Tag: sandwich

Categories
Dining Featured Restaurants

Downtown’s Areppas Survival Guide

Areppas
Photo credit Oleg March
Areppas
Photo credit Oleg March

A second Areppas restaurant has opened in Downtown Manhattan. We at Downtown are offering our readers an Areppas survival guide to help you celebrate.

What are arepas?

Every culture has its flatbread food. If you’ve heard anyone argue whether “tacos are sandwiches,” that is the truth they’re approaching. Arepas are a flatbread food common in Columbia and Venezuela. It’s a bit like an english muffin made from corn, but more flat and less crumbly. Arepas are cut open into pockets and stuffed with…well, let your imagination soar.

  • Arepa from Areppas. Photo credit Oleg March.
  • Areppas
    Bowl from Areppas. Photo credit Oleg March.

What is Areppas?

Areppas with two p’s is a restaurant in the sandwich shop style: Bread -> Protein -> Toppings -> Sauce. You pick as you go down the line. In addition to their signature arepas, they also have a number of other snack options, as well as arepa bowls. Arepa bowls work a lot like burrito bowls, except that you can add treats like platanos (plantains).

They also have dessert options.

The arepas and more

There are plenty of protein options for your arepa, from beef and chicken to short rib (I had the short rib). There’s also a veggie option that I was grateful to see was a lot more involved than “we cut up some vegetables for you.”

You have to be careful when you reach the toppings. The rigidity of the arepa means limited space. The number of arepa combinations is a little intimidating, especially with options that you might not be familiar with in a sandwich, like beets and chickpeas. If you’re not familiar with arepas, I would recommend going with one of the premade options, all of which looked delicious. If you’re the kind of person who loves to load up on toppings, I would recommend the bowl instead. If you’re already an expert, then you do you. Don’t let me stop you.

While you’re there, don’t forget to grab something on the side. Check out the empanadas and tequenos (think South American mozzarella sticks).

Dessert

Dessert is here so that I can talk about one thing and one thing only: the churros. Oh boy. This might be one of the best churros of my life. This would be true even if it wasn’t drizzled with chocolate sauce and sprinkles and then jammed into soft-serve ice cream. It is rich and substantive while still keeping a nice crunch. The ice cream is pretty standard fare, but it’s really just there to be scooped up by the churro. 

Conclusion

Areppas is a treat that I didn’t know existed. It’s a small chain that works to stay authentic to the food’s roots. The arepas themselves can get over-packed, but that is as much because of the number of options as it is because of the nature of the bread. Check out the new Areppas location at 115 East 23rd Street, New York, NY. 

Categories
Dining Events Featured

Where to Get Cheesy on National Grilled Cheese Day

National Grilled Cheese Day is upon us! On April 12th we celebrate all things cheese between bread (not that we don’t worship the world’s best sandwich every day). Here are a few of our favorite places to get cheesy!

Murray’s Cheese

To wrap up their twelve days of specials, Murray’s will be offering their signature Murray’s Melt for just $1.12 between 8:00 AM and 4:30 PM. Head to the Melts counter at their flagship store on Bleecker Street for a good, old-fashioned classic. 254 Bleecker Street

Ed’s Lobster Bar

Courtesy of Hannah Schneider Creative

Looking for something super indulgent? Ed’s Lobster Bar stuffs their melty grilled cheese with fresh lobster for a can’t-miss treat. If you love to dip your sandwich, the lobster bisque makes a great accompaniment. 222 Lafayette Street

Clinton Hall

Photo courtesy of Clinton Hall

If you like your food to be a little extra, Clinton Hall has a showstopper for you. Their famous doughnut grilled cheese pairs melty mozzarella with a freshly glazed doughnut suspended above a bowl of classic tomato soup. Multiple Locations

Mother’s Ruin

Photo courtesy of Mother’s Ruin

This French onion soup grilled cheese at Mother’s Ruin will have you questioning why you don’t eat at bars more often. The inside is stuffed with the beloved combo of gruyere cheese and caramelized onions and the outside has crisped cheddar cheese and chives. There is a side of au jus for the soup component. 18 Spring Street

