Greene Hook Opens to the Public

(photo from Greene Hook Press Release)

Greene Hook, the new restaurant from Light Horse Tavern owner Bill Gray, is set to officially open  to the public at 70 Greene Street tomorrow, Saturday, 9/12. The bar will be open, drinks will be flowing, and they are going to debut their signature dish, a mangalitsa pork burger (mangalitsa pork comes from a special breed of domestic pig, usually humanely raised,  and is a well-marbled, very flavorful and juicy meat reminiscent of beef but with more pork flavor) topped with bacon.

The restaurant itself is quite spacious, has a shuffleboard table, bar seating, reclaimed wood floors and handcrafted tables.

Checking Out Livestock

If you haven't taken the time to check out Livestock yet, you're missing out. Offered as a once-weekly Sunday afternoon pop-up at LITM, Livestock is constantly exploring new ingredients and bringing creativity to their kitchen.

Every week I look forward to reading their menu to see what the chefs behind Livestock have come up with and having been in a couple of times now, I've yet to find it an easy decision on what to get. The simplest answer? Go with a few friends and split as much as you can.

ME Casa

ME Casa is the type of place I'm always looking for, but rarely find. It's an underground alcove with dim lighting and less than 15 tables, atmospheric without being suffocating. Perfect for an intimate date, a few friends catching up, or even a small group just having fun. The servers seem intent on providing a good experience, sincerely exchanging pleasantries and keeping a watchful eye. All this plus delicious food.

                                                                    (Pernil Asado)
Boasting authentic, but with a twist, Puerto Rican food, ME Casa is not someplace I'd recommend for vegetarians or vegans, but would recommend for just about anyone else. There are a lot of classic dishes here with delicious and familiar flavors being shown off in a new way.One of the best-known and most widely acclaimed dishes is the Mofongo - a bed of mashed and fried plantains topped with beef, chicken, or shrimp stew. On one visit, I tried the chicken entree and on another, we ordered the mofongo appetizer which is three mini mofongos topped with whatever variety of stews you'd like - in this case, one chicken, one shrimp, and one beef (seems like the obvious choice really). The chicken seems to be the favorite, but all of them are excellent. The plantains are garlicky with a creamy texture and while each of the stews is slightly different, they are all very flavorful with a bit of peppery taste to them.

Another favorite is the pernil (shown at the top) which is basically just served as a large plate of shredded pork. This is nothing to complain about as the pork is incredibly tender and juicy, highlighted by the simplicity of how it's served. The roast chicken was similar - fairly simple in preparation, it seemed like it had just been given a spice rub and then roasted, but came out tender and juicy. It was definitely well-seasoned, with lots of garlic and I think oregano. With the addition of the money sauce (ME Casa's green sauce), it doesn't get much better than this.

I've also tried the Pollo Boracho (drunken chicken) which was served with lots of perfectly cooked onions and the Bistec Encebollado (steak). Again, both excellent, perhaps slightly more complex in flavor. Everything has been well cooked and I strongly suspect this is one of those places where there's no bad order, just favorite ones.

         (Pollo)

 
                                             (Bistec)

Event Recap: 4th Annual Hamilton Park BBQ

This past Saturday was the 4th Annual Hamilton Park BBQ. There was live music, beer, games, and of course, a lot of BBQ!

BBQ vendors included Dinosaur BBQ, Soul Flavors, Union Republic, Delaney Barbecue, and Jimmy's Barbecue from Pennsylvania and everything was priced around 7-10 dollars. Desserts included Andy's Italian Ice Truck, Torico Ice Cream, and Sophie Sophia with drinks being provided by NJ Beer Co. in conjunction with the Hamilton Inn and Lizzmonade!

 

I got there a little after 6pm and the crowd seemed like it was in full-swing. The lines for Dinosaur BBQ were really long and they didn't diminish until the very end of the night. Unfortunately, shortly after I got there, Soul Flavors started packing up so I'm not really sure what they had on offer, but there were plenty of other options to choose from.

Lunch at Fiesta Grill: All About the Pork

Let me preface this review by saying I am not Filipino and while I’m familiar with Filipino food, I am far from an expert and so may very well have no idea what I’m talking about.  Am I inspiring confidence yet?

I’d walked by Fiesta Grill several times before finally deciding to stop in for lunch.  It’s very cafeteria/buffet style where you just go up to the counter, point, pay and they give your food in Styrofoam bowls (which I'd love if they switched to plastic) on a plastic tray.  When I went, I stared at the approximately 16-20 chafing dishes of food they had out on display for about 5 minutes which really didn’t make my choice any clearer. Approximately 75% of it was pork and while everything has a name, there’s not much by way of description. I ended up asking the (brusque but very polite) woman behind the counter what their most popular dishes were and going with that. She recommended I get the combo: rice, 2 main dishes, and a drink – all for $7! – and suggested I try the pork adobo and lechon paksiw.