully ripe and floral Chilean Viogner (the 2005 Casa Silva Lolol Estates from Colchagua ($36) and some great reds, like the Carlos Pulenta Vistalba Corte B ($46), a blend of Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Bonardo (it’s the grape known as Croatin in Piedmont). Talk to Christopher when you’re there. You’ll learn something for sure—he trained at Gotham and Tribeca Grill—and he’s an awesome guy.

Sadly, at this point my cold was starting to take over my brain and I was feeling like I might pass out. I needed to bolt for home, but before I left, I did have a bit of dessert. (I was sick, not crazy.) We had an insanely rich lime pie that had the silky texture of whipped cream cheese set up on a crumbly graham cracker crust, and a chocolate mousse that was more like a fudge pudding. Not a bad thing at all. But I’d skip the apple crisp; it tasted a bit too healthy, like it was something a vegan restaurant might serve. It needs more butter.

As we made our way out of the restaurant, I took one last glimpse at the garden. The calico was still roaming around outside, pacing back and forth on her stone trellis. She sat down and looked into the restaurant. For a moment our eyes met, and the look on her face seemed to say, “Nope, I ain’t goin’ anywhere.”

Palo Santo is located at 6562 Union Street, 718-636-6311.

And that’s THE STRONG BUZZ for this week. Thanks for reading and until next week, READ IT AND EAT!

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Posted: April 23, 2007

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