A relaxing, affordable, hit-the-spot restaurant in Midtown: much harder to find than it should be. But I’ve decided the holy grail, or at least one of them, is at Le Relais de Venise L’Entrecote. This cumbersomely named but brilliantly simple spot opened a few months ago as the belated NYC branch of a 50-year-old Paris bistro that also has branches in London and Barcelona. The concept is as streamlined as it gets: Walk in, sit down, and watch as the food starts arriving at your table. No menu hassles, and no waiters constantly interrupting your conversation to ask if you’ve made any decisions yet. You might have to wait a bit for a table, since the restaurant doesn’t take reservations. But other than that, zero headaches.

There are pretty much no decisions to make here. You start with a green salad with walnuts and a mustard-spiked vinaigrette (the only appetizer available here), and follow that with the restaurant’s signature—and only—main course: sirloin steak-frites, served sliced and coated in a luscious, buttery-herby “secret recipe sauce,” along with crispy thin fries piled high. The price for the two-course meal: $24. read more The Holy Grail? It’s in Midtown »

Oro Bar

Broome Street between Mott and Lafayette is that nowhere-zone where Nolita melts into whatever’s left of Little Italy. You wouldn’t go out of your way to come here—unless, like me, you’ve suddenly become addicted to the Basque snacks at the gorgeously well-curated Spanish food shop Despaña. Or to the handmade candies and lollipops at Papabubble. Or to the two drinks-for-one happy hour special at Oro Bakery and Bar across the street. Together they make a wicked trio of savory/sweet/liquor-ific joy, especially in the middle of frenzied last-minute xmas shopping. Plus they’re all within a block or two of each other.

As I sped around on the icy sidewalks today, trying not to break my neck during my last-minute tear of shopping around Nolita and at the Gifted market (the holidays-only Manhattan spinoff of the Brooklyn Flea), I stopped by for some Basque tapas from the takeout counter at Despaña, which now also has some tables in back if you can spare a few minutes to sit. My new favorite thing to eat here: the Flautas Castañas, read more Broome with a View »

The actual Marfa, Texas

After a long, arduous, and highly suspenseful search for a decent chicken-fried steak in NYC, I finally found the promised land. The adventure has gone on over the past three years in the joyous company of my friend and former Food & Wine colleague Ray Isle, who’s also a sometime Houstonian. I’m pretty sure we tried every single chicken-fried steak (CFS, as Texans call it) in the entire city. This week found us sitting at the bar at year-old East Village restaurant Marfa, eating a—holy cow—a real live Texas-style CFS.

We’d been hearing about the one at Marfa but kept putting it off, out of either disbelief or total loss of faith in New York’s skills in this department. But everything about Marfa’s CFS was exactly right: tender, thin steak (pounded to an inch of its life), deep-fried until the batter is crunchy and hot, and topped with rivers of cream gravy, as it’s called down south. That gravy, mercilessly botched by just about every NYC spot that tries to do a chicken-fried steak, was precisely what it needed to be: thick, creamy, and specked with bits of black pepper. That’s it: no silly frills. Just down-and-dirty lusciousness. A little bourbon on the side, and I couldn’t have asked for anything better on a winter night.

Another night this week, I ended up at Northern Spy Food Co., read more Eastern Eats »

Joseph Leonard pic courtesy of Curbed.com

Back in the saddle after a few days of post-Thanksgiving fasting (well, not really fasting—just not eating thrice my weight).

Managed to discover two new favorites in and around the West Village in two days. Mind you, these aren’t favorites because they’re flawless (is anything?) but because they’re places I’ll go back to again and again. Here’s where, and why:

1) Joseph Leonard. I was bracing for a long wait even at the early hour of 6:30pm, but when we got there we found plenty of tables open (JL doesn’t take reservations) plus some seats at the bar. Then slam: Half an hour later, the room is packed, almost as packed as owner Gabriel Stulman’s alma maters, the Little Owl and Market Table. I got semi-hostile treatment from the bartender when I accidentally ordered a drink from the barback instead of from her (I Tweeted about this), but things quickly looked up after that. The space is immediately likable: endearingly cluttered with antique mirrors and old wooden furniture; not an original aesthetic these days by any means, but one I’m not sick of yet. Loved the shrimp and grits with cheddar and read more Best Western »

I’m still recovering from my Thanksgiving Day inability to say no to anything—including three kinds of potato dishes, four different pies, and a surprisingly exquisite carrot souffle, not to mention the usual turkey and its attendant accessories—so I don’t necessarily want to see food ever again. But because Ruby et Violette, the chocolate chip cookie shop I’ve nursed a crush on for years, is now selling some of the best holiday food gifts ever, I thought I’d bring this to the attention of anyone who might be looking for presents right around now—not for me, of course (me? nooo…well, maybe just one).

