Friday, November 04, 2005

suggestions?

OK, so what's up this weekend? Why don't YOU tell ME? That's a switch, you actually helping me out for a fucking change, instead of just hanging on my every word and sucking all my energy like a big psychic leech.

I went to the new coffee shop in Levinson's this morning. It's called Temple. It's really swank inside so that the bums can sit in comfort. Nothing against bums, some of my best friends are bums, we were just wondering the other night if the dude that opened it knows what he's getting into as far as regulars. The espresso was good. It tasted really similar to Naked coffee. He had the usual assortment of pastries, and of course no bagels. Things have been tough in this town since Arnold passed that anti-bagel intitiative, but it needed to be done. Bagels are just too delicious and too perfect as a breakfast food. If people were that satisfied with their breakfasts, they would probably just skip lunch and all the lunch places would go out of business, and where would we be then? Better to just stick to eating cardboard-style sickly sweet and fatty croissants and scones all the time.

I'm busy this morning. No, not working, planning out what I'm going to eat when I'm on the east coast next week. So far I have a small list: Bar Tabac, Egg, a trip to Chinatown with a stop at Joe's Shanghai for the soup dumplings, a trip to Murray's cheese shop, Grace is going to Peter Lugar's but I'm just not that into steak, who knows maybe I'll go, it is one of only two places in the country where you can get a properly aged steak. I could use other suggestions, especially anything cheap and delicious, because I unfortunately can't afford Masa and Per Se.

40 comments:

Anonymous said...

Poll:

What is the best bagel place in Sac?

Anonymous said...

The Queen's Hideaway. It sounds yummy.
anna

Anonymous said...

In addition to Egg, you could go to Uovo, which means egg in Italian and got reviewd in the 'table for two'. It sounded pretty good.

-michele

Anonymous said...

I recommend Veselka at 144 2nd Avenue in Manhattan. It's an Eastern European diner that stays open 24 hours. They claim to be Ukranian food but they also have Polish and Czech nosh. I recommend the amazing Borsht, and they have really interesting perogies with a white mushroom sauce, different than anything I have had abroad but good. Also they have quite a beer selection to compliment the meal.

Anonymous said...

Ask Gorman to tell you about the Brazilian sword restaurant. They serve delicious meats off of swords! It sounds amazing...

BREW

p.s. please bring home some NY bagels! i'll give you money.

Anonymous said...

Off subject, but did anyone see how Mike Love is suing Brian Wilson over "Smile." That pisses me off so much. He's such a greedy a bastard.

BREW

beckler said...

FUCK MIKE LOVE!!! Hey Rosemary-I've eaten at Veselka, it was really good and I love the ass-kicking Ukrainian beer and the fine, pasty-faced waiters.

werenotdeep said...

Bring me back a brick from New York, and I'll bring you a cactus or some red dirt from Phoenix!

leon said...

On the upper west-side (where all the rich Jewishes live), there is a great food store called Zabars:

http://shop.zabars.com/on/demandware.store/WFS/Zabar-ZabarStorefront-Site/

It's like a Dean & DeLuca, but for the chosen people.

I don't know what's going on this wekend.

Anonymous said...

You probably won't make it out to Brighton Beach, but I'd recommend Gambrinus, that Russian seafood restaurant I was raving about. I think name of the restaurant is the name of a patron saint of beer or something, and they bring you frosty mugs of Baltika to drink with your pan-fried red snapper and soft shell crab. Delish!

-michele

Anonymous said...

I know that it will be unpopular, but I think the best Bagels in Sac are the ones from the Safeway bakery on 19th. They are the closest I have found to the most delicious bagels of Los Bagels in Arcata. I even have my own Larrapin' sauce to put on them.

-Connie

leon said...

The Belle Bru bagels bought in bulk at the co-op are by far the most superior bagels in Sacramento. Niki will even agree with me, (and she's the one who told you about the Zelda's trifecta). You have to bring the bagels home and toast them yourself though.

They have good cream cheases there too.

Anonymous said...

When in NYC be sure to eat at the Ninja restuarent. Its called "Ninja" i think and the waiters are dressed as ninjas. look it up.

Anonymous said...

I like the bagels at Safeway too, Connie. I get the tiny little things of lox cream cheese. I also like the bagel place on 24th off Broadway. I think they picked up where BOB (Bagful of Bagels) left off.
G Bomb

Anonymous said...

This food plan might be too ridiculous, but...

Get on a metro north train and go all the way to New Haven. Go to Frank Pepe pizzaria. Wait in line for a while. Get a large white clam pie. It's the best thing ever.

this would qualify as cheap and tasty if it weren't for the train fare each way.

Anonymous said...

If I were a saint, I'd second Jake's suggestion; the white clam at Pepe's is the best thing ever. I'd also suggest getting a cheese pie to wash it down.

But I selfishly want you to try Di Fara in Brooklyn, which people (probably insane people) say is better than Pepe's. It's at 1424 Avenue J.

Ben

DB said...

Couldn't be a Beach Boys without Mike Love. Face it, people.

beckler said...

Frank Pepe's is the place we ate, right? Why didn't we get the white clam pizza? We drove like 2 hours to get there!

Just so you guys feel sorry for me, I'm in the middle of getting reamed by my boss over something stupid.

Anonymous said...

They have very special grilled cheese sandwiches at....Grilled Cheese NYC! It's on the Lower East Side. http://www.grilledcheesenyc.com/

Zabar's is cool. I love their logo. Leon wants to buy me a Zabar's tote for Hanukkah. I found my top secret, top shelf balsamic vinegar there for an incredible price.
Niki

Anonymous said...

