Purple Yam – A Rainy Day Treat – Ditmas Park, Brooklyn

Purple Yam - 1314 Cortelyou Road, Brooklyn - 718.940.8188 - © Frank H. Jump

It’s the day after my fiftieth birthday and I decided to give myself a long awaited treat. Ever since I saw the new “pan-Asian” restaurant storefront pop up on the ever-changing Ditmas Park landscape, I’ve wanted to pop in – but never found the right moment – plus I live with a bit of a picky eater whose tastes are somewhat broader than the average diner, but still limited when it comes to Southeast Asian, Malaysian, Indonesian and Filipino cuisine. So I’m alone on a rainy afternoon and decided to give myself a little birthday present.

Purple Yam - 1314 Cortelyou Road, Brooklyn - 718.940.8188 - © Frank H. Jump

The Purple Yam on Cortelyou Road in Ditmas Park is an exciting addition to the growing choices of places to dine out in our little corner of Brooklyn. If you would have told me ten years that a casual pan-Asian restaurant with a Filipino based menu would be opening up within walking distance of the Cortelyou Road stop on the N train I would have said “Get out!”

Granted, Filipino and Indonesian cuisines have had a hard time making a foothold on the East Coast in general – when only twenty years ago did Thai, Malaysian and Vietnamese cuisines begin to become mainstays in Asian dining in Brooklyn. West Coasters have long appreciated “alternative” Asian cuisines, compared to the standard fare that was offered for decades by Americanized Mandarin and Szechuan menus here in the Tri-State area. But I’m glad to see there is finally a market for a more daring, less cliché Asian fare in our neighborhood.

Purple Yam - 1314 Cortelyou Road, Brooklyn - 718.940.8188 - © Frank H. Jump

For brunch, I enjoyed the Fresh Lumpia with peanut and tamarind sauce as a starter. I requested some sambal (a hot chili paste condiment) with my appetizer and it looked as if the charming and eloquent chef Romy Dorotan (Romy and partner chef Amy Besa – formerly from Cendrillon in Soho) had whipped it up from scratch. As a main course I had a noodle dish – Pancit Luglug – thick rice noodles with ground pork and shrimp in a delicate but well-spiced sauce. So delicious. For dessert, I had the special Filipino lime meringue pie with a scoop of guava ice-cream and a raspberry sauce. Magnificent!

Purple Yam - 1314 Cortelyou Road, Brooklyn - 718.940.8188 - © Frank H. Jump

Don’t wait for a rainy day to go to the Purple Yam! Support local businesses now.

Frank H. Jump
Fading Ad Blog

Reviews:

• New York Magazine – August 2009
• New York Times – December 2009
• Time Out NYC – January 2010

Purple Yam website:

• Purple Yam – BRUNCH MENU (Sat & Sun from 12N – 3:30PM) – DINNER MENU

Martha Kessler reviews Graffiti Food and Wine Bar

Graffiti Food and Wine Bar (unknown)

Graffiti Food and Wine Bar: 224 East 10th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenue) New York, NY

What do you do when a tiny little restaurant opens on your block? Well in my case, you completely ignore it for a year or so until the throngs of people waiting outside on the majority of evenings start to pique your interest and then you are compelled to check it out.

10th Street between First and Second Avenue has been called “Little Japan” for the row of Japanese Restaurants all nestled together in the middle of the block. Then there’s Japanese run Chickalicious dessert cafe across the street, not forgetting the perhaps undeservedly renowned Momofuku noodle shop right around the corner. Even the Italian restaurant Dieci has a japanese chef! So when this odd little hazard orange colored storefront opened as some kind of “Indian fusion” cafe, it did seem somewhat out of place.

Chef Jehangir Mehta opened Graffiti in the East Village of New York City in 2007 after highly acclaimed stints at New York City restaurants including Aix, Compass, and Jean-Georges.

Before it was a restaurant, the storefront had been a scuba diving shop for a few years (my husband got his diving license there) then it had a couple of quick incarnations as something or other before it became Graffiti. Intimate is an understatement. There are four tables which seat a maximum of 26 people and not a lot of elbow room. Still the advantage of sharing a table is you get to check out what other people are ordering without conspicuous craning of the neck. We knew going in there that the chef had been a pastry chef at Jean-George but we really couldn’t tell what to expect.

The two of us were seated at one of the bigger tables, at first alone and soon joined by a party of 4. It was very snug, more cozy than claustrophobic. We immediately recognized Chef Mehta from the Iron Chef show on the food network. It turns out he was the runner up – no small feat! He chatted to us a little while about his experience on the show then it was down to business.

The menu is divided into plate sizes and prices rather than appetizer, main and desert etc. We sampled a couple of plates from every section and slyly examined our neighbors’ orders. Just about everything was surprising – when I ordered the green mango paneer I was expecting something akin to the paneer curry standard in Indian restaurants. What we got was much more novel, little bites of beautifully spiced cheese set amongst swirls of coulis – dainty indeed. I particularly liked a foie gras raspberry crostini with walnut salad. The devastating richness of the Fois Gras was appropriately doled out in minute bites. Dishes are quite constructed. – I was expecting the watermelon feta salad with mint sorbet to be more substantial. There were a smattering of perfect little triangles of watermelon upon which you can gently lie a sprinkling of feta and a dollop of sorbet to create a wonderful burst of flavors in your mouth. We both could have eaten a lot more of it but it certainly got us excited about what was to come. Buns, both pork and eggplant (the menu is pretty generous to vegetarians and vegans), come the japanese way, with delicious stuffings wrapped in a small doughy pancake. There are lots of nods to Asian cuisine, indeed to French and Latin American styles too. It’s definitely eclectic, but tied together by Indian notes, the raita style mint yogurt sauce that accompanied a chickpea encrusted skate for one, hints of cumin and cardamom where you least expect them. Desserts were the most “American” of all the choices, but there were surprises there too.

The small inexpensive plates ($7, $12 and $15) allow you to experience a good few of these dishes, we shared everything and loved it all. A small but drinkable selection of wines ($25/bottle, $8 glass) allows you to pick by grape and not price – The teeny tiny space and the most uncomfortable stools did not encourage us to linger over coffee and drinks, but when you have so few seats and a gaggle of people waiting outside it makes sense.

Martha Kessler  NYC Culinary  Correspondent

Last night @ The Farm On Adderley – Cortelyou Road, Brooklyn

© Frank H. Jump - Fading Ad Blog

After a 2.5 hour drive from the Poconos, we decided to treat ourselves to dinner @ The Farm. I have never been a fan of noisy restaurants, but Frank loves the food there, so and  I deferred. We were  immediately seated, and since we knew what we wanted we ordered as soon as the waiter showed up. It took him a bit to get to us since it was really crowded for a Sunday.

Frank ordered the special Spinach salad with pumpkin seeds and pickled red onion with a shaved soft Fontina-like cheese AND what every one has been raving about – the Kale-Lentil Soup. I ordered the Sirloin special with fork crushed Yukon gold potatoes w/olive oil and roasted cauliflower w/guanciale & golden raisins. My meal was absolutely delicious aside the fact that I could have used a larger cut of steak (I wanted it but I don’t need it). Frank was disappointed that his soup never arrived and when the waiter apologized and offered to bring it,  we declined since it was already late and we wanted to go home by then.  We got our check and upon checking it the soup was still there. OOPS I never read the bill –  I always pay the total but it was quickly  remedied. Frank still wants to go back and try this talked about soup.  I wont. I have no tolerance for bad service. I have been disappointed more than once. I drive so I am not relegated to the neighborhood near my house for good but overpriced food. – Enzo