A Hearth Pictorial

No new pictures this time around — because I haven’t been to Hearth in over a year, since the economy tanked. That being said, I’ll probably stop in sometime in the next couple of weeks. They’ve been doing something called ‘La Cucina Povera’ for some time now. Three courses for $35, with wine pairings for $15. Those prices are quite gentle for a two-star establishment in NYC. An equivalent restaurant in the Midwest would be something like $30 for the whole deal. Can’t beat that.

Here are a selection of pictures that were taken at various times over the course of the past three years. Enjoy.

Big Eye tuna, capers, pickled mushrooms, vitello tonnato sauce

Copper River salmon, mussels, parsnip, chanterelle mushrooms

Sweetbreads, pickled cauliflower, shallot marmalade

Pride in the Name of Love

The Spamwise Chronicles first began life as an LGBT blog and with this post, I return to my roots. No food-related content; that can wait for another day. Instead I’ve captured a little bit of the Pride march this afternoon. Today marks the 40th anniversary of Stonewall — a very special day indeed.

Postcards from the Shire

This blog will have its three year anniversary in a little over six weeks so I thought I’d pull some of my favorite food photography in the intervening period. You can browse all of these pictures and many more on my Flickr account on right-hand side of your screen.

Dinner tonight is a surprise. Talk to y’all later.

Fried clam bellies and oysters, tartar sauce (Tides)

Seared hamachi, black radish, celery, Granny Smith apple (Hearth)

Heirloom tomatoes

Roast scallops, grapefruit and asparagus salad (Little Owl)

Gnocchi con sugo di pomodoro

‘Deconstructed’ German potato salad

Chiaogga beets

Seared scallop, parsnip puree, hen of the woods mushrooms, caviar viniagrette (Hearth)

Trio of gelati (Otto)

Asparagus, coconut, black mustard seeds, kokum (Tabla)

Grilled lambchops (Tabla)

Frying hushpuppies (2008 BABBQBP)

Spareribs closeup (2008 BABBQBP)

Pastrami closeup (Katz’s)

Momofuku Noodle Bar

Dinner at Momofuku Noodle Bar last night, after having seen Star Trek 11.

Spicy potato chips

Roasted asparagus, miso butter, soft-boiled egg, pine nuts

The famous steamed pork buns

Roasted pig tails, scallions, pickled Asian pear, spice glaze

Momofuku ramen, Berkshire pork belly, pork shoulder, poached egg, ham stock

Chef David Chang, also of Momofuku Ssäm Bar, Momofuku Ko and Momofuku Bakery and Milk Bar, opened Momofuku Noodle Bar in 2003. It was his first restaurant. To distinguish it from the other ramen-yas in New York at the time, he decided to offer top notch ingredients sourced from Union Square Greenmarket and other quality purveyors. His vision was, of course, a smashing success.

The ramen alone is worth the trip. The broth is made fresh daily from about 70 lbs. of chicken legs, roasted pork bones, ham hocks and bacon. Toppings range from slivered snow peas, preserved bamboo shoots, Greenmarket corn (when available, as this restaurant follows the dictates of seasonality), and of course, Berkshire pork belly. This ain’t your typical Cup O’ Noodles from your grad school days. Oh no, it’s a love affair with pork, which according to Mr. Chang, makes everything taste better.

Momofuku Noodle Bar is located at 171 First Avenue (East 11th Street) in the East Village.

Saturday Market

My weekly market run at Union Square — potatoes (mixed), ricotta, asparagus, greens, mushrooms, herbs, onions and some sausage and bacon from Flying Pigs Farm. I’ve got quite a menu coming up for the week and I can’t wait to get to it.

In the meantime, here are some pix to whet your appetite. You can view them on my Flickr account by clicking on the sidebar at the right-hand side of your screen.

Have a lovely Saturday, everyone.

Ramps

Mint

Gotham Taint

The Spreading Taint is the largest LGBT-friendly guild in World of Warcraft with over 2,691 unique guild members as of this writing. That comes out to about 6,897 characters of which the vast majority belong to nine sub-guilds under the Taint umbrella. Game parameters restrict the number of characters that a guild can hold to 500 characters. As you can see, we’re on track to become the largest guild in-game worldwide.

I joined in Sept. 2006 and haven’t looked back. It’s been a wild ride for the past two years and there’s more to come.

This morning, a bunch of us met — some for the first time, at a get-together at Jing Fong in Chinatown. This being a foodblog, there’s lots of pix of food and if you’re lucky, maybe a bear or two.

By the way, because I feel strongly about privacy rights, I’ve only posted my guildies’ character names rather than their real first names. Better for all concerned in my opinion.

Kaimetsu

Quorniya

Left: Devetaki
Right: Quorniya

Other

Left: Whitley
Right: Quorniya

Cressida

Finlandia

Steamed pork buns

Shrimp dumplings

Chicken and Chinese mushrooms in rice wine, with ginger and scallions

Left: Conpoy and baby corn with vermicelli noodles
Right: shiu mai

Steamed egg custard tarts

I went food shopping at Union Square Greenmarket afterwards while the others went sightseeing.

Minca

I didn’t feel like going to Redhead tonight I went to Minca instead. Minca was one of the first ramenyas to open in New York City. It retains a devoted following even as others such as Momofuku Noodle Bar, Ippudo and Setagaya have come onto the scene.

Pork and chive gyoza

Your typical ramenya experience begins with a plate of gyoza and a glass of beer. I opted for water instead. I’m not much of a beer drinker. I usually drink alcohol only when I go out to eat, and then only a cocktail or wine — and then only if I’m having a large meal.

Miso ramen with Berkshire pork, hardboiled egg, preserved vegetable, nori and corn

Minca is located at 536 East 5th Street (Avenue B) in Alphabet City.

October Surprise

Saturday morning at Union Square Greenmarket….

Big Apple BBQ Block Party 2008: Day Two

Ed Mitchell, pitmaster and owner of The Pit in Raleigh, North Carolina

St. Louis-style ribs with pickled okra, courtesy of Blue Smoke

For additional coverage and loads of pictures, please be sure to check out Off The Broiler.

Big Apple BBQ Block Party 2008: Day One

If you’re a vegetarian, you’ll probably want to skip this post.

Garry Ubon, pitmaster and owner of Ubon’s in Yazoo, Mississippi

Shake Shack

For additional photos of this event, click here for the preview post and here for Day Two of BBQ Big Apple Block Party 2008.