Restaurants
Scottish Sweeties Part 2: S. Luca’s Ice Cream Parlour
As a child, a trip to S. Luca’s ice cream parlor in Musselburgh, a port town very close to Edinburgh, was the greatest of treats. Sluca’s (my grandfather’s nickname for it), has been making the most unctuous ice cream since 1908, when Mr. Luca Scappaticcio came over from Italy and learned the craft from a Swiss sous chef (weird, right? aren’t Italians the ones who are kinda known for ice cream?). Sluca’s sundaes, especially the almighty Knickerbockerglory, are legendary, and I had to make a pilgrimage:
The Knickerbockerglory is a parfait made from vanilla and strawberry ice cream, with strawberry topping and whipped cream. The Praline Parfait is Neapolitan ice cream with chocolate sauce and hazelnuts. Both are quite tall and force you to improve your posture greatly in order to consume them. The Meringue Mess is vanilla ice cream floating in a butterscotch and freshly-cut banana soup, with a little crunchy meringue for texture. These 3 were, of course, parfaits parfaits.
At first, I scoffed at my mom’s Sticky Toffee Pudding order, as there were plenty more delightful sundaes to choose from, but she pointed out that an STP is good for my Scottish dessert research and also quite tasty, so I relented. It wasn’t sticky, so much as sweet and decadent. The cake was so moist, it sparkled like a mound of jewels. An STP’s toffee is typically made from black treacle (molasses), Demerara sugar (unrefined and brownish), and cream. Ours was quite warm, and the accompanying scoops of vanilla ice cream melted right into the toffee pool.
We brought some vanilla and strawberry ice cream home for my grandfather, who will almost certainly eat it smothered in extra-thick double cream, which I think is illegal in the U.S. My Grandpa is such a rebel.
S. Luca 32-38 High Street Musselburgh EH21 7AG Scotland 0131-665-2237 http://www.s-luca.co.uk/La Tía Delia – Congratulation, you’re in Paterson’s Peruvian Paradise
This past weekend, I learned that Paterson, NJ is a wonderful place, not only due to its breathtaking waterfalls, but also because of its historic silk industry, nearby American Labor Museum, and insanely good Peruvian food. Our friend and tour guide had to choose just one restaurant out of many, and that was La Tía Delia (or Aunt Delia, which makes me realize that the coffee liqueur, Tia Maria, must mean Aunt Maria). Apparently, any time you attach a familial name to food, people are more attracted to it– like “Grandma’s apple pie” sounds infinitely better than just plain-old “apple pie.” La Tía Delia made us the most delicious, homemade meal of rotisserie chicken, lamb stew, steak and onion stir-fry, creamy chicken & potatoes, and smokey bacon beans. It’s hard to imagine that there was any room left for dessert, but my friend spied some doughnut-like specimens on her way to the bathroom, so there was no question. Dessert and coffee in funny mugs were ordered in abundance:
The Arroz con leche was rich and creamy, with a healthy dusting of cinnamon and a hint of cloves. We then tried a mix of arroz con leche and mazamorra morada, which was even tastier. Mazamorra morada, apart from having a kick-ass name, is a dark purple, jelly-like substance made from purple corn (maiz morado), pineapple, potato flour, cloves, and cinnamon, which is the strongest flavor. During dinner, we had it in its drink form, chica morada. The flan had a nice, eggy, custardy consistency, and a sweet, liquidy syrup to slurp up with your spoon. Then there were the picarones, or fritters made from squash and sweet potato, which were the pièce de résistance. They were fresh from the fryer, crisp on the outside, moist and doughy on the inside. They weren’t very sweet on their own, but some thoughtful Peruvian way back when decided to serve them in a special syrup, made from chancaca (molasses tablet), orange peel, and (surprise, surprise) cinnamon & cloves. The result is sort of a cross between honey and corn syrup. One forkful of fritter + a dip in the syrup = Heaven. Should you decide to make your own pilgrimage to Paterson, make sure to come on a Saturday or Sunday, because Aunt Delia only makes her picarones on weekends.
La Tía Delia 28 Market StreetPaterson, NJ 07505 973-523-4550 c’mon, there’s no website, fool
D.C. Dessert Roundup – Capital Confections Part 4: Afterwords
Where else can you eat, drink, listen to music, and buy books, all in one place? Afterwords, part of Kramerbooks, that’s where, and not surprisingly, a D.C. institution. While I don’t think their desserts are anything to, uh, write home about– if it’s 3 in the morning on Saturday night, and you find yourself, as I often do, simply unable to go to bed until you’ve had a piece of goober pie, then this place is a godsend.
The goods (obtained via takeout in un-eco-friendly plastic containers):
The double chocolate cake had ok cake, ok frosting, and decent chocolate fudge– the problem was a large chunk of said frosting in the middle of the slice that was too sweet and rich to deal with. The pecan pie had a tasty enough filling with a dry, boring crust that is made to be left behind. The key lime pie was quite good, though, with a great balance of sweet and tart. The menu claims it’s made with real Key limes, which I’m inclined to believe, since it really was excellent– I’d eat this while half-asleep again.
Kramerbooks & Afterwords Café1517 Connecticut Avenue Washington, D.C. 20036 202-387-3825 http://www.kramers.com/index.cfm
Next stop: Baked and Wired
D.C. Dessert Roundup – Capital Confections Part 3: Café Saint-Ex
No, I don’t normally go for dessert after eating brunch, but I made an exception at Café Saint-Ex, named after The Little Prince author and aviator, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, after my dessert guide claimed that she didn’t care what I did, she was having dessert. I don’t back down on a dessert throw-down, plus I knew I was in good hands when I saw the dessert menu, which listed five unique-sounding desserts (not including the requisite ice cream and sorbet selections) and listed the pastry chef’s name at the bottom: Alison Reed. This lead me to believe that someone in the kitchen actually cares about sweets enough to put her name out there.
