PROFILE: Midtown Lunch’er (& Esca Chef) “David Pasternack”… PLUS another book giveaway!
Every Tuesday I turn over Midtown Lunch to a random worker, for their favorite places to eat lunch in Midtown. Today, I am totally honored to turn the site over to David Pasternack, Chef of Esca, and co-author of the new cookbook “The Young Man & the Sea” (w/ Midtown Lunch friend and Serious Eats grand poobah, Ed Levine). Esca is one of the best seafood restaurants, not just in Midtown- but in the entire city… and is a must try if you love Italian food, and fresh fish. (It also helps if you have a corporate account.) Esca is on 9th Ave. & 43rd St., so here are Dave’s picks for lunching in that area- plus I have 5 signed copies of his cookbook to give away the end of the post.
Name: Dave
Age: 43
Occupation: Chef
Where in Midtown do you Work?: 9th Ave. & 43rd St.
Favorite Kind of Food: I mean, i like everything- but my favorite is ethnic food. I find it more intriguing. I’ve worked in fancy restaurants for 25 years, but my favorite foods are still Chinese, Thai, Indian… pretty much everything.
Least Favorite Kind of Food: Fancy.
Favorite Place to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Pakistani Restaurant on 38th & 9th. Cheap and interesting food with really good flavors and great homemade naan. I also really love Grand Sichuan, but the one near Esca is closed now. The smoked tea duck and dried green beans were two of my favorites. They would also make this fresh killed chicken dish, with bamboo shoots & szechuan pepper. It was fucking hot, but one of the most tender dishes you’ll ever eat. I also love korean bbq but I haven’t been in awhile. I think the place I used to go to is Han Bat (35th btw. 5+6th). The kimchee is killer and the spicy fish soup is perfect for when you have a cold. Comes with this egg custard on the side. Finally, there’s a neapolitan pizza place on 46th btw. 8+9th. called Trumonte Tramonti. It’s great, and the real deal.
The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: Usually we’ll eat lunch here at the restaurant. Or I’ll send someone over to Shorty’s (9th Ave. btw. 41+42nd). It used to be Tony Luke’s but the owner couldn’t afford to keep the name, so he dropped it. The food is still exactly the same.
If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? Right where I am. New York is the food mecca of the world right now. There are different places you can travel to… like I was in Tokyo a few years ago, which was really interesting. But after all my traveling, I realize how many great ingredients we have compared to the rest of the country.
Esca is expensive, and the fish is the best quality. Do you have any favorite cheap seafood dishes in Midtown you could recommend? There’s no such thing as good cheap seafood.
Touche. I should have known better than to ask that question. That being said, I still enjoy the fried shrimp from the Halal & Seafood Cart, and the $3.50 Fried Fish Sandwich at Kim’s Aunt Kitchen Cart. Of course, anything fried tastes good (and it masks how cheap the fish is!) That being said, given the choice between the Grilled Octopus & Giant Beans with Preserved Lemon I had at Esca, and the fried calamari sandwich at Tuscan Square- I think it’s pretty safe to say, I’d go with Esca.
What’s your favorite seafood dish in Midtown? Cheap, expensive… it doesn’t matter. Post it as a comment below, and you’ll be entered to win a signed copy of David Pasternack’s new cookbook ”The Young Man & the Sea”. Don’t have a favorite in Midtown? Post something that proves you deserve the book.
Don’t like seafood? Then you probably don’t need the cook book… although, the book is so beautiful, it might convert you. And the recipes are so easy to make, even I can do it. The Linguine w/ Pancetta & Clams that I made last night, from “The Young Man & the Sea”, after the jump…
As always, if you have any news, suggestions, or you want to be next week’s Profiled: Midtown Lunch’er- email me at zach@midtownlunch.com
Posted: 6:41 am, August 21st, 2007 under PROFILE: Midtown Lunch'er.
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64 Comments
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Well, if we can expand midtown for Esca, I am going to expand midtown for my choice for the best seafood dish in the area. Hells kitchen (the restaurant on 9th Ave. btw. 46+47th) has a halibut dish that is phenominal. It is quite possibly the best halibut i have ever had. It’s pretty reasonably priced as well.
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The Miso Cod @ Nobu 57 is truly out of this world! Of course, so are the prices there. Without an expense account, it’s totally off limits.
