Strip House Steak Rivals Luger

I know the title of this post is just ridiculous. A better steak than my out-of-body experience at Peter Luger last winter? Could it be? Maybe. All I know is that Jill, Lauren and I had been dying to try Strip House in the Village for months and we finally snagged a 9:30pm reservation last Saturday night.

Since I usually do write about the full experience, I will get out my complaint that our table wasn't ready on time and we had to sit and wait a full 25-30 minutes before we were seated at a table smack in the middle of the crowded bar. But whatever disappointment this caused quickly melted away as soon as we started eating.

 

 (photo courtesy of nycgo.com - this was our exact table!)

 For our appetizer, the 3 of us split the New England Sea Scallops with edamame succotash, black truffle butter and corn broth and the Caesar Salad with hearts of romaine, paprika croutons and shaved parmesan. Both were very yummy and we were all so starving that the food was gone before I could even think to take a picture. Oh well, sometimes you really just have to live in the moment.

Something I may have mentioned about my dear friend Jill in the past (sorry Jill) is that we like our meat cooked a bit... differently. I mean this in the most loving way possible, but my friend really likes to make sure that cow is dead. Not me. It could be mooing and I'd likely still eat it. Medium rare is how I like mine cooked, the bloodier the better. Gross to some, yes, but not to Lauren. This is why the two of us decided to split the 40 oz. Classic Porterhouse for two. Lauren had to be talked into this cut, but I'm pretty sure she was very happy with our decision.

For our sides, we chose the Black Truffle Creamed Spinach, Sautéed Wild Mushrooms and Sautéed Green Beans With Garlic.

Yum! While I only took a small taste of the spinach to save my stomach, all 3 of these were absolutely perfect. The green beans were crisp, the spinach creamy and the mushrooms earthy. Wonderful compliments to our unbelievable steak, my plate was truly a work of art.

I know a lot of people would be turned off by how rare my steak was, but this was an utterly perfect piece of meat. Since Lauren loves Filet Mignon and I love NY Strip, the waiter gave her more of the Filet and me more of the Strip. Amazing. Fantastic. Incredible. I can't use enough words to describe how phenomenal this steak was. Was this better than Luger? I don't know if I can actually make that call, but this was pretty darn close.

We didn't leave any room for dessert (big surprise for me) and overcame our food coma with espressos and capuccinos for the table. Then we strapped on our dancing shoes, headed out in Meatpacking and had a great night. I'm curious though, how do you like your steak cooked? Do you think medium rare is too bloody? Do you agree with me that medium well is a waste of a perfectly good piece of meat? Well, I say, to each their own, just don't overcook MY steak.

Let's Eat!
-The Fabulous Foodie

My Bone Marrow Piece on Wild Table

The food writer community in New York City is massive, I'm constantly meeting more and more people all the time. Attending the IACP Regional Conference back in February introduced me to a lot of food writers, like Andrea Strong, and another that I haven't yet introduced you to: Warren Bobrow.

Warren told a compelling story. Sick of the grind working for the man, he quit his job to become a food writer. And did he ever! Warren is now a successful writer for Wild River Review, contributing to the Wild Table portion of the site. A few weeks ago, Warren asked me to write an article on an ingredient and a chef that cooks said ingredient beautifully. After getting over the initial excitement at the opportunity, I decided to write about Bone Marrow. What an ingredient it is!

To read my piece, which also features my photography, please visit Wild Table > Bone Marrow.

I'll share my photos here with you as well, I think they came out pretty great!
Roasted Bone Marrow at Minetta Tavern (you've already seen this one):

Onion & Bone Marrow Soup at The Breslin:

And Again:

Roasted Bone Marrow at Beauty & Essex:

Thanks a million to Warren Bobrow for the opportunity. I've been lucky enough to meet some incredible people in this industry and I'm always in such awe of their kindness and talent.

