NYC: Loving Chicken Parts at Yakitori Totto

I've been wanting to go to Yakitori Totto for ... 2 years now? A friend of mine told me of a Japanese place in NYC that was supposed to change my life, and he gave me the address. Not the name though ... and it turns out there's a different restaurant on the first floor at the same address and I ended up there, 2 years ago ... (it was good - a kaiseki restaurant).

This year I had to go. With a week full of restaurant reservations though the only time I could go was my last night, right before my 8:30PM flight. Totto opens at 5:30 PM but having nothing else to do/buy (post-shopping) I walked there at 5:00. They wouldn't let us in but while we were debating whether to wander around and come back or not the line started to form ... by 5:20PM the stairway was full of people waiting in line. Good thing I didn't leave!

The yakitoris were about $3.50 a piece and there was a minimum order of I-can't-remember-how-much-bcs-it-didn't-matter. At least the min order can include non-yakitori items, unlike certain LA yakitori places!

My dinner started off with what ended up being my favorite - seseri (chicken neck)
Great flavor and texture - they are bits of chicken neck wrapped around the skewer, chewier and firmer than usual meat. Maybe even a wee bit cartilagenous, but not much. Loved it, loved it.

Next we had the chicken oyster (this is from the backbone near the thigh)
This was also very good. Delicious, tender little things. Although I was still in heaven from my chicken neck ... mmmm.

I also had some chicken thigh with scallions but apparently I didn't take a photo of it :( If you don't normally eat prawn/shrimps with their shells on this will prove to be a bit of a hassle to eat since grilling it makes the shell stick to the meat and hard to remove. I usually try to just eat them tho. The yummy seasoning is all on the shell's surface anyway :P

We also had some tamago, made with free range Jidori chicken eggs.
Amazing. One of the best I've ever had - very flavorful eggs This wasn' t exactly to my taste. It was crisp but had the stickiness that didn't really agree with me.

We also had some miso eggplant.
Good. Pretty standard grilled eggplant with miso. The chicken parts are definitely the highlights at this place, so get the other stuff for fillers only.

We also tried their daiginjyo tofu.
The tofu was steaming in front of us for a while. The server comes and serves it to you when he/she thinks it's ready. Soft, smooth tofu and nothing else. Very simple and delicious.

For dessert we ordered the yawaraka annin tofu ("creamy apricot kernel tofu")
Compared to your usual "tofu" this has a stickier texture - maybe even more like a pudding. Just the right amount of sweetness and quite refreshing, I really liked this dessert!

I absolutely loved Totto. It's the best yakitori I've ever had (although I never got to try Bincho before they closed the yakitori part down - but I highly doubt it can beat Totto). I plan to come back and try the rest of the menu!

Yakitori Totto
251 W. 55th St (btw 8th and Broadway)
New York, NY 10019
(212) 245-4555
http://www.torysnyc.com/totto.htm



See all my NYC posts here.

Great Guest Chefs Liven Up the Athenaeum

As a Caltech grad student, I've been paying $8/month (reduced grad-student rate) to be a member of The Athenaeum, Caltech's private club. While I dined there somewhat frequently in my first year - for easter buffet, dinner, quick lunches, etc - I haven't gone in quite some time recently. I decided to go to the Guest Chefs Night featuring 5 chefs, 4 of whom are guest chefs from the LA/Pasadena area and beyond. I invited LA&OC Foodie and his friends to enjoy this night with me and keep me company!

The night started off with a reception in one of the halls at the Athenaeum, with raspberry champagnes and hors d'oeuvres such as this cajun shrimp in a sweet-and-sour cocktail sauce.

When the time came, we walked to our assigned tables which were all set up out in the patio - it was a nice night and the outdoor seating was a beautiful idea. As we walked to our tables though, immediately our eyes were drawn to ... the centerpiece!
The entire centerpiece was made from chocolate! Made by Bruno Marcy from C... Is for Chocolate.
We all had to restrain ourselves from devouring them throughout the night ...

Each table sat about ten people, so since there were only five of us, we were joined by other Athenaeum members and some of us seemed to have struck exciting conversations with the other party (which included a patent lawyer and his family).

