The Best Food of 2025 (So Far)

Summary

All Of It: The Best Food of 2025 (So Far) – Detailed Summary

Episode Release Date: July 21, 2025
Host: Alison Stewart
Guests: Tammy Teklamariam and Matthew Schneier, Critics at Grub Street

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Introduction: Celebrating Summer Restaurant Week

Alison Stewart opens the episode by highlighting Summer Restaurant Week in New York City, a time when numerous restaurants showcase their best offerings. This week's focus is on identifying the standout dishes of 2025, in collaboration with New York Magazine. The magazine's food writers, Tammy Teklamariam and Matthew Schneier, join Alison to discuss their top picks.

Alison Stewart [00:09]: "This week long, we're going to talk about food and what this city has to offer... Matthew Schneier and Tammy Teklamariam, thank you for highlighting the dishes that you can't stop thinking about."

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Guest Insights: Crafting the Best of 2025

Tammy Teklamariam [01:36]: "My highlight was the big stack of onion rings, specifically the dosa from Onion Tree, an Indian pizza place in the East Village."

Matthew Schneier [03:23]: "For me, it has to be something that lingers in my mind after the meal. For instance, the roasted squab with cognac sauce and foie gras is a standout for its complexity and execution."

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Featured Dishes: Onion Rings and Beyond

Onion Tree Pizza Company's Dosa Onion Rings

Tammy describes the unique approach to onion rings at Onion Tree Pizza Company.

Tammy Teklamariam [02:00]: "These onion rings puff up like mini donuts with thick slices of red onion and dosa batter, offering earthiness and a tang from the fermented rice. Served with coconut and cilantro chutneys, they are more than just greasy snacks."

Alison Stewart [02:37]: "So it's served with chutney, I should say."

Matthew's Best Picks

1. Roasted Squab with Cognac Sauce and Foie Gras

   • A lavish dish requiring intricate preparation and offering rich flavors.

2. Exceptional Vanilla Ice Cream

   • Matthew Schneier [04:19]: "The most vanilla ice cream I've ever had – rich in vanilla beans, almost gray in appearance but sublime in taste."

3. Bonhomme's Naked Banh Mi

   • Tammy Teklamariam [07:57]: "Bonhomme crafts a minimalist banh mi that highlights their superior bread and savory pate, elevating a traditional Vietnamese sandwich."

4. Joe’s Grilled Mackerel Sandwich

   • Matthew Schneier [09:41]: "A charcoal-grilled mackerel sandwich that's earthy, smoky, and a testament to Chef Joe's expertise with fermentations and meats."

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Food Trends of 2025

Tammy Teklamariam [04:26]: "Colors are a significant trend, but we're also seeing a move towards primal foods. For example, Happy Zoe's Rainbow Whips blend health and aesthetics, attracting both taste and Instagram enthusiasts."

Matthew Schneier [05:20]: "Plating has become as crucial as taste. Diners seek visually stunning dishes that are shareable experiences, such as the Jenga tower of potatoes I encountered recently."

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Listener Interactions: Call-Ins and Recommendations

Caller Craig from Morganville, New Jersey [06:30]: "Tabata on 9th Avenue and 39th serves the best ramen and galloza dumplings—perfect for tourists seeking authentic New York flavors at a great price."

Caller Giselle from Jackson Heights [12:07]: "969 Cafe offers an exceptional shrimp sandwich and tuna onigiri, coupled with a fantastic personal interaction with the chef."

Caller Jim from Manhattan [22:28]: "Hillstones on 27th and Park used to serve an incredible Idaho baked potato. Now, his favorite is available only at their sister restaurant in New Jersey, Houston's—a quintessential must-try."

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Spotlight on Signature Dishes

Mary O Irish Soda Bread Shop’s Scones

Alison and guests delve into the allure of Mary O's scones.

Tammy Teklamariam [13:42]: "The scones are freshly baked throughout the day, served split with salty butter and Blackberry jam. The contrast between the hot scone and cold air is invigorating, making them irresistible."

