Recently I was invited to attend the Winter 2011 edition of Metromix.com’s Hot Plates Live. You may remember I went to one back in the Spring at Chelsea Market. This time around it was held at the Astor Center. I had never actually been to an event there before, but know they host a ton of great ones. Unfortunately, CT wasn’t able to make it, so Yvo was nice enough to take her place.
Although we were invited as members of the press, tickets were only $15. A pretty cheap night out for all you eat tastes from twelve restaurants with free beer and tequila.
The event was broken up into two rooms, so we started on the left-hand side. The bar was setup with four different kinds of tequila from El Tesoro. They offered samples of the four kinds of tequila they had or mixed in a Sprite cocktail. We each tasted the Platinum straight up, it was pretty smooth, but not exactly my ideal drink to start on an empty stomach on a Monday night. I believe people were taking shots with all the flavors later on…
The first taste was from Bao Haus with their “Bone-in Chicken and Red Sauce Casserole.” This wasn’t that good. It was hard to eat as the meat didn’t pull off the bone easily especially since we only had a fork and were eating it standing. The flavor wasn’t that interesting. Here is a pic of Eddie Huang (Chef/Owner) with the red hat on, who is quite the character. I’ll let Yvo tell you more about him.
Yvo says: When we walked in, TT pointed at Eddie and commented that he was the chef. I was pretty surprised – I’ve heard his name before, plus… he was wearing street clothes, a puffy vest, a baseball cap, jeans and looking very much like he just wandered in to check on his booth and was leaving soon. Most of the other chefs were dressed in their chef whites or at least in very neat clothing, talking to people and chatting them up. Eddie was kind of ignoring people… hey, no big deal, sometimes I don’t feel like talking to people.
But first let’s talk about the food. It was the first plate we grabbed because it was already plated and there weren’t that many people around anywhere. I picked it up, and thought hey my mom makes something like this. I took a bite and thought, “My mom makes this, but better… and this isn’t stuff you serve to other people.” You know, as a home cook, there are dishes I eat happily at home, but would never serve at a party. Some foods are just “home food” or stuff you eat at home and serve to your family. The chicken was marinated in soy sauce, ginger, maybe garlic, cane sugar… very simple food that tastes fine but isn’t amazing by any means. I believe the chicken is meant to be braised in the marinade, but judging by the harder texture of the chicken, I don’t think that was the case here. I emphasize that there was nothing wrong with the food, but it also simply wasn’t that good. And had I gone to Baohaus and been served that, I’d have been pissed.
As TT and I walked away holding our respective bowls, I turned and saw Eddie standing behind the table while one of the girls working the booth plated more bowls of rice and chicken. He took a tissue out of his pocket and blew his nose, which immediately squicked me the hell out. I took a few bites of the dish, then said to TT “That is so disgusting,” and here’s where things get dicey.
I’m not a quiet person, nor am I ever going to be someone who can hold my tongue for the sake of holding my tongue. I decided to Tweet about this grossness, and TT informed me of Eddie Huang’s Twitter name (because no, I don’t “follow” him on Twitter). I Tweeted: “Hey I think you might be ill. Could you blow your nose somewhere besides in front of the rice cooker that we’re all eating from?”
Granted, this could be seen as snarky or mean. I’m not denying that what I wrote was not the nicest thing in the world. However, I don’t believe that it warranted the response Tweet I received: “say it to my face bitch. Fuck outta here” which surprised me as a disproportionate response to what I wrote. Fine. I took a moment to decide whether or not to respond and finally did, saying “uh, seriously? Overreact much? I was seriously concerned about my health. It isn’t sanitary for you to serve while sick.”
His response was even more unsanitary, “if u cared u would say on spot instead of being passive aggressive. next time i’ma blow my nose in ur vajay”
I responded something of which I’m not proud, “I’d already walked away. You’re blowing this way out of proportion. No wonder everything you do fails. Just wow.”
He subsequently deleted his Tweets. I can’t even begin to express how disgusted I am, though – it’s simply not healthy for someone to be sick and serve food. Typhoid Mary was a cook, and that’s how that whole thing started. Germs are no joke! It’s flu season. Stay home if you are sick, especially if you work in food service!
