eat in COLOR: Market Ipanema NYC

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At Market Ipanema you eat in color; the rainbow is edible. From breakfast to lunch, the Brazilian-based fast fresh eatery allows you to taste each color in the rainbow through the finest, freshest, and most wholesome ingredients.  Owner Beatriz Lobato Grabowski knows where your food comes from and takes pride in this knowledge, as she takes pride in the colorful flavor combinations, the care put into each meal prepared, and how she and her team treat the community and the environment.

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Market Ipanema sells vibrant fresh juices that rotate with ingredient availability, vivacious smoothies with the benefits and sweetness of nature, and Irving Farm coffee. Breakfast can be just a fresh fruit bowl; an acai bowl, deep purple topped with homemade granola and fresh fruits; coconut yogurt dotted with coconut flakes; or a banana with dark and rich cocoa cream.

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Fresh multi-colored salads with an array of toppings and bases, ranging from chicken and salmon to greens and beans, are up for grabs in the cooler. Tartines on homemade whole wheat bread are filled with avocados, roasted tomatoes, and mix greens, or salmon and ricotta with herbs are available as well. If you do not see what you want out, the team can whip up your favorite. 

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Warm tender mahogany colored protein-packed quinoa serves as the foundation for a medley of flavors in a powerhouse quinoa bowl. Seasonal roasted vegetables, like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, yellow squash or carrots, are nestled in each bite, like colorful gems.  A savory aromatic blend of herbs brings out the nuttiness of the quinoa, while bright green avocado stuns and adds cool creaminess to the hearty bowl. For a boost, get a perfectly poached egg to top it off.

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Other hot dishes include rice bowls, salmon patties, chicken stew, and quiche, each balanced and representing the spectrum of colors.

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Grounded in the Nolita eatery’s Brazilian roots, the tapioca crepes are both colorful and unique treats. Each gluten-free crepe kisses a different part of the rainbow, inside and out. The texture is hypnotizing, like bubbles popping with each bite. The bold pink crepe gets its color from dehydrated beets mixed into the cassava flour to create the crunchy shell. Inside, the house-made cashew cream mingles with red tomato and silky avocado for a textured savory. The kale infused green crepe oozes with salty Gruyere cheese and roasted red onions. They come in sweet varieties, too. Sweet, golden yellow banana jam and fat coconut flakes make for a tropical dessert. Each tapioca crepe is a picture of contrasting colors and flavors that come together harmoniously. 

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To celebrate the Olympics in Rio, Market Ipanema is offering mini tapioca crepes, three for $10. Taste them all and enjoy the many colors that Market Ipanema has to offer. Olympic games and events will be shown on a screen in the eatery as well.

No over-done breakfast or sad lunches here—Market Ipanema keeps it fresh, balanced, exceptional, and colorful.

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8.9.16

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HudsonRW: Greene Hook

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Greene Hook is new in town. It is rough around the edges, ready for refinement, but full of promise. Imbalance and excess were apparent throughout the regular menu items and the Hudson Restaurant Week prix fixe menu. Not only did the dishes feel unperfected, but also the fluidity of the eatery has not yet reached full potential. But, Greene Hook is on its way.

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The Spanish octopus starter from the main menu was scrumptious and layered. The octopus was tender and delicious with a fatty, succulent feel. It was the reference point for the feel of the other elements of the dish: surprise avocado echoed the texture of the octopus, while slinky shishito peppers paired with the slinky yuzu-compressed cucumber. The charred purple pink of octopus stood out against the melee of greens and the frizzy tempura, but each element combined to delight the senses.

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The skin of the entrée duck breast was crispy, whereas the center was almost over done, so the meat lost that gamey lusciousness that is associated with duck. Cashew crumble offered a richness that is already innate in duck, while sweet tart pickled grapes cut the decadence of the meat. A sunchoke puree brought a creamy element to the dish, its color and flavor matching the roasted turnips. Green beans brought color and freshness to the plate, helping with equilibrium.

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Proportions were off in the prix fixe pork belly appetizer— not enough crispiness to forgive the fat of the pork belly, not enough meat to savor the flavor, not enough peach to cleanse the palate, and not enough corn pudding to usher in summer. The peach and corn pudding were nice touches, helping to tip the scale towards balance, but the greasy fat outweighed and overwhelmed all, leaking into the golden yellow pool, contaminating it. The concept and aesthetics were on point, but its execution underwhelmed.

