Five Dollar Feasts: Mex Without The Tex

If one can get passed the gaudy colors and overtly stereotypical trappings, Chiquitita harbors something Bay Ridge desperately needs: Mexican food untouched by the "Tex" prefix. The menu features typical fare ranging from tacos to burritos. What's special though, is that for the quality served up here, most of the victuals are satisfying and affordable.

Most Mexican food served at restaurants here consist of largely the same stuff: meat, a tortilla and some type of vegetable mix. What mostly separates one eatery from the next is the quality of the ingredients and the time of cooking. There are of course, innovations in spice choice and taste. You see a sharp increase in caliber in both when comparing Chiquitita to its Tex-Mexican competition.

The tacos and fajitas served up include freshly cut vegetables and meats grilled when ordered. Depending on the type of filling, one will taste a different array of spices that are both savory and refreshing. The chili con carne, essentially a beef and bean chili mixture, is the most heavily spiced up of the options and is lightly spicy. Conversely, the chicken and steak primarily rely on the smoky flavor of the grill itself. All three are tasty in their own way.

Given that the food is awesomely fresh, it's almost shocking that any taco or fajita is less than $5. The quesadillas are a little more expensive, but outside of the shrimp and steak are also in the same price range. The major downside is that because the food is made when ordered, the wait is often long. Sitting patiently for twenty minutes isn't out of the question when eating or ordering out at Chiquitita.

The Ridge Tastes Good (Take 2)

Today I made one of the wisest investments of my relatively short life. I proudly supported St.Patrick's parish by attending their annual event, A Taste of the Ridge. For a meager $12, I helped keep the Church going and was able to gorge myself on the fare of 39 restaurants from around the neighborhood. With the amount of diverse, local gourmets present, I was pleased at how much I got for the price.

Given the quality and variety of the food, it's no surprise that the place was packed. Names like Lai Yuen, 101 and Arirang can draw a crowd. There was still plenty of good food to go around though, even if some had to eat it while standing.

The head count didn't do anything to prevent me from trying as many of the foods available as I could. With so many popular vendors in attendance, I was positive that my favorite dishes would come from the big names. I was surprised to find that the most memorable chow didn't come from among the usual suspects. Rather, they were unexpected delights from two particular stalls I almost overlooked.

Naomi and Jennifer represented their home based company Krazy Lady Cheesecakes. I've had a lot of cheesecakes before, but these were exquisite. The samples, small circles with fresh fruit toppings, were soft but firm enough to provide the perfect amount of resistance against chewing and tasted exceptional. Their selection was wide, featuring the staples strawberry and blueberry, but included the lesser sought after flavors like pumpkin. These easily constituted the best dessert available, effortlessly competing with the Court Street outsider Monteleone's Bakery. Regrettably, these ladies don't have a shop. Instead, they take orders via phone (718-685-9996) and e-mail. They are all business however and will take your orders with all the same seriousness.

When I go to a restaurant, I typically look toward the flavors most associated with it. That's why when I visit my favorite eateries, I usually don't order the buffalo wings. Tom Casatelli from The Kettle Black and his Jameson wings have convinced me to reconsider that stance. This chicken flies right off the plate. Hickory flavoring and a just above mild level of spiciness combine to make a wing you could eat in the summer without issue. While Tom didn't bring anything but two sets of wings with him, that's all he needed. I'll be visiting Kettle Black for the first time as soon as I get the chance. Their selection of wings is diverse, but I know which one I'll be ordering ahead of time.

While I do praise these two for their exceptional offerings, I caution anyone who attends against not making the effort to try as much food as possible. While the task of sampling anywhere from 10-15 different sets of penne can be daunting, it's not unrewarding. There wasn't a single plate at A Taste of the Ridge that I wouldn't have finished. Additionally, even if there's a bit of overlap or a particular dish isn't suited to a person's interest, the assortment makes it easy to just move on. I would regret it if I had skipped over Sofia's just because I already stopped by Pipin's Pub.

The people were friendly and happy. That might have had something to do with the amount of food they were consuming, but that doesn't matter. At the event, I saw nothing but laughter and eating. The staff, despite gouging the price of water ($1 for 8oz bottles) was helpful and eager to assist. Even the volunteer servers were all smiles.

Besides having to pay a little too much for the beverages, there isn't much to complain about. The parish knows their stuff. There's no speeches or lengthy lines to stand in. They don't stand between anyone and satisfying the hunger they came to abate. My biggest gripe is simply that I will have to wait another year before I can stroll by and enjoy the entire thing again.

Originally posted on April 25th, 2010

Sweets Spotlight: My Baker Made Me...

The danish is a simple enough affair. It consists of a shell, a filling and sometimes a topping. Similarly, the black and white cookie is nothing more than a unification of two types of fondant and soft yellow cake. Yet, due to the nature of baking and confectioner ingenuity, these treats can come in many different forms. Not all of these incarnations are equal. YourBaker's take on the cheese danish and the relatively uniform black and white cookie make it obvious that even the simplest formulas leave room for tasty innovation.


