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Eater
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Eater
Best Dishes New York Editors Ate This Week: July 28
With Eater editors dining out sometimes several times a day, we come across lots of standout dishes, and we don't want to keep any secrets. Check back for the best things we ate this week. Salted egg yolk & pork floss flatbread at Fat Cat Flatbread My advice for a Citi Field-goer is to skip the in-stadium food options (save for maybe a hot dog just because) and crawl your way to or fro along the 7 train line. For my first Mets game of the season, my friends and I decided to start in downtown Flushing and amble down Roosevelt Avenue, hitting the New York Food Court where this stall is located, and continuing over the bridge to the game. Guo kui, the thin, crispy, stuffed flatbread hailing from Hubei province and popular today all over China, is the perfect walking snack. This version ($7.50) was the most flavorful of those we tried, packed with spindly pork floss and savory salted egg yolk. 133-35 Roosevelt Avenue, between College Point Boulevard and Prince Street, Flushing — Nat Belkov, associate creative director Pepper shrimp at Kabawa. Nadia Chaudhury/Eater NY Pepper shrimp at Kabawa Bar Kawaba is where you go for a rum cocktail and patty party, and its next-door restaurant Kabawa is where you go for a leisurely journey through the Caribbean courtesy of chef Paul Carmichael and his culinary team. On paper, $145 prix fixe comes with three courses, but the kitchen surprises you with breads, chutneys, and such excellent rice and beans with straight-up tamarind pods as a palate cleanser. But of the dishes, the pepper shrimp was one of my favorites. The plump shrimp encrusted with a wonderfully fiery spice blend are placed on a plate with pepper oil. I bit into one and, to my pleasant surprise, I realized the crustacean was chilled, lending to this summer-perfect chewy texture that was wonderful. Likewise, don't miss out on the duck sausage. 8 Extra Place, at East First Street, East Village — Nadia Chaudhury, editor, Eater Northeast Steak, fries, and burger at Dynamo Room. Bettina Makalintal/Eater Steak for One at Dynamo Room Just once or twice a year, I indulge in a steak-and-martini dinner (call it the lingering effects of Mad Men on my psyche). The newest spot from the reliable Sunday Hospitality team, Dynamo Room, is a stylish steakhouse where a server wheels out a cart of meat to show you the cuts on offer, like a splashy $250 tomahawk. The steak-for-one isn't showy enough to be included, but compared to those options, it's a steal at $43 with mashed potatoes, asparagus, and beef jus, and it was savory enough to tide me over until next year. While I can't say I plan to go out of my way to dine at Penn Station, I'm keeping Dynamo Room at the top of my list the next time I need to kill time before getting on the Amtrak — they've got a $30 martini, Caesar salad, and fries deal during happy hour. 2 Penn Plaza, Penn Station, Midtown South — Bettina Makalintal, senior reporter at Eater The Taiwanese breakfast at Gulp. Stephanie Wu/Eater Taiwanese breakfast at Gulp Gulp, a restaurant with a bar hidden behind it, recently debuted Taiwanese breakfast, served until 11:30 a.m. every day. There was a bit of a wait when we went on Sunday (arrive on the earlier side to avoid anything being sold out), but the food was fantastic. The egg crepe ($7.50, called a Taiwanese omelet on the menu) is a layer of egg atop a thin dough, wrapped around pork floss and a hash brown, with the lovely addition of bright corn kernels. And the packaged sandwiches ($6.50), available with pork floss or tun, are a fantastic grab-and-go option, holding up hours later. 42-45 27th St, near 42nd Road, Long Island City — Stephanie Wu, editor-in-chief
Eater
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Eater
Best Dishes New York Editors Ate This Week: June 16
Skip to main content Current eater city: New York With Eater editors dining out sometimes several times a day, we come across lots of standout dishes, and we don't want to keep any secrets. Check back for the best things we ate this week. I've never met a shrimp wonton that I didn't at least like (knock on wood), but a recent visit to the Manhattan outpost of Maxi's Noodle introduced me to a shrimp wonton that I really loved. The main draw is that these wontons are big. They're generously plump and require a few bites, whereas many wontons just take one. The wrappers are silky and thin, letting the chunks of shrimp stand out. Their meaty texture was a fun contrast to the bouncy, chewy duck egg noodles. On this visit, I got the noodle soup with wontons, dumplings, and dace fish balls, but the wontons were my favorite so next time, I might even pare it down to just those — and I'll definitely be buying a bag of frozen ones to bring home too. 68 Mott Street, between Canal and Bayard streets, Chinatown — Bettina Makalintal, senior reporter at It was great to be back at Fedora, the longtime spot that's once again reborn, this time as a standout wine bar. This round, it comes from the owners of St. Jardim — Dete and Christa Alexander, and wine director, Basile Al Mileik. Former Le Rock chef Monty Forrest shapes the menu with items like pierogies with peas, spaghetti with clams, Merguez sausage with peppers, and an old-school luxurious sweetbreads dish ($28). The offal is slightly creamy with a crispy breaded exterior. Served with mushrooms, they're draped in a silky sherry sauce. I liked the smaller portion so we didn't fill up on a rich dish and could try other things. 239 W. Fourth Street, between West 10th and Charles streets, West Village – Melissa McCart , lead editor, Northeast In a neighborhood with many pricey restaurants, this cozy and affordable spot, Water & Wheat, is a welcome find. A pasta machine turns out a variety of shapes, including whole wheat chittara and gluten-free penne, that can be topped with a range of sauces, from brisket Bolognese to carbonara. I love mafalde because it can still have a chewy, al dente quality, even though it's freshly made. Asparagus, broccolini, and olives add more texture to this dish ($22), while lemon and Parmesan give it a wonderful zest. Salads are super fresh, and most things on the menu, including salmon and Brussels sprouts, are finished in a wood burning oven that add char. I'm looking forward to going back and trying the pizza flatbreads. 1379 Third Avenue, between 78th and 79th streets, Upper East Side — Beth Landman, contributor, Eater NY