Lachine’s Roasted Squab

Matthew highlights his experience at Lachine.

Matthew Schneier [16:58]: "Lachine, run by Alexia Duchenne and Ronald, offers indulgent French dishes like roast squab and foie gras, complemented by an exceptional wine program that enhances the dining experience."

Extra Place’s Puerto Rican Pork Chop Kabawa

A vibrant addition to the best of 2025.

Matthew Schneier [18:07]: "Extra Place, located on a Cul-de-sac between Second and Bowery, serves a delectable Puerto Rican pork chop kabawa. Chef Paul Carmichael brings Caribbean flavors to life with his expertise."

Kebab Ashrab’s Butter Chicken Kebab

Tammy discusses a standout Indian dish.

Tammy Teklamariam [19:44]: "The butter chicken kebab at Kebab Ashrab is skewered and cooked in a tandoor with volcanic rocks, served with cream and butter. Paired with rumali roti, it's a unique and flavorful twist on a classic favorite."

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Unique and Quirky Finds

Matthew Schneier [23:39]: "The aesthetics of dishes like the Jenga tower of potatoes at Sam Tam Dur signify a growing trend in visually captivating food presentations."

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Conclusion: Engaging the WNYC Community

Alison Stewart wraps up the episode by reiterating the importance of community input in identifying the best foods of the year. Listeners are encouraged to share their favorite dishes via phone or social media to continue the conversation.

Alison Stewart [28:19]: "Tammy Teklamariam and Matthew Schneier, our critics from Grub Street, have shared some incredible insights. We appreciate you joining us today. Listeners, we want to hear from you!"

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Key Takeaways

• Innovative Takes on Classics: Restaurants like Onion Tree Pizza Company and Bonhomme are redefining traditional dishes with creative twists.
• Visual Appeal Matters: The presentation of food has become as important as taste, catering to the social media-savvy diner.
• Diverse Culinary Experiences: From French indulgences at Lachine to Caribbean flavors at Extra Place, New York City continues to offer a wide array of exceptional dining options.
• Community Engagement: Listener contributions play a vital role in shaping discussions around the best culinary experiences in the city.

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This episode of All Of It provides a comprehensive look at the standout dishes and emerging food trends of 2025, enriched by expert insights from seasoned food critics and enthusiastic listener contributions. Whether you're a local foodie or a visitor exploring New York City's vibrant culinary scene, this discussion offers valuable recommendations and highlights the dynamic nature of the city's dining landscape.

Transcript

[Alison Stewart]

This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. All week long, we're going to talk about food and what this city has to offer. It's Summer restaurant week in the city and we're celebrating the places to find the best burgers, tacos, pizza. And to kick things off, we are going big with the help of New York magazine. It has released a piece called the best food of 202025 so far. Food writers Matthew. Say your last name. Matthew Schneier. Matthew Schneier and Tammy Teclamarium. Thank you. Will highlight the dishes that they can't stop thinking about, from a fancy roast bird to scones that disappear by noon to a banh mi that breaks all the rules. Tammy and Matthew, welcome to the studio.

[Tammy Teklamariam]

Thank you.

[Alison Stewart]

Thanks so much, listeners. We want to hear from you. What is the best thing you've eaten so far in 2025? A dish that you just cannot stop thinking about, A new spot that totally surprised you, whether it was a truck or a fancy restaurant, we want to hear about it. Sometimes it's the people who make a meal great. So maybe you had a great experience with a staffer or a server or a chef. Tell us all about it. Our phone lines are wide open. 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC call in. You can join us on air or you can reach out on social media. LLNYC. So what makes a best of list for 2025? What were you looking for, Tammy?

[Tammy Teklamariam]

So for me, I based it a lot around the pieces that I worked on. So our highlight example that was photographed for this piece and that everybody really responded well to was the big stack of onion rings. And they were the dosa from the Onion Tree, which is an Indian pizza place in the East Village.

