Crisp cool morning, warm breakfast

Couleur Cafe is currently offering what might just be the most satisfying little breakfast dish a person could have on a cool September morning.

It's well below 70 before work now, and they open at 7AM, so you'll just have time to sit down and enjoy a delicious but hastily made cappuccino or a latte while they make you an order of baked eggs.

Hot Cap

From the specials menu, you can add any three ingredients from a very short list, and choose a side of either toast, garlicky potatoes, or salad. I felt like I scored a win with Gruyere, bacon, and caramelized onions. Layered in a small ceramic tartine dish with two eggs cracked on top and baked for ten minutes, this was like a little delicious oven in my tummy for the rest of my morning.

Baked Eggs!

The the eggs maintain a mostly runny yolk, at the expense of also having a slightly runny white, but there's enough deliciousness below them to soak it all up, and the potatoes I chose on the side were there to help and be tasty while they were at it. The nest of onions and bacon held together by one of my favorite melting cheeses could have stood on its own, but runny egg yolk always makes a breakfast dish that much better.

If you're up early and can't quite shake the chill, head over and treat yourself.

-SdJ

Zito's part two, the revenge. (the delivery, actually)

We changed dinner plans tonight and ordered in from Zito's via Seamless. (Yes, I know that Seamless cuts down on the profit a restaurant makes on its meals, and yes, I know that it can take a little longer. I'm sorry. Sorry, Zito!)

Trying to eat as healthy as possible after a week of junk food from trucks, we ordered the Sicilian Tuna and the Panelle. Unfortunately, they were out of the latter, so it was replaced with the Meatless. (I should point out that this is the second time that we've tried Zito's, and the second time they've been out of a sandwich.) we also remembered that we could choose our rolls and skipped the default Rustico in favor of the wheat.

An hour and change later, the sandwiches arrived. The tuna was a dark brown, which was a little bit of a turn off at first, considering that Tongol and similar are usually a blondish gold at their darkest. this sandwich also comes with balsamic vinegar and olive tapenade, though, which explain the color. Pretty tasty and tangy from caper berries, and kept somewhat fresh with the addition of cherry tomatoes and arugula, it was a good sandwich. For $8.50, though, a person could do better.

The Meatless had plump and meaty grilled portobello mushrooms, bright green and spicy broccoli rabe, and roasted red peppers. The mushrooms were great, and the rabe and peppers were the best of a classic Italian combination of tastes. The artichoke spread listed on the menu, however, was barely perceptible on this sandwich. Again, the price was high for what we got.

Half and Half - the Meatless and the Sicilian Tuna

I should point out here that the bread was excellent. Most while wheat variations of a sub roll can get to be too dense and heavy. These, while certainly substantial, were chewy and light enough to allow the flavors of most of the sandwich fillings to be enjoyed. (although possibly responsible for the artichoke spread disappearing...)

Once more, Zito's is pretty good, but there's gotta be a better sandwich out there for the same price. But i suppose that convenience is a big draw in New York.

-SdJ

Couleur cafe, revisited

I said this place warranted a return visit, and I went back to try something other than coffee. (There was coffee, too, of course.)

C'est adorable!

A special of the day was a Croissant D'Avignon. I love little sandwiches on croissants, so I gave it a try. The croissant itself was good but maybe a little stale. It was loaded with fresh summery radishes and cucumbers, though, held on with herbed cream cheese. Hard boiled eggs (but with slightly translucent yolks, so not boiled as hard as some might be used to,) and cornichons finished the presentation. It really was a perfect little bite for a warm August morning.

Croissant D'Avignon

The fact that everything here at Couleur Cafe is presented on little mismatched porcelain plates and that the bottle of cold water you're given comes in an old French lemonade bottle just add to the charm of this cafe. The staff is young and energetic, considering the early hours, but good caffeinated offerings like you can find here probably help. I'm looking forward to a lunch visit in the very near future...

-SdJ

Zito's on 7th avenue, Park Slope

You know how sometimes you just want a really good sandwich? Something hearty and satisfying, on good Italian bread? Well there's no shortage of delis in the area, but there's always a little something missing from most of the heros (we call them hoagies where I come from,) that I've tried so far.

My biggest beef (no pun intended,) most times is the bread. Almost all of the sandwiches if tried here have bread that's a little too soft or too fluffy. Long rolls should be chewy. Not stale, but strong. And with a little crustiness to the crust.

Zito's always looks legit when I walk by one of their two locations. There's usually a good looking stack of rolls just visible from the street, and a case of cured meats from Salumeria Biellese instead of the usual Deitz and Watson or Boar's Head. When my sandwich craving hit me this time, I thought maybe Zito's could sate it. They came pretty darned close.

I ordered their version of a classic Italian sub/hero/hoagie called the Autogrill, for some reason, despite having zero ingredients actually come in contact with a grill. You have your choice of roll when you order a sandwich but i didn't notice this option until later, and apparently the default is the Rustic. The foot long roll was exactly what I wanted. It had tooth. It fought back. Perfect.