In his love letter to flying, Wind, Sand and Stars, Saint-Exupéry describes one of several desert crashes that he had. He and his navigator were dying of thirst and miraculously found an orange in their plane’s wreckage.
He wrote:
“Stretched out beside the fire I looked at the glowing fruit and said to myself that men did not know what an orange was. ‘Here we are, condemned to death,’ I said to myself, ‘and still the certainty of dying cannot compare with the pleasure I am feeling. The joy I take from this half of an orange which I am holding in my hand is one of the greatest joys I have ever known.”
I’m sure that he would have also enjoyed the Orange Ice Cream Sandwiches (with cinnamon chocolate sauce), which I chose in his honor:
The cookies had a wonderful buttery, oaty crunch, accompanied by the spike of orange zest. And what heaven to dip them into chocolate. I am quite a fan of the dipping dessert. You get to choose just how much sauce to use on each bite, you don’t have to worry about losing it to the open expanse of the plate, and you get to take your spoon and shamelessly eat the dredges yourself. The Raspberry Lemon Bread Pudding with white chocolate sauce and vanilla cream was surprisingly light with a sweet, lemony accent. The Nectarine Cobbler with basil ice cream was also delicious– how boring it would have been to use vanilla instead of basil ice cream. Being a part of the mint family, the basil was refreshing and perfectly balanced the cobbler’s richness.
My taste buds really soared with Chef Alison’s desserts.
Café Saint-Ex 1847 14th Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20009 202-265-STEXhttp://www.saint-ex.com/
Next stop: Afterwords (coming soon)
D.C. Dessert Roundup – Capital Confections Part 2: Good Stuff Eatery
“Herein, where good people make good stuff…” This sentiment is expressed on a historical landmark-like plaque outside D.C.’s popular Good Stuff burger joint, where my dessert guide informed me that one can also find amazing “handspun shakes.” Doesn’t the word “handspun” make you think of cotton candy or knitting wool or something equally charming & old-timey? I kinda thought you usually blend shakes, but “spinning” them takes it to that next level of homey-ness. We ordered three Mini-Moos ($3.75 each), which are made with their special “milk-ice-gelato-custard-cream” and your usual sundae fixins– behold:
If you like your shakes thick, fatty, and unslurpable, this is the place for you. Not looking for a cheek-ache, we decided not to even mess with straws. Instead, we popped off their lids immediately and dug in with our spoons. The Sourhop Hop Strawberry is a cute name, but there wasn’t anything sour about this wonderful shake– it just basically tasted like the best strawberry ice cream of my life. I also enjoyed the D-Lechable Leche, but it wasn’t really dulce de leche-flavored– more like coffee and caramel-flavored, much to my bean-hating friend’s consternation. The best of all was the Milky Way Malt, which had fudge, caramel, and candy chunks for texture– the concentrated bottom scrapings were so good, I went into one of my dessert trances.
Good work, good people of Good Stuff!
Good Stuff Eatery303 Pennsylvania Ave. S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003 202-543-8222 http://goodstuffeatery.com/
Next stop: Café Saint-Ex (posting soon)
Blue Water Grill – A “Caper” Caper, or, Why are there two capers in my dessert?
This past Saturday, I went to Blue Water Grill for a friend’s baby shower. I was pretty excited because I’d never been there before, and I heard their fish dishes are delish. It turns out the crush and noise level one experiences there during the brunch rush is not so appetizing. Neither was my “Warm Chocolate Molten Cake w/ Bittersweet Chocolate Crisp and Malt Crunch Ice Cream.”
I don’t know why I always fall for the molten chocolate cake thing. It’s usually a disappointment– with dry, tasteless crusts, and pudding-like, gelatinous insides. It’s like people think if the words “molten” and “chocolate” are put together, all will be right with the world. This one certainly fell into that slot, but with the addition of bland, Breyer’s-like ice cream and a weird green gel squirted along the plate’s perimeter. Neither myself nor my companion could place the gel’s flavor– it really tasted like those cheap colored frosting gels you decorate cookies with when you’re five years old. I also noticed a couple things I swore looked like capers lining the plate atop the gel. “What could they be?” I thought. “Cardamom pods, perhaps? Hmm, but no one else who ordered this cake has those things on their plate. But they can’t possibly be capers, because that would be so disgusting.” Well, it turns out they were capers, in all of their salty, pickley glory… and I was turned off of dessert for the rest of the day.
(Sorry no pics, but I felt it would be disrespectful to photograph my interloping capers as the baby momma’s momma had very kindly treated us to the brunch, and she was sitting right next to me.)
Bouley Bakery / Café – The Ultimate Lunch Option
If you work in or near Tribeca, please don’t read this post. If you do, and you gain a ton of weight as a result, then don’t say I didn’t warn you.
To get an idea of how good the food is here, just imagine actually eating at Bouley, the restaurant, but instead of having waiters serve you, you get it yourself. To call it a buffet, however, would call to mind– very inaccurately– memories of, say, Ponderosa. I mean, this place has duck à l’orange and the most decadent croques monsieurs of your life, for pete’s sake! You get to take your spoils into a fancy-pants dining room. Sure, the plush seating is somewhat stained and grotty, but what do you expect? I just like the fact that they trust the public to keep the mess in check. Plus, they’ve got real silverware and washable plastic water cups all ready for you, so yay for the environment. They’re only open until 8:30pm, and they’re not open on Saturdays, which makes me wonder if they’re worried people will decide to save some major dough and come here instead of Bouley. It’s really that good.