A Full Belly

Thanksgiving

As most of the United States will be dining on turkey beginning tomorrow and continuing well into next week (turkey sandwiches, turkey casserole, turkey soup, twice cooked turkey. . .), new restaurant reviews are sparse which means no review roundup. Enjoy the holiday links below instead.

The Morning News' How to Cook Thanksgiving Dinner (you should start now).

If you don't plan on cooking Thanksgiving dinner and are still looking for dinner reservations, or if at the last minute you find that your turkey has not defrosted, OpenTable has a list of restaurants confirmed to be open and accepting online reservations for Thanksgiving dinner. Save yourself some time and phone calls by searching all participating restaurants at once.

Historic recipes for the Thanksgiving turkey, including Amelia Simmons' recipe from her cookbook, American Cookery, published in 1796 and the first cookbook written for American cooks.

The Food Section compiles Thanksgiving wine pairings recommendations.

Aluminum foil turkey centerpiece, how-to.

NYC: Review Roundup

Today's review roundup includes: Public, Acqua Pazza, Mandler's, Pearson's, Eat Inn, Oceana, Spicy & Tasty, Sui, Sumile, Jack's Luxury Oyster Bar, 50 Carmine

NYTimes Diner's Journal William Grimes visits Public (210 Elizabeth Street, NoLIta; (212) 343-7011):

When the pinot noir hails from Tasmania and the falafel comes with kangaroo meat, you know you're being taken to the far end of the known culinary universe. Public, the latest addition to the crowded and quirky assemblage of restaurants and boutiques in NoLIta, is an extreme example of Antipodean fusion cuisine, and it comes courtesy of two New Zealand chefs, Peter Gordon and Anna Hansen, who own the Providores in London. They've brought over Brad Farmerie, their head chef at the Providores, to form a triple team in the kitchen.

The week in links

I've made it through the worst of this very busy week. Look for this week's review roundup later this afternoon. Until then, enjoy the week in links!

Turkey and Gravy Soda. No, thank you!

Turkeyhelp.com -- including "50 Foolproof Recipes" and "Top Ten Turkey Disasters." This may come in handy next week.

SauteWednesday's Thanksgiving resource.

The 2 extremes of Jason Kottke -- on the latest installment of foodie and how to cook tator tot hotdish.

Grimes steps down (chowhound thread).

The Foodie's Food Court -- Time Warner Columbus Circle Towers' Restaurant Collection.

Below 14th Review: Public (w/bonus Neighborhood Notebook).

MUG's Hot List.

Daily Candy on newly opened Hearth, 403 East 12th Street, at First Avenue. DC describes the First Avenue location as "gritty." Why does everyone hate 1st Ave?

The Food Section: Julie on Julia. Julie of The Julie/Julia Project has a book deal and an article in the December issue of Bon Appetit.

Back next week

Posts will be limited this week due to an especially hectic schedule.

Shame on Bouley

David Bouley is being accused of cooking up a 9/11-related, multimillion-dollar insurance fraud.

The owner of signature TriBeCa restaurants Bouley and Danube finds himself in a stew over one of his most controversial culinary endeavors - charging the Red Cross $5.8 million for meals he provided to rescue workers at Ground Zero.

Papers filed in Manhattan federal court say Bouley failed to tell his insurance company of his Red Cross windfall when claiming his two restaurants sustained almost $2.3 million in Sept. 11 damage and lost business.

The papers show the insurer, Admiral Indemnity, has sued Bouley and his fancy food companies, claiming they lost all rights to any insurance coverage because they acted fraudulently. "They not only failed to disclose information about the Red Cross contract but actively hid it," Admiral lawyers charge.

Amy's Robot on working for Bouley, serving meals to rescue workers.

NYC: Review Roundup

Today's review roundup includes: Grotta Azzurra, Pho Hoa, Amma, Pearson's Texas Barbecue, Public, Pylos

NYTimes Diner's Journal William Grimes visits Grotta Azzurra (177 Mulberry Street, at Broome Street):

. . . The reborn Grotta Azzurra is not too proud to put grilled sardines on the antipasto menu. Caprese salad, of course, remains on the menu. But there are deluxe touches here and there, like grilled langoustines, drizzled with a little olive oil, or the ravioli stuffed with lobster and crab, flavored with vin santo. By and large, seafood dishes outperform the meat dishes. Leading the list are swordfish with a robust topping of slow-cooked tomatoes, caper and black olives, and pan-seared lobster alla diavola, in a bright, fiery tomato sauce. It has twice the personality of grilled pork chops with polenta and cipollini onions, described in the menu, for mysterious reasons, as `stuffed.`

. . . There are better Italian restaurants in New York. A lot of them, in fact, But Little Italy, or what's left of it, needs all the help it can get these days. Grotta Azzurra, simply by refusing to be a cartoon Italian restaurant for the tourist trade, takes a noble stand.

NYC: Review Roundup

Today's review roundup includes: Matsuri, The Biltmore Room, Temple

NYPost Steve Cuozzo reviews Matsuri (369 W. 16th St., at Ninth Avenue): MATSURI, the booming new Japanese brasserie in the Maritime Hotel, calls itself a "contemporary, truthful interpretation of Japan." But it's more true to family-friendly Las Vegas. What's a great chef like Tadashi Ono doing with sirloin steak and soy sauce?

. . . Matsuri's Japan 101 menu plays it so safe, you'll have a more daring time at many a local sushi joint. Shrimp tempura, anyone?

. . . The best dish is a Nobu knockoff, grilled black cod ($15) lent a distant smokiness by sake paste marination. Juicy, sliced duck breast roasted with wasabi sauce and chives ($16) arrives gloriously pink with crackling skin.

But every time I sensed the real Ono revving up, we came up snake eyes. Sushi is wound with nori as limp as soba noodles ($12). The latter come with "grated mountain potato" - a Japanese yam, an acquired taste I have yet to acquire.

Links To Go

For the brave of heart only, Velveeta Fudge.

New Yorker's favorite desserts.

Since frying a turkey is out of the question this year, perhaps we'll order a turducken (a boneless chicken filled with dressing and then stuffed into a boneless duck, and then the whole thing goes into a into a semi-boneless turkey and stuff it with Cajun sausage).

MUG has compiled a list of restaurants open on Thanksgiving.

New York restaurant recipes.

To read: A Thousand Years Over a Hot Stove: A History of American Women Told through Food, Recipes, and Remembrances

She started out as a hair dresser

Some New York institutions are made of steel and concrete, but Sylvia's restaurant in Harlem is built on good food, family and friends, old and new.

They come from all over the United States and the world to this little slice of soul food heaven at 126th Street and Lenox Avenue.

Sylvia Woods, proprietress of New York Institution and Soul Food destination Sylvia's, talks with New York 1 übercaster Budd Mishkin about immigrating from South Carolina to Harlem, mortgaging her mother's farm to purchase the restaurant, feeding Diana Ross and Nelson Mandela, her family's civil rights struggles, and cooking. (NY1 Article, RealOne Interview)

Links To Go

Nathan's Famous now offering a new cheeseburger with complimentary bib: "In a bid to add some more sizzle to its menu, the Westbury-based fast-food chain this week began selling the Big Sloppy, a quarter-pound burger topped with all the usual fixings — cheddar cheese, ketchup, mayonnaise, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, pickles — and a couple of crisp onion rings."

Snacking on strawberries may help astronauts to perform better on long space missions.

Citysearch roundup of restaurant and bar fireplaces. Handy!

How Peter Luger buys its beef.

Related: Mr. Cutlets' website and his book, Meat Me in Manhattan: A Carnivore's Guide to New York.