Paloma vs. Relish, Part II: Summertime in Williamsburg

Relish

225 Wythe Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 963-4546
www.relish.com

DEAR KEVIN,

If you think winning the attention of your server at Paloma is tough, you should have been with us tonight at Relish! We felt bad for her after a while. Not really because she was so busy with tables, but after disappearing over and over for such incredible lengths of time we had to assume something just awful was happening. She was quite polite and apologetic about it, of course, and honestly rather agreeable when it was all said and done and paid for.

Anyhow--weather is fine, wish you were here,

- MIKE

As was mentioned in yesterday's Paloma vs. Relish, Part I, Kevin is not such a fan of Paloma. Aside from "trivial" aspects like attentiveness and quickness, he also holds that Relish's food is simply just better, a point on which I've never much wanted to challenge him. It's been a while, granted, since I've had dinner at the Williamsburg stalwart, but my memories of its dinner menu are overwhelmingly delicious. So, last night, Mint and I decided to put the pair to the test, mostly to enjoy two nights of good food, but I was also hoping to better distinguish the duo in my mind.

Of course, I got lost, as always, trying to find Relish (Wythe and N. 3rd, for the record), which sits in the shadows of more half-built luxury loft condos than you've ever known existed. At least, this is the scenery you enjoy walking down Berry Street from Greenpoint; those who walk out Metropolitan from Bedford Avenue are spared the disorienting ghosts of Williamsburg's gluttonous gentrification.

But there sits the shimmering stainless steel diner! At once inviting and promising of comfort, Relish is hardly imaginable inside another shell. And, in summertime, it's hardly imaginable a finer place exists in the 11211 zip code to sit outside on a warm evening and enjoy a late dinner.

Relish's summer menu follows suit, offering all its favorites--burgers, seared tuna, chicken salad--and a handful of lighter, tempting pastas. Mint chose Relish's burger and fries, also requesting an order of calamari; I ordered flounder, blackened, accompanied by a pile of saffron rice.

The calamari was torn between being soft or firm, not a tremendously enviable texture, but the fra diavolo sauce served with it was rich, spicy with poblano pepper, sweet with fresh chopped basil. The sauce saved the dish, to be honest.

On her burger, Mint commented, "it tastes like steak," which I assumed to be a good thing (vegetarians can never be too sure), but, while tasty, her thin-cut fries were hardly the hulking potato wedges Paloma served up with our mussels last night. The "steak"-burger saved the dish. My flounder was all-around excellent, though, a large portion of spicy, crispy fish served atop a savory saffron risotto, a sweet lemon sauce drizzled around the plate. No complaints.

We gave in to dessert (and cocktails which were far too sweet for my taste), ordering a "lemonade cake" layered with blueberries. Thick, warm, simple, sweet, tart--delicious.

At the end of these two days and as many excellent meals, a few things stood out: our tab at Paloma was half of our tab at Relish (note: with two extra drinks and a dessert included at Relish); the service at Paloma was excellent, but far too oddly erratic at Relish to form any fair opinion by comparison; and the atmosphere of each remains integrally distinctive.

At Paloma, you come and go, one of many, feeling perhaps bit lost under its large white walls, or stranded afloat on an oversized booth. Nevertheless, you are connected by the dining experience, if on your own terms. At Relish, you are stolen inside and hidden in a booth or within its walled garden, instantly put at ease by a familiar atmosphere. You submit to the experience.

The question really isn't which is better, but which you are in the mood for. If you want a slightly showy (slightly more pricey) and assuredly good down-home dinner, then the scene at Williamsburg's Relish is right for you. If you want a spot that leaves you be, that offers you comfort but challenges you, a sometimes imperfect but ever-evolving blank slate, then Greenpoint and Paloma are a far better pair.

To be sure, Paloma and Relish make a good pair themselves, embodying the intricate histories of their respective neighborhoods via "Urban" or "New" or whatever take on American cuisine you might desire.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: At both, surely. And that was fun. Methinks a Queen's Hideaway vs. Diner post might be in order...

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.

Siggy's Good Food? Nope, It's Great!

Relish
225 Wythe Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 963-4546
www.relish.com

Siggy's Good Food
76 Henry Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(718) 237-3199

HARD TO BELIEVE my first trip to Relish in quite some time would be overshadowed by a hole-in-the-wall organic kitchen in downtown Brooklyn, but that's the truth, people. And that's not to say the always-impeccable Relish wasn't up to expectations--Siggy's just flat out surprised us.

The Relish trip was decided-upon quite by accident. Jane, visiting for a birthday weekend, had only two simple requests for brunch: to sit outside and order off a menu that didn't bestow ridiculous names on its food. Is there a better Williamsburg option meeting that pair of demands? I think not. So, much to the chagrin of Mint who was working on a her usual day off, Sunday, it was off to the depths of Wythe Avenue.

Sunday brunch is better in the backyard at Relish

The beauty of Relish is always its menu of simple, delicious fare presented without pretense in neighborhood that quite literally thrives on pretense. My huevos rancheros were excellently cooked and the tortillas below still crunchy, somehow entirely unaffected by the pile of rice and beans piled upon them; the side of veggie sausage, while tasty, could certainly have been of larger quantity. Meanwhile, Jane was much pleased with her chicken sandwich. Best of all, though, was the towering Bloody Mary I received from the bar, thick, just a touch too spicy, and refreshingly cold on a warm afternoon.

After a visit to see Steph tending bar up at Dive 75 on a suspiciously slow Sunday, and after a game of Scrabble, quite a few bowls of chocolate candy, and a remarkable comeback by the US to dispatch Mexico 2-1 and win the Gold Cup, Jane set off across Central Park to find her way back to Murray Hill, while I set off to take the 2 train back into Brooklyn.

Meeting Mint off Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights, we surveyed our usual options and decided, instead, to set off down Henry Street in search of something different. We came across Siggy's Good Food and were coxed inside by the adorable gray cat standing sentinel outside in spite of our apprehensions about Siggy's cozy, non-air conditioned interior.

Siggy's was refreshing nonetheless, a bottle of beer and fresh ginger-mint lemonade for Mint and I saw to that. The food, best of all, was not your typical vegan/vegetarian variety, as we had feared, focusing on organic offerings prepared with infinitely more touch and experience than many like-minded establishments. Mint's tofu, broccoli and soba noodles in Szechuan sauce, an overdone staple at many veggie friendly joints, was remarkably light, with all the flavor of soy sauce and spices without becoming too salty or overpowering the tofu, which was cooked very, very well.

Spotting macaroni and cheese on the menu I could do little else but order it, and so also chose a lentil garlic soup to start. The soup was wonderful, no real surprises, but the macaroni and cheese had to be the best I've ordered out anywhere in the City. Whole grain spelt pasta was an excellent, hearty choice paired with the tangy, organic blend of cheeses, and together the duo was gooey, sticky, satisfying, or try this: everything you look for in comfort food. Though, while at $6.95 (technically, it's a starter dish) the mac n' cheese is a pretty great value, I'm fairly sure its nutritionally void. You win some, you lose some.

Don't that just look delicious?

So, sorry, Relish, but you got shown up by some creative kids downtown. It's not that the food there was better, it was just that much more unexpected. When the stellar becomes status quo, surprises are just that much more surprising. Anyways, Mint is anxious for her first visit to your shimmery dining car quarters, so, no worries, you'll get your chance to shine for MEF! some evening soon. You just better hope we don't first go to Siggy's for brunch.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: Absolutely, on both counts.