Posts by Jon Hochstat

So far I have written two postings about my mid-November three-day weekend in Miami.  The first posting was about The Best Burger in America and the second one was about Robert Is Here farmstand in Homestead, Florida. Here we go with one more post about my trip…

On my last day in Miami, which was a Monday, I had a lunch with a good chef friend and his family at a killer Cuban place in Coral Gables called Havana Harry’s which was referred to me by a good friend in law enforcement in South Florida.

Cops and chefs always know the best places to eat, that’s for sure.  So, my cop friend says “When you go there for lunch order the Chicken Vaca Frita (Shredded chicken with onions, in a garlic and sour orange mojo, served with moro rice and sweet plantains.)  All I will say is that when the waitress came to the table, I said, “I’ll have the Vaca Frita,” the waitress responded, “which one chicken, beef or the one not on the menu?”  I asked what the one not on the menu was and was told it was chicken, beef and pork.  All I have to say is that was a damn good lunch and blew away my expectations by a country mile.

You may be wondering why I am telling you this when the subject is Palacio de los Jugos.  Here’s why.  When we were all saying our goodbyes my chef friend said “Since you are headed to the airport, you MUST stop by El Palacio de los Jugos at 5721 Flagler Street as it is right by the airport.  I was VERY full and wondered what the big deal was about a juice place.  The only answer I was given was “Oh there is MUCH more than fresh fruit but that’s all I am telling you.” WOW was he right!

READ ON for more on Jon’s final day in Miami…

A couple of weeks ago, I took a three day weekend to head down to South Beach and points south to get out of NYC for a few days to refresh and recharge as well as see some friends that I usually only see when they come to the Big Apple.  My first post from this trip was F4tF: The Best Burger in America about Le Tub in Hollywood Beach, Florida.  This week’s post is about a place that I had not planned on going to and was only told about after heading somewhere else first. That place was Robert Is Here.

On the second day of my trip (Sunday),  one of the things that was on the agenda was to find a good farmer’s market in the Miami area.  I emailed one of my chef friends who said the place to go was Pinecrest Gardens which was about a 1/2 hour south of Miami and was rated “Best Farmer’s Market In Miami”  in the Miami New Times Best of 2010.  We got in the car, GPS’d the location we were given and headed down to Pinecrest (open Every Sunday, November 7th – May 28, 2011 from 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.).  My chef friend was right, the selection was beautiful, flavorful and bountiful.

Below are some of the pictures I shot at the market that day:

READ ON for more about Jon’s trip to Robert Is Here…

When I knew that I would be heading down to Miami & South Beach for a three day vacation and some well deserved R&R, I reached out to two people I know down there for tips on places to eat.  One of them is a well known chef who has spent most of his adult life in Florida, the other is the brother of one of my best friends who happens to be in law enforcement.

On the second of my three days down there I met up with my cop friend and his wife for a beer.  He said to me, we have to go this place in Hollywood Beach right on A1A that was voted The Best Burger in America by none other than Alan Richman of GQ Magazine.  If you don’t know anything about who he is, here is all you need to know:

Alan Richman is the most decorated food writer in history. He has won 14 James Beard Journalism Awards, a National Magazine Award (and was a finalist five more times), and a Bronze Star for service in Vietnam. You won’t find food writers like him at the food magazines. When he received his National Magazine Award, the presenter described him as “the Indiana Jones of food writers.” He has reviewed restaurants in nearly every Communist country (China, Vietnam, Cuba, East Germany), proof that he will go anywhere for a meal. He once reviewed the Chicago restaurant owned and operated by Louis Farrakhan, not known to be a fan of Jewish journalists. In Cuba, he defied government regulations by interviewing starving political dissidents, then rewarded himself with a lobster lunch at the most expensive restaurant in Havana. In 1998, Richman was inducted into The James Beard Foundation Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America, which recognizes culinary industry professionals for their achievements. He is the Dean of Food Journalism at The French Culinary Institute in New York, where he teaches a class in food writing. Richman’s 14 Beard awards have been presented in restaurant reviewing, feature writing, and wine writing. He has also taken the top prize, the M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award, twice. He continues to indulge his passion for eight-course dinners (plus cheese).

