Cones

Since my first encounter with corn ice cream at Centrico in Tribeca six years ago, I have been on a quest to find easy, no-strings-attached corn ice cream for sale among the various ice cream shops on the city. So when I was alerted by a friend that Cones carried corn ice cream, I made a mental note to pay them a visit. The opportunity presented itself when I met a friend for dinner at Keste and noticed during the wait that Cones was right across the street! I immediately hatched a plan to coerce my dining partner into getting ice cream after what would probably be a rather sizeable pizza dinner. The minute I spotted him bounding down the street towards me, stomach empty, I made my pitch. "See that ice cream store across the street? We're going after this."

The industrial, slightly sterile character of Cones belies the care and innovation that clearly goes into the making of their ice cream. Under the grayish fluorescent lights, stainless steel tubs of almond cream, yogurt gelato and ginger ice cream sit in a seemingly endless row of flavors, clamoring to be sampled and scooped up. After much deliberation, I decided on a scoop of corn ice cream and a scoop of yogurt gelato.

Corn ice cream and yogurt gelato: Cones serves their corn ice cream with a dash of cinnamon, in keeping with the dessert's Latin American roots. The cinnamon lent a faint kick to the ice cream, which had captured the natural sweetness of a bushel of summer corn. I was surprised to find that the ice cream contained actual kernels of corn. Though I loved this ice cream, I could have done without the fibrous kernel casings interspersed throughout. They lend little to the wonderful corn flavor that is already present, and spoil the slippery smooth texture of the ice cream. The yogurt gelato was similarly well-done, although I would have preferred more of the tang that is characteristic of a good, thick yogurt.

Kiwi sorbet: Cones does great sorbet. In addition to offering a plethora of flavors, each sorbet often tastes more like the fruit than the fruit itself. This was certainly the case with the kiwi, which startled me with its eerily accurate concentration of kiwi flavor. With its bright green hue and little black seeds scattered throughout, this was a kiwi doppelganger if there ever was one.

At $5 for a two-scoop cup, Cones is slightly more expensive than other premier ice cream shops in the city. However, they compensate for their prices with large portions and a high-quality, creative product that will, if you're anything like me, have you strong-arming a very full, very tall friend into an ice cream shop after making him eat two large pizzas with you.

Cones

272 Bleecker St.

(between Morton and Jones St.)

New York, NY 10014

Veronica's Kitchen

In the urban culinary wasteland we call the Financial District, there are few options for an affordable, tasty, non-cliche, non-chain restaurant lunch. What is a corporate peon to do at mid-day? You could head to Chipotle or Europa Cafe, get some variation of an overpriced soup/salad/sandwich, eat it and be utterly dissatisfied with life. Or you could head over to Veronica's.

In a rickety stainless steel contraption that is almost hidden behind a decorative waterfall/fountain thingamajig on Front St., Veronica and her sons dish out an impressive number of soul food and Jamaican specialties. If you're not sure which cart is Veronica's, just look for the line of customers 10+ people deep, rain or shine. (Yes, I did once stand in line, in a downpour, to get my fix.)

Stewed oxtail with rice and peas and green beans: The oxtail is undoubtedly one of the best dishes at Veronica's. Stewed to a meaty tenderness in a rich, faintly sweet sauce, it is the ideal companion for the rice and peas, which are moist and wonderfully flavorful, especially when steeped in the oxtail sauce. The green beans are rather mushy, but in that so-overcooked-it's-kinda-good way. They elicited memories of my grade school cafeteria.

Jerk chicken with rice and peas and stewed cabbage: This is not a dish for the faint of heart. The chicken is encrusted with chili peppers, including Scotch bonnets (one of the hottest peppers in the world), which give jerk chicken its signature smoky and slightly numbing heat. Halfway through this lunch, I closed the door to my office so that I could gasp and emit groans of pain without alarming passerby. In vain, I tried to temper the five-alarm blaze in my mouth with rice. Unfortunately for me, the spicy juices from the chicken had seeped into the rice as well, thus prolonging my suffering. The esophageal damage that I will surely have in a few years will be directly attributable to this chicken. The stewed cabbage proved to be my only relief. It had been cooked down to a comforting softness, and the sulfuric sweetness of the cabbage was evident. The chicken could have been a tiny bit moister, but this is still one of the better selections from Veronica's cart - it just hurts so good.