A friend of mine, who shall remain anonymous, tried to convince me not to publicize this happening. He wrote, “he’s just an attention whore with no talent, but at least he’s entertaining,” among other things. He suggested that for me to get into this was immature, and that it would be much more mature to just not say anything at all, especially given that I didn’t pay for a ticket. I’ve already expressed how much I disagree with that sentiment: fact is, I didn’t pay for it, and I still didn’t like the food he served, plus his reaction to my comment. Also, my job is to eat things and report on them for all of you – those of you who are not in NYC and cannot or will not be going to these places, and those of you in NYC who are deciding whether or not to spend your money on a restaurant or not. Time & money are super precious commodities, and no one wants to waste theirs on garbage. I sift through some of it to tell you what’s up, whether or not I paid for it shouldn’t be a factor in whether or not I liked it. “Free food is good food” is not, and should not be the motto of a food writer.
The bottom line here, however, is that Eddie Huang needs some lessons in PR. A number of people witnessed the Twitter conversation as it happened, and he can’t take back what he said just by deleting the Tweets. Enough people have expressed to me how disgusted they were with what he said – to a woman that he doesn’t even know, no less – and that they will not be patronizing any of his establishments that this was not a good move on his part. Xiao Ye closed after 4 months. Can he really afford any more bad press?
I honestly feel like I deserve an apology for what he said because it was so vile, but I’m not holding my breath. Instead, I’ll focus my energy elsewhere, wish him the best of luck, and suggest perhaps he should look into anger management classes.
Next were Carnitas tacos and elote from Choza Taqueria. This taco joint is pretty new and just a couple blocks from Madison Square Park. Our friend, Goats, actually went there when they opened and wasn’t impressed with the place. His main complaint was that you pay full price for very small tacos. I didn’t ask whether or not the tacos served for the event were the same size as the tacos served at the restaurant. They were basically one and half bite tacos. The flavor was very good with the juicy pork, but could have used a little more chile heat. The elote was ok. It’s hard not to like cheese on grilled corn, except January isn’t the best time for corn on the cob.
Yvo says: The first bite of the taco was really good – lots of cilantro flavor, which I like, very juicy pork, and very rounded. This was the first ‘second plate’ I wanted. But as TT said, if those were full size… I would not be happy. Unless they’re like $1.50 a piece at the restaurant.
Another new restaurant, Lowcountry had Bourbon Liver Mousse with Pickled Red Onion and Candied Hazelnuts and Pimento Deviled Eggs. Admittedly, neither of these are my favorite foods in any sense. The egg was super creamy with a nice cheesiness to the yolk. I found one of the smallest toasts I could to try the liver mousse. The flavor was actually pretty nice with the bourbon bringing out a sweetness to cut the richness of the mousse. The candied hazelnuts also added sweetness and a good crunchy texture.
Yvo says: The first thing I did was ask the chef what made these deviled eggs special. Why? Not to be rude, but because they looked like any other deviled eggs, with super creamy yolk part, and I like texture to my deviled eggs. (The sign only mentioned the crostini, so I had no way of knowing.) He said he mixed the yolk with pimento cheese… which made these kind of awesome, though I still would have liked some crunch to them. Maybe some olive bits for a brininess? And the liver mousse crostini was probably my favorite small bite of the night. I think I had 3 before TT reminded me “You know those aren’t good for you?” and I said “Oh crap” and stopped. I loved the textural and flavor contrast of the crunchy, sweet candied hazelnuts to the creamy savoriness of the liver mousse. REALLY good. I would totally make these and serve them at a party myself (and be really happy that most of my friends don’t like liver, because the leftovers would be all mine!).
I really like events like this that give a tiny introduction to restaurants I have heard about, but have not yet actually eaten at.
Bombolini had a HUGE variety of Italian doughnuts to choose from. We shared a crème brulée doughnut. It was very good with its caramelized sugar crust.
Joe the Art of Coffee had a couple different selections of coffee to try. I believe I tried the African one, which was nice and smooth. Let’s just say it wasn’t a coincidence they were setup right next to Bombolini.
bisous ciao had a large selections of macarons. Yvo tried the sour cherry, but inhaled it before I could get a picture. This is her favorite macaron shop in the world! I tried the salted caramel. It was excellent with the perfect balance of salty and sweet. The airy crunch confused me at first, but then realized this was my first time having a properly made macaron. I took a dark chocolate for CT to give to her on my way home. She loved it too.
