Calorie Wars

NY Times ran a column studying how posted calories affect food orders in fast food restaurants. Two studies were commented on, to conflicting conclusions. One study said there was no effect, and the other study saw some change in the way people ordered.

What does this all mean? To me, it says that calorie information alone is a poor way to determine a healthy diet. Not because monitoring calories is, in and of itself a bad thing, but because I still think that the average person doesn't understand the complex nature of caloric intake and output. Numerous studies have shown that people overeat when presented with lower calorie snacks. The idea is that they believe the food is healthier for them, so they can afford to indulge more than normal, and then end up over indulging.

The fact is, dieting is a complex process. Any one factor isn't enough to determine good health. You need to balance what you eat. A healthy diet is one in which you get enough vitamins, minerals, proteins, fiber, and fat. Counting calories is an oversimplification. It doesn't account for the other benefits you might receive from a particular food.

I find it especially unhelpful to do so in fast food restaurants. Fast food evolved from an occasional indulgance to a staple meal in the American household for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that it's a full meal for very little money. The cost of healthy ingredients is rising, but people's paychecks are not. Worrying about the calorie count of a given item is a luxury that many in this country can't afford.

I've seen this with soup kitchens as well. As much as we try to give our clients at GCN access to fruit and vegetables, most of the time, the meals are starch based. Why? Because grains and tubers are cheap. Rice costs less than vegetables. And it's more filling. It's a high calorie, starchy meal, to make you feel fuller for longer, provided in the least expensive manner.

Until healthy food is made affordable and accessible, and until people see the benefit in cooking for themselves, placing calorie listings on fast food is like trying to take a bath with your clothes one. It might seem like a good idea, but it doesn't really accomplish much in the long run.

Brandy Library

After Ayza, Michael took me down to TriBeCa to Brandy Library located at 25 N. Moore St. It's a great, upscale lounge whose menu could pass for a book. There are pages and pages of liquors from whiskey, brandy, rum, tequila, wine, beer, and cocktails.

This is where I let Michael do all of the ordering, since I generally stick to gin when I'm drinking anything harder than wine. He started us with two whiskeys, the Suntory Single Malt Whiskey 18 and the St. George Single Malt California 86 proof. The Suntory is a Japanese whiskey for those of you who share my limited knowledge of fine liquor. It's dark amber colored, very smooth, complex, and absolutely divine. The St. George is a young whiskey and in my opinion out of balance. The first thing I noticed was the taste of ethanol. Being a scientist and associating the smell of pure alcohol with clinical uses made drinking that one a little less than pleasant for me. I like certain young wines, but this young whiskey has some growing up to do before I return to it.

At this point the waiter came over with a plate of treats for us, on the house. The treats were candied orange peel, tiny meringues flavored in orange and lime, and shortbread cookies that I happily relinquished to Michael. The easiest was to my happy little heart is sweets, so Brandy Library immediately endeared itself to me. And it only got better from there.

After the whiskey, we moved on to brandy. The two we tried were the Gonzales Bypass Lepanto, Solera Gran Reserva Oloroso Viejo and the Martell XO Extra Fine. The Oloroso was definitely my favorite of the two, but the Martell was perfectly pleasant. These drinks lead me to the conclusion that I prefer brandy to whiskey.

After the brandy, the waiter brought us another complimentary dessert. This time they were miniature creme brulees with raspberries. The first plate of sweets was enough to make me like the place, but now I was in heaven. Anywhere that fuels my sugar high gets a gold star in my book. Brandy Library gets two.

Finally we finished the night with rum selected by our waiter. One was Jamaican and the other Venezualan, and although I read the label, I cannot for the life of me remember what they were called. I had reached the end of my ability to continue tasting at this point. I'm not a big woman and I know when one more drink will be one too many and I was there. But I do remember that both rums were delicious, although, again, I reached the conclusion that I prefered the brandy.

I think the nicest thing about Brandy Library, besides their attempts at putting me into a sugar coma, is the ambience. It's dimly lit, with bookshelves lining the walls. Only the shelves hold bottles rather than books. And they're backlit so the room glows a bit. The chairs are big and comfortable and they have couches that can be shared. We were lucky enough to be seated at a couch. Jazz music plays softly in the background and conversation is always hushed, so the room feels intimate and decadent. And the staff is knowledgable, and attentive without being pushy.

If you like good sipping liquor and are in the mood to feel a little hedonistic, head over to Brandy Library. Reservations are recommended, according to the website, although, if you're like us and go on a random week night, the chances of being able to walk in are much better. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

(photo courtesy of Brandy Library website).