BLACKBARN Restaurant

This ooey, gooey grilled cheese is made with aged cheddar, tarentaise, manchego, and roasted garlic for a gourmet upgrade and served with a cup of tomato soup. 19 East 26th Street

BLACKBARN Cafe & Bar @ Chelsea Market

For something a bit more toothsome, BLACKBARN’S cafe has a brie and NY apple grilled cheese with watercress and jalapeño jam on toasted brioche. Weave your way through Chealsea Market for this flavorful combo! 448 West 16th Street

Boucherie

Le Croque Champignons is a truly glorified grilled cheese. The sandwich is stuffed with house made wild mushroom ragu and gruyere cheese with lots of extra cheese on top. There’s a mixed green salad on the side but you can totally ignore it in favor of more cheese. Multiple Locations

Melt Shop

If you’re really ready to go all out, head to one of Melt Shop’s nine NYC locations for this month’s special: the Notorious CHZ. This triple-decker behemoth is loaded with muenster, pepper jack, brick cheddar cheese spread, and truffle mayo between three pieces of parmesan-crusted bread. Nothing has ever looked more indulgent! Multiple Locations

Categories
Chefs Dining Featured Restaurants

How Black Seed Defines Its Bagels

New Yorkers love their bagels, and Black Seed is one of the hottest bagel joints to join the market in the last five years. Since their opening in 2014, James Beard-nominated head baker Dianna Daoheung has been making a unique bagel that combines New York and Montreal styles. We talked with Dianna about Black Seed’s personal style, how they stand out in New York’s competitive bagel market, and their beloved monthly chef collaborations.

Downtown: In such a bagel saturated city, how did you decide to start Black Seed? 

Dianna Daoheung: Five years ago, Matt Kliegman and Noah Bernamoff (Black Seed’s owners) were having beers and discussing the sad of a state the bagel world. They decided to do something about it by opening up a shop. That’s when they brought me in to create the perfect hybrid bagel that uses both NYC and Montreal techniques and traditions.

Downtown: How do you categorize your bagels or why can’t they be categorized? 

DD: We like to say they are a perfect hybrid of a Montreal and NYC bagel. The dough is very NYC, but the cooking methods (using wood-fired oven and boiling in a honey-water solution before baking) are very much Montreal. 

Downtown: How did you develop the recipe? 

DD: I did a lot of tasting, traveling, experimenting, and trailing at some amazing shops. 

Downtown: Is anyone else doing something similar to your NYC/Montreal hybrid bagels? 

DD: There was a shop about six years ago but they shut down. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was, but not that I know of. 

Downtown: Did you expect to gain such a cult following? 

DD: I 100% did not expect a cult following. I am still so flattered by the devotion people have for our bagels. Seeing people willing to stand in line for something you created is such an amazing feeling. 

Downtown: How did the chef collaborations come to be?

DD: This all started when I noticed chefs coming in daily before their restaurant shifts. As the chefs and I would talk “shop,” they would often comment on their dream bagel, so for fun we started created weekly specials based on their creations. We have now expanded it to monthlong.

Downtown: What has been one of your favorite specials? 

DD: Oh man, that’s like asking which kid is your favorite! There honestly have been so many. But I guess if I have to pick, I would say the Baogel (a Chinese pork bun, where we used bagel dough to create the outside). It created a lot of buzz and was a product that I grew up with. 

Downtown: How do you choose who to collaborate with? 

DD: We choose chefs that have a similar ethos in business as we do and whose foods truly inspire us. Luckily the industry is very tightly knit so we all have six degrees of separation to connect us. 

Downtown: What is the development process like for a collaboration? 

DD: I give certain guidelines to the chefs (this is important due to kitchen equipment we have in the shops). They then shoot me back some ideas, and I will let them know what works and what does not. I will then start to experiment based on their ideas and then take the samples to them. From there, we photograph it and then announce it to the world! 

Be sure to check out this month’s collaboration with Violet, the new Rhode Island style pizza spot from the Pizza Loves Emily group. The special sandwich is made with chorizo, fried egg, melted provolone cheese, and grilled and sautéed kale then topped with sliced banana peppers and served on an everything bagel.