Where Colin Ate: Emmett's, Hellbender, Chada
Plus: when inexperienced servers are a good thing
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.
Even now, restaurants still surprise me. It’s the little details, or the things you never noticed before, that’ll hit you mid meal. One such moment happened to me last week at a new Thai spot, and I came to this conclusion: inexperienced staff, from time to time (let’s be reasonable here), can actually be a good thing. Sure, maybe they’re a little green, and the steps of service aren’t absolutely perfect, but—man!—with such naivety comes the type of genuine service that can be lacking in your more buttoned-up and well-oiled places. Hospitality is human, after all, which sometimes means you get to be on the endearing end of imperfect service, and we’re all the better for it.
Thanks for coming to my TED Talk,
Colin
Emmett’s
📍Soho
🍽️ Pizza
A few weeks back, I brought Emmett and my friend Chuckie to Chez Fifi for a fun night uptown. It was the first time both of them had met and after an amazingly awkward exchange over who would handle wine list duties they hit it off (over their mutual love of great wine, of course). Myself, I don’t care either way but can definitely appreciate a nice glass or bottle over dinner. Anyway, since that dinner, Chuckie, Emmett, and I have been planning to meet up and crack some bottles — following a week’s worth of texts, we finally made it happen. On a warm evening, we met at OG Emmett’s on MacDougal (personally I prefer Grove for the full bar, but OG is full of charm) and it was packed, with all the windows open to add to the vibes. We ended up sitting at the bar and soon expanded to a solid group of five gluttons — all of us paired high end wine with some of my favorite bar food around. We started with the mozzarella sticks, which are as good a version as anywhere, plus the best Chicago dog in the city. Emmett also sent out a new dog he is playing around with that’s topped with cheese sauce, a pickle spear, onions, and fries — I definitely recommend ordering it. For pizza, we went with a best of both worlds approach, getting a deep dish as well as a tavern-style. The deep dish was half pepperoni, half plain, and for the tavern-style, half sausage and half plain. A few of the wines we had were a 2016 Chassagne-Montrachet from Jean-Claude Ramonet, a 2020 Chablis Premier Cru from Vincent Dauvissat, and a 2005 Mouton Rothschild that I swear was an incredible pairing with the thin crust sausage pie. It was a really fun night and I feel lucky to get to try some of these wines that I personally don’t get to see every day or usually even at all.
Chada
📍Greenwich Village
🍽️ Thai
Coming from the former chef of Tong in BK is Chada, a brand new Thai restaurant in Greenwich Village in the former longtime home of Da Silvano. The space has a pretty kitschy feel, while the menu skews toward the higher end of Thai food in NYC. One of the things I found most endearing about the restaurant is how eager and pleasant the staff was. Sure, it felt a little green, but it was some of the most genuine service I have had in a while. The food was honestly really great, and I would happily go back again. The first few courses were also delivered at lightning speed, which was much appreciated as my friend and I were absolutely starving after one of the first long hot spring days. We started with the surf and turf dumplings filled with shrimp, pork, water chestnut, and scallion, all of which came out absolutely piping hot. The soft crunch of the chestnut added a really nice texture to the dumpling. Following that we got two of my all-time favorite Thai dishes. The first was the som tum (papaya salad) with marinated raw crab. This was a much milder version of the raw crab than I’ve had in the past. It still boasted a slightly sweet flavor, but not nearly the salty flavor bomb I was expecting. My other favorite dish that we had was the yum nam, a crispy rice salad with fermented pork, lime, curry paste, shallot, ginger, chili, and peanuts. Although a bit mild on the sour porky flavor, this was a really solid version, where the lime cut through the spice, and you still got a hint of the pork. My favorite dishes of the night were the large plates. First, was a really great version of Khao Soi (def ask for extra shallots) with tender pieces of chicken thigh in a silky coconut curry broth with egg noodles. It was as good a version as I have had in the city. The other was the whole steamed branzino in chili lime broth, boned for easy access. A really solid dish that is a classic, but always a favorite. We finished the meal with mango sticky rice — a plate I always order when it’s on the menu.