The name of the place that we went to was Le Tub.

READ ON to read all about the best burger Jon ever ate…

For anyone who reads this blog, here is the opportunity of a lifetime.  I received the following information via email the other day and thought it was too good not to share.  You don’t want to be one of those shoulda, coulda woulda people now do you?  Oh and good luck to anyone who goes… […]

As I find myself not traveling somewhere this weekend – my next trip is Miami in three weeks –  I thought now would be a good time to just go through the RSS feeds and both my personal and Hidden Track twitter feeds to see what is happening in the food world.

BoozyNYC tells us what to drink at Dram in Brooklyn.

Brooklyn Based educated us on where to find Local, Organic, Affordable Food.

For anyone who lives near McCarren Park, there is a new coffee bar opening at 595 Union Ave. (via Brownstoner).

If you were thinking of doing a Pumpkin Ale Taste-Off, don’t sweat it, Sarah DiGregorio of the Village Voice tasted, rated and reviewed five different ones.

Serious Eats posted their NYC Food Events for the Weekend (and Beyond).

READ ON for more of this week’s F4tF…

No, there are no misspellings in the title, and no, I am not talking about Delray Beach, FL aka DelBocaVista.  I am talking about Del Ray which is a neighborhood of Alexandria, VA,  a suburb of Washington, DC.  The Let’s Meat part of the title refers to the name of the old world, old school butcher shop I went last to weekend called Let’s Meat on the Avenue which is owned by an old friend of mine Steve Gatward aka Steve the Butcher

I have know Steve since 1999, I believe.  He came in to eat at Jake’s, the restaurant I was running in Guatemala City, Guatemala at the time.  He was working for the Washington Times.   Steve is one of those people you meet who have led a colorful, multi-career life but at some point go back to their roots and become successful and happy.

Here is what his website has to say about his life and background…

“Steve Gatward was born and raised in Colchester, the oldest recorded town in England. He apprenticed for a master butcher near the town square, known for its weekend market. It was there that he learned the importance of purchasing and serving fresh meat from local farmers. In his early 20s, he moved to Australia and after traveling around, he settled in Sydney and fully enjoyed living, “down under.” In the early 1990s, Steve began what became a year long trip around Central and South America. In 1991, he moved to Arizona, where he lived for almost two years. After teaching English in Taiwan, he finally decided to settle in Washington, DC in 1994. He is fluent in Spanish and continues to be an avid traveler, and even though he’s visited more than 80 countries, he travels frequently.

Steve is the co-author of two guidebooks, The Other Side of Sydney, and The Pub, Club and Grub Guide to Washington, D.C. While working for The Washington Times, Steve traveled throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, writing and developing business, political and cultural reports.”

In regards to the quality of the meats he serves, here is what his website has to say about that…

“Let’s Meat on the Avenue is dedicated to becoming Your Neighborhood Butcher Shop. Steve Gatward, the butcher/proprietor, sells pasture-fed, free range and hormone-free meat and poultry at 2403 Mount Vernon Avenue, Del Ray, Virginia.

READ ON for more on Let’s Meat on the Avenue…

Even though I still have more to share from my food adventures in Los Angeles (here are Part 1 Part 2 Part 3), I thought I’d tell would you about the food trip I am taking to Montreal. I am flying out of NYC to Montreal tonight, dropping my bags off and heading right to Au Pied de Cochon.

Here is an excerpt from an article that Peter Meehan wrote for the NY Times in 2008…

P.D.C., as the locals call it, was a pizzeria before Mr. Picard got his meaty mitts on it, and a blazing fire in a wood-burning oven greets guests at the door. Beyond it, the restaurant is long and narrow, bright but not too bright, with a mirror running down one side and an open kitchen on the other. The bare wooden tables are crowded with boisterous eaters of every age and description. And the chef — look for the unshaven man with a shock of untamed black hair — frequently works both sides of the bar, talking and drinking with customers and cooks.

Mr. Picard put his restaurant on the gastronomic map when he put foie gras on poutine back in 2004, just after the restaurant opened. Many dishes at P.D.C. are conceived with that same wicked sense of humor — who puts foie gras on French fries? — and carry an unspoken threat of a cholesterol-triggered overdose. There’s a even a whole section of the menu dedicated to the fatty livers: foie on a burger, foie on a pizza and, most compellingly, the Plogue à Champlain — a dizzying combination of buckwheat pancakes, bacon, foie gras and maple syrup.