San Francisco Chronicle
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
S.F.'s century-old bakeries make my favorite versions of this suddenly popular cake
The United States is discovering princess cake. Just ask Eater, which last week published a piece by Bettina Makalintal titled 'The Princess Cake Gets Its Princess Moment.' This might be a head scratcher for San Franciscans, where legacy bakeries like Schubert's (established 1911) and the Victoria Pastry Company (1914) have been perfecting the domed Swedish cakes, layered with custard, whipped cream and raspberry jam, for generations. I grew up eating and adoring them, my childlike fascination with their smooth technicolor veneer giving way to an adult appreciation of their not-too-sweetness. The best versions are like a trifle, reassembled into a cake format. I had assumed that, like Black Forest cake or pineapple upside down cake, princess cake was ubiquitous — or, if not widely available, at least known. Not so! When I worked at Bon Appétit, our sister website Epicurious ran a series of articles and recipes on cake, and I offered to write an ode to princess cake. Many of my colleagues had never heard of it. Did it have something to do with Disney? I lived in New York, a city of 8 million people and nearly as many bakeries, for 20 years and never spotted a princess cake in the wild. But we are in the midst of the great mainstreaming of princess cake, perhaps thanks to Hannah Ziskin's hot Los Angeles restaurant Quarter Sheets, known as much for its cakes as for its pizza. According to the Eater article, Ziskin grew up eating princess cake from Gelson's Market in L.A., but I have to imagine her years pastry cheffing in the Bay Area (Quince, Bar Tartine, Nopa, among others) solidified her love for the marzipan-coated confection. Her version of the cake, constructed in long logs rather than the traditional domes, is a runaway hit, with over 75% of tables ordering a slice. She filmed a video about it for Bon Appétit last fall. Last month, British cookbook author Nicola Lamb published a streamlined recipe for princess cake, built in a bowl like a bombe, in the New York Times, with its own accompanying video, and she also dropped a paywalled variation substituting mango for raspberry on her Substack, Kitchen Projects. The very next day, Food Network star Molly Yeh posted an even easier hack for the finicky cake, building a sheet cake version in an 8x8-inch pan. I can't vouch for either recipe — although Nicola and Molly are generally quite reliable developers, I find — but I can tell you that the versions at San Francisco's bakeries stand the test of time. (Ambrosia Bakery, a relative newcomer at 37 years old, also sells them.) They may hail from Sweden, but I will always think of princess cakes as a San Francisco treat.
Axios
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Axios
We've reached Peak Flavor
Bland food is out. Fully loaded flavors are in. If you've found yourself salivating over menu items or recipes infused with za'atar, saffron, black sesame, cardamom, raspberry-rhubarb or miso lately — you're not alone. The big picture: Since home cooking boomed among the cooped-up during 2020 lockdowns, palates have expanded and gotten more colorful. Businesses are trying to keep up with the hunger for hyphenated flavor combos and artisanal tastes. Add the TikTok virality effect, and you've got a whole generation willing to stand in line for the hottest matcha-infused drink or bakery item they can consume and, maybe, post. "Adding an ingredient that's perhaps, air quotes, unfamiliar to some people is an easy way to riff on a viral recipe," food journalist Bettina Makalintal told The New York Times' Marie Solis. "If tiramisu is having a moment on TikTok, then you might see someone doing matcha tiramisu or ube tiramisu." State of play: Evidence is everywhere that our flavor cravings are on overdrive, from the new Iced Lavender Cream Oatmilk Matcha at Starbucks to chef Alison Roman-inspired dinner parties. Our collective lust for more attainable luxury, particularly in a precarious economic moment, could feed the habit. The NYT also cites the rising profiles of cooks from Asian and Middle Eastern diasporas, like Yotam Ottolenghi's "Jerusalem" and Samin Nosrat's "Salt Fat Acid Heat." Add to the list: Hetty McKinnon, Salma Hage and Priya Krishna. The intrigue: It's not just coastal elites. 100-year-old Missouri-based flavor forecaster Beck Flavors named miso caramel one of its flavors of the year, the NYT reports. "We're getting away from the boring flavors, for lack of a better word," Nick Palank, the company's marketing manager, told the Times. "Hazelnut, French vanilla, coffee." Case in point: Flavors like Japanese citrus yuzu are popping up everywhere, from Muji stores to mocktail menus. Pistakio, a 2023 upstart, has launched a pistachio spread to rival peanut butter and almond butter. Quickly expanding ice cream chain Van Leeuwen is usually ahead of the curve, with flavors like Earl Grey and hot honey long on the menu. And brand partnerships abound: see Jeni's Ice Creams and Fly By Jing chili crisp. Natalie's thought bubble: During the COVID lockdowns, I got interested in better connecting with my Lebanese heritage through food. I experimented with lots of flavors discussed here, and they've become staples in my household.
