Takeout worthy of a white tablecloth
One chef raises the bar for the takeout delivery spots
of the future.
New York has takeout delivery spots on every corner to keep up with the city’s on-the-go behavior. Ordering Chinese food alone has become synonymous with NYC. We’re all familiar with that scene in movies and TV shows where couples or lonely singles plop down on the couch and eat noodles straight out of containers in front of the TV. And guess what? As New Yorkers, we’ve actually done it. Takeout has become such a part of New York culture that almost every restaurant offers it from your neighborhood bar to ethnic food and even the city’s best fine dining establishments. But we can’t help but feel a little bad about ourselves afterward, as did chef Josh Eden and fashion designer Sally Wu. Eden, chef-owner of SoHo’s Shorty’s .32 and widely known for his Asian culinary skills honed during a 12-year tenure with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, has recently made a 180 from fine dining. “Sally and I thought it would be fun to open a joint that takes takeout up a notch, serving updated versions of the favorites we grew up on, fused with influences from Japan, Korea, Thailand and beyond,” he says. And that’s how Ten Ten was born, a 24-seat Asian restaurant offering eat-in, takeout and delivery. We just hope that they, along with the followers bound to open up after them, include some fortune cookies in our order. •
Follow the Leader
Stating your opinion on a social network has never been so tasteful.
The power of social networking has become crucial to the food industry. Not only are people following tweets and reading on the fly reviews by friends and food blogs of the newest restaurants, but that there are thousands of people following the people each of us follow as well. Twitter, we’ve heard time and again, is the new word of mouth. You no longer have to ask your friends (although hopefully you will) where they recommend to go, because you’ve probably bookmarked the link when they tweeted it. Social media is most relevant with food trucks in particular. Eddie Song of Korilla BBQ described Twitter as his truck’s lifeline. Before Twitter, there would have been no easy way to reach the people who line up outside on a daily basis as quickly. Food genres have the opportunity to trend on Twitter, as do celebrity chefs. It’s that much easier to decipher which restaurant is worth going to or not. Friends are sharing photos of their meals through Twitpics, Facebook mobile uploads and Tumblr accounts. All of this is creating a foodie community the likes of which has never been seen before. •
For a Limited Time, Always
At these venues it’s no longerabout if you’ve eaten there,
it’s about when you’ve eaten there.
Back in the spring of 2010 one of our writers came across chef and owner of LudoBites, Ludo Lefebvre, and it was an obvious story for us. Having worked in fine dining his whole life Ludo was excited at the possibility of serving food and interacting with a younger clientele as well as switching locations. “I’m like a gypsy. I feel like I start a new life every three or four months with a new restaurant,” he says. Now one year later and his name is on almost every food trend list for 2011 with the term pop-up in it. In case you’re unfamiliar pop-up restaurants involve a chef and his staff turning unconventional venues or unused restaurant spaces into a restaurant for a limited amount of time. Establishments such as Eat Restaurant in San Francisco have jumped on the bandwagon. As have NYC restaurateurs Zakary Pelaccio and Rick Camac who are best known for their restaurants Fatty Crab and Fatty ‘Cue. It’s turning dining into not only an experience but an event. In a recent NY Times article Daniel Young, the journalist behind the food site youngandfoodish.com, says it’s due to the rise of the “activist diner.” “You want to say you saw these chefs when they were trying out new material at these pop-ups. You want to be able to say you saw Bob Dylan when he was at the Folklore Center,” he says. So that’s where all the cool kids have gone. •
Classic Hits
Out with the old and in with the... old?
The cupcake has, sadly, seen its day. It’s been abused to no end. Giant, mini, extreme toppings, fruit-filled... get enough of them in a room together and people will actually turn them into a cake. So what’s the next place for a dessert lover to turn? Look no further then the cupcake’s big brother, the pie. Almost all of us have a favorite. Whether from childhood or tastes acquired in adulthood, cherry pie, apple pie à la mode, pumpkin, coconut custard, even shepherd’s pie are classics. With pies, even more so than with cupcakes, variations are possible. Chefs can take this food and play with not only the size and flavors, but also the texture and form. And they’re not just for dessert. We have already seen them popping up in window displays where cupcakes once lived. Andrew Freeman of Andrew Freeman & Co.’s 2011 food predictions agrees: “If I had one trend of the year that I could predict, that’s why it’s in the No. 1 position, this would be the trend for pie. I think that we’re going to make room for pie shops in the next year. This is not just sweet pies, this is savory pies, bite-sized pies. They are even blended into milkshakes.” We’re ready. •
Greentops
Restaurants are going a lot more local these days.
There’s been a lot of buzz around vegetables as of late. Yep, vegetables. Blame it on Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma or Michelle Obama if you’d like, but after a year or two involving a lot of pork cooked every way and $50 cheeseburgers, chefs everywhere seem to be on board, switching up their menus to bring people the best organic and local produce they can get their hands on. And if you’re wondering how serious, well, in September, Sotheby’s first heirloom-vegetable auction brought in a whopping $100,000. And now that organic is no longer just a household name but a staple, and buying local and joining food co-ops aren’t just for the hippie kids anymore, many chefs and agriculturalists in urban cities are taking it one step further with rooftop farming. Take chef-owner John Mooney and owner Mick O’Sullivan, who recently opened up Bell Book & Candle in NYC’s West Village. Sixty percent of Mooney’s menu is provided by their “aeroponic” rooftop garden—a first ever in NYC. The revolutionary Aeroponic Tower Gardens are fully customizable towers that use vertical-growing technology and no soil to cultivate everything from gourmet lettuce and herbs to edible flowers and tomatoes in urban settings such as patios and rooftops. “With Bell Book & Candle’s rooftop garden, we hope to inspire our guests to incorporate responsible sourcing into their everyday lives,” says Mooney. Something tells me they won’t need too much convincing. •