The interior was equally delicious but sadly under-filled. Salty prosciutto, spicy capicola, and fatty mortadella were of great quality but scarce. For $10.50, I'd expect more than one layer of each. Mild provolone could have been replaced with sharp to great effect. The peperoncini peppers added a wonderful vinegar kick, and the Six Point Sweet Action I got with it was a perfect accompaniment with its slightly astringent hoppy aftertaste.

While I enjoyed the taste of my sandwich immensely, my lovely companion ordered the winner this time. The hot Six Point braised roast beef sandwich was chock full of sliced roast beef in a thick and spicy beer and tomato sauce. The roll had a wonderful crunch to it from some time in the broiler, and homemade mozzarella had melted into beautiful stringy white blobs. Marinated mushrooms and sautéed onions finished it off, and the whole thing was the embodiment of pure tasty comfort.

We finished with an ice cream sandwich from the freezer case by Coolhaus. "Mintimalist" satisfied our love of puns as well as our collective sweet teeth. The chewy chocolate chocolate chip cookie held an inch-thick serving of basic but incredibly powerful mint chocolate chip ice cream. No artificial green color, but enough mint leaves pulverized into it that tiny green flecks were easily visible. Apparently they have a couple trucks here in New York, with crazy flavor combinations I can't wait to try. Expect a review when I can track them down on their twitter feed.

The biggest downer about this place: the Pandora music feed that kept skipping/buffering every 10 seconds while the staff blissfully sang along to Fatboy Slim as if nothing was wrong. The entire time. Seriously, 30 minutes or more of skipping Fatboy with the occasional commercial thrown in. (You can't spring for the monthly membership? And maybe lay off downloading whatever it is thats chewing up your bandwidth during business hours?)

Final verdict on Zito's:

Food: 9/10
Value: 6/10
Ambiance: 5/10
Service: 8/10

-SdJ

The "Autogrill"

Six Point Braised Roast Beef

Sweet Action. For my mouth

Mintimalism...

BEST Ice Cream Sandwich

Shelves full of stuff to make things look fancy

Couleur Cafe, Park Slope

I found myself on 7th avenue the other morning on my way somewhere and in need of an iced coffee. Between 14th and 15th streets is the little jewel box called Couleur Cafe.

I was really just popping in for a cold beverage and leaving, but this place is adorable enough to warrant a return visit. The owners must at least be aware of the song by the late Serge Gainsbourg of the same name about his love of dark-skinned women. (the husband of Jane Birkin and father of Charlotte Gainsbourg was famously down with brown... There's a clip of an appearance by him on a tv show where a young Whitney Houston was also a guest and he was so lewd and forward with her that it caused quite a scene... NSFW so don't click play if you're going to get in trouble)

The theme here is low-key French cafe, and they do it up perfectly. From the menu of standards like soupe a l'oinion and ouefs aux pain, to the decor and the knickknacks used for the condiments straight from the marches aux puces, it would be easy to be transported for a morning or an afternoon. It's not a Disney version of a French cafe, it's just a neighborhood French cafe.

I've found several coffee shops to love since moving to Park Slope, but I haven't wanted to be a regular anywhere as badly as this place. Like I said, it warrants a return visit, and you may hear more in the near future.

-SdJ

Pinkberry review, Park Slope

Walking down 7th avenue on a warm night, we came upon the new Pinkberry at 7th and Garfield. I've never been to a Pinkberry, and my only real experience with froyo or frogurt or whatever was a disappointing experience at Culture on 5th. But I've heard a lot of buzz about this particular chain, and my lovely companion has been trying to convince me of the joys of frozen yogurt for a while now, so we went in.

The staff was all young and super friendly, offering free samples of any of the 6 flavors (Original, Chocolate, Peanut butter, and seasonal Strawberry, Mango, and Watermelon.) I was convinced by the strawberry and ordered the topping combination on the wall called Strawberry Crunch. Honey almond granola, fresh strawberry slices, and almond slivers didn't cover my small yogurt entirely, though, so I had the kid behind the counter add drizzled honey and coconut shavings. I was set for a nice warm walk in the neighborhood.

My lovely companion had chocolate with fresh raspberries, almond roca and "chocolate crunch." There's nothing like a rich chocolate and fresh raspberry in your mouth, and we finished both in short order. I'm looking forward to more of this thing you humans call yogurt, and I've been opened to trying other little froyo places now too. Thank you, Pinkberry!

Look at that pinkberry!

Toppings toppings toppings

And more toppings. As many as you can fit

"Strawberry Crunch" with extra coconut

Cubana Cafe, Park Slope

We wanted light bite and had decided to enjoy the perfect summer evening weather and walk to the Tea Lounge on Union. Across from the Food Coop, we've been wanting to pop into the spacious cafe for a snack and a beverage for a while now. Our first night actually making it in, and the whole place smelled so strongly of mildew that we didn't even get to look at the chalkboard menu before turning around and heading out. I've heard this is a place to try, but I'm sorry. If there's enough mold to smell it in the doorway, it's just not healthy to eat there. I hope it's just a temporary problem that they are already addressing, because it would be scary to think that the management was just used to it or something.

We continued our walk up 5th avenue and then over to 7th, and decided to give Cubana Cafe a try. They have another location on Carroll Gardens. Super casual and very comfy with upbeat music, this was a good choice for a Monday night.

