PubChef recently headed to New York on a foodstudy tour. PubChef editor Jo Bruce gives tips on six places that are worth checking out:
Shake Shack Enjoy a gourmet burger at this All-American quality fast-food joint in the centre of Madison Square Gardens. The menu includes 'shroom burger - crisp fried portobello with melted cheese, onions, lettuce and tomato; taxi dog - a Vienna all-beef hotdog with homemade sauerkraut and tomato simmered onions. Sweet treats include frozen custard served in cups and cones.
There are even treats for your dog, called the Pooch-ini - a mix of frozen custard, peanut butter and a dog biscuit.
Tea & Sympathy, Greenwich Village, www.teaandsympathynewyork.com
English Restaurant and shop established by Brit Nicki Pern. Dishes on the menu include Heinz tomato soup, prawn cocktail, beetroot salad, Welsh rarebit, Scotch egg, sardines on toast, roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, steak and kidney pie, and Cornish pasty.
Rice to Riches SoHo's ever-changing selection of rice puddings served like ice cream at a dipping counter. Flavours include Forbidden Apple, Surrender to Mango, and Sex, Drugs and Rocky Road. You can choose from a range
of toppings, such as Cloud 9 (whipped cream), Nudge (chilled espresso with cocoa) and Remedy (caramel vanilla sauce.)
The Spotted Pig, West Village New York's gastro pub, which has just received a Michelinstar. The kitchen is headed up by Brit April Bloomfield, previously of London's River Café.
Dishes include appetisers of smoked haddock chowder with biscuits ($13), sheep's ricotta gnudi with crispy sage and brown butter ($12), and beau soleil oysters with horseradish and lemon (six for $15) and entrées of sautéed calf's liver with sage and onions ($18), and chargrilled burger with Roquefort and fries ($15).
Wholefoods This values-driven, grocery store chain retailer first opened in 1974 in Texas with the aim of selling high quality, natural and organic produce. The company also owns the Fresh and Wild stores in the UK. Today the company has
dozens of stores including several in New York.
Well worth a visit for the fantastic array of top notch meat, fish, cheese, deli and fruit and veg. The store offers customers recipe cards, leaflets on the background or different products and pics of producers on shelves. A foodie's paradise.
Risotteria, West Village Made to order risotto anyone? Risotteria is a speciality Italian restaurant that serves risotto however you like it, Neapolitan style pizza and also has its own gluten free bakery service. There are only 10 tables and a bar but reservations are not needed as tables
turnover quickly. Risottos include sweet corn and white truffle oil, roasted chicken, fontina cheese and courgette.
See our feature on PubChef's New York food study tour, starting on p18.