Ruby et Violette’s thing is that they do different spins on chocolate chip cookies. read more Because everyone needs more dessert right about now… »

Photo by StarChefs

More evidence that the East Village pretty much runs on sugar and butter these days (see Milk Bar, ChikaLicous, Sundaes and Cones, Lula’s Sweet Apothecary, et al) : Pastry chef Pichet Ong just opened Spot Dessert Bar on St. Marks, in a basement-level space that—contrary to its name—is a little hard to spot from the street. Worth keeping an eye out, though; you won’t find anything like Ong’s confections elsewhere in NYC. Recent home-runs: his Ovaltine ice cream, and the chocolate cupcakes with green tea frosting. Cupcaked out? Fair enough, but these pull their weight, with ultra-dense chocolatiness and luscious bits of apricot lurking inside. Also here: puddings to go, in flavors like huckleberry, Thai coffee, and macaroon. Here’s hoping Spot lasts longer than Ong’s ill-fated West Village dessert bar P’Ong. Coming soon: Ong hits up Nolita, when the Village Tart opens on Kenmare Street later this year.

'80s Madonna ponders Bill's burgers

I’ve just added 10 new restaurant writeups to the neighborhood sections: See West Village, East Village, Soho, LES, Midtown, Brooklyn Heights, and Park Slope for some new places to add to your list. Um, what’s the Madonna-circa-Borderline pic doing here? I passed this mural on the way to lunch at Bill’s Bar and Burger; it’s on a wall across Ninth Ave from Bill’s. ’80s Madonna, the Desperately Seeking Susan years: a distant memory, but undeniably scruffier, cooler, more bygone-New York than Madge and other dreary/annoying incarnations. Ponder, ignore, or email me here to justify your love (or hate).

Other news: The price ranges and specific features of all the restaurants listed on Salmaland are now more easily searchable, via the search-engine in the upper-right corner. Looking for cheap restaurants? Search for CHP. Upscale? Search UPSC. Moderate? MOD. Places good for vegetarians or groups: Search VGT or GRP, respectively. Restaurants that double as drink destinations? Search DRNK. A separate bar section will be up soon too.See Welcome to Salmaland for a refresher on what’s on this site, and what’s coming soon. read more News, Notes, Novelties »

Photo by Zandy Mangold

Whatever the fallout from Allen & Delancey chef Ryan Skeen’s infamous tweet this week—could this be anything other than a fire-me-now plea—I hope the restaurant decides to press on, and to bring in yet another chef. The dining room is just too cozy, sexy, and twinkling to die so young. On a Lower East Side increasingly bereft of places worth spending a couple of hours in, sudden death would be a serious loss for the neighborhood. Yeah, it’s been a rocky ride at Allen & Delancey—a bankruptcy declaration, and three chefs so far in the past year—but maybe fourth time’s the charm.

A couple of nights ago, I had one of my favorite autumn-in-NYC dishes of the past few weeks: tagliolini with cockles, sea urchin, mussels, and bacon—gorgeous ingredients, impeccably done; ditto an appetizer of thinly sliced hamachi crudo topped with still more sea urchin (can’t get enough of the stuff). If this is cooking done by a chef who has lost all interest in his job, and in NYC for that matter, then it’s doubly impressive.  Stay tuned.

UPDATE: News that will come as a surprise to no one.

Two nights, two delicious (and cheap-ish) Chelsea dinners:

First up, Tipsy Parson: Even from the sidewalk windows, it’s obvious this is a room you want to be in. It’s warm, it’s alive; it’s hopping without being excessively sceney. The menu: affordable, inspired comfort food. A few apps and sides to share, a glass of wine—and we were in and out for under $30 a head. I had some of the best brussels sprouts ever—tiny and roasted with pecans and sweet, Southern-style sorghum syrup—and irresistibly juicy, spicy lamb ribs with read more West Side Story »

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