Curried goat with rice and peas and stewed cabbage: This ranks with the oxtail as one of the top dishes from Veronica's. The meat was fall-off-the-bone tender, with no overwhelming gaminess. My only complaint is that the potatoes in the curry were a bit watery.

BBQ Boneless beef rib with macaroni and cheese and stewed cabbage: This was the one big miss from Veronica's cart. (Sadly, this was also the lunch I stood in the rain for). The beef rib was disappointingly dry. I was even forced to leave one sizeable piece of it uneaten, as it had been cooked to the consistency of beef jerky. The macaroni and cheese was no better. The macaroni was mushy, with no discernible cheese flavor or creaminess. The impenetrable, overly-caramelized cheese crust only made matters worse.

Curried chicken with rice and peas and collard greens: This was another winner. The chicken was so tender that when I speared it with a fork and attempted to move it to another part of the container, the meat fell apart in transport. The curry flavor could have been a bit stronger, but it was an overall good dish.

Veronica's may not be the best soul food in New York, but it offers some standout dishes that are done extremely well. It is also a good value - a small container of food (like those pictured above) is anywhere from $5-7 and a large container is $9-10.

Veronica's Kitchen

Front St. (between Wall St. and Maiden Lane)

New York, NY 10005

Hours: Monday-Friday, 11:30am-2pm. Arrive early and expect a wait. Popular items begin to run out around 1:30pm.

Best dishes: Rice and peas, oxtail, curried goat, stewed cabbage, collard greens, jerk chicken, curried chicken.

Num Pang Sandwich Shop

This casual outpost of the Cambodian restaurant Kampuchea serves up creative and delicious num pang (Khmer for 'bread' or 'sandwich') sandwiches out of a cramped space in the Union Square neighborhood. If you like banh mi, you will love these. Each sandwich is made a la minute, on lightly toasted Parisi Bakery bread and topped with cucumber, pickled carrots, cilantro and chili mayo. The shop offers ten different kinds of sandwiches, which change seasonally. The choices encompass a variety of meat and seafood, including the ever-popular pork belly and pulled pork, skirt steak, catfish and coconut shrimp. Some respectable vegetarian/vegan options are also available.

Roasted cauliflower sandwich with Chinese and Thai eggplant spread and soy milk chili mayo: I love eggplant. I love cauliflower. I love them so much that on my first visit, I bypassed all the porky, beefy sandwiches for this vegan option (a rare occurrence). As far as meatless sandwiches go, this was fairly decent. The smoky, creamy eggplant mingled with the chili mayo and lent the necessary moisture needed to bind the sandwich into a sum of its parts. It also counteracted the crunchier texture of the cauliflower. The roasted cauliflower was good, but some additional seasoning prior to roasting would have propelled the sandwich to greatness. Further roasting might have helped bring out the caramelized sweetness of the vegetable as well.

Hoisin veal meatball sandwich - basil, stewed tomato, jasmine rice: One bite into this, I vowed to never again try and be a friend to the animals. Despite the stifling heat of the upstairs seating area and the fact that my thighs were painfully stuck to the plastic seat of my stool, I completely lost myself in this sandwich. The well-spiced, moist meatball, with hints of star anise, melded with the rest of the ingredients to create a harmony of sweet, savory, tangy, spicy and creamy. The bread, soft and chewy, with a lightly crisped exterior, only highlighted the perfection of the sandwich. The stewing of the tomatoes had coaxed a natural, juicy sweetness out of them, providing both textural contrast and an additional band of flavor. This was one of those dishes I felt like I could eat forever.

Watermelon juice: Cold and refreshing, with fairly good watermelon flavor. My only complaint is that the juice contains sizeable chunks of watermelon, forcing me to sip and chew at the same time. It was not as good as the watermelon ice that you can get at Chinese bakeries, which are blended with ice (making it easier to drink) and taste much more like sticking a straw in a watermelon.

Blood orange lemonade: I'll just repeat what I heard a chatty customer in the shop say about this drink: "It's sour, bitter, sweet and salty all at the same time." I don't think he meant that in a good way, and I don't either.

Beverage missteps aside, Num Pang's sandwiches truly hold their own amidst the throes of the Asian sandwich craze. The next time you want a no-holds-barred, sriracha-running-down-your-palms, silence-at-the-table gustatory sandwich experience, make your way to Num Pang and let your senses take over.