Yvo says: I want full credit for suggesting that you take one for CT. There isn’t much more to be said about bisous ciao that I didn’t say in my first post, except that in the first month, I went every week for about 4 weeks. I had to stop because I don’t like being fat (honest!) and because they’re $2.25 per macaron or so, and I was going broke.
TT says: Yes, Yvo is always looking out to make sure I keep CT happy.
Onto to the other room to see what treats awaited us.
Hecho en Dumbo presented tostadas de callo y pulpo. Basically it was a ceviche of scallops and octopus. It had a bit of heat which was nice. I have been wanting to try this restaurant for a long time. This taste luckily didn’t change my mind either way.
Yvo says: I liked the cracker with the ceviche, but my little cup was pretty mild in flavor, no heat and no sourness. I passed on a second one.
Next to them was the Sunburnt Calf with Lamb Sliders. As you can see, the meat to bun ratio was way off. The lamb was ok and I enjoyed the sauce, but not much else to say.
Yvo says: Pass.
Right after we tried the other lamb dish of the night from Anfora with Lamb Ragu sliders. This presentation worked much better. Meat sauce, cheese, and bread. What’s not to like?
Yvo says: Cheese. Way more lamb. Admittedly, the Sunburnt Calf one was really mild in lamb flavor – maybe because there was so much bread to lamb? – and the Anfora one was very much lamb… but it worked better. I also commented that the Sunburnt Calf one was probably half the price of Anfora, were we to look up the menus, but… c’est ca.
Brats: Dogs & Wieners had Wagyu beef cocktail wieners with sriracha mustard. This is a relatively new restaurant from Chef Daniel Angerer, who you may remember as the guy that once served breast milk cheese in one of his other restaurants. Nothing remarkable here. I feel it is a waste of high quality beef like Wagyu when used in a sausage. It would hard to tell the different between this and Hebrew National. The mustard must have had very little sriracha since it had no heat to it.
Hill Country Chicken presented mini Texas handrolls. It was a chicken finger with some almonds and cole slaw on a tortilla. Unfortunately the tortilla was pretty cold, so it just tasted like flour to me. I do have a Blackboard Eats coupon for this place, so I am intrigued to see how the roll tastes at the restaurant.
Yvo says: Psst. I don’t believe they serve that at the restaurant (I’ve been twice now, haha). I actually really liked the flavors here – even though the chicken was cold, and I hate cold tortillas, they’d used white meat to make the fingers… but the topping of slaw with fruit – I think a citrussy, juicy fruit like mango or orange (sorry, I’d been drinking)… it worked really well for me. I liked this quite a bit.
TT says: Double psst. Check out the first item under “Sandwiches and Salads.”
Brooklyn Brewery provided four of their beers for our drinking pleasure. They had a Pilsner, Lager, Brown Ale, and East India Pale Ale.
Apparently a company is now making moonshine legally and cleverly named their liquor, Moonshine. They used it in Prohibition Punch along with champagne, lemon juice, raspberry liquer, simple syrup, and fresh raspberries. This was actually quite good. It was refreshing without being overly sweet or too strong. Yvo even got a raspberry in her cup!
Yvo says: TT said it was because I’m pretty. I’m not going to argue with that logic.
According the Metromix’s own review, the most popular dish of the night was Frito Pie served in a paper cone from Brindle Room. Yvo has become quite the frito pie connoisseur and wasn’t that impressed with this version. Her disappointment led me to only try a bite. The chili wasn’t that great, too beany.
Yvo says: Here’s the scoop: I talked to the chef and said I don’t see much Frito Pie on menus, and he said it’s not yet on Brindle Room’s menu but will be on the lunch menu soon. Cool! He then asked me where I was from, and I said New York… he was really surprised. I think he was surprised I’d even heard of Frito Pie before, but I told him the truth: “I’m a southern girl at heart and stomach, born in the wrong city.” Truth. I like butter too much. In any case, I was excited to try it, but Fritos + chili + clumpy cheddar =/= Frito Pie. Where’s the sour cream? The green onion? The worst offense, however, was the chili. Smokey is good, but wayyyyyyyy too much cumin. I mean good lord, ease off the cumin and you might be okay even without the sour cream and green onion. Still… commend him for trying.