Ayza

Last night, Michael took me out for an evening on the town. Earlier in the week, I mentioned wanting to check out Ayza Wine Bar on W.31st between Broadway and 5th Ave so we started there. For those of you unfamiliar with Ayza, it's described as French Mediterranean food with a feature on over 90 wine varieties. We didn't get dinner, so I wouldn't know about the food, but we did order a cheese plate and a chocolate plate. I ordered the 2007 Laurent Miquel Viognier from the Languedoc region in France to start the evening and Michael had the 2007 Fleur du Cap Sauvignon Blanc from Stellenbosch in South Africa. I'm a picky girl when it comes to white wines. Mostly because I've had more exposure to big California Chardonnay style whites, of which I'm not much of a fan. My Viognier was delightful. Delicate, crisp, and tasting of honey. Although I preferred my glass to Michael's, the Fleur du Cap is something I would order if I saw it on a menu.

To nibble on we ordered a cheese plate laden with a manchego (cow's milk, spanish), a tete de moine (cow's milk, swiss), a morbier yellow (cow's milk, french), a french brie (cow's milk), and an herbed goat cheese (french), starwberries, guava paste, and some sort of exotic fruit that we both somehow ignored. For me, they also brought out cucumber slices instead of bread. My personal favorite was the herbed goat cheese. It was tangy and full of spicy flavors from the herbs, but the addition of lemon brightened it up. It was especially delicious when Michael suggested I pair it with a bit of guava paste.

Our second glass of the evening was the 2007 Terras Guada Albarino from the Rias Biaxas region of Spain. If poured, I would certainly drink this wine, but it was my least favorite of the night. It's clearly a wine of quality, just not particularly memorable for me.


Then we moved on the reason to go to Ayza in the first place: the chocolates. They make some homemade chocolates, such as the chocolate covered cherry and the milk chocolate paino with butterscotch filling that Michael ordered. But the stars are really the truffles made by the incredible Jacques Torres. We ordered the Bin 27, a dark chocolate truffle made with Taylor Fonseca Bin 27 port, the melon truffle made with melon puree and port in milk chocolate, the hazelnut truffle in milk chocolate, the Alize Hearts of Passion, made with passion fruit and Alize liquor in milk chocolate, and the Got Milk Chocolate, made with cognac and milk chocolate. The hazelnut truffle was our least favorite, mostly because the taste of roasted hazelnuts completely overwhelmed the flavor of the chocolate and left a bitter aftertaste. I found the butterscotch truffle a bit overpowering as well. The Alize Hearts of Passion and the melon truffle were my favorite, and had the clearest, most balanced flavors in my opinion. Michael seemed to enjoy the Got Milk Chocolate the most.

We also ordered two flights of sweet wines, two reds and two whites. The white wines were a 2006 Muscat Beaumes de Venise Domaine Durbain from the Cotes du Rhone in France and a 2006 Juracon Uruolat Charles Hours from South West, France. The reds were both non vintage 10 year ports, a Maury Mas Amiel Cuvee from Midi, France and a Churchill Tawny Port from Porto, Potrugal. I preferred the Muscat BdV and the Maury Mas Amiel Cuvee, while Michael seemed to enjoy the other two.

I'd say that Ayza's well worth the hype. I'd like to go back for food at some point so I can make a more informed decision, but in terms of wine, chocolate, and cheese, this was a great place. They also do events such as Jazz nights and Couples' Night . Check out http://www.ayzanyc.com/ for menus, pricing, and other information. (photo courtesy of Ayza's website)

Noah's Ark and Monks

Last night I had plans to meet a friend in Brooklyn. It was a simple plan. LIRR into Manhattan, two blocks to Herald Square to catch the F train to Park Slope. Just one hitch. The F wasn't running that far. So I hopped out at 14th St to call my friend and let him know he needed to meet me in Manhattan. Cue the pouring rain and the most ill conceived idea born. He agreed to meet me in Manhattan, but requested we go to a bar on St. Mark's and 3rd Ave. For those of you not familiar with the city, that's somewhere between 10 and 15 blocks. Factor in the torrential rain and my inability to find a cab and you have an equation for me being very cranky and very wet.

Despite the draw backs of the plan, I arrived at St. Mark's Ale House looking a bit like a drowned rat and wanting nothing more than an Irish coffee. So we headed into the bar and found a seat. The waitress came by and we ordered our drinks. Did I get my Irish coffee? Nope, because bars in New York City have an inability to make coffee. By inability, I mean they just don't serve the stuff. Now call me crazy, but if you're going to stock a bar, and serve tavern food, then coffee is something you might want to have around. To be sure I'm not the only person to every order coffe and whiskey in the same drink. But no, somehow that's asking too much. Fine. I settled for a scotch and soda and a bowl of chilli. The food was mediocre at best, the drink watered down, and the bar was so loud that I had to scream to be heard. I won't be returning. It's an uninspired place with bad service. There's a wealth of fantastic bars in the city, so why waste the money on one like this place?

