Comments(1)

|

E-mail

|

Print

1/27/2009

A while back I reported that according to owner Dino Sakakini, the downtown location of Layla’s Falafel was opening within a matter of weeks.

That was over two months ago.

The delay is not really a huge surprise to those following the story as the space has been leased for nearly two years.

Once again, I’m told “two weeks” by an employee at Layla’s on High Ridge Rd., pending final health department inspections.

According to the City of Stamford’s Department of Health, Layla’s is scheduled for an inspection tomorrow, Jan. 28. While they have not yet filed for a license, this is promising news.

Rumors of a hookah bar located in the restaurant are apparently unfounded, according to the city.

My eager anticipation for a downtown Layla’s was detected by a city employee as she noted all of her missed calls were from me. “You must really want the falafels, you were calling so much.”

Yes. I do.

READ: the earlier post.

UPDATE (3/11/2009): Layla’s is trying to win city approval for hookah smoking outside when outdoor dining becomes an option. Supposedly, thus far the city isn’t going for it.

-CP

Comments

|

E-mail

|

Print

Burger Joint at Le Parker Meridian, New York.

1/26/2009

I wish I could have updated sooner but it has been a busy week.

Well, I really haven’t been back to work since I was down in Washington covering the inauguration.

Inauguration day meals consisted mostly of Triscuits on the bus and a mess of Special K cereal bars. Sadly, because of the multitude of media reports of Obama visit to Ben’s Chili Bowl, the lines were nuts and even I won’t wait an hour for a chili smoke. Being featured the day before on Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations probably didn’t help either.

[All was not lost during the walk over to U Street as we did manage to grab some cupcakes from Cake Love.]

Having been emotionally and physically scarred by the ridiculous crowds on Tuesday, we stayed in the next night as well; homemade burgers with Roquefort and sauteed onions. You can’t go wrong there.

The day had been shaping up to be a tour de food force: quiche and cappuccinos at Tryst, followed by the $4.99 brisket sandwiches at Rocklands barbecue and topped off with more espresso [Counter Culture Toscano] and churros at Dolcezza Argentine in Georgetown. A world class day, but all good things must come to an end.

BACK UP NORTH (BELOW): There was Polish platter at the Pirate in Norwalk. I can’t really wrap my head around the concept of a pirate-themed Polish restaurant but the food is good and that is all I can ask for. But, really, it is a bizarre scene in there.

BELOW: Kenka on St. Mark’s Place in New York is a Japanese izakaya, a sort-of tapas bar.

Bizarre does not begin to explain this place with its yakuza wanted posters, semi-hard-core hentai menus, bull-penis specials, pachinko machines and the self-service cotton candy machine out front.

I recommend the grilled mackerel. And the $8 pitchers of Sapporo.

BELOW: If you haven’t been to Burger Joint in the lobby of Le Parker Meridian in New York, you are missing out.

A velvet curtain in the lobby of this swank hotel hides a popular burger dive. It really is difficult to explain unless you have been here. The burgers are totally awesome and I really dig the tangy mustard. The fries are mediocre.

BELOW: Fried pork dumplings and a shrimp pancake from the food court in the Flushing Mall. The chili sauce is key.

My kid sister will never forgive me for taking her with some friends on a walking tour of Flushing for Chinese New Year during her brief visit to New York.

In an attempt to assuage the sibling animosity, I kept telling her none of her friends have ever experienced anything like this as a tourist in New York…and let’s forget about how she annoyed Bill O’Reilly in a Fox News green room. It’s a long story, trust me. But if Geraldo ever insinuates that I may not have the intestinal fortitude to stand up to O’Reilly again, I might have to slap the mustache offa his face.

Don’t make me get all Vallejo on a television personality.

I LEAVE YOU WITH THIS: After taking a bus to Chinatown and humping through NY with all of my camera, audio and computer gear, a couple of days worth of clothes and 150 frozen dumplings from New Kam Man, I couldn’t have dreamed a more beautiful sight: a perfect cappuccino from Gimme! Coffee on Mott St.

OVERHEARD [BAY AREA NEWS] AT THE CAFE: “Dude, nobody goes to Ritual anymore. After I land and get a burrito, I’ll be at Four Barrel.” Great, one more place to add to my list for the next time I visit my family back home…

–CP

Comments(2)

|

E-mail

|

Print

ABOVE: Chef and co-owner Michael Young employs a little Don Julio Blanco for effect while cooking for the lunch rush at Valencia Luncheria in Norwalk.

VALENCIA LUNCHERIA: 172 MAIN ST., NORWALK

1/13/2009

Last night, Guy Fieri’s Food Network show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives featured Valencia Luncheria in Norwalk.

Yeah, I know. Too late.

