This past year brought lots of funky new dishes and hybrids from New York chefs. Some are worth savoring through 2015, while others should be dropped from menus like the Times Square Ball on New Year’s.
Belly up to hits like Sipping Broth, S’Mores Fries and the Milk and Cookie Shot, but don’t bother biting into a Rice Burger, Ramen Fries or a Donnoli. Here’s why.
HITS
HUSK MERINGUE
(Cosme, 35 E. 21st St., cosmenyc.com)
Cosme, Mexican Chef Enrique Olvera’s first restaurant in New York, has only been open since late October, but the husk meringue with corn mousse ($12) is already in the running to be the city’s most Instagrammed dessert of the year. Daily News critic Michael Kaminer wrote: “I doubt you’ll taste anything this year as good” about the dessert that’s made from a powder of pulverized corn husk leaves blended into a traditional meringue and a pudding of corn puree, cream and mascarpone.
S’MORES FRIES
(Sticky’s Finger Joint, 484 Third Ave., stickysfingerjoint.com)
This salty-sweet mashup of French fries and s’mores ingredients seems so wrong, yet tastes so right. A large basket of fries is topped with homemade chocolate sauce, marshmallow cream along with whole marshmallows and crumbled graham crackers. The side dish ($5.51) is enough for several to share.
SIPPING BROTH
(Brodo, 200 1st Ave., brodonyc.com)
Paying $8.50 for a large serving of broth in a coffee cup sounds insane, until Brodo came along. New Yorkers have been lining up at the take-out window in East Village restaurant Hearth for specialtis like the Hearth Broth. Made with chicken, turkey and beef, it’s deeply flavorful, can be souped up with extras like mushroom tea, ginger juice and Calabrian chili oil, and advocates say that the nutrients and gelatin in the broth can help a variety of ailments, from digestive issues to achy joints.
PROSCIUTTO ICE CREAM
(OddFellow’s Ice Cream Co., 175 Kent Ave., oddfellowsnyc.com)
Don’t cringe until you try this carnivorous confection ($4 for one scoop, sold in limited quantities). Chef and co-owner Sam Mason dices up Pat Lafrieda prosciutto and lets it carmelize in a pan to render all the fat. Next, it’s set aside and the pan is deglazed with milk and cream. The meat gets blended into the cream and strained several times before Mason adds swirls of fig marmalade. It’s the perfect balance of sweet, smoky and salty.
MILK AND COOKIE SHOT
(Dominique Ansel, 189 Spring St., dominiqueansel.com.)
This cookie doesn’t crumble. New York’s Cronut (croissant-donut hybrid) king Dominique Ansel launched the Milk and Cookie shot, a chocolate chip cookie shaped into a shot glass and lined with milk chocolate that holds four ounces of vanilla milk ($3 available in limited quantities). To avoid your cookie cup getting soggy, take the shot of milk first, then nibble on the chocolate chip shell.
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MISSES
RICE BURGERS
(Yonekichi, 238A E 9th St., yonekichiny.com)
After 2013’s ramen burger craze, we had high hopes for this rice burger stand, which opened over the summer in the East Village. But while filling options were enticing like the Tsukune ($7.75) — a chicken meatball with shishito peppers and scallion — the rice buns fell apart when we picked them up.
GOLD LEAF LOBSTER ROLL
(BLT Fish, 21 W. 17th St., ethospitality.com)
This summer catch loaded with caviar, fancy French butter, hand-grown chives and 1 3/4 pounds of lobster meat is a meal fit for the 1% — and unless you’re Donald Trump, it’s not worth the $160 price tag (Or $13.33 a bite). We give chef Luke Venner credit for his meticulous presentation. He poaches the lobster in high-fat French Beurremont butter and lemon before piling it high in an Amy’s Bread roll, covers it with mounds of Siberian Osetra caviar and chives before accessorizing it with 24-karat (flavorless) gold leaf. Bling should be worn, not eaten.
RAMEN FRIES
(Berg’n, 899 Bergen St., bergn.com)
Keizo Shimamoto, creator of the Ramen Burger — which had the longest line at Smorgasburg in the summer of 2013 — tried to one up himself with Ramen Fries. Shimamoto slices a ramen bun into steak fry-sized strips then double fries them. The well-done noodles are soggy on the inside and lack the proper crunch you get from potato fries.
DONNOLI
(Alidoro Midtown, 18 E. 39th St., alidoronyc.com)
Pastry chefs around the country tried to think up the next Cronut, but this doughnut-cannoli hybrid known as the Donnoli at Alidoro in Midtown, doesn’t rise to our expectations. The $4 pastry lacks the crispy and flaky texture of a doughnut and looks more like a cross between a croissant and a pig in a blanket. The baker’s biggest flaw is leaving the pastry naked without piling on powdered sugar, and the ricotta cheese filling yearns for chocolate chips. Leave the hybrid sweet treats to Dominique Ansel.
MATZOH BALL MARROW SOUP
(Empire Diner, 210 10th Ave., empire-diner.com)
This soup looks as bad as it tastes. The thick, gravy-like consistency of the dark brown broth tastes more like French Onion soup than the light and savory chicken fat broth of a traditional Matzah ball soup. Chef Amanda Freitag of Empire Diner — a Chelsea icon since 1946 — revamped the menu in January and added the Jewish comfort food dish she prepares with root vegetables, poached chicken and bone marrow.
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CHEFS THAT FELL HARD IN 2014
Lots of chefs got in hot water this year.
– “Cake Boss” Buddy Valastro pleaded guilty to driving while impaired in November, as part of a deal that included a 90-day license suspension, a $300 fine and agreeing to take part in a drinking-and-driving education program. He allegedly told officers, “You can’t arrest me, I’m the Cake Boss,” after being pulled over in his Corvette and testing just above the legal blood alcohol limit.
– Todd English, the chef and restaurateur behind Ca Va Brasserie and the Todd English Food Hall at The Plaza Hotel, was arrested at the end of August in the Hamptons for alleged drunk driving.
– Paula Deen, who had an epically bad 2013, tried to reform her image in 2014, appearing on the “Today” show to discuss her use of racial epithets, as well as launch the digital subscription site Paula Deen Network.
– Travel channel host Adam Richman, famous for shows like “Man v. Food,” created a social media stew after posting a photo about his weight loss on Instagram hashtagged #thinsipiration, associated with encouraging eating disorders. After receiving criticism, he suggested that one commenter commit suicide, leading to the indefinite delay of his latest Travel Channel Show “Man Finds Food.”
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2014’s MOST OUTRAGEOUS CHAIN DISHES
1. Waffle Taco. As part of their revamped breakfast menu, Taco Bell introduced the Waffle Taco in March, a folded waffle filled with eggs, cheese, bacon or sausage and served with a side of syrup.
2. Oreo Churros. J&J Snack Foods Corp. created a hybrid of the fried-dough dessert and America’s favorite sandwich cookie. It’s sold at theme parks, fairs, sporting events and theme parks.
3. Unlimited Appetizers. TGI Fridays began offering a gut-busting promotion of unlimited appetizers in July for $10. Diners can get as many refills as they want of dishes like Loaded Potato Skins, Mozzarella Sticks or Tuscan Spinach Dip.
4. Doritos Loaded. The tortilla chip company partnered with 7-Eleven to create a snack of melty nacho cheese packed into a Doritos-flavored crust, similar to a mozzarella stick.
5. Pizza Hut’s entire new menu. In November, the chain announced a major overhaul of their menu, including unusual new pizza flavors — like a curry crust — and the option to add sriracha flavored crust and sauces to everything.