Hellbender
📍Ridgewood
🍽️ Mexican-American
I’d been meaning to get over to Hellbender for what seems like forever already and finally made it in with a friend for a late brunch last weekend. I had previously gone during the spot’s early days when it was mostly bar focused. That first visit followed a great meal at their sister restaurant Rolo’s. All of which is to say that I’d been itching to try Chef Yara Herrera’s food ever since. Brunch service was packed and the restaurant felt great. We were quickly able to scoop up a few seats at the bar and I immediately ordered a randomly delicious green juice off the menu. The food was pretty much all hits from there, starting with a nicely soft scrambled egg tostada with beans, cheddar, and a really mild but tasty salsa macha. It was a great first bite while we were starving. We followed that with the fried Oaxacan cheese, which was basically a lighter version of your typical mozz sticks with a tomatillo salsa. The crispy lamb tacos were great little bites covered in an avocado salsa and had a great gamey flavor you’d look for in lamb. Finally, we finished with the showstopping masa pancakes, which come two fluffy pancakes to an order and a big square of cinnamon butter and syrup. The pancakes themselves had wonderfully crispy edges that gave way to a light corn flavor that became even more pronounced as the cakes cooled.
Quick Hits, Pop-ups & New Openings
Shy’s Burgers at Blackbird Club
📍Greenwich Village
🍽️ Burger pop-up
Last week, we kicked off our residency with Parcelle Wine with a burger pop-up with Shy’s Burgers. Shy’s started making burgers around town during the pandemic that got rave reviews from the Instagram community. I first got to try them at their previous Greenwich Village residency at Mimi last summer and thought the burger was a real contender in the smashburger genre. I finally had one that was actually cooked by the man himself on the first day of his Blackbird Club pop-up and I was absolutely blown away by his signature burger, a double patty with American cheese, a mustardy special sauce, onions, pickles, and chilies, which to me is what puts this burger over the top. I also tried the special edition Blackbird Burger, which featured a thick patty with demi glace, togarashi mayo, and spring onions. Both were really great burgers, but I think the classic was the one I would go back to over and over. Such a great way to kickoff our new spot with so many more fun things to come.
Maxi’s Noodle
📍Chinatown
🍽️ Chinese
Maxi’s Noodle is one of the best Chinese noodle shops in Queens and they recently opened up on Mott St. in Chinatown. It had been on my list for a bit and I was happy to find it is now available for delivery right to your door in lower Manhattan. I ordered the simple wontons in broth and they were absolutely delicious. We’re talking plump and delicately wrapped, bursting with shrimp, and the perfect chewy texture. It was so simple and better than it had any right to be for $14.
Mitsuru
📍Greenwich Village
🍽️ Sushi
Paid another visit to Chef Mitsuru at his eponymous restaurant. I’d previously written at length about how much I respect him and love the feel of this place, so I’ll keep it short here. This is one of the best under $200 omakases around. The bar has options for either $175 or $275, so there is some flexibility. Last week, I went with the shorter option and it hit just right. Chef knows my love of hikarimono (silverfish) and made sure my tasting had several types. My friend who prefers more mild tasting fish got different options, which was a really nice touch and something that happens when a chef gets to know your preferences.
Leon’s
📍Union Square
🍽️ Italian
I was 100 percent influenced by Leon’s Instagram featuring a post about their lunch-only lamb burger. I had a meeting scheduled and there was no doubt in my mind where I was going and what I was ordering. A friend and I got a few great starters, including the standout falafel on a small pool of tahina and a wonderful salad of peas and favas brightened up with little hunks of cheese and bread on the side. It tasted like spring. The lamb burger was everything I wanted it to be — lamby in the best way with a heavy black pepper crust, cooked a proper mid rare. A great new entry to the burger scene in NYC.
Le Doyenne (Paris) at Bridges Night 2
📍Chinatown
🍽️ French
Not much more you can say when James Edward Henry comes to town to do a two-night dinner with one of the most popular restaurants in NYC. This was one of the better pop-up meals I’ve had from start to finish, and it definitely captured the spirit of the one of a kind experience you get at Le Doyenne. Menu highlights were the beautiful coppa from the farm, squid with onions, ink, and seaweed butter, and an absolutely lights out lobster dish with bisque. Lucky to have been a last minute invite to this fantastic meal.
Emmets is amazing, love Blackbird!