The Lunch Break Chronicles

Chris Preovolos/photo

ABOVE: Shrimp étouffée over rice.

2/28/2009

I was a little under the weather this week, so whipping up a New Orleans dinner for Mardi Gras was out of the question. I’m just now catching up.

Without overlooking gumbo, po’ boys, boiled crawfish, bread pudding (and let’s not forget sazeracs), when I think of New Orleans, I can’t stop thinking about étouffée. For my money, crawfish étouffée is the quintessential Crescent City dish, but around here it’s easier to use shrimp, unfortunately.

After some Internet research over the past couple of years, I’ve settled on a recipe from NOLAcuisine.com, with just a couple adaptations [there is no way I'm making homemade Worcestershire sauce]. This recipe calls for a blonde roux, which is fine by me because I’m probably going to end up burning it if I have to go much darker. However, many traditional étouffées use a reddish brown roux.

I don’t know where you stand on the debate regarding the inclusion of tomatoes in your etoufee, but I don’t really care; the bottom line is this is a faithful representation of a classic New Orleans dish.

I hope you like butter.

–CP

CHECK OUT THE RECIPE: HERE

2/27/2009

Despite the cold that has been dogging me for a week, I managed to make it to see Ruth Reichl, the editor of Gourmet, speak at Columbia University’s School of Journalism last evening.

I overheard a little snickering from a couple of students before the lecture; perhaps food writing holds not the gravitas of the other subjects featured in this weekly magazine lecture series, but it is worthy nonetheless.

After picking up a copy of the magazine on the way into the lecture hall, I was surprised to see just how much it has changed under her leadership.

Reichl’s Gourmet delves into the social and political ramifications of the food industry just as it gives you a rundown of its annual holiday cookie recipes.

But I was mostly distracted to the issue’s ode to bourbon, the stalwart of my liquor cabinet.

–CP

02/20/2009

The Advocate’s Elizabeth Kim is reporting on plans for a new Starbucks on the West Side next to the old Bongiorno’s at 288 West. Ave.

FOR THE RECORD: I’m going to call this Southfield, not the West Side, but I guess it’s sort of a middle ground.

It will be the first Starbucks in Stamford with drive-through service and will be an easy on-and-off from exit 6 north or south-bound.

RELATED: this week’s sign the apocalypse is nigh: Starbucks begins selling instant coffee. To be honest, this doesn’t really bother me all that much since I can’t bring myself to drink Starbucks coffee anyway. Whatever comes out of a super-automatic espresso machine is never good. If you really have to go, ask for a French press pot, it’s usually not on the menu, but they will accommodate depending on the location. I really think they should publicize this, but it probably would just slow down service.

Hopefully the planned Fairway Market in the South End will have a coffee roasting facility like their Manhattan location.

–CP

A Kobe beef burger with goat cheese, $18.

2/16/09

BURGER BAR AND BISTRO: 58 NORTH MAIN ST.

Wary, of course, that I may need to rename my blog “…A Hamburger Today,” we are talking here about yet another burger joint…except that Burger Bar & Bistro, in South Norwalk, is hardly ‘yet another’ anything.

My only real hesitation was that I was Hollywood-stopping at all the intersections off exit 14 instead of recklessly blowing through them with eager anticipation for my meal.

I was visibly giddy with expectancy because Burger Bar is unquestionably the gold-standard of hamburger purveyors in Fairfield County, a class not without formidable competition (see: BSF). The restaurant may be positively laid-back but they take their burgers seriously.

“We are a comfort food restaurant – that’s really what it is – but we specialize in burgers,” sums up chef-owner Nick Bilello.

Burger Bar, which sits on the pedestrian pathway between North Main St. and the SONO parking lot, is not exactly hidden but it certainly isn’t highly visible either. This will change in the spring as Bilello is taking over the space next door and is more than doubling the seating capacity with up to 120 seats in the main dining room and an additional room for 80 on the sidewalk, to be complete with an outdoor bar.

The new menu will retain the tremendous burgers and deliciously indulgent disco fries (covered in melted brie and truffle oil) but will expand with pizzas, more salads and other non-burger dishes. “The pizzas are going to be fun, just like our burgers, with funky toppings,” says Bilello.

We will have to wait until April to judge the new menu planned for the expansion, but do not wait to try the burgers.

The first burger I had here was aptly-named the Tijuana, topped with green chili, chorizo and a fried egg; a decadent monument to cholesterol, dripping with yolk and sausagy goodness. Subsequent visits have seen me order fewer and fewer toppings, finally settling on goat cheese or Gorgonzola. [I am, however, anxious to try anything with pancetta or the Anna, with sweet onions, brie and fried tomato, after learning it was the chef’s favorite.]

The quality of the ingredients is immediately apparent; you can upgrade to prime or kobe beef, but the standard high-quality patty is more than adequate, juicy and just basically perfect when cooked to medium rare.

Chef Bilello will not reveal who supplies the remarkable buns he uses on all his burgers and while I was able to nail it on the first guess, I promised to not to say [hint: it’s an alliteratively-named Fairfield County establishment]. Needless to say, the chewy but light buns, dusted with flour, soak up the juice and are absolutely essential to the greatness of the burgers.

In the spirit of frugality – necessitated by my employment as a newspaper journalist – I’m partial to can of PBR to go with my $18 hamburger, but friends of mine are fans of the adult milkshakes: liquor-laced frozen dairy concoctions that would make Steinbeck’s Cannery row hero, Doc, proud. [While he was an aficionado of the beer milkshake, I'm sure he would approve]

Whatever the beverage, I look forward to knocking back a couple on the new patio at Burger Bar just as soon as the weather warms up.

–CP

Dino Sakakini, owner of Layla’s Falafel, slices off some chicken for a shawarma sandwich on the first day of business at the downtown location on Main St. in Columbus Park.

2/05/09

LAYLA’S FALAFEL: MAIN ST., COLUMBUS PARK, STAMFORD

After an announcement nearly two years ago, Dino Sakakini finally has the Columbus Park location of Layla’s Falafel up and running in downtown Stamford.

I was cruising around downtown looking for a cold weather photo today when I noticed Layla’s was open, at long last.

In October I wrote a more in-depth post about Layla’s on High Ridge, when I was told the downtown restaurant’s opening was imminent. Now a few months later, it is a reality.

On opening day I happened to be the third paying customer and everybody else in the place seemed genuinely happy to see Dino working shawarma spit in the new restaurant after so many months of waiting.

–CP