Snow Day in NYC = Smiles and Comfort Food
A comforting lunch at Nelson Blue in NYC. Steak and cheese pie sourced from the famous Down Under Bakery (DUB) in Brooklyn.
I love snow days in New York. The city’s wrapped in a lazy silence that somehow puts an extra spring in my step. There’s an energy that’s less frantic than usual and, at least until the dirty snow melts into messy puddles in the crosswalks, everyone seems to be happy.
Yesterday was that perfect kind of snow day. I bundled up in my impossibly silly alpaca hat and somewhat serious snow boots and headed downtown to Pasanella and Son Vintners to pick up wine pairings for a dinner party I’m catering this weekend. I think I may have even smiled at a few tourists, though I could have just been squinting in the bright sunlight. I picked up my stash and, of course, had to add a couple items for me: a beautiful Friullian Rosso/2007 from Ronchi Di Cialla in Northern Italy and a small bottle of Mint Bitters from the Fee Brothers — a Rochester, NY-based 4th generation cocktail mix purveyor. I look forward to developing some new concoctions!
Back into the sunlight and the cobble-stoned streets of the Seaport, I knew I couldn’t go straight home. I was less than a block away from Nelson Blue a tasty New Zealand Bar & Grill that has good food, a fun atmosphere and a beautiful view of the Brooklyn Bridge. A friend of mine who knows the owner (a scuba-diving, sky-diving Kiwi) brought me to the opening but I hadn’t been back in a few years. It was the perfect day, the perfect time and the perfect place to sit at the bar and order up a bit of comfort food from down under. I was greeted by the friendly staff and Rick, the bartender, turned me on to Tuatara, a craft brew from New Zealand. It’s a wonderfully hoppy beer with a surprising tropical fruitiness that mask the traditional bitter finish of a Pale Ale. And, since they claim one of the ingredients is “snow melted water,” it was a fitting complement to the day.
Not one to drink (or move) on an empty stomach, I quickly got down to the business of ordering. When in New Zealand (or an NZ establishment), you’ve got to go with the lamb. I was committed to the lamb burger before my eyes locked on to the DUB Pies. Me and the DUB go back to my early days in NYC (circa 2003). My friend’s band was playing an Australian Day party on one of the piers in Chelsea. I remember very little from that day (bring your A-game if you’re going to hang with the Aussies!), but the DUB pies were unforgettable. DUB (Down Under Bakery) is a Brooklyn-based bakery that specializes in delicious meat and veggie pies that are, in most circles, considered the national dish of Australia and New Zealand. Think pot pie as street food (kind of like an empanada or samosa). It’s the perfect finish (or start) to a belly full of beer. And it was perfect for my lunch! I chose the steak and cheese pie (without the gravy) but I can also vouch for the chicken and the vegetable. The filling was chock full of good quality cubes of steak, perfectly peppered and combined with just the right amount of cheese. The crust was lovely — light and flaky, not super buttery and filling like a croissant. And the mesculan side salad had a light vinaigrette that was vaguely, and strangely, reminiscent of roasted lamb. I didn’t question; I just enjoyed!
I don’t have a great meat pie recipe — yet — and searches on recipe sites didn’t yield anything exciting (although, I do make a mean Jamaican beef patty). Hopefully, this post will get a great response from my Aussie friends and I can soon share an authentic recipe with you. In the meantime, you can get a frozen shipment of DUB pies by hitting their website. And, if you live in the NYC area, they’ll deliver for a minimum order.
What did you guys make/eat on your snow day?
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