French Fries and Food Network

So I was crushed for like 5 straight weeks at work, February is now a blur, and the blog, well... you understand. Yup, that is my life. Anyway, back to french fries. Two places to put on your radar.

1. Pommes Frites. It is a tiny little shop crunched into the East Village. There are a few tables inside, but mostly, it is a take-away spot. You stand in line outside and look at the menu scrawled on a chalkboard, (fact: if you are trying to eat in NYC and there is not some sort of line, it is probably not that good--don't worry, the lines go fast, New Yorkers are very impatient) order through a window, then squeeze inside to watch the magic (i.e. frying) happen.

The shop is styled after the french-fry stands in Belgium (no offense to Belgium, but those frite stands may be the best thing that country has going for it--that, and Waterloo). Anyway, at the stands in Belgium, they fry big old thick french fries right in front of you, then funnel them into a paper cone. Then, the best part--every stand has dozens of crazy sauces that are yours for the taking. Ketchup is for chumps. In true Belgian fashion, Pommes Frites (by the way--that is french for "french fries"... surprised you didn't know that...) offers a wild array of sauces, including Pomegranate Teriyaki Mango and Wasabi Mayo. Everytime we go there, I am surprised at how addictive the fries are. Every person we have taken there has raved.

2. Isabella's. Isabella's is a lovely upper-west-side establishment that will make multiple appearances in this blog because, despite eating my way through this city, it is still my favorite restaurant in New York. There are so many dishes that are just so groan-worthy. Today, we will discuss their sweet-potato fries. You can only get them at lunch. I have requested them for dinner, and they have complied, but they are not on the dinner menu. Isabella's has very comfortable patio dining, so I suggest a late lunch on a meandering afternoon. I really love sweet potato fries, but they are trickier to make well than one may think. In other words, it is easy to mess them up. Isabella's most definitely does not mess them up. They are crispy, and thick enough to be crunch-worthy without being too thick (when sweet potato fries get too thick, they are too much sweet potato, not enough oil.. just saying). Anyway, what makes these fries blog-worthy, however, is the incredible, delectable accompanying brown-sugar dipping sauce. I could eat it plain. Sometimes when there is leftover sauce, I do. But anyway, the combo of fry and sauce makes for, get ready for it, THE BEST FRY IN THE WORLD. Over. True story. I won't keep talking about Isabella's, but it is so fabulous. Think of every type of food girls like (sorry to generalize, but let's be honest--it is true, we have different eating habits than men), and you will find it somewhere on the Isabella's menu. It will be some sort of creative dish (but not weird---i.e., it will still sound like something you would want to eat), it will be presented with the utmost beauty, and it will taste so good, that even if you are on a first date and so you plan on leaving a reasonable portion of your meal on your plate so your date thinks you are skinny and wonderful, you will eat the entire dish and then fight the urge to lick the plate (by the way, guys could care less whether or not you finish your meal, but let's just say I may or may not have dropped a few in the first few [eight] months of dating my husband because my portions were suddenly halved).

To end, some home-grown meals. Lately we have been watching the food network, because it is awesome. Our favorite show is called Throwdown with Bobby Flay. Bobby finds a restaurant owner famous for a certain dish, then challenges him/her to a Throwdown. The chef cooks his/her signature dish, and Bobby comes up with his own recipe to challenge. Then people vote. About 80% of the restuarants seem to be in NYC (I looooove this city) and so we have been inspired in a couple ways. 1. we go to the restaurants and try the dishes featured on Throwdown. So far we have not been disappointed. 2. we create our own versions of the dishes. Brandon started us down this path when he watched a Throwdown about lobster club sandwiches (against a restaurant in Maine). Never heard of a lobster club? Neither had we. But it looked awesome. Brandon decided to make his own lobster club. Chinatown has delicious live lobsters, sold for cheaper than anywhere else in Manhattan. Don't worry, they are just as clean as the lobsters in the rest of the city. Just less expensive. We have enjoyed more than one lobster dinner thanks to the Chinatown fish markets. There are some perks to that place. Only a few, but there are. Anyway, Brandon schlepped down to Chinatown one Saturday morning and bought 2 giant, squirming lobsters.

The end result involved homemade bread from the farmer's market across the street from our house, an aoli-butter sauce to coat the lobster, bacon, avocado, tomato, and New Zealand cheddar cheese. It was the richest sandwich I have ever eaten. Also, probably the most delicious. Of course, it looks kind of sick in pictures, but trust me, in person, it was unbelievable.


Round two was Sloppy Joes. This time, it was my idea. I have never made or craved sloppy joes before, but then we watched a Throwdown and I was sold. Bobby Flay put his sloppy joe open-faced, on a giant hunk of sourdough bread toasted with garlic butter. So, we did the same. We went to the Food Emporium [hint, if you shop at Food Emporium, always buy the bread from Top Cat Bakery--it is the best] around the corner and got a big loaf of sourdough, then loaded up on vegetables from the produce-cart-guy about a half a block from our apt. I made my mom's homemade bbq sauce, then we threw in ground beef, red onions, yellow onions, red peppers, green chilis, brown sugar, honey, ketchup, water, Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar, paprika, chili powder, roasted garlic, salt, onion powder, pepper, and a bunch of fresh cilantro... and.... voila. DELICIOUS. Who knew sloppy joes could taste so so good. Again, I wish the picture did it justice.


And so ends Round 2 of the foodie life in NYC....