Restaurante Arzak Part 1: A Personal Tour

As part of our journey through the Basque Country, we had the pleasure of visiting the world renowned Restaurante Arzak, a three-Michelin starred restaurant in San Sebastian. Run by the legendary Juan Mari Arzak and his daughter Elena (pictured above), it consistently ranks as one of the best restaurants in the world. Arzak is at the forefront of la Nueva Cocina Vasca, the New Basque Cuisine that has influenced chefs all over the world, including back home in New York. This is the first installment of our three-part feature on the Arzaks and their restaurant.

"This food could not be made anywhere else."

I was sitting in the lounge at Restaurante Arzak in San Sebastian, Spain. Sitting beside his daughter and co-chef Elena, over coffee and cava, the great Juan Mari Arzak was explaining to me the principles of la Nueva Cocina Vasca, the cuisine that he founded and of which he remains the leading inspirational figure. He grew animated as he spoke, his passion for food and culture visibly on display. Although their food incorporates flavors from around the world, he explained, it could not be made anywhere but right here, in the Basque Country.

What did he mean by that? To attempt to answer that question, let me back up a bit.

A Great Porterhouse at Empire Steak House

The porterhouse for two at Empire Steak House

With all the new and innovative restaurants in New York, it's easy to forget that the city is brimming with traditional steakhouses, most of which are still as popular as ever. The king of New York steak houses for decades remains Williamsburg's Peter Luger's – but many of its enterprising employee alumni have opened ventures in Manhattan that boast comparable porterhouses. One such duo is Ben and Jack Sinanaj, now responsible for two Ben & Jack Steakhouse locations in Manhattan. The brothers spun off Empire Steakhouse in 2010.

The menu at Empire, like at Peter Luger's, revolves around the porterhouse. Cooked at very high temperatures for a short amount of time, the steak has a great, crispy crust and a juicy interior. The serving plate is heated up to 400 degrees, which keeps the steak sizzling hot for the entire meal. The plate is tilted so the buttery juice collects at the bottom for drizzling. Ours was cooked right to our specifications – a perfect medium rare, with a warm red center and a crispy crust.

While Luger's is known for their gruff waiters, the traditionally clad staff at Empire tries to be more accommodating, helpfully serving patrons the first portions of steak and sides, and guiding guests to the porterhouse and other key items on the large menu. A nice touch was to stack the slices of porterhouse on top of each other when they arrived to prevent most of them from cooking further on the hot plate, and to give us better access to the juices.

In a neighborhood already loaded with steakhouses – Bobby Van's, Smith & Wollensky, and Capital Grille, among others, are all nearby – Empire stands out for the true porterhouse experience.

Scrambled Eggs with Ramps

Ramps are finally here in fully bloom. The cross between garlic and onion with garlicky green leaves, bulbs, and stems always remind me that spring is here and fresh local produce is back in New York. Ramps are best served simply sautéed with good olive oil or butter, or with other spring vegetables and pasta in a light sauce.

Ramps are also fantastic with eggs. It's as easy as following our simply sautéed recipe and then adding well beaten eggs, a hard cheese like sharp cheddar or gruyere, some cayenne or red chili flakes, and parsley if you have it.

Separate the bulbs from the leaves. Sauté the bulbs first in butter or olive oil while you coarsely chop the leaves. When the bulbs turn translucent, add the leaves. When they start to wilt, add well-beaten eggs and cheese and cook over low heat until the eggs are creamy but not dry.

A spring breakfast of champions.

Pasta with Spring Vegetables

Spring time greets us with glorious vegetables, many of them green in color and all of them delicious. They include asparagus, which is suddenly plump, vibrant green, and flecked with purple. There are fava beans, which are mild and fresh. And then there are ramps, or wild leeks, which are a fantastic cross between garlic and onion with garlicky green leaves, bulbs, and stems. Ramps are available only for a short time, so now is the time to enjoy them.

