Restaurants: November 2003 Archives

Have you ever had hot zabaglione? I actually thought it sounded kind of strange, a sauce made of egg yolks, sugar and marsala. It's whipped in a round-bottomed zabaglione pan (or the top of a double boiler) over gently boiling water until cooked. I was expecting something like custard, but it's much airier and tastes strongly of the wine. Palmira's serves it alone in a small wine glass, as well as with chocolate gelato with fruit. I had it alone last night when we ate here, which was the perfect introduction to it. It was a great way to squeeze in dessert after a big meal.

The proprietors' daughter, Jennifer Desmond, had sent me some menus, and there were a number of appetizers, salads and desserts I wanted to try (including the zabaglione), but I actually ended up liking the entrees we had the best (granted, we didn't give them much chance to show off with the starter, since we order antipasti, which was good). We both ordered specials. Mine was rigatoni with duck ragu, which was exactly what I had been shooting for when I made ragu: super-rich, with this deep, meaty flavor. Todd had branzino, which seems to be their fish of choice, with oranges, tomatoes(?) and olives (very adventurous of Todd, but he really liked it). Todd doesn't usually like sweets except for dessert, but the flavors of the sauce were so well-balanced, the oranges were more acidic with just a hint of sweetness, cutting through the briney olives.

I never would have found the restaurant on my own, but it's actually pretty easy to get to once you know it's there, especially if you're already downtown: one stop into Brooklyn on the 2 or 3 train, then get off at Clark Street and it's right around the corner, 41 Clark Street. The location kind of illustrates one of the strange things about New York: You can be so easy to get to, but if you're not right on a main street with lots of foot traffic, it's hard to fill seats. Palmira's is pretty big, with two main dining areas (they do host lots of parties, especially this time of year), and on a Thursday night it felt kind of empty. It seemed reasonably priced (we would have spent about $100 for antipasti, wine, beer, entrees, two desserts and coffee) with pretty good food. Everyone's friendly there, the service is good, the dining area is comfortable, which makes it feel like a neighborhood place that's still looking for its neighborhood.

I don't know what to call these, but I'm going to have to come up with something because I've made them about three times now (in the last two years), which makes them a part of my repertoire.

I don't want to anger any barbecue fans by calling this barbecue (which is what the recipe calls them, even though they're not). It's just shredded chicken in a lot of really flavorful juice, which soaks into the toasted buns and makes everything tasty.

You mix 1/4 cup brown sugar with a tablespoon chile powder, 2 teaspoons cumin, 1/2 teaspoon paprika and some salt and pepper, then you pat that all over about a pound of boneless chicken breasts. Heat oil in a pan, then cook the chicken 2 minutes on each side. Take the chicken out of the pan, add a thinly sliced onion, and cook the onion a couple minutes, stirring it around to get all the stuff that's left in the pan (there's a lot). Add the chicken back in, pour in 1 cup chicken broth, and simmer it all covered for 30 minutes. Take out the chicken and shred it, then add it back in and simmer to reduce the liquid, about 15 minutes. Serve on toasted buns. There's a recipe for quick pickled cucumber slices, but Todd doesn't like them, so we just use dill pickles or eat without.

I keep forgetting to mention that we went to Daisy May's last week. I work at 50th and Broadway, so it's a bit of a trek, but Todd was at Javits for a photo show so I met him over there for lunch.

I guess I've been holding off on writing this up because I don't know what to say. Todd was very unhappy with his meal and the price, but I think he's being unreasonable. (He's a Virgil's fan.)

Three things I can say: There's no seating, so take it to go or eat standing up at a built-in ledge along the window (which didn't bother me); it's a lot of food, so you could get by for two people sharing one order of barbecue ($8) and a couple of small sides ($3 each); it's a great option, the best I know of, when you're trapped over at Javits for the day. Oh, and go for the ribs; even I wasn't all that impressed with the pulled-pork sandwich Todd ordered.

But I liked the dry-rubbed ribs I had. They were this great texture, really pretty firm, but the meat still comes right off the bone when you bite into it, in shreds. Easy texture to handle with your fingers, but even the dry-rub was messy (I would be disappointed in it if it wasn't). We had mashed potatoes, which were overly buttery and a weird, lumpy-with-pools-of-runny texture, and Cheddar corn, which was really pretty great. Too much to finish on my own, though.

I'd trek over there again for some more (without Todd, though). I'm pretty sure they deliver, too, so I may persuade some of my coworkers that we all want barbecue. Shouldn't be hard to do.