They are often out of the white clam pizza because everyone gets and they run out of clams. It's sad when you walk up and there's a sign in the window, "No Clam Pizza."

Next time you're in New England, we'll go earlier and get some.

-michele

Anonymous said...

When are going to be in NYC anyhow?

It just so happens that I'll be passing through next week. If you're around Wednesday, I'd be down for lunch.

Anonymous said...

Oh Beckler, this is shitty food, but the best kind. Close to Tyler's house in Greenpoint there's a park and across the street from it is a little Polish diner that serves 50 cent cheeseburgers and milkshakes. The old Polish woman does the milkshakes homemade style, by just mixing the ice cream with the milk. I love that place. So yeah, if you're on Manhattan Ave. go up Nassau until the park.

Also don't forget to get your coffee and baguette breakfast at St. Helens in Williamsburg. That's another favorite.

BREW

Anonymous said...

My favorite bagels in NYC are at Bagels on the square at Bleecker and 6th ave. Right at the west 4th st train stop. My favorite bagels in Sac are the Bella Bru too, but since there's no easy way to get them and a cup of coffee in the morning I go to River City Bagles (actual spelling) on 24th. They're super nice there and have a delicious rye bagel.

Miss B

cakegrrl said...

Maybe you should try , LES HALLES esp if you like good meat.... just a thought....

Unknown said...

this weekend:

the last ever AIDS benefit plant sale.

and i'd reccomend seeing the Mutter exhibit at the Crocker. there's even a buy one get one free admittance coupon in the Sn'R.

i'm actually thankful it's a slow weekend.

Unknown said...

and how could i forget?

the Fn'G has two nights of decent Americana this weekend. Amiee Chapman tonight and Two Sheds tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

Soup dumplings are great. Get crab and pork.

Get the Rijsttafel at Indonesian place Bali Nusa Indah
651 9th Ave.
New York, NY 10036-3600
(212) 765-6500

There is also a grilled cheese place next door that has cheese tomato soup

Other unique treats- tastee-d-lite (or however you spell that)

Falafel in the village

Stephen Glass said...

Yes, Connie, Los Bagels is worth missing. Of course, I'm only eight blocks from there so I'll go there today just to to spite you. To take the sting out of it I' wont get Larrupin' sauce; either pesto or cream cheese and albacore.
And then there's Arcata's world-renowned customer service: Friendly, but slow and very, very STONED.

Anonymous said...

'there couldn't be a beach boys without Mike Love.'

Actually, there could. They replaced David Marks with Al Jardine after 3 albums and no one noticed. Should have booted Mike at the same time and we wouldn't even be having this discussion. no one (other than Mike Love) would give a shit.

Stephen Glass said...

Why, Connie, it happens Meg and I just had scones and coffee at Wildlarry's the other day when she was up here. But I told her that it all reminded me only of you.

Anonymous said...

Get a Bistro burger and fries at Corner Bistro in the Vill. Near Magnolia where you should get a cupcake and try the banana puddin....

Anonymous said...

okay heckasac. my boy got an excellent review in newsday at butter..
where we are going..
http://www.newsday.com/mynews/ny-fdbites4495479nov04,0,6398304.story
i got a lot of opinions on the comments, but
anna-queen's hideaway has the worst service EVER.. do not go there !!!
this heckanewyorker has A LOT of food opinions and ideas for your visit.
xoxo
alicia
johnny and i just saw jarhead and jake g's character is from sac.

Anonymous said...

I'm so jealous that y'all are going to Butter.

BREW

beckler said...

yeah, i hear it's like butter. ha!

omf-I did hear Kokomo today (mix 96 hit me with it after "afternoon delight". i was in heaven) and thought to myself (unironically) this is a good song.

beckler said...

nice quote from the review:

This slight misstep was more than redeemed by dessert. The Italian snob's "raspberry beignets with vanilla dipping sauce" turned out to be extraordinary jelly doughnuts: three big, perfectly fried bruisers, dusted with granulated sugar and filled with sweet-tart raspberry filling. They dripped on the table, got your fingers gritty-sticky with sugar and thoroughly upended the idea of fancy dining. Could anything enhance these? Impossibly, the vanilla sauce did.

I was entirely pleased with a thick lozenge of chocolate semifreddo (half-frozen) enrobed in yielding dark chocolate, sprinkled with Hawaiian sea salt and sauced with caramel.

good job nick! i can't wait!

Anonymous said...

Ben, Di Fara's is pretty good, but I'm just not a big fan of NYC style pizza where there is equal-parts cheese to crust. It is kinda worth it because the place is pretty neat and the owner is sooo old-school. My all time fave nyc pizza is Luigi's, on DeKalb and Washington in Brooklyn. Both the plain and sicilian.

And...I didn't love Frank Pepe, though I confess I didn't have the white clam. Erik and I went there there after our visit to Providence in 2003.

Anna

Anonymous said...

Driggs Pizza kills...and make sure to go to DuMont for Mac and Cheese. Both in Brooklyn.

Anonymous said...

Ummm, I think you meant DuMac & Cheese!

Anonymous said...

Where have you gotten pizza you loved, Anna? I'm with you on the NYC-style pizza; it's nice for getting a slice, but I don't want that for dinner. That's part of why I love Pepe's so much. What did you get there?

Anonymous said...

Ben