I’m counting down the 100 best dishes I tasted in 2019…
The last time I put out an end of year list of best dishes, it was 2019 and the world looked very different. Not only were we not yet in the midst of a never ending pandemic, but the way I ate at restaurants was different. I would cozy up to a bar or cram around a communal table of strangers. Now I mostly find myself eating outside at the mercy of the elements and/or out of a take-out container.
The good news is, unlike 2020, I spent an entire year once again exploring the city’s food scene. And while I might not have a full 100 dishes to write about, I found much more than ten great things that were delicious in any form of eating out. Here I present my Top Ten.
NUMBER 5: SMOKED POLLOCK FRITTERS at LELAND EATING AND DRINKING HOUSE
Five plump golden fritters eagerly sit on a deeply satisfying horseradish tzatziki sauce at my favorite new neighborhood restaurant. Leland Eating and Drinking House isn’t so much a destination, but it is a solid Brooklyn spot that makes incredibly thoughtful food.
I scooped as much of the sauce on each ethereal bite of smoked pollock fritters as possible. They were impossibly light with a hearty potato filling and chunks of smoky chewy white fish.
These were way too easy to gobble up and they left me wanting more. And that is a feeling I would certainly travel for. Price: $9
| LELAND EATING AND DRINKING HOUSE |
| 755 Dean Street (at Underhill Avenue), Prospect Heights, Brooklyn (646) 470-7008 |
| lelandbrooklyn.com |
NUMBER 4: MASA PANCAKES at XILONEN
SADLY, XILONEN IS NOW CLOSED.
Masa is having a moment in NYC. You’ll notice that another dish on this list also features freshly nixtamalized corn. Xilonen is a very hip café on the border of very hip Williamsburg and very hip Greenpoint and it’s a great little spot.
These pancakes arrive with the unmistakable smell of fresh tortillas. They were steaming hot and the salted butter melted rapidly onto the pancakes. Fluffy, airy, buttery, crisp, salty, sweet. Those are just a few of the adjectives I can use to describe this masterpiece. A rich maple syrup side and that salty butter were out of this world. Price: $13
| XILONEN |
| 905 Lorimer Street (at Bedford Avenue and Nassau Street), Greenpoint, Brooklyn (929) 272-0370 |
| xilonen.earth |
NUMBER 3: TORTELLINI OZONI at KIMIKA
Kimika comes from the team behind Wayla and the name means “noble” in Japanese. The food is a true fusion between Japanese and Italian cooking. There are fried pizzas, pastas, and even a rice cake lasagna on the menu. It’s all very exciting.
My brunch plate of Tortellini Ozoni popped with beautiful contrasting colors and when the canto brodo broth was poured table side, the savory umami aromas were released and I couldn’t wait to dig in.
This pasta is a cross between a traditional Italian soup (tortellini en brodo) and a Japanese New Year mochi soup called ozoni. And it’s brilliant.
The gorgeous plump tortellini are stuffed with shrimp and salty prosciutto. They’d be great on their own but combined with colorful mochi, flecks of chewy fish cakes called naruto, scallions, and spring peas, it’s utter perfection. Price: $25
| KIMIKA |
| 40 Kenmare Street (at Elizabeth Street), Nolita (212) 256-9280 |
| kimikanyc.com |
NUMBER 2: CIOCCOLATO at LODI
Lodi is a new very fancy all-day Italian café in Rockefeller Center from the team behind Estela. I was expecting to run into some NBC execs while browsing their sandwiches.
When I asked about the oblong pastry on display and found out it was a chocolate croissant, I was hooked.
I have never seen a croissant that looks like a mini loaf of brioche. Technically the menu calls it a cioccolato probably because everything else speaks for itself.
It has been a long time since I’ve had a croissant this impressive. The crackly segmented exterior gives way to an interior full of rich, complex dark chocolate and buttery layers of dough. It’s baked beautifully, masterfully composed, and intensely delicious. Price: $7
| LODI |
| 1 Rockefeller Center (between West 48th and West 49th Street), Midtown West (212) 597-2735 |
| lodinyc.com |
NUMBER 1: MEZCAL MUSHROOM TLAYUDITA at FOR ALL THINGS GOOD
In the morning and afternoon only, my two favorite Oaxacan ingredients (mezcal and mushrooms) are served at For All Things Good in Bedford-Stuyvesant on a tlayudita, which is essentially a very thin crisp and chewy tortilla grilled and served almost like a pizza.
The toppings included a thick spread of refried black beans topped with salty, chewy white Oaxcan cheese, a fistful of cilantro, and dots of an earthy spicy Salsa Macha (made from pumpkin seeds).
And those magical meaty maitake mushrooms (also known as Hen of the Woods) were transportive. As they tend to do, they soaked up all the smoky spicy earthy flavors of the dish. And their hearty hefty somehow held up to the paper thin crisp tortilla, which was firmer than a chip but more delicate than a quesadilla and had so much intense corn flavor. Price: $16
| FOR ALL THINGS GOOD |
| 343 Franklin Avenue (at Greene Avenue), Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn (929) 204-4154 |
| forallthingsgoodbk.com |
