The Monday Ledger

The first tastes of summer for Memorial Day weekend: crudo, happy hour pasta, and dessert plates.

1. Summer Meals

I stayed in the city for Memorial Day, and the rain finally gave way to lovely weather today! Spencer and I took advantage and ventured out to purchase yellowtail to make hamachi crudo for dinner.

I served it thinly sliced over a bright base of jalapeño, lemon, lime, and orange juice. Drizzled with olive oil and ponzu, served with basil, jalapeño, lime zest, and ume sesame seeds. A dish that feels like summer but looks like spring.

2. More Crudo

Speaking of crudo, I attended a dinner at Roscioli earlier this week where they served wagyu carpaccio with bone marrow, pink peppercorn, and Parmigiano Reggiano. While I have a proclivity towards raw fish over beef, this rich combination made for a great dish.

My favorite item on the set menu was the mezze maniche all’amatriciana, a Roman dish with a tomato sauce and crispy guanciale. My go-to pasta dish at home is mezze rigatoni alla vodka, but I’m adding this dish to my repertoire for nights where I want something more savory.

3. Happy Hour Spaghetti

One of my favorite happy hours is Bacaro’s delicious $10 spaghetti pomodoro. Spencer and I took advantage of the heat wave on Tuesday and grabbed a table outside. If you sit curbside with a Hugo spritz, look down, and squint, you might forget you’re not in Italy. This might be one of the best deals in NYC.

4. Dashi Okume

In need of dashi, I made the trip to Dashi Okume in Greenpoint on Saturday. I was hungry, so used it as an opportunity to finally try their teishoku (set meal). It came with miso soup, rice, and cucumber by default, and I chose grilled salmon, dash-simmered kabocha, and soy marinated shiitake mushrooms. It is served with your choice of Kettl tea (sobacha for me). It was delicious, but if you are not a fan of bonito-forward dashi, might not be the meal for you.

After lunch, I stocked up on dashi. I continue to purchase their standard dashi out of habit, but next time need to branch out to try one of the many other blends. Has anyone tried the Kyoto dashi?

5. Cibone O’te

Before leaving, I popped over to Cibone on the other side of the building, where they sell Japanese ceramics, homeware, and cooking tools. They have another restaurant on their side specializing in Japanese hamburg that I have not yet tried.

5. Elbow Bakery

After a breakfast burrito with a friend at Dimes Deli on Sunday, we popped into Elbow Bakery for a sweet treat. I had not been in the space since Mel moved upstate. We got the banana pudding kolache, which was outstanding with the perfect level of sweetness. I purchased a loaf of black bread sourdough and had my first slice for breakfast this morning. Delicious.

6. Dessert Plate

When my mom was in town a little over a month ago, we bought a large box of the most amazing dates from S.O.S. Chef’s with the intention of splitting them. Unfortunately I forgot to bring them over to her before she left (sorry, Mom :( ), so I have been slowly working through them. The past few nights, Spencer and I have put on a movie alongside a dessert plate of chocolate, dates, and cheese.

Nothing feels more decadent than a cheese plate for dessert. It always brings me back to our visit to Chez Panisse. I’m bringing this into summer — early, light dinner, late dessert plate.

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