I knew this was coming up after they filmed at the Main Street eatery in October, but since there is essentially zero information on the show’s website, I sort of lost track of the air date.

For some reason I thought it was to air on the 20th. Perhaps I’m confusing the inauguration of our new president with the airing of this segment; not to trivialize a historic event, or to place undue significance on a restaurant, but I had considered it sort of a big deal.

Apparently, not big enough to actually remember.

The New York Times dubs Valencia “nuevo comfort food,” others describe it as Venezuelan fast food (of a sort) but whatever you call it, it’s undeniably good. At Valencia, regulars come back for the constantly-changing specials menu, the staggeringly long list of fillings for the arepas and the fruit batidos that are sweet and creamy. It’s no wonder that it’s often difficult to find a seat in the tiny dining area.

Hopefully some of you caught this episode because Valencia is one of my favorite lunch spots in the area. Meanwhile, I’ll be on the lookout for a repeat, or at least maybe they will upload the segment to the site’s video player.

–CP

BELOW: Co-owner and champion oyster shucker Luis Chavez serves up lunch.

Comments

|

E-mail

|

Print

1/13/2009

ANOTHER QUICK UPDATE: Owing to the downturn in the economy, Lushe Gjuraj, the owner of several area restaurants is retooling and converting Habana Restaurant and Bar in SoNo into an ‘upscale diner’ to open in the next week.

Lushe’s SoNo Diner, at 70 N. Main St., will open as early as Thursday, pending city inspections. The diner with join other the other Gjuraj family of restaurants; Spazzio, Quattro Regali and Parkway Diner in Stamford and Ocean Drive also in South Norwalk.

This end of SoNo has seen other changes as of late, including a new location for O’Neills Pub and Restaurant and Celentanos Italian Deli & Market next door.

–CP

Comments(2)

|

E-mail

|

Print

Trust me, this tastes way better than it looks.

1/06/2009

GOOD STUFF EATERY: 303 PENNSYLVANIA AVE. SE, WASHINGTON D.C.

It’s fairly apparent that I’ve never met a cheeseburger I didn’t like, but today with the Colletti’s Smokehouse burger from Good Stuff Eatery in D.C., I can honestly say I’ve never been happier to lay eyes such a sandwich.

After a grueling day that started by photographing newly-minted Congressman Jim Himes jogging on the National Mall at 7:45 a.m. and ended many hours later after sitting through roll call votes, race walking the seemingly endless hallways and tunnels of Congress just generally trying to keep up with Himes (who walks at a freakishly brisk pace) and saw no intervening meal breaks, I needed this cheeseburger. [It also helps that you can poach internet from nearby Cosi and file your photos all while nursing a Yuengling, I suppose.]

A full-day of coverage behind me, I headed to Spike Mendelsohn’s new burger joint while Greenwich Time reporter Neil Vigdor repaired to the Capitol cafeteria. If you are a Top Chef junkie, like myself, you’d remember Spike as the dude with the hats from season four of the series on Bravo.

Honestly, I thought he possessed disagreeable personality traits, felt his obsession with stingy-brimmed fedoras was ridiculous and despite being an obviously talented chef, deserved getting booted from the show. But, hey, I can’t really hold all that against him after eating a tray of his herbed French fries. They are wicked good.

If other burger joints can learn one thing from Good Stuff Eatery, let it be this: put sea salt on each and every table. Needless to say, I feel at home here with my predilection for salty foods.

I still am not really sure what the bottles of Sriracha hot sauce are supposed to be for. I’ll have to look into that.

–CP

NOTE: Thanks goes to Connecticut Post Washington bureau reporter Peter Urban for recommending Good Stuff Eatery, which is just blocks from the Capitol building heading towards Eastern Market.

BELOW: The Capitol shines through the drizzle on Tuesday.

Comments(3)

|

E-mail

|

Print

1/2/2009

While I am not generally one for new year’s resolutions, I will say this: in 2009 I will make an effort to control my famously substantial appetite for French fries.

Let me make one thing clear, I’m not vowing to avoid fries altogether this year. I am just proposing to give up the baskets of deep-fried mediocrity I find myself frequently consuming.

Banished will be the soggy fast food fries, the sub-par pub fries and the rest of the previously frozen potato products that are endemic to our nation’s bars and restaurants. These are a black mark on the glorious fried potato and will henceforth be ignored. I promise.

Notable exemptions are the remarkable, addictive Disco Fries (smothered in melted brie and truffle oil) at Burger Bar in Norwalk, the crisp, golden fries served at BSF in Greenwich.

This resolution will hereby be suspended when traveling outside of Connecticut and will be taken under review while attending sporting events and/or beaches and coastally-adjacent seafood shacks.

Happy 2009.

–CP