MARC FORGIONE

Last weekend I finally ate at Marc Forgione's restaurant named after himself in Tri-BeCa.  Marc Forgione, is a New york native and winner of The Next Iron Chef in 2010. His restaurant is Modern American.  He uses bold flavors and very inventive - something I look for when eating out.

Stephen Wambach, who hails from Pennsylvania and the Executive Chef of Barclay Prime is now the Chef for Marc Forgione's.  It was a privilege to have met Stephen in the kitchen after our brunch last weekend.

Tribeca's Marc Forgione restaurant welcomes chef Stephen Wambach as its new chef de cuisine. Wambach comes from stints at the Four Seasons Beirut and Manrey Hotel in Panama City. [Grub Street]


As usual, I deviated from the regular menu list, whereas my companions ordered from it.

We had to order the quail and waffles.  This way I fulfill the craving for a quail and try his very light and crisp waffles.

The quail is lightly battered and deep fried (I think that's what he did with it) served on the lightest crispiest waffles ever yet.  A slab of bacon accompanies the dish.

We also tried the eggs Benny on the left.  It was served over potatoes instead of the usual English Muffin.  We loved it!



The special for today was a sandwich with foie gras, pork belly with crispy skin and 2 eggs on top.  It was hearty and as a foie gras fan, what can go wrong!

If I had more room to spare, I would have also ordered the lobster dish which was special for the day.

Will definitely eat here again.  I read that they do prepare a pig's head with crisp skin on Thursdays.  I should call in advance to make sure they're making it before I go.

I'm glad that Marc Forgione added Stephen Wambach to his restaurant!

MARC FORGIONE

134 Reade St
(between Hudson St & Greenwich St)
New York, NY 10013
Neighborhood: TriBeCa

(212) 941-9401

http://www.marcforgione.com/







GOTHAM 50 - 2-day old restaurant in NYC

As I was walking down the street, I saw this new restaurant that just opened.  It is owned by the Owner of Grezia, an Italian restaurant nearby.  They decided to open a trendy casual restaurant with a "downtown" ambiance.  So, after a busy day today, we decided to try it.

Above, you see the entrance to the restaurant.  The big windows can be opened as they did on this day for Al-fresco dining. (It was a beautiful warm Spring day)

The menu interested me.  What caught my eye was the Meat Platter appetizer and then the Lamb Osso Bucco

 The Meat Platter was delicious.  From left to right:  Boar prosciutto, Lamb Prosciutto, Duck Prosciutto, duck terrine, dry boar sausage and dry duck sausage.

I was told they ran out of bread to go with the meats and served us the tomato focaccia  and some raisin breads, which I pointed out drowned the delicate flavors of the meats.  The Owner then solved the problem and removed the tomato crust on top, then grilled the focaccia bread and apologized they had just opened.  I guess my fussiness actually helped them.

It is a good dish to order which I highly recommend.  In fact, if you order a salad and this platter; it could be one's meal!

The Lamb Osso Buco was fork tender and deliciously made served with garlic potato.

The Lamb Osso Buco is a large dish as you can see.

The cod was flaky with a sweet sauce served with grilled bok choi.
It's a good restaurant to have around the neighborhood.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN - the new Pop Up Restaurant in SoHo

What Happens When is a temporary restaurant installation that transforms every 30 days for 9 months, offering guests an ever-changing culinary, visual and sound experience. Located in SoHo till October of this year only. (I wish it would be permanent)

I enjoyed this restaurant because the concept was different, the ambience and new idea of decorating was very "in" and new.  So refreshing to experience dining beyond food. And the fact that the menu changes. An idea I've had 20 years ago when I was tempted to open a restaurant myself.  And if I did, this would have been it!!!

Last night we enjoyed our dinner Called Movement 3.

Movement No.3

Drawing inspiration from this renown Impressionistic painting, Movement 3 is about taking a trip together into the 1880′s France via 2011 New York. The interiors draw a few significant elements from the Renoir painting to re-create an intimate, communal experience reminiscent of 19th century time and place. Note the 25’ awning, the “garden party” string lighting and interpretations of still life paintings in 3 dimensions around the room.

You would think you were outdoors because they set up the inside like a tent.

Under the table on each side is a drawer where you can pull up more knives and forks as you need them.

The floors were painted dark brown and white drawing for the table and chair set up was a decorating idea I've never seen before.  Truly innovative.

The table setting was crisp, clean white with slightly tinted glasses set and very small flowers on shot glasses.

 On the left was the menu for Movement 3. It is a reasonably priced prix-fixed menu for what the restaurant has to offer.  It also comes with amuse bouche (not in the menu).

On the right was the amuse bouche comprised from left to right, of:   Lemon Bomb, Swiss Chard omelette with Greek yogurt and garlic gazpacho (which was divine! I wish it was a bowl of it) 

My first course was rabbit in Filo with medallions of rabbit on the side, with yogurt, dates and fresh garbanzo beans.  And the red streaks were harrisa paste.

(From Tunisia, this fiery-hot sauce is usually made with hot chiles, garlic, cumin, coriander, caraway and olive oil. It's the traditional accompaniment for COUSCOUS but is also used to flavor soups, stews and other dishes. Harissa can be found in cans and jars in Middle Eastern markets.)