Fresh is the key word when discussing these delicacies. Your Baker's pastries are soft and receptive to the gentle chewing one associates with baked goodies. The yellow cake of the black and white cookie stands out because it's moist and spongy, unlike most of the other alternatives near 86th street, which are dry and more akin to bread than a confection.

The danish is an excellent example of subtle creativity, the simple aspects given a tune-up with the addition of confectioner's sugar and soft crumbles as toppings. Still, what really sells it is the most base element: the cheese. It has a gentle taste better suited to mature palates. Resting between the overly sweet packaged goods at bodegas and the typically bland filling of most local bakeries, it leans slightly in the direction of zest without tripping into it face first.

iEat with an Urban Spoon

The advent of the smart phone has changed the way people do just about everything. If there isn't already an application that showcases the many ways to tie your shoes already, there will be one soon for the upcoming audience of tech-savvy toddlers. It makes sense then, that there's an array of gadgets available to help with something we do every day: eat. One of these however, stands out more than the rest because it doesn't only give you ways to answer the popular question of "where do I eat?" It picks a place for you!

Urban Spoon's "shake" feature is something altogether fun and different than what the alternatives provide. With as little as a single button press, it will randomly select a place to eat in your immediate area.

The interface, reminiscent of a slot machine, consists of three parts. First, there's the area. If you leave this box "unlocked", it will always default to the area you're in according to your phone. Second, there's the types of food in the area. It can be very specific or largely broad. In two spins, you might get "Italian", but immediately after also get "Pizza". Lastly, but far from least important, there's a field which represents costs in a series of dollar signs. The more dollar signs, the more expensive. Lock this in at one symbol to keep your prospects in a fair price range.

There's no limits to how many times one can spin in a session and sometimes it may take a few gambles to arrive at a place that satisfies an obscure hunger. Once satisfied, all the standard tools of reference are another touch away: map, directions, phone numbers, reviews and the ominous thumbs up or down button people love to abuse.

Urban Spoon satisfies most practical desires relating to food. It provides a list of nearby restaurants, relevant information and reviews, it even picks eateries for indecisive patrons. It's an all-encompassing application with the twist of appealing to everyone's inner-gambler.

McDonald's Delivers Shot to Ribs

There are few things in fast food which are genuinely exciting. Every so often, one of the bigger chains will release a new item that attracts a great deal of short-term attention. The item, depending on its success will either be added to the permanent roster or dumped entirely. One item more than any other transcends this trend: the coveted McRib.


While a potent force in the food world all on its own, the creative (or wicked) marketing strategy McDonald's employs with the McRib is what has garnered the sandwich a near-cult following. The McRib makes yearly "farewell" tours around the country, emerging at seemingly random spots. Available for only brief stints in each area, it vanishes the same way it appears, silently.

It's this mysterious habit which has inspired fans to create websites dedicated solely to reporting where the McRib has been seen. Expect to see entries listing the 86th and 4th McDonalds because it's being sold there now!

Sweets Spotlight: Sir, There's no Egg in my Eggcream.

Hiding somewhere in the evolutionary chain between the cocoa bean and the chocolate milkshake lurks the Egg Cream. Having fallen out of fashion, this treat is often forgotten. Luckily for people in Bay Ridge, Hinsch's Confectionery is a veritable time portal. Step through the door, arrive in the 80s and enjoy a sip of this hard-to-find but easy-to-enjoy beverage. For the low price of $1.50, the only excuse not to is laziness.



For those of you unfamiliar with the elusive egg cream, it's fairly simple. First, there's no eggs or cream. It consists chiefly of chocolate syrup, seltzer water and milk. Don't be intimidated. It sounds like a cheap milkshake and it is, but it has a taste all its own. Featuring a light, frothy head, each sip is bubbly. There's a mild chocolate taste, with the carbonation from the seltzer mostly flattened out. In the end, it touches your palate like coffee; The first sip is bitter, the second sip is better and the third produces an out of body experience.

Five Dollar Feasts: Imagine if Bacon Were Good For You

Looking for something tasty, but cost effective? Tired of the dollar menu? Five Dollar Feasts is here exclusively to highlight the middle ground which separates expensive and cost effective without falling into the fast food trap.

Bacon will never be good for you, but it will always be tasty and relatively cheap. This makes it a prime candidate for meals which cost less, but still tickle the palate. Nothing captures the very essence of bacon like breakfast does and not a thing summarizes breakfast in New York City like the Bacon, Egg and Cheese sandwich.
Five Star Bagel on 5th, between 86th and 87th has challenged that notion, however. Not by just making the best Bacon, Egg and Cheese on a bagel in the neighborhood, but by making it affordable and available all day. At $3.00 a piece, it's a marvel that people in Bay Ridge are as healthy as they are with Five Star Bagel around.

The secret is in the bagel itself. While best in the morning, the firm, slightly crunchy shell and soft, puffy inside are appealing at any time.