From there we went around the corner to a place called Burp Castle. I know what you're thinking, "This sounds so much worse than St. Mark's Ale House." Oh no, my friends. Burp Castle is a monestary themed beer bar. "Beer bar?" you ask, "Don't you have celiac? Isn't beer a no-no?" Yes, yes, and yes. However, they also serve wine, hard cider, and on occassion, mead. Now, the interesting thing about Burp Castle though, is not its impressive, rotating tap list, but it's gimmick. Loud talking is not permitted there. If the noise level gets too high, the barmonk (or barmaid in our case) shushes you. Annoying? It can be. Pretentious? A bit. But, you can have a conversation, enjoy a variety of interesting beer, and just relax a bit. I mentioned that I couldn't sample the beer and the barmaid immediately poured a glass of cider for me. It was a cider called Blackthorn and was a dry, crisp cider with not too much fruit flavor. Just enough. And while I was sipping that, she pulled out a bottle of juniper mead that was reserved only for the staff and allowed me to sample it. I'm a huge mead fan to begin with, but this was heaven. When I'm not sipping something fermented, I'm normally a gin kind of girl, so this was a marriage made in heaven. The mead was light and a bit sweet, but the sweetness was balanced really nicely by the woody quality of the juniper. For those of you who are interested, it's by a company called Redstone Meadery based in Colorado and can be purchased online. While Burp Castle doesn't compare to Death and Company, it's cute and fun, and worth going back to.

So the night was of mixed success. I managed to get a cab back to Penn Station, although the rain had let up by then. And I came home to a space heater to dry me off and warm me up. For parts of the night, I had a great time, so I'm calling this a win. Just remind me to bring my umbrella next time.

Caracas Arepa Bar

For the past few months, I have been trying to make my way to Caracas Arepa Bar at 93 1/2 E.7th St off of 1st Ave. Yesterday, I finally made it.

For those of you unfamiliar with arepas, they're cornmeal patties that are grilled and then split open and stuffed with all manner of delicious things. And Caracas is one of the best places to get them. So I had been told. They were featured on Food Network's Throwdown with Bobby Flay, so I figured they'd be worth a try.

Caracas has some strong points and some not so strong points. The food is ridiculously good. They offer 20 varieties of arepas and a few combination plates so you can try more than one type. And the arepas are fairly cheap, so it's not a bank wrecker. My first arepa was stuffed with pork shoulder, tomato, and spicy mango sauce. the pork was tender and full of flavor, and the sauce had a kick, but wasn't painful. On every table is a squeeze bottle of sauce made from tamarind and limes. This arepa didn't need it, although adding it didn't hurt either. In bewtween arepas, my fellow soup kitchen colleague and I ordered fried plantains covered in salty white cheese and herbed mayo. For those of you gluten free readers, fear not. The plantains are pan fried without a coating and the arepas are made from pure cornmeal. The plantains were amazingly good, not too sweet and balanced by the cheese and the mayo. Then I moved on to my second arepa, the more tradtitional variety, made with shredded beef cooked in a tomato based sauce, with black beans, white cheese, and more plantains. The beef was a bit sweet for my taste, but delicious anyway. The food here lives up to the expectations.

But the place is tiny. And crowded. It's crowded because the food is so wonderful, but the place is so small that we were almost on top of our neighbors. This is not a place to go with a large crowd of people, or a bunch of bags. And the service could have been a bit better. The staff was very friendly, but not particularly attentive. I had to ask for more water three times before it was brought to me. And being a non-Spanish speaker, I felt a bit out of place when my colleague and my waiter began conversing in Spanish.

The silver lining, if you're like me and don't like mediocre service or being spoken to in a language you don't understand, is that Caracas also has a to go storefront. The same menu, without the crowd and without the lackluster service. I'd be more than happy to grab arepas from Caracas To Go, and might even be willing to sit down at the restaurant again, if it happened to be less crowded.

Overall, I'd say A+ for food, but C for service and atmosphere.

Giorgio's of Gramercy

Sometimes you walk into a restaurant and immediately feel at home. That's how I feel about Giorgio’s of Gramercy at 27 E.21st between Park Ave. and Broadway.

I was first introduced to Giorgio's about a month ago by my friend, Michael. He's a regular at the place, so naturally, we were treated like family. He pretty much is. Of course, I let the maitre d', Sean, know about my gluten troubles. "No problem, I can point out what's safe, but Chef would be happy to make something just for you." Right then, I was smitten. A specially crafted meal catering to my needs is something I don't come by often. The result was a gorgeous piece of swordfish served with brussel sprouts sautéed in butter. I went from smitten to downright charmed. This was a place with some serious potential.

