Lavishly illustrated
Best Soho restaurants, Barker, Saaqi, Babaà turtleneck wool sweater, Eighty Clarkson, Sagaponack listings, MORE
CULTURE & LEISURE • Friday Routine
Taste test
REBECCA FIRKSER • cookbook author, Galette! • test kitchen editor, Bon Appétit • Nickel & Dine
Neighborhood you work in: Lower Manhattan
Neighborhood you live in: Williamsburg
It’s Friday afternoon. How are you rolling into the weekend?
To properly explain Friday, I should say that Monday through Thursday I work in person in the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen. This week, we were racing to finish development on recipes for the spring issue of the magazine (that’s right, in January!) so I spent most of my time cooking and tasting, and much of my computer work fell to the bottom of my to-do list. Luckily, on Fridays I can work from home, so I polished up recipe edits and headnotes, as well as wrote another story for our website, and did some research for a piece I’ll be writing for the magazine. After culling some emails, I finished off the day by reading through some advance copies of cookbooks that will be coming out this year. Bookmarked so many recipes I’m excited to try.
Where are you drinking or dining this weekend?
I snuck out for a quick lunch date with a friend at Barker, a new spot in Bed-Stuy. We couldn’t name a ton of great lunch counters where you can sit in a nice environment for a full meal, on plates, and spend less than $20. Suffice it to say we were delighted by the vibes and eats. It was about 18 degrees out, so we got the winter vegetable soup and mushroom melt, plus a “hippy cookie,” which was chock full of seeds and little chocolate chips (a delight). I’ll be back for their dates and eggs weekend special — this is my formal plea that they don’t take it off the menu until I get to try!
Sunday I treated myself to a nice box of carnaroli rice from Pecoraro Latteria as a reward for sloshing through the neighborhood. It became risotto, with asparagus (seasonally inappropriate, but leftover from this week’s recipe development) and kale.
How about a little leisure or culture?
Finally watched Sentimental Value! I think Stellan deserved the Golden Globe (but I’m still mad they made him walk up to accept it accompanied by Usher’s “Yeah!”) The house that the main characters grew up in is apparently known as Norwegian “dragon style,” and I’m glad that I now have the language to articulate the kind of house I someday hope to buy. I started googling after finishing the movie and this was a fun watch.
Any weekend getaways?
My husband and I are currently planning a long weekend in Montreal. I was there last year in December, and it was obviously freezing, but genuinely snow globe-y magical. I’m itching to go back to Épicerie Pumpui for a warming lunch, and hopefully Nora Gray still has torta di riso on their dessert menu. In between meals maybe we’ll try to snowshoe in Mount Royal Park or check out the Museum of Fine Art. And of course, as I did last time, I’ll need to bring back an eponymous pastry from Au Kouign-Amann.
What was your last great vacation?
I went to a few cities in Portugal last April, but my favorite was definitely Lisbon. Even for three people we never spent more than $100 on a meal and were always full. Highlights were every tin of fish, the sourdough pizzas at Lupita, orange juice with cilantro and chile at Yallah Lisboa, and ordering almost the entire menu at Prodo Wine Bar. Would also recommend Confeitaria do Bolhào in Porto for breakfast. And if you’re in the mood for a very long train ride, check out Lagos for charming coastal town vibes and absolutely stunning beaches; the pastel de nata at Pastelaria Gombá was one of my favorites of the trip (much less sweet than the infamous Manteigaria, which was good dusted with cinnamon but bordered on cloying!)
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
I finally sprung for a Babaà turtleneck wool sweater — took advantage of the winter “sale” (they are still $$!). Considering I’ve had the tab open for over a year, and it should last a very long time, I decided to treat myself.
BARS • First Round
Downstairs den
On a recent Saturday night, we misjudged our Lower Manhattan itinerary and arrived half an hour early for dinner at Musaafer, the (can confirm, excellent) newish Indian restaurant on Duane Street. The maitre’d suggested we cool our heels at the restaurant’s subterranean bar, Saaqi.
It proved a bit of a revelation. Under barrel-valuted brick ceilings, the all-glass bar runs almost the length of the space, the bottles behind lit as theatrically as the bar itself. Early in the evening, the room was already buzzing. After pulling up two plush bar seats, we listened as the bartender explained the lavishly illustrated (and well worth a read) menu of Indian-inspired drinks. My companion loved the Paan Negroni, which infuses Jaisalmer Indian craft gin, Altamura Vodka, and Campari with paan (betel nut), sherry, and sweet Italian vermouth to a bitter, savory result. I sipped the Gold Zari, a blending of mezcal and mango liqueur (plus ginger ale), inspired by the Indian state of Andhra: a fruity, smoky delight. Classic cocktails are also available, including three distinct preparations of gin and tonics.
The best part about Saaqi? Unlike Musaafer, which remains a very tough table, the entire bar is for walk-ins only — and, if dinner upstairs isn’t in the cards, there are Indian bar snacks, bites, and desserts from the restaurant’s kitchen to be had.
As we settled our tab, the bartender invited us back after our meal, telling us that on Friday and Saturday nights, the DJ set starts at 9p — when the place really gets going. Yet another fun surprise, in a building apparently full of them. –Lockhart Steele
→ Saaqi (Tribeca) • 133 Duane St • Daily 5p-12a • Walk-ins only.
RESTAURANTS • The Nines
Restaurants, Soho
Our NYC top restaurant picks, by neighborhood. See also: East Village, West Village, Upper West Side, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill & Boerum Hill, Fort Greene, Greenpoint.
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