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One of the prix fixe offerings is the Scottish salmon entrée. The salmon had a beautiful crust, salty and substantial, but the meat itself was overwrought. The dish was buttery and drowning in that luxurious savoriness without enough relief. Momentary reprieve was found in the thin disks of peppery radish that were fresh and crisp. Even the earthy Swiss chard could not escape the relentless butter notes. The deep green vegetable could have deepened flavor profile and lightened the monotone heaviness through contrast. The bacon, chewy and crunchy, contributed to the buttery decadence with a meaty sharp saltiness.

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A non-conventional crème brûlée was the dessert course of the prix fixe meal. Part of what is so delightful about crème brûlée is texture and the play of warm and cold, the satisfying crack of the brûléed sugar crust, the custard smooth as silk. The modified crème brûlée managed to encapsulate similar flavors with the addition of too dense, too thick, immutable chocolate ganache. The texture of the middle layer was grainy and not completely effortless, while the foam was fun yet almost flavorless. The play on the classic needed a shock of intensified flavor and further play with consistency.

Greene Hook has some innovative and attractive offerings, but it is still quite green. With settling, the bar eatery can be a real regular spot in the neighborhood and a delicious addition to the Paulus Hook community.

There are only a few days left of Hudson Restaurant Week. Take advantage of the deals. See some of foodie ventures previous #HudsonRW adventures here.

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8.3.16

NYCRW: Park Avenue Summer

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Summer loving happened so fast. A prix fixe lunch at Park Avenue Summer for New York City Restaurant Week moved more quickly than desired on the sticky summer’s day, contrary to the languished sighs of summer and the current theme of the space.

There was hardly time to soak in all of the curated details of the restaurant space, which are meant to transport the diner to the summer season: bright yellow walls emulating sunshine, foliage appearing wilted with oppressive summer humidity, and white casts of turtle shells.  Like the menu, with each season the space is transformed to represent the appropriate time of year, and at this moment Park Avenue Summer felt like the dog days of summer, hot and sticky, sweltering with a feeling of lusty temptation.

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Cornbread, bright like the walls of the eatery, radiated fresh warmth and summer corn sweetness. The puffy cornbread bites initially looked like Madeleines, all ruffles and butter, but there was a hint of savory heightened by the spicy brick-red marbled compound butter. The cornbread spoke of lazy days at the end of summer, a familiar feeling even in the City’s unique heat.

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A sole orb of bursting burrata rested on top of a smear of salsa verde, which was bright but not quite right. The creamy cheese oozed from the firm outer skin, melting into the thick tangy salsa verde, colliding with the summer sweetness of peaches and moments of savory basil. Crunchy panzanella added a jolt to reality, bringing a firm texture to the appetizer, like the return trip from a mixed vacation.

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Despite their slightly crunchy exterior, the gnocchi were soft and heavy on the inside, the potato flavor pronounced. Black truffles were shaved on the spot, falling, forming soft peaks, another layer to the appetizer.  Creamy corn with studs of fresh corn surrounded potato pillows. The moat was sweet with an underlying zing that was bright relief from the decadence. This appetizer was a balancing act of light and heavy, sweet and tart, a mix of sun and clouds like an early August day.

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The branzino dish was architectural as two slender steaks of fish were stacked on one another and crispy skin maintained structure. Whimsical disks of firm summer squash echoed fat dots of saffron aioli, a contrast of density and flavors as well. A shallow pool of stewed vegetable ratatouille gave warmth without an expected heaviness. It was an odd but accurate encapsulation of summer.

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Again, corn came to play, but this time with four succulent scallops and tiny pickled peppers. The corn felt raw and tasted green, much like the pretty peppers toasty and slit lengthwise. The dish was a mix of shapes like modern art, while there was more toothy bite from the golden corn and little heat from thin wheels of peppers.  Salt clung to the sweet scallops, like warmth when the sun sets and lingers, mixing with the melodies of the other seasonal ingredients.

Cool and refreshing like the blushing pink frozé, the peach basil sorbet dessert, tickled sweet and savory notes. The basil made the disappointing honey poached peaches sweeter and more refined. However, the poached peaches were reminiscent of those in canned pie filling— saccharine to excess with the constitution of the summer stone fruit compromised.

The fruit tart was pretty as a picture, a collection of summer’s berry bounty. Deep velvet red cherries, striking strawberries, royal blueberries, and gem-like raspberries were looked painted, like glossy jewels on top of the thick short crust and tangy passion-fruit flavors. It tasted like summer should.

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Like the seasons, the dishes and pace were imbalanced. There was not time for constants and stability, subtly or depth. Flavors were intense and at times abrasive much like the celebrated season. The meal mimicked unpredictable and contradictory summer days, with harsh, hot, sun casting a golden glow in one instant, and glowering clouds clinging heavy but ushering cool refreshing raindrops.

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8.1.16