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The Royal Dorado at Akdeniz (46th btwn 5th/6th). Pretty expensive for lunch ($20) but if you like eating whole fish then this is for you
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The oyster flight at Aquavit. That’s cheating, though.
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Arctic Char @ Mary’s Fish Camp. It’s like the butter of the sea.
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It’s pretty cool to have Chef Dave profiled (free advertising for Esca to boot!) Pakistani Restaurant sounds great but it’s so far from me. Reminds of Babu’s diner on Seinfeld.
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The Octopus Salad at Margon is hard to catch but always good
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hmm.. more my side of midtown, but Ethos on 33rd / 3rd does a wicked good greek grilled octopus. Combine with a big greek salad and share, and its little more than 10$ a person. Simple, a little charred, and very tender.
I…uh… have also been know to hit Arthur Treachers… but lets not talk about that right now…
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If we’re heading into Hell’s Kitchen territory, I am a big fan of the shrimp po’boy at Delta Grill.
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In the category of expensive (though “free”) fish, I’m totally crazy about the seafood salad at Le Bernardin that they give you with their bread basket. Crazy good.
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the red snapper at le bernardin – pricey and fantastic!
crab cakes at del friscos are not bad either!
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A good fish curry in Midtown would be nice to find, whether it’s hilsa fish in mustard sauce or just the basic stuff. I miss Mom’s cooking and the classic Bengali fish curry she makes. The closest I’ve found was Shipa Kasturi somewhere around 29th and Lex, but I swear the place up and vanished because I haven’t found it again. It was a little sketchy anyway (they microwaved the food you picked out of the steam trays), but it tasted just like home made!
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Good call about Han Bat! Love that place!
Favorite seafood in midtown? Probably salad with rare tuna from Chiyoda.
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Zach quietly reveals the depths of his study… ancient wisdom: fresh seafood is superb, but there is one thing that is better. Fresh seafood with PORK.
Clams with pancetta? Right on. Or, how about… Chanpon at Menchanko-Tei. Shrimp, squid, pork, noodles.
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The sea urchin/crab meat pasta at Esca, is one of my favorite seafood dishes.
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Loch Fyne Prawns and Scallops with lemon oil @ Seafood restaurant ,Padstow, Cornwall.
Bit far for lunch :)
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interesting how easily we all shift from the intended purpose of this blog — cheap (tasty) midtown eats — to the high end stuff (Esca, Nobu, la bernardin, etc.) once the opportunity arises. is it time for a companion site: midtowngourmetlunch.com?
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The Crabcake Sandwich at the Oyster Bar in Grand Central is a great lunch meal. Close, not too expensive, but really tasty.
Also glad to see Dave on here. I read the article of him in the New Yorker a few years ago and tried out Esca right after. Been twice, and was blown away each time. Definitely the best overall restaurant experience I’ve had in New York.
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Hey Mala – I think this is your place
Shipa Kasturi Pavilion [Gramercy]
83 Lexington Avenue (between E. 26th and 27th streets), Manhattan
212-679-7993 -
Thanks, Zap! I think it has a cloaking device, because I have walked up and down Lex a couple of times the past few weeknds and keep missing it.
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Avra Grilled Fish on 48th & Lex is a good choice.
I really want to try the clam pie at Don Giovanni’s after reading this post though
it’s on my to do list…
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I like to laugh!
Fresh seafood, like good steak, doesn’t require a restaurant. As long as don’t over cook it, it’ll taste delicious with almost no seasoning or prep. To that end, the farmer’s market in mccarren park is fantastic. they catch early morning and set up with that day’s prize.
now give me my book.
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I’m a late convert to seafood – have only become open to fish and shellfish over the past few years. Two of the dishes that truly converted me were at high end places – the Goan sea bass curry at Tabla’s Bread Bar and the grilled squid at Babbo. My mouth starts to water just thinking about them! My mother still can’t believe I eat squid now.
Is there anywhere in midtown to get good steamed fish? Maybe with some lime and cilantro? I’m sure there are places over on 9th, but I haven’t had the time to explore.
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She did look like liv tyler ya’know.
