The Starbucking of New York

The city I've called home twice in my career has changed -- and not for the better, in my opinion. I just returned from a business/pleasure trip to New York and I didn't care much for what I saw.

Midtown Manhattan has been overtaken -- conquered might be a better word -- by Starbucks. There's one on every block. Sometimes two. And New Yorkers are famously so blase about most everything, I think that maybe they haven't even noticed.

The last time I lived in New York (paying more in rent for my one-bedroom apartment than my wife and I paid for the mortgage on our three-bedroom home), there was a sense of community in each neighborhood in Manhattan. Yes, despite the massive skyscrapers and never-ending traffic, the luxury retailers and department stores, Manhattan is actually a conglomeration of neighborhoods. And each has its own character.

Even Midtown used to have locally-owned coffee shops, diners, groceries and the like. They're still there, but not in the numbers they used to be. Companies like Starbucks have squeezed out most of the independent coffee shops and diners, not unlike Wal-Mart decimating downtown retail everywhere it builds one of its massive boxes.

I was actually on a mission to bring back a piece of New York that I truly miss: full sour kosher dill pickles. These are not available anywhere else in the world except in New York delis. And the delis that I used to patronize for lunch are long gone. Even the 800-pound gorillas -- the Carnegie Deli and the Stage Delicatessen -- are out of business. A piece of New York that's gone forever.

Now that doesn't mean that New York doesn't have good places to eat. It's still the center of the American culinary universe. Happily, I did eat some excellent meals and not once did I ever have to tell a bartender that a martini without vermouth is not a martini.

Here are a few of the dishes we had at Cellini, a well-known and long-established Italian restaurant in midtown Manhattan: From top to bottom: Caprese salad with roasted red peppers, capers, yellow tomato slice, fresh mozzarella, basil and balsamic syrup; Tuna carpaccio; Seafood Rissotto; and Rack of Veal.

Coincidentally, this week's Kitchen Guy episode is also an Italian dish: Flank Steak Tagliata. Here's the video and the recipe:

2 lbs. flank steak
Coarse salt and black peppercorns
Several sprigs of rosemary
6 garlic cloves, sliced thin
Extra virgin olive oil
Arugula or Radicchio
Parmesan or Pecorino Roman wedge
Lemon wedges for garnish

Lay flank steak on a baking sheet and season well on both sides with coarse salt and ground black peppercorns. Strip the rosemary sprigs and press leaves and garlic slices into the meat. Then coat the flank steak with a thin film of olive oil and "massage" the meat. Leave the meat at room temperature for about an hour.

While the meat is marinating, heat the oven to 450 and place a cast iron pan or grill pan on the bottom rack and let it heat up with the oven.

Carefully remove the pan from the oven and place the flank steak in the pan and return it to the oven to cook for about 5 minutes. Then flip the meat (make sure the bottom is well-seared) and cook for an additional 4 minutes for medium rare, longer for medium.

Remove the pan and place the steak on a cutting board to rest for about 10 minutes.

Cut the meat against the grain, on the diagonal. Arrange on a platter on top of arugula or radicchio and garnish with lemon wedges. Shave Parmesan or Pecorino from the wedge with a vegetable peeler.

Kid Food

I know, I know. I don’t look old enough to have two grandsons. But I do. They’re now 6 and 3 and they recently came for a visit.

I reported in this space a little over a year ago about the foods they ate and I now have an update.

The three-year-old, in the year since, continues to subsist on a diet of a “magically delicious” cereal, OJ, other fruit juices, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, French fries, yogurt and string cheese.

The six-year-old, however, continues to eat new foods and, for his age, has a fairly sophisticated palate. Make no mistake, when given the choice he’d go to the Golden Arches in a heartbeat because he, just like your children and grandchildren, is subjected to the relentless and clever marketing tactics of the Clown.

Nevertheless, his mother and father reported with delight that on a recent vacation trip, they were at a restaurant that had a kids’ menu, but when the waitress listed the specials of the evening, the elder child heard “filet mignon,” and wanted to know what it was.

My daughter explained to him that it was a kind of steak and he said, “I’ll have that.” Not only did he finish every last bite, but for the next three nights he ordered steak in one form or another.

At that same restaurant (where one of the specials was filet mignon), the younger one also listened to the waitress list the specials. Among them were crab cakes. He’s three and apparently the only word he heard was “cake.” And so he ordered that and got an unhappy surprise, which eventually was replaced by chicken nuggets.

Fast forward to about a month or so later and I was visiting them in their home back East. I never asked the younger grandson what he wanted for dinner because it’s always the same. But when I ask the older one he often surprises me. In addition to his newfound love of good beef, he also likes salmon in almost any form it comes. I made it poached one night and he gobbled it up. A week later, I grilled it and he loved that, too.

On the side, he loves salad and, while he will only eat iceberg lettuce, he’ll insist on tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, ripe olives and onions. Then he’ll ask to see a variety of dressings. Where does this kid come off loving soy-ginger-vinaigrette?

And unlike his younger brother, ask him what his favorite dinner is and he’ll answer without hesitation: sushi.

Yes, I said sushi. And he doesn’t even wait for you to give him a little dipping bowl of soy sauce – he just tears into the tuna, yellowtail, salmon and California roll. Oh, and he’s getting pretty good with chopsticks, too.

This is a kid I love to cook for. There just aren’t many like him, especially at age 6. On the other hand, his younger brother will probably grow up with his grandfather’s boyhood eating habits: Sugar-loaded cereal for breakfast; PB&J every day for lunch. Something fried for dinner.

Despite my own limited childhood food choices, I turned out OK, but it took many, many years – well past college graduation – before I had the nerve to delve into new and exotic foods. I guess it may well be the same for the younger of my two grandsons. My siblings and childhood friends who remember my eating habits were stunned when they saw me evolve into a culinary professional. Maybe my younger grandson will surprise us one day, too.

Even so, I wonder what my older grandson will ask for the next time I get to cook for him.

Stay tuned.

Follow me on Twitter: @KitchenGuyMT

Grilled Flank Steak Pinwheels

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