[Alison Stewart]

All right. So tell me a little bit about these onion rings which, quote, puff up like mini donuts.

[Tammy Teklamariam]

Correct. So, you know, it's thick slices of red onion. So already you're just getting more of that, just more earthiness, more onion presence. And then the dosa batter, because it's, you know, fermented rice, it has that tang along with the fried exterior that just makes it more than an onion ring. Different from a dosa. And then these really nice chutneys alongside coconut, nice and savory. And a cilantro one.

[Alison Stewart]

So it's served with chutney, I should say.

[Tammy Teklamariam]

Yes. Yeah. Two chutneys on the side.

[Alison Stewart]

All right. So what does that do to the taste of it All. I mean, onion rings and chutney. That's kind of interesting.

[Tammy Teklamariam]

Well, you know, with a dosa, you would definitely have chutney. And, you know, with that, you know, kind of coating, it's not as greasy, so the flavor isn't as much of. Of, you know, that crunchy grease. But you have the crunch, the thick kind of pancakeness, and then just refreshing cilantro in one bite. And then, you know, this really. I mean, really, the coconut chutney, it's. I love it. I haven't. It's just nice and savory and thick. There might be nigella seeds in there, but don't quote me on that.

[Alison Stewart]

That's One Tree Pizza Company at 214 Onion Tree. Onion Tree.

[Matthew Schneier]

Excuse me.

[Alison Stewart]

Onion Tree Pizza Company, 214 First Avenue. Oh, we went all the way down the rabbit hole. Let me get to you, Matthew. What has to be on your list to make it a best of for 20, 25?

[Matthew Schneier]

You know, it just has to be something where, you know, after I have the meal, I wake up still thinking about it. It's the. It's the thing I'm going back for. It's the thing I think, my God, I could never make this at home, or I have to figure out how to make this at home and ultimately completely flop. That's what. That's what keeps me going back to restaurants. You know, there have been so many great dishes, and they're all across the spectrum. I mean, you know, some of the. The ones that I picked were these incredibly elaborate entrees. Roasted squab with cognac sauce and foie gras. That's a huge undertaking both to make and to eat. And when you put that much effort into something, it's often going to be a real keeper. But it could also be something as simple as the most vanilla. Vanilla ice cream I think I've ever had. So sort of vanilla and rich in vanilla beans that it was actually gray. It was almost unappealing until you taste it and then you think, my God, why is every vanilla ice cream gray?

Tammy, have you noticed any food themes for this year? Food trends for this year?

[Tammy Teklamariam]

Goodness. Maybe colors. I feel like we're getting very primal with our foods. This wasn't on my best of list, but something that I recently wrote about for my viral foods column. And it is a. They're called Whips, and they're from this vegan bakery in Greenpoint called Happy Zoe. And the most popular one, and it just. Just. It blew up. This summer is a Rainbow whip. And so each part of this. This smoothie sort of. It's like airy banana, but kind of frozen. They have to make them last minute, so they always get a long line of just young women all trying to get this drink so they can photograph themselves with it. But it's also, you know, very healthy. There's no added sugar. It's just, you know, you know, frozen fruit that they give this kind of wonderful texture to. And because of that, it is 15 or so dollars.

[Alison Stewart]

This is a little bit of a tangent. Has Instagram changed the way food is presented?

[Tammy Teklamariam]

TikTok has. And then Instagram kind of gets whatever TikTok sees three or five weeks later. Yeah.

[Alison Stewart]

What theme have you seen emerge this year?

[Matthew Schneier]

I think Tammy said it very well, and you did, too. I think we're seeing a lot of plating that is, you know, that is meant for the eye as much as for the mouth or the tongue or, you know, whatever else we taste with the nose. You know, we're seeing. People really understand that a lot of diners are going out not only to eat and be satiated, but also to have an experience and to share the experience. And so they're definitely, you know, these baroque, colorful, beautiful, towering. I mean, someone served me a Jenga tower of. Of potatoes recently. I thought, my God, you know, the. The poor line cook in the kitchen who is like, you know, painstakingly stacking and architecting this thing. But, yes, we are certainly seeing a lot of interest in how things look and how they're presented.