Num Pang Sandwich Shop

21 East 12 St.

(between 5th Ave. and University Place)

New York, NY 10003

Sit-in dining available upstairs, take-out and delivery also available.

Best dishes: Sandwiches

Il Laboratorio del Gelato

The only thing little about this gelato shop on the Lowest East Side is its size. Il Laboratorio del Gelato garners long lines (particularly on a hot summer day) and delivers even bigger flavors. Situated across the street from the Tenement Museum, ILDG specializes in gelato and sorbet, in both traditional and avante garde flavors, made in small batches to maintain the artisanal quality of its product. Although ILDG has concocted approximately 200 flavors since it opened in 2002, only about ten or so are available each day. The daily flavors change regularly.

Earl grey tea gelato and lime sorbet: ILDG's gelato is intensely flavored and perfectly creamy. Nothing mars its milky consistency. The earl grey gelato captured the subtle flavor of a cup of properly steeped tea and amplified it several times over. Why can't afternoon tea just be a cup of earl grey tea gelato and scones? The lime sorbet was icy cold and refreshing. It is not as smooth as some other sorbets but it somehow seems right - the slightly chunkier texture seemed to suit the in-your-face tartness and brightness of the lime. Accenting the piquancy of the sorbet was the faintly sweet aftertaste that crept up upon me as each spoonful melted away. Tiny shavings of lime peel are peppered throughout. I had been worried that the two flavors together in the same cup would be unpalatable but they were surprisingly complementary. The tart-y sweetness of the lime seemed to pick up right where the astringent, tannic tea flavor had left off.

I sampled two other sorbets before ordering, including yellow watermelon and honeydew melon. Both showcased the flavors of the fruit extremely well, although I found each just a tad too sweet for my liking.

ILDG is for the gelato and sorbet purist. No cute decorations, no mix-ins - just small, modest tubs of gelato and sorbet that are unadulterated expressions of their namesake flavors. ILDG's willingness to experiment with unusual combinations and the superb quality of its ingredients make it one of my top picks for gelato in New York.

Il Laboratorio del Gelato

95 Orchard Street

New York, NY 10002

Keste Pizza and Vino

The buzz about Keste Pizzeria has been understated but unmistakable ever since it opened its doors in 2009. Specializing in traditional, Neopolitan-style pizza, it has been touted by many as the new "best pizza in New York." That's a bold statement to make. I ventured down to this bustling West Village restaurant one Friday night to see for myself.

Insalate rustica: spring mix, prosciutto di parma, artichoke, lemon, gaeta olives, extra virgin olive oil. Good prosciutto.

Funghi pizze - tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, mushrooms, basil, extra virgin olive oil: The freshness and quality of the ingredients were apparent upon the first bite. Fortunately, Keste is generous with its toppings. The sauce was sweet and tangy, underscoring the bright flavors of the San Marzano tomatoes that comprised it. The buffalo mozzarella was plentiful and scattered luxuriously across the pie, enveloping the earthy mushrooms.

As for the crust, it is strictly Neopolitan - airy and soft with a slightly crisp exterior. Lovers of crisp pizzas may be disappointed; this is not a crust sturdy enough to support the weight of its toppings. Large, crusty air bubbles punctuate the surface of the crust, which unlike many of its peers, has a distinct flavor of its own - salty, with a faintly charred aftertaste. I appreciated the fact that the crust was not overly charred (like many Neopolitan-style pizzas are), allowing the intense flavors of the toppings to take center stage.

Pizze del re - fresh mozzarella, mushrooms, prosciutto di parma, truffle spread, extra virgin olive oil: This was the better pizza by far. The marriage of these particular ingredients makes for an indulgent dining experience. It almost borders on being too rich, but pulls away at the last minute, prompting you to take another bite. The excellent prosciutto lends just the right amount of saltiness and the thick truffle spread is the proverbial cherry on top.

It is too early to say for sure whether Keste is truly the best pizza in New York, but it is undoubtedly one of the city's top contenders for the title. At the very least, it is a delicious stop on the journey to find out.

Keste Pizza and Vino

271 Bleeker St.

New York, NY 10014

(212) 243-1500

Reservations not accepted, expect a wait.

Best dishes: Pizze del re

Clinton St. Baking Co.