That last dish Plogue à Champlain sounds amazing (just saying)

The other restaurant we will be hitting this weekend that is also on my restaurant bucket list is Schwartz’s Deli in Montreal

READ ON for more about Jon’s foodie trip to Montreal…

When I went to LA, I got recommendations on where to go from friends, co-workers, chef’s I know, people they know…you get the idea. My chef friend who I was staying with said to me on my FIRST DAY in LA, before you leave on Sunday, make sure you go to Mashti Malone’s which is near the corner of La Brea and Sunset in West Hollywood. So on the day before I left, I went for a walk down Melrose Ave, starting at Fairfax and walking to La Brea, then made the left and took La Brea past Sunset eventually to 1525 North La Brea Avenue, home to Mashti Malone’s.

Inside is a very nondescript interior with the main focal points being all of the signs and information on the walls. You get the feeling real quick that these guys are passionate about what they do and have been doing it since 1980 (30 years!) at the same location.

Here is an excerpt from a 2006 LA Times review

Mashti Malone’s. For those expecting Iranian-Irish fusion, the only place you’ll get that is on the street sign. This is a classic ice cream store run by two Iranian brothers who took over a place called Bugsy Malone’s about 25 years ago and only changed half the sign. Whatever works — the ice cream sure does, and they’ll turn any flavor into a shake for you. You’ll find the traditional American flavors, but also some fabulous Middle Eastern infusions: saffron-rose water with pistachios is the most popular. Laced with floral notes and the terrific flavor and texture of the nuts, this makes a fabulous shake, though ginger-rose water and orange blossom are pretty fabulous too. Or try the pomegranate sorbet or “herbal snow,” a white, icy concoction made with basil seeds. 1525 N. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles; (323) 874-0144, http://www.mashtimalone.com . Shakes, $4.82.

• F4tF in Los Angeles: Part 1, Part 2

READ ON for more on Jon’s Los Angeles Adventure…

Last week’s introductory post, F4tF: Los Angeles Adventure, Pt. 1 – The Neville Brothers @ Hollywood Bowl started out my recollection of my recent first trip to Los Angeles where I had the opportunity to see some wonderful places as I was staying with an old friend who is a private chef and showed me all of the markets and local places to check out. Since last week’s story took place on the Wednesday evening of my week-long trip I thought I’d share with you what I did earlier in the day.

We went to the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market

The Wednesday market has been around since 1981. Here is the history of the market from its website:

The Wednesday Market opened in Santa Monica’s downtown retail district with the modest goals of providing reasonably priced, high quality produce to the city’s population, and bringing more foot traffic into the area. The market met with instant success in its first year. Now, more than twenty years later, it’s widely recognized as one of the largest and most diverse grower-only CFM’s in the state. Some nine thousands food shoppers every week, and many of Los Angeles’ best known chefs and restaurants, are keyed to the seasonal rhythms of the Wednesday Market. It’s hardly an exaggeration to say, at mid-week in the heart of the city the mother of markets comes to town. Whether you’re looking for a common, exotic or experimental variety of fruit or vegetable, this market is a treasure trove of agricultural diversity.

That last line about the market being a “treasure trove of agricultural diversity is so true.” Upon our entry, one of the first things I wanted to try was fresh squeezed orange and grapefruit juices. I found two separate vendors. Some of the best juice I have had in a long time. First stop was for Valencia Orange Juice from Polito Family Farms. Refreshing doesn’t even begin to describe the taste of locally grown and squeezed oranges juice.

READ ON for more of this week’s Friday For the Foodies…

When I decided to take my vacation in Los Angeles this year, one of the first things I did was go on JamBase to see what bands were performing the week I was going to be out in the Southern California sunshine. The one show that stood out was The Neville Brothers, Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band at the Hollywood Bowl.

You may be asking yourself, why is the food guy’s first post from an LA food trip about a concert? Well here’s why – like everyone who reads this blog on a regular basis, one of the important things to consider when going to a show are pre and post show eats as well as options available during the show.