[Alison Stewart]

Let's take a call. This is Craig from Morganville, New Jersey. Hey, Craig, thanks for making the time to call all of it.

[Craig]

Hey, guys, there's a. If you guys like ramen, there's a place called Tabitha. Not Tabitha, tabata. It's on 9th Avenue and 39th. And they have. It's a typical New York hole in the wall place. The best ramen and galloza dumplings you will have. It is. It's just great. And it's a great New York place for tourists to get a real New York spot. And it is cheap to boot. It's awesome.

[Alison Stewart]

How did you discover it? Craig. Oh, Craig's gone. He was like, that's enough. Click.

[Tammy Teklamariam]

It's his restaurant.

[Matthew Schneier]

Well, that sounds great. I mean, we're always looking for places, or I'm always looking for places in the theater district, which is not historically one of the best New York City dining neighborhoods. So that's.

[Alison Stewart]

That's a great tip, listeners. We want to hear from you. What's the best thing you've eaten so far in 2025. A dish you cannot stop thinking about. Our phone number is 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC. Or you can reach out on social media. It's llovetwnyc. I'm gonn. My guests are Tammy Tekomariam.

[Tammy Teklamariam]

Pretty good.

[Alison Stewart]

And Matthew Schneider.

[Matthew Schneier]

Close enough.

[Alison Stewart]

All right. They are the critics at grub street and the writers behind the feature. The best food of 2025 so far. All right, let's go into banh mi. It's usually a Vietnamese sandwich. It's a baguette, a little chicken, some pickled vegetables. Usually, you zeroed in on a banh mi that starts with, first of all, the texture of the bread.

[Tammy Teklamariam]

Correct. So at Bonhomme, they kind of built this restaurant. They had another restaurant uptown on the Upper west side, and they kind of built this restaurant to be able to zero in on making certain elements just completely from scratch, and bread was part of that. And, yeah, I mean, definitely the stereotypical banh mi on uber eats, you know, is, like, loaded with all of those elements. And. But I think banh mi definitely has a wide range of things that we don't get to see that often in their most authentic form. And that's kind of what they're bringing, Banhem is bringing to this menu with this kind of very naked banh mi, where it's just like, all you can really zero in on is, you know, just the excellence of the bread that they make there. And then also this pate, which is just, you know, it's not much to look at, but it's just. It's. You know, as with all great pates, it just does so much with just a secret of ingredients.

[Matthew Schneier]

It's funny. You wrote eating. This was the first time I wanted a glass of red wine at a Vietnamese restaurant. What would you have paired with this. This banh mi?

[Tammy Teklamariam]

At the restaurant at the time, they had an Austrian red, and it was nice and light, and it really did hit the spot. Pate and red wine, you know, and.

[Matthew Schneier]

This is called bon a m. Bon on em.

[Tammy Teklamariam]

I usually. I pronounce the n, but, you know, I'm not an expert, but we're gonna.

[Matthew Schneier]

Try it Bon on Em at 99 Third Avenue. For the banh mi. Michael, we are gonna go to Joe at 127 East 34th Street. It's another sandwich, only this is a mackerel sandwich.

It is. And I think mackerel is sometimes an under loved little fish. It's definitely on the oilier, fishier side. There are the people that really love that, and then I think there are many people haven't been as exposed to it and are more hesitant about it. Joe is, you know, somehow a secret still, despite being on this big thoroughfare in Manhattan. It is like a big silver door that's barely marked, but if you can get a reservation and get inside, it is a tasting menu, actually. Tasting or a la carte menu that is sort of wondrous. It's a Japanese chef who for many years cooked only vegan Buddhist temple food. Oh, that's interesting. At a restaurant called Kiujitsu. It was beloved. It was Michelin starred. It closed. And he sort of went around for a few years and has come back with a fully omnivorous menu. He's doing unbelievable things with fermentations, with fish, with meat. He told me himself, Kiujitsu is fun, but I eat everything. And the piece that really stood out for me of the many I tried was this delicious, really earthy grilled mackerel sandwich. He grills it over charcoal in front of you. It gets, you know, sort of crispy and smoky. It's oily, it's fatty. You know, it's definitely a commitment, I would say. And I don't necessarily know how good my breath was immediately afterwards, but while I was eating was a real pleasure.

