The Mango Lassie

The General Greene was always one of those places I read about in the New York Times and somehow assumed was too popular, or too trendy, to even bother trying to get in. So when I finally went there a few weeks ago, I was surprised at the lack of a line for a table and the mellow vibe of the restaurant. Granted, this place has been open for a number of years now, but at its core, it’s really nothing more than a good, neighborhood restaurant. I went there with my friend Corned Beef Hashette to bid her farewell before her move to Gettysburg, PA where her fiancée is taking a tenure-track teaching position at Gettysburg College. I don’t know a lot about Gettysburg, but from what CBH told me, it seems safe to say there aren’t many consciously-sourced, locavore restaurants like The General Greene there. To me, this is a good thing and a bad thing, depending on how overloaded I feel with the Brooklynness of things at any particular point in time.

CBH and I took a table outside and were the only ones there as it was hot enough for most people to choose air conditioning. We scanned the menu and decided to order an assortment of dishes to share. CBH is allergic to seafood, so that ruled out options like the chicken-fried oysters and the Prince Edward Island mussels and toasts. (I took note to order these during a future visit.) First came the deviled eggs, which were silky and smoky, infused with Spanish paprika. Next we tried roasted cauliflower with raisins and pinenuts. The cauliflower was coated in a basic, but tasty, pesto, which added interesting color and melded nicely with the pinenuts, while setting off the sweetness of the raisins. The dish was one I could easily make at home but would probably never have thought up.

For our next dish, we knew we couldn’t not order the thick-cut candied bacon. I mean, who could resist? This shot of the profile of one of the three pieces delivered to our table should be enough to demonstrate that this was no ordinary bacon. Indeed, it was exceptional— smoky and sweet and perfectly cooked so that the edges were slightly crisp and the fat melted in our mouths. Eating these was like eating slices of heaven, especially for a couple of nice Jewish girls. After the bacon came a green salad with spritely, local-seeming greens, candied pecans and fried shallots. It was a perfectly tasty and refreshing dish, but I did feel a tad bit sorry for the salad for having to follow the bacon.

At this point in the meal, CBH and I realized we were being eaten alive by mosquitoes. (So this was why no one else had opted to eat outside!) We grabbed our plates and glasses and headed into the restaurant, apologizing to our youthful waiter on the way. He kindly found an empty table for us, just in time for our final course to arrive. For the pièce de résistance, we ordered the General Greene fried chicken with sweet potato-andouille hash and braised collard greens. We had asked our young server what he thought of the dish, and he seemed to hesitate a bit too long before saying it was good. While this didn’t give us a ton of confidence, we ordered it anyway, and boy were we glad we did. The chicken was well seasoned and perfectly crispy on the outside, while still remaining succulent and tender on the inside. The greens and hash were only OK, but they were entirely ancillary; plate-fillers playing courtiers to the kingly chicken.

CBH and I ate as much as we could, but we couldn’t even finish off every bite of the dishes we ordered. Dessert was simply not in the cards, but perhaps I should have found room: I learned when I got home that Nicholas Morgenstern, one of General Greene’s owners, was a pastry chef at a number of top New York restaurants, including Daniel and Gilt. At the time, though, it seemed impossible to consume anything more. As I look at it, not eating dessert leaves room for another set of tasty surprises to unfold the next time I visit.

The General Greene
229 DeKalb Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11205
718.222.1510

I recently started attending an irregularly scheduled yoga class held on Sundays in the home of a friend of my friend Curly Fries. The four other ladies who attend the class have a tradition of going out for brunch afterward. The class, which is held in Fort Greene, is offering me a simultaneous introduction to kundalini yoga and the brunch offerings of the neighborhood. So far, both have proved enlightening. After the first meeting I attended, Curly Fries and our hostess went to Smooch Organic Cafe and Wine Bar for our post-yoga brunch.

Smooch is a small, airy and funkily decorated cafe, serving espresso drinks and various sandwiches and salads. It is owned by Australians, which quickly becomes clear from the site of Vegemite jars. In addition to beautifully embellished cappuccinos, the coffee menu includes a flat white, a coffee drink from New Zealand that’s similar to a latte but is prepared using steamed milk from the bottom of the pitcher where bubbles are smaller. Coffee drinks came with the food we ordered— a nice extra that most New York brunch spots would never offer.