Pre-show eats wound up working out really well. One of the places I really wanted to check out while in LA was Pizzeria Mozza.

Here is the information on the about page on the Mozza website:

Nancy Silverton, Mario Batali and Joseph Bastianich meld their prodigious talents to bring Pizzeria Mozza and Osteria Mozza to the heart of Los Angeles. With the devout commitment to product, environment and hospitality, the two unique but equally engaging concepts provide dynamic templates for displaying the group’s profound passions.

Dinner reservations can be real hard to get but lucky for me my cousin works as a waiter there. He told me that since Mozza is open 12-12 every day straight through, the best times to go are between 3-5 pm. He happened not to be working the day we wanted to go so he joined me and my friend Wayne who is a Private Chef in Los Angeles (and a damn good one too!). So Wayne and I met my cousin at Mozza at 4 PM the day of the Neville’s show. Upon being seated we said to him “You work here and know the food and the staff, we trust you, order for all of us and tell us what we owe at the end.” What followed was a tour through the menu hitting various dishes, flavors and cooking styles.

You can see the entire Pizzeria Mozza menu here.

READ ON for more on Jon’s California Adventure…

Recently through the power of reconnection with old co-workers, classmates and friends that Facebook offers us, I reconnected with someone I worked with at a restaurant I opened in Washington D.C. a long time ago. I was surprised to find out he is now a master pizzaiolo (pizza maker). He is also a member of the United States Pizza Team – an organization which I never knew existed. I opened and owned part of a high end pizzeria overseas 10 years ago that was modeled after Trenton Tomato Pies so I was curious about the U.S. Pizza Team and what my friend Steve Lieber was up to.

I asked Steve to give me a little background about the United States Pizza Team. Here is what he shared with me:

The US Pizza Team is a group of pizza makers and dough acrobats whose goal is to promote the pizza industry. Our acrobatic leader is Juan Hermosillo from the hugely popular VISA commercial.

READ ON for more on pizzaiolo Steve Lieber…

Most of the time when I am thinking what to put together for a Friday for the Foodies posting, the one question I ask myself is “What information can I share with the people who read my column that they can find useful?” Well this week I am turning the tables and requesting information.

Here is the information I am looking for. In the middle of August I am spending a week in Los Angeles. It is my first trip to LA (and California for that matter). I have reached out to Chef and food industry people I know for tips on food places to check out. I also wanted to put it out there to the Hidden Track community as many of you live, have lived, have been to, grown up in or happened to play a gig or two in Los Angeles.

I am looking for suggestions that are off the beaten path a little bit but that are worth taking the time to find and check out. Some of the suggestions I have received so far from my food industry friends are: Animal, Pizzeria Mozza, King Taco, In-N-Out Burger and The Original Pantry for breakfast. I have detailed lists from a few different chefs I know with some great suggestions of places that are either run or owned by people they know. What does the music crowd have to say about LA eats? I hope some of you can provide me (and other readers) with some of your personal favorites. If I can take enough pictures and write enough stuff down, I will try to do a LA food posting when I return.

On the music front for the LA trip I am hoping to catch The Neville Brothers, Preservation Hall Jazz Band and The Dirty Dozen Brass Ban at the Hollywood Bowl on Wednesday August 18th. Also looking for some pre-game suggestions for the show that night in the area near the Hollywood Bowl.

Thanks in advance for any and all LA food recommendations!

In other news, this week Scotty and I decided this week to start up a Hidden Track Foodie Twitter Account.

READ ON for more of this week’s F4tF…

As we are now into summer and things tend to slow down in the restaurant business here in NYC, sometimes it’s tough to come up with a story that hasn’t been written about by the big guys like Eater, Grub Street, The Feed Blog etc… so I thought I would share with you some of the smaller food blogs that I am currently following which offer as much foodie value to me as do “The Big Blogs.”

All of the blogs listed below are currently on my Google Reader’s RSS feeds. Some of these blogs you may have heard of, some you may not have. All of them provide me with unique, fun and informative food news I can use to try new restaurants, recipes and road trips.