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I vote for the Crabcakes at Del Frisco, or the lobster at Francisco Centro Vasco, and pretty much all fish at Nice Matin
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The freshly grilled salmon sandwich on the house roll at Global Kitchen is a great lunchtime deal. Its definitely the differentiating aspect of this otherwise generic midtown deli. It takes them about 20 minutes to cook it, so I recommend ordering online first and then going to pick it up later.
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Wow, that looks fantastic!!! I want a copy! Hmm… favorite seafood dish in midtown… I rarely order seafood out cuz I prefer making it at home… hmmm. And as you know I don’t work in midtown…. so there are two very good reasons I deserve the book :)
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While I’m sure, well, actually positive, the seafood at Esca is outstanding, I still can’t afford it. What’s worse; I live across the street. It’s all so cruel. That being said, I’m a food fanatic for the area and offer a couple of suggestions. Unfortunately, David is correct about good and cheap — doesn’t exist. However, if you’re willing to roll the dice as the restaurant is hit or miss, if all the stars align and someone on that magnificent grill is paying attention any, ANY, fish grilled at Uncle Nick’s can be transforming. Always lightly seasoned, great grill marks for flavor and a tiny drizzle. Plus, very reasonably priced. This luck runs about 10 percent. When it’s off, it’s like eating your shoe. Very nice sweatbreads there, too. Best seafood deal is ordering off the sandwich menu, which you have to ask for, at the Oyster Bar counter in Grand Central. For God’s sake whatever you do don’t have dinner there — you’d be better off at Red Lobster in Times Square. But, the oyster po’ boy sandwich is pure bliss. Huge, extremely juicy, very fresh, lightly breaded and barely fried to a slight tan oysters on a french bread roll with a little lettuce and a homemade mayo. Bliss, I tell you, for 8 bucks. Out of the 17 Thai restaurants in the area there is only, and I mean only, Pam’s Real Thai on both 47th and 49th. All the others have adopted that cloying Americanizing everything into sweet. In addition to just dropping poached chicken into hot coconut milk. Yawn. Pam is in the kichen on 49th and her son runs the 47th branch out. Their whole snapper is wonderful, if you ask for a fresh one and not one prefried. The Som Tum, papaya salad in lime, is an incredible summer starter. And, oh, David, could this area use a good Korean BBQ, or what? Talk to me, I have an idea about that. But, the best all around great deal in the area is a restaurant that includes a hefty poured, well priced drink, a very laid back neighborhood crowd, excellent, friendly waitstaff; outstanding and very fair priced food (the fries that come with the Steak Frites are the absolute best in NY); a homemade decadent golden raisin chutney that comes with a cheese plate and Amy’s bread; daily specials that every now and then include rabbit or a magnificent swordfish (they used to do an incredible pork shoulder medalion, but don’t anymore); and giant portioned from scratch deserts. Lots of other little finds, too. The only thing is, I’m not telling anyone where it is. It’s a jewel right now. And, anyone who goes there is desperately trying to keep it that way. Put me in the running for the book and I’ll spill the beans. (I have lots of food stories of the area, too.)
Cheers!
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Why ruin the fish with cooking? I’ll take sushi any day! I love the lunch special at Shimizu (51st between 8th and 9th); though for the quality I think it’s a good deal at $15, it doesn’t fit the Midtown Lunch parameters :(
Though I do love me some grilled octopus… haven’t tried Ethos but similarly-named Anthos (52nd between 5th and 6th) does it quite well.
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Cosi’s Lobster Roll/Sandwich – yummy!
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The spicy shrimp tempura onigiri at Cafe Zaiya. $1.50 each.
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Brad is talking about Market Cafe @ 496 9th Ave- Btwn 37th & 38th St. It’s very bad form to hoard food secrets on this site, especially since someone is likely to come along and “spill your beans.” BUSTED!
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Why can’t NYC get a decent fish fry place? They have one on every corner in upstate NY – but nobody can seem to get it straight down here. And the ones in upstate are awesome! I guess there has to be some benefit about living in Syracuse…. especially since there is now a Dinosaur BBQ in NYC
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The fried fish nibblets at Ho Yip (now Sun Yip) from the buffet table. Even after 2:15 when you can get the discount, the fish is still oh so fresh. Plus, you get to choose what sides you want. No haughty chef telling you that chicken with cashews does not count as a side.