I've spent several years of my life trying to get to Clinton St. Baking for brunch. When I wasn't deterred by the thought of getting up at 8am on a weekend, I was put off by the 1.5 to 2 hour wait that is the hallmark of this brunch spot. It was also difficult to find someone who would cheerfully accompany me during said wait without passing out from hunger or throttling me for subjecting them to such torture in the name of gastronomic exploration. Finally, on a rainy summer Tuesday, free of school or work restrictions, I scouted a good-humored and recently unemployed friend to experience Clinton St. Baking with me.

Even on a rainy Tuesday morning, the line outside was inordinately long. (Who are these people who have time to leisurely brunch on a weekday?) However, due to the inclement weather, the wait was only about 30-45 minutes that day. We considered ourselves lucky.

Banana walnut pancakes with maple butter: If there is one thing Clinton St. Baking is known for, it's their pancakes. And rightfully so. One thing I have always hated about pancakes is their spongy uniform texture throughout. These cakes were almost imperceptibly crisp on the outside and soft and tender on the inside. The cakes even managed to retain their outer crispness for some time after the maple butter had been drizzled on top. Real bananas had been mashed and incorporated into the batter, rather than sliced and thrown on top as an afterthought, infusing the cake with a wonderful banana flavor. The maple butter, with its almost caramel-like smoky sweetness, tied it all together.

Truffle fried egg with asparagus - sunny side up eggs, roasted artichokes, bacon lardons, truffle vinaigrette: This dish can only be described as lackluster. It suffered from a general lack of flavor, clearly relying on the truffle vinaigrette to carry it to stardom. The bacon lardons provided a welcome dose of saltiness; however, they were so few and far between that it had little impact on the taste of the dish.

Southern breakfast - two eggs, fried green tomatoes, cheese grits, sugar cured bacon: This also failed to impress. The breading on the tomatoes lacked the zestiness that makes fried green tomatoes a pleasure to eat. The cheese grits came nowhere close to the grits that I measure all other grits against - the ones served at Brenda's Soul Food in San Francisco. And the sugar cured bacon? Yes, that was good, but it was almost a culinary cheat - how could sugar on bacon not be good?

Overall, the brunch at Clinton St. Baking did not motivate me to return and waste another two hours of my life waiting in the rain. The pancakes are certainly worth trying; however, I would recommend coming in for a afternoon snack or dinner and ordering them then - they are available all day.

Clinton St. Baking Company

4 Clinton St. Clinton St

(between Avenue B & Houston St)
New York, NY 10002

(646) 602-6263

Brunch reservations not accepted, dinner reservations accepted for parties of 6 or more.

Best dishes: Pancakes, buttermilk biscuits (supposedly)

Sahadi's

Blair: "Can I ask you something? What do you think about falafel?"

Blue Columbia pre-minion: "Ew. Isn't that the kind of food paralegals eat?"

-nymag.com, Gossip Girl recap

Indeed. As a former paralegal myself, I know that I ate a lot of falafel (as well as a lot of questionable street meat that induced bowel-clenching stomach pain as I racked up charges on Westlaw). But this chickpea fetish is not limited to paralegals, as I discovered on my first day of summer internship training. As the group broke for lunch, the director of training (also one of the staff attorneys) detained us to share the most interesting thing she had said all morning: "Try Sahadi's. They have wonderful falafel sandwiches. They're amazing!," she chirped.

Amazing? Well, alright. Sahadi's sounded promising enough. A Middle Eastern market in Brooklyn (outer borough always lends a certain amount of street cred) stocking everything from tea to olives to dried fruit and spices, with a hot and cold food counter in the back. I made my way down to Atlantic Ave. for what I hoped would be a deliciously authentic lunch.

Falafel sandwich with babaghanoush: All I have to say is this. The last time I had falafel this bad, it was at Pret a Manger (which was also, incidentally, on my first day of work as a paralegal. Perhaps a bad Middle Eastern lunch is a rite of passage upon entering the legal profession). The falafel balls clearly had not been fried to order; rather, they tasted as if they had been sitting around, degenerating into the slightly soggy, leaden clumps that they were. The texture of the interior was dry and crumbly, like bad cornbread. The babaghanoush was passable, but nothing mindblowing. To make matters worse, the entire sandwich had been constructed rather poorly. The falafel balls sat at the very bottom of the pita, drowned in babaghanoush. On top of this mess was enough lettuce and tomato to keep Peter Rabbit satisfied for a month. Tahini sauce topped off all the veggies. The end result: I munched through what seemed like hundreds of mouthfuls of pita, lettuce and tahini before reaching any of the babaghanoush or falafel (and before being able to take a decent picture of the thing). The only upside was that it only cost me about $3.

