On ordering wrong
I went to the new Pies 'n' Thighs on Flatbush and you'll never guess what I decided to order for some reason
This week, I decided to try out the brand-new offshoot of Williamsburg’s 20-year-old Southern eatery Pies ‘n’ Thighs (244 Flatbush Ave), which opened on April 1st. Pretty much everything on the menu is fried chicken — fried chicken box, fried chicken sandwich, fried chicken biscuit, etc. — and, according to their website, Martha Stewart called it “the best fried chicken I've ever had.“ With all that in mind, I decided to go ahead and order the only salad they had on the menu.
And guess what? That was stupid! The “big salad” was a pretty bizarre mix: Iceberg lettuce and various half-pickled vegetables, with a strangely-cloudy cilantro lime dressing. Needless to say, the crispy chicken atop it was the most delicious element by far. I had never had anadama bread, which is a New England recipe made from just flour, cornmeal, yeast, and molasses; it was subtly sweet and made for an interesting bite, though I’m not sure what it’s doing on the menu at a restaurant that calls itself the best Southern food in Brooklyn. Also, the salad was supposed to come with a hard boiled egg that did not arrive, but I’m pretty sure I’m the only person who has ordered this salad since they opened the new location, so I’ll give them a pass.
(We also picked up a cinnamon roll to go. It’s a very thick, heavy roll, with not-too-sweet cinnamon filling that is almost completely drowned out by thick cream cheese frosting. I’d give it a 6/10.)
Anyway, back to the big salad. I can’t help ordering wrong sometimes. It’s the contrarian in me — when a restaurant is known for one dish only, I get this tantalizing itch to order anything else. Sure, the fried chicken is probably going to be good; Martha Stewart likes it! But doesn’t it also matter what the other menu items are like? Shouldn’t that be how we judge a restaurant — by how good the road less traveled tastes?
I’m not sure. I wonder what you think — have I earned the right to write off the restaurant? Or have I squandered my opportunity to comment at all by virtue of ordering wrong?
Best things I ate of late
Banh bo nuong from Banh by Lauren (42 Market St)
This is an example of ordering the right thing, which I am also capable of doing sometimes. I first discovered banh bo nuong, or Vietnamese “honeycomb” cake, at the delightful, now-closed window bakery Ban Be, which purported to be the first Vietnamese bakery in NYC. That makes Banh by Lauren the second, I think, and such a welcome addition now that Ban Be is gone. This cake feels so special: It’s made from tapioca flour, so it’s gummy in a good way, and flavored with the tantalizing aromatic mixture of pandan and coconut. It’s gluten free and dairy free and not too sweet — potentially my new favorite dessert.
Chicken skewers at Rintintin (14 Spring St)
I was drawn in by the great neon sign they have out front of Nolita’s Rintintin (apparently named after a famous WWI puppy?) on Thursday to order this very average chicken skewer plate. To be honest I’ve included it here because I really like having three things on my lists, but this is not a meal I would order again. Completely fine. Sorry! I have not had the most restaurant luck these past weeks!
Passover seder at my grandmother’s house (address not available)
My grandma Mitzi is the most fabulous person I’ve ever met, and she extends her commanding sense of style to the dinner plate. For passover this year, she served tenderloin and a Moroccan chicken stewed in dates, plus honeyed carrots, tender asparagus, couscous, fried onions, and, because she is a good Jewish grandmother, her famous matzah ball soup. Her secret to pulling off a perfect dinner for ten is that she cooks food for weeks leading up to the meal and freezes it — and then also supplements with catering.
Hannah is continuing to try to learn how to cook no matter how long it takes or how embarrassing it gets
Even small wins are wins on my cooking journey. In this case, what that means is that I used Trader Joe’s store-bought pizza dough and sauce that was literally labeled “pizza sauce” to make personal pizzas last week. They were totally edible and nothing more than that.
Of course, I took my pizza out too early so there was no color on the crust, and the imitation cheese I used (Boursin) melted into this bubbling translucent goop that was not super exciting to eat, but still — pizza! This was objectively a fun project, even if I have some notes for what I would do differently next time.
Tell me what I should try to make next?
In (brief) other news
One of my photos was published in StreetLit:
Sending this with love from the air somewhere between New York and Las Vegas —
Hannah
i think there's potential for a series where someone (you? me?) ask for the least-ordered dish at popular restaurants. if it's on the menu, the chef should stand behind it!
I eat vicariously through you