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I know you recommended the whiting, but I think the flounder at Kim’s Aunt Kitchen is worth that extra buck!
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DDR, next time you’re at your parents house, dig out your old report cards and see how many times you can find written on them, “does not play well with others.”
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Has anyone here been to Trumonte? Worth the trip?
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My favorite seafood dishes are actually two of the pastas from Esca – the one with sea urchin and the one with squid ink. or maybe i like the razor clam crudo best…
I dont get any of them often but if my husband and I have a special occasion to celebrate which can justify the splurge Esca is our first choice. hope its not off limits to list Esca as the fave but it really is true. -
You must try liv tyler sashimi with aniston wasabi.
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Favorite seafood dish in midtown is the razor clams @ wu liang ye on 48th street near rock center. This place should be reviewed here ASAP, some of the best chinese in the entire city, let alone midtown! Sichuan, yum.
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best seafood is always going to come out of a chinese restaurant. steamed fish with ginger, scallion and sweet soy; salt and pepper crab or shrimp; giant clam sashimi (for real); sichuan style fish stew…mmm
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Comment from Brad
Time: August 21, 2007, 1:19 pm
DDR, next time you’re at your parents house, dig out your old report cards and see how many times you can find written on them, “does not play well with others.”Brad – What do I do after I tally them? I’m sorry for sharing information about an eatery on a food blog. What was I thinking? Don’t hate the player; hate the game!
Favorite seafood dish in Midtown: Morrell’s Wine Bar has an egg-sellent sweet pea risotto with Ecuadorian prawns. This may be a summer special.
Also – agree with Brian about Wu Liang Ye.
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octopus salad at metrazur is good.
however, i believe it is even better when someone else is paying the bill. -
this is easy – 2 dozen oysters and a pint of pilsner at Grand Central Oyster Bar.
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Love love love Market Cafe. I work in the area so I’ve been going there for years. What is the Pakistani restaurant that’s around there that David mentioned? I can’t picture it for the life of me.
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i can do a trick with loaves and fishes
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Since no one here seemed to have been to the Neapolitan pizza place mentioned in the article I decided to investigate myself and try the pizza. And I almost succeeded. First off, the name of the place is Tramonti. It’s an actual restaurant, so depending on how much you can eat it might be too expensive for a midtown lunch. If you are, say, an overweight blogger looking to spend more than 10 dollars I’d suggest heading across the street to Becco and its never ending pasta (it’s like heaven’s Olive garden).
If you’re not a huge eater, though, Tramonti would probably be a good place to take a co-worker who is also looking for mditown pizza that doesn’t suck. I say probably because I didn’t eat the pizza. Instead I was tempted into ordering the calzone which comes stuffed with mozzarella and robiola and topped with tomato sauce and a layer of prosciutto. It was definitely worth the trip and I know I won’t be sharing my leftovers with my co-workers who were too scared of the rain to walk 3 whole blocks with me.
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Best seafood for the midtown lunch crowd – Oyster Bar TAKE OUT WINDOW in Grand Central. Don’t even have to take a seat inside at the counter its right before you enter the Oyster bar on the ramp leading down to the foodcourt entrance.
Great affordable sandwiches and slightly over priced soup. Best sandwich there is the Grilled and Sliced Tuna w/ Tomato Salsa. Excellent and very filling. I’ve also done the most of the poboys there (fried popcorn shrimp, oyster, and clam). Best soup is the rock shrimp bisque.
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Mala and Zap — real hilsa or the American (and essentially tasteless) equivalent? For fried hilsa with rice and mustard oil, I’d be willing to work for them for free . . .
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Zach’s lucky to get 5-10 replies to a post………then theres a free book on offer……….50+
You cheap bastards.I mean that ina loving way.
Sorta.
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that Pakistani place on 9th is delicious and the portions are really generous. hike over there and check it out.
I’ve never eaten fish in midtown, but my favorite fish-related dining experience is by far what we used to do when I was a kid living outside Boston — there was a little takeout fish shack not too far from where I lived, and we would go there, pick up huge servings of fish & chips wrapped in newspaper, and head across the street to the beach for a picnic…… -
Totally agree with Brian re: Wu Liang Ye…the best!