Let's Eat!
-The Fabulous Foodie

My First Bone Marrow at Minetta Tavern

As I round out my 3rd year living in NYC, there are a few restaurants that have moved from my "Must Try" list to my "Seriously, Why Haven't I Gone There Yet?!" list. Per Se. Le Bernardin. Minetta Tavern. After last night, I can finally move the latter to the "Been There, Done That" list, and oh what an experience it was!

I'm working on an article on Bone Marrow (the kind you eat, not the kind in human bones) and when I polled my Twitter followers on where to get the best in the city, several people swore by Minetta Tavern's version. After a lazy Sunday afternoon, I rounded up my usual restaurant-going gear (my camera and my boyfriend) and hopped on the 1 train down to Christopher Street around 5pm. When I called Minetta earlier that day, they informed me that absolutely no reservations were available for that night, but if we showed up at 5 when the doors opened, we'd likely snag a few seats at the bar. Challenge accepted!

We walked in the door around 5:15 and the front bar was already pretty crowded. The hostess assured us that many of the patrons around the bar were just waiting to be shown to their reserved tables at 5:30, so we caught the bartender's attention and told him we needed 2 seats at the bar. They have a system in place where the bartenders control who sits at the bar to eat based on first come, first serve. No sketchy hovering for us, we would get the first 2 seats that opened. Brilliant!

As soon as the clock struck 5:30 (can we talk about how absurd it is that we were having dinner at 5:30 by the way? Early birds? US!?) 2 people got up and we had our seats. This is where the real adventure began. Regardless of the fact that the menu looked amazing, we had tunnel vision for the Bone Marrow and the Black Label Burger. We decided to skip the $15 cocktails to save some cash, and we anxiously awaited the arrival of the food.

I have to mention that there were 3 bartenders manning the bar, and they were all SO incredibly nice and helpful. We observed as they poured some mean-looking cocktails and waited on everyone in the bar. They were friendly, bubbly and all had huge smiles on their faces. I really appreciated this, and it made for a fantastic vibe.

As the plate of bones approached us, I began to have second thoughts. Could I do this? I mean, I'm an adventurous eater, but was I really about to eat the goo straight out of the bone?! My stomach did a few flip flops as the plate was placed in front of us. There was no turning back now.

I'm shocked at how much the sheer idea of the dish bothered me, but it did. Regardless, I scooped it out, put it on the toast, covered it with the accompanying garnish of roasted onions, closed my eyes and in she went. Okay... it was a little salty... and a little gooey... but it was pretty good.. okay, it was REALLY good... and before I knew it, we had cleaned out all 3 bones! Reflecting back on the dish, I have to say that I enjoyed it even though the concept and the consistency made me a little queasy. Since I am planning to try 2-3 more bone marrow dishes at other restaurants, I hope it gets easier with each experience.

Then the burger arrived. I have heard many say that the Minetta Tavern Black Label Burger is the best in the city (Rev, care to weigh in?) so we knew we had to try it. We decided to split the $26 hunk of beef on a bun and when it arrived my first thought was that it was TEENY tiny. Since we were splitting it, I'd say it was about 4 bites per half. Not nearly enough burger for the expensive price tag.

We ordered it Medium Rare and I'm happy to say our burger was practically mooing. I often find with rare beef that it can have a slightly metallic flavor but I'm happy to report that this burger had no such negative quality. The burger was delicious! Smothered in carmelized onions and served with the advice to avoid condiments, it was simple but tasty. Juice flowed from the meat with every bite, and I thoroughly enjoyed my portion. Again, it would have been nice if it was a little bigger, but I guess that's what we get for sharing a burger.

I plan to return to Minetta Tavern to try the rest of the menu, and maybe have a Black Label Burger all to myself!

Okay, let's hear it, what are your thoughts on Bone Marrow? Love it? Hate it? Repulsed by the thought of it (mom)? I'm planning to have the Bone Marrow at Beauty & Essex tomorrow night and at either Landmarc, Blue Ribbon or Prune later this week (suggestions welcome.)

Let's Eat!
-The Fabulous Foodie

PS- Check out this post on the Bone Marrow craze on MMMelody's blog