[Alison Stewart]

What goes with a side of mackerel?

[Matthew Schneier]

You know, they have a tremendous sake menu there. They also were doing great things with wine. They actually have a really interesting wine pairing list. They were pouring a new to me grower champagne that was really delicious by a producer called Helene, which actually they didn't even poured me. They poured the only other two people in the restaurant at the time. And they were kind enough to share it with us. So it just increased the feeling of feeling like you were in on a secret.

[Alison Stewart]

I got a text here that says, was the potato Jenga Tower at Sam Tam Dur in the East Village. Saw that pass our table and our jaws dropped.

[Matthew Schneier]

I don't think it was there, although I know it's very unsatisfying that I don't remember where it was. So clearly we are onto a trend. If we've got at least two, somebody can call in with a third and then it will be confirmed.

[Alison Stewart]

Let's talk to Giselle, who's calling in from Jackson Heights. Hey, Giselle, you're on all of it.

[Giselle]

Hi. Hi there. Nice first time caller, currently at an urgent care. I was listening to this on the radio and had to call in because I needed to shout out this one restaurant called 969 Cafe. And, you know, Jackson Heights, all sorts of great cuisines, like the Worldsboro, you know. But this guy, he's such a character, but, like, on top of that, he makes really great food. So my go to is this shrimp sandwich and tuna onigiri that's like, super well priced, like, perfectly seasoned rice, really simple, but, like, incredible. I. I know it's a good day when I eat some of his food and have, like, really great conversation with the guy. So he's closed on Thursdays, and of course, that's when I'm craving it the most.

[Alison Stewart]

So the big question is, are you at urgent care? Are you okay?

[Giselle]

Everything's fine. Got a little bit of allergic reaction. Not to the food that I got from 969 Cafe. Just fun allergies. But I was like, hey, while I'm waiting, might as well call in and see if I get on the air.

[Tammy Teklamariam]

So.

[Giselle]

Yeah, this is very exciting.

[Alison Stewart]

All right, well, we hope your day goes better.

[Matthew Schneier]

Get well soon.

[Alison Stewart]

Let's talk about scones, Tammy. I'm so into scones.

[Matthew Schneier]

I've always been into scones.

[Alison Stewart]

Mary's O Irish Soda bread shop at 93 and a half East 7th Street. I've seen these on the Instagram, on the TikTok. And you write.

[Matthew Schneier]

I think about these scones every day. What do you think about these scones?

[Tammy Teklamariam]

So the day that I tried them, it was also extremely cold. So there was such a contrast between the. The steaming scone and just the cold air, such that it just, like, it just, you know, just woke me up. But even on a warm day, they. They bake them fresh throughout the day. They come out hot. They do. They. They come out hot. And then they, you know, they're split down the middle and there's just. They put a really thick piece of salty butter in there and then this BlackBerry jam that's barely a jam. Like, it's just. It's like, if you have to imagine the BlackBerry is still tasting fresh, but then just becoming saucy with the not fully melted butter in the hot scone. It's just in one bite and you just gotta. You've just gotta demolish it. And then, you know, make sure you get a six pack. And that way you can keep them in the freezer, but you're on your own as far as jam is concerned.

[Matthew Schneier]

Okay.

[Alison Stewart]

Do I have to wait in a big dumb line?

