Ode to the Strand

While visiting New York City last Christmas I spent much of my time at the Strand Bookstore. I had a tendency to do this every time I was in the city, come to think of it. The kind of visits where you enter at some point in the afternoon, only to exit to a pitch black sky and bright city lights. To say one could get lost inside the Strand is an exaggeration, but it is no stretch to say it's an easy place to lose track of time.

During this particular December visit, it occurred to me to fish around for a book that had been mentioned to me by several pastry chefs: Claudia Fleming's The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern. This book is out of print; a new copy from Amazon.com is currently priced at $250.00, a used copy priced around $125.00. When I (expectedly) didn't find the book, I inquired about it at the information desk. The employee told me she'd be happy to take my information and get in touch in the event the store received a copy.

I then proceeded to forget all about it. Stepping into daylight from the subway platform yesterday, I noticed the voicemail icon on my phone appear. "Hi, this is Sarah at the Strand Bookstore. I'm calling to let you know we've received a copy of The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern by Claudia Fleming. It is a first edition copy with a hardcover and sleeve, and is in 'like new' condition. We will hold it for you until Saturday, November 6th at the Strand list price of $20.00. If you have any questions, feel free to call us at...." Nearly eleven months later, I am at last in possession of this wonderful book.

Now that I live in the city, I probably - no, definitely - spend way too much money at the Strand. It is one of my favorite places in New York, and the approaching winter months make me excited to spend even more time within its cozy confines, surrounding myself with "18 miles of books."

Luke's Lobster

A summer treat continuing its welcome well into autumn, Luke's Lobster is one of my favorite NYC food discoveries. Luke Holden (only 26-years-old) just recently quit his "day job" as a banker to focus solely on his wildly successful pair of restaurants. His father, Jeff, owns a seafood-processing plant in Maine (where Luke was born and raised), and is the source of all of the delicious shellfish at Luke's Lobster. In fact, everything in the restaurant comes from Maine: the bread, the chowders and bisques, the ice cream, even the sodas. The shellfish travels from the ocean to your plate within a mere 48 hours, and always from the same source, reaffirming the company's commitment to sustainability.

The idea behind a Luke's Lobster roll is both quality and quantity at a reasonable price. Rolls in the city typically go for anywhere between $20-30, and what you end up with is usually a little bit of lobster mixed with a ton of mayonnaise and celery. No bueno. At Luke's, a lobster roll starts with fresh, toasted and buttered bread which is ever-so-slightly smeared with mayonnaise. It is then stuffed with a quarter pound of delicious chunks of lobster meat and topped off with a celery salt-based spice blend and a little bit of lemon-infused butter. And at $14, it doesn't leave my wallet wondering what happened.

You can also order the same roll at Luke's made with shrimp or crab, both as crave-worthy as the lobster. On my second visit to Luke's, my friend Royal and I went in for the Noah's Ark: two servings apiece of each of the three rolls, with empress claws, chips, and sodas thrown in for good measure. (My favorite soda, by the way, is a fabulous, almost throat-burning ginger brew. Hey, I love ginger.) We still talk about it.

Now that the chilly weather is arriving, I have a feeling my go-to meal will be half a roll paired with a cup of thick, creamy clam chowder or lobster bisque. East coast autumns have never tasted so good.

Otto Enoteca Pizzeria

I spent Monday with one of my roommates, Steven, walking the entire perimeter of Central Park, only stopping to visit the Zoo. After some downtime at home (and by downtime, I mean naptime), we were both ready for dinner. Italian? Absolutely.

Otto is one of my favorite places in the city for Italian food, not least because the prices are reasonable, but also because with Mario Batali behind the operation you know you're getting a quality product. Steven and I decided to take the family-style approach, ordering multiple items to share:

caprese salad

pizza bianca

spaghetti alla carbonara

pasta alla norma

The caprese salad was delicious, though as far as I can tell, untraditional. It's not quite tomato time yet, which might be the reason for this. At any rate, this caprese consisted of chilled, stewed tomatoes and a good-sized chunk of fresh mozzarella. The salad was topped with basil pesto and sprinkled with pine nuts. Lately I've been obsessed with what I refer to as the "crunch factor" in a dish. I loved the pine nuts for their crunch factor.

Pizza Bianca is as simple as can be - pizza dough brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt. Delicious, and perfect for sopping up bits of remaining pesto.

I'm no fan of spaghetti (the need for a spoon... the slurping... etc...), but carbonara gets me every time. I mean, it's essentially bacon and eggs with pasta, and how can that be bad? Batali's version is classic, with perfectly-cooked pasta and enough black pepper to be noticed, but not steal from the pancetta, egg, and scallions.

Pasta alla Norma (thankfully) is a penne dish, topped with thick, stewed tomatoes, lots of basil, tender eggplant, and creamy, creamy bufala ricotta. The tomatoes and ricotta blend together beautifully to create a rich sauce, marrying the remaining flavor components in an understated, classic way.

Dessert gets its own paragraph because Meredith Kurtzman's gelato is by far, without a doubt, the best in New York City. In fact, the main reason Otto was conceived in the first place was to present an outlet for Meredith's creations. Her plated desserts are in the style of the coppetta: Italian for cup.  For instance, the olive oil coppetta currently consists of passion fruit granita, basil syrup, strawberries, candied kumquats, and olive oil gelato, served in what resembles a coupe-style champagne glass. It is a thing of beauty.

Olive oil gelato is one of the reasons I wanted Steven to eat at Otto. I had mentioned it to him before in conversation, and he couldn't quite grasp the concept of tasting something he naturally recognized in one form in the form of something completely different. So, we ordered:

olive oil gelato with salted brioche

a tasting of three gelatos: milk chocolate chip, salty peanut, caramel

The brioche basically turns a scoop of gelato into a gelato sandwich. Surprised and pleased, Steven learned to adapt familiar flavors into new textures. What's so fantastic about all of Meredith's gelati is that the flavors are really intense. It's as though a peanut's original purpose was to be spun into gelato base, and olive oil's natural form was frozen.

This was a meal that made me really miss having my own kitchen space. Everything we ate can so easily be made at home (I love cracking that egg over the carbonara to finish the dish!) - even the gelato, with the help of an ice cream machine. Not to shamelessly pitch (for I have absolutely no reason to do so), but if you're looking for simple Italian recipes, Batali's most recent book would be a great addition to your cookbook collection. Molto Gusto is co-written by chef Mark Ladner of Del Posto, and is based on the dishes prepared and served at Otto. There are even gelato recipes...