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The lobster at Francisco’s Centro Vasco on W 23rd between 6th and 7th, get it broiled, absolutely fantastic. I often go with a friend and we’ll split a 3-4lb lobster, order of paella, shrimp ajillo, and a pitcher or 2 of sangria, perhaps my favorite meal in NY.
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Would the real hermione granger please step forward.
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toast skagen at Good World
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oh, sorry. it’s supposed to be in midtown… i’d go for sushi then. the chirashi lunch special at Fukumatsu is a great deal.
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30RockDenizen – I haven’t found real hilsa anywhere yet! I’m pretty sure it’s the American knockoff anywhere you can get it, though. Unless you go straight to the Bangladeshi stores that import it on ice. The fish I had at Shipa Kasturi was what we call “rui” in Bengal, not hilsa.
Damn, now my mouth is watering.
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Mala — There’s got to be a market for real Bengali food. I’m told there are even Bengali restaurants in Calcutta now! You could even go high concept and have a courtyard with a shil nora as its centerpiece. If there’s Uighur food in Queens, this can’t be that obscure.
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Well, I love seafood more than anything, and I love to cook. So this book giveaway contest is going to be hard for me to pass up. Especially for this book! Pasternack is an excellent cook. I looked up the table of contents on amazon.com, and there are so many dishes that I would love to make. Zach, boy, that linguine looks good! Damn!
Ok, here we go: Chowsue’s Top Ten Midtown Seafood:
(with some minor smearing of Zach’s boundaries of what constitutes midtown. It seems many of my picks have been mentioned already, but that is because they really are good!)10. grilled octopus at Uncle Nick’s
9. camarones ceviche at Rincon del Sabor
8. yellowtail with jalapeno and cilantro & cod with miso at Nobu
7. whole deep fried fish with tamarind at Pam’s Thai on 49th
6. Pla Jien at Wondee’s- steamed snapper with shitake, ginger, scallion
5. any sushi/sashimi at Sushiya (big rollers) or Monster Sushi
4. any seafood dish at Blue Fin
3. tuna ceviche at Kobe Club
2. octopus salad at Margon
1. glass of chardonnay and a dozen raw oysters at the Grand Central Oyster Bar- classic NYCAnd as an added incentive to win this contest, I offer to make Zach his choice of 1. a dish from the book or 2. my version of the famous Thai fish dish with tamarind sauce (I learned from my Thai’s husband’s family) or 3. my Tod Mun (Thai fish cakes). This offer comes with 3 catches: 1. it would have to be reheated in the microwave at work and your coworkers will hate you for making the office smell like fish, 2. it won’t be AS fresh as cooked the night before, 3. we are renovating the kitchen, so it may be 2 months or more until I can cook again! But I won’t forget. :)
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RE: wu liang ye – it’s been commented here that the place is expensive. Maybe that’s why it hasn’t been reviewed yet. And it is a bit more expensive vs. typical chinese prices – BUT, for dinner. They have about 25 lunch specials that come with enough food to feed two, for $7.50 – comes with a pint of plain or fried rice, the entree, and a spring roll. I usually can’t eat it all…
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Kudos for mentioning that Pakistani joint on 38th & 9th! I used to eat there all the time before I left Midtown. They have prayers there during the day. Its a cool scene to be scarfing down some delicious Pakistani food when all of a sudden most of the restaurant, and people from the neighborhood, kneel on the floor to pray.
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Dave, we live in Montauk, have your book and eat in your restaurant – love it all. we particularly enjoyed the 3 tuna crudo appetizer we had at the restaurant. i’ve made crudo here using your book – and enjoyed it a lot. one issue: we can’t find any locally available albacore and that’s the only one whose recipe is included in the book. how do we get the recipe for the non-albacore crudo varieties?
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Tried Market Cafe based on Brian’s semi-secret recommendation (above).
Short version: it sucked, isn’t really inexpensive, and was definitely not worth a trip to No Man’s Land (aka “lower Hell’s Kitchen) on a Friday night. And based on the total emptiness of the restaurant, I don’t think anyone cares if this “secret” is out.
minar on 46th makes fish curry. fried pieces of a white fish in curry sauce, great with rice. of course the curry really masks the “cheapness” of the fish, but it’s a great inexpensive midtown option for seafood!