With ingredients this good, I like to do very little, like sauteing ramps with nothing more than some olive oil, salt, and pepper (recipe here) and perhaps a little cayenne. In this preparation, I cook a nice assortment of Spring vegetables very simply and toss them with pasta and some feta cheese, which melts partially and helps to create a sauce. Shiitake mushrooms add a good, earthy contrast to the freshness of the asparagus and favas. The result is fresh, light, and a little creamy. A real "pasta primavera" for Spring.

The trick here is to cook everything for the right amount of time, which just requires reading ahead a bit. Otherwise this dish should be fast and easy.

Fine Dining, Brooklyn Atmosphere at Battersby

Brooklyn's Battersby: Exposed brick wall? Check. Cramped quarters? Check. Fine dining with a Brooklyn decor 

Battersby has everything you'd expect to see at a trendy Brooklyn restaurant: the obligatory exposed bricks and wood plank floors; cramped seating and no reservations; and waiters and clientele wearing ray-ban glasses. But wait, the food coming from the three men who work in Battersby's closet of a kitchen is refined, and thoughtful, with the level of finesse and care you'd expect at a fine dining downtown Manhattan establishment.

Battersby has won recent acclaims, appearing on Bon Appetit list of the ten best new restaurants of 2012.  As a result, it's quite popular.  Battersby does not take reservations unless you want to order what they describe as a "spontaneous tasting menu."  Opting for the tasting menu is really the only way to go unless you want to line up before the restaurant opens and take your chances -- like I did at Pok Pok Ny, last year's trendy Brooklyn restaurant, right after it opened. Life's too short for that. Naturally, on a recent visit, virtually everyone in the 28-seat restaurant sprung for the tasting menu.

The tasting menus come in two sizes – five courses for $65 or seven courses for $85. The portions, while not huge, are supplemented by additional dishes and starters between courses.

Sweet and Spicy Stir-Fried Noodles

I don't make many dishes that I would call "fusion," but this is one of them: a noodle dish I came up with one lazy Saturday using Chinese and Thai ingredients. I stir-fry fresh Shanghai noodles with garlic, onions, chilies, and a sweet and sour soy-based sauce, topping the whole thing with a Chinese-style egg crepe. The noodles come out just how I like them; nice and spicy, garlicky, savory, and sweet.

The key ingredient here is Thai black soy sauce, which is syrupy and sticky and sweet. Find some along with some fresh noodles on our Chinatown shopping tour or buy it here, or otherwise substitute something else sweet like hoisin sauce. I combine the black soy with the savory flavors of light soy and shaoxing rice wine (or dry sherry) and balance it all with a hit of rice vinegar, which cuts the sweetness a bit and rounds out the flavors. For heat I use bird's eye chilies, but you can use any source of heat.

The egg crepe is basically a thin open-faced omelet rolled up like a rug and sliced. It's pretty that way, but feel free to scramble the egg instead, or leave it out. Chicken or another protein would be a nice addition.

Sliced Fish with Spicy Sauce Soup at Old Sichuan

"Sliced Fish with Spicy Sauce Soup" at Old Sichuan on Bayard Street is one of the most intimidating dishes I've ever had placed in front of me. The large bowl is practically overflowing with vibrant red broth and the whole thing is topped with two—perhaps three dozen hot red chilies. Sliced white fish timidly pokes out from somewhere underneath. It's not immediately clear how it is to be eaten, and even if that could be determined whether eating it would be a good idea.

Dan Dan Noodles

It turns out eating it is a great idea. Indeed, sliced fish with spicy sauce soup is one of the best Chinese dishes I've had in New York.

The broth is milder on the heat scale than the mound of chilies would suggest and more complex and flavorful, featuring the floral tingling flavor of Sichuan pepper. The fish is unbelievably tender and buttery, and further underneath are large chunks of tofu that have soaked up the sauce. After devouring the dish perhaps a dozen times, I am still not sure whether it is sauce or soup, or both, but in any case my strategy is to ladle it into a smaller bowl and eat the fish with chopsticks.

Once I've polished off all the fish in there, I follow the staff's suggestion and take home the leftover soup/sauce to be cooked with more fish the next day.