[Tammy Teklamariam]

You know, if you go early Enough, I think you can avoid it. You know, the weekends you are really on your own. But I believe last I checked, they're open on Thursdays and although, you know, they will close up if they sell out. So, you know, I think if you get there around 10, 11 on a Thursday or a Friday, maybe even noon, you could be in luck to show.

[Alison Stewart]

Up to work late one day. I'm out getting a stone. I'll be right there.

[Tammy Teklamariam]

I'm sure they'll save you one.

[Alison Stewart]

I was curious, you know, you've seen.

[Matthew Schneier]

So many cinnamon rolls and you've seen so many croissants. Are the scones, are they next, the next pastry?

[Tammy Teklamariam]

I think that scones like Mary O's are hard to come by. They would not be, you know, anywhere that you're getting a mono pastry shop. You know, she, she like, it's not a joke with her and it's the type of thing. Yeah. Because they're coming out fresh all the time. Like, she like, nobody's going to return one of these. A typical cafe scone, you know, you get them early in the morning and they just kind of have to sell out. Right. Nobody's really caring for them this way, but maybe they'll start to. That's what I'd like to see.

[Matthew Schneier]

We are talking about the best food of 2025 so far. We'll have more after a quick break. This is all of it.

[Alison Stewart]

You're listening to all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. My guests are Tammy Teklamariam and Matthew Schneider. They are critics at Grub street and the writers behind the feature, the best food of 2025 so far. Listeners, we want to hear from you. What is the best thing you've eaten so far this year? A dish that you can't stop thinking about. Our Phone lines are open. 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC. Okay. This place just opened up around the corner from wnyc. I've been watching them put it together. Leschin.

[Matthew Schneier]

Ah, yes.

[Alison Stewart]

I'm watching them put the seats in, put the tables in, put the curtains up. I don't know if it's open. Oh, it seems to be open. Oh, they're having a tasting. Tell us what you ate at Lachine.

[Matthew Schneier]

So Lachine is the place where I had the squab that I was mentioning before. It's the restaurant of a married couple, Alexia Duchenne and her husband Ronald, who runs the wine. They have an unbelievable wine program. A very Uptown Feeling wine program, I would say, for a place that is. Is down here on Carmine Street. And, you know, the Chef Lachene cooks a very heavy, traditional, luxurious, voluptuous kind of. Kind of French cooking. I mean, it's cote de boeuf, it's. It's roast squab, it's foie gras. You're eating organ meat. I mean, she doesn't go quite all the way to Ortolan, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was a, you know, dinner special one night. But she does it with incredible technique and clearly real commitment and passion, and it's a pleasure. The highest compliment I can give is that I went on a night that was about 90 degrees, and I still found my way to eating this really heavy, decadent French cooking.

All right, The Puerto Rican pork chop kabawa on eight. Extra Place, okay? For people. Extra place is a real place.

It is a real place.

First of all, I'm not making that up.

It is a real place. It's very funny. It's actually, I believe it's a cul de sac. It doesn't go all the way through. And so it does. When you walk down it, it does a little bit feel like you're on a film set or a TV set. I sort of was, like, looking around my shoulder to see if this was actually Sesame street. And, you know, Big Bird or whoever's still there is going to be filming.

[Alison Stewart]

Behind Sesame street and Second.

[Matthew Schneier]

Between Second and Bowery.

Exactly right.

[Tammy Teklamariam]

There are no cars parked on there.

[Matthew Schneier]

And it's, you know, it's not a place where you're gonna have outdoor dining. There's not a lot of foot traffic, and it's, you know, it's a strange little space, but it's a historic momofuku space. The tasting menu company, I believe, was there for a number of years. And this is the first, if I have this correct, non Momofuku restaurant from. With the backing of the Momofuku group, the chef, Paul Carmichael, was a longtime chef at the Momofuku restaurants, opened their restaurants in Sydney and, I believe, elsewhere. And here he's cooking from all across the Caribbean diaspora. And it's just unbelievably delicious, spicy, flavorful. You know, it's a cuisine that I think has so much to offer diners but is often relegated to, you know, really small places or out of the way places, enclaves. And here it's really given the fine dining treatment, and I think it shows that it richly deserves it.