Here we go:

89th & Broke – Another set of eyes, mouths and stomachs scoping out NYC food. They post cool stuff like Favorite Food Finds and restaurants not just in Manhattan. Here is their description of the site: “We’re young professionals residing in Murray Hill and Upper East Side who are always looking for something fun to do or the best place to grab a drink and dinner at an affordable price around the city.”

A Passion for Food – The subtitle to this blog is “One real purpose in life. Eat. Try Everything. Anything. Anywhere. In the end, we all want to be happy and good food makes me happy.” It is written by Kathy YL Chan. Another well connected foodie sharing their food experiences via words and pictures. Here is part of her bio from the site “Born & raised in Honolulu, Hawai’i, now calling the East Village of NYC home. It’s perfect here. I write the Sugar Rush column at Serious Eats.”

READ ON for more of Friday 4 the Foodies…

Friday for the Foodies is taking a long weekend for the 4th of July. I will be unplugged, at the beach and manning the grill for most of the weekend.

I thought I’d share some fun (and educational) videos that highlight foods that we all eat on the 4th of July and the best way to prepare (and eat) them.

Enjoy the videos and I hope you all have as relaxing a weekend as I plan to.

Cooking with Johan – Grilled Potato Salad

READ ON for more instructional videos about grilling…

On Wednesday, Abita Beer out of Abita Springs, Louisiana announced that they were going to be selling a special brew to raise money for people in Louisiana that were and are still being affected by the disastrous BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. They are calling the new brew Save Our Shore or S.O.S. (as in help!) for short.

Here is part of the article published on WDSU Online about the new brew:

“We just thought that hit home more than anything. Cause what it is, is a distress call. And we’re in distress,” said David Blossman of Abita. Abita and the Louisiana Seafood Marketing Board are combining their local flavors to spearhead the campaign, with the 22 ounce specialty pilsner as the top fundraising item. It’s available in 41 states nationwide. “After the cameras are gone and the limelights are no longer here, it will be on the shelves and grocery stores and liquor stores and in bars and restaurants. You can’t miss it when you look at it,” Blossman said. Seventy-five cents of each beer sold and 100 percent of merchandise sales go directly to the charity, which will then be managed by the Northshore Foundation.

The Abita S.O.S. will hit the market in mid-July.

Here are some other stories you may not be aware of from Louisiana based food companies that are trying their best to continue to do business in the face of this horrific disaster:

Louisiana Seafood News shared the story of Shrimpers Using the Internet to Sell Direct to Public. Below is a video from a shrimper named Jimmy Dupre who took his message straight to youtube to speak directly to the public about his situation, the quality of his product and what people can do to help.

READ ON for more on the situation in the gulf…

The 2010 World Cup starts today in South Africa. As someone who has lived in Cape Town for two years, I’m so happy to see the country host this amazing tournament. If you ever have a chance to visit South Africa in your lifetime, do it! It is one of the most beautiful places on this planet.

Here are two places in NYC worth checking out during the World Cup tournament:

Socially Superlative shared that Paradou (located at 8 Little West 12th Street) will be doing $35 Prix Fixe menus for each of the next 4 weeks.

Here is the lowdown on the menus from their article:

Paradou will feature a different special menu for each of the 4 weeks of the World Cup. The menus will reflect the continents participating in the World Cup. There are five continents participating; Australia, Africa, Asia, The Americas and Europe. The menus will be slightly modern takes on classic dishes from those regions. The menus will be 3-course prix fixe. The price is $35. Our menus will be focusing on the following:

Week 1 – Australia
Week 2 – Africa/Asia
Week 3 – The Americas
Week 4 – Europe

READ ON for more of this week’s Fridays For the Foodies…

Last Saturday, I set off on a journey starting in Queens and ending in the Lower East Side after walking from the Vernon Jackson stop in Queens, over the Pulaski Bridge into Greenpoint for The Total Franklin Street Immersion. I then proceeded to walk from Greenpoint to McCarren Park at which point I went down Driggs to Metropolitan where I realized I was three blocks away from Fette Sau.

If you have never been, it is worth stopping by. In addition to their awesome BBQ, they also boast one the best collections of American Whiskeys and a multitude of craft beer on tap. My lunch was brisket, spicy sausage, broccoli salad and an Arcadia Whitsun Ale on tap.