Lastly, the worst dish of the evening from Wall & Water with radicchio, endive, crisp bread, blue cheese, dried apricot, truffle oil & walnut salad. It was so bad I forgot to take a picture, haha. I am not a fan of truffle oil as it so easily overpowers anything it touches. All I tasted was truffle and blue cheese.
Yvo says: I stuffed the whole bite in my mouth and all I tasted was truffle. If you like that, well, this is for you.
All in all, it was good event that allowed me to sample a lot of different foods from restaurants on my radar. It was a nice surprise to run into our friend Hungry from Tasty Eating. Thank you to Aaron and the other Metromix staff for putting this on to brighten up our Mondays.
Please note that the food and drink were courtesy of Metromix. I received no monetary compensation for this review, nor was I obliged in any way to post about the food and drink, positively or otherwise. This is my own opinion and I feel it was unbiased; you are free to take from this what you will.
CT says
Thanks Yvo! That macaron was AMAZING! I can now see what all the fuss is about. And don’t let TT bully you about the chicken liver mousse – he does that to me too. It’s so yummy…
CT says
I mean… TT doesn’t bully me, he just gently guides me towards healthier options. Sometimes I follow, sometimes I don’t.
TT says
just wait until you see what CT ate during her birthday week! 😉
Feisty Foodie says
He bullied you into writing this follow up comment, didn’t he?
Connie says
I can’t believe that Eddia Huang guy! After some rooting around on the Internet, I believe his mom put it best with the letter she wrote that he posted on his blog. Hopefully the next food festival will yield better goodies and less drama. Happy Eating 🙂
Hungry says
I agree that the soy chicken is considered home food, I thought the trend now is to serve comforting home food to people in restaurants. If that is the case, then that chicken would fit nicely in that trend. I’m not saying if that trend is good or not. I’m just noticing how the food world orbits.
Also, I thought the Frito pie was extremely salty, even for me. I can see how it could be amazing if done right though.
My favorites of the night were Anfora and Low Country.
Feisty Foodie says
As you said, the chicken would fit that trend, and that’s fine… but his wasn’t that good. It’s simple and comforting when done right, but his was just … a big pile of MEH.
Niko says
Yvo- cool report, I should have hit this for $15! Question: You refer to eating tons of bisous ciao macarons week after week – do they have a storefront? It was hard to tell from their website. If not where do you buy them?
BeerBoor says
Bisous Ciao sells out of their storefront at Stanton & Ludlow. As a bonus, Katz’s is just a block up.
Lots of interesting new (to me) restaurants you guys got to sample, and as a result of this writeup, few new ones to try, sadly.
Eddie Huang is a tool.
Feisty Foodie says
What he said – the address isn’t on their website?
http://feistyfoodie.com/2010/11/10/bisous-ciao/
I adore their salted caramel, espresso is great, the seasonal (and not currently available) candy corn was awesome… sour cherry is good… they’re basically all lovely though I haven’t tried lemon or the floral ones because those don’t tend to be my palate’s preference. But I bet they are excellent macarons too 😉
jay says
Wow that guy is a tool, so inappropriate and ew.
Its hard to understand a trend for going out for homestyle food during a recession, if I’m spending money I want something I dont’/wont’t do at home, unless its supercheap.
LKPNYC says
You had me at sour cherry macaron. And Huang sounds like he needs a good smack upside the head. Whether he meant that maliciously or to be funny, it WASN’T funny. I would have audibly gagged if I had seen someone do that anywhere near food. I canceled a dinner party last week because I had a cold and would NOT serve food to friends in that condition. Oy.
maxine says
First off, there are a number of things that mean guy Eddie could have been doing to promote his booth without touching the food and spreading his disease. He left a bad taste in my mouth, and I didn’t even taste his food. What a gentleman.
Secondly… the “Joe art of coffee” cup looks VERY similar to the Austin TX coffee staple Jo’s … but I’m guessing it must be difficult to come up with catchy slogans for coffee.
MLC says
I guess TT has finally discovered that too many organ meats are not such a healthy life style. They are trendy and yummy but there has to be some control. I think that the chef Eddie was a complete jerk and would certainly been fined if a health inspector were around.