A Destination-Worthy Neighborhood Joint
It's pretty amazing to live around the corner from one of your favorite restaurants in New York City. I had that situation for a year when living literally around the corner from Momofuku Ssäm Bar. To move farther east into Alphabet City and to live around the corner from another favorite New York City restaurant, Edi & the Wolf, is a real treat. Executive chefs Eduard "Edi" Frauneder and Wolfgang "the Wolf" Ban created a packed, comforting, and unpretentious spot on Avenue C inspired by the "Heuriger," the casual, neighborhood wine taverns popular in their native Austria. There are many fantastic things to eat, including baby back ribs, the slow-poached farm eggs, and the wiener schnitzel. But the Alsatian flatbreads are the dish I look forward to having every time I go. No, it's not pizza, but a thin crackly bread topped with blue ricotta, pears, crème fraîche, cipollini onions, Gruyère, speck, and horseradish. And for these reasons this dish made my list of most memorable meals of 2011.