#18: The east coast edit
#18: The east coast edit
& some Bourdain Day thoughts
Celebrating and remembering Bourdain
I am just like other girls in that I miss Anthony Bourdain. I understand if he isn’t your cup of tea, so feel free to skip down to the recs if this isn't why you opened this newsletter :)
June 25th would have been his 68th birthday, so I went to Bold Fork Books for a book club discussion on Bourdain’s more unfiltered travel memoir, A Cook’s Tour. We also reflected on the good and the bad of his legacy. He highlighted underrepresented cultures and conflicts with a nuanced lens through food. He also perpetuated rampant misogyny among men in the restaurant industry in his early writing.
Despite his at times problematic and overly dejected demeanor, a room filled with very different people had the same takeaway: he brought a culture of respect and complexity to travel and food writing. For an hour-long episode, when he wasn’t getting hammered in remote locations, he would have intense personal and political conversations with real people in underrepresented countries over a meal and share those perspectives with a Western audience that couldn’t tell you where that country was on a map.
I wonder what he would make of the food world now. I think he would most certainly hate celebrity chef influencers, physically combust at what Tik Tok has done to food reviews, and hopefully, appreciate the memes about him.
The discussion reminded me that he was a deeply flawed human being who we had the opportunity to see so vividly and at times, too closely. I wonder if we will see anyone similar who follows him. Part of me hopes we do, and another part doesn’t. Sometimes we don’t need to remake the classics.
The east coast edit!
Let’s chat about some generally good stuff to eat up and down the east coast. I spent the last month galivanting along the Amtrak northeast regional trail and have a highlight reel to share from DC, Philly, and New York Citayyy.
Good stuff in DC
Rose’s Luxury - pork and lychee salad
Rose’s has been on my list for YEARS. As the name implies, they specialize in making well known classics incredibly over the top.
They are home to the pork and lychee salad, composed of 15(?) different ingredients. It is the best thing I have eaten in my recent memory. Crispy salty bits of pork, floral juicy lychees, punchy raw red onion, herby cilantro and mint, a peak of coconut foam, and spicy peanuts are the main flavors bursting through the dish. The first bite is an absolute rager in your mouth.
All the thanks to my lovely former coworkers from St. Vincent who made this meal so incredibly special!!!
Federalist Pig - smoked dry wings & ranch
I’m a simple dry rub wings girly. Saucy wings have a time and place, but a spot with a dialed in dry rub speaks volumes to me. They have the juiciest freaking smoked wings with a dry rub going the extra mile. Bathe each bite in their savory ranch dip. Divine!
Super Tacos - Carne asada burrito
This is not gourmet, friends. This is a fatty infant-sized burrito for $12 served with neon yellow queso and a liquified salsa. This is something made to crush when drunk or hungover. It’s salty, well-filled, and humbling. Prepare to wait a little bit on a weekend to collect your takeout order while you slowly fade into oblivion.
Good stuff in Philly
Middle Child - Shopsin club
It’s a sin that I only recently tried Middle Child’s sandwich flagship shop.
The Shopsin club honors the late NYC deli legend, Kenny Shopsin, who ran his own place, Shopsin’s. I didn’t know Shopsin of before this sandwich, so I read his New Yorker obituary written by the prolific food writer who I aspire to be, Helen Rosner. If you have some free time, I encourage a read.
This sandwich has been on Middle Child’s menu since they opened and remains one of their best sellers. It is carefully layered with their house turkey, cranberry miso mayo, sweet pickles, bacon, avocado, bibb and held together between ciabatta. A snake-like unhinging of the jaw is required to get a proper bite that triggers a symphony of sweet, salty, creamy, crunchy, and briny.
Kismet Bagels - scooped everything bagel and pastrami lox
I flew a little too close to the sun with my order and added spicy everything cream cheese which I quickly realized is everything bagel seasoning cream cheese mixed with hot sauce. Too much salt and heartburn-induced symptoms ensued. But! The bagel is so perfectly chewy on the outside and pastrami lox would go great with a scallion cream cheese next time. You live and you learn.
Good stuff in the Big Apple
Greenberg’s Bagels - Partanna bagel sandwich and everything else
This is a $18 masterpiece collaboration with the olive oil brand, Partanna. The sandwich goes so hard with a Partanna olive cream cheese and smoked salmon and red onions doused in the brand’s olive oil. I like to think if I could morph into a bagel sandwich, it would be this one. Greenberg’s is so solid we ordered on Saturday and Sunday morning the weekend we stayed with our friend in the West Village. Nothing too crazy or over the top, just really solid bagels, spreads, and combos done really stinking well.
I Sodi - fried artichokes and lasagna
Both dishes are stunners in their own way. The fried artichokes are fried ever so delicately, taking on a papery, shatteringly light texture. How are these fried so lightly that there’s hardly a drop of oil on the dish? I could have just eaten these with a negroni and been happy as a clam, but there was lasagna to eat. The towering dish holds at least 12 layers of noodles, bechamel sauce, and sugo meat sauce rendered so low and slow. I’m not usually one to gravitate towards lasagna, but this was just exceptional.
Soothr - eggplant salad with fried poached egg
This Thai spot near Union Square is churning out tables. This eggplant salad was an absolute star alone. Roasted eggplant is amped up with lime juice, shallot, puffed crispy rice, chili powder, and topped with a poached egg that’s flash fried to give a flair of drama.
Abuqir Seafood - Every fish that your heart desires
Despite having 0 posts on Instagram, the Egyptian seafood spot has been making its rounds on TikTok as a “hidden gem” in Astoria. People flock to pick fresh seafood at the counter, and choose whether they want it grilled, baked, or fried. We filled our paper lined table with red snapper, shrimp, Sultan Ibrahim fish (small red sea bream), shrimp, octopus, and smelts. Sides of tahini sauce, tomato roasted eggplant, garlic vinegar eggplant, and a classic cucumber tomato salad brought everything to life. You really can’t go wrong here.
Rincon Melania - shrimp peanut stew
Don’t let the pending grade keep you from visiting this family-run Ecuadorian spot in Queens. The portions are so absurd, our server had to cut us off from ordering too much. It’s so hard to pick a favorite from this spread, but the shrimp and peanut stew stood out to me. Incredibly hearty, the nutty and sweet combination is grounded in earthy spices that tie everything together. Truly a warm hug in a bowl.
Golden Diner - honey butter pancake
We were sadly a little disappointed by everything except this pancake, so we are going to focus on the positives. I would go back for just the pancake! A stack of two fluffy, golden crispy hot cakes with a decadent honey butter sauce. Beautiful stuff.
Antique Garage - does a martini count?
This meal was overall just lovely. Service was incredibly attentive and kind, and the dishes were served and styled as you would expect for an old school Greek establishment with some Soho flair. I have to say, the dirty martini made it memorable. Served absolutely frigid, with some ice bits forming at the top, it was smooth, ever so slightly briny, and a pure delight.
Thanks for following through this very edited down version of my latest chronicles. Make sure to save any posts and follow me on Beli @merrysamuel for a deeper dive on everything!