BRUNCH! @ Paloma

Paloma
60 Greenpoint Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11222
(718) 349-2400
palomanyc.com

RAISE YOUR HANDS if you love Saturday morning cartoons!

Okay, yes, I know, cartoons kinda suck these days. I enjoy Spongebob as much as the next guy, but Viva Piñata? Yu-Gi-Oh? Ugh, I can barely stomach Futureama, and my 10-year-old cousin recently asked me, "Who's Yogi Bear?" Are you kidding me, Boo Boo!? Hey, hey, I say, what are we teaching these kids today?!

The good news: Paloma understands. Not only can you now find yourself a tasty brunch at the Greenpoint joint, but you can kick back and enjoy it while watching the flickering frames of good, old fashions, hand-animated Looney Tunes.

How the food? My eggs over-medium with a slice of potato pancake was perhaps the simplest plate I have ever seen come out of Paloma's kitchen. The eggs were impeccably cooked. Mint's duck hash piled atop one of those tasty potato-cakes was reportedly awesome. A warm popover, crispy crust outside and buttery soft inside, hit the spot. And, as always, the bar served up a hit, this afternoon mixing up a ginger soda with skewered chunks of candied ginger as garnish.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: Yup, yup.

Paloma vs. Relish, Part I: Late-Night in Greenpoint

Paloma

60 Greenpoint Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11222
(718) 349-2400
www.palomanyc.com

IT HAS BEEN brought to my attention by Paloma-skeptic Kevin that the one-half the ownership pair and executive chef of the Brooklyn newcomer, Camille Becerra, was the very first chef to be given the honor of being asked to leave the current season of Top Chef. I suppose as long as pineapple upside-down cake never shows up on the menu, though, the restaurant will be just fine.

And after enjoying a few 2-for-1 specials with Sir Hitchcock, Mint and Roxie at the Soft Spot (an outing assembled quite by chance, if you can call it "chance" to find Roxie at the Soft Spot these days), Mint and I decided to kick off a two-night celebration of the end of her summer semester by enjoying a late-night meal at Paloma followed by one the following night at Relish. It seemed liked a fun idea. Slightly expensive, but fun.

It would also give me a chance to compare two of my favorite north Brooklyn retaurants: Greenpoint's Paloma and Williamsburg's Relish, self-styled "Urban American" and "New American" kitchens respectively. There is certainly a familiar culinary thread that ties the two together, and a few things that many folks believe separate them. That, and both are astoundingly delicious. This was really a win-win plan.

Paloma, which serves dinner nightly until 11:30 p.m. (on Sunday to 10:30), was first in line, as it's far closer to home. Unsurprisingly, at 10:30 on a Tuesday night, there was no wait; our waitress gave us our pick of the half-dozen open tables. (This would, perhaps, be a good point to note that throughout our meal the waitress was excellent. Service at Paloma can sometimes be inattentive, so it's a fair point to praise. It's also one which Kevin will undoubtedly disbelieve.)

Paloma's summer menu was mostly standby favorites--roasted chicken, burgers, Parmesan-crusted tilapia, pesto-seared tuna--which we've had before. There was a selection of cheeses that seemed interesting, but we were hungrier than cheeses. So, we ordered the spicy shrimp and steamed mussels with fries appetizers along with the cod entree, and we agreed to share everything.

Shrimp, by candlelight

A great plan--the shrimp were light, spicy and paired with sweet grilled onions; the mussels arrived swimming in coconut milk and lemongrass with thick wedges of potato to munch on between bites. The cod, at first, disappointed me, only as the fish is forever impressed in my memory as Basque bacalao, cooked with rich, roasted red peppers and garlic, a dish I've happily order numerous times along the northern Spanish coast. It took a few bites to warm up to it served with grains and sweet red grapes, tasty but less insisting flavors.

This was all accompanied by a few of Paloma's cocktails, which really are the best you'll find anywhere in the neighborhood, even if the bar, as Kevin points out, is at times fascinatingly slow to make them (you do always seem to wonder what could take five minutes when there are only two people at the bar). The space, also, confuses me at times, being so large it seems like it could never feel full.

