my date with new york food royalty!
Somehow this week I managed to one-up myself in the yum department. Earlier this month I made jerk chicken like, five times until I got it so right that I keot having dinner parties with different people invited, just to show it off. The week began by my being a guest on Gary Vaynerchuk's Wine Library TV. Since Gary is my hero in wine, attitude, marketing genious, and coolness, this was, of course, the BEST. THING. EVER. You can watch it ( episode #494) any time at http://tv.winelibrary.com.
As if things couldn't get any better, yesterday I had a lunch date with New York City's food royalty, Jesse Sheidlower (OED Editor-at-large and well known NYC foodie) and Robert Sietsema (food writer for the village voice and various other publications).
Jesse and Bob had arranged for us to be on a certain train, Bob on the platform, and we'd meet at a specific stop and ride to Jersey City to eat at one of the many vegetarian Indian restaurants that line the 800 block of Newark Avenue. Once out of the subway and into the humid light of this late June afternoon, there the three of us were, Jesse looking proper in his khaki suit and blue polka-dotted tie with Oxford wing tip shoes, Bob in brightly colored shorts with vertical stripes and a shirt with horizontal stripes, and me, straight outta Los Angeles with a very casual skirt, tank top, and flip flops.
We followed Bob, who cheerfully pointed out every building, the nuances of its deterioration, explaining the history of the town like he'd written a thesis on it or something. Every restaurant, bakery, or pub had a story, 'it used to be a this-or-a-that, now it's an Irish bakery with great bread', 'look at that big stone wall that used to be the end of a bridge that doesn't exist any more', 'this block is more Indian, this one more Filipino'.
We arrived at Newark Avenue, the smells of incense and garam masala wafting subtly at us with a cool breeze or air conditioned air every time we passed by a shop. Bob pointed out all of the restaurants, detailing which ones were which, and we finally stopped at Sri Ganesh's Dosa House, at 809 Newark Avenue, Jersey City, NJ 07306. The place itself was simple enough, nothing fancy, with numbers on top of veneered tables, that we were meant to pick up and give them with our order, that way, when the food is ready, they'd call our number. Bob pointed out that we'd be eating Southern Indian food, allvegetarian but not Gujarati. We let Bob order for us, and what we hot were Butter Mysone Masala Dosa, Masala Idly, and Upma. What it tasted like was like nothing I've ever tried before, even in my native LA's area of Artesia.
Jesse and I sat down while Bob got us water and sambal. The Sambal, though related to the Indonesian chili sauce of the same name, was more like a tasty, spicy soup with onions and squash. The Idly was a soft, breadlike textured substance made of ground lentils and rice and topped with fresh cilantro, and served with a coconut relish that would make appearances with the rest of the food, too. The delicious Upma, was sort of like cream of wheat. It had lentils and black mustard seeds in it, and also was topped with fresh cilantro, and served with the coconut relish and a hot red sauce on the side. Bob explained that it, like wheat, was introduced to India by the English.
Probably my favorite of the dishes, and the restaurant's namesake, was the Dosa, an extremely thin crispy pancake, awesome by itself, and here stuffed with potatoes, that cam with the coconut relish and an unusually fantastic spicy peanut sauce. It was amazing!
All in all, I felt between Jesse's word knowledge and Bob's food knowledge, I was hanging out with the equivalent of man-cyclopedia's, only they were living breathing, and the opposite of dull, and said cuss words at their will.
This was one of the greatest and most informative food adventures ever, and now I can strive to bring this kind of awesomeness to my LA foodie friends. HOORAY!
As if things couldn't get any better, yesterday I had a lunch date with New York City's food royalty, Jesse Sheidlower (OED Editor-at-large and well known NYC foodie) and Robert Sietsema (food writer for the village voice and various other publications).
Jesse and Bob had arranged for us to be on a certain train, Bob on the platform, and we'd meet at a specific stop and ride to Jersey City to eat at one of the many vegetarian Indian restaurants that line the 800 block of Newark Avenue. Once out of the subway and into the humid light of this late June afternoon, there the three of us were, Jesse looking proper in his khaki suit and blue polka-dotted tie with Oxford wing tip shoes, Bob in brightly colored shorts with vertical stripes and a shirt with horizontal stripes, and me, straight outta Los Angeles with a very casual skirt, tank top, and flip flops.
We followed Bob, who cheerfully pointed out every building, the nuances of its deterioration, explaining the history of the town like he'd written a thesis on it or something. Every restaurant, bakery, or pub had a story, 'it used to be a this-or-a-that, now it's an Irish bakery with great bread', 'look at that big stone wall that used to be the end of a bridge that doesn't exist any more', 'this block is more Indian, this one more Filipino'.
We arrived at Newark Avenue, the smells of incense and garam masala wafting subtly at us with a cool breeze or air conditioned air every time we passed by a shop. Bob pointed out all of the restaurants, detailing which ones were which, and we finally stopped at Sri Ganesh's Dosa House, at 809 Newark Avenue, Jersey City, NJ 07306. The place itself was simple enough, nothing fancy, with numbers on top of veneered tables, that we were meant to pick up and give them with our order, that way, when the food is ready, they'd call our number. Bob pointed out that we'd be eating Southern Indian food, allvegetarian but not Gujarati. We let Bob order for us, and what we hot were Butter Mysone Masala Dosa, Masala Idly, and Upma. What it tasted like was like nothing I've ever tried before, even in my native LA's area of Artesia.
Jesse and I sat down while Bob got us water and sambal. The Sambal, though related to the Indonesian chili sauce of the same name, was more like a tasty, spicy soup with onions and squash. The Idly was a soft, breadlike textured substance made of ground lentils and rice and topped with fresh cilantro, and served with a coconut relish that would make appearances with the rest of the food, too. The delicious Upma, was sort of like cream of wheat. It had lentils and black mustard seeds in it, and also was topped with fresh cilantro, and served with the coconut relish and a hot red sauce on the side. Bob explained that it, like wheat, was introduced to India by the English.
Probably my favorite of the dishes, and the restaurant's namesake, was the Dosa, an extremely thin crispy pancake, awesome by itself, and here stuffed with potatoes, that cam with the coconut relish and an unusually fantastic spicy peanut sauce. It was amazing!
All in all, I felt between Jesse's word knowledge and Bob's food knowledge, I was hanging out with the equivalent of man-cyclopedia's, only they were living breathing, and the opposite of dull, and said cuss words at their will.
This was one of the greatest and most informative food adventures ever, and now I can strive to bring this kind of awesomeness to my LA foodie friends. HOORAY!
posted by sara leib at 7:54 AM
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