[Alison Stewart]

You wrote an almost pornographically large scroll of sliced pork chop.

[Matthew Schneier]

You know, it's a family place, but only just.

[Alison Stewart]

That is kebab at 8 extra place. We're going to go to butter chicken. This is you, Tammy.

[Tammy Teklamariam]

Yes.

[Alison Stewart]

Kebab abschrab.

[Tammy Teklamariam]

Kebab ar shirab is how I would say it.

[Alison Stewart]

It's at 247 West 72nd Street.

[Tammy Teklamariam]

Yes.

[Alison Stewart]

You mentioned that this butter chicken is served one of two ways, as a curry or on a kebab. But you chose the kebab version.

[Tammy Teklamariam]

Yes.

[Matthew Schneier]

Why?

[Tammy Teklamariam]

So this restaurant opened, I believe, at the very, very end of 2022. So usually I try to go to newer restaurants or focus on that, but this was tied to a piece that I recently wrote about Indian restaurants and just how they're getting fanc and sort of more chef driven everywhere. But something that a lot of even these newer fancier Indian restaurants are serving and want to highlight is a butter chicken. And maybe that's just because butter chicken is really delicious. So there are a lot of butter chickens out there right now. But this butter chicken on a kebab, this butter chicken kebab was my favorite version of it that I tasted. And it's based on a version by a cook in Old Delhi who gets lots of visitors and I think has broken through social media. And it's, it's skewered. And the marinated meat is skewered. And they cook it in a tandoor with volcanic rocks at the bottom to make the temperature really, really high. And then they serve it over this, just broken, not even really a sauce. And it's just butter and hot cream on the plate. And then they, they season that a little bit. And then they just put this kebab on this plate of cream and butter. And it just, it's different. It's really great.

[Matthew Schneier]

So cream and butter on the plate.

[Tammy Teklamariam]

Yeah.

[Matthew Schneier]

And the kebab.

[Tammy Teklamariam]

Yep.

[Matthew Schneier]

Rice.

[Tammy Teklamariam]

You can order a side of rice. What's recommended? What was recommended by my server is the rumali roti. And it's this really sort of oversized roti that they put green. I think it's unripe banana in the dough, which keeps it moist and pliable. But the flavor, it's like, you know, it's, it's, it's a very neutral flavor, but it's very textural. And there aren't that many places where you can get. It's folded up like a napkin kind of in quarters. And so it's nice. Just can just soak up the sauce and then grab a Piece of chicken. You can get rice, though. They have other rice dishes that I like. The bone marrow palau, I really enjoyed that one.

[Matthew Schneier]

That again, is called kebab Shirab kebab. Our shirab kebab Al shirab. That's at 247 W. 72nd St. Thank you for helping me. By the way, this is Jim calling in from Manhattan. Hey, Jim, thanks for calling, all of it.

[Jim]

Oh, thank you, Austin. This is great. A great show. I want to talk about a phenomenon in New York City. I love food, but there is a restaurant down on 27th and park called Hillstones, and they used to serve an absolutely amazing Idaho baked potato that comes fully stacked. Now, I know you think I, you know, baked potato. Who wants a baked potato? But this is a total phenomenon. It comes. It's a huge potato and it comes, you know, with bacon and all kinds of really good stuff in it. And it's amazing. But, you know, the chef there decided several years ago that they didn't want to offer this in this restaurant. This is a restaurant that I. It's my favorite restaurant in the entire city. Service everything. But they have a sister restaurant in New Jersey, in England, New Jersey, called Houston's, so it's part of that chain. So we literally drive to Houston's, to Houston's, to New Jersey in order to be able to have the exact same baked potato. It's an Idaho potato, and it is divine. I'm telling you what happens.

[Matthew Schneier]

It's true. I love a man who is devoted to his potato.