Even though we skipped that section of the menu, they serve breakfast all day, so don't rule this place out if you're in the mood for egg-based sustenance in the middle of the night.

We were immediately served plantain chips topped with a medium tomato salsa and a puréed cilantro and lime sauce, along with a wine-bottle of chilled water. Refreshing and a considerate way to start us out.

My lovely companion was still looking for a small bite, and ordered the chicken quesadilla with avocado and tomato. Tender white chicken was folded into two small flour tortillas and stuffed with fresh green avocado, tomatoes and spicy sauce. Cold chickpea salad was served on the side, and the whole thing was exactly right.

I tried one of my favorite classic dishes, Ropa Vieja. The "old rags" of beef were stewed until tender with LOTS of garlic, along with peppers and green olives. Yellow rice and dark red beans accompanied it, and both were great vehicles for the delicious broth. This dish is probably two pounds of food, altogether, so be prepared to be stuffed or have leftovers.

The lighting is extremely dim in this little cafe, so I didn't take any photos this time, (I don't like having the flash go off on my iphone and hadn't brought the real camera,) but their flash-running website has pictures so go over and take a look if you're not on an Apple portable device.

-SdJ

Comfort at Hanoi

The storm changed our plans Sunday night, so my lovely companion and I instead went close to home for some comforting Vietnamese. Hanoi on 9th street above 7th avenue is one of our two main stops for Banh Mi, (the other being Hancos, for their frequent sandwich card and proximity to the subway.)

Tonight we both ordered Vietnamese iced coffees, and split the fried pork dumplings. The iced coffee here is the best kind of too-string instant mixed with sweetened condensed milk. (We've ordered it as delivery, though, and it was too milky.) Pork dumplings were crispy outside and meaty with scallions inside, but a little pink. Still delicious with the sweet soy and rice vinegar dipping sauce.

My lovely companion's usual, the grilled chicken Banh Mi, was too heavy in the spicy mayo this time, but in the past we've thought they nailed it. Shredded carrots, cucumber, and cilantro had a cooling effect on the medium-spicy sandwich. The grilled chicken here has a frozen-and-reheated texture, but lots of grill flavor.

Crispy pan-fried rice noodles with seafood were a new dish for me here, and with the extremely vague menu description, I was curious to see what it entailed.

Some kind of crab or lobster substitute was featured with scallops that had obviously been frozen and were chewy because of it.

The rest of the dish was pretty great though. Perfectly plump shrimp, crisp snap peas, bok choi and savoy cabbage. Carrots and baby corn were even firm and crunchy. The highlight was the salty and addictive broth that all of these were coated in and which soaked the crunchy rice noodles. We couldn't get enough of the noodles and cleaned the plate. A vegetarian version of this dish would be perfect, actually.

-SdJ

Grilled Chicken Banh Mi.

Fried Pork Dumplings

Hanoi

Crispy Pan Fried Noodles

Iced Coffee

7th Ave Donuts

I've heard from locals that this place is kindof a Park Slope institution, and while I've walked past it almost weekly since arriving here in Brooklyn, I was never enticed to go in. I know there's a certain attachment to local favorites, and I hope you'll forgive an outsider's perspective. The exterior decor is on par with your run of the mill Brooklyn deli, diner, or dollar store, and the faded burgundy awning and plastic sign above it easily look their 35 years, though I'm sure they've been renovated at least once in that time. The more time I've spent here, though, and seen store fronts and restaurants close and re-open monthly, the more rare something like this seems though.

We went on a Saturday at 8AM and promptly found a seat. The coffee was, in my opinion, a step up from the worst of diner coffee, but nothing I'd come for over all the coffee options in Park Slope. My lovely companion ordered a sausage egg and cheese sandwich on a bagel and I had over-easy eggs with potatoes, sausage and toast. Basic diner fare. The american cheese was orange (This is something I've only noticed in New York and the surrounding areas... do you realize that most of the east and west coasts use white American cheese? Orange seems to be almost entirely found in the midwest and here in NYC.) The sandwich was passable, nothing special.

My eggs and sausage were great, but my potatoes were under salted, (And I don't like much salt to begin with,) and tasted like chemical grill cleaner. 24 hour grills need to be careful with how they clean things and still meet orders, and someone didn't finish before starting the massive pile of potatoes visible on the grill through the kitchen window. I was unimpressed.

We ordered a bakers dozen of mixed donuts to take home and got the check. Here's where I started to realize why people love this place. Two breakfasts, two coffees, and 13 donuts: $16.77. I can barely get two pastries and two coffees at most coffee shops here for that.

And then we had the donuts. Well, some of them. Much heavier than Dunkin' or Krispy Kreme, there's no way 2 people could eat a baker's dozen after breakfast. We had a couple though, and they were all fantastic renditions of classic donuts. Nothing fancy, and nothing out of the norm, but superb. The marble twist was a standout. Crunchy outside, not too sweet cake inside, sugar glaze, and huge! The classic jelly filled was chewy, sparkly-sugar covered, and with pretty respectable jelly filling. There are going to be donuts around here for a while.

-SdJ