Aside from the apparently uber-meticulous drink-mixing, the space I've started to come to terms with. As Camille mentions in her interview, Paloma is, at its heart, a neighborhood joint. It is above all accessible. At times it's food staggers between comfort and higher intentions, but the prices are exceedingly reasonable for the quality and consistence of the kitchen, and high tabs are usually a result of over-indulgence rather than overpriced fare.

Staggering only a few blocks to get home is a fair trade too.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: Tomorrow: Relish.

Mike Eats Greenpoint, Volume 6: Paloma

Paloma
60 Greenpoint Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11222
718-349-2400
www.palomanyc.com

A HANDFUL OF newcomers are etching a whole new culinary face on the Greenpoint scene. Of note, Lamb & Jaffy, Brooklyn Label, and the excellent Queen's Hideaway are just a few, but leading the pack is Paloma. This haven of "urban American cuisine" is a blank canvas for its patrons, equal parts classy, communal, and striving for the creative.

Paloma's allure is its food, though it's simple menu seems unlikely to draw crowds down to the Greenpoint waterfront. Indeed, word of mouth does the trick and the crowds do come. They swing open Paloma's large wooden gate to find a sleek and sparsely-decorated interior, turntables assembled even before the first tables, and ultimately some of the most accessible food on this side of the East River. Imagine the comfort of Williamsburg's Relish relieved of its diner kitsch.

Coriander Pesto Seared Tuna Salad

The prices are manageable, the dishes extraordinary. The menu changes seasonally (expect a Summer menu soon), with both inventive highlights like Coriander Pesto Seared Tuna Salad and Parmesan Crusted Tilapia (both $14) and classics like Roasted Chicken with Potato Pancake ($12) or juicy Strip Steak and Fries ($19). My personal favorite, however, remains the Hominy Stew with Roasted Spaghetti Squash ($11), cooked so perfectly tender the tiny bits of hominy and squash might be confused for pasta.


The wine menu is decent, with five or six selections each of red and white wines, but the cocktails are worth a trip alone. House-infused vodkas lend a special flavor to almost all of them, standouts being the Vanilla Old Fashioned (made with a vanilla-infused 12-year bourbon), Pomegranate Gin Fizz, and Mac's Cosmo (featuring lime-infused 42 Below vodka). These are elegant cocktails that taste as good as they sound, and don't sound ridiculous when you order them.

Be sure the try the Chamomile Tres Leches (when it's not sold out), a thick, sweet pound cake soaked in a light chamomile-infused cream. One of the best desserts I've ever had.

It would be great to see more acts performing live, but with old Spanish flicks and Westerns playing on Paloma's great white wall, there's always something to keep you entertained aside from the food.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: As soon as he hears about a Summer menu.

Easter Brunch: Jenny's French Toast

FIRST, HAPPY EASTER! Phyllis is hoping for an audition with the good folks Cadbury despite the fact that, yes, the eggs have gotten smaller.

After a few drinks last evening with Kevin, Elissa, Jenny, Phil, and Mint at Paloma, it was suggested that a brunch be held this afternoon. This, remarkably, came to pass (not all of our ideas shaped while drinking are so fortunate.) Elissa and Kevin arrived with two bottle each of orange juice and "inexpensive" champagne, while Jenny brought sweet raisin bread rolls, an orange, half-and-half, powdered sugar, and a sizable about of doubt in the resources of my kitchen.

Jenny did also offer my slightly wounded ego a delicious recipe for French toast, to which we added only flour:

6 large eggs

6 tbsp flour
1 & 1/2 cup half-and-half or milk
1 tsp grated orange zest
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp honey
(plus 4 tsp sugar)
1/2 tsp salt
challah bread
butter
powdered sugar (for garnish)
berries (for garnish)

This is French toast, so mix up everything save for the bread, butter and powdered sugar (if you don't want the extra 4 tsp of sugar, omit it.) Jenny was afraid her only slicing the rolls in half was too thick, but everything turned out fine. We fried the dipped bread over medium heat in a pan with butter until the slices were browned and then stuck them in the oven to keep warm. These slices were huge enough that one was more than plenty for each of us.

This recipe is sweeter and soaks up more than my recipe proposed in the French Toast Bites post, but the orange zest is a very happy addition. In the future, I would add more vanilla soy milk to my original recipe, substitute honey for some sugar, and add the orange zest suggested here. But only add the orange zest if you have berries or fruit as topping, otherwise the orange can be a bit much.