At Eater, our jobs leave us with some leftovers, both literal and figurative. On Mondays, we'll share a mix of recent dining observations, recommendations, and other fixations from across the Eater crew. I'll start by telling you about some mayo (yes, really). PS - Hi, I'm Bettina Makalintal, a senior reporter at Eater and the writer of the newly rebooted Eater Today. I'll be in your inbox Monday through Friday, though you'll also find cameos from other staffers. |
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I loved this mayo so much that I had to email the restaurant for more details: At the Lower East Side Basque spot Eel Bar, the mayo is the most intensely olive-flavored I've ever tasted. One swipe is like chewing on a Castelvetrano. Once I finished my fries, I did stick my finger in it to finish it… no regrets. Mayo is the "mother sauce" at Eel Bar and its nearby sibling Cervo's, chef and owner Aaron Crowder told me. He attributes its flavor to "a mixture of Spanish and Italian olive oils including the most prominently flavored Il Tratturello." I'm loading up the Gustiamo cart as we speak. |
Photo credit: Bettina Makalintal |
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Steph Wu is also getting an order of fries: "Superiority Burger has some of the best fries in town, and they're finally available at dinner. These are not your average fries: They're fried twice, extremely crispy, perfectly salted, and darker and larger than your typical diner fry. They come with the veggie burger for $22, or you can get them as a side for $12." H. Drew Blackburn ate a great burrito in the Bay Area (like many before him): "The best meal [I had during a recent trip] was by way of Señor Sisig. Its California burrito has a perfectly chewy tortilla, juicy pork, and fries that pack a deep crunch to bring it all together. I've heard whispers that Señor Sisig just ain't what it used to be — well, if it was ever actually better than what I ate, I'm glad I never had a bite. Otherwise, I might've gone off the deep end and ended up the subject of a Netflix documentary about a weird man deeply in love with a burrito." Dianne de Guzman has an existential question: "Are we a supper club/dinner entertainment generation? I went to a dinner last week at Foreign Cinema in San Francisco at which Jeremiah Tower was a guest chef, and they surprised him with an aerial dancer-sorta-striptease thing. At first it sounded terrifying, but then it was short and FINE, but my initial reaction to hearing that there would be 'entertainment' next to our table was, 'ohdeargodpleaseNO.' "I was hearing about this new upcoming restaurant that's an intimate dinner space (like 50 seats total) with a stage for music/entertainment/bands, and I'm also sort of not interested? Do I want to hear live music while also accidentally clinking my fork on thing and not being able to talk to who I'm with?" |
Photo credit: Hilary Pollack |
Hilary Pollack has a confusing relationship with a cucumber-topped cookie: "I have found myself thinking incessantly about the really weird dessert at Baby Bistro that I had a couple weeks ago. It's like a pine nut shortbread with a very creamy cucumber custard on top and little pieces of candied rhubarb? It sounds disgusting but was sort of divine, like an incredibly advanced Dunkaroo. In the New York Times, Tejal Rao described her relationship with it as 'enemies-to-lovers' and I feel very much the same." |
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