Although it has since re-opened, when word spread a few months ago that a fire had closed Great Jones for the foreseeable future, we were concerned. It wouldn’t be right for the lights to go out without an Infatuation review. Having lived on Mulberry and Houston for a couple of years, Great Jones served as a perfect Neighborhood Hang, reliable for a quick burger or Chronic Brunch in a pinch. While the food isn’t saving lives or changing the world, it’s satisfying enough and reasonably affordable. In a NoHo area flooded with sexy “it” restaurants, an Old New York style hole in the wall is nice to have in your back pocket. Respect.
The owners of Little Giant have a new venture in Chelsea, a “fun” neighborhood restaurant serving “refined comfort food”. We’re not sure that Tipsy Parson feels particularly refined, but it definitely feels overthought. They’ve gone to great lengths to replicate a Southern country cafe in New York City, down to quirky plates decorating the wall, an antique phone, and kitschy old-fashioned desserts and snacks. But that’s just the problem. After a few meals here it’s apparent that they’ve done a perfect job of creating the concept, but at the cost of under-delivering on the food. The majority of the fare falls somewhere between unimpressive and decent – possibly a result of all that “refining”. Comfort food is comfort food when eating it makes you feel like calories make you smarter and your problems don’t exist. Fried chicken with honey and hot sauce on top of a fucking donut. That’s comfort food. Unfortunately you won’t find much of that feel-good decadence at Tipsy Parson. If you’re in the neighborhood searching for a meal to soothe you, hit Cookshop.
Our discovery of Nyonya was ultimately the result of a discussion over dinner at Fatty Crab. I was eating there with friends well versed in Malaysian cuisine, and they insisted that while Fatty Crab may be good, it’s a travesty to enjoy it without knowing the real deal. Hence, a Nyonya dinner was put on the books, and the experts were going to show us the way. We’re glad they did.
Nyonya is well known as one of the few real Malasyian restaurants in New York City. It is loved equally among people who were raised on food like this, and those that more casually enjoy cuisine of the region. The menu is huge, and you will find traditional Malaysian dishes like Nasi Lamak and Prawn Mee, but you’ll also see Phad Thai and other more well known regional items. The food is excellent, and everything is cheap, which means plenty of room left in your budget for Tiger beers. After a few visits, we’ve decided our friends were right. We won’t exactly be running back to Fatty Crab to drop four times the money on an “interpretation” of the real thing.
In the music biz, we believe that good music will eventually prevail. If you keep putting out great records, your time in the spotlight will come. Take long time Infatuation favorite Phoenix for example. They spent the better part of the last decade flying under the mainstream radar, releasing perfect indie-pop albums that anyone who actually paid attention to, fell in love with. They finally got what’s been coming to them this past year in the form of a breakout single, “1901” and the Grammy for “Best Alternative Album.” The same philosophy can be applied in the kitchen. When you’re consistently cookin’ up the chronic, you can’t hide for long. Hell, even if you’re illegally preparing the perfect lobster roll and selling them through your mail slot in Brooklyn, someone in this town will get wind of it.
We’ve long considered Yerba Buena home to one of the more criminally underrated menus around. It was one of the first rave reviews we ever posted on this site, and for good reason. The food is tremendous. Famous for their cocktails, YB doesn’t receive the kind of culinary critical love it damn well deserves. Possibly because the original East Village location is slightly out of place – a more upscale, expensive restaurant in an area that caters to the exact opposite. While Yerba Buena EV will remain their less well known flagship, it’s their new West Village spot, Yerba Buena Perry, that’s set to catch fire like Bluth’s Frozen Banana Stand and blow their cover. … read more
Being David Chang’s wing-man apparently gets old pretty quickly. Despite having been a part of one of the most obsessed over and successful Manhattan food empires well, ever, Joaquin Baca decided to sell his Momofuku shares and open his own spot in Brooklyn. Can you blame him? It’s no fun when the other guy gets all the credit (and curses at you all day). Baca’s departure from Momo and his “return” to the Southern flavors he was brought up on has created a nice little food buzz across the dining community, so we decided to check it out.
We dropped by The Star before Hot Chip played Music Hall of Williamsburg a couple of weeks back. It’s an inviting spot, with a humble demeanor and a laid back, first come, first serve attitude. We were pleasantly surprised to grab a table without having to wait during prime time. While there certainly are some gems on the menu (we dug the cornbread, bacon wrapped trout and the country fried steak), some of the more traditional dishes left us scratching our heads. The Dr. Pepper ribs were just bad, which is ridiculous considering our waitress claimed they were everyone’s favorite. The braised pork shank was massive, but it was missing the magic. Unfortunately, The Star isn’t the home run we were expecting. More like a solid double in the gap. If you order right, you can have a successful face-stuffing feast – you get a ton of food for the price. Arrive hungry, leave full (and with leftovers), but don’t expect to be blown away.
Photo Credit: Robyn Lee/Serious Eats
Giveaway: Dinner On Us