Here is a picture of their bar:

Fette Sau is old school BBQ. You order either by weight (I got a 1/2 pound of brisket) or by the piece (1 piece of Spicy Berkshire Pork Sausage), by the Side (Broccoli Salad). When I got to the register I saw this mason jar filled with spices and label on the front that said Fetta Sau Dry Rub and a back label that listed the ingredients (including coffee from their neighbor Oslo Coffee) . Once I read that back label I asked how much, the cashier said $10, said fine I’ll take one.

READ ON for more of this week’s Friday For the Foodies…

I recently stumbled upon a cool website that showcases Brooklyn food called Nona Brooklyn. It is very similar to how FoodCandy is setup but with a focus on restaurants, bars and food stores only located in Brooklyn. You can select which places you want to follow and get updates from (like Twitter). It is a relatively new site but boasts an impressive roster of places on board so far. I already have a list of places I haven’t been to but want to check out after reading about them on the site.

It was through Nona that I found out about Southpaw Presents: 5th Ave Festival this Sunday. Loved this line in the description of the event:

Though billed as a music festival rather than a local-food affair, as with any Brooklyn shindig the Southpaw 5th Ave street fair in Park Slope this Sunday will feature many local food spots like Sixpoint, Bierkraft, and Red Hook Lobster Pound, among others.

Here is the posting they put up on their site on May 10th describing what Nona is and how it is best used..

Use Nona to get food and drink updates from your favorite Brooklyn bakers, butchers, brewers, restaurants, shops, bars and farmers at local farmers markets. NonaBrooklyn is like the sidewalk chalkboards that restaurants, shops and bars use to promote daily specials, but better! Nona pulls all those Brooklyn chalkboards together in one convenient spot that you can check from the office, home, or anywhere to find out ‘What’s Good Today?’ in Brooklyn. Nona is growing – stay tuned as we add lots more favorite local food and drink spots in the coming weeks. Let us know if there’s anyone you’d like to see listed here – just email us at info@nonabrooklyn.com.

READ ON for more of this week’s F4tF column…

By the time you read this posting, we will more than halfway through the last day in April, paving the way for the month of May which means there are a lot of holidays you should be planning for.

First up is Cinco de Mayo Wednesday May 5th

According to the website Mexonline, this is the history of Cinco de Mayo:

The holiday of Cinco De Mayo, The 5th Of May, commemorates the victory of the Mexican militia over the French army at The Battle Of Puebla in 1862. It is primarily a regional holiday celebrated in the Mexican state capital city of Puebla and throughout the state of Puebla, with some limited recognition in other parts of Mexico, and especially in U.S. cities with a significant Mexican population. It is not, as many people think, Mexico’s Independence Day, which is actually September 16.

Since Cinco de Mayo usually involves drinking and tequila, you definitely want to get some food in you at some point during that day. Metromix did a great piece recently called Cheat Sheet: Takeout Taquerias. Their opening line for the article reads: Before you lick, suck and swallow this Cinco de Mayo, load up at one of these killer taquerias.

READ ON for more of this week’s Friday 4 the Foodies…

Following up on last week’s East Harlem Eats, I thought I’d share a few of the food stores I shop at in East Harlem & Harlem that some of you may not be aware of. Sometimes the place that looks like you might not go in is the place you should have gone into. Here are a few of my favorites:

1) Associated Supermarket – Corner of 96th Street / Lexington Avenue

This is my everyday supermarket. Easy to stop into getting off the 6 train uptown (right next to the building). This Associated is the lowest priced supermarket I have found in NYC while still being clean and having quality products. This market is not fancy by any means but if you shop for and cook basic, simple foods, this is the market for you. It is a little tiny and can be tough navigating the store when it is busy. That being said, if you live in the area, this should be your everyday market as well.

2) El Tepeyac Carniceria & Grocery – Lexington Avenue between 102nd & 103rd Streets

This is a great small Mexican Meat Market. They have the basic cuts, mostly sold by their Spanish names but the product is fresh and very reasonably priced. There is also a Mexican grocery store owned by the same people just up the street.

READ ON for more of this week’s Friday For the Foodies…