Where Colin Ate: Bangkok Supper Club, Fedora, The Hawksmoor, Penny
Our columnist hits a few favorites during a hot, hot week. Plus: steak!
Colin Camac (aka @resyguynyc) is officially Blackbird’s “Strategic Sales Lead,” and unofficially is our resident insider’s insider. He is out, on the town seven nights a week, sniffing out the city’s best joints, skateboard in one hand, martini in the other.
This week, Steak Club brought me back to a reliable, familiar spot, and I stayed pretty close to my neighborhood for the long holiday week. Checked out a few old favorites as well as a new restaurant in the home of one of my former favorite spots in the city.
Colin
The Hawksmoor
📍 Gramercy Park
🍽️ Steakhouse
Steak Club brought us to English import The Hawksmoor this week. While we had all been to the restaurant on our own and had a nice time, this was the first visit on official business. We started in the bar room with our customary martinis and the version here is about as good as it gets at a steakhouse. Their version, called The Ultimate Martini, finished off with a spray of lemon oil, is a standout for me. After the club arrived, we were escorted into the main dining room, which is as nice a room as you can find, situated in an old bank with high ceilings and an overall grand feel. Our server could not have been more on it and outgoing. It was refreshing and shows you how much that can affect the meal and overall experience. Standout starters here are the Vietnamese-style oysters and Shrimp cocktail. I also always love a few lamb t-bones for the table. The lamb used to be available by the piece at the bar, but I am not sure that is still the case. For steaks, we went with the biggest porterhouse as well as the largest tomahawk they had in-house. The meat is cooked over coal that imparts a certain smoky flavor that's a signature of The Hawksmoor. Another thing that really sets them apart from other steakhouses in the city is the quality of the desserts. Most steakhouses seem to put little to no effort into their dessert offerings, but all of the desserts we tried were really well-executed and a great way to finish the meal.
Bangkok Supper Club
📍West Village
🍽️ Thai
After an event in Williamsburg, I was taking the L back to Manhattan, trying to figure out dinner for the evening. Do I hop off on 1st Ave and hit the Village/Alphabet City? Do I get off at 3rd Ave and check out something near Union Square, or pop into Yellow Rose for a rare non-lunch visit? In the end, I decided to take it to 8th and take my chances as a solo walk-in at the bar at Bangkok Supper Club. I hadn’t been in a few months, and even though I don’t really love eating Thai food solo (so many options, I always want to order more), the menu gives you a good amount of small plates without making me feel like I missed out on too much. BSC is also a spot I seem to run into people I know almost every time I go there. On this visit, my good friend Lala of the “Put It In My Mouth” podcast (season 3 out now) happened to be sitting right behind me with a group of friends while I was at the bar. Stuff like that always tells you that you’re in the right place. For food this visit, I started with the prawn satay, served not on skewers but as a composed plate with two scantily clad prawns, donning just their heads and tails, Fresno chilies, pickled cucumber, shallots, and a thick cashew butter sauce, playing the part of the traditional peanut accompaniment. The flavors come together really well, making it a great start to any meal. Following that was probably one of my favorite bites of the week, which was the khao mun gai, deep-fried stuffed chicken wings, stuffed with ginger sticky rice and soy bean powder. The crispy outer texture gives way to chewy rice and aromatic flavor, really hits. I could honestly eat a bucket of these. I finished up with the simply prepared whole branzino, butterflied and served with a nim jim seafood sauce consisting of lime, cilantro, garlic, fish sauce, and chilies. It is an amazing and traditional sauce that works on just about everything, but is really fantastic on simply prepared seafood. I ordered a side of rice to bring it all together and could not have left happier.
Penny
📍East Village
🍽️ Seafood
I was out with a friend the day before the holiday, and we figured it could be a great chance to stroll over to Penny as a late evening walk-in. We were lucky enough to immediately be seated at the long bar, which spans the whole space. I have written about Penny before, so I don’t need to go through it all again, but Penny is a restaurant that perfectly fits its space and is exactly what you want it to be. The food is simple but executed on the highest level with a great wine list and friendly staff. For this meal, we started with the ice box, all well shucked and sporting probably my favorite shrimp cocktail in the city. The bread here is a must-order, and yes, always with the anchovies unless you’re a monster. With the remnants of the bread, it is a nice pro move to order the always awesome stuffed squid in paprika sauce, perfect for dipping. Our final savory dish was a whole lobster served in a peppery butter sauce with a lemon for a little extra acidity. Always finish with the ice cream sandwich on housemade bread.
Quick hits, pop-ups & new openings
Fedora
📍West Village
🍽️ French
I ended up checking out the newly opened Fedora in the West Village last week and snuck in as a walk-in with a friend on a hot, rainy night. This is the 3rd iteration of Fedora and the second that I have been to. Formerly, Fedora was one of my favorite restaurants in the city when it was opened by Gabriel Stulman, with my close friend and incredible chef Mehdi Brunet-Benkritly running the kitchen. This being a space I had such fond memories of and was so close to, it made it hard for me to check out the new version, which was opened by the St Jardim team, interestingly, in the reverse order of how Mehdi and Gabe opened the two spaces years ago. The space feels like it has been reborn and is a bit brighter and more airy than in the past. It feels like a new space with a slight throwback feel, but it feels like its own thing. I had a few really nice bites during this meal and think this place could, much like its sister restaurant, become a staple neighborhood spot. The little gems with Mad River blue cheese and grilled dates is a really delicious salad served with large slices of blue cheese, scattered around the lettuce, and the sweetness of the dates rounding it out. I could eat that salad every day. We also really enjoyed the spaghetti with clams, which takes a detour from the norm by substituting spicier oregano for the traditional parsley, which really worked for me. Squid with quail eggs and parsley tastes exactly how it sounds, really delicious, and the merguez sausage with onions and peppers paired really well with a side of beans. Put all of that together with a great wine selection and a solid martini, and they have something worth checking out in this newest iteration.
Via Carota
📍West Village
🍽️ Italian
I have already written extensively about Via Carota, even giving you my perfect order, but lunch there on a sunny day is one of life’s simple pleasures. The food always hits the spot, and the room feels great during the day. It is also dramatically easier to get in for lunch, so that helps as well. The seafood salad is back for the season, and the Castelfranco has switched out for the Piselli salad; both are must-orders for me. Vitello tonnato is an ongoing special that is as good a version as there is around - sometimes a little light on tonnato, but still great. Finally, the grilled sardines are always a great choice when on offer. Served whole over escarole and green olives cooked down with garlic and oil is just a great Summer dish.
Highlife Burger
📍East Village
🍽️ Burger shop
After a long day of bar hopping around after my friend's BBQ, I was happy to check out the late-night hours at HighLife Burger (3 a.m. on the weekends). I ordered the single-patty signature burger, and it couldn't have been more satisfying, especially at that time in my state of mind. The burger tasted about as close to how I remember In-N-Out to taste, with the sharp raw onion cutting through and slathered in special sauce. Definitely worth checking out at any time, but especially late.
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Great read! Will go back to this once I go to Bangkok next month hehe
I too thought the original Fedora was awesome. Seemed like there was always a notable chef eating there on the few visits I made which usually speaks volumes