Being ambitious about where to eat used to be determined by reading the paper or a magazine, talking to people or noticing a new restaurant in the neighborhood. The world has changed and now it is often your smart phone that directs you where to go. Whether from an app like Zagat, a social media site like Yelp, or a Facebook or Instagram posting, knowing a new place, or a sleeper, or a good deal, is often at your fingertips on your hand-held device. Rather than having your fingertips do the walking as was the old fashion yellow pages adage, it is now your fingertips that determine where you eat. Interestingly where I live uptown, there is a restaurant literally directly across the side street, that seemed like a quiet place a bit off the beaten track that never interested me for Japanese food, often because I thought it did not do the volume to support very fresh sushi. However, I learned from Yelp that it had a high scoring and was very popular. Now, to my surprise when I have gone, there is often a wait and very good Japanese food right outside my door.
In the last month, I have discovered two good restaurants, using my iPhone, that I knew nothing about before I searched on Savored and Yelp; and I do hope to go back to both. Savored.com is a free service that can be used to go to a restaurant at a time when the restaurant has capacity to serve more people and is able to do it at a discount. I have seen it compared to airplane tickets and at quieter times there are good deals; if you want to go out on Saturday at 8 pm it would not be much help but if you want to go on Tuesday at 9pm, it can be very good and you can save, at times, up to about 30%. You must reserve on the website and occasionally remind the restaurant of your “savored reservation,” but I have not had an awkward experience where the restaurant denied the discount. A recent find was Berimbau Do Brazil on Carmine Street near Bedford. Berimbau, the restaurant’s namesake, is an indigenous Brazilian musical instrument, and the place is a small friendly restaurant with a simple menu made up mainly of Portuguese/ Brazilian food. I also recently needed a restaurant near Union Square and Yelp helped me discover Feast, a newer place on Third Avenue and 13th Street, but more about that in a bit.
Brazilian food, which is not overly represented in New York, includes Seafood and Ceviche, a good bit of beef and it seems somewhat like a cross between Latin American flavor and European ingredients. Our meal started with Pao de Queijo or cheese bread in the form ofgougère, but a little richer. They were made to order and went well with the caipirinhas or rum like drinks made with fruit. The house cocktail was made with lime and had mojito qualities without the mint; we also had a passion fruit variation. Also as an appetizer we had Calabresa or Brazilian sausage with yucca fries with a dipping sauce. This had some appeal but was not overly distinctive. As a main course we had the MoquecaBaiana or seafood stew, and the Picanha or prime sirloin steak, a Brazilian cut. Both main courses were very good. The steak had a good bit of flavor and a nicely seared quality about it, the seafood was gently seasoned and in a creamy coconut based stew. Both were served with a yucca flour condiment that added a crunchy seasoned breadcrumb texture to the rice. Both entrees are about $22 and with the 25% off, they net down to $17, which makes for carefully prepared food at dinner prices.
Feast is also a small restaurant located inthe middle of the block between 12th and 13th Streets on 3rd Avenue. Yelpis somewhat like Zagat in that “members” rate all sorts of services, and it includes a GPS allowing you to pinpoint your location and lists places that are in close proximity. I chose Feast for a birthday dinner close to Union Square and it is indeed a celebratory restaurant that does have an a la carte menu, but the main attraction is two family style prix-fix dinners. Included are a farmer’s market or vegetarian meal or a “game” dinner. We chose the game dinner which is $67 a person and includes three or so appetisers and three or so entrees served very attractively, family style.
This is an easy way to have a food focused “share” experience without much thinking or work. Included appetizers were smoked trout, wild boar ribs and quail along with a farro salad, all prepared in an inspired way with developed flavor. Main courses included a venison chop, duck rotolo, and striped bass along with Brussels sprouts. The venison chop with chestnut stuffing and the striped bass with a black eyed pea vinaigrette stood out to me as carefully prepared and full of delicate flavors. Dessert was only was a “campfire” s’more or had a flambé touch which was attractive but maybe not as much of a standout as some of the earlier tastes. We also received a birthday-candled cheese cake which stood out in its texture and flavor.
Both restaurants appealed and I would be quick to go back or recommend them for different occasions. Yet the fun of the city for me is there are so many more places to discover and finding them is at your fingertips on your hand held device. The process of discovering them is fun but the ultimate proof is in the pudding, or what comes before that at dinner.
Berimbau Do Brazil, 43 Carmine Street near Bedford Street
212 242-2600 www.BerimbauNYC.com
Feast 102 Third Avenue between 12th and 13th Streets
212 529-8880 http://www.EatFeastNYC.com .
