Fine Dining, Brooklyn Atmosphere at Battersby

Brooklyn's Battersby: Exposed brick wall? Check. Cramped quarters? Check. Fine dining with a Brooklyn decor 

Battersby has everything you'd expect to see at a trendy Brooklyn restaurant: the obligatory exposed bricks and wood plank floors; cramped seating and no reservations; and waiters and clientele wearing ray-ban glasses. But wait, the food coming from the three men who work in Battersby's closet of a kitchen is refined, and thoughtful, with the level of finesse and care you'd expect at a fine dining downtown Manhattan establishment.

Battersby has won recent acclaims, appearing on Bon Appetit list of the ten best new restaurants of 2012.  As a result, it's quite popular.  Battersby does not take reservations unless you want to order what they describe as a "spontaneous tasting menu."  Opting for the tasting menu is really the only way to go unless you want to line up before the restaurant opens and take your chances -- like I did at Pok Pok Ny, last year's trendy Brooklyn restaurant, right after it opened. Life's too short for that. Naturally, on a recent visit, virtually everyone in the 28-seat restaurant sprung for the tasting menu.

The tasting menus come in two sizes – five courses for $65 or seven courses for $85. The portions, while not huge, are supplemented by additional dishes and starters between courses.

Sweet and Spicy Stir-Fried Noodles

I don't make many dishes that I would call "fusion," but this is one of them: a noodle dish I came up with one lazy Saturday using Chinese and Thai ingredients. I stir-fry fresh Shanghai noodles with garlic, onions, chilies, and a sweet and sour soy-based sauce, topping the whole thing with a Chinese-style egg crepe. The noodles come out just how I like them; nice and spicy, garlicky, savory, and sweet.

The key ingredient here is Thai black soy sauce, which is syrupy and sticky and sweet. Find some along with some fresh noodles on our Chinatown shopping tour or buy it here, or otherwise substitute something else sweet like hoisin sauce. I combine the black soy with the savory flavors of light soy and shaoxing rice wine (or dry sherry) and balance it all with a hit of rice vinegar, which cuts the sweetness a bit and rounds out the flavors. For heat I use bird's eye chilies, but you can use any source of heat.

The egg crepe is basically a thin open-faced omelet rolled up like a rug and sliced. It's pretty that way, but feel free to scramble the egg instead, or leave it out. Chicken or another protein would be a nice addition.

Sliced Fish with Spicy Sauce Soup at Old Sichuan

"Sliced Fish with Spicy Sauce Soup" at Old Sichuan on Bayard Street is one of the most intimidating dishes I've ever had placed in front of me. The large bowl is practically overflowing with vibrant red broth and the whole thing is topped with two—perhaps three dozen hot red chilies. Sliced white fish timidly pokes out from somewhere underneath. It's not immediately clear how it is to be eaten, and even if that could be determined whether eating it would be a good idea.

Dan Dan Noodles

It turns out eating it is a great idea. Indeed, sliced fish with spicy sauce soup is one of the best Chinese dishes I've had in New York.

The broth is milder on the heat scale than the mound of chilies would suggest and more complex and flavorful, featuring the floral tingling flavor of Sichuan pepper. The fish is unbelievably tender and buttery, and further underneath are large chunks of tofu that have soaked up the sauce. After devouring the dish perhaps a dozen times, I am still not sure whether it is sauce or soup, or both, but in any case my strategy is to ladle it into a smaller bowl and eat the fish with chopsticks.

Once I've polished off all the fish in there, I follow the staff's suggestion and take home the leftover soup/sauce to be cooked with more fish the next day.

French-Vietnamese Flavors at Rouge et Blanc

Vietnamese Beef Cheeks, the best dish at Rouge et Blanc

Rouge et Blanc is a transporting French-Vietnamese restaurant in SoHo. The intimate stone and wood interior, illuminated by hanging lanterns, reminded me of the tranquility you can occasionally find in Vietnam, when you escape the throng of motorbikes just outside.

Despite a glowing two-star review in the New York Times a few years ago, the restaurant remains undiscovered, and it is rarely crowded. The menu, which changes seasonally, combines French techniques with Vietnamese ingredients and flavors -- much like our French-Vietnamese beef stew. The service is attentive, and French-accented, helping patrons navigate the collection of shareable dishes. While the dishes range in size, there is no delineation between appetizers and entrees, and in any event, it's best to order several dishes for the table to share.

Salmon Teriyaki

Salmon is a classic vehicle for our homemade teriyaki sauce. The sweet and sour qualities of the sauce cut through the richness of the fish and the sugars caramelize on the surface, locking in juices and imparting an incredible flavor. If I can find them, I like to sprinkle the finished product with chopped chive flowers for their garlicky flavor, freshness, and bright green color. Scallions are a good substitute.

With a jar of our teriyaki sauce already in the fridge, this dish can be ready in minutes. Or take twenty minutes to make a fresh batch!

Homemade Teriyaki Sauce

 In another "guest" post, my wife Melissa shares the secret of her homemade teriyaki sauce. - David

Ever since I figured out how to prepare teriyaki sauce at home, I have been making it all of the time. It has a delicious sweet, gingery, garlicky, slightly tart flavor that goes well with just about anything. The sauce works as both a marinade and a dipping sauce and can go on anything from fish and vegetables to meat, chicken, and tofu. I like to make big batches at a time and keep it in an airtight jar in the fridge. It stays for a few weeks, so once you have a batch of it, you can prepare a delicious, healthy dinner in the time it takes to cook a piece of fish.

This recipe will come out thinner than the average restaurant or jarred teriyaki sauce. If you like it thicker, just add cornstarch and boil that in the sauce. But I recommend trying it this way first. Once you have the sauce ready, you can add to it for specific dishes - like cornstarch to thicken it for stir fries, or sliced chilies for chicken or steak.

Click here for our salmon teriyaki recipe!

Red Wine and Tomato Beef Stew

I love making soups and stews during winter. Last week we featured a Vietnamese beef stew, which combined French techniques with Vietnamese flavors. This stew, which employs a broth of beef stock, red wine, and tomatoes, has a more traditional, country feel, and is equally delicious. It is also fool-proof and requires no complicated ingredients or techniques.

Like the Vietnamese stew, I made this one with boneless short ribs, which I find to be more tender than brisket; but either one works great. I also like to sear the meat to give the stew some crispy, charred flavor, but the stew is still excellent without browning the meat. A good shortcut is using V8 juice as your source of tomatoes - it adds almost as much thickening quality as tomato paste, while imparting a fuller flavor.

Now that winter is ending, stay tuned for our Spring recipes.