Mini spanakopita: I had much better luck with the spanakopita. These little phyllo-wrapped spinach and cheese pastries were quite satisfying, although they would have been even better if the ladies at the Sahadi's counter had heated them up before serving them.

Bottom line: The next time you want a falafel, ask a paralegal.

Sahadi's7 A

187 Atlantic Ave.

(between Clinton St & Court St)

Brooklyn, NY 11201

Mercadito Cantina

Admittedly, New York is not a hot spot for great Mexican food. A quest for the authentic Mexican flavors that can easily be found on the West coast will usually take you on a trek to the farther reaches of Queens or Brooklyn. Those who stay in Manhattan, determined to get their fix, will often find that indulging in a quality Mexican meal on the island will set them back quite a bit. Mercadito Cantina falls into the latter category. However, the caliber of the food at this tiny but inviting East Village restaurant makes the $20-30 price tag worth it for this deprived New Yorker.

Guacamole - traditional and camote (cinnamon spiced sweet potato, roasted jalapenos, toasted pumpkin seeds). The Camote's autumnal spin on guacamole rounded out the sharp, summery flavors of the lime and avocado nicely. The result was a dish I wouldn't mind having as comfort food on a wintry day. Mercadito's chips are great as well.

Chipotle guacamole: pineapple, pickled chipotle, tomatillo pico de gallo and mint. This is what pineapple salsa would be if it decided to be guacamole for a day.

Pescado tacos: tilapia, chile poblano, tomatillo-garlic mojo. How can something so simple be so good? As someone partial to Baja-style fried fish tacos, I was skeptical when the New York Times declared Mercadito's seared tilapia rendition one of the best in the city. After one bite, I was a convert. You won't miss the fried batter with these fish tacos. The skin of the tilapia is seared to a perfect crispness; it provides a great contrast to the creaminess of the avocado. The skin was also seasoned to just the right degree - enough to accent the tartness of the tomatillos while still allowing the clean, delicate meatiness of the fish to shine through.

Carne tacos: hoja santa marinated grass fed skirt steak, salsa verde. Another winner. The steak was cooked to a perfect medium rare and the assertively beefy flavor of the meat was almost a shock. The salsa verde counterbalanced the subtle richness of the beef.

Tacos al pastor: ancho-guajillo marinated red snapper, grilled pineapple. Mercadito's aquatic riff on this traditionally pork-oriented dish won my favor as well. The fish was fine-textured and flavorful, and stood up well against the sweetness of the pineapple. Mercadito does a good job of taking lowly cuts of meat and fish and elevating them to great heights in their tacos. I recommend going with a friend and sampling several different tacos (the tacos come two or three to an order - don't bring too many friends).

Hongos y huitlacoche: wild mushrooms, fresh huitlacoche. The combination of both the mushrooms and the huitlacoche (a.k.a. Mexican truffle) resulted in an incredibly earthy dish with a deep mushroom flavor. However, this dish suffered from a bit too much salt.

Mercadito Cantina performs on almost every dimension, making it one of my go-to restaurants. The service is incredibly friendly and accommodating. I dined at the restaurant on a chilly, rainy day and both the bartender and the server offered to close the doors and the windows so my companion and I wouldn't be cold. The staff didn't even seem to mind when we changed tables twice in an effort to avoid the draft coming in. We ended up at the bar, where Giovanni, the bartender, told jokes and made sure we were taken care of for the evening. He even had the servers turn up the lights so that I could get better pictures of the food. (Thanks, Giovanni!) The decor is simple and pleasant, not overly trendy, and it is the perfect place to catch up with a friend or have dinner with a small group.

So until I can reside on the West Coast for an extended period of time like our Californian friends and partake in Mexican food snobbery everywhere I go, I will gladly be returning to Mercadito Cantina again and again for their delicious fare.

Mercadito Cantina

172 Avenue B

New York, NY 10009

(212) 388-1750

Reservations accepted - the need for reservations increases the later in the evening you want to dine.

Best dishes: Guacamole, tacos

Special deals: All-you-can-eat taco Mondays for $23; all-you-can-drink Sunday brunch.