When The Paratha Craving Hits...

Sunday, 9am. Breakfast with Shann, Steph, Nick, and Steph's brother at Cafe Orlin. My order: the "Malawach." The dish is described on the menu as fried Turkish bread topped with two eggs, fresh tomato sauce on the side, pickles, olives and green salad.

Shann remarked that the "fried Turkish bread," looked like a smashed croissant. And indeed it did, like a smashed croissant, pan fried extra crisp. It also tasted exactly like an Indian paratha.

Thumbs up, though a touch greasy for the early morning.

I washed it down with 9th St Espresso at the Chelsea Mart.

Not as good as Abraço, but then again, is anything? ;)

Later this afternoon I was at Zubair's, reaccounting my affair with the Malawach. He grew up with parathas for breakfast, and would surely appreciate the dish. Indeed, it quickly induced a craving, "that makes me want...oh man, lets eat at..." and before I knew it, we were at the front steps of Noodle Bar on Carmine Street.

Minutes later, two dishes of roti canai with chicken curry arrived at the table and we dove in. Hot and oily with a bazillion flaky layers. The curry was lukewarm, the only downside.

But aside from that, there's little to frown about. Paratha/roti/fried Turkish bread twice in four hours AND meals with very sweet company? Life is good :)

Cafe Orlin
41 St. Marks Place
New York, NY 10003
(212) 674-7130

9th Street Espresso
75 9th Avenue
New York, NY 10011
(212) 228-2930

Noodle Bar
26 Carmine Street
New York, NY 10014
(212) 524-6800

Resto - How Can I Thank You?

A million thanks yous to the kind staff at Resto (especially Chris!), for locating my blackberry battery under the bathroom vanity. It matters not how the phone battery lodged itself in such an peculiar place. All that matters is that they were more than gracious to literally get on hands and knees to hunt down the lost battery. What would the world be without kind people? :)

Convivio

Last Wednesday, a lovely dinner with Nick (thank you!) at Convivio. Photos below. We went with the four course prix fixe which is a fantastic deal for both the quality and amount of food delivered. To sum: I enjoyed the house-made pastas a great deal more than the mains which while still very tasty, was over fussy and complicated with too many "sauces" and elements. Appetizers were memorable...chicken liver and slow poached veal tongue YES :) Next time, we'll do the prix fixe, but replace the secondi with another pasta. That will make for a killer meal. Overall, a splendid dinner - the affogato we had for dessert comes in second only to Otto's (which is AMAZING).

Lingua: slow poached veal tongue, salsa verde

Fegatini: rustic chicken liver crostini, marsala onions

Malloreddus: sardinian saffron gnocchetti, crab, sea urchin

Fusilli: neopolitan pork shoulder ragu, cacciocavallo fonduta

Scottadito de Agnello: grilled lamb chops, salsa verde, escarole, beans

Manzo alla Griglia: 14oz. creekstone prime ribeye, puntarella salad, white anchovies, fried mushrooms

Affogato al Caffe: "super punch" amaro gelato, freshly-brewed espresso

Panna Cotta: vanilla panna cotta, rhubarb, meyer lemon sorbet

Convivio
45 Tudor City Place
New York, NY 10017
(212) 599-5045