Where Colin Ate: Sunday Special
A double header from our columnist this week
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.
Happy Father’s Day to all who celebrate, including my own, who taught me the finer points on what makes a great restaurant, from a greasy spoon all the way up to the fine dining he introduced me to as a kid. If you’ve got dining plans with your old man today, enjoy, and if not, take a minute to dip into that nostalgia of meals spent with loved ones — it’s what it’s all about.
In the meantime, here’s a bonus post on some recent spots I hit, all of which need to be added to your restaurant rotation asap.
Colin
Nudibranch
📍East Village
🍽️ Korean-Spanish
I had an awesome meal at the criminally underrated Nudibranch. After checking out his sandwich at the Strange Delight pop-up last week Jaeki Cho (Righteous Eats) and I decided to grab an early week dinner and Nudibranch seemed like a great place to go. I have had a few bites here previously while bouncing around the East Village but never felt like I sat down for a full meal. I also have wanted to check out their awesome looking duck dish since I first saw it a few months back. We rolled into a solid Monday (yes, awesome Monday night option) service and had reserved seats at the bar. The team was nice enough to start me off with a small splash of bubbles to get the ball rolling, and even though I wasn’t looking to booze much on the night it’s always nice to be welcomed this way. The menu here is a really fun blend of Korean and Spanish cuisines that honestly goes together very well. We started off with a small caviar bite that I believe was a dollop of crème fraîche topped with salmon roe and caviar and served with a housemade chip for dipping. It was a great bite to get the palate going with bright briny flavors. That was followed by one of the best versions of frog legs around, lightly fried with bright lemongrass, galangal, and ginger. They ate like chicken wings in the best way possible. A small dish of hamachi with blood orange in a yuzu vinaigrate arrived next with a super clean flavor and fish cut perfectly to accentuate the texture. To break up the meal with a nice mid course we ordered the asparagus salad with sugar snap peas, tahini and boquerones — so many of my favorite things together could never be a bad thing. One of my favorite dishes on the menu is the cold soba topped with salmon roe and bottarga in a pleasantly light shiro dashi. It is a perfect “pasta” type course and hits me with all sorts of nostalgia from eating cold soba with ikura at 15 East for so many years in the early aughts. Finally, the dish of the night was the 14 day dry aged duck served as two breasts atop a fragrant herby rice and served with pickled ramps, scallion and herb salad, scallion pancakes and what I think was a gochujang dipping sauce. It was a really great dish for sharing with a group or just going all in with a friend. We ended up running into our friend Jee Kim, the owner of 8282, who sat next to us and helped us polish the whole thing off.
Razza
📍Jersey City
🍽️ Pizza
In anticipation of this week's F&F pop-up with Chef Chris Bianco and the Santoro sisters Vicky and Carola from Ti Amo in Argentina, I was invited to join The Franks along with the sisters and their lovely mother Susana at Razza in Jersey City. Pretty much every time I come out here for work I end up staying for service — it’s just that good. I arrived early as I had just been bumming around the area and started with an icy negroni which tasted about perfect after the first real day of oppressive heat. The Franks were arriving on Frank F’s boat with the rest of the crew and showed up a few moments later after literally getting the full NYC boat tour. The menu is very straightforward at Razza with a few salads, meatballs, and a ton of great pizza. Chef Dan was in the house and nice enough to order for us and walk us through most of the dishes and stories behind the food. He’s one of the nicest guys in the business and it’s always great getting a chance to catch up with him. The highlights on this visit started with the absolutely must order bread and butter tasting which comes with thee very different butters, each done up and aged differently and made with different cultures that give each a very unique flavor. The first is just their wonderful house butter followed by a more creamy, slightly acidic variation, and finally the last aged butter using cheese cultures that tastes very much like a deliciously spreadable slightly funky cheese. All are perfectly paired with their delicious housemade bread. I loved the small bowl of chickpeas done up with beautiful olive oil and parmagiano. It reminded me of a warm chickpea salad my mom would make for Summer barbecues and it hit the nostalgia just right. The meatballs are always tasty, arriving in tomato sauce with a large dollop of ricotta surrounded by six balls. It’s also a great dish to dip the buttery bread into. For the pizzas, the highlights for me were the margherita, which is as good a version as there is anywhere. The crust was perfectly charred with a great sourdough flavor on the finish. Another crowd favorite was the dandelion pie with wilted bitter dandelion greens paired with parmigiano, confit garlic, anchovies, and lemon that hit all the spots. I also think the calabrese should not be missed — fresh mozzarella, ricotta, fermented chili paste, onions, and parm. It was probably my favorite of the night. I can’t wait until Chef Dan comes with Chef Marc Vetri for their pizza party with The Franks later this Summer!
Quick hits, Pop-ups & New openings
Super Burrito x Verdugo Hot Sauce
📍Williamsburg
🍽️ Mexican
I made my way over to Super Burrito in Williamsburg for their recado negro burrito pop up with Verdugo Hot Sauce. I have had some really solid stuff at Super Burrito (dankwrap is undefeated), but this one-day only burrito may have been one of the best burritos I have ever had. Slow cooked pork in a housemade mole-style sauce, layered with tallow fried beans, monterey jack, avocado, onion, cabbage, and sneaky delicious fried plantains that added awesome crispy little bites throughout. The burrito came with a salsa verde but was really leveled up with the extra spicy Verdugo hot sauce. If this gets added to the regular menu it will be an absolute game changer.
Anton’s
📍West Village
🍽️ American
We had a really nice work dinner at Anton’s with the team from Complex after our successful partnership with them at the first NYC Family Style Food Fest a few weeks back. Anton’s to me is such a great neighborhood restaurant, a place that is still fairly new (in the grand scheme of things) but feels timeless as though it has been there forever. We had a pre-set menu for the group but I still needed to add on a few more favorites as there are certain non-negotiable items when I dine there. The most important one being their really great chicory salad with stilton cheese and hazelnuts that is just an amazing combo pulling the best flavors out of all three ingredients.
Mitsuru
📍Greenwich Village
🍽️ Sushi
I had another great omakase at Mitsuru last week. I love the room, love the feel of the place, and don’t think there is a better deal in town for some really high level sushi. Don’t sleep on the wine and sake lists either as they are some of the best around thanks to being part of the Parcelle group of restaurants. Also, it’s one of the best places for a splurge of your $FLY now that they are live on Blackbird.
Le Veau d’Or
📍Upper East Side
🍽️ French
Yeah, yeah, back here again…I really just can’t stop. Le Veau d’Or is probably my favorite restaurant in the city right now. From the room to the people, everything is right on point every single time. I have never come here and not been friendly with a minimum of two other tables who are already in the room, it’s just that kind of place.
Veau is always a good choice