The dinner started with Scallop with Chicken Skin Crust -- Chef Craig Strong, The Dining Room at the Langham
Wine pairing: Kabinett Riesling, Gunderloch, Jean-Baptiste, Rheinhessen 2007
The scallops were okay but the chicken skin crust was definitely interesting. It apparently was too strange for some people on our table, but I liked the novelty and fried chicken skin is always pretty yummy.

The next course is from chef Christopher Eme of Ortolan:
Lobster Spaghetti, herbed caviar and sea urchin sauce
Wine pairing: Chardonnay, Flowers, Sonoma 2006.
This was definitely the most interesting dish of the night and probably our favorite also. It must've been painfully delicate work to wrap the thin spaghetti strings around the soft lobster mousse. It definitely looked beautiful and was delightful to eat as well. The sea urchin sauce had a subtle but nice sea urchin flavor - it was there but definitely approachable by first time uni eaters.

Salad of Fall Beets with a Confit of Fennel, spiced walnut crusted chevre with vanilla bean vinaigrette.
Wine pairing: Rose, Les Domaniers de Puits Mouret, Cotes de Provence 2007
I loved the spiced walnut chevre here! Not only did it have a nice texture but also a nice flavor with a nutty touch due to the walnuts. The beets were pretty good. I'm not sure about the confit of fennel - I would've been happy with just the beets and the chevre.

Our main entree was from the executive chef of the Athenaeum, Kevin Isacsson:
Pumpkin Seed Crusted Suckling Veal Rack, wild mushroom marrow stuffing, truffled cognac sauce.
Wine pairing: Cabernet Sauvignon, White Rock, Laureate, Napa 2004 - the only red wine of the night. The veal was slightly cold but definitely very tender. Slightly pink, definitely not overcooked, but again, do wish it was warmer. I loved the marrow stuffing, nice flavors from the mushrooms and nice texture combination with the marrow.

For dessert we had Honey and Light Chocolate Mousse by chef Bruno Marcy from Sara J. Pastries & Cakes and C ... Is for Chocolate.
Wine pairing: Black Muscat, Quady, Elysium, California 2006.
I really liked the mousse and especially the combination with honey. The wine was interesting to me as it was the first Black Muscat I've had. It was a little sweet of the mousse cake, but I like the Muscat by itself nonetheless.

After 5 glasses of wine, everyone was merry, to say the least. The entire meal, with wine pairing, was $110 - which I think is a pretty good deal.
Although I've eaten at the Ath several times, this is my first time attending a special event there and I thoroughly enjoyed it, from the ambiance, food, and of course the company!
I'm definitely looking out for more special events like this there and utilize my membership (finally).

The Athenaeum at Caltech
551 S. Hill Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91106
(626)395-8200
http://athenaeum.caltech.edu/

NYC: Fatty Pork Buns and Pork Ramen at Momofuku

I didn't quite adjust to NY time so at 3 pm one day I found myself searching for a good "lunch" place that's open at least until 4 ... All the sushi places I wanted to try are out, and apparently so was Momofuku Ssam Bar. The noodle bar was open, though, so I decided to give that a try.

People seem to rave about the steamed pork buns at all the different Momofukus so I decided to give them a try here. $9 gets you two pork buns - expensive but since I was on vacation I didn't give it *too* much thought.These pork buns tasted like a super-fatty peking duck! Because of the bun and oyster sauce. The pork is a slice Berkshire pork with a fatty layer.Instead of green onions they put cucumbers instead, which adds a very nice crunchy texture and a cool, refreshing taste. Delicious. Are they worth the price though? Tough call - maybe not. Peking duck would be cheaper ...

I of course had to get the Momofuku Ramen (I was at the Momofuku noodle bar after all!). $16. Again, not cheap for a bowl of ramen.
Pork belly, shredded pork, bamboo shoots, green onions, and fish cake. And the egg - unlike typical ramen fare which uses a hard boiled egg, the egg in the Momofuku ramen is a poached egg that runs and soaks up the ramen when you break it.

It's a great bowl of ramen that really warmed me up in the 36F New York weather. On a vacation from LA I didn't mind spending the $16+tax+tips+cab ride for this delicious bowl of ramen. Whether or not I would go there on a regular basis were I to live in NY is a separate question. But I'm not doing hypotheticals right now, so I'll just say this was a nice late lunch for a November afternoon in New York!


Momofuku Noodle Bar
171 1st Ave (btw 10th and 11th)
New York, NY 10003
(212) 475-7899
www.momofuku.com