And I wasn't disappointed. Last night, I was supposed to meet Michael there again for dinner. I showed up first and settled myself somewhat shyly at the bar. I needn't have been shy. After calling Sean over to ask about the menu, he responded with, "Sure, I can show you what's gluten-free, but Chef would be happy to make you something again." Done. This time is was red snapper on heirloom tomato and steamed vegetables in fish broth. The food was, of course, delicious. I was even able to steal a taste (ok, I ended up eating a better part of it) of Michael's curried cauliflower. And when I told Sean to let Alex (Chef) know how much I appreciated the food, I mentioned the brussel sprouts from my first visit. He came back with a bowl of them for me. Did I mention I'm smitten?

Not only that, but Michael, Brian (the bartender), and I had some fun inventing drinks with a variety of bitters and spirits. Between the business of managing the restaurant, Sean came over to chat from time to time. He even offered to circulate my resume and keep an ear out for any restaurants that were hiring after I mentioned that I was looking for work. And before leaving for the evening, Alex stopped by to say goodnight. Of course I had to thank him again for the food.

Last week, I ran a piece about rudeness in restaurants, and Giorgio's is the antithesis of those places. They have a steady stream of regulars to attest to their hospitality. It's a place where you can walk in and instantly feel like you've come home. And I think I might have found a love that will last. With Giorgio’s of Gramercy.

(Photo courtesy of Shane Strassberg and Giorgio's of Gramercy's Facebook Page)

Death and Company

Last night, I had the privilege of drinking at one of the best bars in the country, Death and Company. Located on E.6th Street, just off of 1st Ave, the bar is done up in the style of a 1920s speakeasy. Before you even enter, the sight from the street alludes to the atmosphere inside. The name of the bar is advertised in concrete on the stoop and not in a billboard style sign. If you weren't looking for it, you could walk right past Death & Co. and never know what it was. The staff dresses in relaxed, but elegant outfits. The man checking IDs last night was outfitted complete with a pocket watch and Fedora. And that's just from the outside. Inside the walls are dark, the room is dim and lit with candelabras and flickering tea lights. Old style blues and jazz a la Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald play in the background, but it's not loud or overbearing.

Then there are the drinks. Sure there's an amazing menu broken down by spirit. My first drink was the Gin Hound. Gin, honey, and celery juice blended into a light, and lightly sweet drink. But that's not where Death & Co. shines. Alex, my bartender for the evening, was kind enough to make some off-menu drinks for me and my friend. He also brought me a sample of the honey that was in the first drink I ordered when I inquired after it's origins. Alex is pretty incredible, having worked with the likes of Dave Arnold, but the other bartender that night, Bryan is equally talented. Watching the two of them mix up drinks is nothing short of watching craftsmen. You will not find a bad drink at Death & Co.

Simply put, the experience was one of the best I've had. The atmosphere reminded me of a more upscale version of a piano lounge in Maryland that my parents used to frequent. Even without the nostalgia though, the bar is relaxed, classy, and comfortable. If you want a great drink, without pretension, Death & Co. can deliver. But don't take my word for it, see for yourself. Check out www.deathandcompany.com or stop by for a drink.

Let's Do...

...Gluten Free Ice Cream Cones. I did today. Picked them up at Whole Foods when I made my run. I'm a bit of an ice cream junkie, but I missed the joy of an ice cream cone. So for the first time in over a year I had two scoops of ice cream in a cone. Bliss. The brand is actually called Let's Do...Gluten Free Ice Cream Cones, catchy right? They're a cake style cone and to my mind there was no difference in texture or taste to the regular cake cones from my childhood. Cake cones bring back all the nostalgia of being a kid again. The race to finish the ice cream before it melted and got sticky on my hands and wrists. I'll be enjoying another several scoops thanks to Let's Do brand. Next on the agenda, finding or making gluten free waffle cones. Anyone got any recommendations?

Against the Grain

Went to Whole Foods in Madison, NJ today. Picked up a selection of gluten free products to try. Typically, I believe making my own breads and cookies yields better results, but sometimes I miss the convenience of prepared foods. That drives me to experimenting with the gluten free products on the market, like bagels. I miss bagels, but really dislike most of the brands I've tried. Today though, on a whim, I picked up Against the Grain's Sesame Bagels.

I was pretty skeptical at first. I defrosted one in the microwave for 15 seconds, sliced it open, and popped it in the toaster. Smelled awful. Thinking I was in for a terrible letdown, I spread the cream cheese and took my first bite. Delicious. Crunchy on the outside and chewy in the center just like a real bagel should be. Not too dense, unlike most of its counterparts. My only complaint (aside from the terrible smell while it was toasting) was that there weren't enough sesame seeds. Only three or four on each side of the bagel. Otherwise it was a satisfying experience to a craving I've had for months. If you haven't tried Against the Grain, I would highly recommend it.