The menu items had funny names based on inside jokes and comic descriptions. At our table, each of us ordered one of two very similar dishes. The first, the “Tamarama,” was an open face ciabatta slab rubbed with avocado, salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon juice and topped with slices of tomato and hard-boiled egg. This came with a flat white. The second, the “Pascales ‘I Get Up to Way Too Much Mischief in Fort Greene and I’m Loving it Breakfast’” was exactly the same thing but without the tomato. (While tomato sounded fabulous with the combination, I personally opted against it because winter tomatoes are so often disappointing.) This one came with a cortado. The dishes were simple and divine. The rich and tangy topping on the crunchy, crusty bread reminded me of my favorite Spanish breakfast— an open-face baguette spread with fresh tomato and drizzled with flavorful olive oil. The avocado added another dimension to that acid-fat combination, and the hard-boiled egg made it a more substantial meal. I decided I could eat this dish every morning for the rest of my life without getting tired of it.

But I might want to vary that routine once in a while with a bowl of granola like the one offered a Smooch. The three of us shared one bowl of in addition to our sandwiches, and this was one impressive bowl of granola. The granola itself had nice crunch and just the right touch of sweetness, but the yogurt it came with was so rich and creamy that it took everything to the next level. The dish also came with beautiful fruit, including berries, bananas and apples, which made us feel virtuous and satisfied.

The meal at Smooch was a perfect post-yoga indulgence: fresh, healthy and invigorating. But maybe next time I’ll skip the yoga and try the restaurant’s wine bar. Namaste.

Smooch Organic Cafe and Wine Bar
264 Carlton Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11205
718.624.4075

Empanada Boy and I are in a wine club that typically meets once a month (“WTF” or “Wine Tasting Fun”). We couldn’t find a host this month, so we decided to fill the void with some auxiliary activities. One was a dinner with seven person core group of members (Focaccina, Tamago, Tuna Noodle Casserole, Hungry Man, Beetrix and us) at Umi Nom, a BYOB place in Fort Greene. King Phojanakong, the chef at Umi Nom, is half Thai, half Filipino. His restaurant is pan-Asian in a distinctly focused and coherent way, more like the Momofuku empire than the restaurants with sushi on one page and pad Thai on another. Phojanakong also owns Kuma Inn on the Lower East Side, which is reputed to be great. I was excited to check out this Brooklyn outpost and even more excited that we could bring our own libations.

Umi Nom is located on an otherwise unremarkable strip of the street. The restaurant is long like a railroad car, with minimalist, sleek decor. We were seated a longer table in the back, which allowed us to be as boisterous as we needed to be. The menu is focused on small plates and delicious Asian street food-inspired items. On the advice of those who had been to the restaurant before, we decided to order a bunch of the small plates and eat them family style. The first two dishes to arrive were the Chinese sausage (pictured on top) and the chili-glazed prawns (pictured here). The sausage was delicious, sliced thinly like fatty, spicy chips. Satisfying sticky rice and a dipping sauce came with it. Prawns were tender and well seasoned with a kick of chili that wasn’t toned down for the weak of palate.

Soon, plates of plush tofu squares in chili black bean sauce and mushrooms in soy-mirin sauce arrived at our table. We also ordered a grilled mackerel, which came whole, its tender flesh coated in nicely crisped skin, and some amazing, melt-in-your-mouth pork belly. I know pork belly is way too trendy for its own good, but this stuff was evidence of why it got that way. The edges were crisped, but the middle was smooth and unctuous. The sweet-salty sauce made the dish positively addictive. (And what a dangerous addiction that might be!)

Our party was divided about whether to try one dish on the specials list for the night: a fertilized duck egg. We decided to get one, and those not vegetarian or squeamish (Tuna Noodle, Hungry Man, Focaccina, EB and I) gave it a go. The shell came sealed, so I cracked it with the handle of my spoon. Our server told us to drink the liquid out first, so we passed it around and each took a sip. I didn’t find it very flavorful, truth be told. Then we started in on the embryo itself. EB unknowingly ate the best part, the fetus, himself. He said it tasted a little like poultry. The rest just tasted like dry, pasty overcooked egg to me. Even with the lively sauce they provided, this was the most disappointing dish.

We were stuffed, but figured we could fit in a couple desserts when all of us were sharing. One was a delicious, warm Thai chili chocolate cake, which had just the right edge of heat and smokiness. The other was halo-halo, a traditional Filipino dessert made with shaved ice, milk and a variety of boiled sweet beans and candies. The dish is brilliantly colored, but it looks better than it tastes. Still, it was great to have the opportunity to try it. It didn’t tarnish my image of the restaurant a bit. It was far better meal than I expected and as good as I had hoped. Umi Nom will be on my list of places to come back to.

Umi Nom
433 DeKalb Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11205
718.789.8806