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/tools/fooddictionary/entry/?id=2906#ixzz1Kk54jErR

Left:  Another appetizer was the shellfish salad with fennel, olives, and anchovy vinaigrette.

On the right was the Artichoke Salad with haricots verts, aioli, and saucison sec (thinly sliced dried sausage)

The first course could be this wonderful light seafood of striped bass, scallops and vegetables Provencal.

The Poulet dish was a juicy piece of chicken with rosemary served with petite vegetables (the mini zucchini was stuffed) farcis, and pommes duchesse (special way of making mashed potato, squeezed through a decorating tip and browned)

The vegetable bouillabaisse was served with aioli.

Pictured below is the Veal Braise.  Served on top of peas and bacon panisses, and herbes de Provence.

The dessert menu above is this month's choice.  You can view the desserts in the cart.

I'm probably the only one who will cover this part of the restaurant.  Only because it was thematic and jovial.

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What Happens When
25 Cleveland Place, NY NY
Tuesday - Sunday, 5:30pm - 11pm
212-925-8310
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Reserve now at Urban Spoon

NUM PANG - A Vietnamese inspired Sandwich Shop

There is a wonderful little Vietnamese sandwich spot at 21 East 12th Street for over a year now and still a hot spot.  Their sandwiches are inspired by Asian flavors inherent to Vietnam.  They use light crisp baguettes with generous fillings.

This is the Num Pang sandwich shop in Greenwich Village with line at 6PM

Above is the pork sandwich I ordered. It's layered with a special mayonnaise at the bottom, with tender grilled seasoned pork, pickled carrots, cucumbers and cilantro and a wedge of lime.

Above is the order I picked out.  With the sandwich, I ordered an incredibly tasty grilled asparagus with special vegetable dressing and an ear of grilled seasoned corn with mayo mixture over and generous sprinkling of toasted coconut.  A wedge of lime is also served to squeeze over the grilled corn. 

For my beverage, I always order their homemade watermelon juice!

Best of all is the low tab.

This place is basically a take out place but you can go up its winding stairs to sit down.

In Good Taste - A Benefit for CITY HARVEST

Now serving New York City for more than 25 years, City Harvest is the world's first food rescue organization, dedicated to feeding the city's hungry men, women, and children.

IN GOOD TASTE - was the most recent event of City Harvest -Saks Fifth Avenue
and New York magazine which presented an unforgettable night of fashion and food to benefit City Harvest.

Tastings from some fabulous restaurants: 10 Downing Food & Wine, ABC Kitchen, Armani/Ristorante, Asellina, Avra Estiatorio, BLT Steak, Café SFA, Da Silvano, Eatalian Style, FULTON, Gordon Ramsay at The London, Gusto, The Hurricane Club, L’Artusi, Limani, Pan American, Park Avenue Spring, Philippe Chow, Sant Ambroeus and Serafina.

Presented by Fashion of the Vine Project by the Italian Trade Commission,
100% of proceeds benefited City Harvest and
Each ticket included a the same value for a Saks Fifth Avenue Gift Card to shop that evening only *
Here were some of the delectable treats we had for the night:

Chef Roberto Deiaco of Capesante Scottate sauteed scallops over thousand layer potatoes which was so tender with shaved fresh truffles on top.

 

Chef Markus Glocker from MAZE - the restaurant in The London Hotel at 151 W 54th Street and a Gordon Ramsay inspiration, served us the above pictured dish.  Olive oil-poached salmon with edemame, wasabi and lime.

BELOW: Park Avenue Spring on 61st Street and Park Avenue was so creative in presenting their coned food.  They took some tree barks with holes in it to hold the cones.  The cones were so light and crisp. 

 

Above: Beef cones with blue cheese and truffled honey with pickled beets

 

Above: Peekytoe crab cones with avocado and raspberry

BELOW:  Saks' Cafe Chef John Milito served us this sliced filet herb crusted of beef which was delicious! This restaurant is located inside the Saks Fifth Avenue store right on Fifth Avenue between 49th and 50th Street in New York City.

LEFT: Where the event in Saks Fifth Avenue took place.

FULTON - Chef Jeremy Culver of Fulton Restaurant, prepared this sea salt
Hamachi with caviar and gin pickles.  Fulton is part of Citarella
and is located at 205 E 75th Street. I've been to his restaurant for lunch
where he had prepared blow fish.  The texture was more like chicken.

The sea salt cured Hamachi from Fulton

Above, from Bouchon were fresh French macrons.  I had one of each and enjoyed the peanut butter, caramel and the lemon poppyseed best.  Bouchon in NYC is located at 10 Columbus Circle inside the Time Warner Bldg. They also have a branch in Las Vegas inside The Venetian.  There they have brunch, lunch and dinner.

BELOW:  From Sant Ambroeus were a mignon of desserts including their signature cookies.  Sant Ambroeus have 2 stores in Manhattan: 1000 Madison Avenue and 259 W 4th Street in the West Village.  They also have a branch in South Hampton, Long Island.  (All of which I've been too) In the West Village, they serve brunch, light lunch, and gelatos.

Several great restaurants of the city participated in this event.  Above represented some of the delectable treats of the evening.  It was a good feeling to help the cause and at the same time enjoy a feast. While Saks provided us a gift card to shop!  It was a triple whammy night!