This sounds like a moveon.org petition. I think we can get the people behind this. I think we can repatriate the Idaho potato from New Jersey to New York. I will sign.

[Tammy Teklamariam]

I love a baked potato. So, yeah, I'm on board.

[Alison Stewart]

We're on board, Jim. Best dish I've eaten all year at the newly opened Cravat Cravat in the West Village. From the people who opened Dame or Dom was their red shrimp carpaccio. Super simple, just very, very well done. Each sor an unexpected ingredient singing together. Paper thinned shrimp with lemon rind and a perfectly grassy olive oil. That's from Whitney in Ridgewood, who sounds like she might want to work for you. This says a delicious bite. Fresh hot donut from the farmer's market washed down with a big slurp of cream from a local dairy. Wow, that's a pretty good thing. The best thing I've eaten this year. My world has been rocked since I discovered Korean sauna eggs. They're a next level experience, I make them in a crock pot on low for six hours. The white turns brown due to something called the mallard effect. And the yolk tastes nutty and chickeny, depending on your palate. Best eaten at room temperature. And joy, are you familiar with any of these?

[Matthew Schneier]

We were actually just talking about cravat in the green room. It has another partisan here at wnyc. I've been. It's a great restaurant. I believe I've had the carpachio. I might have had a different raw fish preparation. I think they call it Sicilian sashimi or something cute like that. I have not heard of Korean sauna eggs, but I guess I'm mostly just relieved they're not served in the Korean sauna.

Quickly, let's talk about the mushroom pasta at Santi on East 53rd Street. It's got truffles involved, I believe.

You know, not only does it have truffles involved, but I think you register the truffles about, you know, 15 steps before you register the rest of the pasta. That's one that you see and smell coming with all the deliciousness that implies. Yes. Santi is a new restaurant from the chef Michael White, a great Italian chef, has been involved with a lot of great places in the city, formerly Marea, I think, Costeria, Marini and a number of places. And, you know, he is at an age when many very successful chefs, you know, sort of semi retire to consult on big hotel projects or cruise ships or, you know, do things where they're not standing up in a hot kitchen every night for hours on end. But there he is back at the house and working hard, and he definitely still, he still has the chops. He's still teaching the younger kids what's what. It was an unbelievably delicious pasta. I think, you know, people who have been listening to the show may realize that I don't often go for the vegetarian option, to the dismay of my cardiologist. But this one was really an out of the park number.

I wanted to get to wings. Tammy, you mentioned Samayan at 8:48 Fulton in Clinton Hill. These wings, you wrote, are the closest you found to the still talked about Vietnamese wings served as a long gone Pok Poc on Columbia Waterfront. What makes them so great?

[Tammy Teklamariam]

Yeah, so first of all, it's that salty, fishy, sticky, caramelized coating. But then also how it's executed the fact that I got the wings delivered and when they came to me, like when I opened the container, they still had a crisp, crispness to them. And then you know, the caramel on top and it's like to be able to stay crunchy in the face of sauce is one of the biggest adversities that a wing faces in this world. And then, and then the other lovely thing is that they, it's, it's all flats and they split them before frying. So you get the extra exterior, which means more crunch, more sauce and it's daintier. And then you get more, you get the effect of having more chicken than you actually have wings.

[Alison Stewart]

And finally, Zimmy's, it's a restaurant but your vanilla ice cream was muah.

[Matthew Schneier]

You know, I could have picked many dishes from Zimmy's. I really admire and appreciate the cooking there. Also French, much more rustic in a way, much more tied to the chef's background growing up cooking with his grandmother in the south of France. But yes, if I had to pick one thing, the vanilla ice cream was unbelievably vanilla. Ed. And all the better for that.

[Alison Stewart]

Tammy Teclamarim and Matthew Scheiner. They are the critics at Grub street, the writers. The best food of 2025 so far. Thanks for joining us. We really appreciate it.

[Matthew Schneier]

Thanks for having us.

[Tammy Teklamariam]

Glad to be here.

[Unknown]

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